25: Clean-ish Habits That Changed My Life: Wellness and Small Swaps that make a difference

In this personal episode, I’m sharing my real-life journey into clean-ish living—a simpler, more intentional lifestyle that’s helped me feel better in my body, my mind, and my home.

I’ll be honest—this isn’t about being perfect or going completely non-toxic. It’s about small, mindful changes: swapping one product at a time, choosing clean ingredients when I can, and learning to trust myself in the process.

Whether you're curious about switching to natural products, reducing toxins, or just want to feel better in your everyday life—this episode will give you permission to start small and go at your own pace.

You don’t need to do it all. You just need to do what feels aligned.
 Let this be your gentle nudge to care for yourself in a way that feels good—not stressful.

PRODUCTS I mentioned and LOVE:

Branch Basics - Cleaning products 

Just Ingredients - Use code LAURAORLANDO (no spaces) for a discount! Protein powder and deodorant I use

Molly Suds - Laundry detergent I use

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Transcript

SPEAKER_00: 0:00

Hi, I'm Laura Orlando and welcome to the Build Strong Women podcast. I believe as women that we are the role models for the next generation of girls. So how do we become the best role models for these young girls? We work hard to become the best version of ourselves, whatever that means to you. It's not easy. It takes work. It takes learning, trying new things, falling down and getting back up again. But that's what we do on the show. We dive deep into how we can grow on the inside. We will learn from women that are on the same journey as us. Just trying to become the best version of themselves. Let's learn together, build our confidence, learn to love who we are so that we can teach the next generation of girls to grow up to be strong and confident women. Hello everyone and welcome back to another episode of the Build Strong Women podcast. Thank you so much for being here and tuning into this week's episode. This episode is a little bit more personal and I want to take you a little bit behind the scenes of something that is really important to me over the past few years. But before we dive into that, I really want to remind you to head over to the show notes and if you could just subscribe, rate, and review this podcast, I would be so grateful. That is how I grow. That is how I can share my message with as many women as I can. And all I want to do is just help women believe in themselves and know that they are worth it. And if you could just write a review to let other women know what this podcast means to you, I would be so grateful. And if you could share this episode with a friend or this podcast with a friend, I would be so grateful as well. Okay, so let's dive into this week's episode. This week's episode is all about my cleanish lifestyle that I have come to be. I want to be healthier. I want to live a simple life. And I said cleanish because, let's be real, I'm not trying to live in a bubble that is completely perfect. But I am trying to be really mindful about what I put on my body, what I eat. products I use in my home and the things that I eat because I've learned that it really truly impacts how I feel and I really wanted to share this message with you because it's such a huge part of my life that I don't talk a lot about. So if you've ever been curious about things like non-toxic products or organic food and making those little gentle shifts without going into extreme measures because you can go off the deep end if you're watching Instagram about a clean lifestyle, non-toxic life, you could go off the deep and be like, oh my gosh, everything in my house is toxic. I don't want you to think that. So this episode is for you if you want to make these gentle shifts in your life for living a life that is cleanish, that is a little bit less toxic. So let me just start out by saying that this is something that did not happen overnight. I didn't wake up one day and throw everything away in my house and say, I'm living a non-toxic life. Absolutely not. It has been a slow, steady journey that all started with curious And just the desire to learn a little bit more about living a life that is a little less toxic. scrolling on Instagram, like everything, and noticing people talking about living a cleaner lifestyle and using products that don't have the chemicals in them. And I just became really curious about it. I mean, I was like, I kind of got obsessed at one point. I'm not going to say that I didn't. I was like, oh my gosh, all the products that I'm using on my body and in my house are toxic. Like, oh my gosh, I'm hurting my family. And I got a paying attention to the things that I'm using in my house and really started researching and reading more and more about certain things and I just became more mindful. And that's what I want you to do. If this is something that you have been curious about, that's why I want to talk about this. I want you to be a little bit more mindful if you're interested about choosing products that are a little less toxic. And that's what happened to me. And I have a really strong sense of smell. Well, I guess I did before COVID. Now I feel like I don't at all. But that's another story. But lotions and perfumes and laundry detergents and things like that were so strong for me. And I just hated it. I wanted everything to have no fragrance. I didn't want any smells. And I started... you know, learning about this non-toxic life and trying to live a little bit more clean. And it started with swapping out things that have fragrance in them. And that's where it all started. And I didn't like the smell of things. So I started researching things that