No More Diet (and Other Blog Notes)

• Just wanted to mention that I won't be writing any more posts about diet or nutrition on this channel. Or talking about it any more, either. It's way off topic here and it's none of my business what other people do. I'm not a doctor and I'm not a nutritionist. It's tragic to have to walk around in the world and witness what my countrymen are doing to each other and themselves and their children, but it's not my place or my role to try to convince other people of anything I believe in, no matter how deeply or sincerely I believe in it. For the most part, with only occasional small lapses, we avoid politics around here, and I'm putting diet and nutrition on the verboten list as well. That will go for all walks of my life too, not just TOP.

• I need to do my mea culpas on another topic too...I forgot about the Baker's Dozen. Until Chris Bertram emailed me asking about it today. Humble apologies. I moved it to the side burner (not quite the back burner) and then just let it slip my mind. I will get back to work on it.

• However, I have a medical procedure scheduled for tomorrow (just a routine test) so I will be off.

• Advance warning: my eye operation is coming up on June 4th and I will be out of commission for an unknown number of days starting June 3rd. Probably something like a week.

• As a followup to yesterday's Mother's Day post, here's a great video about the Wanamaker Organ, which, it turns out, is the world's largest functioning musical instrument. Thanks to Ken Owen for this.

Kudos to Macy's for being the keeper of the flame. Can't say I previously had much of an opinion about Macy's one way or another, but it went up several notches in my esteem when I learned about this.

• Finally, don't forget that Chester Williams' "The Goodbye Kiss" print sale starts at 11:00 Pacific Time on Thursday and goes on for five days.

Mike

Original contents copyright 2019 by Michael C. Johnston and/or the bylined author. All Rights Reserved. Links in this post may be to our affiliates; sales through affiliate links may benefit this site.

B&H Photo • Adorama

(To see all the comments, click on the "Comments" link below.)
Featured Comments from:

SteveW: "Good luck tomorrow with your medical procedure, I hope it goes smooth and easy. I understand your feelings regarding writing about nutrition, but please don't narrow your OT's too much. I really enjoyed your Mother's Day post; it was very good."

Arjun: "I've enjoyed reading your blog for over 10 years. I'm very grateful you wrote about nutrition, especially the WFPB diet advocated in the How Not To Die book. It has completely changed my view on food and nutrition, and I have recommended the book to many family members. I feel very fortunate to have encountered this book, and only wish I had found it earlier. I hope you can strike a balance between writing about interesting 'off-topics' and not offending too many of your readers. Your off-topic posts are like talking to an old friend who has many varied and deep interests. They certainly do not seem preachy to me."

Dave_lumb: "To buck the trend I found the diet posts unbearable. Thank you for stopping them. Hope all goes smoothly with the eye op and recovery is swift."

Mike Ferron: "Politics, religion? Yeah I get it but add me in as one who enjoys the occasional off topic like pool, audio, music and yes food and diet. Just because we all share an interest in photography doesn't mean we can't encourage one another to eat better."

Brian Stewart: "I think your post about https://nutritionfacts.org/ back in January was invaluable, as it pointed to a reputable, independent source of information that many of us knew nothing about. My wife in particular thanks you. Offering advice can be tricky for someone outside the field, but information dissemination is often a useful service. It will be missed."

Chris Bertram [who was mentioned in this post —Ed.]: "Thanks so much for responding. I love TOP and you bring so much knowledge and pleasure to the world through it. Keep well."

David Comdico: "I respect the decision but I'd much rather read off-topic posts on diet and nutrition than billiards or...ugghhh...cars.  :-)"

Bruce Bordner: "If we're talking about big organs, don't forget New Jersey. The Midmer-Losh at the Atlantic City Boardwalk Hall. The building alone is an art deco insanity—there's a football field inside; it's hard to have a sense of scale. Anyway, the organ is being restored and they have free walk-throughs Wednesdays at 10 a.m. It has a whole orchestra of sound effects and 33,114 pipes. There is more info here.

"There are also performances many days—I'm going back once they get the 64-foot (8 Hz?) pipes operational. Free, but donate. Being NJ, the organ is also involved with political corruption, but that's another story...."

