Monday, June 16, 2014
It's that time of the year folks....
Yup, It's time for yet another "serious" attempt at losing weight. Not for holidays or anything but I'm well overweight and need to lose at least 100 pounds. Yup one little fat B'tard (R.I.P. Rick Mayall).
Plus I'm type 2 diabetic so I guess i should be doing the weight loss for that reason if any.
So I weighed in on Saturday the 14th June 2014 at 297 pounds which is around 135 kg. My goal is 85 KG or 187 pounds.
Prior to this attempt I've lost 12 kg since last august 5th 2013 but it certainly is not 2 pound a week.
Had 40g or porridge made with water today and half a banana cup of tea with 50 mls of milk.
I am aiming for 2080 kcals a day or less but we will see how this goes. I'm going to try what I think is the "paleo" diet where you eat few if any grains, pasta, breads etc but more meat, butter , lard etc.
I don't know what my weight mistress would say but hey, ask no questions get no lies as they say.
Lunch was some raw carrots and some old potatoes that were in the fridge from Saturday... Well only 3 of them. Tea is going to be pork chops and stir fry curry sachet from Asda.
by tea time I had changed my mind again. we had a large bowl of french onion soup with some slices of granary baguette and some Gruyere cheese. Ok so it was a bit too much cheese but I'll be good tomorrow.
I was almost good...ish yesterday. I had some porridge for breakfast then fruit for lunch and some pork stirfry for tea but then spoilt it all by making some delicious rhubarb Crumble and had that with icecream. Granted it was not as much as we would normally have but we still had it.
Today was a mix of stuff for breakfsst. I haven't been sleeping well at all for a few weeks now with constant pain in the back, neck, knees, in fact all over an the oxy, having been increased is still not doing to much to help, but I guess it is helping a bit as I'm mobile more, as in I can walk round the garden twice in a day,lol.
So breakfast for this fat B'tard was a cup of tea, some cornflakes and slpendida sweetner, then some pasta mix I made for my wifes lunch last night, well about 3.30 this montning actually. It was bloody delicious which just goes to show that it takes time for flavours to imalgumate because last night it tasted lousy, lol.
That was going to be lunch so I guess i had lunch at 6.50 am ! At lunch time I had a small mince and onion pie in puff pastry and when I say small I mean the size of your mothers yorkshire pudding tin, the ones with 12 to a sheet size. I also had a couple of eggs scrambled and a large pot of tea, like 6 cups in one.....
Tea is going to be a couple of those pies with some veg and a very few small potatoes.
Thursday, June 5, 2014
Have you got a "War Cupboard"?
I've been watching TV today and a lot of the coverage has been about the 70th aniversary of the D Day landings in the second world war. On there were a lot of interviews of modern day "cadets" or young people in the armed forces all under 18 and the overwhelming thought from these young uns was that they would not want to go to war and they would be scared. I bet the paras and the landing forces were shitting bricks as well but they had no option but to run up the beach under fire.
So what would you do in terms of prepping if war was either iminent or in flow. Bare in mind we currently have the likes of syria that could have been a tipping point for war or more realistically the problems of the Ukraine becomeing a flash point. After all what American President can for go the thought of poking a big russian bear.
When we were putting the shopping away on a saturday afternoon in the 1970's ( this was when shops closed all day Wednesday and obly opened until 12 noon on a saturday) to put certain tins in "the war cupboard". When asked what this was and what it meant she would say that it's in case there is another war.
She would buy an extra tin of something and put it away for future use. The aim being that you wouldn't miss the cost of an extra tin of beans or a tin of vorned beef each saturday but id there was another war then she would be able to suppliament the ration book with other food from her war cupboard.
So have you got "a war cupboard" ? If not, why not?
As mentioned above this is an easy way to build up some stock for your prepping without actually realizing you are doing it. Of course you can throw a lot of money at it and buy in bulk with a credit card etc but this way gets you into thinking about prepping every time you go shopping and these days it is more than once a week.
