This week I am chatting to Dr Greg Venning - a Certified Wellness Practioner, Chiropractor and Speaker.

In this episode we chat about chiropractic care and how this can benefit your wellbeing and learning about our bodies.

We also dive into finding your why and getting out of your comfort zone to make things happen.

As described on his website:

"Dr Greg Venning is the author of the powerful book Thrive, founder of Peak Chiropractic and developer of Upgrade Your Life. He is passionate in helping you and your family your to get more out of life. Dr Greg Venning is not like most doctors. He is interested in your human potential and personal performance and helping you live your bigger life, a life of significance and fulfil your dreams. He helps people like you to create health, not just treat disease."

I really enjoyed chatting with Greg and I hope you find it as interesting as I did!

LINKS:

The Thrive book
Peak Chiropractic
Dr Greg Venning on Facebook

Living a more "eco-friendly" lifestyle is something we are all aware of nowadays.

Less plastic, more sustainable options are so much more available to us all but it is not easy to always make the changes.  I often feel or hear - "I don't have time" or "I wouldn't be able to do that" or "I don't have the money".

But my friends - there is always something you can do to make a small difference.
ALWAYS.
And can you just imagine if we all made small changes - no matter how small - what a BIG difference we could make?

I have spoken more about this here - I know it can be overwhelming but we have to take some sort of responsibility - we can't fob it off to someone else.  Have you ever thought about some simple changes you can make to your lifestyle to produce less waste?

If not - or you have no idea where to start, I thought I would share some ideas with you that I have personally done the past few months - maybe this can inspire you to try some out too?

1. Menstrual Cup
Now I know this one especially can be overwhelming - but OH MY WORD it has changed my life.  No more tampons, no waste, less money and it is so empowering.  Rona Mirimi stocks these and can help you with the right style and size.  And there are so many places you can pick these up from.  Rona explains are the facts and has all the information you need on her website here.  GO AND READ IT!

2. Eco-friendly household cleaners
Whilst I haven't purchased these products yet from The Green Bee, they are on my shopping list for the end of the month.  I have stopped buying any cleaning products from the shops and have been using vinegar, bicarb, lemon and essential oils to make my own cleaners.  But how amazing are their products - I LOVE the fact they come in 5l bottles - dishwashing liquid, all purpose cleaner, handwash, laundry liquid, dishwasher powder! So amazing! You could also make your own of course, but we don't always have time!

3. Weekly Vegetable Box
If you follow me on instagram you would have seen my weekly vegetable boxes that I get from Abalimi Harvest of Hope and these have changed my life.  Fresh, organic produce, supporting local brands as well as giving me more inspiration to cook healthy, wholesome food.  Such a win in my book.  Go and check out all the details.  AND no more plastic packaging waste - the best!

4. Toiletries - toothbrush and soap
Recently I bought a bamboo toothbrush for me and the boys.  I love them and I can just pop them on the compost heap after 3 months.  No more plastic waste.  Our aim by the end of the year is to have a plastic free bathroom.  We started with the toothbrushes and we no longer use shower gel - beautifully made soap with essential oils, hemp, beeswax and the like are what we use now.  I buy different brands depending on what shop I get to.  But so much better for our skin, no chemicals - just natural stuff and no plastic wrapping or bottles.  My next goal is to go natural for shampoo and conditioners and getting one of these stainless steel razors from Raw Co.

5. A ban on plastic straws and bags.
If I forget my fabric bags when I go shopping I either buy another one or just carry the shopping.  I refuse to buy plastic bags anymore.  And I am so happy to see so many places offering paper straws now.  So amazing.  You can pick up an reusable silicon straw from Silistraw.  They are easily cleaned, foldable and stored in a little capsule you can carry easily in your handbag!

I'll also tell you a little tip a friends told me which really helped me to be more aware of what waste I produce.  Imagine if you personally, had to get rid of your rubbish.  Every bit of plastic, wrapping, packaging, box and bag....let that sink in for a minute.  It is quite scary isn't it!  We put stuff in the bin and then just watch it get taken away and out of sight out of mind.  And more than likely it ends up in the sea.



