In my life I've always gone back and forth on being healthy and eating clean. I started college as a dietetics major (that soon changed) and I used to be obsessed with eating healthy. I didn't eat red meat and wouldn't touch anything fried. After college I indulged in junk food and started eating what was easy and convenient. About 2 years ago I had a revelation about becoming more holistic and attempting to lead a healthier lifestyle.
My first step in this quest was to stop drinking sodas of all kinds. I stopped drinking diet cokes two years ago and haven't had one since then. My next step was becoming a vegetarian and attempting to eat less processed foods and more organic and natural foods. This is a constant struggle because as many of you know, it's so much easier to just to grab a pack of 100 calorie pop-tarts (not that I eat those ALL the time or anything) instead of fruit or nuts. I am now obsessed with hormone free milk and creamer and organic foods. I can't say that I eat these exclusively though as I will be the first to admit I stopped at Chick-Fil-A last night at 9pm and ordered a large fry with Chick-Fil-A sauce.
I soon realized how many bad chemicals are in everything that we use on our bodies. Deodorant, lotion, shampoos, hair dyes ... they are literally everywhere.
I am slowly trying to migrate to using mostly gentle or chemical free products. I realize that is impossible at times and there will have to be some things that have chemicals; there's just no getting around it.
My latest quest has been to find a hair dye that doesn't contain PPD, which is nearly impossible as most hair dyes do contain this chemical and the darker your desired hair color, the more PPD. I actually love my natural hair color as it is now, but I would like to take it just a tad darker for fall. I have found one hair color online, Palette By Nature, that seems to contain no harsh chemicals.
I am not an expert by any means and encourage you to find your own holistic path. I am not trying to preach or be holier than thou, I am simply letting you all know what has worked for me and what things I am still working on.
Like I said, this is all a learning process as it seems that you learn more every day about living a healthy lifestyle. I am always curious to know more and would love to hear your all's thoughts on holistic living- do you like mostly natural products as well or do you not mind regular products? If you love natural products, what are some of your favorites?
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12 comments:
I totally know what you mean. Have you ever tried Lush products? I think most of them are all natural and they're fabulous! Good luck with your goals! xx
Forgot to say, look into vegetable hair dyes... I've been seeing loads about that lately in magazines, etc. over here... Not sure if it's a thing in the US, but it must be with all the vegans, etc. Good luck!
I love Dr. Hauschka, Jurlique and Josie Maran products. They are amazing and all natural and organic. I buy Dr. Hauschka and Jurlique at Whole Foods and Josie Maran at Sephora.
I'm no expert but, it sounds like you're doing a good job already. I too have slip ups & don't kill myself over eating something that's processed but, I simply recover with the next meal. I never thought about all of the beauty products we use though. What's the scariest is the body lotion! I use lotion daily & there's not telling what is in it. My fiance will love you for posting this... I'm probably about to get a lot more natural/organic "crazy"! HAHA!
Thanks for sharing all this info. Like you, we do the best we can, but I still need to get my hair colored! Origins has great products for the body that are non toxic. Dr. Bronner's is the best soap and we use it for everything. And coconut oil is the best moisturizer I have ever found.
Having a cleaner diet means I don't have to spend a ton on facewash to clear up breakouts. That's been the best benefit so far.
Your mother in law has some great tips as well!
I like Arbonne which is supposedly natural. Sometimes I wonder if they're lying and don't trust anyone to be 100% natural.
Kudos to you for your healthy lifestyle!
I don't even want to KNOW what's in Chic Fil A sauce b/c it's THAT good...but anyway...
I used to work at Aveda and I know our hair color options are all natural! They may fade a little quicker, and you may have to go to a salon...but the products are AWESOME!
I don't have any idea about the dye, but I know you're the skin care queen so I'd love an update on what products you are trying (and like) that are more natural.
I've got the food part down pretty well it's the products I put on my body that I'm finding harder.
You know I love me some cosmetics, but parabens and phylates have me pretty concerned lately. You must watch this video: http://www.storyofstuff.org/movies-all/story-of-cosmetics/
You'll love it.
I love Gabriel (& their ZuZu Luxe line) cosmetics. It's a bit pricier, but worth it, considering all the crap you're not exposing yourself to. The cosmetics are available at Wild Oats, but a larger selection is available online. Also, I've found St. Ives lotion doesn't contain any parabens! It works better for me than some of the more expensive stuff I've tried.
You are so right - it is difficult to find the right things to buy, and for a lot of people I think their location makes a big difference. I know living here in VA I have way more farmer's markets and organic gardeners I can buy from than someone in a city. Plus, Whole Foods often gives me a world of better options than ULTA when it comes to organic beauty products. But I def feel better having cut out non-organic meat from my diet (no more fast food burgers) and I haven't missed that for about 3 years now. I buy a local dairy's milk and love how much better it is for me.
that image w the chemicals is nuts! i knew there were a ton in everything, but never really thought about how many chemicals i use in just getting ready!
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