Tag Archives: natural living

Cloth Diapers, hooray!

Posted on by

6

I don’t mean to plan ahead so much.  Really, I don’t.  I’ts just that once I start thinking about something, it eases my mind to be able to do what I need to do about it so I can simply move on.

When I was planning my wedding I didn’t understand why my friends/bridesmaids didn’t seem eager to help me with planning and crafts four months in advance.  It wasn’t until the month of the wedding that everyone seemed to gear up.  By that time, I was already on my honeymoon in my mind and the crafts were mostly done.

I’ve been trying not to do this so much with baby stuff.  Ya know, I’m doing my best to just go with the flow, despite my inner programming that tells me that I need to start preparing now.  What can I say?  I like preparing for stuff.  I like packing for trips a few days in advance.  I like buying economy sized packs of Q-Tips at Costco so that I’ll never ever run out.  And if it was up to me I’d have my baby shower next month just so I’d know exactly what else I need to acquire on my own.

On the other side of the spectrum, I’ve also been known to be ridiculously spontaneous.  I think spontaneous happens for me when I get super sick of planning ahead.  Makes sense, right?

Well, I did give into planning and buy one baby thing already…just because I couldn’t help myself.  :)

Cloth Diapers.  My mom used them.  Jon’s mom used them.  I’m determined to use them in an attempt to save some money (oh yeah, and to save the planet too!)  They showed up at my doorstep on Saturday morning and I couldn’t stop admiring the glorious little pieces of fabric.

I bought one dozen infant sized prefolds (the prefold is the plain cloth diaper pictured above that gets put on before the diaper cover) and two dozen premium sized prefolds.  Little Lions sells them and sometimes you can buy them on clearance too.

I also ordered some diaper covers from Thirsties.  Actually, they are Thirsties brand but I ordered them from Green Mountain Diapers.  I ordered four size 2′s of the Duo Wrap and one size 1.  The great thing about Thirsties (according to my friend Kelli who told me all about them) is that because of the different levels of snaps going down the front of the diaper you can continue adjusting the size to fit your baby as he/she grows.  Therefore, less diaper covers to buy!  Size 1 fits babies from 6-18 pounds.  Size 2 fits babies from 18-40 pounds.

The trees pattern was my favorite diaper so I bought two!

Lastly, I bought four snappi fasteners from Cotton Babies.  They are easier to use than regular old safety pins and they hold the prefold diaper in place better too.

I’m excited to use cloth diapers, although I am planning on using disposable ones too for times like car trips when cloth would be less convenient.  Learn more about why cloth is great!

I figured I should share my findings, seeing as learning about cloth diaper options felt like researching for a thesis paper.  But to me, the extra effort will be worth it in the end.  All my purchases only amounted to $147.70 (including shipping).

$15.80 for the Snappi fasteners (Cotton Babies has free shipping)

$61.70 for 3 dozen prefolds
(each one can be used 100 -150 times before they wear out)

$70.20 for 5 covers

And the great thing is that I’ll be able to re-use these same diaper covers and snappies for baby number two!

Now, only six more months until I get to use them…

Meet In The Middle

Posted on by

6

I have often been referred to as impulsive, extreme and intense.  Sometimes your greatest strengths are also your greatest weaknesses, right?

Well this time my extreme-ness took me from one end of the spectrum to the other before I landed somewhere in the middle.  No, I’m not talking about politics or religion, I’m talking about deodorant.

In my quest to embrace more natural products, I decided to ditch my long-time reliable anti-perspirant:  The Dove 5-pack from Costco.  Somewhere I had heard that anti-perspirants had been linked to breast cancer.  However, after investigating that claim more, I found that the correlation is actually rather slim, according to the National Cancer Institute.  They said for the most part, it’s just a rumor.  Yet, on the other hand, The Mommypotamus and Passionate Homemaking articles claim that common anti-perspirant ingredients such as aluminum, talc and parabens have in fact been linked to cancer, Alzheimer’s and other health issues.

