making healthy switches

Everyone, I would like to introduce you to 20 year old Katie, in her junior year of college. Katie lived in an apartment complex with a gym. While she often carried pepper spray on her walk to the gym at night to avoid being mugged, Katie committed to going at least three times a week. Katie also went to college on a giant HILL so helloooo excellent calf muscles. With all the free time she had, Katie made pretty healthy meals and drank copious amounts of water. 

I peaked at age 20. And while I'm pretty ok with that, I still want to be conscious of the choices I make for my health and make sure I do all I can to live a long time with the one body that God has given me!

We've always tried to make decently healthy choices in my family. While I don't go to the gym anymore, I walk almost everyday. My husband has a home gym in the garage where he works out several times a week. We eat a variety of food, use green cleaning products, and drink our water. 

But recently I've started to feel more convicted about putting in the work for my health. A couple months ago I was out to dinner with my sister, who is a workout fiend. She's at the gym almost every day and walks her dog most evenings. She warned me that while my weight is fine,  I need to find time to build more muscle, because we reach our peak bone density at 30. While I've enjoyed joking that my bones are going to peak by the time I'm 30, it's also reminded me that I really do need to reintroduce more strength training, which I used to do in college. 

I've also started to put more thought into the products in our household. Many years ago we switched to Norwex for almost all of our cleaning. I've added in Thieves cleaning oil because maaaan I love that clean smell! We're working hard to use products that are less scented, less dyed, and better for us.

Here are some of the changes I am making to be mindful of my health.

Taking a multivitamin.
I have found amazing reviews  about this one in every corner of the internet. I'm taking the morning and night versions. Amazon, blogs, different product review websites  all sing their praises so it's definitely worth investing in!

Morning vitamin (doesn't taste the best, so I gulp it)
Nighttime vitamin (yummy coconut)

Switching to greener beauty products.
I am using the Norwex Lysere hair care line. I am also trying out a few beauty products that I found on Credo Beauty. My makeup sits on my face all day. If I want to avoid cleaning products with harmful chemicals, it makes the same that I would do the same with my beauty products. For my makeup I'm starting with foundation and concealer, since those are the products that cover the largest area of my face. We've also started using the Norwex toothpaste. 
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Having a better breakfast.
Breakfast for me is basically nonexistent, or something along the lines of an apple or poptart. To combat an empty stomach and slow start to my day, I've started drinking a smoothie every morning. I include 2-3 fruits,  usually some spinach,  coconut milk, unsweetened yogurt, and a scoop of collagen powder and hemp hearts.  Ya'll, if you want your smoothing nice and thick, use alllll the frozen fruit. It makes my smoothies thicker and colder and so much more delicious. 

PS: Check out these links for benefits of including hemp seeds in your diet:
6 Health Benefits
Are Hemp Seeds Good For You?
​9 Benefits of Hemp Seeds

​Completing more weight and resistance training.
​My husband is always asking for me to workout with him, but his decor tastes in the garage have left me resistant to go in there. (We're talking velvet paintings of tigers and a giant poster of him from his high school track days). We agreed to some redecorations along with workouts together. Win-win!

Switching to other reusable products
I gave up makeup wipes a while ago. I used them out of convenience but man, they were overly fragrant and SO wasteful! Fragrance is one of the biggest issues in products being full of unhealthy chemicals. However, I was still using cotton pads to take off my eye makeup. I've finally switched to cotton pads made out of cotton fabric. As I use them, I store them in a little laundry bag, and wash them when it's close to full.  

​Switching deodorant
I won't lie, I put this off for a loooong time because I LOVE my Dove! However, I've switched to Native and it smells good and has done the job so far! The biggest difference has been that my armpits actually sweat now. After using an antiperspirant for so long it's a strange feeling, but also a sign that my body is doing what it should.

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Making healthy changes isn't easy. The ones listed above have been over a period of months, and been an investment of time and money. I've read reviews and tested items out. I've asked for some items as gifts and slowly replaced beauty care items as I run out of what I was using. Each small change is another step toward a healthier future, and for that I am thankful.