Well I normally don't dive into the pumpkin spice latte land (or should I say argument) because frankly, I do what I do and others can do what they do, but this year I felt the need to consume some actual pumpkin spice, not the artificial crap but the actual spices in a beautiful tea latte.
The biggest reason I never jumped on the PSL train would definitely be the ingredients that are in a typical pumpkin spice latte. They vary depending upon where you purchase this drink but a few of the less than desirable ingredients from a Starbucks include Natural Flavors, Potassium Sorbate, Carageenan, Potassium Sorbate, and Sulfiting Agents. (There are more but wanted to keep it fairly short)
Natural Flavors: Natural flavors are almost the exact same thing as artificial flavors (I know this made me sad too). These are made from things that do occur in nature (animals, plants etc.) but they also can include solvents, emulsifiers, preservatives, and other additives which can make up to 80% of the formula.
Carageenan: This one has been talked about for awhile now with a lot of back and forth regarding the health impacts of consuming it. Some evidence suggests that carrageenan can cause inflammation, gastrointestinal ulcerations, and further damage to your digestive system.
Sulfiting agents: There six of these that are used in food production in this country (let's note how Starbucks doesn't actually tell us which ones are this 'drink'); sulfur dioxide, sodium and potassium metabisulfite, sodium and potassium bisulfite and sodium sulfite. These have been banned by the FDA for use on fruits and veggies that are meant to be consumed raw. Many people have reactions to the the sulfites in wine but this can happen in any other processed foods that you might be consuming.
Potassium Sorbate: This is a synthetically produced salt and is a widely used preservative in food, some personal care products and drinks. This is another one that there has been much back and forth with. With large amounts (more than is technically allowed in food) of this it has been shown in animal studies to cause reproductive and developmental toxicity.
So instead of buying it, I'm on the hunt for a recipe to make my own! If you have one please share! 🍂
👉Guys. it's Monday. Ya know, in case you weren't sure.
I make it a point to start the week with a positive attitude, does it always come naturally? no. But it does always come. Whether that's first thing in the morning and I'm raring to go and start my week or it's more in the afternoon/evening when I've got my week planned out and have actually started working on things in a practical, more aligned way.
During my meditation this morning, my app asked me, 'how do I want to feel this week?' What a beautiful way to start a Monday! Not just with, 'What do I want to accomplish this week?', no it's deeper than that. As I've come to continue to realize (and at this point in my life need constant reminders about), accomplishing things doesn't always make me feel good. It's more about feeling grounded and in alignment with my life and the side effect ends up being accomplishment (thanks Lexi!)
What's one (or more!) word that describes how you want to feel this week?
ps. I want to feel inspired this week🙏
I make it a point to start the week with a positive attitude, does it always come naturally? no. But it does always come. Whether that's first thing in the morning and I'm raring to go and start my week or it's more in the afternoon/evening when I've got my week planned out and have actually started working on things in a practical, more aligned way.
During my meditation this morning, my app asked me, 'how do I want to feel this week?' What a beautiful way to start a Monday! Not just with, 'What do I want to accomplish this week?', no it's deeper than that. As I've come to continue to realize (and at this point in my life need constant reminders about), accomplishing things doesn't always make me feel good. It's more about feeling grounded and in alignment with my life and the side effect ends up being accomplishment (thanks Lexi!)
What's one (or more!) word that describes how you want to feel this week?
ps. I want to feel inspired this week🙏
Mondays can be awesome.
They are a start to the new week, a way to re-energize yourself for things to come and a new chance to make positive things happen in your life. I bet we all can sink into that feeling of starting something new and how exciting that can be! Whether that's getting a new puppy, a new book, a new car or house-these are all new adventures that we take on with an excitement that isn't always present as you go through having these things for a long time. It's not that you love that puppy any less or anything but let's recall that new feeling; the excitement and joy that holds true even when that dog is driving you crazy!
Welcome to the Monday excited feelings!
Drop an emoji below if you're doing something new and exciting this week, even if it's something small like a new flavor of tea, a new type of workout, a new place to get your walk in or a new song or album that you've been rocking out to! Bonus points if you share what that is because I definitely need to push myself into some new music 😆
"Make Monday the start of something wonderful"
Yeah so that's a thing, a 'To-Feel' list. I was like, 'but no really, what is that?'
