Over the weekend we went to visit our friends at Ma Petite Maison in Port Orford, Oregon (I wrote previously about their beautiful place here: “A Taste of France on the Oregon Coast“). Port Orford is a tiny town with about 1100 people, no stop lights, a handful of restaurants, and a lot of virtually empty beachfront. It’s an exceptional spot to visit if you want peace, quiet, long uninterrupted walks on the beach, and more than just a little local quirkiness.

Port Orford has it’s share of 4th of July weekend activities not unlike most places: a morning parade of local groups ranging from muscle cars and fire trucks to a family of 4-wheelers with kids dressed in camouflage shooting high-powered squirt guns (I was not aware that this was a symbol of patriotism, but I now know better); a man who wakes the town each year by driving a truck around with loudspeakers attached, proclaiming, “GOOOOOOOOD MORNING PORT ORFORD. SEVEN AM ON YET ANOTHER BEAUTIFUL FOURTH OF JULY!”; A craft fair and quilting exhibition; a pretty good fireworks display, and a variety of weekend food-related activities.

I decided to get up early with my almost-6-yr-old and take him to a pancake feed that was being presented at the community center. I didn’t think much about the food that would be available; I was more interested in doing something just as father and son, since his little sister being a feisty 3-yr-old often grabs much of the family’s attention.

When we arrived, we stood in line for a while waiting for the food, stomachs rumbling and my son hopping on one foot from time to time. I eavesdropped that the griddles were not getting very hot, and thus the wait – but folks didn’t seem to mind. Eventually we were handed our Styrofoam plates which laid the foundation for pancakes, scrambled eggs, and a slice or two of ham. From all appearances, this is a reasonable meal – unless you are a 5-yr-old in Real Food training.

I should pause for a moment to mention that our kids are not at all picky eaters. My son will eat almost anything, although he doesn’t care for mashed potatoes for some reason. He eats any kind of salad, beets, broccoli, fish, all cheeses including goat cheese and feta – and loves to try any hot sauce that I have, no matter how hot. We don’t cook separate meals for our kids; they eat what we eat (and yes, we count ourselves lucky).

After we sat down, I put the standard pat of mostly-frozen butter on my son’s pancakes, added a little syrup, and cut up a few pancake bites for him. The pancakes were what you might expect from a “pancake feed”; certainly made from water and generic pancake mix (consisting of a lot of I-don’t-wanna’-know-but-I’m-eating-it-anyway ingredients), and cooked completely through. On the other hand, the syrup was, to be honest, pretty awful. It was the cheapest you can get, and tasted like what I imagine burnt corn syrup and food coloring with a motor oil chaser tastes like. Not so good. It was incredibly sweet however – In fact I thought to myself, “ya know, if you just want ultra-sweet and can ignore the chemical aftertaste, this stuff is just the thing.” And lest I sound like a total snob here (oh who am I kidding), let me just say that nobody of any economic strata should eat that syrup, although I suspect it does keep dentists in business.

After a few minutes of eating, my son put his spork down and looked up at me.

“Dad…” he said quietly and with crinkled nose, “…Do you…like…the eggs?”

“They’re OK. A little undercooked I’d say.” The eggs were clearly “egg product” out of a carton – something he’s really never had before.

“Dad, I don’t like them. Maybe they need salt.”

He shook a little salt from the shaker onto the eggs, took a bite, and made a face like he was eating salty cooked dirt (probably the face he saw when I ate the syrup). At this point I noticed that he was right – these runny scrambled eggs were not only undercooked, but had almost no flavor at all. I added salt too.

He moved on to the ham.

He put the 4-inch medallion of glazed ham on his spork and started eating around the edges. I took a bite from my ham too and noticed that it was incredibly sweet – at home we eat a fair amount of pork that we buy from a local farmer, but never canned or honey-glazed from the grocery store.

Without saying a word, he looked at it as if examining a new species of pink floppy tropical fish that he had just caught on an improvised spear, and before I could stop him he removed the ham and chucked it like a Frisbee several feet across the end of the table and into the Rubbermaid 40-gallon garbage can. This is certainly not behavior that I endorse, but it was all I could do not to laugh. He was right – the meat was questionable at best compared to the  pork he’s used to.

Finally, he dug into the pancakes. After 5 or 6 bites, he said, “Dad…I think I’m getting a stomach-egg…” – That’s stomach ache, for those not familiar with the vernacular. Stomach egg indeed.

“You don’t have to finish. Let’s get going.”

We cleaned up our spot, dropped the remains in the trash, and headed to the car. My son settled into his booster seat, buckled up, and looked out the window.

“Dad?”

“Yes?”

“I’m hungry.”

UPDATE: One little bit to clear up: Despite my attempt at some levity here, to be clear I am tremendously grateful for the work that is accomplished by the organization that put on the event. I deliberately left their name out of the piece originally because I didn’t want to offend, but turning it to the positive I think some good can come of mentioning the details. Specifically, thank you to the Rotary Club of Port Orford who generously put on this event and according to their President, Rick Francona, has “awarded almost $100,000 in scholarships through fundraisers just like this one.” Thank you, and my sincere apologies to any readers who found this offensive – that was far from the intent. (Maybe next time I’ll just bring my own syrup and keep my trap shut (see there I go again with the humor thing). )

Taking it a step further, I strongly and sincerely recommend donating to your local and national Rotary Club, or even better, volunteering – they are a secular, volunteer-run organization that does immensely good work globally. Here’s a link to their national Contribute page: http://www.rotary.org/EN/CONTRIBUTE/Pages/ridefault.aspx. From their site: “Since 1947, Rotarians have contributed more than US$2.4 billion to The Rotary Foundation to help Rotary do good in the world.”

Consider donating, won’t you?

Thanks for reading Almost Fit.

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The good news is I have used the break to work on some new pieces that I’m excited about. At this point they are little more than a pile of notes and a lot of ideas, but hopefully they will be something that you’ll be interested in reading, and if I’m lucky, sharing your thoughts on as well.

On the personal health side, my weight has been reasonably stable; I have gained back a few pounds since my last post, but I am not too worried about it. Don’t get me wrong – I’m not thrilled about it; but I’m ready to get back to business, and am very pleased that I’m still 15 lbs lighter than I was at the start of the year.

