Make some small changes that have a big impact by switching out some of your products in your home. I have been on this low-tox journey for some time and while I am no where near toxin free, I am reducing the amount of toxins in my home.

What is Low-Tox?

“Low-tox” is short for low toxicity, meaning fewer toxins in a product, place, or lifestyle. Today, there’s growing transparency about the toxins we encounter daily. For instance, you might have noticed “BPA-free” labels on plastic kitchenware—BPA is a toxin that can mimic estrogen in the body, disrupting the endocrine system. You may also see “phthalate-free” on shampoos; phthalates have been linked to endocrine disruption and reproductive cancers. And food dyes? These are increasingly recognized for their potential cancer risks and effects on the body. Given all this, it’s no surprise the U.S. is one of the world’s unhealthiest nations. Sadly, in the pursuit of profit, safer alternatives are often sidelined because they cost more. But that’s a topic for another day.

Today I would just like to share some great products to help you on your road to low-tox living. And one thing to keep in mind, while these are products I know to be safe right now, you should always do your research, especially because the mega companies like Bayer, will often buy the little companies and change ingredients without notice. If you know any of these to be a problem right now please share in the comments. We all need to help each other stay safe.

Thai Crystal Deodarant

My first change that I really started looking into was deodorant. There was very little connection to the health risks at the time but there was some talk about it. I definitely wanted to find better alternatives for my kids when they started wearing deodorant. I looked and found thai crystal deodorant. It is made from natural mineral salt. I tried it and it actually worked. Unlike antiperspirant, you don’t feel dry when you are sweating but that is not normal anyway. You do have to get slightly used to feeling a little wet when you are hot and sweating.

Yaya Maria’s Hand Soap

I know everyone loves a great smelling hand soap, well not everyone, especially not pregnant women. Even a beloved smell ends up being nauseating. Having been pregnant 8 times in my life- with 6 babies earth-side, I looked for a great non scented hand soap for years. And a few years ago, I realized it also needed to be low-tox. Yaya Maria’s came in with the win! It feels just like regular hand soap and unscented has no weird smell. It also only has 5 ingredients and castor oil is one of them which I LOVE. It leaves your hands feeling moisturized and bonus, I have gotten the scented versions now and I love that too.

Organic Castor Oil

Since I have already mentioned castor oil, I will make that the next item! I have talked about it before but I use castor oil not only to try to help my hair grow but also to remove my makeup, wash my face, moisturize my and my kids’ skin and on my eyelashes. But not only that, I use it in a castor oil pack- which is placed on the skin overnight. It helps to detox your liver and intestines. It also breaks down scar tissue, and some people say it dissolves the floaty little things that you can see in your eyes. I never noticed those for me until after having eye surgery and I use it now to get rid of them. It is a clean product and has so many benefits.

Corelle Vitrelle Dishes

Moving a bit to another way to eliminate toxins in your food, of course organic, local food is best. Things with as little plastic packaging as possible and even knowing what kind of plastic is being used is helpful. But also what we know about plastic is that it leaches chemicals, toxic chemicals into your food when it is warm or hot. One way to avoid that at home is to have glass dishes. I moved to all glass dishes a year ago or so. I still use a microwave although that comes with its own problems too, but when I do use it I don’t want to be heating up plastic dishes. The only glass dishes that I know to be safe from toxins and heavy metals are the white Corelle Vitrelle dishes. When you start adding designs and colors you can be sure that a heavy metal was used so you want to avoid that also. These dishes have held up well, with no chips and we haven’t broken one either. And as I mentioned, I have five littles so that is exceptional!

Water Filter

We can’t talk about food without talking about water. Water is our most essential resource. Many people living within the Midwest though are being poisoned by water. Atrazine, a weed killer, has been found in many wells across the Midwest. Atrazine has been shown in lab studies to change hormones. You can look up the studies- it’s wild! Not to mention chlorine, fluoride and more chemicals added to city water. We have a personal well and we have an in home water filtration system with a reverse osmosis drinking tap. Obviously that is a large scale update but you can research home water filtration systems that just go under your sink, maybe just in the kitchen. The @hormonespecialist on instagram has a highlight for those looking to clean their water. He says that a simple charcoal filter can clean hormone disrupting chemicals. Don’t forget though that reverse osmosis cleans everything- including trace minerals. If you go that route make a plan to add that back to your diet somewhere!

