Getting Back to Nature!

With the past couple years being a whirlwind of health problems, I've been spending all of my "me" time researching natural solutions. Having already spent $6,500 out of pocket on doctor visits and testing since January of this year only to get absolutely nowhere, I needed a change... fast! Something that has always made complete sense to me is getting back to nature and basics. If there's one thing I've learned with my background and interest in nutrition, along with just observing what's going on around me, it's been that man will destroy whatever he gets his hands on and should just leave nature alone. He just shouldn't even try to improve on it or "fix what isn't broken". Margarine vs butter is a good example of this, but there's about a million to pick from. I already knew cows should eat grass for their benefit, so finding out how different (nutritionally) industrialized food is compared to the local organic farmer had a huge impact. So, a couple months ago I decided to "get back to nature" and use products and eat foods (whenever possible) that are in their most natural form. No chemicals, artificial ingredients, or products that claim to be "natural" but then the list of ingredients shows 10 things I can't even pronounce. I want to really know what I'm using and eating! However, this was a lot more involved than I thought. I had no idea how many chemicals I was exposed to each and every day, and I quickly got overwhelmed. To get this overwhelmed feeling in check, I decided to focus on external areas of my life first because those seemed the easiest to change. So here's a list of what I've done so far during the past couple of months:

• Purged my old toothpaste and mouthwash and started using a natural flouride free toothpaste with an occasional peroxide rinse. I've also done oil pulling to deep clean my teeth.
• Switched my deoderant to a natural, aluminum free kind. This was tough, but after a few days I noticed I started sweating less than I did when using aluminum.
• Quit washing my face with soap. I use a mix of Olive oil and castor oil now and it works just as good (even better) without leaving my face dry or oily.
• Switched my shampoo to soap nut, natural shampoo and my conditioner to a natural shea butter conditioner. You can also make your own shampoo out of soap nuts, but I'm not there yet.
• Switched my shower bar soap to a natural bar soap (I use a few different brands, Dr. Bronner's is one)
• Got rid of commercial hand soap and started making my own.
• Started using raw Shea butter instead of lotion, but I've found that I don't need lotion when using all natural products on my skin.
• Made my own all purpose cleaner to replace the chemical one in the cupboard.
• Use a vinegar and water mix instead of windex.
• Purchased an all natural sunscreen that uses zinc as sunblock instead of the cancer causing chemicals. This was mainly because I didn't want to put all those chemicals on my 10 month old baby, but I used it once on myself first and was happy with the results. I don't usually need sunscreen unless I visit the equator.
• Started cooking with cast iron (when I can) instead of using non-stick pans. I still have to research something different for this since cast iron is cumbersome to work with. I'm sure there's better options out there, but I don't have the money to purchase new cookware right now.
• Got some air cleaning candles made with beeswax (I'm not allergic to these!) instead of the smelly ones that would always make me sneeze.
• Finally, I just decided on a water filter last week and just ordered it. I decided on a Berkey water filtration system with flouride removing attachments. I was using a Zero water filter that you stick in the fridge and was through with filling that thing a couple times a day (due to still having to mix formula) and replacing the expensive filters every month or so. I was going to get a reverse osmosis system until I read this article and did further research on the best, most cost-effective option. It will ship on Thursday and I'm excited to finally have some clean water without losing the mineral content, and without having to change filters so frequently!

I'm just now starting to focus on the internal changes (food, supplements etc...). I saved that for last because that's the hardest part to change. With all the diets out there, I was very hesitant to start anything new until I knew it was the right way to go, and was a lifestyle change instead of a temporary "diet". I wanted to make sure whatever additional changes I made to my diet (aside from already being gluten free, mostly organic and pasture raised) met my new higher standards, were feasible and made financial sense. Also, since I'm the grocery shopper and "cook" (if you can call it that) of the family, so that means everyone (including the husband) has to be on board for the change. That has it's own set of challenges. Future post to come on that soon!

My new Himalayan salt candle holders and 100% beeswax air purifying candles.

NOTE: My spelling errors, misplacement of commas and other grammatical mistakes are probably common in this blog as I lack the time to triple check everything without the distraction of a maniac baby getting into everything, causing a distraction every few minutes. Please excuse them!