Hmmmm….

So, what to believe???

Well, this is where I stop scouring the web and resort to my own common sense reasoning.

Erin’s brain:  So, God designed my body.  He built in a natural cooling system so that my body would have a way to self-regulate it’s temperature.  Therefore, I should try to interfere as little as possible, while still finding a way to feel civilized.   

In high school, I’m pretty sure anti-perspirant was a necessity- at least for social reasons.  With teenage hormones raging, my body had a hobby of sweating!  But as I hit my twenties, I think my hormones settled down, as did my sweat glands.  I kept wearing anti-perspirants because that’s what I’d always worn even though I probably didn’t need as much sweat protection as I had before.

Jon and I took a trip to Walmart on Saturday in search of deodorant.  Not deodorant plus anti-perspirant – JUST deodorant.  I was shocked!  Other than two scents of Tom’s natural deodorant, there was absolutely no regular deodorant for women!  There were a bunch of options for men, but none for women.  I guess they make what we demand.

I was in search of plain ‘ol deodorant because, like I said, my extreme-ness lead me to run out and buy a tube of Tom’s Natural deodorant a couple weeks ago.  After three days of wearing that stuff I couldn’t take any more.  My underarms constantly felt sticky and it gave me some kind of rash either from an ingredient or just from the constant sticky traction when I moved my arms around.  Not to mention, I had to apply the stuff three times per day – and even after all that fuss, my husband still disapproved of of my new, more “natural” (AKA: gross) scent.

So all-natural deodorant was a complete fail, but the option of a regular chemically-scented deodorant seemed like it might be a happy medium!  I could still smell and feel fresh without using some of the potentially harmful chemicals used in anti-perspirants that can be absorbed into the skin.

After much sniffing in the Walmart deodorant aisle, I came across one men’s deodorant that didn’t smell manly at all. In fact, according to the marketing it smells like “Palm Trees, Sunshine & Freedom!”  Wow, all that in a deodorant?!

The scent actually is rather lovely and in my opinion, it’s not too overpowering.  So far I really like it!

I haven’t done any extensive research on the ingredients of this Old Spice deodorant yet, so I can’t say if all the ingredients would be considered “good.”  Right now I’m simply shooting for “better than I had,” – which I think this is.  At first glance the ingredient comparison seems promising.

Here are the ingredients in the Old Spice Fiji Anti-Perspirant & Deodorant:

Aluminum zirconium trichlorohydrex gly 18% w/w, cyclopentasiloxane, stearyl alcohol, C12-15 alkyl benzoate, PPG-14 butyl ether, hydrogenated castor oil, petrolatum, talc, phenyl trimethicone, fragrance/parfum, cyclodextrin, mineral oil/huile minérale, behenyl alcohol

Compared to the Old Spice Fiji Deodorant:

Dipropylene Glycol, Water, Propylene Glycol, Sodium Stearate, Fragrance, PPG 3 Myristyl Ether, Tetrasodium EDTA, Blue 1

So maybe one day I’ll give all-natural deodorant another chance and I’ll try making the homemade stuff.  But for now, I’m fine with Fiji.

 

UPDATE: As of 2012 I have actually converted to a completely natural deodorant option.  You can simply try rubbing some coconut oil under your arms followed by some baking soda or you can make your own homemade chemical-free deodorant.  

The Dirty Dozen & The Clean Fifteen

Posted on by

0

Pesticides seem to be an increasingly hot topic.  Why?  Well, because they can effect the healthiness of some of the foods we consider most healthy.  It’s not very much fun to think that the delicious, crisp red apple sitting on your kitchen counter is covered in chemical residue – but nowadays that just may be the truth.