Truly Free

If I was worried about hand soap then it stands to reason that I should also be worried about other soaps. And you’re right, I am! Everything that you wear and put on your body, should be evaluated. It’s hard to switch everything all at once. I follow someone else’s advice here and use what I have until it’s gone. Then switch to something clean. Laundry soap was one of the very first things I changed. I was sickened by the smell of all the laundry soap when I was pregnant. Not one was out there that didn’t have a horrible scent to me. They all smelled like chemicals. I searched for a long time to find one that didn’t have horrible ingredients and a nasty smell. I finally found Truly Free through Instagram. I try not to be influenced by influencers, but this was a win! It is a clean product and it smells amazing. They have a subscription option and it gets delivered automatically. It took me a couple tries to get what I needed for my family correct but I have it nailed down now. I don’t feel like it is more expensive than the chemical laden junk is that you get at the store. I also get our dishwasher soap and dish soap from there.

Plaine Products

Shampoo and conditioner are also important if you are wanting to be low-tox. Most shampoo and conditioners are full of scents that are endocrine disruptors. Not to mention chemicals that have no place on your body. I have been struggling with hair loss since having my babies. I do not want to impede my hair growth in any way so what I put on my scalp has been extremely important. I love Plaine Products. I have the shampoo, conditioner and hair gel. They work extremely well and smell amazing! I am planning on getting the body wash as well. I feel really good about using it on my whole family. It is aloe based which is even better.

Aulterra EMF Neutralizer

One thing that I have also tried to do is limit that amount of EMF exposure that my family gets. We all live with Wi-Fi on all the time. There is 5G all over the place. We do not know the effects of this on our bodies. There is evidence that it affects our body in negative ways. I try to shut our Wi-Fi off as much as possible. And I also have EMF protection stickers on all our devices. Aulterra also has whole home EMF neutralizers that work just by plugging them in. They are peer-reviewed and have independent studies showing that they don’t block EMF but they neutralize the effects on the human body. I am hoping to give my children the type of life without all these added environmental stressors on their bodies, as much as possible.

There it is! There are so many more items that I am also trying to switch out. Things such as make-up, skincare, and even work out clothes. I can report back on those at a later date.

Have you switched anything out for lox-tox items? Let me know in the comments!

Hey Friends!

It has been a hot minute. I have basically struggled with the balance of mom life, home life, homeschool life and trying to work on this blog! Towards the end of 2023 we dealt with some illnesses that just seemed to drag on forever, and truth be told, they did. When you have a family of 8 it is nearly impossible to get over things in a few days. It seems 2 weeks is the minimum to allow for everyone to get whatever we are passing around and then get over it.

So it is now APRIL, and I am just getting back to business. I hope that it is not always like this but you know, having littles is just its own thing. Structure is really difficult and so is consistency. And that is what I am back to talk to you about today!

Consistency is truly where it is at for pretty much anything that you are wanting to accomplish in your life. Want to lose weight, you need a consistent diet and workout routine. Want to be a more conscious parent? You need to be consistent in your responses and not allowing your reactions to take over. You see what I mean.

I have a post on consistency you can check out here.

However, when we are facing the struggles of life, be it parenting, illness, job stress or overwhelm to name a few, it can be very hard to stay consistent. No one can nail that perfectly all the time. Period. That doesn’t stop one from feeling like we are failing though does it? It is hard not to spiral and start bashing yourself about not being good enough (hello childhood trauma) and how you will never get this right.

What I want to offer you, is the thought that consistency can be practiced. How does that feel, eh? Like a weight was lifted off your shoulders? I hope so. We are not perfect. We deal with more in our lifetimes than ever before and we have more information thrown at us than ever before and we were not made for this. We were not made to be able to spin all those plates at the same time.

We can fall off of our consistency in one or two or all our things and that is ok. What is more important is that we pick back up again and start again. Start eating healthy again. Start working out again. And maybe we start with just one goal to fire back up before we try it all. It all depends on you and your circumstances. But it is ok, however you do it.

