Hamburgers and fries at the Frosted Mug!

5861 US Hwy 160, Forsyth, MO 65653 *
(417) 546-4149

Even though I've recently changed my diet in a rather drastic way by adopting the Paleo Diet which severely restricts such foods as processed meat, pastas dairy, breads and all pastries – I've still allowed myself two 'open meals' per week where I can stray. This week, my very first open meal was on a Monday and I chose to enjoy a hamburger and fries at a local eatery known as The Frosted Mug. At a cost of only $6.95, this meal really had only one 'bad' thing going for it – those oh so tasty French fries!

Pro bartender Heather was great!

As a food that made it to #3 on the list of 'Five worst foods you can eat', the ubiquitous French fry is not one of the best of foods to eat all the time! It's a fried food and it can add on the pounds in no time! (A much smarter meal would be a hamburger and a small salad for about the same or less money)! Maybe I'll order that next time... then again, maybe not!

Tim Evans

The hamburger, which was cooked by Chef Tim Evans, was top notch! And, to my credit and surprise, I only ate half that order of fries! Note: I also made sure to take a couple of capsules of Fish oil which is a rich source of Omega-3 fatty acids, and as such, helps to balance out the not so good for you Omega-6 acids that come with eating the meal. If you eat a lot of junk food I would highly recommend that you take this supplement! Side note: There is some new evidence that you can overdo supplements, especially Vitamins C,B6, E and A, so be careful.

After staying away from the Mug for a prolonged period of time, I've made I a point to once again frequent this long-lived eating establishment, especially in light of the recent improvements to the cooking and the bar-tending staff. Professionals like Heather help made the experience very enjoyable! If you live in the Forsyth, Mo area, I'd urge you to give them a try!

Meat! It's what's for breakfast!

Call me insane, call me slow, just don't call me late for the dinner bell!

After getting on board with the concept of a Paleo Diet, I have begun to make some form of lean meat a part of every meal! But wait! It's not only meat, but that also includes good healthy servings of veggies and fruit! That combination is similar to what our far distant ancestors ate some million or so year ago. On the flip side, it also means that many of the food items I used to love; taters, toast, hamburgers on buns and such are no longer de rigueur for me personally.

Why would I make such a drastic change? It's all about managing my Omega-6 versus Omega-3 fatty acid intake so as to make it more in line with how my body is genetically programmed. According to Dr. Andrew Weil (creator of Weil Lifestyle, LLC), 'Many nutrition experts believe that before (the agricultural revolution) we relied heavily on processed foods and humans consumed omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids in roughly equal amounts. But, to our great detriment, most North Americans and Europeans now get far too much of the omega-6s and not enough of the omega-3s. This dietary imbalance may explain the rise of such diseases as asthma, coronary heart disease, many forms of cancer, autoimmunity and neurodegenerative diseases, all of which are believed to stem from inflammation in the body.' [paraphrased by author]

Pretty heavy stuff, if true! In fact, the eating of breads, canned goods and dairy products can spike the Omega-6 vs 3 ratio to something like 22:1! In addition, the very high salt content of many processed foods has been definitively linked to hypertension and high blood pressure – two conditions that lead to heart attacks which are one of the top killers in America today!

So, the diet requires one to give up many of the comfort foods we all so enjoy. What do you get in return? How about a diet where you don't have to count calories, will lose weight rapidly down to your ideal BMI (see Body Mass Index calculator), have lots more energy and (best of all) that trip to the grocery store will become a breeze!

Government locks out area park!

Baker street entrance to River Run Park

Forsyth, MO. – A federally managed park by the name of River Run located just to the east of the city limits of Forsyth Missouri and was the scene of a new approach by our friendly government officials. It seems one of their agents was sent out to lock up this park because of the 'likelihood of heavy flooding' due to a late December storm. What? The Bull Shoals is currently normal levels (658') with the flood stage at about 700 feet. The agent informed me that they were restricting park access for our protection, implying that I and others in the community were too stupid to know not to drive into the park, if in fact it did flood. Not very likely as the water level would have to rise at least 20 feet in order for that to be a possibility.

Current Bull Shoals lake levels

So, what is going on here? Is this a new expansion of the Nanny State? I'm not sure, but if it is the governments intention to further alienate the citizens of my town, they are sure going about it the right way!

Postscript: In the interest of fairness, it is possible that 'flash flooding' could occur due to runoff from heavy rains. At this time of year, the ground cannot soak up water in the way it can in the warmer months with plenty of biomass in place. In that case, a simple sign would have sufficed!

The Paleo Diet startup!

Mixed salad with lean turkey!

An so it began. A diet that would consist of the same sort of food eaten by out ancestors some 600,000 years ago. Well, maybe not exactly, as the meat I eat is store bought and not hunted, nor were some of the vegetables and fruits we eat today even evolved at that time. However, all things being equal it is a far cry from my past diet.

