Inspiration – Additive Free Lifestyle: Recent Episodes

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As small business owners ourselves, we know how important it is to support small businesses, especially when you consider how many small businesses are closing or have closed these days.

There are so many ways to support the small guy, but quite literally, the easiest and most effective is to purchase their products.

Think of your local places that sell:

👉🏻 Clothes/hats/scarves/beanies

👉🏻 Homewares

👉🏻 Giftware/jewellery/pottery

👉🏻 Hampers/chocolates

👉🏻 Cosmetics

👉🏻 Skincare/bodycare

Or what about those that provide a service such as:

👉🏻 Beauty salon

👉🏻 Day spa

👉🏻 Hairdresser

👉🏻 Florist

👉🏻 Massage

👉🏻 Restaurant/Cafe

👉🏻 Fitness/owner-operated gyms

Over the years I have purchased PT sessions, massage vouchers, day spa vouchers, salon vouchers, even a movie ticket and dinner at a local restaurant. I love giving experiences to people that otherwise wouldn’t do those things for themselves.

Last year my kids all chipped in and got us a voucher at Pumphouse Point (we then added the rest 😝 ). It was amazing and such a great experience, one of the best gifts to support the local economy.

It is very easy to shop online, we get it, but helping keep small businesses alive is literally the backbone of the economy…let’s do all we can to support these guys!

If you do want to shop online then consider places like ETSY or businesses you know are local. Personally, I have asked for a handmade wooden essential oil stand that I saw online, made by an Aussie family, so fingers crossed that is heading my way.

We have created a list of some of our fav online stores you may like to check out below 👇👇

Another place to look is your local markets and stalls, we are lucky here in Hobart as Salamanca Market is ah-mazing, just saying!

And we haven’t even mentioned DIY – but you can make so many amazing things that are easily as good, if not better than the bought versions. Bath salts, body scrubs, pure-fumes, chocolates etc. Check out this webinar we hosted with a few of our doTERRA friends – so many amazing gift ideas that will blow your mind.

Anyway, we hope this has given you a few ideas and things to think about this gift-giving season (but also for all future gift-giving reasons).

Have the happiest and safest Christmas

Love and light to you all

Tracey and Jo

xx

BE HERSAn amazing charity that fights against human trafficking but who also sell beautiful merchandise.

Click To ShopADORN COSMETICSAn Australian cosmetics brand that is additive-free and phenomenal for your skin.

Click To Shop123 NOURISH MEAn Australian brand that sells all kinds of low tox products for kids and adults.

Click To ShopSOLIDTEKNICSAn Australian company who sells cookware that lasts for generations.

Click To ShopSTYLE ME OVERJo has many clothes from this online store and loves it! Style Me Over is not your ordinary fashion boutique, they are a holistic fashion experience offering tailored services such as personal shopping, guest speaking, group style sessions, makeovers, workshops and more.

Click To ShopKRISSY BALLINGERFormerly The Inspired Little Pot. An Aussie Mum who is passionate about health, the human body and the planet. Her books inspire you to live a life less toxic with amazing hints, tips and recipes.

Click To ShopBIOMEAn Australian online store selling environmentally friendly products to cater to all areas of your life, including gift-giving.

Click To ShopdoTERRA*A company that sells pure essential oils, diffusers, skin and body care products.

Click To ShopVITALIAAn essential oils accessories store that sells all sorts of wonderful things including so many amazing resource books for all things in your life.

Click To Shop*We know doTERRA itself as a company is not a small business, however, there are so many Aussie people who have a small business selling doTERRA. So this not only puts food on their table but also fees the farming families from the third world countries where most of the doTERRA’s oils are sourced.

FRANCESCAAn Australian jewellery brand that constantly gives back to charities via charitable donations and partnerships.

Click To ShopBOODYAn Aussie company that sells incredibly comfortable and environmentally friendly clothing.

Click To ShopBAXTER BLUEAn Aussie blue light and sunglasses store that has partnered with Restoring Vision with the pledge that for every pair of Baxter’s you purchase, they will provide a pair of reading glasses for someone in need.

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Last Sunday (21 November 2021) we had a pre-Christmas lunch with our family as a few of us will be traveling and won’t be here on Christmas Day. We kept it super casual and fuss-free, and it was perfect. Since it was lunch we didn’t bother with any elaborate platters (as there was enough food about to be consumed), so all we had was just had a bowl of Bhuja original mix (which didn’t really get eaten as I think everyone was saving themselves for the smorgasbord about to happen).

• We gathered around 11 am, opened presents, and ate around 12 pm.

For lunch, we had a pretty traditional roast turkey, roast chicken, a range of vegetables, and steamed trout (see – simple, but delicious).

Here’s a breakdown of what we had:

MAIN MEAL 🦃 Roast turkey with stuffingIngredients

1 roast turkey

Stuffing recipe:
About 6-8 slices of crusty bread (freeze crusts)
1 large brown onion, diced
1 heaped tablespoon dried mixed herbs
1 heaped tablespoon chicken bone broth powder
1 large tablespoon butter

Optional: Once blended, stir in a handful of chopped walnuts and dried cranberries

Method
1. Place everything into a blender and puree until fine.

1. Insert stuffing into the turkey cavity and cook as per package instructions.

This serving platter is our 99-year-old Nan’s, apparently, she used to serve Christmas dinner on it when our Mum was a little girl ❤️.

🍗 Roast chickenIngredients
1/2 brown onion, peeled
1 garlic clove, peeled
1 large chicken
1 teaspoon paprika
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon mixed herbs

drizzle olive oil

Method
1. Place the onion and garlic clove into the middle of the cavity.

1. Place chicken on a roasting tray and cover the skin with herbs and spices. Drizzle the top with olive oil.

2. Roast in the oven at 200ºC for 30 mins then turn it down to 180ºC until cooked. This will depend on how large your chicken is. We allowed 2 hours for ours.

Notes: You can flavour your chicken with anything you like. Flavours that work well, either together or mixed and matched are: lemon zest, fresh garlic, sliced onion, marjoram, mixed herbs, garlic powder, and paprika.

🍠 Roast potatoes, sweet potato, and pumpkin
Use as many roast veggies as you need. Peel and chop them up into roasting-sized chunks and par-boil the potatoes until just tender (but not cooked).
Place them into a roasting/baking tray and cover with olive oil. Sprinkle herbs and spices (of choice) over them all.
Bake at 180ºC for 45 minutes – 1 hour or until golden and cooked through.

🌽 Boiled peas, beans, carrots, and corn
No need for a recipe for those 😉

🧀 Cauliflower bakeIngredients

1 whole cauliflower
1 x batch white sauce

1 cup freshly grated cheese

Method

1. Preheat oven to 180ºC.

2. Dice cauliflower into chunks and place it into an oven-safe dish.

3. Cover with white sauce and top with grated cheese.

4. Bake for 45 minutes.

Note: If the top begins to cook too much cover it with some foil, or turn the temp down and cook for a bit longer.

🦃 Homemade turkey gravyIngredientsJuices from the cooked turkey

4 tablespoons plain flour (GF works well)

4 tablespoons chicken bone broth powder

2 cup cold water

Approx 2 cups water (use the water from boiled veggies for extra flavour), plus a little extra cold water

Salt and pepper

Method

1. Add all the juices and any little bits of meat that have stuck to the roasting tray to a frying pan along with 1 cup water and turn onto medium-high heat.

2. In a separate jug mix together the flour, bone broth powder, and 1/2 cup cold water to form a runny paste.

3. Pour the paste into the pan and stir continuously until it starts to thicken, then turn the temperature down to very low. As it gets thicker add boiling veggie water until you get the consistency you desire.

🐟 Steamed troutIngredients1 lemon, sliced

3-4 teaspoons butter

2 teaspoons garlic powder

2 teaspoons dried or one handful fresh dill

Salt/pepper

Method

1. Layout some foil and baking paper onto an oven tray. Ensure there is enough to wrap around the fish.

2. Place 1/2 the sliced lemon and 3-4 teaspoons of butter onto the baking paper. Lay the trout on top.

3. Add the remaining sliced lemon along the inside of the fish, along with a few grindings of salt and pepper.

4. Sprinkle the trout with garlic powder, dill and a little extra salt and pepper.

5. Wrap the fish up, ensure it is all covered. Cook on approx 150 – 170ºC. Cooking time will vary depending on the size of your fish. Our fish (pictured) was 3 pounds and we cooked it for 45 minutes.

DESSERT 🧁 Mini pavlovas

Notes: We made individual pavlovas so each person could build-their-own. It’s a really great way to do it, especially when there are allergies or food intolerances.

The toppings on offer we had were:

👉🏻 Whipped cream

👉🏻 Fruit salad

👉🏻 Strawberries

👉🏻 Coal River Farm chocolate honeycomb broken into pieces

We used this recipe.

🎄 Christmas pudding (our grandmother’s recipe)

Ingredients

1/2 packet mixed fruit (preservative-free)

1/2 packet dates, chopped fine

2 cups plain flour + extra for muslin cloth coating

2 cups milk

2 tablespoons butter + extra for muslin cloth coating

1 cup white sugar

1 tablespoon bicarb soda

25ml butter rum essence (not totally additive-free)

Method

1. Mix fruit and dry ingredients (not bi-carb) together in a large bowl.

2. Heat the milk and butter together in a pot until nearly boiling, then pour into bowl with dry ingredients. Stir together.

3. Add bicarb and butter rum essence to the bowl and mix until well combined. The mixture will be quite wet and that’s ok.

4. Damp a large piece of calico cloth (approx 50 x 50cm) and spread it with butter and a sprinkling of flour to stop it from sticking to the pudding. Flour well or line with damp baking paper.

5. Place cloth inside a large bowl with the cloth overhanging the sides of the bowl. Have this floured side up (you’re about to tip the pudding mixture in).

6. Pour the batter into the bowl (on top of the baking paper if using) and then scrunch the top together. Tie in string so it’s tight and no water can get through.

7. Using a large pot (bigger than the pudding) place a plate in the bottom to stop the pudding from touching the bottom. Place pudding in, then fill with water so the pudding is submerged. Boil on low for 2 and half hours.

8. Remove pudding and let it cool down to room temperature. Keep in cloth until ready to eat.

🎄 Vanilla Custard

Ingredients

500 grams milk

60 grams raw sugar

30 grams cornflour

2 eggs

Thermal Method

1. Add sugar and cornflour to mixing jug and blitz for 10 seconds/speed 9.

2. Add all remaining ingredients to mixing jug and cook for 7 minutes/90°C/speed 4.

Traditional Method

1. Add all ingredients to a saucepan and cook over medium heat until a smooth, thick consistency. Stir constantly.

DRINKS We kept it really simple when it came to beverages:

Water

Roar raspberry cordial

Lemonade (Schweppes contains the least additives)

Beer (which the boys drank)

It wasn’t a perfectly additive-free Christmas lunch (thanks to the rum and lemonade), but as we say, sometimes you just #dontstressit

We hope this has given you some ideas for your Christmas food.

Have an amazing day and a very merry Christmas to you all.

Much love,

Jo & Tracey x

The post Our (almost) Additive-Free Christmas Lunch appeared first on Additive Free Lifestyle.

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2021 – who would have thought we’d live in a world like we are right now?

It’s crazy times, people are scared, you never know what you’re going to wake up to and people’s freedoms are being taken away.

People’s mental health is suffering and it breaks our hearts to watch. It’s mental health week so we thought it was the perfect time to release a blog on my personal top five things I do when I’m suffering crippling anxiety.

I have suffered depression many times over the years with crippling anxiety. It’s not something I talk about much, but perhaps I should!

The more we normalise these conditions, the less alone people feel!!

1 in 5 Australians have a mental health condition.

According to The Australia’s Health 2020 report. This shows that you aren’t alone even though I know how isolated you can feel.

Please always reach out to friends, family, or entities such as these:

📸 👆🏻 Courtesy of healthdirect

Tapping into support services during this time can be really beneficial, so if you feel this is right for you then there’s plenty of help out there.

My top 5 favourite things to do when I feel down, anxious and like the weight of the world is on my shoulders. 1. EXERCISE

Even though it’s the very last thing I feel like doing, it is so good for my mental health. I actually call my walks on my own my ‘therapy time’.

Get outside, get some fresh air and move your body. It doesn’t need to be fast, even a stroll is all you need. See if you can do this on your own, otherwise, get the kids on their bikes and head outdoors.

Exercise is the game-changing thing you can do to help mental health naturally. Trust me, it helps!

1. SLEEP

I try and head to bed early and get a good night’s sleep. It’s hard sometimes when the mind is racing but getting a good night’s sleep is often one of the best ways to help reduce anxious feelings. Often we wake up feeling so much better, with a clearer head and better frame of mind.

1. NO ALCOHOL

Alcohol is a depressant. You might feel ok while you’re drinking, but you’ll only wake up feeling more depressed the next day. I always wake up with anxiety after a few wines!

1. JOURNALING AND POSITIVE AFFIRMATIONS

My whole world changes when I journal and write down what I’m grateful for. I remember a time when I was in a super dark tunnel and I was told to do this. I just stood there and thought “I have nothing to write” so I thought of simple things.

I wrote “I am grateful for…

✔️ my bed

✔️ my house

✔️ my breakfast

✔️ my car

✔️ my family

and then it got easier and easier.

I realised that even though I was super depressed and didn’t want to feel the way I felt, there were still good things around me! Great things around me in fact!!

I urge you to give journaling a go and write down five things you are grateful for today. Try and get into the habit of doing this every day.

We made our mum do this when she was battling leukemia and it helped to put a positive spin on her day even though there appeared to be not a lot of hope some days.

1. ESSENTIAL OILS

I remember thinking these were just hippy woo woo smelly things. When I first got my oils I only used them in food. But I then replaced my cleaning products with DIY and lowered my toxic load. THEN I saw the potential to use these oils for emotional benefits.

It might seem woo woo but there are a lot of published studies showing the benefits of essential oils for emotional well-being. And hey, isn’t it worth giving a go?

Some of my favourite essential oils to use when my feelings are anxious are (the brand I love is doTERRA):

• Siberian Fir
• Frankincense
• Douglas Fir
• Wild Orange
• Bergamot
• Balance Blend

Depending on what smells good and what I’m drawn to that particular day, I’ll mix a few drops with some fractionated coconut oil and apply to my chest, spine, and back of neck.

I will pop a drop or two in my hands and cup them over my nose and mouth and breathe. Deep long breaths until I calm down. You can literally feel your heart calm down.

I’ll also put them in my diffuser so the smell and oils waft through the air, which ultimately, also helps the whole family.

I can’t use Lavender as it gives me a headache, however, lavender, Adativ Blend, Console Blend and Peace blend are all options you may like to try also.

But the main thing I want to stress is everything will be ok.

Many of the thoughts we have, never happen, and I now tell myself this when I have crazy thoughts that go through my head at 3am in the morning.

Stop, breathe, be grateful for the small (or big) things and reach out for help.

Sending you much love,

Jo xx

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Fragranced products aren’t as heavily regulated in Australia as food or pharmaceutical products. Manufacturers can put the words ‘fragrance’ or ‘parfum’ on a list of ingredients rather than the specific chemicals used. This makes it more difficult for people to identify the substances they know may affect them.

The above is a direct quote from the following article:

Perfume stinks: how fragrances can affect your health

The article further goes onto state that:

About 1 in 3 people report having health problems when exposed to fragranced products. Those problems include asthma attacks, hay fever, headache, migraine, dizziness, breathing problems, rashes, congestion, nausea and seizures.

According to research by the University of Melbourne, some people have even lost work days or a job because of illness caused by fragranced goods such as air fresheners, cleaning supplies, laundry products and personal care items.

If you’ve clicked on the article you will see that it is on healthdirect which is an Australian government website. The article details the toxic nature of fragrances and even gives tips to live a fragrance-free life. This is all well and good, but the problem we have with this is the government is the overarching body that regulates fragrances in the first place.

So, on the one hand, they are letting these fragrances out into the public arena, but on the other hand, they are telling you how bad they are and how to avoid them… conflicting much? 🤷🏼‍♀️ At the bottom of the article it details where to seek help with this issue and plays a classic game of football and handballs finding a solution to the problem to you. It even goes so far as to detail that if you have a workplace issue with fragrance and your employer is not addressing the situation, then you can report them to WorkSafe.

And people wonder why we don’t trust the government to keep us safe!

We really do think it’s great that they have published such an article on a government webstie, we just wish it equated to them then walking the walk and regulating the industry a whole lot better, where the consumer’s health was the first priority. Because if consumer health was the first priority, then these toxic fragrances would be banned! It would then force companies to clean up their ingredients.

Education is key, we get that, but passing the buck when the government could actually do something to correct what is a known problem just leaves us feeling frustrated.

Stink!

So, in light of education let’s take that a little further.

Let’s throwback to the time we interviewed Jon Whelan who created and directed the Netflix movie Stink!

This was such an eye-opener! After losing his beloved wife to cancer, Jon then becomes the sole parent to their two beautiful daughters. In an attempt to buy a nice gift for his daughters that they would love, he bought them some pyjamas from a fave online store of theirs, but when they arrived he noticed a strange smell coming from them. They were fragranced!

Why on earth do pyjamas need to be scented?

Perplexed by this very unnecessary notion Jon went on a journey to find out what the ingredients were in those fragranced pyjamas. You would think this would be a simple call to the manufacturer to get the answer, unfortunately, it wasn’t. What then transpired led him down a rabbit hole of potentially toxic secrets of the chemical industry.

It honestly blew our minds how deep this went. If you haven’t seen the movie, we highly recommend you do and then have a listen to this podcast episode for an even greater deep dive into something that simply should not be happening!

Listen in via Apple Podcasts, Stitcher or Spotify and for the comprehensive show notes head here: https://additivefreelifestyle.com/podcast161/

Just the tip of the iceberg

Unfortunately, fragrance is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to what to look out for in your cleaning and personal care products. There are plenty more to look out for which is easy enough to do if you know what you’re looking for.

So, let’s again throwback to a previous podcast episode where we interviewed Krissy Ballinger about all the main nasty ingredients to look out for and what they do to your body. Listen in via Apple Podcasts, Stitcher or Spotify and for the comprehensive show notes head here: https://additivefreelifestyle.com/podcast102/

Tracey & Jo xx

The post This Is Why We Don’t Trust The Government To Keep Us Safe appeared first on Additive Free Lifestyle.

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Last year was full of highs… highs anyone in their right mind would be so insanely grateful for, but the truth is I didn’t enjoy much of it because I was so darn stressed. We packed way more into a year than what should be humanly possible and because we jumped from one thing to another, there wasn’t time to enjoy it. There was no time to truly soak our souls into it. We didn’t celebrate any of it! Nothing, nada… and we both ended the year exhausted and I was personally ready to quit. I was done!

Looking back now, here’s what I’m so damn proud that we achieved last year but didn’t celebrate:

➡️ We didn’t celebrate coming second in the doTERRA incentive trip and winning a trip to Vietnam.

➡️ We didn’t celebrate cooking on stage at doTERRA convention and sharing our additive-free message with nearly 5,000 people.

➡️ We didn’t celebrate the release of our cookbook, something we have dreamed of doing for so many years now!

➡️ We didn’t celebrate hosting our first ever Wellness event in Hobart which people travelled to attend from as far as Perth.

➡️ We didn’t celebrate coming first place in the ‘Making A Difference’ category and making the top 8 in the nation at the AusMumpreneur of the year awards.

➡️ We didn’t celebrate the shit out of mum going into remission from Leukaemia.

We were too busy jumping from one task to another. We weren’t great leaders or mentors and because we got so caught up in thinking we had to do it all that in the end we stretched ourselves so thin that we were spectators in one of the best and hardest years of our lives. We weren’t active participants present in each moment. What a shame. We were so wrong because it’s gone now and we can’t get it back. There are no do-overs.

I was determined 2020 wasn’t going to go the same way. So, I wrote a blog in January and committed that this year I would slow down. Tracey and I both agreed we needed to do this. Not only for our own lives but also our families and our business.

We still have huge goals and aspirations with this business, so this for me was hard. So hard. How are we meant to change the world if we slow down??? argh!

6 months into 2020 and have I lived up to my own self-commitment?

You may know that as of January 1st, I made a commitment to myself to go sugar-free. I realised I was totally addicted to sugar, I had it every single day and in fact multiple times a day. So, being a type A personality I went cold turkey… no processed sugar (white or raw), no honey, maple or rice malt syrup. Yep, I don’t do things in halves. I did allow myself fruit though, I knew I couldn’t do this unless I would allow myself fruit.

I also committed to a minimum of 30 minutes of movement every day which was something I also wasn’t doing. I’d always managed to somehow justify my lack of movement because “I didn’t have time for that!” or some other excuse. Because I continue to drink my 2L minimum of water a day (I’m good at this anyway) and I don’t drink soft drink, coffee or anything but water, I figured this was counterbalancing my lack of movement. Again, just more excuses.

But guess what? I’m pleased to say I succeeded, but man it took pure grit and determination! I started to feel so much better. My belly wasn’t as bloated, my skin was clear and my nightmares had stopped. I was sleeping so much better and I was very much getting into a routine of daily movement and good food. Look at the difference a month made! ⬇️

In February we had booked in a South/East Coast AU tour. I went to Adelaide, Burnie, Brisbane, Sunshine Coast, Bundaberg, Grafton and Coffs Harbour. I did the best I could with my food and movement but the truth is I started to slide back into old habits of working more and looking after myself less.

March I was pretty much back into my old habits. I wasn’t eating as much sugar (I was still mindful of it) but it had come back into my life. My movement was down to 3-4 days a week and I had put the weight back on that I’d lost in January. I was back to being cranky, tired and stressed. Then COVID-19 hit and just like everyone else, I was worried! Would we earn enough to support our family? Would our business crumble? Do we need to lay off staff? SHIT!

Just like everyone else in lockdown we had to homeschool. I could feel my stress levels coming up and up and then I realised I had a choice. I could:

1. Come out of COVID worse than I went into it, or
2. I could come out as a new and improved person. I had a goal to be as healthy as I could by my 40th in November and the clock was ticking!

