“When weeding, the best way to make sure you are removing a weed and not a valuable plant is to pull on it. If it comes out of the ground easily, it is a valuable plant.” ~Author Unknown

If you’ve been to Oregon in the spring, you know that it is an unusually unpredictable time of year for weather. Granted, in every season in the Pacific Northwest there are always oddly spaced hot, cold, windy, and wet days; but spring is an especially volatile mix of late freezes, occasional heat waves, and tropical guests in the form of a warm torrential downpour. The sun teases you with 90-degree spells encouraging the optimism that summer has arrived early, suggesting that you to box up the wool overcoats and knitted scarves for the season, only to dash those hopes the next week by wrapping it’s chin in a dripping cotton beard.

In Oregon, it is not uncommon to have yesterday’s sunburned shoulders under today’s winter coat.

Although this may be frustrating in terms of wardrobe and recouping some vitamin D, the meteorological variety can do wonders for a garden. Freezes notwithstanding, a searing hot couple of days followed by a few days of clouds and rain (lather, rinse, repeat) can encourage even the most reluctant root vegetables to spring up a start or two. We’ve had just such weather this year, and the organic garden project is going crazy.

Lettuces do particularly well this time of year. Our current harvest includes spinach with leaves the size of footballs, heads of romaine, and a terrific mesclun mix. Of the few items we’re buying at the Farmer’s Market, we’ve been particularly enjoying beet greens. Beets are one of those foods for which I am still working on acquiring a taste, but I have thoroughly enjoyed the greens. Lightly cooking the greens with a vinegar base is a simple, pleasing way to develop an appreciation for what’s in season.

Our tomatoes are getting a slow start, but the strawberries in the children’s garden are already full of green berries just waiting for some heat. The sugar snap peas are also sprouting like crazy.

Beyond the garden, the weeds in the flowerbeds are insanely aggressive, some of which shoot up nearly a foot a day. Where there was winter’s pine needles and moss, there are now patches of weeds nearly three feet tall. After spending some time pulling the obvious offenders (and a few others that my wife may have wanted to keep…oops…), we’re starting to get ahead of it again, but it is a constant effort during the spring months.

We are also fortunate enough to have had the original owners of this house take great care to plant trees and bushes that flower in turn throughout springtime. Japanese maples, a fully mature silk tree, rhododendrons, and plum blossoms give the air a translucent glow and intoxicating scent, particularly in the early morning and late evening.

Although the weather can leave something to be desired when you’re trying to plan a picnic, we love living here. There are few places more beautiful, clouds, sun, and all.

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Life, these last couple of months, has been a gel-filled stress-ball’s squeeze-frenzied nightmare.

Here’s a little something about me: As I’ve said before, when the pressure is on, simple carbohydrates are my lifelong addiction buddies - the ones I hung out with when I was younger and more metabolically advantaged, and in whose company I dove head first into the shallow end of the dietary trouble pool. Simple carbs are the overly accepting old friends that I have to avoid if I want to “stay on the wagon” with real food.

Some people take a walk with Lassie to regain their center of gravity; I on the other hand, tend to take a drive to Taco Bell, hoping that they’ve finally figured out the Holy Grail of fast food: the lascivious matrimonial union of sugar, preservatives, hormones, antibiotics, and dirt-cheap meat.

Pulling around the finely crafted drive-thru arc of asphalt and concrete curb that says, enter dear friend, but know that there is but one way out, I think to myself: “What sweet and savory surprise awaits me on the shimmering ordering board this time, my old corn syrupy compadre? Is it a newly-conceived melding of steaming hot “cheese-ish” sauce, oddly and excessively chopped ground beef-like meat, and powdered jelly donuts? All wrapped in a freezer-burnt artificially-colored tortilla? Maybe I’ll be greeted by the hearty handshake of yet another Blast flavor of soda-lovin’-in-a-bucket, calling my name when I roll up to the crusty drive-thru microphone?”

I’ll go out on a limb here: If there is one place in the world that can stick just about anything into a tortilla and turn disgusting into sellable, it’s Taco Bell. Believe me.

So have I given up this whole real food thing? Am I now indulging in mystery beef bathed in succulent cheesy goo? Say it isn’t so! Read the rest of this entry »

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This article features this week’s Thursday’s Real Food resource. If you enjoy this article, please consider subscribing to Almost Fit - it’s free, as always. Thanks.

In general, my children refused to eat anything that hadn’t danced on TV.” - Erma Bombeck

The next time you go to the grocery store, take a moment to look around at the products that happily await you. Everything from paradoxically happy cows to odd, stuffed toy dough characters try to engage you in a repartee over their intrinsic value in your cart (”hmmhmm!!!”). When I look at these shiny, colorful little packages from a marketing standpoint, one big question comes to mind:

How in the world do you make your product stand out amidst tens of thousands of other products in a single 42,000 square-foot megastore?

