You Gonna Eat That?: May 2009

Just a quick update on the new book. I've lost about 30 pounds with four months to go. I'm down a few pants sizes and several belt loops. Still, I've got a long way to go before I'm done.

I'm playing a lot of racquetball, working out with my trainer, and eating healthy but delicious food. I'm cooking nearly everything I eat. Ironically, I thought being a foodie would be a curse for this project. To the contrary, being able to cook, loving food, understanding how to make things taste good, has been my secret weapon. I'm losing weight and I've not spent a single day suffering or starving. In some ways I'm eating more delicious stuff than I was before.

I'm totally off sugar. The silver lining is that I don't miss it....I swear. One of the big lessons I've learned (from my nutritionist) is that sugar itself is an addictive. You eat it, you want more. Get that sugar out of your system and your body doesn't crave it like before. (I am eating tons of fruit, so I get natural sugars anyway.) The good news is that you can eat all the fruit you want. Going into the summer, when the fruit stands are full of local products, is a great time to focus on your health. Forget about the "bikini body" crap that fad diet plans and health clubs are pitching this time of year. Think of all that insanely good food you can cook or eat for dessert.

I dream not of washboard abs. I dream of sweet corn and summer peaches.

My daughter and I just planted a big garden. Hopefully we'll be eating a lot of home-grown vegetables over the coming months. We planted cherry tomatoes, yellow tomatoes, cucumbers, yellow peppers, banana peppers, green beans, radishes, carrots, rosemary, cilantro, parsley, basil, and sunflowers. The sunflowers are a "surprise" gift from my girls to their mom for her birthday. Sasha keeps whispering to her mom that she can't tell her about the surprise sunflowers..."because the sunflowers are a secret."

So far we've got nothing but dirt and a bad back but the garden's already a big hit.

I'm With Fatty is due to come out in the spring of 2010.

More to come,

August 2008: Creepy...