I chose option 2.

I joined an 8-week challenge with 28 By Sam Wood and I committed to exercising twice a day and to eat really good food again. I would also be sugar-free but this time I wouldn’t be as strict, I’d allow myself natural sugar like maple, honey or rice malt syrup on the odd occasion, like, if it was in a biscuit or something but this would only be a couple of times a week. A sometimes food.

As our family adjusted I realised I LOVED being in lockdown.

I had nowhere to be, it was GREAT! My goal was to not travel as much this year and COVID-19 took great care of that goal.

But homeschooling and working full time were hard. I was pulling, at a minimum, 15 hour days and after a few weeks, I was exhausted.

Shane got me a Garmin Vivomove HR watch for Mothers Day. It tracks your stress and I remember saying to him “this thing could blow up” but in all seriousness, I had no idea how bad I was. Although I was eating well and exercising daily I wasn’t losing any weight.

No wonder, look at how bad I was!! My cortisol levels were through the roof!

This data blew my mind.

Our mum has been stressed her whole life and my siblings call me the ‘clone’ but I didn’t see it. I really didn’t realise I was this bad.

Stress kills. It’s as simple as that! It’s bad for every cell in our body. This was the wake-up call I needed to see.

I love my mother, we’re best friends and I talk with her daily but after spending my life nursing her through nervous breakdowns, a horrific hysterectomy, anxiety attacks and then leukaemia I’ve always promised myself I would not do this to my body. Yet, hello, here I am doing EXACTLY that!

So, I decided that today I BECOME NUMBER 1. No more fluffing around. I get up, I exercise, I eat well, I work until 4 pm and then I go for walk. That’s it. No excuses!

❤️ I would breathe.

❤️ I would stop.

❤️ I would make Tracey and I celebrate all our achievements and smell the roses.

❤️ I would work less.

❤️ I would make more time for my family.

❤️ I would do more of the good stuff and way less of the things that bring me little or no joy.

Because of this, something major shifted in me. I stopped feeling guilty about all the excuses I’d been telling myself, they were all just stories, totally not true and just a way of my mind sabotaging me more than it already had been.

Stories like:

• Tracey is going to get mad if I finish work at 4 pm just so I can go for a walk.
• The kids are going to miss out if I am out walking.
• Shane won’t like looking after the kids if I’m out walking, it’s too much pressure on him (can we give this the biggest eye roll ever, please!).
• I don’t have time, there aren’t enough hours in the day.
• It’s too cold.
• I’m too big, what will people think of me when they see me jogging.
• I’m too tired.
• I’m not fit enough.
• Is this selfish?

No more of this self-sabotaging mindset!

So here’s how I’ve managed to fit it ‘all’ in:

• I do my morning workout at home, in my spare room. It’s actually the kid’s toy room which they never use because they drag it all out into our family living area. I spent the money and got some hand weights, a yoga mat, a step and resistance bands from Kmart.
• My alarm goes off at 6 am, I get up, put on my activewear. I make my bed, then start getting things ready for the day. Things like making the kids lunches if I haven’t done them the night before, open the curtains etc. Kids get up at 7 am, I give them a cuddle, help them make their breakfast and at 7:30 am I’m in doing my workout. I realised that they are old enough to get dressed on their own, pack their bags, brush their teeth & hair, make their beds and put their shoes on all by themselves. They’re 7 and 10 and more than capable.
• At 8 am I’d have a quick shower and by 8.20 am we’re out the door heading to school.

I realise that this routine won’t suit everyone. I don’t have time to do my hair and makeup, sometimes I don’t even have time to shower so I do this when I get back from school (or wait until the night if I don’t have any zoom meetings). The point is you do what works for you. Maybe workout from 6.30-7 and while the kids get ready that’s when you have a shower. If your kids still need your help can you get up earlier?

I also:

• close the computer at 4 pm, get my activewear back on (ok, it’s normally always on anyway) and go for an afternoon walk. I have the most gorgeous walking track at the end of my street so no matter how cold it is, I get down there. Most of the time the kids come with me on their bikes, even though they try to make excuses. I think it’s so good for them to get outside and move more, so most of the time I make them come too.

And as a result, here’s what my stress levels look like now.

I’m not going to say I’m perfect, I’m not ‘fixed’ or ‘healed’ by any means. This takes a daily commitment, conscious decisions and effort. One day I hope it’s second nature, that’s my goal. There have been some days where I’ve done no movement, days that I’ve eaten pizza and too many cookies so please don’t think I’ve got my shiz all together just yet… I don’t. But I’m trying and girlfriend, that’s all that matters.

As a result of my efforts, I have noticed that:

• The nightmares I was suffering so badly from, have gone.
• I don’t wake with anxiety anymore.
• I’m no longer terribly bloated.
• I don’t get headaches of any kind. No premenstrual or tension headaches at all, they’ve all gone.
• The tension in my neck and shoulders has gone.
• I sleep so well and fall asleep instantly.
• The more good food I eat, the more I want.
• I look forward to my movement now, something I never thought I’d say!
• I don’t sweat the small stuff anymore, it just doesn’t matter.

And my weight, well I was obsessed with the scales. I worried about that number so very much that I decided they needed to go in the bin and threw them in the wheelie bin on the 3rd of June. Very wasteful I know, I should have given them away but I just needed to get rid of them!

I’d get up, get on the scales. Sometimes I’d weigh myself twice a day! I’d go up and down just like a yo-yo and I realised that depending on what that number said was how it determined my day. If it was up I’d think “what’s the point” and eat really bad. It was such a terrible psychological way for me to live so I removed the negative behaviour and threw them out.

I believe it’s more important for me to go off how I FEEL so that’s what I’m doing. I know when I’m bloated and my tummy is trying to tell me something. I know when my clothes start to feel a bit snug or when I’m uncomfortable. I can feel when my chest is beating fast from worry, and when I feel like I’m in a pressure cooker and about to blow my stack.

After just a couple of months I now fit back into all of my clothes (apart from that small pile of stuff at the back, the pile I’ve kept ‘just in case’ which is now about 8 years old). I plan on trying some of it on this week and taking some photos. I reckon it’d be great motivation.

There is a size M (approx. size 10 I reckon) Ben Sherman skirt I purchased in 2012. I was 3 months pregnant with Jacob and I love it so much. I’ve never worn it as it’s always been too small and my major goal is to wear this with a tucked-in white singlet top. Watch this space.

So, there’s the update.

I truly feel it’s only the beginning, as I said I am a work in progress but man I do not want to go back to living the way I was.

I hope this has given you some motivation, some hope and encouragement that it’s ok to be number one. In fact, it should be normal that we actually live this way.

It’s not selfish, it’s smart. When you’re sick, when you’re tired, when you have anxiety and weight issues you’re no good to anyone. But when you put your oxygen mask on first, when you pour into your own cup you have so much more to give to those you love the most.

And lastly, remember this is only my story. I’m only doing what works for me and I know I’m extremely lucky to be able to set my own work hours and have that flexibility. I’ve worked hard for this and am so grateful for it. But please, I beg of you, don’t look at me and compare yourself. I’ve spent too many years comparing myself to others and I know that feeling all too well.

YOU DO YOU!

Fit in whatever you can, but stop with the excuses as I had to. Because we can all fit in 30 minutes a day no matter what. And if you can’t, well something needs to change.

I have sought professional medical advice and before you start any dietary and movement changes, I suggest you do the same.

You’ve got this!

Jo x

The post Jo’s Healthy Lifestyle Journey appeared first on Additive Free Lifestyle.

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Bet we have your attention now, don’t we?!

One of the first things we both did when we started living additive-free was to suss out ways to stick to our very strict, family budgets. We both have two children, a mortgage, school fees, bills and expenses, just like everyone else… at times things have been super tight financially, so we get it… it can be hard to stick to living additive-free when things seem so expensive all the time.

These are our top ten tips for living additive-free:

1. DIY

Making our own cleaning products saved us a fortune and still does. It also saves the environment and your health from the impacts of some pretty nasty ingredients. We both DIY all our own cleaning items, from toilet cleaner, bench spray, shower scrubs… right down to dishwashing liquid. As it stands right now, companies don’t have to list the ingredients on cleaning products. Sometimes, if you are lucky, you may see the active ingredients listed on the bottle, but not a full list of ingredients. This means we have no way of knowing what harsh chemicals lurk inside. We do know for a lot of them they come with a whole bunch of warnings on the label. Take for example the warnings on this popular brand of mould household spray cleaner:

Do not mix with acids, ammonia or other household products, especially toilet cleaners. Ensure adequate ventilation when using vapour may be harmful. Corrosive. May produce severe burns. Attacks skin and eyes. Avoid contact with skin and eyes. Do not spray product towards eyes or face. Wear protective gloves and eye protection when using. Wash bonds immediately after contact with this product. Do not mix with hot water.

So, in a nutshell, this is telling you to wear not just gloves, but a proper ventilation face mask and adequate eye protection… how many people are doing this?? My guess is zero! Why risk it? It is so easy, quick, and cheap to make your own. Check out this post and video where I made 10 DIY products in 10 minutes.

2. Meal Plan

Write out your meals for the week/fortnight or even month. From this, write out your shopping list… and stick to it! Try to not impulse buy when shopping and choose meals that you can bulk cook and then freeze. We know a great cookbook if you need a recommendation!

3. Meat Free Nights

Try and plan a few vegetarian nights each week. Reducing your meat intake will reduce your overall grocery bill. It is also great for your body to have a few days rest from trying to digest meat. Our Lentil Bolognese is ah-mazing!

4. Farmers Market

Buying in bulk is something we have always done and will continue to do. Shop in bulk via a co-op, farmers market, or your local wholefoods store. Shopping in bulk generally saves you money, and it also saves you time. The less time you spend at the supermarket the less money you will spend on impulse buying.

5. Pack Your Own Lunch

Yes, you! Pack your lunch when you pack the kids. Buying your lunch is mega expensive, so make yourself some salads, soups, savoury muffins, or whatever it is you like to eat, and pack your lunch the night before like you do the kids.

6. Make Your Own

Give it a try, it is easier than it looks. Sauces, jams, chutneys, and relishes are all very easy to make. Making these when the fruits or berries are in season is the perfect time to do it. Also, jam can be made from frozen berries, so there are really no excuses.

7. Freeze It There isn’t much that we have found that doesn’t freeze ok. Peeled garlic, diced onions, old bananas, crusts from stale bread, yoghurt that is almost out of date, cream, butter, sauces… and so much more. Not everything will look amazing once defrosted, but they are generally ok to use in cooking once defrosted. I use plain yoghurt and cream in my curries. Butter freezes and then defrosts totally ok to use as normal. Turn frozen bread crusts into breadcrumbs. Homemade sauces all defrost perfectly. Chopped garlic and onions are perfect for cooking with, just throw them into your recipe while frozen, they’ll defrost quickly. Bananas are great for adding to smoothies or making some nice-cream. Just peel and dice them up, then freeze in an airtight container.

We also freeze cakes and biscuits that are already iced. We freeze leftovers all the time. We freeze excess cooked rice or pasta. We figure there is no harm in freezing it first, before tossing it into the bin. Most of the time we have success.

8. Grow Your Own

It really is easier than you think to grow a few things at home. Rosemary, parsley, mint, thyme and most other herbs are super easy and take up hardly any room at all. Lettuce, spring onions, tomatoes, brown or red onions and garlic all pretty much grow themselves. Also, give zucchini and pumpkins a try. These have been amazing in our house. You will need a little extra room for these, but if you have it, plant some next year, it is worth it.

A great page to follow for understanding what to plant at what time of year is Gardening Australia. Also, try and source your seeds or seedlings from a reputable source. If possible, try and get heirloom seeds.

9. Be Prepared This is about having things ready to eat, eg – peel and cut up enough potatoes or carrots for a few nights. Store the uncooked ones, covered in water, in the fridge (this also works for sweet potato and carrots). Something I love to do is cook a few trays of sweet potato and pumpkins each week. All you have to do is peel and dice them, drizzle over some olive oil, then bake in the oven until golden (approx. 170ºC). Allow them to cool down, then store in an airtight container, in the fridge. When ready to eat, add some to a bit of baby spinach, a small handful of cashews and some pre-cooked chicken. This is a super-fast, yet filling lunch. Or cook a double batch of biscuits, or two cakes at once. The more prepared you are the less likely you’ll be to stop and grab something impulsive on the way home.

10. Use a Great Resource

Of course, I am going to plug our cookbook, Everday Additive-Free here, but in all seriousness, having access to a resource like that is priceless. It will help you meal plan, you’ll learn about additives, there are hints and tips to freezing or cooking double… PLUS there are so many recipe options, you’ll never get bored.

I hope that gives you some inspiration to help you save money and helps you to realise that living additive-free really isn’t more expensive, in fact with a little prep it can save you $$$.

Much love Tracey x The post Save Money Living Additive-Free appeared first on Additive Free Lifestyle.

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2019 was by far the toughest year of my life – Jo here.

It started off with some of the toughest news any person can here – Cancer. Mum was diagnosed with leukaemia just before Christmas 2018 and spent the first six weeks of 2019 in the hospital, where her treatments continued for six + months. It all happened so fast, one minute we were packing the car with camping gear due to head off on a family trip. We were actually leaving right after Mum’s doctor’s appointment. But that idea ended pretty fast as Mum went from the doctor’s office directly to the hospital and that’s where she stayed for about 6 weeks.

That very day the cars got unpacked and 2019 looked so different.

I kept it tough. I didn’t cry in front of anyone much, I kept on working and didn’t have any downtime. I tried to keep up a strong front but the truth is I was suffocating. At times I felt like I couldn’t breathe and so I started to see a life coach. I initially saw her to help me lose weight, which didn’t happen, but what did happen was, she kept me sane.

I started journaling, something I’d never done before in my life! I’d just write down things I was grateful for.

“Shane for being my husband”

“The sun today”

“My essential oils”

“The car I drive which gets me to the hospital”

“My business which allows me to work from home”

The whole time I mostly cried by myself, mainly when in the car driving. But I just kept telling myself that Mum would get through it, I kept telling the kids she would be ok, and most of all I kept telling Mum to just keep fighting. Even when she was diagnosed terminal, when she had a bleed on the brain, when she said “I can’t do it anymore” I said “FIGHT! You’re going to be ok”.

We used oils, I researched every holistic thing I could find along with Tracey and Dad, even when people judged and when Mum doubted it would help, we did it anyway. We diffused oils, Dad rubbed oils on her legs and spine, Dad even bought a juicer and started juicing! No stone was going unturned.

During that time we started to write our book, Everyday Additive-Free. When sitting in the oncology ward we’d take our laptops and write. It kept us going I think, and Mum wanted it that way. I remember only a couple of days after she was diagnosed I was sitting in her hospital room and she said: “are you going to make Presidential Diamond yet?”. For those that don’t know, Presidential Diamond is the highest rank in the doTERRA business. We were way off that, but I made her a promise. I promised her that if we made it she needed to be alive to see it. We shook hands on it, but as yet we haven’t help up our end of the bargain. A fact of which Mum reminds me of, haha!

In February, Tracey and I placed second in the doTERRA incentive trip. We had won a trip to Vietnam, mostly all paid for. We had an opportunity to hang out with 100+ other Wellness Advocates, two who were in our direct team. We toyed up going but Mum pushed us onto the plane, so off we went. The trip was awesome but of course, my mind wandered back to home most of the time. We were also launching another round of Additive-Free Made Easy while we were there and was busy with that. Looking back now, I wish we could have just stopped and been in the moment.

Shane, the kids and I had a cruise booked for March which we had already booked and paid for before Mum got sick, so we questioned going on this too. We did end up going and we met some lifelong friends on the cruise, we loved the islands but to be honest, we didn’t like cruising and will never do another one again ?. I really just couldn’t wait to get home.

Our cookbook was, by now, in full swing. We worked hard on this, my gosh was it a lot of work! We really underestimated just how much work it would be.

In May we cooked on stage at the doTERRA 2019 convention. I shared my additive-free story with over 5,000 people and then, with Trace, we whipped up a range of dishes using the oils. It was awesome and a highlight for sure! Just before we flew out to Sydney Mum got the great news she was officially in remission! Everyone’s prayers were answered!

In June we closed down our retail store.

In July we attended the doTERRA leadership retreat.

August was full-blown all about the book, nothing but the book, cooking, and more cooking, we needed to meet a deadline and we were struggling!

In September we attended the AusMumpreneur awards and won first place in the ‘Making a Difference’ category and 2nd place in the ‘Influencer” category. We were also nominated for AusMum of the Year and made it all the way to the finals. Which we were super excited about!

October we held our first-ever Lifestyle Wellness Event in Hobart. People flew in from all over the country for it!

November we went to Guatemala and Mexico City with doTERRA’s Co-Impact Sourcing Team.

December had the normal rush of school concerts, carols, dance concerts, gymnastic displays etc.

And I lost my mind…

As I scrolled through my photos of 2019 I just cried. I have so much to be bloody grateful for, yet here I am having a mini-mental breakdown! I couldn’t move, I didn’t want to get out of bed, I watched Netflix for two days, nobody was allowed to talk to me. I’m heavier than I’ve been in a long time (even though I’ve ‘dieted’ all year) and I seriously even started to wonder if I wanted to do this job anymore. This broke my heart the most, a business Tracey and I have put our whole heart and soul into, and here I was questioning if I wanted to do it anymore. A business that helps thousands of people every year, and I was thinking about quitting?

Was this really the life I wanted to create?

After a lot of soul searching and digging deep I did a couple of things…

I remembered a Podcast I recently recorded with Gemma from The Manifesting Mum (airing January 2020) and she said something along the lines of ‘we have the power to get ourselves out of any situation’. So I started thinking of ways I could get out of this mess I’d put myself in.

• First thing I did was I listened to that voice inside my head. The one that keeps telling me “put down your phone Jo, you are just scrolling”. So I deleted the Facebook and Facebook pages Apps and told myself that it’s ok to respond to notifications on my computer only.
• I am going to set my working hours in January around the kids and take a bit of a breather, but, more importantly, NOT feel guilty about it! For years I’ve felt guilty for being at work, but then also felt guilty for being with the kids and not at work. Fark the guilt!
• I’m going to breathe in and out more. In 2020 I’m going to learn how to meditate properly and do it regularly. I’m going to try and meditate every day with the help of the Calm App I’ve just purchased.
• In 2020 I promise myself to lower my cortisol levels and when I feel stressed, figure out why and then do something to alleviate it.
• I’m also going to get myself into a healthy BMI. I can hand on heart say I love my body, but it’s about how I FEEL. And right now I feel slow, bloated, uncomfortable and I don’t want to live like this anymore. This WILL change in 2020 and by my 40th in November 2020 I’ll be the healthiest I’ve ever been.

Why am I telling you all of this?

I don’t know really? Maybe to make you realise that you too have hope. That maybe by me sharing my struggles you’ll realise that you’re not alone and that no matter what, we all have the power to get ourselves out of it. This isn’t going to be easy, but it’ll be worth it.

In 2020 I cannot wait to hit Presidential Diamond along with our cracking team. I can’t wait to make an even bigger impact on the nation by sharing this additive-free message. I’m looking forward to inspiring schools to ditch the Zooper Doopers and Quelches and I’m looking forward to being more present in each moment and taking the time to smell the roses.

So bring on 2020, I cannot wait! That fire inside my belly is back and it feels soooooo good!

Blessings to you.

Jo x

The post Here’s to New Beginnings After A Roller-Coaster 2019 appeared first on Additive Free Lifestyle.

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In this week’s episode of The Whole Circle Podcast we take a look back and reminisce on the year that was.

We thought we would take a look back on the year that was. We have had a pretty full-on year this year especially with our mum battling cancer and it has given us a perspective we perhaps may not have had before.

There was a time where we have wished away certain things in our lives such as wishing the kids were older so we could shower in peace or not have to wipe backsides anymore or drive the kids here, there and everywhere. But you know what? That’s the juicy stuff! Now that Tracey has older daughters who don’t need her for those things anymore, she realises how precious those years were. So, don’t ever take that stuff for granted because before you know it, it’s all gone.

Our Mum

On 21 December 2018, our beautiful Mum was diagnosed with Leukaemia and our whole lives were devastated. For the next 6 months, we were right there with mum as she battled this wretched disease that was waging war on her body. There were times throughout this year that we thought we were going to lose her it was that touch and go, but she fought it so bravely and thankfully she is in remission. Thank you so much to all of you who have reached out to us asking how our Mum is, the outpouring of support we have received during this awful time has really touched our hearts and overwhelmed us with all the love that we are so grateful for.

Our book, Everyday Additive-Free

During Mum’s cancer battle we were writing our book, Everyday Additive-Free. Yeah ok, we don’t do things in halves, we get it! We honestly wrote this book whilst sitting beside mum in her hospital bed on the cancer ward. This is exactly what mum wanted us to do. This was the deal we had with mum, we would get this book released and she had to still be with us when it was released! It was tough, so much blood, sweat and tears went into this book, but we are so incredibly proud of it and know that it will help so many families live additive-free.

So, let’s throw a few stats your way….

Instagram

We have grown to over 20,000 followers now over on the gram. This blows our mind given we haven’t been on Instagram all that long so thank you to each and every one of you who follow us over there. We do have lots of fun, especially with our stories where we’re always mucking around and sharing all sorts of juicy info.

Facebook

We have over 65,000 followers which is just nuts! Facebook is where it all started for us and we have such a loyal following and we love you guys. You have stuck with us through thick and thin and especially when we lost our whole website which was so incredibly traumatic. Thank you, thank you, thank you, for being our backbone of support.

Oils with Additive-Free Lifestyle Facebook Group

We now have over 20,000 oily peeps in this group who are upping their knowledge game and learning and sharing how they use their oils. It’s an open group so if you want up your game too then feel free to join, we’d love to have you in there –> Oils with Additive-Free Lifestyle

Additive-Free Lifestyle Chat Group

We now have over 10,000 people in this group. This is also an open group that’s set up for people to come together as a like-minded community to take and learn all things additive-free. Whether you’re new or well versed in the additive-free lifestyle, this is the group that we share lots of additive-free info in as well as a great community where you can ask all sorts of info to help you with this lifestyle. If you want in, then feel free to join –> Additive-Free Lifestyle Chat Group.