On the plus side I’ve started a new simple exercise habit that seems to be sticking, all based on keeping my laundry in order. What does laundry have to do with weight loss? I’ll get to that in a future post.

On the real food side, this is the time of year when things start to get easier food-wise in the Pacific Northwest. Every week that goes by in my neck of the woods, more and more farmers markets come back to life; more fruits and vegetables start their journey from the soil to my plate , and the sun starts to make the acquisition of vitamin D much, much easier. All in all this is a great time of year, and I am really, really ready for a break from the winter doldrums.

One last thing: My little family has had a slight change: we find ourselves with a few additions to our house…Nine of them in fact. We’ve adopted a small troop of baby chickens. The chicks are about 4 weeks old now, and are one of the things that has kept me a little busy lately (though truth be told my wife has done most of the work – though I am building a chicken coop this weekend). The goal with the chicks is to eventually harvest eggs, which is a staple in our house. If you are interested in keeping chickens feel free to drop me a note, as I have a few online resources that have been helpful. And tips are very welcome.

All in all, things are on the upswing. Thanks for continuing to read Almost Fit, even if the posts have been few and far between over the last couple of months. Good things are coming. Thank you as always.

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Equally as important, with the new decade upon us it’s time to set a few goals, and start knocking those pins down, one at a time if I have to.

The Good

On the positive side, I’ve done one thing really well: I’ve maintained steady income for a year – though the impact on my diet hasn’t been so great. For some this idea of having a consistent income is an assumed fact of life, but for many of us it is far from assured. Along the lines of work I’ve also greatly downsized the number of side projects that I was pursuing at the beginning of the year (in January of last year I had 9 personal, full-time projects/business beginnings – and was coming up short on all of them). Taking a quick mental inventory I’m down to 3 enjoyable part-time projects, including Almost Fit.

This is progress.

Another positive includes dramatically improving my cooking and prep skills (in my opinion at least); my wife and best friend is an excellent cook, and I’ve been under her culinary wing for a few years now. I feel that in the last 6 months I’ve really started to develop stronger culinary instincts – meaning I pair food together better, I cook more efficiently, I burn or overcook food much less often, and have good ideas on how to improve a dish I’m cooking by taste. I’m getting to know the flavor profiles of foods and seasonings much better, and I have a clearer understanding of herbs and spices that balance flavors.

These advances in cooking have made cooking at home that much more enjoyable. Of course, it also makes overindulgence a bit too easy at times, but I’ll get to that in a minute.

Other positives (that are no less important) include keeping up with my ever-changing children – solving problems and setting them up for success (no small feat); remodeling my wife’s painting studio from bare bones to finished product (finishing this weekend); several small family vacations; and I’ve greatly improving my photography skills and knowledge – as well as starting a new project on the subject.

The Bad

On the negative side (and again, I’ll keep this brief), I have lost a lot of ground in both eating habits and general fitness. Cardiovascular training has been a rare, rare thing over the past 6 months, and resistance training of any sort, be it basic calisthenics or light weight training has been nearly non-existent. Food-wise it’s not much better – although we still eat the best quality we can afford, the expense is increasing because I’m eating too much of that food. Moderation has been lost at sea for a while now, drifting along aimlessly in a leaky life raft with regular exercise, both waiting to be rescued by a passing motivation freighter.

I’ve got an encyclopedia set full of excuses ranging from a sprained ankle in October to excessive work hours and stress, but in the end it comes down to the choices I’m making. The old “taking personal responsibility” saw was never more appropriate. (For you kids who don’t remember what an encyclopedia is – think of printing out all of Wikipedia and putting it in a set of leather-bound books. Yeah, weird – I know.)

The Determined

For 2010, I’m renewing my efforts to take charge of my health. I don’t really like “New Year’s Resolutions” – for me they are just associated with failure to keep those resolutions a month later. Rather, I like the idea of taking the opportunity to set and evaluate long range goals for the year (with a tip of the hat to J.D. at GetRichSlowly on the subject of goals vs. resolutions), or as I like to think of them, goals for a new decade.

However, I also believe that while long range goals are key, you’re only going to get there with short term, reachable objectives. At my day job we actually account for every 24 hour period (we use SCRUM methodology, for my fellow time management geeks out there). I find the daily meetings a bit tedious/unnecessary, but it does keep the ball rolling. For me, I’m going to use a bit of a hybrid approach. I am not inclined to manage my personal time by the hour; but I know that having a big goal will do me no good if I don’t map out the route to get there.

I’ll talk more about the specifics of the approach I’m adopting in a post in the near future, but for now here are a couple of my “big” health and fitness goals for the year.

Year goal: Complete at least one major running event this year. I’m still defining this goal by researching upcoming events in my area, but I will make a choice this month. I may shoot for the Portland marathon, or possibly Seattle, or who knows – Maui? And I should add it may not even be a full marathon – it may be a 1/2, or even a handful of 10k races. I want to push myself, but with a few recent injuries I don’t want enthusiasm to take me out of the running (pun intended). Stay tuned.

Sub-goal: Beat my aversion to running in the Oregon rain. Although we do have a treadmill, I really enjoy getting outside for exercise. I find it much more rewarding on multiple levels. However, when it comes to running in the rain I’m a bit of a baby. In an upcoming post I’ll outline my strategy for this, but in the meantime suggestions are welcome. I’ve already had a handful of suggestions from folks on Twitter, so keep them coming.

Milestone for January: Return to running 3 miles 3 times per week, with one 5 mile run by the end of January. Very do-able, and besides, our new 1-yr-old pup needs the exercise .

Year goal: Lose 75 lbs this year – and if I lose it early, keep it off. I am risking a lot by adding this goal, but I think that this is the year to make it happen. How will I get there? You guessed it – a future post will describe the path. Hint: Real food in moderation will be an integral part of it, but I’m expanding my horizons this year to combine moderation principles with a few dietary ideas that intrigue me, from whole food-based carb reduction to moderate, intermittent fasting. More to come.

