THE ALTERNATIVE TABLE: How I Lost 50 Pounds
By KAREN GAY
Cape Charles Wave Columnist
This is the first of a series of columns I am calling The Alternative Table. I will discuss many topics beginning with interviews and photos of some of the new sustainable farms on the Eastern Shore and also covering what are healthy food choices and cooking techniques, recipes, important books and movies on these subjects, and alternative health options. I’ll approach these subjects from the point of view of a journalist, reporting on farms I’ve visited and topics I’ve been reading about. I’d like to be clear about the fact that I am a layperson with wide-ranging interests in these topics and not a doctor, nutritionist, or healer.
My first topic is the Weston A. Price Foundation and how it has helped my health. I understand that what has worked for me is not necessarily a weight loss solution for everyone. We all come from different genetics, cultural heritages, and physical experiences, and as a result each of our bodies operates in a slightly different manner.
At first, my friends looked at me incredulously when I explained how I lost 50 pounds by incorporating the principles of the Weston A. Price Foundation. The ingredient that did it for me was fat — lots of fat! Like most people coming of age in the 1970s I learned about the new USDA food pyramid and the need to eat less meat, dairy, and fat. I took this seriously, as my mother had always kept abreast of health trends, listening to Carlton Fredericks and Adele Davis on the radio. My siblings and I were probably the only children who went to school after a breakfast of orange juice and brewer’s yeast. Fortunately, the niacin flush wore off just as I arrived at school.
Fast forward past high school, college, marriage, kids, and a career. By the time I retired in April 2014 I was physically exhausted from raising children, coping with a really stressful career spent mostly in front of computers in dark rooms, and a commute that took occasionally more than two hours on the return trip. I was way overweight, exhausted, and my preference during non-work days was to read in bed. Somehow over the years when initially I tried to make healthy food choices I stopped reading labels and bought food primarily for convenience. I found myself looking forward to meals and snacks as replacements for fun and over time began to crave sugar and then fat alternately.
Once I got those cravings, it got to be an addiction. My drugs of choice were potato chips followed by ice cream. No matter how each day I resolved to skip the grocery store, by the time I finished work I could not resist. At the time I knew I had a problem but did not know how to resolve it. For quite a few years I was convinced that I just lacked willpower. [Read more…]
PHOTO: Before the Thaw
Photographer/artist Gertraud Fendler took this shot just before last week’s warm spell arrived. In the distance is one of the ships dredging the Cape Charles Harbor. (March 16, 2015 edition)
PHOTO: These Snow Birds Just Won’t Chicken Out
(Photo: Karen Davis, United Poultry Concerns)
United Poultry Concerns founder Karen Davis submitted this week’s snow photo, featuring three of her sanctuary birds. “We got hit with lots of snow this winter, but our sanctuary birds have braved the elements with fortitude and good cheer,” she reports. “Some of the white hens in these photos were flown by private jet from California battery cages in 2013 following their rescue by Animal Place, yet here they are, tramping about in winter wonderland in Machipongo, Virginia!” (Published March 9, 2015)
PHOTO ESSAY: The House at 113 Tazewell
Geraldine Richardson Scott was born in this house 93 years ago. She revisited it recently with her daughter, Nancy Phillips, and son John Scott. (Photos: Kim Abod)
By BILL NEVILLE
Cape Charles Historical Society
March 9, 2015
This is the story of the family that built the house at 113 Tazewell, and a glimpse of what life was like in Cape Charles in the early part of the 20th century when Geraldine Richardson’s parents raised their three children there. The house was built in 1914 by C.H. Legg, a building contractor in Cape Charles who also was busy laying some of the sidewalks in town. (He marked his work by leaving metal plates stamped with his name. Some still remain today.)
Geraldine Richardson Scott
This story begins with a late summer encounter when Sarah Kepple was visiting Cape Charles and wanted to see the house where her grandmother Geraldine Richardson Scott was born and grew up. The last time she had seen the house it was in great dis- repair and appeared abandoned, so she was happily surprised to see the house completely renovated including a nicely designed addition.
She called her to let her know about the amazing transition. Grandma said, “You should go knock on the door and tell them that your great-grandparents built this house.” So she did. The person who happened to be in the house was Missy, the sister of part time resident Kim Abod, who along with husband Craig bought and renovated the house.
Through a series of emails and phone calls, arrangements were made, and on November 7, a spry and witty Geraldine, now 93 years old and living in Norfolk, returned with two of her children, Nancy Phillips and John Scott, to the home where she was born in 1921. [Read more…]
Oyster Farm at Kings Creek Launches Operations
March 4, 2015
When the Wave broke the news that Aqua Restaurant was being renamed The Oyster Farm at Kings Creek, the story quickly became the most read of the year. Everyone was interested to hear about the changes — although the majority of commenters turned thumbs down on the new name. Now the restaurant has launched, heralded by the magnificent photo above. CLICK for the Oyster Farm website, which includes new menus for the renamed restaurant.
PHOTOS
Oyster Harbor Frozen; Sock Monkey Unperturbed
Submissions to our FROZEN FOTOS this week come from Craig Richardson (top), who with the aid of his quadcopter unmanned aerial vehicle captured an iced-in Oyster harbor. Meanwhile, Ken Dufty reported that “Our sock monkey didn’t have to go to school today. He was so happy, he snuck out into the snow to take a ride on his snow horse. Never underestimate the joy that lives within a sock monkey.” (March 2, 2015)
BEACH PHOTOS: The Agony and the Ecstasy
Reader submissions on the coldest, snowiest week of the year include the stark reality of the Cape Charles beach, documented by Frank Wendell, and a fantasy of sugarplums dancing through the head of Gertraud Fendler and her Photoshop. (Published February 23, 2015)
PHOTO: (Not) Sittin’ on the Dock of the Bay
Intrepid photographer Gertraud Fendler documents how the Bay looked yesterday (Sunday, February 15) at 15 degrees in the morning with wind gusts up to 50 mph. An icicle-covered bench will have to wait a long time for a customer.
