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A friend and I had a conversation the other day about how many things that we do that are against the norm (or “weird”). Most of these things I’ve been doing for so long, I don’t even remember that they aren’t normal, so I decided to compile a list. It’s a “How weird are you” quiz of sorts… just for fun…
Here’s my list… Not all of them are “weird” but if they aren’t the statistic norm, I listed them. How many of these things do you do? What would be on your list that I missed?
Motherhood
Birthed a child without any kind of pain medication. More than once. (But then was super grateful for mainstream medicine when it saved my life with placenta previa… whole story here)
Birthed a child at home (breech and v-bac too- here’s the story).
Consumed a placenta (mine was in capsules…)
Have a placenta in your freezer (check, but not as bad as the one I accidentally left in the guest fridge at the hospital a few births ago… sorry cleaning staff!)
Cloth diapering (Not you? It’s easier than you’d expect! Here’s why we do it)
Not circumcising (this might not be the minority anymore and definitely a controversial one, but here are my reasons)
Making homemade natural baby products instead of using store bought versions.
Sleeping with babies in bed until they are 6 months, or a year, or two, or three..
Wear baby around in a sling. all. the. time.
Kids don’t get medication for minor illness or teething (but they do get warm baths, chamomile tincture, soup, lots of care and careful monitoring, etc)
Let/Make the kids play barefoot because it is good for them and in the sun because it is good for them.
Homeschooling
Want the kids to get chickenpox but can’t because no one gets it anymore (do your kids have it? Want to come visit?)
Sick? Infection? Rash? Put breast milk on it… or coconut oil 🙂
Kids don’t know who Big Bird, Bugs Bunny or Dora are but they do know Tom Sawyer, Moses and Aslan…
Make homemade vitamins…
and gummy vitamins…
and marshmallows…
Suck out babies’ snot if congested… with my mouth (dont freak out- I use this…)
Food:
Let things rot on my counter on purpose (mainly Kombucha, Water Kefir, Sauerkraut and other fermented veggies)
Let milk sour on purpose.
Drink raw milk.
Add saturated fat to coffee. A lot of it… (This recipe- so delicious!)
Don’t consume grains…
or beans….
or processed sugar..
or food dye…
or soy…
Consume organ meats on purpose.
and fermented fish livers daily…
Have a big pot of bones on the stove. All. The. Time.
Eat “weeds” from the backyard.(Like Dandelion)
Use “weeds” for medicine. (Like Plantain)
Use a water filter.
Drink jello…and use it many other ways too…
Home/Lifestyle
Have enough mason jars in your house to stock a factory.
And drink out of them…
and decorate with them…
Clean my face with oil. (and not soap…)
Have animals in the backyard that produce or can be food (not cats and dogs… unless you eat them, in which case, please don’t tell me!)
Don’t wear sunscreen (but eat it instead).
Swish oil in my mouth… for twenty minutes… on purpose.
Use a reusable cup or reusable pad instead of regular menstrual pads.
Don’t wear shoes (or wear minimalist/barefoot ones)
Use a standing desk (because sitting will kill ya).
Make my own laundry soap.
and deodorant…
and shampoo…
and toothpaste…
and bug spray…
and lotion…
and lotion bars…
and magnesium oil…
and make-up…
Replaced the coffee table with a trampoline for exercise/rebounding.
Don’t consume artificial hormones to space children.
What did I miss? How many of these do you do? Are you as “weird” as me? Share below!
