My daily routine :)

What are your plans for today?? :)

the problem with plastic bottles

 

I remember being shocked last year to hear that the plastic bottles that we buy bottled water in can break down over repeated use and be carcinagenic to our systems. being a believer in reduce, re use, recycle, I was horrified!! So of course, I did my homework. and here's what I found....

Most plastic bottles are safe to reuse a couple of times if well rinsed out with warm soapy water between uses. But recent revelations about the chemical Lexan would has certainly put me off them at all.

The thing is there are different types of plastic used in bottles and in different densities. Here are the ones to watch for:

Chemicals May Contaminate Food and Drinks in Reused Plastic Bottles
Studies have indicated that food and drinks stored in such containers—including those ubiquitous clear Nalgene water bottles hanging from just about every hiker’s backpack—can contain trace amount of Bisphenol A (BPA), a synthetic chemical that interferes with the body’s natural hormonal messaging system.

Reused Plastic Bottles Can Leach Toxic Chemicals
The same studies found that repeated re-use of such bottles—which get dinged up through normal wear and tear and while being washed—increases the chance that chemicals will leak out of the tiny cracks and crevices that develop over time. According to the Environment California Research & Policy Center, which reviewed 130 studies on the topic, BPA has been linked to breast and uterine cancer, an increased risk of miscarriage, and decreased testosterone levels.

BPA can also wreak havoc on children’s developing systems. (Parents beware: Most baby bottles and sippy cups are made with plastics containing BPA.) Most experts agree that the amount of BPA that could leach into food and drinks through normal handling is probably very small, but there are concerns about the cumulative effect of small doses.

Even Plastic Water and Soda Bottles Should Not Be Reused
Health advocates also recommend not reusing bottles made from plastic #1 (polyethylene terephthalate, also known as PET or PETE), including most disposable water, soda and juice bottles. According to The Green Guide, such bottles may be safe for one-time use, but re-use should be avoided because studies indicate they may leach DEHP—another probable human carcinogen—when they are in less-than-perfect condition.

Millions of Plastic Bottles End Up in Landfills
The good news is that such bottles are easy to recycle; just about every municipal recycling system will take them back. But using them is nonetheless far from environmentally responsible: The nonprofit Berkeley Ecology Center found that the manufacture of plastic #1 uses large amounts of energy and resources and generates toxic emissions and pollutants that contribute to global warming. And even though PET bottles can be recycled, millions find their way into landfills every day in the U.S. alone.

Do you recycle yours?

 
Incinerating Plastic Bottles Releases Toxic Chemicals
Another bad choice for water bottles, reusable or otherwise, is plastic #3 (polyvinyl chloride/PVC), which can leach hormone-disrupting chemicals into the liquids they are storing and will release synthetic carcinogens into the environment when incinerated. Plastic #6 (polystyrene/PS), has been shown to leach styrene, a probable human carcinogen, into food and drinks as well.

The good news!!!

Safe Reusable Bottles Do Exist
Safer choices include bottles crafted from safer HDPE (plastic #2), low-density polyethylene (LDPE, AKA plastic #4) or polypropylene (PP, or plastic #5). Aluminum bottles, such as those made by SIGG and sold in many natural food and natural product markets, and stainless steel water bottles are also safe choices and can be reused repeatedly and eventually recycled.
 
So let's not despair just yet. Time to get educated and help keep water safe :)

Goodbye white watch

Today is my last day working as a firefighter on white watch, Northland road fire Station. I recently secureed a promtion which is taking me to another fire station in the town. I have been at Northland for 10 years. Was the first female firefighter in our city and have had the joy of working with the best group of guys in that time. although I'll still see them from time to time, I know this is a big change for me.

However, i have felt myself in a rut for the last year and sometimes change is as good as a rest. I am ready for change to happen to me adn whether it is for better or worse it looks like it's happening.

Naturally I am apprehensive about going to a new team, and one which has had not had a female on their crew to date! But in a way this represents a new chapter in my life and I'm trying to look on it as an adventure.

And if it doesn't work out? Well, I'll cross that bridge when I come to it.

 

But for now, I'm going to go to my station and enjoy my last day with my boys. Love y'all xx
Always, Ethel <3

The Joy of the Packed lunch

It's that time of year wheen the kids are getting ready to get back to school. uniforms are being bought, books being backed, stationary being organised and lunch boxes at the ready.

I often wondered about the joy of a packed lunch. How lovely it is to have something ready made half way through your working day.

I know some schools now where the kids aren't allowed sugary sweet stuff as part of their lunches and some parents stress about what else they can put in there.

