Learning from HOMES
... Her Organic Man Eating Sustainably

Writer's Note: This introduces the learning and practice of my organic man, Tim: a New York State Registered Nurse (-and lifelong athlete learning to adjust to life changes.)

Since living with Tim, I have enjoyed even greater health and vitality.  I call him my "Organic Man" because of the way his day unfolds, the style in which he lives his life,  the way he thinks about his life, and sustaining all of this -the way he eats.

Since September, I've learned to increase and decrease certain dietary elements (thus nutrients) in my daily diet.  I have increased my protein and fiber.  I have decreased my fat content AND portion size.  Recently, I realized I am ready to share this stylistic change with those I care about.  Rewiring isn't something we should keep to ourselves!

Tim and I have shared pictures of our meals via cell phone and email with each other since our first encounter last June.  It's become one way of being together when we were apart -a delicious way of simply sharing a meal, a glass of wine, during my travels across country.  Recently, I realized that sharing pictures of foods we prepare daily is helpful to family and friends who also want to enjoy the results of Our HOMES Way!

For the past two weeks, I've snapped casual shots of our daily dishes, then I email them (+recipe) to both Tim and I.  We're "gathering."  Our HOMES Way Online cookbook is growing.   Yesterday, I was Skyping with my daughter, a vegetarian recovering from the flu.  Tim handed me a glass of his Blueberry  Shake ... rich in protein and bioflavinoids, low in calories.  I shared some information about daily protein requirements for via Tim's nutritional coaching.  This morning, after taking a pic of our breakfast, I decided blogging serves as viable avenue for little lessons that make sense to readers ready to rewire.  Here's Lesson One gleaned from my resident RN:

Protein is the body's building block.  Our body's cells replace themselves every four months (or sooner).  Without sufficient protein intake daily, our bodies do not have what they need to grow stronger tissues: blood, muscles, organs, and bones (the latter is also heavily mineral...more on minerals in another lesson). Stem cells reproduce the tissue in their locality as old ones die off and new must be generated.


A rule of thumb to determine how much protein an individual needs daily: body weight divided by 2.  Given my activity level and weight (110 pounds), I need to take in 55 grams of protein daily to replace and restore my current body.  Activity level? I exercise 6/7 days each week, alternating "demanding" days with lighter yoga days.  I have included use of light weights since September ... they make a noticeable difference. (Activity is another focus we will save for  future lessons.) 


Incorporating sufficient protein daily, without unnecessary fat, is not hard but does require reading labels, planning ahead,  and tracking intake.  After a week of this, recognition becomes automatic:

1. Egg whites offer  easy and excellent protein.  One egg white is approximately 6 grams of protein.  Keep hard-boiled eggs stocked in the fridge.  If making a salad chop three (saving only one or two yolks depending on your cholesterol concerns).   If making an omelet, we can use just one egg yolk (or two) and refrigerate the rest to thicken soup later. (18 grams).  It's the EGG WHITE  that provides your protein.
2. Turkey breast offers us the leanest meat.  Google how many ounces of lean turkey gives you 15-20 grams of protein. You will be pleasantly surprised.
3. One 14 and three quarter ounce (418 grams) can of Wild Alaska Red Salmon offers 13 grams of protein per quarter cup serving (just 2 oz., or 63 grams).  This means the entire can offers 7 (13 gram) servings of protein, totalling 91 grams of protein.  Half the can is close to my daily need for protein.  
4. After reading the labels on her vegetarian lunch items, daughter noticed her can of pea soup (nuts and legumes offer mild doses of protein, but remember nuts are loaded with fat) gave her 14 grams of protein ... and the package of tofu ( soup enhancer)  offered a whopping 45 grams.
5. Whey protein shakes offer a quick way to gather sufficient protein and make an easy, refreshing snack. One scoop provides 18 grams of protein.

So calculate how much protein you need daily and read labels to measure your meals.  I like to consider 4 flexibly sized,moderate meals per day: 15-20 grams per meals.  If I grab protein rich snacks, such as a scant handful (not fistful), I have taken in approximately 6 grams of protein ... then I adjust my meal intake accordingly. If I engage strenuous exercise that day (which I generally do three out of six days per week) I move toward 60 grams of protein. If I just do yoga, I lean toward 50 grams.  

This kind of intake attention and flexible self-regulation amounts to a mindfulness practice, a way of stewarding the greatest physical resource we have ...our body. 

How do you offer your body protein to grow your body stronger and last longer?

