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These are posts with original photography by John LeMasney, cc-by lemasney.

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On locality, sharing, and whole foods.

Griggstown Quail Farm
Griggstown Quail Farm (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

I got a share in my local CSA.

So I finally got in! I’m excited about my brand new CSA share. Let me explain what it is, why I’m excited, and why you should try to get one if you are interested in economics, fitness, or food politics.

A few years ago, before my nutritional ideas began to guide my eating, politics, and concerns, I heard about the idea of a CSA, or a Community-Supported Agriculture program. I found out that it is a local farm that requires up-front consumer purchase of a share in a set of crops that are then distributed throughout the season. At the time, it seemed like a neat idea, something that crunchy granola types did. Over time, and with knowledge, I began to realize what an important idea it is. In fact, I’m going to try to see if I can use this share as the only source of food at home, aside from coffee, tea, and eggs. I might be crazy, but I think I’d know by now. The most often-stated con of this arrangement is that the consumer takes a risk in that the crop that they have paid for is subject to pests, weather, and other unforeseen factors. I think that the risk is far outweighed by the potential. Now, the upsides:

There are many benefits:

  • Supporting your local area by purchasing products made there. Not the next state over. Not the next country over. Here. 
  • The overhead of shipping is nonexistent, because the food goes from the field to the table, where you can walk or bike (or take the bus, or drive) to pick it up.
  • The cost effectiveness (the number one excuse-response when I suggest a whole food nutritional lifestyle over a processed food one) is amazingly high.
  • The food could not possibly be fresher.
  • The food is usually of an amazing variety, and suggests that you learn how to cook and enjoy new foods.
  • The food is un-packaged, un-processed, whole food.
  • The food at many CSAs is USDA organic, meaning pesticide-free. At my CSA farm, they use an alternative called IPM (Integrated Pest Management)
  • Since the farm makes food available at harvest, the food is by default seasonal, which promotes seasonal eating, and deprecates the idea of year-round tasteless tomatoes, for instance.
  • The farm makes the bounty available each week, and a typical weekly individual share (shown below) is usually more than enough for one person.
  • The local farm provides local jobs, and often provides opportunities for labor in exchange for part of a share.
  • You get fresh farmed food every week from about June to October, at least here in the Northeast.
A single week's fruits and vegetables from com...
A single week’s fruits and vegetables from community-supported agriculture share: peppers, okra, tomatoes, beans, potatoes, garlic, eggplant, squash. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

How it happened for me.

So, I became interested years ago in the idea of joining a CSA, but there was not one locally available to me until my recent move to the Princeton area, where the Griggstown Quail Farm offers its CSA. You can read about their particular program at their CSA site. I had the pleasure of sampling a Griggstown share while a friend was on vacation last year, and the experience was glorious. The food was fresh, the people were nice, the market was close, and the food was simply waiting for me to come and pick it up.

It works for me, personally. YMMV.

There are a couple of things that make it especially sensible for me, though these are by no means a set of reasons to not consider a CSA if you think differently:

I am mostly vegetarian, meaning that in situations where meat is not a part of the only good and reasonable option, I will eat vegetarian. I eat meat about once a week, mostly out of convenience, and typically as a condiment, such as chicken broth in soup where there is no vegetarian option.

I am very interested in my health and fitness, and so I think of whole foods like nuts, whole grains, beans, legumes, vegetables and fruit as a key part of maintaining that fitness. I believe in the value of whole foods over processed foods.

I am very supportive of ecological efforts, locality, reasonable consumerism, and saving money.

I cook my own meals when I can. I really love to cook.

Costs and value.

It is the beginning of March, 2013. I just spent $300 for a full personal share. I will not see the food for weeks. However, when I do, here is a typical share of the crops I should expect in July (as an example), though the crops will start to become available in June:

1 pint of Arugula, 2 cucumbers, 1 eggplant or fennel, 2 onions, 1 bell pepper, 2 jalapeño peppers, 1 banana pepper, 2 Hungarian hot wax peppers, 1 romaine lettuce, 1 bunch of scallions, 2 zucchini, swiss chard, 3 tomatoes, basil, oregano, parsley, sage and thyme.