In the Paleo plan there is not salt, no bread, no pastries, no sweets (other than the occasional honey), no packaged meats, no canned goods and no dairy – actually the only other items allowed were walnuts, soy milk (fake milk) and some free range eggs! Of these, I think the bread is the hardest to forgo as I was ingrained from my youth to eat sandwiches, hamburger and the like. As Jack Lalanne was famously quoted as saying -”if man makes it, don't eat it” may be true. Perhaps that's why this famous bodybuilder lived to be 90 while enjoying near perfect health!

The one good thing about the Paleo Diet is the lack of any need for you to count calories! You can eat until you're stuffed without penalty while the pounds begin to drop off. You can eat three meals or six, it's your call. Why that works is described in the book – The Paleo Diet Revised! How will I come out after some weeks? Stay tuned!

I've started the Paleo Diet!

What the heck is the Paleo Diet you might well ask? I confess that I had never heard of it until my sister in California turned me on to a video available on Amazon call 'The Perfect Human Diet'! As a decreed biologist and pseudo nutritionist, what I saw and heard made tons of sense to me. I'd urge anyone who is concerned in the least about their health or the health of their family to watch this and see if it doesn't give them pause to think! After I saw the movie, I used my Kindle to search for and then ordered the book, ' The Paleo Diet Revised' by Loren Cordain, Ph.D. It carries on into more detail of what the heck is wrong with the American diet. A very revealing and informative collection of studies done world wide that disclose why our processed food diet of today was not what we were genetically programed for in over two million years of species development.For a beginners guide, go

here!

I plan to get on this diet, completely and will then report my results in a month or so. In the meantime, check out the beginners guide to see if it makes any sense to you personally.

Early December 2013 was sort of wacky!

December is a month where we all get to enter into that three month period of time we call winter. It starts on the 21^st of December when the orbit of the sun, which has been dipping lower in the southern sky each day since mid June, begins its long climb back upwards. Ever higher it will go until a time comes when we're all complaining about the heat!

This year's December began on a good note with good warmth in the first four days. That changed quickly with a rapid plunge into the icebox with temperatures that were more reminiscence of a bad January in the Dakota's. Do all the Gods hate us? Where's Al Gore and his theory on global warming when we really need him? (Oh, that's right he has sold out and went to some tropical island to retire).

So, now here I sit at my computer typing out silly thoughts, when I'd really like to be is outside frolicking under sunny skies and warm breezes. (And oh, yes dammit...it's still only the 12^th. Winter doesn't even start for another week yet). During this period of time, my mood has worsened and I've found myself wondering just what our fiend Obama is up to? You know, while everyone's focus is currently on his failed Affordable Healthcare Act? I swear like a bear! It's like watching the Devil himself at work. All those busy little fingers of his....working behind the scenes as he puts the finishing touches on a society that even Dante would find troubling...

If there is anything good to write about, it's that we will see a 'warm up' of sorts for most of the coming week. I'm not talking anything awesome mind you. But, I do think it will warm into the mid 40's and that will be okey dokey with me!

Obamacare! A personal tale of woe!

It's now December the 2^nd and while the 'front end' of the Healthcare.gov site is now working fairly well, the 'rear end' is becoming hopelessly backed up and in desperate need of a laxative! I should know as I've been trying to get; logged on, verified and enrolled for over two months now!

Acting as a good citizen, I've managed (after many hours and weeks of time) to get an application submitted (I eventually had to do a paper one that was sent in via the USPS) only to find that once it was received, even the Help Center could not get me logged into my account even when they reset my password themselves. I finally started a new account with a new user name and password to get in and to navigate to the section where I could verify who I was. Interestingly, this portion of the problem-plagued site worked for me the very first time! (I've heard stories on the media that even as of this posting that area is often not working). Feeling lucky. I then went to the section where I selected a healthcare provider plan and answered all the other questions that were asked. Everything was checked and double checked! I was ready to progressively move FORWARD!

Finally, (it was now late November and with my heart pounding), I hit the button to 'review and

This last step in the 'rear end' never completes!

enroll'. That took me to a screen that advised me... to wait...and wait...and wait. Actually, over the past week of trying, neither myself nor the Help Desk personnel could ever get me past that last point. Talk about frustration! By this time, I was also getting physically sick due to the insanity of the idiots running the site.

Just today, I heard on the TV that in point of fact, hardly anyone has actually been able to get enrolled in many states – (this was per representatives of the insurance companies who should know)!

The bottom line...millions of Americans may (will) find themselves without any healthcare come January the 1^st. A sad statement concerning a President and Democratic Party run Senate that continues to run what was once a great Republic straight into the ground! Thanks President Obama. Thanks for nothing...