This is such an important episode for us because we haven‰’t really whispered a word of our own personal additive-free lifestyles for a while. It‰’s so good to re-touch on all the key foundations of being additive-free, and for us to inspire your own lifestyle integrations. With our re-branding due to go live any day now, we want to blend all our original values into our new and exciting name ‰Additive-Free Lifestyle‰.

What we put into our bodies

Nutrition is quite simply where each of us started our additive-free journeys. Jo had major behavioural issues with her daughter at a young age, where she knew something just had to be done. Focusing solely on food, and reviewing exactly what her daughter, and family as a whole were eating, gave Jo a strong starting-point for tackling such a big problem. Standing her ground and simply finding a place to start, was an incredibly empowering experience for Jo.

While it was very hit and miss in the beginning, Jo began by removing food groups that she recognised as problematic, because of low-nutritional qualities. Jo threw herself in hook, line and sinker and began only purchasing whole foods, paleo, gluten-free and dairy-free. While she admits to creating a bit of an overwhelming feeling, by her all or nothing approach, she stuck to her guns and dramatically improved her family‰’s eating habits, recognising big changes in her daughter‰’s behaviour.

For Tracey, her approach was a little subtler, where she simply wanted to get an idea of exactly what ingredients featured in the numerous items of foods she, was purchasing from the supermarket. While she was so accustomed to grabbing food off the shelf and putting it in her trolley without thinking twice, she couldn‰’t ignore her curiosity of what all those weird names and numbers were on the back of the packet. As she gradually learned more and more, she realised she could improve her overall eating habits by purchasing an alternative brand and switching out foods with lengthy names on the pack.

With both of our approaches, the bottom line was our burning desire to feed our families the safest food options possible.

Too much clever marketing!

We‰’re fed a lot of misinformation about food products from the big chain supermarkets. Millions of dollars are spent on professional marketers who are trained to sell and make us buy their products. It‰’s considered normal to eat brightly coloured foods such as Twisties, Zooper Doopers and Hundreds & Thousands, and also trusting that they‰’re safe. Tracey‰’s daughter even recently said, ‰”but Mum we don‰’t eat ‘normal’ food like other families‰“. You can probably guess who won that debate!

Take all those cute foods marketed towards children with their favourite cartoon characters on the front. Does that mean that it’s healthy for them to consume? Absolutely not! This is just the clever tricks designed for the consumer to associate that food with fun and carefree times! Being aware and understanding these types of marketing, allows you to take a lot more control of the foods you and your children eat.

The sheer volume of ingredients in our food

Once upon a time, a loaf of bread contained around five ingredients, but these days there‰’s up to 30 ingredients in a loaf of bread off the supermarket shelf! You can always think, well if I was making this product at home, would I be using that amount of ingredients? Are many of those ingredients even available for purchase? Most likely not, as those ingredients are unpronounceable, or it‰’s not even clear just what they are. This is why it‰’s becoming more and more important to read the backs of labels.

Being flexible where needed

Being additive-free doesn‰’t mean that it should completely rule your life and leave you with a feeling of absolute restriction. Everything should be done in moderation. When we go camping, for example, it‰’s OK to eat some chocolate, lollies or marshmallows. Create your own personal boundaries around what‰’s OK for you and your family, including any no-go food items.

If you‰’ve eliminated some foods, then allowed your kids to have them as a treat, don‰’t be surprised if you notice emotional meltdowns and other negative side-effects. That‰’s the evidence that it‰’s simply not worth certain treats and to choose an alternative.

Skin care and cleaning products around the home

Following our lifestyle changes in food, we decided to also look into what chemicals we were using around the home, and also in our skin care products. We switched to doTERRA Essential Oils or started making our own products. These switches were so much easier than all the switches we made with our food selections!

It was also incredibly low-cost for us to be making our own cleaning or skin care products, which left more money to spend on food products. We saw that our chemical-free approach simply couldn‰’t end at food, and therefore we started to integrate holistic changes.

Doing your best

We‰’ve found that all these years later, we‰’re still both switching things out and that‰’s OK. Jo has even started using doTERRA Essential Oil blends to keep bugs off her veggie garden, rather than a toxic pesticide! The point is, when you‰’re so accustomed to a particular way of life, it takes a one-step approach to making changes, rather than overwhelming yourself by overnight overhauls.

We use the example of hairspray, which we both still use! We‰’ve been a bit unsure about wanting to spend $25 on a can of hairspray, that‰’s chemical-free but we know we should do it. Sometimes you just have to keep it real and remind yourself of all the many other positive lifestyle changes you‰’ve made, in reducing your overall exposure to chemicals.

Switching from plastic to glass

With this change, sometimes it‰’s a matter of waiting for glass containers and canisters to go on sale. Plastic is still going to be in our lives to some degree. Sending your kids to school with a glass lunchbox is obviously heavier than plastic, and depending on your child‰’s age you may not even want to trust them with glass! Just remember, the more you can switch the better. Try to focus on the following:

  • Switch your pantry storage containers to glass one by one
  • Never heat any food in the microwave in plastic containers
  • Try not to add hot food such as soup directly into a plastic container
  • Avoid using cling wrap where possible and opt for food covers instead
  • Look for BPA-free plastics if you have to use them
  • Switch plastic water bottles to aluminium or glass
  • Avoiding drinking out of a plastic water bottle that‰’s been left in the car and overheated

These are all ways to lower your toxic load when it comes to plastic.

Mindfulness and exercise

We‰’re still working on this one! But it‰’s all about making ourselves a priority, keeping our life goals in focus, giving ourselves self-love, focusing on exercise and being aware of our overall lifestyle habits. An additive-free lifestyle is about health and wellness across your whole life.

You don‰’t realise how much energy you have until you experience this level of vitality. If you‰’re at a birthday party, somehow that urge to indulge in all the delicious foods just vanishes, because you know you’ll be feeling drained afterwards. Tracey recently completed a six-week gluten-free challenge, and she completely surprised herself at not missing bread, biscuits and cakes. She was literally springing out of bed every morning with boundless energy!

Jo explains how she has created whole new circles of friends, who are like-minded in their journeys, and admits she‰’s in a completely different place in her life than before her additive-free journey. We each wouldn‰’t have it any other way!

Being additive-free is anything but a short-term fix rather, it‰’s a completely new and exciting lifestyle change. We just know that we‰’re leaving behind the best legacy for our children in their own positive food choices. While you might have periods of your teenagers rebelling against these changes, the knowledge is well and truly installed in their minds! It‰’s a great gift to be handing down to your children or even your grand-children!

We know that the lifestyle that we‰’re living, will hopefully see us still physically able to sit on the floor and play with our great-grand-children with plenty of energy! It all comes down to using natural products, eating right, exercising regularly and indulging in self-care.

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