Sunday SELF - C. 🍫💝 A. 🎨 R. 📚 E. 🪄

February truly did feel like love was in the air 💘 I hope you felt it too!

I traveled more this month than I usually do (two weekends away from home is a lot for me 😅)

I’m most proud of how I was able to enjoy new places without feeling like I had to throw out all of the things that keep me feeling amazing.

People often talk about living 80/20 and I do not like that mindset at all.

Most people who think they do 80/20 actually do more like 50/50 because we often don’t realize how our choices compound to affect us on deeper levels.

Also, I think it leads into the whole idea of “cheat meals” and “cheat days” which I don’t agree with because once you eat well, you will lose cravings for poisons.

With that said, when you’re traveling it’s most important to let go and enjoy the adventure.

You don’t have to try to force everything to be the exact way it’d be at home because then, you should’ve just stayed home.

But when you care for yourself well 99.99% of the time, your capacity to deal with a bit of seed oils from restaurant food or hotel sheets washed in Tide, is much more manageable.

SELF - C. 🍫💝 A. 🎨 R. 📚 E. 🪄

Cooking: Chocolate Truffles 🍫💝

I made these gorgeous truffles on Valentine’s Day and I definitely plan to make them again for my birthday this month! Probably with some pink rose petals sprinkled on top this time 🩷🌹

Before I started eating from scratch, I used to be obsessed with those red Lindor chocolate truffle balls. I’d get them in my Christmas stocking, Valentine’s basket, and on my birthday and I’d try hard not to eat the entire package in one day, usually without success. 

Once I got out of the binge, restrict cycle and reconnected with my body, I never thought about eating those little red melty chocolate balls again…

But then I saw @glowwithella making truffles and thought it’d be fun to make something similar!

I was shocked at how simple they are with only 4 ingredients total and none of them sketchy. 

I have no idea how long the ingredient list is for the Lindor truffles or how the factory-style production affects the quality. All I know is that making homemade chocolate truffles feels way more luxurious and I didn’t suffer that horrible guilt that I used to after indulging. 

Art: Paint-By-Number Workbook 🎨

I love doing paint-by-numbers to wind down and flow right after dinner. 

I shared before that I love the canvases from Michael’s and those are still great, but lately I’ve been enjoying this workbook so much more! 

The canvases are perfect during the creation process, but once they’re done, it’s not something worthy of wall decor... So I was left with piles of paintings, creating clutter in my storage room and after 6, I felt discouraged to buy more. 

Now I found this adorable workbook that gives so many different options and all contained in a cute little book that’s easy to tuck away when I’m done with it. Plus, I got this in December and I think it’ll last all year which is so much easier than buying new ones every month or two. 

It feels like endless creative flow that is all about the process, which is what I do it for. 

📚 Reading: still all about The Ringing Cedars and also novels by Carola Lovering 

I talked about The Ringing Cedars series last month and I’m still reading those every single day. I’m now on book 4 and I’ve loved the thread on rethinking modern life and returning to harmony with nature.

To share a new recommendation: I’m loving novels by Carola Lovering! 

I’ve listened to Too Good To Be True and Can’t Look Away and I was so into them! Baking sourdough or going out on a walk with these stories unfolding in my ears was such a vibe. 

I’m planning to read Tell Me Lies next which has been made into a super popular Hulu series. I’m not usually into watching drama shows like that but I actually was so entertained and ended up bingeing the whole show pretty quickly. 

I’m excited to read the book and see how similar and different it is from the show. It’s always fun to do that! Maybe I’ll regret watching first before reading… What’s your take on reading books that have been made into shows or movies??

Enthusiasm: Baking Soda Magic 🪄

There are so many crazy expensive supplements that promise to work miracles in your life…

After buying too many of these and feeling no difference, I prefer the magic of nature, experienced in its natural state for no money.  

I understand that the major needle movers are mostly free, and supplements are mostly synthetic forms of what nature does already. This perspective helps me not feel tempted to waste money every time I hear some expert going on and on about the magic of a supplement based on the newest research 🙄

BUT when I heard about the laundry list of health benefits of baking soda, I simply walked into my kitchen and grabbed my bag of baking soda. Since I already had it at home, I figured I’d test these so-called benefits myself.

Here are the claims:

• Reduce inflammation

• Heal leaky gut

• Support kidney health

• Improve athletic performance and muscle recovery

• Improve oral health, which is linked to gut health

• Support sleep

• Reduce stress

Again, sounds like a supplement that’s about to pay my bills and wash my car… but at least this one has a pretty low barrier to entry because I already had baking soda in my kitchen.

So I started putting a pinch of baking soda in my coffee or tea every morning.

Whenever I’m away from home, my gut health is usually the first thing to show signs of discomfort. Since I’ve added baking soda, I haven’t had any setbacks with gut health even with the multiple trips I went on in a row. 

I think it’s done about as much or more as a “high-integrity” gut support supplement or probiotic felt like it did when I used to take those.

So I take all these claims with a grain of salt because I know there’s no one single pinch of something that’ll make all the difference, but in pairing with everything else I do, I think adding in baking soda is an easy and cheap little boost. 

Also, baking soda is super handy for making non-poisoning cleaning supplies.

I started making my own laundry detergent using baking soda and it works way better than Branch Basics, which is the nontoxic brand I’ve been using for years.

This recipe is less expensive, easier, and more effective:

Baking soda is a powerful health supplement, natural cleaning agent, and a healthy rising agent for baking your high-quality, real food ingredient sweet treats! 🍪

I hope you experience so much love, beauty, and health this month!

🤍 Jaclyn