I can haz a new Car and a free.......

[WillNZ]

Yup, forgot about the unroasted unsalted mixed assortment of nuts and dried apricots/raisins (in my case). Have a daily ration after supper. Have also dramatically cut down on salt in all food.

[Welly]

Just checking back in to say everything is ok with me, been 8 weeks now.

I've lost nearly 1 Stone in weight, although I wasn't 'fat' as such but by cutting out Bread, Crisps, Chocolate, Cereal and Alcohol the 'podge' on my stomach has gone and without really trying (regular easy walking only). I now have a perfect BMI Blood Pressure is textbook and I feel pretty good as it goes.

We also have another car on the fleet

The Citroen of many uses has been traded-in for a 2017 Hi-and-die i20 1.4 Pez Auto! was sad to see the Citroen go as, although pretty 'meh' as a car it never really did anything badly or disgraced itself in the company of its competitors.

Family approval quickly gained for the i20 and it really is the definition of 'jump in and go'

Once I'd relieved the sump of the 1 ltr of excess new oil over the full mark (why do Garages do this) all has been checked* over* and received the Welly Certificate of Authenticity* to be pressed into daily duties.

The infini-benz is still happily mooching about in a 'not very busy' way and seems surprisingly economical.

Hope everyone's ok.

[Doggy]

Good to hear you're OK and getting on top of the weight etc. Only wish I had some will power to do the same.
Been carefully monitoring my excess displacement since January 2000 - so far I've gained half a stone.
Had a wake-up call t'other day spending 5mins gasping for breath after climbing a steep grass bank that didn't phase my 71-year-old bro in the slightest


The Infinity sounds a good choice - my son's in the process of getting shot of their GLA in favour of a Rangie Velar, (which I'm sure makes sense, just not in my universe).

i20's probably a good move too, I suspect you've been lucky to avoid engine and more serious gearbox issues with the C4.

I'm currently plotting de-Citroenifying myself in the near future - watch this space.....

Keep up the good work looking after yourself, hope you're finding ways to enjoy it too.

[steve_earwig]

Yay! Good to hear from you guys, glad to hear that you're doing well Welly. Yeah, I've noticed most of my clothes have shrunk...

Another new motah?! Lordy! I've still got no idea what I'd replace the current heap with.

I keep meaning to post something but, you know, lazy. My dad finally went home last Friday after an amazing amount of hoops - partly due to my brother cancelling everything (phone, car tax & insurance etc.) while he was away and I had to sort it all out from this end, he even has care line with a knock sensor fitted now (i.e. a panic button with a fall sensor). I also had to sort out the covid tests for that end, they're coming by post. This end was easy, t'wife just called in a favour and it was done at home

T'wife and I have had our first jabs, she got a phone call from our nurse on the 24th - if you want a jab come and get it. I presume somebody refused. Their loss I guess. It was at the secondary school in the town here's sports hall, we had to queue up outside with a load of other confused-looking oldies, then it was bing bang bosh and we're done. Arms were sore for a few days and I had a bit of a chill but other than that we were fine.

Aside from all that "fun", I seem to have stuffed up my back again, combination of carrying too heavy a load (bottle of cooker gas in 1 hand and 19l of petrol in the other) and then swarming up and down ladders all afternoon. Just one of dem tings I guess and it seems like I'm over the worst of it now anyway. I'm avoiding the health service physio idiot that made it last for months last time, just the osteopath and it seems to be progressing well, a week ago I couldn't even get my socks on but towards the end of last week I was back out in the garden planting toms etc.

[Welly]

Cars: I've learnt you can't really buy a 'bad' car now. All the fuss about electronic handbrakes and electro-mechanical gearboxes well they just kinda work now and work well. I do think the Citroen could have headed towards the wrong end of a major repair at some point and do wonder whether all those 6-monthly oil changes were really worth it? I guess it made me feel better in my perhaps old-fashioned motoring way. Traded it in 'over the phone' with a Nissan Dealer in that Manchester, upon arrival I naively and excitedly offered the dude a "want to see the C4 you've bought* off us?" invitation and was deflated when he couldn't be arsed, or didn't need to go and see the unusually clean and tidy very cared for motor parked up outside

Took the i20 away without a test drive it's only just over 3 years old (late Dec 17 registered) and still has 18 months Warranty for what ever that is. The gearbox is an old school slushmatic torque converter 4 speed but is simple and robust enough. Hyundai hide the maintenance schedule from owners (frequency of filters, spark plugs, belts etc) although it does have a chain cam; when I called the local dealer they were shocked I'd want to know the servicing regime which made me realise the warranty is only backed by dealer-servicing, fair enough.

The Volvo of many speeds is proving a PITA to sell, didn't expect this, but the cold facts of £340.00/yr Tax and 25* MPG just beg for a re-think for most buyers I guess. No-one on the Forum wants it despite nearly 800 'views' so I've dropped it onto Autotrader a bit reluctantly TBH.

