Guzzi

I don’t know how accurate these things are but but there are calculators that tell you what time to go to bed to wake up naturally at a particular time. They might be a load of nonsense though.

I was quite ill for a long time and only shopped for groceries online once every 4-6 weeks, and my solution was frozen, prepped veg. I know you’ve already mentioned peas, broccoli etc, but you can also buy frozen, sliced peppers, mushrooms, onions, kale etc. These can be really useful “staple” ingredients for many dishes or sauces and can be a LOT cheaper than buying fresh. I also relied heavily on frozen meat. You can get frozen mince (ground beef) which cooked very quickly and easily from frozen, no need to defrost, which can be a life saver! You can also buy frozen chicken breasts, cubed beef, pork steaks etc. I tend to find that pre-frozen meat needs a long slow cooking method or else it can be quite tough. Slow cookers are AMAZING for turning what could otherwise be boot leather into tender delicious-ness. They’re also very cheap to run, so Bonus! Another trick is to make soups or stews. You can freeze it in individual portions to take out later, and it’s full of nutrients because you are still getting the water soluble minerals that would normally be lost if you boiled the veg. Any butcher will have bones that you can use as a base to give your soup flavour (and goodness) or cuts of meat that are often wasted like the neck or flank, both of which make excellent soup with plenty of meat, they’re just a bit fiddly to get the meat off. I also find that batch cooking is a life saver. I will buy meat that is reduced to clear, cook it with just some basic seasoning, then portion it out into individual portions and freeze them, or portion out raw meat and freeze it in a marinade (sometimes even adding the veg that I would cook it with) so that I have an easy to prep meal that just needs defrosting and cooking. Some veg veg it might be worth paying extra for and buying from a farmers market because they will keep for sooooooo much longer than from the supermarket, especially root vegetables like carrots, parsnips, turnip, beetroot, potatoes and sweet potatoes, celeriac etc for the reasons outlined in the video below

I find steaming leaves it a bit soggy for making rice anyway, I usually roast it before making it into rice. I find it has more of a nutty flavour and a drier texture when it’s been roasted, which I prefer.

But, but... there’s so much singing and dancing!

Has everyone seen this.... https://fitbitforironfran.co.uk/?utm_source=ET&utm_medium=EM&utm_campaign=20190416_Irn_Frn_UK_FM_E_CP_FT_00_NA&linkname=Video_Link

Oh, do you mean homophobia as an actual phobia? Sorry, guess that was kind of obvious, huh?

Sorry, I don’t follow...

@scalyfreak - sad but true On a side note, I've always wondered if those guys who (lets face it) hate gays feel that way because they know how they look at/treat/objectify/degrade women and are horrified at the thought of being on the receiving end of that same attitude.

me trying to do handstands is like...... (Oh never mind, Tapatalk is playing silly buggers and won’t post the Gif) *le sigh*

Cheers Doug! In the end I still had speggie (Doms) on Monday so I’m quite glad we didn’t go heavy, I probably would have ended up unable to get on/off the toilet unaided. Week 4 update Not a good end to the challenge, so I plan on keeping these goals until I get them nailed down. The challenge went a bit awry because of some things that were out with my control. Namely the week spent babysitting then the clocks changing, which totally destroyed my sleep schedule. I’m still struggling with that, although I have actually slept well the last 2 nights so fingers crossed I’ve turned a corner there because I’ve just been EXHAUSTED ever since the clocks changed. I have my End of Module Assessment coming up in May so I really need to make that a top priority next challenge.

You did indeed! I’ve added you to the group.

