Goal Update

Posted on December 15, 2012 by nicdempsey

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This week I’ve been tired and stressed, but I’ve been doing better. Major issue is that my right hip and lower back are really sore. Stretching helps a bit but if it’s not cleared up after Christmas, I’m going to have to get a referral to a physiotherapist!

1) Do a plank a day of a minute or over (52)

Done: 30.   Target: 43  Remaining: 22

So I’m still behind the target but I have done 2 a day for the last 3 days and I’m going to continue to do that.

2) Log 1820 fitness minutes (35 minutes a day)

Done: 1100.  Target: 1470  Remaining: 720

I’ve been walking to more places and including that in my fitness totals, I’ve done the 35 minutes but I haven’t stepped this up.

3) Walk or run 260km (5km a day)

Done: 130.  Target: 210  Remaining: 130

I’ve made this week’s target but not much more. I’m way behind and need to go for a couple of runs.

4) Do 1040 sit ups (20 a day)

Done: 590.  Target: 840 Remaining: 450

Saturday to Tuesday, I met the daily target. Wednesday I did 10 more and for the rest of the week I’ve done 40. Only issue I really have with these is that I hate them and my hip hurts a bit.

5) Do my knee exercises and stretches 104 times (twice a day)

Done: 85.  Target: 84  Remaining: 20

Still doing these. My knees and feet ache at the moment but I think it’s more to do with the  cold (it was -1C this morning, in London!) than anything else.

6) Have 26 alcohol free days

Done: 17  Remaining: 9

I’ve been drinking on schoolnights, not good, however, I’ve been sticking to my units so I’m not going to beat myself up about it.

7) Eat 364 servings of fruit and vegetables (that’s 7 a day)

Done: 286.  Target: 294  Remaining: 78

I’m eight servings behind target but 76 ahead of the recommended five a day. Being out for dinner means that sometimes it’s harder to hit seven. I do feel much better than I did last week though!

8) Be thankful every day for 52 days.

I’ve done this every day and as you can see if click onto the ‘Reasons to be Cheerful’ page

9) Be in bed at 10pm for 35 days.

Done: 26.   Target: 30

I was really good at this in October, next week will be better.

Cheer me up, tell me what goals you had for December and where you are with them!

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Friday Night Cocktail

Posted on December 14, 2012 by nicdempsey

The Moonlight Martini.

This is another cocktail from the Savoy Cocktail Book and is described as ‘dry but not unpleasant’. That’s about right. It’s a very fruity but I’m guessing that this could change depending on what type of Sauvignon Blanc you use.

I liked this a lot I’m not sure that I’d want to drink more than one but it’s another one to give to people that like cocktails to be fruity. The grapefruit juice gives it a lovely pink colour too!

(I feel I should also apologise for the state of my kitchen wall as displayed in these photos, it’s in desperate need of painting but doesn’t look nearly as bad as the flash suggests!)

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What

1 1/2oz of gin

1/4oz kirschwasser

1oz sauvignon blanc

1 1/4oz freshly squeezed grapefruit juice

How

1) Shake all ingredients over ice

2) Pour into chilled cocktail glass

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Random

Posted on December 14, 2012 by nicdempsey

Hello…happy weekend. Some stuff I’ve read this week…

1) What losing weight changes and what it doesn’t. Interesting

Losing the weight was tough, she says: “I had no idea who I was, and while I went through all that I was lost.” But what came after was tougher. Contrary to media everywhere, being thin isn’t enough of an identity to go on. “This is it!” she thought, when she finally got her weight down, and then: “Now what do I do?”

2) Genetic testing to solve historical mysteries.

It was, he agrees, an odd feeling. “Standing in that field and thinking, 500 years ago Richard III died here. It’s very strange, and stranger still to think there’s a tiny bit of me, a tiny bit of my DNA, that was also in Richard. I don’t know that I can get my head round it, really.”

3) What really did the Grande Armee in was lice, not Russians. I’d always attributed it to hubris…

The typical French soldier was dirty and sweaty and lived in the same clothes for days; this is the perfect environment for lice to feed on his body and find a home in the seams of his clothing. Once the clothes and skin of the soldier were contaminated with lice excrement, the smallest scratch or abrasion would have been enough for the typhus germ to enter the soldier’s body. To compound the problem, the soldiers were sleeping in large groups in confined spaces for safety; they were concerned that the Russians would attack or the Poles would retaliate. This closeness allowed the lice to jump quickly to soldiers who were not infested. Only a month into the campaign, Napoleon lost 80,000 soldiers who were either incapacitated or had died from typhus. Under military surgeon Baron D.J. Larrey, the army’s medical and sanitary measures were the finest in the world, but no one could have coped with the scale of the epidemic.

4) What are you eating on Christmas Eve? The Dempsey tradition is fish pie and peas, with champagne!

 “You have to have a whisky mac: whisky and Stone’s ginger wine – it’s essential after midnight mass.”

5) The need to teach the history of England. I know quite a lot but the biggest gap I have is the Stuarts to George III. I missed 55 Days too because Hampstead is too far away!

