Monday 16 December 2013

Asda Langley Mill Christmas Opening Hours 2013

Sun 15th Dec: 10am - 4pm
Mon 16th Dec: Opens at 7am
Tue 17th Dec: 24 hours
Wed 18th Dec: 24 hours
Thu 19th Dec: 24 hours
Fri 20th Dec: 24 hours
Sat 21st Dec: Closes at 11pm
Sun 22nd Dec: 10am - 4pm
Mon 23rd Dec: Opens at Midnight
Christmas Eve: Closes at 7pm
Christmas Day: Closed
Boxing Day: 9am - 6pm
Fri 27th Dec: Opens at 8am
Sat 28th Dec: Closes at 10pm
Sun 29th Dec: 10am - 4pm
Mon 30th Dec: Opens at 8am
New Year's Eve: Closes at 7pm
New Year's Day: 10am - 4pm
Thu 2nd Jan: Opens at 8am
Fri 3rd Jan: 24 hours

I'll do the post office opening hours as soon as I find out what they are ...

Wednesday 4 December 2013

The Perils of Alternate Day Fasting

Well for me there are none, however for the grumpy old man there are plenty ... twenty to be exact:

A while back Bernard asked me how Mr Grumpy fared on my down/fasting days, I replied that he gets a decent cooked dinner. However, it appears that I've been fattening him up.
During the last year he's gained 20 lbs ... oops!

I had been trying to hint to himself by late summer that he'd gained a couple of pounds. I patted him on his belly a few times and said "this is growing" - no use trying to be subtle, he doesn't recognise subtle ... "I can still get in my trousers" says he, whilst wearing baggy shorts. As it happened, this was true, he could - just - but breathing was clearly an optional extra.

I can see how it happened, I'm guilty of feeding him for me. I literally piled up his plate, although he wasn't forced to eat it all. But we're from a generation of non-wasters ... "think of the starving babies in Africa" we were told as children.

Now, we all know that a bizarre side effect of my fasting had been a masochistic desire to watch cookery programs and then I bake. The results of which he could eat every day compared to my every other day. This clearly didn't help ... although - I might add - I didn't force him to buy and eat jam doughnuts! 

Anyhoo, a couple of weeks back he went to see the nurse for his regular blood test, flu jab, personal questions, blah blah. And she weighed him. Oh dear ... "You've put on weight this year", she told him ... "I know" says he, "I've been eating too much". At least he's honest, it saved her arguing with him ... "you'd better cut down" was her parting shot.

He came home with a booklet called 'Eating, Drinking and Diabetes' which was just shoved to one side. I don't need to read it because I already know what's in it - not for me, my stepson has been (type 1) diabetic from the age of seven, grumpy has been borderline diabetic for years and my mum is a (type 2) insulin dependant diabetic.

"Right tubby, are you going to go on a daily restrictive diet or do you want to join me a couple of days a week on 600 calories - men can have 100 more than women - you can do Monday and Friday with me if you like and I'll do Wednesday on my own" ... "I'll do the same as you, I've seen how much you eat and it doesn't look that difficult" he quickly decided.

So, last Friday was his first down/fasting day. I thought it'd be nice to introduce him to the regime then, because we'd both get the whole weekend to eat what we liked after. He's since done Monday and he's decided to have another go today!

I wasn't expecting that, I thought - with his love of food - that two days a week would be his absolute limit ... but he's taken to it like a duck to water, hmmmm.

His biggest pitfall - you won't believe - is fruit, I have to move the fruit dishes out of the way on our DDs, he does love all fruit and even though it's good for you, it's fairly calorific and snacking of any kind isn't advised during this day. Just have a drink I told him and the hunger pangs diminish.

I'll let you know how he gets on, and don't forget, this is not JUST about weight loss, ADF is about giving your body time to repair which it can only do when it's not busy digesting tons of food. I fully expect him to retreat back from the border of diabetes if he continues our lifestyle into maintenance - which is easy, been there, done that, getting the much smaller T-shirt ...

