Tag: Weight loss

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Why do I post so much about nutrition?

bread by lemasney
bread by lemasney
i heart coffee by lemasney
Muesli recipe by lemasney
Vegetable manchurian
Don’t eat anything incapable of rotting by lemasney

So, those of you paying close attention may have noticed that I write about food. A lot. And so you might ask:

What does food and nutrition have to do with technology, design, and training, John?

And my answer is straightforward: Everything.

Cooking, food, nutrition, and technology.

Food and nutrition in my life are highly influenced by technology. Every time I eat anything, the next thing I do is use my phone, computer, or other Internet connected device to add to my food log. I count every calorie I eat. I am able to review, analyze, or otherwise know the details of every calorie I eat, going back years. Around my neck, always, is my fitbit, which counts steps, stairs, sleep, and other data about what I’m putting out as far as energy. The difference between when I was very heavy and now is that now I know to the calorie what I am taking in and what I am burning. As a result, technology is directly responsible, in part, for my level of fitness.

Cooking, food, nutrition, and design.

Food is design in that when you cook, count calories, or otherwise plan your nutrition, that is design. It’s not visual design, or architecture, granted, but it is very clearly design. In fact, I would posit that the difference between the obese and the normal weighted is very often the result of a lack of design. I’ve redesigned my nutritional plan, and lost over 100 pounds. Design is the act of codifying, simplifying, and making clear a plan of communication, layout, or direction. Taking hold of one’s nutrition is a pure form of design.

Cooking, food, nutrition, and training.

I have learned a lot in my journey towards health. I know when and exactly how I am mis-eating, which I did not know before. I knew when I was eating badly, I knew when I was eating cleanly, but I did not know, numerically, to what degree either had as an effect on my fitness. I know now. I firmly believe that I could help (e.g. train) anyone with a weight problem to resolve it, if they want to. There is no cost but your will in my method, and no disbenefit except awareness of how badly you might be eating. But as soon as you lose your extra weight, you’ll forget all about that.

Ask me about it, I’d love to discuss it with you.

 

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consulting

How I began to lose over 100 pounds, and change my nutritional lifestyle

Losing Weight: John LeMasney before picture
John LeMasney before picture
John LeMasney before picture
John LeMasney before picture
John LeMasney before picture
John LeMasney before picture
John LeMasney after picture
John LeMasney
John LeMasney after picture
John LeMasney after picture

I spent most of my life obese. Since I lost over 100 pounds in the second half of the 2000s, I have been able to maintain it fairly well, very easily, and without any monetary cost. It all started for me with a free book:

“The Hacker’s Diet, notwithstanding its silly subtitle, is a serious book about how to lose weight and permanently maintain whatever weight you desire. It treats dieting and weight control from an engineering and management standpoint, and provides the tools and an understanding of why they work and how to use them that permit the reader to gain control of their own weight. The book is intended primarily for busy, successful engineers, programmers, and managers who have struggled unsuccessfully in the past to lose weight and avoid re-gaining it. Computer-based tools and experiments in Microsoft Excel or the Palm Computing Platform are available, as well as an online Web application, but a computer is not necessary to use the techniques described in the book; paper and pencil alternatives are provided.” – The Hacker’s Diet – http://goo.gl/tsnjph

TL:DR: We gain weight, in great part, because we do not know what we are eating or burning, and we do not know where to start to learn how to know these things. The book says many things, but among them are the ideas that if you drove your car without a gas tank gauge, you would have a very hard time knowing when to refill, and your body is the same. As a result, we often eat more than we need, which turns into stored fat. With gauges, we are able to assess whether we should be eating more fuel or not, whether we need to get more exercise, and whether we are done fueling for the day. This was an incredible revelation to me: the idea that I was essentially guessing at what I was eating, calorie wise, what I was burning, calorie wise, and how much I was supposed to be doing of both. Another incredible revelation for me was that I did not need to exercise to lose weight. If you are looking for a place to start to learn to lose weight, I can not possibly recommend this book any more strongly.

