Simple Steps for a Smooth Transition to Organic Living

Part 2

This is the second article in a series of articles on organic living.  To read the first one click here. 

It can be overwhelming and let’s face it expensive to clean out your entire house of all the conventional items, in one shot. Try replacing the products you already use with organic ones as you run out. This approach makes the task of turning green into a doable shift. We will start today with tips to help you tackle your kitchen.

1. Start in the kitchen and open your fridge. Pick a produce item that you eat regularly and make a pledge to look for an organic counterpart during your next supermarket trip. Keep in mind the Environmental Working Group’s Dirty Dozen when starting out. (For a complete shopper’s guide of pesticides in produce you can visit www.foodnews.org.) The items with the most pesticides, and ones to buy organic first are: peaches, apples, sweet bell peppers, celery, nectarines, strawberries, cherries, pears, imported grapes, spinach, lettuce and potatoes. The cleanest conventional produce items, and the ones you can stock up on with less worries are: onions, avocados, frozen sweet corn, pineapples, mangos, asparagus, frozen sweet peas, kiwis, bananas, cabbage, broccoli and eggplant. This is a great list to remember especially if you are on a budget and can’t buy all organic at first. As you can see from this list there are a few frozen items thrown in, so before long you will have things in tip top shape in your freezer as well.

2. Next take a look at your condiments. It’s amazing how many bottles of hot sauce and mustard I had on my fridge door when I first set out to do this. Instead of throwing everything out and starting over, I allowed myself to begin looking for an organic replacement for my Dijon mustard, after I squeezed the last drop out of my old stand-by. Then during my next shopping trip it was time to replace that good old ketchup bottle. Each time I ran out of an item, then and only then would I replace it. In no time I had a completely organic range of tasty add-ons to spice up my meals. Both my taste buds and my pocketbook were thrilled!

3. Now it’s time to move to your staple items in your cupboards. These can be your dried spices, grains, legumes, granola, nuts, dried fruit, or baking ingredients. Just like with your fridge and freezer items, take this one step, or item at a time. A great budget saver here is to shop in the bulk bin aisle of your health food stores. I love these bins for another reason too. They allow me to experiment with new items, with relatively little cost. You can buy a handful of a different dried fruit, or go wild and try out a new spice that would have seemed wasteful if you bought a whole bottle and didn’t end up liking it. This category can also house some convenient foods you need to have on hand. Maybe your little one just loves Mac- n-cheese and you don’t always (or ever) have the time to make a healthy one from scratch. Well you could start by replacing their favorite conventional boxed item with an organic version. Not only will you be saving their bodies from the pesticides, preservatives, and antibiotics, but you’ll also be eliminating a lot of the unhealthy fats and chemicals that are contributing to childhood obesity. This is a small change that can reap a big reward- peace of mind!

So as you can see, by implementing these 3 simple steps, you can be well on your way to cleaning out all those nasty chemical ridden foods and restocking your kitchen (and your bodies) with foods that will nourish you. It can be easy on you and your food budget!

Stay tuned as we move to your bathroom and address what’s lurking in your personal care products next. You won’t believe what that miracle wrinkle cream is really feeding your skin. No worries though, because there’s plenty of options that will leave you healthy and beautiful!

Written by: Jennifer Wisnew

Jennifer Wisnew, CHHC, AADP

Jennifer is a Certified Holistic Health Counselor, dedicated to her clients with a unique approach to build a life that truly brings them joy! She is the owner of Life Renovated Health Counseling, located in the lower Hudson Valley region of New York. Jennifer is an animal lover who loves cooking, reading, gardening, dancing and researching.

Spring is well upon us, and most people are feeling the urge to reawaken their energy sources. The question I get asked most often this time of year is, how can I get more energy to allow me to do all I want to do? So here are my top 5 tips to get you going this season.

1. Drink plenty of good quality water. Many times we reach for a candy bar, or a cup of coffee to get us going, but the truth is that water is really what our body is craving. Most people are walking around chronically dehydrated and are mistaking hunger pains, or fatigue for our bodies cries for water.

2. Include plenty of dark leafy greens in your daily diet. Greens are full of vitamins and nutrients that will help lift your spirit, as well as give you energy to get all the many “to do’s” we all have in our busy days. Adding just a salad a day, filled with mixed baby greens, will do the trick.

3. Make time for some physical activity daily. Now some of you will stop reading at this point, but hang with me for a minute and let me explain. If for some reason, adding exercise to your ever-growing list of things you must do is out of the question, there’s hope. I will tell you from personal experience that adding just 10 minutes a day, and then slowly increasing from there, really makes a difference. We all realistically have 10 minutes that we could do something. Playing ball with your kids, taking a quick walk with your honey after dinner, starting your day with a simple yoga routine all count. Whatever gets you up and moving! What I’ve found is that those 10 minutes grow to 15 and so on, especially if you are having fun. So lose the chore mentality and just do something that makes you happy.

4. Get more rest and relaxation. Here’s one my couch potato readers will enjoy (and don’t think for a minute that I’m excluding myself from that description-don’t we all love to curl up on the couch?) I find though, that when I haven’t been sleeping as much as my body needs, I want to stay on that darn couch and forget about tip # 3. Then one day I made the connection and saw that my body was screaming for some down time. Even if you can’t fit another hour in your night to play catch up with sleep, you can do something relaxing for yourself, so your mind and body has time to unwind.

5. Rethink any relationships you might have in your life that zap your energy. Now this one won’t always be easy and it doesn’t mean that you have to cut all ties with those nearest and dearest to you either. But I bet we all can think of at least one person, who no matter what has a way of zapping all your optimism. Whether they are your overly critical boss, your nosy neighbor, or that coworker who just drives you crazy with all that negative whining. So what to do about those people, besides, quitting, or moving far, far away? Sometimes just realizing that you have some of these energy drainers, in your life, can cause you to shift and set healthy boundaries, or find a better way to communicate with them. Some need more drastic measures and ties do need to be cut for your emotional health, but the awareness alone can do wonders for you in the meantime. Then when you can, surround yourself with people who lift you up and support you. This is a sure fire way to put a spring in your step and get, and keep you moving in the direction you are looking to grow in.

Jennifer Wisnew, CHHC, AADP

Jennifer is a Certified Holistic Health Counselor, dedicated to her clients with a unique approach to build a life that truly brings them joy! She is the owner of Life Renovated Health Counseling, located in the lower Hudson Valley region of New York. Jennifer is an animal lover who loves cooking, reading, gardening, dancing and researching.