A 30-Day Guide to Low-Tox Living: Week Four

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It's all about starting where you are at and making baby steps. Because those baby steps add up to be big, incredible changes. Sharing my 30-day guide to low-tox living the entire month of September! One small thing every day that you can do to reduce your toxin load and cultivate a well life. Dive in now over at KaraLayne.com!

Can you believe it?! We have made it to week four of the 30-day guide to low-tox living! We have made so much progress in ditching unnecessary chemicals, toxins, and unhealthy ingredients. Let’s dive into the fourth and final week, shall we?

*Note: If you missed any of my 30-day guide to low-tox living, you can catch them right here: Week One, Week Two, and Week Three

A 30-day Guide to Low-Tox Living: Week 04

DAY 22: Clean Up Your Skincare

We tackled makeup in Week Three and this week we are talking about cleaning up our skincare. Why is this so important? This excerpt from a great article on the subject says it best:

“One of the most common cosmetic ingredients mainly used as preservatives in makeup products that stop bacteria, yeast, and mold from growing. This ingredient has another side to it; it can mimic estrogen (female sex hormone) very well. Due to this, it is believed to be the cause of breast cancer in many women. Parabens easily get absorbed in the body and are detected in many breast cancer tissues. This suggests an association between parabens in cosmetics and cancer. Women are more exposed to it because of the daily usage of cosmetics. Parabens are found in makeup products, body washes, deodorants, shampoos, facial cleansers, and even in some foods.” [Source here]

There are five top ingredients we want to avoid when it comes to our personal care and makeup products: Fragrance, Parabens, Sodium lauryl sulfate, alcohols, and propylene glycol (sometimes listed as ‘oils’).

Chatting all about five benefits of charcoal for your skin along with ridding ourselves of toxic products. Catch it right here! #CharcoalForSkin #CharcoalForSkinBenefits #CleanBeauty #NonToxicBeauty #CharcoalSkincare #ActivatedCharcoalForSkinBenefits #YoungLiving #EssentialOils

Sometimes we think that our skincare specifically has to be complicated to combat issues we are seeing such as acne and breakouts, uneven skin tone and redness, etc. However, it’s very interesting how these issues are alleviated when we start cleaning up the ingredients in all of the products around us – from shampoo to what we eat. Skin issues are always a sign of something deeper and finding that root cause is so beneficial.

For me, I have loved the change to a simple and clean charcoal bar followed by my favorite moisturizer (you can shop both right here). I have shared about the benefits of charcoal for the skin and you can catch that previous post right here.

Look at the back of the bottle, get familiar with the ingredients, and make swaps in order for your skin to truly thrive.

DAY 23: Get Intentional with What You Eat

It’s true – convenience will forever be our downfall. The fast and processed food touted to make life easier is literally the reason chronic illness, heart disease, and obesity are at an all-time high in our country. Then add in the toxic products we use daily? It’s not a good look.

And as for the convenient food – It’s not true food. It’s synthetic. It’s filled with the worst kind of chemicals and is a detriment to our health. When we get honest about that we can truly start to make changes.

Saturdays at Franklin Farmers Market. A beautiful part of the town where farmers and makers gather to sell their goods. It's one of my favorite weekly traditions and I am sharing a peek into the experience. Catch it all on Haus of Layne! #FranklinTennessee #ThingsToDoInFranklinTennessee #FranklinFarmersMarket #NashvilleTennessee #ThingsToDoInNashville #FarmToTable #OrganicFoods #Farm #FreshFood #HealthyLiving #HealthyLifestyle

Reduce the distance between you and where your food comes from. Look into your local farmers and markets. That has completely changed our relationship with food since moving to an area that allowed us to experience locally grown goods. Find ways to grow your own food. Get knowledgable about where your meat comes from and how it is raised. There are so many farmers doing it right and making their honest and whole food available to their communities.

DAY 24: Change (or cancel) Your Pest Control Service

This is one that we immediately know as an area we can adjust. Because obviously, the chemicals that most pest control companies use are not going to be good for our health. According to the EPA, 60 percent of herbicides, 90 percent of fungicides, and 30 percent of insecticides are known to be carcinogenic. Alarmingly, pesticide residues have been detected in 50 percent to 95 percent of U.S. foods. Pesticides are linked to eye, nose, and throat irritations, damage to CNS and kidney, increased risk of cancer, Parkinson’s disease, miscarriage, nerve damage, and birth defects, as well as blocking the absorption of food nutrients. 

Instead of having these harmful chemicals sprayed where your family plays, eats, and lives, look for a safer alternative for your service (they are out there!). Or turn to DIY and natural approaches using essential oils. There are many recipes you can search for that will help aid in keeping pests away using natural resources.

