Eating cleaner

I don't know when it all started. I have always been interested in cosmetology and as I entered into high school I became more interested in health and wellness. I went to the gym regularly after high school, (because I had a job to pay for the membership) but I didn't eat all that great. We had very staple foods in our house. Always with moderation was our "thing", but eat whatever you want and exercise. I remember, one night after the gym, sitting at my families dining room table eating a pack of oreos and dipping it into whole milk. (delicious!) I was telling my dad that I just want to get leaner and have a defined stomach like my sisters. Skinny was never something I coveted, it was muscle, to be fit. He nodded to the oreos and said "maybe that's enough of those then". Yeah, I know, but they are so good!! I continued to exercise regularly while working without any real direction, just doing what I thought was working. I started to take diet pills to get ready for my wedding because while dating my husband, we ate out a LOT. I wanted to look good in my wedding dress. I diet pills made me jittery and I didn't sleep well. My skin and hair started to suffer as well. I had acne like I was 16 again. I got my weight down and my dress was a size 2!! I looked ok, but felt awful.

 After the wedding, I quit the gym and quit the diet pills. Life got busy and I got pregnant. I was so sick and all I craved was Vons brand beef raviolis. I was shrinking miserably and miscarried the baby. It was the saddest day of my life. After my body recovered I was on a mission to get back the weight I had thrown up for 3 months. A year later I was "healthy" and I got pregnant again. I was in cosmetology school by that time and wasn't nearly as sick as the first time. I craved Taco Bell bean burritos and Coke Slurpees. I threw up anytime I ate pizza. To this day I swear thats why he came out when he did. Ok, so its a long, drawn out, boring story. Five pregnancies, lots of crappy cravings, four babies born.

What happens after our babies are born is interesting though. As a whole, moms start looking at things differently. Things you eat and drink, products you use on your baby or that you put on yourself that touches your baby, even the environment you surround yourself with. At one time or another, even the most oblivious person starts to think about one of these things. I did. With each child I thought about a different thing. My first was food. People with Down Syndrome often times suffer with obesity and diabetes. I was a little crazy for a while trying to make sure he stayed away from anything sugar. As he got older I started to lay off and let him eat what he wanted because he was so picky that if he was willing to eat it then I would give it to him. Such a bad decision. His teeth started to wrot and his weight started to get out of control. With my second I was so focused on meeting developmental milestones. She blew those out of the water. My third made me go back to food. It had such a big impact on his behavior. We started to steer away from sugar, dairy, and then grains. My fourth sealed the deal. He had really bad eczema. I became a crazy person. everything affects eczema. Food, lotions, cleaners and my lanolin nipple balm.

 As I researched these things I found lots of things that scared me, it also made me angry and sad. How can I be feeding my children these poisons? How can I be putting them on their little developing bodies? That was it... I can't. I can't do this to myself or my children. I changed everything. We went on a strict paleo diet, switched all of our cleaners, lotions, shampoos, body washes and diapers to The Honest Company. I was done. Something crazy happened. My babies eczema was gone. My 3 year olds behavior was under control and he was sleeping through the night. My oldest was losing weight. Even more, I was losing weight, sleeping better, had more energy and all my acne was gone! It wasn't over night. We did purge our cupboards because we tried doing it slowly and that would only fail after 2 weeks. Everything else was cold turkey. We had to and we never looked back.

I am grateful for the changes we made. They have helped our family. Who doesn't want to be healthier, happier or sleep better for that matter?! Im not going to tell you that you have to do what I did, but I am going to tell you the number one thing you need to do. Start reading your labels!! If you don't know what it is, google it. If you still don't know, then maybe you shouldn't be using it or eating it. It shouldn't take a PHD to read a food or product label. It doesn't need to be complicated. My family isn't perfect. We have special treat day and go out to eat once a week. We don't worry when we go to parties or family get togethers. Its not easy. I am not a planner. I nailed down some staple foods so that if I am not prepared I still have something to throw together.

Just a tip, stick to the perimeter of your grocery store. There wont be any labels to read because it is all your fruits, veggies, meats, seafoods, bakery and dairy (if you eat those). Usually a safe bet. We could get into all of the organic and non GMO foods, but I will stick with the basics for now.

 Some say they don't need to change the way they eat because they don't have any special dietary allergies or restrictions. All I have to say about that is just because you don't have a diagnosis, doesn't mean you won't benefit from a healthier lifestyle. I would like to then point out each of the ailments they are suffering from that they just don't realize. Very rarely does the average person consume all of the necessary vitamins and minerals on a daily basis. We need to be more conscious of the foods we eat and look at that food as fuel. You need the right fuel in your bodies to keep it functioning properly.