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insights photography

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
Categories
insights

20121210: On serving size and pizza. #fitness #awareness #insights

20121205: Suggested serving size by John LeMasney via 365sketches.org #cc #design #typography
20121205: Suggested serving size by John LeMasney via 365sketches.org #cc #design #typography
20121205: Suggested serving size by John LeMasney via 365sketches.org #cc #design #typography
20121205: Suggested serving size by John LeMasney via 365sketches.org #cc #design #typography

Today, I had my usual slice of pizza (300 calories) and a cup and a half of minestrone (150 calories) at Frist for lunch. This slice was spinach and pepperoni, a delicious hand tossed thin crust. Being impatient, I always ask for it cold, and am never disappointed in its soft, giving crust. I must be a regular, since the guy behind the counter gave me a cup of sauce on the side with a smile, and without me asking. The minestrone was thick, in a tomato based broth, with beans, fat soft elbow noodles, still crisp carrots, onions, garlic, celery, and spinach. Tasty! I forewent the pack of crackers and saved myself 20 calories.

I guess I’m feeling kind of down now. I’m at the end of my weight loss, and I’ve hovered around 200 pounds for weeks. It’s not that I don’t feel great, (I do), it’s that I really would like to carry out that particular goal. I know what the issue is: the cold weather has made my step count drop dramatically, and as a result, I’m not burning as many calories, but still eating my calories pretty vigorously. I’m on more of a maintenance menu than a loss menu, and that’s fine. But I’d still like to hit that number, even if I stay just a bit above it in maintenance.

I’m grateful for new friends, old friends, the holidays, quiet time at work, early mornings from time to time, stability at home, and sobriety. I’m very happy about my 365sketches.org project, which is winding down. I’m challenged a bit by the chaos of my desk, financial restrictions, and a constant sense of inadequacy. I have not overcome those challenges, though I do have a plan to do so.
Today I savored the foggy, dull air of the morning.
pizza, soup, mornings, chaos, fitness, challenges
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insights photography

On six months of sobriety and nutritional awareness

Losing Weight: John LeMasney after picture
John LeMasney after picture
2011 to 2012
2011 to 2012

On April 19th, 2012, I stopped drinking. I also began paying attention to my health in other ways. The urge to change came with a debilitating four-day downtime, in which I was hardly able to walk, had lots of time to think and process my life as it was, and decided that I was going to either change or die.

Today, exactly six months later, I’ve learned a lot. Here are some of the things that I’ve learned.

  1. A clear mind is better than a clouded mind. Absent of alcohol, I am provided the ability to process situations, needs, and priorities more clearly. I was essentially using alcohol as a way to escape the realities of guilt, shame and failure, while also ignoring all the potential joy, sensation, and life of reality. For me, getting past the guilt, and engaging life, was easier while clear-minded. People treat and respect you differently when you are sober.
  2. Life is easier when you are fit. To date, I have lost over 80 pounds. I am within 10 pounds of my final goal weight. I am within 2 percentage points of my target body fat percentage. I lost the weight by recording and knowing what I eat (about 1500 calories a day), and exercising lightly (10,000 steps a day) every day. I expect to reach my goal in November. People treat and respect you differently when you are fit.
  3. Happiness is a matter of a lack of want and expectations. It is important for me to remember that when I do not have expectations or wants about outcomes from situations, people, or things, I can’t possibly be disappointed. When I expect or want, I often have a result of disappointment, and disappointment is specifically not happiness. People treat and respect you differently when you are happy.
  4. The most important thing in life are people. Interacting with, helping, and sharing the joy of life with people is everything.

So, I just wanted to leave this note to say thank you to all the wonderful people who have helped me to celebrate these last six months, and that it has been a genuinely great start to the rest of my life, whatever that may bring.