10 Things You Need After a Hysterectomy

I had an abdominal hysterectomy on Valentine's Day. The recovery time for the surgery is six weeks consisting of a few nights in the hospital and then resting at home. I wasn't in much pain by the time I left the hospital, but I couldn't just go back to life as usual. Here are a few things that helped me feel more comfortable during recovery from surgery.

Maternity Panties: Your tummy is going to swell a lot. Plus, I found that the elastic waistband of my normal bikini briefs hit exactly at the incision spot, making them impossible to wear. Ask your nurse to hook you up with extra pairs of the mesh maternity panties before you are discharged. (You can also buy more mesh panties on Amazon.) They expand to accommodate the swelling and are incredibly comfortable.

Modeling mesh maternity panties during my second night at the hospital.

Pill box: At times, you may not feel very clear headed so you or a family member will need to prep your pain meds so that you avoid overdose. I used four sandwich baggies and labelled each with the time I was supposed to take the dosage it contained. If you need something child and pet proof, this 7 day, 4 times a day pill box seems perfect. You could also cram the baggies of meds in one child-proof pill bottle which you can probably get for free from your friendly pharmacist.

Pantyliners: These come in handy when experiencing light spotting and when confronted with the reality that you are moving slowly and can't make it to the restroom as quickly you could before surgery. Seventh Generation Pantiliners are a good choice since they're made without fragrances, deodorants, or chlorine processing.

Laxative: Anesthetics, pain relief meds, and not being able to walk much will constipate you. I've been drinking a cup of Traditional Medicinals Organic Smooth Move Tea each night before bed to get back on track. Small smoothies with greens and flax seeds (or a half scoop of fiber-rich vegan protein powder) thrown in are also really helpful, as are prunes.

Water bottle: It's important to stay hydrated when healing. Once I woke up from a nap and saw my cat Lucy drinking out of my water glass, I realized it was also important to use something with a lid. I love using this tumbler because the straw makes it easy to drink while reclining.

How to Understand Your Cravings & Stop Them Fast

Last week, I shared a really simple explanation of why sugar is bad for you. I also shared (in my newsletter, which you should totally subscribe to) how to use a food diary to track your sugar consumption. Hope those resources illuminated how much sugar you're eating and how it affects your body.

Of course, there's knowledge of how and why something is bad for you and then there's figuring out what to do about it.

Do you stick to "natural sugars" like evaporated cane juice, honey, or agave? Do you stop eating sugar completely? Is it even possible to really quit sugar without becoming a hermit?

Those are the kinds of decisions I coach my clients through. I love helping a woman slow down the self-judgement train (the one most of us have been riding on since our preteens) enough to bravely jump off, catch her breath, and look at her food and lifestyle choices from the perspective of her heart.

Here are my four go-to questions for deconstructing cravings:

I'm hosting Diets Don't Work Webinar Today

I hear stories of so many people who have followed diets, lost some weight temporarily (or often lost no weight), but ultimately didn't get the long lasting transformation they expected. The diet industry pisses me off!

My upcoming webinar is all about why diets don't work. You will leave this 30 minute event understanding:

• why diets actually cause weight gain
• why you have cravings
• why you binge at night
• what to eat and what to avoid to manifest your hottest body
• how to stop dieting and start feeling fabulous 

Register for this free webinar. You can share questions and comments with me and other participants during the webinar via a live chat box on the event page. This is my very first webinar. I'm so excited to connect with you in this way!

If you can't attend live, no problem. Register and I'll send you a link to watch the replay.

Already registered? Great! Now, tell your friends.
Click here to tweet about it.

Olivia Lane Lovejoy is a Blogger, Green Living Educator, and Health Coach trained at The Institute for Integrative Nutrition. 

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A Really Simple Explanation of Why Sugar is Bad for You

At Institute for Integrative Nutrition I learned the theory of bio-individuality. The concept of bio-individuality is that each person has unique food and lifestyle needs. One person’s food is another person’s poison.

You are super special and unique. Reaching your ideal weight and enjoying sustained energy demands paying attention to and honoring the needs of your body instead of following a fad diet or random list of rules.