Bruce: "Re eye surgery: I had a detached retina about 25 years ago and the process to re-anchor it was not pleasant. So when my cataracts and nearsightedness both got much worse, I reluctantly decided to move forward with cataract surgery for both eyes. The right eye is done and the left is on the calendar for next week. The unpleasant and uncomfortable part of the procedure only last about two minutes (the laser portion) and I was in and out of the hospital in about three hours.

"The next day, after the eye patch came off, my eye had better vision as is than with the contact lens in. Better vision in that eye than since I was six years old. And here is the most astounding thing to me: I discern colors differently with the corrected and uncorrected eye—colors are more vibrant and whites are pure white with the correction; colors are more subdued and there is a yellowish cast to everything with the uncorrected eye. Good luck with your eye procedures Mike—it is scary but the results can be unexpectedly great."

Mike replies: Thanks! I am preparing for the worst and hoping for the best.

Dave Hodson: "Just wanted to say that if you hadn't posted your experiences and thoughts on WFPB a year or so ago, I'd probably be dead now—changed my life. So, I get it that everyone has different expectations and, as a writer, it must be tough for you to find the boundaries and strike a balance, but just so you're aware, some of us enjoy, learn and benefit from the experiences and community of others. For me, it would be disappointing if this became just another photography blog, but you have my support any way you decide to go. Thanks again."

Alan: "Well, before the topic goes by the wayside, I'd like to say thank-you. Your site is what led my wife and I to approach our diet with more direction and control; she has avoided a few medical issues as a result of adopting the WFPB approach and we have both lost weight. You provided a bridge for us to feel better in body and in mind. Thanks man!"

Comments

[Tim Bradshaw]

Personally I will be sad to see the diet/nutrition articles stop: I think a lot of what you write is not completely right (or, well, wrong in fact) but they made interesting reading.

However obviously this is your blog and so your decision!

[David Maxwell]

Hey Mike, I'm sorry to hear about your decision to stop blogging about food and nutrition. I don't read the comments much, so am not sure what kind of flack you received for those posts. I just wanted to say that your six week update inspired me to read a couple of the recommended books and start a WFPB diet. I am cooking daily with the crock pot and loving it. It was time to make some serious lifestyle changes, and am extremely grateful that you brought this option to my attention.

[David Zivic]

I enjoyed the diet post(s) and have a flex/vegan/Veg thing life style. Obviously they were well written. Think at my age I need muscle build protein (my weight for my size is perfect) and I like the Omega 3 stuff.

[Lyon Fisher]

Sounds like you received negative feedback on your diet post. That’s unfortunate if true, as I’d like to to say that it was rather inspirational for me. I’ve struggled in recent years with weight, and I enjoyed (and used) some of the information in said post.
One if the reasons I read your blog is that I enjoy all topics you post about.
Keep up the great work!

Lyon F.

[MikeR]

It's not only Macy's.

https://www.wanamakerorgan.com/

[J D Ramsey]

Mike - It's too bad that you are throwing out the baby with the bathwater. Yes, you are no nutritionist and shouldn't be offering advice for others. But when we share a common passion and you make yourself vulnerable by sharing some of your personal issues, it is helpful to others. Do we want to hear about your personal trials and tribulations every day? No, of course not. But we all have lives other than what we do professionally, and it simply makes us "human" to share that a bit. Consider not completely giving that up.

[anthony reczek]

Many of us come here for reasons only peripherally involved with photography. The wider gestalt at TOP - why I visit - encompasses who you are as a person, what you're passionate about, and perhaps most significantly, your abilities as a writer. And let's not forget the TOP community.

Regards diet and nutrition: don't photographers also have to eat ?

[Chip McDaniel]

Mike,

I don't expect you to put this up, but I actually wanted to thank you for your recent post about the WFMP diet, I bought "How not to Die" and have implemented it on a 6 day/week basis and sometimes a seven day per week basis. I have lost some weight and feel better. I've struggled with weight all of my life. I don't know if this will get me to an ultimate goal, but it is healthier at any rate. Thanks for your blog, on and off topic. All the best with the eye procedure.

Chip

[JOHN GILLOOLY]

For what it's worth, I found nothing at all wrong with your nutrition posts. While the comments may have gone in the direction of preachy, I didn't find your post to be. You relayed some valuable insight on health and nutrition from your own personal experience. I am interested in that area and found the topic interesting. I respect your decision to refrain from that topic but don't beat yourself up over it because of whatever criticism you may have received.

Looking forward to the Baker's Dozen and some sun, not sure which I will see first.

