Friday, January 10, 2014

Extreme environmentalism

Henry D Thoreau from Walden says, "I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life.." I live my life by these respects. I will work hard for my own to build shelter, and grow my own food-- other than these basic essentials, why would I need anything else?
I can better spend my time in the woods, exploring, and living for free.
Naturalism similarly suggests conserving energy, recycling, reducing waste, and other clean practices. Yet animals do not recycle or commit to clean practices because that's simply their nature. People have invented microwaves to heat food and television for entertainment.
"Men have become the tools of their tools" is an accurate portrayal on the disillusionment within our society.
What are some of the practices of wild animals? Animals eat a raw diet (whether they're herbivore or carnivore). Animals build their own shelter out of readily materials-- using their own strength (without machinery); own no clothing or use hygiene products; and Obviously the list goes on.

Minimalism is included in the practices of naturalism and environmentalism. Minimalism suggests letting go of unnecessary objects/possessions in your life. 'Letting go' has been a mantra in Buddhism and many other philosophies. Herman Hesse writes in Siddhartha "Property, possessions and riches...had become  chain and a burden".
Once you have become free of many of your possessions, or all, you feel free to move-- as if you've lifted the weight of your belongings off of your shoulders.
Focusing on our most basic needs and living independently from bills and corporations, will force you to grow your own food; build your house out of mud/straw/sand/rocks; filter water you have collected to drink; eat raw herbivore diet; wash your clothes minimally and do not own much clothing...or much of anything.
﻿﻿The  idea is to conserve finite resources and minimalize on space. Animals are usually nomadic creatures, and do not carry 'things' with them. Although the couple in the picture below are practicing minimalism, they are not practicing all natural living, which is fine if they want to live in a city with air pollution and commercialism.

this is NOT an example of natural minimalism
Another topic I will bring up (at a later date) is my refusal to drive vehicles. Not only are vehicles unsafe, but they're environmentally unstable unless we can ALL design our own water vehicles, or make our own moonshine for fuel. Then again, water may be a scarce source in the future.
I prefer to walk where I need to go, usually walking 1-4 miles a day. If I'm going to a friend's house, they'll give me a lift for courtesy.
Going back to water shortage, my grandparents and my partner and I shower minimally, once every two weeks, or use wash rags for face and privates. Using these practices will help me in the future when I will be living outside. I have many other ways I conserve water in this post, "How to Save/Recycle/Conserve Water".
Generally, if you live in a city you can also recycle glass and plastic for a little bit of cash.
My family drinks soda, so I have them save the cans to recycle (and I collect some along the road as I walk)-- I do this to make a couple of dollars too.
My grandparents even practice extreme environmentalism; recycling all plastics, cans, containers, and cardboard/paper. When I mention recycling, I do mean you should recycle or reuse objects you come to possess, but I also mean limiting your purchases. If buying food from a store, buy food in bulk (which comes in boxes), or use cloth bags. Purchase less stuff and eat food that can be composted.

Furthermore, do your part to clean up your environment, not just inside your home. Humans have the advantage because we are evolved animals who must take the responsibility to balance the use of technology with nature and wildlife.
pic from "Circle of Iron" with David Carradine
We can choose to use solar panels for electricity, and learn many homesteading techniques to live freely. We can grow our own food. We can build our own home. We can walk our own path.

Wednesday, January 8, 2014

Habits of really healthy people

Animals spend most of their life searching for food, sleeping and building shelter. I would assume that if we encouraged ourselves to revert to our wild selves, we would forage for fruits and nuts, greens and mushrooms all day. We would also eat raw, like the animals. We would drink lots of water, sleep on the floor, live in a natural habitat, and breathing much more oxygen; in other words, you would be consistently exercising and eating a clean diet while living holistically.

Even a healthy body runs the risk of battling a disease or illness due to air and water contamination, pollution, genetically modified foods (GMOs), etc.
However preventative measures should be taken to strengthen your immune system and keep you able-bodied (youthful). Diet and exercise play dominate roles in bettering your life and getting rid of ailments. A Small but important factor to your health is mentality (continuing to educate the mind and keep it sharp).

Considering the plethora of food and commercialism, it is not coincidental that heart disease and stroke is the first and third leading cause of death among men and women in the US (according to the CDC).
We can blame ourselves, but lets not forget that food has become subsidized in order for corporations to sell unhealthy products at a lost cost (abusing low income families).