I have taken an increased interest in this topic lately.  Growing up my mom always told me to wash my fruit before I ate it – but honestly I can only remember a few times where I ever actually listened to her.  It just seemed like a waste of time.  Fruit is healthy so why should I have to wash it?  I guess I didn’t mind the thought of a little dirt sticking to my blueberry.  Same went for vegetables.  My mom had one of those fun lettuce spinner things that she would use to dry off her lettuce after she washed it.  But as for me – I never picked up on her produce habits.  So as I ventured out of her house to be on my own I brought my bad habits with me.

I think a lot of the reason for my sudden interest in pesticides is simply because the topic is becoming very widespread.  It’s not just my mother talking about it anymore – it’s national news shows, TV shows, documentaries, blogs, etc.  So a concern that at one time seemed irrelevant, suddenly feels very relevant to me.  I still don’t mind a little dust or dirt on my fruit, but I do mind potentially hazardous chemicals.

The Dirty Dozen list highlights the produce that is likely to have the most pesticide comtamination.

“If pesticides are present on the surfaces of your fruits and vegetables, you can
definitely remove a substantial amount of those surface pesticides through
careful washing and light scrubbing. However, you cannot remove all of them nor can you remove pesticides that have been incorporated into the fruits and
vegetables while they were growing.” (source)

On the other hand, The Clean Fifteen are the top fifteen produce choices that are least likely to test positive for pesticides.

“This year, apples dethroned celery as the item of produce highest in pesticides, with 98% of conventional apples found to contain pesticides. “We think what’s happening to apples is more pesticides and fungicides are being applied after the harvest so the fruit can have a longer shelf life,” EWG analyst Sonya Lunder told USA Today. “Pesticides might be in small amounts, but we don’t know what the subtle, long-term effects of many of these pesticides are yet.” (source)

So these lists can be helpful if you are trying to decipher which fruits and vegtables are worth paying more for by choosing the organic option, and which ones don’t make much of a difference.

Without further ado, here are the EWG’s 2011 Shoppers Guide to Pesticides in Produce lists…

Dirty Dozen 

apples

celery

strawberries

peaches

spinach

nectarines (imported)

grapes (imported)

sweet bell peppers

potatoes

blueberries

lettuce

kale/collard greens

________________________________________________________________________

Clean Fifteen

Onions

sweet corn

pineapples

avocado

asparagus

sweet peas

mangoes

eggplant

cantaloupe

kiwi

cabbage

watermelon

sweet potatoes

 grapefruit

mushrooms

The Search for Health, Nutrition & Balance

Posted on by

2

Pregnancy, naturally, has brought with it an increased interest in health and nutrition.  Which in turn, has also increased my interest in finding balance in my life.  Why?  Because what starts out as a responsible interest in making healthy choices can quickly become a burdensome chore if you try to build Rome in a day.  Especially when I’m not feeling the best.  So a few articles by Passionate Homemaking have been helping me find the right perspective.

So here are some of the thoughts and changes that have been taking place in the Kidwell household lately regarding natural living:

  • Previously I wrote about my experience with the book, The Maker’s Diet.  Jon and I are still trying to make small changes as we can.  Currently, we are attempting to scale way back on white flour by replacing it with alternatives such as gluten free pasta, rice, quinoa and naturally sprouted bread.  (I’m still not a big fan of the new breads yet).  However, this change seemed necessary because when we really looked at how much white flour we were eating – we were absolutely blown away!  Especially since white flour is not only void of nutrition or benefit to the body, but it is actually linked to a whole basketfull of health problems.

So with all this in mind, the Kidwells are shooting for a 70-30 model.  We do desire to live healthfully and make educated decisions about our food, yet we also believe in a bit of g0-with-the-flow!  So when we visit a friend’s house and they are serving non-natural beef hamburgers on white buns with pasta salad, are we going to partake?  You bet we are!  Because people and relationships are more important than always staying on track with certain goals.  Plus, we do have a soft spot for eating out at all kinds of drive-ins and dives!  Who can live without some food freedom and donuts every now and again!?  Not us.