[Tim Auger]

That’s a shame. I quite enjoy those lifestyle diversions. There will always be moaners whatever you write.

[Morgan]

I quite liked the nutrition information. Although I did take it with a grain of salt, I do believe that it got me thinking for the better when it comes to eating. Those kinds of thoughts will certainly help me over the long-term. Thanks Mike!

[Ernest Zarate]

Excuse my asking, but what was the motivation for this choice? Was it an epiphany, a self-enlightenment? Was it following the advice of some trusted individual(s)? Was it the vox populi putting pressure on you? Or something else? Just curious as to how you came to make this particular choice.

For myself, the diet posts were not that interesting. I’ve spent most of my adult life around vegans and vegetarians (How can you spot a vegan? You don’t have to - they’ll tell you they’re vegan!). The judgements, the holier than thou attitudes, the exclusive clique, and the “pity” they have for the great unwashed are tiring and boring.

But it is your blog, your work, and your interests. I’m a very happy and monthly supporter of this blog, and will continue to be so. Anything on any topic you want to write about. That’s my vote. I never got the impression that you required everyone to read everything you wrote. There’s always the choice to pass on any day’s posting.

[It wasn't anyone on TOP. It was the fact that two relatives, separately and independently, happened to accuse me of believing in "naturopaths" and worse on the same day. Both believe that doctors are the best authorities on nutrition. The irony is that the people I read are medical doctors who have devoted their lives and careers to the study of nutrition and public health, whereas 73% of American medical schools do not require any coursework in nutrition at all, either during medical school or as a requirement for admission...and in the case of most of the remaining 27%, the requirements are minimal. I just decided I've had enough. I was making myself unhappy. So I said the Serenity Prayer five times (my ritual recently when I am making a life change or coming to terms with something I can't do anything about), and resolved to concentrate on my own goals and not be one of those people in your joke. --Mike]

[Jernej]

You got one thing right...nutrition is a lot like religion. Everybody is right and everybody is wrong. I'm not saying stay away from it, just don't claim you are more right than anyone else.

[Bob Travaglione]

Mike, about Eye Surgery. I suddenly had a Detached Retina on Jan 9, 2019, On Jan 11, 2019 at 8:00 am I was in Surgery. The process took about an hour and there was not pain. I was awake and numbed up a little. They put a gas bubble in to hold the connection together while it all healed up. Recovery was much more involved for me than surgery. I had only 2 positions to stay in for 2 weeks. They were not too bad, compared to other patients I had talked with. I had to sit at a table for half of the time and not be looking down or up very much. The other time was laying on my left side in a bed. You can not lift anything or bend over to pick up things. You must use many eye drops, maybe 4 times per day. But I could read, work on my laptop and watch TV. Netflix was my friend. Before the surgery, I was mostly Blacked Out Blind in my right eye, so I had nothing to lose. It took 8 weeks for the gas bubble to dissolve away. It seems like I have a little bit of a wide angle right eye now. I can see more of the room without moving my head. Very little distortion except for a little jaggedness in tree branches and power lines. I am so grateful. I used Dr. Sabates in Kansas City. I am confident that you will have a similar good result and within 6 months, you will feel like your old self. Bob T in KC

[Paul Mc Cann]

I enjoy the diversity of you blog I think that is its great strength. Perhaps with the general decline with things photographic this diversity should be increased. Just saying

[Bob Johnston]

I would just like to say that I wish you a successful operation and a quick recovery. Having experienced eye trouble myself I know how worrying it can be.

I really enjoy your writings Mike. There is nothing like it anywhere else on the web.

That organ is really something. Thanks for bringing that to us.

As for the diet articles I think that you made a wise decision. Diet is one of those subjects that has a wide range of opinions and not so much real scientific basis. One mans meat is another ones poison.

[Malcolm Myers]

I think I will join the consensus and say that I too enjoyed the diet posts and it's a shame you want to stop them. If it goes down to a vote then my X will go next to "Keep writing them".

I was seriously impressed with your weight loss and, whilst I haven't gone down the road you have, it did make me determined to lose some excess pounds for good, instead of just paying lip service to it, as I have done for too long.

I also enjoy the snooker posts and Kirk Tuck inspired me to learn to swim. So don't beat yourself up about OT posts, it seems like I am not the only one who benefits from them.

