Becoming Kuwaiti and Oatmeal
I’m not a big fan of oatmeal, so when my best-friend-from-college raved about eating oatmeal in the morning, I listened, even though the gag-reflex was about to kick in. She raved about one particular brand – Snoqualamie Falls oatmeal:
And then, she went one better, she sent me a bag of it. I tried it a couple times. It’s still oatmeal.
Where do the skaters come in, you are asking?
Age creeps up on you. With any luck at all, you lose your bad habits along the way, but some of them stick like glue. I am telling you this, because it is Ramadan, and I am guessing you understand a little. Our sermon in church this week and our readings have had to do with temptation, and how if you focus on something – like “I will not think about jellybeans,” then it is all you think about. Our readings tell us to focus on something else, like reading spiritual writings, or becoming actively involved in some activity that takes you mind totally off the temptation.
I think of myself as a skater. When I was an adolescent, I had what I call roller-coaster grades. I would skate along doing the minimum, and then when it was time to get a paper in or study for a final grade, I would pull out all the stops, and I would get the grade I wanted . . . . most of the time. I underachieved just often enough to stick a grain of doubt in my mind that this was the path to success.
Because God has a sense of humor, he gave me a son with the same pattern, and this smart, cheerful, inventive kid did the minimum until grading time, and then he would pull through, while my I watched in horrified fascination. (Have you noticed, you are always tougher on those who exhibit your own shortcomings?)
So, mature as I am, I have developed a lot of self-discipline and patience and persistence through the years, things I call the harder gifts. I learned them from Motherhood, and from dealing with the normal troubles that come through living life, and all that life throws at you.
Or so I thought. This summer, at my well-woman appointment, I gave up my blood samples and received, in return, a lot of bad news.
I am borderline diabetic. I am borderline hypertensive. I am overweight. I have bad cholesterol out of proportion to the good cholesterol.
I’ve been skating close to those readings for years, but coming to Kuwait, I sort of stopped exercising. I haven’t been as physically active as before. I started blogging, which is sedentary to the max. I thought I could skate, but now the grim reckoning has been presented to me.
I really don’t want to go on a medication I will have to take for the rest of my life. I really don’t want to go on a medication that may have side effects no one knows yet because they are so new. To avoid going on medications, the doctor is giving me one year to reduce my weight, and I had to promise to exercise a minimum of 30 minutes 5 days a week. He gave me a long list of foods not to eat, and foods to avoid. Aaarrgh.
Because God is merciful, and knows our needs long before we do, and because he provides generously, I still have my oatmeal, which I have now pulled our and am eating regularly. I eat it Pacific Northwest Style – with blueberries and raspberries, which are also supposed to be good for me.
I found something else in the US that I love, but I can’t find it here – or at least not yet. Have you seen Kashi Pilaf or Kashi breakfast cereal?
I know I promised not to post any food photos while you are fasting, but oatmeal? To me, oatmeal doesn’t even count, it’s like medicine, like who on earth yearns for oatmeal?
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i love oatmeal! its very weirdly yummy
I am not a diet-fan, but I think you should look at the South Beach diet, It is devised to help you lose the bad cholestorol, escape the diabetis threat, and has lots of nice food, because if you can’t have nice food you won’t be able to keep up any diet. So very humane.
As a side-effect you also lose a lot of weight. Therefore it has become very popular, and has spawned more books, and recipe-books, but you only need the first book.
The first half is mostly about how it works, and how food effects you inner chemistry, very interesting and also gives you very good reasons not to eat certain foods.
I can’t stand diets, but I loved this book, and I think it might be just what you need.
At this point… I will eat oatmeal! I AM HUNGRY! heeheheheh
come on its not THAT bad
Oatmeal with raisins is pretty good. I can’t stand to put milk on it.
oh, argh. what an un-fun “well woman” exam to have.
I love Kashi products (we eat the GoLean bars all the time – good protein and good fiber!) but honestly, the breakfast pilaf is just marketing. You can call any grain “breakfast” – bulgur, barley, quinoa, spelt, etc. And if you prefer it savory and dry to soggy and sweet (bet you can tell which one I like!), that’s fine, too. Or have long-grain rice. We put our own meal-times on these foods – there’s no reason they should be lunch or dinner components rather than breakfast.
