As some serious eaters may have noticed, I have started writing a weekly restaurant review. I'm looking forward to my reviewing stint, but I am wondering about its effect on my diet and life. Two more restaurant meals a week, piled on top of all the other food I eat in the name of the work and life I love, will put even more pressure on my "all things in moderation" regimen. So I decided that I have to increase the frequency of my exercise regimen. Other restaurant critics, like Frank Bruni of the New York Times and Michael Bauer of the San Francisco Chronicle, have told me that what I would describe as fanatical, maniacal, obsessive exercise regimens have... More

I have a love-hate relationship with my scale. Check that. Actually, I have a hate-hate relationship with it. Every diet book and diet plan addresses the role the scale should or does play in your life as a dieter. At Weight Watchers, each member weighs in once a week. Other diet plans say don't worry about the scale, measure your progress in inches with a tailor's tape measure or by repeatedly trying on an article of clothing. The point is that whatever role we assign to our scale, it looms large in a dieter's life. We want it to be our friend, to be the bearer of good news. I also use my scale (right), a sleek, trim black number... More

This week I learned something every astronaut has learned the hard way: Re-entry is a bitch, at least when it comes to breathing-living-eating-dieting. When I last left you, serious eaters, I was consuming quite a few pieces of some of the finest fried chicken in the land. It didn't get any easier after that in New Orleans. Dinner that night was at Cochon, Donald Link's tribute to all things porcine that should be renamed Porktopia. The man loves pork as much as I do. It wouldn't surprise me if the tap water I drank there was infused with pork. We ate fried boudin balls, grilled pork ribs with watermelon salad, cochon (roast pig) of course, and house-made salumi, including... More

I'm hitting the road this Sunday for almost a week, and the signs of caloric danger are everywhere. First, I'm headed to Dallas to take in the Pillsbury Bake-Off. One hundred finalists vying for the $1,000,000 first prize are baking their best stuff in portable kitchens. I'm not judging, but I'm sure I will get to taste lots of elaborately constructed creative desserts using an array of everyday products. But the bake-off is not what I'm most worried about. I'm much more worried about all the food I want to taste in Dallas, a city I have never been to before. To make matters worse (or better, depending on your vantage point), I am very likely to meet up with... More

Japanese company Yumetai has created "dieter's sunglasses" with deep-blue lenses. According to research, the color blue suppresses the brain's appetite center. The sunglasses also block red light, which tends to stimulate the appetite. It seems plausible that these sunglasses could be an effective (and novel) dieting tool—as evidence, the Amateur Gourmet's Blue Food contest held last year. Browsing the entries, you should experience an immediate loss of appetite (no offense to the entrants). The glasses are available here. [via Inventor Spot]... More

Today the New York Times chronicles the struggles of bloggers, restaurateurs, chefs, food writers, and cookbook authors to control their weight while pursuing their beloved chosen profession. And, yes, though a part of me cringed at the very thought, my story was among those chronicled. More

Webcomic Cat and Girl touches upon some dietary restrictions, both widely known (milk-free diet) and not (riboflavin-free diet).... More