Monday, 28 June 2021
Get fit for lockdown release
Having been on a wedding weekend away recently, I’ve kind of fallen off the clean eating wagon. Time to get back on. No more takeaways or sweet treats. Gym work will consist of bodyweight and endurance exercises. Meanwhile, I’ll continue with this Lockdown Reading project, and I’ll probably review both of these together.
At the time of writing the reading post, we were due to come out of lockdown on 21st June. Obviously, and predictably, that didn’t happen. The new date the government has pulled out of thin air: 19th July. Will it happen? Who knows.
A few other targets: I want to be under 80kg (currently I’m around 86) I want to get to 100 dips, and get back down to a 30 inch waist.
Another factor to tie in: I’m skipping cereal breakfasts in favour of porridge. After a week, I started to see a dip in hunger pangs. Weight is steady. It will drop.
I find if I write it, and publish it, I will do it. 19th July. Here we go.
Sunday, 27 June 2021
So Solidly Reading
All I've done is read all week. Minor notable moments: Whoever's manning the Twitter for 00s garage group So Solid Crew (there are 30 members) liked my retweet:
Perfect time to play that @OFFICIALSOSOLID track https://t.co/kNaohgIdSh
— Matt Tuckey 🇬🇧 (@matthewtuckey) June 22, 2021
The track in question:
Chuck D, of even-older-school hip hop group Public Enemy, didn’t respond. Separately, TV movie critic Mark Cousins liked my retweet.
Thursday, 24 June 2021
Donated Beermats: 67
A long overdue return to beermats tonight. I’ve been busy reading. Some relatives recently went to Cyprus and brought back a handful. Respect!
Sunday, 20 June 2021
A Wedding in Blackpool
A mate of mine got married over the weekend in Blackpool, a place normally so fun-filled that even Hitler didn't want to bomb it. Obviously, this weekend it was a little quiter than the previous few times I've been. Stayed at The Melville Hotel- quiant, modest, friendly staff, unreliable Wi-Fi. My rendition of You've Lost That Loving Feeling in the bar's karaoke was well-received. The last night out I had in Blackpool was about 11 years ago. It's changed a lot, but then this weekend was a low key affair wit the emphasis on the wedding, rather than a bunch of 27-year-olds getting hammered all day in fancy dress.
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| Donuts on the seafront |
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| Steakhouse |
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| The Atlantic Ocean |
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| Neck has grown, again |
| Blackpool Tower |
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| Promenade decor |
Still, a fun weekend. Would be worth doing again after the restricitons were lifted. Ceremony, nights out and participants all fantastic. Find a few highlights on the Insta story.
Saturday, 12 June 2021
Yes, porridge does stop hunger pangs
A week ago I described how I was switching from cereal breakfasts to porridge. I’ve been plagued with excessive hunger pangs due to weight training, insomnia and a Mirtazapine prescription I’ve been consistent with this for the last week. So far, so good: when lunchtime comes around, I’m suitably hungry but for once not fading away like Marty McFly at the Enchantment Under the Sea Dance. I can focus more in work and still have energy for the gym after.
At the gym, I’ve been working on bodyweight exercises and am getting close to some new records. My weight is more or less the same. It’s a little early to shout about that yet.
Porridge: cheaper than cereal, healthier and keeps you full for longer. I’ll continue with these breakfasts for the moment.
Sunday, 6 June 2021
Candyman / Pilcrow
Good news and bad news. Good: Tony Todd, American titular actor from The Candyman, followed me back on Twitter. He also had good roles in Platoon and The Crow. If things go to plan, I’ll be meeting him at convention For The Love of Horror in October.
Candyman is streaming on Netflix at the moment. It stands head and shoulders above most 90s horror films. The trailer doesn’t do it justice.
Bad: Manchester pub The Pilcrow has gone under. It was a nice, temporary-effect building with a great top row. I had many a dram after a Monday night at Manchester Andy’s Man Club prior to lockdown. I even met Joe Gilgun off Brassic there. What a dude.
Saturday, 5 June 2021
Does Porridge Stop Hunger Pangs?
Here’s a little equation many people with depression will be familiar with: Mirtazapine + weight training = a ceaseless, incessant hunger.
One side effect of antidepressants is increased appetite, meaning no matter how much exercise you do (I go to the gym 6 times a week) you’re always going to be overweight. I’ve been getting regular exercise since I was 17 when I took up boxing. I’ve always had fitness in my life. I’ve wavered frequently, particularly at uni, but the exercise that should have made me healthy was consistent.
Yet my weight kept rising since I moved out of my parents’ in 2010 (and I stopped getting regular square meals).
I started on Sertraline at the start of 2017, according to my notes. I was probably about 75kg at the time. My weight certainly jumped up after that. I’ve hopped around between medications, settling on Mirtazapine a few years ago. I’m planning to come off it at some point, as I believe time spent in therapy, plus meeting with support group Andy’s Man Club, has done a hell of a lot more good than just stuffing my body with chemicals.
Keeping my weight down and not being bombarded with hunger pangs has been a balancing act I’ve failed to master. The other day, though, I found what I believe is a solution: porridge.
Porridge oats are low in fat, low in sugar, slow-burning, and more importantly, cheap. A 2kg bag of Tesco’s own porridge oats is £2. That would make about 20 times as many breakfasts as a cereal box of the same value. Cereal, I find, doesn’t sustain me, and even though I work a pretty sedentary office job, I’m starving again by 10am. Thus follows 2 hours of crippling starvation until lunch.
The other day I switched from cereal. I had a medium sized bowl of porridge before work, and that kept me going until 12, when I had an appetite, but not a dizzying one. The only downside is that it’s incredibly dull, tasteless sludge. Hence, I mixed in some blueberries one day. Some chopped strawberries the next. I threw these in with the oats and cold water, then mic’d them a couple of minutes, resulting a little more fusion of taste. It does mean, though, a few more trips to the supermarket for more fruit. Bananas last a little longer; they’re good chopped up too.
So, here’s what’s going to happen. I’ll have porridge for breakfast, most days. Certainly I’ll break from cereal breakfasts. I’ll also (once again) cut out junk food. Next Saturday I’ll see whether the cravings have subsided, and whether I’ve beaten any records at the gym. I’ll focus on body-weight endurance exercises like 10-minute cross train, dips, and chin-ups. I’m currently 87kg. The heaviest I’ve ever been is 88. I’m aiming for under 80 at some point, but I doubt that’ll happen within a month, let alone a week.
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