Milestone for January: Lose 10 lbs this month through portion reduction and regular exercise. The first 10 are the easiest for me, so I’m shooting for a reasonable goal.

Year goal: Start writing at least one meaningful post per week for Almost Fit. By the end of 2010 I should have at least 52 new entries, and hopefully more. I may “cheat” a little by allowing a few guest posts, but I’ve accepted that as within the boundaries of the goal. Writing regularly for Almost Fit is important for me because of one word: Accountability. That has helped me to stay on track in the past, and I expect no less this time.

Milestone for January: you guessed it – 5 Almost Fit posts. One down. Victory starts today.

I’m in

Those are the three core goals I’m shooting for this year. I may add one or two as I complete my personal annual review, but for now I know these are the ones that are at the top of my list. A few other goals (some more loosely defined than others) include getting outside with my kids more, continuing my daily posting of iPhone photos at LintLife.com (my new site and one of my part-time side projects), improving my programming skills to make me more efficient at work, starting to produce artwork again, and finishing some music that has been on the back burner for way too long.

In other words, I’ve got a lot to do this year, but all good things.

I have a feeling that 2010 is going to be a very good year.

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“Why’s that?”

“Because I have two paper airplanes.”

It seems that I have a thing or two to learn from my soon-to-be 5 year-old, especially lately. I love paper airplanes as much as the next geek, but his simple statement resonated with me on a slightly deeper level – and hopefully woke me up a little. Let me explain.

[Warning: I'm about to get a little waxy and slightly philosophical here. You might want to change the channel for a few minutes if this sort of thing makes you squeamish or, well, bored out of your mind.]

Like most people these days, I have a lot going on. You probably do too. To me, the name of the game in an economy like this is one word: Hustle. I don’t mean card tricks, shell games, or a ’70s dance craze; I mean if you want to find some sense of financial stability, you’ve got to keep moving forward no matter what. If you stand still for too long, the world will pass you by. I’m currently very fortunate to have a great contract for which I’m very grateful, but it means I often work long hours in front of multiple computer screens. Along with that, I have several side projects on the Web, not including this one; I write for a community blog here in Portland; I am an amateur musician trying to take music seriously; I do design work on the side occasionally; provide ongoing Web support services to a non-profit arts org.; I have a book in the works (who doesn’t?); and the list goes on.

But clearly, there is nothing of greater importance than the care and energy that I direct toward my home relationships. Specifically, my amazing wife and my beautiful children. And I imagine that I should include myself in that mix. In a sense, it is a task at times to maintain a “relationship” with myself, keeping (or seeking) a vision of who I am now, and who I want to be. Of course, that concept of having a “relationship” with myself is a little flawed I think; it’s better to actually be me than to have conversations with myself over who I want to be. (I’m not crazy. Are you crazy? Nope, me neither.)

Perhaps I’ve said too much.

At any rate, my son’s insightful words reminded me that I’ve got to focus more on being happy with what I accomplish each day, and less on the things I haven’t finished, or the things that I’ve let slip, or the things I wish I would have started already. As many readers of Almost Fit have commented, sometimes I spend a little too much time being hard on myself about what I haven’t done, or how things have regressed from time to time, and I think that’s a fair assessment. How much better it is to look at each day as it’s own set of challenges and rewards, putting less emphasis on the history of successes and failures, and more on this question:

What am I doing TODAY?

Rather than falling into a self-defeating cycle of obsessing over what I haven’t been doing food and exercise-wise, I think the right answer is found in a familiar old song from the ’30s – I think a lot of us say these words internally, but today, I’m saying them to you.

“Nothing is impossible, for I have found, when my chin is on the ground, I pick myself up, dust myself off, and start all over again.”- from the 1936 classic film, Swing Time, starring Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers

It’s cliché without question, but ya know what? There’s truth in it, and it’s what I’m doing today. Here’s the clip:

Click here to view the embedded video.

What am I doing today? I’m finishing this post, making time to play with my kids, work out, and then going on a quiet date night with the love of my life. Sounds like a pretty good day to me.

What are you doing today?

[UPDATE: Just a quick P.S.: Apologies for the misspelling of "Astaire". I corrected it shortly after the post went out in email...Ah dang. ]

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My son is with my wife at a swordsmanship demonstration, over which his 4-yr-old imagination has been going bonkers since yesterday.

Last summer I wrote about Ma Petite Maison in Port Orford, Oregon (A Taste of France on the Oregon Coast), and the sense of transcendence that I felt during those warm days. We’ve returned for a brief holiday along with our friends J and G, who are the owners of the duplex, and the place is true to memory. Port Orford is notoriously windy; but it also has much more sun than towns only an hour north. We’ve been enjoying the sun, relaxing in the small town atmosphere, and generally taking a break from the rigors of work and school.

Returning to this place always reminds me of Joie de Vivre, which in turn leads to thoughts of, what else, food. Actually, come to think of it, I can relate just about anything to food, but this place in particular is so reminiscent of France that I can’t help but think about what we’re going to eat next. Yesterday we ate a heavier breakfast – I actually had fresh eggs Benedict, which is not a staple for me by any stretch but was a great vacation treat. With such a bold breakfast under our belts, we more or less skipped lunch in favor of snacking a bit throughout the day on fruit and nuts.

After a walk through Prehistoric Gardens, we finished the day with a great dinner of fresh halibut, a reasonable, shared portion of quality steak, grilled vegetables, and a little fresh bread. We also complimented the meal with a great Tempranillo made by a winery a few hours from here. For dessert, a small touch of vanilla ice cream along with sliced grilled peaches.

There may also have been a craft beer or two consumed as part of the grilling duties carried on by the fathers of the house. But we’re on vacation, so what else can you do?

For tonight’s dinner, slow roasted rosemary chicken and vegetables, a scent that is filling the house as I write.

Over the last few months it’s become clear that one component of healthful living that I’ve been neglecting is deliberate relaxation. I seem to have  a hard time setting projects down, whether it’s my work, music, art, or writing. Although I imagine this isn’t universally true, for me I have great moments of clarity at the beach, whether it’s walking along the shore, sitting quietly, or building something out of found objects. Currently, my health is heavily on my mind – everything from needing life insurance coverage to finding the mental tools I need to really stay on track with a diet and exercise plan. The beach is a great place to contemplate both the important and the trivial.