.....

  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
  .....

Tuesday 5 November 2013

Tavern Car Wash Not Exactly Permanent

Now I'm back back home and have read my letter from the council; it's clear that this wet pile of tat is NOT PERMANENT, the permission for it runs out 31st December 2014 this time, because - "The development is of a type not considered suitable for permanent retention in accordance with policy EN16 of the Adopted Amber Valley Borough Local Plan 2006".

And "Within one month a scheme for the removal of waste water from the site and measures to prevent surface water draining onto the public highway shall be submitted to and approved in writing by the Local Planning Authority".

And "Only mains powered equipment shall be used on site. No generators shall be used on site without the PRIOR written approval of the Local Planning Authority" -  I did notice that their opening hours have been extended too:

Between 0900 hours and 1800 hours Monday-Fridays

Between 0900 hours and 1700 hours Saturday


Between 0930 hours and 1630 hours on Sunday.


Therefore I can conclude that this ugly eyesore can remain permanently temporary - with repeat applications being granted permission for years and years and years and years ... we'll see shall we ...

Tuesday 22 October 2013

Sixty Pounds Of Blubber ... Vanished With ADF

Where has it gone? It's most peculiar losing a lot of weight, I've mentioned before about feeling like I'm suspended on wires while I'm walking and that feeling is even stronger now. I walk effortlessly everywhere I go ... and I thought the tremendous effort I used to put into heaving myself from a-b was middle age catching up with me - I was wrong.

Righto ... the last time I updated my ADF bloggy bits, I'd lost 56lbs (I think) and I was fasting for longer - missing breakfast - I gave that daft idea up shortly after that post (back to bikkies in bed with my coffee on an up day, yum), because I knew I wasn't eating enough. And if lunch was particularly late on my 'eating' days for any reason - Tuesday's in particular (clothes shopping in Newark) - then I was as high as a kite and talking ten to the dozen ... and them that know best tell us that we'll be weak from hunger! Yeah, right.

A few weeks back I'd let my hair down a little when my friend came to stay. I took the whole week off. I prepared in advance for my likely indiscretions by having two sets of double down days the week before she came (naughty but heroic) and then I gained 3lbs while she was here. So I did the same the week after - with two sets of double down days - and lost 4lbs ... happy, happy.

A week later my sister - the bossy one - said she thought I'd done really well, they were proud of me, but I'd lost enough weight now. I didn't need telling twice, I decided to try maintenance with 700-800 calories on my down days. If I gained then I could soon drop back to 400-500 and if I lost - yippee!

Then last week my other sister came to stay - ooer missus - I did NOT prepare the week before having started maintenance and feeling pretty smug with myself after losing 60lbs - wadda-mistaka-to-maka - I had a whole week of eating and drinking exactly what I liked ... and this involved some heavy duty home baked stuff (mince pies, apple cake, sweet potato and butternut squash pie) that I'd done in my attempts to fatten my baby sister up so I'd be the slim one for the first time ever ... I failed by a stone (14lbs), skinny moo!

I'd gained 7lbs by the fourth morning! I almost hid the scales. It didn't go any higher - thankfully - and I'd lost a pound before the end of the week after waddling around the market a couple of times. Obviously the majority of the weight was water and food - she says hopefully - and not fat. This week I'm currently getting rid of it ... only 4lbs left to go. It should be but a bad dream by Saturday ... and a huge blip on my weight loss chart ;)

I just thought I'd mention again - on the off-chance that you'd missed it previously; having just skimmed over my blog ... trust me I know how most people read it, my statcounter tells me how briefly anyone is on a single post - my hero is Dr Michael Mosley, I saw him on the Horizon program 'Eat, Fast and Live Longer' in August last year, and without him I'd still be that tubby blob hiding away from the world in case anyone should point at me and say 'I see fat people' ... I really must stop doing that when I'm out, it's unforgivable, I'm worse than any ex-smoker with smokers.