Earlier this year, one of my children made a confession. He had reached adult life knowing almost nothing about the English civil war. Could I recommend him a book on the subject? I could, and I did. And a few months later, I saw that the Hampstead theatre in north London was putting on a Howard Brenton play, 55 Days, about the events leading up to the execution of Charles I. So we went to that too. As we were leaving the theatre we talked about Oliver Cromwell and the dramas and dilemmas of 1648-9. And my son said: “I don’t think any of my school friends know anything about the civil war. But everyone in this country ought to know about it. They all ought to see that play.”

What are you reading this week?

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Banana Bread

Posted on December 13, 2012 by nicdempsey

It’s Thursday and I’m ready for this week to be done. I’ve been out every night this week and the days were I could do that and get up happy and cheerful in the morning are long gone!

So I need to apologise for the rubbish photo of the banana bread. I won’t apologise for the  bread.

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Banana bread is a really personal thing. Some people like it to be more like cake and others more like bread. I like all of them! This ,from Nigella Lawson is the one I use most often. I don’t add nuts but that’s the only change I make. It’s easy to make and I generally have all the ingredients in the house. If you should have any ageing bananas, this is the best use I can think of.

Do you like banana bread? What’s your favourite recipe?

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Tuesday Food

Posted on December 12, 2012 by nicdempsey

As promised yesterday, I kept a track of what I ate and I’m pretty proud of staying on track and eating things that won’t make me more tired and exhausted.

Breakfast

The magic smoothie (half a cup each of 0% greek yogurt, applesauce, apple juice and, milk with a banana and three handfuls of spinach), two cups of coffee and a pint of water with a berocca in it. This is the only coffee I drink all day, at the moment it’s full caffeine because I couldn’t get the decaff and it’s a crutch to keep me moving in the morning, after Christmas, I’ll go back to decaffeinated Monday to Friday and save the caffeine for the weekend.

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Once I’m at work, I fill my water bottle and make my first cup of lemon and ginger tea, I’m not a huge tea drinker but I drink at least two cups a day. Also today because I feel tired and a bit rubbish, Vitamin C and zinc, I figure I need all the cold prevention I can get as everyone around me has it and I really don’t want it.

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Mid morning snack

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100g low fat natural yogurt with 50g applesauce and some pomegranate. The only reason that I know the weight is that they didn’t have any individual natural yogurts in Sainsburys so I bought 500g and weighed it out so it’ll last 5 days. I promise it looks better in real life than in the photo. The applesauce is the one I use for my smoothie and made by me, it’s just apples cooked with a bit of water and blitzed until smooth. I make a batch every week. Also a refill of my water bottle and another lemon and ginger tea.

Lunch

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Black beans, small tin of tuna and roasted vegetables with a balsamic vinegar dressing. The roasted veg is an aubergine, 2 red onions, 2 peppers, a pack of baby plum tomatoes, a tablespoon of capers and a tablespoon of olive oil, I roast them and it usually does three lunches. This is my standard lunch, I vary the protein and the beans, using chickpeas, prawns, eggs, lentils etc it’s easy and tasty.

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Lunch dessert was two squares of dark chocolate and a clementine. Not pictured a refill of my water bottle. I am keen on water and drink at least three bottles worth a day at work. The bottle is 700ml.  So I’m getting my recommended 2 litres a day while I’m at work

Mid Afternoon Snack

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I am all about staving off bad choices by planning snacks. White bean dip with carrots and a pepper. The white bean dip was supposed to be hummus but I’ve run out of cooked chickpeas, something I only discovered on Sunday afternoon and much too late to soak and cook some for hummus on Monday! So I used cannellini beans instead in a hummus recipe. It’s a little more garlicky that I would have liked or than the hummus would have been but it’s still pretty good.

I needed the mints after this though

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Dinner

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Tonight Ma and I went to hear Hilary Mantel talk about Wolf Hall and Bring Up the Bodies, which I will talk about at here at great length another time. I wasn’t sure if there would be time to eat so I grabbed two of my graze snacks. Eleanor’s Apple Crumble and Ancient Forest Nuts. It’s not the best thing for dinner but it works for me. There was also a glass of wine.

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I’m feeling quite good about staying on track and not eating junk.

What did you eat yesterday?

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Rinse, Repeat

Posted on December 11, 2012 by nicdempsey

I think around this time every year, I just run out of steam.

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This year that time is today. I spent this weekend making sure that I could get through this week and doing what I needed to do, while at the same time eating sensibly and looking after myself as best I can.

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It’s Tuesday morning and it feels like this week will never be over, I’m shattered and there’s is still a lot of week left at the end of my tether!

So I have a sort of plan forming in my head (bear in mind it’s 6.30am and I may not be using my best brain cells!). I’m going to use the blog to keep me on track. Today, I will track my eating and tomorrow I will do a ‘what I ate post’, that will hopefully remind me not to eat all the junk and drink all the coffee!

Right time to start the day.

What do you do to stay healthy when you’re tired and stressed?

