ASK THE FOX – MAKE ME PRETTY DOWN THERE

Dear Miss Healthy Fox,

I’m you’re new biggest fan, and I’m confident you have the answer I need for my question….

I hate pubic hair. It’s disgusting – ew ew ew – and so I shave it all. The problem is, when I shave, I never get pretty down there. For the very first two or three weeks I started shaving, it was BEAUTIFUL…but now, EVERY time I am bumpy and some of my pores become red and extremely sore. When the stubble begins to come through, I always have at least 4 or 5 hairs that grow UNDER my skin, causing MUCH irritation and …UGLINESS!!! I have asked several ladies and tried different things such as Dove Sensitive Skin instead of cream, sensitive skin shaving creams, and even bought a special 5-blade razor to be used for that area only. I’ve tried shaving it lightly, slowly, against the grain, with the grain, sideways, YOU NAME IT! My husband said it was just because my skin had to get used to it but that was a year ago and it’s not any better! HEEEELLLPPP!!!

Love,
Make Me Pretty Down There

Darling Make Me Pretty Down There,

The first time I went to get waxed, my Korean-American waxer looked at the hair down there and said, “Oh, no.” Embarrassed, I tried to make her laugh by saying, “Well, I am part-Italian.” She looked at me blankly. “Italians have a lot of hair,” I said, feeling more and more awkward. “We Koreans have no hair,” she said and showed me her perfectly hairless arm. “So you became a waxer,” I asked. “Isn’t that like an alcoholic tending bar?”

I bring up this example, not to push waxing on you, but to share that some of us are lucky and born with little or no hair, while others have to struggle to keep their hair under control. I do not always wax, because it can be expensive and sometimes there is just not enough time to wait for a waxing appointment.

Over the years, I have tried everything to avoid red bumps and ingrown hairs, and as you have learned, dear reader, many products sold in drugstores today claim to help, but often make the problem worse! It has only been in the last year that I have found a solution to ingrown hairs and bumps, but along the way I learned many tips that might help you. Every girl’s body hair is different, so it does take time and experimentation to find what works for you best.

EXFOLIATION IS KEY IN THE PUBIC AREA

I also get horrible ingrown hairs that expand into ugly red bumps. Researchers say that ingrown hairs are more likely to affect girls with curly hair, as curly hairs easily grown back in and under the skin. Ingrown hairs also are more frequent when there is more moisture in the air, something you may notice in humid climates. Exfoliation is the key to removing old layers of skin that the hair can grow under. Believe it or not, dry brushing your vaginal area is a quick and easy way to exfoliate old skin cells and help trapped hairs to be freed before they become ingrown. I also highly recommend the all-natural, vegan, lemongrass cleanser from Suki Naturals. It is meant as a facial cleanser, (and if you have red skin or problem skin, it’s truly amazing!) but works incredibly well as an exfoliator for all body parts and will not disrupt sensitive skin.

NO BUMP GEL THAT ACTUALLY WORKS
I have tried many products that claim to stop ingrown hairs and to clear red bumps, and very few worked to my satisfaction. A month ago, I started using Surgi-Care Bare ‘N Clear No Bumps Gel and I am proud to say, it not only cleared any red bumps, I have not had an ingrown hair since I used it. I bought the product at CVS Pharmacy, but you can find a store that carries Surgi-Care products by clicking here.

SHAVING CREAM
I do not use shaving creams on the pubic area because they do not seem to make a difference in the quality of a shave. I always exfoliate with Suki’s lemongrass cleanser before shaving, and leave it on to serve as a shaving cream. Raw food gurus also recommend using raw coconut butter as a shaving cream and as a post-shaving moisturizer. Coconut butter will even help heal old shaving and ingrown hair scars.

LASER TREATMENTS
If none of the above treatments help you, dear reader, I recommend saving your money for laser hair removal. This is the secret of porn stars, models and strippers who have to stay bare for a living. Although it is initially expensive, and you may need up to three treatments for stubborn hair, it will solve your hair problems in the long run. Think of all the money you will save if you never have to buy razors, creams, and lotions ever again. I’m saving my money as we speak!

FOXY GIRLS – ANY HAIR REMOVAL TRICKS YOU’VE DISCOVERED?
POST YOUR TIPS HERE!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

SILKY, SOFT, SMOOTH SKIN…. THE NATURAL WAY

Like many girls, my skin can get dried out and throughout my life I have used lotions, creams, and oils to try and make my skin supple, smooth and soft. Last year, I picked up Natalia Rose’s book, Raw Food LIfe Force Energy: Enter a Totally New Stratosphere of Weight Loss, Beauty, and Health, which I highly recommend for people wanting to lose weight and detox. The book includes some raw, cooked, and fish-based recipes, for those who are not prepared to be 100% raw vegan, but want to include more fruits and vegetables in their diet. Ms. Rose also describes natural techniques to keep your body looking and feeling great.