To start with you can write down what is in your cupboards at home. Then work out from this list what you will use these food items for in the week. As many of us only have 3 or 4 days of food in store anyway it shouldn't be to hard to do.
Alternativly you can make up a set of lists for meal plans you will eat over the nezt week or 2 weeks to start with.
This serves a few good ideas because you only buy food you need for that week so you don't waste food or money, you get to make fresh meals from fresh ingredients and also you keep alive your cooking skills in case TSHTF.
If you are so busy you need to use micro meals then this use of fresh foods can be done on your day off or on a weekend or when you are on holiday etc. There is no reasons why you cannot learn to cook a hearty meal from freshly preppared foods. After all putting an egg in some hot water for 6 minutes makes a meal from fresh ingredients so it is a start.
If you really, really cannot use fresh ingredients then do the same thing with lists of frozen meals or whatever you use today to feed your good self as this will also help you to reduce wasteage and money after all we are told that modern canning and freezing techniques are as good as fresh ingredients. Personally I don't think so but then I love cooking and I have the time.
Anyway, rant over but once you have you list of fresh food or your list of other foods you can start to buy an extra ingredient when you go shopping.
On your list you might have 5 tins of baked beans that you will use in 1 week. Each week when you go shopping you will buy an extra tin of beans over and above those you replaceso on week 1 you buy 6 tins of beans. 5 to replace those used and 1 for your "war cupboard" week two you buy another 6 tins so you replace the 5 you use and now have 2 tins in your war cupboard. Week 3 the same and so on until week five you have replaced the 5 tins you use each week and now you have 5 tins in the war cupboard for emergencies etc.
The following week you might buy tins of peas, cornbeef, dried pasta, tinned pies, tinned tomatoes etc.
Of course if your budget stretches further you can buy a lot more tins more frequently but this is down to you and your budget.
Don't fall into the trap that I did and buy a lot all at once then have no money left at the end of the month and thus I had to use my "war ciupboard" to feed the family. once learnt never forgoten.
Over time you will have a complete weeks meals in your cupboard that is extra to what you normally eat and the cost of this will not have been missed.
If you keep doing this day in day out, week in week out every time you go shopping then you will soon get a large amount of food saved up for whatever you deem to be an emergency because we all hope that we don't have to go to war any time soon.
So what would you do in terms of prepping if war was either iminent or in flow. Bare in mind we currently have the likes of syria that could have been a tipping point for war or more realistically the problems of the Ukraine becomeing a flash point. After all what American President can for go the thought of poking a big russian bear.
When we were putting the shopping away on a saturday afternoon in the 1970's ( this was when shops closed all day Wednesday and obly opened until 12 noon on a saturday) to put certain tins in "the war cupboard". When asked what this was and what it meant she would say that it's in case there is another war.
She would buy an extra tin of something and put it away for future use. The aim being that you wouldn't miss the cost of an extra tin of beans or a tin of vorned beef each saturday but id there was another war then she would be able to suppliament the ration book with other food from her war cupboard.
So have you got "a war cupboard" ? If not, why not?
As mentioned above this is an easy way to build up some stock for your prepping without actually realizing you are doing it. Of course you can throw a lot of money at it and buy in bulk with a credit card etc but this way gets you into thinking about prepping every time you go shopping and these days it is more than once a week.
To start with you can write down what is in your cupboards at home. Then work out from this list what you will use these food items for in the week. As many of us only have 3 or 4 days of food in store anyway it shouldn't be to hard to do.
Alternativly you can make up a set of lists for meal plans you will eat over the nezt week or 2 weeks to start with.
This serves a few good ideas because you only buy food you need for that week so you don't waste food or money, you get to make fresh meals from fresh ingredients and also you keep alive your cooking skills in case TSHTF.
If you are so busy you need to use micro meals then this use of fresh foods can be done on your day off or on a weekend or when you are on holiday etc. There is no reasons why you cannot learn to cook a hearty meal from freshly preppared foods. After all putting an egg in some hot water for 6 minutes makes a meal from fresh ingredients so it is a start.
