Tips for Healthy Living

Alright. You’re ready to do it — to switch out the toxic in your life for everything healthy. I’ve been there, and I promise it’s not so intimidating, it’s exciting! Whether you’re looking to make these changes because you’ve been diagnosed with an illness, or to prevent disease, these are products in your home that hold the most toxins, but are pretty easy & quick to swap out, and switching will make a HUGE difference for your health.

Let’s jump right in:

1. PRODUCTS

Lots of everyday products contain very strong chemicals that, over time, wear on our body’s organs and immune system. Unless you have the money to just “drop and swap”, as I say, where you can ditch all your cleaning products and go to the store and buy new ones today, the most affordable option will be to buy natural products as your old products run out. However, I recommend ditching your toxic products immediately if you have been diagnosed with an illness. If money is tight, you can do DIY methods (Vinegar for cleaning, for example) until you can purchase the more convenient, pre-packaged products you desire. However, be careful about products labeled simply “ all natural”, as they often still contain unhealthy ingredients. Research the brand, what they put in their products, but I also suggest multiple trustworthy brands below. Soon, I will also be doing more in depth posts that contain DIY tutorials for cleaning products, personal care products, and more.

⋒ Cleaning products. Swap out for either DIY

products (Vinegar and lemon essential oil are effective, affordable options and you can find lots of instructions for using them online) or for these brands: Young Living, Mrs. Meyers, Thrive Market. these are all truly non- toxic, honest brands.

⋒ Laundry soap. You wear your clothes all day, everyday, and if they are cleaned with toxic scents

and chemicals then you are breathing

that every day. You can find online DIYs for

this, or you can go with healthy brands. I

personally use and recommend Young

Living‘s laundry soap because it’s extremely healthy AND it comes in concentrate so you can actually make like 16 bottles of laundry

soap with just ONE of their bottles! It lasts us for about half a year!

2. SCENTS.

Candles, candles, candles! GIIIRRRRLLL your candle is toxic! Stop sniffing them in the kitchen, stop lining your freaking bathtub with them, stop using them in every nook and cranny of your life! Believe me, I know this is a hard one to read because I loved candles SOOO much. I knew room sprays were super toxic (also, yes, note to you: ditch the air fresheners, they’re in the same category as these candles), but I didn’t want to sacrifice the best way I knew to make my house smell good! BUT, they contain very dangerous things, such as paraffin which release carcinogenic soot when burned. Some older candles also have lead-based wicks, which is also toxic to humans. As more medical studies have been released, this is more widely known. If you just HAVE to have your candle, check out beeswax and soy candles. However, if you want to be breathing truly clean, harmless—even beneficial— air, the best option is certified essential oils and diffusers! Once I tried it, I will NEVER go back. My diffuser floods my house with smells longer and quicker than any candle or room spray ever did. And if you like candles for their looks/mood setting, diffusers are beautiful and often have low light settings. The Young Living Aria diffuser is arguably the best diffuser on the market; It‘s smell covers hundreds of square feet, it has multiple light settings, it's a beautiful wooden design, and it even has relaxing sound settings! All while it releases HEALTHY, CLEANSING air.

Your candle can’t do that.

3. LOTIONS, SHAMPOO, TOOTHPASTE, AND OTHER PERSONAL CARE ITEMS. When we are covering ourselves from head to toe everyday with a variety of products that contain tons of different chemicals, our bodies can't sustain it. One thing to keep in mind, as a general rule for many personal care items, is the old saying:

"if it's not broke, don't fix it."

Using this type of thinking will help you prevent over-loading your body with too many products, which will also save you money (bonus!). Using lotion on your face when you do not have dry skin is pointless, and will eventually do more harm than good to your skin. This is because of the body's ability to self-correct to new set-points; In order to adjust to its

environment, the body is constantly making tiny physiologically changes. So, if you are putting lotion on already balanced skin, your body will self-correct to the point where it doesn't produce as much natural moisture anymore, because it knows it will be getting it from another source.

4. OTHER THINGS TO CONSIDER: Anything your doctor recommends you make changes to, switching from tap water to filtered water, makeup and nail polish, perfumes, avoiding microwave, trading plastic storage containers for glass, non-stick pans.