Adopt a regimen of health, practice moderate exercise, and take just enough food and drink to restore our strength, not overburden it.

–Cicero, 44 BC

Good, sensible advice, no? But does anyone know what “a regimen of health” would be for a first-century Roman? Goat sacrifices and mead? Had Rome already adopted the so-called Mediterranean Diet? (I know at least one Roman history expert; maybe he’ll weigh in eventually.)

I culled the quote from More magazine, which has popped up in every appointment room I’ve sat in the last few months.

More magazine is for the 40+ crowd but I kinda like it, for a women’s mag. It’s like O with less product whoring and some cool features, including regular pieces on female entrepreneurs.

Hi readers! I disappeared, and wanted to give you an update.

Here’s the thing. I’m still dieting, or at least dieting about 4 days a week, eating for pleasure (sanely!) the rest of the time. I’ve lost 5 lbs now, and I want to lose maybe 2-3 more. That will put me back at the weight I’ve maintained for several years. Phew.

But I find that while dieting, I have no urge to write here. My mental energies surrounding food and health all go into restriction. And you know what? Restriction’s not that interesting. It’s not that fun. The business of shaving of a few calories here, a few carbs there, resisting that cookie, it’s tedious and not something I really want to yak about.

Besides which, I actually think talking about it, for me, makes it harder. When I go into a weight loss phase, I find I’m most successful if I embrace the Nike attitude, JUST DO IT. Does anyone else ever feel that way? No bullshit, no whining, no fretting about slips. I just stop eating crap. Done. It took a long journey to get me to that point, but here I am. Take that, weight loss industry!

Don’t get me wrong: There are “slips.” Lots. That’s life. That’s eating. In fact, I don’t even think of them as slips. Sometimes, I just don’t eat to lose. I just don’t want to obsess over it.

Finally, I’d like to keep dieting truly outside of the purview of this blog. Dieters are welcomed — more than welcomed, this site may be for you especially, as a respite — but the focus is on the flipside. I post here to celebrate good eating, fun activity, and a generally positive outlook.

But fear not: I’m almost done. And then I’ll be back. Not every day, but regularly, hopefully with some tasty recipes.

Enjoy your health everyone! Take it dancing!

Is Carl’s Jr./Hardee’s the chief propaganda officer of the Culture of Gluttony?

Portfolio’s Joe Keohane reports on the masterminds behind the infamous Gutbuster burger, and the new fast-food culture it has spawned. Hardee’s and Carl’s Jr. now emphasize the tremendous number of calories in their meatastic creations as a major selling point.

Keohane sums up the success of the campaigns when he writes:

Anyone can make Americans fat (hell, everyone already has), but only one fast-food company can make them fat and allow them to feel good about it, even get them to feel like they’re making a statement and striking a blow against the forces of political correctness.

There’s truth there, but it reminds me of the great Emily Dickinson poem: “Tell the truth but tell it slant. Success in Cirrcuit lies.”

Carl’s Jr. doesn’t make anybody feel anything. Carl’s Jr. is simply doing a sickeningly good job of articulating a feeling that’s already strong in the culture, a feeling that is symptomatic of America’s completely ass-backwards relationship with food and our bodies.

You can say that the restaurant is celebrating a rebellion against the nags, the food police, the sanitizers of red-blooded American life. Sure, that’s part of it, but it’s not the whole story.

At heart, the fast-food chain and its affordably-priced calorie-bombs are celebrating a rebellion against the body. The Carl’s Jr. phenom, the ultimate emphasis of quantity over quality, is symptomatic of the divorce between body and mind that’s become a defining aspect of American culture. The fatter we get, the more we pretend that we’re our brains — or our “spirits” — not our bodies. The more we sanctify the soul and mortify the flesh.

Really, that separation’s been central to the Western definition of the self since Descartes. Actually, it goes back even further, to Thomas Aquinas’ two appetites and the Dominicans’ mortification of the flesh. Since the 14th century, the Western mind has been trained to actively hate the body, elevate the spirit.

In other words, Carl’s Jr.’s been given a lot to work with.

Where does that leave us? Well, fat. Today, modern wealth and abundance, and the fact that many of us are now lucky enough to use brain power, not muscle power to make our livings, has taken the separation to a blubbery extreme. And smart businesses, not just Carl’s Jr., seize the opportunity.