Additive-Free Made Easy

We had over 530 new members go through our signature e-course Additive-Free Made Easy this year! We are so proud and thrilled that many people’s and family’s lives are now changed having learnt information that has changed their lives for the rest of their lives. The ripple effect it has on those around them is amazing! It gives us goosebumps just thinking about it. We’ve got another round coming up in March 2020 so if you want to get on the waitlist for that then, register –> Additive-Free Made Easy.

Additive-Free Lifestyle Website

We have had over 1 million page views on our website! WHAT THE?!?!?!?! That’s just in 1 year. It’s actually over 1.1 million views. Ok, mind blown! But so incredibly humbling to think that our little website created by little old us has been viewed that many times. We can’t even believe how this is even possible. We are so truly grateful.

To break that down further, 182,000 of those views are from new visitors which means that nearly 1 million views are from returning followers who are revisiting our website. This lights us up knowing that we are creating content that keeps you coming back because this is what we want to do. Make sure we are giving you what you want and more.

Additive-Free Lifestyle Shop

Yes, on a sadder note we closed our online store in June this year and we know so many of you loved it. On the flip side of this, it freed us up to bring more education to all of you, freed our headspaces up so we can create even more exciting content for you all about education about additives and preservatives.

It also allows us to be able to get more hands-on with our education and get into schools and provide education programs face to face which is what we have been wanting to do for so long now.

Most Viewed Blog Post for 2019

Drumroll please …. Zooper Doopers … more like Zooper Bloopers! Was our most viewed blog post for 2019, with over 10,000 views.

This blog post resonated and shocked so many of you. It has been one of our goals for a long time now to have Zooper Doopers removed from schools as a go-to ice block during summertime. There are other options that could be used instead that won’t have the potential to detrimentally affect our children.

Basic Icing Recipe

With over 12,000 views, our Basic Icing recipe was our most viewed recipe on our website which really surprised us.

The Whole Circle Podcast Show

Our most clicked on podcast episode to our website this year was Episode 170 – Progesterone Deficiency with Naomi Judge.

However, our most downloaded episode of all time was also with Naomi Judge which was Episode 3 – Let’s Talk Zinc and Magnesium with Naomi Judge.

It sure seems the topics our Naturopath Naomi Judge talks about are popular!

It also tells us that you guys want to learn more about your body which we’re happy to accommodate that going forward.

Another really popular episode this year was Episode 162 – The Impact of Wheat on our Health with Cyndi O’Meara. Cyndi talked a lot about glyphosate and how it is impacting our bodies as well as a lot of other awesome info and some practical tips on how you can get involved in taking a stand against the use of glyphosate in your local area. All the details are in our show notes –> here.

Lifestyle Wellness Event

We held our very first wellness event this year in Hobart which we were so excited about. We had been wanting to host something like this for years but had just never had a chance to organise it and to be honest we were a little daunted by it. But this year we just did it! It was amazing and we even had people fly in from around Australia to attend which amazed us. It was a really wonderful day and everyone who attended learnt heaps and left feeling inspired.

We will be doing it again next year so make sure you save the date when we share it early next year, we’d love to see as many people there as possible. Hobart’s a great place to come over for a weekend away. It’s such a beautiful city so you won’t be disappointed to make a trip of it.

The Lifestyle Wellness Event is an all-day event which is fully catered for on top of the awesome education that you get as well.

#notbragging

Ok, guys, this is not a bragging episode at all! It’s about reflecting back on the year that was and something we would love for you to do as well. We all get so caught up in moments that we forget to take stock of what we have achieved or the moments that we have experienced, whether good or bad over a 12-month period and this is what we are doing with this episode. We invite you to do the same. Reflect, take stock and bring in a new year with fresh eyes and curious nature of what you can create for yourself in 2020. Tag us in #additivefreelifestlye on social media all your memories or moments of reflection for 2019. We’d love to see them and share them on our own social media.

Stay Tuned for 2020

We have got so much coming up in 2020 that we are so excited about. We are kicking off with a tour in February so check out all our events and grab your tickets –> here. Just to give you a little idea, here are some of the places we are travelling to in a month:

➕Townsville

➕Mackay

➕Rockhampton

➕Burnie

➕Strahan

➕Ballarat

➕Minlaton

➕Golden Grove

➕Maroona Region

➕Adelaide

➕Mildura

➕Woolgoolga

➕Grafton

➕Sunshine Coast

➕Hobart

➕Wynnum

➕Brisbane

Sorry guys, there’s no Western Australia this time because Jo was there last year and there’s only so many places we can make in a month. Hopefully next time we can make it there. We are splitting up and doing these events separately because there’s just no way we could make it to that many places together. We can’t wait to meet you face to face.

Tracey’s Big Personal and Business Goal for 2020

She would love for her hubby to quit his job and come to work with her in their business with them. It’s been a dream of hers for a long time now and next year is the year to make it happen.

Jo’s Big Personal Goal for 2020

She would love to learn photography. She has no idea how she is going to fit it in, but it’s been something she has wanted to do for a while now.

Jo’s Big Business Goals for 2020

She wants to continue to inspire people, especially to live an additive-free lifestyle and she also wants to achieve the doTERRA rank of Presidential Diamond.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year

We hope you have a wonderful festive season and a happy, safe and prosperous New Year. Feel free to tag us in your reflections or dreams over on social media as we would love to see them #additivefreelifestyle

Go and live your best life! We can’t wait to connect with you again in 2020

Much love

Jo and Tracey x

Podcast Review

We would love for you to leave a review PRETTY PLEASE of this podcast >>> here

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Store-bought hand wash and hand sanitisers are quite frankly a chemical sh*t storm!

We’re talking serious nasties like:

TriclosanFound in some toothpaste and anti-bacterial hand washes, this chemical was first registered as a pesticide in the 60’s! It’s found to be behind a lot of antibiotic resistance and superbugs. After it reached the headlines on the news last year, many companies started to take this chemical out of their toothpaste and liquid hand soap ranges.

SLS and SLESSodium Lauryl Sulfate (SLS) and Sodium Laureth Sulfate (SLES) is what makes bubbles, usually in shampoos, dish liquid and liquid soaps. You’ll find these two nasties in up to 90% of personal care items. There is a high risk that in the manufacturing process, these two chemicals are contaminated with other chemicals known to be human carcinogens (cancerous).

ParabensThese are synthetic preservatives that come in different forms and are found absolutely everywhere. Many companies are recognizing ongoing consumer concerns, and are now reformulating their product as a paraben-free range. While this is a fantastic industry shift, you need to be careful that they’re not replacing parabens with another harmful preservative such as phenoxyethanol. Current studies show that phenoxyethanol is irritating to the skin, hormone-disrupting and cell-mutating.

Parabens are also known to disrupt hormones, especially in younger aged people and lead to cancer when used over a long period of time. Look out for the word paraben on the ingredients list, and if in doubt, bring out your phone and Google any ingredient you don’t recognize while at the store.

Fragrance | Parfum | Perfume

These words are collective terms that can be made up of hundreds of chemicals in products. Manufacturers are under no obligation to tell their consumers, exactly what those chemicals are. It’s their little trade secret. Instead choose scented products that you know are naturally sourced, including pure essential oils.

AlcoholIt is added as a preservative in hand sanitisers as well as being a chemical compound that allows the liquid to dissolve and evaporate quickly. The problem with alcohol, in our opinion, is that it is damaging to our gut microbiome as well as being incredibly dehydrating to our skin. The last thing we want when we are trying to protect our health and our gut health from whatever nasty pathogens are going around is to damage our microbiome with alcohol, it’s counterproductive.

So, here’s how you can easily avoid all this ⬆️ and make your own non-toxic hand wash and hand sanitiser, in minutes, that actually works and is good for you AND the environment.

Hand Wash

Ingredients

2 tbsp. liquid castile soap

1 tbsp. fractionated coconut oil

20 drops essential oils

Filtered or distilled water

Foaming pump bottle (dark glass or amber PET1 or 2 plastic)

Method

1. Pour castile soap and fractionated coconut oil into bottle.
2. Add essential oils and give it a swish around to emulsify the oils and soap.
3. Top up the bottle with water, making sure to not fill all the way to the top so that the pump/lid can fit back in the bottle without spilling over.
4. Screw the pump/lid back into place.
5. Shake to emulsify all ingredients.
6. Now it’s ready to use. Just make sure to give it a shake every so often to re-emulsify the contents.

Essential oil options:

On Guard and Litsea

Wild Orange and Peppermint

Wild Orange and Lemon

On Guard

Lavender and Wild Orange

Patchouli and Lime

Balance and Citrus Bliss

Hand Sanitiser

Liquid Spray Version

Ingredients

30ml empty spritzer bottle (dark glass or amber PET1 or 2 plastic)

Witch hazel (organic alcohol-free)

20 drops doTERRA On Guard essential oil

Method

1. Add ingredients to bottle.
2. Shake before each use.

Tips:You could add 1/2 witch hazel and 1/2 filtered or distilled water to the bottle but witch hazel works well and evaporates the liquid quicker.

You could also add a little squirt of fractionated coconut oil to the bottle which will help emulsify the essential oils with the liquid a bit better and nourish your hands at the same time.

This recipe is for adult usage. If you are wanting young children to use it ie. grade 1, 2 or 3 school-aged kids then you may want to halve the number of essential oil drops. Work within the ratio guidelines as shown in this image.

Gel Version

Ingredients

3/4 fill bottle with aloe vera gel

1 tbsp witch hazel extract

10-20 drops On Guard essential oil

30ml squirt/pump bottle (dark glass or amber PET1 or PET2 plastic)

Method

1. Combine the aloe vera gel and witch hazel together, in the bottle.
2. Add On Guard essential oil.
3. Shake until well combined.

Things To Note

You can source castile soap, aloe vera gel and vitamin E oil from your local health food store or online from Oils for Life Australia

As for the foaming pump bottle and travel-sized squirt/pump bottle, see if you already have some lying around at home that you can empty, clean out and repurpose. Every little bit of plastic we save from going into landfill is a really good thing. Just make sure with plastic that it states either PET1 or PET2 on the bottom of the bottle as this will mean it is safe to use with essential oils.

As for the essential oils, we only use and recommend doTERRA Essential Oils because we know they are of the purest quality. If you want to get some for yourself, then you can head to our website for all the details and to order.

DIY is a personal choice and one we feel very confident in. It is, however, important for you to do your own research when it comes to the effectiveness of the hand sanitiser. We are confident and trust that the ingredients we use will fulfil their duties, and we would rather use this over a commercial product any day of the week.

DIY doesn’t have to be hard, a few minutes of effort can save you and your family a lifetime of exposure to nasty chemicals.

Much love,

Jo and Tracey x

The post How to Make Non-Toxic Foaming Hand Wash and Hand Sanitiser appeared first on Additive Free Lifestyle.

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In this week’s episode of The Whole Circle Podcast we talk all about our upcoming trip to Guatemala.

We not going to lie, we’re nervous about what this trip has in store for us. But having spent a portion of our childhoods living in Papua New Guinea, we are hoping that we will have some, even if minor, experience with travelling to, and staying in, a third world country.

Why are we going to Guatemala?

We are going there as part of a doTERRA humanitarian trip through doTERRA’s Healing Hands Foundation. When you are building a business with doTERRA and have achieved certain leadership ranks, you are entitled to a few little perks. One of them is that we were able to put our names down to participate in a humanitarian trip. This year we were lucky enough to be able to go to Guatemala.

We are going over there to see where doTERRA source’s cardamom from. We are also going to be helping build a trade centre so that the locals can gain employment through that facility. We’ve been told to bring along work boots, gloves and all the Ice Blue we can carry! Haha

Our husbands are also coming with us which is so exciting!

doTERRA’s humanitarian efforts

This is one of the sides of doTERRA that drew us into the company almost more than the actual products.

doTERRA is constantly giving back whether it’s to our own community here in Hobart after devastating bushfires or many third world impoverished countries they source their produce from such as Nepal, Kenya, Haiti, Guatemala to name a few.

They give black on a global scale.

Long haul travelling additive-free

Whenever we go on long haul flights, we always want to take our own food because we want to get over the jetlag quickly and arrive feeling good and unfortunately, aeroplane food just won’t do this for us given it can be additive-laden.

Having said that though, this is a massive trip to get to Guatemala that will take around 40 hours from the time we leave Hobart to the time we eventually arrive in Sika’abe which is a little village in Guatemala.

On the plane, we will take lots of fruit and veggies which have a high-water content. Flying is incredibly dehydrating to our bodies so taking fruit with a high-water content gets extra hydration into us. We’re talking things like:

Carrot, snow peas, capsicum, watermelon, berries, oranges, apples etc.

Packaged food wise we will also be taking additive-free food bars such as the Berry Choc Chunk and Collagen bars from Nutra Organics.

We have been told that the village we’re staying in has clean water so we will be able to eat lots of fruit and veggies and not have to worry about our food whilst we are there.

We’re also taking probiotics to boost our gut health as well as grabbing some bone broth powder sachets from Nutra Organics so that we can make up bone broth drinks on the plane as well as whilst in the village in case we’re eating food that doesn’t agree with us.

We’ll also be taking protein powder sachets with us too so that we can get some much-needed protein into us after days of hard manual labour.

Because we’re taking food onto the plane with us, we will freeze a bottle of water as this will act as an ice-cooler to keep the food nice and cool in the carry-on luggage. However, double-check with the airline on the size you need though because you may be restricted for anything over 100ml.

Taking food on planes

The other thing to note is that you can take any food you like onto an aeroplane, it’s just that you cannot take it off the plane with you. So, if you’re prepared to leave some food behind or you know you will eat it all, then take what you want on the plane because it’s only at your destination that whatever leftover food you have needs to be left onboard.

Exercise

Tracey has been increasing her exercising in the lead up to their trip away to build her fitness up. Long haul travelling can be quite sedentary sitting on planes for long periods of time. So, the fittest they can be is a good thing because it will not only help with travelling but will also help when they reach their destination and start building the trade centre.

Bus Trip

So, that 40 hours of travelling also includes a 10-hour bus trip to take us from Guatemala City to Sika’abe. We don’t imagine this will be a lovely air-conditioned coach with a toilet haha. doTERRA even suggested we pack as much Ginger essential oil as possible to help us with queasy tummies. Oh boy!

What essential oils are we taking?

Tea Tree

For all those cuts, scrapes and bites we are likely to get.

Ice Blue

For all the sore muscles! There will be lots we’re sure.

Copaiba

For all the sleep support we can get.

Travel diffuser

Yes, we will have power so we can plug the diffuser in and get it cranking all day with Lemon Eucalyptus and Citronella to keep all the nasties and bugs at bay in our room.

TerraArmour and Arborvitae

For all the bug bites.

Helichrysum

For all the first aid support we need.

OnGuard

To keep our health supported and all those nasty germs away. Ah, aeroplane toilets…. need we say more?!

How are we going to manage jetlag?

When we both went to America last year, neither we nor our families suffered jetlag which was fabulous.

Jo’s strategy last year was to make herself stay awake until about 8.30 pm local time before going to sleep. She also spent time with her shoes off, grounding herself to the earth and being in the sun, especially when it was setting to help her body acclimatise to the new time zone she was in.

After doing all this, when she woke up the next day, she was absolutely fine and fully acclimatised.

When Tracey went to America they didn’t get into LAX until 6.30 am so they had a long time to try and stay awake. They didn’t get much sleep on the plane, so they were exhausted.

The biggest tip Tracey received to get your circadian rhythm back in sync was to not wear your sunglasses for the first day and do some exercise as soon as possible as this helps to produce melatonin in your body which you will need for good sleep later on.

So, when they got off the plane at 6.30 am they just got straight into the day. Of course, by the end of the day they were exhausted, but they stayed awake all day and went to sleep at the normal time that night so by the next day their bodies were in sync with the time zone they were in.

Airport food

If you’ve run out of food, especially for your travel home, then, of course, you have to eat what’s available to you and if that’s airport food, then so be it. We have done this many times. All we do is try and make the best food choice we can with what’s available to us. Go for less packaged foods, foods that look like they have been made fresh. Packaged foods with fewer ingredients. Fresh fruit if you can get it.

Noise-cancelling headphones

These have been game-changers for us! We love our Bose noise-cancelling headphones. They sure weren’t cheap (you can get them for around $400), but they have honestly been the best investment.

Jo has a fear of flying but she doesn’t want to let that stop her from doing anything so she takes her headphones on the plane with he, turns up whatever she is listening to and it cancels out all the plane noise that would normally make her fearful.

For Tracey, they are great to help her fall asleep. She will often put a podcast show or meditation on and this will help her fall asleep because it drowns out all the plane noise.

Oh, and this is not sponsored by Bose at all, we just love their headphones! Haha

Accessory tips

We also like to take neck pillows, a large scarf to use as a blanket, eye mask, our oils… pretty much everything you can think of and we are set to fly! haha

Hopefully, those little hints and tips have helped you for any long haul travelling you may have coming up.

We’re excited to share with you all that we get up to in Guatemala. We will then be staying 3 nights in Mexico City on the way home as a little mini-break and time to process all that we have participated in on doTERRA’s Co-Impact Sourcing trip.

See you on the flip side!

Jo and Tracey x

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In this week’s episode of The Whole Circle Podcast we talk about all things healthy living with Pete Evans.

Way back when in the early days of this podcast show we dreamed of how we would have loved to get Pete Evans on the show. We thought it was never going to be possible and yet here we are!

We’re big fans of Pete’s. We understand that not everyone agrees with his views and that’s ok. It would be a pretty boring world if we all agreed with each other. We’re all entitled to our opinions, but we believe he does do a lot of good in the world, especially when it comes to clean, wholefood, additive and preservative-free living. We believe it’s important to hear all the information so that we can then make our own informed choices.

How did Pete come to live this very clean lifestyle?

His life was very much shaped by his parents and the way they lived their lives and their beliefs. However, through all that he still had to find his own way in life and his own journey, and it took him time to evolve into the person he is today.

He basically lives in a way that is a homage to our evolutionary history of the hunter and gatherer. In fact, 99.5% of our evolutionary history is made up of hunting and gathering and this is what his lifestyle is. Going back to basics and living in a way that takes all the additives and extras out that modern society has added in.

For example, water supplies were sourced and drunk directly from flowing streams. They weren’t consumed with chlorine or fluoride, so why are they now? Who is it benefiting? Pete likes to ask questions such as these instead of just accepting the status quo.

Curious by nature

Pete is a very existential thinker, a very deep thinker and one who challenges the norm. Not because he wants to be difficult, but because he wants to broaden his mind and because life and all its nuances and eccentricities are truly fascinating to him. He seems to be at his most animated and happiest when he’s getting people to really think about who they are or who they want to be, not just what society has driven them to be or their parents have imprinted them to be, but to truly understand what makes each and every one of us tick.

For us (Jo and Tracey), his brain and way of thinking is truly thought-provoking and fascinating.

Pete’s new book Heal is such a departure from his cookbooks. What made him write Heal?

Pete’s been a Chef for 30 years now, but he’s always been curious about how we think and who we are as individuals and as a collective for the last 30 years as well. Over that time, he has had probably 1000 therapy sessions of some type or another, whether it’s spiritual, physical, emotional or energetic just to broaden his understanding of who we are as humans.

Over those years he has delved into many different modalities and philosophies of thought, so Heal is a very basic introduction into some of those ideas.

Pete has noticed that unless you are a speed reader it can be very time consuming to finish a book, which a lot of people simply don’t have the time to do in today’s fast-paced world.

So, he wanted to create a book that would plant the seeds of curiosity with bite-sized pieces of information which are easily digestible and without being too deep and meaningful. The intention is to give enough of a viewpoint on the topics so that if anything resonates with someone at least the seed is planted so if they want to water that seed more, they can research it further.

The book is broken into chapters, being:

1. Nourish.
2. Move.
3. Play.
4. Rest.
5. Create.
6. Reflect.
7. Connect.

The book is a way to be able to present something outside of just cooking and recipes that have the potential to spark curiosity and the thirst for more in someone.

Cannabis

It’s a hot topic that Pete has copped a lot of flak over in the media. Let’s be honest, Pete has copped a lot of flak over a number of things in the media and been taken out of context over a whole bunch of things.

But let’s talk something that Pete is very passionate about and for very good reason as we’re about to learn … Cannabis.

Cannabis has been around for centuries and had been used for all sorts of things, one of them being as a medicinal herb. In fact, not many people know that prior to its prohibition 80 years ago Doctor’s in America prescribed cannabis as one of their tools for good health.

It’s one of the most, if not the most, controversial plants in the world.

It is becoming legalised in certain places around the world. In Canada, it is fully legal for recreational use. You can go into a store and buy cannabis, take it home and either smoke it, eat it, rub it onto your skin in a balm, take it via a suppository or pessary or via an oil inserted either anally or vaginally where it is used for people that have Irritable Bowel Syndrome, Crohn’s Disease or other similar conditions.

Because cannabis is an enhancer it does come down to the different cannabis strains you use, of which there are 100s and 1000s. In each of those, there are hybridised versions, grown to have certain characteristics. Some are very high in THC which is what gives you the high, but then there are some that are high in CBD which has no THC (no high).

Cannabis is an extraordinary plant which has so many different strains which all do something different. Unfortunately, we know so little about it because we haven’t been able to research it given it has been illegal for the last 80 years. Thankfully this is all starting to change, we are seeing some amazing research coming out of Israel which is leading the world in cannabis research, on how these strains are reacting with our bodies.

They’ve discovered that we have an endocannabinoid system within our bodies and within that system, they have discovered that a lot of people have deficiencies. So that is why people are experiencing amazing results when they are using cannabis because it is boosting their endocannabinoid systems.

Our bodies are intelligent enough to know what to do with the cannabinoids and to get the benefits from them.

