Monday 24 December 2012

Alternate Day Fasting In Winter :(

Well, it was bound to happen. I've hit one or two snags with this lifestyle. Weight loss has dribbled down to half to one pound a week. But this is fine and not bothering me too much. Whereas if I was on an actual diet and putting in more effort regards yummy food deprivation, calorie or point counting, I'd be severely unimpressed and certain to be on the verge of giving in ... if I was still even dieting by this time.

The biggest problem - and I'm not alone with this in the northern hemisphere - is the biting cold on down days. Sometimes it's painful, especially in my lower legs, feet and hands.

Get off your bum and move about, I hear you say. I would if I could, my job is sitting down with little real movement for several hours at a time. When I do move (usually once every couple of hours to visit the bathroom) it takes some getting going as I'm so stiff.

I thought that I'd lose weight with my body using fuel to keep warm, this isn't how it works, my body is saving it all for important things like keeping my organs functioning and my core temperature up ... and as far as it's concerned, my extremities can just drop off.

It is not helped one iota by me being at a delicate age - which we've covered in two ... previous posts - where I am adding extra layers of clothing one minute, throwing them on the floor the next, only to grab them back because I'm shivering within the next two minutes ... and we're not even going to mention what it's like in bed, apart from the fact that the duvet is a 4.5 tog and is w-a-y too hot.

The other day I was in Asda, my parka coat zipped up to the eyebrows - because I was freeeeezing. Half way around the coat came off - I was roasting. Then it was back on. By the time I'd reached the chillers I was stood holding my coat wide open and my body as far as I could get it into the chiller without actually melting the cheeses ... good job I didn't do it near the butter, it wouldn't have stood a chance. Never at any point did my hands and feet get warm.

I'm not sure how much the alternate day fasting is affecting my hormonal problems (there, I've said it) but I'm seriously considering doing ADF maintenance for the next couple of months until it warms up. This means that on my three weekly down days I'll have between 800-1000 calories.

The alternative - which is quite obvious now I think about it - is to have my meals earlier on to keep me warm throughout the day, and hopefully cooler at night ... This is to be my next experiment and I'll keep you posted.

There has been loose talk among us ADF-ers about combining Fast-5 with ADF, I always failed before I even got up by NEEDING a biscuit with my coffee in bed on an up morning. This is something I may try next year if I hit a weight loss plateau.

Fast-5 is where you eat your normal (sensible) amount of calories, within the same 5 hour window daily, creating a 19 hour fast where your body starts to use your reserves of fat, albeit very slowly.

And my current weight loss so far with no real effort on my part is - drum roll - 35lb ...

.....

  1. Me and Alternate Day Fasting
  2. Me and Alternate Day Fasting ... Three Weeks On
  3. Five Weeks of Alternate Day Fasting
  4. Eight Weeks of Alternate Day Fasting
  5. Ten Weeks of Alternate Day Fasting
  6. Alternate Day Fasting Three Months On
  7. Alternate Day Fasting in Winter
  8. Alternate Day Fasting Over Christmas
  9. Me and Zumba
  10. Saying Goodbye To My Curves 
  11. Eight Months Of Alternate Day Fasting And Me
  12. Growing Up 
  13. A Year Of Alternate Day Fasting 
  14. 60 Pounds Of Blubber - Vanished
  15. The Perils of Alternate Day Fasting 
  16. Mr Grumpy Is Losing It
  17. Mr Grumpy Has Lost It
  18. Fasting For Maintenance
  19. Tweaking Maintenance
  20. Weight Gain 
  21. Still Maintaining
  22. Four Years Of Intermittent Fasting
  .....

Thursday 20 December 2012

Roadworks Langley Mill January 2013

Just a little warning that from the 7th January next year, there will be roadworks in the area of the Asda roundabout for 3 weeks ... presumably to improve the layout of said roundabout as it's long been established that it's dangerous.

Considering that everyone that uses this roundabout, either falls in the 'oblivious of other road users' category or into the 'second guessing what the first lot are doing' category. This is long overdue.

Of course, I may be totally wrong - who me? - and the promised improvements aren't going to happen at all and they're just making the road ready for McDonalds ...

Update 26th December:

Having been out yesterday via the roundabout at Eastwood - a few yards up the road from Asda roundabout - I noticed the signs there informing us that roadworks to repair the safety barriers start on the same day as the ones in Langley Mill. These will last 12 weeks.

Do neighbouring councils not consult one another about impending roadworks to minimise disruption? ...