Anyhooo, he got the idea after a few days with Doctor Krista Varady of the University of Illinois at Chicago (and other scientists in different universities). He couldn't manage a true alternate day fasting regime but liked the idea of just fasting two days a week and it worked amazingly for him and so co-wrote a book - The Fast Diet (bought it, read it).

Krista Varady on the other hand has undertaken several human trials on intermittent fasting BEFORE publishing her own book - 'The Every Other Day Diet' (this is a link to her Facebook page) - due to come out January next year.

So Krista - thanks. You are my heroine - even though you have cost me a small fortune in new clothes :D 

And we're not just talking weight loss here, but a whole host of health benefits - from reduced risk of diabetes, heart disease, strokes, some cancers, a later onset of Alzheimers disease, to mention but a few. 

And after me being awake - on a very empty stomach - all last night arguing with my cat over whether or not she was going out, my brain must have grown enormously ... no? I wouldn't be too sure, apparently being hungry has an amazing affect on the brain ... and because I was so bright and alert with oodles of new braincells, this morning after approximately 100 minutes sleep, I searched the t'Interweb (OK, Facebook mostly) for any news that could annoy me - just so I could have a good old moan - it was sooooooo satisfying ...

Wednesday 25 September 2013

Time For Another Eye Test

One is off to Specsavers today to have one's eyeballs checked for defects.

One's husband has told one that he'll pay :D

I warned him that it could get expensive as I don't get pensioners rates like him, and I NEED 'reactions' and varifocals and a designer name ... or they're not worth wearing.

He never even flinched - fortunately he was sitting down at the time - and managed to croak that 'it doesn't matter' ... gasp ... 'you save your money for diamonds, clothes, boots, Radley bags and jackets ... have I mentioned how many jackets I've bought this year? No? Oh dear, at the last count it was fourteen and I've bought at least four (or six) more since then ... oops.

It's a good job I'm not hard of hearing because he was almost whispering by this time ... and his forehead had started to glisten.

This conversation took place yesterday at the Riverside Park at Newark where we had our picnic - and thanks to the lovely sunny autumn weather - I couldn't see the panic in his eyes behind his 'reactions' lenses ... but I knew it was there hehehehe ...

Sunday 22 September 2013

Permanent Car Wash On Tavern Car Park

A permanent car wash and valeting service has been applied for  - AVA/2013/0846 - on the Railway Tavern car park, Langley Mill ... because - ahem - the current permit is running out now. Funny that, we all thought it ran out June 2011.

Apparently they say that everything is already on site to make it permanent, but I do hope they have to make it look less like a pile of junk aka a scrap yard than it presently does or what's the point? ...

Update 1st November: This pile of garbage was granted PERMANENT planning permission yesterday. I can only assume they think it's what Langley Mill amounts to. I bet there isn't a similar heap of junk on Belper's main road.

Tuesday 27 August 2013

Perseid Meteor Watch At The Tin Hut

As I mentioned before ... Facebook - which I initially hated then learned to use to my advantage - has taken over from my blogging. I said I'd copy from there and paste here ... oh, my word, the things you've missed about my grumpy old man, I really must bring you up to date. Anyway here's a few snippets straight from Facebook of my nights spent freezing my bits off on a sunlounger watching for the Perseid meteor shower.

badgers from earlier this year ... well you can only look at so many photos of whitish spots ;)

Gone midnight 7th August - Stargazing ... practising for meteor watch. All that's flashed past so far are satellites and loads of bats.
1.04 - Got an owl here now and my camera is busy!!
9.02 - It looks like my photography skills need addressing ... I suppose I can be forgiven as it's the first time I've dared go out in the night since last year after all the oddities I or my camera witnessed.

