Milk - it's for the cows

I think it's interesting that we never want to believe what is right in front of our eyes. I decided about three months ago to try out the Whole30 way of eating by cutting out all grains, legumes and dairy. It has been successful in that I experienced increased energy and just an in general feeling of well being. This was something that didn't come easy as I slowly gave up one beloved grain after another, some easier than others, but I had just recently learned to absolutely love brown rice and now I had to give it up. Dairy, on the other hand, is the thing I just wasn't able to let completely go, loving my coffee with cream.

I decided to share these ideals with my twenty something son who embraced the concepts and immediately began to apply them to his diet as well as my granddaughter's diet. After a couple of weeks of being on this new eating regimen my son tells me he is convinced that he has a dairy allergy. I accept his new realization and move on. I know that I don't have this problem because I have dairy every day.

This past month our Crossfit gym is having a Whole30 Challenge so for 30 days, in order to comply, I have to give it all up. In less than two weeks I may have just found that I have a dairy allergy. I gave up grains a while back, I gave up dairy 10 or so days ago. Since giving up dairy, my skin has started to clear, my joints hurt a lot less and I have effortlessly lost two pounds. I told a friend two days ago that I feel like Tony the tiger and if that ain't cheezy enough to tell you how great I feel without dairy in my life then I have no idea what else to say.

When my kid tried to tell me I turned the other way. I love cream in my coffee but come on, Tony wins. Adult animals do not drink milk, why do humans? Because we can may not be as smart as it sounds.

McDonalds - double cheese burger with fries please

The drive thru is almost open! This is my thought daily as we drive by on our way home from work and watch each hurdle of the elaborate remodel of our local McDonalds. This new store front is being made to look modern and fresh to attract people to their new and improved healthier menu options. What? Do they really need to fancy it up to get their clientele? Is a person like me, obsessed with what I eat, lured into their trap? To be honest, there is a certain fascination in watching the transformation take place each day as we pass by. The new design beckons me to come inside or drive through the new fancy two lane, nine foot clearance ordering avenues, even me, someone who hasn't eaten at a fast food joint such as this in so many years I can't recall the last occasion.

How do I explain this phenomenon? It's the beauty, it's the change, the new, the exciting...and it will bring in people slightly less stronger than myself just to check it out. Really, I sorta want to go in just to check it out, the newness, the pretty...I checked out the new Safeway after they remodeled it and was slightly disappointed that it had changed more on the outside than inside. Disturbing.

The pretty is the reason, that is it. Why does it sell? As humans, why are we so attached to new, pretty, changed, upgraded, more, better, fresh, updated...? What is our attraction to these descriptions? It is apparent that other specie of animal do not care about visualization, or at least the same as our own. Hell, my dog sometimes eats our other dog's crap; is that her pretty? I do not know. What I do know is that she doesn't judge me on looks and is very fair in that way.

I think most of us can agree on natural things that remain beautiful over time without change or upgrading, they are always beautiful, even when we get used to them. It is only man made views that we need to keep changing to meet human natures approval. Our tendency to pretty begat whole advertisement campaigns that have stayed the true course since industrialization became a reality. And it works...indeed it does...since we are all about the pretty.


McDonalds serving now at a better and more beautiful location. Eat it up and take in the views.