The answer is when you look, like really look, there are a great range of options available and you can really mix it up so it doesn't get boring. Think outside the lunchbox to get the best in it!!

And remember the packed lunches aren't just an option for the kids. I am looking forward to trying some more of these ideas myself.

Benefits of packed lunches:

1. Saves money. maybe not a huge saving for one sitting, but if you add them up over the year, you'll definitely save a pretty penny
2. We tend to eat healthier when we eat packed lunches. Eating out we are faced generally with whopper portions and fattening side orders and extras. Homemade lunches allow more thought and consideration for ingredients and portion size.

So what makes a healthy lunch?

 Experts, including Connie Diekman of the American Dietetic Association, recommend lean or low fat protein options along with carbohydrates to keep you going through the day.
"The combination of protein and fiber from whole grains, beans, nuts, vegetables and/or fruit will give you the most satisfying and nutritious combination of foods that will keep you feeling full until dinner," she says

If you do like a sandwich, there are options to shake it up a bit. Try wholegrain bread (and there are a great variety out there), pittas, wraps. As for fillings chose lean: eggs, tuna, lean meats and add a bit of freshness to them with some greens and salads, lettuce, cucumber and a bit of tomato.

Leftovers from the previous night's dinner are also a great option and they're already there prepared, saving on time and food wastage also. Cold pasta dishes are among my personal favourite's here, but pretty much anything goes! Diekman suggests the following:
"Pack the leftovers of a black bean, brown rice and salsa dinner casserole, topped with shredded cheddar cheese, into a reusable container that can be microwaved at the office. Add some carrot, celery, and pepper strips for a hearty and satisfying lunch."

This idea can be built upon, especially if you find yourself stuck for time to do food preparation during the week. Cook in bulk at the weekend and stock up in individual porions in the freezer which are ready and at hand when you want them.

Oh and don't forget your fruit and veg portions, which you can jazz up with some nice hummus or homemade dips on the side :)

Here are some suggestions from the American Dietatic Association forwholesome packed lunches:
 

• Whole-wheat tortilla wrap of hummus, lettuce, sliced tomatoes, feta cheese and black olives; plus a carton of fat-free vanilla yogurt, and berries.
• Whole wheat pita stuffed with vegetarian refried beans, salsa, lettuce and shredded cheddar cheese; and apple slices with peanut butter.
• A green salad loaded with canned chunk light tuna, carrot strips, pepper slices, tomato wedges, red beans, and dried cranberries topped with balsamic vinaigrette; with a cup of low fat chocolate milk.
• A peanut butter and banana sandwich on whole wheat bread; a piece of fresh fruit; and low fat yogurt.
• Whole-wheat tortilla roll with sliced turkey, sliced low-fat mozzarella cheese, red pepper strips, and lettuce leaf (chill and slice into bite size pieces); with fruit salad and a glass of skim milk.

• personally I love a good soup!!!

 The list is endless.....

Drinks?

Instead of using vending machines, what about good old fashioned, great for your health water in a reusable bottle, naturally??? Or a smoothie or carton of milk??

Whatever you chose to put in there, the key to succesful packed lunches is planning and preparation. Oh and make it look pretty. Something that is packed aesthetically pleasing will appeal more both to kids and adults alike.

And don't forget:

Lunches that contain meat, fish, poultry or dairy need to be kept refrigerated!
If you don't have access to a fridge at work, consider the use of cooler bags or thermos temperature controlled containers.

PS Why not throw a little message in a loved one's lunch box to brighten up their day??
 

One hour hangover cure!!! Yaaassss!!! :)

After a heavy night on the town with some of the girls from the club, I woke up feeling I'd missed half the day (Don't you hate that?!). Decided to google up some hangover cures and healthy breakfasts instead of going back to some of the old habits of McDonalds or Doritos and Lucozade. Some interesting stuff out there....

Here's some tips I found that I think, although I didn't get them all in in the one hour, I've been putting into practice throughout the course of the day and will try again on Friday (within the hour) as i have my leaving do on Thursday night.

I will comment on how it all goes, of course. But so far it seems to be going well.

Give it a go and see how it works for you.

THE ONE HOUR HANGOVER SOLUTION

This morning-after stimulus plan will help to cut this deficit, but more important is the dreaded impact on your body, the effects of which can last up to 24 hours. We’re going to reduce that by addressing the head-swimming effects of your low blood sugar, the dilated blood vessels in your brain, the breakdown of toxins in your liver, and the build up of inflammatory chemicals in your body – we know because we’ve tried it. Many times. There’s no need to wave the white flag from under the duvet. Come out fighting and you’ll cast out your hangover in under an hour.

