Meet Greenola Girl Sarah!

10 years ago, if you had asked me if I were interested in being part of a green living blog, I would have probably laughed at you. But things happen in your life to change you, to alter your perception, and for me, it was my quest to get pregnant. But I'll start from the beginning. 

Up until my senior year in high school, I was the "skinny" girl, I was a competitive swimmer, I was actually told by my coaches to GAIN weight, and I ate like a football player. When I was 17, I found out that I had a form of genetic cancer, thyroid cancer, and I had to have my thyroid removed. I should have relearned how to eat then, but, I thought my metabolism was the same as it always had been. I gained some weight, and then when I went away to college, I got really sick. I have a blood disorder, called Idiopathic Thrombocytopenia Purpura, or ITP. In layman's terms, it's a platelet disorder, and occasionally, my platelet counts drop, and I have to watch for excessive bleeding and bruising. I was in the hospital for a long time, and took an exorbitant amount of steroids, which made me balloon up to the highest weight I've ever been, and I've been struggling since then to get it off. 

Fast forward to 2009- a newlywed, happiest I have EVER been in my life. But we wanted a baby, and I couldn't get pregnant. Found out that I have PCOS, a fairly common thing, especially with women who have packed on some extra LBs over the years. I underwent a year of fertility treatments, hormones, shots, the works. I have a GORGEOUS 17 month old now, courtesy of a process called Intrauterine Insemination (IUI). 

The day after she was born, I promised myself that I was no longer living my life for me, but for my daughter, Allyson Faith. She deserved more than a mother who didn't have the energy to run around crazy with her.  I began watching what I ate, with better food  choices, like organic and locally grown veggies, locally butchered meats, and less processed foods. I also make an effort to choose natural remedies for things around the house, like household cleaners, or headache remedies! All of these changes coupled with exercise, I lost over 40 pounds, and then discovered  I was pregnant! We conceived naturally this time, and, are overjoyed to announce that on April 14th, I delivered a healthy baby girl, Makenna Joy. 

I am excited to continue my journey to a healthier me, and a healthier family!

Meet Greenola Girl Emily!

For the last 5 years, I have put myself on the back burner.  Since becoming a mom to twins, I have put all of my energy and time into being a mom, doing mom things and putting myself on the back burner, because it was the right thing to do at the time. I never even once considered if the food I was consuming was going to have an impact on my health, or my children. That thought is so disturbing to me now. 

 When I found out I was pregnant with my last baby, my son, things began to change. I started to research health during pregnancy, determined not to gain any more weight, as I was already about 50+lbs over. I started slowly increasing exercise and eating healthier. In my quest to find out about health, I came across the topic of breastfeeding. I already knew that I wanted to this time around because the first time I failed. I was determined. Once my son arrived things really changed. I knew I had to change my eating habits so that my son was getting the best nutrition possible. I joined Weight Watchers weeks after his birth and started losing weight like crazy. I was about 40lbs down when people started asking me “Don’t you feel so much better?!”  My automatic answer was, yes but the truth was I was exhausted. I chalked it up to being up all night with a new baby. Then I came across a blog about “real food” that changed my life. I decided our family was going to pledge to eat real food for a week. This was the most eye-opening week of my life. The things I was putting into my body were making me tired. Sure, I was losing weight by restricting calories, but I was still eating lots of refined sugar, flour and things that were making me feel horrible. 

I started cooking fresh, healthy, organic foods daily and I was surprised at how quickly my children adapted. They started asking me at the tender age of 4 if what they were eating had sugar in it, and if it was healthy for them. After a 65+lb weight loss, I feel full of energy since cutting down on refined sugar. Recently, we have been striving to become greener. We switched our 1 year old into cloth diapers and wipes (which we LOVE!).  Instead of buying bulk paper plate stacks, we purchased a cute new dishware set. Rather than going through case after case of bottled water, I bought everyone in our family a reusable water bottle.  I have learned to make my own body wash, shampoo, safe cleaning supplies and various other money saving, green products. This is a journey, and I am still learning new things all of the time.

Meet Greenola Girl Erin!

I am a little hesitant to write an intro post right now.  I learn so much each day and most often my newfound knowledge changes my actions when it comes to natural, healthy, green living.  But for the sake of you, our readers, I will do my best.

