In Texas Eating Whole Wheat Israeli Matzah & Hummus While Getting A History Lesson About Moses

I think I've mentioned, before, my unexplained weight gain and my quest for an explanation. Not enough exercise? Cut back in swimming due to cold water? Too much cheese? Too much Hummus? It's been a mystery.

And the mystery continues as I continue to puff up, rapidly approaching my all-time record, at the same time I think I've amped up the exercise and cut back on the eating.

Well, there was that fried chicken and pizza on Easter.

My new theory that explains the unexplained weight gain, thus making it explainable, is that it is Don Young's fault. Fort Worth's #1 Watchdog pointed me to a store I'd not heard of before.

Town Talk.

At Town Talk I find all sorts of exotic food items I don't find elsewhere, at ridiculously cheap prices. So, I've found myself buying big portions of Tennessee BBQ Pulled Pork. All sorts of imported cheeses. Sausage Kolaches. Coconut Shrimp. And Hummus.

For awhile I've thought my Hummus addiction might be the source of the unexplained weight gain. But today I read an article, on the Fox News website, that pretty much makes the case that Hummus is an ultra-health food.

Israel is Hummus Central. In Israel Hummus is like peanut butter is in America, like Nutella is in Europe or Vegemite in Australia.

I have no idea what Nutella or Vegemite is.

Hummus is in 95% of Israeli homes, with almost every restaurant serving the stuff up as an appetizer, I suppose much like Mexican restaurants in America, with the bowl of chips and salsa.

Hummus' zinc, folate and protein make it a great after workout snack. Chickpeas are high in fiber, garlic has a cholesterol lowering effect. The Hummus I get at Town Talk is the version with roasted red peppers part of the mix, hence even more nutritious.

Hummus consumption in America has gone up 35% in the past 21 months, with people discovering it makes a good mayo substitute, that it is good over chicken or fish and is a tasty replacement for sour cream on a baked potato.

I like it over brown basmati rice.

About a week ago I discovered Whole Wheat Israeli Matzah at Town Talk. Three boxes for a dollar. Made in Israel. The only ingredient is Whole Wheat Flour. I thought this is going to taste like cardboard. I was wrong. The Israeli Matzah is very tasty dipped in Hummus.

The packaging on the Israeli Matzah is interesting. Click on the thumbnail and you'll see what I mean.

The back of the package tells the story of something called The Exodus, where this guy names Moses was the leader of a bunch of Israelites enslaved by an Egyptian Pharaoh. Moses asked the mean Pharaoh to set his people free. The Pharaoh said no. This caused God to unleash a bunch of plagues, which eventually caused the Pharaoh to give in, but then change his mind and chase after the escaping Israelis, who wandered around the desert for 40 years til God gave Moses Ten Commandments and some other instructions as to how to start up the new nation of Israel.

Fascinating reading on a cracker box.

Waddling In Arlington's Veterans Park On A Balmy Tuesday In Texas

As you can it is a beautiful blue sky winter Tuesday in Texas today.

75 degrees, windows open.

Sunday and Monday, rain prevented, well, made unpleasant, trying to do anything outdoors. I think all this bad weather caused sloth is part of what may be behind my out of control weight gain. I think I mentioned earlier today, or maybe it was yesterday, that I've blimped up to 210.

So, today I was in Arlington, which meant it was convenient to waddle my hefty girth on the trails in Veterans Park. I need to do a lot of waddling to melt away these extra 40 pounds I'm lugging around.

I need to lose all this lard before it's swimming season and I'm out in public in a swimming suit. This morning in I was in a swimming suit and swimming, but I was not out in public, as in, no one saw me looking like a bleached white beached whale. With all this added adipose tissue I'm thinking I likely am able to float quite easily. Maybe I'll give that a try in the morning.

All the extra insulative adipose tissue may be what makes it so easy to get into cold water.

Anyway, I am having a happy day. I'm a very simple person and it does not take much to make me happy. Blue sky usually is all it takes.

I Am A Fat Tub Of Texas Lard So I Went Swimming In The Snow This Morning

There is still a lot of snow whiting up the place, Saturday morning, in Texas. I decided, last night, that nothing was going to stop me from my regular early morning routine, Saturday morning, and nothing did.

