HELLO AND WELCOME TO PURELY FLOURISH!
I’m Maegan, and I’m jumping with joy to have you here!
Here at Purely Flourish is where you will find clean eating recipes, non-toxic living and clean beauty tips, and an overall healthy lifestyle guide. You may even notice that I share a lot about simple and intentional living as well.
My hope is that through my passion here at Purely Flourish you’ll be inspired to:
- Create and sustain healthy habits
- Nourish your body with clean seasonal food
- Transition to non-toxic living
- Simplify and live more rhythmically
- Advocate for all of the above
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THE MISSION
Bringing to light a movement that advocates for a less toxic environment so that we may be in good health to flourish and live a full, purpose-filled life.
I’d love for you to be part of this mission and growing community. Click here to join the movement.
THE PHILOSOPHY
You see, the thing is, there is SO much information out there. So many diets, so many different opinions, so many recipes. It’s so overwhelming — I know.
We have over-complicated something that was meant to be so simple.
Read the full Purely Flourish philosophy here.
A LITTLE ABOUT ME
Here’s a few things about me:
- I live in Metro Atlanta, Georgia, USA
- I was born on August 10th, 1995 (currently 24 years of age)
- I got married to my best friend in September of 2014. I was 19, and he was 18.
- I’ve always been a huge animal lover. I take care of and love 12 fur babies. 10 cats and 2 dogs. Yes, I know, it’s a lot. Trust me. They were all rescues. I love them so much. They are literally my children.
- I’m a follower of Jesus, and I’m part of the 268 generation.
- I don’t have any human kids yet.
- I try to be as minimalist as possible. “Stuff” overwhelms me.
- I love nature, the mountains, the ocean.
- Hiking is my favorite.
- I love clean beauty.
- I want to travel the world, but it’s hard to leave my fur babies.
- I’d love to adopt kids one day.
- I love non-fiction books, podcasts, YouTube videos, and savoring quotes to live by.
- I love herbal tea, sunshine, farmer’s markets, wellness supplements, and health-obsessed stuff.
MY STORY
Growing up, I ate and lived like the majority in the USA. I ate processed junk, fast food, soda, candy, you name it. I used conventional personal care products and didn’t think twice about what I put on my skin or spritzed into the air.
Looking back, I had many health issues that I thought were just “normal.” Many of us just push aside the symptoms and believe it’s “just how we are.” Here are some things I struggled with as a child/teen: anxiety (at times debilitating), social anxiety, depression, memory issues, trouble concentrating/brain fog, OCD, early puberty, irregular cycle, chronic lymphatic swelling under my armpits and in my neck, scoliosis, migraines, stomach and gut-related issues, and I even went through a period where I would sweat excessively.
In my late teens, I got some kind of skin infection that wouldn’t go away for months. It started when I was caring for two baby ducklings, so we thought it might have come from them. The doctors had no idea what it was. The little red bumps that looked like pimples were incredibly painful and ended up turning into a secondary infection. I was put on antibiotics that did absolutely nothing for me but burn my esophagus. I was told to take the antibiotics with lots of water — as I did — and I still ended up with an incredibly sore esophagus for months, where I could hardly swallow my food.
Also in my late teens, I decided to try the birth control pill thinking it would help to regulate my cycle and help with the severe cramping. A few months into taking the pill I had a random episode where my mouth started bleeding profusely. It didn’t stop bleeding for hours upon hours. That scared me so bad that I quit the pill right then and never went back. It didn’t help me anyway, but only the opposite.
I got married at 19 to my wonderful husband and started a job as a kennel assistant at an animal hospital. I worked there for years. I could hardly make it through the day due to chronic fatigue. I remember trying to take naps during my lunch breaks because I could hardly seem to stay awake, focus, or function. I came home with migraines every single day. I just didn’t feel good, ever. I had forgotten what it was like to genuinely feel good, and energetic.
Since I can remember, I’ve always been interested in healthy living but it wasn’t until I started really learning about holistic nutrition, wellness, and digging deep into functional medicine that I found that all of those symptoms I had been having were not normal. Well, they might be normal in a doctor’s office, you know, since everyone seems to have some sort of problem these days. But it’s just not normal. The human body was designed to flourish. As a Christian, I believe that my Creator does not make mistakes and knitted each and every one of us into a living, breathing miracle.