Today, resting both with my family and alone in my own thoughts for a while on the beach, I realized that exactly what I was doing in that moment – taking time out of the day for solitude – is a key component that I let slip all too often.

Over the coming days I’ll be writing a bit about where I’m at diet and exercise-wise this week, and some interesting developments that have occurred over the last few days. But in the meantime, I have some relaxing and playing with the kids to do.

More to come.

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Ed. note: This entry is about working toward lifelong dietary goals by eating real food in moderation. The list of techniques will change over time, but this is where I’m starting from. This is actually an update from an article I wrote a little over a year ago, including my observations, corrections, and a handful of new ideas. Your constructive feedback is always appreciated. If this is your first time here and you enjoy this article, please consider subscribing via RSS. Thanks.

“Action Feeds Motivation.”

This thought occurred to me as I finished my first run of the year today, in the rain and wind. Yes, you read correctly: my FIRST, as best I can recall. As many readers have noticed, I’ve been a little scarce lately. I’ll write another post soon with my theories (and a few personal facts) on why that has been so, but for now I thought it was more important to simply do something about it. And as it turns out, that phrase, “Action Feeds Motivation” is going to be one of my recurrent themes for Almost Fit in 2009.

A year ago I was fully motivated to pursue these techniques. I didn’t need a whole lot of inspiration; I was ready to go. Over the last few months however, I haven’t been “feeling it” like I was. That tide however, is changing. So in an effort to really rekindle that fire I decided to review some of what I wrote a year ago to try to learn from my successes and mistakes, which is one of the great side-effects of writing your thoughts down in a public format like this one. For this analysis, I came back to one of my all-time favorite posts: 33 tips on how to lose weight without dieting, and one that I now think, after a year of trying out this approach to eating, needs a little revision.

As regular readers know, my focus here on Almost Fit is to do one simple thing: Eat Real Food in Moderation. No low fat this or low carb that; just real, whole foods in moderate amounts. As simple as the statement is, the principle is much harder to apply, particularly if you live in what I think of as a culture of excess. Most of us have come to accept as normal the gigantic, oversized meals that are available at every restaurant you go to, and on every food commercial or ad you encounter. We’ve confused quantity with value, and we’ve also convinced ourselves that the cost of food should be minimal – meaning it’s common to think that we simply can’t afford to eat better. I disagree; however, applying it on a daily basis is a lot like trying to light a candle in a hurricane.

In the 2008 article, I stated:

“I don’t believe that moderation in itself is the answer; eating moderate amounts of garbage still means you’re eating garbage. If I eat real food, in moderation, I am convinced that the weight will come off naturally. Changing my diet to focus on vegetables first, and then moderate amounts of high quality meat, grains, and dairy, makes sense to me. And so far, its working with little or no negative side effects including the emotional struggle that I associate with every diet I’ve ever tried, and I haven’t had to buy a single pre-packaged plan or frozen low fat dinner to do it.”

I still very much stand by these statements, and my diet and current condition is living proof. And that’s because I’m now thin, right?

Not quite yet.

In the last year I’ve managed to prove these principles from both angles – “success” in a sense, and “less than stellar” as well; I still contend that it’s not smart to view diet habits in a pass/fail context. No, I definitely proved that it does work; but lately I’ve also proven that if you take your eye off the ball for a while, the reverse is also true. We still eat well; the problem is the idea of eating vegetables first has succumbed to carb-heavy eating habits, particularly in the Winter months when our garden isn’t producing anything other than Leeks. There is plenty of room in my diet for carbs, proteins, sugars, and fats, but they need to be very secondary to vegetables as the bulk of what I eat. When I achieve that balance and combine it with reasonable exercise, Real Food in Moderation simply works.

However, when carbs, fats, and sugars begin to dominate my diet, all hell breaks loose when I step on the scale.

With that in mind, this article is intended to revisit my thoughts from a year ago, and provide new insight where it applies. And to be frank, this is somewhat self-serving; I’m putting my axiom to the test, and taking action to generate motivation.

Let the games begin.

33 Scratch that – 44 Weight Loss Tips for 2009

1. “Eat real food.” This principle is at its core, simply true – my opinion has not changed after a year of testing this out. Every day I am increasingly convinced that our poor, industrially-driven dietary habits particularly in the West are largely responsible for most of the bigger health maladies we suffer today. Real food means to me minimally processed, preferably non-packaged foods. “Good” is organic at the grocery store; “Better” is organically grown (even if not certified) from a local farmer who you can look in the eye and ask intelligent questions; and “Best” is growing your own, right in that patch of ground that used to be your front yard.

2. “Eat smaller portions of real food.” As I’ve pointed out many times before, portion size in the West is out of control. And contrary to what we are told all the time, eating more of someone’s industrial product is NOT what’s best for us – It benefits the seller, but that’s about it.

3. “Eat slower. Take at least 20 minutes for every meal. One of the best tips I’ve read on this is to divide the amount of food on your plate into fourths, and then eat only 1/4 of it each 5 minutes that passes. After a while I’ve found that you do this by nature once you get used to it.” 2009 observation: I am going to do this tonight in fact. This is one area that has really eluded me in the last few months, but I know that it works.

4. Technique: put your fork down between bites. This is another habit that is easy to let go, as I have proved over the last 6 months. Time for an adjustment.

5. Use smaller plates, cups, and utensils. No change here; still applies in 2009.

6. Cut between meal snacking – using some smart techniques. This is one of those areas that still holds true, and if you play it right can actually be a benefit of a sagging economy. Rather than throwing in that $5 dollar iced coffee drink during the morning and afternoon lull, save the money and go with the following: First, try a glass of water. Second, if that doesn’t stop the craving, a small piece of the best dark chocolate you can afford. Third, if that doesn’t work, try a small, pre-rationed handful of almonds. If I follow these steps in order, I’m generally fine for another couple of hours.

