Think about going green

And now, old-timey photos of women taking our advice...

Protecting herself against criticism of her diet...

Spreading the good food word...

And demonstrating that temperance is a good idea...

 

Well woke up this morning to a very empty fridge. no more eggs and the only protein was for my lunch - I can not do normal food for breakfast. definitely hard for me. so what do you know.... I need MORE eggs. I'm pretty sure I consume enough to have a small chicken farm.

Since we are talking about reintroduction and it is only 6 days away ((can you believe that)) ... well for some of us. this is the summary of the book. still read it please. but I'm a bullet point, get to the point kind of girl. so I thought I would share these points.

Follow this sample reintroduction schedule when the program is over. Keep the rest of your diet whole30 during this period.

Day 1: Reintroduce and evaluate dairy products 

          - yogurt in the morning, cheese in the afternoon, ice cream after dinner

          - evaluate how you feel/look for the next few days.

Day 4: Reintroduce and evaluate gluten-containing grains

          - whole wheat bagel, a side of pasta, a dinner roll

          - how often should you or will you incorporate gluten grains into your diet - if at all? 

Day 7: Reintroduce and evaluate non-gluten grains  

          - white rice, corn tortilla, gluten-free bread

          - evaluate

Day 10: Reintroduce and evaluate legumes.

          - peanut butter, lentil soup, tofu, side of black beans

          - how do you feel?!

((you do NOT have to go in this order, it is just what the book suggests. I know I will personally in a different order due to family in town))

- DO NOT BINGE on garbage at midnight. Don't waste the last thirty days! 

- Think of the re-introductory period as a science experiment. How will this food effect MY body?

- If you made it through the whole30 not missing a particular food or drink that you know makes you less healthy, don't bother reintroducing it. Why bother "testing" it. Only reintroduce those foods that you suspect you'll really WANT to include in your diet once in a while. 

- Draw your own lines and arrive at your own conclusions - maybe ice cream is really worth the stomach hurt so YOU choose to indulge. maybe not. 

- Move in the direction of "more healthy" food choices in your daily life.

- Remember it is a marathon, not a sprint. Habits are hard to break, pressures are hard to resist and temptation of delicious, less-healthy foods are everywhere. 

- Relapse happens to everyone and it will happen to you. The whole30 is a process. A jumping off point. Make a plan! 

How does that sound? Let me know what you are thinking. I will send out my plan on Sunday so you can see it.  I plan on a very small introduction.  I have chosen this style of eatin on a semi permanant basis.  I feel better, I look better my skin is incredible.  With all the stress in my life my skin is clear. ( side note I have battled shingles for years.  With the other medical goings on these last 2 weeks, I SHOULD HAVE broken out on my leg, ALWAYS DO and nothing, is it the diet only my body know but I will take it.) Let's plan for you to send me yours then as well.I want you to be successful after we are done. 

Also, are you choosing to reward yourself for completing this challenge? Preferably not food .... unless it is some delicious paleo bacon. haha. but seriously. I know some girls are talking about a "girls day" hair done, nails done. Maybe you lost some lbs. so a new pair of jeans are in order. Or those boots you have been eyeing for the winter. let me know. I think right now mine will be jeans!

 plate.

Now that you’ve scrutinized the ingredients in your food, we urge you to do the same with your personal care and household products, and consider how they might be affecting you and your family. Did you know that some household cleaners are among the most toxic products found in the home? Or that, on average, adults apply 126 unique ingredients on their skin daily, but nearly 90% of personal care product ingredients have not been evaluated for safety by any publicly accountable institution?

If you’re ready to take a critical look inside the cabinets that hold your personal care and household cleaning products, today’s Whole30 Daily is for you! We’ll talk about possible toxins in many common lotions, cleansers, make-up products, and household cleaners, and how teach you how to take the healthy foods you have been eating these last 24 days and turn them into simple products for your home and body.

Have a great Day 24!

What’s in Your Bottle?