Some scary facts for you: (taken from the Jislaain SOS tees post)

• According to the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF), South Africans use between 30kg and 50kg of plastic per person per year.
• More than 8 million tons of plastic are dumped in our oceans every year. – plasticoceans.org
• There are 5 giant garbage patches floating in the ocean of which the largest one contains more than 80,000 tonnes of plastic. – theoceancleanup.com
• Have you ever thought that some of your trash might be in those patches? Or that something you threw into your dustbin ended up killing an animal?

You might have seen recently that I teamed up with Jislaaik Online Shop who are running an AWESOME  Jislaain campaign at the moment.  You can read more about it here but the basics are that they have launched a range of Save our seas t-shirts and proceeds from each t-shirt sold will be donated to a charity - and we have some awesome nominations for charities that have come in.


Check them out:

The Retrade Project - an organisation that encourages families or individuals to collect recycable junk and they can bring it every Friday to a location where it is assessed and in return for their recycables they gain points which they can use to buy goods in the trade store.  Based in P.E.

All Hearts Foundation
An organisation passionate about different causes whether it be animal welfare or such as rescuing the Canadian Timber Wolves, the spaying and feeding of feral cats and community outreach.

Owl Rescue Centre
Dedicated to protection of owls in Southern Africa - they help create awareness of the owl as well as rehabilitate and are involved in conservation projects around South Africa.

Green Pop SA
A social enterprise who are on a mission to reconnect people with the planet and plant trees in communities that need them. Such an awesome and fun initiative!

Go and read up on what these amazing charities are doing and vote with your favourite one so we can decide who the donation can go to this month!  You can vote in the comments or over on my instagram grid or stories.

And let me know what small changes you are currently planning or doing so I can cheer you on!

This week it's just me chatting about my story with alcohol.  I quit drinking 7 years ago this month and often get emails and messages from strangers, to old school friends as well as family and close friends who ask me questions about how I stopped drinking.

So I thought I would tell you a bit about why I stopped, the cycle I got into and get really honest about how drinking can deeply effect your life.

Remember - I am not a medical professional - this is purely my experience.  If you or anyone you know is an addict then seek professional help.

♥

LINKS

All my blog posts on drinking are here.
Kitty Talks podcast with Clare Pooley.
Clare Pooley's blog - Mummy was a secret drinker.
The 12 Steps of AA.

 I was listening to my friends Siobhan's podcast the other day about The Lost Art of Compassion (you can find it here) and I really resonated with the words that were spoken.  Her guest, Dane was chatting about compassion and how we may feel quite powerless to make changes for the planet as our actions or choices we make, may be insignificant to the crisis going on in the world at the moment.

Like, how on earth am I going to change anything - my actions will have little to no impact.  He goes on to say that the problem with this thinking is that it gives us this magical get out of jail free card and absolves us of old habits and cultural norms because everyone does it and going against the grain would be futile.

Such wise and true words and it made me realise we need to face the truth - we can all make a change-  and you can do this by living according to your core values like being kind to others, not exploiting animals and reducing your impact on the environment.



You can make a simple choice by doing no harm to our planet - in whatever form you feel you can.

And that leads me onto Raw Co. - which represents authentic, sustainable and a responsible approach to life.



RAW Co. stands for Real & Authentic Ware which is a collective of products made from natural and recyclable materials.  I am giving away a Cotton netting bag which is perfect for taking to the shops to pop in some loose fruit or veg or any small items.

You see - if we all make a small effort - and none of us used the plastic bags at the shops then there would be less of a need for them.  We all have to take some responsibility.



I also got some hemp scrubbies for cleaning but you can also use them as a body scrubber too.  You could even clean your veggies with them.


The next item on my wishlist is this razor - a plastic-free alternative to those awful ones you get in the shops.  It comes in its own travel case with 4 blades.

So to enter the giveaway and stand a chance to win the bag and make a change to our planet all you need to do is:

1. Follow me @claire_choudhry on Instagram
2. Follow @rawco_za on Instagram
3. Comment below with a small change you are going to make to be kinder to our planet.
4. Tag ONE friend who you think would be inspired by this.

Winner will be announced on Friday 12th April.
The bag will be shipped to the winner direct from Rawco.