A Few of My Favorite Things...

I'm a girly girl...I like my makeup and savor the few moments I can grab now that I'm a mom when I'm able to pamper myself...you know, take a shower AND shave AND put on lotion AND do my hair and makeup.  I also love products.  But, when I think about the seemingly innocent products I use to put all over my body, I cringe!  I can't believe drugstores and even high-end cosmetics counters still get away with selling products with the nasty ingredients they contain.  Yuck!  I've learned not to put anything on my body that I wouldn't put in my body. 

Want to see how your products stack up?  If you haven't already done so, check out http://www.cosmeticsdatabase.com/

There, you can enter the name of a product you're interested in, and they will provide you with a safety score based on various ingredients listed in the product.  I consult this site every time I'm in the mood to try something new and it has been invaluable to me.  I have also chucked a lot of products after consulting that site and finding out how horribly they rate in terms of safety!

Soooo...all that said, I've compiled a list of my favorite "safe" and eco-friendly products, from deodorant, to shampoo, sunscreen, to makeup.  Here are a few of my favorites (I use a lot of the same products that I use on my son):

• California Baby Shampoo and Body Wash
• Aubrey Organics Island Naturals Shampoo & Conditioner
• Desert Essence Coconut Hand & Body Lotion
• Organic Extra Virgin Coconut Oil (moisturizer)
• Organic Extra Virgin Olive Oil (moisturizer)
• Desert Essence Thoroughly Clean Face Wash
• Derma-E Hyalauronic Acid Night Cream
• Annemarie Borlind Eye Wrinkle Cream
• Dr. Hauschka Toned Day Cream
• Lafes Natural & Organic Active Deodorant
• California Baby Sunscreen
• UV Natural Sunscreen
• Larenim Mineral Mascara
• Cargo Plant Love Makeup
• Tarte Makeup
• Eco Dent Tooth Powder

What are your favorite "safe" products?  Please tell!

Dairy

I grew up drinking milk, like most of you.  I always thought it was a necessity to drink milk...it does a body good, right?  I mean, how are you going to get your calcium and Vitamin D?  Once I began searching for answers to my questions about milk and its supposed benefits, I found out that we are the only species to drink milk (from another animal, by the way) after weaning.  Here's an interesting tidbit, taken from Dr. Jay Gordon (although we don't take his advice regarding the inclusion of soy products, orange juice, and cereals to get our calcium):  (http://www.drjaygordon.com/development/nutrition/danger01.asp)

"Thanks in part to lobbying efforts on behalf of dairy farmers, Americans feel that it's necessary to drink milk throughout their lives. We've seen countless advertisements which perpetuate the myth: "Milk. It does a body good." Milk can be a high fat product with excessive quantities of protein. It's specifically designed to efficiently grow a cow, an animal which will mature rapidly and live a relatively short time. The National Research Council, a nonprofit organization that provides scientific advice to the federal government, has reported that the cow's milk humans drink also contains all of the pesticides and hormones that cows ingest with the alfalfa they eat.


A study published in the "American Journal of Clinical Nutrition" in June, 1993, confirmed that there is a definite correlation between cow's milk and the incidence of diabetes. Furthermore, some allergies, which manifest themselves in runny and stuffy noses, can be traced to cow's milk. Some ear and tonsil infections also originate with the drinking of milk. Ingesting other dairy products including butter, cheese and ice cream can also result in these symptoms.


Surprisingly, we are the only species on this planet that drinks milk after infancy, and we are also the only species that drinks milk from a species other than our own. Maybe the other animals know more than we do!


Many infants have trouble digesting cow's milk. This intolerance of lactose, or to the protein in milk, manifests itself in stomach and intestinal disturbance, gas and rashes.


Lactose is the result of combining two sugars: glucose and galactose. Most of us produce an intestinal enzyme, lactase, which allows us to break down these sugars. Our bodies produce the most lactase in infancy when we drink the most milk. As we get older, our bodies produce lesser amounts of lactase so our tolerance to lactose goes down naturally.


The protein we get from milk can be obtained from dozens of vegetable sources, primarily legumes, which include soy bean products. It is a little trickier to find other sources of calcium but this substance is contained in many vegetables like broccoli. Calcium is also available, in smaller amounts, in many other foods. If you're still concerned, you can buy calcium supplements wherever vitamins are sold. Soy milk, orange juice and cereals are now calcium fortified.