I only said “yes” to about 15 of them, but I said “have thought hard about it and might” or “I would if I could afford it” to the majority of them. My heart goes out to all those who are expressing feelings of being overwhelmed by this, or are experiencing mommy guilt. I don’t think this whole “mommy guilt is natural and we are all burdened by it” is right at all! I doubt very much that women throughout time have suffered such guilt. I think it is a consequence of our modern lifestyle – our excessive striving, our perfectionism, our constantly comparing ourselves. It is so unhealthy! Ladies, please, please let it go! We don’t deserve to live with that kind of burden! Stop comparing and trust yourselves! You can do this! As far as going to down this path and getting overwhelmed – you just take one thing and make the change and see how it goes. And when you feel ready, you make another change. I love what the commenter said about doing it for herself first, and when she felt she had it right, she does it for her whole family. That’s what I do, too. I try it and see how it makes me feel, and if it’s good, I do it for my family too. There’s no need to see it as a must-do list so that you pressure yourself to do everything here. Just do one thing at a time as long as it makes you happy and it feels good. As for worrying about the things that you have not done yet – please, please stop torturing yourselves with that! There is nothing good that will come out of worrying! God even tells us in the Bible not to worry, that it will not add one day to our lives. Feel good knowing you have done the things you have, that you will do what you can in the future, and that it is all in God’s hands anyway! I can’t do some things on this list because I lack the energy due to a health problem. And I don’t do some things because of lack of money. But I am happy with what I do, and each time I try something new, it is a satisfying, fun, rewarding experience! Please stop looking at the list as a “to-do” list that mocks you and tells you that you are failing your kids because you are not doing all of them! Look at the list as a list of fun and rewarding things to do in the future – whether tomorrow, next week, next year, in 10 years, or when you are 80! Health and wellness is a journey, not something you do overnight. Please ladies, feel my hugs to you and my encouragement that you are doing great – whatever stage of the journey you are on!
Love this, Kathy! 🙂
Chicken pox! I want to expose mine to it too! Nuts!
What do I do…I was homeschooled, I eat dandelion greens from my backyard, brew my own kombucha, stopped consuming grains and beans and soy, have had raw milk, eat organ meat, make bone broth, use coconut oil for everything, and go no-‘poo.
Irene,
Can I ask how often you wash your hair a week with the bicarb and acv? I have recently started doing this, and my hair gets oily after about three or four days. I go to the gym 3 times a week and sweat a lot. I thought that I could go without washing for a week, using dry shampoo inbetween, but my hair just feels too gross. I would love to only wash once a week. I am just worried that the bicarb and acv will dry my hair out.
I actually did suck snot out of my kids nose when I didn’t have a Nosefrieda on hand 😀
While I find your blog very helpful in so many ways, I can’t help but feel extremely overwhelmed and a bit frustrated. Since having my first little one two years ago I have become very health conscious. I’ve challenged many things that mainstream deems as “healthy” and made many changes, yet in this process I’ve started to realize that there is no real “truth” out there. You watch food docs like “the china study” and “forks over knives” read vegiatarian, and vegan blogs books and studies and learn that a life w out animal meat is much healthier and could save your life in the long run… yet on the contrary you can read blogs like yours and things alike and the research you provide states the very opposite. I find this on almost every topic you posted about. I’m in no way saying you aren’t doing all the right things, or that your facts aren’t accurate, I just find it SO overwhelmingly confusing to know which direction to go, which “expert” do you believe? One minute I’m telling my husband that we all need to stop eating meat for example, and yet the next day I’m telling him we should eat more. People say do your research but I say if you do your research long enough you can find facts and studies that 100% completely contradict what the other is saying. I can take any topic you listed, look further into getting more info only to find “facts” that say to do the exact opposite. And im not just referencing recreational blogs where the information is more opinion based. I’m talking about blogs like yours, books, documentaries, etc where the sources are extremely credible, where there are backed up with case studies, research, etc. how in the world do you dive into this lifestyle knowing which way is the “best” which way is “right?” I mean topic like soy (albeit organic gmo-free soy) vs. no soy for example. i mean your literature is so on point and very convincing yet i can find all sorts of other research that goes on and on to “prove” the contrary. I mean how do you chose? how do you know that your way is best? i say that not challenging you at all, more just curious, just wondering how you make a decision and have total peace with it even though you know there is info out there that says the opposite.
For a mom and wife like me who’s heart just wants so badly to do the right thing and guide my family in the right direction of whats best and healthiest I find all of this sooooo overwhelming. Who and what do you believe and trust? How do you make these changes without feeling like you need to hurry up because there are still a ton of “unhealthy” things you need to change in your life?!? How do you just pick one thing at a time when everything on your list can completely and dramatically change your health?! And when you add the innate mommy guilt so many of us struggle with, how do you not feel guilty for not being able to do all of these things at once, knowing that you are essentially intentionally making “potentially unhealthy” choices for you but more importantly for your children??
