If you haven’t noticed, I’ve been a little less present over the last couple of weeks. (And there is indeed a good chance that you have not - no self deprecation here, just a fact of the information parking lot that is the Internet these days.) I generally try to swing by daily the many blogs I follow to not only learn a thing or two, but to hopefully contribute something meaningful. I also try to reply to the great comments that I receive on the pieces I write, but the last couple of weeks, well, not so much. I’ve been working to restore my regular features of this site, including the Friday recipe, but I’ve missed at least two now, yet again. I say regular, but it has become what folks in software often refer to as vaporware - the feature sounds great, but it seems to be mysteriously missing in the end.

As most writers who use a blog as their platform know, keeping up with your site is truly a labor of love. As much as we would all like to be working full time on the subjects for which we’re passionate, when it comes down to it, most of us are expressing our thoughts for one reason: To Be Heard. I’d love to say that Almost Fit is providing a healthy meal ticket for my two children and getting that whole college education fund thing all wrapped up in short order, but at best Almost Fit pays for itself right now, and the occasional geekish new domain name registration for some other random project that sounds good in a moment of Bourbon-driven inspiration.

The thing is, I’m good with that. The Bourbon. Read the rest of this entry »

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Welcome to Almost Fit. This is part 3 of a series on High Fructose Corn Syrup, and includes the second set of ten reasons why I avoid it. Part 1 was On High Fructose Corn Syrup and Weapons of Mass Destruction. Part 2 was 5 Reasons Why I Avoid High Fructose Corn Syrup. If you enjoy this article, please consider sharing it with a vote on Digg or StumbleUpon. Thanks.

In the previous article, “5 Reasons Why I Avoid High Fructose Corn Syrup“, I described at length the first five out of ten reasons why I don’t believe a word from the Corn Refiners Association (CRA), much less their expensive ad campaign to try to convince consumers that high fructose corn syrup (HFCS) is actually good for you. Although they may succeed in that attempt, in my opinion, the campaign is really designed to accomplish something bigger: confuse the public into a state of inaction. And unfortunately, it’s working. I have read more comments across the Web and heard, even from my own family members, more expressions of confusion over the subject than I possibly ever have.

I guess that’s what you get when you spend $30 Million dollars on an ad campaign.

Although my budget is eh, slightly less, my hope is that this series, alongside the many others on the Web (many of which are much more concise, for what it’s worth), will help folks to see through the thin veil that the CRA has dropped over common sense. Read the rest of this entry »

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Editor’s note: Welcome to Almost Fit. This post is this week’s Friday Fit recipe. The idea is to try “real food” recipes that can be prepared on the weekend. Of course, each recipe can also be prepared during the week (that’s when I’m trying it), but with the hectic schedules of most, a recipe might be easier to try on the weekend when work is generally less of a factor. If you enjoy this article, please consider subscribing to my feed. Thanks.

In case you haven’t guessed from the title of this post, I have a very long and fragmented relationship with beets that has always teetered between love(occasionally) and hate (mostly), good and evil, starvation-if-that’s-all-there-is and, well, ok-I’ll-try-it-again-but-I-KNOW-I-won’t-like-it. I have never been a beet fan; I mean it’s pretty amusing from a geek standpoint that eating beets does all kinds of weird things to color your vital organs and their perfunctory processes (as in the next morning, groggily shouting, “HOLY CRAP! Why am I bleeding internally?!? Oh. Nevermind.”), but other than that, I’ve always felt that beets taste rather like, well, dirt.

Who knew I would develop a taste for dirt?
Read the rest of this entry »

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Welcome to Almost Fit. Almost Fit focuses on improving your health by eating real food in moderation. If you enjoy this post, please consider subscribing. It’s free, as always. Thanks.

One of my goals with Almost Fit is to demonstrate that you don’t have to be a world-class chef to improve your health by eating quality meals at home. Neither my wife nor I have been through culinary training of any kind, but we do possess a passion for food, a desire to learn, and a spirit of adventure when it comes to what we eat. To me, those are the simple prerequisites to learning how to cook. You don’t have to be an Iron Chef to prepare meaningful, tasty dishes that you aren’t embarrassed to share with friends. Well, unless you hang out with Mario Batali, in which case you might want to have a culinary spotter when you prepare supper. Read the rest of this entry »

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Can somebody PLEASE tell me what the FDA is smokin’?

