Helping the Un-Suspecting

When we started writing and making changes to recipes I never realized how big an audience there was out in the world of the WEB. I figured that most of the people who would like what we are doing would be our partners in weight loss surgery. To my surprise there are bodybuilders, people who just watch what they eat, and, interestingly enough, people who never ever considered weight loss surgery as an option.

This is a very broad audience and I am so grateful for each and everyone of you all.

A couple of weeks ago, I met some U.S. Forestry Service firefighters that were preparing for controlled burn on the LBJ National Grasslands near our farm. They were all young, most under 30, and one or two mid thirties. They were all physically fit and were joking about one of the guys always finding a place to take a nap when they were on down time. A couple of them were talking about how much they worked out, and how hard it was to keep to a regimen when sleeping in a fire hut or dorm. We began talking about planning meals and how it can be made easy if you are the one buying the food, but how hard it is when someone who is not interested in a certain way of eating indiscriminately buys food. How the “junk” and “high sugar” can become a staple rather than a treat.

I was amazed that they wanted our website information and, of course, I gladly shared. One fellow said that he did some of the cooking and was always looking for new ideas to keep the “diet” from getting boring. That is one of the keys to keeping to regimen. Eliminate the boring.

To eliminate the boring for me. is to look for new ideas from others on the internet. But, also looking for fresh early spring vegetables and fruit. I love berries - especially blackberries - so I have been getting as many as I can find, even though for us the blackberry season is in June. The grocery stores are keeping strawberries and blackberries year round now. So I feed my addiction to berries.

When the peaches come in this summer I will be right there finding the local cling peaches that are so wonderful. And coming from a long line of watermelon and cantaloupe farmers I can’t wait till the local melons come in.

Find a way to eliminate the boring like these young men do. They have a lot of ”stand around and wait” time, so they are on their phones tracking their intake, workout time, and most importantly for them, water. Working outside and on a hot fire line they need 6 oz every 30 minutes minimum. We need this too! We just don’t always get the message! So next time you are working outside, or just working out, remember these young men and what I learned from them. You never know who you are going to make friends with, change a point in their lives, or just have a common interest in. My family says I can talk to a fence post and carry on a conversation, but I think of it as making friends that will remember me with good thoughts because I was interested in something they take as everyday habits. I hope that each of you will talk to someone today about your diet, exercise and how your life has been changed for the better because of your bariatric surgery. Get out there and help the un-suspecting!