I so apologize for this rant, and for sounding a bit crazy 😉 I just had to express the sentiments of not only myself but also many moms in my community who I know read your blogs or similar blogs and instantly well up with guilt of not doing enough, and not knowing which changes to make, and how and why to make them. I think what you do is so awesome, and admirable, but I think you only identify two types of people, the people like you who are totally right there with you, the women who can say their confessional list is as long as yours, or the people who call you abnormal, weird etc. it would be so helpful if you could address those of us who are in a different category than the two mentioned above, the category of women, many of us moms, who believe that mainstream ways of life are unhealthy, that natural, organic ways of life are obviously better, us moms who want to have a list like yours but feel lost, overwhelmed and completely inundated with conflicting information that leads us to do nothing while feeling guilty that we don’t do more, and also guilty that we are consciously more or less killing ourselves and our families.
I see from your comments that there are many moms who are on top of it all like you and I cant stress enough how great i think that is, but there is a silent demographic of us that hesitate to respond or even read blogs like this out of feeling overwhelmed and confused. There are many who can and do read this list and feel more debilitated from being overwhelmed, confused, and intimidated, and I wanted to share that bc I do believe your heart is to help others not just those who are already at the level you’re at.
I hope and pray you in no way find this offensive because that isn’t my heart at all. This is merely me being a voice for those of us out there who would love some clarity and guidance on how to be healthier in a day and age where it’s hard to even get a clear answer of what “healthy” even is!! You seem to be so incredibly knowledgable so I thought by speaking up you might be able to give me a little more insight 😉
So sorry about the novel, thank you for reading 😉
Heather
Sent from my iPad
Oh and I apologize in advance for the typos my iPad has a mind of its own 😉
Hi Heather,
I wanted to reply since I’ve spent time on both sides of the fence–a very long time vegetarian/vegan and now a meat-eater. I often do not like it when people tell me this, but the truth is, you have to listen to your own body–and the bodies of your children. We weren’t taught to do that in school. It was more like we were blindly required to follow a food pyramid–3 servings of this, 2 of that, etc.. Obviously, we’re all a little confused. Meat eaters, vegans and vegetarians (and anyone in between) come in all shapes and sizes. I spent time as a soy milk, tofu, tofutti, pb&j, *Healthy* vegan during my younger years in college (I was so tired all the time I think I slept through my education). Ha! I certainly know better than that now! Veggies weren’t even on the menu during a large portion of my vegetarian years! Now I eat lots and lots of vegetables and feel much more awake 🙂
Because there is no short answer to the summarizing all of the fantastic statistics out there that we can find to support any idea we might have, you can err on the side of things no one argues about as a basis for food–the healthy vegetarians, vegans, primal folks, paleo people, etc… all support vegetables. Eat more vegetables–you can’t go wrong there. When/if choosing meat, opt to eat small portions of the best, most sustainable meats/fish you can find. If eating nuts/seeds–prepare them properly (soak/dehydrate), dairy–some do, some don’t (this is an easy one to listen to your body on. Leave it out for 2-3 weeks and see how you feel). Sugar–no one argues that sugar is good, so eliminate it from your diet (or reduce your consumption of natural sugar in half). Drink water! Sleep! Exercise! Relax! (All the food theories support those). We keep seeing the message–Eat Real Food! Always shop the perimeter of the grocery store–most Real Food does not exist in boxes/bags in the middle of the store.
Sorry to jump in here with a long winded response, but it is confusing to sort it all out. I often just want someone to tell me what to eat, but in reality–my body isn’t the same as your body–but we humans do have some basic needs that we can all do a better job of meeting–food (Real Food), sleep, rest, exercise, water, etc…. Eating food in season is good for everyone. Just because coconuts are all the rage right now, doesn’t mean they’re a required part of our diets–unless you have coconuts growing out your back door or even in your own country. It’s not very eco-friendly to eat food that is shipped to us from hundreds or thousands of miles away every day!