For this year, starting even now in APRIL(!!), let’s be consistent together. And when life inevitably bumps us off our path, let’s take a beat and then get back on it.

I have been doing mostly low sugar since December because I found out that I have high cholesterol. YIKES, I know. I am in my 40’s and am trying to get healthy after spending my 30’s pregnant and breastfeeding the whole time. Not that I didn’t want to be healthy then of course, but my diet was sporadic and so was my working out. It’s hard to do that stuff nauseous or super pregnant. I was always jealous of those who did. Since finding out about my high cholesterol though, I have severely lowered my sugar intake which is great. I have pretty consistently (hey there is that word again) taken a LOT of omega 3 supplements and increased the amount of fiber in my diet by way of veggies and beans.

I have been working on it with a naturopathic doctor and she is great. We retested again in February and I dropped my cholesterol by 15 points! I don’t know if that is amazing or not but it feels like it to me! Since then I have been trying to be consistent (< ha!) in working out. But life got me again and all of my kids got strep! It was forever for it to get through everyone even with treatment. Now I am back at it again. Actually started the end of March and made the commitment to move my body every day. I have kept that commitment except for three days when I, myself felt under the weather. And I am really pleased with myself!

I fell off the path a couple times and have gotten back on and have a little something to show for it so far. I would say that is a win.

I hope that this inspires you to a) get a general checkup if you are around my age and b) give yourself some grace in your consistency and c) keep going after your goals.

Remember it is a practice! How are you being consistent in your life?

I have tried every pacifier there is. I have never had a baby not take a pacifier. I have even tried to force him to keep it in his mouth. Nothing. He also will not take a bottle unless absolutely forced. If this is also you, I just want to tell you to just give it up.

Just stop trying to make your baby take a pacifier. It isn’t worth the stress or time. And I know you think that you need it. Babies are supposed to have a pacifier, how will I ever get a break? But really they don’t need it at all. And I worried about those things as a breastfeeding mom. But I am here to say you don’t need it!

I thought that I would not be able to get a break from nursing if I didn’t have that darn pacifier. It worked out fine though, we nursed and it was a very normal amount when comparing to my other children whom I also breastfed.

Plus on top of that, he was able to have his mom and milk if he wanted, whenever he needed it. In the first year, that is what is most important aside from loving on all those little rolls.

If you are still worried about not getting a break from nursing I want to offer this advice. You are living in your head. Get out of there! Stop stressing about the future and the possibilities that you are imagining. That is where the stress is, not in your reality. Even day to day, if you have a couple rough days it doesn’t mean that you will always struggle. Remember that nothing is permanent. It is ALL temporary. Stop worrying about that which is not happening and is not important and BE WITH YOUR BABY.

I am the first one to say how hard this all is but this is my best advice. Your baby doesn’t need a pacifier, he just needs you.

Keep doing what you do best mama!

Did all your kids take a paci? Did you struggle with worrying about things like this?

What is a let down? What does it mean to have a let down that is fast or slow?

Are you a new mom or soon to be mom? Are you planning on breastfeeding or maybe you have already started your journey and are looking for some information, no matter what, I can help! Let’s dive in!

A let down is the action of your breast milk being released once your nipples are stimulated by your baby. Actually, it can happen when you hear a baby cry, your boobs are full or even when a partner is touching them. No matter how it happens, a let down is when the milk is released.

You can have a slow or fast let down. The release speed of the milk is to what this refers. Many women can feel this let down. It may be a flowing feeling, a stinging or prickles feeling or even a slight burning feeling. Some may not feel it at all and will only know that it has happened because they can hear their baby swallowing.

This particular post is about a fast let down. Fast let downs can be a little disconcerting because your baby often seems to be choking on milk and needs to pull off. I have seen some information that mentions forcing the baby to stay latched during this time because they should be able to control the release by tightening their latch. This is NOT that. I have breastfed 6 babies of progressing amounts of time and I will never get behind that. I’m sure that this does work for some people but I could not do it.

This is about what you can do to help with a fast let down. A few tips that you can actually use that are not forcing your baby to seem like they are drowning in the very liquid that gives them life.

