Linds and Katie

How many times have you dropped one of your favourite powders and had a moment of panic, followed by praying to the heavens while picking it up that it wasn't shattered?😫🙏🏼
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Unlike a cracked phone screen, this is actually easily fixable! All you need is the powder crumbles, a small tool to mix, squish and flatten (we used the back of the nail file pictured... lol nothing fancy), the compact container and isopropyl alcohol (rubbing alcohol). Start with small amounts of rubbing alcohol (about a capful) and continue to mix it in until you form a paste. Flatten it out, leave it out overnight to dry and TA-DA, just like new!😍✨

The idea of only 3 meals per day is really just a social construct💭 – we sometimes eat 4 per day, or 2 with lots of snacking depending on our schedule🕒 Here are some healthy, packable snack ideas: 1) Hummus and vegetables, corn chips or pita 2) Yogurt or chia pudding, berries and granola 3) Avocado smash on seed crackers🥑 4) Trail mix (nuts, dried fruits, chocolate chips) 5) Celery and PB with raisins 6) Apples and PB🍎 7) Corn chips and salsa/guac 8) Baked edamame... all super filling and nutritious!!

Have you ever noticed how much plastic is used in our grocery stores? No really.. a plastic bag for every. single. piece of produce. Then plastic grocery bags to carry them out to the car. Not to mention plastic bags inside sealed cardboard boxes just for.. added protection?🤔 There are many ways to reduce plastic use while grocery shopping such as 1) Using reusable bags for carryout and produce🥬🥕🍅 2) Choosing more eco-friendly packaging i.e. cardboard and glass instead of plastic📦 3) Buying in bulk to reduce packaging and store food in containers at home 4) Plan more plant-based meals and pick produce that's not wrapped in plastic – you can wash them at home🧼

Going along with our recent chats about SAD, lack of sunlight in the winter and mental health... we want to emphasize the importance of EXERCISE. 🏃🏻‍♀️ A study by Vina et al. (2012) stated that exercise has such powerful psychological effects that they believe that it should be prescibed by a physician like a drug💊 Not only is exercise beneficial for physical health, reducing likelihood of developing a variety of disorders, but also for mental health🧠 Exercise releases endorphins that are linked with mood state changes, exercise-induced euphoria, altered pain perception and responses to stress hormones. Whether it's walking outside or hitting the gym, we encourage you add more exercise to your list of resolutions for the new year📝

Is that... a pimple... by my lip? Is it... oh no, not a cold sore. Cold sores are the WOAT😩 They last forever, they hurt, they're unsightly and best of all... everyone comments about you having HERPES🙅🏻‍♀️ Ugh. Anyone else just want to call in sick for the next two weeks? Fear not, we have a remedy that will stop the cold sore in its tracks: oregano oil! Yep, this anti-viral oil attacks the herpes simplex virus 1 🦠 (HSV1 aka cold sore virus), stopping the progression of the cold sore. Apply to the affected area with a cotton swab at least twice daily. It will sting upon application but we assure you this method is LINDS APPROVED✅ If it's too painful, dilute the oregano oil with a carrier oil like jojoba, olive or coconut oil. And remember, don't touch it or kiss anyone until it's completely gone!

Happy New Year! 💫💥🎊 While we take the time to reflect on how to become the "best version of ourselves" for 2019, we'd like to remind you to set *specific* goals to attain, as opposed to broader ones like "eat healthy". It'll make your goals much easier to stick to! 💪🏼 Dieting is often a target for the new year, but instead of cutting foods out, we urge you to replace or add foods in. Remember, the idea is to fuel your body with the good stuff🥬🍎🥑🥩🥕, not feel restricted and left with cravings🙅🏻‍♀️ Here are some ideas: 1) Eat one plant-based meal per day🌱 2) Replace one sugary food with a healthier alternative i.e. a cookie for a piece of dark chocolate🍫 3) Attend the farmers market once a month and ask the vendors their favourite ways to prepare their local veggies🍠🥦 4) Eat fruit with each breakfast🍊... Try to make your goals positive, "do this" statements as rules to follow as opposed to promoting restrictive behaviours.