Christmas Opening Times For Langley Mill Asda And Post office

click on photo and it will enlarge
I thought I'd better remember to do the opening hours for the Christmas holidays. It's amazing how many people search for this information and trip over my blog

Asda usually have little cards with opening times that you can pick up at the checkout, but I was told by a lady at Asda last night that they were printed incorrectly so hadn't been used ... I'm not sure if this is true as my neighbour has got one :-/

Anyway, I took the above photo of the sign there.
.....

Post Office opening:

Monday 24th ........... 9.00-12.30
Tuesday 25th .......... CLOSED
Wednesday 26th ..... CLOSED
Thursday 27th ......... 9.00-5.30
Friday 28th .............. 9.00-5.30
Saturday 29th ......... 9.00-12.30

Sunday 16 December 2012

Adoption Of Pottery Lane

From a Comment by fellow grumpy ALI:

Report from page 4 of the January 2012 Parish Magazine :-

ITEM 2 - Adoption of Pottery Lane as a public footpath (£57,000 allocated)

a. Pottery Lane has been adopted as a footpath and will be resurfaced.
b. AVBC will look at the feasibility of including lighting and seats in development.
c. It is anticipated work will commence in the second quarter of 2012.

NOTE: the TOTAL gifted by Asda of £57,000 has yet to be spent, this is from a Report of a Meeting of Connecting Communities on TUESDAY, 29th November 2011 ! ! !

Hopefully we ALL anticipate something being done in 2013 ! ! !

Wednesday 12 December 2012

Langley Mill's Christmas Lights 2012

This lamppost evidently deserved a 'whole' tree

Just a short one this time ... and this would have been done much sooner had Sky asked BT to flick the damn switch back on at the exchange for our phone and broadband:

I thought I'd better pass comment on our Christmas lights this year seeing as I've done nowt but moan about them previous years.

langley mill's christmas lights 2009
getting excited 2010
asdas christmas lights event donation 2011
langley mill's christmas lights 2011

Well the one's we've got now - new, not second hand cast-offs, I believe - are all remarkably similar, the only difference being whether a lamppost gets one or two Christmas trees, making half a tree or a whole one.

They look nice and twinkly at night and quite treey by day. Better still they're solar powered ... hmmm, this solar bit in all honesty looks naff, it would have been nicer if it could have been star shaped, but that's probably just me being pedantic.

Asda donated £2,000 for last year's lights which was too late to use. I'm not sure who else has donated yet or if Asda has done so again this year. Someone is bound to tell me if they have, and I'll update accordingly.

Because the lampposts shouldn't need testing first - and there's no electric bill - there's only the expense of 'putting 'em up, taking 'em down' , so these Christmas trees should prove a winner (in certain quarters) ... or would do if there was a bit more variety and colour - red tub, green tree, white lights ... yawn.

Car Wash dump of Langley Mill

I took lots of photos of different lampposts as we flashed past in the car - my chauffeur was kind enough to slow down for me - but as there wasn't much difference I settled for the one near Asda when we went round the stupid 'WHICH LANE! WHICH LANE!??' roundabout.

Then I took the one above when I went to Home Bargains via Asda car park. There is a whole tree adorning a lamppost next to the DUMP still allowed to conduct business with NO PLANNING PERMISSION - it ran out June 2011. Incidentally this pile of garbage is right next to the new McDonalds currently being built. Obviously we can do what we like in Langley Mill regards planning so I may extend my house onto the road a bit (mini-rant over, I feel much better now).

I would like to know - of course - who decided which lampposts deserved half a tree or a whole tree ;-) ...

Saturday 1 December 2012

Cromford Road Car Park - Free Short Stay

Information from fellow grumpy ALI

The Cromford Road car park is again under the control of AVBC, after making the choice to return it to a FREE short stay car park. A nominal rent is to be paid to the new landlord.

Please be aware that it is free for ONLY a 3 hour maximum stay, so Council enforcement officers may be keeping a lookout when it reopens for those wanting to stay for much longer periods, thinking they are able to park all day as they did before

...

Thanks ALI. There were 3 ... I repeat THREE police persons stood outside the car park yesterday morning. If we'd had time, I'd have asked them to get the car shifted that was stupidly parked on the corner of Cromford Road/Bridge Street. Neither grumpy nor myself could see around it to check for traffic whizzing down Cromford Road. Grumpy was already having enough problems judging how fast the speeding morons were coming from Station Road ...