Goji berries, kombucha, spirulina, and cacao nibs are icing on the cake! Definitely not required! The good thing is, you can try new things and if it doesn’t work for you–you can always return to your old way of healthy eating.
Thank you SO much for responding Jennifer!!! I can’t even tell you how helpful this was, and how moving it was that you were kind enough to take the time to write all of this. I found it to be very comforting. As I’m sure you could tell I was a tad stressed out 🙂 I’ve been nursing a flu sick toddler back to health, and my usually worries and fears of not doing enough to keep our family healthy was increased when I read this article! Needless to say you responding was very helpful and sweet!
With that said, do you mind if I ask you a couple questions??? The soaking of the nuts was a new thing to me, so if I buy almonds, cashews, sunflower seeds etc, at the store am I supposed to soak them before I eat them? If so how?
Also when you talk about sugars, I know all about the corn syrups, and added to sugars etc, but you mentioned natural sugars, do you mean natural sugar as in the sugar found in raw fruits? Basically, I’m curious if you are saying to eat small amounts of fruit? if so is the sugar in fruit bad for you? I was always under the understanding that the fruit in sugar like an apple, berry, etc wasn’t bad for you.
Okay I think that’s it! Thank you again for being so kind 🙂
You can read all about soaking nuts on the web. Basically, all I do is soak them over-night, and use them in smoothies or snacks. I don’t have a dehydrator, so I just rinse them and use them freshly soaked or sprouted.
I’d keep kids off all added sugars (easier said than done if you have a bigger kid who you’ve already introduced sugar to)! If you have a toddler, just skip adding any kind of sugar (honey, maple syrup, etc…). Fruit sugars are mostly fine, but don’t let your toddler go on an all-fruit-for-every-snack-binge. Toddlers need good fats, proteins, veggies, fruit, and the best ways to get those are from Real Foods. Apples count as real foods, but it’s god to remember that apples are not really in season right now. Spring fruits are–berries, apricots, kiwi, peaches, nectarines (at least here on the coast of CA :-)).
Your toddler is getting good mama milk–that’s a great first step! Good fat, healthy protein–check!
HI Heather… you make some great points. I definitely didn’t want anyone to feel like I was putting down other choices with this post.. just trying to find a fun fun way to express some of the things that are often included in the “natural mommy” umbrella. I agree, you can find research on both sides and while I do try to research everything extensively, I’m not claiming to be the end all expert by any means. I think at the end of the day, we (as moms) have to research the best we can, figure out what works and is doable for our individual families and realize that all of us are in this together in motherhood. We are all doing our best, we all hope to raise healthy kids and I think we are all our own toughest critics too 🙂 I’m sure you are an awesome mom and thanks for reading and for the time to comment! 🙂
Oh I don’t think in any way that you put down the choices of others, I guess I just wanted to know what your advice would be to those of us who want to live under the same umbrella of naturally living that you do, but feel very overwhelmed as which direction to go, and where to start. You seem so ahead of the game in this way of life and I was curious as to how you find confident in deciding whats best when there’s information that may say differently. I’m terrified of making the wrong choice, only to find out that the other option would have been best, ie meat eating vs. vegitarian etc. You read sooo many blogs like yours and just wish somedays you could have someone help you start at the beginning 🙂 I guess there are just days you long for someone to tell you whats the very best, it would be nice if there was one solid truth. BUT with that said you are so awesome for sharing your info and way of life, and for taking the time to respond!
Heather, my advice is to start small and take one step at a time. I started over three years ago to a better lifestyle and I am still working on it. I started going natural by using the Oil Cleansing Method, first. When it worked and produced the results I wanted, I took another step. I tried no poo method, baking soda and acv. That did not work for me, but I found that liquid African Black Soap (Dr. Woods) was perfect for my hair. Food wise, I began making my own yogurt. When I became confident in that, I tried chicken stock. I also began to read labels to rid our family of all high fructose corn syrup products. Whenever I try something new, I gauge how my body and/or family reacts to it. For example, I could never go without meat, and I have tried a few different times. Same with my family. Sugar and dyes are a no-no, but I still slip up and sometimes do not read a label close enough to find that hidden dye or sugar. My next project was creating our laundry soap. Then, it was replacing fabric softener sheets with vinegar in the wash cycle. It has kept going from there.