But on a bright note, Carl’s Jr.’s patrons haven’t lost all sense of discrimination. The restaurant’s Fourth of July burger - a beef patty topped by a hotdog and all the usual toppings - sunk like a fat kingpin with weights around his ankles. Even today, nobody wants to ruin a good hamburger with a stinky hotdog.

I finally plunked down $12 for a bottle of toasted walnut oil. IT IS WORTH EVERY PENNY!! This warm, toasty, nutty liquid has turned my everyday salad into a veritable gourmet flavor sensation.

It’s also the secret to a very special salad I’ve been eating often, which I copied from a restaurant near my apt, Fraiche. It’s our new favorite place for Friday cocktails and nosh, a habit which is enjoyable but may bankrupt me. The recipe follows, and let me tell you, it’s the walnut oil that makes it. I’ve tried it with olive oil before: bland, bland, bland.

Beet, Ricotta, and Arugula Salad
2 boiled baby beets
1/4 cup ricotta
2 cups arugula/mixed greens
2 tsp walnut oil
1-2 tsp vinegar (your choice)
salt & pepper

Toss the greens with 1 tsp walnut oil and 1 tsp vinegar.
Top with sliced beets and ricotta, distributing the ricotta as best you can.
Drizzle remaining walnut oil on top.
Dust with salt and pepper.

ADDITIONAL NOTE: You may want to try some different brands/styles of Ricotta. I’d been using Lucerne part skim, but yesterday I got some Trader Joes Traditional and I don’t like it nearly as much - it has a much firmer, flakier texture. The Lucerne is nice and creamy and smooth, and works better in the salad. But a chacun son gout, so shop around and see what you like best! Has anyone tried fat free ricotta? So far I’ve been afraid of it.

I’ve been in dietworld for a week now. By that I mean I’m journaling what I eat, keeping to the low end of what keeps me satisfied and energized (around 1200-1500 calories), and making sure to get an activity session in every day. Doesn’t sound too horrible, right?

I would say I managed that about 5 out of 7 days last week — hello, social events. I’m down 2 pounds, but some of that was funeral weight. I may have lost a half pound of “real” weight.

In short, feeling good! My new tip from this week: Bone-in chicken breasts, roasted with herbs and a dash of olive oil. It takes about 45 minutes at 350 degrees. These are so tasty, so succulent, so decadent, compared to boring old boneless skinless chx breasts. I’ve been having them for dinner with another “decadent” favorite: Romaine lettuce salad topped with a dressing made out of: 1 tbsp light whipping cream, 1 tbsp whole-grain dijon mustard, and 1 tbsp grated asiago. That means I’m spending about 100 calories on salad, but I like it so much I don’t mind passing on the rice and potatoes.

Speaking of potatoes, did you guys read about “resistant starch” on Crabby Fitness? It seems that the carbs in potatoes, when eaten cold, may bypass the small intestines. In other words, they don’t turn into fattening sugar, but instead go through the large intestines like fiber.

Makes me want to get into the nighttime potato habit that I wrote about here once before.

Sometimes I freeform my home yoga practice, but often I use DVDs as a starting place. They get me to the foot of the mat, the hardest “asana” as David Swenson, I think, has joked. They provide structure, even though I might swap in preferred poses or hit pause to add extras or slow down.

Why do I practice in general? Yoga makes me feel good, inside and out, more than any other activity I’ve found (and can do alone!). Neato muscle definition is also a plus.

I’m often asked to list my favorite DVDs, so here they are for the record:

BEGINNER:
Max Strom’s Strength, Grace, Healing
Bar none, the best beginning yoga DVD on the market; beautiful, gentle, and challenging all at once.

Seane Corn’s Vinyasa Flow Yoga - The Body And Beyond
Includes a 90-minute version and a 45-minute version. Reasonable pace with comprehensive instruction. Seane Corn teaches with a unique Type-A-fueled compassion.

INTERMEDIATE:
Shiva Rae’s Yoga Shakti
Customizable DVD with great music and a movement-based approached to asanas. Good blend of vigorous practice with breathwork and relaxation.

Rodney Yee’s Power Yoga - Total Body Workout

I’d like to dismiss Yee as the wife-dumping huckster that he is, but I can’t help it: I return to this DVD again and again. It’s no frills, utilitarian, and moves almost too quickly, but it focuses me on my practice like nothing else. I’ve used it so much it’s starting to skip.