Just think about it. Meditate on this a second. Think about how many different organs we have and the thousands of functions the organs have. The number of human cells we have, and the billions of microorganisms that live within our gut and on our skin. Our incredibly written DNA. The structure of our bones. The elasticity of our skin. The rhythmic beating of our heart. The blood flow. The healing of a wound. The intelligent wiring of our nervous system. The strength in our muscles. The ability to detoxify through the liver and the kidneys. The ability of our senses. To have sight, to smell, to taste, to hear, to touch… The ability to break down whole foods within the stomach. How the intestines absorb nutrients from the food we eat. And the intense warrior of the human body AKA the immune system. It is our own personal defense force.
The human body works incredibly beautifully in rhythm. It’s constantly at war with invaders, and working hard to provide nutrients to each individual cell and organ within the body. If you don’t call that a complete miracle, then I don’t know what is.
The problem is that in today’s world, we bombard our incredible bodies with thousands of toxins every single day. From the food we eat, the water and beverages that we drink, the medicine we take, the air we breathe, the products we put on our skin and hair, and the toxic stress that overwhelms us all.
Even though the human body was designed perfectly — the imperfections of this world have caused great harm over time, causing genetic mutations, and thousands of different health issues. Many of these health complications have only come about in the last hundred years or so. Coincidentally, we’ve been exposed to the largest amount of toxins within the last hundred years or so. So let that sink in.
But I’m here to tell you that our genes aren’t a life sentence. The lifestyle we choose to live, and the environment that surrounds us has a great impact on our health. For instance, I have a mutation in the MTHFR gene which can lead to detoxification issues, along with neurotransmitter issues, and a whole lot more.
Since I’ve learned that I have issues with detoxification, I realized that when I was working at the animal clinic and dealing with chronic fatigue, migraines every day, and other symptoms — I learned that it was a sign that my body was bombarded with toxins and simply couldn’t keep up. It’s a real thing. At the clinic, I was exposed to hundreds, if not thousands of toxic chemicals every day from the cleaning products that we were using. It wasn’t until I quit the job, that the chronic fatigue finally started going away, and the migraines almost instantly.
To this day I still have chemical sensitivity, just like my dad. Anytime we get a whiff of synthetic fragrance or some kind of chemical, I end up with similar symptoms. Migraine, brain-fog, fatigue, nausea, etc. It’s hard to even go out places because of it. It’s hard to enjoy life away from my safe place here at home because when I’m out and about I get exposed to different toxic chemicals. The simplest whiff of someone’s fragrance or laundry detergent stirs up symptoms.
Here at home, I call it my safe place because for years now we transitioned to non-toxic products. We use all-natural products that are free of harmful ingredients, especially synthetic fragrance. I don’t have those symptoms near as often when at home.
I am still on my healing journey from an overly burdened body. I’ve got much to learn still, functional doctors to visit, and we’ve got a long way to go towards a safer world to live in. But, so far, so good. I’m doing so much better than I was and I’m definitely on the right path, going in the right direction.
The biggest thing for me is to reduce my toxic burden as much as possible and to nourish my mind, body, and soul as a life-long mission. I believe this for you, too. That’s a mission I believe anyone can benefit from. That we may choose a healthy lifestyle to not waste our health.
MY “WHY”
I am deeply passionate about living a truly authentic, mission-focused, intentional life. I want to be a world-changer. I want to leave a legacy bigger than myself, something that lasts for generations. I get so pumped thinking about my life and what the future holds. I want to have children someday and I would love to have the energy to play with them. I want to have a clear mind so that I can write books, start businesses, learn languages, create recipes, and get more education for the things I believe in and value.
I have so many goals, hopes, and dreams — and I don’t want an unhealthy lifestyle to hold me back from living a flourishing life.
That is my “why” for choosing to live a healthy lifestyle.
I’d LOVE to know more about you!
- What is your story?
- What is your “why”?
- What is your biggest struggle with living a healthy, non-toxic lifestyle?
- What would you like to see more of on this blog?
Thanks so much for stopping by! If you have any questions please send me an email at maegan@purelyflourish.com or send me a Facebook message or a direct message on Instagram. I’d love to chat!
Love you guys!
