Everyday, we receive requests for our time, energy or support. Between friends, family, coworkers and romantic partners, these requests can sometimes be overwhelming.
It’s easy to focus more on fulfilling these requests than caring for ourselves, whether because we want to make our loved ones happy or because we fear saying no will make us appear unreliable or rude.
But the reality is, saying yes to every request we receive can be harmful to our physical and emotional health.
Overexerting ourselves can lead to exhaustion, burnout, stress and anxiety. It’s important to learn how to say no so we can learn how to prioritize ourselves and our needs before catering to those of others.
The first step to learning to say no is realizing that everyone needs to decline offers, invitations and requests sometimes. Doing so doesn’t make you look rude, incompetent or disagreeable — it just makes you look human.
Here are some tips for how to say no and how to say it right:
Disclaimer: This is not a sponsored or paid post. This article is solely for informational resources on Women’s Health.
Tampons and pads with odor neutralizers and artificial fragrances are chemical soups, laced with artificial colors, polyester, adhesives, polyethylene (PET), polypropylene and propylene glycol (PEG). In short, they are contaminants linked to hormone disruption, cancer, birth defects, dryness, and infertility. Investigations have since proved that most menstrual sanitary pads available on the market are produced from recycled paper materials containing print ink and other chemicals which are bleached with chemicals like dioxin and chlorine. Studies have shown that the chemical dioxin and chlorine are cancerous chemicals when they come in contact with the human skin, especially the tender part at the woman’s genitals.
This doesn’t happen right away, but the cancerous effects may be cumulative. Paper cannot absorb a woman’s flow during her period so a plastic paper is placed in between or under the pad for fear of leakage when a woman is bleeding. This plastic between the pad prevents access to the air. As the woman is bleeding wearing this kind of pad, no air enters her body and warmth develops between the pad and her vagina, with the moisture from the blood, this area becomes a breeding ground for germs. The fermentation takes place, which is the reason the pads are smelly after use.
The dangers of traditional sanitary pads
A World Health Organization report indicated within two hours of a woman putting on traditional pads, about 107 different germs develop per cubic centimeter on the surface area of the pad. When pressure is applied on the pad through sitting, the paper does not absorb enough, the pad allows a “back flow” of the blood into the woman’s reproductive system, the germs develop, and the chemicals mix with the blood. This can cause infection to the woman’s reproductive system. Not knowing what to do and what is happening, the woman simply takes this as normal menstrual discomfort.
Possible conditions caused by poor quality sanitary pads during menstruation:
External Vaginal inflammations
Vaginal itching
Vaginal inflammation
Cervical Inflammation and erosion
Endometrial Inflammation
Excessive white discharge
Pain in the lower abdomen
Fever
Feeling nauseous
Urge to urinate
Urinal pain
Sore waist
Aching waist
Fatigue
Genital warts
Genital herpes
Menstrual disorders (heavy periods, light periods, spotting in between periods, prolonged periods, and menstrual pains)
Today is International Women’s Day 2018. To celebrate the occasion, our friends at Carvaka in the UK created an incredible Storymap to showcase influential women from all over the world. It features inspirational quotes, from remarkable women like Deepika Padukone who backed the Indian “My Choice” campaign or Liberian Nobel Laureate Ellen Johnson Sirleaf who was Africa’s first elected female head of state as well as Janet Mock, an American who has spoken out fearlessly to empower transgender women. View and share the IWomensDay18 StoryMap now.
At the start of the New Year, I made a promise to myself to eat healthier by buying fresh foods, organic foods and making more homemade meals. In addition to making healthier choices, I also self-promised to workout daily for 15-30 minutes. Some days I feel less motivated to workout but I try to be physically active in some shape or form – walking, running, yoga or dancing. Since keeping up with this habit my body feels lighter and I have more energy. Now I am searching for healthier beverages.
One of my favorite beverages to drink is wine – Sauvignon Blanc and Pinot Noir. But what if I could get a healthier, more refreshing option of my favorite wines? This started my journey to natural wine, vegan wine.
What is Vegan Wine?
Vegan wine is wine that doesn’t include animal products. You may be asking “Don’t all wines not have meat?” That depends on the wine filtration process. Tiny particles , traces of meat are found in wine when filtered through animal products. With vegan wine you can avoid animal products altogether without sacrificing the delicious taste of wine. Some common animal products you can find in traditional wines are:
Albumin, the protein in eggs
Casein, an animal protein found in dairy products
Gelatin which from animal skin, bone and cartilage
Isinglass which is the gelatin from fish bladders
Egg whites
Chitosan carb found in shrimp, crab, and crustacean shells
Older wines may also have dried blood powder. If this sounds gross to you, wine lovers have drunk wines with some if not these particles inside. But why are these ingredients in wine? The animal products help clarify, filter, and refine wines and beers. Inevitably small traces of those animal products are found in the final beer and wine products. The wonderful thing about vegan wine is that it doesn’t have to use animal products to clarify, filter and refine. Instead, bentonite clay can refine wines to make them 100% vegan.