We often start our week, or even every morning with a long to-do list that can sometimes cause us to feel all sorts of emotions from failure and despair to excitement and motivation. I was listening to my morning meditation and they started talking about writing out a list of the way you'd like to feel this week.
So let's say that you have a lot to do this week (more than usual right 😉) and some of it might be difficult, uncomfortable or just plain hard. So when you're going into these situations (whether that's a call with someone to have a conversation you don't really want to have but need to or the endless meetings that have suddenly appeared on your calendar) take a moment and write down what kind of feelings you might want to end this week on or focus on throughout.
For example, maybe you'd like to feel some peace among the balagan (Yiddish for a state of chaos and confusion😜), so find even just a few minutes to set yourself up with a meditation. Some people prefer a guided meditation (me me!🙋♀️) and others prefer to focus on their breathing or the sounds of nature around them. Take the time to bring yourself some peace and ground yourself in that feeling throughout the week.
My To-Feel list
Grounded
Happy
Calm
Excited
Joyful
Accomplished
What's a few things on your list for this week? I love to hear how other people are working through things 😀
💔My heart is heavy. I thought it was just me being a lazy piece of garbage. But I realized something while on my Peloton (#massiveblessing) not only do I never talk to myself in such harsh words (so why was I right now?) but I have been feeling the weight of everything happening in this world, it's not just me being lazy.
I normally find the positive in even the worst situations, even if the positive is ‘the sky is blue’ or ‘I own some nice clothing’ whatever it might be, but the end of this week just proved too much for my positivity to shine through.
I didn’t workout for two days, I didn’t sit at my desk (my desk for the last two days was my couch in a laying down position), and I didn't work on my business. I ate vegetables but not in any real intentional way. I couldn’t climb out of my hole. Now I know MANY people have it so much worse, hello look at what is going on right now and has been for so long, but I just couldn’t climb out.
So I wanted to share in case some others were feeling it too. If others couldn’t climb out of their holes even though we "should" be able to, we have so much to be grateful for and yet sometimes it still is hard. Normally diving into meditation, movement and cooking yummy nourishing meals brings me out, but that didn’t do it this week. I needed to sit still. So I laid down and let myself feel it all.
But today is a new day and so I got on that bike 🚴♀️ and I’m still fighting through the feelings, but I’m here and you can be too. What’s your one small thing today that you can do to help pull yourself out or something you did when you were feelin' all the feels?
🎇Hint: could be something like drink extra water, watch 9 episodes instead of 10 of that show you’ve been binge watching for the 15th time (oops 🤷🏻♀️), eat an extra vegetable-anything that starts your road back to feeling just a little bitter better💖
I normally find the positive in even the worst situations, even if the positive is ‘the sky is blue’ or ‘I own some nice clothing’ whatever it might be, but the end of this week just proved too much for my positivity to shine through.
I didn’t workout for two days, I didn’t sit at my desk (my desk for the last two days was my couch in a laying down position), and I didn't work on my business. I ate vegetables but not in any real intentional way. I couldn’t climb out of my hole. Now I know MANY people have it so much worse, hello look at what is going on right now and has been for so long, but I just couldn’t climb out.
So I wanted to share in case some others were feeling it too. If others couldn’t climb out of their holes even though we "should" be able to, we have so much to be grateful for and yet sometimes it still is hard. Normally diving into meditation, movement and cooking yummy nourishing meals brings me out, but that didn’t do it this week. I needed to sit still. So I laid down and let myself feel it all.
But today is a new day and so I got on that bike 🚴♀️ and I’m still fighting through the feelings, but I’m here and you can be too. What’s your one small thing today that you can do to help pull yourself out or something you did when you were feelin' all the feels?
🎇Hint: could be something like drink extra water, watch 9 episodes instead of 10 of that show you’ve been binge watching for the 15th time (oops 🤷🏻♀️), eat an extra vegetable-anything that starts your road back to feeling just a little bitter better💖
