FertilehealthyAiming for success, not perfection…

I followed this link on Twitter a few days ago and can’t get this girl’s plea out of my mind.  It’s a great video.

Remember the old admonishment, “Leave a place in as good a – or better – condition as you found it“?   Well, I’ve been asking myself whether we’re leaving our beautiful, precious planet in the same condition, or better, than we found it.  And when I say “we”, I don’t mean our governments, industry, the human race, etc.  We know the answer to that.  I mean you and me.  We can’t control what others do, but we can clean up our own act.  And believe me, every little bit helps.

Evita had a very interesting post the other day about Zero Waste.  Please read it and see what YOU can do to generate less waste.

We all want the best for our kids…  Let’s do our best to ensure that they have air to breathe, water to drink and a pleasant environment in which to live when we’re long gone.

If you don’t know how to fix it, please don’t break it… Powerful, powerful words!

By now surely everybody has heard about Food Inc. and hopefully many have seen it (it’s not yet available here).

The truth is that in America, and most other industrialized countries, our food has been industrialized and commercialized too, with the result that we’ve stopped eating food and now eat products.  Not coincidentally, shortly after this shift from real food to processed food products occurred, our waistlines started expanding and the incidence of every degenerative and auto-immune disease skyrocketed.

The cultural norm in our society (developed over the last 50-60 years) is to eat fake food, get fat and develop all kinds of health problems and then diet and turn to drugs and surgery to manage (not heal) our conditions. The food may be cheap, but the consequences carry a hefty price tag, both fiscally and physically.

The industrial machine is both politically and financially powerful.  And people are enslaved to these fake foods.

But all over the world, small groups of people are starting to reclaim their food.  The movement is growing.  More and more people want real food.

The new movie Fresh, depicts what is happening at grass root level with this movement.

Here’s the trailer.

This trailer brought tears to my eyes.

Yes, it is hard to swim against the current, but it’s worth it!  Our bodies, and the generations to come will thank us for it.

Karla from Living a Whole Life found this poem in the back of one of her naturopathy textbooks and published it on her blog. And I’m shamelessly filching it, because I want you to read it and I know that many people don’t click through.

On a day where many people are celebrating freedom, I want us all to remember that freedom doesn’t mean that the system is perfect. Because of the hold of Big Business on all aspects of government (just look what they spent in lobbying in the first quarter of 2009 alone!), your right to health and safety is being trampled under in the stampede to make more money for the big corporations.

“Prevention is better than cure” may be an old adage, but it still holds true today, despite the fact that millions of dollars are being spent on research into cures for diseases that are easily prevented. Now more than ever, it is up to YOU personally to take responsibility for your own health, because nobody else will. In fact, there are many forces actively trying to confuse you and prevent you from doing so.

A Fence or an Ambulance*

“Twas a dangerous cliff, as they freely confessed,
Though to walk near its crest was so pleasant;
but over its terrible edge there had slipped
A duke and full many a peasant.
So the people said something would have to be done,
But their projects did not at all tally;
Some said, “Put a fence around the edge of the cliff,”
Some, “An ambulance down in the valley.”

But the cry for the ambulance carried the day,
For it spread through the neighboring city;
A fence may be useful or not, it is true,
But each heart became brimful of pity
For those who slipped over that dangerous cliff;
And the dwellers in highway and alley
Gave pound or gave pence, not to put up a fence,
But an ambulance down in the valley.

“For the cliff is all right, if you’re careful,” They said,
“And, if folks even slip and are dropping,
It isn’t the slipping that hurts them so much,
As the shock down below when they’re stopping.”
So day after day, as these mishaps occurred,
Quick forth would these rescuers sally
To pick up the victims who fell off the cliff,
With their ambulance down in the valley.

Then an old sage remarked; “its a marvel to me
That people give far more attention
To repairing results than to stopping the cause,
When they’d much better aim at prevention.
Let us stop at its source all this mischief.” cried he,
“Come neighbors and friends, let us rally;
If the cliff we will fence we might almost dispense
With the ambulance down in the valley.”

“Oh, he’s a fanatic,” The others rejoined,
“Dispense with the ambulance? Never!
He’d dispense with all charities, too, if he could;
No! No! We’ll support them forever.
Aren’t we picking up folks just as fast as they fall?
And shall this man dictate to us? Shall he?
Why should people of sense stop to put up a fence,
While the ambulance works in the valley?”

But a sensible few, who are practical too,
Will not bear with such nonsense much longer;
They believe that prevention is better than cure,
And their party will soon be the stronger.
Encourage them then, with your purse, voice , and pen,
And while other philanthropists dally,
They will scorn all pretense and put up a stout fence
On the cliff that hangs over the valley.

Better guide well the young then reclaim them when old,
For the voice of true wisdom is calling,
“To rescue the fallen is good, but ’tis best
To prevent other people from falling.”
Better close up the source of temptation and crime
Than deliver from dungeon or galley;
Better put a strong fence round the top of the cliff
Than an ambulance down in the valley

-Joseph Malins

It’s time for all of us to become revolutionaries and fight for our freedom from propaganda advertising and blatant greed. Like all revolutions this is a grass roots effort. YOU can make a difference by educating yourself and having the courage to defy the prevailing culture.

