Welcome to The Fit Apprentice® at HashiMashi.com.
Glad to have you here!
The mission of The Fit Apprentice® is dedicated to crushing obesity and getting fit.
Crushing Obesity in America and the World.
One meal at a time.
What Kind of Strange Name is Hashi Mashi?
Simply, Hashi Mashi is more a concept than a name.
A little over ten years ago, I was sitting in a New York City all-night deli on 43rd street and second avenue.
I am embarrassed to say, but I was having a midnight snack.
A blueberry muffin.
Actually, it was the second blueberry muffin of the evening.
I stared at that second blueberry muffin as if it had some magical power to nourish me.
In truth, I was not hungry, but I felt an intense craving for that muffin.
But I knew that another muffin was not going to help me.
I was already up to 275 pounds.
At 6’2″, people would say I was ‘big,’ but few would say that I was obese.
I never thought of myself as obese; who does?
The doctor had told me that he wants me on statins and that I was pre-type two diabetes.
None of that was good news, so how was another late-night snack going to help?
The Pain of Obesity and Overweight
I have a family history of overweight and obesity, diabetes, hypertension, and high cholesterol.
Despite knowing that my doctor was calling me out, I still did not know what to do.
He kept telling me that I had to lose weight.
And I certainly agreed.
But what should I do?
At that point in my life, I had tried more than enough diets.
And I had just put on more weight over the years.
My stomach was so distended that it hurt.
And I could not see my feet.
It was difficult for me to climb the hill to my apartment.
I sat there in that all-night corner deli and felt like crying.
The muffin, on the other hand, kept sitting on the plate, waiting for me to make up my mind.
Was I going to finish that one too?
Would a second muffin fix my life?
Here I was, 55 years old, divorced, feeling isolated and hopeless, and obese.
Anyone who is living in an obese body knows the pain of obesity.
I do not have to spell it out.
If you are obese today, meaning 30 pounds over your ideal weight, or you have a BMI above 30, then you are in the right place.
I know your pain, cravings, and desperation to escape obesity.
You can get into shape, you really can, so don’t give up; stick with me, and I’ll do everything possible to help you along.
The same type of help that I wish I had many years ago.
Complete Confusion
I was so exasperated.
How could being a normal weight be so complicated?
Was this rocket science?
I was so sick of suffering in an obese body I wanted out of my own prison.
The prison that I created with my knife, fork, and spoon.
I had tried everything in my mind;
- macrobiotics,
- veganism,
- fruitarian,
- weight watchers,
- fit for life,
whatever was in vogue that year, I tried it.
Weight watchers was actually a common theme in my home.
My folks and all their friends were on weight watchers.
The first meal I remember having as a kid was a weight watcher pizza.
- An English muffin,
- a slice of American cheese,
- some ketchup and
- oregano, voila.
My recollection was that all the diet doctors disagreed on something.
- Some said to eliminate carbs.
- Others said that protein was too dangerous, so eliminate animal protein.
- Some said that dairy was the poison,
- others said wheat,
- and then others said it was too many fruits or
- combining the wrong foods.
- And then others said you should only eat fruit,
- or even just breathe air.
What to do?
But then it occurred to me that thinking about all these arguments, I did not remember many arguments about vegetables.
Hmm, they argue about meat, fish, dairy, eggs, fruit, wheat, food combining, and sugar, but not vegetables.
I did not think I ever heard any of the famous doctors say that vegetables were bad.
I also could not think of much to do with vegetables.
But in any case, I was determined to attempt to eat vegetables.
Cubed Carrots in Aluminum Pans
What are vegetables?
I grew up with vegetables in aluminum pans, neatly cornered into their compartments.
Frozen peas and carrots especially, on the side of Swanson’s frozen chicken dinner.
Or even better, inside a Swanson’s chicken pot pie.
As a kid, I assumed somehow they were harvested in the pan, in cube form.
And dinner never really ended until hours later.
There was always something to nosh on, like
- pop tarts,
- snickers,
- chips,
- pretzels,
- ice cream.
But, I figured that I should try and eat vegetables.
And avoid processed food that did not come from the earth.
I thought it was a silly idea, but what did I have to lose?
My main thought was to stick with those foods that I rarely heard the diet doctors argue about.
I realized most of those types of foods did not come in boxes or packages.
Unless it was wrapped up in a package like at the fish market or the butcher.
After a full day of stuffing my poor body with food, even though I was craving it, I decided not to have that second muffin.
Hashi Mashi
I was hoping that I would wake up the next morning so that I could try out my new diet.
My stomach was so distended that I feared I would not wake up; my body would just peter out from exhaustion.
But I did and went to my cafe of choice, Tudor Cafe in Tudor City, New York.
