What I've been up to lately - May 2024

I am so happy that summer is making an appearance at last! I can't believe that last week I was wrapped up in jumpers and winter coats, huddled under a heated blanket, and today I've got washing hanging outside, I've pulled out the garden furniture, and dug out my sunglasses!

I've been a bit quiet over here lately, so here are some of the things that I've been up to recently:

Reading 

With a friend to borrow books from and a big order from Wob I've had plenty of reading material to keep me going! Last night I finished Instructions for a Heatwave by Maggie O'Farrell. Set during the heatwave of 1976 it follows a family brought together unexpectedly when their husband and father disappears. I loved the exploration of the characters and their interactions, and I couldn't put it down! Before that I enjoyed The Martian by Andy Weir, bought for my son inspired by his love of space exploration. It's a very technical book and a lot probably went over my head but it was an exciting read. I remember watching the film a few years ago and will look it out to watch again. 

One of my favourite borrowed books was The Housemaid by Freida McFadden, with a story full of twists. Now I've just started The Island Home by Libby Page which is shaping up to be another great read.

Watching

We've been box set binging over the last few weeks! With my son we watched all four seasons of For All Mankind, a series on Apple TV that I can't believe we've only just discovered. It's an alternative history - what might have happened if the Soviets had landed on the moon first and the impact that could have had on the future of space exploration as the space race continued. Each season is set about ten years apart, so it starts in the late 60s and the most recent season was set in the 2000s. Things have moved fast, and by the last episode they have colonised Mars and are capturing asteroids for mining! My son loved it because it takes scientific concepts that have not yet been fully developed and shows how they could work. I enjoyed it for the relationships between the characters and how I could imagine what it would be like to live on both the moon and on Mars.

Photo credit NASA via Unsplash

We also watched the entire second season of Bridgerton over the span of a few days. We really enjoyed the first season but never got around to watching the second, and with the third due out shortly we decided to catch up. It was very enjoyable, perhaps not as steamy as the first season but that's not why I watch it - I enjoy the romance and imagining what it would be like to live that kind of lifestyle!

Listening to

I do like a podcast when I'm driving over to school, and lately I've been enjoying ZOE Science and Nutrition. It's really interesting to read about the latest scientific developments when it comes to nutrition, especially as a lot of the advice that I've heard over the years has now been disproved and there are new guidelines which should be followed. It has given me lots of inspiration for new foods and exercise to try.

Eating

I've made a huge change to my diet since the new year and it's paying off. I've slowly lost several kilograms and now I'm feeling fit and in shape for the summer. I've cut back on the ultra processed foods and introduced a range of different plants and I'm feeling really happy with the way that I eat. I do need to be a bit careful - I've noticed that eating bread based products like pizza and soup with bread is what makes me put the weight back on and I've also started indulging in some 90% dark chocolate most evenings which is a bad habit to get into!

Photo credit Maksim Shutov via Unsplash

Planning

We are going ahead with some building work later in the year which we've been thinking about for a long time. It's a big project and there is lots of planning to be done and decisions to be made. It's very exciting!

Decluttering

With building works in mind I've been busy decluttering, not just the areas to be affected but also the whole house and garage. I had been feeling that things were getting a bit on top of me so I've been making a big effort to clear out things that I had been putting off. I've passed on a juicer and blender set which filled up a whole cupboard, an old metal desk is waiting for the scrap man to collect it, and lots of large and good condition toys have been passed to a friend who teaches in a primary school. 

I've also been going through all the kitchen cupboards and clearing them out, working through my stockpile of cans to keep the numbers down and getting rid of some unused kitchen equipment. I'm feeling much happier with the state of the house now.

Enjoying

The sunshine! I love sitting outside and feeling the warmth of the sun, I love going for a run and not having to wrap up in long leggings and jumpers, I love popping out for a walk and not having to grab a coat.

Can you eat thirty different plants in a week?

It's actually not as difficult as it sounds!

Sometime before Christmas I read a nutrition article online that made an impression on me. I think it may have been this one - Forget five a day, 30 a week is the new rule you need to follow. It's behind a paywall, but if you don't have a Telegraph subscription you can find a similar article here with lots more advice - Why should you eat 30 plants a week?

The premise behind eating 30 different types of plant in a week is that it can boost the diversity and health of your gut biome, which is also really important for other aspects of your health. When I read the headline I thought that it sounds impossible, I find it difficult enough to fit in my five a day! But after I read more closely I realised that actually it's very achievable. 

