Last year BEST LIFE magazine asked me to interview a certain governor from Hope, Arkansas with a new book and a penchant for smooth talk. (It wasn’t former President Bill Clinton, alas.) That March, Republican Mike Huckabee was at the toe of the heavily-crevassed glacier he’s now crossing, a frenetic dash for his party’s nomination which threatens to swallow him whole as he blithely glides into terra incognita, dodging hard questions with jokey refrains. [Anyone surprised by his rapid ascent to national prominence should read this hard-hitting profile by Zev Chafets in the Sunday New York Times Magazine.] Still, I enjoyed my chat with the Governor, impressed with his zeal for a fitter nation and his newfound stature: the self-proclaimed ‘Ultimate Sofa Spud’ had shed 110 pounds, in part by “training religiously” for marathons (and dropping his beloved chicken-fried-steak-and-gravy combo plates). An impressive feat, sure, but a test of Presidential mettle? We’ll see about that. At any rate, should you care, here’s a rundown what Mike Huckabee eats when he’s not at the Olive Garden (PDF). At least hasn’t given up bacon. (Originally published in Best Life magazine, June, 2006)