Find out was is right for your family. I have found the most “help” from comments in the blogs. (For example, the no poo method.) After no success with baking soda and acv, I read in the comments about coconut milk shampoos, quinoa rinse water shampoos, and castille soaps. I tried all three and my hair was a mess. Then someone mentioned African Black Soap. I tried and it was exactly what my hair needed. If I had given up, I would still be trying shampoo after shampoo, trying to get my over oily/ severely dry hair under control.
I
have learned through this whole process that there really is not a
solid “truth” answer. I can only go by how I feel and my family feels.
Whenever I do something new, I test it on myself first and introduce the
family to it only after I feel it is good enough. Some items to try
first: a detox bath (baking soda and epsom salt to rejuvenate you), walk around barefoot outside (if you can), and get some coconut oil to eat and use for moisturizer (if not allergic). Make a chart or plan to try the different things available if writing it down makes you feel better or just write down only the things you feel prepared to try. Take baby steps, eventually you will find yourself more natural. 🙂
Nicole you are SOOOO helpful!!! Every single word. It means so much that you were kind enough to take the time to write this! You recommended some awesome things that I’m definitely going to try, especially the shampoo, I had the exact same experience as you so I gave up. I will definitely look for the stuff you mentioned.
Oh and where do you get your bones for your bone broth?
Thank you again for your comforting words 🙂 xo
I am glad my post helped you 🙂 I used to be overwhelmed too when I first started, but now it is easier to make changes, most of the time anyway. Transitioning to a menstrual cup required a LOT of mental battles and some mockery/horror from my female family members. Going paperless in the kitchen also brought some mockery as well, but I feel confident in the choices that I make for myself and family. My kids rarely get sick now that I use baking soda, vinegar, and/or hydrogen peroxide for cleaning the house. I seriously could go on and on as I imagine a lot of other women on this blog could too about their transitions!
As for bones, I try to get them from the best chickens I can. I gather every bone possible, from when there is a drumstick night to breast bones. Sometimes, I get a whole chicken and roast it in the oven, take off all the meat, and freeze the carcass until I have enough bones for stock. This is similar to https://wellnessmama.com/5888/bone-broth/ . I learned from another website how to do it, but wellnessmama’s tutorial is just as good or better 🙂 I live in a large city with no organic farms around, so I do my best to get chicken from the natural stores. I also get beef soup bones from that store and make beef broth from those. I also used my turkey carcass for turkey broth and duck from Christmas for broth. I have to say, the duck broth has tasted the best so far!
Oh, and as for your toothpaste question, I wanted to add in my recommendation. After my husband’s $1500 dentist bill, we transitioned to Bentonite Clay toothpaste (after doing a week of research). It looks like mud (cinnamon and cloves make it brown), is sweet and salty, but it has greatly improved the entire family’s oral health. I had sensitive, yellowing teeth (used to be a smoker), but now they sparkle and no longer hurt. The kids’ doctor was even impressed with their teeth turning around for the better. I also bought us the oral wellness Bass brushes which have been removing plague from under my gums.