7. When you’re eating out, skip the appetizer. This rule still holds true. With the portion size of a typical entree, there is simply no need for “frontloading” your meal with unneccesary calories. On the other hand, if you want the appetizer, order it – as your meal. But if I do, I sometimes tip a little better if possible, only because my bill will be less as a result of my food choice and the server will appreciate the good will. It’s not a rule really, but it feels right for me.

8. Limit certain types of foods to a few times a month. This is one aspect that is more true now than ever, particularly with our current economic state. While I don’t apply this to fruits and vegetables, I certainly do for meat consumption. In addition to the health benefits of a diet rich in vegetables, eating better cuts of non-industrial meat is not only healthier, but more feasible financially when you eat it less frequently. And despite what those beef industry commercials suggest, not everyone has steak 3 meals a day.

9. Be aware of how much you are putting in your mouth, and keep it small. Smaller bites, savoring each one. Sounds simple enough. And, still true.

10. Understand what it means to be not quite full, and be OK with that. I don’t believe that I’ve done an article yet on Hari Hachi Bu (the art of eating until you’re 80% full), but that is soon to come I hope. What are my observations on this now? It is undoubtedly difficult. And it becomes a true mental game, where we often hear that little voice in our head that says, “But I LIKE to eat a lot”. It’s difficult to overcome that voice, but it’s possible. On this, more to come.

11. Don’t eat in front of the television. This technique has really worked for me this year, and I stand by it. That said, I do watch Top Chef while enjoying a very small dish of the best quality ice cream I can afford. The biggest trick here is not eating it straight from the container – which is deadly to the waistline when you combine it with the distraction of television. If you’re going to watch while you eat, serve a small portion away from the television. Savor it; eat it slowly; and don’t go back for more.

12. Don’t eat in front of the computer. See the previous tip – the same applies. 2009 observation: As was the case in 2008, this is still my biggest weakness. In fact, I’ve let the “emergency nuts snack” get out of control on this one – I have a jar of nuts on my desk as we speak. I’ve got to change that.

There. Done.

13. Whenever possible, eat together as a family. This is still true in my mind, however there’s one big challenge for me. Having two small children, I spend more of my focus on what they’re eating and less than on what I’m eating. I’m looking for suggestions on this one, but I still maintain it’s a good principle not only for dietary health, but for familial emotional health as well.

14. Whenever possible, in addition to your family, take your meals with friends and coworkers. We have been moderately successful at this one, but I have found that it is easy to overeat in these situations as well. I think ultimately you can truly appreciate the food more in the company of others, but it requires diligence to not get carried away.

15. “Read the ingredients list of anything in a package, but pay less attention to the statistics. The general rule should be to strive to eat things that don’t require ingredients lists, like fruits and vegetables. But in real life, this is not always practical. That being said, the key is to focus on the contents, not the scientific descriptions. You should try to eat only things that are easily identifiable as real food, not chemically processed substitutes. If you focus on eating only real food, and in moderation, the other elements become less important (unless you suffer with food allergies of course). The emphasis should be on real food and less of it, not counting milligrams of any one element.” 2009: More true now than ever.

16. Use real sugar, preferably raw, even if only trace amounts of it. Don’t use chemical substitutes. Again, for 2009, this rule holds absolutely true. I just spent a year NOT consuming chemical sweeteners, and I didn’t suffer in the least. Actually, I do have one amendment to this: I now prefer Agave syrup for most sweetening. Agave is a great sweetener, and requires very little refining. It’s also a great substitute for simple syrup for the occasional mixed drink.

17. “Eat fat – but only eat real, high quality fats. [...] the key is moderation – if you eat a pound of Brie, you’ve gone to the dark side.” 2009 observations: I still strongly feel this is accurate. However, with one caveat: Fats, specifically great-tasting ones like real cheeses, are difficult to control on the moderation front. But my theory is the French succeed here because it’s awfully difficult to eat the stinkiest of cheeses. For practical purposes, take what you want from the block of cheese, and then put it away. This helps to prevent “nibbling” on the cheese left out on the counter.

18. Don’t rely on supplements – eat the real thing first, and supplement what you need. 2009? Still true, with one bit of advice: If you do take supplements, make sure they are not synthetic. For a great resource on the subject, see my fellow writer Robin’s blog, here: http://realnutritionsupplement.blogspot.com/.

19. Focus on the reasons you are overeating, and address those first. in 2009 I did a fair bit of work here, but even after a year of self-analysis, I still have yet to control my emotional eating patterns effectively. 2009 may be the year that I seek professional help with emotionally-driven overeating, which I believe is at the heart of most of my struggles with weight.

20. Don’t eat fast food if at all possible – its not real food. This has been a great success for me, with one small exception: In Oregon and parts of Washington, we have a restaurant chain called Burgerville, which uses organic, grass-fed, locally grown products whenever possible. The bigger problem of course is it tastes really, really good. So it’s a little too easy to justify a stop at Burgerville on somewhat shaky “ethical” grounds. Granted, it’s not very often that we go here, but to be honest it’s more than it should be. This needs to change.

21. Avoid vending machines. Still true in 2009. If you work in an office or a building near these machines, it requires a small amount of planning ahead, but this is entirely possible, and entirely the correct choice.

22. “Don’t believe the “no pain no gain” philosophy. Regardless of what your gym coach told you, or what that aggressive personal trainer says, unless your goal is to be a body builder or a professional athlete, if you are practicing moderation, this philosophy is simply not true. In order to maintain health, eating should not be difficult. Exercise should be a pleasure, not a struggle. For those of us who simply want good health, if its painful, you’re not doing it right.”

In 2009, my opinion? Despite some disagreement among readers, I still stand by this statement. While pain can be a useful tool, I don’t think it’s strictly necessary. That said, there ought to be some “burn” going on; it just doesn’t have to be as painful as most “gung ho” advocates indicate. Let the disagreement begin.

23. Don’t apply the “if its not hard its not worth doing” philosophy to eating. 2009: Still true. This statement stemmed from a “diet counselor” who was clearly bitter in her feelings about diet. “Do you like Caesar Salad?” she asked. I replied, “Uh, yes I do…” She said, “Well get used to the idea that you’ll have to give that up. If you want to lose weight, forget eating Caesar salad again.” That diet, of course, didn’t work. And hopefully my embittered “counselor” moved on to a new career, perhaps in Credit Collection.

