On a Mission

I've always considered myself a healthy human being. I love vegetables and fruits, I cook a made-from-scratch meal every night for my family, and I even exercise. It hasn't always been this way. Growing up my Mom also made us healthy, whole meals every night. There was one thing that was almost unavoidable: processed foods. They are everywhere, in abundance, and ever so popular. They are staples - even healthy staples. Or what people are led to believe is healthy. Especially in my adolescence I was huge on processed foods. Hostess cupcakes? Loved em. Bread from a bag, cheetos, crackers, you name it, I ate it. I was always pretty good at watching portions, so it isn't like these foods made me gain weight. That is all that matters, right?

I now know that is completely wrong. I may have seemed healthy, but on the inside I was falling apart. I was eating chemicals in abundance, some of which aren't even digestible foods. They are put into packaged foods as stabilizers, preservatives, and flavor enhancers. Soy is everywhere, in almost every single box you can find at the store. I know what a lot of you are thinking. "I grew up eating that stuff, and I am just fine!". Well, that is fantastic. But, are you really fine? When you get cancer at 60, are you going to wonder whether all that cheeze spread you ate as a teenager had any bearing on this outcome? 

When I started trying to get pregnant for the first time, I discovered I had PCOS. Poly-cystic ovary syndrome. Wait, wait, wait, women with PCOS are fat, have excess body hair, and have diabetes. Well, most do, but not me. PCOS was a silent killer in my body. I couldn't figure out why I had it - nobody in my family had any trouble conceiving children. I was in a proper weight range, took care of myself, and definitely didn't have excess body hair. Why were my hormones all messed up? I can never be sure, but I'd bet any amount of money it had to do with the amount of chemicals I was putting blindly into my body. 

I did get pregnant. I did some intense hormone therapy to get my body working right, and I was rewarded with a beautiful, perfect baby boy. He is such a miracle to me. I did start eliminating processed foods from my diet. I don't eat meat unless I knew where it came from, I shop at the farmers market every weekend, and avoid soy like the devil. Did you know soy has artificial estrogen compounds, and your body may confuse it for the real thing. True story. I got pregnant the second time naturally. I think my body had started to heal, and coming off a pregnancy my body was in gear for more. I had been taking metformin, a blood-sugar stabilizing drug, so that may have helped too, but considering what I went through the first time, this was a piece of cake. My gorgeous baby girl was born just 2 months ago.

Pregnancy is amazing. I have Alli in there.

My children are perfect. They are so pure in body and mind, and I want them to stay that way. I can't do much about their minds after a while, but I'd like to think I can do something about how they treat their bodies. I want them to learn by example that you have to work for your food. Wheat thins don't grow on trees, and Red 40 is not a natural color. I want to feed them whole food, and teach them why they should be eating it.

My little darlings

So my quest begins. I want to un-process our world. I don't want to buy boxes and bags of chemicals from the store anymore. We are going to plant a garden. We are going to raise chickens. We are going to hunt wild game. I am going to make home-made laundry soap. Rome wasn't built in a day, and so I completely understand this is going to take some time. We are going to have to make small changes gradually to find out what works, and I am going to share it with the world. I hope it will be entertaining, educational, enlightening, and probably kind of hilarious.

I may also share some of my other natural mothering obsessions. I may throw in a post or two about babywearing, breastfeeding, and natural birth. I feel like topics like these would help give an overview of what I am trying to accomplish with my life!