Above all, just try. There will be failure. Just do not give up, or put it aside to try something else for awhile. 🙂
I feel for you. I had the same frustrations. I finally took it one thing at a time and loved my little victories. I use vinegar or coconut for everything. It seems that they cure everything. We eat mostly Paleo and feel better…..although I still stray when I feel that I may hurt someone if i don’t get an ice cream or something. Read ingredients. That’s what helped me. One thing at a time. I make my own cleaning supplies. I have homemade chicken stock in my cabinet. I freeze my bones to use for later stock making. I made brownies out of sweet potatoes and didn’t tell my 12 year old and you know what? He has eaten most of the pan w/o realizing there was no added sugar or flour in there. I tried so hard to make my own soap and it was scary that I gave up and chose to purchase the better soap. I can’t stress enough to read ingredients in everything you purchase. The guilt of chemicals in deoderant alone has encouraged me to try my own hand at it. One thing at a time. If I fail, I will purchase a kind that I am comfortable with the ingredients. Your body and the bodies of your family will respond to everything you do. If you listen, it will tell you if what you are doing is working. I also agree that being barefoot is important. I take my shoes off often and just put my feet on the earth. It seems to calm my nerves. You are brave to speak out about your concerns. I bet anyone who has gone from mainstream to a more natural approach has had the same issues. Consider it a victory if you cut out even 1 chemical. It’s one less to worry about. 🙂
Amber thank you so much for responding to my comment!!! I honestly felt so comforted by those of you who took the time to respond and share your info and experiences. You gave a lot of great advice, and come to find out I do some of the same things as you, so I guess maybe I’m not as behind as I thought 🙂
thank you again so much for your help! 🙂
Also may I ask one more question them i promise to be done 😉 do you use fluoride for your children?? I assume no. But if not what do you use/do? I know some of your children are older so I am curious if you didn’t use fluoride how their teeth are turning out? I currently don’t use fluoride and just use natural toothpaste w Xytol but I want to make sure I’m doing everything I can to help keep her teeth healthy.
Thank you again, and I promise I’ll stop w the commemts/questions 😉 😉 😉
No fluoride, and we make our own toothpaste. No cavities in kids or adults in our family since we started that (and hubby and I reversed cavities)…A lot of oral health comes from the inside 🙂
Have you done any posts on foods that help w oral health that you can refer me to?
Here is my whole regimen… https://wellnessmama.com/57729/oral-health-routine/
This is so helpful!! THANK YOU!!!!!! 🙂
Hi Heather,
I just wanted to say I feel your pain. I have seven kids and taking all their preferences into consideration and feeding them healthy is NOT easy and has not gotten easier. What I always come back to is the Bible. Does it make Biblical sense? Even if someone does not reference the Bible as their final authority, one can just reference history. Does it make historical sense to be vegan? It would seem not. To my knowledge there is no traditional vegan culture. Also, if being vegan is natural, we would be able to get B-12 from somewhere other than animal sources. So for me, if it is not biblically, historically, biologically logical, then it isn’t healthy, no matter what someone’s modern studies say.
Heather, I could have just written that myself, but I’m glad you did! I read this blog post and feel completely overwhelmed. I can’t pull half this off, I think it’s too much. It’s hard to know where to start, how to find the time after work, it just makes me feel frustrated.
I mean, take the beans/lectins thing… the atricle quotes wiki, but wiki says that lectins are harmful if consumed in excess or are not cooked properly. Is that a reason to give up eating beans entirely? I think not. Just pick the areas that are most important to you personally.
Bethany thank you for the reassuring words, I can’t even tell you how comforting it is to hear I’m not alone 🙂
Heather,
I’m not one to post in the comments section (although I do love reading them), but I felt compelled to respond. I completely understand and I deal with the same sentiments everyday. I started researching a more natural lifestyle with the birth of my first child 6 years ago. I’ve had some successes and still have a lot of struggles. As hard as it is to say this, because it’s arbitrary, I echo the “doing what’s best for you and your family”. For me, it’s about doing the best I can; knowing that, at this time, I can only do so much. It’s trying not to feel guilty if I’m not living the 100% natural lifestyle all the time. I do a ton of research and I still feel like I’m only scratching the surface. It is overwhelming and some days, I have to turn off the computer and give myself permission to let it go for the day. For me, It’s about perspective and making small changes. Even with the help of Wellness Mama and others, I feel like I need a degree in nutrition and herbs/oils just to know what to do (especially with what is safe for my kids). It’s not easy, it seems you have to be concerned about what food, etc. to consume, but also where it comes from, how it’s processed, how to use it. We all have limits and it’s recognizing what we can do to maximize our health choices. You can save money being natural, but in other areas, it’s expensive and time consuming. For example, I can buy organic food and very little processed food (which means going to 5 grocery stores), but I can’t afford an organic or natural mattress (1000’s of dollars) right now. To be more specific: I buy as much organic food as possible, I read labels on everything, make green smoothies everyday for my family, I bought some plants for air quality (and I do not have a green thumb), I do some supplements, and I just started making lotions, vapor rub, etc.. My go to resources are WM (obviously), 100 Days of Real Food, Food Babe, and Environmental Working Group to name a few. I use their recipes a lot. Just having an open mind and being willing to do what you can to have a healthy and happy family says a lot about what you are trying to do.
