Monday, May 20, 2013

Why Go Natural with your Cleaners

Hey Friends! 
 Here are the thoughts behind my passion to make my own HOUSE-CLEANERS.  If you decide to join me after reading this (and I hope you do!), then check out the 
I will start posting in June what I have made.

Do you ever get overwhelmed with this whole "HEALTHY LIFESTYLE" thing?  Well I have many times.  In my journey for better health, I have learned that it's a process.  One step at a time!  Seriously, I started with switching from white to wheat.  I did the best I knew to do at the time.  (Now we only eat Ezekiel Bread.)  Then we eliminated soda from our diet and replaced it with water.  Big step!  Fast forward 13 years and I am now growing my own scoby to make Kombucha - I will explain in another post!  Anyway, America has gotten so far away from living NATURAL.  Don't get me wrong:  I am so thankful for our human advances and I love living in this time in history!  I am often thankful that I was not born in Ancient Egypt!  For real!  In fact, that was my biggest takeaway as I taught the course to my daughter a few years ago LOL.  I am SO THANKFUL for heat and air conditioning, for electricity, for my car and my iPhone.  It's hard to imagine life without my computer, social media which makes my business possible, my UGGS (on my feet as we speak), and Starbucks - the place where these blogs and ideas come together :)  Oh, I need to mention my contacts, my Clarisonic, the variety in my closet, and HGTV!  Ok, I could go on and on and on...........................................................!


What we are finding now is that some of the eases and conveniences are extremely harmful to our health.  For this blog series I will focus on

HOUSEHOLD CLEANERS and PERSONAL PRODUCTS.
Ok, so in 1989, The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) did a 5 year study and found that chemical levels in the home were 70% higher than outdoors.  They found that housewives have a 55% higher risk of cancer than women working outside the home!  And get this: Children are more susceptible to air born toxins.  Kids respiratory rates are 3x higher than adults, therefore they inhale and absorb 3x more the amount of contaminates!

I began paying attention to the chemicals in my house a few years ago when my son, Iver, was sick with asthma and allergies.  He was really sick for a year of his life:  3 ER visits, MANY sleepless nights involving the nebulizer, and a week long hospital stay.  After 9 months of praying and searching, we found a wonderful allergy doctor, DR. WOLF, who found the cause to be a sinus infection! We could not have found a better doctor. Iver had to battle that infection with antibiotics for a period, and now he is doing great!  I have been Iver's "nurse" long enough now to see the effect his diet and his environment plays on his body.  It's very real, very powerful, and very controllable!  During that sick year, as we call it, my eyes began to open to the fact that our home was not helping him at all!  I started taking measures to rid his environment of anything that could trigger his asthma... dairy, gluten, dust mites (yuck! by the way), and MY CLEANERS.  How ironic... I was doing my best to keep our home germ free and clean, when in reality, my efforts were making him worse.  Uggggg


THE WEEK IN THE HOSPITAL


 We thank God for friends who stick by our side, pray for us daily, and come to the hospital to play DS when we are cooped up in a hospital room for a week. 
 Love you Cary and all who loved on us!


This was the day we knew we were good to go home.  His O2 levels were staying up with no help and this kid was out of bed and climbing the walls... back to normal.
video
 Although crazy jacked up on all kinds of medicine, it was great to see this.

I am still in the process of eliminating (the best I can) chemicals and toxins from my house.  I want my home to be a safe, healthy environment for my family. After switching some of our cleaners to chemical free brands,  I noticed 2 things:  1.  Our budget was hit.  2.  I missed the smell of "clean".  I associated "clean" with the smell of chemicals.  Hhhmmmm, let's think about that for a minute.  If I am smelling it, it is being absorbed into my body via my lungs!  Oh great :/  And if it touches my skin, it is being absorbed into my blood stream (and I'm not one to wear gloves).

So, the EPA analyzed 2,983 chemicals we use and found that:
  • 884 are toxic
  • 146 can cause tumors
  • 218 can cause reproductive complications
  • 778 cause acute toxicity
  • 314 can cause biological mutations
  • 376 can cause skin and eye irritations
[Source: The United States House of Representatives through NIOSH, 1989]

Not good.

Now if you haven't noticed already, my sources are old!  BUT competition within companies to make products "faster acting"  "longer-lasting" and "more powerful"  are causing our health conditions to worsen.