[Kjell Harald Andersen]

I don't mind the occasional off topic post. Your writing is usually both inspiring and entertaining no matter what you write. When it comes to the diet posts, I personally think you are out on deep water, but as long as the blog is mostly about photography, I just skip those posts.

And seriously, are you really gonna stop not writing about pool.

[John Berger]

I don't know if this is a voting thing, but I for one enjoyed your posts on eating habits and nutrition. No, you are neither a Doctor or Nutrition Professional, but you are not a Professional Photographer either. However your remarkable training, teaching, background and experience make for one of the top photography blogs on the internet. If you are interested enough to post it, I am certainly interested enough to read it. If I don't like it or disagree, I can comment, ignore, or go elsewhere. I am post Kindergarten (74 actually !) and we all know "Haters gonna HATE". just sayin" I am IN. Great Job, and soldier on !

[Not THAT Ross Cameron]

Hi Mike,
Sorry to read that you won’t be continuing with your diet posts. Hope it wasn’t due to negative criticism. If there was any constructive criticism re risks to yourself and others around medical and diet advice, I can appreciate wanting to ease back. To reiterate an earlier comment, the occasional off-topic post is welcome - it helps to humanise you as an author. Many come here for the writing, and the fact that it’s about a shared enjoyment of photography is a bonus!
Hope your health continues to improve and the op goes well.
Cheers

[MikeR]

I think that TOP would be less rich without your off topic musings. I read them all with interest, including the ones I don't give a rat's you-know-what about.

[Peter Croft]

I agree with all the other commenters: I regret that you have decided not to talk about your diet and nutrition progress. I have the usual weight and health problems and I found your information useful and informative. But I'm old enough to make up my own mind about the rightness of what you write. I just enjoy hearing about your experiences. As long as you don't advocate, it's fine to narrate.

[Lothar Adler]

I’m very sorry to hear that you give up publishing on diet and nutricion and other valueable off topic themes. These themes shows that you do care for your readers and the community in a humanistic way, to feed them with valueable and important knowledge for their wellbeing.
I work in a clinic and from my every day experiences I do know for sure that “professionalism” and “stick to your guns” is definitely not a guarantee for qualified and well-meant information and behavior.
And by the way: who invented Kodachrome? Not the professional guys who were in charge but two musicians … .

[Rob Spring]

Mike,

Thanks for turning me on to Dr. Greger. His science based nutrition advice has changed the way we eat. I have never found you to be preachy. I read you daily because I value your insights and opinions.

[John Krumm]

I think it's a good decision to stop blogging about personal diet habits. So many forms of self-help really get caught up in personal boot-strappy messages, when what we really need is society wide change. I just read an article discussing research showing that air pollution causes people to gain weight. Guess who lives in the most polluted environments in the United States? The poor. Guess who has the worst access to quality food? The poor do. We (upper-middle class people with co-op memberships) take care to purchase organic, locally produced, healthy food. Good for us. But when is the last time we fought to make sure everyone can do the same? We need to take the personal out of nutrition, or at least make it a 20/80 message. It's a social problem.

[Peter Wright]

I hope you are going to keep writing whatever you want to write about (with a large dose of photography topics of course).

I look forward to the Baker's Dozen whenever it comes. No pressure!

And if you are anything like me you must be getting anxious about the eye operation. But I'm sure it will be fine, and you will make a good recovery. And write about it if you will. We will all be thinking about you, and looking forward to your return, after a week or two off, in best blogging style.

[Benjamin Marks]

Too bad about your new resolution. I wrestle with many of the same issues you do, and you have been a valuable "filter" for information related to diet issues. I have viewed you as a "beta tester" for practical application of many of the ideas you have written about, so I'm joining the "please reconsider" bandwagon here.

BTW, I have never taken you as representing yourself as any kind of "-ist" or "-ologist" in your posts on the subject of diet, food, exercise, coffee, tea, billiards, or speakers. Seems to me that you have been quite careful to relate your personal experiences only. Those posts humanize your site for me. There are no end of digi-wonk reviews on tech (think dpreview). Frankly, in five years, who will care about _any_ of that stuff? -- It is the opposite of "evergreen," with barely any the shelf-life at all.

