I love oatmeal! I love eating it all year long, but there's something about Fall, that makes it taste even yummier. I love this time of year, but even the crisp cold air can take it's toll on our skin. Did you know that oatmeal isn't just for breakfast anymore? It is great for your skin as well, and has become the latest skincare ingredient used by many women today.

Oatmeal is full of phytonutrients and antioxidants, that can actually help the healing process of your body, skin, and will keep you glowing and looking youthful. Oatmeal is also great for treating acne, itchy skin rashes like poison ivy. 

When oatmeal is ground up, it can be used as a great and natural exfoliator. 

Here is an amazing and inexpensive way to start giving your skin some love this fall, right in the comfort of your own home. Forget the beauty counter and make your own oatmeal skincare treatment. 

2 tbsp. of Rolled oats
1 1/2 tsp. of cornmeal
1 tbsp. of honey
1/2 an apple (peeled and cut in chunks)

HOW TO: Mash the oats, cornmeal, and honey into a thick paste with a fork. Combine with the apple pieces in a food processor or blender until it is smooth. Apply in a circular motion on your face and then let it sit for about 20 minutes. Rinse with warm water and pat dry.

The juice from the apples help to tighten and tone your skin, while the honey (which contains natural anti-microbial properties) and oatmeal work together to calm irritated and inflamed skin.


What are some of your favorite, natural skin treatments?

Anxious: full of mental distress or uneasiness because of fear of danger or misfortune; earnestly desirous or eager.

I know I’ve read Philippians 4:6 at least a thousand times before; “Be anxious for nothing; but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.” It wasn’t until recently, when I was going through a situation at work and felt anxiety setting in, that I sought to really study and understand this scripture. 

The situation causing the anxiety was a negative one; I was unsure of what the outcome would be and worried about a thousand different things that could go wrong. Now, it wasn’t a very significant situation, but it was enough to cause anxiety.  For at least three days I was on edge; I was short-tempered, fidgeting all the time, and staying up later than usual - just letting my mind wander. I would wake up early and pray about the situation. Each morning, my prayer would sound something like “Lord I just lay this situation at your feet…let your will be done…” I would get off my face before the Lord…and the anxiety was still there. What was I doing wrong?

As I really began to study Philippians 4:6 I learned a few things about anxiety:

Anxiety can be caused by something negative. Ok, so this isn’t exactly breaking news. Nine times out of ten, when someone mentions anxiety we automatically think of something negative. My background in psychology tells me that anxiety is normal. It helps us to focus and weigh consequences and yada, yada, yada. 

Look again at the definition of anxiety at the beginning of this post. “Full of mental distress or uneasiness…” I don’t know about you, but there is nothing appealing or normal about being full of mental distress! The world tells us that anxiety is there to protect us, to warn us and by definition to fill us. But the Word of God tells us to be filled with the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is designed to protect us and to warn us, not anxiety.
Anxiety can be caused by something positive. The second part of the definition of anxiety tells us that anxiety also means being earnestly desirous or eager. I love a good definition so in reading this, I had to look up the words earnest and eager.

Earnest: marked by or showing deep sincerity or seriousness; of an important or weighty nature; grave.
Eager: impatient expectancy.

What do you desire earnestly? What are you eager for? What next phase or blessing or event are you anticipating so much that without even realizing it, you’ve become anxious about it? 

Is it marriage?

Having children?

Buying a new car?

Graduating college?

Getting that promotion?

Hear me; there is nothing wrong with looking forward to the future.  However, when we are so focused on the future that we ignore our current season…when we become so eager and earnestly desirous for our next, that we ignore our now…that’s anxiety friends.

Anxiety, whether it is caused by something negative or something positive, is a trap. When anxiety sets in we are no longer focused on the task at hand. If we’re anxious over something negative, we can’t focus or think straight. Our minds are leading us down a slippery path that gets steeper the more we dwell on the situation. If we’re anxious over something positive, we ignore our current blessings. We miss opportunities to grow in our current season and become discontent with what we have; where we are and who are we. We develop a case of the “gimmes” and begin telling God, “gimme my blessing now, I’ve waited long enough.”

Anxiety, be it positive or negative, is a trap. It is designed to attack our faith in God. Anxiety is our way of telling God that we don’t trust Him. By being anxious, we are telling God our situation is bigger than Him. By being anxious, we are telling God that His timing is not perfect.

Philippians 4:6 urges us to be anxious for nothing but to bring our requests to God in thanksgiving. Ever looked up the definition of thanksgiving? Thanksgiving means an expression of gratitude. When you feel anxiety settling in, stop everything. Go to God in prayer and most importantly in gratitude. What are you grateful for? Be grateful that you serve a God who fights your battles (2 Chronicles 20:15), be grateful that you serve a God whose timing is perfect (Isaiah 55:9).

I’ve been asking myself this question daily for the past few days and I’ll ask it of you too; do you trust God enough to trust Him?