don't have the smells. And it started talking about how fragrance is actually not really good for you. And I started swapping out things one at a time. I didn't do this complete overhaul. I just did things that one at a time. And the first thing I did is I started with my deodorant. I switched out my deodorant and that was the first step in my journey. And then I started with my sunscreen and then I did my cleaning products and things like that. So it was just this little journey one step at a time. It wasn't this all or nothing thing into learning about what is toxic and the things that i wanted to do to choose to have a more cleanish life so we live in a world that has you know chemicals and toxins and processed stuff all all over the place and we can't control anything and i everything and i'm not trying to control everything but we can be more intentional about what we bring into our homes and what we use on our bodies because all those little things i feel add up and that's what's important to me. And let's be honest, our skin absorbs what we put on it. Our bodies respond to what we eat. Our homes should be this safe place where we're not worried about what we're spraying on our countertops and putting our food on it if we're going to, you know, be eating these chemicals. I don't want to do this just for me. I'm doing it for my family. And I just thought if anyone else is a little bit curious about living a more non-toxic life, there are little swaps that you can make that can help you to do that. So if you are curious about that, I am so excited to share some of the things that I have done in my own life. And it hasn't like... taken a lot of work. It hasn't really been this like huge thing, but it is something that I'm really conscious about. And it's something that's really important to me. And I feel like it has really helped me just feel better inside myself, knowing that I'm doing this for myself and my family and my home. And I just wanted to share it with you in case you are a little curious. And like I said, I don't live this completely clean, perfect, non-toxic lifestyle. in this magical bubble and I don't want to because I know that I can be crazy. I still enjoy treats. I still like to go out to eat. Sometimes I use products that aren't 100% clean and my kids do the same thing and that's okay. This isn't about being perfect. It's just about being a little bit more aware and the ish and my clean-ish is the grace that I give myself. It's a reminder that I don't need to be obsessed with this, but I do want to pay attention and make some small shifts that feel And it's all about what feels good to you. We're not trying to live in fear. I'm not trying to scare you at all. We're just trying to live with a little bit more care and a little bit more awareness about what we're doing in our life and how we're living. And that's what I wanted to share with you. If you're listening to this and thinking, oh my gosh, okay, where do I even start? Where do I start living this type of life? Or how can I start swapping out some of the products that I'm using in my house? So I wanna give you a few simple ways that you can start doing that. And I'm gonna share just some of the things that I use in my own house. And you might not want to use any of them and that's totally fine. None of these things are ads. I'm just sharing a little bit more about the products that I use that I have found that I've loved that I've been using for years now This isn't something that I just discovered yesterday. This is something that I've been doing for a long time and I have absolutely loved doing it and choosing this way to live. So the first thing that you can think about is the products that are going on your body. Number one, deodorant. Switching out your deodorant to a clean deodorant is huge. I like to use just ingredients and I'm going to link all of these things in the show notes. So if you are curious about some of the products that I'm using, you can just click there and you can head over to find out a little bit more about the products and you can make decisions for yourself. So the things that go on your body, like your deodorant, your lotions, maybe even your shampoo and conditioner or your sunscreen, you can start there. The next thing you could do if you want to try to switch something out is go for your cleaning products. Go for like fragrance-free, non-toxic cleaning products. I like to use the brand called Branch Basics and what they do is they give you this big tub of cleaner and they give you some spray bottles. You can purchase the spray bottles and you fill up the spray bottle with some water up to the line that they tell you to and then the rest is with the Branch Basics cleaner and you can do that for your all-purpose cleaner. It can be your hand soap. It's actually all of our hand soaps in my house. It can also be your glass cleaner and things like that. I love Branch Basics. They also have like laundry products and things of that nature. And even for your dishwasher, it's those little tiny swaps that are going to help you achieve this non-toxic life. And the next thing that you could do is going into your laundry room and looking at the things that you're using in your laundry. Are those things have the chemicals that you don't want to use? If you have these cleaners and these dryer sheets that have these really strong smells, yes, they smell so clean and good. I totally get it. But it is... adding those fragrances and those chemicals that you don't want to be putting on your clothes, especially like when you're washing your sheets and things like that. You don't want to have those big, strong smells. So just being more aware of the labels and reading them and being conscientious of what you're buying is huge. I don't