 

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The Weekend

Posted on December 10, 2012 by nicdempsey

Friday Night was another night with Oli and Ma. Oli was in a ‘no’ mood, he’s been ill this week and was just tired and done. He didn’t want to help make pizza, he didn’t want to wear his apron, he didn’t want to do anything that we suggested. We did have pizza though! Cue blurry photo…

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We had brought some indoor sparklers, thinking that he might like them, that wasn’t the case, but he did like ‘putting out the fire’ with his fire engine that squirts water.  I got very wet!

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Later on, he told Ma that there was no more water in the fire engine and then sprayed her…sometimes he’s so much like his Dad and I’m glad I wasn’t the only one that got a soaking!

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Ben and Lu didn’t get back until 3am. Ma and I were staying up in Watford and Saturday dawned in the rather grim Watford Travelodge. I did do all of my planned exercise though as part of re-committing to my Countdown to Christmas goals!

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We went to watch Oli at his swimming lesson and then out for family lunch to celebrate Ma’s birthday. Ma’s birthday is now officially over and I can think about Christmas.

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I got home about 5pm and had a nap that lasted until about 9pm. It was much needed and I missed Grace but honestly I really needed an early night.

On Sunday it was time to get back on track. Last week I was all over the place and I needed to properly prepare for the week. So some serious housework, washing and some DIY  in the form of re-whiting the grouting in the bathroom.

I still have a ton of stuff to do in the next couple of weeks but I feel a little more in control than I did which can only be a good thing.

This week I’m out tonight to see T&C, off to hear Hilary Mantel talk about Wolf Hall and Bring Up the Bodies (which I am really looking forward to!), seeing Christelle on Wednesday and doing work Christmas things on Friday. Only two weekends to go until Christmas, I’m just going to try not to think about how much I need to do in those weekends!

How was your weekend? Are you on track for Christmas?Or like me panicky about all the stuff you haven’t done yet?

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Sunday Music

Posted on December 9, 2012 by nicdempsey

This came via Kate Linnea

Gin Wigmore – Man Like That

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Goal Update – Countdown to Christmas

Posted on December 8, 2012 by nicdempsey

20111222-085721.jpgThe alternative title for this post was ‘How November kicked my arse…again’

I haven’t been doing well with these goals at all and although I’ve been noting what I have done down, I haven’t really been committed and I’ve been using how busy I’ve been to ignore my lack of achievement and how I’ve felt about it.

Yesterday morning, I was walking to the station and I felt tired, sluggish and all sorts of not good. I was thinking that I’d just give up on trying to achieve the goals and not update the blog. Ignoring things and hoping they go away, really doesn’t work  and I’ve been doing too much of that anyway and all of these goals were something I could do. I decided that the best time to raise my game was right now, when I wasn’t feeling great. I may not make all of these goals for Christmas but I can do my best and commit in the next couple of weeks.

1) Do a plank a day of a minute or over (52)

Done: 18.   Target: 36

I know, I’ve only done half of them.  I will get back to this and maybe do 2 a day to help make up the loss.

2) Log 1820 fitness minutes (35 minutes a day)

Done: 875.  Target: 1225  Remaining: 945

Not as bad as I thought. However, this has mostly been walking and not as purposeful as I would have liked. Also, I’m still behind. Time to step this up.

3) Walk or run 260km (5km a day)

Done: 94.  Target: 175  Remaining: 166

This is bad. Time to start making 5km a day, even if I don’t make up the target. Will be going for a long walk tomorrow!

4) Do 1040 sit ups (20 a day)

Done: 420.  Target: 700  Remaining: 620

I stopped doing these about the same time that I stopped doing the planks. I started again this morning!

5) Do my knee exercises and stretches 104 times (twice a day)

Done: 71.  Target: 70  Remaining: 33

These have made the most difference to how I feel.  It’s 12 minutes every day so worth doing.

6) Have 26 alcohol free days

Done: 15  Remaining: 11

I really thought that I’d done worse than this. It’s probably because this week has not been at all booze free (we’ve been celebrating Ma’s birthday!). Some days have been just one glass so not excessive but I do need to remember that as with cake, just because it’s offered, I don’t have to say yes if I don’t fancy it!

7) Eat 364 servings of fruit and vegetables (that’s 7 a day)

Done: 234.  Target: 245  Remaining: 130

As my stress levels increased my vegetable intake decreased. I also haven’t been having my morning smoothie. I’ll sort this out this week and get back on track.

8) Be thankful every day for 52 days.

I’ve done this every day and as you can see if click onto the ‘Reasons to be Cheerful’ page

9) Be in bed at 10pm for 35 days.

Done: 22.   Target: 25

And this is why I’m so tired this week.

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So now I’ve actually added everything up, although it’s not fantastic, it isn’t as bad as I thought it would be. There’s a lesson there…

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Friday Night Cocktail.

Posted on December 7, 2012 by nicdempsey

Another one from Class, for St Nicholas’ day, the Nicky Finn.

St Nicholas’ day was yesterday and if I celebrated these things, was my saints day. So this seemed appropriate for my today’s FNC.

It’s basically a Sidecar, with added Pernod.

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What

1oz brandy

1oz Cointreau

1/4 oz Pernod

1oz lemon juice

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How

1) Shake all ingredients over ice

2) Pour into a chilled cocktail glass

3) Garnish with a lemon twist

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