Your bodies reaction to cannabis all depends on the strain you have used. Some strains can make you lethargic and give the feeling of hunger, whereas other strains can enhance whatever you are doing ie. watching a movie and enhancing sounds, colours and being more present in the moment.

It’s particularly important to note that cannabis is not the same for everyone. Two people could smoke the same strain but react very differently to it.

It’s a very interesting topic and there is no one answer to what it will do for each and every one of us. But from a medicinal perspective, we’re seeing a lot of benefit for people. Dr Charlie Teo is currently conducting a clinical study which 84 people are participating in and which Pete is going to be covering in his cannabis documentary. They’re seeing wonderful results for use of cannabis with children with severe Epilepsy, cannabis assisted psychotherapy is having wonderful results for people with PTSD, Depression, Anxiety and Mental Illness. Juicing cannabis is working wonders for people with gut disorders. It’s also being trialled and working well for people with ASD, Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s and Dementia.

At the same time, all the medical professionals that Pete interviews in the documentary say the same thing and that’s cannabis is a very powerful plant that needs to be respected and you need to form a relationship with it because it’s not for everyone.

As we already know, there are certain people who shouldn’t drink alcohol because it can exacerbate major problems for that person. There are people out there who shouldn’t be eating sugar because they have an addictive nature to it, we also know there are people out there who shouldn’t be taking cannabis because they have an underlying issue that needs resolving before they even consider taking it, and maybe they should never take cannabis because it’s not the right thing for them.

Again, it needs to be treated with the utmost respect. It’s not something that you just light up a joint and go for it, even though a lot of people do that and take pleasure from it.

Pete always says get to know what you’re getting involved in, whether it’s alcohol, bad diet or relationship etc.

Why is cannabis demonised?

It should be noted that anyone over 18 can go down to their local liquor store and buy a bottle or multiple bottles of alcohol and take that/them home, drink them all and it can have the potential to kill them. You could get a prescription for sleeping pills, take them all and overdose. You can buy over the counter paracetamol and overdose on them, yet to Pete’s knowledge, no one has ever overdosed on cannabis.

Can you say that no one has ever died from an overdose of sleeping pills or pharmaceutical prescription opiates or alcohol or food?

But with cannabis, why are we demonising something that you cannot overdose on?

Sure, there are people out there who can abuse any of those things, including cannabis but does that mean we don’t have our own personal responsibility to look after our own health? Pete firmly believes that we should all have the right to grow cannabis in our homes and to use it either as food or medicine or don’t use it at all, just grow it and enjoy it as a plant. It has wonderful aromatherapy benefits simply being grown in the garden as a plant.

Pete is all for the complete legalisation of cannabis and he is all for personal responsibility for it too, just like we have with alcohol.

Legalisation of Cannabis

Pete wouldn’t be surprised if cannabis becomes legalised in Australia within the next 12 months. There are currently 2000 (approximately) registered users of cannabis who have prescriptions to use it medicinally, but it is so expensive for those people, with it costing upwards of $50,000 – $100,000 per year. Most of these people who need it most can’t afford. Whereas on the black market they can get it for a fraction of the cost and if they grew at home it would be even cheaper.

Pete has heard estimates that there are 100,000 to 1 million people using black market cannabis just for medicinal purpose. At the moment the government and the pharmaceutical companies have got a stranglehold on this. What are they going to do? Are they going to arrest 100,000 – 1 million people who are accessing their cannabis for personal medicinal use from the black market?

That’s where Pete thinks we need to be able to grow and harvest it ourselves for personal use at home or wherever we can get it from so that it is a lot cheaper than what it is now so that it is affordable. It also needs to be regulated so that people know where it comes from and they know the quality of it because a lot of what is available now is synthetic and just plain terrible.

Because the black market supplies a lot of it now, we do not know where it comes from, whether it’s organic, we don’t even know what’s been sprayed on it.

Going forward when it’s legalised Pete wants to see that the plants/products have full traceability as they do in other countries which will detail:

1. Where it was grown
2. How it was grown
3. Whether any pesticides, herbicides or fungicides were sprayed on it
4. What strain it is
5. What you can expect from that experience based on the THC, CBD and terpene profile of it
6. What is the best way for your body to absorb it ie. eating, juicing, inhaling, smoking, balm, suppository, pessary

All of these factors need to be researched before an individual uses cannabis, given that we all react differently to cannabis.

It’s about what works for you which involves, trial and error, research and speaking to people. There are also some wonderful forums out there which you can go on and look into such as Leafly which details different strains with lots of community engagement and personal experience with different strains.

Where can you find Pete?

Website: https://peteevans.com/

Books: All good book stores such as Kmart, Big W, Amazon, Booktopia, Book Depository

The Paleo Way: https://thepaleoway.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/paleochefpeteevans/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/chefpeteevans/

We got so much out of this episode. Pete was very kind, down to earth and generous with his time and information, we were super impressed and loved every minute of it.

Podcast Review

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In the short amount of time that our book has been released, we’ve received loads of questions, so we thought what better way to answer them than with a one-stop-shop blog post.

Here goes…

How many recipes are in the book?

There are 163 recipes PLUS an additional 38 variations, taking the grand total number of recipes including variations to 201!

How many recipes are exclusive to the book?

There are 38 exclusive recipes in the book.

Where can I see a contents list of the book?

All the recipes are listed at https://additivefreelifestyle.com/book/

Are there any gluten-free recipes?

Yes, there are 91 gluten-free recipes and 15 gluten-free option recipes.

Are there any dairy-free recipes?

Yes, there are 72 dairy-free recipes and 15 dairy-free option recipes.

Are there any sugar-free recipes?

Yes, there are 81 recipes with no added sugar and 31 recipes which are refined sugar-free.

Are there any vegetarian recipes?

Yes, there are a whopping 111 vegetarian recipes!

Are the recipes complicated?

Not at all. They are everyday, family-friendly recipes that are easy on the hip pocket too.

Is it just a cookbook?

No. This is not an ordinary cookbook at all. Everyday Additive-free is a 324-page book filled with over 150 simple, tasty and budget-conscious recipes together with exclusive scientific information discussing additives and their effects on your health. Every single recipe has beautiful full-colour photography and step-by-step cooking instructions for both thermal appliances and traditional appliances.

Is it just a Thermomix cookbook?

Not at all. It has both traditional and thermal appliance cooking methods.

How much is shipping?

We are only charging a flat rate shipping fee of $6.95 Australia-wide.

Is it available in book stores?

Not yet. We are hoping it will be in 2020, but cannot guarantee it at this stage.

Is there an eBook available?

Yes, we have all sorts of bundle options including eBooks. Check it all out at https://additivefreelifestyle.com/book/

Does the book contain all your Additive-Free Made Easy course information?

No. Everyday Additive-Free is a great start to living an additive-free lifestyle but is not in-depth like Additive-Free Made Easy is. The book and the course do compliment each other well because Additive-Free Made Easy is an information program, not a recipe program.

Why do you no longer have Afterpay?

To be honest, the fees were killing us. As a small business, we’re running on the smell of an oily rag and we just couldn’t justify keeping Afterpay any longer given the high fees it was costing us. We’re really sorry and we hope you understand.

Where can I buy Everyday Additive-Free?

You can shop Everyday Additive-Free and all our other products, including bundles at https://additivefreelifestyle.com/shop/

If you have any further questions, please feel free to email them into us at info@additivefreelifestyle.com

Jo and Tracey

xx

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In this week’s episode of The Whole Circle Podcast we give you the inside scoop about what’s in our long-anticipated book, Everyday Additive-Free as well as a chapter sneak peek.

This book has been in the making for years!

You guys have been asking us to bring out a cookbook and well this year, we decided the time was right.

Little did we know how MASSIVE writing a cookbook would be. We thought we had an idea, but being on the other side now, we realise we HAD NO CLUE! Haha

Not your average cookbook!

Yes, this book is a cookbook, but we’ve added a twist which we think you’re going to love.

We don’t just have over 150 recipes plus variations; we also give you heaps of information about additives and preservatives which is going to set you up to live additive-free.

There is also stats and personal stories to give you a broad spectrum of why it’s beneficial to live an additive-free lifestyle.

Let’s break it down…

In the book, you’re going to get

✅ Over 150 recipes plus heaps of variations

✅ Beautiful colour photos of every single recipe

✅ Both thermal cooking appliance and traditional methods

✅ Family friend recipes

✅ Allergy-friendly options

✅ Simple recipes that are tasty and budget-conscious

✅ Exclusive scientific information and statistics about additives and preservatives and their effect on your health

✅ Personal stories of how we came to live an additive-free lifestyle

So, do you want to see a sneak peek of page 1 from the book? Ok, you twisted our arm! haha

Chapter Sneak Peek of Page 1

Hidden Dangers

Consider this statistic: 1 in 20 Australian children have ADHD and it is more common in boys than girls. (1)

We’d like you to take your mind back to when you were a child growing up. Think about your primary school years, think about the social settings and the classrooms, family events and bbq’s. Now think about how many children you remember displayed signs of major behavioural issues or hyperactivity tendencies, allergies or breathing issues? What about defiance disorders or depression?

How many children can YOU recall having issues like we see in children regularly today? If you are like us, the answer is hardly any.

Sure, there were some behaviourally challenged kids, or kids who went under the radar. We also agree that testing and awareness of a range of illnesses has improved, so we see and hear more people diagnosed. We are not trying to say that these issues didn’t exist back then… but the data is there. These illnesses and behavioural issues were not as prevalent as they are today.

So enough is enough! We need to question why!

When we think back to our school days, we can remember maybe two or three children in the entire school who suffered from allergies or showed tendencies of hyperactivity and/or behavioural issues. Fast forward 30 years to today and it is not uncommon to find 3 (or more) kids in classrooms who deal with such issues.

In the past few decades, research has shown a considerable increase in a plethora of health and behavioural conditions. It’s becoming clearer that multiple environmental and biological factors contribute to our health, but for some reason so many people have chosen to ignore this.

As of publication of this book there is zero mention of diet or lifestyle on the Royal Children’s Hospital webpage within the suggested treatments for ADHD. They mention building social skills and sticking to routines (which are all fantastic suggestions and things we practice on a daily basis in our own homes). Counselling is mentioned alongside working with your child’s learning environment, but the main treatment suggested, in big bold letters, is Stimulant Medication.

When did the system let us down so badly that we are offered such harsh medications, with some very serious side effects, before it’s even suggested to look at diet and/or gut health? Shouldn’t we be advised to try everything before such drastic actions? We aren’t against modern medicine, not in the slightest, but what we’d love to see are less scripts being handed out with a more holistic approach being tried first. Looking to see if there is a root cause or underlying issue. Just like was the case for Jo’s family (along with many others who have completed Additive-Free Made Easy).

For our own health, and for the well-being of our children, we must consider the connection between food and gut health, if for no other reason than because what we eat is one aspect of life that we can control. Beyond that, we’ve seen for ourselves the dramatic difference being aware of what we’re eating has made in our own lives and in the lives of our families.

(1) https://www.rch.org.au/kidsinfo/fact_sheets/Attention_deficit_hyperactivity_disorder_ADHD/

This is just the tip of the iceberg. There is sooooooo much more!

Hints and Tips

All throughout the recipes, you will see little notes with a whole heap of hints and tips around what ingredients to look out for or what might be found in the supermarket, all designed to help you to eat as additive-free as possible.

Thank you

We know you guys have been following along on our journey for such a long time now and if it wasn’t for you, we would never have impacted as many lives as we have.

We cannot thank you enough for all your love and support. You have inspired us to continue even when we felt too exhausted.

Ok yes, the above image is cheesy, but it’s our way of sending you a big virtual thank you kiss! ❤️

We’re so excited

We honestly can’t believe that the book has now been released. It has taken so much blood (oh the paper cuts), sweat and lots of tears to get to this point.

We’re so proud of it and we hope you love it as much as we do.

Get your own copy

If you want to get a copy for yourself to start or complement your additive-free lifestyle, then head to our website to order it.

https://additivefreelifestyle.com/book/

Tag us

Once you have gotten yourself a copy, we’d love you to tag us in social media because we would really love to hear from you, plus we love seeing those kinds of notifications pop up.

@additivefreelifestyle or #additivefreelifestyle

Jo & Tracey x

Podcast Review

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In this week’s episode of The Whole Circle Podcast we talk all about our recent incredible trip to Guatemala.

We’re back!

We’ve arrived home safe and sound and our minds are still spinning from the amazing trip we just got to experience.

Since our return, we have had lots of questions from people wanting us to articulate how the trip made us feel. To be honest, it really is incredibly hard to articulate or to articulate it in a way that truly does it justice.

It was definitely life-changing that’s for sure.

It was also very humbling. The communities we went to were living in extreme poverty. We have witnessed this before given we spent some of our childhood living in Papua New Guinea, so we were not as shocked by it as we perhaps should have been or as shocked as some of our travel mates were, but the thing that struck us the most was that the people in these communities were extremely happy.

They don’t know any different. Living this way is their version of normal. They have nothing to compare it to, so they make the most of what they have and live their best lives possible.

Tracey’s 1st key take-away from the trip

The negative impact that western society has had on these communities. Everywhere she looked kids were chewing gum, or drinking soft drink, or eating junk food. doTERRA and Choice Humanitarian who are working together in these communities and are working on turning around because of the impacting it’s having. The kids have rotten teeth, there’s rubbish everywhere that’s wreaking havoc on the environment as well as ruining the beauty of the landscape.

We found it really sad and very concerning.

It really drove home the point that every single choice we make matters. Whether it’s choosing what products to buy, or making sure to recycle everything we can, what companies to align ourselves with. A prime example is doTERRA, we wholeheartedly believe in everything doTERRA strives for in educating communities such as these to make the world a better place. Having a global social conscience is extremely important to them and an ethos that resonates with us so intrinsically.

Jo’s key take-away from the trip

Whilst they were in Guatemala Jo got to attend a Days for Girls education session.

Days for Girls are turning periods into pathways. They increase access to menstrual care and education in third world or developing countries by developing global partnerships, cultivating social enterprises, mobilising volunteers and innovating sustainable solutions that shatter stigmas and limitations for women and girls. They create a world with dignity, health and opportunity for all. No more will women and girls be shamed for having their periods and be disallowed to attend work or school and be sent to isolation when they’re menstruating. So far Days for Girls has reached more than 1 million girls and counting. They provide education to women and girls about their reproductive systems as well as providing them with menstruation kits so that they can hygienically look after themselves.

They also educate the men as well about how a woman’s body works and taking the shame and stigma away so that they can be supportive to the women in their lives.

It is vital work that they do and incredibly empowering to women.

During the presentation a woman’s reproductive system was discussed and all the women were quite giggly and embarrassed at the start but then the presenter started talking about their cycle and when during their cycle they should expect their period and if they don’t get it during this time then that’s nor normal and they should see a doctor. They also talked about when they are likely to be ovulating so that this can help them to avoid unwanted pregnancies. During this discussion the women were transfixed and concentrating because they knew this was vital information they needed to know because they had never been told this before.

Talk then turned to the menstruation hygiene kits and it was Jo’s job to show the ladies how to put a pad in your underwear. The girls were a bit giggly again but, they had no idea what to do because they had never seen it before. Every single woman left with a hygiene kit that are reusable and were sewn and made in Australia.

There were some older women there who were talking to the presenters afterwards who were saying that they don’t get periods anymore and asked if they should see a doctor. It was determined that they had gone through menopause. From this, Days for Girls will be modifying their talks to include discussing menopause.

Whilst this presentation was taking place, Tracey, unfortunately, didn’t get to attend but she had an equally important role, playing with all the kids whose mothers were in the Days for Girls session. She loved every second of it playing with those kids and being in their joyful presence.

Tracey’s 2nd key take-away from the trip

Seeing firsthand dōTERRA’s Co-Impact Sourcing initiative and what that really means.

Tracey got to see the massive impact this sourcing initiative has on not just every farmer that aligns with doTERRA, but the massive impact it has on their families and their communities.

These farmers are being educated on how to best farm cardamom to yield the best crops possible and crops that will last and be sustainable through the generations.

It took time for doTERRA to build these relationships with the farmers as the farmers were wary of western influences given their own farming practices had been handed down through generations.

But once the relationships were built these farming communities are now reaping the benefits because they are yielding bigger and better crops and they are so grateful to doTERRA for educating them.

Let’s backtrack … how did we get to Sika’abe in Guatemala?

It was a loooooong trip to get there. It took about 33 hours to get from Hobart to Guatemala City. We were supposed to go on about a 12-hour bus ride up into the mountains, but there had been quite a lot of rain and mudslides, so they changed the plan. Instead, we went on two planes to ferry us, 1 plane was a 10-seater and the other was a 30-seater. The flight was about 45 minutes which took us to the coastline of the Caribbean. We then went on a 2-hour boat ride up the Caribbean which sounds very luxurious but it was a very basic boat like a large dinghy with a plastic roof and not a cruise ship! Haha After that we then embarked on a 4-hour bus ride up the mountain.

It gave us a massive appreciation for how they get cardamom essential oil to us and not just that oil but all essential oils that come from third world countries!

The process it takes to get that little bottle of oil into our homes it mind-blowing and we only saw a small portion. It really shocked us because it’s not something we really tend to think about, but we sure do now.

Just from farm to the distillery is a 15-hour truck drive. They managed to drive overnight for us so that when we got to the distillery, we could see a batch of cardamom seeds being distilled.

If you buy doTERRA oils…

You are in the best hands possible! They have THE BEST social conscience; they are humble and are dedicated to ensuring our planet and the people on it are well looked after.

If we all supported companies that are doing the right thing a little more then the world would be a much better place!

Every little bit matters, and every decision you make counts.

If you want to buy doTERRA oils…

Then we’d love to have you on our team and educate you on how to use them. You can check it all out at https://additivefreelifestyle.com/instructions

Jo and Tracey x

Podcast Review

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In this week’s episode of The Whole Circle Podcast we talk to Naturopath and Nutritionist, Naomi Judge about progesterone deficiency and how this could affect you.

Full disclaimer here guys, Naomi is our Naturopath and we love her! She has totally helped us turn our health around.

Who is Naomi Judge?

Naomi is a certified Naturopath with a Bachelor’s Degree in Health Science. She is also a Nutritionist, blogger, and author, with her own Sydney-based business. Naomi has reached thousands of local, interstate and international clients reach their health goals over the past 9 years. Well-known for her expertise in helping women who are frustrated, fed up and struggling with unresolved hormonal health problems. Naomi helps these women connect the dots between their health, happiness and hormones. Enabling them to live a life in optimal vibrancy – what she calls “Your New Normal”.

Previous podcast episode with Naomi

We interviewed Naomi way back in episode 3 and we discussed with her all about zinc and magnesium. It’s still, to this day, one of our top trending episodes. There is so much juicy info in that episode, so if you haven’t listened to it before, then head on over and check it out HERE where you will also get the show notes. Otherwise, listen to it on Apple Podcast or Stitcher apps.

Thyroid Issues

Progesterone is needed to help produce thyroxine (thyroid hormone 4 – T4). However, the catch-22 is that a lot of people are low in triiodothyronine (thyroid hormone 3 – T3) which helps to produce progesterone. So, if you’re low in one, you’re automatically going to be low in the other as well. That will then cause the downward spiral of your hormone levels getting lower and lower. This will then trigger your metabolism to slow down, you might put on weight or find it hard to lose weight no matter how much you’re exercising. It can also present with menstrual problems such as heavy painful periods or oestrogen dominance which is actually a symptom of low thyroid and low progesterone.

Getting to the root cause of why these issues are happening for you is vital.

Jo’s health concerns

Jo decided to see Naomi because she was experiencing the following issues:

• Weight gain
• Inability to lose weight
• Anxiety
• Skin flare-ups such as acne
• Stress
• Pigmentation flare-up
• Irregularly longer period cycles

Because of all these issues, Jo knew something was up with her body. She wasn’t feeling sick, you know, where you go see a GP because you know you’re sick, but she knew that something just wasn’t right within her body. Hence why she went to Naomi.

After Naomi did some tests, the results came back to show that Jo’s progesterone level was the lowest Naomi had ever seen! Whereas at the opposite end of the spectrum, Jo’s oestrogen was very high.

After implementing a protocol that Naomi recommended, including supplements, Jo’s cycles are now back to normal and she feels a lot better and like her body is functioning as it should. She still has a way to go, but she’s definitely on the right track. Had she not gone to Naomi she would never have brought about change. She would have just accepted that maybe feeling not quite right and experiencing all those symptoms listed above, was her body’s new normal given the life stressors that were going on for her as a busy mum.

Thankfully working out the root cause thanks to Naomi’s expertise, has been life-changing for her!

Pregnancy and low progesterone

Low progesterone can be a contributing factor to either miscarriage or inability/struggle to get pregnant. Jo struggled to get pregnant with their daughter, Eva and in fact Jo previously had a miscarriage.

If you are struggling with fertility issues or know someone who is, getting your progesterone levels checked could be the key to rectifying it.

Had hormone levels been checked prior to trying to conceive, then these issues could have been prevented.

Common signs of progesterone deficiency

The most common sign would be regarding your menstrual cycle such as:

• Longer cycles (ie. 37-40 days)
• Short cycles (ie. 18-21 days)
• Heavy painful bleeding
• Blood clots

Telling factors can also be in the week leading up to your period if you are experiencing:

• Anxiousness
• Depression
• Sore or painful breasts
• Breast lumps

In the two weeks leading up to your period progesterone gets synthesised and you should actually be feeling good. If that is not working for you then are going to feel awful in those two weeks leading up to your period.

Also, if you’re not ovulating you actually make progesterone in your adrenal glands. If that’s not happening because you’re going through a lot of stress and your body is making too much cortisol or you’re in adrenal fatigue, then you’re actually going to have low progesterone most of your cycle. That can lead to symptoms such as:

• Depression
• Sore breasts all the time
• Self-harm
• Anxiety

It can also contribute to mood symptoms of low serotonin which comes with:

• Constipation
• Depression
• Reoccurring thoughts
• Thinking too much which can then cause anxiety

It begs the question of how many women are on anti-depressant medication when in actual fact the issue could be driven by their hormone levels which could be rectified?