Wake up +2 minutes: the perfect drink

Targets: weakened muscles, headache, dustbowl mouth
Begin the fight-back with a different breed of cocktail to the flammable kind that rounded off the night before. Mix 500ml of fruit juice with the same amount of water and add ¼tsp of salt. This interrupts the dehydrating effect of alcohol that redirects water away from your kidneys.
“Salt ensures the liquid is taken up by your body and doesn’t just flush straight through,” says Dr Paul Stillman of the Expert Group on Hydration. The flash flood gets soaked up by thirsty muscles, plus your brain – which has shrunk without water and is tugging painfully at the lining of your skull. The sugar in the fruit juice also gives you an energy kick and speeds up the toxic clean-up in your liver, once the alcohol has been metabolised. Now that’s something worth drinking to.

+5 minutes: the perfect music

Targets: information processing, motivation to remain conscious, ability to focus your mind
Can’t remember why Kenny Loggins is on your iPod this morning? That’s partly because your brain is operating through a dense fog of cytokines; chemicals which “interfere with normal processing and memory function in the brain,” says Stillman. But don’t put Kenny away just yet…
Research from Sunway University College in Malaysia found that certain types of music can stimulate your grey matter and greatly improve your focus. Which, let’s face it, is something you’re sorely lacking in this morning. Tracks that play at approximately 120bpm – think melodic house or Detroit techno – can improve your memory and were also found to have the greatest motivational effect in recent trials at Brunel University.
If you can’t face, or stomach, pulsating electronica this early in the morning, try some Mozart instead, in particular his 1781 ‘galant style’ Sonata For Two Pianos In D Major. Studies into the ‘Mozart effect’ show that it can clear your thinking by improving your spatial-temporal cognition. That’s right, Wolfgang will help you remember which way is up.

+14 minutes: the perfect workout

Targets: nausea-inducing toxins, looming sense of despair
Don’t worry, this will be gentle because the real workout is happening in your organs this morning. Your heart rate is up and your liver is desperately trying to remove the stomach-churning toxins produced when last night’s alcohol was metabolised. A quick superset workout helps you shift the chemical leftovers faster, making the hangover end sooner.
“Supersets, where you perform two consecutive exercises in a row with no rest in between, really flick a metabolic switch,” says conditioning coach Paul Fallows. “These are very stable exercises using only your bodyweight.” Which means you get a rush of endorphins without having to move that much. Keep a bucket to hand just in case. Do 1-2 supersets depending on your hangover severity.

Hangover superset 1

1 Traditional press-up (15 reps)
Lie face down with your weight on your hands and the balls of your feet. Lower yourself to the floor by bending your elbows, then push back to the start. Go slow or your head will feel like Three Mile Island, mid-meltdown.
2 Prisoner squat (10 reps)
Stand comfortably with your hands locked behind your head. Lower yourself until your thighs are parallel with the floor. Push back to the starting position: you’re halfway there.

Hangover superset 2

1 Shoulder taps (10 reps)
More press-ups. This time, at the top of the move, reach your right hand over to touch your left shoulder. Return and repeat with your left hand. You might want another swig of juice about now.
2 Mountain climber press-up (16 reps)
And more, this time with a twist. After your first press-up, bring your right knee up to your right elbow. Do another press-up, then follow suit with your left knee to your left elbow.

+22 minutes: the perfect wake-up call

Targets: full-body lethargy, eyes of a dead man
Congratulations! Without so much as a retch, you’ve made it to the sanctuary of the bathroom where your metamorphosis continues. While showering, force yourself under bursts of cold water: research from Humboldt University in Berlin found that it increases oxygen flow around the body. Once you’re out, apply an eye gel such as Molton Brown’s Eye-Rescue Ultracool (£25, 15ml) to boost circulation. “Apply firmly from the bridge of the nose towards your ears to help drain the fluid,” says London-based ‘groomer to the stars’ Jason Shankey.

+35 minutes: the perfect breakfast

Targets: low blood sugar and chemical culprits in the gut
Your kebab compass saw you home safely but you’ll need to eat better to get back on track. First, fix yourself a poached egg on a wholemeal muffin, says nutritionist Dr Carrie Ruxton.
“Your liver is far too busy metabolising alcohol to produce more glucose to fix your low blood sugar, but the carbohydrate in the muffin brings your levels back, stopping you feeling tired.” In addition, the cysteine in the egg mops up acetaldehyde. This chemical is born when the liver breaks down alcohol – too much results in nausea and vomiting.
Need more? Follow with natural yoghurt and honey. “The yoghurt restores the equilibrium of natural bacteria to your intestines to prevent you being sick,” Ruxton says. “The honey replenishes sodium, potassium and other electrolytes which were lost in your toilet trips.”