I want you to be aware that cow's milk can show up in unexpected food items so you have to read labels carefully. Even a small amount hidden in a food can trigger a reaction in children with milk protein allergies."

Did you also know that countries with the highest dairy intake have the highest incidence of osteoporosis? Osteoporosis is related more to calcium excretion due to salt and protein intake than to calcium deficiency in the diet.
 
So, Noah has only had a few cups of cow milk so far.  We don't "drink" milk just to drink it.  He does, however, still nurse (gasp!) and complements breastmilk with almond milk, hemp milk, or coconut milk.  I think it's interesting when people comment on the fact that I am still nursing an almost four year old, yet they don't see anything wrong with giving their child milk from another animal.  I'm just doing the more natural thing!  Besides, we humans are biologically designed to benefit from breastfeeding for an average of  2.5 to 7 years of age (Breastfeeding:  Biocultural Perspectives, Katherine Dettwyler).
 
I do think there is some benefit in eating dairy products like cheese, yogurt, cream, and kefir in moderation. I think it is better to eat these items over grain products, if you have to make the choice.  We try our best to avoid grains and have found that including some dairy products gives us more variety.  When Noah does eat grains, we make sure they are sprouted (like Ezekiel products) or pre-soaked oats.  I will get into grains another time in another post. 
 
But I have also learned that not all dairy is equal.  Dr. Joseph Mercola and Dr. Weston Price both promote raw dairy products.  According to Dr. Price (http://www.westonaprice.org/Milk-It-Does-a-Body-Good.html):
 
"Pasteurization is a process of heat treating milk to kill bacteria. Although Louis Pasteur developed this technique for preserving beer and wine, he was not responsible for applying it to milk. That was done at the end of the 1800s as a temporary solution until filthy urban dairies could find a way to produce cleaner milk. But instead of cleaning up milk production, dairies used pasteurization as a way to cover up dirty milk. As milk became more mass produced, pasteurization became necessary for large dairies to increase their profits. So the public then had to be convinced that pasteurized milk was safer than raw milk. Soon raw milk consumption was blamed for all sorts of diseases and outbreaks until the public was finally convinced that pasteurized milk was superior to milk in its natural state.



Today if you mention raw milk, many people gasp and utter ridiculous statements like, You can die from drinking raw milk!" But the truth is that there are far more risks from drinking pasteurized milk than unpasteurized milk. Raw milk naturally contains healthy bacteria that inhibit the growth of undesirable and dangerous organisms. Without these friendly bacteria, pasteurized milk is more susceptible to contamination. Furthermore, modern equipment, such as milking machines, stainless steel tanks and refrigerated trucks, make it entirely possible to bring clean, raw milk to the market anywhere in the US.


Not only does pasteurization kill the friendly bacteria, it also greatly diminishes the nutrient content of the milk. Pasteurized milk has up to a 66 percent loss of vitamins A, D and E. Vitamin C loss usually exceeds 50 percent. Heat affects water soluble vitamins and can make them 38 percent to 80 percent less effective. Vitamins B6 and B12 are completely destroyed during pasteurization. Pasteurization also destroys beneficial enzymes, antibodies and hormones. Pasteurization destroys lipase (an enzyme that breaksdown fat), which impairs fat metabolism and the ability to properly absorb fat soluble vitamins A and D. (The dairy industry is aware of the diminished vitamin D content in commercial milk, so they fortify it with a form of this vitamin.)


We have all been led to believe that milk is a wonderful source of calcium, when in fact, pasteurization makes calcium and other minerals less available. Complete destruction of phosphatase is one method of testing to see if milk has been adequately pasteurized. Phosphatase is essential for the absorption of calcium."

While Dr. Mercola and Dr. Price are both fans of drinking raw milk, we don't focus too heavily on dairy products in our diet.  I have found that even raw dairy products create a lot of mucous and I just don't feel as good when I'm eating a lot of dairy.  But when we do eat dairy, we strive to buy the raw, grass-fed, organic brands.  You can visit http://www.realmilk.com/where.html to find a supplier near you. 