That said, there's one thing that's pretty bad for everybody across the board: sugar. Sorry. I'm sure this isn't a surprise but lemme explain further. It's easier to accept that way.

4 Things My Painful Periods Taught Me

I hated my period until I turned thirty. Then I really hated my period. I was a few months off The Pill when I discovered what my menstrual cycle was really like. My uterus was a balloon filled with a gallon of hot lava trying to flow out of a pin prick for the first three days of each period. I had various debilitating aches for two weeks out of my three week long cycle. (Yes, just 21 days!) My mood swung wildly throughout the month. The cherry on top of this shiitake sundae was acne.

Fast forward five years and now I love my period. This year I began working with Nicole Weigl, a naturopathic doctor, to heal my hormones with improved nutrition, herbs, and self-care. Within a few months of closely following her recommendations I saw results.

The experience of having wacked out hormones for several years then being healed in months taught me four things that I know can help anyone who is suffering from a chronic health condition.

How I Overcame An Eating Disorder

We probably haven’t met in "real life" yet but ask anyone who has met me and they’ll tell you I’m the girl who’s always smiling and giving out hugs like free kittens. They might also tell you I’m a little silly and playful: I wear puppets for mittens. I dance in the aisles of Whole Foods. I drink coffee while doing roller disco. I play ping pong with strangers.

I'm full of confidence and truly enjoy life, but I didn’t always feel this way. I once struggled with anxiety, depression, insecurity, and low self esteem. I used food to manage these feelings. I’m not sure when it all began but when I was three, my whole world changed.

After a fun family night out, we came home to discover our apartment was destroyed in a fire and we became homeless. My parents separated. My older sister was sent to live with her grandmother. My mom and I lived in a shelter. Though soon we found a new home, the experience left me scarred.

3 Reasons Why I'm Not Vegetarian Anymore

I'm not vegetarian anymore. After 13 years of being vegetarian, including 8 years of being an outspoken hardcore ethical vegan, I ate meat in March.

What was it like? Since I'd been contemplating breaking veg for over a year, I imagined it would feel like a milestone. Perhaps ominous thunder would roar in the background as a fork piled with meat neared my mouth. Maybe there'd be tears-- of joy, overwhelm, or regret-- from myself or my husband. No such thing. I just enjoyed some delicious free range turkey stewed with lima beans and greens.

Well, actually, I experienced something unexpected: I felt like a character in a video game whose life bar went from 40% to 100% within a few bites. I felt instantly energized and deeply nourished.

The next day my poop smelled horrible. But my skin also started looking really good, glowing even.

I've been eating meat as little as once a month and as much as three times a week in the last four months. It's been rather uneventful since that first omnivorous meal. Aside from not feeling insatiable hunger and fatigue after exercising, I haven't noticed a dramatic improvement or decline in my health as a result.

Celebrating Earth Day with Sustain: Vegan, Non-toxic, Fair Trade Condoms [Review]

Sustain is the first sustainable, non-toxic, Fair Trade certified brand of condoms marketed to women. They're also vegan. Oh, and the company was co-founded by the founder of Seventh Generation and his daughter! 

I'm always excited to share cool new things with you guys so I was psyched when Sustain asked me to review their condoms. It's been a few years since my husband and I have used condoms but Sustain Ultra Thin didn't look or feel any different from the ones I remembered. Aside from not having that weird condom smell (you know what I'm talking about, right?) these are basically the same as every other ultra thin condom I've tried, which isn't bad. 

What I most appreciated about Sustain condoms is they don't have weird toxic chemicals in them. Hooray for getting my swerve on now without having to worry about getting my chemo on later! 

I also love Sustain's hip eco-feminist mission. To celebrate Earth Day, Sustain, has created a photo series and educational infographic illustrating the connection between safe sex, overpopulation and climate change. 

Co-founders Jeffrey Hollender, who revolutionized the eco-friendly household product industry with Seventh Generation, and his daughter Meika Hollender believe that safe sex and climate change go hand in hand, but many women lack access to the tools they need to practice safe sex and plan their families. Sustain created the below infographic to help connect the dots between these two critical issues. 

