I love the word intentional. I will agree that it is a buzz word 🙄 but I still love it. Intentional means just thinking about it isn’t enough. Intentional means just trying isn’t enough. To live ​intentionally​, you make big life decisions with thought and purpose.
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What Does It Mean to Live Intentionally?
A colleague once told me, if a client tells her they will “try” to change their eating habits, she tells them that is the same as your spouse saying, “I will try to be faithful.” (cue record screeching) Whoa, what?! That won’t work!
Trying isn’t enough but being intentional is. Being intentional means doing something on purpose and with a meaning behind it. When you choose to live intentionally with your health, you are choosing to practice healthy wellness habits daily. You are choosing those habits on purpose and with a meaning.
Living Intentionally with Your Health
When I was in early college, I definitely didn’t choose to live intentionally with all my health choices. I was intentional with exercise (I was really afraid of the freshman 15…but that’s a whole other blog post) but not so much with what I ate. I was on my own with my with my food choices, and on many occasions, Marble Slab or TCBY was a meal.
After I became a dietitian, I was more intentional but sometimes, like when eating out, I intentionally made unhealthy choices because I knew people were watching what the dietitian ordered. I didn’t want to influence someone else’s order based on what I ordered, so I would intentionally order something similar to everyone else.
I also knew what choices to make for my health, but chose to live intentionally not choosing “cleaner” food choices. I thought that didn’t apply to me because I was in denial of my symptoms. For years I suffered from gas, bloating, ​anxiety​ and short cycles but I blew it off and told myself it was totally normal.
It wasn’t until I chose to change my food and lifestyle habits and chose to live intentionally for the better that my symptoms started to go away.
I knew my hormones were out of whack and my digestive system was not functioning as it should, so it was time to get to work.
5 Products Messing up Your Hormones and What to Use to Live Intentionally
Processed Foods
I know I’m always hating on processed foods. They are convenient but they really aren’t good for you. Processed foods affect multiple hormones including insulin and cortisol. These are two hormones you don’t want to mess with if you want to be at a healthy weight!
Instead, eat real food. Shop the perimeter of the grocery store and fill your plate with fresh fruits and veggies and unprocessed meats.
Conventionally Raised Meat
Just like with humans, what animals eat will either increase inflammation or decrease inflammation. Animals are designed to eat a diet specific to them. Animals in their natural habitat have the lowest amount of inflammation because they eat what they are naturally supposed to eat and are in their natural environment. Animals conventionally raised have the highest amount of inflammation because they are fed inflammatory grains. They also are typically in unhealthy, cramped, indoor environments.
When we eat conventionally raised, inflammatory meat, it creates inflammation in us. The inflammation puts stress on our bodies, increasing cortisol and estrogen.
When eating and shopping for meat, you want to look for the terms: free range, organic, pasture raised and grass fed. Your local farmer’s market will be the best place to find meat.
Plastic
The chemicals in plastics, like BPA, effect your estrogen and thyroid levels. Many plastic manufacturers are making plastic without BPA, but the other chemicals are suspect to still disrupt your hormones. Purchasing fresh food and food in glass containers as well as storing food in glass containers will drastically reduce your exposure to hormone disrupting chemicals.
Fragrances
This is a big one because fragrances are in EVERYTHING!! From soaps, detergents, cleaning supplies, skincare and cosmetics, it’s hard to avoid them. If fragrance or parfum is listed in the ingredients, hormone disruptors will be in that product. It really takes dedication to live intentionally with this one.
To avoid fragrances, read labels and search out products that are fragrance free or scented with essential oils. ​Attitude Living​ is one of my favorite online store to get cleaning supplies, household supplies and hair and body products.
Cleaning Supplies
Cleaning supplies can be loaded with hormone disrupting chemicals. You can search out products that are safer by looking at the ​Environmental Working Group​‘s database. Again, Attitude Living is one of my favorite places to get safer cleaning supplies, but typically I just use vinegar water with essential oils to clean almost everything in my house.
And that’s it!! I hope you find this list helpful. What have you found helpful to make your hormones happy?
