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There was real joy in this last day of summer for myself and the girls. I started going through our clothes, changing the breezy summer attire for the more cozy fall duds. I actually got rid of half of my wardrobe of clothes – the chest of drawers is next. Everything that is too big for me had to go. I’m letting go of the fear that I will need those clothes again. I’m residing in the fact that I will not.
For the last few weeks, we’ve been doing a fall theme for our Circle Time and our daily activities for homeschool. Instead of changing after a week, I decided to draw this one out. With all the festivals coming up and holidays, I thought it would be wonderful to have our own family festival as a culmination of the awareness our verse, songs, walks, cooking, and art are bringing to the natural change of season. (An non-original idea inspired by Heaven on Earth.) John is going to be horribly busy for the next few months, so I’m not sure when we will be able to have it. I’ll have to plan well.
Today, we finished our leaf spiral. Deladis worked on learning to use scissors while I traced and cut out paper leaves from the ones we gathered on our daily walks. Deladis then glued them to the spiral we cut from construction paper. We hung it in the kitchen. I’m loving having these little projects decorating our cabin.
Our four bean plants are full of beans, so I took the girls outside and we picked our third mess of this late season. Deladis and I picked, and Ivy was in charge of putting them in the basket.
These beans have the best flavor, but they are the toughest beans to string. The last basket full took over an hour to string, and I still missed some. I didn’t worry about the mud from the drizzle that came down all day. The three of us wore the earth like a badge of dedication to work as fun. I was pretty amazed that the cabbage seeds I planted are up and doing well despite our neglect of them. I’m going to have to go in and start taking better care of them now. Get the hoe out.
There is an aromatic plant around the cabin that is just starting to flower. The scent is very much like mint, but with a tartness. I know this plant has to have a good use. The more I take notice of what grows wild here, the more I wish I could have someone come and show me what to do with it. This one is in our garden amongst the beans.
It’s beautiful. If you know what it is, please share it with me.
The earlier darkness has helped the girls find sleep easier tonight. I will wake up tomorrow with a smile on my face. Tomorrow we’ll go to the library and find books on autumn, squirrels, apples, and pumpkins. We’ll go to the produce stand and get a few bags of apples and maybe try drying some. I might even let the girls have one last Hawaiian Ice before the shack closes for the season.
I know… corny title, but hey, I have a fog machine in my brain and it is good at pointing out the obvious and that’s about it right now. I have two things to write about today and I can’t decide between the two, so I’m writing about both.
First, I have to share this website with you. Why Don’t You Look Like a Fitness Model? I have been seriously thinking about what a naturally capable and fit woman’s body should look like since I wrote the post on A Woman’s Perfect Body and Paleo women. I found this website and article via a discussion forum I frequent and was really amazed by what this woman wrote and the pictures she posted on the site. The pictures are of a variety of women athletes who competed in the Olympics. As she states, you’re at the top of your game physically if you are competing at that level. Their bodies were as varied as fingerprints and all ranges of gorgeous. I highly suggest reading the article and looking at the pictures. It isn’t about trying to achieve the look of someone from a magazine, but the look that is right for you. There are a lot of factors that go into that.
And now… da ta ta ta… I present to you a new work of art by a blossoming new talent in the world of painting… Deladis Rose.
She is so happy when her daddy lets her have a piece of water color paper and turns her loose. She will sit for hours, so focused and poised. I’m amazed at how involved in her work that she becomes. I’m thankful for her having the gift of focus. I can’t wait to see what she does with that. I’m a proud mama.
I love wearing a size 10 shoe. I love being a large framed woman no matter how much weight I’m carrying. I love my large hands and my strong, thick legs. I enjoy being tall, being able to jump high, and run 3 miles through the woods. I’m glad I can work in the garden all day without it being a strain. I can have a day of hiking with Ivy on my back and enjoy the physicality of it. I feel best when I am strong and fit.