Who Wants Bleach in Her Vajayjay?!

What you put in your hooha is your business. It doesn't have anything to do with the government, the Church, or your parents. It's your prerogative whether you're choosing a lover, birth control, or feminine hygiene products.

Still, some choices available to us modern women confuse me. Case in point: chlorine bleach whitened tampons.

Most tampons are bleached with chlorine. The chlorine breaks down into dioxin, which remains in the bleached product. Dioxins are highly toxic and can cause reproductive and developmental problems, damage the immune system, interfere with hormones and also cause cancer.

Check out this video to learn more about dioxins and feminine hygiene products.

I love that I can walk into a store and choose between a dozen brands of tampons. However, women have the right to make informed choices. It angers me when corporations that make products for us aren't forthcoming with information about what's in their products, how they're produced, and how this impacts things we care about, like, you know, not getting cancer.

As members of post WWII society, we're all born with hundreds of toxic chemicals swimming around in our bodies but it'd be nice if we could start to have more of a choice in the matter. Hopefully one day we'll live in a world where dioxin and vajayjays never cross paths. Until then we must educate ourselves and seek out alternative products.

One alternative is Maxim Hygiene. They're a Father-Daughter owned and operated company that makes all natural and organic cotton tampons and other cotton personal hygiene products that are produced without chlorine. Yay! (I'm super proud to be a new ambassador for this great company.)

If you wanna support a family company that isn't sneaking chemicals into your cha-cha, look for Maxim tampons in your local health food store or buy them online. Use my coupon code "AF112" to get 10% off your online purchase of any Maxim Hygiene product.

To learn more about other choices you have to keep chemicals out of your body, attend my Spring Detox Workshop at Sustainable NYC on Sunday March 29, 2015 at 3pm.

Olivia Lane is a Blogger, Green Living Educator, and Health Coach trained at The Institute for Integrative Nutrition. She's also author of Baking Soda & Bliss: The Healthy & Happy Guide to Green Cleaning.   

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3 Quick Ways to Feel Sexier This Valentine's Day

Feeling sexy on Valentine's Day isn't about lingerie or perfume. Although those things can be part of it, feeling sexy is about radiating the sensuality you naturally possess from the inside out.

Here are three tips to let your inner vixen shine on Valentine's Day. Try one or all!

Have a flirt fest for one!
Look in the mirror and tell yourself out loud how sexy you are. Notice what's beautiful and irresistible about you and verbally salute it. If you can't think of anything, fake it til you make it. Turn a negative belief into a positive one. Personally, I used to feel insecure about my small breasts until I started purposely paying them compliments. "Those are some sassy nipples!" I'd say to myself when I got out the shower. Now, I think my itty bitties are the cat's pajamas!

4 Ways to Manage Holiday Stress as a Family with Grokker

The holiday season is fast approaching! There are so many things I love about the holidays; relaxing, spending time with loved ones, and eating foods I've eaten since I was a kid. But one inevitable part of the holidays that I don’t like? The stress! To help alleviate holiday stress, I came up with a few ideas to do with my family to help manage holiday stress and balance our bodies and minds.

(This is a guest post by Mark Luskus, courtesy of Grokker, a website offering 1000s of premium yoga, meditation, fitness, and cooking video classes taught by experts along with a community of people passionate about wellness. More info about Grokker, including a special offer, in the footer of this post.)

Play!

It's so important to take time with your family to just play! Whether you're building a snowman or playing a board game, the act of playing will help you manage holiday stress.

Carve time out this holiday season for exercise.
It's important to get out of the house and be active as exercise is one of the most powerful ways to reduce stress. Remember to breathe in fresh air and get your heartbeat up – activities with the family can be anything that get you moving! A walk outside, a family bike ride, or even a low-intensity workout like this flexibility and agility workout from Grokker Expert Angelo Dela Cruz.

Turn Your Sugar Cravings into a Life Transforming Experience

Cravings are awesome because they aren't about bullshit. They are raw and real. A sugar craving can offer you so much information about how you're really feeling underneath all the "I'm fine" or "Everything's okay."