Other items I should expect this year are peas, beans, beets, cabbage, carrots, cauliflower, greens, radishes, spinach, turnips, choi, broccoli, winter squash, celery, pumpkins, melons, potatoes, watermelons, cut flowers, cherries, tomatillos, tarragon, rosemary, cilantro and dill.

I can not imagine another instance in which such an amazing nutritional, ecological, and social value could be had at such a low price.

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The Three Necessary Gauges of Fitness #infographic

Venn diagram of nutritional management by lemasney
Venn diagram of nutritional management by lemasney
The Three Necessary Gauges of Fitness by John LeMasney via https://lemasney.com/consulting/
The Three Necessary Gauges of Fitness by John LeMasney via http://lemasney.com

 

This is an infographic I made to try to explain the simplicity of the approach I used in order to lose my hundred pounds. All it takes is a dashboard.

If anyone is looking to shed pounds (for free, without a gym membership, with whatever food you like) it requires gauges.

Your body is like a car, and food is like fuel. If you’ve ever had a broken or missing gas gauge, you know what it’s like to be the average eater, putting in too much gas, not having enough, not knowing when you are about to overfill, run out, or underfill. I also like the analogy of having a budget where you have, let’s say. 1800 calories to spend. No one likes being broke, but if you got a few hundred bucks for taking a walk, that would be great.

If you have a recent smartphone, it probably has a pretty good pedometer built in. That’s your output gauge. I use Google Fit. Many gauges exist, but this one is free.

If you count your calories, using an app, a notepad, or a very good memory, that’s your input gauge. I use MyFitnessPal (MFP), which has a fabulous food database. Many gauges exist, but this one is free.

The only thing remaining is to know your weight, height, sex, and intent. The nice thing about MFP is that if you plug these things in, and track your weight, it will tell you exactly how many calories you need on a given day to lose, gain, or maintain your weight.

Without it, it’s easy to overfill. With it, you have a reliable way to know how much you should be eating to have certain outcomes.

Quality of food is a different matter. My philosophy is to eat what you wish, as you like, but count it, and stop when you run out of calories. Pizza? Donuts? Soda? Have what you like, but understand that higher nutrition will lead to better health, function, and thought.

Knowing is better than not, and these tools help you know.

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On the relationship between success, vision and belief

Forward movement
Forward movement

I have realized that there’s something that drives me to do the things that I do, and let go of the things that I don’t.

For example, I am an advocate for open source software, like the gimp and Inkscape, when the rest of my creative friends bemoan my choice over adobe products, saying that they could not get their work done without them. The reason is clearer to me now why I can.

I am an advocate for calorie counting and whole foods and vegetarianism and light exercise, like walking. Many of my friends think that calorie counting is too much work for them, that whole foods are bland and tasteless and that they could not possibly adopt the lifestyle, or that they could never live without meat. They feel that you can’t get proper exercise outside of a gym. I have evidence to the contrary.

I use a Chromebook, and feel that I am working towards a chromebook- and mobile-only computing style. I still have some needs, such as archival storage, video editing, and DVR that will keep me tethered at some times to a traditional desktop or server, for now, but that is changing. My friends say that they couldn’t get by without their tower.

I gave up drinking in April of 2012. I believe that I will never drink again. I was not able to stop until I believed it was possible. Until I envisioned living without it successfully, I didn’t, and so I couldn’t. I have friends that are deep in the grip of alcoholism. They believe that there is no other way. This is obviously not true, and yet, they persist.

In the face of oppositional ideas, harder paths, and seemingly unobtainable goals, I believe that I can achieve, which makes it possible. When I don’t, I can’t. If you can’t bring yourself to believe that something is possible, that you will never gain the benefits from it, or that it’s not worth the effort or time, then you are assuredly right: you can’t in your mind, so you won’t in reality.

It is impossible to surprise yourself in your beliefs when you are both the non-believer and the non-actor. Though not guaranteed, it is possible if you believe that it can be. Until you can say out loud that you believe that you can, and believe it, you may want to hold off trying. Without belief, doing may be impossible.

One response I’ve gotten to this idea is that it is so hard to believe that which you do not. I would say that this perceived effort is a sign that belief is not likely at this time, and that when you are ready to believe, it will be easy. You will have some key evidence that the seemingly impossible is possible. The evidence may be the result of things going to far down the opposite path. You’ll have some break in the clouds to hold on to long enough to believe. Seize it — it’s the difference for me in acting and doing, or not.

