Horizon and Dr Michael Mosley's 5:2 Fast Diet ... starting week 3.

So ... today is my 5th fasting day since I started Dr Michael Mosley's Fast Diet 2 and a bit weeks ago. I am determined to follow his programme, not only to lose weight, but to benefit from the amazing differences it appears to make to a person's chances of developing heart disease, cancer, diabetes and Alzheimers.

I have read his book and then re-read parts of it, but until last night I had not watched the Horizon documentary in which he first put forward his thoughts. My old blog friend Urban Cynic suggested I watch to get a fuller understanding of his ideas and I am grateful for the advice as I found the programme very interesting and it has made me even more determined to continue.

It is an hour long documentary, but it is well worth watching. The results of fasting seem really quite startling and the effect on the human body quite remarkable.

I am still experimenting with a way of fasting that suits me. I have had days where I felt fine, days where I felt ravenously hungry. Today I have had a glass of water and a mug of chai black tea. I don't feel at all hungry and plan to wait until I do feel that I need something and maybe have a couple of poached eggs, possibly some nice crunchy raw carrots or a tuna salad. I don't want to spend my day obsessed with food!!

It is interesting to see how many hits my posts on this subject have received and also how many people I know are actually following the plan. I have not heard a single bad review. Everyone I know who has started it has felt the benefits. I think its a case of being flexible, listening to your body and experimenting to find what suits you.

I definitely feel more alert, less sluggish and really don't feel the need or desire to fill myself with rubbish food! I will measure and weigh myself tomorrow and see if I have lost any weight, but, to be honest, having watched Horizon last night the weight loss side of this is the least important thing. As I head towards 50 I want to be as healthy as I can be both physically and mentally. I will check back here soon!!

Open University Degree - Done.

I have officially finished my Open University course. All I have to do now is wait until July or August to find out what class of Degree I have managed to get. I can't quite believe I've finished!!! I sat in the sunshine this afternoon reading The Hunger Games, with no intention of writing an essay or analysing the themes within and felt positively odd! It's been three years since I started the course and in all that time there has always been something hanging over my head ... the next essay, the next set of books to read ...

Now its over and I can relax. I know I have definitely passed, its just a case of finding out how well I have done. The course work on this last module - Children's Literature EA300 - has been very enjoyable and I have gained an average mark of just over 90%. I feel a bit embarrassed to put that out there and maybe I shouldn't ... but actually I am proud of achieving such a good score. I didn't even know such grades were possible!! In some ways I am wondering if I will be found out and my average is just a mistake!!

I have a page just above on the tabs at the top of my blog which is all about the OU and my progress. There is a link to all my posts, in reverse order, from the beginning when I was afraid doing this course would be impossible, to now when I have finished. You can read about the ups and downs, the highs and lows ...

And today I have had my blog featured in the Open University student online magazine as Blog of the Month. How cool is that??? I am so chuffed and I really hope that people enjoy reading my blog posts!! I hadn't been on here for a few days and when I looked at my stats they had gone through the roof, so the link must be working!!!

Anyway, if you are reading this because you are an OU student, then welcome. I hope you like my writing. And you might find my OU posts interesting because actually, although this year has been great, my Open University career has been far from easy. I have opened each pack of shiny new materials with trepidation mixed with excitement and I can honestly say that I have viewed the essay titles with emotion verging on terror!! I have always wondered how on earth I will ever write anything as I have rarely understood a word of the titles!!

Thank goodness for some marvellous tutors and a very understanding husband!! I can't quite believe I will never write another essay ... Now all I need is a fab job!!!

The allotment latest.

I went down to the allotment today and put more gravel down on my pathways. I also planted some herbs ( sage and thyme ) in what will be my permanent herb bed. Then I planted a few more Charlotte potatoes in one of the big beds.

Everything is in the quiet stage, just before the whole place starts bursting with growth and greenness. I sat on my bench and surveyed my grand estate with much satisfaction!!

I have planted runner beans which await germination on my window sill and there are carrots in my big blue tub. Not long now and the allotment will be thriving with greenery. Fab!

Joseph Kony, Invisible Children and the fundamental issue.

Having posted about Kony 2012 I have been sent a link by the fab Razmataz which questions the work of Invisible Children  with regards to the viral campaign. I read the article with interest and tried to weigh up the issues the writers Geoffrey York and Sonia Verma raise.

They write that:

... the wild success of the campaign has provoked an angry backlash on social media sites and from many Africans, and from scholars who study Africa. They say the campaign is simplistic and manipulative, with deceptive claims, murky finances and a questionable strategy.

The U.S. activists are “selling a pack of lies to unaware youth to raise money for themselves,” said Ugandan blogger TMS Ruge in one of a series of critical tweets.

Now, I don't want to be old fashioned here, but when I watched the film the thing that struck me was that letting a mass murderer remain free and able to abduct children was the key issue. I had the choice whether to buy an "action kit" from Invisible Children and being the sensible person I am I chose not to. I am not going to send money to a company I know nothing about. I did not immediately think that Invisible Children must be a totally pure organisation which I could sign up to without investigation.