+55 minutes: the perfect commute

Targets: lingering sluggishness, heady relapse on the train
Resist the urge to steal 15 minutes’ sleep the moment you park your backside on the 08.34, and instead start jabbing your body’s acupressure points. Apply steady pressure 5cm (2in) up your wrist, one handwidth below your knee or the same distance above your ankles. Research from the University of California found that plying these pressure points can reduce residual nausea. Just apply your thumb to any of the points for 6 seconds and then release. Okay world, let’s have you.

Taken from, Men's Health: http://www.menshealth.co.uk/healthy/more-energy/ultimate-hangover-cure

Yes, taken from Men's Health, but if it's good enough for them, it's good enough for me. Must go check on my eggs!!!

Just for fun :) Saw this and thought it was equally as applicable to shopping with or without a hangover. When I shop with a hangove I tend to fill my trolley with sugar rush stuff, get home with tonnes of bags and realise I've nothing that I can build into a dinner!! lol

To straw or not to straw?!

Random topic it may seem, but in recent years I've started drinking all soft drinks through a straw thinking of the benefit of protecting my teeth. Yesterday I read an article that said drinking from straws can cause premature wrinkles!! Aaarrghhh!!!!!!!!!! A dilemma? You betcha!!!

So I've done my homework (naturally) and thought I'd share my findings and let you make up your own mind.

FOR:

1. Discovering Foreign objects - you read about it all the time. People finding 'things' in their food or drink, and usually nor pleasant things. Take a swig straight from a glass or can and youmight find a mouthful of something you weren't expecting. Use a straw, however, and you can identify the object before your lips come to any harm.
2. Teeth Preservation (my personal favourite!) - dentists have always recommended drinking through straws. Drinking from cups sugary liquid spends more time in the mouth covering teeth and leaving them more susceptible to decay, erosion and cavities . Straws direct liquids through the mouth faster and away from teeth.
3. Reduced risk of choking - Drinking from cups encourages bigger swigs and liquids are more likely to go down the wrong way as a result. This is apparently less likely with straws as there is smaller amounts of liquid passing through the mouth at any one time.
4. Helps the Medicine Go down - if a straw is directed further to the back of the mouth it can avoid liquid(especially yukky ones!) coming in contact with taste buds. And for kids it makes drinking unpleasant liquids more fun - especially swirly convoluted straws!!

AGAINST:

1. Fine lines and wrinkles - Dermatologists are now saying that lines around the mouth are as likely to be caused be drinking through straws as much as smoking as it is the same pursing of the mouth action which causes them!!
2. Landfill - most straws are non biodegradable. Do you throw yours in the recycling bin? And most are disposable which means that the majority of standard straws end up contributing to landfill.

There's a few other suggestions out there about causing excess wind in the stomach and contributing to certain types of cancer, but none of these are from recognised institutes or people and I had difficulty finding anything to substantiate these claims.

So there you have it.

Fine lines or rotten teeth...

YOU DECIDE!!

Rainbow Connection

This may seem a random post, but I've been playing the Weezer and Hayley Williams version of this song over and over today.

I have to admit I love this song and have ever since I first heard it as a child. There is something heart warming about it and for me personally it pays to remind me whatever life throws at us, we have to try to look up and forwards. Easier said than done at times I know. But if we let life's trials and tribulations get on top of us it is easy to find yourself on a downward spiral.

My advice (for what its worth) is when everything is going crap do something nice for someone else. I guarantee, whilst it may not solve any of your problems, it will make you feel better. It doesn't need to be anything huge or outlandish. A card or a letter to let someone know you thought about them that day, an unexpected hug, a small token of any sort, perhaps just provide a listening ear and some company. I bet if you thought about it right now you could bring to mind someone you know who could probably do with one of these things. In lifting someone else it is hard to stay down. It helps put life, and your own problems, in perspective.

"No act of kindness, no matter how small, is ever wasted."

In the words of the amazing Mr Jim Henson:

"When I was young, my ambition was to be one of the people who made a difference in this world. My hope still is to leave the world a  little bit better for my having been here. It's a wonderful life and I love it."

AND REMEMBER..

Whatever life throws at any of us we can still dream, wish upon stars and believe in that little bit of magic!!

Sweet dreams, folks x