Take a moment to inventory all of the products that your body comes in contact with each day. You wake up in the morning, wash your hands with anti-bacterial soap, and put a few moisturizing drops in your contact lenses. You wash your face with cleanser, brush your teeth with whitening toothpaste, and take a shower with shampoo, conditioner, body wash, and shaving cream. Your armpits get deodorized, and your hair gets detangled, gelled, moussed, and sprayed. You put on some body lotion, makeup, perfume, or cologne, and dress in clothing that has been laundered in detergent and fabric softener.

And that’s just the first hour you’re awake.

After dinner, you’re wiping your counter with an anti-bacterial wipe, throwing dishwashing liquid and anti-streaking powder in the dishwasher, polishing the flat-top stove, spraying the dog’s bed with Febreze, and prepping the tub for your nightly bath with some Scrubbing Bubbles.

How often do you turn the bottles of those products around and read your labels? Do you everscrutinize your personal care and household products like you scrutinize your food? What’s in there? Can you even pronounce half those things?

For the record, today isn’t about trying to freak you out, or turning you into some no-shampoo, no-toothpaste, no-soap hippie version of yourself. It would be near impossible to control the ingredient list of every little thing that you come into contact with each day, and most of us will always use at least some of these personal care products. But we do want to encourage you to start taking a look at the products in your home—especially those that are easy for you to change.

You’ve worked so hard to optimize your internal health, why not work on optimizing your environmental health as well?

Avoid These Toxic Ingredients

Cosmetics and Beauty Products: GreenAmerica.org has created a list of their top nine most toxic and harmful chemicals in common beauty products:

• Parabens: They’re in adult and baby shampoo and many other products, and they are estrogen mimickers that can lead to cancer.
• Fragrance: The FDA requires that food, drug, and body care companies list their ingredients on their products—but chemicals used to scent products can be clumped under the vague term “fragrance.” Found in everything from shampoo to deodorant, a single product’s secret fragrance mixture can contain potentially hundreds of toxic volatile organic compounds.
• Nanoparticles: Found in lotions, moisturizers, make-up, and particularly sunscreen, these untested ingredients are so small, many scientists are very concerned about their potential health effects, as they can penetrate cell walls and are highly reactive. Products with nanoparticles aren’t often labeled as such, so check your conventional body care products at CosmeticDatabase.org or NanotechProject.org/inventories/consumer/.
• Formaldehyde: A common hardener in nail polish and an ingredient in bath products, this chemical is a known carcinogen. Nail polish also often contains the developmental toxicant TOLUENE.
• Phthalates: These hormone disruptors have been linked to male genital abnormalities, liver and kidney lesions, and higher rates of childhood asthma and allergies. They’re often hidden in the fragrances of an array of products for men, women, and children, and listed as DIBUTYL PHTHALATE in nail polish.
• Petroleum byproducts: Listed as mineral oil, petrolatum, liquid paraffin, toluene, or xylene, these chemicals are found in a dizzying number of products, including many shampoos and soaps. Of most concern is the fact that they are often contaminated by cancer-causing impurities like 1,4 DIOXANE, which is a probable carcinogen. Industry has done very little to prevent such contamination.
• Triclosan: A primary ingredient in anti-bacterial soaps and products, triclosan has been linked to hormone disruption and the emergence of bacteria-resistant “superbugs.”
• Lead: It’s a potent neurotoxicant, and it’s been found in several popular brands of lipstick and men’s hair coloring kits.
• Mercury: A neurotoxicant that can severely damage human health, mercury— often listed as “thimerosol”—is still used in some cosmetics like mascara.

Cleaning Products: It’s likely that you may not recognize (or be able to pronounce) many of the ingredients listed on the bottles of your household cleaners. But even more concerning are the exclamations that appear on some of those bottles: Poison! Danger! Warning! Gaiam Lifehas created a list of 8 household cleaning agents to avoid:

• Chlorinated phenols: Toxic to respiratory and circulatory systems, found in toilet bowl cleaners.
• Diethylene glycol: Depresses the nervous system, found in window cleaners.
• Phenols: Toxic to respiratory and circulatory systems, found in disinfectants.
• Nonylphenol ethoxylate: Banned in Europe, shown to biodegrade slowly into even more toxic compounds. A common surfactant (detergent) found in laundry detergents and all-purpose cleaners.
• Formaldehyde: A respiratory irritant and suspected carcinogen, found in spray and wick deodorizers.
• Petroleum solvents: Damage mucous membranes, in floor cleaners.
• Perchloroethylene: Causes liver and kidney damage, used as a spot remover.
• Butyl cellosolve: Damages bone marrow, the nervous system, kidneys and the liver, common in all-purpose, window and other types of cleaners.

