Updates from Haley Lorman

Have your lady parts ever literally felt like they were falling out of you during your period? 

Friends, I am all about normalizing our periods. So if that's not something you care to read about then please, move on. 

Let me paint a picture for you of what my period struggles have been through-out my life. 

The pain, as I would describe to Matt would be like that of a really bad poop cramp you get that just won't go away. He would always say that's not possible, because to him, that pain was THE WORST.

I had struggled with this before kids where it felt like someone was literally stabbing my ovaries. It would leave me laid up in bed and unable to do much of anything. 

I went on the birth control pill to help regulate my period and help with the cramping at the age of 15 but that seemed to bring up a whole host of problems. 

One birth control pill made the pain worse than before, so my Dr switched to another pill but that one gave me intense yeast infections. Every single month.

I finally made the decision that the pill was not meant for me so I went off of it. 

From there, I struggled with infrequent periods. They wouldn't come for 3+ months and when they finally did they would last 7-12 days. 

My gyne thought I had a particular syndrome and that I could potentially be infertile because of all the issues I was having, so we started a ton of tests to figure out what was going on. 

At the time, Matt and I weren't trying to get pregnant but we always said if it happened, it happened and that would be great. Shortly after, I got pregnant with Layla. 

So what was happening? My guess, my hormones were completely out of balance. 

Around a year after I had Layla, I got my period back. It was excruciating. Things got worse for me. 

I would go through a super tampon and pad within hours. The pain was like knives jabbing into me... My vagina would literately throb and felt like it was going to fall out of me. 

Shortly after my periods returned I got pregnant with Hannah, so I didn't endure that for long. 

When Hannah was a month old I started using natural remedies for my postpartum stress. I hadn't been sleeping, my anxiety was way high and I was becoming more on edge. You can read more about that here.

I became part of this really amazing community of people on facebook that would share their wins and experiences with various things. It was so cool to be able to read some of these and get to try some out for myself and family. 

Utilizing natural remedies has always been a part of me. So this totally fit into my life. 

It made me feel empowered taking our families health into our own hands. 

I had gotten my period back around the one year mark with Hannah as well. At this point, I was turning to natural remedies for most things. So looking for a natural option to help support my hormones and support my period made sense.

That community I mentioned I was a part of earlier, had been raving about a particular product and how it helped support their periods,  support their hormones and more. (I recommend you read up on the benefits of wild yam with supporting hormones) so I grabbed the blend of essential oils that contained wild yam and started to use it. I had nothing to lose at this point! 

I was faithful using it every day. Consistency is key. I used it every morning on my body. My period returned and guess what, it wasn't terrible!

Since incorporating natural, plant based, clean living into my life, my periods are spot on. 

Every single month. My periods last for 5 days and I have little to no cramping. My flow is moderate to light and I do not dread that time of my cycle. I do not let it control my life anymore! 

I'm so thankful for this community I became a part of. For if it hadn't been for them, I would still be sitting here, soaking up super tampons and pads and dreading that time of the month. 

Finding balance can be hard in all aspects of our life. 

Hormonal balance can be extra tricky. 

You can learn more in this group where we talk about various ways to find balance in various aspects of our everyday life. 

Dairy free and processed sugar free baking is super important to me. I’m intolerant to those and if I consume them it results in massive acne breakouts. 

I’m always looking for easy, fail proof recipes and tweek them so they fit into my life. I have a major sweet tooth so this helps keep me more on track and not fall off course.  

If I can add a little extra protein in there as well, Im happy!

These are the perfect cupcake to make with the kids because they are super easy and with no egg it's super safe for them to eat that raw batter.  They thoroughly enjoy licking the spoon and bowl afterwards. 

These will be my go-to, fail-proof cupcakes from now on! They are the perfect cupcake for any celebration and a hit for all. They rise beautifully while baking. 

The recipe is also super forgiving but for the fluffiest cupcakes use all-purpose flour. I'm sure you can easily substitute for a gluten free flour if that's something you need.

Yield-12 cupcakes                                    Prep time-25 Minutes                          Cook time-20 Minutes

Ingredients:

• 1 cup (250 mL) unsweetened almond milk

• 1 cup (220 g) coconut sugar

• 1/3 cup (80 mL) olive oil

• 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar

• 1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract

• 1 1/4 cups (210 g) unbleached all-purpose flour

• 1/3 cup (27 g) unsweetened cocoa powder

• 1 scoop protein powder

• 1 teaspoon baking soda

• 3/4 teaspoon fine sea salt

 Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350°F and line a cupcake tin with 12 cupcake liners or grease a silicone cupcake pan. 
2. Add the almond milk, coconut sugar, oil, vinegar, and vanilla into a large mixing bowl. Beat the wet ingredients on low speed until combined. (we use a spatula and mix by hand.
3. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, cocoa powder, protein powder, baking soda, and salt until no clumps remain.
4. Gradually add the dry flour mixture to the wet ingredients and beat just until smooth and no patches of flour remain.
5. Spoon the batter into the cupcake liners, about two-thirds full for each.
6. Bake for 20 to 24 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Cool the cupcakes on a cooling rack.
7. Once the cupcakes are completely cool, spread a thick layer of frosting on top of each, followed by a generous amount of sprinkles. (I am working on a frosting recipe for y'all.
8. Enjoy! Leftover cupcakes will keep for a couple days in a sealed container, or you can freeze them for up to 1 month. 
   
