Friday, May 9, 2014

How I Reversed My Allergies




Disclaimer: After tons and tons of research this is what I decided to do to cure my allergies. In no way am I telling you to stop taking medicine and follow exactly what I did.. but if you want to try it make sure you research to see if it is right for you, and if you have any concerns speak with your doctor.














It's allergy season! Let the sneezing, itchy-watery eyes and runny noses commence!!

Dreading allergy season? I am happy to say I have not had any problems. Usually as soon as April rolled around I would be a MESS as far as sinuses and allergies go. My allergies were HORRIBLE. Seemed like I sneezed every 30 seconds of the day! I tried every medication and eye drops there were. Of course they worked temporarily, but I wanted my allergies GONE... What if I told you that you can get rid of your allergies? I did, along with others and I am going to tell you how we did it... But let me warn you, taking this route requires discipline. Most people are stuck in their ways and don't want to change up their diets, even if it means no more allergies. If you are willing to try this, again please research and get as much information as you can before making a decision.

JUICING

Around this time last year, my husband came home one day and told me about how he wanted to juice for a week after doing extensive research about it. Up until last year I didn't care too much about what I ate, I honestly didn't think it was a big deal. Once I researched about certain foods and nutrition, all of that changed. I started to really take my health seriously and my husband and I replaced everything in our refrigerator with fruits and vegetables. It was a challenge for me to just drink juice and eat whole foods for a week, but we did it together. We added juicing to our everyday lives and also developed a vegan lifestyle for 6 months. (Some of you may be asking to yourselves "why did you stop being a vegan?"or, "where did you get your protein?" I'll address that in another post :-).

I researched about how juicing could reverse certain diseases and sicknesses as well as allergies, and I definitely saw it happening in my life not too long after I changed my eating habits. Grass and pollen no longer bother me, and it's all because of juicing, and adding raw honey to my diet. I hate taking medicine and I try to stay away from it as much as possible. The natural route is always best because you aren't putting anything harmful into your body (assuming you are eating organic), natural is pure, and good for you. Juicing is a great way to boost your immune system, and it doesn't just cure allergies, it cures skin problems, blood diseases and much more. Sickness cannot thrive in an alkaline body, and by juicing I had boosted the alkalinity level in my body, therefore eliminating certain ailments in my body including allergies.

"Why juice? Why not just eat the fruit?" This is a question most ask, and the answer is simply because when you juice, the enzymes in the veggies and fruit get into your system easier and faster because little to no digestion is involved. Also, wouldn't you rather drink 2-3 cups of juice than eat 3-5 pounds of fruits and veggies everyday? That would be exhausting.

Your body can naturally heal itself internally if you give it the right foods. It does so on the outside of your body right? Raw foods heal the body, they contain nutrients that your body needs in organic, whole, alkaline, complete and balanced forms. When you cook or eat veggies from a can, you are getting little to no nutritional value. Most of the vitamins and enzymes our bodies need are found in the juice of raw fruits and vegetables. Fresh juice doesn't only contain nutritional value, it contains life. You are drinking living enzymes, natural antibiotics, minerals, antioxidants and more that are essential for health. "Why not just buy the juice?" Bottled juices are pasteurized, and the heating and processing of the pasteurizing process can kill vitamins and minerals.
One of the first juices we made.

After only 1 day of juicing I noticed a significant difference in myself. I had more energy, I was happier and after about a week I noticed a positive difference in my skin. It has benefits all the way around and I love the way juicing has impacted my life. Let me add I lost 15 pounds in a month, developed a healthy lifestyle, and did not get sick for the remainder of the year.

I juiced and ate raw foods for 6 months, I know most of you won't do it that long so I suggest a month. Hopefully you will ultimately add it to your lifestyle. You can still eat the things you want, but use the 80-20 rule. 80% raw whole foods and 20% of the other stuff. It is going to be hard at first, but you will look and feel great trust me!

***To get the most out of juicing use organic fruit and vegetables and only make enough for immediate consumption, storing the juice in the fridge will deactivate the enzymes. Don't cut out the greens, use both veggies and fruit.***






The $100 juicer we bought from Walmart.