want you to go crazy with this. I don't want you to overthink it. But just start with those little things, like maybe your cleaning products and your deodorant. Try that. Just one thing at a time. Also, if you are going into the store, I like to choose organic foods as best that I can. Not everything that I eat is organic. Absolutely not. Not even a little bit. But things like, you know, berries and my meat. I like to try to get the organic meat and the organic fruit and vegetables when I can. So I just want you to stay a little curious. I don't want you to like judge it. I don't want you to be like, oh my gosh, I don't do anything right. Absolutely not. I want you to just start learning and growing in this area if it's something that is important to you. Like I said, this is something that's really important to me. It's something that I'm really passionate about. I love learning about it. And it's just something that has brought me a lot of joy in my life because I know that I'm making an effort, a conscious effort effort to learn more about this lifestyle and if this isn't to shame you or anyone else absolutely not i really just want you to be aware of what you're doing in your life and how maybe this could help you a little bit more so my whole goal in life is just to feel better inside myself mentally physically and if i can start using products in my life that i feel are good for me that helps me feel good inside myself that is something that brings me joy i talk about my happy And some of my happy habits have to do with my cleanish lifestyle that I'm using, the products that I'm using, especially, you know, the stuff that I put on my face and my night routine where I'm washing my face with these really great products that I know are good for me and the lotions that I'm putting on my face and all of those things that help me feel good. They bring me joy. They bring me peace. And I love that feeling. And it's just something that is important to me. And if this is something that's important to you, I'm so so glad that you're here and that you're listening to this episode and like I said I'm always trying to find little ways to help me feel better and one thing that is you know a lot of people don't want to talk about but it is about alcohol and yes part of my cleanish lifestyle has been stepping away from drinking alcohol and this was a personal decision again not something that happened overnight but I realized that alcohol wasn't making me feel the way I wanted to feel It was messing up my sleep. I had terrible anxiety. My energy was crazy when I was drinking alcohol. And honestly, I just felt blah. Every time that I drank, I just felt terrible. And I'm like, why am I doing this? Why am I doing this to myself? Even one glass of wine made me feel like crap. So I slowly stepped back from it and I feel so much better now. choosing not to drink alcohol. And it is a personal decision for me. And I'm not trying to put that on anyone. It has been a hard decision because it's really not the most comfortable thing to do when you're out somewhere and everyone's ordering drinks and you're like, I just want a water. Everyone looks at you like, are you crazy? But it's just something that helps me feel good inside myself. Like I said, I'm always trying to feel better inside and stepping away from alcohol. I'm not saying that I'm completely... I'm completely alcohol free. I haven't drank in a long time, but on special occasions, maybe I will. I don't know yet. But if you're someone who's been thinking about that shift to just know that you're not alone. And it's not like an all or nothing thing. You can do whatever feels good to you. And sometimes making a decision that supports yourself and your well-being. is going to help you feel better about yourself. And that's just part of my journey. That is just something that I decided to do. And my husband's kind of taken that on a little bit as well. And it just helps us feel better inside. And at the end of the day, this lifestyle is about feeling better about yourself and what matters to you. And I'm still learning. I'm still experimenting. I'm still making these small changes. I don't know everything. I'm not an expert by any means, but I want to encourage you to take it one step at a time too. You deserve to feel good in your body and in your home and in your mind. So whether you're just a little bit curious about all of this and you are interested in maybe just swapping one thing out, I am cheering you on and encouraging you. I know it can be hard. I know it can be overwhelming. I know you can be like, oh my gosh, where do I even start? I'm telling you, this is a slow process journey. There's so many great accounts out there to follow as well on Instagram that can teach you a little bit more about this journey. kind of lifestyle if you want to start incorporating little things into your life. And remember, it's just these little small steps, these little small swaps that we can make in our own life that can help us feel better. And that's what it's all about. So I hope this episode was helpful. It's something that I'm super passionate about, something that I absolutely love talking about. So If we want to carry on this conversation, head over to Gracious Adventures. I'd love to talk more about it because I don't know everything. Absolutely not. But I have found these some brands that I absolutely love using and they have really changed my life and I absolutely love it. So I want to end this podcast episode like I do every podcast episode with an affirmation so and that affirmation is every small mindful choice I make supports the healthy happy life I deserve and you deserve it as well all right so I hope that you have a wonderful day and I will see you on next week's episode