The Iron Lady (2011) ... Margaret Thatcher played by Meryl Streep

Margaret Thatcher was humble-home raised by hardworking parents ... and Oxford educated because Margaret worked diligently ...and lived according to principles of personal responsibility.  She became the first woman elected to Parliament ...and the only woman for a very long time.

With deep courage, Margaret led her colleagues to bypass succumbing to fear of being "unpopular."  Constituency were clamoring for more, and more, then even more  government hand-outs.   Margaret's forecast was certain: succumbing to fear of political censor would  bankrupt Great Britain.   Burgeoning labor union activists riled up and inflamed  unionized workers  to out-of-hand protests, hate, victim -thinking ... mob acts of bullying.

In spite of the smears, malignant, violence, work shut-downs that made the country literally stink, Margaret steadfastly refused to succumb to misguided entitlement thinking  and community organized gang tactics.  Well-known today, the result of standing firm on principle "put the great back in Great Britain" because representatives followed her caution to think and act according to this principle: human beings have inherent powers causing them (when not patronized, underestimated) to develop  personal industry, personal and social responsibility, and self-respect through activating their own powers in the world, making contributions of social merit.

Margaret encouraged parliament to behave on principle, not fear: "Shake the shackles of socialism!"

When desire to preserve the good life is threatened by fear and denial, too many of us are  seduced into thinking what we see, hear, practice currently through our presidential  policies, are not the toddler steps toward Socialism.

It's comforting instead to think  "positive" thoughts, hoping our freedom life needs no preservation, conservation, affirmation, nor persistent attention.  Mindful attention and visioning are necessary but are they sufficient in this material world where some play "nice" and other play bully?   


I prefer to follow Quaker advice: Pray, but move your feet! When budgets are avoided, bills are passed into law without being read, elected officials are admonished into voting BEFORE reading, social security served as a slush fund, and our tax dollars are blown because big brother lobbies promise votes and campaign money then we all need to study the underlying issues.   It's comic relief though to simply recall the song so many grew up on ("It's not easy being green...").

And we've been culturally trained by media to think kindly of green...mother nature's green, you know.  Spring and summer are green.  Things that grow and clean the air we breathe are green.  We have really deep and vital associations with the color green.  Don't we?

Marketing knows that. Advertising knows that. Community organizers know that. Hmmmm, we thought green could only be good ... never considered those wily ways...how could the deep meaning of green change?

" It's not easy being green...easier, sweeter to disregard the direction in which this leads us.  This quandary brings to mind Laugh-In's Arte Johnson's soldier, characterized as peering out from brush. As he cautiously takes in the panorama, we hear him whisper,  "Interesting! ...   Very interesting! ... Interesting ... but STUPID!"

We prefer to be polite, well-mannered, "trusting."   So we think instead that America will always be America ...just different.  Yes,  we can change.  Life changes, even when we don't want it to.  All changes are not good.  All differences are not the same .  We live on a planet where everything is relative and all choices matter.

It's tempting to blur our acquired view of the Emperor -not look beneath his very fancy rhetoric, not connect the his vague dots, not notice his nakedness.  (Cognitive dissonance is an exacting psychological master.)

It's impolite to pull back the curtain of OZ and see behind what is pocketed, hidden, covered up.  Civilized, cultured adults tend to avert their gaze from ugly, even unpleasant revelations . And it takes time. And we've learned to be rushed...and gratified...and we feel better about ourselves, about our lives when we behave in polite ways...even when "others" won't!

But just from time time to time pay a little attention to elsewhere:
...look to Greece,Portugal, Italy, Ireland noticing how socialism plays out far away

...look to Syria, Egypt, Yemen (yeah, might as well scan the entire Middle East) to see how well polite people's sanctions work to reduce big boy "bullying." (Professionals know that the only thing to reverse bullying in schools is  All Hands On Deck.  (All adults, including the kids' parents, strictly confronting and staving even "hints" of bullying.)

...look to history, for instance the revolutions of France and Russia: the recipe for violent destruction is to increase class consciousness while simultaneously frittering away resources (very passive aggressive), fuel strong divisions and distrust based on money and affiliations, fan flames of anger into sizzling hatreds,  encourage outrageous mob behavior (bullying), finally use "fear-speak" to threaten and forecast victimization.

I look and listen and vote for the conservation of the America (imperfect but growing more conscious each decade).  What principles  grow a greater and better garden of diversity and human best?