Day 27

I really do feel comfortable and actually love "being" inside my body since this Earth Diet! This is a shoot for Athan-Jon/Jigalin, photography by the most extraordinary artist Griffith Tchen Pan!

Thoughts: Yes I am guilty of this. Hair bleach. After reading my friend Eddie Kachabs "Chemical Free Parenting" book about chemicals, I learnt how hair dyes and bleaches are not good! But of course I was ignorant to it, because that's not something I am willing to give up (just yet). My friend Leanne Bridges said "I have read the only safe colourant is semi-perm. All others lead to a risk of bladder cancer from absorbtion into the scalp, hands and eventually the bloodstream. I don't dye my hair anymore. I have bleached, and than many many times used black perm colour but have not used any for about 7 months. I got really worried when My scalp itched and eyes burned from the fumes." I wrote in a previous blog that if you can't eat it, don't put it on your skin. Well obviously you wouldn't want to eat hair dye.

So the healthiest way to be is...don't dye your hair.

Sad fact about Hair Dye Brands:

400 out of 456 Hair-dye products that were tested for toxic chemicals are ranked as high hazard, which means they contain toxic ingredients linked to cancer, developmentive and reproductive toxicity, neurotoxicity, immunotoxicity, organ toxicity, not to mention allergies and irritation of the eyes, skin or lungs. As mentioned above, I will give you the link to my article detailing that, at the base of this article, so you can check out your hair-dye product, and see where it ranks on the safe list.

Bottle blondes may not have more fun, but it seems they may have less to worry about than bottle brunettes. A recent report by the European Commission has asked for greater control over the use of chemicals in brown hair dyes because of fears of a potential link with cancer. In April this year, a chemical present in all brown permanent hair dyes, para-phenylenediamine (PPD), was said by the Keck School of Medicine at the University of Southern California to increase the risk of bladder cancer threefold in women who use dark- coloured dye. (http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1G1-90276986.html)Semi-permanent and temporary hair colors have less toxic ingredients than permanent colors. Brunette colors are more toxic than blonde and red shades.

If you are pregnant and wondering if you should dye your hair....DON'T DO IT! read this first....http://searchwarp.com/swa307334.htm

But if your not willing to go el natural like me the healthiest way to do it is...

If you are blonde get a natural sun bleach. When I was in California and surfing alot in the sun my hair was naturally highlighted and there was absolutely no need to have dye highlights!

Natural and Herbal Color Rinses
Certified organic henna and plant materials can also color your hair, but with a more gentle and natural approach, since they contain no synthetic chemicals, preservatives, or harsh oxidizing chemicals, such as ammonia. These pure vegetable products do not alter the structure or natural color of your hair and actually condition your hair while imparting color and sheen.

You can create a wide variety of plant pigment color rinses yourself. These concoctions do not create radical hair color change, but instead accentuate your hair’s natural tone and shine. If your hair is less than 15 percent gray, some plants will disguise the gray. In these cases, the product actually stains your hair, although very subtly. Cumulative usage creates longer-lasting, slightly more intense results. You can repeat the application as often as desired, depending on the color level you prefer. http://www.care2.com/greenliving/safer-ways-to-color-your-hair.html#

It seems silly that I choose to consume these chemicals because I want to dye my hair now. What am I going to do about it? To be honest...nothing. Perhaps if I were living with the monks in India I would not be concerned for a highlighted head of foils, however with my work, this hair works.

Challenges: Making time to prepare my meals. Obviously it takes more time and committment to eat only foods born from the earth as it's quicker to grab a kebab on the way or a chocolate bar on the run. So today I was home for 5 minutes for lunch, and lucky I has left over veggie patties to eat, otherwise I would have had a cucumber lunch. Can I say over and over how amazing someone is? hehe well the oh so amazing Elisha made a smart suggestion to have a day to prepare meals and then put them in the freezer so on days that you are busy you can let them defrost (DO NOT USE A MICROWAVE, very bad!!! Thats for another blog!) and then eat them! I am working on a film set in January and am aware some planning and prep is definately going to be needed so I can eat earthy!

Triumphs: Being able to eat chocolate for breakfast! Wooo this morning I woke up feeling like chocolate....so I made some of my amazing raw chocolate cocoa balls! Recipe below. Its so cool to be able to eat something you love first thing in the morning, what a great way to start the day! AND who would have known its healthy for you! To read about all the health benifits of cocoa and real raw chocolate check out my blog Day 21!

What I Ate Today:

Breakfast: Chocolate balls!!! And I also had 2 boiled eggs and a juice (beetroot, ginger, carrot and celery)

Lunch: a cucumber (perfect and cool and watery for a hott summers day in Queensland!) and some left over home made veggie patties (recipe for patties in day 25).

Love cucumber!

Dinner: a buckwheat crepe with egg and spring onion mmmm mmm!



Dessert: a buckwheat pancake with maple syrup and my homemade chocolate! Ahhhh I am really enjoying the lovely natural sweetness that the earth provides us! Its beautiful!

Snacks: My very special hehe homemade chocolate balls! Recipe belowwwwwww! and almonds thanks to the beautiful Sophie :)

Recipe: Special homemade chocolate balls!
1. Agave syrup
2. Oats
3. Almond meal
4. cocoa podwer
5. water

Directions:
1. Mix it all in a bowl! Use your imagination and creativity to how sweet you want them (add more agave),how chocolately you want them (add more cocoa), how creamy you want them (add more almond meal)!
2. Roll in balls and eat or put them in the freezer and eat them fresh and cool, they are beautiful for a hott summers day!




Dinner: Buckwheat crepes with egg and spring onion. To me buckwheat is just amazing, it tastes great, its a plant seed that immitates a flour and is a great pancake, bread and pastry alternative! Love itttt!
Ingredients:
1. Buckwheat flour
2. water
3. free range organic eggs
4. chopped spring onion to garnish

Directions:
1. Make the buckwheat crepes, add buckwheat and flour to a bowl and mix until it's quite runny for a thin crepe, then fry in olive oil.
2. Scramble or make an egg omlete
3. Put the eggs on the crepe and add the spring onion! MMMM mmmm!

Buckwheat pancakes with chocolate:
Ingredients:
1. Buckwheat flour
2. water
3. agave syrup
4. cocoa powder

Directions:
1. Make the pancakes/crepes as above, if you want it thicker use less water.
2. Make your chocolate mixture with cocoa powder, water and agave syrup so it's like a nutella spread.
3. Spread the chocolate over your pancakes and it will melt! MMMM reminds me of the time Angie and I were under the Eiffel Tower in Paris eating crepes with nutella....although this homemade is way healthier, and tastes just as good PLUS it doesn't leave me feeling full, bloated and tired!

Exercise: Walking around Brisbane shopping, buying new sunglasses woooshhh this Aussie sun is strong ;) and getting my visa for India!!! Great exercise I must say!

339 days to go!