[Ian Marshall]

This may be off topic (and in a foreign language WARNING!). It's about cars, in the Australian vernacular. Auto Expert John Cadogan has a transparently stated commercial purpose associated with his channel. I think he rivals Scotty Kilmer (thanks Mike!) for style (?), though John is an engineer. He can sometimes invoke both science and facts. These are not currently globally popular. My tenuous OT link to your OT topic is that there are spurious references to food in the linked video. https://youtu.be/sOZyVUVVEJE

[adamct]

FWIW, I've greatly enjoyed the posts about your diet and your efforts to find something that works for you. I've bought a number of diet-related books based on your recommendations. Overall, I find your efforts inspirational. First, it is helpful to hear from someone else who is struggling to find what is right for them. Second, it is wonderful to see that it is never too late to try and make such a significant change in lifestyle.

To be honest, if you post something that doesn't interest me, it takes me next to no effort to just...not read it. I get that talking about diet can be divisive and CAN come across as preachy, but (a) I took it as nothing more than you recounting your personal journey, and (b) even if I had been offended by it, I would just...NOT READ IT!

While I firmly agree with keeping politics out of T.O.P., I hate the idea of you setting limits on what you can otherwise write about, or worrying too much about how readers will react to off-topic posts. To be honest, my interest in photography as a hobby has waned a bit over the past few years, yet I regularly and religiously read T.O.P. Why? Because I love your writing and because I have come to think of you as an old friend. We all initially came here for the photo-dawg talk, but I suspect that most of us stay because of...you. Don't underestimate that.

Best,
Adam

[Thomas Walsh]

Please, please please, (channeling James Brown) continue to write on whatever you , want whenever you want. Your nutrition post was a wakeup call. I beg to differ with your claim that it's not your place to try and convince people... That is a cop out and easily taken in today's world. True, preachiness is tiring, but you're writing is informative and not an attempt to browbeat. I say good for you, Mike.

[Kenneth Tanaka]

I wonder if you've ever considered re-titling your blog to "The Online Mike"? Seriously, I don't mean this as sarcasm at all. A substantial segment of your audience seems to enjoy your day-to-day unpredictable eclecticism and, honestly, only a small minority of your posts are genuinely about photography (as opposed to camera equipment). I doubt that you'd lose anyone by declaring personal license to hold forth on whatever. And the blog is probably due for a redesign. Eh?

[James]

Mike, personally I thank you for the WFPB post.
You didn't preach, just stated facts about what worked for you.
I needed to get back on track and watching 'Forks Over Knives' prompted me to do so.
Keep up the diverse OT posts, please.

[Dave Van de Mark]

I'm bummed! Bummed that you feel constrained in talking about things that have moved you and, furthermore, have improved your health and well being. Could there be a better OT than that? You gave me some really cool insights that I'm gonna try myself. You clearly stated many times that you are not any doc or expert but merely passing on info that has worked for you. I'm disheartened that I sense a "cave" here. I haven't always enjoyed all your OT posts (as a matter of interest only - I still enjoy your excellent writing style) but I clearly see your need to occasionally wander into other personal interest topics as a matter of your personality. It's "venting" at its best :-)

This is your blog and you must do what you want to do, for sure. I have always appreciated the incredible sincerity behind all your OT posts. So best wishes in your personal pursuits toward better health even though I may not read about them anymore. It is ironic that today I may receive my refurbished Vitamix, thanks to your nutrition comments! And good luck with the upcoming tests and procedures too.

[Martin D]

Hi Mike.

As a dedicated daily reader, and a Patreon supporter: Just to say that I would not want you to restrict your writing in any way. TOP is such a wonderful meeting place because of you and your writing, and the freedom of your writing.

I appreciate your off-topic pieces, and if I am not interested in them I simply don't read them. Others I am sure do the same. As it happens, your food essays did not interest me much, and I did not read them :-); but I certainly did not mind you writing them and publishing them in TOP. If you are happier not writing them, that is fine too, of course. Just know that your regulars love your site in all its variety.

Most importantly: all the best for that eye operation!

[James Weekes]

I will miss your nutrition posts but will NOT miss most of the comments.

It's like you said that you had found a new spiritual way and people rush in to tell you why you are wrong or why their way is so much better.

Both disciplines are so individual and private. I very much doubt that any of the posters read half as many books on nutrition as you did (I believe you read about 40 from every angle) Good luck with yours, It seems to be working fine.

[Frank B.]