Next time you get a sugar craving, a chocolate craving, or a craving for anything that doesn't support your health and life goals, ask the craving some questions. It will tell you the truth if you listen without judgement. Here are some questions I ask my cravings.

1. Does my business/professional life feel abundant right now?
2. Am I sexually fulfilled and feeling at ease with my romantic relationship status?
3. Am I surrounding myself with friends that contribute to my happiness and growth?
4. Am I creating and participating in experiences that excite and stimulate me?

5 Things Healthy People Do in the Bathroom

Dry Brushing
Dry brushing using a brush like this one (and no moisturizer) to brush your entire body. It supports your body's natural detoxification system by increasing the circulation of lymphatic fluid and blood flow. It also removes dead skin cells and makes your skin incredibly soft.

I first got wind of dry brushing in Kris Carr's book Crazy Sexy Diet four whole years ago but just started doing this spring. Don't wait as long as I did to try this. It's so awesome! Check out Dry Brushing 101 on GreenSmoothieGirl to learn more.

Tongue Scraping
Tongue scraping is a detoxifying Ayurvedic self-care ritual that freshens breath, improves digestion, and makes food tastier by to removing bacteria, food debris, fungi, toxins, and dead cells from the surface of the tongue. To do it, every morning pull a tongue cleaner (a long, thin, flat piece of metal that is bent in a "U" shape) across your tongue a few times. (More info here.)

I've never done it before, but I just ordered these stainless steel tongue cleaners on Amazon for me and my fiance today. So many healthy people I respect have been raving about it, so I can't wait to finally try it! 

Looking for Exercise You Love? Meet Shannon. [VIDEO]

I interviewed my friend Shannon Sodano, a NYC-based nutrition, fitness, and yoga instructor, about her unique vision for a healthy and gym-free world.



Live or work in Park Slope? Meet Shannon for yoga in Prospect Park on Tuesday evenings 7pm at New Leaf Studio (9th Street near Prospect Park West). Details and registration here.

Connect with Shannon online: shannonsodano.com // Twitter // Facebook

Olivia Lane is a Blogger, Green Living Educator, and Health Coach trained at The Institute for Integrative Nutrition. She's also author of Baking Soda & Bliss: The Healthy & Happy Guide to Green Cleaning.   

Stay connected: Free Gift // Facebook // Twitter // Instagram // Pinterest // YouTube

Un-Beetable Cupcakes & 4 Other Ways to Eat More Veggies

Are you sure you're eating enough veggies? According to MyPlate, adult women should eat 2.5 cups of veggies every day.  If that seems like a tall order, here are simple recipes and ideas that will help you cram more veggies into your snacks and meals.

Have veggies for dessert.
These fudgy vegan beet cupcakes from The Minimalist Baker are made with 1/2 cup pureed roasted beets. They were a hit with the kids at the Memorial Day yard party and with the adults at my Buddhist discussion meeting. Not too sweet, but no taste of beet. Need even more veggies? These kid-approved cucumber and hummus cupcakes from Food Heaven Made Easy are made entirely of veggies.

Eat veggies for breakfast.
Add veggies to your tofu scramble, omelet, or savory oatmeal. Have a side salad or vegetable soup with breakfast too.

Add veggies to your smoothies.
I am so inspired by Raw Family's 15 Green Smoothies recipes. They went beyond the usual suspects of kale and spinach to include other veggies: herbs (parsley, basil, and cilantro), leafy greens (chard, lettuce, and collards), celery, peppers, carrot tops, and even onion! They also made a kick a** video with funny costumes!

What To Eat When You Have Diarrhea

Yup, I dropped The D Word.

Image via All Pet News

Recently, I had diarrhea for an entire week. I've only had a stomach virus once before so I had no clue what to eat. Many articles I discovered via Google recommended the BRAT diet: bananas, rice, applesauce, and toast. Ugh! It sounded so boring and unhealthy to me. I'd rather starve or poop my brains out, I declared. So I did both actually.

That was until the morning of Day 5 when I woke up completely pooped out. I committed to eating two big chunks of bread for breakfast, lunch, and dinner for two days in a row. I felt like I was dining in prison catered by Whole Foods Market. Menu: Handmade, artisanal bread served with filtered water.