#meteorwatch was a disaster, not one single phot
o, yet I know there should have been four (saw five). Saw Eight satellites and all I can find in the photos is an aeroplane and a strange flash but there were so many bats that they must have got in every photo :/

All I got of the owl is his eyes and he posed for at least two minutes.

My swearing was kept to a minimum when I was struggling with the sunlounger, tripod and camera, then realised I'd taken my glasses off, so had to use the light from my phone to go back and find where they'd dropped.

Things weren't helped by me trying to stuff things (phone, batteries) into my dressing gown pockets, only to find they were so far around my back I couldn't reach ... new smaller dressing gown required for #stargazing (already got new fleecy pj's for the job).
If it's clear tonight I'll do it again :)


Star trails from 6th/7th August ... with one aeroplane passing through (dots) just below the pole star and a tidgy widgy flash of meteorite level with the same star and to the right of it. Must try harder. And I will try to make sure that my camera lens doesn't get fogged up this time. 40 photos and 30 mins of my life wasted freezing my bits off taking photos of condensation
..... 

8th August 0.19 - In stargazing position and a badger is here already munching on left over quiche. Noisily barging other side of fence now. My pussycat is keeping me company tonight.

0.40 - And I've got three badgers and one pussy cat for company - nice
1.44 - Given in I'm freeeeeeeezing ... Ar*e! What should have been one perfect photo, turned out to be FOG! For the last 20 mins my camera lens was in it's own damp little cloud. No wonder I was cold :'(
8.24 - Yawn, these stargazing nights are ok but methinks I need a nap during the day. Gone 2.30 before I got to sleep last night with my confused cat thinking I was going out again, bless her :/

10th August 0.16 - On #Meteorwatch again, Chuffin cold. Had to cover Miss Tia Pussykins up with my dressing gown cos she's shivering.

So far, one rabbit, one badger, several satellites and two meteorites. Many, many bats and flying so low they're practically parting my hair!

I can hear another badger other side of the fence. May give in soon and go in, I'm perished, even with a cat sat on me:/


Last night's star trails with one meteor. I admit it's been enhanced slightly but it is actually there. I've also learnt to tweak the contrast of the first pic before stacking to get the bright start to the trail ... I will no doubt do much more tweaking:)


Oh yeah, and the pale blurry bits are clouds, they turned up about 20 mins before I went in but I couldn't move without disturbing a badger, so I carried on pressing the camera buttons - as you do. I'll do the photo stacking again later without the cloudy pics but now I really, REALLY must do some work:)

.....

11th August 2.45 - Hmmm, the amount of things that keep flashing past - aeroplanes and satellites, also moths, bats, pigeon feathers?!? (reflected from lights) ... and the occasional meteor :/

2.43 - and warmest #Meteorwatch night so far, unless I'm just hardening up. I have to keep sticking my hands under my pits though, and they're not too happy about it, brrrrrrrrrr.

4.22 -  Grumpy woke up and came out an hour ago (3.30) to see if I'd fallen asleep, yeah right. Clouds have arrived and all that can be seen is Jupiter...
Aaaahh, a lovely cuppa and now I'm warming my hands on himself :P

.....

later the same day, 16.48 - I've just been sent to my bedroom for a nap or I can't go out to play tonight (just because I didn't come in until gone 4.30am).

Have mobile phone - will play - ner ner ner ner ner ;)


12th August - Sigh, last night's #Meteorwatch didn't happen for me ... and it was nearly the night I'd been waiting for.

I stayed up until after midnight but we had far too much cloud (could only see one star at a time) and it showed no signs of clearing.

Never mind, I counted 25 meteors the night before and managed to get a decent photo of one - as well as two aeroplanes and a bat pirouetting above me.

There was much muttering done - and a lot of naughty words used in my notes on the android - as very few were directly overhead.

Fingers crossed for tonight's show xx

 
Two babies from when they first started to visit
.....

Later the same day at 23.42 - One is in one's #Meteorwatch position. Am frozzed! my GOM - the lightweight - went in after seeing only 5 meteors. I'm made of tougher ... or dafter stuff.