Too bad diet has trespassed into the realm normally reserved for religion and politics as subjects not to be discussed in polite company but I guess one has to go with the flow of changing norms. I too have stopped the subtle hints at relatives and friends who are overweight. My nudging (to them nagging) is not taken in the spirit it is given.

[Øyvind Hansen]

Good call to end the nutrition posts. They had the weird unpleasantness of newfound religion. Although claimed to be scientific there was an alternative vibe, with the usual story of the minority scientists going against the stream with their rather bombastic ideas, which is almost never the case for true science anymore.

And i know that the plural of anecdote is not data, but most healthy consistently normal weight people In my circles seem to have perfectly normal diets while getting enough exercise.

[Philomaphos]

I hope your medical procedures go as well as is possible.

I enjoy reading whatever you write.

[T. Edwards]

Pls reconsider.

You should post about whatever you want and damn public opinion.

I can understand that you don't want to put off reader who are only interested in photography, but the posts about audio, snooker, cars, diet, etc. are interesting, too. Why not just segregate them one day a week with a prominent "NOT ABOUT PHOTOGRAPHY" banner. If someone is wired so delicately that they can't deal with just clicking to close a window when they see such a warning, it's not your problem.

So, there. Now I, too, have told you how to run your blog.

[Andy Munro]

Mike, please feel you can write about anything on your blog. I for one don't mind, I really like to read about what interests you.

I love camera equipment and there haven't been too many of those, but that doesn't stop me reading and enjoying all the other subjects on here.

Keep writing.

Regards Andy

P.S. Don't forget to plug your Patreon subscription.

[Mark O]

But seriously, don't you kind of look forward to Wednesdays? Wonder what Mike is going to talk about today?! I am for keeping OT completely OT and surprising to boot. Cheers.

[Mitch Krupp]

I'm so sorry to hear you'll not be sharing your insights and experiences in diet/health/personal stuff. I read your post daily because of your very personal approach to writing and I don't see much difference in you expressing an opinion about cameras versus diet. They're both part of your life and I'm grateful you're so willing to share as much as you do. I truly hope you'll reconsider your decision.

I've often found that people who have problems hearing about healthy diets are people that have problems eating a healthy diet.

[John Seidel]

Hi, Mike,
I hope your off-topic forbidden list doesn't grow too large. I enjoy the forays into non-photographic realms. I also learned useful things from your diet/nutrition comments.

If, on any given day, you go off in a direction I find uninteresting, a rare occurrence, I simply wait until the next post and continue on.

Good luck with the eye work.

[Sergey Botvin]

Have you ever considered a parallel blog about your other interests? For what it's worth, I find your OT posts very enjoyable and informative. Good luck with your operation!

[LARRY JOHNSON]

I miss the random conversations I enjoyed with friends decades ago. We had hour-long stream-of-consciousness rambles and I always came away knowing something new and interesting. I have bookmarked a couple of photo-only blogs that I frequent, but I stop by your place 5-6 days a week. I enjoy the variety and I appreciate that you present things responsibly and with enthusiasm and honesty. Your OT labeling should be sufficient to advise readers that the content has veered a little from "the usual." Upon seeing your comments about Fork Over Knife, I checked it out from my library again. I had viewed it six years ago but I saw new things in it this time. It hadn't changed: I had. It's a rare week when I don't Google something I find in your essays and I'm better for it. I'd vote to keep your diversity. (Now I'm going to reserve a copy of "How Not To Die" from my library. Thanks.)

[Sylvain G.]

Mike, I guess your decision is final but I have always enjoyed your digressions.

Sometimes, I wasn't interested and guess what I did? I didn't read them.

I would go as far as to say I never understood why you'd even skip politics. The way you treat your topics is always professional : you may have an opinion but you'll offer counterpoints or challenging viewpoints.

I regret that a part of your readership cannot seem to moderate themselves and skip the posts not to their liking. Just like one picks a meal from the menu.

