Wednesday, October 15, 2008

How do you like it buttered?

I had an epiphany. Everyone does. You come to a sense of clarity similar to how the good Dr. Luke described the Apostle Paul, the scales have fallen from your eyes. Something that was always right in front of you becomes seen as if it was for the first time. I'll never forget.

I've never really been what I consider to be fat, but I have been overweight. Even when I've felt good the body mass index number told me a different story. Losing weight was never difficult for me until I hurt my back falling backward off of a retaining wall only to be cushioned by blackberry bushes. With limited movement and pain, I gained weight.

I've been eating very sensibly for about ten months and I've lost 22 pounds. Don't applaud, it hasn't been that hard. Mild activity, a little more sleep and eating sensibly have done it. Back to my epiphany.

I was eating breakfast at a new diner that opened up the street. The waiter was a friendly, jolly guy...and by jolly I hope you understand that I mean fat. I don't have anything bad to say about him so don't look for fat jokes here. He was a great waiter...oh and I think he owned the place.

I noticed that when he brought toast to my table it was thoroughly buttered. It has always bothered me to get toast and see only a small wet spot in the middle. I was always taught to butter to the edges. When he came to my table I complimented him on his buttering expertise and his response pricked my heart:

"Thanks, I butter it the way I like it."

I didn't eat all of the toast. I realized that I liked it the way he liked it and if I dared to finish the toast I would have to show up to work in stretchy sweat pants like he did.

I grew up poor and I think that contributed to a lack of discipline with eating. There were no opportunities to overeat growing up so I ate whatever there was. Today I count calories with no apologies and I eat with purpose. I actually enjoy what I eat much more and have energy in parts of my life that were missing since I was eighteen.

I have more exciting epiphanies in my life but none that match this one for simplicity. So tell me figuratively, how do you like it buttered?

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

this is where i fail. where you were able to stop eating the toast, i eat it all and promise myself later that i'm going to run 5 miles. sadly portion control is where i am lacking!

speaking of butter, i never was a huge butter fan until i discovered land o lakes *light* spreadable butter. it is delicious and very spreadable. slap it on a toasted wheat english muffin and it's fantastic for breakfast. i even like the taste of the light butter better than "regular" so i highly recommend the light over regular. trust me.

Esther said...

I butter the whole piece of toast, but with a very thin layer of butter. Not that it matters, I've always been tiny.

Tracy said...

Well Esther...according to yoru picture you're barely a half-inch tall. Tiny indeed.

Lynda - in the green container? I picked up some for my mom a couple of weeks ago. To make it spreadable they add ground up kittens to the butter...that's what I heard anyway

Tracy said...

Yoru is an archaic olde-English word of course. So old that John Wycliffe struck it from his early texts and dismissed it as "too stuffy".

Aside from my clever lie my comment should be corrected to read "...according to your picture..."

Anonymous said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Anonymous said...

argh, blogger doesn't let me delete my comments. wrong pic. i'm done commenting on blogs now due to my lack of proofreading skills.

Gino said...

my toast is always buttered with garlic butter, prior to toasting.
all the way to the edges.
and thick.

try it.
great with eggs.

but use a toaster oven. less messy.

chenchy said...

butter on toast? ick.
I take a bit of good ole peanut butter.

Esther said...

Okay, Captain Obvious. You didn't have to point out how tall I am to everyone out there. Don't you think I hear about my height enough?