The Top Ten . . .

. . . Reasons that Living Near Lake Merrit is Good for My Diet

10. Trader Joe's: I think sometimes TJs tried to pass itself off as a health food place, but beware of the many prepared foods and their high calorie content. However, I think they have inexpensive produce - small section though - and a lot of healthy snack options (like dried fruit, nuts, flavored water, etc.).

9. BART: Almost ironically (although I don't think it's the proper definition of ironic) the Lake Merrit BART station is pretty far from Lake Merrit. It's much closer to Jack London Square. The 12th or 19th St. BART stations are closer to the Lake. It's about a mile away from my house, but a much better option than driving into SF and dealing with parking, the bridge and hills (I have an unnatural fear of driving up a hill).

8. Lack of Parking: There is no parking in my neighborhood. Like you visit me, you might as well park in Emeryville or San Leandro because you sure won't find a spot on my street. This means also that I am encouraged to walk when I have somewhere to go to nearby (for example #7).

7. Gold's Gym: Like many, I had this stereotype of GG as the place where the bodybuilders go. I mean, they have a picture of Arnold Schwarzenegger in there. And though I want to get toned, I don't want to have more muscles than my man. But I like it! It's near my house, I like their group exercise classes and best of all they have little TVs on the treadmills! I can jog and watch "King of Queens." AWESOME.

6. Safeway: It has a decent produce section and they are open late. So I have no excuse to go to McDonald's if I'm hungry at night. Oh, and Safeway has the best tomato and mozzerella salad.

5. Lack of Fast Food: So there are not a lot of fast food choices in the area. McDonald's, Taco Bell, Cheesesteak Shoppe, Ahn's Burger, etc. Fast food is the downfall for me because I am in my car a lot and sometimes I get home late and just don't feel like cooking. But when my only options are McDonald's or Taco Bell because everything else is closed, I am motivated to eat some cereal and call it a night. Plus, I found a hair in my Mexican Pizza at Taco Bell once. It was BAKED in so I know it wasn't mine. Man did that discovery turn me off from all things South of the Border.

4. The Stairs: I discovered these last year, though I've lived in the area since 2003. They are great! There are about 7-8 flights near the Lake that you can get an easy quick workout (Kenyatta, when are we doing the stairs?????). And I seriously feel it.

3. The Farmer's Market: The Saturday morning farmer's market is not only walking distance from my house, but I get the best strawberries from one of the vendors. So I get my exercise and I get fresh fruit for a good price (support local farmers!).

2. Whole Foods: Or "Whole Paycheck" as my friend Kisha calls it. It's expensive but it has so many CHOICES!

1. Lake Merritt: The Lake is beautiful, it's walking friendly and it's down the hill from my house. I have no reason for not taking a 3.5 mile walk at least once a week. Plus, there are always cuties walking around the Lake. Eye candy always helps with almost any activity . . .