RAW HONEY


As far as honey goes, when honey is made by bees sometimes pollen grains left on the bee can fall into the honey, so when eaten over time the pollen grains get into your system, ultimately getting your body accustomed to the pollen and your system becomes immune to it. Honey contains a variety of the pollen spores that give allergy sufferers a hard time in allergy season, and introducing the spores to your body over time will decrease the chance of an immune response. Compared to actually sniffing pollen into your nose, the concentration of eating small amounts of pollen when you consume honey is low, and antibodies should not trigger an allergy reaction.

Please make sure you use local raw honey, (so if you live in MI make sure you buy honey from MI) this is to ensure that you are eating the spores in your area, most likely the plants you suffer from are the same kinds the bees include in the honey they make. (Eating spores from a plant in California wouldn't be much help if you live in Texas.) So buy local! I would suggest eating a teaspoon or a tablespoon everyday. It really doesn't matter how much you eat it's up to you.

There is an obvious distinction between
raw and processed honey.
Please do not buy processed honey for this, you know the kind that comes in that bear jar everybody loves? Lol. The Food and Drug Administration in the U.S says that any product that has been ultra-filtered and contains no pollen is not honey, and 75% of honey on shelves are ultra-filtered, artificial, imitation honey. Ultra-filtering is a procedure where honey is heated and sometimes watered down and at high pressures forced through really small filters to remove pollen. "Why stop eating processed honey now? I've been eating it all of my life and I'm fine." That's up to you but, why eat the fake stuff? If your goal is to see benefits from the nutrients eat raw. Processed honey does not even contain a quarter of the nutrients that raw honey has.


Don't be fooled, there are labels that say raw but are the complete opposite. Tips you can use to tell if your honey is the real thing:

1.   Finger Test: Put some honey on the top of your thumb or finger, if the honey spreads or drips off as soon as you do this, it is not raw honey. Raw honey is thick and will not instantly spread or drip off.

2.   Shelf Test: Over time pure honey crystallizes, processed honey remains looking the same no matter how long it sits on the shelf.

3.    Water Test: Put water in a glass and add some honey, if the honey does not settle at the bottom of the glass in a lump and starts to dissolve, it is not pure.

***You can purchase raw honey at any health or whole foods store.***


Natural is best! God knew what He was doing. We have everything we need we just need to educate ourselves! .. By the way, I now use a Nutri-Bullet. Unlike blenders and juicers the Nutri-Bullet uses a process called extraction, and it doesn't get rid of the pulp and skin from the fruits and veggies like a juicer does. If you want to try using a Nutri-Bullet instead of a juicer that is perfectly fine. I would also like to add that you do not have to try both of these methods at the same time if you don't want to; you can choose one or the other. One more suggestion: If you are interested check out the documentary Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead. Awesome documentary about a guy who juiced for 60 days and ended up throwing all of his medication away and losing a ton of weight! You can find the documentary on Netflix.




"And God said, Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat." (Genesis 1:29)

Eat of the earth :-)


Saturday, April 26, 2014

My Hairstory

                                                             





I started my transition on September 19, 2012. I made this personal decision because I got tired of living up to other people's standards, and wanted to be proud of what God gave me. I used to flat iron my hair because I felt that I looked better with my hair straightened. The guys I used to deal with in my past would tell me to straighten my hair, and as much as I hated the 4 hour process, (wash, blow dry, press and flat iron) I still did it to please them :-/  I was so ashamed of my hair.

When I first started getting my hair straightened on a regular I was 13 years old. It all started when I was at my Granny's house after school one day, I had my hair in straight-back french braids (cornrows) and some cousins and I were all sitting on the porch.  My aunt, who was a professional hair stylist asked, "Livey, do you want your hair flat ironed?" I thought about it for a second, remembering what my mom used to tell me: "If you straighten your hair you're gonna mess it up." but I brushed it off. My aunt washed, blow dried and flat ironed my hair. I LOVED it. After that, I got my hair straightened by my aunt every two weeks, and that lasted for 3 years.