What hit me was the fact that Joseph Kony was still able to commit atrocities. If Invisible Children have done anything wrong they will be dealt with. Joseph Kony has been murdering, inciting murder, raping, inciting rape, mutilating ... for 20 years. Surely this issue is greater than Invisible Children. It is the starting place for something to be done about an evil man.

image from invisible children

I did not watch the film and think "Hurrah! The West is going to save Africa!" What a simplistic view. I saw it as part of my responsibility as a citizen of the world, a mother, a daughter, a caring person, to step forward and say that I too was appalled by the actions of this man and his army. I saw this as a start and was moved by the response of so many young people who used Facebook to voice their horror over this man's actions.

This is not about the West saving Africa, its about murder, abduction and rape being unacceptable anywhere in the world. For 20 years this man has been able to escape justice. I just hope that the publicity about him helps bring him to court. I think and hope that the vast majority of people, whether they be black, white, African British or American, would want the same simple thing - that Joseph Kony, and after him the other cruel and evil people of the world, be brought to justice and stopped from continuing to behave in this way.

I may be naive and I may be criticised for being too trusting, but I want you to look beyond the smaller picture and into the greater one. What matters are those children, those people, their suffering and the chance that somehow I, we, could be a small part of stopping it. If I,we, don't take a step forward and say "I care. I want to help." - who will?






Post Script
I have received a comment from Inkling and I was so moved by both her words and those she quotes that I want to share them with you here. They are from Theodore Roosevelt. Thank you Inkling.


"It is not the critic who counts: not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles or where the doer of deeds could have done better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly, who errs and comes up short again and again, because there is no effort without error or shortcoming, but who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, who spends himself for a worthy cause; who, at the best, knows, in the end, the triumph of high achievement, and who, at the worst, if he fails, at least he fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who knew neither victory nor defeat."

Give a little love ...

Today I came across a quotation from Maya Angelou. It struck a chord with me and made me think about life as it is at the moment ...


“I've learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.”   Maya Angelou


I saw Ruby Wax being interviewed on tv about her new website Black Dog Tribe and her words took me back to the time when I was suffering from Post Natal Depression. The Black Dog Tribe website is designed to be a place where people suffering from depression can meet on-line, talk, find help. Ruby is raising awareness of the issue of depression - trying to lift the veil of shame.


I remember the day I finally sought help for my depression and I will never forget my doctor and the way she made me feel. She was so incredibly understanding and somehow had just the right words. She told me that this was the first day of the rest of my life and that far from being the failure I believed myself to be, I was brave - I had shown the courage to seek help and take the first steps towards recovery.


Her kindness and care have left a lasting impression on me. I try to live my life doing the same for other people. I am not a religious person and I do not believe in a god, but I do believe that the least we can do with our lives is to make other people feel good, feel safe and feel loved.


When I was in the depths of misery, drowning in the darkness of depression and overwhelmed with a sense of failure and shame, my husband enveloped me in love. He gently took over, washing, cleaning, cooking ... and never once made me feel guilty. He made me feel so loved. Whatever else happens in our lives I will always remember that love.


I want to be remembered and regarded as the person who gave love and care too. I try very hard to make people feel comfortable and respected when I am with them. I want to be the person who always had a smile, a friendly word, a caring touch. If I could make a difference to someone's life in the way my doctor or my husband made a difference to me it would make everything worthwhile.


The funny thing is that by giving in that way you actually get so much from other people. 


When I was really down I can remember wondering why I bothered. I could see no point in my life, no future. And now I count myself so fortunate that even when times are difficult for various reasons I can see the point of my life totally. Its in the smile from a friend, the hug from a child. Its in the simple joy created by kindness and care.


Maya Angelou got it right when she said that people will remember the way you make them feel. It doesn't take much, but it does take a little bit of thought, a little bit of selflessness. Its about trying to make someone else feel good and about putting yourself second sometimes. It doesn't mean you have to be a doormat or a walkover, but the feeling you get from making someone else feel good about themselves is worth millions.


Just a thought ...

Split Personality ... and snow.

Its been a funny old week. Its almost as though I live two separate lives. On one hand I spend my working life at the moment in a very strange environment - unable to talk about or indeed write about things that happen, and trying to put a happy face on an unhappy situation. There are days when I leave work fuming and furious for various reasons. I am trying to be understanding and patient, but I am able to do this less and less. On the other hand I lead a bizarre life hobnobbing with all sorts of people. On Wednesday we went to watch the England v Holland game at Wembley, hosting a box with my husband, people outside trying to look in and see some of the people we were with.

How strange! Its weird to feel totally unimportant in one place and totally privileged and fortunate in the other. And neither side knows the other exists.

Moving on from this, my split personality life, I went to look at my allotment today for the first time in ages. I missed the boat when it came to winter crops so the allotment has been lying waiting for Spring. I've been down there once since Christmas to clear away my winter cabbages in the snow ...

I now have the number of a man who deliver manure for me ... (How Exciting!!!) and I have potatoes chitting on my kitchen window sill. So quite soon now I shall start up again. Are you excited?? More photos of veg ... ?? You know you love it!!