How i got into the crunchy life
I swear if you have asked me 10 years ago about clean beauty and why reducing toxins matters, I would have no idea and probably wouldn’t care. I was using lotion from Bath and Body Works, Benefit makeup, salon hair products, super scented candles and so much more. It all started when I got to college in 2011. I started having serious gut issues and hormonal issues out of nowhere. Maybe it was triggered by stress, dietary options in college, toxic exposure... I will truly never know and can only speculate. For those four years I struggled with serious anxiety and depression and had lots and lots of diarrhea accompanied by random stomach pains. My periods were the most painful they had ever been and I was suffering from pretty bad PMS, I just didn’t know or understand what was happening to me.
For most of those four years, after some consultation, I went gluten and dairy free to see if it made a difference. It certainly helped a little bit, but it was not the solution. It didn’t help that my family did not have health insurance so my options were limited and I didn’t want to burden my newly divorced parents with my issues. At one point we paid out of pocket for an H. Pylori test, but it was negative. So I just kept dealing with my symptoms as they arose and thought that’s what my life would be like. I somehow graduated, met my husband, got my first job (with health insurance), got married and started living life as a newly married person. My depression was the worst it had ever been and I was barely 120 pounds when we got married, so we decided to start pursuing some testing.
In 2015, I got a colonoscopy and endoscopy to rule out celiac disease and look for any other issues. After nothing definitive was discovered, I was diagnosed with Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS). I thought to myself, “this is it! I finally got some answers.” As you may or may not know, there is no pill for IBS. I dug my mind into books, research and diets and ultimately learned that IBS is pretty much a bullshit diagnosis that says “we actually don’t know what's wrong with you, but you’re just gonna live with unexplained diarrhea, indigestion and acid reflux.” So I started with internet basics and got nowhere. Don't follow internet basics. So I started my journey of trying different diets and finally began to make progress. I started with the low FODMAP diet and I was amazed at the progress I had made. It really began to help with my indigestion and acid reflux. I bought a book called The Acid Reflux Solution and used many of their recipes. I followed instructions to heal GERD and leaky gut and this is where things began to get real crunchy.
I started to realize I was on to something and just kept grabbing books and reading articles on how to heal your body. While I was dealing with my own health issues, I was increasingly hearing about friends or family struggling with infertility, experiencing miscarriages, skin issues, gut issues, cancer, etc. My research expanded and I started my search on “what can negatively impact fertility” needless to say my mind was blown so while I was healing my gut, I began to reduce my toxic load. It was overwhelming how much I wanted to change, but I just started moving my feet and with time, things greatly improved.
The journey to change out my household products began. I started with cleaning products, shower items and kept moving through my personal care products: hair products, toothpaste, deodorant, lotions, skincare and I wasted so much money trying products over and over again. Finally there were two companies that really guided me in my research and that was Juice Plus+ and Beautycounter. The resources and community they provide were a huge help for me and to this day I use their products and other recommended brands. That’s why I’m here, I’m so excited to share what products I love, what worked for me so that hopefully I can save you time and money on your journey.
