A few months ago I wrote about a diet regimen called SNARP (Strategic Nourishment and Replenishment Program), I devised that has been adopted by top runners around the world. Nowadays, I think most people don’t believe my post. I admit it was a total fabrication. I’m sure this will cause readers of I Must Run Everywhere to slap their foreheads in shock.

To make up for this transgression, I’ll reveal my real diet secrets. The secret is that I don’t eat anything special. In my entire career I’ve rarely eaten with a running benefit in mind.

However, I eat as healthy a diet possible because I believe what you eat has a big impact on health. I don’t necessarily want to live to a very old age, but while I’m alive, I prefer to be healthy and active.

The below photos show part of my vegetable garden which takes up most of my backyard. Starting in mid-April, I’m able to harvest over-wintered spinach, early lettuce and dandelion greens for salads. Additional greens ripen during summer and fall. I’m usually able to harvest lettuce into December.

On the left is a type of Romaine lettuce. Middle is Asian tatsoi. On the right – onions.

Far left are eggplants. In the middle is Swiss chard. On the right, carrots.

It’d probably be boring and monotonous for most people, but most days my dinner is a big salad with many ingredients from April to December. I’ve been doing it for years, yet I still look forward to my big green meal in the evening. I freeze other fruits and vegetables that I grow and use them to make various dishes during winter.

However, I have a weakness for sweets and usually don’t keep them around because I’d devour them in no time. But I got around this rigid policy a few evenings ago.

I was hankering for something sweet, and I wanted it now, so a drive to the store or baking something was out of the question.

I found a neglected box of cake mix that had been given to me a few months earlier. I poured some into a bowl and added milk. Voila! – dessert for a king. If you’re hoping for instructions on how to prepare this dessert, you’re in luck.

Pour cake mix into a bowl. Warning – do not sneeze while doing this.

Add milk. If any is spilled, ignore platitudes and release frustrations by crying.

Stir well. Do not allow anticipation to cause saliva to drip into the bowl. It’s your own spit, but it’s still gross.

Yummy. Reminder: for at-home-alone use only. Do not serve at dinner parties.

Do you have a story of going to extreme lengths to get some sweets into your mouth?