I know, it IS so overwhelming and it was for me at first too! I’ve found that what works for our family if just getting facts (not opinion) on a particular subject and then using logic to see if it is bad or good for us. For example, fact: the fluoride added to our water supply is a toxic byproduct of the aluminum industry. Then just think logically, is that something to put in your body, or your kids? Logically thinking on any subject like vaccines, birth, foods, etc will most times bring you to the right place. I don’t know, maybe that’s just me. Maybe a lot of people have trouble thinking logically because they’ve never seen in their life what is healthy or pure. I usually think “Is this something people would do/eat 200 years ago?”
Toilet paper
Heather, I feel the same way!! While I enjoy improving my health and learning new things to help live more naturally, there is so much info it is overwhelming! And I’m not even a mom yet! 🙂 Just work full time and a house wifey of a husband who is currently working full time and going to grad school full time. Where to start??? Like many of the people have said, I just try one thing at a time. Read food labels, eliminated wheat, try to eat mostly whole foods, avoid processed foods, try to get time outside/barefooted as much as possible, try to eliminate processed sugars and limit added natural sweetners, go “no poo” (sorta working – but learned I don’t need to wash everyday), try oil cleansing method (not working – going to try other organic, heavily researched products), brew Kombucha at home and eat more cultured foods. Now there are plenty of things I want to start…make my own water kefir, start soaking/sprouting/fermenting more foods, make my own tooth paste, laundry soap, etc. I just try to take it one at a time, and listen to my body. I find looking back to what the norm would have been a couple hundred years ago helps guide me in what might be right/or not right. And sometimes, it is just best for my health to not read any blog posts for a few days and not stress about it. There’s always tomorrow! 🙂 Hang in there girl, it’s a journey!
“Commit thy works unto The Lord and thy thoughts shall be established.” We just raised eight children. The youngest turns 18 this spring. What a wonderful experience it has been! Ask God what is best for YOUR family and don’t stress because your journey is different from anyone else’s! 🙂
Can you come live with me for a couple of weeks and teach me how to do all the awesome things you do? I am in awe.
Me too 🙂
I would add truely believe I can reverse 5 major diseases modern medicine can do nothing for (2 down, 3 to go!) I sometimes completely forget that I live differently. We had to hire help because I have been to sick to do all I need to, I have to be careful not to laugh out loud when they ask if I want them to run pick up milk at the store or ask isn’t that to much fat! Ahh the good life 🙂
Found myself going “Yup. Yup. Yup….” as I read through that! I didn’t realise how far down the ‘eco’ path I’ve gone until this 🙂
I agree! Our path took a wonderful turn when our boys were born ten years ago and we’ve never looked back. 🙂 We do at least 3/4 of your list I would say and I would add that everything in our house (we do eat grains and some beans) is made from scratch.
I try not to think of us as weird, just differently awake from others.
Looooooooove it!!! And do a good deal of them too 🙂 I am not weird, ‘they’ are weird, hahaha… Sneak liver in smoothies, use baking soda and ACV for almost everything, love essential oils (for almost everything), walk around with nasty hair (TRANSITIONING, lol), have bottles with kefir all over, safe glass jars around the house, plague everyone about homemade deodorant and make the kids feel VERY special (in a good way though) about all their homemade stuff and concotions 😀 I love living like this!!! My youngest sprays her on mag spray on and asks herself about her FCLO (she will be 2 tomorrow) It’s the perfect life 😉
Yes! I do all of these things! (practically) or at least I want to. Very inspiring, must read this list whenever I start feeling to weird for the world which I live in.