Ive found that my body has places that it likes to use as its “go-to” fat storage locations, and places that it likes to use as go-to energy stores, but they’re not necessarily the same, lol! I know it might be frustrating not to see changes elsewhere but at least you’ve lost weight in one of the best places health wise to lose fat from, and 1.5 inches from your waist is MASSIVE! Woot woot!!! Have you tried seitan? I haven’t, so please don’t ask me what it’s actually like, lol, but it’s low carb and high protein and can (apparently) be used in a wide variety of recipes. I’ve just finished reading about it in “PlantBased” magazine and can upload pics of the recipes if you like? ^^^Seconding this, but adding “how bad the DOMS is” to that list. I can easily add 2kg in weight through fluid retention from DOMS. Also seconding the “good fats” bit. Fat has many good properties, one of which is making you feel full/sated, another is that it is anti-inflammatory, helping recovery from heavy lifting.

I’ve been through some rough times over the last few years myself so I get what it’s like. Glad to hear things are slowly improving! It’s amazing how long it takes to get fully clear of illness and/or injury, huh? Fingers crossed you keep on getting better.

I know what you mean, and I think that’s the reason why there is often resentment in some circles, but at the same time I think that positive discrimination is probably needed because there is such a bias and the only way to change perceptions surrounding “equality” is to force the issue. It’s the same with the LGBTQ community, unless they are made more visible in our daily lives (media, education, etc) then they will continue to face extreme discrimination. Minorities need to be “normalised” within our societies. I’m sure that the solutions to these problems are far more complex than I understand but I sincerely hope we achieve change soon. I find it quite disgusting the way large parts of society (mine at least) seem to be slipping backwards towards nationalism and xenophobia.

Way to go, you really kicked butt!!! A thought on meditation... can you take some time to meditate when you get home but before you get out of the car...? I can see why it would be difficult to do when you get home, but setting aside some time before you step into the house might be a little easier to achieve. I dunno, I’m rambling, just ignore me.

I can’t see signatures (the mobile site sucks sometimes) but if you search for Guzzi-NF then you can add me as a friend and I will add you to the group.

Hahaha! Now I want to try this soup! What is it with the old people in your country!

Hey! Just wanted to say hello, and I’m sorry to hear things have been tough lately. ((Sending you cyber hugs)) I’m certainly not the best person to speak on this topic, because I suck at dealing with this stuff, but I can at least repeat the advice that’s been given to me countless times (I can’t promise I followed it, coz I’m crap at that shit). The thing with mental health is that it is also physical health, when you are struggling mentally then actually doing anything can become almost impossible, and there’s very little you can do about it. That’s the very crux of the problem. Even if you know what would help, that doesn’t make you capable of actually doing it. It might help if you can learn to look at and analyse your behaviour/mood, without applying any kind of judgement. At the end of the day you wouldn’t judge yourself negatively for not being able to walk if you had a broken leg, this isn’t really that different. It just seems to me that you are being incredibly hard on yourself for something that you don’t really have that much control over. I think you maybe deserve a little kindness right now and I hope you find a way to see a doc to get some help, because it can make a world of a difference. I’m still on the same number if you need someone to talk/rant/whatever to IRL xx

Way to go! I’m looking forward to the next instalment

Thug kitchen’s “Eat like you give a f*ck” has lots of really interesting breakfast options, most of which are probably online somewhere if you search for them. Warning - contains many, many expletives

Hey! Welcome to NF! It sounds like you’ve been through a really tough time. I can sympathise because I’ve had something similar, where I was injured and couldn’t do anything, and I ended up putting on a fair bit of weight too. It’s very frustrating to be in that situation where you want to do something about it, but can’t because of things outside your control. We we are just finishing up the last week of the current 4 week challenge so a new one will be starting very soon. The challenges are a great tool for Woking on your goals and getting support. I have to to ask about your username... please tell me you have a pet raven or something! I am fascinated with corvids, they are so intelligent, I’d love to have one as a pet.

Hey, I thought I’d post to say “welcome”. Nobody is going to remove your post, there’s really no “you must use the forum this way” rules or anything like that, but you might want to consider also posting in the “find your sidekick” section, or reading the posts that are already there.

Wow, well done on losing that much weight, that’s amazing! I think you will fit right in here, and it’s a fantastic community to be a part of.

To be fair, the DOMS I have today suggests that maybe it wasn’t such a bad idea, lol!