Ooooh, pretty, another one:)

And now a bit later 13th August, 0.05 -  Just given my armpits the cold hand treatment. They were unimpressed. Don't know where I'm going to stick my cold feet.
Oh dear, the badgers were just arriving and a dog has frightened them off (gardens other side of the dyke). Daft mutt is barking with a squeaky toy in his mouth. They'll be back later I suspect.

0.08 - Miss Tia Pussykins has arrived now, wonder if I can get her to sit on my feet?? Uho, hands cold again, sorry armpits ... aaagggghhh!

1.40 -  Badgers are back, pussy gone to investigate. Owl been sat on next door's aerial, did I get a photo? Nope, just its eyes :/
1.50 - Going in when badgers gone, am so cold now. Can hear owl and geese. Pigeon feathers keep floating past ... again.

2.22 - Owl came again and sat on another aerial. Was I ready this time? You bet I was. Did I get it? Did I ar*e? I got the fire assembly point instead mutter, mutter.



Badgers went as soon as I shifted so I'm sat in front of the fire now thawing out. Will look at pics now, had a quick look outside, the 1.20 photo looks to have 2 meteors in it. I didn't see anything then. Bet I was rabbiting on Facebook and just pressed the buttons and hoped for the best.

2.44 - Just checked. That's exactly what I was doing - rabbiting on Facebook.
Got several aeroplanes, one possible Iridium flare and a few meteors, all in the company of Tia, two badgers, one or two owls and umpteen bats - not forgetting the pigeon feathers ... and a brief but exciting (ok NOISY) 15 minutes early on before my grumpy went to bed.

.....

13th August 1.20 photo - Definite meteor on the left but it looks like the other one is an Iridium flare (brighter in the middle where it's flared by reflecting sunlight). If I'd been looking, I'd have known. But then again, if the app I PAID for was working properly I'd have been reminded five minutes before the event. Same with the ISS, we saw that when we went out but my phone didn't mention it ... chuffin update, was fine the day before :/



17th August 0.07 - I say, these badgers don't worry about little me at all. One of the babies has just walked right past me - in my stargazing/meteorwatch position - to get to the nuts:)

0.29 -  Another badger on it's way past me, so close I could stroke it if I wasn't so attached to my fingers.

0.31 - Think there's too much blackberry undergrowth other side of fence so they're coming this side plus there's always a dog barks at them on the dyke side. They can tip toe past without disturbing it on our side.

.....


That's it, I've not been out at night since - other than taking moon and badger photos ...




  

    Wednesday 14 August 2013

    A Year of Alternate Day Fasting

    Flipping heck! I get worse. I wrote this nearly a week ago (8th August, my ADF anniversary) and went off at a tangent - yeah, Facebook mostly and a bit of work. This is because I now use the android app to blog - while it's fresh in my mind - then tidy it up later on the laptop ... only I forgot that bit. 

    .....

    Well, I'd set my target to lose 57lbs. Yes I know it's a lovely 'even' number (not). But I need to get down to an even number (of course). As usual I failed to reach my target on a specific date by 1lb, but who cares?

    I've not been this weight since I left school in the mid-70's. The first thing I did on leaving school was to go on a diet to lose 2lbs I needed to qualify for something. Of course - me being me - I starved for a week and lost 7 lbs, and I've never looked back, hmmm :/

    Since then I've gone on umpteen little diets (lasting a month or less - usually hours). And several proper 'let's do this fatso - and de-flab this pudgy little body' diets lasting three months and more. Never have I got beyond six months. That was Slimming World and only so long because I was allowed to change my target (the weight I'd already reached) and go for free.

    And here I am, a whole year of Alternate Day Fasting and no signs of tiring of it. It's just so natural to me now. I'm also back to Mon/Weds/Fri as my down days after faffing about trying to mix things up.