I was part of a larger conversation on the topic of how far should a person, in this case – a woman, take physical fitness. How thin should we be? How muscular? Should we restrict and/or enhance our diet to attain results?
I take a natural approach to life in general. I believe that we were equipped by nature to live the healthiest possible life. In so many ways, our culture equates a pencil thin body with beauty and often health. As females, we are exposed to the images of very thin women from a very young age and told by the media and those around us that they are beautiful. So many of us disregard health to attain this thin beauty. Healthy is beautiful however, so, the question we should be asking is what is the natural, healthy state of a woman’s body. A body that isn’t interfered with through processed, sugary foods, fad diets, or plastic surgery. A body that is physically capable of survival and has optimal nutrition.
These questions made me ask what were the bodies of our ancestors like? Not the women of Renaissance paintings or the old photographs in family albums (though there is a lot to learn there too), but the women who had to struggle and work with their physical bodies for mere survival. I did a little research into the life of Paleolithic women to find out about their general health and physical capabilities. These women were living in a era of human history before farming and keeping livestock. They lived a hunter-gatherer lifestyle. There is even a current school of thought on eating based on this lifestyle.
Paleolithic Woman
Human population density was very low, around only one person per square mile.[6] This was most likely due to low body fat, infanticide, women regularly engaging in intense endurance exercise,[21] late weaning of infants and a nomadic lifestyle.
Overall, they experienced less famine and malnutrition than the Neolithic farming tribes that followed them.
It is also unlikely that Paleolithic hunter-gatherers were affected by modern diseases of affluence such as Type 2 diabetes, coronary heart disease and cerebrovascular disease, because they ate mostly lean meats and plants and frequently engaged in intense physical activity.
– info from Wikipedia
The Paleolithic woman lived to be about 30 years of age.
– info from Longevity/Health in Ancient Paleolithic vs. Neolithic Peoples
So, from this I can gather that life was extremely difficult for them. The average lifespan was age thirty. I am now thirty and I feel like I’m just getting started. 🙂 However, they weren’t malnourished often, nor did they go without food in a famine type situation. They were capable of long periods of intense activity, but the info from Wikipedia is contradictory. The intense exercise kept them from diseases that plague modern culture, but it is also a reason they may have not lived as long. Are we to assume great physical stress from exercise, or accidents because of the physical activity is what took their lives?
Their low body fat could also have been a contributing factor in the short lives of the women. These women were carrying children and breastfeeding them. Our bodies need stores of fat to do these things, otherwise it will pull nutrients from wherever it can find them – like our bones, muscles, and tissues. In a sense our body will digest itself. They were nursing children for extended periods of time, likely until the children could contribute to the hunting and gathering of food. This was probably very taxing on a woman’s body that had little body fat and also experienced intense periods of needing physical stamina. So, my conclusion is that low levels of body fat is not healthy for a woman’s body. We can take long distance runners, gymnasts, and some dancers who train to the point of very low body fat and in turn experience an absence of menses as an example. Though we may be elated by a missed period here and there, it is not a healthy thing for a prolonged time, and it is a sign of the body’s lack of what it needs to function properly.
The articles also mentioned that these women had more leisure time and were treated better by males than women in farming cultures. They had less children (probably due to lack of menstruation).
My conclusion from all of this is that a woman’s perfect body lies somewhere between Paleolithic women and those voluptuous Renaissance beauties I mentioned before. I will take pride in having curves. I will strive to be strong and able bodied. I will push my limitations of physical endurance (within reason). I will enjoy my health not because the number on the scale reads as some BMI chart says it should, but because I know my diet and my physical body are in the best possible condition they can be in my current situation. I will take pride that my body carried two beautiful babies and has allowed me to continually nurse them for going on 4 years. It allowed me to nurse one daughter through the pregnancy of the other, and still grow an eleven pound infant. I will be happy that I have been able to educate myself about what I am eating and what I am feeding my family. I will maintain physical health as a means to mental and spiritual health.
