Ongoing Reductions

Posted: Mon 24 June, 2013 | Author: | Filed under: 2012/13, Diet Coke, Domestic, Getting Organised, Health | Leave a comment »

Since last November I’ve been cutting down on my intake of Diet Coke, and doing OK on it. I’ve written about before, and will no doubt write about it again in the future.

We’re now six full months into 2013, and I’ve kept the intake down. It’s not zero – I don’t want it to be – but in general it’s about a quarter to a third of what it used to be, if not less. I’m still quite proud of that reduction, and of keeping the reduction going. My water intake has increased significantly as a result too, which is also supposedly a good thing – it’s certainly doing its thing to keep my kidneys in working order!

I still have good days and bad days – but less bad days than I used to – but overall I think it’s fair to say that the reduction might just be here to stay. Time will tell of course, but I think this is the longest sustained cut-down I’ve had in years.

Time Out

Posted: Mon 29 April, 2013 | Author: | Filed under: Domestic, Getting Old(er), Getting Organised, Health, London, Own Business, Sleep - or lack thereof, Thoughts, Time, Work-related, Writing | Leave a comment »

This week (and some of next) I’m actually on leave from the job. This is A Very Good Thing.

I don’t have much in the way of plans, the main thing is just Not Working, and taking the much-needed time out.

Of course, there are things I want to do, or at least get onto “paper” and out of my head, but that’s all going to be done on my terms, rather than within the demands of an office.

I’m sure there’ll be a couple of days out and the like along the way, but really the main thing is just time out. It’s been a pretty hectic first third of the year, and the next one isn’t looking like it’ll be any quieter, so downtime is definitely a good plan.

Cold

Posted: Sat 30 March, 2013 | Author: | Filed under: Domestic, Health, London, People, Work-related | Leave a comment »

This week I’ve had an utterly vile cold.  Not flu (or man-flu) just a vile cold which was a full-on joy of snot and sneezing.

Last week was a long one – two days work, a drive to Manchester, two days in the absolutely effing freezing offices of the company up there, driving home, and then a very long Friday involving popping in to work on a day of leave to get stuff sorted, then down to London for the night, including a  truly shit night’s sleep. I think it knocked my resilience down a lot, and the cold was the result.

It’s all over now, and all I’m left with is the remnants. A cough, and a nose that makes me look like a leprous coke-addict.

What is it about colds, and particularly tissues? We really still can’t come up with something that doesn’t end up abrading your nose like sandpaper after wiping away a day of snot?  (And don’t even try mentioning bloody “tissues with balsam” – they still do the same) I don’t know, maybe microfibre cloth or something – but there’s got to be something better than the current “technology”, surely?

So yes, this weekend is brought to you by a lack of snot, and a prevalence of ‘orrible flaky skin all round my nose. Lovely.

Health, Water and Waste

Posted: Mon 18 February, 2013 | Author: | Filed under: 1BEM, Cynicism, Health, People, Work-related | Leave a comment »

In my office, there’s a number of people who’ve been on a bit more of a health kick so far this year – one aspect of which is that they all drink a lot more water.

Work supplies a lot of the ‘standard’ drinks for the company – primarily tea, coffee, and bottled water, as well as a bundle of other odds and sods.  It’s not a bad workplace, all told, and they’re pretty reasonable.

Sadly though (in my opinion) some of the people are somewhat less reasonable. As a result, they drink the supplied water, and piss and moan when it runs out. But they only ever drink the bottle of water, then chuck the bottle away and get another one. It’s about as anti-Green as you can get.

I’ve also been drinking more water (as detailed previously) but I have one 750ml bottle that’s now lasted me three months. I just refill it each time, rather than needing (or more accurately, feeling I need) a new bottle every time.

I don’t really care, to be fair. It just annoys me on occasion when other people a) can’t be chuffed to provide their own stuff, or b) take the piss.

January Progress

Posted: Mon 4 February, 2013 | Author: | Filed under: 2012/13, D4D™, Diet Coke, Domestic, Five Year Plan (now Ten), Getting Organised, Health, Weigh Less, Weight Loss, Write More, Writing | Leave a comment »

Back at the end of 2012, I said I’d got two main plans for this year,

  1. Weigh less
  2. Write more

So, one month in, where do we stand?

