DIET OVERVIEW #4

We have been examining diet plans. Last week we looked at Weight Watchers which US News & World Report ranked as their best “Biggest Loser.” This week we’re looking at prepackaged plans.

This sweet lady regained mobility and reversed an ostomy after losing 100+ lb on Optavia, a prepackaged diet food program that includes coaching.

The HMR (Health Management Resources Program) ranked first for FAST weight loss plans among this group. It, like many others is designed to reduce calories via prepackaged meals & meal replacements (shakes or snacks). Each plan claims to be nutritionally balanced, and all encourage healthy lifestyle changes & increased physical activity. Some plans, like HMR & Optavia include coaching in their strategies. Other companies using this model include Jenny Craig, Noon & Nutrisystem.

PROS

• You don’t have to cook.
• Delivered to your door.

CONS

• Cost
• Highly processed ingredients
• Lack of variety/ becoming bored with choices over time.

M@D Note – While many of these plans work and work well, they are not without their risks as the reliance on soy & highly processed ingredients can wreck havoc in the body.

MARKET CHITCHAT

“Time flies when you’re having fun.” Even with the heat and dust we enjoy our Fridays with you so much every week that sometimes noon just sneaks up on us. Yesterday was like that. Just wanted to say we appreciate being part of your lives.

Repeat from last week: This is a tough time of year for farmers. Most of the summer crops are petering out. Weeds are trying to take over, and the soil is still too hot for many cool weather seeds to germinate. That being said, KUDOS to our growers who are managing to keep things going during this transition between growing seasons. Because of this we are suspending the New & Relisted Products section in this section for a few weeks. New products (like those from Bella Eden Farms) are visible at the top of the Market page.

THIS WEEK’S GROWER NOTES

We have the best Growers in the Wiregrass! Please learn more about them on our Grower Page.

GRIER ACRES: Harry and Jeannie are doing well but staying busy. There is a family of coons on the property. They have unfortunately ate most of the pears we had planned to sale. Okra is doing great! It finally survived the bug infestation. Our tomatoes are limited to the cherry and Campari varieties. We also have some bell peppers and will also have some ghost peppers and habanero growing. We have some mildly hot Thai peppers. Our watermelons are almost ready. We are looking to finish our fencing and hopefully start a goat journey. Jeannie loves her chickens. She has named them and has zip ties on them so she dote on them even more. We are considering doing a small winter garden. Hope everyone is having a great week.

DANNY’S GREENS: The greens are growing too slow in the heat to harvest this week but will be available the following week. Danny has green onions & carrots in the ground for sales later this fall.

AVALON FARMS:

Say hello to the new girls! They’ll be stepping up and providing much needed extra eggs this winter. We should start finding eggs in their area in the next few weeks. That means we have to get busy and get their egg-mobile finished. We’ll be running a series on the build progress.