The Benefits of Co-sleeping

Why am I talking about co-sleeping on this blog?  I think it is a pretty "primal" way of life...I highly doubt our primal ancestors placed their babies/children in another cave or enter form of shelter here.  LOL

Anyway, the reason I bring up this subject is because today I saw a video on ABC news discussing how SIDS (sudden infant death syndrome) is linked to low serotonin levels in the baby's brain and ways to prevent SIDS.  I have long known that co-sleeping and breastfeeding (including night-nursing) decrease your chances of SIDS.  However, the conventional doctor in the video says to avoid co-sleeping.  She does say that breastfeeding decreases your chances of SIDS, so I'll give her credit for that one.  Here is a great explanation as to how co-sleeping may help to prevent SIDS.  Also, here is a great co-sleeping and SIDS fact sheet that talks about why co-sleeping gets a bad rap, and how to successfully and safely co-sleep.  My favorite part is where the author states:

"Why does our nation rank only 42nd in infant survival in the industrialized world (some non-reporting nations are thought to rank better than us as well)? Our difference from the best-ranking nations is a high predominance of formula feeding, isolated sleep, and medical intervention. The highest cosleeping/ breastfeeding nations rank with half our overall infant death rate (and negligable SIDS rates).  Remember we rank #1 in medical intervention. "

Let me also highlight how co-sleeping decreases your chances of SIDS according to LLLI and Dr. James McKenna:

(Excerpts from a LLLI press release from September 30, 1999: )

Studies have shown that co-sleeping with a breastfeeding infant promotes bonding, regulates the mother and baby's sleep patterns, plays a role in helping the mother to become more responsive to her baby's cues, and gives both the mother and baby needed rest. The co-sleeping environment also assists mothers in the continuation of breastfeeding on demand, an important step in maintaining mom's milk supply.

Dr. James McKenna, Professor of Anthropology at the University of Notre Dame, a member of LLLI's Health Advisory Council, and an expert on the subject of co-sleeping, believes there to be more danger in leaving an infant alone in a crib than in arranging a safe co-sleeping environment. He states, "We agree... that special precautions need to be taken to minimize catastrophic accidents. However, the need for such precautions is no more an argument against all co-sleeping and, specifically bedsharing, than is the reality of infants accidentally strangling, suffocating, or dying from SIDS alone in cribs, a reason to recommend against all solitary, unsupervised infant sleep." He adds, "While specific structural hazards of an adult bed are important, the fact that they exist means neither that they cannot be eliminated nor that all bedsharing is unsafe."

Dr. McKenna goes on to address concerns over co-sleeping being unhealthy for a child's psychological development:

In part, this view represents a personal and arbitrary judgment that anyone is entitled to make as long as it is not passed on as scientific fact. Such judgments are based on Western values favoring the perception of how individualism and infant autonomy are best promoted and obtained. No study has shown, however, that the goals for separateness and independence (or happiness, for that matter) are obtained in the individual by, among other things, separate sleeping arrangements for parents and children, nor do any studies demonstrate negative consequences for children or parents who choose to cosleep for ideological or emotional purposes, except when cosleeping is part of a larger psychologically disordered set of family relationships or when cosleeping occurs under dangerous social or physical circumstances. The only studies of the psychological or social effects of cosleeping reveal not negative but positive consequences. One study among military families revealed that cosleeping children receive higher evaluations of their comportment from their teachers than do solitary sleeping children and are under-represented among psychiatric populations, when compared with children who do not cosleep [Forbes JF, Weiss DS: The cosleeping habits of military children. Mil Med 1992; 157:196-200]. Lewis and Janda found that college-age students who coslept as children were better adjusted and more satisfied with their sexual identities and behavior than college-age students who did not cosleep [Lewis RJ, Janda H: The relationship between adult sexual adjustment and childhood experience regarding exposure to nudity, sleeping in the parental bed, and parental attitudes towards sexuality. Arch Sex Behav 1988; 17:349-363] . Clearly, we need to change our conceptualization concerning what constitutes a normal or healthy childhood sleep pattern!

(From: Stein MT, et al. Cosleeping (Bedsharing) Among Infants and Toddlers. Pediatrics 2001 Apr; 107(4); 873-877)

And I can attest that co-sleeping has in no way hampered my sex life!!!