   
   Enjoyed these? Find more dairy free and processed sugar free recipes in my 90 day Transformation program.
   
   
   
   
   
   
   

Have you ever dealt with adult acne? 

It is something I have struggled with off and on since I hit puberty. 

All through high school Id have terrible break outs on my face. I would consult with my Dr and Id hear the same thing, ”hormonal/ bacterial” 

When I was 23, I got pregnant with my first daughter. I got that pregnancy glow everyone talks about. My skin was the best it had ever been!

 But it didn't last. 

After I had my first daughter I dealt with even worse acne then before. Extreme inflammation that i could feel coming on just hours before it would rise to the surface. 

It was the worst experience. So back to my Dr I went. 

She finally referred me to a dermatologist who suggested I take a pretty intense medication if I was truly wanting my acne to heal. 

He said that if I wanted this medication that I needed to stop nursing (fat chance on that) and that getting pregnant for another year wasn't an option (our goal was to have our kids two years apart) so I left that appointment with no answers to my problem. He only suggested one thing. He never gave me tips or suggested as to why my acne may be happening in the first place. 

Soon after, I got pregnant with my second daughter. Again, with my pregnancy my skin cleared but after, a mess. It had been even worse this time around. 

My skin had started to break out from the cheeks down (that picture you see is me) I was so self conscious. Anytime I talked to someone, all I could think was “are they looking at my acne” so I would constantly have my hands around my face to block it. How foolish of me.

My sister would tell me how painful it looked. She was right. It was extremely painful. I could hardly open my mouth to eat because my entire face was so inflamed. 

So I went looking for some reasons as to why my acne would be this way. Hormones was one  (you can read about my hormonal struggles here) but another was the food I ate. That made sense, especially since I have been a sugar addict my entire life.

 
I found a nutritionist and started eating a cleaner diet. You can grab a favorite cupcake recipes of mine here!

I lost a good chunk of weight but my skin was still the same. So I started researching some natural ways to heal my face and essential oils started popping up. 

I was currently using a really amazing quality of essential oils but hadn't really thought about using them for their healing properties for the skin. 

So, like any desperate person, I started to experiment with them.

Within two weeks, the inflammation in my skin went down significantly. I could open my mouth fully and that bacterial puss, that green and yellow crap that inflamed my face, started to drain out of my skin. Within weeks, the acne was drying up. I was completely in aw. I couldn't believe it! 

It's been 3 years since I decided to experiment with my oils and now I know exactly what sets my skin off in breakouts. 

I ended up seeking out a naturopath and found out i'm sugar and dairy intolerant. Any time I eat something containing processed sugars, hours later I pay for it. 

This all makes sense to me now. Because of my insane sugar addiction my entire life, my body cannot process it and backfires on me through me skin. 

So with watching the foods I eat, supporting my hormones through natural tools and utilizing oils that help reduce acne, I've been able to feel confident in the skin i'm in. 

Laundry. Let's get real, we all do it! Sometimes multiple loads a day right?!

Little known piece of me, I used to make my own laundry soap, long before I made the switch to a plant based products. Even before I had kids I was well aware of the toxic chemicals in laundry soap and cleaner. I even made my own cleaner as well but that's a story for another day.

I would spend hours making laundry soap. I'm not sure if you have ever grated a bar of soap before but it is not the same as grating cheese! It's hard, and your hands get really tired after a while. 

To the kitchen I would go, mixing the baking soda, washing soda, grated soap and all ingredients together to be used for laundry soap. 

I felt empowered knowing what exactly was being used in our laundry soap but once I started having kids, the process was long and I just didn't have the time. 

I powered through it with Layla but once Hannah was born, overwhelming anxiety and pure exhaustion took over, which meant making laundry soap was the LAST thing on my list of things to do.

BUT

• When we wash our clothing, the soap goes into our septic. If you are using a conventional product filled with synthetic chemicals, those start to leech into the ground. We shouldn’t be OK with that happening. 

• Our skin is our biggest organ. When we wear our clothing, the harmful chemicals like sodium lauryl sulfate (sls), parabens and synthetic fragrance absorb into our skin and blood stream. Have you wondered why you have eczema, asthma or daily headaches? It may be time to take a hard look at your laundry routine. 

• I know most of you are sleeping in a bed. What are you washing your bed sheets with? Think about breathing in, and having your skin absorb those same chemicals every single night. 

• Then comes the closet. We wash our clothing and it gets hung up in our bedroom. That clothing when washed will off gas. Your air quality in your home should be a top priority. 

So 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, we are directly impacted by ONE product. Do you think its something worth investing into? 

Thankfully, when Hannah was a month old I was introduced to a company. They aligned with my lifestyle of clean products in my home. 

I was so excited to see that they had an entire line of plant based cleaning products so I decided to grab the discounted bundle. 

Best decision ever!

I fell in love immediately. The laundry soap was perfect. It worked wonders and lasted me FOREVER. 

Who thought someone could be so positively impacted by laundry soap? I was so excited that I was able to get over 100 loads of laundry out of this tiny little bottle. 

Recipe:

1 Cup Baking Soda

1/2 Cup Washing Soda

I encourage you to give plant based laundry soap a real chance. The switch from your conventional product can be a journey but that journey is definitely worth it.

Need help learning how to make that switch? I can help you with that! I'm just a message away.