Cheap Ways To Lose Weight

There are non profit organizations out there that do want to support people in healthy lifestyles. You don’t need expensive programs to loose weight but you do need support. The two programs I found out about are TOPs (Taking Off Pounds Sensibly) and Champs which is run by The Canadian Diabetic Association. Both of these programs are under 100$ a year to join. They both have weigh in and support meetings which are educational in nature. I choose to go to the Champs meeting just because both my little ones are in school on that day. There is also Overeaters Anonymous which is a 12 step program based on Alcoholics Anonymous. There were not any OA meetings in my area but I do see that eating for some of us is like a drug, well at least chocolate is for me.

There is also some amazing free online support for losing weight my favorite site is You On A Diet this site is amazing register and you can have daily healthy eating tips sent to your e-mail addy also there are lifestyle questionnaires that you can fill out to determine your real age. There are also customizable meal plans that give you the shopping list for what you will need for a weeks worth of food. Also the forum is there if you can’t get out to a support meeting for losing weight.

Yoga has been a huge help to me over the last year, I feel that I have gained back a lot of strength from doing yoga not to mention some peace of mind. I started by using the video, ‘Yoga For Dumbies’ presented by Sarah Ivanhoe you can take it out from your public library an good online source for yoga poses and information is the ‘Yoga Journal.’ The best thing next to eating healthy that you can do for your health is to walk. There is so much evidence to support walking as one of the safest and most effective way to get exercise.

The phrase “Walking is man’s best medicine,” allegedly spoken by Hippocrates two millennia ago, is even more timely today. This fact is particularly true in industrialized societies where new technologies have not only changed the way we work but, even more profoundly, have also affected our life styles by reducing the physical effort of most of our daily activities . Source

Walking is great it’s free you only have to do 30 minutes a day so really there is no excuse not to do it I know when I get into the routine of walking I lose weight and feel so much stronger. I like walking to because it can be social if you are in the mood for that. Or you can do it by yourself. The same is true for yoga. It’s nice to know there are cheap and free supports out there for those of us that are trying to lose weight and live a healthier lifestyle.

Sveinson Family Productions Presents

Family fun night went off with out a hitch. We all had a very good time. Evamae and Henry got dressed up and did a little performance to the poem, “Singa Songa.” That was very easy for them to do, I read out the poem they preformed the actions to it. Then they put on an improvisational puppet show with Justin. They had spent time early that day making puppets out of brown paper lunch bags, pom poms, crayons and yarn. We tipped over a table so the kids could sit behind it to preform the puppet show. Our living room is sunken so we used the dining room as a stage and put some string up and hung some sheets across it to make our stage curtains. We were able to make do with stuff we had to pull off a decent stage.

The kids also did a dance to the song, Magic Bus by the Who, which worked out well because they could pretend to be driving a bus and honking the horn. At the end Les, I and Justin did a skit for the them. It’s one I adapted from a camp fire skit.  I gave Henry and Evamae spray bottles with settings set to mist. I told this story. “This is how you make a fire, you have to start with the smallest log. (Justin lies down in the middle of the floor). Then you add a bigger log (I lie down over top of Justin). Then you put on the biggest log (Les was lying on top of me and Justin). The Justin screams out “fire!!!” Then Les and I do as well, then the kids are allowed to squirt us with their spray bottles. They were laughing their heads off as they sprayed us all and so did we!

We dragged out our mattresses into the living room lit our fire place and we watched the movie Underdog and ate pop corn. It was a fun night at home for all of us. Les even wants to make it a monthly event. I can’t wait to do it again. It’s a fun way to bond with the family.

An Evening At Home With The Kids; Cheap Fun

There are so many ways to have cheap fun. This weekend my husband has off and my oldest son will be coming to visit. We our going to set up a make shift tent in our living room, light a fire in our fire place and sleep with the kids in sleeping bags and make believe we our camping we’ve told them about it and they are very excited. We’ll pop, pop corn, roast marshmellows in the fire, tell scary stories and play around. The kids have some dress up clothes so I think we will start the fun early and start rehearsing for a play. I was thinking of choosing a Mother Goose Rhyme to reenact.

I’m going to make a cracker/cheese fruit plate, we’ll have popcorn and rice crispy squares to snack on too. That should be enough I have to undo the button on my pants just writing about it. I know my daughter will love to sing and dance for us too. They are so sweet at this age, really they have the most fun when they get to just play with us. I think that makes them happier then all the cheap plastic toys, we’ve felt compelled to buy in the past.

