A couple podcasts I like to listen to have had episodes about the future of food. How much protein we can get from crickets (blech!) and as always, how much meat we chunky Americans need to scale back on. Darn it! I live in Central Texas, BBQ and burgers are done so well here! Meanwhile, I have to acknowledge we all have to change as the American way of life just isn’t tenable in the long run, especially if the Chinese fully emulate us. Their palette prefers other proteins but they do outnumber us.
It’s also a new year which means resolutions! After I recovered from my illness last year, food began to taste way better and I admit to overcompensating for the months preceding in which I couldn’t get anything down without the jitters, puking or both.
Now my weight rivals Homer Simpson, the one fictional character I always thought I could beat! Somara had a banner 2017 in her weight loss. I can’t quite follow the same path. I love going to the gym yet I keep cancelling out that progress with a cheeseburger.
For 2018, I’m tripling my efforts on both fronts while investigating a couple “food” alternatives.
- “Tried and True” Slimfast®, really the generic HEB equivalent.
- Soylent, some gross “solution” from Silicon Valley…I think.
- Huey, a grain-based substitute from the UK, but they have a manufacturing wing for the US.
Opti-Meal often gets all the entry-way shelf space at HEB around this time of year. As I mentioned earlier, this is their take on the heavily advertised Slim Fast. One of these is supposed to take the place of a whole meal like breakfast (I rarely eat in the morning) and/or lunch. Then you have a sensible dinner. Translation: don’t go crazy for the last meal, you’ll wipe out the progress this gunk provides.
One bottle allegedly provides 180 calories with all the other key elements you need to get through the day. Not sure why they call it a “shake,” the stuff lacks the consistency of one, it’s really just fat-free milk that tastes like liquid chalk covered in vanilla flavoring as a diversion. Much like how weed smokers think patchouli disguises their body odor and hobby from us squares.
This isn’t something I could stay with and I only bought a small case (eight bottles) for a starting point and as a stop-gap measure until the other two candidates arrive.