Wealthy people eat small portions of meals through the mail (from corporations like Jenny Craig or Nutrisystem). The mindset behind these programs and products are to limit your calorie intake in order to still eat unhealthy foods you crave. A starved individual will eat ANYTHING-- which is why I suggest eating healthy food in large quantities (fruits, vegetables, salads, nuts).

Habits of really healthy people are the ones that fulfill their needs and enable us to perform our best, such as:

-Eat a diet rich of fruits and veggies (eat plenty until satiated)
-Drink water in place of alcohol, soda, and coffee
-Exercise 30 minutes everyday
-Get 30 minutes of sunshine in summer and more during winter
-Sleep 7-8 hours a day or more (as much as you need)

I understand to most people this may be difficult to achieve, or even this sounds a little Obsessive Compulsive-- well you're sort-of-right! I have been Obsessive Compulsive all of my life and this lifestyle can be difficult in social situations.
I digress, when we fulfill our goals and feel our best, the healthy people get their emotional and physical needs met.
This lifestyle is for long term health and long term results. Sometimes cancer can leave the body within a couple of months by switching to a vegan diet, and sometimes it takes 4 years to lose 40 pounds.

One of my habits is eating mono meals (one food in a large quantity). My family finds it amusing to watch me eat 7 individual bananas for breakfast or plain lettuce with 6 individual potatoes for dinner.
I have repeatedly said throughout this blog: I eat large quantities of food in abundance of carbohydrates and sugars, but my focus is on limiting fat and protein intake. Yes, I said I emphasize my diet on sugars and carbs-- most "nutritionist", 'health' products, and doctors would find this inaccurate, while other specialists promote this diet and lifestyle.

Calorie restriction and limiting carbohydrates and sugars are not healthy practices. In fact, I suggest the opposite: obtain 2500-3000 calories from bananas and other fruits through the day for energy, and salads for relaxing at night. If you are more interested in the starch-based diet, then eat plenty of potatoes, rice, and some beans (while eating fruit during the day or snacks). I suggest eating lots of potatoes and rice if you cannot eat many bananas, like me. If you are not moving your body or using calories, then you do not need as many calories. But for me, I exercise everyday so I eat a lot more than people.
My message about health is consistent, for further reading material on health, click the links below:

Vegan doctors such as Neal Barnard, John McDougall, Doug Graham (and many more), agree that an individual should intake 80% of your food from carbohydrates and 20% of their calories coming from fat and protein. Diets rich in protein and fat harm the body, clogging its arteries and creating acidity in the blood. A body in this state is susceptible disease and cancer.

What foods have fat and protein and are acid-forming?: Meat, dairy, and eggs (animal derived foods). In other words, your diet should be one rich in fruits and vegetables, and plenty of water. Please read my post on why Cow's milk is harmful to the body, here: "Is Organic & Raw Cow's milk better than conventional milk?".

Vegan diets are the most optimal for our organism because we are similar in physiology of apes. Like apes, we should spend some time everyday in nature, playing, running, climbing, throwing, and obtaining sunshine. Small, light exercise everyday helps keep the body fit and young.


Habits of healthy people are lifestyles our monkey ancestors practice: eat fruit, play, drink lots of water, and sleep (early nights). Use these four practices to obtain a healthier you; most importantly to get rid and prevent dis-ease.

When discussing habits of healthy people, there are lifestyle choices that should be practiced and should not be practiced. In other words, there are things healthy people would not do in order to maintain their health, for example smoking cigarettes.
As we know, Healthy people are known to get plenty of sunshine, drink lots of water in place of all drinks, eat a diet rich in fruits and veggies, get plenty of sleep and exercise. But, unhealthy are known to:
-Smoke cigarettes or other drugs
-Drink alcohol, soda, energy drinks, soft drinks
-Use drugs (nicotine, caffeine, pain killers, cocaine, meth, etc)
-Eat a diet rich in fat (meat, dairy, cheese, eggs, oils)
-Eat an acidic diet with vinegar, coffee, soda, and animal foods
-Stagnant, or lazy (never exercises, walks or runs outside)
-Apathetic or unhappiness which leads to depression
-Get little sleep (or stay up late after dark)
-Stressors (family, job, kids, money <--roots of evil)

There are many ways to be unhealthy, just as there are many habits that allow you to maintain your health (like drinking fruit juices instead of coffee, or reading or exercising instead of watching TV).