Ten Reasons to Shop at the Farmers Market

My old mommy friend Rebecca over at Know Thy Food is an amazing woman.  She lives the kind of life I strive to emulate.  I especially admire her commitment to avoiding grocery stores and mainstream food consumption.  This means buying only local, organic foods.  Of course, it helps that she lives in an area surrrounded by outstanding farms!  I do my best in Orange County by buying most of our meat directly in bulk from the farm and shopping the farmers market every week.  The few things I stop by the grocery store for are:  organic, raw, grass-fed butter, organic, raw, grass-fed cream, nuts, condiments/spices, almond milk, coconut milk and other coconut products, and occasionally yogurt and cottage cheese.  I am working on finding ways to make some of these items myself or buying them from a more direct source.  Any suggestions?

For those of you looking for a farmers market near you, you can visit http://www.localharvest.org/.  Noah and I love our weekly visit to the farmers market.  Everyone there is so nice to him and he is learning so much about where food actually comes from and what is in season.  He is also learning a little about money by being in charge of paying for our items in cash.  The main reasons we shop at the farmers market are:

(taken from the Center for Urban Education about Sustainable Agriculture at http://www.cuesa.org/sustainable_ag/issues/10reasons.php)

1.  Taste Real Flavors: The fruits and vegetables you buy at the farmers market are the freshest and tastiest available. Fruits are allowed to ripen in the field and brought directly to you - no long-distance shipping, no gassing to simulate the ripening process, no sitting for weeks in storage. This food is as real as it gets -food fresh from the farm.

2.  Enjoy the Season: The food you buy at the farmers market is seasonal. It is fresh and delicious and reflects the truest flavors. Shopping and cooking from the farmers market helps you to reconnect with the cycles of nature in our region. As you look forward to asparagus in spring, savor sweet corn in summer, or bake pumpkins in autumn, you reconnect with the earth, the weather, and the turning of the year.

3.  Support Family Farmers: Family farmers are becoming increasingly rare as large agribusiness farms and ranches steadily take over food production in the U.S. Small family farms have a hard time competing in the food marketplace. Buying directly from farmers gives them a better return for their produce and gives them a fighting chance in today's globalized economy.

4.  Protect the Environment: Food in the U.S. travels an average of 1500 miles to get to your plate. All this shipping uses large amounts of natural resources (especially fossil fuels), contributes greatly to pollution and creates excess trash with extra packaging. Conventional agriculture also uses many more resources than sustainable agriculture and pollutes water, land and air with toxic agricultural by-products. Food at the farmers market is transported shorter distances and grown using methods that minimize the impact on the earth.

5.  Nourish Yourself: Much food found in grocery stores is highly processed. The fresh produce you do find is often grown using pesticides, hormones, antibiotics, and genetic modification. In many cases it has been irradiated, waxed, or gassed in transit. All of these practices have potentially damaging effects on the health of those who eat these foods. In contrast, most food found at the farmers market is minimally processed, and many of our farmers go to great lengths to grow the most nutritious produce possible by building their soil's fertility and giving their crops the nutrients they need to flourish in the ground and nourish those who eat them.

6.  Discover the Spice of Life ~ Variety: At the Farmers Market you find an amazing array of produce that you don't see in your supermarket: red carrots, a rainbow of heirloom tomatoes, white peaches, stinging nettles, green garlic, watermelon radishes, quail eggs, maitake mushrooms, gigande beans, whole pheasants, and much, much more. It is a wonderful opportunity to experience first hand the diversity (and biodiversity) of our planet, both cultivated and wild!

7.  Promote Humane Treatment of Animals: At the farmers market, you can find meats, cheeses, and eggs from animals that have been raised without hormones or antibiotics, who have grazed on green grass and been fed natural diets, and who have been spared the cramped and unnatural living conditions of so many of their brethren on feedlots.

8.  Know Where Your Food Comes From: A regular trip to a farmers market is one of the best ways to reconnect with where your food comes from. Farmers themselves sell their produce at the farm stands. Meeting and talking to farmers is a great opportunity to learn more about how food is grown, where it is grown, when it is grown, and why!

9.  Learn Cooking Tips, Recipes, and Meal Ideas: Few grocery store cashiers or produce stockers will give you tips on how to cook the ingredients you buy, but farmers, ranchers, and vendors at the farmers market are often passionate cooks with plenty of free advice about how to cook the foods they are selling. They'll give you ideas for what to have for supper, hand out recipes, and troubleshoot your culinary conundrums.