Fortunately, I discovered online that these two delightful foods are also soothing to an upset tummy. I highly recommend them for breaking up the monotony of the BRAT diet if you ever find yourself suffering from GI issues.

4 Ways to Shop Smarter & Eat Healthier Now

You don't need more time or money to eat healthier. Here are four adjustments you can make to the way you shop for food that will allow you to get a better bang for your buck or, rather, more nutrients for your nickle.

Almost every imaginable Bob's Red Mill product for $2.69 to $11.99 at Ocean State Job Lot in Pawtucket!

Don't discount discount stores.
I went to Ocean State Job Lot in Pawtucket and discovered an entire aisle filled with Bob's Red Mill natural food products, competitively priced, undamaged, and not at all near expiration date! Your local discount store might also have organic food. It is certainly worth looking in the food section next time you're there. If you find a good deal, stock up so you can postpone future trips and thereby save time and gas.

Buy organic when it counts most.
Check out EWGs 2014 Shoppers Guide to Pesticides in Produce. Buy conventionally grown low pesticide fruits & veggies ("Clean 15") like avocados. Use the money you save to spring for organically grown apples and other variety of produce on the "Dirty Dozen plus".

Check out Super Juice Me! the Movie

Yesterday I watched Super Juice Me! an awesome documentary about eight beautiful chronically ill people who transformed their health in 28 days by drinking juice. It was amazing to see how radiant they became throughout the process.

I dusted off my juicer and made this after viewing the film. Crisper delight: Romaine, kale, celery, apple, pear, broccoli stem, lemon, and ginger.

Super Juice Me! proposes the idea that there is just one disease: inflammation. The chronic illnesses that most Western people suffer from (high cholesterol, diabetes, obesity, etc) are just different manifestations of it. The disease is caused by eating man-made processed foods, toxins (including pharmaceutical medicines), and stress. The journey of these eight people illustrated that the solution to healing this disease is simple: change diet and lifestyle. 

Cozy up with a kitty (or beloved human), a juice made with one of the recipes you get when you sign up (or whatever you've got in your fridge), and get ready to be inspired by this feature length film!

Healing Asthma with Non Toxic Products

Guest post by Ginger Stabach, a representative of Ava Anderson Non Toxic.

I found Ava Anderson Non-Toxic because 6 years ago I was diagnosed with severe asthma after being sent to the ER twice by my overbooked doctor and thinking I was having a stroke. Not being one to live on medications if I don't need to, I went in search of what I could eat or do to strengthen my lungs.

While researching, I found the Environmental Working Group. I already knew about their Dirty Dozen/Clean Fifteen list and, being from a farming town, I already ate fairly clean. I had gone to a talk at one of the farms when I was pregnant with my oldest son. The farmer talked about the fact that you could either pay a little more for organic food or pay a lot later in life for medications.

On the EWG site, I saw a link: "Do YOU know what is in YOUR Cosmetics?" As someone who loves creams and lotions, I clicked in thinking "Wow, this will be fun!" Ha! I typed in what I was using and up comes LUNG LUNG LUNG LUNG sensitivity from everything! I quickly shut the computer off and waited a few days as I was pretty freaked out.

How to Detox Naturally Without Fasting

Fat is a protective confinement cell for toxins. The toxins that enter your body through chemicalized food, polluted air and water, toxic cleaning and cosmetic products, etc. are stored in your fat cells if not flushed out naturally.

When you begin to lose weight (burn fat), the toxins leave their cozy fatty storage bins. They enter your blood stream, do all those terrible things toxins do, and make you feel like crap: stressed out, tired, irritable... hangry.

The most annoying part is they mess with your success. Have you ever hit a plateau when losing weight? Couldn't lose the last five, ten pounds? This is a natural defense. Your body is retaining water to dilute the poisons that are now running around free in your system.

Wellness Resources explains how this works in greater detail in a blog post about detoxification and weight loss.

You absolutely need to get these toxins out so you can start feeling great and continue losing weight. Good news is you don't have to do some crazy juice fast, Master Cleanse, or colon cleanse to detox. Your body has the ability to detox naturally and safely.