WATER, WATER, WATER

It’s March 1st! Happy National Nutrition Month! Last month, I wrote some posts on wellness; I’m happy to go into March with a few posts coinciding with nutrition. 

I wanna start with one of the basic six essential nutrients…. WATER. You may feel like I’m beating you over the head discussing water. I realize I’ve been talking about drinking enough water for basically the passed 6-12 months. I guess I’m not done! #sorrynotsorry (scroll all the way down for fun art on how to get more high water content foods in your diet!).

Hayden is picking up on our habits— and I’m proud this good one he is choosing to copy. LOL. He loves saying, “I need more water, mommy,” while grabbing his bottle and stool and heading to turn on the filter. Little mess!! But so happy because I’ve read potty training is an incredibly important time to stay very well hydrated.

Yesterday, if you saw my post (here) I squeezed in a hard workout, drank a ton of water and felt so much better afterward. Less anxiety, more focused. I believe endorphins help greatly, but I also notice a distinct difference when I drink my water, specifically my filtered mineral water. The main difference is feeling more focused and energetic and grounded. It’s easy to forget the importance of water… but it only takes a headache or lots of anxiety to remind us.
I thought this was a perfect day to answer a few more of your questions that keep coming in about our Water Filter System! And I love it!! The main questions have been about the Home Master® Filters RO system Joel and I have. I also want to say the only thing I regret is waiting so long to get this. It has made our lives easier! If you’re on the fence, lemme know! I drink probably 25% more water now that I have this mineral water on tap.

questions

What do you mean by “mineral water on tap?”

Great question! I kept asking Joel this, too. These Home Master® Filters are patented, advanced pH balanced water purification systems that ADD minerals back to your water two times during the process of purifying, hence, #MineralWaterOnTap.

Did we get upgrades?

I asked Joel to go over everything we got (I honestly just loved the mineral on tap at my sink, I didn’t know every little thing Joel did, but I’m learning!). YES, we got the loaded package which Joel strongly recommends. 

The Loaded version adds:

1. Luxury Standard Brushed Nickel RO Faucet

2. Fridge Connection Kit

3. Dow Filmtec High-Performance RO membrane (75 GPD)

4. Permeate Pump

Customers can pick and choose what they want for upgrades and/or choose a different faucet from our Faucet Line here: HERE as well via our Home Master Reverse Osmosis System Products Page.

For more information regarding our Home Master Upgrades visit here.

Can I just buy the refrigerator kit? 

Yes - you can install a Home Master® RO System and connect it solely to the refrigerator. You simply have to purchase a Home Master® Refrigerator Connection Kit, and also cap off the line going to the faucet with an additional 3/8 inch inline ball valve. All of which are available right on the company website.

What if I want hot and cold water at my #MineralWaterOnTap filter (like ours at the kitchen sink)?

YES! I hear you and I feel you! This is our next upgrade. And it is possible, affordable and doesn’t take up much space.

Check out the Chiller Daddy (hilarious name and you won’t forget it!) and the Hot Tank that would easily fit under our sink.

HOT TANK INFO:

You can purchase the Waterstone™ Hot Tank to add to your Home Master® drinking water filtration system for instant hot tea, coffee, instant soup, water with lemon in the morning, etc!  When you purchase the Waterstone™ Hot Tank, you will need to purchase one of the four Hot/Cold Waterstone™ Water Filtration Faucets.

1. Parche

2. Hampton

3. Annapolis

4. Pembroke

 Hot/Cold Faucets will come with a secondary lever. One lever for cold water, the other for hot water.

 CHILLED WATER INFO:

You can add the Chiller Daddy®, a compact undersink water chiller to your Home Master® RO system to provide you and your family with chilled purified water! The Chiller Daddy® is compatible with any of the Home Master® Water Filtration Faucets.

QUESTIONS? So much info here!! Please leave any thoughts or concerns in the comments below. If you can, tune into our Q & A live next week (scheduled for 10:30am PT on facebook and I’ll be chiming in on instagram live, too. Home Master will be on there with us helping answer questions). Home Master® Filters and I will make sure all your questions are answered. You can also contact HomeMaster at 1-877-693-7873. Tell them I sent you and you will get free shipping and a second year filter free on your RO system. 

Or use codes ASHLEY for free shipping and free second year filter ON YOUR RO SYSTEM. Or ASHLEY2019 on your whole house system!

THE PERFECT WATER: Q & A follow up

Hi everyone!

To all of you that checked out the facebook live last month, thanks for joining! February is kicking off a month of serious wellness for me for several reasons. 

First of all, it’s cancer prevention month. I’ll be writing about that more soon. Secondly, I’m reading more about fertility and seeing what I can do to have the best possible chances with that process, so I’m working from the inside out. And finally, I’m looking at my skin after traveling and “winter” and “age” and seeing what I can do about it! All the three of these things have something in common that jumped out at me. DRINK MORE WATER. 