I decided it was time to diet. I informed the relevant parties — my roommate and my boyfriend — and then informed another party, in writing: Myself.

I wrote myself a 500 word essay, with some repetition for emphasis, on why a period of food discipline was necessary. I’m not posting it here. It’s between me, and me. And we both think the essay itself is a little ridiculous. Blush inducing.

And yet, writing it down made the difference. It committed me to my own plans, the same way I become committed when I take a job or agree to meet someone for coffee.

So now I’m ready — to skip the fortune cookie, to stop at one glass of wine, to remember that even sushi has calories when devoured in massive quantities.

I committed to two months. Let’s go.

I wanted to offer you guys some slimming, tried-and-true soup recipes. Alas, my first attempt at a new recipe, Greek Eggplant and Zucchini Soup from The Soup Bible, was only mediocre. We don’t do mediocre at TFT.

On the upside, it came with a new, improved recipe for Tzatziki. Even better, it gave me the idea of using tzatziki as a refreshing condiment for soup. Who’da thunk it?

In the future I can see myself using tzatziki to sex up a variety of soups: tomato, chicken noodle, vegetable beef. Fancy!

Here’s the tzatziki recipe. Besides being a soup condiment, it’s great for topping curries, broiled salmon or chicken, hamburgers, or for filling out a meat-stuffed pita pocket.

CREAMY TZATZIKI
from The Soup Bible, a great big book with awesome pictures.

INGREDIENTS:
1 cuke
2 tsp salt (it’s on the salty side so you may want to start with 1 tsp and add to taste)
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 tsp white wine vinegar
1 cup yogurt
small bunch of fresh mint, chopped (or 1 tbsp dried)

DIRECTIONS:
1. Chop the cucumber into a small dice, salt, and drain in a colander for 30 minutes.
2. Mix the garlic and vinegar, and stir into the yogurt, along with everything else except the cucumber.
3. Pat the cucumber dry and add it to the mix. Salt to taste.

My grandfather died yesterday at 91. He was vigorous, in every sense of the word, almost to the very end. My boyfriend asked me how he did it. So I thought about that.

How to Live Past 90 with Passion
As Lived by Nick Nickerson (1917-2008)

1. Be a cowboy. Ramble, explore, and gidyap, always with a vast horizon. My grandfather was both a real cowboy, in his youth on Oregon ranches, and a cowboy in spirit.

2. Love long and well. My grandparents were married 50 years. When my grandmother passed, my grandfather reunited with his pre-War sweetheart, also widowed, and shared 12 good years with her. He was a devoted father to four, and loved his friends like brothers.

3. Dance. My grandfather loved to dance. In fact, he was always active. He walked, he swam, he rode. He was a fit man.

4. Give back. My grandfather was an ordained Episcopal priest, though his career was in university administration. He offered council to many young people through career, volunteer work and ministry.

5. Be lucky. My grandfather dodged bullets in Papau New Guinea jungles in WWII. He met my grandmother via a “dear soldier” letter that found its way to his hands during the war, and won the money for her wedding ring in a craps game.

6. Live deliberately. It took my grandfather many years and many jobs to discover his professional calling, and he didn’t stop until he found it. Later, when my grandparents set out to retire, they got in an RV and pledged not to stop until they had found their perfect respite. They found it among Hill Country wildflowers. My grandfather died with only the regret that he couldn’t have another lifetime of adventures.

A family emergency took me away from the computer for some time, to Phoenix where my grandfather, aunt, and some cousins live. While there, I was reminded how incredible a hike can be when I climbed Camelback Peak - 45 minutes of extremely steep uphill terrain, if you keep up a fairly decent pace.

Not only did the climb motivate me to step up my fitness routine - my entire body was sore afterwards - but it gave me some joy in an often difficult weekend. It’s wonderful to be with family, of course, but difficult when sickness is the reason.

Anyway, whatever your challenges, I highly recommend plotting a weekend excursion that will push your body to the limit — and enjoy every minute!

A couple announcements:

• I’ll be shifting from everyday M-F posting to approximately M-W-F for the time being.
• Coming soon: Updates on my fitness journey, an abundance of kitchen-tested soup recipes, and a series on yoga!
• If you haven’t discovered the joys of an RSS reader such as Bloglines to manage your online reading, I highly recommend it — that way you don’t have to check back looking for new posts, they’ll simply pop up in your reader. Try it!