So to us, 70-30 is a reasonable goal.  It basically means that when we grocery shop we shoot for natrual and organic foods (as long as our finances allow) and the rest of the time we just enjoy whatever is in front of us.  So far it is working pretty good and we realize that it’s been fun to try some new things like organic cereals and Kombucha…

  • I found out I LOVE a drink called Kombucha (fermented tea) that my friend Jessica Carroll told me about.  Kombucha is a detoxifier and can help with digestion due to the probiotics that put good bacteria back into your body.  I can only consume small amounts of it right now since I wasn’t already drinking it prior to pregnancy.  Bummer.  But it’s worth a try if you’ve never had it!  It smells a bit vinegary, but the taste is much better than the smell in my opinion.  It kind of tastes like sparkling apple cider with a twist!
  • I bought some Tom’s natural deodorant the other day to replace the lovely Dove anti-persperant I’ve been wearing for years.  Many researchers have linked anti-perstirants to breast cancer.  So far I’m feelin’ pretty fresh, although I will admit that the natural stuff doesn’t glide on as smoothly as the regular stuff.
  • The Mommypotamus convinced me to switch to natural sunscreen.  I haven’t actually bought it yet, but it’s on my shopping list.  The natural sunscreens tend to come in smaller bottles than your average Coppertone or Neutrogena bottle.  However, at the end of a summer I almost NEVER make it through a whole bottle – and then the extras sit around for a while before I decide to throw it out.  So all in all, I think my $10-$15 will likely go just as far as before.
  • Jon and I began watching Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution on Hulu.  It’s really interesting.  Jamie Oliver, a world class chef from Britain, has a passion for revolutionizing the way America eats.  He’s one of those: “It can be healthy and still taste great!” advocates.  So he decides to start a revolution in Los Angeles (watch Season 2, Episode 1).  The show is educational and really entertaining seeing as Jamie is both passionate and over the top at times.  You can also catch the current season Friday nights at 9 on ABC.

Jon seems to have a lot of input nowadays when we watch this show and talk about agriculture in general.  One of his classes this quarter is called Soil Science so he has been learning all about the importance of soil health and how it effects the nutrition of food.  Honestly, I don’t think I would be that into all these natural food choices if it weren’t for him.

About 6 months ago, Jon was as anti-organic as a person could get.  He thought it was just a big marketing scam and he scoffed at the idea of embracing the Hug-a-tree, Save-the-earth movement.  I did too.  However, the more we learn about the science behind agriculture in America, the more we’ve become “believers” so to speak…Not in hugging trees, but in educating ourselves about the practices and realities about the food industry.

**P.S.  I enjoy sharing about the new things I’m learning in relation to nutrition and natural products, but I in no way think that my way is THEE WAY to go.  I know that loving, caring individuals make choices for themselves and their families based on careful thought, circumstances and what they believe in.  So my hope is that my thoughts may be inspiring in some way – not that they would be seen as prideful or superior to anyone else’s.

Love,

Erin

God Is A Father Who Cares For Me

Posted on by

5

It’s Sunday night and I’m sitting in bed, not really tired yet becuase it’s Sunday – which means I got to sleep in until 10am before going to church,  (happy sigh).  I’m drinking a cup of decaf coffee- not bad at all actually.  And I just finished reading Isaiah so I moved on to Mark tonight.

This weekend I got to spend a lot of time with Jon (more happy sighs).  It felt really special to just be together so much, getting to talk about all the changes going on.  We spent a couple hours in the afternoon today and yesterday laying on the beach.  I never really go to the beach as much as I thought I would when I first moved here, but being pregnant has given me a great excuse to relax a little.

Anyway, I’m rambling, but I was just thinking today about a few ways that God has worked in my life lately.  Some really cool ways that I thought were worth sharing.

#1  -  About three and a half weeks ago, I suddenly decided to stop taking Nexium.  I don’t know why or where that thought came from, but it crossed my mind and a few seconds later I was convinced that starting the very next day I was going to stop taking it for good.

