Thursday, October 31, 2013
Wednesday, October 30, 2013
The Face or Body Dilemma
There comes a time in every woman's life (generally it occurs shortly after her 30th birthday), when she has to choose between her face or her body. As Lainey puts it, "as you age, you have a choice: stay a size 2 but look like a crypt keeper or go up a few sizes, preserve a pretty face, but concede that the ass might not be as perky." It's depressing and sexist, but kind of true. Just look at Claire Danes' transformation over the past year:
Sure, she's a lot skinnier now, but didn't she look great in the first picture (without her chest ribs showing)? That was right after she had her baby. Her face was full and glowing. Now...it's a little gaunt. And I think she's aged. Which look do you prefer?
A more extreme example is Demi Moore. The top picture is of Demi right before she went to rehab in 2011 (so yeah, there may have been more to her Skeletor face than just being too skinny). The bottom is of her in October of this year.
Doesn't she look great now? I'm sure she's had plenty of help from her plastic surgeon, but still. An extra ten pounds on her makes her look ten years younger.
At this point, I'm six months pregnant, so the choice has been made for me, at least for a while. And I'm really okay with it. I'd rather be healthy and have it show in my face than look great in a pair of skinny jeans. I'll just wear more dresses. And eat more chocolate.
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| 2012 Emmys |
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| 2013 Emmys |
A more extreme example is Demi Moore. The top picture is of Demi right before she went to rehab in 2011 (so yeah, there may have been more to her Skeletor face than just being too skinny). The bottom is of her in October of this year.
Doesn't she look great now? I'm sure she's had plenty of help from her plastic surgeon, but still. An extra ten pounds on her makes her look ten years younger.
At this point, I'm six months pregnant, so the choice has been made for me, at least for a while. And I'm really okay with it. I'd rather be healthy and have it show in my face than look great in a pair of skinny jeans. I'll just wear more dresses. And eat more chocolate.
Monday, October 28, 2013
The Best Pumpkin Muffins (and they're vegan!)
I have been meaning to post a link to this recipe for weeks now. We are big muffin lovers in my house. As soon as the thermometer hit below 90, it felt like a good time to make some pumpkin muffins. The BEST recipe I've found is this one. Seriously, even my dairy and egg loving husband has been scarfing these vegan muffins down. I've made two batches of them now, and they've both turned out amazing. Last weekend, C and I had a blast baking them together. I let her put the baking cups in the muffin tin, scoop the dry ingredients (with plenty of help), dump in the wet ingredients and stir everything together. I think she loved the muffins even more because she made them herself. :)
I made a few substitutions to the original recipe, and the muffins still turned out amazing. Here are the changes I made: (1) I used King Arthur's White Whole Wheat Flour instead of white flour; (2) I cut down the sugar to 1 cup (but I think I will try to reduce it to just 3/4 cup next time); (3) I used organic full-fat coconut milk instead of soy milk; and (4) I used maple syrup instead of molasses (I didn't have any molasses on hand). They turned out really light and moist, and the spices are perfect.
You should definitely try these soon!
I made a few substitutions to the original recipe, and the muffins still turned out amazing. Here are the changes I made: (1) I used King Arthur's White Whole Wheat Flour instead of white flour; (2) I cut down the sugar to 1 cup (but I think I will try to reduce it to just 3/4 cup next time); (3) I used organic full-fat coconut milk instead of soy milk; and (4) I used maple syrup instead of molasses (I didn't have any molasses on hand). They turned out really light and moist, and the spices are perfect.
You should definitely try these soon!
Tuesday, October 22, 2013
Dealing with Eczema
Eczema is no fun. We've been fighting my daughter's eczema battle since a couple of weeks after her birth. We first noticed an issue when she was about three weeks old. My beautiful baby's face suddenly broke out in baby acne, and she got angry red welts in all her chubby baby creases: behind her knees, in the crooks of her elbows, and under her sweet baby chin. Sometimes they would get so bad they would start oozing. It was horrible, she was uncomfortable, and I felt like the world's worst mother because I must be doing something awful to make her skin look like that.
Our pediatrician was a huge help. While he definitely wanted to prescribe her something to heal up the open wounds, he didn't want us to remain dependent on steroids to keep her skin clear. He gave us lots of really helpful suggestions, and we found a lot of other helpful advice from the Ask Dr. Sears website.
While C is always going to have sensitive skin (we refer to it as "crappy Irish skin" in my family), we have learned some tricks that make all the difference in terms of keeping her comfortable and rash free. Surprisingly, the most helpful things do not involve bleach baths or steroid creams.