    I have incorporated a gentler version of Fast-5 (19 hours fast/5 hours noshing) into ADF because it eventually became obvious that my breakfast cereals were causing me problems:
    1. I wasn't losing weight.
    2. I was always hungry before lunch.
    3. I was constantly bloated on up days.
    So now when I wake up in a morning I don't have to think 'can I have a biscuit this morning?' Because the answer is 'no'. I've extended my previous day's (complete) 'fast' to 19 hours by not eating until 1.30pm.

    During this day I continue to eat normally up to 8.30pm, when ALL snacking must cease. If you were to be in my vicinity between 8.00-8.30, you'd spot me munching on nuts.
    So I have a seven-ish hour eating window on up days and six hour eating window on down days. This does NOT include Saturday. This is my 'munch' day when I start with a biscuit in bed with my coffee, then continue to munch throughout the day, including booze at night, then I stagger to bed completely stuffed.

    By Sunday morning, I'm relieved to wait until 1.30 for my dinner and bemoaning the fact that I ate too much the day before. This has been my pattern for the last couple of months unless we've had visitors. Then I just do a fast-8 (16 hours fast, 8 hours to eat) every day - basically I just miss breakfast - this maintains my weight for that week.

    I've decided that I'm going to carry on and lose another 6-8lbs ... or until my sisters tell me to stop - I'm very obedient - because I still see a very fat woman in the mirror (but not photos oddly enough). This extra few pounds  will ensure I've got a bit of leeway while I find which maintenance method suits me best.

    I still like the idea of 500 cal days at least once a week. So my latest idea is to have one down day of 500 calories, one super up day and the rest Fast-6ish days. I'll let you know if this works when I get there ...
     
    .....

    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
      .....

    Friday 12 July 2013

    Blame It On Facebook

    I've been fairly worried lately about my total lack of blogging. Is my life so uninteresting - even to me - that I no longer want to share the funny bits?

    It was when I read on another grumpy ladies blog that she'd been writing everything on Facebook that I realised that was happening to me too.

    Instead of sitting at my laptop or computer trying to stretch out a brief moment - actually, it's trying to shorten it that I have a problem with - into a blog post, I found that I was reaching for the - ever handy - android, and instantly updating my friends about grumpy's latest misdemeanors using the Facebook app.

    This is ok, but not ALL my friends are on Facebook (or indeed Twitter), and whilst I'm amusing them there, I'm neglecting those in the blogosphere.

    This will be rectified in future because I'm going to update both my blog and Facebook simultaneously ... well I'm going to try. And if I find the time, I'll go through my past status updates and publish a selection of 'funny moments' ...

    Tuesday 18 June 2013

    Growing Up

    Ey up burra fergot ta mention summat ded important in me last ADF post. Ooooh owd on, I'm writin' in me adopted Derbyshire accent ... When did that happen?

    As I so eloquently put it, I forgot to mention something important that happened recently, well it was important to me.

    I'd already noticed a while ago that when I walked I felt much lighter - like I was supported by wires somehow - but the weird thing is that the ground had started to look fractionally further away. I just took this to be an illusion caused by me bouncing merrily along at high speed ... or I needed new glasses.

    Then when we first came to the tin hut this year, I was in the bathroom and thought 'Oh heck, the sink is broke' because it looked lower down. I checked the pedestal and under the sink and all was fine ... it's a hut, the sink and pedestal are plastic, they've been replaced before through breakages.

    Hmmm, odd. After a few more sessions of thinking - 'by gum burrit's a long way to t'floor' - I decided I needed measuring. Grumpy stood me against the end of a tall unit doo dah, stuck a bit of white insulation tape roughly where my bonce would come to, marked the tape exactly where the top of my person was - flattening my coiffure in the process - then got out his heavy duty tape measure. Nearly 5'3. Interesting, I'd been 5'1 and 3/4 all my adult life and here I was an inch taller.