I am raising two daughters. I have a choice to pass on a heritage of looking in the mirror and being disappointed, or re-naming that heritage. I can equip them with the ability to make educated choices about how they choose to treat their bodies. Show them the beauty in the varied and unique forms that a healthy woman’s body can take. I can show by example that it isn’t about striving to be magazine “perfect”, but happy and well taken care of. It is my job to help them be secure in their bodies the best way I can.
For my workout on Friday, I decided to walk the hill trail where we drove the Samurai to look for morels the day before. I planned to walk the entire trail we took in about 45 minutes. Mother was going to watch my girls. It would be time in peaceful quiet. Like a Simon and Garfunkel song.
I started out, up Dry Fork, made it to the end of the paved road, and started on the dirt path. The sun gave perfect light. I noticed a feeling of freedom coming over me. Without Ivy Pearl on my back, I felt airy.
I passed an old cabin where many families were raised. I’d love to have a place like it of our own. Something to hand down to the girls, or our grandchildren. An asset. The land up in there is triumphant. A masterpiece of the Creator. I’m hoping a little piece of what is to come.
A small white dog comes out of the trees toward me with a scowl. I slow down a bit, but let him know I’m not scared. He runs passed. I, then, notice a female Doberman with heavy teats. I wonder what such a dog would be doing back in the woods when I hear her puppies’ various grunts and squeals. I start up one of the steepest inclines I’ve ever hiked.
My legs sting with the effort, but I push myself onward. I make it to the top without stopping. I walk a few feet to catch my breath, then my heart told my legs to run. It had been years since I’ve ran. I believe I was twenty-two the last time. With my crooked spine, I’m not supposed to run, but I had to. I used to run cross country in high school. I loved running through the woods, and I loved it now. There was always something that attracted me to the primitiveness of the sport. The loneliness. I like accomplishing something without a team.
I saw ancient moss covered boulders placed on ledges maybe by an earthquake, shifting tectonic plates, or when Kentucky was covered by the ocean. I saw again the flowers. More beautiful than anything cultivated. My breath fell to a rhythm of two breaths in and two breaths out. I did not grow tired.
I ran the entire way back to mother’s. When I came off the mountain and hit the pavement of Dry Fork, a heaviness filled my lungs and threatened to slow my legs. I passed houses and trailers. People sitting on porch swings, working in gardens, watching their children play. The real world seeped back into my soul like a change of life sped up. When I got back to mom’s, I did some stretching, and with a smile entered the house refreshed.
I ate the best vegetarian Hoppin’ John at a restaurant in Lexington, KY called Alfalfa’s. I went home and tried to make the Hoppin’ John off of taste alone. It turned out pretty good. I’ve made it over the years and have since added hamburger meat to it as I am not vegetarian anymore. I have served it with cornbread in times of lots of company, and I have made it when we needed something cheap, fresh, and lively. I hope you all enjoy it.
East KY Style Hoppin’ John
- 1 green bell pepper seeded and chopped
- 1 can of diced tomatoes
- 1 small sweet onion peeled and chopped
- 1 1/2 cups soaked and prepared black eyed peas (if vegetarian omit hamburger and use 3 cups prepared peas)
- 1/2 bunch of cilantro chopped
- 2 limes
- Enough soaked and prepared brown rice for 4 servings (basmati rice also works really well and adds more flavor)
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- 1 lb. hamburger meat
- 2 tbsps. olive oil
- grated Parmesan cheese or sharp cheddar to use as topping
- salt and pepper
- Soak and prepare both the brown rice (with butter and salt) and black eyed peas.
- In a large heavy skillet or wok saute minced garlic in the olive oil. Add hamburger meat and cook through until brown and crumbly.
- Add the chopped green bell pepper and onion. Continue to cook until just tender.
- Add juice of one lime and cilantro. Salt and pepper to taste.
- Add black eyed peas and diced tomatoes. Cook on medium heat until very warm.