10.  Connect with Your Community: Wouldn't you rather stroll amidst outdoor stalls of fresh produce on a sunny day than roll your cart around a grocery store with artificial lights and piped in music? Coming to the Farmers Market makes shopping a pleasure rather than a chore. The Farmers Market is a community gathering place - a place to meet up with your friends, bring your children, or just get a taste of small-town life in the midst of our wonderful big city.

Guilt-free primal dessert recipe: Gorilla Cake

...courtesy of Son of Grok.  Check out his Primal Blueprint success story here.  Totally inspiring!

I'll admit it.  I LOVE dessert.  Seriously.  Who doesn't.  With the exception of a birthday cake or other special occasion, I've stuck to finding healthy, primal recipes to curb my sweet tooth when it sneaks up on me.  This one's gooooood.  Even the hubby who despises both banana and coconut couldn't stop picking at it.  And the best part is, it's grain-free and gets its sweetness naturally from bananas!  Hooray!

I am going to make this one for my lovely friend Kristina's birthday.  I think I will add some whipped raw cream.  Yum.  I hope she likes it as much as I do :)

Here it is, taken from Son of Grok's site:

Ingredients:

Crust

- Dash of Cinnamon
- 2 Tblspoons organic butter (or coconut oil if you prefer)
- .5-1 cup almond flour

Filling

- 3 bananas
- 2.5 cups of unsweetened shredded coconut
- 1/4 cup coconut milk
- 2 eggs
- Dash of cinnamon

Directions:

Crust

1. Melt butter or oil and mix almond flour and a dash of cinnamon into a dough.
2. Press your dough very thinly into your baking pan.

Filling

1. Process 2 of the cups of shredded coconut until fine. (I used my food processor.
2. Combine fine coconut, unprocessed coconut, bananas and eggs in a mixer (I was trying out my new kitchen aid) Mix until liquid pudding texture. (if you don’t have a kitchen aid, you may need to uses a blender or processor to goo up your nanners.

Put it together

1. Pour your filling into your pan with your crust
2. Sprinkle top with a dash of cinnamon
3. Bake at 350 degrees until done (mine took about 30 minutes).
4. Serve warm or cold! Enjoy

Setting Us Up For Success

Every Sunday, I score major points with the hubby by whipping up a bunch of yummy, healthy, primal food to get us through the week.  It has helped us stay on track with eating healthily by having a refrigerator full of already-prepared snacks and mini meals to grab for during the day when we're hungry.  Plus, Simon saves money and time by bringing his lunch and snacks to work every day. 

Here's a list of what I made this week:

• No-bean chili with organic, grass-fed ground beef and chopped up bacon
• Crust-less quiche to last the whole week made with eggs (of course), full-fat coconut milk, chopped up kale and bacon (Can you tell I'm craving bacon?)
• One Dozen hard-boiled eggs
• Enough salad for each of us to eat every day for lunch.  This week I used romaine lettuce, chopped apples, zucchini, cucumber, tomato, red bell peppers, and diced turkey.  We just pour on olive oil and balsamic vinegar to dress it up. 
• Six chicken drumsticks

The time and effort I put into making these foods has helped us tremendously and I actually look forward to doing it each week.  It makes me feel good when I open the refrigerator and see all the yummy food I prepared with love and care.  Plus it saves me time and headache during the week when I just don't have the energy to whip up something fresh and healthy.

What do you mean you live "primally"?

I don't mean we live in a house made of sticks and mud and that Simon quit his job to actually "bring home the bacon" while donning a loin cloth.

I mean we follow The Primal Blueprint!  Click here to learn more.

Do you know what your meat ate for dinner?

We've been buying organic, grass-fed, free-range meat since we decided vegetarianism wasn't for us.  I rationalized that if we were going to eat meat, it had to be the healthiest, most-humanely treated meat available.  The benefits are huge, not only to your health, but also for the planet.  I know a lot of you already eat this way, but for those who are interested, I think Mark Sisson at Marksdailyapple.com best summarizes why grass-fed, organic, truly free-range meat is superior to conventional meat:

http://www.marksdailyapple.com/concentrated-animal-feeding-operations/

We have been buying our meat from US Wellness Meats, Hearst Ranch, Trader Joe's (sometimes they carry organic, 100% grass fed ground beef), and now I think we will start buying Sommers brand from the Sprouts that just opened by our house.  We always try to buy local, but so far the only local supplier we know of is Hearst Ranch and they can be pretty pricey. 

