On the Record, With Mom Shap

I currently weigh 129 pounds. Yes, this is after both Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, which were basically feeding frenzies. I am very happy with my triumph over the scale, but it comes as a result of some fairly simple changes which are scientifically sound and readily available to the general public.

The "stuff" I am "on" is called "FOOD". You are on "food" too. We may buy our "food" from different places, but we both are consuming food. Human beings need nutrients to stay alive. We need specialized nutrients to perform the miraculous daily activities which go on inside the human body. We have so much going on inside that we are totally unaware of, and yet if one of those systems malfunctions, we most certainly do become aware... sometimes too late. We are able to obtain the necessary nutrition from foods God has, in His wisdom, placed on the earth. We were told what was "good for food" way back in the time of the garden of Eden.

The "stuff" I am "on" is the result of amazing technological advancements in the science of nutrition. Cellular structure and development was studied, and the effects of food were documented. The result of years of study and testing is this "stuff" I'm on.

I am not using "drugs" or taking products with added "chemicals". I am not "on a diet". What I'm eating does not require a physician's prescription. If I had a major health issue, such as diabetes, it would in my best interest to have my progress monitored by my doctor, so that the drugs I had been prescribed could be stopped when I had become healthy again. The same would apply to other diseases or maladies common to ill-nourished people.

I'd rather go to a doctor who advises me to change my lifestyle, rather than saying "Hmm, by this time next year we'll probably be putting you on high blood pressure medication, given your history and the trend we are seeing." Well, doc, how about this??? How about I adopt a low-fat, high-fiber, nutrient-rich diet and start E-X-E-R-C-I-S-I-N-G, and then you re-test me in six months. HOW ABOUT THAT approach? Your very own doctor may be aware of some of the eating habits common to Americans which encourage cancer cells to grow, and he may not share this information with you.

I decided to start eating food products which were the result of a cutting-edge technology that allows scientists to obtain nutrients from the finest and cleanest food sources, and place them into easy-to-consume forms. I take daily vitamins, for instance, which contain the phyto-nutrients equivalent to six servings of vegetables. The fruit powder I dump into my breakfast shake equals eating about 20 clean and vitamin-rich fruits. The meal replacement shake which I enjoy every single morning, and sometimes in the evening, gives me 35 grams (the way I mix it) of the highest quality protein available, plus digestive enzymes, and a mineral blend which gently separates toxins from fat in my body, allowing me to live cleaner and healthier inside. It's technology. And that's okay. I'm fairly certain that those who have expressed fear or aversion where this technology is concerned, will find it easy to hop into their car (a definite technological miracle, making the horse-drawn carriage obsolete) and drive to the closest QFC or Safeway (which replaced the family farm) to buy packaged and processed foods to consume. They, too, are "on a diet". They choose what to eat each day, as do I.

I recently read that we start losing one half pound of muscle per year starting at about age 30. That means that we are placing an increased burden on our weakening bodies as we add pounds of fat each year. This can not only be halted, but reversed. This will HAVE to be reversed if we are to live into our 70s and 80s without physical assistance. If it really was as simple as changing your eating habits and adding weight bearing and cardiovascular exercise to your life, why wouldn't you want to do that?

A new addiction, etc

OK, So Laura brings home these olives from Trader Joe's. They're green olives with feta cheese inside, packed in olive oil. Are they good? They are a drug. I absolutely can't stop eating them. She brought two more jars to me last night. I am not kidding; they are like a drug to me. They're so good they should be illegal. I do understand about people with eating disorders craving the taste of something so much that they feel compelled to scarf it up. I am, however, still being smart and not going into binge mode. There is nothing, including stuffed olives, that is more tasty than being able to sit here wearing a size medium WHITE long sleeved tee shirt and not having bulges. Except perhaps in the right places.

In other news - believe it or not - a cold caught me. I think it was during the fun but exceptionally cold time of hiking to the bus stop in freezing weather, and spending so much time just standing or sitting there at the transfer station after 6pm waiting for a bus that never came. I don't feel nearly as bad as I usually do with a winter cold, though, and this is 100% due to the whey protein, colostrum, and multitude of wonderful nutrition I'm getting. Isafruits, for example, provides the benefits of consuming over 30 fruits daily. I am surprised I got sick at all, but boy howdy I did. My sinuses feel like water balloons. I'll be better tomorrow.

I've got the menu all planned for the wedding I'm going to cater next Saturday. I'm making puffs, like cream puffs, but the puff part isn't sweet - and filling them with chicken salad. Also, I'll be making "rainbow roll ups" which are the tortilla roll up sandwiches, sliced. You use the red, green, and yellow tortillas. I'm going to make some regular, small tortilla wraps, too, that won't frustrate the hungry men. Then I'm making marinaded cheese squares, and I got stuffed olives. NO, not the Trader Joe's ones - too expensive for 75 people. We'll round that out with relish trays from Costco, chips, crackers, and pretzels. Tah dah! Done.

Well, it isn't "DONE" but it will be.

Lots of stuff going on in the world, but Mama's feeling light headed (so I can see in the dark) and I am going to close this little episode. Stay tuned.