The incomparable Naked Chef, Jamie Oliver, used his TED talk to deal with diet, obesity, and what we’re doing to our children. From the site: “Sharing powerful stories from his anti-obesity project in Huntington, W. Va., TED Prize winner Jamie Oliver makes the case for an all-out assault on our ignorance of food.”

I’m starting a new job in the morning. It is similar work, but it promises to be much more challenging and, hopefully, rewarding. As a result, I needed to try on some of my suits that I haven’t worn in quite a while. This prompted me to pull out the bathroom scale and… let’s just say it is no wonder my suits don’t fit quite right.

Operating on the premise that eating well will be cheaper than taking my suits to a tailor, I’m going to begin a new diet. Not some faddy lose-weight-quick scheme, but something I’ve done before and that has worked for others. Mark Bittman outlined it in his Food Matters book, and he puts it succinctly:

Eat less of certain foods, specifically animal products, refined carbs, and junk food; and more of others, specifically plants, in close to their natural state.

It isn’t a diet per se. I think of it as being more akin to a minor, gradual lifestyle change.

Bittman also mentions that he doesn’t eat any animal products before his evening meal. I’m going to endeavor to start doing that as well.

Farmer's Market.