Feeding Frenzy

I'm eating a Zone Meal. It is a perfectly created meal in the exact right propotions of proteins, carbs, and fats to put me squarely in The Zone (think reverberation chamber and deep James Earl Jones type voice when saying that). Why, you ask, am I downing this swill? Well, a couple of reasons come to mind. One, it was in my pantry. Has been there for probably 3 or 4 years. It's one of those indestructible type meals that requires no refrigeration or freezing, the kind you take into Y2K with you - just in case. And now that I mention Y2K, this meal probably pre-dates Y2K. I was on The Zone Diet for a while. Both of us were. We wanted to rid our bodies of all the horrible things and get in (reverb chamber) The Zone. It became quite cumbersome to balance every meal perfectly, so I resorted to buying Zone meals. Then we went off The Zone Diet and the uneaten meals languished in the pantry. They got pushed further and further back every time I went to the grocery store. I think I finally gave several away to the Boy Scouts for one of their food drives. Heck, they're not cheap, they are nutritious, they are a complete meal - the food bank should be delighted to have them! Anyway, I realized I still have three or four in the pantry. I'm trying to eat properly, and it turns out it's sort of a "zoneish"diet that I'm following, so when I went looking for lunch makings today, and this little Zone Meal was waving its hand, jumping up and down, and saying "pick me, pick me", I decided to take a chance. So, today it's Chicken Gumbo. It's not bad, just awfully fatty. That's what I do remember about the meals. They seem fatty, or more specifically, oily. The meat is good and the black beans and corn are tasty, but the layer of orange oil that is stuck to the sides of the serving container is a bit nauseating. I'm not sure what kind of oil it is. It reminds me of dirty Dexron II ATF fluid. I think I've just lost my appetite.