Becoming a mom for the first time transformed the way I thought about everything.
It wasn’t overnight, but I started down a path of learning about health, and honestly, what I discovered left me feeling overwhelmed at first. I realized that we needed to make changes to everything from our cleaning products to our toothpaste, to the foods we were eating.
I wanted to examine with a microscope every product I allowed into our home, and much of what I had bought before needed to go.
I became relentless to get rid of toxins... why? Because I had created this little life, and it was MY JOB to help him stay healthy and teach him how to keep his own body healthy. At the time, I felt like I didn’t really know the first thing about that.
But changing EVERYTHING? All at once? There was no way! I couldn’t make that many decisions, and actually get what little sleep a new mom gets! It was way too much.
I was reminded of a silly statement that helped me through this. “How do you eat an elephant?” The answer is “One bite at a time.” I chose to tackle my ‘elephant’ by learning about one product that we might need to change out for a healthier one each month, and make a decision to change just that one product.
I would usually try to choose something that was already almost gone, and tackle that one next. So one month it was shampoo. I learned what toxins manufacturers put into shampoos (google it - it’s pretty scary!), and what to look out for on the ingredients label. I would go to the store and make a decision. Many of those earlier healthy decisions aren’t the same ones I would make today. I learned more along the way. But it didn’t matter.
I had learned and applied that knowledge and put it to the test. One item at a time. One month at a time. I gave myself time to get the research done, get reviews from others who were removing toxic chemicals too and put that product to the test before moving on to another decision.
Ok, so fast forward to now... Nearly 9 years and easily 100+ decisions later... my friend, there’s not really much left to change anymore. (Yay!!). We did it in a way that made sense for our budget, and made sense for my sanity. 😂
I want you to hear this story, and see hope. If you feel like one little decision about the kind of deodorant you buy won’t make a difference, I’m here to tell you it WILL!
Less toxins means our systems are working with greater ease, and that means we stay healthy. We visit the doctor far less frequently, and my kids are shocked by the “average” number of colds most kids get per year (it’s 8).
A lot of the products we switched to actually save us a ton of money too, because they last so long - like laundry detergent ... I know people who buy two bottles from Costco every two weeks. I haven’t had to buy laundry detergent in months!
And the biggest payoff - there is a distinctly noticeable difference in my personal health - which means a noticeable difference in my ability to do this thing called parenting.
Specifically, I don’t have daily pain through my left side neck, shoulder and back anymore. There was no one single product, supplement, oil, etc that fixed it. But eliminating toxins in as many areas as possible has made all the difference.
And I know because when I’m around things like synthetic fragrance, I get an instant headache, and the longer I’m exposed, the more the left side of my neck, shoulder and back hurt. I also find I’m far more irritable, and want to eat everything in the kitchen.
So, in addition to the money saved on the products, it’s profoundly saving my own health, and the health of my kids too.
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