Usually, I would have a toasted bagel with eggs and cheese for breakfast, their morning special.
Pretty common, right?
But that morning, on June 21, 2012, I asked Chefs Abduhl & Yassin if they could change the menu a bit.
You know how chefs hate changing the ingredients of anything on the menu!
So Chef Abduhl said, “Okay, Richie, What do you want?”
“Well, can you give me the eggs, but make it three egg white and a whole egg?”
“Sure, no problem.”
“And, can you leave out the cheese and the bagel?”
“Alright, fine.”
“But, can you add tomato, pepper, spinach, and mushrooms? Like, sautee them in olive oil first?”
“So, you don’t want the bagel and eggs; you want a vegetable omelet?”
I had thought of asking for an egg white vegetable omelet, but I was afraid that I would get hungry.
Of course, that was a ridiculous fear; how could I get hungry, being a good hundred pounds overweight?
I had enough fat on me to last for months.
But, in any case, I was still nervous, so I wanted to add more, lest I starve in the afternoon.
“Not exactly a vegetable omelet. Can you add olives on the side, capers, some onion, scallion…”
“Richie! There are customers on the line, we love you, but you know what I mean?!”
“Okay, so just please add some hummus and avocado on the side as well, and that’s it.”
Chef Yassine chimed in, “That’s it? How will we remember this next time you come in here?”
“Hmm, well, it is a big mish-mash (pronounced like mish-mosh), which means a big mix or mess in Yiddish. So, what do you call this in Arabic?”
“It’s like a hash (pronounced hosh)…chopped up, minced up, mixed up, a big mess!”
“Fine Chef, so I’ll call this dish Hashi Mashi – a combination of your Hash and my Mash.”
“Okay, Hashi Mashi, it is, I hope you like it!”
Chef Abduhl preparing Hashi Mashi at Tudor Cafe 41st Street and Tudor City Place
The First Real Meal
So, on June 21, 2012, I designed and named my first ‘real’ meal – Hashi Mashi. A good morning breakfast is made up mostly of vegetables.
- Spinach,
- mushrooms,
- pepper,
- tomato,
- olives,
- hummus and
- avocado and
- capers.
Plus a whole egg and four egg whites to go along with the vegetables.
But the name of the meal was not the main point.
The main point is the concept of real food.
Hashi Mashi means that you can defeat obesity with real food.
Real meals, one meal at a time.
And because that Hashi Mashi breakfast was my first real meal on this journey, I call this blog Hashi Mashi as well.
I had many a Hashi Mashi at the Cafe, just about every day.
So many that people in the neighborhood started calling me Hashi Mashi as a nickname.
Especially when, six months later, I was 75 pounds lighter.
Even I could not believe that I had lost 75 pounds in six months.
I took a picture to see the difference side by side.
And in another six months, I trimmed off another 25 pounds.
Neighbors said that I had lost weight off of my face, that it looked different.
So, I did a side-by-side face shot.
- My cholesterol went down 100 points.
- I was no longer pre-hypertensive.
- My A1C levels fell to normal, and I was no longer tipping on the scale of diabetes.
- My 50-inch waist was now 32 inches.
- And then Tudor Cafe put Hashi Mashi up on the menu and in the New York Times.
Hashi Mashi on the Menu
Chef Yassine Preparing Hashi Mashi at Tudor Cafe
The Hashi Mashi Mission
I was shocked that just changing the quality of food had such an effect.
For the most part, I ate my way to better health.
Yes, after a few months, when I was able to, I started to do
But I have learned over the years that exercise cannot outsmart a bad diet.
Real food is the secret sauce to weight loss and defeating obesity.
And I wrote about the amazing benefits of real food here and here too.
The bottom line is that Hashi Mashi means crushing obesity with one real meal at a time.
I started the blog Hashi Mashi because I wanted to share with other obese/overweight/out-of-shape people what I had discovered.
You just have to start eating real food one meal at a time.
Of course, that is easier said than done.
Because most of us have no clue what real food is.
It has never been much of a part of our diet.
And adding basic strength training like squats, deadlifts, presses, and pushups into the mix will accelerate your fat loss.
This leads to transformative body recomposition.
The fattest Nation in the World Is the USA
As I read more about obesity, I could not believe that over 74 percent of men and women in America are overweight or obese.
What?
In America?
A land with so much fresh food available and people are literally dying from obesity?
Obesity is correlated with many major chronic diseases like
- diabetes,
- high blood pressure,
- cancer,
- kidney disease
- cardiovascular disease and
- depression
Even worse, as recently as July 26, 2017, America was named as the fattest country in the world.
How sad!
Especially when the possibility of ending obesity is as near to you as your own hands and mouth.
But our people do not know the information.