On Point One, I’ve lost half a stone.  Obviously that’s not insignificant, but there’s a long way to go still.

As part of it, I’ve been keeping a food diary for the last month, which has been interesting. It’s allowed me to keep track of what I’m eating and illustrate any bad foods (or even bad days) although it’s shown more that the intake side is lower than it should be. (I’m averaging about 1600 a day, from current evidence)

As I’ve written before, I’ve also had the health MOT this month : blood pressure, cholesterol, thyroid, blood sugar, the lot. It’s all come through OK, so that’s another thing.

And, of course, I’ve cut down my intake of Diet Coke significantly. It’s still got a small way to go if I’m to cut it out completely, but it’s still massively reduced from where it was.

Now it’s a case of upping the exercise levels as part of that project point.

For Point Two, I’ve managed to do some writing, although not as much as I’d hoped. I’ve got a short story mostly done, which I want to get completed in the next few days. I’ve also been writing a new idea, and that’s currently about a fifth of the way through it. Again, it’s something I’m working on, and it’s already better than it was last year, but there’s a long way to go.

Still though, it’s been a good start to the year.

Diet Coke – Progress

Posted: Fri 18 January, 2013 | Author: | Filed under: 2012/13, Diet Coke, Domestic, Getting Organised, Health, Weigh Less, Weight Loss | 1 Comment »

A while back, I started cutting down on my intake of Diet Coke, and I have to say, so far it’s going pretty well. It’s been a bit turbulent, and while I halved it when I started back in November, by mid-December it was back to normal. I properly dropped it again once I was on leave over Christmas, and it’s been kept down for near on a month now.

I’d decided that I wasn’t going to cut it all the way out – or at least not immediately – and opted instead for a phased withdrawal. It’s a drink I like drinking, so I don’t know that I’ll cut it all the way out.

Anyway, so far I’ve done pretty well. I’m down to about one-third of what I was drinking, and I’ve replaced the majority of the intake with water, which is supposed to be a better alternative.  (I’m not yet convinced – I don’t feel masses better for it, it’s – frankly – fucking boring, and it makes me piss like a horse)

I’m pleased with how I’m doing – I have good days with even less intake, and I have shit days where I have more, but most importantly, even on the shit days I’m drinking no more than half the Diet Coke I was doing.

It’s not been part of the weight loss plan – the calorific intake wasn’t that high, even when the intake was high – but it’s part of the general plan for this year, regardless.

There’s still a way to go – but I’m happy with where things stand for now.

Embarassing Fat Bodies

Posted: Wed 16 January, 2013 | Author: | Filed under: 1BEM, 2012/13, Cynicism, Food, Health, People, Thoughts, Weigh Less, Weight Loss | Leave a comment »

Channel 4’s got a new series of “Embarassing Fat Bodies” at the moment, and it’s really annoying me.  Not just because of my own ongoing issues with weight-loss, but just because of the people.

I know I’ve a long way to go, that’s a foregone conclusion. As such I’ve probably not got much room to talk, currently. You know what? I really don’t care.

You see, the difference with me is that I’m doing something about it. I’m taking the hints from my body, and I’m doing something about it.

The people on Embarassing Fat Bodies just don’t – or at least haven’t – and it’s like they’re waiting for some bloody wizard to come along and wave a wand at them to fix the problem.

One of the people on this week’s programme had a hernia the size of a basketball, a lipoma the size of two footballs, is housebound, and has a BMI of 79. Yes, seventy-fucking-nine! But still she eats – and admits to eating – meals for three or four people.

Another one, 35 stone, BMI of 66 waddled in, having done a food diary, talking about “a bag of crisps”. It turned out that what she meant by that was the huge family-bag size bag of crisps. This is someone who can’t stand, and has brought an office-chair into her kitchen so she can scoot around the kitchen rather than walking around it.  But still, a diet of crisps, chocolate, full-fat fizzy drinks.

How long does it take to pick up the hints? If you’re that size, at least cut down what you’re eating, or go for the healthier alternatives!

Again, I’m not perfect, I know. Some of my diet isn’t grand – but my intake is on the low side, not the excesses listed by some of the people on this programme.

← Older Entries
Newer Entries →