Today I decided to go to Paris for a vacation in October. I love Paris. It’s so … everything I’m not. Sophisticated. Interesting. Cosmopolitan. Fascinating. Intellectual. And thin.
So I have a new reason to want to lose weight: I’d rather not tramp around Paris and look like a big fat American. I find myself embarassing […]

The secret ingredient here is a little bit of fine ground espresso coffee. You’d never guess it’s coffee when the steaks come off the grill; somehow it adds a tasty note of flavor the livens up the beef.

Now, I’m all for buying locally grown produce and have rarely if ever found the need to buy Chilean cherries for $10.99 a pound in the winter. But the honest truth is, our food chain is now so convoluted that it’s honestly hard to know where your food comes from if you shop at major stores. According to Locavore, though, if I quit my job and spent my time foraging small and local producers for food, I could eat very well strictly within the Bay Area foodshed. It’s a nice idea, but perhaps not practical.

Plain and simple, I’ve been rejected to become a member of the Big Fat Blog. I’d asked to join because I like the information the site presents; it’s fair, comprehensive and always well-written. But because I want to lose weight, Paul McAleer (the founder and moderator of the community) says I can’t be supportive of fat people at the same time. So I’ve been banned from joining the forum, on speculation that I’d populate the boards with weight loss tips or fat-hate.

Today I lost another half-pound, putting total tonnage lost at four pounds. That’s very fast weight loss for me. Very.

Super Vinaigrette that puts all others to shame.

What I find amazing is the absolute transformation of society into accepting fat. Whereas I had a lot of trouble finding clothes to wear in the ’70s and ’80s, now there’s a whole section devoted to me at Saks. With fancy designer labels. I don’t have to buy massive mumus with appliques of poodles these days. I can buy a Dana Buchman silk and cashmere suit and be just like the thin people I’ve always envied.

So here it is: I’ve lost 3.5 pounds so far. It’s hard to tell what how that really feels; there’s not much that feels different. Except I’m glad not to have the 3.5 pounds.
You know those ads on TV that show what five pounds of fat looks like? Where it’s essentially lard stuffed in […]

Does anyone else go to the gym and wonder to themselves: “who are these people?” You know the ones I mean. The folks who can get on the elliptical, and run it at 98 miles per hour for 90 minutes at a clip. Sure, they sweat, but somehow it looks really easy for them.