I think the core of my healthy habits comes from my mom.  She was a woman ahead of her times.  Back in the early 90s when most people were singing the praises of aspartame and margarine for their health benefits, my mom was telling us how dangerous they were and did her best to keep them out of her home and her families’ diets.  This was true of other things—we always ate whole wheat homemade bread, had bulgur wheat cereal frequently, didn’t even have boxed cereal in our cupboard until, well, never.  She was on top of things.  We all as a family paid less and less attention to what we were eating as we got older and more focused on things like college and moving back to the great United States (that’s a story for later); naturally, my own health was the furthest thing from my mind as I ventured into young adulthood.

Everything changed the moment I found out I was pregnant.  I was now choosing to fuel my child’s development every time I ate or drank anything.  The seeds of my new, “crunchy” lifestyle had begun to grow.  

Throughout my son’s first year of life I have gradually become more and more conscious of what our family eats, drinks, and uses around the house that inevitably goes into our bodies.  My husband, being the intelligent and open-minded person that he is, has happily followed along in my quest for simplification and naturalization in our lives.  If you were to sit him down I believe he would be able to answer you as thoroughly as I could any question about food, health, and wellness.  This helps more than any other thing when it comes to changing a lifestyle.  I value his support and teamwork on this thing more than anything!

Each day that passes finds me embracing more and more natural habits.  I have completely stopped using all my hair products save a natural, argan oil shampoo bar and some organic conditioner.  I even switched my hair dye to an organic, all-natural henna version.  I cook mostly fresh, whole, and organic foods and my son does not eat any refined sugar (though his father and I do on occasion for a “treat”).  

I have found a lot of freedom with this more simplified, natural lifestyle.  There’s no worrying about what we’re eating, no stressing about what I need on the Target health and beauty list and if I’ll have enough to cover the usually astronomical price of a trip through that section of the store.  I save money in some areas and I funnel that money into others—usually the organic food budget.  

I look forward to learning more and hope that you will enjoy reading the articles, blogs, and links we post as we strive to share the wealth of information that we collectively posses.

Meet Greenola Girl Marci!

Who am I? I am a mom to two little boys, ages 15 month and 3 years.  My weekdays are split between taking care of them and going to work/school.  I am currently in the dissertation phase of my schooling and I anticipate graduating with my PhD in Nursing next spring. You may be asking yourself “what does one do with a PhD in Nursing ?” It is a good good question and one I get a lot.  I wish I had an answer, at least for what I will do with a PhD in Nursing, but that is a whole different topic.  While I am nurse, I have always tried to find a balance between traditional medicine and complementary/natural options but really never focused on a more natural, green way of life until my sons were born.

When my first son was born, I made the venture into cloth diapering, making my own baby food, co-sleeping, breastfeeding, etc. I am sure you are starting to get the picture.  The majority of my focus was on them and I really wasn’t focused on me.  I ate processed food and fast food like so many moms out there.   I was active and exercised so I maintained a fairly “healthy” weight.  I was tired but everyone kept telling me that is normal because I am a mom with young kids.  As my older son started getting older, I realized he watched me, he wants to do what I do, he says what I say, and guess what?  If I am eating a big thing of French fries, you got it, he want them too.  I started to phase out fast food and tried to pick better options including organic food.  I shop less in the middle of the grocery store.  I started to read labels but things really changed when I took the Real Food Pledge/Challenge.  It was eye-opening.  I won’t lie, I am not always perfect but overall I have made a huge change in what I buy and feed my kids AND myself (oh and hubby too!).   

Evaluating and changing what we eat on a daily basis has also shifted my attention to other areas of our life.  I have started to focus more on what products we use around the house and on our bodies. It is a slow process for me. I think everyone needs to find a balance.  Hmm is a balance even possible?  I think so. You need to look at your options and figure out what you think is best.  Does it feel like a sacrifice or burden?  I don’t know.  I think once you start it is pretty easy and you just need to remember it really isn’t a competition.  I am not out to win “Crunchiest Mom of the Year”.  You probably won’t catch me chugging raw milk or using elimination communication with my youngest. I still drink 2-3 cups of coffee a day and chances are, you will probably catch me chowing down on Chipotle once or twice a month.  In the end, I am just out to figure out what is best for my family and myself. 