- Serve the meat, pea, and veggie mixture on top of a bed of the brown rice. Top with cheese to taste.
- Enjoy! Goes really good with cornbread.
If you make it, let me know how you like it. It is one of my favorite meals in any season.
Some of my favorite food blogs and places to get recipes:
- Real Food Recipes
- The Nourished Kitchen
- Cooking Traditional Foods
- The Naturally Thrifty Homemaker
- Caveman Food
I hope everyone has enjoyed this little discussion on food. It’s got me thinking quite a bit. I’ll end this “topic of the week” over the next two days with a blog on exercising with children, and one on eating away from home. Please, feel free to share whatever is on your mind whether it’s a recipe, ideas, experiences, advice, failures, or successes. I’d love to hear from you.
I have been looking into traditional foodways for nearly 2 years. It was only a week ago that I became enraged at what the food and diet industry has fed to us as sound healthy information. It was when I got a stack of size 10 jeans and pants and they were all too big that I realized I had been played. Size 10 was the smallest I had ever been in my life. I starved to get there. I exercised way too much. But now, having never felt hungry, having eaten 3 meals a day consistently, and exercised as being a mother of 2 permits me, I not only had to put back the size 10, but also the size 8. I was shocked and had to triple check what I was seeing. I didn’t understand how it could be. It shouldn’t have been possible that without what I would have called a weight loss program I had lost enough to fit into a size 6.
That is when I got mad. I got mad that I had been jerked around. That my parents were led to believe that soda, Oreos, and Little Debbie’s were appropriate snacks. That without cleaning my plate I wasn’t eating enough to grow strong. That because I was a big baby and was a lazy nurser, I needed to be bottle fed. That as early as age 12 I was dieting, or depriving myself of food to lose weight. That I had been up and down and up and down ever since.
I got angry that somehow my “ideal” weight was always just under what I was able to achieve. I got angry that chemicals such as monosodium glutamate was allowed into our food and called a spice. I was terribly angry about the high fructose corn syrup is okay in moderation commercials when every box I picked up, no matter what food group, contained it as an ingredient.
I am angry that food has become something that isn’t taken care of on the local level. That we are made to feel we don’t have time to cook from scratch. That a mother can’t work (or father for that matter) and also prepare wholesome meals for their family.
But, as I got to thinking about all this angry stuff, I realized that the food and diet industry are telling you how to eat a standard American diet and be pseudo-healthy. You’ll still probably need your cholesterol and heart medications. Hopefully, you’ll be able to control your diabetes with diet and/or a pill. Make sure to include plenty of Splenda. It’s made from sugar and absolutely fine for you. They are telling us how to get by and still give them our hard earned dollars.
It makes me angry. I’d like to have a conversation about how you too view the food and diet industry. What flaws do you see? What is good? What is the future of food and diet in the United States? I’d like to hear from all people… vegan, vegetarian, fast food lovers, meat and potatoes folks, junk food eaters, those who eat the SAD (standard American diet). Tell about your story in food. Let’s talk and then decide what we are going to change in our lives for the sake of our health and our family’s. I believe it’s all an individual thing.
Since I have researched where grocery store food comes from, how pre-fabricated (boxed) foods are made, and the foodways of cultures existing before industry changed food, I have learned to really embrace food. As someone who has always dealt with weight issues, I had come to either be indifferent about food ( Ah, who cares what I eat. It’s just going to make me fat, and I want to enjoy myself.) or fear food (I can’t eat anything I want. It will make me fat.). Eating with traditional foodways in mind has changed the way I view food. Now, I can enjoy it without fear, have fun making it, and see it as healthy nourishment. This is a lifestyle change and not a fad diet that I’ll be doing until I achieve some weight loss goal. It isn’t some ridiculous recommendation of 1500 calories a day and 35 grams of fat. I’m not going around hungry. I don’t have to make a different supper for myself and another for my children and husband because I’m dieting. I believe it was the way humans were meant to eat. The way my family eats mirrors more and more the way the early Appalachians would have eaten in times of plenty. I believe food manufacturers have changed food so much that the current “diet” recommendations are flawed and leaving our population starving for nutrients and unnaturally overweight.
