| The Grit and Grace Project

5 Ways to Reduce Your Risk of Breast Cancer

By Karen DeVault / Life & Culture, Health & Beauty

October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month. It is an annual campaign designed to increase breast cancer awareness worldwide, promoting research, risk assessment, screening and early detection, and treatment options. According to Breastcancer.org, more than 287,000 women in the United States alone are estimated to be diagnosed with invasive breast cancer in 2022. Nearly 43,000 of them may die from the disease. If you are concerned about breast cancer, there are steps you can take to lower your risk. While we can’t do anything about risk factors such as family history and age, some lifestyle changes have been shown to reduce breast cancer risk, even in high risk women. Five of them are provided below. Important to remember is that these steps are […]

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10 Tips for Tackling Menopause with Grace

By Melissa Solle / Life & Culture

I recently entered the much despised stage of life: second puberty. More commonly known as menopause. This is a stage of life that most women go through with varying degrees of symptoms and frustrations and lengths of time. Do I want a taco? A salad? My husband’s head on a platter? It changes often and quickly. Sometimes I just want to be left alone. Other times I want all my people around me. I want to eat the carbs, but I want to stay in the same size pants, which is, for the record, impossible. I have yet to find a diet or miracle food to prevent the dreaded menopause belly, otherwise known as muffin top. I exercise, I eat right (most

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change happens when god is in your recovery journey

Change Happens When God Is in Your Addiction Recovery

By Rachel Hagstrom / Faith

My breathing is shallow before I step into the stale, dimly lit room. I take a seat, nodding a hello to the docile man to my left and smiling at the woman who sits across from me facing their own addiction recovery. Her candid vulnerability and blatant remarks resonate, often causing me to think about her words long after our time together ends. I was just six months into my recovery journey and the youngest person in attendance. I’m not sure if we’d peg each other as friends outside of this room, but in this place, it’s as though these people understand me better than some of my bosom friends—their authenticity and vulnerability is refreshing and without airs or pretenses. But first,

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drinking excessively 8 healthier coping strategies for women

Drinking Excessively? Here Are 8 Healthier Coping Strategies for Women

By The Grit and Grace Team / Life & Culture

This article was written collaboratively by Caroline Beidler and Lindsey Encinias. Did you know that one alcoholic beverage per day (five ounces—yes, that’s right, not even the size of a measuring cup) is considered “moderate drinking” for women? We didn’t either. Is cocktail hour coming a little early—like noon? Does “Momma social club” always offer drink options? Regular morning cocktails with brunch? Nightly wine (in that oversized glass) and Netflix? Is that drinking excessively? Maybe you can relate. Are Women Drinking Excessively These Days? Recent statistics show women are reaching for the bottle more than ever.1 According to researchers, women have increased their heavy drinking days by 41% in the last year.2 But the increase hasn’t just been since the pandemic. Since the early 2000s,

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How to Get Your Hormone Health in Check

By Ashby Duval / Health & Beauty, Life & Culture

Let me start by saying I am not an expert in balanced hormones. I am, however, a black belt-level expert in unbalanced hormones. Everything I’m about to share with you quite literally comes from my own experience and the things that helped me out of my hormone hole, so I hope there is something here that can help you, too. So. The “H” word. What’s the big deal? What do hormones affect? In short, everything. In fact, your hormones and gut health can have a bigger effect on your health than anything else, even if your diet is sparkling clean. How Hormones Impact Your Health Hormones are your body’s chemical messengers, and if they are off, your quality of life can be

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Ditch the Scale—Your Mind and Body Will Thank You

By Amanda-Lee Pitzer / Life & Culture

As I walked into my bathroom, I saw a new scale on the floor. After months of staring at a broken scale, I was now confronted with a new one—daring me to step on and see where I was after I stopped using it six months ago. I dropped my slippers, robe, watch … anything that weighed anything. I stepped on and looked at the number on the scale. The number said I wasn’t good enough. I Was Obsessed With The Scale Rewind a little more than a year and you would have seen me stepping on my scale twice a day, monitoring my weight, body fat, muscle mass, water content … you name it. I did not nor have I ever

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Want to Live a Long Healthy Life? Don’t Skip Dessert

By Marlys Johnson Lawry / Life & Culture

I’ve never learned to like the bitter taste of coffee. I love the smell, but the taste? Not so much. I mean, every once in a while I’ll have a little coffee with my cream and sugar. Until. Until our latest adventure in Puerto Rico, when my son and daughter-in-law took us to breakfast one morning. My daughter-in-law ordered a mocha, which turned out to be a cup dipped in Nutella, plunged into Oreo cookie crumbs, and filled with the chocolatey-coffee beverage with a creamy heart painted on top. And so, when my husband and I returned home from Puerto Rico, we added Nutella and Oreos to our grocery list. My husband was gracious enough to take care of the frosting in

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7 Easy and Natural Methods to Boost Your Immunity

By Rachel Hagstrom / Health & Beauty, Life & Culture

Ah, winter. ‘Tis the season for crackling fires, family and friends gathered around the table, and sledding down the snow-covered hillsides. It’s undoubtedly a favorite time of year for many, but the chilly winter months can quickly lose their luster the minute germs make a debut. The influx of coughs, colds, and flus seem heckbent on ruining all the fun. Many pesky illnesses that sprout up during the winter months are viral, which mean antibiotics won’t do the trick. These bugs seem to have no qualms with keeping entire households homebound for weeks; it can take up to two weeks for them to run their course. Prevention is key, so wash those hands frequently and start boosting your immunity by trying these

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Why You Need a Wellness Vision and Your Guide to Creating One

