Thoughts

Today's harvest. 
I thought it important to include the magnolia blossom which grew on the big tree in my back yard. There are several blooms on it now, some low enough for me to reach. 

When I picked the beans, it was drizzling a little. We had gotten a short but very decent downpour earlier and everything seemed so much happier for it. I was definitely glad to be able to pick without feeling like I was going to melt into a puddle of sweaty grease. 
That's gross, right? Well, that's how it feels. 
And although it was not exactly cool after the rain, it was so much less hot. There is a difference. 

Mr. Moon got home last night and so was here this morning for our Sunday morning brunch which I always make. I was curious and a little worried as to how I would handle this. I go all out on Sunday mornings, making biscuits and eggs, bacon or sausage, and grits or potatoes. And I could very well have done that today, too, and just eaten less of it all. 
Option One, shall we say?

But the thought of fried eggs and grits or potatoes and bacon just did nothing for me. Not a thing. And so what I did was to cook Mr. Moon some bacon, make the biscuits, and make an omelet large enough for us to share. In the omelet I put a bunch of spinach and onions and peppers and a little chopped up Canadian bacon and a small amount of grated cheese. And eggs, of course. 
And I sliced tomatoes. 
So Glen got bacon and his biscuits and a large part of the omelet. He had butter and jam with his biscuits. He definitely did not feel deprived. I ate a lot less of the omelet, and a biscuit. I didn't put anything on it. It was delicious and the omelet was too. 
Perfect! 
Now here's the thing- I did not feel as if I was denying myself the bacon. I did not WANT the bacon. It just didn't sound appealing in the least. And you know how much I love bacon. Does this mean I won't eat a tomato and bacon sandwich at some point in the next few weeks while the tomatoes are all so ripe and juicy? 
No. It does not. I might but I might not. I can't tell you. But if I want one, I will. If I don't, I won't. 
Now I know this does not sound earthshaking but in my world, it is. Summer IS a bacon and tomato sandwich. Especially if you're growing your own. And this year, we seem to be doing pretty well with the tomatoes so far. But I feel as if I have a choice as to whether I eat one or not. Of course I always had a choice but 10 times out of 10, I would always eat at least one bacon and tomato sandwich every summer. 

I got this comment on yesterday's post:

"The drug industry’s latest lose weight range of pills are not the answer to peoples overindulgences. Good food choices and exercise is the key to good health. Of course you have to work at controlling your food choices

alcohol intake and portion sizes. Drugs are not the future for obesity. Education is as well. To say that we have no choice but to use fat drugs is sad"

Now see, before I would have taken that comment so personally even though I knew then as I know now that I have made a million good food choices and I have walked a million miles for exercise and was still never able to keep the weight I was able to lose off. 
Ever.
And suddenly, the evidence that a drug that works on the brain not to curb appetite (remember Dexatrim?), but to turn off the switch that told me that I better eat all of the wooly mammoth the hunters had brought home that I could, PLUS all the berries I'd managed to gather because tomorrow we might have no food at all. That brain mechanism is there for a purpose. The humans who could eat more than the ones who couldn't were more likely to store enough fat to live through the lean times and reproduce. 

But we don't live in those times. We have so many heavily processed foods and yes, healthy foods too, in such a vast array of choices available to us that this mechanism is not only useless, it is damaging. 

Not to mention that we don't have to walk for days, hunting down the wooly mammoth, or getting to the coast when it was time for the fish to run. Our bodies have not evolved at the same rate as our lifestyles, our world. 

Let me also say that the diet industry globally brings in money in excess of hundreds of billions of dollars a year. And I don't care how good a diet program is, how sensible or simple or doable- studies show that even the best ones can be very successful at helping people lose weight but very, very few people can manage to keep it off. 
Oprah and her guest talked about that. How when we lose the weight we want to lose, there is part of us that feels like, "Phew! Did it! Glad that's over!" and then the weight comes back because we have not addressed the real problem of which the excess weight is only a symptom. 

Also, Anonymous- I did NOT say that we have no choice but to use fat drugs. 
Far from it. There are people who can absolutely change their lifestyles and habits permanently. I am in awe of these people. I am not one of them. 

But I am also not a person who is "taking fat drugs" in the hope that I can eat whatever I want and how much I want and lose a ton of weight. 

I won't even go into the evidence that's showing up which suggests that these drugs can also reduce inflammation (which is a major contributor to many health problems), possibly stave off Alzheimers, help with heart health, emotional health, and reduce addictive behaviors in general.

I've probably talked about all of this too much but I think it is important. And of course, I am only describing how the medication has affected me and as I say, this is early, early days, both in my journey and in the studies of how these drugs are affecting the health outcomes of those who take them. Forget the fat part. The rest of it is phenomenal too. 

Here's what I ate for my supper last night. 

Salad with poke bowl ingredients, including the seared tuna. That's a miso, sesame dressing on it. 
It was one of the best, most satisfying meals of my life. 

Tonight? Fresh fish from the Gulf, salad, and rice. 

The hawk just swooped down in the backyard and picked up something off the ground and flew back to his perch on the old play set tower. The wary songbirds have deserted the feeder as they do every evening at this time now. But they continue to sing their sunset songs and chatter about their days. I hear the frogs back in the swamp chorusing their gratefulness for the rain. 
Praise music, not just on Sundays, but on every day. 

I believe I may make dill pickles tomorrow. 
We shall see. 

Love...Ms. Moon