For anyone wanting a change that is for health and not another fad diet that will leave you feeling hungry, tired, and deprived, I suggest you read the following two cookbooks – Nourishing Traditions by Sally Fallon and Eat Fat to Lose Fat by Mary Enig Ph.D. I have went from a size 16 in December to a size 6/8 currently with using only the first book mentioned. As I said in my previous post, weight loss came secondary to my other health goals. I believe I lost weight because I am getting exercise and my body is stabilizing after years of eating “food like substances” instead of the foods my body was meant to eat prepared in the way that my body will most readily accept.
When looking at my typical daily food consumption you will notice that it isn’t like any recommendations you’ve probably heard Dr. Oz make on Oprah, or your doc make when telling you to lower your cholesterol. Why? Because I am not eating man created foods that are pre-cooked, freeze dried, corn syruped, or sugared down. I’m eating foods that are whole, and cooked from scratch. The rule of thumb for me is if my great great grandmother would not recognize it as food… it isn’t.
The General Rules for My Family
- No refined white granulated sugar or artificial sweeteners. We only sweeten with the following: honey, sorghum, agave nectar, molasses, 100% pure maple syrup. Yummy! I know.
- No refined white flours. We use only whole grain flours that are preferably sprouted and/or soaked before used in cooking. When these flours are soaked you can hardly tell they are whole grain.
- No vegetable oils aside from olive oil. We cook in bacon fat, real butter (no margarine), lard, coconut oil, sesame oil, palm oil, and olive oil.
- Make use of bone broths.
- Eat whole fat dairy products. (Those who can afford it and find it should eat raw dairy products that aren’t pasteurized). Of course, preferably organic and hormone free.
- Eat fresh produce when possible, next frozen, then canned.
- Eat fermented condiments.
- Soak rice, oats, and most beans.
- Eat meat free of nitrites and nitrates, free range, antibiotic free, hormone free whenever possible.
- No MSG!!!
My Daily Food Intake
- Breakfast – 1 bowl oats soaked and sweetened with sorghum, banana, raisins, 2/3 pieces sausage or bacon, coffee with honey and half and half… alternating days I eat 2 eggs instead of oats and add a cup of yogurt instead of the fruit. Oh, and I love butter in my oats.
- Lunch – I stay full from breakfast for a long while so lunch is a bit light. 1 Babybel Cheese and 1/2 cup or more nuts… sometimes I eat dinner leftovers.
- Dinner – 1 meat, 2 veggies, or soup and cornbread. I eat an entire plate of food salted with sea salt and buttered. Potatoes are yummy fried in lard with onions or baked and buttered and sour creamed. I eat whatever meat I feel like eating that day. I don’t worry about red or white. When we don’t feel like meat we’ll have pinto beans (soupbeans) or something. With fresh veggies coming soon, we’ll probably have a veggie plate here and there. Oh, and more fish from my dad.
- Snack – glass of dairy kefir when available to me, cheese, nuts, banana, cup of milk
I’m looking more into how traditional diets seasonally changed. I know that there were periods of fasting and/or abstaining from certain foods either out of cultural standards or lack of availability. The key is to listen to our bodies. What do they want? In winter I find myself craving meat and potatoes, heavy chili, and cornbread. In summer, I love cucumbers and tomatos vine fresh, salads, and chicken. Our foods should change with the seasons in order to get the optimal nutritional value from what is available.
So, I’m happy I’m not being fooled anymore. I’m happy I won’t be on the drastic rollercoaster of up and down weight. I want to share this way of eating with others who are fed up with the standard American diet and the results they are not getting from the recommended way of eating.