Freedom is never free from responsibility.

I leave you with the words of Theodore Roosevelt (1858-1919), the 26th president of the United States:

“The things that will destroy America are prosperity-at-any-price, peace-at-any-price, safety-first instead of duty-first, the love of soft living, and the get-rich-quick theory of life.”

*This poem was written in 1895!

I was never much of a cook. In fact, I hated the drudgery of it.

But the more I learn about food, its origins and what is added to commercial foods, the more willing I’ve become to experiment with cooking my own fresh food.

Quite surprisingly I’m reveling in it! I adapt most of the recipes I test to suit our taste and pocket and about 90% of the time we really enjoy the results of my labors (not that my style of cooking is all that labor intensive!). My recipes are quick and easy.

One of the recurring themes in the weight loss world is the need to change our relationship with food. What is usually meant by this is that we somehow hope to start liking food less. That’s never worked for me.

Yet, over the last few months my relationship with food has changed tremendously. I love food more and more each day. Real food.

I have no time for food that needs fat, sugar, salt and a host of other chemicals to taste good. My food tastes good already.

I have often heard people say that they’d rather die than live without meat, sugar and baked goods, cheese and processed food. They seem to think that to eat fresh, living, lovingly prepared food is boring. It’s not, but they will probably never know, because they will never overcome their prejudice and try. They are to be pitied, because they will pay for that mistake by losing their health.

For me, cooking is just another way of taking control of my health. I know what I put in my food, and it sure as hell isn’t MSG, HFCS and dozens of other variations of genetically modified corn and soy. When I eat in a restaurant I have no idea what I’m really eating, unless the restaurant specifically states that it uses only fresh, organic (and by definition GM-free) ingredients, without additives and hydrogenated and trans fats.

Cooking is about reclaiming food! So fall in love with food… real food!

And break up with this:

Thank you so much for the encouragement yesterday! You guys are great!

Today is just a rambling post. If you’re wondering what happened to Fertile Friday, search me. Or bite me! I just wasn’t in the mood…

I made a lovely pot of soup last night and only had one portion. I was completely satisfied. It does work! And the bonus is that there’s enough soup for tonight too, which means I don’t have to cook, just reheat. Eating just one portion therefore saved me money too! Who knew that overeating could be that expensive?

The much-publicized Food, Inc is being released in some cities in the USA today. The movie has already generated quite a buzz. Needless to say, Big Ag and Big Food are livid and have set up numerous blogs and websites “refuting” the claims made in the movie. They are calling Food, Inc anti-farmer and anti-technology, but as Jill Richardson, who had been invited to a early screening, from La Vida Locavore (excellent and very informative site about food politics) says:

The movie was not ranting against science and technology at all. It’s main thrust was against the corporate control of our food supply and consumers’ lack of power or even knowledge over what we eat. That’s something all of these companies with anti-Food Inc sites aren’t even touching because they know they have no defense against it.

The New York Times calls Food, Inc “one of the scariest movies of the year” and “an informative, often infuriating activist documentary about the big business of feeding, or more to the political point, force-feeding, Americans all the junk that multinational corporate money can buy. You’ll shudder, shake, and just possibly lose your genetically modified lunch.”

I hope that many of my readers will go and see it. And I really hope that it will reach South Africa too, because we are certainly in the same boat over here…

Today is also the last day of the Fab Fatties Challenge and I will be submitting my points and story to them over the weekend, but I will also post it here. It was an awesome challenge and I am really glad that I participated.

I’m also very, very pleased to be a winner for a change! I won a Skinny Songs CD from Tigerlilly! Woohoo! Skinny Songs for an almost skinny lady! Thanks, Tigerlilly!

I had a session with a personal trainer this morning. Fortunately it was a freebie as part of my introduction package, because I was rubbish. It was right after my aqua aerobics class and I was finished! She showed me some free weight exercises, so I’ll do those on Sundays and Tuesdays when there are no aqua classes. We recently (about two weeks ago) changed from water dumbbells to balls in aqua class and all of us can see differences in our bodies. My chest, back and shoulder areas look different – even Craig can see it. It’s hard work, but so much fun! When it starts getting really tough, I start muttering “75 kg” under my breath, over and over again. That’s more or less where I think my body will be perfectly balanced – BMI=24. Needless to say, with that reminder, I always dig deeper and find some more stamina!

I’ve mentioned before that I adore my aqua aerobics instructor. She’s a few years older than I and has a body to die for. Not small, but toned and strong. She’s got great curves and beautiful muscles. She reminds us every day that she doesn’t do any weights, it’s all from aqua aerobics, which she does herself every day in order to work out the next day’s classes, swimming, squash and spinning (she’s a spinning instructor too). She’s an inspiration to everyone she meets! I want to look like her and I’m going to work until I do! I don’t care if it takes me 5 years!

Before someone switches off this microphone, I’d better call it a day!

Hope you have a fabulous weekend. Be kind to yourself by eating well, exercising and drinking plenty of water!

And take the Red Pill see Food, Inc!