We need to better educate people on the simple choices that can have dramatic changes in their health.
Hashi Mashi is not a ‘diet.’
Forget that.
Aren’t you sick of diets already?
Hashi Mashi is on a mission to crush obesity worldwide.
This requires lifestyle modification; you have to change your habits.
The quality of your food will change your life.
You do not have to suffer from obesity.
The Hashi Mashi plan is not just about weight loss.
You want to go beyond weight loss and get as fit as possible.
To be the fittest, the best version of ourselves that we can be.
But, you have to get a handle on obesity and drive your BMI down to normal levels.
Let’s promote this life-changing information to the rest of the 160 million obese and overweight citizens of our country.
And to the other 700 million people around the world who are also suffering from the obesity epidemic.
You don’t believe that there are over 700 million people worldwide who are risking their health due to obesity?
Thank You for Joining; we Can Create a Ripple Effect
Every single person can make a difference.
The better you eat, the better you will feel.
If you are overweight or obese right now, have no fear, you will crush obesity.
And as you get lighter and start to move more, you will get more toned and fit.
If you add strength training into the mix, you will start to build muscle.
Your whole physique will change, from your former pear-shaped jello, to ‘hello, how are you doing?’
You will no longer be invisible nor hopeless.
People around you will notice; your friends, family, and co-workers.
They will want to know, “what did you do?”
And you might say “Hashi Mashi.”
So, they will either laugh or think you are speaking Japanese, but when they ask you what Hashi Mashi is, now you know the answer.
No better results can ever come from such an odd name as helping someone get healthier.
Imagine how you will feel if you help someone regain their health and fitness, especially if that person is you.
By now, you know that if you help yourself escape obesity, you will be able to help another.
And you also know that millions of people are hungering for this information.
Millions of people are suffering from obesity and obesity-related illnesses, even children!
We have to put an end to this obesity epidemic.
And we have to start with ourselves and then help our family, friends, and neighbors.
As Margaret Mead, the American anthropologist, famously said – “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it’s the only thing that ever has.”
I am grateful to you and thank you for wanting to help yourself crush obesity and get fitter.
And hopefully, in turn, inspire many more to do the same.
The World is Counting on You
You, your family, friends, and the world is counting on you.
Your world is counting on you.
You know that, right?
Obesity is a worldwide epidemic.
Overweight and obesity are the fifth leading risk for global deaths. At least 2.8 million adults die each year as a result of being overweight or obese. In addition, 44% of the diabetes burden, 23% of the ischaemic heart disease burden and between 7% and 41% of certain cancer burdens are attributable to overweight and obesity.((https://easo.org/education-portal/obesity-facts-figures/))
No matter what anyone says, it isn’t luck that creates a ripple effect around the globe.
It’s a small group of dedicated, thoughtful, and committed people who make sure to help themselves first.
I’m hoping you’re one of them, and I greatly appreciate your being here.
Maybe you just stumbled across Hashi Mashi, but I’d be honored to have you share the site with your friends.
It’s easy.
All you have to do is click the links below to share a link on Twitter and Facebook.
Thank you so much in advance.
Connect with Me
Do you want a regular flow of training tips, tools, and resources to crush obesity and its related conditions?
More information to get fitter & stronger?
No matter what age or shape you are in right now?
Even if you are over 50?
And even if you are 100 pounds or more overweight? No worries!
Or even if you are an absolute beginner and do not know where to start?
If you do, you should connect with me on Facebook and Twitter.
Every day, I scour the web for the best information about crushing obesity and getting fit, and I share them with everyone who has liked or followed me.
Use the links below to connect:
Sit Tight for Great Content
Every week or two, I’ll send you more great articles.
I write posts, the type that I wish I had when I was 100 pounds overweight and frankly obese and desperate to get healthier and fitter.
I needed the content back then to lower my high blood pressure and high cholesterol but did not know where to find it.
I had no clue that I could actually eat real food, train and transform my body, and completely crush obesity.
It is time now to bring this information to the masses.
To the millions of people that are suffering needlessly.
I share with you what I have learned over the last decade about defeating obesity.
So you do not have to spend years figuring it out yourself; save yourself a lot of time and frustration.
Not just from my own experience but from education and training as well at the American Academy of Personal Training, Integrative School of Nutrition, and National Academy of Sports Medicine (NASM).
And it is not just about losing weight, but getting fitter than you believe is possible.
It is possible, and it is real, so please stay tuned!
You never know; we might even have a report and maybe a few other surprise goodies as well.
You don’t have to do anything to get them.
Just sit tight, and they’ll come right to your email box.
Until then, thanks again for subscribing and being a part of Team Hashi Mashi, and I’ll talk with you soon.
Sincerely,
Rich
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