Did you also know that chickens naturally thrive on a grass-fed diet, full of rich vegetation and juicy insects for their liking?  I am so excited because I finally found a local supplier of grass-fed, organic, truly free-roaming poutry at Rainbow Ranch.  Come to think of it, I need to go place my order right now!

And of course we also only eat pastured, organic eggs.  Please read Cheeseslave's post here to learn why; I think she summarizes the reasons beautifully. 

Some people think that eating this way is a luxury and that they can't afford it.  I agree in certain situations.  But I think for most of us, if we cut out all the processed, boxed crap and unnecessary expenses, we would see that buying quality food is the best investment we can make in our health and our future.

Natural mold and mildew cleaner

Like most of you, we like to use only natural cleaning products in our house.  There are so many yucky chemicals in most household products, and after having Noah, I became even more aware of this issue.  Luckily, stores now carry many more natural cleaning products than they use to.  We love Mrs. Meyers when we're in a pinch!  Method by Target is another one we reach for from time to time, but I'm not totally sure I buy that they are super duper natural.  I guess the best way to ensure you are using a truly natural product is to make it yourself!  Which brings me to a simple remedy for that yucky mold and mildew that creeps into our shower and bath...

Mix two teaspoons tea tree oil with two cups of water in a spray bottle.  Spray down the nasties and do not rinse.  Spray the mildew/mold prone areas at least once a week for prevention.

I use to use bleach for this problem until I read about how bad bleach is for the environment and our bodies. 

What natural remedies can you recommend for household cleaning purposes?

Cloth napkins

While we're on the subject of reducing waste, let's talk about ditching your paper towels and paper napkins, if you haven't already done so, that is.  They are totally unnecessary.  Plus every meal feels like a special occasion when you're using a lovely cloth napkin!  Then you just throw it in the wash with the rest of the towels.  I would recommend buying a darker color napkin to hide food stains.  I bought some cheap cloth napkins at Target (I'm sure you can find them even cheaper elsewhere) for meal times, and we use any old towel to soak up a mess in place of a paper towel.  I'm not sure why we still buy paper towels, though.  In any case, we haven't had to buy any in a long time!  I think the hubby just has some issues with change, even if it is for the better.  Having paper towels on the counter somehow makes him feel more secure.  Or something like that.

One time we were enjoying a picnic lunch at the park and another mom saw me wiping Noah's face with a cloth napkin.  She said, "Oh here!  I brought some napkins.  You don't have to use that towel thing."  I didn't say anything and just took her napkin...I'm still working on navigating these issues in social situations:)

Do you re-use your ziplock baggies?

One of the things we do in our home is reuse plastic ziplock baggies.  We try to avoid using them to cut down on waste (and use a glass container instead to store things) but sometimes only a ziplock baggy will do.  We have found that you can wash, dry, and re-use ziplock baggies over and over again and have saved some pretty pennies (and space in our landfills) by doing so.  Some recycling centers will accept the plastic baggies, but I'm honestly too lazy to drive my little baggies all that way.  So we just use the baggies until they are worn out and then toss them. 

To wash the baggy, simply turn it inside out and wash it with soap and water.  Then leave it inside out to dry.  I am working on getting the hubby to make me a ziplock baggy stand dryer thingy.  Pics to come.  Some people put their ziplock baggies in the dishwasher's top rack and wash/dry it along with your dirty dishes.  Of course, never re-use baggies that have stored raw meat. 

Do you do this too?  What is your method?

How it all began...

Do you ever look at your life and wonder, "How did I come to live my life this way?  What chain of events led me to this point in time?"  I do. 

Just last night I was laying in bed thinking about how different I use to be, specifically before my son was born.  It's funny how you think you know things, but then you find out you don't.  I guess that's the beauty of life...we are always learning and growing.  I think keeping an open mind and accepting new ways of doing things create the most opportunities for growth. 

