Confession time: I have well and truly been swept up in the wave of environmental change. 2018 has been the year people started becoming woke about our negative impact on this planet (looking at you plastic) and I am here for it. I knew I’d become a greener person when I started making changes in my own lifestyle, but what I didn’t realise is that I would find a new self-love and start caring about my body more.
What’s going in
Your body is your temple right? Well the outside of my temple looked better (although also a matter of opinion haha) than the inside for most of my life, until I started down the path of least impact. I started doing some reading about the dangers of plastic and realised that it’s not just bad for the environment, but also bad for your body. I had scoffed at everyone who said not to heat up your leftovers in plastic containers in the microwave because they leak chemicals. I thought it was bogus and they were trying to stop me eating my delicious leftover pad thai, but it turns out it’s not! In fact, turns out there are so many harmful things on our foods and food storage containers and I while won’t bore you to death with all the stats, highly recommend doing some reading of your own on it.
So how did I start treating my insides better? I looked at food labels and if I didn’t know what an ingredient was, I didn’t buy it. I stopped buying microwave meals (I live alone don’t judge me). I also stopped heating up my leftovers in plastic containers, now it’s only glass or microwave safe plastic (they’re not the best choice but they are still a better choice). One other change I made is to become mostly vegetarian. Don’t run away! It works! I don’t cook meat in my house and I meal prep so at least 15 meals a week are vego. Ethics aside, meat consumption is hard on the environment and many health experts believe too much meat can lead to abnormal cell growth (read: cancer). To me, it’s a no brainer to cut back and only have meat as a treat. It still shocks me sometimes, but I do genuinely give a crap what I put in my body now. I’m healthier by default and feel so much more appreciative of this vessel that’s carrying me through life.