Plants doesn't just include the usual fruit and vegetables, it also counts grains, nuts, seeds, herbs and spices. Even chocolate counts if it's more than 70% cocoa, as does coffee and popcorn. The curry mix that I sometimes use in cooking contains coriander, cumin, turmeric, garlic, cardamom, chilli, star anise, bay leaf, cloves, mace - that's 11 plants in one go!

I've been making a big effort with my diet since the new year, trying to make healthier choices and increasing the range of foods that I eat. So I decided to quickly add up the number of different plants that I ate on a fairly typical day (that does admittedly tend towards the healthier end of the scale) and see how many I got to. I was really surprised!

Breakfast - Muesli. I eat a small bowl of Sainsbury's Swiss Style Muesli which contains oat flakes, wheat flakes, sultanas, hazelnuts and almonds. Then I top it with a mixture of my own - raisins, sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, chia seeds and some flaked almonds. Adds 9 plants.

Lunch - Bean salad, includes kidney beans, sweetcorn, onion, tomato, red pepper, olive oil. Followed by a handful of grapes. Adds 7 plants.

Snack - A couple each of Brazil nuts, cashew nuts and almonds. Adds 2 plants.

Dinner - Lentil Bolognese, includes red lentils, green lentils, potato, onion, carrot, tomato, olive oil, garlic, curry powder (coriander, cumin, turmeric, garlic, cardamom, chilli, star anise, bay leaf, cloves, mace), black pepper. Adds 15 plants.

Snack - Apple. Adds 1 plant. I also had some chocolate, but it was milk so doesn't count!

Even allowing for overcounting or miscalculation that makes an impressive 34 plants! The curry powder does feel like a bit of a cheat, especially because I don't use very much, so I think that I would need to add it more frequently to get the full benefits.

I could definitely do with some adding some more variety to my diet - I eat the same for breakfast every morning and I often repeat lunches - but I was pleasantly surprised to find that eating so many different plants wasn't as overwhelming as I had thought. I'm definitely in the right mindset at the moment to want to improve my diet, and I'm really enjoying researching the topic and finding some new recipes to try - and feeling better for it too.

How I'm planning to make my exercise routine more interesting

I've been going to the same gym for a long time, and I've definitely got myself into a rut which doesn't help with my gym motivation. So I've been trying to think of some ways that I can make my exercise routine something that I look forward to, rather than a chore to get out of the way.

To start with I've discovered interactive workouts on the fancy treadmills. Instead of my usual half hour running on the flat, I've been 'running' through different scenery alongside avatars of other runners from around the world, with the incline automatically adjusted to reflect the terrain. I quite like setting my sights on another runner in the near distance, then stepping up the pace a bit so that I can overtake them. Are they real people or not? I don't know, but that doesn't really matter!

I've always enjoyed using the stair climber machine, a mini escalator that you climb without going anywhere, making sure that you keep the rhythm going so that you don't fall off the bottom! I've also recently been having a go on the cross trainer. I've always rejected it in the past as I find it quite difficult to co-ordinate arms and my legs at the same time. I'm getting better at it, as long as I don't go too fast!

I've finally dug out the headphones that go with my phone, and I've been using our Spotify subscription and Google to put together some exercise playlists. I've discovered that the songs I like to workout to come from searching for things like 'angry workout music', and putting together a new playlist makes me excited to get down the gym and listen to it.

Photo credit Gina Lin via Unsplash

The one thing that I do baulk at is trying an exercise class. I used to love Body Pump, but since having children and suffering from abdominal separation I'm a bit wary of using my stomach muscles too much. I'm also a bit terrified of going into a new class by myself and not knowing what to do. I'm perfectly happy working out by myself!

Let's hope that I can keep up my new good work!

The benefits of doing jigsaw puzzles

In the run up to Christmas this year I've really been enjoying my festive jigsaw puzzles. I've got quite a collection now, and I start them as soon as I can in November to make sure that I get them all finished. With a couple of new additions this year I must confess that I've only managed to complete five of the six - I'll need to start even earlier next year!

So I thought I'd share some of the reasons that I like to have a jigsaw puzzle on the go, and if you aren't a puzzler maybe it will inspire you to have a go!

* It's something to work on when you have a few minutes spare. Much better for the brain than scrolling on the phone!