Anyway, I was wondering last night what led me to my slight obsession with eating the healthiest foods possible and living in a sustainable and eco-friendly way.  I think it all came about after Noah was born.  I always knew I wanted to breastfeed my future child, but I didn't know how important it really is and how much it impacts and changes you as a woman until I experienced it first hand.  I really think the fact that I chose to breastfeed Noah impacted my life for the better, in terms of health.  And I know that his birth made me just plain care more about the planet.  I'm not saying that whether one chooses to breastfeed or formula feed impacts all women in this way, I'm just saying that it impacted me.  I know of many women who formula fed and feed their children extremely healthily; I also know many women who breastfed and don't feed their children all that well.  For me, when I decided to give my child the healthiest start possible by breastfeeding him, I wanted to continue feeding him the healthiest foods possible when it was time for him to experiment with food.  I researched all the different ways, and realized that "child led solids" made the most sense to me.  I had followed my child's lead since birth by nursing on demand and other means, so I really wanted food to be on his terms as well.  This meant skipping the spoons, purees and baby cereals so that he could pick up real, organic food and learn how to eat it himself.  Of course some people freaked out about this, worried that he would choke.  But the reality is that baby's fine motor development (his ability to actually pick up food with is hand) matches his oral development (his ability to mash and chew the food with his gums and then successfully swallow it or spit it out).  So basically, if they can't pick it up and get it in their mouth, they are not ready to eat it.  This readiness takes place around six months of age, which is when most doctors recommend starting solids.  If you are interested in learning more about child led solids, follow this link. 

So we decided from an early age to feed Noah organic, whole foods and their derivatives.  No processed crap.  This of course carried over to how we ate as a family.  If you want your kid to eat healthy, you have to only keep healthy foods in the house.  I always thought I ate healthy until I started eating like my child.  The sticky part came when he wouldn't eat meat.  I worried he wasn't getting enough protein and/or iron so I began researching the best vegetarian diets to make sure I complemented his diet with proper nutrients.  In that quest for knowledge, I was seduced by all the vegetarian, vegan, and raw diet books and their claims of better health and a more sustainable planet.  So we all went vegetarian!  I even went near-vegan for awhile. I didn't worry so much about Noah because he had a pretty balanced diet and I was still nursing him.  But I started to just not feel "right" so I found a naturopath through a vegetarian support group.  She was suppose to be very vegetarian friendly.  She was, but do you know what she told me? That I shouldn't be a vegetarian!  She said I am a protein type and need animal based protein as the base of my diet.  I followed her advice and also turned to Mercola.com, Paleo diet websites, The Schwarzbein Principle, and eventually, found Mark Sisson's book, The Primal Blueprint.  All of these sources led me to the conclusion that I should only be eating what our hunter-gatherer ancestors ate:  Meat, seafood, eggs, nuts, seeds, fruits, veggies, and their whole food derivatives.  I guess I had to turn vegetarian to meet a doctor who would tell me I should not be a vegetarian! 

So here we are, following The Primal Blueprint, and feeling more energetic, lean, content and satiated than ever!  Noah, by the way, grew out of his aversion to meat and loves it now.  But we don't buy just any meat...we always go for organic, grass fed meat.  I will detail where we purchase our meat in a later post.  I have never felt this good about my body and state of mind, and I have never had this much fun cooking and eating!  Giving up grains, processed foods, and sugar has been the best thing I've ever done for my health.  I know it sounds crazy, giving up grains especially, but I promise that once you start eating this way and trying some of the recipes I post, you will forget about all the grains you thought you couldn't live without.  And once you start noticing your body leaning out, you will be even more motivated to incorporate this lifestyle. 

Another important aspect of The Primal Blueprint is the way you exercise.  It is imperative to tone down your workouts by focusing on low-level cardio and a few strength training sessions a week, complemented with sprints every week or so.  Because when you overdo your cardio and engage in long workouts, you're just compromising your immune system and you're hungry all the time!  And what do you crave?  CARBS, but the kind you don't want like grains and sugar.  You want to focus on getting your carbs from fruits, veggies, and nuts.  And you also want to eat high-quality FAT.  That's right, I have lost weight by eating more fat and actually consuming more calories than I did before making this lifestyle change.  And I actually exercise way less than I use to, yet am better able to build and maintain muscle with the way I am eating.

So along with eating this way, we also strive to buy all our food in its freshest, most natural state.  That means buying organic and locally.  I will detail these specifics in future posts.  Eating this way naturally spills over to other areas of your life...from the products you clean with, to the products you put on your body.  You just want to live as close to the way nature intended which means going for natural products and materials.  If only I had known all of this long ago!  But that is why I am starting this blog...maybe some of the information here will impact others.  Please feel free to comment on any posts and enlighten me with information I have yet to gather!