I used to be the person to use a disinfecting wipe for everything. If it didn’t smell like chemicals, it wasn’t clean. My bathroom, my cell phone, the kitchen. When I moved into my college dorm, I wiped everything from floor to ceiling down with disinfecting wipes.
According to the California Department of Pesticide Regulation, disinfecting wipes are considered pesticides.
Do you know what pesticides do?
Their job is to break down the nervous system of pests/insects.
If that’s what it does to a bug, just imagine what it’s doing to you. Your skin is your largest organ. Anything that touches your skin goes into your bloodstream and is then carried to every organ in your body, including those in your digestive tract which make up your “gut.”
Disinfecting wipes and other cleaners come with safety warnings to not let your skin come in direct contact, but I think it’s safe to say most people don’t follow this guideline. I surely didn’t.
If a chemical shouldn’t touch your skin, I personally wouldn’t want to inhale it either. Nowadays, disinfecting chemicals give me a headache. I can’t stand them.
So what’s the alternative?
A lot of people use vinegar to clean. You just mix a solution of 1/2 water, 1/2 white vinegar in a spray bottle. You can add essential oils, too.
While this isn’t my preferred cleaning solution (I don’t want my house smelling like salad dressing), I definitely add vinegar to my washer and dishwasher for an extra cleaning boost.
THIS is what I use on everything in my house from floor to ceiling. I mix a capful into a spray bottle of water and go to town. It smells like Christmas, and there’s never a doubt in my mind that it’s doing the job.
It’s made with natural ingredients, so I don’t worry about it touching my skin or even my baby’s.
When I mop the floor, I don’t worry about the dogs walking on it either. It’s truly liberating.
I spray the floor and use this mop to wipe it up. I find it helpful to have multiple head refills so you have plenty of clean mop heads to get the job done.
During the past few years, some people even stated washing their produce in bleach. This causes more harm than good because it will seep into your produce and end up right in your body.
THIS is what I use to clean my produce, and it does an awesome job.
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Whether you’re trying to ditch toxins in your household products or you’re battling eczema and need to find a clean option for hand soap, it can be very difficult to find a budget friendly and truly clean option.
When I first started trying new products that wouldn’t irritate my eczema, I was using Method hand soap. Come to find out, every single one of their options has fragrance in it. That’s your #1 red flag to put it back on the shelf.
Next I was using Seventh Generation Free & Clear. I was able to find it on store shelves, and it seemed to meet my standards. The issue was:
(1) Seventh Generation has been known to “greenwash” which means they make their products appear more clean than they actually are. I do still use Seventh Generation at times but try to find better options where available.
(2) The Free & Clear hand soap doesn’t come in a refill. This isn’t great for sustainability as far as plastic goes, but it also costs more to be buying the smaller size all the time.
I started buying Thieves Foaming Hand Soap which is still my absolute favorite, but we were going through it way too quickly for that to fit into our budget.
“There has to be a way for me to make my own hand soap,” I thought. So I did some research and this is what we’ve been using for going on a year with absolutely no problems:
2 Ingredient DIY Hand Soap
(This is the dispenser I use)
- 2 parts unscented Castile soap (Yes, UNSCENTED matters. This is the cleanest option.) Using the dispenser above I fill to 2 ounces.
- 10 parts water (Using the dispenser above I fill the rest to 12 ounces)
Shake it all up and that’s it! You can also add essential oils for fun, but I’ve found I prefer to leave the oils out and save those for my diffuser.
Give it a try and let me know what you think!
When I was going through my health coach’s program for improved gut health, one of the things she introduced me to is dry brushing.
I had never heard of this before. Here's how it works:
You take a handheld body brush like this one, and brush your body starting from your feet making your way up to your heart. You start at the bottom of your feet, work up your legs, then up your back and abdomen. Then you brush your arms, starting at your wrists working your way in.
Apply more pressure in areas that have tougher skin and lighter pressure in areas with more sensitive skin.
Pay special attention to the areas of your body where your lymph nodes are located. Neck, chest, armpits, belly, groin.
Just remember to keep the motions in a direction toward your heart. Once I’ve finished my arms and armpits, I brush DOWN all around my neck and end dry brushing in a circular motion over my chest/heart.
It’s best to do this just before getting in the bath or shower so you can rinse the dead skin off of you, and then you’ll moisturize once you get out.
The idea here is you’re encouraging lymphatic drainage.
Why is this a good thing?
You’re helping the body get rid of toxins. This not only helps your body fight infection and disease, but also helps restore balance in bacteria in your gut. Bonus points for drinking tons of water in addition to this practice to help flush those toxins out!
You’re also exfoliating your skin, helping break down cellulite, improving your body’s circulation & more!
