The Keep Pile 4.27
Starting a New Habit / Finding Clean Hygiene Products / Limiting Food Waste
1. Organization
One of the things I’m really try to be better with is throwing out food. I can’t stand to throw out good food because it’s gone bad. Usually this happens because we don’t eat leftovers or our fridge and pantry are so packed that we don’t know what we have until it’s too late.
To help with the goal of limiting food waste, we are working on going through our fridge and pantry BEFORE I grocery shop. I typically clean out the fridge and pantry as I’m putting new food away. While that helps me keep everything organized and fresh, I am still throwing out food that should have been eaten.
If I look through my pantry and fridge/freezer before I grocery shop, I can plan some meals around what we have on hand. It helps with the food waste and it helps save us money. Another trick is to type in what you have on hand into ChatGPT for inspiration on a recipe.
We are also trying to be better about eating our left overs before we choose to eat out. Sometimes that means eating something that we aren’t super excited about, but it saves us in the long run and we have plenty of opportunities to enjoy our food.
2. Books
The Berry Pickers by Amanda Peters was my third times a charm book. I had two others before it that I didn’t finish. I gave this book 3 out of 5 stars. The story is somewhat melancholy but a great reminder of the power of family and the importance of relationships. There are some sad moments but I felt closure at the end and was happy for Ruthie.
3. Kids
If you want to really get me going, start talking about how products and food are marketed as “healthy” or “clean” when they are anything but. I can get over it if the product is just what it is - the company doesn’t claim it has “all natural flavors” or “Baby’s Sensitive Skin” and just sells the product without lying in the marketing. The most frustrating thing for most of us trying to do better is that better is so relative. You feel like you can’t trust what’s on the package and you need a doctorate degree to understand what all the labels mean.
It’s frustrating across the board but especially when it comes to your kids. Our oldest, Olivia, has eczema and it has recently flared. I have always tried to pick products that I felt were good for sensitive skin, especially for her, so imagine my shock when I started really diving into the products and found that they weren’t as great as I thought.
I recently found the app, Yuka. Its free and it allows you to scan the product and it gives you a rating on how “clean”. The app rates the products as Excellent, Good, Poor, and Bad along with a number. It takes the ingredients in the product and looks at the potential effects on health or environment - endocrine disruptors, allergen, irritant, carcinogen, and pollutant.
One product I bought specifically for Olivia was the Cetaphil Baby Wash & Shampoo. It boasts that it good for Baby’s Sensitive Skin and “moisturizes baby’s delicate skin and hair with nourishing aloe vera”. So again, imagine my shock when it comes back with a poor rating for none other than, phenoxyethanol, an ingredient that is limited in all countries but the US and Canada due to it potentially triggering allergic reactions. Again, I wouldn’t mind the product being just okay especially since this ingredient is safe when less than 1% is used. But when the product markets itself to be used for sensitive skin and then has an ingredient that is linked to causing skin irritation, it infuriates me.
Here I am, thinking I’m making the best choice for myself and my kids and I’m not. After the mom guilt subsided, I tried to tell myself now that I know better, I’ll do better. Usually I advocate for using a product before replacing it with a better option, but I probably won’t for this just because her poor little skin is just so bad right now.
And by no means am I telling you to overhaul everything that you have. Just like with food, start with your better option when you get ready to buy new. Focus on making a better option first and then slowly get to the best. You will spend a ton of money if you try to replace everything at one time.
If you’re like me, I hope we can find comfort in that there are more and more products focusing on truly being clean. They aren’t as hard to find and they are becoming even more affordable.
4. Lifestyle/Wellness
Interrupt your daily routine to form a new habit. If you are trying to implement walking or working out, it’s not going to *just happen* because you want to do it. If you think about your daily routine, we spend most of it on autopilot. Most of us do the same things every day and rarely think about each step.
Think about your morning routine - getting ready in the morning. Do you have to make a conscious decision to brush your teeth? Most of us have that step so ingrained in our routine that it “just happens”. Driving to work or dropping of the kids at school is the same way - we usually go the same route and rarely think about the steps as we drive. Have you ever had to go an alternate route and told yourself to remember to go the other way, only to find yourself missing the new turn because your mind is somewhere else?
What we do on a daily basis is such a habit for us that we don’t have to think about it and we can’t even remember when the habit started. That’s why when we try starting a new habit, it feels really difficult. We don’t understand why we can’t *just do it*.
There are several ways that you can break into your normal routine and start a new habit.
The number one tip is to start small - instead of working out, maybe it’s just a walk. Instead of saying you’re going to do it 5 times a week, start with 3.
Set an alarm or a calendar reminder. Schedule the new habit like you would a doctor’s appointment.
Habit Stack - if your new habit is something more routine like flossing, setting an alarm might not be the best method. Instead, try stacking it into another habit you already do. For me, I have added flossing in while I wait for my Frownies to set (more on Frownies another time). Another habit stack I do is walking as soon as I get home from work. It happens right after something I do every day.
Set Out Reminders - put things around your home to remind you to do the new habit. Put the floss on the counter where you see it each night. Set out your tennis shoes somewhere visible to remind you that you wanted to walk. Laying out your clothes for the gym. Set out your water bottle to fill in the morning.
It’s going to take time to start something new, no matter how small. Track your progress and make sure you celebrate the wins. Per James Clear, author of Atomic Habits, it takes more than 2 months - 66 days to be exact for a new behavior to become automatic. I hope that fact doesn’t depress you, but encourages you to keep going! I also find it helpful to know that there’s “nothing wrong” with me when it doesn’t happen quicker.
5. Random Rachel Thoughts
My Random Rachel Thoughts is an announcement this week! I am super excited to let y’all know that I now have a shop on Linktree where I will be linking all my favorite products from organizational items to travel to kids and much more!
As always, thank you for reading. It means that world to me that you are here. I appreciate those of you who read each week and those of you who may be first time readers. If you want to see more, follow me on Instagram HarperGraceOrganization and Subscribe here!
See you next week!
~Rachel