As for exercising … I used to hate it. Hate, hate, hate. I hated sweating, and I hated even more being bored and feeling awkward while sweating, whether on a cardio machine or a weight machine. Sometimes I still do – at least for the first fifteen minutes. There is an awful awful stretch of early workout time in which I am just starting to sweat and I’m not in a groove yet and … ick. I hate the gym, hate the machine, hate myself.
But I’ve learned that I can get past that with the aid of a good magazine (unless one is biking, books and newspapers are awkward to hold and fold while exercising, and TV just doesn’t hold my attention). And I love feeling strong and energized – which didn’t happen overnight, but did happen after a month or two.
big hugs & anti-skating thoughts from New York š
Princess – LOVE oatmeal? Love oatmeal? I am sorry; I am really having a hard time wrapping my mind around that one. Do you eat it plain, or with sugar, or with butter, or with syrup or what? What makes it taste yummy to you?
Thank you Aafke, (she says glumly) and I will take a look at the book. (Aaarrgh.)
Ansam – You really are hungry, aren’t you?? !!
Momcat – so far the blueberries and raspberries are it for me. Can’t add sugar. Milk seems yukky. Maybe a little cinnamon would make it better . . . . (sigh)
Sigh) Thank you, Little Diamond. I wish you were here to encourage me! I need a hug!
i once had an idea on how to capitalize on the health dieting movement by producing a diet book but it would be different from other diets books by having its pages made out of actual dried food .
like one page cornflakes , one page oat meal , one page fiber…etc .
So you buy the book and you read it and for breakfast you eat say the oatmeal page , for snack you eat the chocolate page , and for lunch you eat two pages and so on and if you are really depressed you can eat a whole chapter.
maybe i should revive it . i think it will be a hit with book worms type of dieters
Intlxpatr! :**
I so want to give you a big virtual hug, so *****HUG***** Hope you and your loved ones had a wonderful, amazing, happy summer. I also apologize for being AWOL on my blog for a while there. A lot happened…(a few not very good things which all turned out good in the end thank God, but it was kind of crazy there…I had to cut my vacation short and come back to Kuwait unfortunately). I have some email catching up to do with you and with your permission, you shall be hearing from me soon š
First: I happen to be one of those who love hot cereal with berries (lots and lots). I also love Kashi products. What I do is bring it back from the US with me ( I brought back a few boxes of the Kashi high protein microwave packets of oatmeal – which I find tasty) or pay through the roof for shipping and get it from Amazon grocery. I am going back to the US in Jan. and I would be more than delighted if I can be of any assistance with your Kashi needs š
And this quote of yours made me nervous because its too true and I do it myself and I do not know why:
“Have you noticed, you are always tougher on those who exhibit your own shortcomings?”
Why is that? LOOL š
BTW, I just went and fixed myself a bowl of oatmeal with dried cranberries and blueberries for my late night pre-fasting meal. That yummy pic of yours made me crave it š
I prefer cerelac.
Daggero – What a creative idea! And people would have to go out and buy more copies of your book because their favorite parts would be missing! LLOOOLLL!
Ms. Baker, I am just so glad to hear your voice and know you are safely back once again. God is good. I know if you have had struggles, that God can bring great good out of them. I am eager to hear from you. :-xx
LOL, Yousef! I prefer Swedish pancakes with whipped cream and lingonberries!
“LOL, Yousef! I prefer Swedish pancakes with whipped cream and lingonberries!”
why? whyff????
Mrm, so sorry, I wrote it during feasting time, not thinking you would be reading it during fasting time.
Daggero: I already love the book!, make sure to have waferthin chocolate pages!
Aafke :
Excellent i have one customer already , about the chocolate it will be a whole chapter š
Daggero – I think you should write your second book entirely on chocolate, LOL!
I’m sorry. I’ve got to have my oats in the morning and at night before bed! Totally addicted to it š Back home I found all the different flavors, wish I could find it here.. Yummy!
BBQ8 – LLOOOLLL, I guess I got a big surprise with this post. Since I don’t much care about oatmeal, I expected most other people don’t either. I was SO wrong! What different flavors do you like best?
Strawberry, peach, apricot, you name it, all delicious! To top it all, it’s healthy! š
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