I’ve been part of several conversations lately about the way I look, and I have decided to post at least a few times this week about those conversations. I have lost quite a bit of weight. My stomach is flatter than it has ever been in my life. I wear a size that it literally shocked me to buy when I had to shop for clothes recently. I had to convince myself to buy the size that fit me and what I was seeing wasn’t a mirage. I have never before in my life been this size. Yes, I’ve lost weight before, but never like this. This has been a different experience. So, in my recent public appearances I’ve been asked a lot of questions about how I lost it, am I eating, and do I exercise. There has also been compliments that were followed up by an interesting statement that brought up something I’ve been dealing with for quite sometime – my mummy tummy.
I’ve had women say “oh, you look so good” and follow it up with “you don’t need to lose anymore though”. They will ask if I am sure I eat enough. The thing is, if thin is beautiful, why worry about the other. I am not really trying to lose weight. It has just happened as the result of my achieving other goals in my life. The first one was I wanted to exercise at least five days a week. I like feeling strong and fit no matter how much weight I’m carrying. I enjoy exercise. It makes me a happier person. The second goal was to make my family’s diet as healthy as possible. I did this first by moving us to a whole foods diet, and have since incorporated much of the ideas set forth by the Traditional Foods way of eating. That is all I have done. I never said I’m going to eat this much food, counted calories or fat grams, nor have I had a certain weight I wanted to achieve by a certain date. I had healthy goals. It wasn’t a fad diet, some new pill, or an exercise plan that made me miserable.
Since the birth of my second child I’ve been dealing with several scars. These scars are physically noticeable when I am not clothed and are hard for me to look at. One of these scars, I cannot even touch. That is the scar left from my c-sections. The reminder of the naivety with which I went into my first birth experience. The betrayed trust of a woman taking care of another woman. The reminder that I didn’t get my VBAC (vaginal birth after cesearean). That despite what I did achieve with my second birth, I still needed a doctor to take my baby from my womb. I have healed so much from the hurt this left in me, but that scar will always make me turn my head. It isn’t natural.
The other scar is my entire lower stomach. This scar is natural and one I should easily be able to embrace. My mummy tummy was left to me after carrying a 22 inch, 11 pound infant for 41 weeks and 6 days. I was not lucky enough to inherit resilient skin. I won’t describe it here or post a picture. My mummy tummy is between me and… uh… me. I have witnessed on television women getting tummy tucks that I didn’t understand when comparing them with me. I had never even considered that I would ever say that if I had the money I might consider cosmetic surgery. Yes, I’m saying I have fancied the thought. Me… a tomboy naturalist.
So, here I am wearing a size I still can’t believe I can fit into, and I’m hoping one day I will find my belly beautiful the way it is. It carried my child. It did exactly what it was supposed to do. I’ve never been someone to show my naked stomach in public. I’m not going to miss a bikini. A close woman to me has a husband who calls her stretchmarks the roadmaps to their babies. How sweet! I wish I could see my stomach that way. I wish I could embrace the beauty that the story behind it holds. I wish I could not always have that little fear in the back of my head that those who do see it will find it as ugly as I do.
That leaves me with the question – What is acceptable human beauty? I know my mind has been programmed to see stomachs that are flawless as beautiful when it comes to naked body beauty. In faces, I look for quirks, uniqueness, not the him or her next door look. Like… my sister Ariana, Johnny Depp, my hubby, and Oprah Winfrey. I’ve never been one to obsess about my weight or anyone else’s and didn’t equate thin with beauty in every case. But, a change in a body part that had before always looked consistent. It has been hard to accept. Man, this post is hard to write… I can’t even believe I’m putting this out in cyberspace for whoever to read. But, it’s truth. It’s part of it. I will wonder how many expectant mamas will read this post and hope with all they got that their bellies show no sign of their pregnancy. I will wonder how many other mamas are commiserating with me. I will wonder how many mamas have learned to see their changed body as beauty. I want to find a way to live with what I have, to look at what I have achieved with my health, and see beauty.
A Mountain Mama - East Kentucky Gal 