Dry brushing is a great practice to implement for anyone trying to improve their gut health - which truly impacts overall health of the whole body.
If you loved this blog post, there's more where that came from in my free Facebook group here. You'll want to get in there soon because that's where I'll be launching a 5 Day Eczema Relief Training this month!
Want to get a head start? You can also grab my new guide on 5 Steps to Taming an Eczema Flare Up here!
I used to drive home from work feeling like I had an elephant sitting on my chest. I had even convinced myself that I had asthma, and should probably see a doctor.
Then I realized I just wasn’t breathing properly.
It sounds so simple. Breathing is something each one of us is born knowing how to do. So why do I literally catch myself holding my breath?
Stress. Anxiety. Overthinking.
I’ve also learned that I’m not the only person who does this. This is an actual thing — we hold our breath because we’re stressed.
On these drives home from work, I would get in my head and replay scenarios that happened that day thinking of how I handled something. “I should have said this differently.” “I should have done that differently.” “What does so and so think of me now.” “Am I going to get in trouble for that?”
That last one is a side effect of being “the good girl” growing up. Following the rules. Being afraid of getting into trouble. This also falls into the category of people pleasing. Which is a whole other stress-inducing category!
I would stress over really silly tiny things. Still do sometimes (it's much better since using these tips), but I have to remind myself that I’m making things out to be a much bigger deal in my head than they are in real life.
I once heard that worrying is nothing but a waste of time. It’s stressing over hypothetical scenarios that have yet to happen. So you’re literally putting yourself through at least twice the amount of stress than you need to. More if you're replaying it in your head over and over.
If you know something is coming up that you’re worried about, not only are you putting yourself through the situation while you’re worrying — because your brain doesn’t really know the difference between something happening in real life and something you’re making up in your head — but you’ll be going through the stress of the situation all over again when it actually happens (IF it actually happens).
Your mindset is so powerful when it comes to your stress level. You can choose not to get upset over the little things. You can choose not to worry about what might happen. You can choose to see a situation through a different lens and not get worked up over it.
That’s what I invite you to do this week. Reframe your thoughts. Take control of your mind. If you can take control of your thoughts and your mind, you will have truly unlocked a new level of health.
If you loved this blog post, there's more where that came from in my free Facebook group here. You'll want to get in there soon because that's where I'll be launching a 5 Day Eczema Relief Training this month!
Want to get a head start? You can also grab my new guide on 5 Steps to Taming an Eczema Flare Up here!
For the past couple weeks we’ve been celebrating my stepdaughter’s birthday. This means planning a party with foods I don’t normally keep in my every day diet. This also means baking (and eating) a cake, and then one week later baking (and eating) cupcakes.
Thankfully there was very little cake left over after her birthday party, but when we made two dozen cupcakes for just the three of us - there were a lot of leftovers.
And speaking of leftovers, while there wasn’t much cake left after the birthday party the week prior, there was definitely plenty of “party food.”
So here’s what happened - for a couple days after the party, my husband and I were eating party food leftovers. Then a couple days after that we had even more cake 🤦🏻♀️🤦🏻♀️
If you haven’t heard me say it yet: Inflammation is the root of all disease.
Also, if you haven’t heard me say it yet: A food is either fighting disease or feeding it, there is no in between.
Some inflammatory foods are individual to a person. Others are true for all. Gluten, refined sugar, GMO corn, dairy. Those are some big ones.
In the case for anyone with eczema - this is an inflammation issue. And it starts in the gut.
An anti-inflammatory diet is one that consists of foods that LOVE on your gut - that DON’T contribute to inflammation in the body.
This is always something I have in the back of my mind, especially as someone who is very sensitive to inflammation in the body (hello, eczema. But also - hello, daytime fatigue!).
Cupcakes and “party food,” I’m (kind of?) sorry to say, are inflammatory.
I had to get those cupcakes out of sight so I’d stop eating them. Yes, I know my will power is weak sometimes, but that’s why those foods usually just don’t make it in my house!!
Treats that are still yummy and won’t make me feel cruddy:
- Fresh cut fruit and plain (NOT vanilla - look at that sugar content!) almond milk yogurt
- Celery or apple slices with almond butter (peanut butter is, unfortunately, inflammatory in nature)
- 70% dark chocolate- yes, this is considered a health food at 1 oz per day! Add some almonds in there to make it more filling! Or maybe melt it and dip your fruit in it?
- A homemade tea latte! Add a bit of frothed milk to your favorite tea đź«–
If you loved this blog post, there's more where that came from in my free Facebook group here. You'll want to get in there soon because that's where I'll be launching a 5 Day Eczema Relief Training in a couple weeks!
Can't wait that long? You can also grab my new guide on 5 Steps to Taming an Eczema Flare Up here to get a jumpstart!
