Local Honey For Allergies?

It is starting to warm up out there! Who else suffers from springtime allergies? I do, and about right now I start to add local RAW honey to my diet. Not a lot up to a tablespoon a day to build up my defenses really. In all honesty, I notice a difference in my allergies when I add honey in my diet, but I have to start about 2 weeks before the hugs pollen explosion which is usually around the first week of April. You will have to determine if this works for you or not. (Remember not to feed honey to children under the age of 1 as it can be very harmful for them due to the bacteria that can be contained in it.)

Here's the sticky truth: 

Honey that is raw will still contain all the living enzymes needed to protect your body from a histamine overdose.

Any raw honey that is harvested nearby where the same sort of plants are blooming at roughly the same time can be considered local.

Raw, local honey only works on pollen allergies.

How to add honey to your everyday life? 

Add some honey to your cup of warm lemon in the morning. So it would be warm lemon and honey water. 

Try out the ENERGY BITES recipe because it uses honey! 

Just enjoy a good old PB & Honey sandwich every now and then.

Look for some recipes that call for honey in them. A quick and easy google search or Pinterest search will find them for you!

Want more daily motivation and inspiration? Click here get free advice, support and encouragement + a free copy of my Clean Eating guide to help you get started on your health and fitness journey! 

One Step Forward, or Crawl

Can I just say how much I love this saying...I LOVE THIS SAYING! Because it is so true! It doesn't matter if you tip toe, crawl or drag yourself in the right direction just make your way there! NOW! 

I have seen what one wrong choice after another after another and many more can do to you. It drags you down deeper and deeper. People lose faith in trust in you because of the choices and actions you make. Or you lose faith in yourself that you can actually do better or be better (yo-yo dieting, why start over again if it hasn't worked in the past?) Or you might want to get out of the huge pit you dug for yourself but don't know how to even start or which direction is even the right direction. Well as long as that direction is opposite to what you have been doing lately then it is more of a right direction than you have been in. The point is to GET MOVING into that direction.

If you decide today that you are done living your life how it is. Yo-yo dieting. Or tired of putting of starting a new workout for next week. Make that choice to just do it. Set a date that you are going to start your workout. And do it! Stop yo-yoing around and don't diet, change your lifestyle! Dieting has such a negative mindset to it. Decide you want to change how you look at food in the first place and do it. Stop doubting what you can truly accomplish what you put your mind to! Read books about foods or watch documentaries about clean eating. (see below)

If you need any help in clean eating. Let me know! Or finding a workout routine that actually fits your lifestyle so you stop putting it off. LET ME KNOW! You have to make that first move. That first step and I will help you drag yourself, crawl, tip toe or even run if you want but you have to make that choice that you are ready to change! 

Books: 

Primal Body, Primal Mind by Nora Gedgaudas

In Defense of Food by Michael Pollan

You Are A Badass by Jen Sincero

Documentaries: 

Forks over knives

Fed Up

Super Size me

Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead

How To Save Money With Food Storage

The other day, I decided to take a look into our deep freezer. I was on the search for breakfast burritos that I made a few months ago as a easy dinner night. Just a grab and go type of meal! When I opened up the top and looked into the mass of frozen foods and meals I was shocked to see what was in there. Chicken breasts, chicken tenders, a STEAK! Chicken pieces, bread from panara that was given to us, meals that were given to us when I was in the hospital. Nuts, veggies! I was shocked. I didn't even realize what food I had under my own roof!

My normal procedure before I go to the store is to look around upstairs in my kitchen where the mostly everyday used items are and see what needs replenshment, and what foods I am going to be making for the week. I check the freezer, oops out of chicken again, add it to the list. And so forth! But I had forgotten to check what I already had. BAD ME!

Again this happened last night. I knew we had cans of veggies and stuff but WE HAVE A LOT OF CANS! And I bought some corn at the store when I already had 6 down stairs, after closer inspection! So my solution: MAKE AN INVENTORY LIST! Neat concept huh! Why didn't I think of this earlier is all I keep saying because this has happened before. I send the hubs out at 6pm, "I need some taco seasoning we don't have any." 2 days later I go down and find 2 bags of it! EEK...Sorry babe!

So I finally made an inventory list! YEA! I am going to hang this in the inside of my pantry door so I will have everything at a glance. Having a food storage is a great thing, but you can't just hold onto everything forever. You have to rotate it through. You need to use it and buy more eventually, but for the mean time I am going to be saving lots of money not having to buy chicken for the next month I think. Yeah, I have that much chicken down there! CRAZY!

Now I can just cross off what I use or add more marks when I buy!

So here are tips on how to save money on food storage.

***Coupons, coupons, coupons! How do you think we got so many tomatoes! Watch the coupon sites to see when canned foods go on sale. Try to stock up on the actual coupons so that you can use more than one coupon at the same time. Know the difference between manufacturer coupons and the store coupons. They are different! Because you can use a manufacturer coupon on top of a store coupon on top of a sale! LOTS of money to be saved. Check out Krazy Coupon Lady to get the full details on how to use coupons, what coupons are out now and all the deets you need! This is how we have 23 cans of tomatoes! Oh and double/triple coupon sales too! Those are great!

***Store sales. Combining the coupons on top of sales helps you save even more money. So if you have a sale for 2 cans of beans for $.99 and a coupon for $.50 off then you are going to get 2 cans of beans for only $.50.

***Watch for bulk sales. At Harris Teeter they have a sale of 10 for $10. Which is a really great sale because it is usually mix and match. But add a coupon on top and save more money.

***Make sure that you rotate through your supply. It doesn't last forever so you can't just hoard it. So make sure that you buy what you use so that it isn't collecting dust. You are wasting money on it to buy it if you aren't going to use it, or eventually going to use it. Make sure it is something that you will use! (Believe it or not we had a whole lot more than the 23 cans of tomatoes! We use about 1-2 cans a week!)