Thursday, January 3, 2013

Hiking on New Year's Day and L.O. Bailey

2013 is underway.  The year began with the First Day Hike at Lake Ouachita State Park.  There were four brave souls that showed up on this cold New Year's Day to hike four miles on the Caddo Bend Trail accompanied by the park interpreter (Susan)....three women and a nine year old boy.

The area of the park where we hiked was totally destroyed by the tornado that came through here two years ago. The trail only reopened last spring.  The landscape is still rough looking.  The park has done a great deal of controlled burning, too.  The positive side is that the view has been opened up to the lake, and birds and wildlife are more abundant now.  We were hoping to see a bald eagle, but could not be certain that we did.  We did see some deer, though.

I thought I would be cold and miserable, but I was plenty warm in my layers of Under Armour, cami, turtleneck, sweater, jacket, knit cap, gloves, hiking socks, and hiking boots.  The cap I knitted in Australia was perfect.  My toes were hurting by the end of the hike.  I have Vasque hiking boots, a good brand, but it would have been hard to hike much further in these boots.  Sandra, the park interpreter, said her government issue shoes were not comfortable either.  She likes Merrell brand for hiking.  My Vasque boots probably just need more breaking in.

At the end of the hike, I was tired.  Every layer of my clothes was wet when I took them off.  Can you sweat in 33 degree weather or did moisture just soak in from outside?  It only lightly sprinkled for a few minutes, and I had on a rain jacket.
Lake Ouachita as seen from the Caddo Bend Trail.

Hiking the Caddo Bend Trail on New Year's Day.

The results of the controlled burning of trees downed by the tornado.

I have been sleeping more.  Part of a healthy lifestyle is to sleep more in order to do more.

A most interesting person I have recently learned about is a gentleman named Leslie Owen Bailey.  He lived from 1890-1964 in Australia.  He was a great believer and promoter of Natural Living and Nature Cure.  He garnered a great deal of publicity when, after World War II, he adopted 86 war orphans and raised them along Natural Health lines at a place called Hopewood.

He mostly financed Hopewood himself from his business, Chic Salons, which made and sold women's lingerie through his own retail stores.

None of the Hopewood children were vaccinated or immunized.  No drugs were given to sick children.  When a child became sick, he was only given water or some fruit juice.  They were not given meat of any kind.  They were served fresh fruits and vegetables.  Anything that could be eaten raw was not cooked.  Mr. Bailey had his own dairy cows so he could feed the children unpasteurized milk.  Hopewood made its own whole wheat flour.

One time the government ordered that all the children be fed meat.  When the children began to eat meat they lost weight and developed colds.  Then they were allowed to go back to the healthy diets they had been eating.  (This reminds me of the story in the Bible where Daniel and the three Hebrew children begged their caretakers to allow them to eat vegetables instead of the kings meat.  They were given permission and were soon the healthiest of all the children in the king's school.)

The Hopewood children were much studied by the Australian authorities.  Their teeth were remarkable. 53% still had zero cavities at age 13.  Overall they had about one twentieth the number of cavities as the norm.


I received a new book in the mail yesterday...The 80/10/10 Diet - Balancing Your Health, Your Weight, and Your Life, One Luscious Bite at at Time by Dr. Douglas N. Graham.  This book is going to help me stay focused this year on my healthy lifestyle.

The back cover asks the question, What do you get with the 80/10/10 Diet?
- Peak performance for any athlete
- Perfect weight no matter what body type
- Off the charts wellness
- Success with a low fat vegan diet
- Simplicity in your lifestyle
- A healthy relationship with your food
- Enviable vitality.

Dr. Douglas Graham's philosophy is founded on the teachings of Natural Hygiene.  His web site is foodnsport.com .  He has been a raw foodie since 1978 and has advised world-class athletes from around the globe.

To health and happiness.

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