Open the food marketer’s little black book and one big trick will come tumbling out like a fish: “Healthy!” claims are one of the most effective means of getting attention. And these days, that contentious health buzzword Organic is on just about everything that doesn’t move. I imagine someone will soon invent Organic Tires or Organic Jet Fuel. Then again, maybe I’m too late. Read the rest of this entry »

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Welcome to Almost Fit. If this is your first time here, Almost Fit is about losing weight and improving your health by doing one thing: Eating Real Food in Moderation. No low fat this or low carb that, just eating real food for health, pleasure, and satisfaction. If you enjoy this article, please consider subscribing - it’s free, as always. Thanks.

“Plant carrots in January and you’ll never have to eat carrots.” ~Author Unknown

When you start to look at common thought on organic produce, one argument repeats itself over and over again:

“I’d love to buy organic, but I can’t afford it.”

I obviously don’t know everyone’s circumstances, so I am sure that this is true for some. But I would argue that in general if you shop wisely, prioritize your money toward being mindful of the power of food as a means of preventative health care, and don’t buy a lot of processed, prepackaged foods (especially boxes of foods labeled “organic” or “heart healthy”), it can be done on the important things.

As I mentioned in the last article on the subject of organic vs. conventional produce, it is a matter of the choices you make, and in particular where you feel the risks of life are greater. Eat organic apples because you don’t trust big industry with what you feed your kids? Or buy a car with a higher payment because it has better side impact ratings? Ultimately, it’s up to you. Read the rest of this entry »

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“All sorrows are less with bread.” - Miguel de Cervantes, Don Quixote

Most of us indulge a daydream or two about leaving our job behind when work is especially frenzied. Between punching out the widgets, making the donuts (ah, pop culture metaphors), or writing about what happens when you click “OK”, I have developed my own little Proustian escape mechanism. In fact, so developed is my fantasy, that I already have the language of the company sign worked out:

Metroknow Artisan Breads - over 1 billion served.

Original, eh?

I will admit it: I am a self-described addict of truly well crafted breads. This addiction to warm, crispy, wheat flour freshness was never clearer to me than when we went to Paris, where we ate anything that smelled good (without gaining a pound, by the way). There is a lot of folklore surrounding why bread made in older European cities tastes the way it does, everything from the water not containing chlorine to the laws surrounding the purity of ingredients. I can’t say either way.

In Paris, when I had the luxury of nibbling on the heel of a freshly baked baguette or batard on the way back to the hotel, the world around me became a silent film where I walked blindly through busy crosswalks, barely missing 12 foot sheets of plate glass being carried across my path, and being followed by a handful of pigeons catching the crumbs before they were able to rest on the cobblestone alleyway. All of this happened repeatedly, magically, while I was engrossed in the warmth and aroma of a sumptuous gluten cloak.

In those moments, I could care less about the shape of another man’s peel. Read the rest of this entry »

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Thank you to the folks who have checked on where I have been over the last few days. Rather than go into the incredibly boring details, here are some photos of the meaningful portions of life (meaning the moments between feverish work). I will be returning to Almost Fit in the next day or so.

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This post is this week’s Real Food Resource, which is a weekly spotlight on books, sites, and relevant media that helps you to identify what real food is. If you enjoy this article, please consider subscribing to Almost Fit. Thanks.

Every once in a while you come across a person that is truly dedicated to helping others. Robin Plan over at Whole Food and More, in my estimation, is just such a person. Her site is this week’s Real Food Resource.

One of the reasons I frequently read Whole Food and More is because Robin is very clearly passionate about her subject matter. Whether the topic is addressing the benefits of eating avocados (remember when the low fat nutrition fad vilified avocados? Times have changed…), a recipe for a healthy cheeseburger (yes, there’s real, grass-fed beef in it), or the psychology behind the Western world’s addition to junk food, Robin’s articles are informative, well written, and enjoyable reads.

In one regard in particular, Robin’s focus is crystal clear: She is dedicated to the eradication of synthetic vitamins and the education of the public on their dangers. Read the rest of this entry »

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This article is the second part of, “Should you bother with organic fruits and vegetables?“. If you enjoy these posts, please consider sharing them through Digg, StumbleUpon, or the social media of your choice. Thanks.

In part 1 (“Should you bother with organic fruits and vegetables?“) I suggested that when it comes to the debate over organic vs. conventionally grown produce, if you are relying strictly on the moving target that is statistical evidence you are likely to be confused at best, and disillusioned at worst.

With so many loud opinions on the subject, deciphering which pieces are truthful and accurate is nearly impossible. But for me, ultimately the statistics are not making my decision. My wallet has something to do with it of course; but really it comes down to one of those Life questions. (Ughh…not one of those…)

For me, it’s a question of Risk

To state the obvious, life involves a degree of risk. You choose to accept the risk of driving a car at 70 miles an hour on the freeway. You accept the risk that the guy who is hooking up your bungee cord KNOWS that everyone lies about their weight, so he’ll shorten the rubber band for that extra 15lbs that you forgot to mention. You accept the risk that watching The Soup may actually ruin your Dancing with the Stars viewing pleasure.

We all have to choose what we’re willing to risk in our lives. So how does risk play into organic vs. conventional produce? Read the rest of this entry »

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