It was unseasonably chilly for August, so we couldn’t eat in the garden. We played with the Flip camera my sister and I gave my Dad for his birthday, and then I shared with them a surprise letter I’d received from a friend in Finland.

I met Eila while — get this — studying Italian in Bulgaria many years ago. Actually, we were supposed to study Italian with famed Suggestopedia teacher Georgi Losanov and his partner, opera singer Evelina Gateva, but Dr. Losanov had decided to teach us the theory behind the Suggestopedia accelerated learning method instead.

Eila and I have kept in touch throughout the years at Christmas and on our birthdays, so I was surprised to get a letter out of the blue. She had been to the town of Kuhmo near the Russian border for a music festival. Looking at a map of the town, she’d seen a part called Saarikoski and remembered that I had ancestors by that name, including a famous Finnish poet.

She asked in the library if there were any families in Kuhmo by that name and a very kind lady looked it up on the computer. She said that there were none in that town but that there were 10 Saarikoski families in the town of Kajaani, an hour and a half away.

I wouldn’t be surprised if they are distant relatives. So, I’m going to pass that information on to people in the family who might want to do something with it. I like the name, by the way. Someone told me it means “island waterfall.”

The most gorgeous ripened figs — just like you find in late August in California.

But they reminded me of some other figs on the Isle of Elba in Tuscany one golden summer not so long ago.

When I was studying Italian on Elba, I was staying at a little hotel near the water. Breakfast and dinner came with the room, and the meals were amazing, including the desserts.

One evening, after the waiter took the dinner plates away, I sat in anticipation of what he was going to bring next. What he placed before me delighted me more than any extravagant calorie-ladden concoction could have. With flair, he presented me with a plate of two or three figs freshly picked from the garden.

Nothing could have been more delectable. They were representive of everything I loved about Italian life. They were fresh, seasonal, nutritious and delicious.

When you eat healthy foods and are a healthy person, the things that nature presents, in the seasons they are best, will delight you more than anything fake ever could.

Take a tip from the Italians: If you eat dessert, make it something simple and fresh — preferably something delicious of the season. And of course it’s best if it comes right from the garden. Go here to see a Facebook video: http://facebook.com/WeightLossItalianStyle

Did you love the food in Italy? Have you been praying that you could eat those delicious things and not gain weight?

Here’s  my 7-Day Challenge, which will help you: Clear all the processed food out of your kitchen and out of your life by Saturday, Aug. 28.

Be like an Italian and eat only fresh food. Your body will thank you.

Not certain what constitutes processed food? Check the labels on items in your cupboard. If the ingredients sound more like a science experiment than something you’d want to put in your mouth, toss the items.

Or take them to a food bank if that makes you feel better. Don’t think about the money you wasted. By eating good food, you’ll save on medical expenses in the long run.

Now go and stock your cupboards and fridge with fresh produce or things with a simple list of ingredients.

And let me know how it goes. Comment here or on my facebook page at http://facebook.com/WeightLossItalianStyle. 

I want to know, is it hard to give up processed food? Does it leave you wondering what you’re going to eat? If so, you’ve just uncovered a gold mine in your weight loss process.

Love yourself better by learning to eat better things. It’s easy to cook and eat the Italian way. If you need some ideas, check out my easy cookbook at http://www.WeightLossItalianStyle.com/products.html.

I know that sounds counter-intuitive but that’s the experience of the vast majority of people I talk to. Why? Because even though they are eating some of the best food they’ve eaten in their lives, and even though the word “Italy” is synonymous with food, they are eating fresh food without chemicals and preservatives. They are eating reasonable portions at regular mealtimes, and they are walk, walk, walking, not sitting around.

As you watch the film — or read the book — you have to remember that the main character was going through depression over losing a love relationship and was using Italian food as a source of solace. That’s why she gained weight, not because she was enjoying Italian food.

Food does occupy a place on center stage in Italy, but it’s a stage that’s crowded with other things to delight the senses, including incredible art, amazing architecture, gorgeous scenery and lively people. So it’s not always a person’s stomach that’s running the show.

