Chemical Romance

Have you ever heard the saying "Genes load the gun, lifestyle pulls the trigger"?

I learned it in school while studying Holistic Nutrition and it really stuck with me. For years I became this super preachy healthy eating guru that pissed a lot of people off with my loud bantering about plant based eating. I'm well aware of how many people I annoyed. I see the Facebook memories, after all. Ha.

But then I went through a lot in a few years, where stress was my best friend. I encountered health issues of my own, I ate junk because it made me feel better emotionally, and then last year I had 3 life changing events take place in the span of just a few months and they profoundly impacted how I live my life.

Here is what I have learned because of those events:

1. Balance is everything. You can try your hardest to feed your children only veggies and make everything from scratch, but its exhausting. It's hard to keep up with. It's hard to explain to your kids when they just want to go to their friend's birthday party and eat some cake and instead you send them with your "special" cake only they can eat.

Let them eat some cake every once in a while. Teach them about balance. "These vegetables will help you grow big and strong, are essential to life, and if prepared correctly taste really good. These other treats are good too, but not good for you. We eat these for special occasions". Let your kids cook and bake with you, and they will be more willing to eat what you make.

2. Self-care needs to be a priority for all mom's. All. Of. Them. No excuses. Ever. Make time for yourself, even if it means waking up a few minutes early. Meditate. Work out. Write. Read a book. Drink a cup of coffee somewhere quiet. Just 5 minutes. Try to do it without electronics. Just make sure you do it.

Along with this, I'd like to add that if you are married or partnered with someone who is a co-parent to your children, they NEED to be on board with this. I know husband's in particular can get a reputation of not helping around the house, or with the kids. This drives me insane.

My message to these husbands: Man the fuck up. Do the laundry. Do the dishes. Meal plan and go grocery shopping. Do something other than fiddle in your garage, play video games and drink beer with friends. Help your wife out. She's not your slave. But you know what will happen if you don't help? She'll burn out, resent you, and then go find a hot rich man to take your place. So man the fuck up.

3. Ditch chemicals. All of them. Every. Last. One. There are certainly ways to successfully clean your house, wash the clothes, and make yourself look nice without chemical laden products. Chemicals massively impact our hormones (MASSIVELY!), our nervous system, our immune systems... on not just the mom's, who clean (see above message again if your a mama who does all the cleaning!) it also affects our children. Think about it. The average working full time mom. How many chemicals does she touch in a day?

- face wash
- toothpaste
- deoderant
- body cream, face cream, hand cream
- make-up
- perfume
- laundry soap
- fabric softner
- dish soap
- bleach
- stain remover
- hand soaps
- cleaning wipes
- glass cleaning sprays
- all purpose sprays
- shampoos
- conditioners
- hair products
- air fresheners and aerosol sprays
- wax burners with scent
- ... don't even get me started on sunscreen!

etc. etc. etc.

That's just the tip of the iceburg. It all contributes to our health. None of the chemicals used in these traditional products are safe. I know it can seem intimidating to get rid of these products, and you think you won't get the same "clean" smell in your house, or replacing these products are too expensive. And you think, "I'm not making my own shit, I don't have time for that!". I'm here to tell you that it isn't hard, and it isn't expensive. Baby steps will get you there.

The price and convenience of traditional chemical-filled products are not worth your health. Or the health of your children.

You may think "I'm fine, my kids are fine, these products haven't done anything bad to us". I thought so too. Exactly that. But then my kid got sick and I sat beside him while he was receiving his first round of dialysis and I couldn't help but think to myself "was there something I could have done to prevent this? Is this my fault somehow?" and the guilt. Oh the guilt. And yes, I know it's not something I specifically did, and I have come to peace with the massive feeling of guilt. But you can bet every cent you have that I'm going to make sure I do all I can to never be in that position again where I'm watching my kid slowly slip away in a hospital. Because "it sucks" is the understatement of the century.

I promise I'm not going to be this super preachy "health guru". I'm currently munching on non-homemade chocolate chip cookies. No joke.

But I do want to spread awareness so that parents feel empowered to take control of their lives and how they raise their kids. We, as consumers, have the power here. Enough is enough with shitty companies who are out there to make a profit and don't care about the impact their products have on health.  

Stay tuned for more. I will be posting soon about how to ditch chemicals, practice self-care, and how to be a conscious consumer.

If you have any questions, please feel free to reach out!

Barefeet & Heartbeat

Welcome everyone!

My name is Caitlin and I am the mom of 2 little boys. I live in Ontario, Canada and I am passionate about healthy living. 

I decided to write down some of my ideas for eating and living healthy, without spending a fortune. We all know how easy it is to overspend on organic produce, vitamins and supplements, superfood treats, or just flat out get so lost on Pinterest with recipes that definitely do not look (or taste!) like how the recipe says. Or maybe you have really picky eaters. That's where I come in. 

Over the years, I have not only experimented with food, but also with meal planning and staying within a budget. Having 2 boys, they eat a lot of food. I'm quite terrified for their teenage years! (I'm also scared of the sarcasm, as they are my children after all!)

A little background:

I suffered from postpartum depression after the birth of my second son. It was during this period that I was lucky enough to find how important it is to eat carefully and healthfully, and certain high quality vitamins can help mental health. This opened the door and turned on the light for me, and I was hooked. I enrolled in a Holistic Nutrition program with a 2.5 year old and a 4 month old baby at home, while my husband worked 40+ a week and traveled for work consistently. I just couldn't stop grasping for more information to further my education. 

Since then, I've run my own business and worked closely with numerous health food stores. I've encountered my fair share of personal health problems along the way - but I've never lost faith in the importance of healthy eating and self-care (which EVERY mom should practice regularly!). 

Last year our oldest son, now 8 years old, became quite sick. He went from being a completely healthy and normal boy to very sick in the hospital with acute kidney failure. He ended up needing biopsies, dialysis and high dose steroids to control his immune system (which was ultimately attacking his kidneys and causing them to cease function). The cause of the entire ordeal ended up being exposure to Group A Strep. This is fairly common, and while most people get pretty sick with Strep, a round of antibiotics gets them back on their feet. In Gage's case, it activated something in his immune system which then attacked his kidneys. We lived in Sick Kids Hospital in Toronto for weeks until Gage was well enough to come home, then we became out-patients for months. Today, Gage is once again healthy and active. We are so lucky to have had such an incredible support system and a team of doctors that worked very hard to save our boys life. 

While doctor's are confident that Gage will continue to be healthy, there is no "sure thing" that this won't happen again and we really don't have an explanation for why it happened in the first place. This makes us even more conscious about the food we give our kids and the chemicals we expose them to - because it all adds up. 

I didn't start doing this because it was popular and 'all the rage'. I actually got into this industry before it became "cool" to drink smoothies every morning and eat kale for every meal. 

I got into healthy living because I know what it's like as a mother to feel like your drowning. I know how exhausting motherhood can be. I also know what it's like to sit beside your kids hospital bed, sick with worry, and utterly helpless. 

I'll be posting recipes, meal planning tips, natural cleaning tips, and how to do it all on a budget. 

Stay tuned!