DAY 25: Choose Safer Feminine Products

This was an area I wanted to tackle especially having daughters in my home. I want them to have as much knowledge as possible when it comes to taking care of their bodies. A big issue with feminine products today is that they contain glyphosate. This comes from Roundup which is the herbicide used on genetically modified crops – yes, the cotton that is used to make feminine products. You can dive more into the study done here.

It's all about starting where you are at and making baby steps. Because those baby steps add up to be big, incredible changes. Sharing my 30-day guide to low-tox living the entire month of September! One small thing every day that you can do to reduce your toxin load and cultivate a well life. Dive in now over at KaraLayne.com!

After doing some research on the subject, I learned that when it comes to truly organic cotton products, you want to look for a GOTS certification. GOTS stands for ‘Global Organic Textile Standard’. It’s the worldwide leading textile processing standard for organic fibers, which is backed up by independent certification of the entire textile supply chain, ensuring responsibility and purity are met.

Considering the fact that the female body goes through hundreds of menstrual cycles in a lifetime, it’s a lot of product use throughout the years. And it is an area of our body that has the most sensitive skin and tissues. It only makes sense for the betterment of our health that we get better educated on where our products are coming from. This is just one of many areas to choose and purchase more intentionally. 

The brand I have switched to is Natracare. And I have been really happy with the change and even more, the continued peace of mind of another baby step tackled. This time – for both me and my girls. You can find Natracare on Amazon, Azure Standard, as well as some local stores depending on your area. 

DAY 26: Add Supplements to Your Daily Regimen

It is a well-known fact that supplementing the minerals and vitamins our bodies need is important. This is because the food we are eating does not contain the same levels of vitamins and minerals that it used to. Why? Because of modern agriculture. Our soils are depleted from practices used to accommodate mass production and are, in turn, being stripped of their nutritional value. While eating a carrot and apple will be far better for you than that burger from the drive-thru, it still may not be giving your body what it needs.

It's that time of year and keeping my family feeling good and well is top of mind. I am sharing my winter wellness favorites and must-haves over on the blog!

Adding supplements to your daily routine is highly personal. There are many medical professionals who are knowledgeable and can tell you the things you should look into using. However, your body is extremely unique and what works for one person will not be the perfect combination for another. And, I believe, there is such a thing as too much supplementing. I want to do whatever I can to be eating the right foods and then add additional support where I need it. 

For myself and my family, we love making sure we all have a probiotic since our health begins in the gut. We also make sure to supplement vitamin C, choice minerals, antioxidants, as well as an MSM supplement. In the winter when we are not getting as much sun, we make sure to supplement vitamin D as well.

A word of caution when it comes to where you source your supplements: In 2015 the New York State Attorney General ran an investigation on supplements sold on local big box store shelves and what they found is extremely eye-opening. With this being a highly unregulated area, I like to make sure I am sourcing our supplements from trusted brands that are in the wellness business. We love Young Living for our family as well as Mary Ruth’s.

DAY 27: Get Outside & In the Sun

It’s so important for us to change our relationship with sunlight. We have been misinformed about so much. Fresh air and sunlight, even in the middle of winter, are so incredibly beneficial to our health. I have shared more about how my thoughts, with further education and personal research on the subject, have changed in how I approach proper sun exposure protocol. You can read more about it here. Aside from that though, making sure we are getting a daily dose of sunlight is literally free medicine. 

It's all about starting where you are at and making baby steps. Because those baby steps add up to be big, incredible changes. Sharing my 30-day guide to low-tox living the entire month of September! One small thing every day that you can do to reduce your toxin load and cultivate a well life. Dive in now over at KaraLayne.com!

Morning light, before 10 AM, has little to no UV light that causes burns. And the rays from sunrise have a much larger percentage of infrared light which has so many wonderful healing properties. It stimulates collagen, the immune system, bone healing, and melatonin release (which helps us sleep better).

Expose your eyes and skin to the sunrise every day and soak in the effects!

DAY 28: Throw Out Your Bluetooth Headphones

This one might make a lot of people upset and it’s definitely one of those unpopular opinions. But we talked about EMF radiation earlier in this 30-day guide to low-tox living. And we know that it comes from all of the electronics and signals we are surrounded by. However, experts are at odds regarding the safety of Bluetooth headphones. This is a wonderful article that includes both sides of the argument. When I look at all of the things that were deemed “safe and/or effective” by agencies in the beginning only to find out it was detrimental to health decades later (sometimes sooner)? For me, Bluetooth headphones are a hard no. We had an experience that further fueled my gut instinct on this one.

