I went for a bike ride today. I wanted to do a circuit near my house as I’m lucky to have some good cycling infrastructure and quiet roads.
I’d been out for about 30 minutes. I had a good cycle down to the river and I’d hit 30 mph at one stage. I’d pootled along the river footpath and up a fairly big hill. I was thinking of heading home, about 10 minutes away, when I had a bright idea.
There is a shared footpath that runs beside the ring road. I sort of know where it comes out near me and I was keen to explore to give me more safe routes to cycle.
To cut a long story short, I got a bit lost and ended up cycling further than I anticipated. Unfortunately this has aggravated my arthritic hip. On the plus side I did find where it leads.
I also saw a few trees showing early blossom. It will soon be glorious out there!
I started Noom two weeks ago as I’ve put on weight in lockdown. I’ve lost 7 pounds or half a stone in old money. If I can keep this up I’ll be back to prime condition soon.
I also did the usually housekeeping chores and managed to get a small game of Warhammer 40,000 in against my son. He won.
Now I’m watching Jason and the Argonauts on the TV. The original Todd Armstrong and Ray Harryhausen one.
I’ve been a bit down for a few days. Just in a rut. Well not even that. I’ve done stuff and achieved daily goals I’ve set myself, like controlling my snacking etc. I’ve attended all Zoom and Teams meetings for work etc but the poetry drive wasn’t there.
Today my wife asked me to mop the shower room floor and suddenly a haiku happened …
I love my floor mop, I see stains and mop them up, Keep things nice and clean.
I’m having a bit of a dry spell with my poetry and Haiku. I’m reading other people’s poetry and have linked to Frank’s website above for your entertainment.
I think the problem is I’ve not done anything for a few days. I will go for a nice bike ride tomorrow and with any luck I’ll get inspired. Meanwhile enjoy Frank’s work.
In my life I’ve followed various weight loss programs. All have been successfully but I tend to slide back into bad habits and put the weight back on! Lockdown has seen me pile on the pounds and made me think about successful weight loss. Here are some thoughts for you.
1. Fully engage with the program. Whatever program you follow – Slimming World, Weight Watchers, Noom, Keto, Intermittent Fasting – you must fully engage with the program. Don’t do it half assed otherwise you won’t get the results you’re after. Give it 100% of your attention.
2. Make time to follow the program. I think I spend between 30-60 minutes per day preparing food when I follow a weight loss program. This is actually cutting up ingredients, combining them and/or cooking them. You can cut this time by batch cooking when you have time but factor in that preparing fresh food and meals takes time and effort (but it is worth it – I made a delicious carrot soup for lunch 😋).
3. Think in terms of weeks not days. You can follow a program to the letter and not lose much weight in a week or two. Then suddenly you will have a great week and lose 5 or 6 pounds. Try to look at things long term. Sensible weight loss is between 1-3 pounds (0.5-1.5 kgs) per week. So if you lose 4-12 pounds in a month then you are on target.
4. When/If you plateau for a while then shake things up. It is worth doing this from time to time anyway. The body gets used to a program and may stop responding so readily. Change up what you do. Do you normally have porridge for breakfast? Have an omelet instead. Is your food normally spicy or plain? Switch! If you normally have a baked potato then make a potato curry instead. You can also try eating more small meals or less, larger meals. Mix it up and keep the body guessing!
I hope these thoughts are interesting to you if nothing else. There are many good, tested programs out there but all require effort, work and sacrifice. That sacrifice will likely be time.
Engage with the program, make time for success, think long term and don’t get in a rut, and you will succeed.
It’s Mother’s Day or Mothering Sunday if you prefer. This is the Hallmark approved special day in the UK when children are legally required to buy shonky nonsense for their dear old mum.
As usual our kids did the bare minimum and I had to chivvy them in the week to make a card for their mum. Honestly it would have been easier if I had just bought a couple of cards and got them to write the cards out.
There are enough chocolates in the house to choke a dozen donkeys but we’ll help mum with scoffing them.
Bristol is a nice city with lots of history and plenty of diversity. There are many places to eat and we have strong links to Caribbean, Indian and Chinese communities.
Fun, family and more 