The wonders of dry skin brushing

This week is a special edition on dry skin brushing, courtesy of Lee Holmes, the author of newly published recipe book Supercharged Food (90 delicious and wholesome recipes that are all gluten, wheat, dairy, yeast and sugar-free), a regular columnist for WellBeing Mag, and the brains behind superchargedfood.com

Feeding The Skin:

The skin is the largest most important eliminative organ in the body and is responsible for one quarter of the body’s detoxification each day. Dry skin brushing stimulates the lymphatic system, liver and adrenal glands, and assists these organs in decongesting and dumping out their toxins as well as giving the body a gentle internal massage. It also increases the ability of the liver and adrenal glands to handle toxins, strengthens the immune system and stimulates circulation. The practice of Dry Skin Brushing has been used for thousands of years around the world as a natural way of detoxing the body. Dry brushing is also used as a preventative for dry skin. The exfoliating affect stimulates skin renewal and removes dead skin layers. It is fantastic for removing cellulite and tightens the skin to prevent premature aging and the best thing is it’s easy, inexpensive and very good for you.

Foods that feed the skin include foods that are rich in lecithin, essential fatty acids, and antioxidants such as eggs, organ meats, a balance of Omega-3-6-9 oils fresh dark green leafy vegetables, tomatoes and berries of all kinds.

How to Do Dry Skin Brushing:

Buy a bath brush which contains natural bristles and not synthetic ones as synthetic bristles scratch the surface of the skin and can be harsh and irritating. The brush should be kept dry and not used for bathing. A longer handled brush works well for finding out of reach places. It’s a good idea to wash the brush with soap and water every couple of weeks. When dry skin brushing make sure that your skin is completely dry, and the brush should pass once over every part of the body except the face. The best time to do skin brushing is before showering or bathing at least once a day. You don’t need to use a back and forth motion, circular motion, scrubbing, or massaging - one clean sweep does it. Use long gentle, but firm, strokes. Begin with your feet and continue brushing upwards, be gentle on the chest area. You will feel amazing and revitalized after a body brush.

Don’t forget to eat right this party season too. Remember that whatever you put into your body affects your skin, hair and nails, you can use the most expensive conditioners and shampoos and products in the world but it won’t change anything if you don’t eat well. Why pour synthetic products and chemicals onto your body and increase your toxic load when all you need to do is work from the inside out!

Visit Lee's blog for some in-depth gluten, wheat, dairy, yeast and sugar-free recipes too.

The Urban Remedy 'Easy Guide to Summer'

With summer fast approaching, we’ve narrowed down our 10 top tips to get you feeling and looking great.

1. Drink a glass of warm boiled water first thing in the morning to flush out your lymphatic system – this is an amazing (free) home remedy for combatting cellulite, fluid retention, bloating and enhancing digestion and detoxification. We say boiled as the body can then use it immediately rather than processing (digesting) the mineral content.

2. Hydrate throughout the day: don’t guzzle your 1.5-2L in one sitting. Sip on water throughout the day to stay continuously hydrated. And avoid drinking with meals as this dilutes your digestive juices!

3. Do some gentle weights or toning exercises every morning. You don’t need a gym or even gym gear to do this! Tricep dips on the bath are a sneaky whole-body toning exercise (they get your legs and tum toned too if done correctly). Simply do 2 sets of 25, et voilà!

4. Moisturise and protect. If you want to stay youthful and avoid the dreaded leather-face look, moisturising and applying SPF is the ONLY way. Think 15+ not factor 4 coconut oil, unless you’re trying to re-enact a scene from Hot Shots.

5. Fake it to make it. Yep, we’re talking about fake tan. Not the orange kind but a nice subtle hint of summer in a bottle… You can get some pretty good ones now (even organic), either applied in salon or at home. For you Sydney peeps, we like Fleur De Lys MediSpa in Woollahra – $25 tans every Friday, all summer. Yes please.

6. Get 15 minutes of SPF-free sunshine every day to boost your vitamin D levels.

7. Keep it clean throughout the silly season. Make sure your liver is getting the TLC it needs by supplementing with milk thistle and detoxing regularly to avoid toxic overload. We often recommend cleansers with busy social calendars try weekly mini-cleanses throughout December, working their way towards a longer ‘new year cleanse’ in January.

8. Give your summer drinks a makeover. Claire from the Saha Space shared some of her lovely ice tea recipes with us last week. Check them out here. We also recommend choosing your alcoholic mixers carefully – soda water and fresh lime is always a good option. Avoid pre-mixed drinks, soft drinks (even diet), fruit juice (you can bet the stuff at the bar isn’t good for you) and milky cocktails.

9. Avoid yeast and sugar to beat the bloat. We often think wheat/gluten is the culprit (and it is for some people) when in fact it is more likely to be yeast. If you’re OK with pasta but not with bread and pizza, yeast is not your friend. Try sourdough bread if this is the case.

10. Tune in to summer cravings (good ones that is). Fresh fruit, fresh veg, grilled fish, seafood, barbecues… We naturally eat differently according to the season so it’s time to break out of your winter food rut and embrace summer.

Goodbye wobbly bits, hello PowerPlate!

This week, we put PowerPlate to the test. Buckle up, we’re in for a ride!

The experiment:
5 x 40-minute PowerPlate sessions over two weeks

So what is PowerPlate?

It’s the latest celebrity craze of vibration training that blasts your jiggly bits and gets you fit and toned in 2-3 short sessions per week. It was in fact used (long before celebrities) by Russian cosmonauts to fight the effects of zero gravity, improving muscle strength and bone density.