24. Learn to cook. Over the last year this has become, its fair to say, an obsession. My wife and I are systematically working our way through Julia Child’s Mastering the Art of French Cooking. I truly think this is key, particularly if you want to wean yourself from the industrial food products that many of us are used to.

25. Educate yourself on the diets of cultures that live longer and are generally in better health. 100% true. I would add only that if possible, it’s best to go visit those cultures, which we hope to pursue further in the coming years.

26. Reduce your coffee size to enjoy real cream – not “creamer”. I absolutely believe this is true, but I must admit: working at home as I do, it is terribly easy to “overdo” it by drinking coffee throughout the day. In 2009, I am considering eliminating coffee in favor of Yerba Mate tea, which I also enjoy, and for which I don’t need cream.

27. If you are a coffee drinker, develop an appreciation for espresso. I am hopeful that in 2009 we’ll be able to pick up a quality espresso machine. I am a little particular on this and have my eyes set on one that I of course cannot afford, but with some planning and saving hopefully we’ll be able to pick one up sometime soon without breaking out a credit card.

28. Avoid packaged juices. Juice is one of my biggest weaknesses, because it feeds my inate and powerful sweet tooth. I find that when I drink juice, I stimulate sugar cravings terribly for the rest of the day. I really try to limit juice intake, even going as far as asking my wife to refrain from keeping it in the house. That said, there are a few juices that I do enjoy on occasion, including pomegranate juice from POM. I like the flavor, and it’s expensive enough that I rarely can justify the expense – a built-in moderation feature.

29. Buy the best food you can afford. After a year of doing this, I have to say that it is the most important aspect in my opinion of eating in moderation. A food budget is a balancing act. For the more expensive cheeses that we buy, we have reduced our coffee and packaged foods (we still eat a few) budget. This year we will continue to grow our own produce, which also reduces the overall cost of food for us especially with a family of four. I am hopeful that this year we will have a better handle on our food budget (and our budget in general) – once I find out exactly how much we’re spending, I’ll share the information.

30. Retrain yourself away from the “breakfast is the most important meal of the day” mindset. 2009: THIS one, I think needs a little correction. After reading many, many arguments in favor of eating breakfast, I think I missed the mark on this one in some ways. My original reasoning was that if you overeat at breakfast, you’ll just overeat later. I still think that is true; however, I took it to the extreme and started skipping breakfast altogether, which is a big mistake. I am not entirely convinced of the metabolic reasons yet only because I think this is a matter of conditioning (considering the lack of heavy breakfast in many “lighter” cultures); however I am sure that if I reach lunchtime and am starving, I make bad choices. Better to start out with a whole, light breakfast, than to skip it only to be desperate for anything to eat later.

31. Eat at regular times. This is still true, though I am admittedly not good at it. I tend to eat breakfast sometime in mid-morning, lunch somewhere in mid-afternoon, and dinner at a regular time. I think this is one of my problems, and I need to work on a better morning and afternoon eating schedule.

32. Keep junk food out of the house. To me, this one is obviously true for 90% of us. If you are one of the lucky few who don’t have this weakness, good for you. But for me, this is a necessity.

33. Don’t be in a big rush to lose the weight. This is for me, in the top 3 lessons that carry the most, ahem, weight. I lost 25 lbs or so last year, which is what I would have shot for in a month on some of the crazy diets I’ve tried. Rather, I’m very happy with those results. This is a lifelong process of health improvement; not to mention, it took me 37 years to get to this point. It’s madness to think it will turn around, permanently, overnight.

NEW FOR 2009:

34. Skip the afternoon snack – in favor of afternoon tea. I think our friends across the pond have this correct – afternoon tea time seems to me to be a great idea. I did this today in fact, and it satisfied my slight hunger until dinner. Give it a try. Make the tea time an opportunity to sit quietly and contemplate where you’re at. Enjoy the moment – be present for your life, which will be one of the themes this year for Almost Fit.

35. Focus on broadening your tastes in food. There are so many cultures that eat incredibly healthy foods, often out of necessity. Broadening your taste can lead to tremendous, healthful discoveries. This is something that we are also passing on to our children, who these days will eat pretty much anything – a fact for which I am convinced is at least in part due to exposure.

36. Develop a better understanding of the ethics of food. Foods as they are presented by the food industry are just nice, tasty products that we shouldn’t worry our pretty little heads about – just trust the food industry and surely we won’t go wrong. Unfortunately, this is why we have an obesity epidemic, and quite bluntly, family tragedy from things like poisoned peanut butter – our misplaced trust in a) the marketers to tell us what we should eat, and b) the government to look out for us. Neither is even close to a good source of information on what we feed ourselves and our kids, as they always have an agenda that puts consumers squarely in the last position.

37. Use tools, like social media, to your advantage. I am an active Twitter user and have been for some time. One of the benefits? I follow a number of great health bloggers, inspirational/motivational writers, and generally just good people. I find great inspiration and motivation in their suggestions throughout the day. One great example is a Twitter user I follow posts “nudges” throughout the day to remind followers to get up and move around a bit, or grab a glass of water. This is useful for me, particularly working by myself.

38. Be careful with the calories in wine. I have found that surprise surprise – when one glass of wine at dinner is good, two glasses is often a little better. It’s easy to overdo it – not in an alcohol/sobriety sense necessarily (though that is certainly a reasonable concern), but in the unwanted calories in particular. One glass is usually all I need; I just need to remember that especially after a hard day.

39. Consider (as in think about) trying moderate fasting. Many, many cultures use fasting as part of their dietary regime. I am currently fascinated with this, and plan on trying it sometime this year as an Almost Fit documented experiment. But for me, it is fasting moderately; I don’t intend to go more than a day on a fast. But it’s definitely something I think may have health benefits beyond weight loss.

40. If you make enough for leftovers, pack the leftovers first. When you make a meal, before you serve it, set aside the leftover quantity you intend to eat the next day. I’ve read this tip in numerous places, and it really both makes sense, and works.