    Oh what joy. To anyone of normal proportions, you won't realise what this means. Well the first thing I did was check my newly adjusted BMI ... aha, only just a bit overweight and not at all porky. And with my 10% adjustment for a large frame - oh yes it is! - I'm now within a normal healthy weight range :) ...

    .....

    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
      .....

    Friday 24 May 2013

    Potters Langley Mill ... And Smiths

    As noticed at AVBC by ALLEY - I've not looked this week, busy, busy, busy :)
    .....

    POTTERS SNOOKER CLUB - 51 Cromford Road.

    Planning Application AVA/2013/0380 Applicant Mr. Nicholas Henrys (Hucknall)

    Change of use from retail units to licensed premises. Refurbishment of interior ground floor area into bar.

    It states that the new bar, which will be on the corner of Dean Street and Cromford Road, will show 'live sport' and will put on 'live entertainment' aimed at all generations and all tastes !

    Hmmm ...
    ....
    Smiths


    Wellingborough-based Whitworth Bros. through Dogsthorpe Acquisitions paid £450,000 for the business assets of Smiths Flour Mills 3 sites in Worksop, Holbeach and Langley Mill and as far as I can see still own the site here in Langley Mill!

    Friday 3 May 2013

    Pottery Lane


    Just a short one this time to say that half of Pottery Lane is closed - Station Road to the bridge - we could be completely wrong, but we're assuming that the promised tarting up is being done very, very slowly, by two men who arrive every morning in a Northgate hired van :/

    Hmm, interesting ... I thought it would be more than a two man job, but perhaps they're just clearing it. There's a bit of temporary fencing, a red container, a mini-digger and little muck shifter so far.

    Until the temporary fence was erected the yoofs of Langley Mill were using the container as a high perch - just the sort of thing I'd have done as a yoofess because - I have to confess - I liked climbing on things.

    Grumpy has said he'll go across and ask for sure what's happening sometime, oh ... in the next few months ;)

    I'm sure someone else will have been and asked by now and will no doubt leave a comment - please. Or I could have a look at Derbyshire County Council website if I get bored enough ...

    Monday 22 April 2013

    Eight Months Of Alternate Day Fasting ... And Me :)

    I think it's fair to say that I've been successful following the ADF lifestyle. Up to now I've lost 48lb and my target is well within sight.

    Just lately - because Doctor Mosley's book was recently released - there has been a flurry of interest in what we Brits are doing - diet-wise - from across the pond in lard country aka the U S of A. Mostly their reaction is that we're totally barking:

    'During those 500-calorie days, you probably won’t be doing much of anything except sleeping. You'll be light-headed, anxious, shaky, dizzy and super tired -- Imagine what you are like when you eat lunch late and multiply that by 100. You definitely shouldn't drive, operate machinery, take care of young children, perform surgery or basically anything else that might put yourself and others at risk. You might pass out! And even if you don't, your body doesn’t have enough energy (calories) to let your body function properly.'

    Yeah, right ... this was obviously written by someone who lives with a burger in one hand and a super-sized coke in the other lest they miss out on a few calories ... I can say this with impunity, they rubbished us, I'm getting my own back ;)

    What is it with Americans and their desire to be fat ... And no-one must dare to suggest they miss a meal. American news sites and their associated diet advisers are dire! They MUST be on the take somehow.They've been telling us how to eat for decades and when we did as we were told, we got fatter ... how does this STILL make them right and give them the right to tell anyone how they should eat?

    Well, it's like this ... dieting is big business. Anyone who comes along and rocks the dieting boat by declaring that - 'You don't need to go and be weighed weekly and be told that you're fat ... and you're not going to get thin by paying us lots of dosh and eating our dreadful processed meals' - is going to be regarded as either a total barmpot or a charlatan. Fasting can't possibly work ... they can't make any money out of us, they'd rather we went away and kept quiet.