DRY BRUSHING

Ms. Rose recommends dry brushing your entire body before showering in the morning. This will wake you up, remove dead skin cells, and help your body tone and remove cellulite. It does this by stimulating the lymphatic system and helping it to remove lactic acid and other wastes that can contribute to cellulite. It also increases oxygen in the body which helps to wake the body up.

At my Longs Drugstore, I was able to purchase a body bath brush with a long wood handle for only $4.99. I followed Ms. Rose’s technique and began first by brushing the tops of my feet, then up my calves, and then up my thighs. If there is any fat you don’t like on your legs, take a moment and brush those areas in circles to tighten and firm those areas.

Move to your backside and brush the buttocks upward. Again, if there’s any fat you don’t like, take a moment to brush those areas in circles.

Then go to your hands and start brushing up your arms. Make certain to brush the armpit area thoroughly as this is the major lymphatic drainage region. Then down your chest, down your breasts and slowly around the abdomen (circling the abdomen too fast can upset the digestive tract).

Finally, brush your back in downwards strokes. The whole process should take between 3 and 5 minutes.

Your body should feel alive and energized, and each day you brush, you will see your skin tighten and get softer and smoother.

Within a week of dry brushing, I had no need for body lotions and my dry skin problem was gone. My husband could not believe how soft my skin became so fast and started dry brushing his skin, too. He was amazed at how awake he felt each time he dry brushed his skin in the morning, and you will, too!

ALSO, RAW ORGANIC COCONUT OIL MAKES A GREAT SKIN MOISTURIZER AND CAN HEAL SCAR TISSUE IF USED DAILY!

CHANGE YOUR DIET, CHANGE YOUR LIFE

Dear Healthy Fox,

I had a few questions for you about your eating habits. I am really interested in how you started out changing your diet slowly. I think I could get rid of the dairy in my diet, because I hate milk to begin with, although it would be hard to forgo tres leches and cheesecake.

I am not even sure where to start. Should I get rid of sugars first? I have already quit all sodas and switched to tea and water. I made an appointment to go talk with a physical trainer at the gym at my school to get me an exercise plan mapped out. I am really excited about this and ready to get back down to my size 4.

Also, why exactly do you not eat meat?

I remember you saying one of your secrets was apples. I am going tomorrow to buy some.

–Ready to Change

Dear Ready to Change,

Guess what? You have already started to change your diet and your body is already changing! Remember, the more you DECIDE your body is changing, the faster the change will happen.

1. WATER AND WEIGHT LOSS
The number one secret to losing weight is drinking water. Often, when our body is thirsty, we misread this as hunger and eat more food than we need. When I began dieting, I drank one tall glass of water before each meal. This ensured my body was hydrated, prevented bloating, and helped me to “shrink” my stomach. If your stomach is already full of water, you will eat less. This is why many nutritionists recommend having a bowl of soup before a meal, because the soup will fill you and you will eat an average of 100 less calories per meal.

2. APPLES
In my blog, AN APPLE A DAY, KEEPS FAT AWAY, I did recommend eating an apple before a meal. Apples are rich in water and fiber, and also have a chemical in them which naturally curbs the appetite. Everywhere I went while dieting, I carried a bag of sliced apples and lemon juice to snack on and the weight came off.

3. SALAD AND VEGGIES
Many women claim not to like salad, which I find shocking. Salads are full of protein, good carbohydrates, vitamins and minerals and can be very low in calories. When dieting, be wise and buy organic vegetables from your local farmer’s market. The salad will be fresher and taste better, plus you will feel good knowing you supported American farmers. Avoid salad dressings with milk, cream, corn syrup and/or sugar. One of my favorite simple, sugar-free, raw, vegan dressings is a simple combination of olive oil, fresh-squeezed lemon juice, agave nectar, salt and pepper. It tastes amazing on all salads, especially salads with sliced apples!

4. PORTION CONTROL IS WHAT IT’S ALL ABOUT
A lot of women are already eating healthy meals, but they are still consuming too many calories.
Stop living in denial and start counting your calories! Read the labels on the food you are eating and start keeping a calorie-counting journal. When I was dieting, I worked in an office and logged everything I ate on my online calorie-counting journal (FREE CALORIE COUNTER). It helped me to get a sense of what my ideal portion size was and helped me to train my stomach into eating less food per meal.