How does being on birth control affect your progesterone?

There are things that stop progesterone production, such as:

Synthetic progesterone from:

• Implanon rod
• Mirena
• Oral contraceptive pill

Foods/products containing oestrogen such as:

• Soy
• Synthetic oestrogen in the pill
• Toxins from products like parabens and BPA

How can you have low progesterone if you live a healthy lifestyle?

This was definitely the case for Jo. She was living an additive-free lifestyle, yet she still had low progesterone levels.

In these situations, it could be caused by stress whether it’s working long hours or life pressures which then depletes progesterone levels. So, your body might be producing progesterone but it then gets turned into something else.

What can you do to resolve it?

Reduce stress

Work on reducing your stress levels. It’s not possible to stop what’s going on around you, but it’s about adapting to your stress. This can be done by prioritising self-care through such things as meditation or whatever it is that you like to do that calms your nervous system down. Women’s bodies can actually get into sympathetic nervous system mode quicker than a man. When we’re in that sympathetic nervous system mode our bodies use up progesterone a lot quicker by turning it into adrenalin and cortisol.

Take the moments in the day wherever you can, even if it’s sitting at the traffic lights or waiting to pick your kids up from school. Take the time to maybe do some deep breathing or listen to your favourite song. All these little snippets in the day have an impact.

Look at your diet

One of the biggest reasons our hormones can get out of balance is because we have issues with our blood sugar. When we have issues with our blood sugar, we can have high insulin in our bodies which causes a bit of insulin resistance. Naomi likes to refer to insulin as a ‘naughty hormone’ because it can cause:

• High cortisol
• Low progesterone
• High oestrogen

It’s about making sure that you’re eating good foods regularly so that your diet is regulating your blood sugar. Yes, there is lots of buzz at the moment with diets like intermittent fasting, keto or 5:2, but the best advice Naomi can give is to get your diet in a place where it is supporting you. Stick to savoury foods for your three meals a day. Once you’ve gotten your diet into a good rhythm and you’re feeling good because of it, then, by all means, give intermittent fasting a try and see how it goes for you.

But if you go straight into fasting from a situation where your hormones are out of whack then it can exacerbate your hormone imbalance further.

Sugar

When Jo first consulted with Naomi, she was craving sugar all the time! She couldn’t get enough of it. But after working with Naomi and working on getting her hormones balanced, she now finds she doesn’t crave sugar at all.

If your progesterone is low or you have adrenal issues, then you will get those sugar cravings. Especially with your adrenals not only will you get sugar cravings, but you will also get salt cravings. Low progesterone can also make you feel dehydrated which means you can’t hold onto your electrolytes so you may also feel bloated and retain fluid.

Where can you find Naomi?

The best part about Naomi is that you don’t have to live in Sydney to consult with her because she consults over Skype too. This means everyone can access her! Yippee!

We cannot recommend Naomi highly enough. As we said earlier, she has turned our health around, and we are forever grateful for this and for her wealth of knowledge.

She provides so much free content on her Facebook, Instagram and YouTube channels so make sure you check her out there as well as via the following if you want an appointment with her:

Website: https://www.naomijudge.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/NaturopathNaomi/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/naturopathnaomi/

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCxfPKZSw8n6JaAyhs8S76kQ

Podcast Review

We would love for you to leave a review of this podcast >>> here

The post Podcast 170 – Progesterone Deficiency with Naturopath, Naomi Judge appeared first on Additive Free Lifestyle.

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With 130 restaurants internationally, Mexican fast-food chain, Guzman y Gomez is blazing a trail by delivering fast, convenient food that is additive-free!

Yes, you did read that right!

Recently, news.com.au interviewed Guzman y Gomez Founder, Steve Marks about how his stores have transitioned to being additive-free.

In the words of Steve Marks ‘clean is the new healthy’!

How did it all come to be?

In 2016 Mr Marks was looking to add fries to their menu. However, when he looked into the versions of ‘fries’ on the market, he realised how bad they were from an additive perspective. He first recalled seeing preservative 200. Not really knowing what this was, he delved deeper and discovered just how bad it was and how the World Health Organisation lists it as ‘possibly carcinogenic to humans’. He then took it upon himself to become educated about additives and preservatives in food in general. Needless to say he was shocked with what he found!

The more he read the more infuriated he became.

It then took him 18 months to produce a clean fry thanks to the help of McCains, but they did it. This was just one item in a long list they ‘cleaned up’.

OMG you guys… this makes us SO FREAKIN’ HAPPY!

We know fast food will always be around, but if the chains can clean up their ingredients imagine how much better it would be.

We seriously take our hats off to Mr Marks for not only taking the time to research what additives and preservatives do to our bodies but to revolutionise change for the benefit of each and every customer.

There need to be more fast-food chains out there with a social conscience, who care about our health over the health of their profit margins, just like Guzman y Gomez!

We couldn’t love this story more! We love that he is pushing boundaries, challenging others to do the same and with his hashtag #fixfastfood we hope that this goes all the way.

Check out the article and all the glorious info here:

Guzman y Gomez goes ‘100 per cent clean’

You can also check them out via their website too: Guzman y Gomez

Jo and Tracey x

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In this week’s episode of The Whole Circle Podcast we talk to Nikki Cassar about how to create an additive-free school canteen.

In our eyes, Nikki is a superstar! She saw that the canteen at her children’s school wasn’t additive-free which meant that she just couldn’t allow her kids to eat food from there.

Fast forward to when a position became available to work in the school canteen and she was all in! In her interview, she stipulated that she would only take on the role if the school allowed her to make the canteen completely additive-free! ??????

Needless to say, she got the position and she has gone onto overhaul the whole school canteen to be fully additive-free!

Seriously… how AWESOME is she?!

In addition to this, the canteen is not just additive-free, they also use organic or chemical-free produce wherever possible which they source from a farm 15 minutes away from the school as well as they use their own school garden for produce or source locally where they can. They use very little plastic. The cleaners of the school have even commented on how little rubbish there now is in the playground!

They have plenty of variety and have different foods to serve every day, which means the kids are trying different foods all the time.

Truly AMAZING!

Change like this doesn’t happen overnight.

How did the change come about?

The canteen at Grahamstown Public School was a P&C run canteen. This changed to then being a school run canteen which opened up a position to work in the canteen, which is the position that Nikki applied for.

When the canteen was P&C run it was a ‘heat and serve’ canteen which meant that the food choices were mostly additive and preservative-laden.

When it changed over to school run and Nikki took over the running of it, she changed the food to homemade food that is made from scratch every single day.

What started Nikki’s journey of living additive-free?

She had always been health conscious in relation to what she was feeding her kids, but it wasn’t until her son developed eczema with constant flare-ups that she researched additives and preservatives and decided to remove them all from their diets.

They had always shopped in the health food aisle at the supermarket as they thought they were good food choices, not knowing that in actual fact a lot of the foods in that aisle are full of additives.

Through this research Nikki then completed our Additive-Free Made Easy e-course and dived deep into it all and how additive and preservative-laden foods can contribute to all sorts of health and behavioural issues.

Now that they have been additive-free for some time, if her kids go somewhere and eat additive filled foods, even if she is not with them, she can tell within an hour because their behaviour changes. They become irritable, cranky and behaviourally they are quite challenging. So now she makes everything from scratch and avoids additives and preservatives wherever she can.

It was a big transition for their family, but they have seen the benefits and she is now excited to educate other families on how to live additive-free and the massive benefits for living this way.

What was the school’s reaction to Nikki wanting to overhaul the canteen?

The school was excited but nervous. They were unsure how the parents or teachers would react. A massive change like this can spark fear of the unknown.

Thankfully it has been embraced and they are seeing so many benefits.

Waste is down a fact of which the cleaners absolutely love because it makes their job easier and is great for the environment too.

Kids are also now eating fruits and vegetables when they normally wouldn’t have and adding extra nutrition and variety into their diets.

When Jo was still living in Queensland and her school canteen was P&C run, they did some fundraising to get a Thermomix into the canteen. There was so much negative feedback around this, people were saying it was a waste of money. But the reason was so that they could cook a lot more from scratch and create an additive-free canteen too.

Was the school supportive of the change?

The school principal was incredibly supportive. For her it was not about creating a profitable canteen it was about providing a service to the kids whereby they were getting good nutritious food that was going to fuel their bodies to learn.

Having that support from the top made the transition so much easier for Nikki.

Now they’re maintaining a canteen that is either breaking even or making a profit which they then use to put back into the canteen with extra staff.

They also have parent helpers who come in and volunteer their time. They have found that these parent helpers have been so keen for the change to happen that they are more than willing to volunteer their time because they know their kids are getting good additive-free meals.

The school canteen has become so popular, parents are even asking if they can do takeaway boxes so the kids can take that food to their after-school activities and continue to have a nutritious snack.

Did Nikki encounter any objections from parents?

For the most part, everyone was really good and embraced it. She had the odd parent here and there that would come up to the canteen and demand to know why they wouldn’t serve strawberry milk to their child. To which Nikki would reply that it is an additive-free canteen and that during school hours those types of food will not be served to their child at all. They are free to feed those foods to their child out of school hours but being additive-free is how the canteen is now run.

She received an email in their second week running the new style canteen from a mum who was in tears of joy as she was writing the email because her son could finally have a lunch order from school, and he was in Year 6!

When Nikki took over the canteen there was a picture on the wall of one of the Year 1 students with a note that said something along the lines of ‘do not serve food to this child’. She had no idea why that was or what the purpose for him being on the wall was until the child’s mother came to see them in the canteen saying that she had noticed all the changes in the menu. It turns out this mum had completed our e-course, Additive-Free Made Easy and she refused to let her son eat the food from the canteen that they once served. This mum stated to Nikki that she had seen the canteen was purporting to be additive-free so she quizzed her about what her son could actually eat. Nikki’s response was simple…. Everything, it’s all additive-free!

It was one of the most joyous occasions for Nikki to be able to rip that boy’s picture down from the wall and be able to serve him food.

Kids in the kitchen

The Year 6 kids come into the kitchen at recess and lunchtime to help prepare or cook the food because they are fairly confident at using a Thermomix which is great.

The kids love being in their as much as the staff do. They find that if they don’t actually have anything for the kids to do in the canteen, the kids will ask if they can simply do the dishes. Seriously… how good is that?!

What difference have the teachers noticed in the children?

Mainly the teachers have noticed a difference in behaviour given the food doesn’t have additives.

It has also brought the school together as a community because they all sit together to eat.

They try and have their hand in everything when it comes to food at the school, whether it’s the canteen or other activities that have a food component.

The teachers also eat at the canteen now, especially those teachers who refused to order from the canteen before the overhaul. They now regularly order food from the canteen as well as they also buy the food to take home to their own families.

Because they have a school garden, the kids are also learning about plant to plate. The kids plant the produce, nurture it, watch it grow, harvest it and then assist in using the produce to cook in food.

Food transparency

⬆️ Here is their additive-free school canteen menu.

⬆️ Here is what a typical lunchbox would look like.

⬆️ Here is their school canteen kitchen (we love all the Thermomix’s. Would make their life so much easier).

They don’t hide the recipes of the foods they are serving in the canteen. The school canteen has a Facebook page which Nikki regularly posts to and will often post links for the recipes of the food they serve so that parents can try cooking it at home to see if their kids will eat it at home too.

Facebook Page

If you want to check out what they have to offer, head on over to their Facebook page at Black Swan Café Canteen.

NSW Healthy School Canteen Strategy

This is the system Nikki’s school has to comply with. Foods are classified as ‘everyday’ or ‘occasional’.

There is an essential shopping list which you can buy from as these are classed as ‘everyday’ foods. But if you take those foods and then turn them into something else, ie. organic raw sugar, flour, milk and eggs and turn that into banana bread then it automatically becomes an ‘occasional’ food.

They’ve had to push back against this policy at times to change this so that nutritious foods they are cooking can be reclassified as everyday foods and not occasional foods.

Their menu is categorised as 88% everyday items and 12% occasional items.

For more information about this, you can check it out >>> here.

Additive-Free Lifestyle Chat Group

Nikki is also a member of our chat group and puts up posts now and then about what food she is serving in the canteen so if you want to also check that out, then join our Additive-Free Lifestyle Chat Group.

Additive-Free Made Easy

If you want to register your interest to participate in the next round of our 4-week 3-course, Additive-Free Made Easy then register >>> here.

We are totally inspired by Nikki and the amazing work she is doing shaping our future generation of children to eat additive-free.

We totally take our hats off to her!

Nikki you’re amazing!

Podcast Review

We would love for you to leave a review of this podcast >>> here

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It seems to be a common misconception that eating organic is super expensive, but we are here to tell you that this is not true. Eating organic can be just as cheap, if not cheaper, than eating take-away and packaged foods.

When you consider not only how many additives and preservatives are in packaged foods, not to mention how sprayed non-organic produce is, it makes sense to eat organic food as much as possible.

Believe us we were sceptical too and thought that eating organic would add a massive chunk of $$ to our grocery bill, but in actual fact, the reality is our food bills have gone down.

So here are some handy hints and tips to get you eating organic food.

Buy In Bulk And Save

There are some amazing food co-ops all around the world. Just google your area and see what comes up, yep it’s that easy. Failing that, you could start your own. Some of our favourite places to buy in bulk from are Honest to Goodness and Organics On A Budget.

There are plenty of butchers that will do bulk packs of meat as well, it’s just a matter of asking around. Buy a side of beef and split it with friends, or freeze it yourself. You will save heaps by buying in bulk.

If you can, buy direct from the farmer. This will save you even more.

When buying meat wherever possible buy grass-fed and locally farmed meat.

Use Your Freezer More

Stock up when things are in season (or on sale) and freeze them. We both have a second freezer, as we both freeze pretty much everything we can. Peeled garlic, diced onions, fresh berries, stewed fruits, fresh lemon juice (or lime), pureed homegrown tomatoes and so much more.

Basically, rather than wasting something that is nearly ready to go off or stale, freeze it. It might turn out ok, and it might not, but at least you have tried. You will be surprised what freezes just fine.

We also like to keep all our bread in the freezer and don’t ever throw out the crusts because you can use them to make breadcrumbs, saving you even more money.

If you don’t have a second freezer, search through your local buy, swap and sell pages as second-hand ones are readily available.

Shop Locally

Head to your local farmers market as their produce is often a lot cheaper. There will also be the farmer’s who will most likely use less chemicals as the produce isn’t required to be stored for as long. Just ask the supplier if it’s organic or not. It might not have an organic certification as this is really expensive to get, but it might still be pesticide-free, which is a great alternative.

Also, chatting to the local farmers might enable you to buy direct from them, rather than at the market. This can sometimes save you even more as it is packed in bulk and you have to sort it out yourself, but that can be worth the effort if you are saving money.

Make Meals From Scratch

By simply cooking all your food from scratch you are filling yourself up with wholesome, nutrient-dense foods which will make you feel full for longer. This means you don’t need to buy as much food to feel full. You’ll also stop snacking as much, so only eating three meals a day which will save you money too. Not sure what to cook? Then head on over to our website as we have over 400 recipes there to give you plenty of ideas and inspiration.

Start Sharing More

Do you have a few friends that also like to cook and create? Start sharing your food around. Basically, if someone makes sauce, someone makes jam, the next makes relish etc then all you need to do is swap with each other. This way you are all saving money and time, and you all end up with a mix of homemade goods to take home.

As they say … “more hands make light work”.

Grow Your Own

Even if you don’t have a green thumb there are plenty of things you can grow yourself. Tracey grows tomatoes, onions, celery, parsley, strawberries, rosemary, chillies, garlic, lemons and blueberries, along with a stack of other herbs.

Tomatoes are really easy and can be grown in pots if you don’t have room for them in your garden. Herbs are super easy as well and perfect to fill in blank patches around your garden beds. Just plant them in with the flowers. This is the same for carrots, lettuce, zucchini and so much more.

There are some great websites to help you – we love Sustainable Living Guide and Gardening Australia.

So as you can see eating organic produce doesn’t have to be expensive, everyone can do it. It might take a little extra effort to start off with, but you will reap the benefits because the side effects of good health will be worth it. Then after a few months, you’ll wonder why you didn’t start this years ago.

Tracey and Jo

xx

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In this week’s episode of The Whole Circle Podcast we talk to health and wellness guru, David ‘Avocado’ Wolfe.

We are so excited to talk to David this week. In our eyes, he is the guru of the health and wellness world. His wealth of knowledge is staggering, and we are thrilled to be able to have a chat and learn so much from him.

Who is David Wolfe?

Having presented over 2700 live events, David Wolfe is one of the world’s leading orators. His passion is health and well-being.

David says: “Now is the best time ever to experience the best health ever. We are the luckiest, most fortunate, most abundant people alive. Let’s start really living.”

David’s Bestselling Books:

The Sunfood Diet Success System

Eating for Beauty

Naked Chocolate

Amazing Grace

Superfoods: The Food and Medicine of the Future

Chaga: King of the Medicinal Mushrooms

David has also appeared in numerous breakthrough films and documentaries (over 100 of them), including:

Food Matters

Hungry for Change

Discover the Gift

The Raw Natural

Simply Raw: Reversing Diabetes in 30 days

The Frequency of Genius

The Serpent & the Sun

Semisweet: Life in Chocolate

Had David always grown up living a holistic lifestyle?

Not at all. His parents are medical Doctors who were all about taking medicine. From when David was about 7 years old, he started to realise that there was something wrong with this way of living. He likes to now call it ‘pharmaceutical scientism’ which he refers to it as being science turned into some kind of religion.

So essentially, he rebelled against his parents’ methodologies and way of living.

David believes that we don’t need all this ‘scientism’, all we need is our herbs, superfoods, lots of earth, air, fire and water and being connected to the planet and then you will realise that you don’t need all the other stuff we’ve been conditioned to think we need.

What is David’s latest book, The Beauty Diet, all about?

The beauty bible for a new generation: In this invaluable natural guide, internationally acclaimed nutrition and natural beauty expert David Wolfe offers proven strategies designed to improve appearance, vitality, and health from the inside out.

Each year, women absorb five pounds of toxins using common beauty products. Wolfe, one of America’s foremost nutrition experts, argues that you shouldn’t have to trade good health for exceptional beauty. There are safe, effective, and, most importantly, natural ways to enjoy glowing skin and gorgeous hair. In The Beauty Diet, he offers these solutions for cleansing and nourishing the body, slowing the ageing process, and transforming your health from the inside out so that your beauty radiates like never before.

Grounded in science and based on a foundation of rejuvenation and the enjoyment of life, The Beauty Diet is a guide to unleashing the potential for beauty within you. Wolfe explains how the human body chemically reacts to various elements of nutrition, physical activity, and sleep – information you can use to look and feel better instantly.

Natural, toxin-free beauty is not only the best way to achieve lasting beauty; it is the only way. Under Wolfe’s guidance, learn the simple dietary and lifestyle changes, like implementing organic superfoods and detoxifying through proper mineralization – balancing your acid and alkaline levels – that have lasting results. Featuring simple, clean recipes for delicious meals and smart tips for using natural resources such as cryotherapy, activated charcoal, probiotics, and more, The Beauty Diet is the ultimate resource for the healthiest route to radiant beauty.

You can grab a copy of his latest book from all good book stores as well as via his website.

How do you eat for beauty?

The things to look out for are:

1. Remove processed foods from your diet.
2. Remove sugar from your diet, especially added sugar.
3. Eat pesticide-free or spray-free foods. Those sprays cause a burden on our systems.

There is strong science in the last 40 years around epigenetics. This means that certain toxins will activate certain genes that we don’t want to be activated. We want positive epigenetics activated such as Vitamin D3 from the sun which activates probably the highest amount of the most epigenetic factors associated with health and beauty. At least 3000 to 4000 genes are switched on by the sun and Vitamin D3. The same can be said for many of the great plant foods of the world.

The key to eating for beauty is to have plenty of plants in your diet. The fibre you get from plants is essential to a healthy body. The fibre helps things move through our intestines and keep us regular.

If new to all this, what’s the biggest toxin we should remove from our lifestyle first up?

Glyphosate

It is a herbicide and it’s also an antimicrobial which means it kills off the friendly bacteria in our gut.

It’s also the active ingredient in Roundup and is on all genetically modified foods such as wheat, corn and soy. The reason why those are genetically modified is so that they don’t react to the herbicide.

There is real accumulating evidence showing that a massive amount of our health problems since the late 1970s is a direct correlation with glyphosate in our environment and food supply.

Monsanto, the manufacturer of Roundup and glyphosate have recently had a landmark judgment against them in America, where the jury was so incensed by what Monsanto was doing they not only awarded a $55 million settlement, they also awarded $1 billion dollars per plaintiff ($2 billion in total) on top of the $55 million to the plaintiff couple who are dying from cancer due to glyphosate toxicity.

Organic eating

Eating a whole food organic diet can lead you to be smarter, happier and have a better disposition and attitude overall. There’s a high correlation to the effect that sugar has on mood, especially the crashes you get after eating sugary foods.

Tracey was so shocked to be able to easily buy good quality organic food when she travelled over to the U.S. last year. It became very clear to her that Australia needs to lift its game because getting access to the same good quality organic foods is not as easy for us over here.

Detoxing your body

When you detox your body by either fasting, cleansing, juicing, organic foods, eating lighter, drinking more or your food than eating it via a liquid diet and drink more water it becomes self-evident because you feel better, your head is clearer, you have more energy, you have more fun and your sex life is better.

David just did a 40-day cleanse and a 12-day water fast and he feels 20 years younger! People are telling him he also looks 20 years younger. He always eats organic, raw and superfoods and even with eating the clean way he does, he massively benefited from detoxing his body via the cleanse and water fast.

He did this cleanse and water fast with actor, Woody Harrelson. He and David have been really close friends for over 20 years now and Woody has found that the reason he has been so successful in his career is because he works incredibly hard. To work incredibly hard, he needs the stamina and energy which is what he gets from eating very clean foods and cleansing and fasting.

