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I was reading the August 2008 The Costco Connection (Costco's member magazine), and saw, in the Book Previews section (on page 41), under nonfiction, a book titled Eat This Not That! for Kids: Raise a Lean, Healthy, Happy Child! (Amazon actually shows the title as Eat This Not That! for Kids!: Be the Leanest, Fittest Family on the Block!), by David Zinczenko and Matt Goulding. Matt Goulding is a buddy of mine, and the Food & Nutrition Editor for Men's Health.
I immediately fired off an e-mail to Matt to tell him I was surprised and thrilled to see his book being promoted by Costco (for those of you outside the U.S., Costco is huge here in the States), and to catch up with him, since we hadn't communicated in well over a year. Matt responded, and modestly mentioned in his message that they also co-wrote a previous Eat This Not That! book (titled Eat This Not That!: Thousands of Simple Food Swaps That Can Save You 10, 20, 30 Pounds-or More!), released back in December of last year--he didn't tell me that it's still at #17 on Amazon's Best Seller list! (It's currently #1 in the categories "Exercise & Fitness" and "Diets.")
Matt and I met on a trip to Majorca for a product launch event. As one of the press pieces for their previous book states, Matt "has cooked and eaten his way across the world," which is very true. For such a young guy, Matt is one of the most cosmopolitan cats I've met, his Spanish so natural that he doesn't sound like an American speaking Spanish, but maybe more like a lifelong Chilean (which, if I recall correctly, is one of the places Matt was a chef). He is the ultimate foodie, with the culinary skills to match, and the ability to talk about food and eating in a manner so passionate as to make it interesting to anyone. There wasn't a thing we ate and drank together that he didn't make more fascinating for all of us, with his boyishly enthusiastic, yet very sophisticated, musings.
As he probably does wherever he travels, Matt was intent on smuggling a bunch of native food items back home, with the most memorable piece from that trip probably being a particularly strong-smelling chorizo--so strong-smelling that I believe the manager of the finca/hotel asked him to keep it out of his room, and so I think Matt hung it outside on the patio. We joked around, a few of us placing gentlemen's bets on whether he was going to get that chorizo across the border without a hitch, and I found out later from him that he did! I'm sure his local friends were the luckier for it, as I believe he was intending to transform the Mallorcan treasures he'd collected into a meal for them.
At a Palma dance club the bunch of us went to, the rather intoxicated duo of Matt and me tried to convince the club staff to let me dance in a just-vacated cage that was normally occupied by a buff club staffer (male and/or female), hoisted above the dance floor, apparently to entertain the patrons with the sight of ultra-fit gals and guys, scantily clad, cage-dancing. We made a concerted effort to make my decidedly non-buff presence in one of those cages happen, so that I could entertain the group we were with (and simultaneously horrify the other club-goers who didn't know me). Alas, despite Matt's slurred urgings en español--and even a bribe of around 50 Euro, if I recall correctly--we were, with a now-go-away-you-drunks laugh, politely turned away.
So, Matt Goulding, you're a best-seller, man! And, as a parent, I think your latest book is going to be an even bigger hit. My wife and I will be picking it up--and may give a couple away as gifts--and if I see you soon, sign my copy for me, buddy. Congratulations, Matt!
You can check out more of Matt's writing in Men's Health magazine, the Men's Health website (including videos of Matt and his colleagues cooking up healthy recipes), and the direct "Eat This, Not That" website at eatthis.com.
I immediately fired off an e-mail to Matt to tell him I was surprised and thrilled to see his book being promoted by Costco (for those of you outside the U.S., Costco is huge here in the States), and to catch up with him, since we hadn't communicated in well over a year. Matt responded, and modestly mentioned in his message that they also co-wrote a previous Eat This Not That! book (titled Eat This Not That!: Thousands of Simple Food Swaps That Can Save You 10, 20, 30 Pounds-or More!), released back in December of last year--he didn't tell me that it's still at #17 on Amazon's Best Seller list! (It's currently #1 in the categories "Exercise & Fitness" and "Diets.")
Matt and I met on a trip to Majorca for a product launch event. As one of the press pieces for their previous book states, Matt "has cooked and eaten his way across the world," which is very true. For such a young guy, Matt is one of the most cosmopolitan cats I've met, his Spanish so natural that he doesn't sound like an American speaking Spanish, but maybe more like a lifelong Chilean (which, if I recall correctly, is one of the places Matt was a chef). He is the ultimate foodie, with the culinary skills to match, and the ability to talk about food and eating in a manner so passionate as to make it interesting to anyone. There wasn't a thing we ate and drank together that he didn't make more fascinating for all of us, with his boyishly enthusiastic, yet very sophisticated, musings.
As he probably does wherever he travels, Matt was intent on smuggling a bunch of native food items back home, with the most memorable piece from that trip probably being a particularly strong-smelling chorizo--so strong-smelling that I believe the manager of the finca/hotel asked him to keep it out of his room, and so I think Matt hung it outside on the patio. We joked around, a few of us placing gentlemen's bets on whether he was going to get that chorizo across the border without a hitch, and I found out later from him that he did! I'm sure his local friends were the luckier for it, as I believe he was intending to transform the Mallorcan treasures he'd collected into a meal for them.
At a Palma dance club the bunch of us went to, the rather intoxicated duo of Matt and me tried to convince the club staff to let me dance in a just-vacated cage that was normally occupied by a buff club staffer (male and/or female), hoisted above the dance floor, apparently to entertain the patrons with the sight of ultra-fit gals and guys, scantily clad, cage-dancing. We made a concerted effort to make my decidedly non-buff presence in one of those cages happen, so that I could entertain the group we were with (and simultaneously horrify the other club-goers who didn't know me). Alas, despite Matt's slurred urgings en español--and even a bribe of around 50 Euro, if I recall correctly--we were, with a now-go-away-you-drunks laugh, politely turned away.
So, Matt Goulding, you're a best-seller, man! And, as a parent, I think your latest book is going to be an even bigger hit. My wife and I will be picking it up--and may give a couple away as gifts--and if I see you soon, sign my copy for me, buddy. Congratulations, Matt!
You can check out more of Matt's writing in Men's Health magazine, the Men's Health website (including videos of Matt and his colleagues cooking up healthy recipes), and the direct "Eat This, Not That" website at eatthis.com.