So, this brings us back to my facebook live about water. If I’m going to be drinking more, might as well make it convenient and the highest, purest quality.

I looked at the comments and outlined the main questions that were asked. If you missed the live, I’ll be doing one another (hopefully getting better at them). But, if you wanna peek at this one, you can watch it on my page HERE.

Here were your main questions that I tried to get answered:

If I am curious about water filtration, where’s the best place to start?

MY WATER FILTER NEEDS

How much was our exact model?

Prices range according to your needs. An over the counter one starts relatively low. Click to check it out and get free shipping on models like mine and also a second year filter for free. If you feel you are in a similar situation to mine, I highly recommend looking into this model. Please ask me if you have questions because the company will chime in and help me answer.

How often do you need to change the filter?

FILTER CHANGE SET

Is this better than well water?

Well water quality should be tested before consumption. It can be incredibly pure or highly contaminated. Home Masters does make well water systems. Please test first - get the right tool for the job!

more info:

CHECK OUT FILTERS FOR WELL WATER

How do I hook up a frig filter without buying a whole system?

Your fridge filter is basic filtration, and while better than nothing, its filtration capacity is limited. The Home Master Artesian -- Full Contact Reverse Osmosis System produces slightly alkaline Mineral Water on Tap® by first stripping the water clean, removing 98% of contaminants using the reverse osmosis (RO) process, then channeling the water through the advanced remineralization filter twice using our patented Full Contact Technology to rejuvenate and restore 30-60 mg/L calcium and magnesium minerals. It’s an entirely natural process - just like rainwater passing through the earth.

Yes – you can install a Home Master RO system to directly feed just your refrigerator’s water and ice dispenser. However, in order to do so you’ll need to flush out the system from time to time and so its handy to have a way to get the waste water in your sink or a bucket. You don’t want the flush water getting into your fridge because it’s a bear flushing out your fridge and ice maker. Get the Refrigerator Connection Kit and use the Inline Ball Valve 3/8” as your termination and flush point under your sink.

Learn More Here:

Do I need to drill a hole for the RO faucet?

Can I mount the Home Master RO in the basement?

What are benefits of drinking filtered cold water out of the fridge?

All the same benefits of water, but cold BURNS CALORIES. Um…Ok. Sold.

I’d like to look at all the potential faucet options:

FAUCET OPTIONS

I’m renting and may move, so what is easy to take with me and affordable?

Check these out! countertopfilters

Any other questions, please ask and I’ll add them here for us to reference. Do you already have a filter? If so, I wanna hear about it! If not, are you thinking about one?

xox

AJH

I could fit all my usual stuff in here after the water filter;)

BOTTOMS UP...drink your H2O

Bottoms up!

However, this post is not about emptying your glass of Rose' all day! I just downed 14 oz of water. This post is too simple. I really should get a big fat 'ol "F" for this. It's too easy, too on-the-nose. Everyone knows they need to drink water. 

We’ve heard this our whole lives: DRINK MORE WATER. It’s basically the panacea to many ailments. Most of this wellness reminder series is simply that— great reminders. We know all of this already, but I still like new reminders. I recently overheard someone say in conversation, “Drinking water is a no-brainer, well, it’s 90% of your brain, so it’s more of a BRAINER than we think!” 

Anyhow, that joke wasn’t very funny. And I’m not trying to be funny here. Just straightforward. And bring your mid(ish)-year reminder about many of our new year’s resolutions. And if memory serves me, we all had several different resolutions, but the consistently ones were: drink more water and weight loss.

So, while typing and doing a bit of research here, I got super thirsty. As I said, I downed water. I think part of my issue is that I forget, then I get tired and and busy and distracted. I need a pick me up.  I instinctively reach for caffeine. And THAT IS MY DOWNFALL.

I appreciate my yoga teachers telling me all the benefits of water and why it's so important for me drink it. As I'm doing my last down dog of the class recently, I hear the lecture coming. I roll my eyes back so far, it's as if gravity is going to make them stick there. But, alas, I rise up once again and it is on my mind. 

For better or worse, the thoughts that get me thinking are more vanity based. Does this happen to you sometimes? I'm thinking, "Duh, we ALL know we need to drink water to make our digestive system work. Are you really saying this AGAIN. I mean, we're paying $20 a class to be here, we’re clearly on the "body-wellness" path, so tell us something I don't hear everyday." And then she did.

She reminded me of things like this:

Calorie control

Water simply helps people feel full, and as a result consume fewer calories. Timing can help, too. Drink 16oz. before meals. And cold water helps metabolism.