[marcin wuu]

For what it's worth, I like your offtopic posts, even if the actual offtopic topics don't really interest me. The bad thing about them is you fall into a kind of offtopic groove, and post one after another for a while. This gets tiresome. But it's your place and well, who am I to tell you how to run it :)

[Romano Giannetti]

Probably I'll be the 100th to point to this, and I really do not know which kind of eye procedure you are going to have, but... http://www.komar.org/faq/colorado-cataract-surgery-crystalens/ultra-violet-color-glow/

[Richard Parkin]

Mike, I’ve always taken the view that it’s your blog and you can write whatever you damn well please but even more that I think you can only write about what you want to write about, you can’t just pick and choose.
Your writings on food used to be difficult for me to read and I felt really sad for you since you seemed to neither enjoy cooking nor eating. However now you have gone completely bonkers about your diet — in my opinion — you seem to be enjoying the preparation, I won’t call it cooking, and consumption of your diet and I am delighted and even find it easy to read about.
My only advice on the subject would be “eat more bacon” or at least some ;-)

[Lothar Adler]

It would be such a loss if you would stop writing your valueable off topic themes!
Right now a family member suffer from very severe cataract and glaucoma and strangely enough today I did remember that you published an off topic theme about eye surgery from a guest author named Christopher Lane in 2010, "Doctor my eyes". Today I reread this very informative text and the surprisingly qualified comments from your readers again and found very valueable and helpful thoughts, experiences and keywords for which I'm very thankful for!
I wouldn't have found this informations so fast and condensed elsewhere...

[Michael Perini]

Mike, Personally I don't think I could ever eat only plant based Food, but my brother does and it works for him.
I enjoyed reading your experiences anyway.
My feeling is, It's YOUR Blog, it is popular because people enjoy what you write. As long as you are not prescribing or judging, you should write whatever you want to write.
I would agree the politics & Religion are pretty much no win subjects, everything else is fair game.
Now if you see certain topics impact your business negatively, your response is totally up to you.
I think over all, it is probably healthy for us to read thoughtful pieces with which we may not agree.
I don't come here because I always agree with you, I come here because I enjoy it and I learn stuff from you and from many others.
You have created a great thoughtful community, many of us are grateful for that. Write what you please.
Re your surgery, good luck, and arrange for help for a few days.
All the best.

[Rob Graves]

Thanks for your explanation of “why” against Earnest’s post. It’s sad that there are people who are so judgemental while on shaky ground. I’m sorry you are cutting out part of the wide and varied off-topic posts - I enjoy the diversions and have found the diet posts very interesting (even though my diet differs). Good luck with the eye surgery.

[Peter Tutt]

Mike,
Take no notice of 'em.I'll read what ever you send down the pipe.Cars, yep I have one of those. Food ,yep I eat that stuff and audio is interesting as I use to sell Hi Fi gear years ago so that's interesting also .I'm up for anything you write.Love your work.
Cheers.

[alsyourpal]

Mike,
Good luck with the medical procedure. It always makes me feel a little sad when you decide not to publish some of your writing on whatever topic. I am a long time reader and have always appreciated whatever it is you have to write about. I remember when your advice to young readers was not to go through a period where you put on a lot of weight - I've heeded that advice I am the better for it.
I understand and respect your decision, I'll still be here to read on regardless

[Tony Ayling]

Hi Mike. I can understand why you are dropping the diet posts: most people are more defensive about their food choices than they are about their religion! I think it is relevant that over 90% of people claim to have a healthy diet but on investigation only around 3% actually do. I loved your food posts over the years and have been interested to follow your changing thinking. I enjoy all your posts and feel that you are a good friend i have never met. Keep up the good work.

[Paul Braverman]

Photography, billiards, and many of your OT posts are about the enjoyment of life. Your spartan dietary advice is quite the opposite, at least to me and other gluttons in your readership. My advice to you is to make room in your whole plant diet for a little foie gras. Live a little! Bon appetit! Mangia!

[Mike Potter]

I'm sorry you feel compelled to make nutrition/diet off-limits. One of the things that I have always found refreshing about your writing through the years is that you write about what interests you. I wish you would continue to do so. People who are not interested can skip what does not interest them. I believe there are many of your long-time readers who, like myself, would like you to continue to be YOU.

[Zave Shapiro]

think you ought to drop most of the food talk. If there's some fact or new discovery that's science-based then it's possible to be objective, but values are not open to gentle discussion. It's a shame, but there it is. As I care little for religion I can discuss it with little heat, but there's only three of us in the world, and one gets a little too, umhh, excited

I'm not a drunk I'm an alcoholic; I go to meetings. And Alcoholics Anonymous hived off from the alcoholics in the Oxford group, a self-improvement group founded by a Lutheran minister. AA grew more broadly as the founders focused on alcoholics making an effort ... hell, you're a friend of Bill's aren't you? And haven't you been to meetings that are more religious revival than self-examination?

