Happy Friday!

The world is in no better shape but the football season has begun so that’s some consolation, although Chelsea drew to Crystal Palace at home in their first game of the season….so it may not bring me actual joy this season!

Here are some links…

A Brief Note on the Difference Between Negotiation and Extortion

Why have we let side-hustle private landlords seize control of our housing – and our politics?

Paris Braces for a Future of Possibly Paralyzing Heat. One area that London does do better with is green space, but I’d love to see parks with more paddling pools. The summers that I looked after Ryan, we spent so much time at the paddling pool at Bishops Park. But they seem to figure less in parks nowadays.

I thought we’d entered the age of body positivity. Then came ‘shrinking girl summer’ – is everyone getting smaller except me? It does seem like everyone is on them, I know a couple of people of them, and they are very happy with them and the results and if it works for them, great. I don’t think it’s the lazy way out but if I had a spare £360 a month for weight loss drugs, I think I’d spend it on personal training, because I know that works in terms of making me healthier. I can always think of something I would rather do than go to the gym which is why I loved personal training way back when I did it because all I had to do was turn up and do what I was told. It didn’t make me skinny, I lost some weight and because I was more toned, I dropped a couple of dress sizes, and I did feel healthier. It did not fix my feet or my knees as they are issues, I would have if I was lighter. Right now, I’m overweight but all my health markers (the ones that doctors tell you come with obesity) are in the normal range, I’m not pre-diabetic, my blood pressure is good etc, which I think has more to do with my diet than anything else. I eat a much less processed diet than most people and I love vegetables, I have no problems with 5 a day and I tracked thirty plants a week and usually hit that target in four days!  I’m working right now on trying to be more active generally because I know that I feel better when I am but I’m also very, very tired all the time because I’m a menopausal, middle aged woman with a full time job and a parent to care for so I do what I can and don’t stress about it too much however, I do notice that there is a shift in how we talk about weight and it does worry me.

And then I came across this…..How Weight-Loss Drugs Can Upend a Marriage…which is interesting and sad at the same time

A moment that changed me: I resolved to reduce my screen time – and it was a big mistake