41. When possible, only bring to the table what you plan to eat. For me, if the bowl of pasta is on the table, it’s much easier to eat more than I need. If I serve myself in the kitchen, it’s one step more difficult to overeat on seconds.

42. Find the stress relievers that work for you – other than food. With the economy in the current state of disrepair, this for me is of critical importance. I will be exploring this over the coming year on Almost Fit, and welcome suggestions.

43. Don’t go to bed too late. This one is one of my most difficult habits to break, but one I’m set on accomplishing this year. When I stay up late, I eat more. Simple as that. If I go to bed early and rise early, I rarely eat much if anything before breakfast. This may be different for you, but I have a feeling that late night work sessions, or #afterhours as we say on Twitter, are not great for a healthful diet.

44. Action Feeds Motivation. I think the best thing you can do on the weight loss front is simple: get up and do something about it. It sounds simple, but I know for me, I spent an awful lot of time trying to find motivation to exercise, often with mediocre results. This year, I’m hoping to turn this on it’s head on a personal level – rather than waiting to be motivated to do something physical, I’m going to focus on getting up and doing it as a means of creating motivation. It’s a subtle distinction, but one that I feel is worth making. My intention is to feature great sources of motivation that focus on taking small, immediate actions that you can do with minimal planning. Plans are great. But action is what is always needed if you want to get anywhere.

Thank you for reading. Here’s to another great year of working together. Your comments and suggestions are, as always welcome and maybe more importantly, appreciated.

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“OK, let’s see. What made me happy today was drinking hot chocolate with Jonah and his Mama after sledding.”

“OK Mom, now your turn.”

“What made me happy was…well Dad stole my idea, but I’m going to say getting to sleep in a little today on a Sunday morning.”

“OK my turn: My favorite part was…Dad can I have the same favorite part as you?”

We’ve begun a new tradition in our house.

Of Tequila and Artichokes

For whatever reason we don’t really seem to have many family traditions; Neither of us have a lot of “extra” things that we simply have to do regularly out of a sense of duty, solely because that is what one does under the circumstances. We have definite habits, patterns, and schedules, but the vast majority of the time we’re not conscious of daily, annual, or seasonal out of the ordinary traditions that we look forward to. Having just passed through the holiday season, it is pretty clear that many families have a lot of food-related traditions, which come in every shape and quantity imaginable, but it’s also equally clear that many of us have lost those traditions.

I would say my wife’s family has a few traditions that we honor; when they get together my wife’s siblings and their Mother truly enjoy sharing a steamed artichoke together, which reminds them of times gone by when sharing an artichoke was an extravagance. And in times of either joy or sorrow, a shot of tequila is their family drink – a tradition that as an inlaw (or, “Outlaw” as we’re collectively named) I apparently heartily embrace.

You’ll eat it – and you’ll like it…at least you better

So what happened to the importance of family traditions? Are many of us just too busy to make time for them anymore? I think the “time” excuse is the most common among folks I’ve asked. But if you think about it, we’ve developed much of the framework of modern life to surround convenience, all so we can, “save time for the things we really want to do”. So why don’t we do those things?

The simplest answer is we don’t, because we don’t have to. Families seem more fragmented and independent than ever, and family traditions seem to be a casualty of being more easily removed from one another. Somewhere along the way many of us have lost the desire to carry traditions forward, even when we have the means or time to do so. It used to be that religious involvement was the medium for the passing of traditions, but these days even those traditions are often pretty easy to dismiss as a young person, too busy to bother with what Grandma thinks is the “right” thing to do.

I guess one straightforward question to ask is, why is it important? Why should I care about whether or not my sister-in-law made her Jello-Pretzel salad again at this year’s reunion? Wait – this fruit cake is How old???

Ultimately, I think carrying on a family tradition is valuable for one simple reason: a family tradition reminds us of the importance of, well, family. It emphasizes the necessity of togetherness, spending time in person, face to face, in the company of our “people”. For us, we of course have extended family, and adopted family members, and all points in between when we get together. When family assembles, there’s almost guaranteed to be a lot of hugging and laughter, and equally likely a disagreement or two. It wouldn’t be the same without a little friction at times I suppose.

But on a more daily level, I think family traditions are important too. Many of those simple daily traditions, particularly the ones surrounding food, have gone by the wayside as the television has taken over. Eating a meal together at the table is less and less common, and daily family traditions are hardly the subject of conversation on Facebook, Twitter, or Digg.

Our new tradition

In our house, we’ve made the conscious decision to create a new family tradition that emphasizes the simple importance of slowing down and reflecting on the day and talking to each other about what we experienced. Here’s how it goes:

My son gets the salt shaker and he usually begins. It’s very simple; holding the salt shaker as a symbol of who has the attention, he announces what part of the day made him happy. In his case, he always says, “My favorite part was…” which is something he’s picked up at pre-school, but ultimately our tradition is to take time each day to express to the family the part of the day that made us happy. After he recites his choice, he chooses who goes next, and the salt shaker is passed.

It’s a simple tradition, but one that our 4-year-old son absolutely loves. He gets to very clearly be the center of attention for a few moments at dinner, and he glows when he does. But more than that, he sees that we all share the same patterns, and that he is part of us as a whole. He also learns to focus on the positive parts of his day, I believe because he’s seeing his parents do so. It also makes him feel like he is part of something bigger, which is not often talked about in our culture but I think is fundamental as humans. I hope that he carries it forward to his kids, in whatever form makes sense at the time.

And while I may be focusing on what our 4-year-old gets out of it, as adults my wife and I get something out of it as well: It reminds us to reduce our life’s velocity, eat slower, savor the experience of eating a meal together, and remember that we did indeed have positive things that occurred throughout the day. Our family’s tradition of getting the salt shaker helps us to stay grounded, to see the good in each other, and to remember that life is not about the speed with which one passes through it.

From a diet perspective, slowing down and savoring what you eat is one of the core principles of Almost Fit. In this case our new tradition is not some revolutionary diet hack; it’s a simple tool to add to the variety of approaches that remind me to eat slower, remember the good in the day, and give my loved ones my undivided attention over a meal.

As it’s been said many times before, In many ways, and maybe no greater so than with traditions of food and family, the journey is indeed the destination.

