My Health Journey

Cleaning my closet, I decided to discard the first pairs of jeans I bought after I started losing weight five years ago. They were a trim size 38, way slimmer than the unspeakable size 40 I was wearing. I loved them. But now I cannot bear to wear them anymore. They feel heavy, baggy, and without a belt, can slip down my hips zipped and buttoned. Meanwhile, even the size 34s that I had gotten more recently feel big. Moreover, I managed to get into size 33 jeans I had saved from 1995 !  So now, the size 38s are out of commission. (I only kept wearing them so long for sentimental reasons that no longer apply) So how did I do it? How did I lose some 50 lb., and over five sizes, and get to feel 25 years younger, in five and half years? Discarding my first "weight loss" jeans from 5 years and more than 5 sizes ago. There is no magic potion. The way I did it was through small changes in my lifestyle, introduced gradually, one at a time, until each change was embraced and beca...

The land adjacent to my CSA farm, up for redevelopment as a residential area. I paid the down payment for my Community-Supported Agriculture (CSA) membership for 2019.  I If you are wondering what a CSA is, I discuss it here .  Basically, over the last three years, I found it to be a great deal, getting organic, in-season, food weekly fresh from the farm.  It was a good factor in improving my health and keeping my shape.  The reasons to join a CSA are many, but I highlight the sign I saw this summer on a land adjacent to my CSA farm.  What used to be a cornfield for feeding a dairy farm is now up for a residential project.  More congestion, pollution, and runoff. Ugh! My CSA membership, and that of the many of my neighbors who chose to join is what's keeping that piece of land for use as an organic farm, a welcome swathe of green in a suburban jungle.

The key to coming up with dishes like these is to not be afraid to experiment and substitute.  Use whatever ingredients available, as long as the flavors go together.  It takes trial and error, but if you cook often, you'll get the hang of it. Eggplant and enoki mushroom with carrots and bulb onion. Puffy tofu with Shanghai cabbage and bean sprouts, over rice. Puffy tofu and eggplant over soba noodles. Preparation for Xian noodles and cabbage One of my favs: Xi'an noodles and cabbage in hot oil. A recipe from the ancient capital of China.  Preparation for a silken tofu salad.  Since I'm allergic to soybean and sesame (the main traditional garnish), I add a lot of vegetables to reduce the amount of allergens I'm eating. Silken tofu salad, with soy sauce and sesame oil, plus whatever veggies you want to add.

The following meals I made recently mostly use ingredients from my local farm CSA . Pasta with butternut squash and kale, with side of roast veggies and yams.  Tabbouleh Salad with parsley, bulgur, tomato, and leek. Pasta with chickpeas, roast carrots, kohlrabi, and onions. Stir fry with tofu, carrots, kale, and avocado, over brown rice. Spaghetti with roast farm veggies (carrots, kohlrabi, and beets). Wedge salad with red cabbage, carrots, leek, kohlrabi, baby broccoli, and watermelon radish, with yogurt/lemon dressing.

Almost Vegan Thanksgiving Dinner Menu Butternut Squash with Shiitake Mushrooms and Sage Mashed Yams and Beets (with milk and butter optional), dressed with Maple Syrup Braised Brussels Sprouts with Paprika (butter optional) Boiled Red, White, and Blue Baby Potatoes Cabbage Salad with Lemon Dressing Roast Leeks, Tomatoes, Carrots, and Garlic Ingredients Two-and-half hours later Ingredients The first eight ingredients are from my local  farm CSA , all seasonal and organic. Brussels Sprouts Yams Butternut Squash Carrots Beets Cabbage Garlic Leeks Baby Potatoes Shiitake Mushrooms Tomato Lemon Grated Kashkeval Cheese (optional) Butter and Milk (optional) Salt, Pepper, and Paprika Fresh Sage Olive Oil Maple Syrup

Butternut Squash Soup Ingredients: 1           Butternut squash 2-4         Peppers (Mix sweet and hot peppers. Jalapenos are good, but for a milder flavor, I used a red poblano pepper, with 2 banana peppers to give the flavor of Jalapenos) ½             Onion 1              Lime 1 can      Coconut Milk 2 cups     Apple Cider 2-3          Bay Leaves                Salt, Pepper, Turmeric, Soy Sauce, Olive Oil, Butter. For garnish:Scallions and Cilantro (Chopped) 1.       Preheat oven to 400 ° F. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper. 2.       Cut Butternut Squash in half. Scoop seeds out with a s...

In Eating Healthy: CSA What? I talked about the Farm program to which I subscribe for fresh produce. Here, I illustrate how the program works with this week's plentiful harvest. Upon visiting the farm, I ended up getting over 11 lb. of tomatoes, lots of several kinds of peppers, a spaghetti squash, kale, and eggplant, and more. Had to decide how to split all that food across the week, especially that tomatoes are perishable. Decided to make a sauce out of the 4 lb. of plum tomatoes and store it in mason jars. The remaining tomatoes, I designated for salsas and salads. That would use up some of the peppers. This week's harvest of CSA tomatoes: Blonde salsa from CSA veggies (made three of these):   Tomato Pasta Sauce with Veggies:   Roasted veggie wheat-free sandwich, using the eggplant, sweet roasting peppers, poblano pepper, and a summer squash left over from last week's harvest:   Finally, I made both a kale pesto and a roasted tomato and vegg...

In Getting Enough Nutrition , I wrote about my increased interest in eating healthy. Fortunately, a year later, I heard from a friend about Community Supported Agriculture (CSA). Essentially, rather than getting their groceries from the supermarket, they contract with the local farm to deliver their produce. Pasta sauce from CSA farm vegetables The basil is also from the CSA farm It turns out this nice farm I pass along my way to work - a green oasis amid a growing suburban sprawl - has its own CSA program. For about $30 a week, I share in the produce of the farm, receiving a decent quantity of 10-12 different vegetables a week, all organic, in-season, and fresh from the earth. There are no guarantees as to what we get. We pay for our share at the beginning of the year, and receive whatever the earth gives, which bounty varies from year to year and depends on the weather. Thus we share the risks and rewards with the farmer, and the adventure of finding out what's in store...