Overcoming stress

Stress is the No. 1 killer! Sure, the toxicity in our bodies will shorten our lifespan but the stress will get us in the end. For example, heart attacks are at the highest rate of occurrence on a Monday morning before 12pm.

There is an acidity relationship between heart attack and strokes that we need to address. Your body can deal with stress better, if you eat better. David knows this firsthand, he is constantly battling trolls on the internet, the fight against Monsanto and unbelievable slander that was cast against him and his family including death threats was stressful beyond belief.

His Iridologist once said to him that he has stress rings, but despite that, he was still incredibly healthy. You may live a stressful life, but your body can deal with it better if your alkaline. This means you need to eat salads, vegetables, drink vegetable juice, eat more plants than animals, eat raw foods. This means you will also live longer.

Forest Bathing – what is it?

It has to do with going into the forest, getting naked and jumping into original waters and just being with the earth. Even if it’s cold. Getting into cold water is really good for you, it tightens up your skin, removes inflammation, clears your mind, is amazing for hair health and it immediately revitalises you with energy.

Get back to nature

This is something we need to do more of. It can be as simple as walking out into your backyard, standing in the sun for a bit to absorb in the Vitamin D and stand barefoot on the grass to connect you back to the earth. We don’t seem to do enough of this.

Go for a hike in the bush or a swim in a natural spring.

The benefits to our health from doing these things are massive. Nature will make you stronger.

The strongest memories we have are going camping with our parents when we were kids or camping with our own kids. It got us back to nature and connected to the earth and each other.

Where can you find David?

Website: https://www.davidwolfe.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DavidAvocadoWolfe/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/davidavocadowolfe/

Podcast Review

We would love for you to leave a review of this podcast >>> here

The post Podcast 167 – The Beauty Diet with David Wolfe appeared first on Additive Free Lifestyle.

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This week we are featuring a guest blog post written by our staff member, Sherilyn. Sherilyn is a mum of two boys (nearly 13 and 11) who are both on the Autism Spectrum. Both her sons have very high sensory issues when it comes to food (both seeking and avoiding sensory input), and her youngest son heavily struggles with severe anxiety around food, to the point where he will mostly only eat hard and crunchy textured foods and foods that he knows where they have come from because he gets very brand specific. So we thought who better to talk about this topic than Sherilyn who is all over it!

Hey guys, I am so excited to bring you this week’s post given I have lived and breathed this issue for over a decade now, but I think it’s a topic that we can all relate to in one way or another. So let’s dive in!

We’ve all been there… you make a delicious meal that you’ve slaved over in the kitchen for hours and you’re so proud to share this plate of love with your family only for the kids to totally refuse it.

But then along the way you stumble upon a food that your child laps up and wants over and over again, and of course you feed it to them because #winning they are finally eating and enjoying something. And then the tables turn and they refuse to eat it again ?

Cooking for fussy kids can be an excruciating experience for everyone involved. But are they just being fussy or is something else at play?

Consider this… for children, eating is a wholly sensory experience. We know that as adults we eat with our eyes first before anything goes into our mouths. Kids are exactly the same except with a heightened perception of what they think they will like or won’t like, even if they have never tasted it.

A child will analyse food for its shape, colour, taste, texture and temperature first and if anything seems not right, then it can quite often be a no-go zone. Or maybe you’ve got a child who is not only sensory sensitive to food but is also brand-specific about foods too and won’t try other brands in case they’re ‘different’ #thestruggleisreal

So let’s delve into it to give you a better understanding of what may be going on.

Food fatigue (technically called ‘food jags’)

What exactly are they?

Food Jags are when a child eats the same food, made the same way, over and over.

So what’s the problem with that?

The reality is that kids will get sick of these foods and will most likely start refusing to eat them.

How do you know if it’s happening?

Your child can:

✚ Cough

✚ Gag

✚ Turn their head away

✚ Push the food away

✚ Put their hands over their mouths so no food can get in

✚ Lash out at parents

✚ Wriggle around to get away from the food

✚ Completely shut down to the world around them

✚ Refuse to eat

This essentially is a flight or fight response. If your child displays any of the above, then don’t expect them to eat those foods. Just like adults, kids aren’t going to like all foods offered to them. It’s up to us to figure out our child’s tastes and preferences when it comes to food and work from there.

Emotions and Food

For most kids up to the developmental age of 2 1/2, their response to food is a reflex. Negativity around food simply hasn’t been developed by that age.

However, at around 2 1/2 kids start to worry about food. For example, if a certain food made them feel bad the last time they ate it, they worry that it may make them feel bad again. Anxiety can then develop and when a child (or adult) is anxious, the blood rushes away from their stomachs and flows to their brain, heart and lungs which, in turn, then diminishes their appetite. And as we all know, if we don’t feel hungry then we don’t eat, so in these instances, mealtimes can be over before they’ve even started.

Some advice from one mum to another…

✚ Offer new foods every second day so that there is a break in between allowing for and variety in the foods being eaten.

✚ If your child eats a restricted diet of 10 foods or less, then change the shape, colour, taste, texture or temperature. Just be careful to make the change big enough so that your child will notice, but small enough that your child will still eat the food anyway.

✚ If your child becomes brand specific, try as much as possible to remove foods from their packaging without your child seeing and mix up brands where possible. This will ensure that your child will no longer recognise what brand of food it is.

✚ Build trust with your child when it comes to food so that if things change your child will be comfortable with that.

✚ Take the focus off eating and instead focus on fun, play and tolerance of even just allowing that specific food to be on your child’s plate.

✚ Be the example of what you want your child to eat. Children often model their parents so if they see you eating a variety of healthy foods then they are more likely to try them too.

✚ If your child simply won’t eat a certain food, then be ok with them just touching or smelling it instead, this will allow them to build a tolerance level for that specific food.

✚ Kids need to know that it is ok to say no to foods and that they won’t get in trouble for it.

✚ Use positive language around food and talk about food at the dinner table. Talk about how it smells, tastes, feels and looks.

✚ Be patient. We get that it can be frustrating when your child won’t eat, but by looking at the root cause of why they won’t, then you will have a better understanding.

By doing all these things you will help to alleviate your child’s anxiety around mealtimes, thus creating an environment where your child may be more likely to give foods a try.

Additive-Free foods

As parents, we all do the best we can to give our kids a balanced diet. I believe that wherever possible it is best to feed kids an additive-free diet so that you can be assured that their behaviours, moods and health aren’t being affected by the chemicals in processed foods.

Additives and preservatives can play a massive part so it’s always best to be as well informed as possible so that you can recognise if your child’s behaviours are being affected by additives and preservatives.

If you want to learn more about what chemicals are in your foods, how they affect you and how you can avoid them, then I recommend you register your interest or join the next round of Jo and Tracey’s e-course, Additive-Free Made Easy where you will learn all this information and more. I did this course a few years ago now and it was utterly mind-blowing ?. Whilst it definitely took time to implement the changes and simple swaps with my boys, it has been totally worth it because now I am empowered to know what foods to avoid and what I can switch things out to and in the process, their health has benefited for it as has mine and my husband’s health. Knowledge really is power!

Register here >>> https://additivefreelifestyle.com/afme

Sherilyn ❤️

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In this week’s episode of The Whole Circle Podcast we talk to Dr Eric Z about how to create a toxic-free lifestyle.

This episode was so exciting for us. It’s no secret how much we love our doTERRA essential oils and speaking to Dr Eric Z today was such a thrill. He is so knowledgeable on all things oils and health and wellness, so to be able to pick his brain today was amazing!

Who is Dr Eric Z?

Eric Zielinski, D.C. is a Doctor of Chiropractic and public health researcher who specializes in Aromatherapy and Biblical Health. A pioneer in the natural living space. Dr. Z is the author of the International Bestselling books The Healing Power of Essential Oils & The Essential Oils Diet, Executive Producer of The Hope for Breast Cancer documentary and creator of the Essential Oils for Abundant Living Masterclass. With his wife, Sabrina (Mama Z) he founded NaturalLivingFamily.com in 2014, which become the most visited website devoted to Bible health and non-branded essential oil education in the world.

Convenience to the detriment of our health

We live in such a ‘convenient’ world today, whereby chemicals are everywhere. In our foods, our medicines and our body products. We struggle to avoid them. Back in the early 1900s and earlier, medicines such as antibiotics weren’t around then, they used essential oils as their medicines instead, and with the advancements in technology and healthcare, it hasn’t made us as a collective any healthier. In fact, it’s the opposite. Yes, there were certain historical time periods where people died younger than what they do now, but that was because of extraneous circumstances (eg. poverty).

This is the first generation in the history of the world where children are not predicted to have a longer life expectancy than their parents!

So, this lets us know that what we’re doing isn’t working and hasn’t been working for the last almost 4 generations. Thankfully now there’s a complete shift to get back to nature with essential oils being considered cool and hip. The reality is they’re just catching up to what has always been there.

Where do you think Chemists get the chemical structures from when they create a new drug?

They don’t invent them in a vacuum! The perfect example of this is willow. We have known for forever and a day that our ancestors have used willow bark as an analgesic (pain reliever). They would make extracts out of it; they would chew it and all sorts of things to get its benefits.

Similarly, there is a chemical compound called methyl salicylate which comes from the Wintergreen plant. Chemists are aware of its pain-relieving properties so in a lab they synthetically created or mimicked methyl salicylate and created Aspirin from it.

Every drug whether it’s chemotherapeutic, chemoprotective, an autoimmune drug, a blood sugar balancing drug, whatever drug it is comes from a chemical structure that we find in nature.

The difference is the risk, risks involved with synthetic drugs, risks with essential oil usage because there is risks with those too, but pills were created for convenience and again, convenience comes at a cost.

Hints and tips on essential oils

Treat essential oils like you would medicine and drugs – research them!

Make a list of your primary health issues that bother you, it could be weight, or sleep, or libido or a hot temper. Health concerns that you would normally go to the pharmacist for. Then rank them with 0 being no complaint at all and 10 being the worst imaginable symptoms and put today’s date on it. The one that has the highest rank on your list is the one you focus on first to get that under control.

Dr Z has a list of protocols for health concerns in his new book, The Essential Oils Diet. You often find that if you follow the protocols for your health issues, then symptoms dissipate such as pain. You will also find a tonne of information and resources over at his website Natural Living Family as well as being able to buy a copy of his book The Essential Oils Diet.

Bear in mind that there is no one particular oil for one particular situation, in the same way there is no one particular drug for one particular condition. We are all individual and what works for you may not work for someone else because we are all made up differently. So, it’s about trial and error and practice using essential oils to find what works for you.

No matter what protocol you are using for your health concerns you want to start slow, track your results and continue changing things in the rest of your life such as eating cleaner, healthier and moving your body.

Essential oils won’t negate the damage done by a horrible habit or addiction but when you embrace a change of lifestyle then that’s when the changes happen, ie. losing weight, clearer skin, hormone balances etc.

Essential oils allow you to start small in beginning to change your lifestyle. It could be as simple as starting with diffusing 5 drops of Lavender in a diffuser in your bedroom to give you a restful night’s sleep.

Simple steps can lead to big changes over time.

Creating healthy habits for life

Currently, Dr Z is travelling a lot and needing to be awake a lot more so he is staying away from his favoured calming oils like lavender, the chamomiles etc. and instead he is using a lot of citrus oils for their uplifting properties as well as they help keep him awake, alert and focused.

Because he is so busy and going through a stressful time in his life, stress causes an inflammatory response in the body which breaks down your joints and weakens your immune function so he is doing all he can to stop stress at a cellular level. This means that he eats a very anti-inflammatory diet, he exercises regularly and uses essential oils to support his body.

Tips to low-tox your home

✚ Remove all synthetic fragrances and chemicals from the home such as candles, perfumes, air fresheners, cleaning products etc.

✚ Use additive-free lotions and soaps.

✚ Diffuse essential oils throughout the house.

✚ Change up the additive-free products and essential oils you use so that your body doesn’t build up a resistance.

✚ Make small swaps to additive-free products over time, don’t feel like you have to do it all at once as that can be too overwhelming.

✚ Use natural washing powders/liquids so that you are not wearing synthetic fragrances around all day that are still stuck on your clothes.

Oils ain’t oils

Not all essential oils are created equal, they can quite often contain synthetic fillers and be adulterated given the industry is not regulated.

For a comprehensive guide on how to choose and buy your essential oils you can check out Dr Z article here >>> https://naturallivingfamily.com/where-to-buy-essential-oils/

doTERRA Essential Oils

As you have heard Dr Eric doesn’t advocate for any specific brand of oils other than they MUST be 100% pure and free from any synthetic fillers whatsoever, as well as being ethically sourced. This is why we love doTERRA so much, not only are we assured that what is in a bottle of oil is only pure essential oils with no adulteration, but if we want to we can head to Source to You and check out the batch number of every bottle of oil we have because the batch numbers are written on the bottom of the bottles. There is complete transparency from doTERRA.

Not only that but the Aromatic Plant Research Centre (APRC) rates doTERRA as being the highest grade of oil for their purity and potency.

doTERRA also has an incredibly high social conscience. They give back to communities where oils are sourced, they support wonderful charities through their Healing Hands Foundation both local and abroad and they pay their farmers fair trade prices through their Co-impact Sourcing initiative.

We love everything they do for the world just as much as we love their pure oils, maybe even more.

Want your own oils?

If this episode inspires you to start your own essential oil journey and you would love to join our team and get your own wholesale account so that you can get 25% off retail pricing, then please head on over to www.additivefreelifestyle.com/instructions.

What do you get if you join our doTERRA team?

✚ Exclusive access to us as your oily mentors.

✚ A 14-day email series teaching you how to use your oils safely, their purity plus how to use your doTERRA wholesale account.

✚ A supportive like-minded community.

✚ Full business training if you are interested in running your own doTERRA business which is free and run by us and our team.

✚ All the support you could ever want and need.

Links and Resources recap

• Check out Dr Z’s Natural Living Family >>> here
• Grab a copy of Dr Z’s books >>> here
• Check out Dr Z on Facebook >>> here
• Check out Dr Z on Instagram >>> here

Podcast Review

We would love for you to leave a review of this podcast >>> here

The post Podcast 165 – Toxic-Free Makeover with Dr Eric Z appeared first on Additive Free Lifestyle.

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In this week’s episode of The Whole Circle Podcast we talk about where to start to live additive-free.

We get asked a lot about how to start living additive-free because people can be overwhelmed at the mere thought of trying to change their lifestyle, especially when you have to think about it for not only yourself but your family as well.

We’ve covered many times in previous podcast episodes how to manage family, expectations, negative comments etc. when it comes to living additive-free, but we haven’t specifically covered EXACTLY how to start living additive-free. So here goes…

What is your why for living additive-free?

For Jo, it was to help her daughter Eva who was going through all sorts of health and behavioural issues because of additives in food that she was eating.

For Tracey, after she had seen Jo go through the changes in her family because they were living additive-free, Tracey realised that there were also health concerns in her family that were linking back to food.

Finding your why is incredibly important. Your why is what will sustain you through the process of shifting to living additive-free and will be your driving force to maintain it, even if people around you think it’s a load of rubbish.

Your why will also help you to know where to start in switching to additive-free. For example, if skin issues are your why then looking at what products you are putting on your body or washing your clothes in may be your starting point.

Or maybe your children have behavioural issues and you want to clean up their diets as well as your diet to live a healthier lifestyle.

Look at what’s in your pantry and fridge

To take the overwhelm out of feeling you need to switch everything out or ditch everything all at once then try starting with one food group, ie. breakfast or dinner or snacks or packaged foods.

For example, let’s say you have Taco Tuesday every Tuesday and you cook your meat in a Mexican packet seasoning base. Why not look at switching that packet mix to a cleaner version. Try googling taco or Mexican seasoning additive-free and a whole bunch of recipes will come up (even ours, we have a Mexican spice mix on our website – just sayin’ ?).

Just start swapping things out one item at a time. If you change one item per week, then after 1 year you will have made 52 changes which is awesome!

Make sure you read ingredient listings on the back of packets

Don’t go by what it says on the front of the packet, the front is designed to grab your attention and draw you into buying it straight away regardless of what the ingredients listing is.

Turn the packet over and read the ingredient panel. If you see ingredients that just don’t make sense to you or you can’t even pronounce the ingredients or you see numbers everywhere, then put it back on the shelf and look for another brand that has ingredients that you understand.

How do you know what to buy?

As stated above, look for ingredient panels that list real food ingredients or words you understand. If you can’t find that then you will be able to make it yourself.

Truth bomb… to live completely additive-free you will have to cook or make everything from scratch using real ingredients. It’s really not as hard as it sounds, and it’s so much cheaper too, we promise!

Go back to simple clean eating, like fruit, vegetables, real meat. Swap the foods out with the real food.

So, if you regularly purchase packaged coated chicken or fish etc. then buy the actual real chicken and fish and coat it yourself in freshly made breadcrumbs.

Where to start for lunchboxes?

Leftovers are great in lunchboxes. When you make a homemade meal, double or triple the recipe so that you have extra for lunchboxes.

Get a good thermos, heat it up and take it to work or school so it’s ready to go for lunch.

If you or your kids prefer sandwiches, then start with swapping out your spreads for better options. Swap margarine for 100% butter, swap Vegemite (which is filled with MSG) to EveryMite (purchase >>> here), swap peanut butter spreads for a 100% natural peanut butter spread. If getting jam just make sure the ingredients are sugar and fruit (FYI – making your own jam is super simple and we have plenty of recipes on our website) or have salad sandwiches.

But what if you have ham or processed meats on sandwiches every day? Processed meats are full of nitrates so just don’t eat them. Yep, a big call, but you can totally do it. You can get low-nitrate processed meats at some butchers, you’ll just need to ring around and find one.

If you prefer chicken then make your own shredded chicken (again we have a recipe on our website >>> here) or Skinnymixers has a recipe for Chicken Loaf on her website which you can get >>> here.

There are plenty of recipes out there for sandwich ideas or lunch ideas that you can batch cook and freeze so that you don’t have to cook them all the time, and then you can just grab and go.

Now that we’ve got sandwiches sorted, what about the treats like biscuits? Again, check your ingredient panels and go for the ones that list real ingredients such as water, flour, sugar, milk, vanilla etc. Get as close to that as possible. Failing getting a packet of biscuits you are comfortable with, then again, make your own. We have so many biscuit recipes on our website.

It honestly doesn’t have to be hard; it will only be as hard as you make it.

Where can you learn more?

You can head on over to our website because we have so much free content and if you join our email list you get a FREE shopping guide (get it >>> here), so you know what to look out for next time you head to the supermarket.

Website: Additive-Free Lifestyle

We give away so much free content and downloadables in our emails too, so if you’re not on our email list then you may want to get on it and if you’re already on our email list then make sure you read the emails because you may be missing out on a heap of free stuff.

We have done a whole heap of additive-free themed podcast episodes so check all them out on your podcast app or via our website.

Learn it all in our e-course, Additive-Free Made Easy

If you want to delve into specific additives and preservatives so you know what to look out for and what to swap out, then head on over to Additive-Free Made Easy so you can register your interest for our next round which is coming very soon. It’s a 4-week online course that you can do at your own pace and will set you on the right path to living an additive-free lifestyle!

Podcast Review

We would love for you to leave a review of this podcast >>> here

The post Podcast 164 – How To Start Living Additive-Free appeared first on Additive Free Lifestyle.

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Here’s the truth, before going additive-free I (Jo) was addicted to diet coke. When I was trying to quit, I used to justify it by allowing myself ‘only one glass a day’. Oh man, I used to time my fix and think about it all day until that one glass was down.

Then I quit. For good! Kombucha really helped me and I’m so thankful it came into our life.

How do you pronounce it?

Kom-boo-cha.

Where is it from?

Whilst the exact origins aren’t exactly known, it is believed to have originated from China around 2,000 years ago. It is known as the ‘Tea of Immortality’.

What is Kombucha?

It is a fermented drink which is made up of black tea and sugar that creates probiotics. The bacteria and yeast which comes from the Scoby (Symbiotic Culture of Bacteria and Yeast) then commences the fermentation process. Don’t worry it’s actually not a sweet sugary drink, The SCOBY eats up the sugar as part of the fermentation process to create a drink that is acid-rich.

What are the benefits of Kombucha?

It is incredibly beneficial to your heart, brain and your gut. The main benefits are:

✚ Boosts immunity

✚ Fights inflammation in the body

✚ A powerful source of antioxidants

✚ Supports a healthy gut

✚ Supports a healthy digestive system

✚ Powerful antibacterial agent

✚ Great for the cardiovascular system

✚ Supports healthy liver function

Is it expensive?

It is if you buy the pre-made bottles from the supermarket or local store. The cost savings come when you make it yourself. You can make it for a fraction of what it would cost you to buy pre-made and it’s really easy to make.

Your biggest initial outlay is getting a good quality ceramic jar. In our experience (Jo has been brewing Kombucha for years), the ceramic jars produce the best quality and tasting Kombucha as well as an everlasting brew. We love the Durand brand for the ceramic jars which you can get from >> here. Search online for your local stockist.

If you are just starting out and don’t want to outlay for a ceramic jar until you know you will drink it regularly, then we recommend sourcing a large glass jar with a pouring tap such as what you would use for punch. Just be careful of the tap, as cheap plastic and kombucha don’t like each other, you could kill the SCOBY.

The only other cost is for the tea, we recommend using good quality organic black tea or a half/half combination of black tea and green tea. You can get organic teas from the supermarket. You will also need white or raw sugar, we like to use raw sugar given that it is less processed.

You will also need to source a SCOBY. If you know someone who makes Kombucha then we’re sure they will gladly give you a SCOBY because new SCOBY’s are grown each brew, so you often end up with lots to give away.

If you don’t know anyone who brews Kombucha, then take a look on your local Buy, Swap and Sell pages because you’ll often find people trying to offload their excess SCOBY’s on there.

Failing all that we have seen SCOBY’s for sale at health food shops, so you could check your local one.

Make sure when you get your SCOBY that it comes in a bed of pre-brewed Kombucha liquid as this will be your starter liquid.

How often and how much should you drink it?