We all know that plastics used in bottles and cans were recently implicated as very clear risk factors for infants and young children, but a new study that was published today in the Journal of the American Medical Association suggests that adults may also be at risk - big surprise.

While the health concern certainly gets me to think twice about using that Nalgene bottle, I have to say that my thoughts really do soar into the upper levels of outrage when I start to think about this. Why? Simple [RANT WARNING]: Read the rest of this entry »

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Welcome to Almost Fit. This is a guest post from Erin at FitBottomedGirls.com. As scandalous as their site name may sound (OK I admit it, I’m talking to my parents here - really - I read it for the articles) their site is great for inspiration, always conveys information with a great sense of humor, and is an excellent resource for all things fitness. After all, any site where the slogan is, “Keeping a lid on the junk in the trunk” can’t be all bad. :)

My dog does yoga all the time. Her favorite poses are Downward Dog and Upward Dog. Predictable, no? It wasn’t until I started practicing yoga regularly that it really struck me as funny: my little pug, doing yoga. She’s much better at yoga than I am. She makes Down Dog look easy, but after all, she “invented” the pose, so you’d expect her to be a natural. Plus, she’s not holding it for minutes like I do. And I assume her hamstrings aren’t as tight as mine. I’m not sure dogs even have hamstrings.

One evening after a stressful day of work, I pulled out my yoga mat to do one of my old faithful Rodney Yee videos, an FBG fave. I gave the pug a bone so I could clear my mind and get my deep stretches without doggie distractions. My Zen didn’t last for long. As I focused on a transition from Staff pose to Cobbler’s pose, I heard a slight retching sound. She’d thrown up all over my yoga mat, destroying my theory about her love for yoga.

Since that episode, she’s never thrown up on my yoga mat again, so I’m assuming her yoga aversion was a one-time occurrence. Nowadays, she’s all up in my yoga business. She camps out under my Downward Dog, licks my leg during Warrior poses, and jumps over my legs during Cobra. She doesn’t discriminate. You name the pose, she’s in on the action.

I’m sure she’d love these new dog yoga classes that seem to be popping up. I’m not so sure that she would stay within the boundaries of the mat to really clear her mind and practice yoga, though. And it wouldn’t be relaxing for me. Instead, I’d probably be in a twisty pose while she ran off to practice Inappropriate Sniffing pose or Stealing Yoga Wedge pose or Running Demon pose. For now, I think we’ll stick to home yoga. At least then, when she pukes on a mat, I know it’s mine. 

Thanks Erin - I think it may be the first time that the word, “pukes,” has appeared on Almost Fit. Good going. In all seriousness, September is National Yoga Month - and worth your consideration. I am not a yoga enthusiast (yogist? Yogameister?) yet, but my wife is, and she loves it. She may convert me yet. But in the mean time while you hold your breath waiting for that to happen, check out FitBottomedGirls.com - it’s well worth the visit. And it’s safe for work.

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Welcome to Almost Fit. Almost Fit focuses on improving your health by eating real food in moderation. This post is a continuation of the series of photographs of What We Eat. If you enjoy this post, please consider subscribing. Thanks.

Supper, summer

• Grilled Oregon Albacore Tuna with leftover homemade Beschamel sauce
• Cippolini onions and fresh green beans (CSA, Farmer’s Market)
• Fingerling potatoes (CSA)

I love this photo for one personal reason: growing up, when we ate green beans, they typically came from a can. I really didn’t discover how great fresh green beans can be until adulthood, I think mostly because my palate has changed over the last few years. 

We have been spending every evening outdoors if at all possible knowing that summer is winding down. I have no doubt that there are already queues of clouds forming in the deepest nether regions of the Pacific, but it’s kind of a taboo thing to think about in early September. Summer in the Pacific Northwest is hard to beat, and when it is accompanied by fresh, local food, there are few simple things that are more enjoyable on a perfect September evening. 

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Welcome to Almost Fit. This is part 2 of a series on High Fructose Corn Syrup, and includes the first five of ten reasons why I avoid it. This series has been brewing for a long time, but it is in part being offered as a response to the nationwide ad campaign in favor of using HFCS (You can find some of the commercials on YouTube). If you enjoy this article, please consider sharing it with a vote on Digg or StumbleUpon. Thanks.