I think my husband and I should do a skit to, now lets see if I can motivate him to join in? I’m sure he will but it’s not something he’d think of that’s for sure. Fun fun fun at the Sveinson’s House this weekend.

The Cheapest Deoderent Ever

You have probably seen them and wondered if they worked. Those crystal deodorant rocks. Well they do work and they last for ever I’ve been using mine for over a year now. This is how they work.

The Crystal deodorants are composed of mineral salts which form a topical layer on the skin, creating an environment impossible for bacteria to thrive. They eliminate the odor-causing bacteria and therefore prevent body odor.

How is that different from mainstream deodorants? Most deodorants mask body odor with a perfumed scent, contain alcohol to shrink pores, or aluminum chlorohydrate/aluminum zirconium. These compounds enter the pores and physically block or clog them to reduce the flow of perspiration. In essence, they inhibit the body’s natural expulsion of toxins. (source)

I was talking to a friend the other day who said that her crystal deodorant was working fine fine at first but started to absorb the smell of her under arms. Yuk! but I had noticed that too personally and had found a remedy for it.

The first thing you have to remember when applying the deodorant is make sure your arm pits have just been cleaned. I know a lot of Mom’s might not have time to shower in the morning but for the rocks to remain odorless they have to go on clean underarms.

When you buy your deodorant, buy a little vile of aromatherapy oil. Choose an aromatherapy oil that can be applied neat onto the skin. Lavender oil and tea tree are the most common. I use the lavender myself. The nice thing about lavender and tea tree is they can be used around the house for other things. Like in your bath water. Or put into a atomizer and spritzed into the air to make it smell cleaner.

What I do is take of the lid of the crystal and saturate the top of the crystal and let it dry over night. I wouldn’t use any more then 8 drops max. You probably don’t need to let it dry that long I imagine the salt sucks it right up. But I just do it that way.

I’ve not had a smelly crystal ever since I’ve done that. Six months after the first application of the oil I did the same thing again. Not because the crystal was smelly but because I just want a bit of a stronger smell. I love the smell of lavender.

For $6.99 and how ever much 8 drops of oil cost me–The bottle of Lavender cost me $12. I have deodorant that I’ve been using for over a year. It ends up costing about .58 a day. Not bad at all, and I use so little of the aromatherapy oil it last about six months.

*Aromatherapy oil is very concentrated it’s important you look up the oil and make sure it can be applied neat to the skin. Some of the oils can burn if you if you apply them neat. A little goes a very long way.

Thumbs Down on the Baking Soda/ Borax combo

I’m sorry to report that over the long haul the borax and baking soda mixture was not working out. The dishes were always covered with a white film.We even tried another environmentally powdered cleaner and it did the same thing. I actually had to clean out the inside of my dishwasher because there was a build up of powder. I don’t want to damage my fairly new dishwasher. I’ve been able to find a liquid one home made recipe. I’ll try “Seventh Generation’s” liquid dishwashing detergent.

I think the main problem is that our water is just to hard for this solution. I’m sure people who live where the water is softer good definitely use this. I’m a little disappointed this would of been a very cheap alternative.

Baking Soda and Borax Dishwashing Detergent

We have officially run out of dishwashing detergent! The first experiment begins: I mixed up some borax and baking soda 1:1 and filled up the pre-wash and wash slots, the topped of the rinse bin with vinegar. Mixing the powders was quick and easy. No complaints about making it. I’ve never used borax before—it’s similar-looking to baking soda but more granular. It doesn’t really have a smell either. Recently a woman on Oprah said, “clean, doesn’t have a smell.” I liked that and think it’s true, or at least should be true.

Well, the dishes did come out clean but they did have a bit of a white film on them. I just used a clean dishtowel and wiped away the film. I’m not sure if this means I should use more baking soda, because my water is a little hard, or maybe I used too much powder altogether. Next time I won’t fill the pre-wash slot. At least I know it’s not toxic.

Our dishwasher is only a few months old, and I was using an environmentally friendly dishwashing detergent before I tried the baking soda and borax. I had noticed that the dishwasher door had a bit of a discolouring. I’m thinking it might have come from the fact that we eat a lot of pasta and tomato sauce. Maybe some of the oils from the sauces have discoloured it? I have no idea, but it was a little brighter after using the homemade solution I mixed up today.

