Everyone talks about our ancestors like they struggled for food. Many people believe we store fat well because our ancestors didn’t know when they’d next eat. Maybe they look at surviving hunting and gathering cultures and see less food than in their local supermarket. Look at nature, though. Animals and plants aren’t starving all the time. On the contrary, places that aren’t frozen, desert, or that we’ve paved over abound[…] Keep reading →

Since I’ve learned to love fresh vegetables and fruit, I’ve come to learn the restaurants hate them. Caterers do too. An ex-girlfriend once commented that she couldn’t go to restaurants with me because I complained too much that they covered everything in salt, sugar, and fat (more on that complaint below). I attended an event today that was catered. Everything was vegan, which a lot of people interpret to mean[…] Keep reading →

I ate lunch at a restaurant with a friend yesterday. Lunch was great because of the company. The salad that came with it was covered in oil. I used to dislike vegetables. I covered them in dressing. I was partial to Italian, but ranch or French would do. I didn’t know any better. The dressings came pre-made in bottles, full of flavor. By contrast, the vegetables tasted bland. I’m talking[…] Keep reading →

About twenty-four hours after giving blood, while chopping collard greens, I chopped a bit off my finger. Sorry if it’s gross for you, but it reminds me of something I learned when I dated a woman who was a chef: if you cook enough, you cut and burn yourself. I don’t know if this picture captures it. I took it today, about twenty-four hours after cutting it. I should have[…] Keep reading →

I attended a reunion of my college ultimate Frisbee team today. Mostly current players attended, as in class of 2026 and 2027. I was class of 1993, over three decades earlier. It’s weird for something once one of the most important parts of my life for nearly twenty years to have ended over twenty years ago (I played after college, into my thirties). I noticed one of the recent jerseys[…] Keep reading →

I eat at restaurants less and less the more I avoid doof. They’re similar. Sometimes social obligations lead to me to join groups at restaurants. I don’t mind not eating. One of my greatest discoveries in avoiding packaged food was my first two- and three-day fasts. I used to think there was danger in skipping a meal or two. Then I skipped nine meals in a row with no problem.[…] Keep reading →

A friend told me about a difficult situation for himself at work. The person he reports to suggested that he lacked assertiveness. He listened to being told the information calmly, but when he reflected afterward, he felt a lot of different things, including feeling “twisted up inside” and “frustration, anger, disappointment, feeling misunderstood.” I can’t say for sure if he would benefit from learning the skill of assertiveness or whatever[…] Keep reading →

I don’t use refined oils at home and try to avoid them elsewhere. I attended a catered event and ate a noodle dish with a lot of oil and nearly no vegetables. They served grilled vegetables that were also covered in oil. The noodle dish was very palatable, in that it gave me pleasure to swallow it down my throat. It didn’t actually taste that good. It just prompted me[…] Keep reading →

Americans waste about 40 percent of our food. I’ve written how I eat healthy parts of plants like citrus peels, mango peel, and banana peel. When I tell people I do, the same people who decry food waste ask why I eat them. They’re healthy food! The challenge is to combine them to taste good, or to acquire the taste. I recommend eating all the edible, healthy parts of a[…] Keep reading →