If you are wondering whether you can easily spot vegan wines when shopping for wine, you may find it challenging because the refining ingredients are not actually in the wine and not required to be listed on the wine bottle. I recommend going directly to a wine maker or wine retailer to confirm which wines are vegan wines – a high quality vendor will always keep track of wines that are vegetarian-friendly. This is how I discovered Proud Pour , a vegan wine provider committed to pairing wines with solutions to local environmental problems.
Environmentally friendly products are very important to me because I want to be mindful of how my habits and behaviors impact the world around. Doing research on Instagram about vegan wines, I discovered the hashtag#CheersToChange – a tagline Proud Pour uses on their Instagram page @ProudPour. They have two wines available now.
The first wine is The Oyster, a Sauvignon Blanc that restores 100 wild oysters per bottle. It also happens to be the perfect pair for oyster or seafood plates. This is appealing to me because I’m on a chicken and seafood diet now while also enjoying vegan food here and there.
Photo credit: Webb Chappell Photography
The second wine is Oregon Pinot Noir that saves bees by planting 875 wildflowers. Pinot Noir goes well with salmon, roasted chicken, pasta dishes, casseroles, stews and game birds like duck or quail. It can also go well with chocolate desserts and those with caramel.
Order online at ProudPour.com or find a distributor near you. Photo credit:Webb Chappell Photography.
No matter your preference of wine type, both are sustainably grown, vegan wines (and soon beer come this summer or summer 2018) to save the environment. Between the Sauvignon Blanc and the Oregon Pinot Noir, I decided to go for the wine that saves the bees. Regardless you cannot go wrong with either because you are making a difference.
I look at the back of the Oregon Pinot Noir wine bottle and read the facts about the importance of wildflowers to bees. Bees pollinate one-third of the food we eat. Native bees are disappearing because of pesticide use, disease and lack of wildflowers and habitat. By buying this vegan wine from Proud Pour, I help ( and you can support too) the bees survive because Proud Pour plants 875 wildflowers when wine lovers buy. That amount of wildflowers is the equivalent of 90 sq ft of bee habitat. Where? Local farms. The project is called Xerces Society.
Wine Tasting of the Oregon Pinot Noir
The Oregon Pinot Noir is not only sustainably grown and vegan, it is delicious with supple tannins, earthy tones, and rich notes of red plum, rhubarb, and vanilla. What I absolutely love about Proud Pour is their attention to detail. The wine bottle is beautiful. It has an illustration of a bee with the description “This wine saves bee species.” It also comes with a lovely sack that has seeds to plant wildflowers which I cannot wait to use when I get my first home. This wine has no eggs, casein or isinglass. I love it – cannot wait for my family and friends to try. Moreover, I am proud that a woman entrepreneur, Berlin Kelly, founder of Proud Pour produce this excellent wine for us to enjoy on date night, at weddings, corporate events and our favorite nights of TV.
Founder and CEO Berlin Kelly and Co-CEO Brian Thurber launched Proud Pour to drink and make a difference at the same time.
About the Proud Pour Team
Berlin and business partner Brian Thurber launched Proud Pour because they wanted to drink to make a difference. How many beverages can you really say make a difference when you go to the bar? Not many. They partner with local environmental group to do just that – and it’s awesome. Check out the list of non-profits Proud Pour supports today. The Proud Pour team encourages their fans to attend the non-profits’ events or reach out to see how they can help. Learn more on how they got started by reading ‘ Paired with Oysters, This Wine is Cleaning Up the New York Harbor.’
Where to Buy
The great thing about Proud Pour is that it gives wine lovers (and soon-to-be beer lovers) options on how to get their drink on. If you click Where to Buy at ProudPour.com you can find a Proud and Pour wine distributor near you or order right online. I love the buy online option because it allows me to buy in advance of special occasions and comes right to my door. Once it’s a habit, it’s easy.
Let me know what you think about Proud Pour by using the hashtag #CheersToChange
Are you ready for the women’s health chat of the year? It’s happening on Wednesday, October 12th 1:00-3:00pm EST during the #Health4Her ‘Balance! Putting Your Health First!’ Live Twitter Chat.
#Health4Her is a global effort to raise awareness about top health conditions that impact women and the proactive steps women can take to improve their health by learning how to make their health a priority.
How to support the #Health4Her Cause this October
Together we can support #Health4Her, your sister, mother, daughter, aunt, cousin, friend,wife or even your health.
By teaching women across the world how tiny simple wellness actions can have enormous impact to their everyday health can help us improve tomorrow’s women’s health. Want to join the conversation? Use the #Health4Her hashtag to learn more and chat with us on the big day. You don’t want to miss your chance to make a difference in her world.
As women from all over the world continue to celebrate Women’s Health Week, Fromgirltogirl would like to courage all women to take the initiative to protect their health and the well being of those they love. Below are valuable facts and tips to prevent cervical cancer, breast cancer and post traumatic stress disorder. If you need more information, follow the Armed Forces Health Surveillance Branch, an entity of the Department of Defense.
