Non Toxic Lifestyle

 At the start of 2023, I decided that I wanted to be as healthy as I possibly could be. My husband and I knew we wanted to start trying for kids soon, and the doctors had told me that it might be difficult for me because of some issues I had. So this whole thing started because I wanted to try "cycle syncing" which basically just means that I wanted to try to live in sync with my body, trying to get my hormones healthy. 

I didn't really understand or realize the rabbit hole this journey would take me down, and yet I am so glad that I started it. Now, I am nowhere near perfect, and honestly, I probably will never be. I love sweet potato fries (specifically the ones form the Ranger Rider, a burger joint in my home town) and gel manicures and plastic lunch baggies, and I am not willing to give them up! Its all about balance though, right? 

So we start swapping our plastic containers for glass ones, using safe body care (no more bath and body works :( ) , ditching fluoride, and eating organic fruit.  I make my own butter and we even grow our own herbs and veggies (space permitting, our outside area is like 10 ft, max) My acne clears up, I start feeling better physically and mentally. I even gave up caffeine at the start of the year (not for lent!) and its changed my life, truly. 

But this really strange thing started to happen to me. I'm in a better mood, and that makes it easier for me to read my bible, and I start feeling more spiritually fed, and I start noticing other toxins in my life, toxins that feed into my life even more than the food I eat and the fact that I wrap my food with aluminum. 

I grew up desperate for friends. I 'd take any friend I could get. Girls that were mean to me, friends who never really cared, and as I got older, people that would use my kind heart and willingness to serve. I never turned a friend away because who knew when the next friend was going to come around. 

I don't know if its the fact that I am getting older, or maybe the fact that I am at a healthy place in my life, mentally and physically, but I started to look around and see that I knew a lot of people, but only a few of the people I knew really fed into me like I fed into them. One day I just opened my phone and started cutting people. It was so easy. People I had once felt obligated to be friends with on Facebook or follow on Instagram, I just unfollowed and unfriended. My husband was worried about me, I was going so fast. I took a following list of close to a thousand, down to two hundred in about thirty minutes. 

I realized that I truly have quality friends in my life, and I decided that I want to start investing more into them. I was actually out with said friends the other night and it was so fun, and I didn't feel any pressure to try to be anything. I looked around and realized that there were girls around me who were like the old me, and I felt so bad because they were surrounded by people who would want to be their friend, even if they weren't trying so hard to look cool. 

I'm also leaving my job at Sago. I'm leaving the coffee industry entirely. I am going to go teach preschool! My heart longs to be around little kids, doing my best to make a beautiful impact on their lives. Its a Christian pre-school and part of our focus is teaching and encouraging these kids in the word of God daily. This environment  will be so much healthier for me, mentally and physically (even if the kiddos I'm around are always sick) 

I totally recommend trying to cut out toxins. I know that I am really blessed to have a partner in life whom wants to invest in the things that are so important to me, and we have gone through this process slowly. I don't want to sound too crazy! I just know what's working for me, and my body and I have noticed a huge change. They say it takes about three months for your body to start responding to what you're doing, meaning if you start today, you will have a three month period of waiting, maybe only noticing small things, but maybe in three months you'll be bummed you're still struggling when you could be well on your way! 

I'm not a doctor and I'm not saying that this will fix anything, or all things for you. I'm just sharing my testimony and the peace its brought me. Feel free to reach out with any questions!