Beefy Cosmetics

Beef, it's what for dinner. We have all heard this phrase coined by the national beef industry. For many of us, beef is what's for dinner on a regular basis. After all, what's better than a big juicy burger or perfectly cooked peppered encrusted steak (with a side of white cheddar mashers....). Can dinner get much better?

While you are probably thinking I am headed down a path to lecture you on the benefits of being vegan- that is far from my agenda. While Americans consume millions of pounds of meat per year, I am more concerned with what happens to the parts of the animal we don't consume. The dead carcasses of slaughterhouse animals and euthanized Humane Society rejects get sent away to a plant where they are boiled down. As the remains of the animals simmers like chicken noodle soup, a white fatty layer rises to the top where it's scraped off and added to the lovely smelling lotion you slather all over your body or the "all natural" shampoo you rely on for shiny and bouncy hair. SICK! Think your $80 Lancome or Estee Lauder creams are exempt from the cheap filler- think again. Even the Body Shop, advertising no animal testing, still uses animal fillers in their products.

Why is bad to cover your body with dead animal nastiness? Well, it's disgusting for starters. But aside from the obvious, many can actually do more harm than good. Collagen, for example, covers the skin in a layer of petroleum or another heavy oil that forms a water impenetrable barrier. This gives a temporary appearance of plumpness by slowing the release of moisture from the skin.It also puts a layer over your skin which does not allow it to breathe properly, causing breakouts, wrinkles, and irritation.

Go grab your products and look for the following: Stearamide, Stearamine, Stearates, Stearic Hydrazide, Stearone, Stearoxytrimethylsilane, Stearoyl Lactylic Acid, Stearyl Betaine or Stearyl Imidazoline, Sodium Tallowate, Tallow Acid, Tallow Amide, Tallow Amine, Talloweth-6, Tallow Glycerides or Tallow Imidazoline to name a few.


So how do you get around this? Look for labels that are free from animal testing and animal by-products: Aveda, Burt's Bee's, Annie's Organics, and Arbonne are just a few of the brands that don't believe road kill belongs in cosmetics.

So keep eating that steak- just stop wearing it!

Junk Food Addict

Junk Food Addict- Copied from the Healthy Bitch Daily

Is Krispy Kreme the New Cocaine?




When Lay’s potato chips bet ya that you couldn’t eat just one, they weren’t kidding.

Studies have shown that there is a strong similarity between a cocaine addiction and those overpowering cravings for junk food.

Yes, we’re talking about the heavy stuff. Nose candy. The White Lady. California cornflakes. Whatever absurd little nickname you have for it, it’s not far off from the built-in neurological response that makes us eat certain combinations of food - especially salt, fat and sugar - even when we feel full.

What’s the difference between drugs and cheesecake?

Maybe not that much, according to a study published in Nature Neuroscience. Researchers showed that junk food and drugs have some similar effects on the brain. For example, rats fed a constant diet of HoHos, bacon, cheesecake and frosting, sought out their junk food fix even when it meant enduring a painful shock. So much for Pavlov’s dog…Ouchie.

In addition, the pleasure centers in the rats’ brains became sluggish after they got used to the endless supply of crappy food. They needed bigger and bigger doses to get the same good feelings (just like a drug addict).

Irrational and obsessed

Let’s get technical for a second. Frequent junk food binges actually rewire brain circuitry. In fact, neurobiologist associate Professor Paul Kenny from the Scripps Research Institute in Florida, says overeating junk food can lead to a compulsive habit, one that is beyond your control. Another theory suggests that there could be something in the accumulated fat itself that alters the brain's reward threshold, setting up a "vicious cycle" of overeating yet not feeling satisfied.

No matter the reason why and how the brain reacts to junk food, the end result is addiction and weight gain. Not pretty for bitches who are trying to get skinny.

So do yourself a little favor and don’t even tempt yourself by bringing the Cheetos into the home…even if you claim it’s for someone else (big, fat liar). Pick up a bag of raw kale chips instead.

A New Adventure

It has been some time since I have posted to this site. What can I say- life changed, one adventure ended, and the new one was not interesting enough to write about..... or so I thought.

I have been working in healthcare on and off for some time now. While in Argentina, I did take Anatomy and Physiology and Microbiology and ran a marathon - which got me thinking..... at first a little bit...... and then quite a bit more. About what? Well, I began to think more about what I put into my body and how it was processed. I could see a huge difference in my running abilities when I ate lots of fruits and veggies (unfortunately, staying away from gelatto was quite difficult). And more recently, I have been thinking quite a bit about what goes on my body. I'm not talking cotton tee shirts and jeans here. I'm talkng about lotions, makeup, cleaning products, etc..... Afterall, the skin is the largest organ on the body and transports everything on it into it. Yet everday, most people slather, spray, paint,wipe and gloss their bodies with thousands of chemicals. Chemicals we trust to be safe. Afterall- the FDA has our backs and would never let harmful items onto the shelves of grocery stores....

It's a nice fantasy to think the FDA has our backs. I am learning quite the opposite. And as I embark on this new adventure of health and wellness, I warn you that the stories might lack the same humor of Argentine tales, but they are stories that need to be told to the ones I hold most dear- friends and family. I hope you will join me as I explore this new territory and spread the world to all those you care about as well.

Hold on tight though- this wild ride is going to blow your socks off. To begin within the next few days.....