With the food being great tasting, I either eat them raw of lightly cooked with minimal oil and shorter cooking time. The result, my meals are lower in calories and richer in vitamins – without me having to resort to counting calories and worrying about what I eat. I am constantly amazed at all the edible vegetation available in Malaysia and how much information on it is unknown. We are more aware of fast-foods and convenience foods. It is shame if we lose the knowledge.
Being very hands-on and being a “laborer” on the farm, I get a very good regular workout without having to go to a specific place and wearing special clothing. What works best is old, comfortable, loose clothing so how is that for low-cost workout. At the same time, I get to enjoy fresh air, beautiful surrounding and I do not get bored. There is a variety of activities that I can choose from that can be classified as aerobic or anaerobic, strength training, cross-training and all those wonderful terms you hear at gyms. Because I am doing something that I enjoy, each “workout” can last for hours without me checking the time to see if I have worked-out sufficiently. I continue to be motivated to “work-out” as I get to enjoy the fruits of my labor and also have enjoyed over 10kg in weight loss and toned-up my body, feeling better every day.
While I get physical benefits, I also get mental benefits. I am continuously learning – from engineering to construction to agriculture to business to health. I get to exercise the creative side of me with various designs from how the farm should be developed, the house, furniture, and business. I acquire knowledge on safety including on handling tools and machinery. There is an enormous opportunity for increasing knowledge so boredom is the last thing on the list. I enjoy being able to continue learning and my brain gets the exercise it needs. My home library now consists on books covering all these various topics. I guess I should figure where these books can be donated someday.
By taking the produce direct from farm and selling it directly, I get the opportunity to interact with people from all social levels. This provides me with the opportunity to socialize and share information while being able to indulge in my love for studying people and culture. I learn a lot from these encounters, from how I should communicate to the negatives of stereotyping. I also gain more knowledge on “real people, real lives”.
On top of all these, it has also provided me with the opportunity to embark on a spiritual journey, marvelling at all of Allah’s creations and his bounty. I feel blessed. SubhanAllah.