5. LIMITING SUGAR, ESPECIALLY HIGH FRUCTOSE CORN SYRUP
I am a naturalist, and I strongly believe that you should avoid refined sugar, high fructose corn syrup, corn syrup, Splenda, Sweet ‘n Low, etc. If you have a sweet tooth, use natural vegan sweeteners like agave nectar and stevia. Some women do not like the taste of stevia (it can have a licorice aftertaste), so I recommend using half agave, half stevia. This will give you a low-calorie sweetener that does not cause cancer or diabetes. I also use grade B maple syrup and raw honey, but only when maintaining weight.

6. EMOTIONAL EATING
Remember, we often eat to soothe and suppress our negative emotions. When we lose weight, suppressed emotions begin to surface and we may start to feel depressed. It is important to journal about these emotions and recognize they will pass. Through journaling, it becomes apparent which foods we use to soothe emotions. Is it sugar? Chocolate? Pizza? Each week you are dieting, give yourself one “free” night where you are allowed to eat your “bad” foods. For me and my man, we ate pizza every Thursday night while dieting. Our pizza nights kept us going through the week and helped us not feel deprived.

7. ALCOHOL PACKS ON THE POUNDS
Are you still drinking, love? I try to avoid alcohol as much as I can as it destroys your body and packs on the pounds. Beer is the worst culprit, but sugar in mixed drinks is number two. If you are dieting and drinking, remember to choose wine (preferably organic), sake or vodka with soda water. Anything else is a fat attractor.

8. EXERCISE ALWAYS HELPS
While dieting, I recommend starting a yoga class. Yoga is gentler than aerobic exercise, yet it tones and strengthens your body. It also makes you more flexible, which leads to greater, more pleasurable sex.

9. EAT RIGHT FOR YOUR BLOOD TYPE
I am vegetarian for many reasons, but the main reason is my body is healthier, leaner and stronger since I stopped eating animals. In the book, Eat Right for your Blood Type, I learned that people with my blood type (blood type A) have a more difficult time processing cholesterol than any other blood type. Because of this, people with type A blood are at a much higher risk of developing heart disease in their 40s if they do not become vegetarian. This is one of the reasons I stopped eating meat, and I highly recommend this book for all blood types. I will write more about why I became vegetarian in future blogs.

10. HAVE MORE SEX
Sex is not only good for your brain, it is great for your physical body. The more sex you have, the more calories you burn, the more endorphins are released, and the more you will love your body. Loving your body is an essential part of changing your body, so get back in bed!

MANY OF YOU HAVE ASKED FOR MORE VEGAN DESSERT RECIPES, AND MORE ARE COMING!  I AM DELIGHTED SO MANY OF YOU LOVED THE VEGAN CHOCOLATE PUDDING…

GET SKINNY EATING DECADENTLY

Darling Healthy Foxes,

As many of you know, my body did not always look the way it does now. Ten years ago, I was working the wrong job, depressed, eating candy, soda and fast food, and twenty-five pounds heavier. Most of my family is overweight, so in my dark emotional state, I believed that I was doomed to get fatter as I got older.

Luckily, my marvelous man supported a career change, got me to a gym, helped me stop drinking cow milk, and supported me as I decided to become vegetarian. By working out and eating right, the fat started to fall off and I replaced it with muscle tone and a body I never knew I had.

One of my secrets, is eating raw, vegan desserts. I am including my favorite all-time decadent raw dessert recipe from the book Raw Food, Real World. If you are in New York, I highly recommend stopping by Pure Food and Wine, and trying the most amazing desserts that make your skin glow, your fat melt, and your body feel sexy and energized.

Naturally, this is a fantastic aphrodisiac if you are creating a special meal for a loved one, and quite a conversation starter…

Meat-eaters, dairy-lovers, and sugar-cravers, watch out!

This is the greatest CHOCOLATE PUDDING you will ever eat.
AND IT WILL MAKE YOU GORGEOUS!

Pure Food & Wine’s
CHOCOLATE PUDDING

(Just make sure to prepare a day in advance… Sometimes it takes time to get a coconut open. You may want to ask your grocer to crack them open if you are a novice. Survivor girls, you’ll need at least 3 coconuts for this recipe and a cleaver.)

2 c. coconut meat
3/4 c. coconut water, at room temperature, if needed to thin…
1/2 c. maple syrup
1/2 c. agave nectar (SEE MY BLOG ON SWEETER THAN SUGAR AND SO MUCH SEXIER)
1/2 c. cocoa powder
2 T. vanilla extract
1/4 t. sea salt

In a Vita-Mix or high-speed blender, puree all the ingredients until completely smooth, stopping to scrape the sides as necessary. Transfer to bowls and chill for a firmer pudding, or eat it straightaway.

CHECK OUT MORE ABOUT PURE FOOD AND WINE AT ONELUCKYDUCK.COM