I had my first child at the ripe age of 17. Yet, I still made sure to read up on How to books and openly excepted advice from the more seasoned moms. One thing I can say is not too many pregnant teen moms gave breast feeding a single thought. Some cringed at the thought. I, on the other hand, was so thrilled that I became one of the youngest breast feeding Advocates for my local  W.I.C Clinic. My other kids are bigger now, but I still advocate and am always raving about the benefits of breast feeding.

Breast milk is not only the best way to feed your newborn, but it also has the ability to heal and protect the body. I'm not talking about just your baby's body, but also yours and your older children.  I did a little research and gathered some useful information on the basic ways to use breast milk to cure some of the most common ailments. 

Pink Eye: Breast milk has the ability to treat and cure eye infections such as Pink Eye. All you need to do is to squirt the milk into the infected eyes. You should do this frequently as possible until the eye is completely healed. If you were treating your infant's eyes for Pink Eye, the best result would be to wait until the baby is asleep. Some babies can be treated while awake, however, it may be little difficult. You should squirt the milk around the crease of the closed eye and then gently lift the eyelids and allow all of the breast milk to seep into the closed eye.

Sore Cracked Nipples: Many new mommies experience the pain and discomfort of sore cracked nipples from breastfeeding their newborn. Creams and oils can work wonders, however, the best medicine lies right inside of the breast. Breast milk can be rubbed around the sore areas of the nipples after feeding and then left out to briefly air dry.

Mosquito and Ant Bites: Breast milk is a sterile disinfecting concoction; so placing the substance on insect bites can actually work wonders. You should squirt a little milk on the bites and rub in thoroughly. This will help to stop the itching that may be caused by the insect bite.

Acne/Eczema/Diaper rash: Breast milk can help to clear up these nasty skin disorders. All you need to do is to wash the infected area of the skin with clean water, and then you can apply the breast milk all over the infected area. You should then let the milk air-dry.

Facial Cleanser: Breast milk holds the ability to clean the skin very well. You should apply the breast milk on the face and wipe it clean. Believe it or not, breast milk can remove eye makeup.

Sore Throat and Mouth Sores: You should breast feed your baby if their throat becomes sore. If you get a canker sore you can swish a little breast milk around in your mouth for several seconds. This will help to heal the infection.

Immunity Boost: If your older children are getting sick or they just need a little pick me up, you can give them breast milk in order to boost their immune system.

Scratches, Burns, and Scrapes: These can all be treated with breast milk. You just have to squirt and rub breast milk on the infected area. Then you let the area air-dry and then bandage as normal.

Contact Lenses: For people who wear contacts, running out of solution during dyer moments can be one of the most frustrating and eye painful situations. Remember, breast milk is a sterile substance, so you can use the milk the same as you would solution for your dry contacts or to clean them.

Eye Puffiness and Redness: You can squirt breast milk into the eye to cure puffiness and redness.

Chicken Pox: You can use breast milk to help ease the pain of itching by using the same as you would Calamine Lotion or any other ointment.

Chapped lips/skin: All you have to do is express a small amount of breast milk onto the fingers and wipe over the lips/skin. Do not rub the milk in; you should leave the area a little wet.

Let's agree that we won't use the "d" word around here, you know the one... diet. It's not that diet is a bad word by definition, in fact a diet is simply "the kinds of food that a person, animal, or community habitually eats". However, the connotations behind the word diet have been skewed beyond repair.

When you hear the word diet you think of calorie counting, deprivation, and the dreaded "yo-yo syndrome" where you lose ten pounds one week, then gain fifteen the next week. Healthy eating has nothing to do with these three concepts.

Here are my three easy tips to get you eating healthy and feeling fabulous:

1. Eat whole, unprocessed foods as close to their natural state as possible: The easiest way to get healthy to is to eat straight from nature as often as possible. The foods that make you feel sluggish and dull are the foods that have been so heavily processed that they have lost almost all of their nutritional value. Tip: an easy way to make sure you're getting your adequate share of nutrients from whole foods is to eat colorfully, eating foods of many colors is a surprisingly easy way to ensure you're getting all of your daily nutrients. For more information about eating whole foods check out Forks Over Knives.  
2. Know your portions: Even if you're eating healthy foods, not knowing your portions is the easiest way to get off track. The average portion size in America is often 3 to 4 times what is should be, causing you to eat extra calories by eating extra servings. Check out the Mayo Clinic's guide to portion control here.  
3. Know your stats: It's hard to get your eating habits under control if you don't know exactly how much "fuel" your body needs to run. You know exactly how much gas your car needs to run, and the same should go for your body. By using a simple, yet comprehensive BMI (Body Mass Index) calculator like this one from WebMD, you can easily calculate your personal healthy body weight and the number of calories you need to maintain yourself on a daily basis. Remember calorie counting is not the be all end all of healthy living, but it is important to know roughly how many calories you are consuming a day to make sure you're not overfilling your tank. 

There you have it, three easy ways to get started on healthy living, it's a piece of cake... or should I say carrot? 

What are your favorite whole foods to eat? Are you a fruits or veggies person?