And one last note… buyer beware. Lots of products claim to be "green" but really aren't. (It’s a huge marketing buzzword these days.) How can you tell if your product is the real deal? Look for cleaners that clearly list all their ingredients and offer a statement to that effect. Honest products also provide information about the source of their ingredients. Avoid products that don't tell all or hide ingredients in categories like "surfactant" or "fragrance." And if you see suspicious ingredients, or a lot of unpronounceable chemical names, that's a clue that the cleaner probably isn't health- or eco-friendly.

Go Green: Making the Switch

Ready to ditch some of your not-so-healthy products, but still desperately clinging to your lip gloss, favorite cologne, or hair dye? We understand… and it’s okay. You don’t have to transition your entire house all at once, so let’s outline some tips for moving your personal care and household cleaning products in the right direction.

• NOW: Consolidate your products. Many products we keep under our counters or in our bathroom drawers are unnecessary. A separate scrub for tubs, toilets and stainless steel kitchen sink is not needed. Surfaces in bathroom and kitchen can be cleaned with the same dilute solution as the kitchen floor. And do you really need a separate moisturizer for face and body? Do a bit of experimenting and figure out what products you need, and which can do double or triple-duty.
• NOW: Change what’s easy. If there are some items that you really don’t care about, or don’t have any real connection to, change those out now. It’s generally easy to switch to a green laundry detergent, dishwashing liquid, toilet bowl cleaner, or hand soap, as we don’t usually have strong attachments to these kinds of things. Go through your products now, and if the idea of switching it out is a no-big-deal proposition, do it now.
• SOON: Change your most used cleaners. Start switching out what’s left of your household cleaners one at a time; begin with those you use daily, like countertop sprays. Spend some time looking at the various kinds of natural cleaners, which are commonly found in drugstores, grocery stores, and online. Or make your own using common, safe ingredients.
• SOON: Take a look at personal care products that come into direct contact with your skin. Stuff that goes in your hair or on your fingernails isn’t as high a priority as the stuff that goes on your lips, or on your skin. If there’s a healthier version of your clear lip balm, body lotion, or shaving cream, swap them out.
• SOMEDAY: Transition the rest of your personal care and household products, one by one. Chances are, the more you use “green” products, the more you’ll start to notice the unappealing, chemical smells found in your other products. Keep working to consolidate products, and buying healthier options every time one of your old stand-bys runs out.

Out With the Old

You can’t just throw all those old cleaning products in the trash—that’s an environmental nightmare. Here are four easy steps to disposing of all those less healthy cleaning products you used to use.

• Read the manufacturers' labels on each product to identify potential hazards or toxins. If current disposal instructions are provided, follow the instructions exactly. Check the manufacturers' websites for additional information if needed.
• Dispose of water-soluble cleaners and detergents by pouring these products slowly down the drain while wearing rubber gloves. Keep the water turned on and running while you pour out the product. Wash off the sink and surrounding surfaces with a sponge or damp paper towels to remove any traces of spilled or splashed product.
• Contact your town or county waste disposal department to get the schedule for local hazardous products collection programs. Local government phone numbers are located in the blue pages section of the local phone book; some municipalities also have websites listing official departments and how to contact them.
• Store hazardous, corrosive or acidic cleaning products safely until they can be properly disposed of through the hazardous waste collection program in your municipality. Put on rubber gloves and carefully stand the tightly sealed containers on a garage shelf away from excessive heat. This category includes toilet bowl, oven and drain cleaners, some corrosive bleaches and ammonia, among others.