Thanks for reading.

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Since I’ve started making all of our own bread, having bread dough around has meant that pizza has become a staple for us. The great thing about homemade pizza is you are in control of the ingredients, meaning that you can eat very well using the pizza “format” for your meal.

Throwing a handful of fresh ingredients on homemade dough is not only simple, it is something everyone should know how to do. From start to finish, this meal takes no longer than ordering the delivery of an industrially produced pizza that generally includes ingredients that you can’t verify as being real food. At least, in my long, prior history of ordering pizza delivery, I do not believe I’ve ever asked the person who answers the phone whether their pepperoni has nitrates, which should probably be the least of my concerns.

In talking over dinner and evaluating the meal, my wife and I figure that in the last 6 months I’ve probably made over 100 pizzas at home, often as dinner for friends. The keys to this are the bread dough recipe from Artisan Breads in Five Minutes a Day, and a decent baking stone. That’s truly it. I generally make 2-3 smaller pizzas per meal, 1 for the kids (though I enjoy it too), and one that is a little more on the experimental side. I’ve made as many as 5 for one night of entertaining, serving them to guests as they came out of the oven.

For tonight’s dinner, the first pizza course was a classic tomato sauce and mozzarella pizza with artichoke hearts and olives. Believe it or not, that was the “kids” pizza; our kids love things like olives, mushrooms, and artichoke hearts – a fact that I attribute (science or not) to the fact that these elements are common in the food we eat, so our kids have developed a taste for them.

For the second pizza course, I took a few risks. Tonight’s pizza creation, the Ham and Creole Cream Cheese Pizza turned out exceptionally well – good enough that I thought I’d share it right away. Actually, given that I’ve been quiet on this site over the last couple of months (I will explain in an upcoming post), I’m going to call this December’s recipe. I’ll be returning to writing more soon, including a fresh batch of food suggestions, but for now you get pizza. There could be worse fates.

Recipe: Ham and Creole Cream Cheese Pizza

First things first: This pizza has nothing in common with low fat anything – and in my opinion, it’s probably best to let it stay that way. The key to enjoying this pizza is, as always, moderation. The richness of the ingredients makes this possible if you slow down a bit and listen to what your stomach (not your tongue) is telling you. That of course is easier said than done; but you will find that with a glass of wine and a salad, a couple of pieces will satisfy. And if after a 1/2 an hour you’re still hungry, have another piece! But if you play your cards right, you’ll have a great lunch of leftovers the following day. Or breakfast, if like me, you just can’t wait.

One other thing: The Creole cream cheese is important in this dish because it is lighter in flavor (and a different texture) than typical cream cheese. We were lucky this week because our raw milk supplier was also selling homemade Creole cream cheese, so that is where we found it. If you can’t find Creole cream cheese, Mascarpone is a good substitute, and is that much richer.

Ingredients

- Bread/Pizza dough: Either the Boule recipe or the Olive Oil recipe from Artisan Breads in 5 Minutes a Day (highly recommended)
- Creole style cream cheese
- 1 yellow onion
- Good quality ham, cut into 1/4″ strips
- Goat cheese
- Calamata olives
- Corn meal

To prepare

With the baking stone on the center rack, preheat the oven to it’s highest setting (my oven goes to 550 degrees). While the oven preheats, form an orange-sized handful of dough into a ball (see the instructions in the book on how to handle the dough effectively), and let it rest until the oven reaches temperature. While the dough rests, prepare the toppings. Slice the onion and saute the slices lightly in a combination of butter and olive oil. Remove the onions from the heat as soon as they start to turn toward translucent – meaning slightly undercook them. The onions finish cooking when they’re being baked on the pizza. Slice the ham into strips.

When the oven reaches temperature, sprinkle the work surface and the dough with flour, and then roll the flour out to a roughly 12-inch circle. (I typically roll my dough out to about 6 inches or so, and then throw it to get it thinner, and because, well, it’s fun.) The dough should be about 1/8″ thick when you’re finished, with no holes. On a bread peel or the bottom side of a flat cookie sheet, sprinkle corn meal to prevent the dough from sticking, and then lay the dough on the peel or sheet. Immediately add the cream cheese – if you wait, the dough will shrink. Sprinkle the ham, caramelized onions, and calamata olives on top of the cream cheese. Using your fingers, drop good-sized pinches of goat cheese around the surface of the pizza according to your taste.

Slide the pizza directly onto the stone and bake for 7-10 minutes. Watch the pizza carefully once you reach 7 minutes, and let it cook until the surface starts to brown.

Note: You’ll notice that I didn’t specify the quantities of some of the ingredients. That is primarily because all of the toppings should be added “to taste”. We happen to love goat cheese, so we add it liberally. I find that roughly equal amounts of onions and ham is a good measure. But experiment and see what works for you.

To Serve

Serve while it’s hot, alongside a good salad. In our case the salad was spinach and romaine, blue cheese, pears, candied pecans, and an orange muscat vinaigrette.

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• 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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• Lamb masala: Braised lamb (locally raised), zucchini, eggplant, organic garbanzo beans (canned), potatoes (CSA), chopped cipollini onions, celery, and carrots (CSA and our garden), fresh garlic (CSA), 2 cups of premade masala, 1 cup premade curry, golden raisins, garam masala spices, dania powder, whole Thai coconut milk (canned)
• Raita: Whole milk yogurt (Nancy’s), salted cucumber, cilantro (from our kitchen garden), fresh lime juice, pepper
• Salad: Greens from the garden and CSA, olives, basic balsamic vinaigrette
• Naan (store bought)
• Rice: Brown jasmine rice cooked in chicken stock and water

The highlight of this meal had to be the lamb. We’ve found that braising the lamb at high heat is the key to keeping it tender in masala or curry. This dish cooked for about an hour.

If you read the ingredients for the masala, you’ll note that we used a few cups of premade masala and curry. The reason for this was simple: to make a good masala from scratch takes time. We started dinner a little later than normal, and keep a few jars of good masala and curry around for just such occasions.

This meal was also a good value; in addition to feeding the four of us and my wife’s parents, we had leftovers for lunches for the next several days.

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