I react badly to the internet-educated and I know you're not a fanatic, just an older guy like me who needs to adjust to a slower gentler lifestyle. It's too bad that food has become a values issue alongside religion and politics and energy and too much else. Where I live they've outlawed smoking in parks. Outdoors. Along roads.

And I drive a 2016 MX-5 as my daily driver and I'm pondering whether to get a subwoofer to go with my smaller Magnepans. I love talking about elegant engineering solutions, but even class D gets a little political these days.

I figure I'm near the centre of your demographic. Thanks for your efforts.

[Ernest Zarate]

Rob Graves should read my original post more carefully.

I never argued against your choice, either for posting dietary information or choosing to do so no more. My post had to do with the “why” you, Mike, made the choice you did. I am fascinated by these sorts of choices (and thank you so very much for openly sharing the process by which you made it!). In my belief, there are no right or wrong choices. Graves believes otherwise, it seems.

As I said, my monthly contribution continues, regardless of your POV. I have enjoyed your writing for decades now. I have no doubt I shall continue to do so for as long as the good Lord allows!

[c.d.embrey]

Kenneth Tanaka said: I wonder if you've ever considered re-titling your blog to "The Online Mike"? ...I doubt that you'd lose anyone by declaring personal license to hold forth on whatever. And the blog is probably due for a redesign. Eh?

I'm a syndicalist, and would enjoy discussing politics on TOM. As an Agnostic Calvinist, I'm always ready to argue religion, TOM would be as good a place as any.

I've always liked Constructivist Posters and Bauhaus Photomontage, anything that ain't same-old, same-old, reportage. Could TOM be the place to think differently about photography?

[Mike Constantine]

Hi Mike,
Keep the off topic stuff coming, I've read very interesting things through them.
As a reborn film person, I prefer a lot of the OT content to the things about the intricacies of digital imaging devices , which I usually skip. ☺️
Keep up the good work and good luck tomorrow
Mike
Timaru NZ

[Roger Bradbury]

Mike,
I've had cataract surgery on my left eye, the usual result of the gas bubble in the eye cure for a detached retina. The detached retina was the result of an eye infection when I had septicaemia.

The cataract operation took about 45 minutes. I know it's not quite the same as your op, but it didn't hurt, they'd done the op many times before and were well practised, it was fine.

All the other eye procedures were fine too.

[Shashank Gupta]

Am mostly a daily visitor to this blog and read a majority of the posts. It's your blog and you should be able to write about something other than photography at least occasionally. It seems a number of people enjoyed the diet posts so do continue. People like me who don't care for it can always ignore those posts, it's that easy.

[John Krumm]

Funny, after reading all these comments and looking at Nutritionfacts.org again I ordered the book. The truth is, I tend towards high blood pressure and high cholesterol (appears to be genetic) so I definitely do best on a wfpb diet, and a low salt one as well. It is good to be reminded of the value of these things.

[dragos b]

To cut it short, I want two OT articles per week! Two days of photography then one of OT. Or at least one OT post and one post half photo half OT per week. But wait! In a world of "influencers" the words of a such cultivated, intelligent, polite and full of common-sense person as you are, no matter what the subject is, are never... OT. Thank you and keep up the good work! And the OTs, too!

[Marc GIBEAULT]

Mike, one of your earlier post about nutrition led us to watch Forks Over Knives and that changed how we eat in my family. Thanks for that.
And in my opinion, changing a few lives for the good is worth several angry commenters. And this leads me to your Patreon page ;)

[Rob Spring]

Mike,

Please reconsider your decision to limit OT topics. I can’t recall a time when I thought you were preaching. If you are being influenced by many patreon supporters I might understand , but I can’t believe that is the case.

[James Anderson]

Mike, I would also like to add my appreciation and gratitude for your sharing your diet findings and trials. Like many others have said, it was very enlightening and has led me to make beneficial diet changes. I enjoy reading everything that you write, both on and off-topic - sometimes the OT posts are the most informative! Thank you, and I hope you can find a way to continue writing about your progress and discoveries, if not on here, then via some other platform.

[Edward Atkinson]

Your posts about diet can transform people's lives, unlike photography posts. Haters can just skip reading them surely? Write about whatever you want, it's your blog. And I love your writing.