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  • Teas

    Most men will opt for coffee over tea, myself included. That doesn’t mean we have to choose. We can appreciate the many health benefits of tea, and we can pair it with music. Today, a ballplayer came up to me, accompanied by several teammates, to inquire about tea. He asked very generally, “What are your thoughts on tea?”…

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  • Smoothies

    Life gets crazy. When you’re out and about tackling daily activities, sometimes you need to make a pit stop and grab easy nutrition. Ideally, this should just be to tide you over until your next meal. You know that the big fast food chains are loaded down with artificial ingredients and no redeeming nutritional value,…

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  • Kicking the Coke Habit

    One of the best catalysts to jump start your 2014 healthy living program is removing soda from your daily eating plan. Whether your goal is to lower body fat, improve vitality or just generally be healthier, replacing the sugary, carbonated artificially flavored beverages with water will drastically increase your chance for success. Everyone knows that…

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  • Bagels

    I miss the days when bagels were healthy. Ignorance is bliss. I worked with a nutritionist in the early part of my playing career. I had a meal plan which I was to diligently follow. One of my breakfast options was two bagels with low fat cream cheese, smoked salmon, onions and capers. At this…

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  • Intermittent Fasting – Conclusions

    Y’all know Stephanie, our unusually knowledgeable editor and my partner here at Kaplifestyle. You also know she likes to use herself as a science experiment for the benefit of our readers. As we often do, she’ll talk about her learns with intermittent fasting, and I’ll chime in as the supportive (or cynical) voice of the…

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  • Lessons from the Road

    Sometimes, bad weather when traveling can be a blessing in disguise. Yesterday, I embarked on my first trip to Tulsa, Oklahoma in many years. I left my home in Los Angeles with a scheduled stopover in Dallas en route. I l landed safely in Dallas and made my way to my connection. The weather had…

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  • Seeing What We Want

    We see what we want to see. We read what we want to read. Unless we’re fully present and aware, we miss reality. A few days back, our superstar editor and my partner at Kaplifestyle, Stephanie, wrote a powerful guest post about selfishness and family. Her’s was a thoughtful essay about her unsavory relationship with her mother and…

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  • Replacing “Sports Drinks”

    Let’s get straight to the point. There is a far better way to replenish lost fluids than drowning yourself in toxic colorings, chemical additives, and ridiculous amounts of fake sugar. Gatorade, Powerade and the like have no business calling themselves “sports drinks.” They have absolutely no place in the nutrition plan of a healthy athlete.…

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  • Do Your Own Nutrition Homework – Matt Buschmann [Guest Post]

    In 2013, I identified Matt Buschmann as a man with the capability to lead a baseball organization both nutritionally and from a training perspective. My assessment is informed by his devotion to trial and error, willingness to devour new information and apply data. Of course, he is also an elite athlete with the mental strength…

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  • Sick? Don’t Reduce Your Fever

    Feeling under the weather? Don’t reduce your fever with pills. Our superstar editor, Stephanie, had a fever from the flu the other night while outside her window sat 18 inches of Maryland snow. Her remedy? Baths and sleep. The simplicity of her approach and my realization that I haven’t had a fever in a long,…

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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