Doggy you should keep an eye on becoming breathless, and definitely do not ignore it going forward if it happens again. I was told the Heart cannot 'tell' you directly that its not happy but will try to warn you with funny pains and breathlessness etc - remember I thought I had a trapped nerve in my shoulder a week before the HA (cheery reply alert).

Wiggy - all that stuff organising for your dad I know would've took hours and frustrating, I hope he settles back well. That double-carry thing you did is what I do (did) but now I've found I can slow down and adopt a "do that tomorrow" attitude that I've never been happy to do before (always put myself under pressure to do far too much in any one day) take it easy my friend.

[Doggy]

Doggy you should keep an eye on becoming breathless, and definitely do not ignore it going forward if it happens again. I was told the Heart cannot 'tell' you directly that its not happy but will try to warn you with funny pains and breathlessness etc - remember I thought I had a trapped nerve in my shoulder a week before the HA (cheery reply alert).

I hear what you're saying loud and clear, but keeping up with my older brother is the only time this ever seems to happen to me:
Last occasion was 2012 when I agreed to a gentle stroll up Kilbride Hill: https://my.viewranger.com/route/details/NDkzMjI=
'cept we stated from the sea front so did the whole 1200 odd feet in half an hour or so. Remember checking I still had a mobile signal near the summit in case I need to summon assistance.

The recent one was an animal track up the side of an old quarry, probably 80/90 feet high and steep enough I had to use clumps of grass etc as hand holds, while the rational part of my brain screamed, "WTF are you doing this for"?

If I had any sense, I'd do some mildly challenging stuff to get me slightly out of breath most days. Indeed I did precisely that during the first lockdown, but had to ease off as I wore out my daughter's labrador in the process. (Dog's 'reasonably mature' too).

[trufflehunt]

.

Great to hear you're doing well, Welly.

You mentioned , as I recall, also steering clear of grains. What did you actually mean by that ? I eat bread, but stay away from white, and stick to wholegrain . So, interested in what you meant by grains. Also cerealss ..., do you mean sweetened cereals ? I usually eat shredded wheat or weetabix ( both wholegrain ), or muesli ( lots of oats ).

Hyundai i20. An ex neighbour of mine, a Polish girl, lived here for about 6 years till just before Covid. She had a 2010 i20 that was about 3 years old when she moved in. In all those years, she'd head off to work each day, and return. Never a problem. As far as I could tell in some conversations with her, the only time the car let her down was several years ago, just after the end of the 6 year guarantee, the ( original ) battery expired one cold morning. I jump started the car for her. She got a new battery fitted that day, and that was that.

[Welly]

You mentioned , as I recall, also steering clear of grains. What did you actually mean by that ?

I'm still learning but things like White Bread, Pasta and Rice are all bad for causing a Glucose and Insulin spike and an inflammatory response in the arteries, these foods also lead you on the route to Diabetes, weight gain and hunger cravings.

Lunch time is a struggle as most peoples go-to is a Sandwich and Crisps (both pretty bad for you).

Potatoes are another thing to avoid for all the same reasons, for me just cutting out these things (or largely reducing) has made a positive change for me.

Cereals - I mean the standard stuff like Corn Flakes they are a Carbohydrate and cause blood sugar rises. About 5 times a week now I have Porridge smothered with Blueberries and Raspberries (quite often have a hard-boiled Egg straight after - just eaten in a few bites).

I'm loosely following a Keto Diet (although not religiously) but the benefits are there - I've lost fat straight off my belly and under the chin without any exercise to speak of.

[steve_earwig]

Pasta, ok, rice, yes, bread, sure, potatoes - NOOOO! After a search I'm also noticing tomatoes are kind of on the end of the no no scale, I hope that's supermarket rubbish they're talking about I'm thinking about you on your diet though, for lunch today I had curry and rice, and I tipped half of the rice in the dog food (it's cooking at the same time, chicken stomachs and rice today) and scoffed a load of salad instead (neighbour Nada is thinning out her lettuce plantation). Getting all the veg in winter won't be too easy though, I can't eat mud

For tea this evening I had 2 (wholemeal bread) garlic, cheese, (home made) pickled beetroot and mayo sarnies. I suspect the only ingredient I'd be allowed to eat is the garlic! While I'm here, I can't eat crisps, I love crisps (mmm, cheese and onion) but every time I eat them I actually feel horrible.

Man, fruit is bad too? How about wood?

[dirtydirtydiesel]

Glad too to hear your doing ok Welters old boy
& the reat of you et al Doogy, earwig ect ect

I too have decided to try to look after myself better, nearly 49 now & was carrying too much weight 6ft1 & 18 stone
Now my ideal weight is around 13.5 to 14 stone.
I had started drinking very heavily since the first lockdown (I went through the recycling bin one day, to empty it )
I worked out I averaged over 80 units a week (a bad week was up to 120 units )
I do like bourbon

So six weeks ago I stopped drinking, so far so good
I was believe it or not reasonably fit (I cycle quite a lot with my boys)
Anyway that & cutting out all the junk & I'm already down to 16 stone

I hope we all have a much better 2021, stay well everyone