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  • June 2015 – Page 3

    Don’t go into the restaurant business if you’re not ready to compete with the baddest on earth. If you’re aiming to build the perfect food/coffee/bar business, look no further than Lux in Phoenix, AZ. It’s the Sugar Ray Robinson of dining options. Pound for pound, it’s the best Phoenix has to offer.If you’ve been following…

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  • January 2014 – Page 3

    Ensuring you have an appropriate warm up is essential to any successful program. Warm ups prior to exercise are important to prepare your circulatory system and muscles for exertion and reduce the chance of injury. Unfortunately, traditional stretching routines are ineffective. The most potent way to warm up for an athletic activity is by performing…

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  • July 2014 – Page 3

    Why must we still have that little voice in our head? You know the one. “Don’t eat that, it’s high in fat and calories.” Zip it, my imaginary friend. You’re not welcome here.So many folks shy away from coconut milk due to its high calorie and fat content. You shouldn’t; that fat is lovely. It comes…

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  • June 2014 – Page 3

    Evan Longoria is an exceptional baseball player. More importantly, he is a leader of men. Independently, these attributes are impactful. Together, they can be earthshaking. Inhabiting a locker next to his during his 2nd and 3rd seasons, I witnessed the development of a man with something to give and to say. Several years later, he…

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  • April 2014 – Page 3

    A few days ago, I told you about my first foray into soap making. It seemed simple enough – I could make my own soap, leave out all the chemical ingredients, and boom, I’d be Tom’s of Maine. I whipped up a bar of coconut oil soap with a bit of lemon juice. It lasted…

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  • September 2014 – Page 3

    Last week, I invited your questions and promised to reply to some of them on Saturday. Well, here we are. I wish we could do this in person over a cup of coffee. A man can dream. Here goes.Mike says: Kap, great news on the Q&A, I seem to only ask questions that may only…

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  • May 2014 – Page 3

    I met Brandon Guyer on a scouting assignment last season while he was at AAA Durham. I was taken aback by his mature take on training and nutrition. Most young players are scarfing pizzas late at night after games; Brandon was thinking through how to best impact his physical well being through his consumption of…

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  • December 2014 – Page 3

    One of the most difficult elements of learning our own personal nutrition profile is the number of variables associated with how energetic we are at any given time. It can be pretty confusing.Suppose you have a headache. You drink a tall glass of water, take Advil, eat a bunch of anti-inflammatory foods, go for a…

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  • July 2015 – Page 3

    In general, people prefer giving directions to strangers over giving advice. It’s science.This classic joke was once rated as the world’s funniest (see, science): Two hunters are out in the woods when one of them collapses. He doesn’t seem to be breathing and his eyes are glazed. The other guy whips out his phone and…

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  • April 2015 – Page 3

    I’ve said it before, this is a lifestyle blog. Art is well within our theoretical boundaries. Practically, we have no walls anyhow. Let’s talk music.Any true fan of hip-hop digs the activity of ranking their top ten albums of all time. Clearly, this is a subjective activity. Music is art. We love what we love and cannot be…

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I aim to plan and consciously choose all of my indulgences. I have the knowledge and willpower to do so, but occasionally, I will have a substantial misfire.

I was in Boston, my home away from home, for the 2004 World Series reunion. I splurged nutritionally as I had intended, but I didn’t map out my large nutritional stumble while watching the game.

I had it all pre-navigated. My two men (12 and 14) and I love to experience travel through food. We think it’s the most efficient and interesting way to explore the culture of a city. We discussed the trip ahead of time and decided on three restaurants where we would fully indulge and eat like kings. We’d start with the team dinner at a fine steak and seafood house, follow it up with breakfast the next morning at a bakery, and finish it out with lunch at a tapas joint in the South End.

The first night the three of us shared bone in filets, swordfish steaks, oysters, giant shrimp, crab cakes, lamb chops, chocolate cake, apple crisps and cold vanilla ice cream. I enjoyed a few glasses of whiskey, neat, and my boys drank Sprite. We left the restaurant 1 for 1. Remember, this indulgence was planned.

The next morning, we went to a bakery suggested by a Boston-based chef friend. The boys picked up scones and French toast; I scored big with a bacon, egg and cheese sandwich on a crusty roll with spinach and tomato. The bite came complete with a Dijon mustard finish that struck a chord with me, managing to last all day. 2 at bats, 2 knocks.

After mobbing around on the T train all morning, making our way to Harvard and back to Downtown Crossing, we landed at our destination for lunch, Toro. Theo Epstein made the recommendation after I mentioned that my boys and I were on a food adventure. This is the guy who went out to get the “washed up” 2002 version of David Ortiz, so he’s proven his scouting mettle. If he thinks it’s a worthwhile trip, I’ll take his advice.

Back to food.

Rather than turn this post into a restaurant review, I’ll keep it simple. I had an out of body experience. Every small plate that arrived was visually captivating and stunning on the palate. We sprinted the gamut. From spicy curry beef empanadas to cauliflower with golden raisins and pine nuts to the pièce de résistance, roasted bone marrow with radish citrus salad and oxtail marmalade. This dish, holy fuck. Our waiter described it exquisitely as “like rich, hot, beef flavored butter.” I was now 3 for 3 and ready for my final at bat.

A theme throughout this entire trip was advance planning. My first mistake was not preparing for this final meal. I figured my boys and I would just eat at the ballpark and didn’t put much thought into it. I knew that the options would be plentiful and come in large quantities. I wasn’t necessarily wrong, but I quickly got off course.

I was running around at Fenway from this place to that, answering questions and meeting folks. My boys were on their own and already up in the suite by the time I arrived around the start of the first inning. They had eaten pizza, snacks and fruit, totally what I expected for them. I walked in starving, my second mistake.  I reached for a plate and piled on decent looking veggies, a huge mound of guacamole, and the only available protein, stale fried chicken strips. I could have reached into my bag and opened a can of wild caught salmon. I didn’t. My defenses were down. I hadn’t snacked. I ingested that garbage and suffered strike one.

You know my stance on processed foods. Those frozen chunks of flour covered meat product provide little nutritional value. I had already experienced a whirlwind day filled with emotion and exertion, and the pizza under the heat lamp began to look lovely.

I advocate indulgence, but I advocate planned, quality indulgence. This was neither. I scarfed down a piece and the drugs hit my bloodstream. I couldn’t chew fast enough. Strike two.

The final pitch of the at bat came in and I chased it. I scarfed down a few more slices, knowing even as I did so that it wasn’t my finest hour.

3 for 4. In baseball that’s a hell of a day. Nutritionally, I expect 4 for 4s from myself almost always. I’m in control, so the high bar is appropriately set. Rather than dwell on it, I’ll do what Manny tells us to do after a rough at bat. “Turn the page, papi.”

I write this from the plane the following morning. I’ve turned the page. Today, I’ve ingested steel cut oats, fresh organic blueberries, a pile of kale, a chunk of a ham steak, a few fresh scrambled eggs and organic black coffee.

In my bag, I have a large salad with tons of fresh veggies, almonds, chicken, organic Hannah yams. I also still have that wild salmon I passed over for pizza in a box.

I’m back on track. I remember last night’s at bat and will make the adjustment without carrying the emotion of yesterday over into today’s game.

I hope you’ll share your stories of strikeouts or home runs in the comments section below.

Kap