MY HOLISTIC LIFESTYLE JOURNEY: Changes I have made and those yet to be for a happier, healthier life

I was thinking about how I often write or post to social media about things that you can do to help improve your holistic lifestyle but I haven’t shared much about the things I am personally changing.  So here are some changes I’ve made on my journey to an overall healthier lifestyle. I have made many mistakes and I’m sure there are more to come; I have even fallen off the wagon, so to speak, many times and will probably fall off many more times. But this is a journey of a lifetime, so my goal is progress not perfection. I am not expecting perfection from myself.  I am striving for overall progress; slow and easy and continuous progress.

These are some of the changes I have made to date:
·       I buy organic mostly but I stick to the Dirty Dozen and Clean Fifteen when organic is not within reach.
·       I cook and eat vegan meals at least 2x weekly.
·       I eat raw veggies at each meal. Often an entire meal is a raw vegan meal. ·       I consume a minimal amounts of processed foods. When I cook, I cook from scratch, rarely will I use anything that comes prepackaged.
·       Minimal processed sugars. I use mostly coconut sugar when I need or want a sweetener and I avoid high fructose corn syrup at all costs.
·       Minimal gluten. I’m gluten sensitive and allergic to wheat but I try to avoid falling into the trap of buying “Gluten-free” products. When I want a sandwich, I use Ezekial sprouted grain breads. It still has gluten and wheat but it doesn’t affect me as much as other breads and grains do. I haven’t found a “naturally” gluten free bread that I like or one that is not crazy expensive. If you have any suggestions, please let me know.
·       I removed 2 of the 4 foods on my allergy list. I’m allergic to wheat, corn and arugula, and I am lactose intolerant. I don’t eat dairy or corn but I struggle sometimes with the wheat and all the time with the arugula. Eating those things have sent me to the ER once, so I’m pushing my luck; it’s just so hard to say no to arugula.

Over time I became aware of other things that I was doing or using that are also unhealthy and just don’t fit within the scope of  a holistic lifestyle.  My hair color, nail polish, deodorant, body lotions, clothing fabrics, face creams all became areas in need of change. I will go into further detail with a blog on those things at a later date.  I am currently working on the things that I just listed.  Vanity is preventing immediate changes in some things, but I am working on it.

  ·       I stopped wearing deodorants and antiperspirants. 90% of the time I only use coconut oil and essential oils. The other times I use an all-natural deodorant made of herbs, and essential oils or Crystal Body Deodorant or I make my own.
  ·       I stopped coloring and relaxing my hair. I have some greys that I want to cover so one of these days I will be using henna to take care of that.
  ·       I have given up acrylic, gel and shellac nails.  When I get my nails done, I use only the 3-free or 5-free nail polishes. 3-free nail polishes do not contain Dibutyl Phthalate, Toluene, and Formaldehyde. 5-free nail polishes do not contain Dibutyl Phthalate, Toluene, Formaldehyde, Formaldehyde Resin, and Camphor. Butter London, Essie, and Zoya are my 3 favorite brands.
  ·       To moisturize my body I only use natural butters and oils such as shea butter, coconut butter, coconut oil, olive oil, etc. For fragrance I use only essential oils.
  ·       I try to stay away from all chemical cleaners.  I make most of my household cleaners and I rely heavily on Dr. Bronners magical soaps for personal body cleaning as well as household cleaning. For laundry I just started using Soap Nuts and the Green Wash Laundry Ball and to my surprise I love them.
 
I believe that it is a mistake to take on more than what we can reasonably handle. When we take on too much we usually end up back where we started from, so it is very important to be realistic with ourselves and practice slow growth and betterment.

So these are just a few of the changes that I’ve made. There are also plenty of changes I need to make, but again progress not perfection.

I’ll come back at a later date with my goal list of things to improve (change). In the meantime think about all of your victories (changes) and give yourself a pat on the back. Change can be good but not always easy.

 

To be continued…………….