Pain, Pain, Go Away!

For the past several months, I thought my hair was getting thinner. There was more hair in the shower drain than before and the hair at my temples was getting thin and wispy. I put it down to age until I changed conditioners. Immediately, there was less hair in the drain and more on my head. I'd been using a lightening conditioner (Sheer Blonde) that must have been damaging my hair. I've changed shampoo since then, too--both products (Herbal Essences) are free of sulfates, added phthalates, parabens and colorants. Stock photo from Pixabay.com My sister-in-law had a win, too. On a member's advice offered at Dr. Davis's Inner Circle (members aren't necessarily medical professionals), she applied tea tree oil on a toenail that had had a fungal infection for years. After three months, she said, the fungus was gone.  With that in mind, I applied Vick's Vapor Rub (actually, a store brand version) to a red, scaly patch on my ear that has popped up from time to time m...

One thing I've always missed on a low-carb diet is chip and dip. There are low-carb alternatives, but most of them are full of junk ingredients like emulsifiers or vegetable oil. Surprisingly, Kroger (and probably other chains it owns ) has chips, dips and more that are low-carb, free of junk ingredients and taste great.  Pork rinds, chicken drumettes, seed crackers, cheese crisps, dip, and guacamole. The seed crackers are thin and crunchy and hold up well under a scoop of dip; the cheese crisps are crunchy and filling (great to take on the road); the dips are delicious and even dairy-free. Look for the dips and guacamole in the refrigerated section.  The chicken drumettes from Miller Poultry (no relation) come from "egg to table" farms whose barns are certified by the Global Animal Partnership and meet or beat Step 2 standards. This particular brand isn't available at all stores, but there are probably similar brands near you. 4505 chicharrones (aka pork rinds ) are...

I'm an incorrigible night owl. Never in my life have I wanted to get out of bed; none of the tips and tricks I've tried to go to bed and get up early have worked long-term. This hack will hopefully prevent me from staying up really late, since I'm usually on my laptop when I'm up past midnight.  Hat tip to Coach April at Dr. Davis's Inner Circle site from prompting me to find a solution for staying up too late.  It can't be morning already. Photo from Pixabay . There are two ways to schedule your Mac to automatically shut down depending on your operating system (OS). To find your OS, click on the apple in the upper left, About This Mac, Overview. Full instructions here .  Monterey OS and Earlier Open System Preferences Go to Energy Saver on a Mac, or Battery on a Mac laptop. Find Schedule (In older versions of macOS, the Schedule button was at the bottom of the Energy Saver tab.) Choose your start up time. Choose your sleep time. Source:  https://www.macworld.co...

Readers might recall that I started doing strength training this year. I work out with free weights, a stability (Swiss) ball and do some bodyweight exercises so I'll have strong bones and better metabolic health. (Muscle burns energy; fat mostly sits there.) I use 10- to 25-pound free weights. Some women worry that lifting heavy weights will make them look like body builders. ( Here's what actual Olympic female weightlifters look like ; they wouldn't get far in a bodybuilding contest.) In my case, I'll let readers be the judge.  March 19, 2023.  Around December 20, 2023.  It's not a dramatic transformation, but you can see my shirt is looser in the bottom picture. I'm about five pounds lighter and had to get new pants last month. Oh--and I don't look like a lumberjack. Dip! Kroger's organic brand, Simple Truth , has some terrific dips that are less than half the price of Primal Kitchen. The tzatziki is like onion and dill dip that I haven't had in o...

It's almost Christmas. Are you sick of sweets yet? Then you might like a hot, rich, savory pie on a cold winter's day. Savory pies are more common in England than America, but the pumpkin (a North American vegetable) and the buffalo ranch dip (a combination of American sauces--hot sauce that originated in Buffalo, New York and creamy ranch salad dressing) make this an American dish, made by an American who's had it up to here with pumpkin spice everything.  Ingredients Savory low-carb pie crust, cooked and cooled (I made the almond crust variation on the hazelnut crust recipe from 500 Low-Carb Recipes by Dana Carpender , page 436) 1 small pie pumpkin 3 eggs 1/2 cup Primal Kitchen Buffalo Ranch dip (it's medium heat) Directions Stab the pumpkin a few times at the top, through to the center. Bake it at 350F for one hour or until it gives when you touch it. Let cool. Cut off the top, scoop out the seeds and stringy bits and discard. Scoop out the flesh and mash or chop ...

Coupon savings: pennies or Benjamins? Photo from Unsplash .   When you think of coupons, do you still imagine cutting out 25-cent coupons for canned goods or junk food from a newspaper? These days, you can get coupons online or in the mail and save a lot more than spare change. I'm not an affiliate for any of the stores mentioned here.  CVS With an Extra Care card (it's free of charge), you can go to cvs.com  and virtually clip coupons or get them printed out on your receipt. They also mailed me a coupon for 30% off my entire regular-price order--and I made a CVS haul with it. I stocked up cleaning supplies, toilet paper, toothpaste, drinks, coffee, and even avocado oil. The coupon was worth $55. Totally worth the three seconds it took to cut out. Credit Card Rewards The trick to using credit card rewards is to buy only what you'd buy anyway and then pay the balance . Banking online, autopay and reminders on your calendar make this easy. My credit card gives me 2% cash ba...

Have your groceries delivered During the pandemic, I had groceries delivered whenever I had a cold. Back then, delivery time slots filled up fast and there were a few odd substitutions because of shortages, but those problems are pretty much gone. When I use Instacart now, I can get groceries the same day and I'm happy with items (like produce) that the shoppers pick.  Whole Foods now delivers groceries  even if you aren't a Prime member.   Instacart delivers from Kroger, Wal-Mart, Target, some regional grocery stores, and a long list of hardware stores, dollar stores, drug stores, etc. I don't recommend meal services, though--the kind where someone delivers a recipe and just enough ingredients for one meal. You still have to cook, you still have to clean, and you still have to shop for coffee and eggs.  Use a Food Processor I used to be a prep cook at a restaurant, so I'm pretty fast at chopping, shredding and slicing ingredients. Even so, I use a food processor to...