Last night I had the chance to meet another amazing group of women at a BOW for the Ladies Night. I was particularly excited about this group because these were teachers! As a former teacher, I understand the impact every teacher has, not only on the students but on the families as well.
I confess. I was one of those teachers who handed out candy to her students. I wanted to do special things for them, and I thought it was no big deal. I didn’t understand how my actions could have been impacting their health and their behavior. Today I do, and I feel it’s so important to let others know what I’ve learned so they can avoid my mistakes.
I have to point out that this home had a dog and a cat. Why does that matter? Because I didn’t sneeze once. Why does that matter? Because years ago I would have sneezed through the whole presentation. I never thought cleaning up my diet could have the power to reduce my allergies to almost nothing…but it has.
We started the night with some fun movement.
Each teacher shared one of her biggest challenges to maintaining a healthy lifestyle, and making time to hit the gym was a common one. But you don’t have to hit the gym to stay in shape. There are moves you can do at home and simply by making activity a part of your lifestyle makes a big difference. Park far away from the entrance; take the stairs instead of the elevator; take the stairs two at a time; run with your kids; hike in the woods.
If the gym is your thing, you don’t have to be there long. I wrote about this last week and how I spend only a little time at the gym these days. It’s been liberating!
We moved to the kitchen area to start chatting about food. While I used to make my food choices based on the sale fliers, I now understand the power of food and strive to make sure most everything I put into my mouth fuels me. I understand that just because something is sold legally on the shelf in a store, it doesn’t make it safe. It’s no longer a matter of what’s “good” or “bad”; it’s understanding how the variety of chemicals, hormones, antibiotics, and genetic modifications in food these days are impacting my health.
This was a smart group of women. Some had already been researching the topics I brought up. I love that. And I love when the women share what they’ve been learning, as always happens during these nights.
The host shared her latest read, Salt, Sugar, Fat, by Michael Moss. This book goes into detail about how our foods have changed, and how marketing plays a huge role. Makers of the Oreo cookie, for example, will consistently create other types of Oreos in order to get more shelf space.
The food industry is huge and whatever the companies can do to get your business- i.e. chemical flavors to keep you buying more or eating more- it will be done. It’s important to keep that in mind as we prepare our food lists. The industry does not have our best interests, or our health, in mind when it comes to designing food. Check out this segment that appeared on 60 minutes a couple years ago, and you will see what I mean.
Another guest shared her home recipe replacement for Febreeze. Spraying chemicals into the air to mask odor is not a good idea. Try this instead…
1 10 oz. spray bottle, filled with filtered water
10-12 drops of lemon, lavender, or peppermint essential oils
1/2 tsp of baking soda
Shake well and spray the smelly area. Vacuum up the light powder and the odor should come with it. But voila! No chemical residue in the air.
We then sampled some easy snacks. I made a delicious berry fruit dip that I found in Raw Foods for Busy People. There was also old-fashioned homemade popcorn, seed truffles, chocolate bark, and of course, smoothies.
Smoothies changed my life. It was because of them that I’ve been able to reduce much of the inflammation responsible for my allergies. I was getting nowhere near the amount of leafy greens my body needed to stay healthy. These same leafy greens (along with weight resistance at the gym) have kept my bones good and dense. In fact, I had my bone density tested two years ago and the results showed I had the same as that of a woman ten years younger. Hoorah! Greens are an amazing source of calcium, as well as magnesium, selenium, and Vitamin K, which help with the absorption of calcium.
At the end of the night, the ladies began to discuss possible changes within the school, particularly with regards to the current recommended safe snack list. It was so exciting to be a part of that.
I often hear it said that “feeding my kids a few Cheezits isn’t a big deal”. That would be absolutely true if the only source of toxins our children were getting were from those few Cheezits. Unfortunately, this isn’t the case.
Our children today are born already having been exposed to at least 287 chemicals while in utero. The Pottenger Cat Study indicates that we also may have passed along weakened genes to our little ones because of all the processed foods we ate as children. So already, at birth, our babies have the cards stacked against them. Then, because there is little way around it, we continue to expose them to a variety of toxins.
We can’t live in bubbles, and I don’t believe we have to. What we CAN do is try our best to make sure our kids have minimal exposure to toxins. We can eat as clean as possible- give them fruits and veggies for snacks most of the time and leave the packaged stuff for sometimes. We can use personal care products that are fragrance-free, and clean our homes with vinegar, baking soda, lemon, and Borax. We can store leftovers in glass jars instead of plastic containers. Heat up leftovers on the stove instead of in a microwave.
Baby steps. We can take baby steps.
Every step we take in the right direction counts. We just have to start.
Here is a “safe” snack list I came up with earlier this year. Click twice on the photo to see an enlarged version.
Thanks for a wonderful night, ladies!
And here are more photos from the night!