I would rate this attempt at switching over to an economical cleaner about 6/10—because my dishes in the end were very clean and wiping of the film was a bit time-consuming. But well worth it considering how cheaply I can buy the ingredients for this homemade dishwashing detergent. I’ll keep playing around with the amounts and post on this blog when I find out what works perfectly for me.

If I Had My Life To Live Over by Erma Bombeck

The following was written by the late Erma Bombeck
after she found out that she had cancer.

If I had my life to live over, I would have talked less and listened more.

I would have invited friends over to dinner even if the carpet was stained and the sofa faded.

I would have eaten the popcorn in the ‘good’ living room and worried much less about the dirt when someone wanted to light a fire in the fireplace.

I would have taken the time to listen to my grandfather ramble about his youth.

I would never have insisted the car windows be rolled up on a summer day because my hair had just been teased and sprayed.

I would have burned the pink candle sculpted like a rose before it melted in storage.

I would have sat on the lawn with my children and not worried about grass stains.

I would have cried and laughed less while watching television – and more while watching life.

I would have shared more of the responsibility carried by my husband.

I would have gone to bed when I was sick instead of pretending the earth would go into a holding pattern if I weren’t there for the day.

I would never have bought anything just because it was practical, wouldn’t show soil or was guaranteed to last a lifetime.

Instead of wishing away nine months of pregnancy, I’d have cherished every moment and realized that the wonderment growing inside me was the only chance in life to assist God in a miracle.

When my kids kissed me impetuously, I would never have said, “Later. Now go get washed up for dinner.”

There would have been more “I love you’s”.. More “I’m sorrys” …

But mostly, given another shot at life, I would seize every minute… look at it and really see it … live it…and never give it back.

Yikes! Am I Going To Be Doomed To Have Bad Hair Days For A Year.

I know it’s superficial and I’m being vain, but really it’s out of pragmatism. My hair is very long and fine. I can only untangle it in the shower with gobs of conditioner slicking it up—even then it can be hard to get a comb through it. I’ve read that eggs are good for moisturising your hair but that’s not practical to do every other day.

I had a hairdresser tell me once that you should only wash your hair a few times a week. Cutting back to every other day seems doable but more then that? I don’t think so. I’ll be spending some time online tonight trying to find some good recipes for home made shampoo/conditioners. The pioneer site looks like it has some good information on it about hair care.

Obsessing about my conditioner running out is one thing—but what is going to be gone first is the dish washing detergent. I did find a recipe here. “Part borax and part washing soda, add vinegar in the rinse compartment if you have hard water.” Sounds easy enough, but we do have hard water so I was thinking we couldn’t make do with a homemade dish washing detergent, but I guess I should give it a try.

I don’t know why but I feel so out of sorts. I guess part of it is a change in routine. Shopping, searching, wandering around the store thinking should I try this product or that is something I actually enjoy. I zone out when I shop—it’s almost meditative for me until I pull out my debit card and pay for it. Then it hurts. I’m probably not the only one that finds shopping this way. I think that’s why I named the blog StopShopping because I do realise it’s an addiction on some level. Maybe addiction is not quite the right word for it but it seems to provide me with a type of stimulus that seems to be unnatural.

The Beginning

It was amusing to me when Les and I were talking about our plans for the new year I feel like I need to immediately run out and buy vast quantities of vinegar and baking soda for cleaning. For now though we are just going to use up the products we have. I keep having to remind myself to stop shopping. Such a shopaholic it’s pathetic.

This New Year’s resolution should be good for us but also a challenge. We’ve never done anything quite like this before. Using vinegar and water when you’ve run out of Windex is one thing but to completely abandon the brands that you’ve grown up with is–well something else.

It’s amusing to think that I could go through some type of brand with drawl (is that possible?).

There will be a few commercial made items that we will continue to buy laundry detergent and dish-washing detergent and tooth paste. The rest of it will be very simple. I know how to make soap so I’m thinking of finding a recipe and making us a bunch of soap, but we really don’t even need to do that. Baking soda and in the bath water is great keeps your skin nice and soft or just adding some aromatherapy oil can be nice too.

For the kids in the past I’ve put some oatmeal in old stockings and let them wash with that. It can last for a few days and is very gentle on their skin. One thing I’m worried about though is my hair once my shampoo & conditioner runs out I’m a little scared my hair can become very tangled and hard to brush out.

I guess for the kitchen floors I’ll just use vinegar and water. Over the next will I think I will be doing my fare share of google searches on homemade cleaners. Apparently hydrogen peroxide makes an excellent sanitizer my husband says they’ve started to use it exclusively at work.

Les/Henry/Evamae