By Rachel Hagstrom / Purpose, Life & Culture

I don’t remember any watershed or lightbulb moments that first prompted me to take a more proactive stance on the state of my health and create a wellness vision. However, I do remember what happened when I made the solemn vow to start treating myself with a little more TLC: absolutely nothing. Zip, zilch, nada. Because when I made that pledge to myself, I imagined willpower would be enough to align my actions with my words and that my quest toward greater wellness would unfold in a buttoned-up linear fashion. Sure, it was a bit delusional to think that the process would be seamless and easy. Instead, I did the whole two-steps-forward-four-steps-back dance. (And later learned that all my back peddling, overanalyzing,

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Natural Teeth Whitening—For Your Child and You

By Ashby Duval / Motherhood, Health & Beauty

Lately, I’ve noticed my oldest son’s permanent teeth look a bit yellow compared to my other three boys, who still have their baby teeth. Of course, my first assumption was that he wasn’t brushing correctly. Or worse yet, he’s skipping his brushing altogether. But after a few weeks of supervising and not noticing a big difference, I started to do a bit of research. Apparently, baby teeth are naturally whiter than permanent teeth. One pediatric dentist explains that “permanent teeth not only have a thicker enamel, but the layer under the enamel (dentin) is also more dense. Dentin is yellow in color. This gives the permanent teeth a color slightly more yellow than the baby teeth. And it’s perfectly normal!”(¹) There is

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7 Ways to Get the Most Out of Now

By Dr. Zoe / Purpose

Change. It is a certainty. It never ceases to amaze me how life can completely change in the blink of an eye. It invigorates me and leaves me a little terrified at the same time. We often go about subconsciously believing that we will live forever—that time is always there. The mind is amazing how it can trick us in that way. But we rarely fully experience the present, even though it is the only thing that is certain about our time here on earth. Experiencing the sudden death of my father and the traumatic birth of my daughter (born with a rare genetic disorder) heightened my awareness of how life can turn on a dime. I’m sure many of you have had similar life curve balls. Yet, we know

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woman at the gym doing bicep curls and learning to lift heavy

Lift Heavy—Your Body Will Thank You (And Still Look Feminine)

By Amanda-Lee Pitzer / Life & Culture

I just read this post by a friend of mine, Heidi Smith: “Today is clean out my closet day—I am finally ready to let go of my ‘skinny clothes.’ Three years ago, I was doing an insane preparation and was the thinnest I’ve ever been. I was weighing my food and tracking everything. To some, that may look like discipline; now I realize that I had put myself in a prison. I was going to bed starving and having horrible blood sugar crashes. For what? Because I thought to be beautiful was low body fat? I am not naturally thin. I lift. I am active. I never stop moving. I eat healthy. But I have learned that it is okay to enjoy

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On Life and Childhood Cancer, From a Pediatric Oncology Nurse

By Rachel Graham / Life & Culture

After her morning coffee, cuddles with her gorgeous Weimaraners, and a little bit of knitting (she’s admittedly a grandma trapped in a millennial’s body), Amanda heads to work, ready to bring light and comfort to her tiniest patients as they fight cancer. You may not know, but September is Childhood Cancer Awareness Month. Perhaps you’ve seen the phrase “Fight like a kid” on a t-shirt or social media post recently and wondered what that’s about. It’s to bring awareness to the children who are battling for their lives. Some of us have never been around a child with cancer, but for others, this month hits close to home because of the fight they’ve shared. The reality of this month is that one

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Running with Grit and Grace in Hot Pink Spandex

By Lynn Fleshman / Health & Beauty, Life & Culture

A few weeks ago, I had the privilege of speaking to a group of beginner runners on the topic of motivation. Why would I receive such an invitation? Well, because I’m about the world’s least likely and most enthusiastic runner. Especially running with grit and grace. I’m all of 5-feet-2-inches high (on a tall day), I weigh in around one hundred and sexy (which happens to be 20ish pounds more than my doctor thinks is necessary), and I faked asthma to get out of gym class in middle school. Nevertheless, I’ve conquered numerous 5Ks, several half marathons, a full marathon, and a triathlon. One of the reasons I’m asked to help motivate beginners is because of my—ahem—non-athletic appearance; it instantly qualifies me

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Answers to the OB-GYN Questions You’re Scared to Ask with Dr. Holly Miller – 245

By Smart Living with Grit and Grace / Podcast

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Amazon Music | Android | TuneIn | RSS | MoreAre you putting off scheduling your next OB-GYN appointment? We get it—it can be uncomfortable, awkward, and even embarrassing to chat with the doc about issues or questions related to down there. That’s why we’re bringing back this episode of This Grit and Grace Life with guest Dr. Holly Miller, a board certified OB-GYN, to answer all the hard OB-GYN questions you need to know about feminine health but are probably too embarrassed to ask about. This episode is filled with questions that women tend to run from, including: When do we see a gynecologist? Why do we see gynecologists? Do we have to see a gynecologist?

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This Is Why You Need an Aloe Vera Plant

By Tess Lopez / Life & Culture

Just last week, I was boiling some water on the stove in preparation for dinner. At least, I thought I was boiling water. I accidentally turned the wrong knob, so the burner next to my pot was heating up rapidly, and the handle to the pot was hovering over said burner. I mistakenly reached for the handle and…you guessed it. A fiery sensation ran up my fingers, and I jumped away from the stove, holding my sad, injured hand. Now, what’s a woman to do? It definitely wasn’t serious enough to rush to a hospital, but it would likely become painful if it wasn’t treated soon enough. I quickly sifted through any knowledge I had of home remedies. Then, bright as the

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Natural Teeth Whitening—For Your Child and You

By Ashby Duval / Motherhood, Health & Beauty

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