It's all about starting where you are at and making baby steps. Because those baby steps add up to be big, incredible changes. Sharing my 30-day guide to low-tox living the entire month of September! One small thing every day that you can do to reduce your toxin load and cultivate a well life. Dive in now over at KaraLayne.com!

The Bearded Gent used to work with a pool company. For a year straight he had Bluetooth headphones in during his entire work day listening to podcasts while he worked. For about 260 days for approximately 7-8 hours, these things were running in his ears. He and I both started to notice signs of brain fog he was dealing with. He had trouble remembering things. I would jokingly pester him that his Bluetooth headphones were “probably melting his brain”I believe those were my exact words as well. He agreed to stop using them and within a few weeks, he felt like his brain fog had cleared.

I know technology can be a wonderful thing, but I also think it can be our greatest weakness. Our family has decided that Bluetooth headphones are not something we want in our life.

*Disclaimer: We can buy all the clean products we want and be extremely intentional in what we allow into our homes, but if we are not doing the basics for ourselves and our overall health none of it matters. This includes eating real food (which we covered), it includes getting outside and soaking in fresh air and sunshine (which we covered) and these last two are just as important.

DAY 29: Learn to Rest

Our society has an awful habit of “keeping up”. We have been ingrained in this culture of never taking time to slow down and move at a slower pace. When we get sick there are over-the-counter medications to help knock out the symptoms just enough so we can keep working. Because getting sick? What an inconvenience! So much so that the doctors handed out antibiotics and prescriptions like candy to all ages until we realized the error of our ways. I still remember when they removed all of the infant and child meds from store shelves

It's all about starting where you are at and making baby steps. Because those baby steps add up to be big, incredible changes. Sharing my 30-day guide to low-tox living the entire month of September! One small thing every day that you can do to reduce your toxin load and cultivate a well life. Dive in now over at KaraLayne.com!

My approach to sickness and rest has completely transformed over the years. It took my health being obliterated from burnout to realize just how important it is. And seeing the medical community to change their opinion on things to realize how important it was for me to listen to my own body and do the same for my children. Now when we get sick, we stop. We slow down. We start with primitive approaches at home that support our body as it works through resting and healing. It has truly become one of the biggest areas of empowerment for me as a mother. Because I no longer fear things because of the knowledge and tools I have gained in the past several years. 

We are not machines. We deserve the time to rest when it is needed. And sickness is the sign to signal you when it is time.

DAY 30: Reduce Stress

I know… easier said than done, right? In all honesty, these past four weeks of my 30-day guide to low-tox living is just that. A guide. Choosing better options, buying cleaner products, pursuing a well life? It isn’t linear. And it’s not all or nothing. We are inundated with information. Whether it be the hardcore factual kind or factually based on someone’s experience (more often than not, it seems to be the latter). There are do’s and do not’s and this and that and before you know it our head is spinning. You simply take the information that aligns with you personally and then you do what is best for yourself, your home, and your family. At your own place. And in your own way.

You love your plant-based household cleaner, but also love your favorite candle? You are doing just fine. Switched out your makeup for cleaner options, but still love your favorite fast food spot? You are doing just fine. Eating better foods for your health, but are currently wearing your favorite perfume? You are doing just fine. Bought your current bedding on Amazon and didn’t check where it was made? Same here.

This isn’t an all-or-nothing thing. And don’t ever let anyone make you think that it has to be. It’s simply about opening ourselves up to new information and moving forward with what we align with. And then we go and do the best we can for ourselves, our homes, and our families. There is so much to be worried about, but we simply do better when we know better. These kinds of changes aren’t done overnight. It’s a process. It’s a lifestyle change. And those always last for the long haul. 

Because after all, the stress of this unachievable bar that you feel pressured to maintain brought on by the immense amount of information overload?  Well, I’m not a doctor but it’s probably doing just as much damage as that favorite toxic product. Just saying. Wink.

You’re doing great. Let that growing peace of mind help build momentum as you continue forward in cultivating a well life.

It's all about starting where you are at and making baby steps. Because those baby steps add up to be big, incredible changes. Sharing my 30-day guide to low-tox living the entire month of September! One small thing every day that you can do to reduce your toxin load and cultivate a well life. Dive in now over at KaraLayne.com!

We have made it through 30 days of tips and education in how to reduce our toxin load, make our homes safer, and how to better support our overall wellness. If you haven’t yet, be sure and download the free printable guide to have as a visual while you tackle each baby step.

You can download that resource for free right here!

If you would like to soak in more, you can join in over at The Well Life Society on Instagram right here. It’s where I share daily with my wellness community as well as with fellow moms wanting to know and learn more.

I hope my 30-day guide to low-tox living was helpful! Thanks for being here!

September 21, 2022

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