I learned this morning that walking barefoot on snow is not an unpleasant sensation.

It is currently 33. It was 32 when I went swimming. It is foggy out there. How can there be fog when the air is freezing? Shouldn't those fog droplets freeze and fall to the ground?

I was appalled this morning to have the scale tell me I've reached a new high with this mysterious weight gain problem I've been having. My new high is 206. When I was last in Washington, summer of 2008, I recollect aggravating some of my aggravating female relatives by remarking I weighed less than any adult Jones' girl. At that point I weighed about 175.

I probably still weigh less than any adult Jones' girl, at 206, now that I'm thinking about it.

I figure at my height and activity level I need about 3,000 calories a day. To gain a pound one must consume 2,000 calories above ones caloric needs. I can't figure out how I am adding sufficient calories to account for the weight gain. It's very perplexing.

I have eye witnessed an extremely obese person's feeding habits with it no mystery why the person was so huge. I have none of those bad habits. I don't like candy. I don't do desserts. I don't slather butter on various edibles. I don't gobble down a half gallon of ice cream. I don't particularly care for ice cream. I rarely eat fried food. I don't even eat dinner. My only big feeding of the day is lunch and that is not all that big.

Anyway, I'm very perplexed about turning into a big tub of lard without being able to find the lard, no gut, no fat butt, no man boobs, no double chin. Where is the weight? Maybe I've grown taller. I should find a tape measure and see if that's the answer.

On a totally unrelated note, the Temporary Scrabble Queen of Hawaii seems to have gone missing. I've not gotten a daily update torturing me with tales of being too HOT and snorkeling and having fish tacos, for several days.

I Am Excited To Go To Hummusland Even Though Hummus Is Making Me Fat

I don't remember if I've mentioned one of my recent conundrums, that being my inexplicable weight gain. As in the past few months I have steadily been heavier each time I step on the scale.

I thought maybe the greatly reduced amount of swimming time was the culprit. And less other type exercise, due to the weather restrictions imposed by this bad Texas winter we are currently having.

I'm not an over eater. I'm a bit of a health food nut, sort of. Have been that way for decades. I rarely eat in restaurants. I don't like candy. I don't even eat dinner, at night I just have a healthy snack.

So, what is causing the weight gain? I'm almost 100% certain it's not all added muscle. I have not had clothes fitting tighter. I can easily get into my skinny jeans that I could not easily get into before I moved to Texas. I just realized, those are old jeans.

Anyway, this morning I was trying to think of anything I've done different the past few months. I realized I've consumed massive quantities of hummus. But that's pretty much a health food, garbanzos, roasted red peppers, garlic, lemon, tahini, onion, other good stuff.

This morning I Googled to find out the caloric count for hummus. Over 400 calories a cup? It is easy to eat 2 cups of the stuff. That is not sufficient calories to explain the weight gain. My research continues.

In the meantime, Googling hummus brought up something really bizarre.

After Lebanon won the Guinness World Record for the largest plate of hummus, the Israeli Ministry of Tourism announced plans to win the record back by building a massive hummus themed resort and spa in an area called Shebaa Farms in a disputed 12 mile strip of land on the border of Israel and Lebanon.

Hummusland will have a huge Lagoon filled with hummus, in which Hummusland visitors will be able to swim, ride canoes and take in the rejuvenating powers of the anti-oxidizing pulverized garbanzos.

The Hummusland Lagoon will also have a wave pool, a creek, waterfalls and a shark reef. All filled with hummus.

Are sharks going to be happy swimming in hummus? I can't help but wonder.

The director of the Hummusland project, Amos Cohen, says, “The total volume of hummus that is pumped through the park each day will exceed a million cubic meters. This will make the Lebanese 2,506 kilogram dish seem like a joke. Our kiddie pool alone will have twenty times that much hummus in it.”

Cohen says there are plans to add other Israeli dishes, like zaatar, couscous, shawarma and falafel, to the park's attractions. Falafel Mountain is currently under development. This will be a roller coaster which tunnels inside a giant Falafel, as big as a football stadium.

I don't know about these Israelis. Hummusland sounds like something nutty I'd read here about some kooky Texas plan, like Bearfire Resort.

I forgot to mention, that is an artist's rendering of an overview of Hummusland at the top.