Family gatherings, dinner parties.. who else is feeling a little stuffed this holiday season?🤰🏻 With so much yummy food around, it's hard to pass up a second plate🍽 But oftentimes, these group meals lead to lots of food leftover. Food waste is a huge issue in North America, with about 873lbs of food getting thrown out in Canada per year per person (915 lbs in the US), accoring to the Commission for Environmental Cooperation🗑 So how can we avoid this? 1) Bring your own containers to take home leftovers! 2) Compost uneaten food so it gets disposed of properly and doesn't contribute to GHG emissions. 3) Eat mindfully – our eyes are often bigger than our stomachs👀 You can always go back for more! 4) Donate edible leftover food (not scraps) to a local soup kitchen, but be sure to contact them beforehand to see if they can take what you're offering.

It's that time of year – temperatures are below freezing, there's barely any sunlight and everyone around you is coughing🥶 Your immune system is one bad sleep away from throwing in the towel. Luckily, there are some natural remedies that can help fend off those nasty bugs🦠 A study by Han et al. (2017) notes that oregano oil was traditionally used to treat fevers and respiratory symptoms, both of which are associated with the common flu😷 Oregano oil, although not super tasty, is anti-viral, antioxidant and anti-inflammatory. Rilau et al. (2011) found it to be beneficial against some human viruses in lab🧫 It can be taken orally in herbal oil form or by capsule. If you have a sensitive stomach, we recommend taking it with a meal and washing it down with water. Stay tuned for more uses of oregano oil!

Canadian winters, amirite? ☃️ Canadians, and some of our friends south of the border, can sometimes go weeks without seeing a single beam of sunlight during our coldest months🌚 We know that sunlight helps to boost serotonin (the mood-boosting hormone) in the brain and contributes to our circadian rhythms by stopping melatonin (the sleepy hormone) release when it's time for us to wake up. It also activates pre-vitamin D molecules to be converted into active vitamin D. But what do we do when there's no sunlight?⁣
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Enter vitamin D3 supplementation. High amounts of vitamin D are rarely found naturally in foods, mostly in salmon and tuna, but can otherwise be obtained by fortified foods such as milk, milk alternatives and orange juice🐟🥛🍊 The National Institute of Health suggests 15 micrograms (600 IU) of vitamin D for anyone under the age of 70, and 20mcg (800 IU) if you're over 70. ⁣
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If your diet just isn't cutting it, supplements are the way to go💊 Vitamin D is a fat-soluble vitamin so we recommend taking vitamin D oil drops with a fat-containing meal to maximize absorption and hit your daily requirement💯

With all of the talk of single-use plastics happening lately, have you ever thought about how your gift wrapping affects the planet?🌎 Wrapping paper, tape, bows, gift bags and tissue paper are all single-use products! One idea to reduce waste during the holiday season is to save your gift bags, tissue paper and gift wrap by using minimal tape and ripping. Another idea is to use already recycled products (like newspaper or old study notes) to wrap your gifts and decorating them with natural decorations (lemon peels, pine branches, pinecones)♻️🗞The possibilities are endless!

Seasonal affective disorder ("SAD") is a type of depression that presents itself with the changing of the seasons, most often in the wintertime when sunlight is minimal (Mayo Clinic 2017)🌚 Non-pharmaceutical therapies include light therapy (through exposure to natural light or mimicking this with a light therapy lamp), cognitive behavioural therapy and yoga/meditation💡🧘🏻‍♀️ Additional remedies such as brightening your environment (i.e. open the blinds!), getting outside and maintaining an exercise plan will also benefit your mood. We feel that it is especially important to have a variety of coping methods and tools at your disposal when coping with SAD, so don't be afraid to incorporate these into your self-care routines or in conjunction with anti-depressant medications💊🌞🏃🏻‍♀️

In the midst of the holiday season, we get very much caught up in the material items that we are giving and receiving. It can be stressful finding the PERFECT gift for someone. DIY is a way of saving money (depending how you go about it) and letting the person you're gifting the present to how much thought and effort that you put into their gift. It also cuts down on product packaging waste and plastic bags that come with buying a brand new item. Every year I like to pick one or two gifts that I can whip up for everyone on my list, and this year it was all about body care! This DIY body care set has two parts, a peppermint body scrub and peppermint body butter! Combined, this gift only requires 6 things: shea butter, coconut oil, sweet almond oil, peppermint essential oil, white sugar and mason jars! I found both recipes on Pinterest (there were so many to choose from, but all very similar!). Also, the jars can be reused by the recipient instead of tossed in the trash. 🙅🏻‍♀️ LESS THAN A WEEK TIL CHRISTMAS FOLKS! 🎅🏻🌲✨