For my 40th birthday, my then-9-year-old daughter gave me a little book of daily meditations for men, from the Touchstone series. She didn't realize, not did I until I read the preface, that it was for men in 12-step programs, working through their additions and coming to clarity about themselves and their worth.

For all that, it was humbling to realize that just about every piece of advice, every insight, and every affirmation in the book applied to me pretty much to a tee, despite the fact that I have never participated in a 12-step program and don't really consider myself an addict (not even to blogging, which was a worry of my wife's early on).

My practice is to take a minute a day to read that day's thought and meditation, and consider how I can go through my day in heightened awareness and kindness and joy and courage based on that reminder.

A Challenge from Dietrich

One day the meditation began with a quote by the Luther theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer (whose last name is pronounced as if U2's Bono had hooked up with J Lo), as follows:

There are things for which an uncompromising stance is worthwhile.

This is a guy, a German theologician, who decided to publish articles critical of the Nazis when they came to power in 1933, engaged in dangerous efforts to rescue Jews in the 1940s, and was killed by the Nazis in 1945. Possibly someone with an understanding of worthwhile causes and the toll they can take on a person.

I write mostly (in this blog, at least) about family health and fitness; what can parents learn and apply from a man whose life and death were so far removed from our mundane "Eat your vegetables" and "No, you can't have a cookie, how about a piece of fruit?" existence?

I've written many times about not turning the dinner table into a battleground. About being reasonable, understanding, and non-fanatical. About taking the slow road of education and leading by example. Turns out I have a hole in my memory the size of 6 months…

Keep Reading…

Q: How do you convey to a child that you are not serving the food he wants right now because it is not healthy (ideally without becoming the meany he would think I was)? In this example, he wanted waffles (with lots of syrup) or pancakes or doughnuts. The child is already extremely obese. He is sensitive to his weight, so I sure wouldn't want to point out the connection about eating this and becoming even fatter, also to not make him feel bad about himself. I know when I want some dessert (that's what I call waffles and doughnuts), I wouldn't stop or even care now because of some consequences later. How do I get him to eat healthy without ruining our relationship or his self-esteem?

A: You're not going to like me for this answer. Keep Reading…

Golly gee, it's happened to me! My son, E, age 7, has turned into a pasta-craving picky eater. Fruits are fine, but bread products are preferred. Vegetables look to him like 4-inch hypodermic needles poised to pierce his skin. And everywhere we go, he notices the desserts. Life has become a never-ending negotiation about how much of this he has to eat before he gets some of that.

I tell you this not to brag (yeah, right), but so you will think, "Ha! Howie goes telling everyone else how to feed their kids and here he can't even do it right in his own home. What a fraud!"

No, wait. That's not right either. Keep Reading…

Q: I'm trying to get my girls to develop healthy eating habits, but one of them has a very strong sweet tooth and, I suspect, a genetic tendency toward a calorie-storing body type).

Keep Reading…

Actually, I'm as wacky as the next guy, so it's kind of surprising that I didn't really get into a book called The Isaiah Effect, which combines ancient Essene prophecies with modern quantum physics to explain how we can rediscover the lost arts of prophesy and prayer to avoid global destruction and instead usher in an era of peace and love.

Probably I'm down on the book because the author, Gregg Braden, was unshaven in the photo on the back cover, and he looked pretty good. Me, when I don't shave for a day or two, I could audition for "third hoodlum" in a Jackie Chan movie. 

Keep Reading…

Q: What are your thoughts on wheatgrass juice?  The stuff I have read is pretty powerful, but it's hard to know who to believe, as you know.

A: Two things about wheatgrass:

Keep Reading…

Take a few seconds and think about the word "disease." What comes to mind?

Most of us think of a "disease" as a fixed state of decreased health. It's something that can be "caused" and sometimes "cured" or "managed," but it's definitely an "it."  A thing. A noun. Something that either exists or doesn't exist.

Big deal, you say? Howie's been reading the dictionary again. Who cares?

In a meeting with T. Colin Campbell (author of The China Study, the only book ever pitched on bended knee by Gary Player live on the Golf Channel), a bunch of us were examining the current model of health care. Dr. Campbell, who has made a career of looking at the obvious and seeing trends that nobody else notices, threw out a comment that our prevailing definition of "disease" is very limiting, and actually leads us to do things that don't really work very well.

What is he talking about?  Keep Reading…

Q: How exactly do I make a breakfast smoothie that includes green leafy veggies. Do I put them straight into the blender with the other ingredients or juice them first? 

Keep Reading…

Q: I want to get my family into much better health in 2007, but I'm overwhelmed at how unhealthy our lifestyle is. I don't know where to begin. How do I start?

A: When my son was learning to write, he loved composing letters to friends and family. I knew what he was up to because he always began the same way, by asking me, "How do you spell 'dear'?"

When I was distracted, I'd reply, "D-E-A-R."

He'd love up at my in frustration, not having begun to print the letters, awash in confusion. "Yeah, only what comes FIRST?"

When parents come to me looking to improve their own fitness and health, as well as that of their children, my urge is to go on and on about plant-based nutrition, about joyful movement, about deep awareness and relaxation. I want to load them up with recipes, with workouts, with meditation CDS, with coaching - oh my gosh, my professional life is all about self-restraint. I have to relax myself and remember my son's dictum: "Yeah, only what comes FIRST?"

So, as we approach the season of reflection and resolution, I'd like to provide three mindsets for getting started on a path of personal and family fitness for 2007.  Next week, I'll talk about specific strategies, and how to create an action plan to create your own Fit Family.

Keep Reading…

Falafel, the mid-eastern chickpea balls that usually get deep-fried and smothered in salad and sauces in a pita pocket, has long been one of my favorite foods. I have very fond memories of being a penniless student in Jerusalem in the mid-1980s, buying a large falafel in pita, and refilling it again and again from the fixings bar until I had eaten a huge lunch for about 70 cents.

Of course, the deep-frying is a problem these days. (It always was a problem, I just didn't know it.) So I was delighted to find a no-oil-added version of falafel in Louise Hagler's Meatless Burgers. I've adapted it to make it a little spicier (and therefore more authentic to my taste buds).

Ingredients

• 2 cloves garlic
• 2 cups cooked garbanzo beans (one 15-oz can, drained)
• 1/4 cup water or leftover broth from the can of beans
• 1/2 teaspoon Bragg liquid aminos or low-sodium tamari or soy sauce
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
• 1 tablespoon ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon ground coriander
• 2 cups bread crumbs (I used sprouted wheat bread in the food processor - Trader Joe's and Alvarado St. Bakery make excellent loaves)
• 1/2 cup minced onions
• 1/4 cup chopped parsley

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350 F.

Mince garlic in food processor. Add garbanzos, water, salt, pepper, cumin and coriander. Process until creamy. Transfer to bowl. Add breadcrumbs, onion, and parsley, mix, and form into burgers (flatter is better for baking).

Arrange burgers on oiled baking sheet and bake for 15 minutes on each side.

Serve in whole grain pita pockets lined with humus, filled with chopped lettuce, tomatoes, red or orange peppers, and cucumbers, and drizzled with a mixture of sesame tahini and lemon juice.  Eat right away or pack for an envy-inviting lunch.