1. Identify Food Allergies
Dr. Sears says that there are two distinct components of eczema: (1) food allergies and (2) dry, irritated skin. The first step for us was figuring out whether allergies were contributing to C's eczema. There are six common foods that make up nearly 90% of possible allergic foods: milk, egg, soy, peanuts, fish and wheat. I was breast-feeding C when we first realized there was a problem, so that meant that I had to eliminate certain foods from my diet. I was already hungry all the time and struggling to figure out what to eat, so I decided against doing a full elimination diet, and started with the most common allergen, which is dairy. I eliminated all "obvious" dairy from my diet. Basically, that meant I stopped eating ice cream, yogurt, cheese, and drinking milk, and I cut down on my cupcake habit and didn't butter my bread anymore. Eliminating obvious dairy in and of itself helped clear up 70% of her rash. Once she started eating solid foods, it was easier to identify the remainder of her allergies. It quickly became obvious that she couldn't have ANY dairy (even if it was cooked or baked into foods). I once gave her a piece of pancake and she erupted into angry red hives that covered her entire body. Scary stuff. We also figured out that she is sensitive to egg whites and peanuts, because she would immediately get a rash around her face after consuming them. By eliminating these foods, we've helped improve her eczema by leaps and bounds.
2. Probiotics
The next most helpful thing that we did we start giving C a probiotic every morning. We open the capsule and mix it into some apple sauce, and she eats it right up. We discovered this trick by accident, as her pediatrician recommended we give her a probiotic to help any digestive discomforts while she was on antibiotics for an ear infection. Her skin became almost perfect. At first we assumed it was the antibiotics, but quickly realized that it was the probiotic that was doing the trick for us. A couple of weeks ago, C was sick and had no appetite, so she didn't take her probiotic. Her skin broke out almost immediately, and cleared up again within a day or two once I started mixing it into some juice. We use Jarro Dophilus Allergen-Free formula, which we get from the refrigerated section of our health food store. They seem to be more potent than the Culturelle that you can find at the drug store, and the allergen-free formula is important for obvious reasons.
3. Laundry
One of the first things our pediatrician recommended we do to help C's irritated skin was to switch our laundry detergent. I had been using Dreft, the supposedly sensitive, deliciously baby-smelling detergent for all of her clothes. He told us to switch to fragrance-free EVERYTHING, especially laundry detergent, and add an extra rinse for any load with her clothes to make sure all the soap is removed. So we switched to free and clear detergents for all our family's laundry and even I noticed a big difference in terms of my (lack of) skin itchiness. For the record, I would not recommend Tide Free and Clear. For whatever reason, it is still really harsh. I really liked using the Martha Stewart Free & Clear detergent back when I was able to find it at Publix, then I switched to BioKleen Free & Clear (it was pretty cheap on Amazon) and Seventh Generation Free & Clear (not a bad price at Target). None of them work particularly well in terms of removing stains, but I've found that if I let C's stained clothes dry in the sun, that it tends to at least lighten the stains substantially, if not completely remove them. I also have learned that toddlers should not own any white clothing.
4. 100% Cotton and Flame Retardant Free Clothes
This one is really important. For some reason, clothing manufacturers seem to think that babies and toddlers are prone to spontaneously combusting into flames. That is the only reason I can think of that they put super harsh flame retardants in virtually all of their baby pajamas. I don't know about you, but if the only thing preventing my daughter from being consumed by flames is her pajamas, we've got bigger problems. If you look hard enough, you can find 100% cotton pajamas that do not contain flame retardants (Old Navy and Gap are our favorites). I also don't put C in any synthetic fibers...not even during the day. The cotton allows her skin to breathe, and is non-irritating.
5. Fragrance Free Shampoo & Body Wash
As conditioned as we are to love Johnson & Johnson's heavily fragranced baby shampoos, it's just not a good idea if your little one has sensitive skin. We tend to buy whatever fragrance-free baby shampoo is on sale...I've had good luck with Babyganics Extra Gentle/Fragrance Free line, as well as Earth Mama Angel Baby products. Although I typically love Aveeno, their baby shampoo, even the kind meant for eczema-prone skin, contains a pretty heavy fragrance that irritates C's sensitive skin.
6. Moisturize!!!
Okay, maybe this one belongs at the top of the list. One of the most important things you can do to prevent skin irritation it to keep your baby's skin constantly moisturized. At least twice per day, we cover C in Aveeno Baby Daily Moisturizing Lotion. It's fragrance-free and non-greasy, and is just a good, every day lotion.
Then, if she has any redder or more irritated spots, we'll top it with our secret weapon: L'Occitane Mom and Baby Balm. It is crazy-expensive, so we only use a little, but it seriously works miracles. It helps that it's 40% shea butter. It's also ranked a "0" on the EWG Cosmetic Database (0 being the best and least toxic).
I hope some of these tips help those of you unfortunate enough to be battling the eczema battle. Good luck!
Our pediatrician was a huge help. While he definitely wanted to prescribe her something to heal up the open wounds, he didn't want us to remain dependent on steroids to keep her skin clear. He gave us lots of really helpful suggestions, and we found a lot of other helpful advice from the Ask Dr. Sears website.
While C is always going to have sensitive skin (we refer to it as "crappy Irish skin" in my family), we have learned some tricks that make all the difference in terms of keeping her comfortable and rash free. Surprisingly, the most helpful things do not involve bleach baths or steroid creams.