To get the most benefit, it is recommended that you drink it daily. In terms of how much, everybody is different and you can have too much of a good thing. We are comfortable having one glass of Kombucha a day. Jo has a larger glass that her children because kids don’t need much of it to get the benefits. Start of slowing and work your way up, otherwise you’ll get a tummy ache and diarrhoea.

A great way to kick your soft drink habit

It’s no secret that soft drinks aren’t good for us, especially when they contain Aspartame (check out our blog post about that >> here), artificial colours, flavours, preservatives and a whole heap of sugar.

As stated above, I found the best way to kick my habit was to replace my daily soft drink fix with Kombucha. Because Kombucha is a fizzy drink due to the fermentation, it gives you that fizzy hit that you get from soft drinks, but without all the harmful additives and preservatives. It’s a fizzy drink that is actually good for you!

What if you don’t like the taste?

You can drink Kombucha either after the first ferment, or you can ferment it a second time by adding cut-up fruits of your choice to the bottled Kombucha. When you add in fruits it will ferment for the second time by eating up all the sugars from the fruit which will create even more fizz, as well as beautiful natural flavours. The beauty with making your own is you get to experiment and find flavours that you love.

Some of Jo’s favourite combinations are:

✚ Lemon or lime juice and fresh ginger

✚ Mixed berry

✚ Blueberries and cinnamon

✚ Lemon, Lime and Mint

✚ Apple

✚ Apple and cinnamon

✚ Passionfruit

We also like to drink it without any fruit and use our food-grade doTERRA essential oils to flavour it. Delish! To flavour with doTERRA essential oils, add one drop to your empty glass and fill up with Kombucha. Only favour at the time of drinking.

How can you make it?

To learn how to make it, grab the downloadable recipe:

SEND ME THE RECIPEIf you are a visual learner then Jo has done some video tutorials on how to make Kombucha, taking you through each step of the process (you’ll still need the downloadable recipe though). You can check that out >>> here.

Don’t be scared

Honestly, it’s so easy to make and is packed full of health benefits so why not give it a go today.

Jo x

The post What Is Kombucha And Why Is It Good For Us? appeared first on Additive Free Lifestyle.

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Since we did our blog post about Zooper Doopers, discussion about store-bought ice-blocks has gone a little crazy.

Lots of you have been contacting us asking if the Sugar Free-zies brand is a better alternative given that they’re reasonably priced and readily available in supermarkets.

You know we have pretty strict standards here at Additive-Free Lifestyle in terms of what we would recommend as an additive-free option, but we also subscribe to the #dontstressit motto.

What are Sugar Free-zies made of?

Well if you go by the front of the packet, you will think that there is zero sugar and nothing artificial in them. But we know not to go by the front of the packet. So, let’s break down what is on the back listed on the ingredient panel:

Water, Natural Sweeteners (Erythritol, Maltitol, Stevia Extract), Citric Acid, Natural Flavours (Cola, Raspberry, Lemonade, Tropical, Lemon-Lime), Apple Extract, Black Carrot Extract, Paprika Extract, Natural Colours (Carthamus)*

Natural Sweeteners

The three listed in the ingredients breakdown above, Erythritol, Maltitol and Stevia Extract are all natural sweeteners given that they are derived from natural substances such as plants and fruits.

Erythritol is a sugar alcohol and is used as a low-calorie sweetener in lots of low-sugar, sugar-free and carb-free foods. Most commonly, Erythritol is man-made from GMO corn starch which means it is heavily processed. Check out this article from Dr Axe about Erythritol. Is it as bad as refined sugar? Well given that they are both heavily processed, the jury is still out on that one.

Maltitol is also a sugar alcohol found naturally in some fruits and vegetables and used as a low-calorie sweetener in lots of low-sugar, sugar-free and carb-free foods. However, given that it is a carbohydrate, diabetics should exercise caution ingesting it as it has a glycaemic index and will still have an effect on blood glucose. Check out this article regarding Maltitol.

Stevia extract is derived and processed from the Stevia plant. Is around 200 times sweeter than sugar and is used as a low-calorie sweetener in lots of low-sugar, sugar-free and carb-free foods. Organic Stevia is the better option because it is non-GMO and made from organically grown Stevia. For more information on Stevia check out this article from Dr Axe.

As sweeteners go, these 3 above are better options than Aspartame which is nasty (check out our latest blog post about Aspartame), but like anything sweet, it should always be consumed in moderation.

Citric Acid is used instead of preservatives to keep the products stable and with a longer shelf life. It’s a commonly used ingredient in processed foods and is a much cleaner option when it comes to artificial additives. We’re ok with this one.

Natural Flavours (Cola, Raspberry, Lemonade, Tropical, Lemon-Lime) are where we are quite unsure. We went straight to Sugar Free-zies for an answer regarding this and we were told:

All of our flavours (raspberry, cola, lemonade, tropical and lime) are all natural and are developed from a range of plants (specifically created to assimilate the flavour they represent)- they are not juices.

We proceeded with caution regarding this because, by their own admission, they’re using plants to replicate the flavours instead of using real fruit juices. When we requested further clarification regarding these flavours and how they are processed (considering they contain zero of the real ingredients, such as a raspberry) the response received was:

Not synthetic- derived from plants.

Based on all this, we cannot give you a definitive answer about whether these natural flavours are good or bad, because we simply don’t have all the facts. Natural flavours is often a term that is used to make a product sound good, but not all natural substances are good for us. A prime example of this is Annatto (160b).

As the company won’t enlighten us with the way these ‘flavours’ are formulated, we simply don’t know what these flavours are derived from so in our experience it’s best to proceed with caution.

Apple Extract, Black Carrot Extract, Paprika Extract, Natural Colours (Carthamus) are all used to give the ice blocks their separate colours.

So, what’s the verdict?

Whilst it is hard to give a definitive thumbs up or thumbs down about these given we don’t have all the facts, one thing we do know for sure is that we feel they are a better option than Zooper Doopers. This doesn’t make them the best choice on the market, however, they’re certainly not the worst.

What’s good about Sugar Free-zies?

They are striving to be a better alternative and are Australian made and owned. They are determined to remove 500 tons of sugar from Australians via their Project 500 initiative.

By their own admission, they have also told us:

We are looking towards using more environmentally friendly packaging in the future…

What’s the best ice-blocks to buy?

We would counter this and say that given it’s so simple to make your own, why wouldn’t you?!

Just puree up some fruit and water and put into reusable ice block pouches and not only do you know exactly what is in it, but you’re reducing plastic wastage too because you’re using reusable pouches.

Or if you want to go a bit fancy, then why not give our Mango Pops recipe a go. It really is simple, promise!

Sounds like a win/win to us.

Jo & Tracey x

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Disclaimer: Don’t shoot the messenger!

If you’re an avid soft drink lover then you’re not going to like this post, but it’s vitally important that you are aware of it so you can make your own informed decision.

What is Aspartame?

In a nutshell, it is a synthetically created sugar substitute used in food and most commonly found in diet soft drinks. Yes, this is how they can claim soft drinks are sugar-free because they are sweetened with aspartame instead, which is technically not sugar. You will also find it in artificial sweetener products such as Equal. It is roughly 200 times sweeter than sugar, so only a small amount is required, but this doesn’t make it good for us.

Why is it a problem?

The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition conducted a study of over 125,000 people whereby it was discovered a link between the daily intake of aspartame and the development of leukaemia and lymphoma. Check out the study >>> here.

Let’s break it down

According to the Daily Health Post, they’ve broken down the results of that study as follows:

Consuming only one 375ml can of diet soft drink per day increased the risk of lymphoma and myeloma (cancer of blood plasma), the incidence increasing in correlation with aspartame intake. The risk was much higher in men (it hasn’t been identified why that is the case).

There is an elevated risk of lymphoma with higher consumption of non-diet soda in men than women.

Annual consumption of aspartame in the United States is estimated at 5000-5500 tons and the most common product in which it is used is diet soft drink.

Aspartame (especially in liquids) breaks down into aspartic acid, methanol, and phenylalanine; when ingested, methanol turns into formaldehyde, a known carcinogen.

Previous studies that didn’t support a link between aspartame and cancer were limited in time and scope. This study included a large sample size and scientifically-viable time period and tested subjects at intervals throughout the study.

Subjects’ measured aspartame intake included that added from packets (e.g., NutraSweet and Equal) and contributed to the weighting of the results.

Subjects with a higher intake of diet soft drink had a higher body mass index and animal protein intake and were less likely to smoke. (This is highly significant: it is known that aspartame contributes to obesity and metabolic syndrome; the result noted here corroborates that finding. Additionally, this group of diet soft drinkers didn’t smoke cigarettes, discounting smoking as a contributing factor to the development of cancer in the study.)

So, based on all that hard truth, of course it makes us wonder what the long-term effects of aspartame will be on us 20 years from now when this current generation who consumes it the most will be at middle age?

It’s pretty scary to think about if you ask us!

Check out Daily Health Post’s article >>> here.

Are you a non-diet soft drinker?

Sorry to say but the news is bad for these drinks too. They are incredibly sugar laden. A 600ml bottle of soft drink contains about 16 teaspoons of sugar. As we all know, excessive sugar intake can lead to obesity and obesity then leads to a number of other potential health risks.

In America, soft drinks are sweetened with high-fructose corn syrup and are linked to cancer, heart disease, obesity and dementia.

For more info about high-fructose corn syrup, check this article out >>> here.

How do you avoid it?

If you don’t want to drink aspartame or high-fructose corn syrup, then we suggest it may be time to give away flavoured soft drinks altogether.

Also, don’t use artificial sweeteners in your cuppa, use raw sugar or less refined sugars like rapadura, panela and coconut. Raw honey or pure maple syrup are also great options to sweeten drinks.

If you still crave fizzy, then why not consider drinking soda water or mineral water that you can flavour yourself with freshly squeezed juice or Roar Cordial (a wonderful additive-free cordial brand).

You could also make your own kombucha which is not only fizzy but it is so very good for your gut microbiome! We’ve done a whole bunch of posts about kombucha but if you want to learn how to make your own, then check out this video series that Jo has done giving you all the lowdown:

Step 1: How to Make Kombucha

Step 2: Bottling and Fruiting – Step 2

Step 3: Burping and Refrigerating

Step 4: Flavouring and Drinking

Step 5: Q&A – Everything Answered

Step 6: The Whole Circle

There are plenty of options at your disposal to swap soft drinks out for, and your health with thank you in spades for it.

Jo and Tracey

x

The post Aspartame: Why You Should Ditch the Soft Drinks and Avoid This Nasty Additive appeared first on Additive Free Lifestyle.

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It’s probably no secret that we love doTERRA! Not just the oils and how they have completely revolutionised our healthcare for us and our families, but doTERRA as a company as well. The reality is using essential oils in our daily lives is an integral part of being able to live an additive-free lifestyle.​​ However, there has been something that has been weighing me down that I wanted to get off my chest. For those that have followed us for a long time, you know we will call out a company and not stock or recommend anything that goes against our values. It is for that reason that you don’t see the doTERRA shampoo or conditioner recommended by us, or we don’t ever promote some of the other skin care products either. Not all doTERRA products meet our high additive-free standards.

We have given our feedback to doTERRA numerous times on this front and we are happy to say that they do listen. For example, they are removing Carrageenan from all the softgels (yahoo!). This is a massive step in the right direction because as I am sure you can appreciate, this takes time and a lot of money to remove even just one ingredient, but they are doing it anyway.

Further to all this, almost on a weekly basis someone either says to us, or we read online words to the following effect: “doTERRA is an MLM and it’s just about money”. Oh boy, do we argue this with a vengeance!

Here’s why:

Commitment to Customers

doTERRA has invested millions of dollars to ensure that their products are tested over 40 times (both internally and via a third party). Every single batch that gets harvested and every single bottle that hits the shelves is tested. Just think about that for a second, that’s millions and millions of bottle tested! The sheer scale of that is phenomenal. If even a trace amount of anything that should not be there is discovered, then it won’t be sold. Period! This is doTERRA’s level of commitment to its customers to ensure they produce the highest quality product possible. Organic certification varies from country to country, province to province, and in the US, from state to state. This means it is not currently possible to acquire all oils under certified organic status. The other reason is because they source from so many developing countries, where requirements vary and in some locations, it is not possible to certify as organic.

Third Party Testing

Third party testing is conducted by APRC (Aromatic Plant Research Centre) and they specialise in the identification of pesticides, microorganisms, heavy metals, allergens and synthetic chemicals. The best part? We get to see this data that is recorded on exactly what is in the bottle you just purchased. All you have to do is head to Source to You, type in the batch number located on the bottom of your essential oil bottle and all the data comes up! BOOM! In our opinion, this makes them the most transparent essential oil company we have ever come across.

No Adulteration

The oils are never, EVER adulterated. The essential oil industry isn’t regulated, you can sell pretty much anything and call it ‘pure’. You could have a few ‘pure’ drops of essential oil in a bottle and then top that bottle up with synthetic fillers and be able to label that bottle as ‘100% pure’. You can claim organic with no proof. The APRC recently tested 50 companies and found that only 3 were providing pure, unadulterated essential oils. doTERRA has fought for a properly regulated industry, but interestingly enough, other companies don’t want this to happen. Clearly, this begs the question why? Maybe they don’t want to put their oils through the same testing process?!

Generosity

The founders are incredibly generous. Money was never their reason for creating doTERRA. They created doTERRA because they wanted to change the world for the better and which they are doing via a few means (see points 5 and 6 below).

Sourcing the Oils

They will only source oils from the places they are best indigenously grown which then, in turn, produces oils with the most therapeutic properties. They do not mass plantations in one area (as an example) in America because it just doesn’t produce the same quality oil. Tea Tree, Eucalyptus and Lemon Myrtle are all sourced from Australia, simply because we produce the best quality with the highest therapeutic value.

Co-impact Sourcing

Co-Impact Sourcing is an initiative developed by doTERRA that seeks to develop long-term, mutually beneficial supplier partnerships all the while creating sustainable jobs and providing reliable income in underdeveloped areas. doTERRA is committed to the ethical treatment of its suppliers by providing on-time payments at fair prices. Growers and harvesters are encouraged to form cooperative groups to share collective benefits and bargaining power while improving skills and capacity. The doTERRA Healing Hands Foundation helps support development projects in sourcing communities. Projects include schools, health clinics, improved infrastructure and clean water systems. Find out more about doTERRA Healing Hands Foundation projects in Co-Impact Sourcing areas by clicking here.

Humanitarian Work

When asked about doTERRA one of the first things I think about is the humanitarian work they are involved in.

✚ If you have never heard of Operation Underground Railroad, then please, pretty please, watch this – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hHerSyM7odI

✚ If you have ever wondered how they source Frankincense, then watch this – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rg9mVE7-yPQ

✚ Or Pink Pepper – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AOQr8WA0x18

✚ Or Manuka (sourced from New Zealand) – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rAu2OeVuBxE&t=34s

There are so many more of these videos I could link in, but I think you get the point (if you watch them, please watch them!).

Pride

Jo and I are proud to be a part of a company that provides thousands of entrepreneurs the ability to earn money, the ability to be involved in changing the world and taking wellness to a new level, the ability to make an impact in a way we have never seen before.

Direct-selling is Not a Dirty Word

So yes, it is a direct-selling model, a model that allows you to be served in the most amazing way – via the ability (as a customer) to attend classes and workshops. To receive aftercare support from the person that recommended the oils to you. To be a part of a community and attend events. To have access to hundreds of resources, including people like us. I can’t think of a better selling model if I am perfectly honest.

When I purchase something from the shops I don’t get asked if I would like to attend a make and take workshop, or if I would like to be phoned in a few days to see how things are going. It really baffles me that people have such a negative opinion of direct selling (sorry, but it does).

Just my thoughts on it all ☺️

Much love,

Tracey x

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It’s Jo here, hi!

So recently I posted on social media an image of my food receipts for the week. You can see that I spent $216.06 grocery shopping. Most of this is either organic or pesticide free and I only buy good quality meat. This shop also includes $12 of coconut water (impulse buy), 2 x bulk flours and fresh dog food.

Well, the post went a little crazy. Loads of people were asking how I make this work and there’s no way they could spend as little as (nearly) $200 for ten days worth of meals!

When starting to live additive-free we find that one of the biggest fears you have is money. “Is living additive-free more expensive?”, it’d be one of the most popular questions we get, and with good reason. This was a big fear I had when starting to live additive-free too. We had to be frugal with money at that stage of our life as we lived off one wage thanks to me being on maternity leave.

So how do spend so little for a family of four + one large dog that eats wholefoods too?…

I meal plan. I know exactly what I’m cooking during the week. I know exactly what’s going into everyone’s lunches (child & adult) and what we’re having for breakfast. I, most of the time, do this while laying in bed on a Saturday morning and it takes me about 10 minutes.

You see, we have this awesome program and it’s called Meals Made Easy. It’s designed to help busy people like you (and me), cook nutritious food that’s quick, simple, tasty and best of all … additive-free!

You can access eight-weeks worth of dinner and snack ideas so while laying in bed on a Saturday morning, I open up my phone and print out my shopping lists per recipe.

I then decide what I’ll cook for the week and only buy those ingredients, for those recipes.

I decided these would last us 10 days (I don’t normally double meals like this, but this week is crazy busy so I need to be smart with my time): –

• Meat pie (doubled)
• Tuna bake (doubled)
• Zucchini slice (doubled)
• Chicken and bean tacos (doubled)
• Fish’n’chips
• One night of leftovers (like fried rice or omelette)

I then decided what I wanted to make for lunches:

• Pizza scrolls
• Biscuits

Breakfast ideas we usually go with are:

• Smoothies
• Gluten-free Weetbix
• Eggs on toast

So, because I already have a well-stocked pantry, this was my shopping list:

How much did all that cost?

We already had milk in the fridge, we don’t really eat much bread (although we do have a loaf of sourdough in the freezer) so I doubt we’ll need to go back to the shops again this week! #winning

I’ve got enough food to feed us for 10 days including breakfasts, lunches, dinners and snacks.

So, I reckon it’s a very realistic shop for this family of four.

The Weekend

We had a crazy weekend just like most other families out there. We don’t have any special powers to create more time which is why staying organised is the key. But to give you guys an idea, this is what my weekend looked like (no, I don’t spend hours in the kitchen, it has to be as quick as possible for me too!):

Saturday

Normally Shane does swimming lessons and I do the dance + grocery run, but not this weekend as Shane was out wood chopping with Dad.

9:45am – leave home

10:30am – swimming lessons

12.00pm – dance lessons

While my daughter dances, Jacob and I went to the farmer’s market and bought all our fruit and vegetables.

After doing this, we had a little time left over so went to the park for 15 minutes so that Jacob could have a play and run out some of that ever-abundant energy he has.

1.45pm – we stopped at Kmart because we had to get two gifts for two birthday parties we have on tomorrow (did I say we’re busy too?). We then went to the butcher and Coles, gosh I love that they’re all in the same complex!

3:30pm – we’re finally home! Phew!

(notice how I still haven’t been in the kitchen?)

Let’s get cooking (at 4pm in the day!)

Into the slow cooker pot goes a double meat pie filling after doing 10 minutes of prep work. I then pop this in the fridge ready to cook in the slow cooker tomorrow.

On the stove top went some leftover apples and some frozen cherries. I popped these on slow to defrost and cook.

I then whipped up a double zucchini slice (kinda looked more like a quiche), in the oven it goes.

By now the fruit was done. I pitted the cherries and pureed them in the Thermomix. I then added in a big scoop of natural yoghurt and froze these in our ice-cream moulds. You can get your own moulds >>> here.

For dinner we had chicken and bean tacos. I doubled this and froze half of the meat mixture for later on in the week.

After dinner I had some energy (don’t ask me how!) so I made a double batch of biscuits. Took me all of 15 minutes and they were in the oven. We halved the dough mixture and turned some into jam drops, and the rest Eva popped some Hokey Pokey bits on the top.

Sunday

Sunday morning I got up around 8.00am. I popped on the slow cooker to cook the meat pie filling and then made two lots of dough.

One lot I turned into pizza scrolls and the other I made into bread. I don’t normally make my own bread but I thought ‘why not!’

Shane did the first party at 10:30am so I went shopping and got myself some nice new clothes (on my own! #bliss).

We then tag-teamed for the second party and I got home around 3.00pm.

I turned the meat pie filling off to cool down, did some work on the computer for an hour, then came back to make the pastry where I cooked two pies with the filling.

I’ll whip the tuna bake and fish’n’chips up on the day.

Lunches are easy! They are always additive-free due to always having something in the freezer I can pull out (thanks to being prepared because of Meals Made Easy).

Life can be hectic, believe us, we get it!

But with a small amount of preparation and taking our help to keep you organised, it’s not as hard, or expensive as you think.

Jo x

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You may have heard our recent podcast episode with Melody Towns, Founder/Director of Be Hers. This amazing charity is changing the world one woman at a time and we are honoured to partner with them. If you haven’t listened to that episode then check it out >>> here.

We can now reveal exactly where your donations will be going to….or should we say who… KAKADA’S STORY

We have chosen to direct any money raised towards sponsoring a young girl who has been rescued from sex-slavery and is now in the process of rehabilitation. Just to reiterate what was said in the podcast, 100% of funds raised goes to these girls. No money is taken for overheads or admin expenses. This is a charity like no other and they lead from the heart, always.

By way of insight, it costs around $1,500USD a month for every girl in the SHE Rescue Home ($18,000 USD a year) and as such, each girl has multiple sponsors. $200 a month will cover Kakada’s food and counselling support, which then goes a long way towards setting her up for her future.

Here is her story,

My name is Kakada, and I’m a 13-year-old survivor

About me

I am 13 years old and in grade 8. My favourite food is fish soup and my favourite colour is red. I was eight months pregnant when I came to the SHE Rescue Home, after being sexually exploited by someone I trusted – the perpetrator is now in jail. I am happy to be in the home as I feel ashamed of being seen in my village because of what has happened to me.

My family

My mother works in a factory and I have two younger siblings. Until now, I have been looking after them while my mother works, although it is too hard now that I am pregnant and need caring for myself.