Fuels Muscle/Gives us Energy

When the muscles don’t have enough water, they get tired. So for extra energy, try drinking water to push through that final set of squats. And water in general can give us all more energy! If only I had the energy of my two year old! 

Clearer skin

Part of the detoxification benefits of drinking water, it helps flush out toxins that can clog our pores and cause acne. The jury is still out on if it scientifically helps with wrinkles, but I'll tell you this much, it doesn't hurt!

Improves Brain Function

I don't know if it's just from being a tired mom a lot of the time, but I will take all the help I can get to improve my brain function! Like I said earlier, our brain is mainly water and needs enough of it to function properly. I don't know the science behind it, but it makes sense.

Relieves Constipation In Many Cases

Pretty self explanatory, but worth mentioning. If problems persist, see your doctor, but this is a good place to start.

extra credit: 

IT’S FREE!

Even if you splurge for bottled water, it’s cheaper than Starbucks or wine!

You might remember my post with Dr Oz reminding us all to immediately drink 2 glasses of water upon rising. I do that about 40% of the time if I’m being honest. UGH! Coffee calls my name in the morning. SO Loudly!!!

BUT, bottoms UP. It’s time. If you haven’t been consistent, let’s start this challenge and get ‘er done. If you don’t love the taste—er— non taste of water, there are fun things you can do. Add mint! Add fruit. I add Usana’s Booster C and it gives me just enough flavor (and Vitamin C). This morning, I added the probiotic powder. I’m challenging myself to drink 64 oz every single day this week. I’ll report in my stories. Will you do it with me? Maybe we’ll go longer, but let’s start with a week. WE CAN DO THIS.

Tag me in any stories or posts…. What’s a hashtag we can all use? #bottomsupH2o? too long? thoughts? ha!

S.M.A.R.T. GOALS (continued from the Soap Digest Column)

Thanks to all of you that sent DMs and emails about the Digest article. I love that many of you related to something in the article. I really need all the help I can get, so I love learning from other people! I like the SMART intentions because they simplify my thoughts.  I get easily overwhelmed and overthink things. This model helps keep my mind on track. And I discussed a few things I learned from celebrity trainer Erin Oprea. I didn't say this in the article, but I'd like to lose 5 pounds. It's that little last bit of baby weight. I did mention is putting pen to paper (or finger to keyboard) and outlining some ideas here. Forgive me for going on and on about this stuff!!  

SMART: SMART, MEASURABLE, ATTAINABLE, REALISTIC, TIME-BOUND

SPECIFIC. In the article, I mentioned getting up earlier everyday. 45 minutes to be exact. I want to try to get more done first thing in the day. Preferably, before the kids get up. This proves to be easier said than done because they wake up at slightly different times, especially the baby. But, my goal is to start the coffeemaker, then hit the treadmill or jump on the trampoline. This was one of the main things that Erin Oprea does that inspired me. We'll see how this goes;) So, far, not so good! ha.

MEASURABLE. For me, right now, it is drinking the water. That is a very measurable challenge that I can track throughout the day and feel accomplished no matter what. Even 4 glasses of water is better than one- or none! I do notice the more I drink, the more I seem to need. Anyone ever notice that? I'm actually going to take a break right now to go down a glass. 

My next measurable goal will be a race of some sort. Heather Tom and Katherine Kelly Lang from Bold and Beautiful are inspiring me. They set goals like this constantly. Marathons, races, charitable walks, rides, you name it!

ATTAINABLE. My disciplined girlfriend Kaley (Cuoco) will text me when she's going to yoga (usually with advance notice for me to arrange a sitter). It's so helpful to have someone hold me accountable. My other girlfriend Amy (Davidson) and I recently took the babies hiking with strollers. It was such a great workout! I was dying afterward, but secretly thrilled Amy encouraged me to do it. (I wanted to just walk flat ground!)

REALISTIC. I'm going through my closet right now giving away clothes that no longer fit me... I've held on to them thinking I might be that size again. But, it's not helpful! It's not realistic. I'd rather set goals that are realistic and feel great about achieving them, instead of constantly being reminded that I'm not where I "want" to be. It's silly, really. In the article, I mentioned being realistic about your workouts, too. I've told myself that if I can't fit in a workout/yoga, I can always do strengthening exercises ANYWHERE ANYTIME. Sit-ups, push-ups, leg lifts, jumping jacks, etc. are always a good idea. I appreciated Mary B. mentioning the Bosu Balance trainer in one of the comment sections here. It inspired me to incorporate that again. If you don't want to attend a class or go running or to the gym, it is a great way to workout at home. A Plan B (or A) that eliminated any reason for an excuse not to workout.