* When working on a jigsaw for a longer period it's the perfect opportunity to let your mind wander. Sometimes I keep a notebook by my side to jot down any ideas that occur to me, whether it's blog posts, craft projects I want to try or other things that I need to do.

* It also helps me to switch off and relax, a bit like meditation. I find that I can get completely absorbed, and when I drag myself away to get on with something else I really feel like I've had a break and a rest.

* It's sociable - you can work on a jigsaw with other people, while talking to others, or while sitting with other people that are enjoying their own hobbies.

* Doing a jigsaw exercises both the left and right sides of the brain, as it's a mixture of logical and creative skills. So it can improve your problem solving skills. It's also working your memory, as you have to remember where you might have seen a certain piece, or what a part of the picture looks like while you hunt for the pieces that you need.

* It should also help improve your spacial awareness skills which could have a knock on affect in other areas of your life (hopefully like parking the car!)

* It's a complete break from the screen, as there's no excuse for picking up the phone. I try to put my phone in another room so that I'm not distracted by any notifications.

* You get a great sense of accomplishment when the puzzle finished. I leave a completed jigsaw out for a day or two to admire it, and often share a picture on social media!

If you don't have any jigsaw puzzles around in the house there are plenty of free websites that let you complete virtual jigsaw puzzles in a variety of different sizes and shapes - just do a quick search and find one with pictures that you like! I'd recommend giving it a go if you are looking for a new hobby!

Keeping fit with a Fitbit

Last October for my birthday I got a Fitbit. I have the Fitbit Charge 2 (affiliate link) which has a large display and heart rate tracker. It is quite bit on my wrist which I found a bit difficult to get used to at first, but having been wearing it for six months now I'm used to it. One thing that I really like about it compared to the not-very-reliable Garmin activity tracker that I had before is how responsive the screen is when I raise my wrist - it turns on straight away so that I can see the time and daily steps.

When I first got my Fitbit I set my daily target to 10,000 steps as was recommended. But I'm afraid that I didn't take it very seriously, and I didn't challenge myself to reach it every day. Some days when I went for a run I would go over, but many days I was around the 5-6000 steps mark which didn't feel like much of an achievement. My lowest step count in a day was just 409 steps - although to be fair that was Christmas day when I barely moved from the sofa!

So in January I made a resolution to complete my 10,000 steps every day. I discovered that in order to hit that magic number I had to do at least one extra activity, whether that was a run or a long walk. At the beginning of February I wrote about how I was managing my 10,000 steps, and at the beginning of March I upped my target to 11,000 steps. Nearly two months on I'm not finding that any more difficult, and so I'm thinking about increasing it again to 11,500 or even 12,000.

I've discovered a good trick for bumping up my step count when I can't leave the house, whether due to inclement weather or childcare responsibilities. We are lucky that the ground floor of our house is quite spacious, and if I open all the internal doors I can just march around the house in circles. Even better, I can do this while I'm reading a book at the same time. I can easily knock out a 30 or 40 minute walk, and although I must admit that I feel a little bit dizzy when I'm finished it's an easy and quick way to get to my target! It feels a bit like cheating, but it gets my heart rate up and it definitely counts!

I'm also enjoying some friendly competition with friends and family members. I rarely talk to them about it so they have no idea, but I feel a sense of smug satisfaction when I'm top of the leader board, as well as admiration for those that are achieving above my targets. I've not taken part in any challenges yet but I've heard that they can be very good for motivation, I'm just worried I'd get a bit obsessive about it! I do really love getting the badges, my best so far is 20,000 steps, but I'm sure I can do better than that!

One thing that I've noticed about the Fitbit is that it particularly loves stairs. Even on days when I've been for a run and am feeling knackered I don't always meet my calorie target. But if I've been going up and down the stairs a lot, for example on days when I've been busy doing washing and putting it away, or just general tidying, I easily burn more calories.

Talking of calories, the Fitbit has really made me appreciate how few calories I actually need to eat. According to my Fitbit, which seems accurate, I'm usually burning around 1,900 calories over the course of the day. When you think that a takeaway pizza 12-1,500 calories you realise that treats like that will definitely add up quickly! I'm not regularly using the calorie counter as an aid to weight loss, but I've found that when I am tracking calories, which I do from time to time, having the daily exercise definitely helps with the weight loss.

I'd love to hear how other people get on with their Fitbits or other activity trackers - how many steps do you aim for in a day?