Love Affair with Oranges

My sister-in-law and I were conversing using Facebook Chat a while back. We only live about fifteen minutes from each other, so using the chat program may seem a little peculiar. This has come about because our schedules are so different.

She was telling me to double up on vitamin C because of all the colds and flu going around. This may be especially true in her case as she takes care of her grandchildren each day after they get out of school. However, in my world, there aren’t any grandchildren, at least not yet. Moreover, because of other issues, I rarely go any place. I doubt that I am exposed to very much in the way of germs.

Nevertheless, I didn’t tell her I didn’t need the advice. After all, her heart was in the right place whether her brain was or not. In addition, I had been on a kick of eating oranges for the past month or so, and am still going at it strong. I told my sister-in-law that I would be careful and told her about my fetish for oranges.

At present, my intake of oranges is two or three each day.

 

Why Oranges?

From what I have heard and seen, most people go for the Chex Mix, potato chips, and even pastries when they want a snack. I never go for the pastries, but every once in a while I like that salty taste myself. Yet, what soothes my desire to munch is something that tastes sweet, but doesn’t make me feel as though I have swallowed a bowling ball.

The last part of winter produces such sweet oranges. They aren’t always that juicy at this time, but for me that’s a plus. I enjoy eating them as I watch movies on TV. Without the abundance of juice, I don’t have to worry about any spills.

Here’s something that a few of you may not know about oranges: It takes more calories from your body to digest the orange than what is in the orange itself. There isn’t any way that eating an orange is going to make you feel stuffed. For me, it does take away any hunger I’ve been feeling, although I can’t expect this feeling to last more than an hour to an hour and a half. That’s usually just enough time before the next meal is being prepared.

 

My History with Oranges

Early History

When I was small, still in elementary school, my stomach wouldn’t hold very much from a meal. For instance, when my mother would take my little brother and me to McDonald’s for a hamburger and French fries with a soft drink, I couldn’t eat a whole regular hamburger. And forget the fries. I was full.

Because my system acted this way, I rarely could go without anything in between meals. Depending on how close it was to the next meal time, my mother would give me a piece of fruit. Our household was on a strict budget so ‘fruit’ meant apples and oranges. (I know apples aren’t all that cheap, but they have so many purposes.) If it was going to be two hours or more before the next meal, I was given an apple. They fill me up even to this day. If the time was shorter, I got the orange.

 

Later History

Despite the fact that I have never been able to eat very much at one sitting, I can’t remember a time when someone wasn’t saying something about my weight. You know the remarks. “You’re just pleasantly plump.” “It’s just baby fat. It comes off eventually.” Grrr! However, I always held my tongue. After all, the people saying these things were trying to make me feel better.

During my years in elementary school, I rode my bike. I wasn’t allowed to go very far though. Yes, my parents were a little over-protective. However, once I got in to junior high school (now called middle school), they loosened the reigns a little.

I started riding my bike during the summer months to a park that was five miles away. I would get up early and be out on the road by 7:00am. I would usually be back within two hours. Sometimes it took a little longer because of morning traffic on the one main thoroughfare I would have to cross.

Of course, by the time I got back, I’d be hungry. I always went straight for an orange. I did lose a little weight during those summers. Just not enough so that there was a big difference to show at school in the fall. Such is life.

 

Stuff at the End

There were some years when I went straight for the chips and cookies in between meals. To this day, I haven’t a clue as to why I did that because those kinds of snacks just made me feel sluggish and tired. The whole point of having a snack is to get the hungry feeling to vanish until the next meal. Wouldn’t you agree that the snack should, therefore, give you a boost?

I promote oranges as a snack food. However, there are those who can’t eat such acidity food. To those people, I suggest bananas. They do have calories that you keep, but the potassium in they will give you energy. If a banana sounds a little too heavy, go for the good old apple. They make me feel full.

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1st image: miggslives || 2nd image: Mike Chernucha

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