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On weight loss misconceptions #nutrients #lifestyle #change

John LeMasney before
John LeMasney before

John LeMasney after
John LeMasney after

So, a very good friend who has been struggling with their weight for a very long time has been talking with me over my time losing weight. The chats were often a restatement of what I say here on this blog, how to get started, what to expect, how to find success in losing weight. I balk at the idea of weight loss being difficult or that somehow I am extraordinary in my loss because the methods that I used were easy to adopt, easy to maintain, and the outcomes were relatively quick and painless. For those of you who would love to have the conversation of how I lost almost 100 pounds in under a year without a strong effort, this post is for you.

In order to lose weight, there are some misconceptions that I do not agree with. I find it easier to pursue weight loss and a new nutritional lifestyle if you disbelieve the following ideas and pursue alternatives as described:

1. Weight loss requires exercise.

You do not need to exercise to lose weight. Repeat. Exercise will make you feel better, look better, and increase the speed of weight loss, but it is by no means necessary. Every human burns some amount of calories just by their normal function, commonly called your BMR, or basal metabolic rate. Mine is around 2000 calories, because I am a 39-year-old, 6′ 2″ male of about 200 pounds. As long as I eat less than 2000 calories in a day, I will not gain weight. If I eat less than that in a day, I will lose at some rate. If I exercise and stay below my BMR, I will lose weight quicker, feel better, and look better, with more energy, stamina, and self-confidence. But it is by no means necessary.

2. I can only lose weight if I do not eat carbohydrates or if I do not eat fat.

It is the type of food that I eat that is making me overweight. Everyone needs carbohydrates, fat, and protein. There are better choices of carbohydrates, such as whole grains, and worse sources of carbohydrates, such as powdered donuts. I eat both, and have eaten both throughout my weight loss. There are better sources of fat, such as olive oil, and worse choices of fat, such as butter. I eat both, and have eaten both throughout my weight loss. I am mostly vegetarian, and get 15% of my calories every day in the form of vegetable proteins. It is not the type of food that you eat that makes you overweight, it is the excess number of calories that your body does not burn that makes you overweight. If you are burning 2000 calories a day, and you eat 1800 calories in donuts every day, you will be very sick, but you will lose weight. If you choose instead to eat about 1000 calories in nutrient rich carbohydrates, 400 calories in protein, and 300 calories in unsaturated fat, you will lose weight and feel good.

3. Losing weight will allow me to eat the food that I want again.

If you are losing weight so that you can have bread and cheesesteaks again, or if you are avoiding pizza until you get to your first goal weight, in my opinion, you are doing it wrong, and setting yourself up for future failure. If you want a cheesesteak, have one. Count the calories for it (kaiser roll, 200 cals, minute steak 110 cals, 3 fresh mozzarella ciliegine balls, 60 cals) and mind your calories for the rest of the day, staying below your calorie stopping point.

4.  I’ll just watch what I eat, the counting thing is unnecessary.

In my opinion, using scales, calories and other measurements are a way of assuring yourself that progress is being made, and that you are staying within your limits. Guessing at the calories of something in front of you, then not putting it in the caloric perspective of the rest of your day, is how we gain weight. We live in a society that gives you single meals with your entire day’s worth of calories in just a few bites. If you want to eat one meal a day, then do it, but by all means, know that you are doing it.

5. I just want to look better, I don’t need to look at the scale to do that.

Weigh yourself every day. Be aware of everything you can know about your body. Measure your arms and neck and waist and write them down, or get them into a database, like MyFitnessPal. Track your wins and losses. Ignore your mirror because it will lie to you. It will tell you that you are ugly and fat and that you are not worth improving. It will not remind you that your calorie counting and other methods are obviously improving you. That’s what your scale is for.

If you have questions, I have answers. Comment, or email me at lemasney@gmail.com

Image representing MyFitnessPal as depicted in...
Image via CrunchBase

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On maintenance #fitness #nutrition #health by lemasney

Procrastination Basic program by lemasney
Procrastination Basic program by lemasney

Procrastination Basic program by lemasney
Procrastination Basic program by lemasney

If you like this post, or if you feel like it might help someone, please share it. Thanks!

How do I feel today; What did I do today?

