Take care of yourself, and other things will take care of themselves.
What’s Sabotaging My Weight Loss? Go here for more info.
A person’s natural preference for the best time to fall asleep, wake up, and get work done is what scientists call a chronotype. Do you know yours? Take this NYT quiz and find out. The quiz and its results were adapted with permission from the Morningness-Eveningness Questionnaire developed by Michael Terman and his colleagues in 2005, which itself was derived from the original questionnaire introduced by J.A. Horne and O. Ostberg in 1976.
If you’re trying to manage diabetes, you already know it’s important to keep track of your blood sugar levels. But how do you handle a spike that comes after you eat?
What Is Castile Soap? My mother used to make it. Out of coconut oil. In a shoe box. Lined with waxed paper. Using lye. Without a slow cooker. Anyway…
- Safety goggles (to protect against lye splashes)
- Chemical-resistant rubber gloves
- Long sleeves and pants
- Digital kitchen scale (essential for precise weight measurements)
- Immersion (stick) blender
- Slow cooker (Crock-Pot)
- 16 oz Pure olive oil
- 3.5 oz Potassium Hydroxide (KOH) flakes (90% purity)
- 10.5 oz Distilled water (for the initial lye solution)
- 40 oz Distilled water (warmed, for the final dilution phase)
- Place your slow cooker outdoors or in a highly ventilated area.
- Put on your safety goggles, gloves, and long sleeves.
- Weigh 10.5 oz of distilled water into a heat-safe glass or heavy plastic container.
- Weigh 3.5 oz of KOH flakes into a separate dry container.
- Slowly pour the KOH into the water (never pour water into lye, or it can volcano). Stir gently with a stainless steel spoon until fully dissolved. The liquid will get very hot and release strong fumes. Do not breathe in the fumes. Let it sit and cool slightly.
- Pour 16 oz of olive oil into your slow cooker.
- Turn the slow cooker on High and let the oil warm up to roughly 140°F–160°F.
- Carefully pour the hot lye solution into the warm olive oil inside the slow cooker.
- Use your immersion blender to mix the liquid. No blender? Stir fast enough to mix it but not fast enough to make a mess.
- Blend in short bursts for 15 to 20 minutes. The mixture will slowly separate, look creamy, and eventually thicken into a pudding-like consistency known as “trace.” Keep blending until it holds its shape and cannot be easily stirred.
- Put the lid on the slow cooker. Reduce the heat setting to Low.
- Cook the paste for 3 to 4 hours, checking and stirring it with a heavy spoon every 30 minutes.
- As it cooks, the paste will transform from an opaque, milky cream into a translucent, shiny, amber-colored gel that looks like thick petroleum jelly.
- Boil a small amount of distilled water.
- Mix 1 tablespoon of your soap paste into 2 tablespoons of hot water until dissolved.
- If the liquid is clear or only faintly cloudy, your paste is fully cooked. If it looks milky, cook the paste in the slow cooker for another 30 minutes and test again.
- Turn the slow cooker to Warm or turn it off entirely.
- Pour the 40 oz of warm distilled water directly over the hot soap paste.
- Stir gently to break up the chunks, then put the lid on.
- Let it sit for several hours or overnight. The paste will completely dissolve into the water on its own.
- Once fully dissolved and cooled, skim any thin foam from the top surface.
- Pour your clear, amber liquid castile soap into glass jars or plastic pump bottles.
Self-care Ideas
- pet an animal
- take deep breaths
- take a short nap
- have something wonderful to drink
- do yoga or meditate
- make an online playlist of music you really enjoy
- call a friend
- sing a favorite song out loud, to yourself
- get or give yourself a manicure or pedicure
- enjoy a bubble bath
- go for a walk
- listen to music without lyrics (jazz or classical come to mind)
- draw, paint, or collage – anything artistic and stress-free
- watch a favorite movie (Moonstruck is my go-to)
- make a list of things you are grateful for
According to Dotsie Bausch, Olympic silver medalist in cycling and executive director at Switch4Good, there are two great reasons why chair exercises are a fan-favorite workout for many. They’re convenient to do wherever you happen to be—and they deliver real results. “When you pair these exercises with a dairy-free, anti-inflammatory diet, you create the perfect environment for belly fat loss: lower bloating, more efficient digestion, improved hormone balance, and better metabolic function,” Bausch adds. Watch the videos HERE.