Healthy is the New Skinny, Too?

I want to thank my friend Linda Gill for giving me some inspiration to write this morning. She had a thread going on Facebook talking about how important it is to buy and eat local organic food. This is something I’ve been passionate about for a long time and it really got me thinking (Those of you who know me, know I do that a lot, right Jodi?).

It got me thinking about what “Strong is the New Skinny” really comes down to. I think it comes down to HEALTHY. You have to be healthy to be strong. If you’re not healthy, you might be strong for a while, but it won’t last. And, if you’re like many of the wonderful women I’ve met through the “Strong is the New Skinny” movement, women like my great friend Marsha, being strong is about more than pushing or pulling big weight. It’s about staying strong and active and healthy in the long term. And, it’s about taking care of yourself so you have plenty of energy to give to all the people around you who you care about and who you make a difference for.

Why is Local and Organic Better?

I’m not the first one to say it, but I think EVERYONE who cares about their health and their family’s health should make it a point to buy and watch the movie Food, Inc. before the end of THIS weekend. If you can SERIOUSLY watch this video and not make REAL change in your life and how you eat, I don’t think I can say anything more to motivate you. This video is SERIOUSLY important and it’s a MUST WATCH.

What’s the REAL price?

Something that drives me NUTS is the price thing. I remember Paul Chek saying, years ago in his great CD set “You Are What You Eat,” that you can go to any McDonald’s and see $75,000 cars and SUVs going through the drive thru to get $1 hamburgers. It’s insane when you think about it that way. And isn’t price the whole argument we make as coaches when selling our services? We’re not the cheapest, we’re THE BEST. My friend Merle from CrossFit USA and CrossFit Relentless has been making that argument – and succeeding greatly – for a while now.

Something else that drives me nuts is the Walmart commercials where the mom BRAGS about how she can give her family of 5 “dinner” for less than $3. Are you SERIOUSLY bragging about that? You should be ashamed! 😛

I mean, seriously! How can you skimp on the stuff that you MAKE YOU out of? Do you really want your body or your family’s bodies to be made of processed corn and cheap processed meat? YUCK!

I’m not going to go too far off on a tangent here (we all know I NEVER do that :-)) but I think it’s also worth asking whether there’s a Spiritual impact from what you eat. Do you really think eating an animal that has led a terrible, tortured and science altered existence can be good for your higher self? How about corn from a seed that was created in a laboratory on the 22nd floor? To me, it’s scary…

And then we get to animal rights…

I’m so NOT going into this argument here, but look: We’re predators. We evolved on meat. The science is there. If you don’t believe me, there’s this thing called Google… If we MUST eat meat for our BEST health, doesn’t it make sense to eat meat from animals raised on beautiful farms and eating what they’re meant to eat and living how they’re meant to live. I love animals. You can ask my dog, five cats and two snakes. In a “perfect” world, maybe we wouldn’t eat them. But we NEED to eat them. If we’re going to eat them I think we owe it to them – and ourselves – to give them the best life we possibly can. As someone who’s saved many a kitty that ended up not living as long as it maybe should have, I believe making an animal as comfortable and happy as we can for the life it has is the best we can do sometimes.

Small is the New Big, Too…

Our economy is shifting in so many ways. It’s not a recession, it a MAJOR CHANGE in how things work. I’m not sure who coined the phrase “Small is the New Big” (Anyone care to enlighten me?), but we’re seeing a shift back to community and back to small and back to niche and back to CARING. Wouldn’t you rather support the small local farmer who CARES about what goes into the food that goes into your body and your family’s bodies? Do you think General Mills or Monsanto gives a flying crap about you or your family? Like they said in the trailer: You vote with your purchases EVERY DAY and if you demand good, real, wholesome food from our farmers they WILL deliver.

BTW, do you think it’s a coincidence that the major HUMAN pharmaceutical companies also happen to make most of the AGRICULTURAL chemicals that make us sick in the first place? That’s all I’m saying about that. You can do the math…

And, for you political types, how about GOOD FOOD instead of socialized National Health Care? What do YOU think is cheaper in the long run?

How ’bout it everyone? Buy and watch the video THIS WEEKEND and check out a local farmer’s market before they close down for the winter (if you’re in a Northern climate). Try Google. There are usually networks that promote farmer’s and farmer’s markets. Here’s one where I live: ctnofa.org.

ttys

Adam

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