1. Bosu Balance Trainer  2. Personal Trampoline 3. S'well Bottle

TIME BOUND. I work better with a deadline. It's just the way I'm wired. I like to know when something needs to be completed. So, I'm setting a time-frame to achieve that 5 pound goal. Hayden turns 2 on May 24th. I feel like this is a completely realistic goal for me. And I'm putting it out there so you all will help hold me accountable!

FAMILY.

Overall goal- fun activities to keep the kids moving and mentally stimulated. If you follow me on instagram, you may have seen Hayden "playing" soccer on instastory. I enrolled him in a class. Huck was in soccer and karate. He is deciding which one to continue. They both love being outside on their age-appropriate scooters (with helmets) or bikes. For inside, Joel got them this robot that they enjoy chasing around called Think and Learn Teach n Tag Movi. 

We have a basketball goal in the house that can easily slip in the garage when we don't want it inside. But, if you have the space, it's an affordable, fun way to get the family involved. (Remember playing HORSE as a kid?)

1. Basket Ball Goal 2. Think and Learn Movi 3. Trampoline

4. Bicycoo

Another variation for the "R" part of the SMART goals:

REWARD. Motivation for me to keep going? Something new and cute for workouts!

If you made it this far, thanks for reading! I was really inspired by comments you guys left on other posts about fitness goals. Feel free to chime in more here about your own progress, leave tips, etc. 

2018.

Hello. It’s been a good minute (or many good minutes) since I’ve written. In the last post, I said I would share some thoughts about my “intentions” or resolutions for the new year. Can you believe it’s February already? And I’m still making my list! I can be long-winded and a bit scattered, so I’m doing my best to keep the list short and sweet. This list is somewhat generic, but it's real. I love what readers wrote in a previous post about their goals and intentions for this year. Self care came up, morning routines, etc. Your thoughts are encouraging me. I appreciate what Robin Van Drunen said: Goals are important and they must be typed or written down somewhere or the accountability goes out the window.

So, here goes.

PERSONALLY:

• LAUGH (it off) MORE. Let it go. Underthink it. 
• GET UP EARLIER.
• DRINK 8 GLASSES OF WATER. EVERY. SINGLE. DAY. I say it every year. Probably because I truly WANT it to happen.
• Take my vitamins and supplements EVERY DAY! 
• GET ORGANIZED. I no longer want  to get frustrated as I’m getting ready to leave the house because I can’t find something. I want to DOWNSIZE MY BELONGINGS. And I want to streamline my mom-life. (I will go into better detail in posts to come, but if that doesn’t make sense, what I mean is this: I long for smooth mornings. Is there a world where it’s easy to find two clean socks (that FIT) every person in the house? Sounds trite, but lemme tell you…. Can I easily find my favorite lipstick (it could be anywhere between diaper bags or purse to my car glove compartment- not advisable because it melts, I know)? Does anyone feel me here? And if you don’t have kids, substitute water bottles for portable coffee cups. We ALL have these mornings where we swear we’re coming STRAIGHT HOME AFTER “THIS” AND GETTING OUR LIVES TOGETHER. So, that’s what I mean. 
• WORKOUT MY BODY. Because this also works out my mind. I will do some form of a workout EVERY SINGLE DAY. I will. I’m writing my next column for Soap Digest based on this topic. I have a “strategy” that I’m borrowing form the business world. And I hope you respond to it. (I got many requests to discuss health and fitness). It’s currently helping me, so we’ll go into greater detail in that column and future blog posts. Hint: It’s about being S.M.A.R.T.
• MOM and Step-mom. Just be better, I guess? This set of intentions is way more personal than the more generic ones above. I have a blended family. It’s hard and not something I often discuss. But, it’s my reality. Some activities we do, Huck is not present. He’s simply not with us (it's his time with his mother). I try and schedule as much as possible when I have him, but some things are out of my control. Like, we didn't have Huck for Joel's birthday party, so we celebrated again once we did have him. And Hayden… my sweet baby boy. We always feel we can do more as moms, right? Time goes by so fast and I want to soak it all up while he’s still little. Funny enough, I think if I’m aware of the previous intentions listed above, I’ll be a better, more present mom? I leave that as a question... if we work more on ourselves, do we have more to offer our children?

PROFESSIONALLY:

• Be more time efficient. I will learn to prioritize URGENT over IMPORTANT. Procrastination gets me nowhere I want to be. I want to be extremely prepared for all endeavors big or small this year. 

SPIRITUALLY:

• Spend more time in prayer. Continue to attend the Women’s Bible Study.

Thoughts?  You know I love them and have missed being here on the blog, so leave a comment or piece of advise if you are inspired. Also, who has been implementing their own goals so far? Are any of you using certain tips to stick to them?

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PS- for those interested in above photo details, sadly, I think this coat is sold out. But, my necklace is a staple. And I'm not the only one that loves it... if you visit the blog often, you might remember this post?

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