How I Got Clean [the short version]

I quit working at the bank in August of 2010. I downloaded several books onto my Kindle & began reading my brains out as I started to de-stress myself. One of the books I got was No Impact Man, a story about a man who swears off anything that can harm the planet.

Although his story is a bit extreme, I was still very compelled to do my best at making "no impact."

My first rule for myself was: Don't buy anything that comes in a box. Especially referring to food. My only goal with this rule was to reduce waste. It was hard. I probably reduced my boxed-food-buying by 50%.

The next book I read was No More Dirty Looks, a wonderful how-to (and how-not-to) guide through the maze of the beauty industry. I cleaned up my act by getting rid of every single item in my home that was made with any chemical found in their hugely extensive list of no-no's. This included cleaning supplies, shampoos and soaps, toothpastes, sunscreens, and makeup products.

I then replaced almost all of the cleaning supplies with Dr. Bronner's products. And grabbed about 5-6 clean beauty products that I "can't live without" to replace what I got rid of on much more of a minimalist scale than what I had going on before.

I started doing CrossFit in August of 2011, and was introduced to "Zone eating" which was made popular by the Zone Diet books. This way of eating emphasizes having protein, complex carbohydrates, and fat with every meal. Bread was on the "Unfavorable Carbs" list, which meant you could eat bread, but you have to measure it out perfectly in order to stay on task because of how the body processes grains.

The next step in my eating came when I decided to participate in the Whole30 challenge. This program is very similar to Zone eating, except instead of some things being "Unfavorable" they are simply just not allowed. The ONLY things you may consume on the Whole30 are: Meats & Seafood, fruits, vegetables, and fats (nuts, seeds, coconut oil etc.)

So I began shopping for this lifestyle on January 2nd 2012, and I finally noticed that NOTHING I bought was coming out of a box. Sure, eggs had their cartons, and coconut milk came in a can. Those things are sort of unavoidable. There was no cereal coming into my home. No granola bars. No fruit snacks. The list goes on and on.

Somehow, over the last year and a half I have finally made it as close as I can get to my goal of not buying foods that come in boxes. See, if you set an intention, you have NO idea how long it will take or by what means it will come to fruition. But if you truly set an intention for YOURSELF - not others - you will see it come to pass.

I didn't realize until earlier today that I had met my goal of not buying food in boxes. And I didn't realize that everything I learned along the way was a necessary next-step in this process. What a wonderful gift, to be mindful and committed to something and see it manifest in your life! I hope you all have a story like this to share with me.