Number one is break the latch and let the speed of the milk slow down. The fast speed will not last the entire time. If you have breastfed before you will know that the speed slows and the baby begins to work more to get it out. I used this method all the time when my babies were newborns and it was just too much for them. I would keep a burp rag under their face and just hold them in the breastfeeding hold that I chose while we waited. It truly took just a few seconds to a minute and then you can latch again and feed with ease!

Number two is use a silicone catcher so as not to waste that milk. I previously had mentioned using a Haakaa in other posts, which you still can but there have been some new complaints with it recently, about creating an oversupply and possibly causing nipple irritation. My supply has always been a little extra so I have never noticed it personally. With that new information though I would like to move toward just a catcher and not a silicone pump such as this one.

Finally, you can pump a little before you feed your baby and allow the pump to collect the let down and then nurse your baby after it has slowed. I like this option because you can pump both sides at the same time for a little bit and help build your supply. It is nice to have a little milk sitting in a bottle for later- maybe for a dad feed or for an older child. However, I don’t like this because pumping is a lot of extra work for an overtired, healing mom with a newborn who is waking up crying and hungry. They do not want to wait for their comfort food. A crying newborn is extremely distressing for a new mom no matter how many babies they have had. A little later when the baby is a little older this would work better, but at that point they probably are able to handle the let down. So it would definitely be personal preference. However, I want to note that pumping to build a freezer stock such as what you see all over Pinterest, should not be a goal. It is normal and healthy to only produce what. your. baby. needs. And some babies will not take frozen milk because of the breakdown of components that can give it a soapy taste. I want you to know when I say build your supply I only mean a little pumping and not oversupply for the freezer. Okay? Okay!

I haven’t dealt with this problem long when I have which was every baby. But it is super distressing when you don’t know what is happening. Hopefully this will help you with your new baby!

Did you ever deal with a fast let down?

Happy New Year!

Last year I said I was not doing resolutions. And I didn’t. I didn’t this year either. Yay, good for me on consistency! What did I do then, you ask? Let me tell you!

I am believing more and more in ritual, habits, routines and systems. Not that I don’t have goals. I do. Instead of putting all the importance on the goal achievement such as losing 30 pounds, I put the effort into the actual process that can help me achieve that goal. What is really incredible about this is, I have heard about processes to achieve goals for forever and never really understood that I can make my own process. For some reason when I had this epiphany this year, it really hit home.

Now everywhere I look someone is telling me how to build a system or create a habit and it was as if I had never seen this before. I guess it is really true that you can only receive messages you are ready to hear.

For the end goal of losing 30 pounds, I set the intention to build lean muscle. Muscle burns more calories than fat. It helps your body look tight and toned. It eats glucose, literally and lean muscle makes you strong. Or maybe vice versa, strength builds lean muscle? Whichever it is that is the intention.

Ok so now to build that process you need to know the how. How do I intend to build lean muscle? The how is specific to the knowledge you have right now or are willing to gain before setting the process. However, you can always learn something new and pivot your process. Clarity follows action. In this instance I know to build lean muscle I need exercise and specifically strength training. I will begin with strength training 3 days a week.

Another how in the process building is to eat more protein. Right now, you see, I am not saying that I will cut anything out of my diet. Just adding more protein. Perhaps I have a protein shake mid-morning.

It is just so unrealistic to try to make huge lifestyle changes out of the blue. In order to make lifestyle changes that work, you have to start keeping promises to yourself that are doable. I know this from things I have already learned whether it be experience or knowledge shared from others. I am using that knowledge to build my process.

Working out and eating more protein lead to more good decisions. I may skip the sweets that I normally want or even better I might not crave them at all. And it will be because I am making other healthy choices. Choices like my next step Read on!

The third step I am taking is to try to stop my blood glucose from spiking after eating. It really causes all of kinds of issues with your body. Hormone disruption, weight gain and insulin resistance just to name a few. But there is hope even if you love dessert, like me. I found Jessie Inschauspe author of Glucose Revolution and follow her advice on how to keep glucose from spiking. I love that she always says do this or do that, when it is easy. So don’t throw your entire life out of balance by becoming overly obsessed with this. That is such a great take and I love it.

What are your plans for a great year?