Meet Greenola Girl Adriana!

What led me to look into natural supplements and medicine? My kids’ health.

We all know kids would rather play than make a run to the potty. Yup that’s what my daughter Valerie likes to do all the time. She had her first urinary tract infection last year; she had a fever of 104 so I took her in to see her pediatrician and was prescribed antibiotics. The UTI cleared although she did develop a slight rash from the antibiotic. A couple of months later she had ringworm -I love doing my daughter’s hair and her friends at school love touching it and I believe that’s how she got it. We made another trip to the pedi and she was prescribed oral meds for 6 weeks to treat it and for a while we thought it was going away after she finished the meds. Fast forward about 2 months...after this she gets a second UTI, we made yet another trip to her pedi and were prescribed antibiotics again. This time she broke into a horrible rash the day after she finished the antibiotics - it covered her entire body from the soles of her feet to her throat! I rushed her to the nearest urgent care and turns out she is allergic to sulfa-based antibiotics. The doc there told me that symptoms sometimes start mild but can escalate to be life threatening. I was really scared, her rash went away on its own, but her body took a very long time to recover from all the meds she was exposed to within a 6 month period. She would wake up with red cheeks, her immune system was just so weak and her ringworm came back, she had a toxic liver.

Out of frustration and a little anger towards my daughter’s pediatrician I must say, I started researching natural ways to help her. After all, the human race didn’t make it this far with the help of Doctors and pharmaceuticals.  I started using supplements based on raw foods, not all supplements are created equal! Some have synthetic vitamins which are harmful for you in the long run. I use Vitamin D3 as an immune system booster as well as Vitamin C and Cod Liver Oil, I also give my daughter probiotics a couple of times a day on an empty stomach to help recolonize her gut with good flora which had been killed with the rounds of antibiotics. I also started putting coconut oil on her ringworm, coconut oil is a wonderful gift of nature, it is naturally antibacterial and antifungal. It is taking some time, we are into about 2 months of treatment and she is doing so much better! Her cheeks no longer get red and her ringworm seems to finally be going away for good.

I should add that nutrition plays a big role in our health and we eat a whole foods diet that consists of mostly organic produce and grass/pastured meats/eggs. All my kids get these supplements and they all seem to be overall healthier, we survived the flu season with just a couple of little colds :)  

Look for my future blogs, where I will talk about each supplement individually and its benefits!

Meet Greenola Girl Michelle

Right off the bat, I'm going to make a painful and shocking admission: I'm not perfect.

In fact, in hindsight, I consider myself somewhat of a failure as a mother. No, I didn't drop my baby on her head, I didn't smoke while pregnant, and I didn't lose my child at a crowded department store. What I did was ignore my knowledge and best instincts - for years - in favor of convenience.

I skimmed the PETA brochures during college. I read "Fast Food Nation" in my twenties. I watched every news segment about packaged foods, E. coli, and the potential health dangers lurking in my fridge. I even follow Michael Pollan, food genius, on facebook. But still I couldn't get past convenience shopping and cooking - buying whatever meat and produce happened to be on sale at Super Target and shaping my family meals around those choices. I told myself, "at least I'm not just reheating frozen chicken nuggets and making the powdered mac n cheese," all the while knowing that I wasn't doing the best I could do.

But, after watching two documentaries recently ("Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead" and "Food, Inc."), my husband and I had a collective epiphany about what we have been putting into our bodies and the precious bodies of our two daughters.

NO MORE. NO EXCUSES.

Will it be inconvenient to drive twenty minutes past Target to the closest farmers market or well-stocked natural foods store? Hell yes. Will it mean setting aside a bit more for our grocery budget? Absolutely. Is it worth all this trouble? In my opinion, undoubtedly so.

And now that I'm putting this in a public space, I have to hold myself accountable. Furthermore, YOU must hold me accountable. Because when it comes to the health of myself and my family, as well as the health of the planet I leave my children and future generations, it all starts with me. Small changes beget bigger ones, and I look forward to sharing my family's transition to a whole and healthy lifestyle with you.