The movie did a beautiful job of capturing the scenic aspects of Rome and the Italian countryside. The dining shots reminded me more of something from the Food Channel than the real Italian experience, however. But there’s no way to really capture the Italian eating experience on film. In order to get it, you have to go to Italy and experience it first hand. That doesn’t sound bad!

If you’re not going to Italy this summer, you might want to get your hands on the second best thing — a copy of my cookbook, Recipes to Drool Over, which now comes bundled with Weight Loss, Italian Style! for only $21.97, plus shipping and handling. (Regular price $36.92)

Meanwhile, do go and see Eat, Pray, Love if you haven’t already. It’s a treat. And ladies, take your hankies.

Is this you? Do you find that under certain circumstances you cannot stop yourself from binging? From grabbing foods and stuffing them down for solace?

You’re not alone. This is the painful secret of many. If you ever want to lose the weight permanently, at some point you really will have to take a bracing look at what’s bothering you beneath the surface.

Are you in a painful relationship? Do you have no relationship? Do you dislike your job? Do you dislike yourself?

The great thing is that you don’t have to solve the problem to reap the  benefits. You only have to begin a sincere exploration — with the desire to really know rather than hide from whatever the problem is.

You see, we often displace our uncomfortable feelings by stuffing them down with food. But that never solves the problem. It comes back, and then on top of it, we have another problem — overeating.

Today sometime, sit down with yourself and take a few deep breaths. Close your eyes and let yourself relax. With your eyes closed, listen to your surroundings, and as you settle into a state of greater relaxation, let your attention go inward. Start a gentle but honest exploration of what’s disturbing your sense of inner peace.

The scary thing is that attaining the kind of peace that would let you release the desire to overeat may require some outer changes — some changes you might not yet be willing to face.

And that’s OK. Simple awareness of what’s going on inside allows you to make different choices — which eventually leads to your freedom.

Meanwhile, to quell the anxiety that may be driving you to overeat, it can be extremely helpful to enter some kind of counseling or to take up yoga or tai chi, all of which bring you into greater awareness and harmony with yourself.

Going into counseling, by the way, isn’t a sign of weakness. It’s a sign of strength. It takes a strong person to admit that maybe they’re not perfect. (And who is?)

Doing so requires that you allow yourself to be vulnerable. But don’t worry, vulnerability is very attractive. That, rather than appearing on top of everything, is what actually makes people like you.

It’s kind of hard to ignore the noise of leaf blowers and lawn mowers at 7 a.m.  It doesn’t matter what day of the week it is, there’s always a gardener somewhere, hard at work before the sun gets high.

When they come week after week, it’s easy to keep a garden in shape.  If the gardener skips a week or two, things dry up and die and weeds start to take over. Then it’s a lot more work to get things back in place.

It’s the same with weight loss. Keeping up with your routine makes things easier. If you allow yourself to go off track, your weight can get out of control. And it’s a lot harder to get back to where you want to be.

So maintain your commitment to your health and beauty and don’t allow yourself to slacken. Make exercise and healthy eating as automatic as brushing your teeth.

 A little tweaking every day is a lot less burdonsome than having to start over from square one.

I had just put the finishing touches on my garden pasta delight — pasta mixed with fresh garden tomatoes, basil, garlic and extra virgin olive oil. I gave John his plate and sent him out to the pool.  Then I dished up my own plate, turned to go out the door, and my delicious pasta masterpiece slid off the plate and splashed all over the floor.

I had recently bought some bright and cheery plastic plates to use for garden dining. I was excited about using them because they are really very pretty. But little did I know, their surface is also very slippery.

There was no pasta left, because I’d only made enough for two people.  So I ended up with a plate of salad, steamed broccoli, and garden pasta topping — and a new weight loss remedy that really works: Prepare your delightful dish and then just make sure all the pasta ends up on the floor.

I had a bite of John’s pasta — just to make sure it was as good as I thought it would be. And in the end I didn’t go hungry, because we also had some amazing Gilroy Garlic and Jack Cheese Rustic Bread that I’d bought on sale at Whole Foods. (What a deal. Only $1.49!)

