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Monday, April 22, 2013

Earth Day Inspiration & All Natural...Taking It Even Further.

Happy Earth Day!

I'm Earth Day inspired.  Our family has too much trash!  It's completely crazy, though it isn't as bad as it was when we were eating processed and packaged foods.  I'm not going for a Zero Waste Home, like my fellow Bloggers, but more can be done.  

We are beginning to compost, which will take care of most of our food prep scraps.  I'm making my own granola now, which is the only cereal the kids eat.  My milk comes in glass bottles, which I return for deposit, and the dairy then reuses.  I'm buying more in bulk, eliminating plastic packaging.  I'm now washing and reusing my zipper bags.  I reuse my paper grocery bags.  90% of the time we drink filtered water, no longer buying bottled.  I save all glass jars, and I reuse them for dressings, berry sauce, and the bulk items I buy.  I many of the things we eat, eliminating a lot of waste from packaging.

So, here is where I'm thinking I can go even further...

-Make my own produce bags.  I'm not sure when, but I'm inspired now.  It's something I really want to do.  

-Make my own small bulk bags, but barring that, reuse the paper bulk bags.  I can take those bags back to the store with me and just cover up the old sticker with a new one.  I could do this countless times with one bag!  

-Recycle!

Well, it's a start.  I'll keep thinking of ways to reduce my family's footprint, aside from just recycling, which we definitely don't do.  

How do you reduce the negative impact your family has on the environment?

Taking ALL-NATURAL even further...

My husband and I were having a conversation about how I want to limit our dairy and egg consumption.  I believe that only a small amount of these things is best, and though he agrees, he was hoping to be able to turn to these products for increased protein. 

Protein.  Here we go again..."in the box" thinking.  

I sighed, "This again?  I thought we had settled this once and for all.  You eat a varied diet, rich in protein from beans and other vegetable sources.  You do eat dairy, but in limited amounts.  Same with eggs."  

Him..."Yes, but I need to increase my protein to build muscle mass.  I don't want to be weak and puny."

Me..."What?  You're not weak and puny!"

Now, I had to take a minute to think about this, to formulate a response.  I'm sure he was still talking in the background.  All right, I'm ready.  

Me..."It occurs to me, that you may be trying to push your body beyond what is natural for it.  You should be able to continue to gain muscle mass with the protein you are getting, up to what is natural for you.  If you have to cross the line into something that isn't natural, then you're trying to achieve something that isn't natural for your body.  Just like my weight loss.  I'm not trying to lose any amount of weight, it is just happening naturally. I'm not setting a goal weight, because my goal is what is natural for me.  Following this lifestyle, I will continue to lose weight until my body settles at that.  No extremes."

Him..."Yeah, I thought of that."

Hopefully what I said sunk in, because I really believe it.  

What do you think?  






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