Growing a Healthier Me: 3 Goals For Living Cleaner This Spring

Spring is here and that means new life and a fresh start. Read how I am making a fresh start this spring with 3 goals for living cleaner and how my sponsors at Finish Power and Free Alliance of Moms are helping me to “clean it forward” on these goals.

Here in Northern California, Spring is already in full bloom! There are buds on the trees, daffodils and tulips in all their glory, the air is warm and fresh and the we have the windows open, letting a soft breeze waft into the house. I just love the fresh, new start that spring brings. New life is everywhere, and it feels like the whole earth is turning a new leaf and starting fresh!

This sense of new life has inspired me to set some goals to help me to turn a new leaf and start fresh to grow a healthier me, and a healthier family. Over the past year and a half I have been working to lose weight, and as I have done so I have learned that I don’t just want to “lose weight,” but instead I want to live an overall healthier, cleaner lifestyle.

To turn a new leaf this Spring, I have picked 3 goals to work on to create a healthier lifestyle for myself and my family.

Goal 1: Clean Eating
I am beginning to learn that eating a lot of processed foods is not healthy and leaves me and my family feeling just plain “yucky”. To prevent that I have started to make more homemade meals and cook with real ingredients. It is a learning process and I am only at the beginning of it, but I want to “clean it forward” by making a goal to make 3 new foods “from scratch” that I typically buy from pre-packaged: whole wheat tortillas, taco seasoning and granola bars. I will keep you posted, and even share my pics and recipes once I have these down! I already gave the tortillas a try, and they didn’t come out quite right, but I will keep plugging away!

Goal 2: Planting A Garden
This year I have big plans for a beautiful thriving garden! This past year we moved into a new home with plenty of space for a garden, and I want to take advantage of that. I am not really known for my green thumb (actually kind of the opposite) but I have high hopes that with a lot of hard work, this can happen! Last weekend we started pulling out weeds and digging up some of the garden area, and planted a few seeds and plants.

As you can see, we still have a lot of work to do, but just like my little seeds, we are starting somewhere, and that’s what matters!

I am so excited at the chance to “clean it forward” by having fresh, organic fruits and veggies growing in our garden. It will be nice to see the fruits of our labors and to feel as though we are living off of the land a little. Plus I think that this will be a fun project to do with my kids this Spring and will be a fun way for us to spend some quality time together outside.

Goal 3: Reducing Chemicals in My Home
Enjoying this fresh, clean Spring air is making me realize that using a lot of chemicals in my home cleaning products is not the way to go. When I’m outside and take a deep breath of clean, crisp air, I feel healthier and breath easier (quite literally). So I have decided that I want to incorporate that feeling inside my home also, by reducing the amount of chemicals that are in my cleaning products. I have already gotten a start on this goal by adding a few great products to my shopping bag to help me “clean it forward” by allowing me to get the cleaning action I expect without all of the unwanted chemicals.

One of those great products is the new “Power & Free” range from Finish. This range of dish washing products including “Quantum Power & Free”, “Powerball Power & Free” and “Jet Dry Power & Free” uses the natural cleaning power of hydrogen peroxide to clean even the toughest messes all while using less harmful chemicals then their regular formulas.

I started working on my goal by giving Finish “Quantum Power and Free” a try on a big load of dishes. The first thing that I loved is the compact packaging that saved space and saved on waste. I also loved how easy it was to just slip one of the three-chambered capsules into my dishwasher, avoiding the mess of pouring and measuring out liquid or powder dish washing soap.

After running a BIG load of dishes (I mean it… I don’t really know why I had squeezed so many things into this one load) I opened up the dishwasher to find beautifully sparkling clean dishes! Even my husband, who is a tough critic when it comes to dishes, mentioned how clean they look! I was so pleased with the results and was excited to see that a product with less harsh chemicals in it could provide an excellent clean, This has really encouraged me to continue in my goal to “clean it forward” by reducing harmful chemicals in my home.

If you have a goal to reduce chemicals in your own home this Spring, be sure to visit Finish to learn more about their “Power & Free” and even request a free sample while you are there!

 

Leanne Cox is a guest writer for CleverHousewife.com. She is a stay-at-home mom to two kids, and a credentialed preschool teacher. Leanne teaches “mommy-and-me” and “preschool style” music & movement classes through her business “Little Stars Music & Movement Classes” . She is passionate about encouraging early childhood education through hands on learning and exploration