When I turned 16 I bought a flat iron of my own and started doing my hair myself.  I remember speaking with one of my teachers, and her telling me when she went off to college she didn't know how to straighten her hair because she was so used to going to the shop. So, I told myself that I would learn how to do my own hair. (Not realizing that I couldn't tame my own natural texture, and should have learned how to do that first). I was not used to the process when I first started straightening my hair, it literally took me 8 hours because I didn't know what I was doing and it was super thick. I ended up getting better and the 8 hours eventually turned into 4. Two hours for washing, conditioning, detangling and blow drying, an hour for pressing my roots and another hour for flat-ironing it bone straight.

When I went off to college I still did my own hair, and was used to it by then. I straightened it every two weeks and sometimes every week. This lasted my entire school career except the last few months, and I only got it professionally done one time while I was in school. I did not know the damage I was causing my hair. I was ignorant to heat damage, breakage, and all of the other things that come with straightening it, and not once did I give my hair a break from heat. Without my knowledge, my curl pattern slowly disappeared. I was so ignorant I thought my texture naturally changed to straight as I became older.


In 2010 I tried bantu knotting my hair (on damaged hair of course), my friend recommended that I try it. She knotted my hair up and I loved the way it turned out, I wasn't used to it though, it was a big change. My boyfriend at the time hated it, so I would only wear it a few days then straighten my hair again. At this time I considered going natural, but I was talked out of it.

In the summer of 2012 I decided to keep heat out of my hair because it was too hot to keep up with it, then in September of 2012 I ran across a video on Youtube by HairCrush, and she inspired me so much.  Then I looked up related videos and found Naptural85's Youtube channel... every video I viewed the women had beautiful, thick, full, long healthy hair.. My hair looked NOTHING like that. It was long, but after learning what heat damage was I figured my hair was severely damaged. That day I made up my mind, I was going to go natural.

When I told my family they laughed and didn't take me seriously, but a month later they realized I wasn't playing any games. I received some negativity from certain people, they would tell me to "do something with my hair" or ask, "when are you going to do your hair?" Normally this would have bothered me, but I stuck with my decision and was determined to get my hair back to good health. 1 year and 7 months later I am still going strong!




August 2007
July 2012, Last picture I took of my hair straightened.

September 19, 2012 The first day of transitioning. Freshly washed hair. 

                       

October 2012, transitioning.
                                                           


November 2012, freshly washed.
                                                       

November 2012, curl pattern coming in at the roots.
                       
                         


December 8, 2012 my first minichop. I cut about 5 inches.

                                                 


January 2013



March 2013



April 2013




February 2014








February 2014




We need to appreciate our beauty. We were crafted beautifully. God makes no mistakes! Try seeing yourself through His eyes. Why are you ashamed of your hair? I'll tell you why I was, it is not 'pretty' in society's eyes or wasn't to my past boyfriends. I let others define my worth.  If that man can't appreciate your true beauty and accept you for you, it is time to re-evaluate. Never let society or some boy tell you what you are worth. Think about it, if we saw more fros on television and on magazines deemed beautiful, would we be ashamed then? We have been brainwashed into thinking that natural hair is undesirable and not exotic. Well let me tell you, I have NEVER in my entire life received so many positive comments about my hair, and that is from all races. People tell me all the time, "I wish I had your hair", "I wish my hair could do that." Your hair is so versatile! If you made the decision to return natural don't let anyone talk you out of it. It's YOUR head, period!

God makes no mistakes! If your hair was meant to be straight, curly, kinky whatever, it WOULD be. I'm not saying never straighten your hair, what I'm saying is you shouldn't be straightening it just because some boy told you your natural hair was not cute, or because society tells you it is ugly. Appreciate what God has given you. Ladies the journey is worth it! Not only for healthy hair, but I gained so much. Once I went natural I felt so liberated and confident. I felt new. I no longer had to worry about getting my hair wet, or worry about what others said about me. Who cares? Now when people stare I feel great, I no longer think "What are they thinking, I hope they aren't laughing at me." I smile, because now when I say I love myself I truly mean it. I love ALL of me.

Stay encouraged, and don't let anyone talk you out of your choice to take this journey, you will be glad you stuck it out trust me :-)


You are beautiful.






Welcome!







Heyyy!! Welcome to my blog :-) Here you will find hair tips, inspirational posts, posts about God, health tips and more! I get a lot of questions on my Instagram page so I figured hey, why not start a blog!? If you have any questions please feel free to comment or email me.

I look forward to hearing from everyone! Enjoy :-)