    We've even been told by nutritionists and diet gurus that we must eat little and often (six meals a day) to keep our metabolism going. Yes it keeps it going all right, it also keeps insulin production up. Once we've done growing our bodies need a rest from constantly digesting food. We're not really built for grazing because we're not ruminants!

    Anyhoooo, despite all the warnings that we're obviously completely off our collective rockers, Americans have joined our ADF Facebook group at a very fast rate since the publication of the book. Not only that, I get far more 'hits' on my blog on this subject from America than anywhere else in the world. Australia creeps in second place. It must also be noted that the basis of this 'diet' has been adapted from experiments done in the USA, but apparently we in Britain are far more gullible and ready to jump in and have a go ... we're also considerably lighter now :D

    We've now been told - by them that know - that fasting isn't safe for women. Now, to me this is a grey area. I will NOT pooh pooh any proper medical advice given on this, because they may have a point, especially with women who want to have children sometime soon. Hormone fluctuations seem to be a real side effect of fasting and I think we should take this into consideration if we're going to fast more than two days a week. However, have they actually proven this to be the case or is it yet another way of making us conform to the established way of dieting that makes someone else rich?

    And now we come to me: It's no secret that I've been perimenopausal for a few years now. Things came to an abrupt stop on my last birthday (6th November). I had hot flushes through December to late February when they too stopped - just like that.

    Well, methinks, if this is menopause; it's a doddle. Hmmm, yes, but not the doddle I thought. Over the last few weeks I'd tried experimenting with two sets of double down days every other week (yeah, yeah, broken promises blah, blah blah), making me seven up and seven down a fortnight, so true ADF with a twist.

    By the Thursday night of my second set of DDD's I had a visitation, and I don't mean in any biblical sense. Chuffin Nora, but it was unpleasant, five months totally without and this happens. Worse still, I never can eat much during this time or I'm in agony with windy bloat as well as the cramps.

    This was not the best way to end my week of extra 'fasting'. I decided that any signs - as these news sites reported - of being weak and faint  then the only sensible option I had was to take a week off and eat sensibly and healthily every day. Someone as tough as old boots like me going all delicate - pathetic isn't it? ... Or would have been. As it happened I was fine, I just lost no weight.

    Anyway it set me to thinking 'why did this happen? Why now? I know the road to menopause is rocky but I had to wonder at all these warnings about our hormones and the consequences of fasting.

    So I contemplated my - recent - past diet, what had changed? Well, Asda stopped doing the warm salad I had three days a week, these consisted of chicken, leaves, butternut squash, peppers, potatoes, courgettes, endemame beans, broccoli (depending on which flavour I chose; there were three) plus a dressing which came out at approx 200 cals.

    I decided to do my own version with the leaves, low calorie dressing, chicken and prawns. I was angelic as ever and weighed and counted calories in everything. But because I was DIYing and didn't bulk out the salad with many calories, I had more chicken - thus my protein intake almost trebled on my 3 or 4 down days.

    Checking back through my food diary and my hot sweaty lady calendar, there does seem to be some correlation in losing the hot moments shortly after upping the protein. Now I know almost absolutely nothing about how our bodies work, I'm just going on my own observations and notes, which is what I promised to do when I started this experiment.

    I will cut down on the protein and try to get a happy balance or I know I will be drifting into Atkins country without meaning to - been there, done that, had the smelly breath. It was an awful diet and totally unsustainable for a - then - vegetarian. I didn't lose a lot of weight but I did start eating meat again, so both me and the animals have got a lot to thank Dr Atkins for.

    I've got lots of milestones coming up over the next nine pounds:
    1. Three and half stone lost.
    2. 50lb lost.
    3. My weight in stones starting with a fresh - smaller - number.
    4.  25% of my bodyweight gone.
    5. 4 stones lost.
    6. Target weight.
    7. The lightest I've been since my school days.

    Best of all though is the knowledge that I'll never be fat again by continuing to follow ADF maintenance ...
    .....

    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
      .....