Backstory:  for the past five years I’ve dealt with a whole cornucopia of lovely digestive issues.  For a while I was told I had IBS.  Then it “morphed” into lactose intolerance.  Then that seemed to fade and instead I started having intense cramping and burning in my stomach all the time.  A doctor stuck a camera down my throat and into my stomach to see if I had an ulcer, but I didn’t have that.  I got a bunch of blood work done earlier this year.  Nothing there.  So to deal with the burning in my stomach I started taking Nexium.  I guess it’s a fairly common drug.  And it worked.  However, the thought of taking a prescription drug for the rest of my life: yuck!  I’m only 24!

Jon was a little surprised with my decision to stop taking it because he had experienced, or rather watched me experience, what it was like for me to deal with constant burning and pain in my stomach.  But he supported it.  My doctor told me that most people get even worse pain for a couple weeks when they first stop taking it, so I braced myself for the worst and waited for the discomfort to set in.  It never did.  Whew!  I only experienced an occasional light burning, but it was better than it had been before.

That week I also sat down in front of a computer and researched whether or not it was okay to take Nexium while pregnant.  I guess I was just curious.  Most accounts said it was fine, but with researchers constantly changing their minds about such things, I decided that whenever I did get pregnant, it would probably be better not to be taking anything like that.

Little did I know that I was already pregnant.

#2  -  Last weekend, while away celebrating my 1 year anniversary to Jon Kidwell, I suddenly had the thought to text my former roommate, Danielle, to see if she still wanted to buy the twin bed that hangs out in our guest room.  The thought was totally random because a month or so earlier we had discussed the possibility of selling that bed to Danielle, but then backed out because we thought it was a nice accommodation to have for when people come to stay with us.

However, last Saturday morning I blurted out to Jon, “Hey, I’m gonna text Danielle and see if she still wants the bed because as soon as we have a baby we are going to have to get rid of it anyway, so we might as well just give it to her now since she needs one.”

Danielle stopped by last night to check the bed out one more time and shared with me the story of what had happened.  The day before I texted her she was at a mattress store, ready to buy a new mattress.  But at the last minute, she decided to wait.  She put $10 down just to hold it, but when she left, she said she prayed to God, just asking him to provide something better for her that week.  The very next morning is when I texted her, asking if she still wanted ours.

I found out three days later that I actually did need to get rid of that twin bed anyway.

#3  -  On Friday afternoon my coworker and I were chatting about my health at the water cooler.  The people I work with know that I deal with my cornucopia, because every Wednesday our staff gets together to pray for our listeners and each other.  (I work at a Christian radio station.)  I was telling him how my stomach was doing a bit better lately, but I was still seeing the Chiropractor for my neck and my jaw was still locked up and it hurt to chew.

Anyway, long story short, he went over to his desk and came back with a book that he handed to me and told me I could keep.  When I got home from work I threw it in the pile of baby books that my neighbor had lent me and I assumed I’d get to it eventually.  However, on Saturday I grabbed it and started reading it in the car to Jon and we drove to the beach.

Jon and I only made it through half of the book this weekend, but at this point I honestly think this book was a gift from God.  It’s called ”The Maker’s Diet.”  It’s not a crash diet book, it’s more like a way of life, healthy living and eating diet.

Reading this book made me realize how so much of my life since college consisted of eating predominently unnatural things.  I dealt with an eating disorder up until a couple years ago so I spent a huge chuck of my life consming artificial sweeteners, diet sodas, fat-free processed foods, low calorie processed snacks amongst other things that were never living.  I did eat some salads and fruit from the dining centers, but besides that, Balance Bars were considered a meal.  Then, when I overcame my eating disorder and began to embrace “normal” eating I started enjoying more burgers and fries, pizza, red meat and all things delicious and fried.  Freedom tasted good!  However, what was good for me phychologically, wasn’t necessarily any more healthy than what I was eating before.