Classes are in groups of 2-4. I went with my (extremely brave) partner.

You stand on a vibrating platform in regular gym gear (no space suit, alas) and do a series of exercises including squats, lunges, push ups, the plank (could we be any more 2011?) and tricep dips. The vibrations stimulate the muscle-pump effect and increase blood flow (is it me or does that sound a bit rude?), which in turn improves the body’s ability to transport oxygen, assimilate nutrients and disperse toxins.

Studies have shown that adding a PowerPlate to your workout increases its effectiveness by 57%. Yes please.

The guinea pig: 
Me, exercise-phobe extraordinaire

I’m super healthy and I walk a lot but let’s get one thing straight – I’m no gym bunny. I used to dance ten hours a week when I was younger (and run and play tennis), and… like all good things in large doses… I got sick of it. The mere thought of exercising makes me want to whip out a box set of Gossip Girl and climb under the doona.

The verdict:

I have to say, after the initial excitement of free exercise, I started to wonder if my not-so-gymtastic body would be up for the challenge. I struggled in the first two sessions but found myself improving so quickly and so noticeably that I stayed motivated and didn’t feel disheartened by my lack of fitness.  My partner and I both felt like we had improved leaps and bounds by session 3, and were tricep-dipping and push-upping like pros in the last session ;)... you should see my plank now!!

I loved the fact that you could feel every muscle working, and that you could target particular muscles with such precision. The instructors at the studio in Bondi Junction were amazing. They definitely knew their stuff and checked in on us regularly, asking if there were areas we wanted to target (aka jiggly bits) and making sure we were activating each muscle correctly (read: working hard enough).

After the workout, you also get to look forward to a mini cellulite-banishing massage. A way to kiss goodbye to wobbly bits and cellulite in 40 minutes? Definitely a man (or woman)'s best friend.

Given my hate-hate relationship with exercise, I didn’t expect to fall in love with PowerPlate but (it’s official) I most certainly have. And so have my new found abs. Now all I have to do is convince them to stay there.

Less Gossip Girl, more PowerPlate? Who am I kidding, a girl can multi-task.

         xoxo

Improve appearance of cellulite naturally

Almost every woman has cellulite. Even the skinny ones!

Cellulite is a term used to describe pockets of fat, fluid and toxins, which are trapped and cause dimpling in the skin. This dimpling is irregular and patchy (not to mention unattractive!) and has a similar look to orange peel.
90% of post adolescent women go on to develop cellulite at some time during their life. Your thighs, bum and tummy are the most common areas for a woman to develop cellulite.

Cellulite is largely determined by your diet, genes and level of activity. The good news is that there is something you can do. A cleanse can be one effective way to remedy cellulite. In a recent trial, 75% of participants reported a reduction in the appearance of cellulite following their cleanse.

In addition to cleansing, below is a checklist of dietary and lifestyle recommendations that will help to reduce appearance of cellulite.

Anti-cellulite checklist
·         Eat fresh fruit and vegetables everyday
·         Eat rice, beans and/or pulses everyday
·         Eat oily fish regularly
·         Where possible eat organic foods
·         Minimise processed and pre-packaged foods
·         Avoid ready-made meals
·         Drink at least 1.5L of water a day (6 glasses)
·         Drink herbal teas or hot water with honey and lemon
·         Limit your intake of dairy (low-fat yoghurt with live cultures is ok)
·         Reduce fat intake
·         Reduce sugar intake
·         Exercise more – incorporate cardio into your routine
·         Adjust your posture – don’t cross your legs often
·         Dry skin brush morning and night before showering
·         Self massage for 5 minutes morning and night
·         Finish your shower with 30 seconds of cold water
·         Moisturise your skin everyday – use an anti-cellulite cream, a skin firming cream or an essential oil blend for cellulite reduction

Dry skin brushing
Dry skin brushing is excellent for improving circulation (which is one of the main contributors to cellulite). It is very easy and especially beneficial if you do it everyday. It only takes about 5 minutes.

You can buy a dry skin brush from most health food and vitamin stores. Make sure you buy a natural one with a long handle.

BEFORE showering, brush with long, firm strokes TOWARDS the heart, except on your tummy when you should make anti-clockwise circular movements. Aim to brush each of your feet, ankles, calves, thighs, tummy, breasts, bum and arms for 20 strokes each. After you have brushed all of those areas, take a warm shower followed by a cool rinse at the end. This will invigorate your skin and stimulate your circulation.

Aromatherapy and self-massage
Certain essential oils can be very helpful in reducing cellulite causing toxins and improving circulation (two major contributors to cellulite). The best anti-cellulite oils are:
Juniper
Citrus
Rosemary
Lemon
Lemongrass
Grapefruit
Geranium
You can either self massage or bath in these oils.

In the bath: Add 5-10 drops of one of the essential oils above to your bath and stay in the bath for 15 or more minutes once a week.

Self massage: Mix 5-10 drops of one of the essential oils above with 2 tablespoons of carrier oil (sweet almond, avocado, olive, jojoba and apricot are good carrier oils) and massage your tummy, thighs and bum for 8-10 minutes everyday.

Emotional links to cellulite
Louise Hay, author of pivotal alternative medicine books, Heal Your Body and You Can Heal Your Life, asserts that all physical ailments have an emotional root. She suggests that the emotion cause of cellulite is stored anger and self punishment and prescribes this healing affirmation - "I forgive others, I forgive myself. I give myself permission to be free to love and enjoy life."

Now this may sound a little too "give up all of my worldly possessions, move to Byron and live like a hippy" to you, and that's fine; you'll get lots out of the anti-cellulite checklist on its own if you follow it.