Source: New York State Department of Environmental Conservation

Make Your Own

These days, it’s just as easy (and effective, we assure you!) to make your own personal care and household products… and you’ll save a busload of money to boot. (Those “green” products sure are expensive, thanks in no small part to the impact of marketing.) Ready to play product scientist? Check out these fabulous DIY recipes.

BETTER BEAUTY

• Salt Scrub: 1 cup sea salt; 1/4 cup olive, almond, or coconut oil; 1/2 tsp lemon juice (or zest); 1/2 tsp orange zest (not necessary). From Adelyn Stone.
• Whipped coconut body butter: 1 cup coconut oil, 1 tsp vitamin E oil (optional), a few drops of your favorite essential oils for fragrance (optional). From Living the Nourished Life.
• Natural skin bronzer: Cocoa powder, cinnamon, arrowroot powder (optional) until you get a shade you like. From Everyday Paleo.
• Anti-dandruff herbal hair rinse: 1 quart water; large handful of rosemary, nettle, thyme, and lavender; 2 tbsp of apple cider vinegar (for dry hair) or lemon juice (for oily hair). From Wisebread.
• Aftershave lotion: 1 cup coconut oil; 1 cup shea butter, cocoa butter or mango butter (or a mix of all three equal to 1 cup); 1 cup beeswax (can add an extra ounce or two if you want a thicker consistency, which leaves less lotion on the skin when used); optional: 1 tsp. Vitamin E oil. From Wellness Mama.
• Toothpaste: 2/3 cup baking soda; 4 tsp. fine sea salt (optional); 1 – 2 tsp peppermint extract or 10-15 drops peppermint essential oil (or add your favorite flavor – spearmint, orange, etc.); water (add to desired consistency). From DIY Natural.
• Special bonus: Five foods that make good beauty products, from Health Impact News.
• Super-duper extra bonus: 50 all-natural beauty products you can make yourself, from TLC.

HEALTHIER HOUSEHOLD

• Mirrors and glass: A 50/50 mix of white vinegar and water. Really, it’s that easy. Wipe with a recycled t-shirt or microfiber cloth.
• Multi-purpose citrus cleaner: Orange peels (or any other citrus fruit peels), 1-2 Tbsp. salt (any kind), vinegar, water. From Lexi Naturals.
• Bathroom and kitchen tile: Clean by dusting surfaces with baking soda, then scrub with a moist sponge or cloth. If you have tougher grime, sprinkle on some kosher salt, and work up some elbow grease. Got stains, mildew or grease streaks? Spray or douse with lemon juice or vinegar. Let sit a few minutes, then scrub with a stiff brush.
• Natural disinfectant: Mix 2 cups of water, 3 tablespoons of liquid soap, and 20 to 30 drops of tea tree oil. Spray or rub on countertops and other kitchen surfaces. FromThe Daily Green.
• Wood floors: 1/4 cup white vinegar, 4 cups of warm water. Spray on a cotton rag or towel until lightly damp to mop your floors.
• Homemade scouring powder: 2 parts baking soda, 1 part salt, 1 part borax powder. From Wellness Mama.
• Special bonus: Foods as cleaning products—14 double-duty items, from the Huffington Post.
• Super-duper extra bonus: Make these 8 household cleaners at home, from TLC.

And just one more bonus article: 160 uses for coconut oil. It’s not just for cooking—coconut oil can be used for medicinal purposes, in beauty products, or around the house. It can even remove chewing gum from your hair!

Baby on Board

Don’t forget your wee ones in your green initiative! Baby products, while smelling squeaky-clean and healthy, can be just as laden with toxins as those for adults.

Skin may appear to be an impermeable barrier, but it’s actually a complex filtering system that blocks some substances and absorbs others. What you put on your skin can end up in your body—and this is especially true for babies, since their developing bodies are uniquely vulnerable, and because their hands and feet often end up in their mouths. (They literally eat the products you put on them!)

Herbs, natural oils and some simple pantry staples can create effective and exquisite formulas that pamper and soothe your baby. Here are 7 natural baby care recipes, 9 better baby lotions and potions, and 5 homemade baby care recipes.