My future

While a partner organisation will look after all my doctors’ visits and teach me how to care for a child, I will receive counselling and emotional support from the SHE staff. I would like to have a family foster my child after it is born, and my family would like me to continue studying. I hope to reintegrate with my family in the future so I can finish school and go on to vocational training of my choice!

When Melody from Be Hers first made us aware of Kakada’s story, we knew we had to do all we could to help. As women and as mothers, it truly breaks our hearts to contemplate what this girl has gone through. A life that NO CHILD should ever have to go through. We just couldn’t sit by and do nothing.

What can you do to help Kakada?

Donate money

The simple answer is to donate money. As you can see we need at least $200 per month to support Kakada. All funds in excess of $200 per month will be directed to other rehabilitation projects in Cambodia that Be Hers are supporting.

Don’t forget that donating money to charity is tax deductible so keep your receipts and claim it back at tax time.

Head on over to here to donate >>> Be Hers

Ice-Cream e-book

You can also purchase a copy of our Ice-Cream e-book whereby 100% of the cost of the e-book is donated to this very worthy cause.

Yes, that’s right, you get homemade additive-free ice-cream recipes and all those warm and fuzzy feelings knowing that your purchase has gone straight to an amazing charity.

Head on over to here to purchase >>> Ice-Cream e-book

Donate when you shop with Additive-Free Lifestyle

When you’re doing your shopping over on our website at Additive-Free Lifestyle, you will see there is now an option to donate to Be Hers at the checkout cart, so if you have a few spare dollars it’d be amazing if you could add this to your cart.

Together we can BE THE CHANGE!

Alone we can do so little but together we can do so much. Help Be Hers spread the word and invite your friends to follow their social pages and share with them what Be Hers is all about. If you have a business why not consider collaborating with Be Hers, or if you’re passionate about this cause and would like to intern please let them know. It’s amazing how together we can actually be a real change in these lives and see them not only rescued from the horrors of sexual slavery but loved and valued. Let’s use our sphere of influence to do all we can to help bring justice to those in captivity.

Links and Resources

• To check out all about Be Hers, head here

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Waste and in particular, plastic, is everywhere! It is an environmental epidemic and the sad part is a lot ends up in our waterways and on our beaches, irreparably harming our marine and bird life and, of course, the ecosystem.

We’ve all seen those disturbing pictures and videos floating around the internet whereby marine animals have a straw permanently wedged in their nose, or fishing line caught around them, or plastic rings struck around their necks.

It’s heartbreaking to see but the reality is, this is caused by us and it needs to stop!

What are the stats

Here are some alarming statistics from the ABC’s documentary series, War on Waste which you can watch on ABC iView:

• Australia is one of the most wasteful countries in the developed world.
• Australia’s waste is growing at twice the rate of the population.
• Australian’s throw away around 1 billion single use coffee cups a year.
• Up until recently, Australians were using 10 million plastic bags every day.
• 85% of soft plastics from bags and packaging end up in landfill.
• The average family throws out over $3,500 worth of food every year, which equates to about a tonne of food.
• Approximately 1/5 of bought food is thrown away.
• On average 1/3 of household rubbish is food waste.
• Supermarkets and other retailers throw out approximately 170,000 tonnes of food into landfill each year.
• There is 3.3 million tonnes of food waste produced every year. 2.6 million of which comes from households.
• When food rots in landfill it produces methane, which is 25 times more potent than the CO2 emitted from cars.
• If as little as 1% of the population composted their food scraps instead of throwing them in the bin, it would save 45 million kgs of CO2 emissions.

We find these stats appalling!

Did you know that single-use plastic bags take around 1,000 years to break down!

We’re not perfect by any stretch of the imagination, but it’s time to wake up and take responsibility for this earth so that it’s healthy and strong for generations to come because as it stands now, we’re killing it!

Banana farming

Bananas are the single most purchased product in supermarkets. We eat around 5 million bananas every single day and as consumers, we want them all year round.

A banana farm that produces around 1.5 million cartons of bananas per year (that’s 80 bananas per carton), will throw away around 40% of their crop as it is not deemed shelf worthy by supermarkets. So, even though the banana may taste the same as every other banana, because it may look different it’s deemed unsuitable.

This equates to the farmers growing 120 million bananas each year with 80 million of those being thrown away. This is just ridiculous on so many levels.

It takes 9 months to grow a banana tree which only bears fruit once! The amount of waste being forced onto farmers just so that they can make a living is staggering.

Personally, we couldn’t care less what the banana looked like, as long as it tasted like a banana!

Living in a disposable society

These days everything has a shelf life, and we mean everything!

Gone are the days where an appliance would last you 20 + years. Hands up if you remember hand-me-downs? This was just common practice, especially with siblings, but not so much anymore.

Can you remember back to your parents or grandparents’ generations where they had the same things in their house for years and years and years. That’s just what they did. They appreciated their belongings, looked after them and only upgraded when it was absolutely necessary.

Nowadays with our consumerism society, nothing is made to last. We are always having to replace items because they’re not well made, or we simply get sick of it, so we throw it out and buy something new.

This consumerism mentality has certainly developed over time, but unless we do something about it, it will just get worse.

The tide is slowly turning

Whilst all of this is seriously shameful and just downright depressing, it’s not all doom and gloom.

We now have wonderful organisations who rescue food so that it can be used.

OzHarvest Market

They are Australia’s first ever rescued food supermarket which is stocked with produce that has either been donated or would otherwise go to waste but is still perfectly edible.

Their philosophy of ‘take what you need, give what you can’ ensures that their rescued food is available to everyone, especially those who need it.

At this stage, their supermarket is just in Sydney, but hopefully, with enough donations and popularity, they will add more stores around the country. Wouldn’t that be great!

Go check out OzHarvest and give them some love!

Foodbank

Their aim is to achieve an Australia without hunger by working with the entire food and grocery industry to source nutritious, wholesome meals for vulnerable Australians in need.

They are the largest hunger-relief organisation in Australia. The provide 67 million meals a year to over 2,400 charities and 1,750 schools.

Foodbank works with the entire Australian food and grocery industry including farmers, wholesalers, manufacturers and retailers. Donations include stock that is out of specification, close to expiry or excess to requirements. Companies also make monetary donations as part of social responsibility or a cause-related marketing campaign.

In addition, Foodbank collaborates with suppliers, manufacturers and transporters in programs like Collaborative Supply Program, to source key staple foods that don’t come in sufficient quantities via rescue channels.

Their mission is to deliver the most food, to the most Australians in need, in the most efficient and effective ways. Foodbank estimates that the volume of food and groceries required to meet the total food relief need across Australia is approximately 75 million kilograms. Currently, combined, Australian hunger relief organisations provide 50 million kilograms, which means there is a 25 million kilogram gap.

They will continue to work with farmers, wholesalers, manufacturers and retailers to develop new programs and initiatives in order to end hunger in Australia.

They are a fabulous non-profit organisation and Tracey has volunteered there numerous times to pack relief boxes. It is so fulfilling doing something like this, so grab a friend, child or partner and give them a call, they are always after volunteers.

You can check them out here.

What can we do to make a change?

Let’s take a look at simple things you can do that will have a big impact.

Grocery shopping

• Take your own reusable shopping bags with you and ditch the supermarket plastic bags. Have them in the back of the car so you never forget. Some even roll up small so they fit into handbags and pockets, making it super convenient to have them on hand when needed.
• Take your own reusable produce bags when buying fresh produce. We love the 4MyEarth brand.
• Choose fruit and vegetables that are not pre-packaged in plastic wrapping. It’s simply not necessary.
• Take your own containers to the butcher, baker, deli, grocer, retailer.
• Opt for products with minimal packaging.

Lunchboxes

Opt for lunchboxes that unpackaged food can go straight into and remain fresh. Ones with little compartments for each food item, like the Go Green lunchboxes. These are the ones that Jo’s kids use and she loves them, so do her kids!

Food storage

Ditch the cling wrap and use reusable food covers to store your leftovers. The 4MyEearth range is perfect for ditching cling wrap. Ours are over 5 years old and still going strong. There is something for everyone – sandwich wraps, plate and bowl covers and even a large cover that fits over food platters, all making it easy to ditch plastic.

Ditch the zip lock bags and store food in reusable containers.

Rubbish Bags

At home, don’t use regular plastic bin liners. Throw your rubbish straight into the bin and wash the bin as needed.

Or, if that is not something you wish to do, then try and use compostable plastics in your home. There is a great range of products from If You Care.

Recycle your plastic bags

Think plastic wrappers, the bags frozen veggies come in, cling wrap from watermelon or pumpkin… that sort of stuff can’t go into the regular recycle bin, it needs to be disposed of in a REDcycle bin. So take your soft plastics (which can be scrunched up into a ball) to your local REDcycle bin which can be found at most major supermarkets. Find your nearest bin here.

Water bottles

Buy a water filter for your tap at home and drink from that instead of buying bottled water. Also, refill your reusable water bottle from your tap instead of buying bottled water. You can purchase reusable bottles from pretty much anywhere – the supermarket, KMart, Big W etc.

Straws

This is seriously one of the easiest things to do – just say no to plastic straws. These end up in our waterways and severely harm or kill our precious marine life. Instead, purchase reusable straws or simply go without.

Coffee cups

Grab yourself a super funky, eco-friendly coffee cup and ditch the single-use, disposable ones. Don’t forget that around 1 billion disposable coffee cups are going into landfill every year, but we can all do something about it.

Clothing

Buy clothes consisting of sustainably sourced fabrics and of good quality materials so that they will last the distance. Yes, they may cost you more per item, but they will last a lot longer than mass-produced inferior quality clothes which you would just have to replace, so the cost would actually balance out or work better in your favour.

Food

Only buy the food that you need. If your veggies are starting to wilt and getting close to going bad, then chop them all up and freeze in reusable containers until needed or blitz them all up and make a soup or sauce out of them.

If your fruit is starting to turn, blitz it all up and make ice-creams out of them. You can source your reusable ice-cream moulds from here.

With your scraps, get a compost bin and compost them. Not only will your gardens thank you for all the lovely nutrient-dense fertiliser you are creating, but the environment will thank you too for less methane that’s going to be emitted into the atmosphere.

Tracey saves all her food scraps in an airtight container and then blitzes it up at the end of each week. She then pours this around the garden and allows it to compost in by itself.

Try, where possible, to buy your fresh produce either from markets or directly from the farmer. This will help to ensure all the produce grown is getting eaten as well as being a cost saver to yourself too.

Appliances

Do your research and ask a bunch of questions to the retailer about the life expectancy of the product or can it be fixed/serviced if needed. This will ensure you are buying the best quality you can afford.

If an appliance in the house is broken, look at getting it fixed instead of throwing it out and buying a new one.

If you simply must upgrade to the latest tech, look at donating your old one to those less fortunate than you.

Old furniture and other household items

If you are having a cleanout in your house (aka doing a Marie Kondo, lol), consider what can either be donated to charity for reuse or sold via a garage sale or on your local buy, swap and sell pages etc. rather than just throwing in the trash.

Not only is one man’s trash, another man’s treasure, but you may earn some extra money in the process.

Make a difference

There are so many ways you can be less wasteful. Have a think about what you have in your house and what can swap for an eco-friendlier option or where you may have items wrapped in plastic that simply don’t need to be.

The more conscious you are about it, the bigger the changes you can make.

We hope this has given you some food for thought (yep, pun totally intended haha) and made you think about what a difference you can make to take care of our planet.

Best wishes

Tracey and Jo

The post How To Be Less Wasteful appeared first on Additive Free Lifestyle.

View Details

Mr Ikdeep Singh

President

Maybelline LLC

L’Oréal Group

10 Hudson Yards

New York, NY 10001

Dear Mr Singh,

We write to you with a heavy heart, an angry soul and utter disappointment at your Lemonade Craze Eyeshadow Palette.

It’s no secret we are on a mission to get companies to clean up their ingredients…. but seriously…. why on earth does an eyeshadow palette need to be scented?!?!?! Who seriously has life goals where they get ready for the day and think ‘gee, my eyes smell gorgeous today’?!

We would expect this eyeshadow palette has a predominant target audience towards tweens and teens, which is a major problem. Why do you think scented eyeshadow is needed, given you already have a massive slice of the cosmetics pie as it is?

Your ingredients list for both the US and Australian product is not only exhaustively long but contains a lot of ingredients which are linked to a myriad of health and environmental issues, some of which are incredibly serious. The ingredients, taken from your websites, are listed as:

US Ingredients List:

G2014755 Ingredients: Nylon-12, Talc, Caprylic/Capric Triglyceride, Boron Nitrate, Dimethicone, Bis-Diglyceryl Polyacylapidate-2, Diisostearyl Malate, Silica, Magnesium Stearate, Calcium Aluminium Borosilicate, Calcium Sodium Borosilicate, Caprylyl Glycol, Cera Microcristallina/Microcrystalline Wax/Cire Microcristalline, Dimethicone/Vinyl Dimethicone Crosspolymer, Ethyhexyglycerin, Isostearyl Alcohol, Paraffin, Paraffinum Liquidum/Mineral Oil/Huile Minerale, Serica Powder/Silk Powder/Poudre De Soie, Sodium Dehydroacetate, Sorbic Acid, Sorbitan Isostearate, Tin Oxide, Tocopherol, Tocopheryl Acetate, Parfum/Fragrance, [+/- May Contain: CI 19140/Yellow 5 Lake, CI 75470/Carmine, CI 77491, CI 77492, CI 77499/Iron Oxides, CI 77510/Ferric Ferrocyanide, CI 77891/Titanium Dioxide Mica]

Australian Ingredients List:

G951666 Ingredients: Talc, Synthetic Fluorphlogopite, Octyldodecyl Stearoyl Stearate, Magnesium Myristate, Penataerythrityl Tetraisostearate, Stearyl Dimethicone, Calcium Sodium Borosilicate, Nylon-12, Aluminium Starch Octenylsuccinate, Silica, Diisostearyl Malate, Caprylyl Glycol, Alumina, Dimethicone, Calcium Aluminium Borosilicate, Dehydroacetic Acid, Phenoxyethanol, Octadecene, Isododecane, Hexylene Glycol, Pentaerythrityl Tetra-Di-T-Butyl Hydroxyhydrocinnamate, Aqua/Water, Maltodextrin, Tin Oxide, Aluminium Hydroxide, [+/- May Contain: MICA, CI 77491, CI 77492, CI 77499/Iron Oxides, CI 77891Titanium Dioxide, CI 77713/Magnesium Carbonate, CI 74570/Carmine, CI 77266 [Nano]/Black 2, CI 77077/Ultramarines, CI 19140/Yellow 5 Lake, CI 77288/Chromium Oxide Greens, CI 77510/Ferric Ferrocyanide, CI 77742/Magnesium Violet, CI 42090/Blue 1 Lake]

G2014996 Ingredients: Talc, Synthetic Fluorphlogopite, Calcium Sodium Borosilicate, Triethylhexanoin, Octyldodecyl Stearoyl Stearate, Caprylyl Glycol, Alumina, Dehydroacetic Acid, Isododecane, Phenoxyethanol, Silica Dimethyl Silylate [Nano], Silica Dimethyl Silylate, Hexylene Glycol, Tin Oxide, Calcium Aluminium Borosilicate, Silica, Maltodextrin, [+/- May Contain: MICA, CI 77891Titanium Dioxide, CI 77491, CI 77492, CI 77499/Iron Oxides, CI 74570/Carmine, CI 19140/Yellow 5 Lake]

First of all, there is a big discrepancy of ingredients from the US version to the Australian version of the product. We understand different laws may come into play which dictates ingredients that can and cannot be used, however, one glaring thing missing off your Australian ingredient list is parfum/fragrance which is in the US listing. Surely parfum/fragrance is in the Australian version given it is citrus scented and marketed as such. So where is it or where is the citrus scent coming from? We would love for you to explain this?

Let’s pick a few of the nasties from these ingredient listings above and break it down further (information sourced from EWG – Environmental Working Group):

Alumina | Aluminium Hydroxide

Classified as expected to be harmful or toxic; classified as a medium health priority; suspected to be an environmental toxin.

Talc

Talc is a powdered native, hydrous magnesium silicate sometimes containing a small portion of aluminium silicate. Talc can be contaminated with asbestos fibres, posing risks for respiratory toxicity and cancer. Studies by the National Toxicology Panel demonstrated that cosmetic-grade talc free of asbestos is a form of magnesium silicate that also can be toxic and carcinogenic.

Dimethicone

Classified as expected to be toxic or harmful; suspected to be an environmental toxin; restricted for use in cosmetics.

Titanium Dioxide

Possible human carcinogen.

Tocopheryl Acetate

Human skin toxicant or allergen; one or more animal studies show tumour formation at high doses.

CI 19140/Yellow 5 Lake

Classified as a medium human health priority; persistent or bioaccumulative and moderate to high toxicity concern in humans.

CI 75470/Carmine

May cause skin, eye or lung irritation.

Ferric Ferrocyanide

Classified as expected to be toxic or harmful; suspected to be an environmental toxin.

CI 77266 (Nano)/Black 2

Possible human carcinogen, strong cancer link; classified as a high human health priority; possible human respiratory toxicant; classified as expected to be toxic or harmful.

CI 77007/Ultramarines

Restricted for use in products to be used on the lips.

CI 77288/Chromium Oxide Greens

Restricted for use in products to be used on the lips; moderate to high toxicity concern in humans; classified as expected to be toxic or harmful; suspected to be an environmental toxin; suspected nano-scale ingredients with potential to absorb into the skin.

Fragrance | Parfum

Clearly, this is what is used to scent the product. Which really begs the question of why do you need to lace it with extra ingredients and chemicals to make it scented when your eyeshadow pallets don’t smell anyway?!

EWG classifies fragrance as:

The word “fragrance” or “parfum” on the product label represents an undisclosed mixture of various scent chemicals and ingredients used as fragrance dispersants such as diethyl phthalate. Fragrance mixes have been associated with allergies, dermatitis, respiratory distress and potential effects on the reproductive system

Not only that but here’s what the FDA (Food and Drug Administration) has to say about it:

Labelling of Fragrance Ingredients

If a cosmetic is marketed on a retail basis to consumers, such as in stores, on the Internet, or person-to-person, it must have a list of ingredients. In most cases, each ingredient must be listed individually. But under U.S. regulations, fragrance and flavour ingredients can be listed simply as “Fragrance” or “Flavor.”

Here’s why: FDA requires the list of ingredients under the Fair Packaging and Labeling Act (FPLA). This law is not allowed to be used to force a company to tell “trade secrets.” Fragrance and flavour formulas are complex mixtures of many different natural and synthetic chemical ingredients, and they are the kinds of cosmetic components that are most likely to be “trade secrets.” To learn more, see the regulation on cosmetic ingredient labeling and the Federal Register notice for this regulation, which addresses “trade secrets” and the FPLA.

So, let’s break this down, not only are you allowed to add in a concoction of ingredients without having to list each individual one, but you’re also allowed to lump them altogether under the term ‘fragrance’ which means they cannot be revealed to your consumers, because the formula can be classified as a ‘trade secret’.

It’s so heart-warming to know that you, as a company, and your trade secrets are more highly regarded than the health of your consumers! In case you missed it, yes sarcasm was intended!

This means that we have a product that we apply to our eyelids, a very delicate skin area of the body, which contains potentially harmful ingredients and then we also have fragrance in there too! Skin is the biggest porous organ on our body. So, what goes on our skin goes into our body.

As we know, if you are a cosmetics wearer, you usually wear them all day long. Which means that your eyeshadow palette concoction is sitting on our eyelids all day long and being absorbed into our bodies all day long.

How bad is Fragrance?

It’s well documented that synthetic fragrance can be detrimental to your health. Fragrance has now been labelled ‘the next second-hand smoke’ and for very good reason. They have been linked to:

• Endocrine/Hormone disruption
• Headaches/Migraines
• Allergic reactions
• Respiratory issues

In 2009, the University of Maryland completed a study called ‘Fragrance in the Workplace is the New Second-Hand Smoke’ whereby it was detailed that:

The problem with fragrance products is not the scent but the properties of synthetic chemicals that they are derived from such as petroleum and tar. The United States tests less than 10% of products on the market for toxicity and almost one-third of the chemical additives used in perfume are known to be toxic (Rigsby, 1996).

Over the past 50 years, 80-90% of fragrances have been synthesized from petroleum and some of the commonly found harmful chemicals in fragrance and products include acetone, phenol, toluene, benzyl acetate, and limonene.

The chemicals used to produce the fragrance in a product are protected under trade secret laws and are not listed in the ingredients of a product. Chemical irritants in fragrance can initiate a sensitizing process within an individual’s immune system as it learns to recognize materials that later prompt a response/reaction when re-exposure occurs (Lessenger, 2001).

There are four categories of health effects due to fragrance: Respiratory, which includes allergic asthma, non-allergic asthma, reactive airway dysfunction syndrome (RADS); Neurological, which includes headaches, migraine headaches, nausea, dizziness, and mental confusion; Skin, urticaria, irritation and sensitization; and Eye, irritation, tearing and inflammation.

Does that sound as abhorrent to you as it does to us?

WHAT’S IT GOING TO TAKE FOR YOU TO PRIORITISE CONSUMER’S HEALTH OVER YOUR BOTTOM LINE? Adding a scent to a product just so that you can market it in a way that is attractive to the younger generation, but that carries the risk of harming consumers, is in our view, incredibly irresponsible. It is simply not necessary!

There are plenty of companies out there using natural ingredients in their cosmetics with great success. So why not be the shining example and change your ingredients to ones that aren’t risking the health of your consumers?

We are under no illusion of the massive hit your profit and loss statements would take but imagine how good it would be for consumers and the environment if you led the charge to revolutionise the cosmetics industry.

For now, this is seemingly a dream, but we hope that change is on the horizon…

BE THE CHANGE! Yours respectfully,

Tracey Fry and Joanne Ling

Founders | CFO | CEO

The post An Open Letter to Maybelline appeared first on Additive Free Lifestyle.