Despite the Corn Refiners Association’s $30 million dollar attempt to suggest that we poor unintelligent consumers are simply confused about the wonderful benefits of a diet that is rich in high fructose corn syrup (HFCS), I still find their benevolent story hard to, ahem, swallow. I guess you could say that I’m not drinking the Kool-Aid. The suggestion that it is our own dimwitted ignorance that causes some of us to avoid HFCS, and that the big government-subsidized businesses associated with corn refining really only have OUR best interests at heart by adding a chemically-produced sweetener to our foods, is insulting at best.

Before I get into it, here’s my disclosure: Although I like to think from time to time that my ever-expanding forehead is thanks to excessive cerebral exercise and fits of right brain vs. left brain blindfolded fire-juggling mental ping-pong matches, I will confess:

I am not a rocket scientist (in the literal, or figurative, sense - but don’t tell my younger sisters I actually admitted it) - so don’t take my word for it. I am also not a physician, or a nutritionist. These are my conclusions, but your mileage may vary. Thus, my suggestion is very clear: Read about it for yourself and make your own decisions.

BUT, to me, that is the best part, because in my opinion, you don’t have to be a scientist, nutritionist, physician, or politician (I jest) to see through the murky veil that the CRA is casting. All you need is a little common sense, to take responsibility for what you eat, and an ability to read at a 5th grade level. Toss in a little discernment when you watch expensive television ads, and you can find the truth.

Because as you might have noticed, and as one reader pointed out in the comments in part 1, the novel notion of “truth in advertising” is very much dead.

[Pause, take a breath. Resume.]

On with the show. Read the rest of this entry »

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Welcome to Almost Fit. This is part one in a series on my opinion on High Fructose Corn Syrup. I’ve broken it into three parts, with the next two focusing on the specifics. If you enjoy this article, please consider subscribing to Almost Fit. It is free, as always. Thanks.

There are very few things that I avoid more consciously these days than High Fructose Corn Syrup (HFCS). And despite what you may have been led to believe recently by a gigantic ad campaign, people like me do not make this choice out of ignorance as a consumer.

As you have likely seen, the Corn Refiners Association is in full swing on a huge ad campaign to restore the broken faith of the American public in the benefits of using HFCS in our collective diet. In one ad, the CRA suggests that there are not solid reasons for avoiding it - in fact, it is kind of, well, what all the healthy, cool kids drink. The Mother who avoids HFCS is portrayed as far less informed (she is made to look like the fool, actually) than the Mother who happily feeds her children HFCS-laced products. In fact, the Mother who avoids HFCS for her kids has nothing better to say then, “….um….nice shirt?”

What are not mentioned in the ads are, well any real facts at all. Things like the minor detail that HFCS is not considered safe, even by the food producers themselves, for infants. Though from anything I’ve been able to find, they won’t say exactly why. Or that HFCS, not just fructose, has recently been linked to increased rates of obesity and diabetes, yet again.

Is it any surprise that the Corn Refiners Association and Big Tobacco are related through their PR companies and strategists?

So what is the truth about HFCS? And what are the solid answers surrounding why I think it should be listed next to industrially produced trans fats as something we should avoid? Read the rest of this entry »

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Welcome to Almost Fit. Almost Fit focuses on improving your health by eating real food in moderation. If you enjoy this post, please consider subscribing. It’s free, as always. Thanks.

[Ed. UPDATE: For some reason comments were turned off when this posted this morning. My apologies - I’ve turned them on as I’d love to hear your thoughts. Ah, the meeting of technology and fumbling digits…]

In my evening travels from one blog to the next, I find myself perpetually returning to Andrew’s blog (AndrewIsGettingFit.com). Andrew describes in vivid, technicolor detail his successes and failures on his quest to change his health, for good. Today Andrew posted a question to his readers. He said:

“For those of you who run, maybe you could share some of the things you love about running in the comments or on your blogs?”

I thought it was an appropriate question, given that today I went for a run when I would have loved to have skipped it. I forced myself out the door, and did it anyway. It was the right choice. Read the rest of this entry »

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