Thin Mints Do Not Need to Help Me be Thin

"Food is an important part of a balanced diet." --Fran Lebowitz

So I wait months for the Girl Scout cookies to arrive. Purchased from my niece, the last Girl Scout presently in the family. I forgo the Girl Scout stands that have been popping up all over town for the past month with those little sashed hucksters trying their best to unload the surplus stock that their troops get stuck with every year. Those remaining boxes that didn't get sold. The broken carton stock. Using my willpower to patiently get the order that I placed with little Girl Scout Alex. Gotta support those troops.

We finally have the cookie drop arranged and the exchange of money and cookies takes place in the parking lot after a family get together. We even helped out by purchasing some of the surplus cookies on top of our already large caloric order. All the more cookies to enjoy and share with those less fortunate or less susceptible to 10-year-old extortionists/salesgirls/fundraisers and their leaders.

Now I need to say right away that anyone that knows much about me can attest to my love of the Girl Scout cookie known as the Thin Mint. I am the kind of person that orders lots of them. They find their way into the freezer at our house and are enjoyed most of the year. And when they are gone short of the time that they can be re-ordered it is upsetting indeed. The last remaining box is usually rationed out like it was all the food left and I was adrift at sea or stranded in the arctic.

So that night after arriving home, the wife breaks open the Thin Mints and we share a few. She's chewing and I'm chewing and we are in different rooms and we are thinking the same thing. What the Hell have they done to the cookies? They have lost all recognition to the lovely, joyful and gratifying taste sensation that they used to be. They are like badly chocolate-mint flavored cardboard with a sidewalk chalk aftertaste. And I am not exaggerating. They have went the same way as Oreo's and Chips Ahoy cookies.

The food manufactures are seriously ruining the taste of life for me. A Thin Mint does not need to be healthy it needs to taste good. That's why I buy them. I don't buy Girl Scout broccoli and spinach cookies. I not only like food but at times (most) I want it to taste good. I don't need to eat a whole sleeve of Thin Mints but too bad if I do. I am the one that lives with the stomach ache and the tight waistband.

So this is my plea...Give me back the great cookies that were. Scout's honor, I will buy an extra box or two for your troop.

And don't let me get started about what the Boy Scouts have done to their popcorn.

Wellness By My Definition

"Life expectancy would grow by leaps and bounds if green vegetables smelled as good as bacon." -- Doug Larson

In our pursuit of wellness, what is the defining goal that we are seeking?  When I look back at the interesting and varied blog entries that my wife Karen has provided on her blog, The Wellness Writer, I can't help but suspect that the answer would be...many goals for many different people! 

Wellness to some of us may be beauty and spirituality that comes with meditation, yoga and communing with nature.  That feeling of achieved mindfulness that delivers calming waves to spirit and soul.  Opening our eyes by creating that stillness in our former busy brain.

It may be finally understanding how to cope with a particular dilemma in our diet, or how to feel good about the food we eat and truly need to live with energy, vibrancy and long-term health.  Karen great advice and references help navigate us through the storm of information and misinformation that is in the news, on the internet or sold to us as truths by the people that we encounter.

You may find your definition of wellness in the way you feel mornings when you wake, after a walk, having coffee with friends or when you leave church after a satisfying Sunday service.  It may be losing a bit of weight unexpectedly or without any real dieting decision and noticing that your clothes fit a little looser (better!).  Climbing those same stairs and not feeling so winded when you reach the top.

Feelings of wellness may also sneak up on us expectantly.  Look around at the everyday things you do and the places that you do them.  I personally believe that we often undervalue the simple pleasures that are just “there”.  We expect a struggle, sacrifice or loss to achieve wellness goals.  Couldn't wellness be how you feel having the quiet corner office at work?  The quiet empty house all to yourself?  Listening in the car to the music it seems only you can stand?  

Wellness can be long term achievements...but it may also come in hundreds of  brief moments.  Don't fail to realize those instances and enjoy them

Mitch's Surefire Wellness Ingredients  

This recipe should be adjusted for personal tastes and fun.

Coffee every morning (sometimes into the afternoon)

Fishing

Running for exercise (with Karen, who keeps me motivated, but she says I keep her moving)

Officiating football

Reading books to expand and contract the mind

Music (from Johnny Cash to Phillip Glass)

My aquarium continues to astonish me

Hugs with the ones I love

Drawing (or doodling during work meetings)

My 1962 Nova restoration project

Asking questions of everyone (even strangers) for I am naturally curious

Having the best Registered Dietitian for a wife (all foods fit)