1. Identify Food Allergies
Dr. Sears says that there are two distinct components of eczema: (1) food allergies and (2) dry, irritated skin. The first step for us was figuring out whether allergies were contributing to C's eczema. There are six common foods that make up nearly 90% of possible allergic foods: milk, egg, soy, peanuts, fish and wheat. I was breast-feeding C when we first realized there was a problem, so that meant that I had to eliminate certain foods from my diet. I was already hungry all the time and struggling to figure out what to eat, so I decided against doing a full elimination diet, and started with the most common allergen, which is dairy. I eliminated all "obvious" dairy from my diet. Basically, that meant I stopped eating ice cream, yogurt, cheese, and drinking milk, and I cut down on my cupcake habit and didn't butter my bread anymore. Eliminating obvious dairy in and of itself helped clear up 70% of her rash. Once she started eating solid foods, it was easier to identify the remainder of her allergies. It quickly became obvious that she couldn't have ANY dairy (even if it was cooked or baked into foods). I once gave her a piece of pancake and she erupted into angry red hives that covered her entire body. Scary stuff. We also figured out that she is sensitive to egg whites and peanuts, because she would immediately get a rash around her face after consuming them. By eliminating these foods, we've helped improve her eczema by leaps and bounds.
2. Probiotics
The next most helpful thing that we did we start giving C a probiotic every morning. We open the capsule and mix it into some apple sauce, and she eats it right up. We discovered this trick by accident, as her pediatrician recommended we give her a probiotic to help any digestive discomforts while she was on antibiotics for an ear infection. Her skin became almost perfect. At first we assumed it was the antibiotics, but quickly realized that it was the probiotic that was doing the trick for us. A couple of weeks ago, C was sick and had no appetite, so she didn't take her probiotic. Her skin broke out almost immediately, and cleared up again within a day or two once I started mixing it into some juice. We use Jarro Dophilus Allergen-Free formula, which we get from the refrigerated section of our health food store. They seem to be more potent than the Culturelle that you can find at the drug store, and the allergen-free formula is important for obvious reasons.
3. Laundry
One of the first things our pediatrician recommended we do to help C's irritated skin was to switch our laundry detergent. I had been using Dreft, the supposedly sensitive, deliciously baby-smelling detergent for all of her clothes. He told us to switch to fragrance-free EVERYTHING, especially laundry detergent, and add an extra rinse for any load with her clothes to make sure all the soap is removed. So we switched to free and clear detergents for all our family's laundry and even I noticed a big difference in terms of my (lack of) skin itchiness. For the record, I would not recommend Tide Free and Clear. For whatever reason, it is still really harsh. I really liked using the Martha Stewart Free & Clear detergent back when I was able to find it at Publix, then I switched to BioKleen Free & Clear (it was pretty cheap on Amazon) and Seventh Generation Free & Clear (not a bad price at Target). None of them work particularly well in terms of removing stains, but I've found that if I let C's stained clothes dry in the sun, that it tends to at least lighten the stains substantially, if not completely remove them. I also have learned that toddlers should not own any white clothing.
4. 100% Cotton and Flame Retardant Free Clothes
This one is really important. For some reason, clothing manufacturers seem to think that babies and toddlers are prone to spontaneously combusting into flames. That is the only reason I can think of that they put super harsh flame retardants in virtually all of their baby pajamas. I don't know about you, but if the only thing preventing my daughter from being consumed by flames is her pajamas, we've got bigger problems. If you look hard enough, you can find 100% cotton pajamas that do not contain flame retardants (Old Navy and Gap are our favorites). I also don't put C in any synthetic fibers...not even during the day. The cotton allows her skin to breathe, and is non-irritating.
5. Fragrance Free Shampoo & Body Wash
As conditioned as we are to love Johnson & Johnson's heavily fragranced baby shampoos, it's just not a good idea if your little one has sensitive skin. We tend to buy whatever fragrance-free baby shampoo is on sale...I've had good luck with Babyganics Extra Gentle/Fragrance Free line, as well as Earth Mama Angel Baby products. Although I typically love Aveeno, their baby shampoo, even the kind meant for eczema-prone skin, contains a pretty heavy fragrance that irritates C's sensitive skin.
6. Moisturize!!!
Okay, maybe this one belongs at the top of the list. One of the most important things you can do to prevent skin irritation it to keep your baby's skin constantly moisturized. At least twice per day, we cover C in Aveeno Baby Daily Moisturizing Lotion. It's fragrance-free and non-greasy, and is just a good, every day lotion.
Then, if she has any redder or more irritated spots, we'll top it with our secret weapon: L'Occitane Mom and Baby Balm. It is crazy-expensive, so we only use a little, but it seriously works miracles. It helps that it's 40% shea butter. It's also ranked a "0" on the EWG Cosmetic Database (0 being the best and least toxic).
I hope some of these tips help those of you unfortunate enough to be battling the eczema battle. Good luck!
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