Monday, July 15, 2019

Taking steps to change your life

Each day we wake and have a choice.   That the knowledge of yesterday will help make better decisions today so that tomorrow is even better.

Over the past few years, we've gone from taking baby steps to shifting mindset and making new habits.   Take for instance toxins.   They are all around us!  Replacing some things seems daunting.   But we've taken a long look and decided we want to try and be our best selves in our 40's and beyond!  This list isn't necessarily in order, but my top 6 items to replace.

#1.  Deodorant
B and I have replaced our deodorants with more natural products which do not contain aluminum.  Not to scare anyone, but I used to get a lump which felt like a blocked pore.   I switched my under arm regime almost two years ago and have never had a lump since.   Once you find a lump, and you relate it to the products you've used for years, you take a hard look around at all the other things in your life.

Now I am going to give you fair warning.   When you change to a natural deodorant, you'll notice your "scent" more than ever.  This is your body clearing away toxins.  As you continue on this path, you'll notice your scent will change - depending on your stress and diet.  It may take up to a month to totally clear out some buildup in your system.

#2. Household cleaners.
The only thing that gets my oven clean?  Baking soda and vinegar.   Those two things have more than cleaned my house 100 times over.   It removes soot from walls, hard water stains from showers, pans with grime, carpets, beds, it's a"miracle".   Now I cannot clean everything this way, but using the natural alternatives with less toxins helps!

# 3. Personal cleaning products
I can't get my husband to give up his liquid soap - but we've added more natural shampoos, bar soaps, bath salts, and toothpaste.   Whatever item I cannot find in my local Fred Meyer store, I usually can find on Amazon.  Fred Meyer carries the Simple Truth brand, which I find pretty comprable to the national brands.

#4 Sunscreen
I am of Irish/Norwegian descent.   I do not tan.   I burn and get more freckles.  I only look tan due to my freckles.    B tans though.  He gets super dark, rarely ever burning.   Growing up I burned really bad, many times.  I was almost maroon from the deep burns I would get.    Suffice to say, I bathed in sunblock.    I couldn't go out without slathering it all over, and to this day my chest is forever pink.
When I was in my 20's I read that the main ingredients were known as an endocrine disrupters.   There is a very large possibility that due to my excessive use of sunblock, my PCOS was formed at an early age and could be the leading cause of my own personal infertility.    I doubt the damage will ever be fully reversed.   I've found a few good brands, and most with zinc as the #1 ingredient.

#5 Laundry products
Washington State bans phosphates in laundry soap, which in my mind puts us that little bit ahead.   For B's work pants, we use plain vinegar in the fabric softener dispenser, and at times sprinkle a little baking soda!   Then while reading about how much dryer sheets cant add to your toxic buildup, we did a bunch of research and bought some wool dryer balls.  They seem to work.   Maybe not for the fleece blankets (way too much static), but for everything else, they work great.

#6  Makeup and Beauty products
I am amazed at all the money that people spend on make up that is supposed to help them look younger.  Embrace your age and wisdom!   I baffled at the lack of oversight of cosmetic ingredients.  Then there are the companies that advertise and hook you on a monthly subscription promising that their cream or serum will reverse damage and change your life, as long as you keep spending hundreds of dollars.   Lies, lies, lies.   The secret is simple - look around at what you eat, how much you sleep, your environment, and the toxins you are putting in and on your body. 

Don't believe me?   My skin has always given me  issues.   Sun blotches, burns, blemishes, dark circles, excessive hair, swollen eyes and more.  It wasn't until I completed 45 days of AIP that I realized my skin issues are almost fully diet and lifestyle related.   Change is hard though.    I still want some makeup that is free from major toxins as I don't eat as clean as I should 100% of the time (sometimes you just gotta have that brownie).

I make all of my own sugar and salt scrubs.  I've a few hand salves, lip balms, and I was thinking about making my own eye shadow with dehydrated vegetable powders.  Then I thought of my space and decided to forgo making more of my own beauty products, for now.    I follow a few people on Instagram and Facebook and I've recently seen the name Beautycounter.     I ran out of my grocery store foundation and was willing to give something else a try.  It's not cheap.  It's the most I have ever spent, and I'm hoping it's worth it.  I only wear makeup a few days a week (the days I drive into the office and occasional trip to town on the weekends), so I can make it stretch (have I ever mentioned I am frugal?).

So tomorrow starts the test!
I'll add a review after a week or so, cause if this stuff works as good as I hope it does, this may actually convince me to join the bandwagon members or consultants!!


Have you replaced items with more natural products?  Have you found things you just cannot give up?

Wednesday, July 10, 2019

Is it Summer Yet?

Summer 2019 in the Pacific Northwest has been gray and dreary.  We've been warm, then rainy, then overcast, then warm, then cool, and we're back to wet at times with a higher humidity level.   My garden plants are loving it, but me not so much. 

In a typical PNW summer, it begins to creep and get hot after the 4th of July festivities.  We usually get that one rain and then boom!  HOT time!    We haven't reached that tipping point yet.   Hopefully soon! 

This year's gardens have onions, tomatoes, beets, carrots, zucchini, cucumber, radish, broccoli, artichoke, pumpkin, watermelon, garlic, corn, lettuce, peppers, and of course potatoes.   We've also let a few things go to seed, like these carrots!


So who knows what folks will get with their Christmas baskets this year!   Handmade salves, scrubs, creams, and maybe some glorious carrot, brocoli or kale seeds!