As the Sufi poet saint Rumi once wrote: “Some disasters prevent other disasters from happening.”

I didn’t overeat last night. Which left me with no reason to cry over spilt pasta.

And how did it make you feel to break your word with yourself?

A colleague, Matthew Cossolotto, author of the new ebook “The Power of Making a Promise: Make A Promise. Keep Your Word. Change Your Life,”  recently commented on a line in the 2010 movie, The Karate Kid.

In that movie, one of the young characters promises to attend the main character’s Kung Fu tournament, but her father forbids it. He later relents when he learns that she made a promise, saying, “In our family, we don’t break promises.”

How seriously do you take your promises? Do you make those promises lightly? Do you keep promises with others but not with yourself?

Cossolotto points out that a real promise leaves no room for failure. It’s about true commitment, like in a real marriage. It’s about keeping your word with yourself. I will quote what Matthew says about turning mere “goals” into promises:

“A promise is like a goal on steroids. It’s a powerful way to get unstuck, to break free from disempowering habits and mindsets and jumpstart your personal change journey.”

Real commitment to losing weight means following through, no matter what. It means caring more about yourself than about the fleeting pleasure of a cupcake in the middle of the afternoon or a bag of chips in the evening.

And the great thing is that it isn’t that hard. The force of the commitment itself overpowers lower urges, especially if you couple it with deciding to eat only healthy food in proper proportions so that you body isn’t crying for nutrition, which it will if you eat junk.

To learn about a healthy way of eating and living that keeps Italians slender even while enjoying foods such as pasta, go to http://WeightLossItalianStyle.com.

If not, you can find them at Whole Foods, numerous Target locations, gourmet grocery stores, and even Duane Reade if you happen to be in Manhattan. 

The company asked if I would try three of their canned coffees and give my thoughts on them.

I kid you not — I opened a can of “caffe” — their espresso-style coffee drink – took a sip and almost fell off my chair, because I immediately felt transported back to Florence in the summer of 2003, when I lived there.

I drink lattes nearly every day where I live in California, but there’s a difference between American coffee and the real Italian thing. Illy issimo uses 100 percent Arabica coffee, as opposed to Robusta, which gives it a richer, stronger flavor, with a lower caffeine content.

Now, these canned coffees are meant to be drunk chilled. I drank my “caffe” room temperature, which is probably why it reminded me of how my coffee tasted when I used to sit for hours at Ugo’s Florentine cafe trying to read the newspaper in Italian. I actually like it room temperature!

The “caffe”comes in small, 6.8 fluid ounce cans with only 50 calories — and that’s for the one that includes sugar. They also make a sugarless version.

I also tried the cappuccino, which was smooth and sweet. Actually, it was deliziozo! It’s something I would use on a special occasion, because I try to avoid sugar whenever possible, and this 8.45 fluid ounce can has 18 grams of it.

Granted, coffee does taste better with sugar. But I wonder if illy issimo made a cappuccino without it, if there might be enough people like me who would drink it? (Perhaps they are trying to stick as close to the Italian experience as possible, and probably most Italians would put a little sugar in their cappuccino.)

The latte macchiato was also smooth, strong flavored and very sweet. Again, deliziozo! I gave some to my parents, thinking they would love it, but they thought it was a little too sweet.

All of the coffees get a thumbs up from me, but if you’re watching your weight, I’d go for the espresso for the greatest Italian experience with the least amount of calories.

By the way, like most things Italian, illy issimo coffees are made from natural ingredients. They’re great to take in an ice chest for summer picnics.

Do you know that when I lived in Japan, they had vending machines all over the city filled with these kinds of small cans of coffee and tea? It was always such a pleasure to find them wherever I went.

Too bad we don’t have that concept here. Maybe someone could come up with it. Maybe illy issimo?

Oh, and those clever Japanese — the cans of coffee in the vending machines were chilled in summer and hot in winter.

I assume illy issimo coffees could be heated in the can for your winter enjoyment, although I’m not exactly sure the best way to do that.  

For now, enjoy them cold!

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http://www.facebook.com/illyissimousa

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