Staying Fit Inside & Out

Being healthy and fit inside and out means the physical plus the food we consume.  Health and fitness means the mind, body and spirit.  Working out - yoga, weight training - hiking, walking, biking.  

Something struck me early on that meat - being the flesh of an animal - was not a loving warm meal to nourish our bodies.  If one does choose meat - including poultry and fowl - it would benefit people to minimize their consumption.  Can you count how many animals your family eats in one year.  The carnage waged on the oceans is no better.  I love sushi but I also feel for the blue fin tuna that is caught and hacked, etc - whenever blood is involved - it makes me think - is the life we are taking really worth that one little meal? - and if so, how often should we indulge?  The world population is estimated to reach 7 billion in 2013!  Imagine how many animals and fish are killed - it is well into the trillions - right?

All this plus occasional cheese, coffee, wine,  pasta, pizza, and eggs which we harvest or purchase locally - what more do you need?  Maybe eating animals and fish semi annually - but always keeping a tally of the animals you consume.

I could not help but feel for these chickens which a nearby farmer raised humanely - they were readied for slaughter the next morning - about 20 of them.  Processed and put in the freezer, they would provide chicken for one year minus the amount they would sell.  Just how many chickens does a typical American family consume?  I am sure it is many many more than 20.  

Think about the number of animals one consumes.  To get some ideas non meat consumption - see my food blog where I post "plant based" recipes.  
http://natlnutrients.blogspot.com/

Kids of 2012

 

Photos of goat kids born in 2012 pictured recently at yearling stage.  From top left
Triton (Nubian Buck purchased off farm); Hebe (goddess of youth - born & unfortunately died 3 mths later), Aphrodite (atop of hay bales in loft),  Aphrodite ( again to the right of her Mom, Khaos born 2011, Muses & Meander, to the right of Hygenia, born 2011); Diana & Ceres (both doe - not pictured);Achilles & Cupid (both bucks), Mercury & Apollo (both withers).

Dogs and the Call of the Wild!

 - several times I have intervened to save one animal from a carnivorous animal.

Just yesterday is was a goose taken down by our Bloodhound - for some reason the goose never took flight.  It was tackled and stared up at me and the hound in shock and disbelief no doubt - or perhaps it's life passed before it.  I grabbed my dog's collar cautiously, not wanting to invoke the territorial instinct around food - Gullah came away easily.  As the goose ran for a new lease on life - the dog was very difficult to contain.  But once the goose wabbled to the river and swam - I knew this dog would not dive in this cold to try again.

I've seen dogs in pursuit at all costs - but not this bloodhound - he had limitations including more respect for our land, less quick to go in for the kill, and comfort seemed to  be favored over goose liver.