If you really, really cannot use fresh ingredients then do the same thing with lists of frozen meals or whatever you use today to feed your good self as this will also help you to reduce wasteage and money after all we are told that modern canning and freezing techniques are as good as fresh ingredients. Personally I don't think so but then I love cooking and I have the time.
Anyway, rant over but once you have you list of fresh food or your list of other foods you can start to buy an extra ingredient when you go shopping.
On your list you might have 5 tins of baked beans that you will use in 1 week. Each week when you go shopping you will buy an extra tin of beans over and above those you replaceso on week 1 you buy 6 tins of beans. 5 to replace those used and 1 for your "war cupboard" week two you buy another 6 tins so you replace the 5 you use and now have 2 tins in your war cupboard. Week 3 the same and so on until week five you have replaced the 5 tins you use each week and now you have 5 tins in the war cupboard for emergencies etc.
The following week you might buy tins of peas, cornbeef, dried pasta, tinned pies, tinned tomatoes etc.
Of course if your budget stretches further you can buy a lot more tins more frequently but this is down to you and your budget.
Don't fall into the trap that I did and buy a lot all at once then have no money left at the end of the month and thus I had to use my "war ciupboard" to feed the family. once learnt never forgoten.
Over time you will have a complete weeks meals in your cupboard that is extra to what you normally eat and the cost of this will not have been missed.
If you keep doing this day in day out, week in week out every time you go shopping then you will soon get a large amount of food saved up for whatever you deem to be an emergency because we all hope that we don't have to go to war any time soon.
Wednesday, June 4, 2014
Paranoia strikes again in the world of prepping
Ok, it might be a bit of an assumption but I think we all, at some time or other think about things in life from a paranoid view point.
As for me it's more than a bit and the odd time but where would I be if my friend paranoia wasn't there for me to cuddle up to.
Take for instance the current threat to our lives on the internet. This worm or virus that has been created by some Russian computer hacker (note: the story was released by the Americans, good old standby for impending doom those ruskies) that takes countless billions of rubbles, euro's, pounds and of course the US Dollars out of bank accounts the world over. So what happens, the NCA or National Crime Agency, the BBC and the large industry anti virus companies get together and anounce they have shut down this russian gangster fro exactly 2 weeks to allow us to sort out our computers and update the anti virus programmes before they "switch off" the gangsters coputers for good.
Now I ask here why is it taking two weeks to shut them down, why are we being warned of it and what is the likely outcome of it all?
The last bit first, probably nothing. Everything will go on as it is in endless postings of what we had for tea on facebook and tweittering twaterings on other social media and I'll prepare tea for my dear wife.
On the other hand it could be that worms like Stuxnet and other zero day problems are too complicated now and the powers that be are going to try and take control of the internet in some way or other.
Here is one paranoid thought. TPTB are going to blast the internet with a wide scale virus / worm / trojan etc and they don't know what will happen so it all goes tits up then the problem will be you computer will be infected with this worm and you did nowt about it so it's your fault.
Or nothing bad happens but TPTB have a strong hold into the internet world and can now control the web with their worm / virus / trojan etc.
Going back to the bit above about 2 weeks notice. Why do we have to have two weeks notice for them to shut down the so called bad guys? Surely they should have done that as a matter of course and we don't get to hear about it in mainland surburbia.
If the worms have turned so to speak and are now "out in the wild" and infecting power plants, car assembly lines, the national grid, shopping centres like Asda and Wall mart etc that run on card payments and not cash and just in time deliveries then this is why TPTB need to try to act in the next 2 weeks.
Even governments say that we need to keep 3 months worth of food and water in stock for " minor problems" etc. What happens if this warning is one that we should heed in a larger way and stock up on food and water etc just in case it is "the big one" where we all get to experience the world as it was pre computers....
Oh I'm going for a lie down as this paranoia is getting me, well paranoid........
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