For the past few years I have been plagued with this reality:  I’m young.  I’ve excercised regularly my entire life.  My family is pretty healthy.  WHY, WHY, WHY do I have all these health problems that no medical professional can seem to give a name to or fix?!!!

Well, to be honest, a likely answer didn’t really hit me until I started reading this book.  Now don’t worry, I’m not trying to push this book on anybody or tell you that you need to jump on board and read it.  But when I read this man’s story, it really was like a light bulb went on in my brain and I felt like God was showing me some of the answers that I’d been praying for all this time.  I’ve continued to pray for God’s miraculous healing, but when the problems have only gotten bigger I’ve also just decided to trust him and pray that my character would be strengthened through the test.

I won’t go too much into it, but the man who wrote the book has a story about having all sorts of problems and diseases, mostly digestive, but also other seemingly unrelated problems.  And after experiencing every kind of drug, antibiotic, supplement, treatment and natural remedy, he eventually turned to the Bible and found wisdom and instruction from God about what kinds of foods God had intended for us to eat.  Apparently all those seemingly religious and unnecessary commands in Leviticus and Deuteronomy weren’t just religious rules, but rather God was telling his people which parts of his creation he intended for us to eat and enjoy, and which ones weren’t good for us.

The author also explains that the foods that God created for us to eat are full of essential nutrients that our bodies need to function properly.  However, in our society today, most of the pre-packaged foods contain more ingredients that were created or altered in a science lab, than they do natural ingredients.  And of course, the punchline:  more Americans suffer from digestive problems and other degenerative problems than ever before.

Parts of the book are overwhelming because to be honest, I’d rather not concern myself about this kind of stuff.  I mean, how come it has to take so much energy and effort to live a healthy lifestyle and enjoy good health today?  It’s frusterating.  Why did our fast-paced, consumer-driven society have to take convenience too far by sacrificing the quality of people’s lives and gambling with our health?  I wish it was different.  But, seeing that it’s not different right now, I feel hopeful that there are things I can do to get back to a more natural way of eating and living.

I know that there is no kind of miracle health plan or way to ensure that my health will always be as I want it to be.  God already has my days numbered and accounted for.  I don’t want my life to center around healthy-living because that’s a dead end if that’s what I’m putting my hope in.  However, I feel like God might have put this book in my hands for a reason so that  I could discover that the instructions he gave the people of Israel a long time ago can still bless my life today if I will trust that God, the Creator, actually does know something about the best way for me to live.

So I am praying that I would be able to put the things I’m learning into practice.  If simply changing some of the ways I eat is possibly going to help me feel better than I’m definitely willing to make the effort!  And even if these changes don’t actually ”fix” me, I still think they may be worth it in the long run.  Jon says he’s up for the change too.  Last night he said, “I know it may not seem like it, but somewhere inside of me there is a health nut trying to get out.”

So we are starting small at first:  We already switched over to hormone-free organic milk and cage-free eggs a couple months ago -  that hasn’t been too difficult.  Tomorrow night I am attempting to make homemade whole wheat pasta.  We decided to switch to hormone free meats even though they’re more expensive, (with smaller portions of meat we may not even notice the high price as much).  I bought some fruit and veggie wash from Trader Joes.  And maybe the most interesting thing we are trying is to start making homemade fermented beverages such as fermented ginger ale and kefir.  It’s supposed to help with digestion and we both like trying new things.  Other than that we are bumping up our intake of locally grown fresh fruits and veggies.

So yep, the Kidwells have gotten a bit more “earthy.”  My whole world got flipped upside down last week so I might as well throw another change in just for fun!

I’m thankful that God is my Father who cares for me.  I’m thankful he will speak to me about the big and the little things and that he is always working for my good.

***If you end up researching the book, I’m not sure why because the content is so good, but they have ended up marketing it like it’s some of kind of Super-Diet.  The book itself isn’t written like that, so if you can ignore the marketing, I think you will like the book itself.