We have the Oprah diet, the Pritikin diet, the Jenny Craig diet. Now, enters the Jerry Sanders diet . . .
Along with the city's budget, San Diego's mayor has become noticeably slimmer since the first of the year. In fact, he has lost more than six inches in his waist and between 40 and 50 pounds (he's not exactly sure because he doesn't weigh himself) in the past 10 months. He didn't have his stomach stapled or cinched. Nor did he switch to NutriSystem prefab food.
Sanders says he simply took the sensible approach. We'll call it the WWW diet – walk, work-out and watch calories.
He walks 40 to 60 minutes every weekday beginning at 5:30 a.m. (1½ hours on weekend days). He works out with a trainer two days a week at his neighborhood gym.
Sanders doesn't actually count calories, but he has sworn off sweets and bread, and he cut carbohydrates. Lettuce has become his new best friend.
“I had to give up Mexican food,” laments the 5-foot-11 mayor, although he allows himself to cheat on his diet once a month.
The mayor also gave up his favorite treat – vanilla ice cream. “I don't even remember what it tastes like,” he says.
Plan of action
In an unusual move, Sanders will share his vision for San Diego's future and its financial challenges for the next four years during a San Diego County Taxpayers Association luncheon Tuesday at the Kona Kai Club on Shelter Island.
Normally his analysis would be delivered after his new term as mayor begins in December but because Sanders won re-election in the June primary, he is jump-starting his vision. For those who don't attend, at 6:30 p.m. he'll deliver a 15-minute summary on KUSI/Channel 9, followed by a Q&A with anchorman Paul Bloom.
A tale of two Aguirres
While San Diego City Attorney Mike Aguirre was talking on local news Tuesday about the deadlocked jury in the firefighter's gay pride parade court case, his brother was grabbing national headlines.
Gary Aguirre, who now works as a volunteer in Mike's office, was fired as an investigator with the Securities and Exchange Commission three years ago when he failed to back off his probe into Wall Street insider trading.
Now that Wall Street has hit the skids and fingers are pointing at lax SEC regulation, Gary is being applauded for his whistle-blowing efforts and an SEC new inspector general's report recommends reforms.
San Diegans Ink
Organizers of UPLIFT San Diego, a local outreach organization serving San Diego's inner city, were forewarned that Padres pitcher Jake Peavy, one of six community honorees at its annual banquet tonight, might not make it because of the impending birth of his third child. Sure enough, Peavy's son, Judson Lee, debuted late last month, 5½ weeks early.
“Family duties preclude attendance,” explains his agent, Barry Axelrod. Peavy is definitely excused . . .
UCSD President Marye Anne Fox had to take a rain check when invited to fly with the Blue Angels before the Miramar Air Show last weekend. Not to worry, the crack Navy pilots told her they would be performing in San Francisco this week and invited her to join them. This time, she accepted. On Wednesday, probably with her insurance carriers clutching their hearts, UCSD's top administrator got her chance to pirouette aboard a Blue Angel.
VIP party
California farm animals have some friends in high places, including former President George H.W. Bush. Oops, make that James Cromwell, who portrays the former president in Oliver Stone's newest movie “W,” opening in theaters Friday. Cromwell became a vegan, swearing off animal products, while filming the move “Babe” in 1995. He, along with actress Alicia Silverstone (aka Batgirl) and “Girlfriends” sitcom star Persia White were on the party list with U.S. Humane Society head Wayne Pacelle last night at a home in La Jolla.
Pam and Jerry Cesak hosted a fundraiser for California's Proposition 2, which calls for humane treatment of farm animals. Cromwell, no doubt, received royal treatment – after all, he also played Prince Philip alongside Helen Mirren in “The Queen.”
Diane Bell's column appears Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays. Fax items to (619) 260-5009, call (619) 293-1518 or e-mail to diane.bell@uniontrib.com.
