To Meat or Not to Meat?

Have you ever thought about why there are vegetarians and vegans? What's the deal with that? Why are they so anti meat? Should I be anti meat too?

Let's define some of these less meat categories.

Vegetarian- This is a general term that means someone who does not consume red meat, poultry, fish, or seafood.

There are variants of vegetarianism including,

Lacto-vegetarian- a vegetarian that eats dairy products but excludes eggs.
Ovo-vegetarian- a vegetarian that eats eggs but excludes dairy products.
Lacto-ovo vegetarian- a vegetarian that eats dairy products and eggs.
Semi-vegetarian- a person that eats mostly vegetarian foods but will eat at times fish and sometimes even poultry, as well as dairy products and eggs. Some vegetarians don't recognize this group as a vegetarians.
Vegan- a vegetarian that also excludes all products and by-products of animals, including eggs, dairy products, and even honey and yeast.

There are many reasons why a person would choose to eat these ways including moral, religion, culture, ethics, aesthetics, environment, society, economy, politics, taste, or health reasons. There are even more vegetarian sub-categories or similar categories that you can look in to.

We will suggest some health reasons to think about while deciding what you would like to choose for yourself.

First off, some studies to think about.

There are recent studies that have shown that a diet where the person eats a lot of red meat (this is including pork, beef, veal, and lamb), or such meat products were diagnosed with colorectal cancer more often than people who ate little of it or none at all. In comparison, those who ate a lot of fish on a regular basis, had a lower chance of being diagnosed with colorectal cancer as opposed to those who ate little to no fish at all.

Red meat and processed meat (this includes poultry sausage and such), has also been linked to breast cancer in women.

Now, studies aside, lets look at our bodies. Are we carnivores or herbivores?

Answer, neither. Are bodies have been made to survive on what's available to us. Or, in other words, we are omnivorous. Are bodies have been made to survive on both meat and veggies.

But let's look a little deeper into our bodies. Our intestines are very long and bumpy similar to an herbivore's length. We also need fiber to help our meat digest, where carnivores don't. Carnivores have 20x the amount of acid in their stomach than humans do. Interesting, isn't it?

Our bodies lean more toward what an herbivore's body looks like inside and reacts inside.

I have found this facsinating and dwelled upon this subject many times in my life. Personally, I am not considered to be a vegetarian. I usually eat fish on a weekly basis and from time to time (meaning a few times a year), I will eat turkey and chicken. I do exclude red meat for the most part. My diet is high in veggies, whole grains, herbs, and fruits. I'm not sure if that falls into any "catagory or sub-category" yet. My reasons are health and religion and it fits well with me and so far with my family.

In conclusion, this article is meant to help you think about your own food choices especially with meat. What you feel is best for you and your family. There are studies and voices calling all over the world (mine could be included in that). Don't follow one just because the crowd does or because one study told you too. Do the homework and choose for yourself. Feel confident in your choice because you've done the homework.

Have a great day!

Daily Stretch

Remember when you were a young child and could bend and twist into every position imaginable? Well what about now? Most likely, you are not nearly as flexible as you were then and consider yourself pretty “bendy” if you can reach your shins when sitting with your legs straight out in front of you.

The fact is, as we age our joints and ligaments naturally start to tighten and atrophy, due to less collagen being produced in our body. Because of this, our range of motion is smaller than it used to be and it becomes increasingly difficult to perform regular daily tasks, such as bending over to tie our shoes.

My husband works at the hospital and takes care of patients ranging anywhere between the ages of 30 to 95 years old. He often explains how sad it is to see them be so dependent on other people – just to help them move. And 98% of the time, their inflexibility has nothing to do with their illness, but because they have been so sedentary throughout their life.

We live in such a chair-bound society and spend a large portion of our day sitting in front of a computer, in our car, or slouched at a desk. Because of the repetitive nature of this, the muscles in our body get so accustomed to the flexed hips, the hunched forward shoulders and the protruding neck, that our posture suffers tremendously and we cause muscle imbalances to occur throughout our entire body.

I often work with clients who have terrible posture due to chronic sitting and a lack of stretching. However, through regular stretching and strengthening of those weak muscles, I have seen amazing transformations in people. In fact, just a few days ago, I was speaking with a young, 25 year-old client of mine that I’ve been working with for a several months. When we first met, she was frustrated with and expressed concern about her improper posture when she stood. Even at her young age, her shoulders were hunched forward, her upper back rounded excessively and her hips were tilted upward. Well, looking at her now, you would never know her posture was a problem!
To ensure a high quality of life, especially during the later years of life, flexibility and proper posture alignment must be a priority in your daily activities. In an ideal world, we would all spend five to ten minutes daily to stretch our muscles and keep our body limber. Even just a few minutes a day can add up to big differences in how your body can move and function freely.

Stretching doesn’t need to be fancy in order to be effective. Too often, people think they need to perform yoga or other strenuous forms of stretching, to see improvement. Of course, those methods do work. But if that’s not appealing to you, simply stretching your muscles to a point of comfortable discomfort is fabulous and will work wonders for your body!

So as you work toward achieving a healthy lifestyle through proper diet and regular exercise, don’t forget that stretching frequently is a very important part of the equation.

Cold Weather Gardening

My broccoli ready for harvest. They will be smaller in size than at the grocery store.

If you happen to live where you have the joyful opportunity to plant vegetables in two different seasons you are most blessed! I planted my broccoli, cauliflower, leaf lettuce, spinach, and beets in September and October. I will begin to plant my tomatoes and warm season vegetables in March and April.

The beets have a little more time before we can eat them. The beet leaf is great for salads too!

Some tomato plants will be put into the ground next week, second week of February, protected with “Wall o’ Water,” self-standing plant protectors filled with water that provide additional heat, allowing one to plant earlier and harvest later without fear of frost damage. These are available at most nurseries and mail-order garden supplies.


The cauliflower is well on it's way.


My harvested broccoli, lightly steamed with leaf lettuce and sliced sweet peppers.

My daughter and I feasted on the broccoli and leaf lettuce for lunch. There really is a difference in homegrown!