I am writing this note in a few moments of quiet, while my 2-yr-old daughter sleeps. I’m sitting by a picture window, with this view:

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?

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[EDITOR'S NOTE: This is a personal letter to Almost Fit readers, both long-time friends and new acquaintances. I will be posting a "Best Of" article shortly, but I think you'll agree that this letter was already plenty long enough. Thanks for reading, and thank you for hanging in there with me in my recent absence. UPDATE: I dozed off last night, so this is now a Saturday post. A day late - but that's what you get for blog dollars ]

Tonight is the one year anniversary of a mild obsession: testing whether eating real food in moderation can actually work to lose weight and achieve better health.

And the principle corollary: Is it possible to live moderately in a culture of excess?

No low fat this or low carb that (both of which I had previously tried, exhaustively, to no permanent success); just eating real, whole, and at times decadent, foods – the key of course being to keep the quantities in check.

Before I get started, let me just say that it’s been a long day; I slept about 3 hours last night before heading out at 5AM for a 4 hour drive to Seattle for a business meeting at 9, and then turned around several hours later to drive 3 1/2 hours back home (don’t ask me where the missing 1/2 hour went). I’m admittedly exhausted, but some things simply cannot wait, things for which any devoted writer knows sleep deprivation is no match.

In honor of this anniversary I am sitting down with my laptop and a stiff margarita – ice, fresh squeezed lime juice and a healthy dose of tequila – evaluating as honestly as I can whether this year’s changes have been worth the effort. So if things get a little squirelly, you’ll know why. Read the rest of this entry »

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Editor’s note: Welcome to Almost Fit. As you may have noticed, I’ve been away from the site for a little while taking care of some personal matters. I’ll be writing a short post soon to explain, but in the mean time, this post is a recipe I just came up with for tonight’s dinner that I just had to share. Thanks for reading.

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. Read the rest of this entry »

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Welcome to Almost Fit. Almost Fit focuses on improving your health by doing one thing: Eating Real Food in Moderation. No low carb hacks or low fat substitutions – just savoring real, whole foods.

I am not alone in saying that fall is my favorite season. I enjoy the summer heat, winter chill, and spring rains, but when I can see my breath when I step outside in the evening, or when the crown of our maple trees starts to show signs of preparing to fall and form swirl patterns on the sidewalk, or when the distant sounds of migratory geese break the silence of falling dew, I know that I am in my element.

This year is unusual; for me, it is my first fall season that I am consciously focusing on a new way of eating. Although I’ve been improving my habits over the last few years, this year in particular I’m focused on eating well, and eating moderately. Real Food in Moderation is not just the slogan of this site; as my friends and family know, it is something I’ve put solidly into practice, and presents some interesting challenges. 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. If you enjoy this article, please consider subscribing. Thanks.

With fall finally here, in many parts of the country it’s time to start pawning off garden-grown squash as fast as is humanly possible. Growing up in a squash-friendly growing zone, it was not uncommon to open our front door in the morning and find a paper bag full of homeless squash having been randomly delivered by a mysterious, mythical creature under cover of darkness.

These days, while we rarely have a visit from the Great Pumpkin or his lesser-known comrade, the Squash Fairy, we do seem to have an awful lot of squash growing, and have to act fast.

So other than carving faces in them or dropping bags of them off in the middle of the night on  neighborhood porches, what do you do with all that squash?

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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?
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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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Editor’s note: This post marks the return of the weekly 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 on Almost Fit, please consider subscribing to my feed. Thanks.

I have been anxiously waiting for something to happen, and in the last few weeks, it did.

Our tomatoes have begun to ripen. (The photo above was taken this morning in our backyard.)

Tomatoes may sound like a pretty mundane thing to anticipate, but believe me, when you’ve shoveled a dozen tons of dirt into a large garden space and gone to the trouble of tending to them through the odd summer we’ve had, getting a few beautiful round red, green, and yellow orbs to spring from the ground is a welcome reward. 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. This post is a continuation of the series of photographs of What We Eat. If you enjoy this post, please consider subscribing. Thanks.

Summer supper outside, Sunday evening

• Fusilli pasta with yellow squash, zucchini, and cipollini onions all from our CSA, swiss chard from our garden, and frozen shrimp, cooked in a good quality extra virgin olive oil (quality is key), 4-5 cloves of fresh garlic (CSA), half of a fresh-squeezed lemon, several tablespoons of homemade whole milk sour cream, tablespoon of locally made tomato and pepper chutney (farmer’s market), 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese, salt and pepper to taste
• Sauteed carrots (from our garden) in olive oil and butter, salt and pepper to taste
• Fresh organic avocado, salt and pepper to taste

Ed. note: April would like me to clarify that we would normally have accompanied this with a fresh salad from the garden, but alas, it wasn’t meant to be this evening. We eat salad. We promise. Read the rest of this entry »

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