This is the second part in the series, “How I quit eating fast food”. If you think it might help others, please consider sharing it via Digg, StumbleUpon, or your favorite social media tools. Thanks. And don’t forget to check out part 3, “20 tactics to kill the fast food habit“.

“Just because it’s toxic doesn’t mean it’s not tasty.” - MastersInTheMaking.com

As I made clear in part 1, I think it’s fair to say that I have an issue or two with my lifelong personified compadre, Fast Food. That’s not to say that it’s my ONLY issue (oh and by the way, speaking of issues, a big “thanks” to the coiners of that ubiquitous ’80s phrase, “global thermonuclear war” for ruining my trust in humanity - Nice work), but in my opinion the fast food hang-up really does have the possibility of killing me in a hurried, greasy fashion.

And if I have one rule in life, it is that when I go, I do not want my mournful passing to be in any way associated with Grease. And thus why I am neither an auto mechanic nor John Travolta.

Further, to prevent a future experience that includes balloon-like medical devices being inserted near my nether-regions in an emergency effort to clear out my brittle arteries, I have quit frequenting fast food restaurants since the beginning of the year.

How am I doing it, considering I seem to get the hankerin’ for Kentucky Fried Chicken every few months as if there is some sort of time-release chicken nugget flavored tablet wedged somewhere in my right parietal cortex?

If you read nothing else, read this

In my opinion, there are very few things in life that you can give up permanently. Does fast food in all of it’s forms fit that category for me for all Eternity? I can’t say - I don’t wear that cologne. But for right now, I have decided to exclude it from my diet altogether (both fast food AND cologne) to allow myself to create the HABIT of eating better.

For me, the only way that I can do this is to say no to fast food completely. Who knows; at some point fast food may become “real food”…But from my vantage point today, I highly doubt it. For now, I’ve decided it doesn’t fit the current picture of my life.

In other words, giving up fast food is a reasonable goal for me, today. Where you draw your own line is, well, your own business.

How to quit eating fast food

There are three parts to this process for me: Educate, Decide, and Act. Read the rest of this entry »

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Editor’s note: This post is standing in for the weekly Friday Fit recipe. The idea is to try “real food” recipes that can be prepared on the weekend. The usual format will resume next week, but as a reminder, if you enjoy Almost Fit, please consider subscribing to my feed. Thanks.

The Downtown Portland Farmer’s Market at Portland State University has opened this year, so rather than focusing on a recipe for the weekend I’m going to be documenting our visit on Saturday to the market via photo report. So in lieu of the weekly recipe, I am posting a video of one of my favorite podcasts: Good Food with Evan Kleiman.

In this episode, Evan presents a very simple but absolutely delicious recipe for Mushroom Soup.

Evan’s format typically starts at the Farmer’s Market in Santa Monica, CA, to see what’s fresh each week. However, in this episode she is cooking from her restaurant, Angeli. Her self-described theme for this recipe is “Cooking from Trader Joe’s.” It is well worth watching, and trying!

Who is Evan?

Evan Kleiman is a successful food maven and restaurateur in the Los Angeles area. She is also the very gracious and knowledgeable host of the Public Radio program, Good Food which is presented by one of the most influential Public Radio stations in the country, KCRW. She’s also got an atypical background for such a successful and respected chef. For an interesting (and inspiring) read on what it takes to become a chef without following the traditional route, check her bio out, here.

http://www.angelicaffe.com/allAboutEvan.html

And now, on with the show

Almost Fit’s Friday Fit recipe will return to the usual format next week. In the mean time, keep an eye open for the Farmer’s Market report that I’m writing this weekend!

If you enjoyed this article, please consider sharing it through Digg, StumbleUpon, Facebook, or any social media site you follow. Thanks.

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