I’ve been rather depressed lately. It’s mostly chemical-based, but there are a few stressors and other triggers that have been bringing it on. I tend to meet depression at major points of life change, and some, like the end or beginning of the year, are built-in. There’s also, though, the change that my body has gone through, and the ways in which my eating has changed for maintenance mode, rather than losing mode. One might think that the suddenly allowed addition of 700 extra calories in a day would be welcomed, but for me, it has been a fearful transition. There’s fear that my eating habits will return to the way that they were, where I eat simply because food is there, or simply because of the way that I feel, and that’s scary. I enjoy eating according to a plan, with a purpose, and to a goal, but now that the goal is reached, there is more unknown than known in the future. One might ask “Isn’t your goal now to stay where you are?” Well, yes, but there is more enjoyment in movement towards betterment (transformational) than stability in betterment (transactional), and even though I know what I must do, there is a struggle there with no clear wins or finish lines. I’ve met this depression before, when I graduated from degrees, when I accomplished other goals, and when I changed relationships. There is pain in ending, and fear in new beginnings. It works out in the end, when there is stability and familiarity in the new situation.

What or how have I been eating recently; What did I savor?

I have been eating cautiously lately, mostly whole foods, mostly vegetables, nuts, whole grains, and  fruit. There is joy in eating what you know, and a certain solace in the familiar.

How have I been moving?

It’s cold, and so I’ve continued to slack a bit in my movement. I’m walking about 5000 steps a day, about half of what I walk in nicer weather. I’ve been spending most of my usual walking time finishing projects and starting new work.

  • My FitBit profile: This is where I track my daily activity, sleep, and workouts.
  • My Fitness Pal food diary: This is where you can find out exactly what I ate today.
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20120103: On so-called bad foods #fitness #nutrition #health

Losing Weight: Eat Real Food cc-by lemasney
Eat Real Food cc-by lemasney
Eat Real Food by John LeMasney via 365sketches.org
Eat Real Food by John LeMasney via 365sketches.org

Feeling: Today, I thought I might talk a bit about some of my feelings about categorizing foods into good and bad. I try to categorize food in better ways, as it’s a much more complex issue than that, and it’s generalization to group foods wholesale into moral standing. For instance, I’d rather eat foods that make me feel good than ones that don’t. I’d like to eat foods that make me satiated and energetic. I think that very often we label food bad because of the stereotype of that food, rather than the food itself. I think that the worst foods in moral standing can easily be the ones that help you stay fit. My key rule is that it’s very hard to make whole food bad.

In no case should anyone be eating any food to excess. Let’s take pizza. I’m not promoting eating a whole 16 inch pizza to anyone. I’m saying that if you have a slice or two, it need not be rubbery, overindulging, mass-produced slop, but something to savor, to luxuriate in, to benefit from.

A Pizza Hut Supreme pizza.
A Pizza Hut Supreme pizza. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Eating: If all you ever ate was Pizza Hut pizza, I could understand it being referred to as a bad food. They are often thick, bready, messy takes on what can be a delicious and wholesome delight. If all you ever had ever eaten was thin crust Jersey pizza shop pizza, you’d be better off, but still I could see it as being called bad food. These pies are often more about grease and cheese and meat than the crust or tomatoes, though the crust is sometimes spectacular. My favorite pies are ones I make at home with pre-packaged naan bread (about 500 calories), topped with thinly sliced Roma tomatoes, garlic and fresh basil (50 calories for all of it), topped with 3 ciliegine mozzarella balls (60 calories).  It’s whole food, it’s soft inside with a crisp crust, and it has depth of flavor. You can customize it to your every whim, and you can control exactly how it tastes, with little effort. It is in no way bad food.

Naan Pizza by John LeMasney via lemasney.com
Naan Pizza by John LeMasney via lemasney.com

Let’s look at fries. Skip the McDonald’s large, and julienne a single medium potato into a hot lightly oiled pan, flip until tender, add salt, and you will have a very nice treat with about 300 calories.

Moving: I’m not back up to 10,000 steps a day yet, but I got about 6,000 in yesterday.

Learning: I’m taking new approaches to project management today.

Insights:

  • My FitBit profile: This is where I track my daily activity, sleep, and workouts.
  • My Fitness Pal food diary: This is where you can find out exactly what I ate today.