Taking Back Your Power | CONSUMER EDITION
I would be doing everyone a disservice if all I only talked about was how to look their best on camera, followed by sexy lingerie websites to shop and poses to do.
When I started calling in more self-confidence there are a few key things I learned I was not expecting but helped me immensely to feel like I can start having more control in my life, therefore, feeling more confident in myself.
Feeling confident is more than how we look on the outside, it’s taking command of our life when we have allowed others to do the driving for us. From controlling family members, to the food we eat, the mainstream information we consume, to the products that we rely on to make us look our best, when we opt for others to make that decision for us we give away our power of choice. The decisions being made for us are not always in our best interest. If you take a moment to look a little closer, you may find that some things do not actually align with your needs and values. Here are 3 things to look into and how to make a change being a consumer:
Beauty & Cleaning Products | Clean or Toxic?
The Food You Eat | Where it Comes From
Companies that Support What you Stand By
Beauty & Cleaning Products | Clean or Toxic?
We know the food we eat plays a huge part of how we feel day to day. You may also know that some foods aren’t exactly what they claim to be or do as they are advertised. For example, the 90’s ‘Fat-Free’ trend that seemed to be on nearly every type of food at the grocer. Only to later find out research showed it lead to a rise of health risks with the overconsumption in sugar. Grouping all, healthy and saturated fats, into one category and launching a campaign demonizing it, doing the opposite of what it was intended for.
The major processed food industry has made it clear they follow trends and do not have you or my healths in their best interest. I am not going to sit on a soap box and say eat a well balance meal. Thats harder than it seems, whether the organic produce is too costly, or ignoring each and every individuals health and allergen requirements. What you can do is start scanning your foods…
When you go the store, scan your favorite items and see what ingredients are in them. Chances are some may have long and complicated names we do not understand and this app will break it down simply to what you need to know about it.
The app is called YUKA, I use it so much in store my husband Jason has started asking me to scan items he’s looking to buy to make sure it’s not toxic. Something he actually use to poke fun at me for. Oh how the turntables.
If you are someone who wears makeup, ESPECIALLY often, use this app to scan your beauty products. If you are a person with a uterus, you should know what products are a endocrine disrupters, causing major hormone imbalances in your body. You’ll be shocked to find how many rate so low, sadly. I have had to say good-bye to items I loved, realizing my mood and hormonal health would be better off if I stopped buying that flawless concealer I loved so much. That is reality of the trade-offs we make.
Endocrine disruptors are harmful chemicals that can be found in food, water and many consumer products.
Use the Think Dirty App to find swaps for toxic home cleaning products.
They disrupt our hormone system, which can lead to a wide range of significant health harms.
These harms include reproductive issues like changes to fertility, early puberty and risk of low birth weight, obesity, diabetes, immune system impacts, cardiovascular and respiratory problems, some types of cancer, and neurological and behavioral problems. The developing fetus, infants and children are especially vulnerable, since their physiological systems are still developing.
- From Environmental Working Group . org
'“Take a moment to ask yourself how many products you use in a typical day. Cream, lotion, deodorant, soap, perfume, makeup, lip balm? Now ask yourself how many ingredients are in those products. According to a survey conducted by the Environmental Working Group, the average person uses 9 products daily, which contain 126 unique ingredients. This wouldn’t be so concerning if the ingredients in our cosmetics were actually regulated. You heard me: safety tests are not required for the cosmetic industry!”
- From Non Toxic Revolution . org
THIS IS HUGE because this can mean your moods swings and moments of feeling disconnected from yourself could be rooted in the products you use. By no means am I promising this is the solution, but a call to action to start investigating ways to start clearing out the toxins in your life and bring clarity to make your next move to feeling yourself again. When our number one organ that absorbs the most is our skin, it matters the cosmetics we buy.
The food you eat | Where it comes from
This means for foods as well. Of course, always support your local farmers market and farmers, minimizing overly-processed foods where you can. Be curious and ask questions,
‘Are your animals humanly raised and allowed pastures to roam freely?’
“Is this bread made with flour that is glyphosate-free?’
‘Are any sprays used on the produce?’
Nobody is perfect, every now and again I can’t resist a salty bag of chips, but I play a mindful eye on my weekly meals to balance out my childhood favorite foods, and you can do the same. I get it, going cold turkey is challenging. You don’t have to be perfect, but making some small changes may make a world of a difference for your daily mood.
A toxin like glyphosate is unfortunately in a laundry list of foods that can be easily found in anything wheat germ. Glyphosate is the World’s most used Herbicide, a probable human carcinogen, declared by the world health organization.
It flat out sucks to know glyphosate is in nearly all foods in mass produced foods, check out the resources below to find ways to make some swaps. Personally, I love to bake, so I will purchase flour from out of the country where glyphosate has been banned so that I can continue making my baked goods at home. Just because what you use is toxic doesn’t mean you have to give up what you love.
companies that support what you stand by
In a world where it often feels like it’s on fire and ending, you can still vote with your dollar. Checking in with your values and morals, check to see what your favorite companies support. Yes, it’s easy to feel helpless in some cases, but take you power where you can get it. Scan the products with buycott and see what your dollar is being used for. Then walk around like the badass you are, knowing you’re sending your money what you feel matters to help the world, and yourself.
Ignorance is bliss, knowledge is power.
Do what you can, where you can. Your health, your emotional and mental state will determine what kind of day you’re going to have. Clean out the mess, what doesn’t serve you and whats going to put your health at risk. And a ‘fuck you’ to the companies that lie and sneakily trick you into thinking something is good for you when it clearly is not. Take back your power, know what works for YOU. Consume with your health in mind.
BELOW YOU WILL FIND MY PERSONAL SWAPS I FOUND MOST IMPORTANT FOR SKIN ABSORBTION
RESOURCES AND LINKS
“How our Skin Absorbs Toxic Chemicals...”
“What are Endocrine Disrupters? ”
“10 Things to Know About Glyphosate ”