One example: more and more people are developing asthma.  The number of people diagnosed with asthma has grown by 4.3 million from 2001-2009.  Source:  Centers for Disease Control and Prevention  So sad.

During our "sick" year, I switched out my cleaners to non-toxic brands, but I am taking the NEXT STEP in my JOURNEY FOR HEALTH.  I will be making my own products.  This will save us lots of $$$ and teach me more about the tools God, Himself, has given us to use from the earth... not only are they not harmful, but they are HEALTHY!!!  


I invite you to join me!
Let's take this journey together!!!

Click HERE to see a basic SHOPPING LIST you can use to get started.  
You should sign up to get an email from me when I update the blog so you don't miss anything!  Or follow me on FACEBOOKTWITTER, and PINTEREST! 

Have a HEALTHY day!


BONUS FEATURE 
A few months after the hospital stay, Iver was back to normal.  I  realized that he had not been himself in a year.  I spent one rainy weekend looking at old video footage and boo-hoooing as I made this video.  I was, and still am so thankful to have this boy back!

Friday, May 17, 2013

Get FIT With Your Kids

SUMMER TIME!  
SUMMER TIME!
HAPPY HAPPY HAPPY

I'm sure you are making plans for vacation, parties and pool time this summer.  In the mist of your planning, why don't you add in some activities to do with your kids that encourage health?

IDEAS
1.  Get your kids involved in making the DIY stuff for your home (cleaners, bug sprays, teeth whiteners and deodorant to name a few) I will start publishing what we are making in June.  My kids are having a blast helping me with this project, and seem to want to use our cleaners more often when they had a part in making them!  :)  I will take all the help I can get around here.  Can I get an AMEN? My son especially loves getting involved when our recipe tells us to mix baking soda and vinegar! 

2.  Grow something with them.  The kids are more open to eating veggies when they've been a part of growing them.  If you do have a hard time getting your kiddo's to eat healthy, read this guest blog I wrote for Hyperwear.  I tell all about some of my secrets :)  Hehe

3.  Find ways to workout with them.  Bring them along to some PILATES CLASSES this summer, sign up for family PERSONAL TRAINING, or get out in your yard and PLAY!  

Wednesday, May 15, 2013

DIY HouseCleaners Shopping List

For the month of June, I will be replacing all of my HouseHold Cleaners with NON-TOXIC, CHEMICAL-FREE solutions I am making myself! And I will document it here on the blog :) You should join me in the next step of 
LIVING HEALTHY!!! 

Read THIS to find out WHY this is such an important step.

So if you are taking this journey with me, here is a basic shopping list for you to put together before June.  


 I get my Dr. Bronner's Castile Soap - get unscented (Baby- mild) and 
You will get the best price here! 

Oh, and CLICK HERE to get a $5 coupon to SwansonVitamins!
FYI:  The 100% Organic Spearmint Oil is on sale now for $3.49!  Other oils under $5:  
100% Sage Essential oil
100% Rosemary Essential Oil
100% Eucalyptus Essential Oil

Tuesday, May 7, 2013

Sign up for Pilates Classes

Hey there Friends! If you live in the Nashville area,
 I want you to join me for some

 mat PILATES classes!  

We are toning up that tummy &
sculpting long, lean muscles in our arms and legs!  
Perfect for summer!!!

Oh yeah, we are also improving our flexibility, gaining better posture and taking control over our health!  WoooWhoooo!
Click HERE to learn more about 
how awesome PILATES is!

Monday, April 29, 2013

Kettlebell review

#kettlebell

I've spent the past few weeks studying and practicing kettlebell exercise with 
Raymond Harvey -RKC (Russian Kettlebell Certified), CSCS- at Stronghold Fitness.  I began with a skills class to learn the fundamentals and the safe, proper way to use the kettlebells.  It was great to break down the familiar kettlebell swing into individual movements and then put it all together with proper, efficient form.  I loved this!  Now I understand where the power comes from. I watch myself in the mirror and can visually see and feel when I start recruiting other muscles to help out.  When this happens, I focus harder to hold proper form or grab a lighter bell.

Life is like a Bicycle



Wednesday, April 24, 2013

DIY Tick Repellent


Spring is here and my kids are running around in the woods every chance they get.  They love exploring, hiking, and camping.  They have established clubs and hideouts within the trees and bushes behind our house.  
This is where they hang out: