Things that ur happy about

[feral chile]

It's a nice theory but I have already decided to give up on eating sweet things as from tomorrow. I also intend to take up exercising, even if it's just going for a walk of an evening. I need to get more healthier than I am. I rely too much on getting about in my car that I don't even walk very far, at present. I've managed to do this before so can't see why I can't achieve this again. Time will tell.

I also don't get any exercise, it's time and location that's the problem. As a child I used to walk for miles with my radio, there was sod all else to do, and living up the Valleys meant lots of available walks.

Where I am now, we're in a dip, not quite Valleys, so it's about an hour's walk to get out into the open, and it's just not so much fun as walking along a hilly track looking across at all the villages separated from you by a sheer drop. There's not the sense of freedom any more (though that might be more to do with no longer being 16 and having no responsibilities).

I want to get a rebounder, because they look like they might be fun to use indoors.

[fred quimby]

Eat Chocolate and Don't Give a Shit will be my title, I think.

Thats a winner for me

[Yoghurt on a Stick]

I also don't get any exercise, it's time and location that's the problem. As a child I used to walk for miles with my radio, there was sod all else to do, and living up the Valleys meant lots of available walks.

Where I am now, we're in a dip, not quite Valleys, so it's about an hour's walk to get out into the open, and it's just not so much fun as walking along a hilly track looking across at all the villages separated from you by a sheer drop. There's not the sense of freedom any more (though that might be more to do with no longer being 16 and having no responsibilities).

I want to get a rebounder, because they look like they might be fun to use indoors.

I used to visit a place just outside Pontypridd quite a bit in my youth as I had friends who went to college there. On one occassion I went, someone from our group got talking to two girls that were sat on a bench outside the house overlooking the valley. During the conversation it emerged that in all their years (17 to 18 at a guess) that they'd never been out of the valley. They kept asking questions as to what it was like out of the valley. I thought that terribly sad. Not sure why I mention all that, but it's probably because your post mentioned the valley and that it just sprung to mind.

Anyway, back to the subject at hand. I've just looked up what a rebounder is. They might indeed be fun to use indoors, if your idea of fun was launching yourself up through the plasterboard ceiling above you! Joking aside, I'd say they would offer a good form of exercise as long as you stuck with it within a regime. Otherwise they'd just be like a million static exercise bikes that lie unused in the garage.

[feral chile]

I used to visit a place just outside Pontypridd quite a bit in my youth as I had friends who went to college there. On one occassion I went, someone from our group got talking to two girls that were sat on a bench outside the house overlooking the valley. During the conversation it emerged that in all their years (17 to 18 at a guess) that they'd never been out of the valley. They kept asking questions as to what it was like out of the valley. I thought that terribly sad. Not sure why I mention all that, but it's probably because your post mentioned the valley and that it just sprung to mind.

Anyway, back to the subject at hand. I've just looked up what a rebounder is. They might indeed be fun to use indoors, if your idea of fun was launching yourself up through the plasterboard ceiling above you! Joking aside, I'd say they would offer a good form of exercise as long as you stuck with it within a regime. Otherwise they'd just be like a million static exercise bikes that lie unused in the garage.

If I ever get round to buying one, I'll let you know if it's worth the storage space. I used to skip with a rope, which was very good exercise, addictive, fun, and great for beating the blues, but not good if you don't have a way to reduce impact, particularly if you're getting on a bit and don't warm up properly first, as my foot and ankle can testify.

yes, we are a bit (very) insular in the Valleys, Cardiff is a huge adventure for us. My kids have seen a bit more of the world than I have, 2 actually escaped Wales altogether, and have seen a fair bit of the world, whereas I get nauseous crossing the Severn, never mind venturing further afield.

I also feel vindicated regarding my chocolate advice. In an effort to behave more responsibly, I decided to look up what foods are really considered good for mental wellbeing. And chocolate is listed at No. 6!

http://www.webmd.com/depression/features/foods-feel-better

[Yoghurt on a Stick]

yes, we are a bit (very) insular in the Valleys, Cardiff is a huge adventure for us. My kids have seen a bit more of the world than I have, 2 actually escaped Wales altogether, and have seen a fair bit of the world, whereas I get nauseous crossing the Severn, never mind venturing further afield.

I think the two girls in question very much wanted to get out of the valleys. They were both on the dole and used to go shoplifting for fun / to get by. I really felt for them at the time and still hope that they were able to spread their wings and see more of the world as was their desire at the time.

I used to go swimming twice a day, once before work and then again in the evening. Then the depression struck and I stopped and took up eating ice cream full time. I still have loads and loads of the plastic ice cream cartons which I kept meaning to re-use for something. I think they currently stand there as a reminder for me not to go down that path again.

Good luck if you get a rebounder. All exercise is good - apparently.

[Jackmypie]

Ice cream. Good quality ice cream solves most miseries. May only help for a few hours but damn it really does help.

If you haven't tried this then you need to. Tastes like heaven and has little bits of popcorn inside. Mmmmm.

[feral chile]

I think the two girls in question very much wanted to get out of the valleys. They were both on the dole and used to go shoplifting for fun / to get by. I really felt for them at the time and still hope that they were able to spread their wings and see more of the world as was their desire at the time.

I used to go swimming twice a day, once before work and then again in the evening. Then the depression struck and I stopped and took up eating ice cream full time. I still have loads and loads of the plastic ice cream cartons which I kept meaning to re-use for something. I think they currently stand there as a reminder for me not to go down that path again.

Good luck if you get a rebounder. All exercise is good - apparently.

This is the difficulty, there's not a lot in the Valleys any more, and even for graduates it's difficult to find a decent job. I did my degree after I had my family, which meant I wasn't mobile. 2 of my kids have degrees, 2 don't - the graduates needed to move away for work reasons initially, but they're very unlikely to return to our little corner, now that they've sampled a broader world.

Depression's a hard taskmaster - it's all very well knowing exercise and eating well will make you feel better, but once depression's got a hold, you can't summon the energy to be arsed doing anything.

I find I start using distraction techniques before depression gets a hold, and it seems to have worked so far in keeping me sidestepping the black pit. I think that's when all the well meaning advice works best - listening to music, getting exercise etc., for its distraction value. It's a slippery hellhole once you've fallen in though

Edited December 31, 2013 by feral chile

[kaosmark2]

I ran with this theory too about 2 years ago when I was monumentally depressed. The down side was that I put on 2 stone doing it.

I'm actually losing weight with it, because the amount of ice cream I'm eating is more than offset by the reduction in boozing.

[kaosmark2]

If you haven't tried this then you need to. Tastes like heaven and has little bits of popcorn inside. Mmmmm.

I've been working my way through every Ben and Jerrys flavour lately, been constantly on offer at my local Tesco!

[feral chile]

I'm actually losing weight with it, because the amount of ice cream I'm eating is more than offset by the reduction in boozing.

Result!

All the healthy eating advice is good as a starting point, but it depends so much on individual circumstances.

I've always felt bloody awful every time I try to eat healthily, washed out and anaemic.

Guinness does it for me, and I did lose a hell of a lot of weight on copious amounts of Guinness in the past, because I felt so happy I was bouncing around, jigging about to music, and burning off a lot of calories.

Being miserable always causes me to put on weight, and being stressed always causes me to lose it.

Metabolism is everything with me.

[grumpyhack]

My counter-intuitive weight-loss tip is chocolate brownie mini bites from ASDA. Just one with a coffee in the morning gets me up and about and seems to keep me full till lunch. They are also brilliant for taking away the taste of the night before.

[oneeye]

A pyrex bowl of porridge, skimmed milk and frozen blueberries, nuked for 5 mins; marvellous way to start the day (if no chocolate in the house!).

Happy New Year pop pickers, all the best for

2014

[atomised]

Happy new year everyone. Very happy about plans now well underway.to move to Frankfurt at the end of the summer and.getting.married

[Spindles]

Congrats, a friend did the same journey 3 years ago and now has a great job, lovely wife and great life. My very best wishes to you both.

[atomised]

Thanks . It's been a fair time coming but now feels like the right time.

[Spindles]

Just got back from doing my first stint on a charity cycle ride (on an exercise bike), managed 32km in my first 1 hour stint, which is the first time I've been on a bike since surgery 18 months ago and I feel really good. We are running the bike 24 hours a day, cycling 6800 miles, the equivalent of cycling around the whole of Africa and will be building 5 schools with the money raised, it feels good to be able to give something back (as this week I will pick up the largest week's wages of my whole life) and I can't wait to get back on the bike and try and improve my performance

[Yoghurt on a Stick]

Just got back from doing my first stint on a charity cycle ride (on an exercise bike), managed 32km in my first 1 hour stint, which is the first time I've been on a bike since surgery 18 months ago and I feel really good. We are running the bike 24 hours a day, cycling 6800 miles, the equivalent of cycling around the whole of Africa and will be building 5 schools with the money raised, it feels good to be able to give something back (as this week I will pick up the largest week's wages of my whole life) and I can't wait to get back on the bike and try and improve my performance

Nice one Spindles. I did a 30 mile charity bike ride a few years back. I hadn't actually been on a bike for at least a couple of decades when I decided to do it. A rather insane move, but I did finish the course. For a few days after the event I was walking around in a very strange manner indeed.

[atomised]

Well done spindles. Fair play to you

[thegremlin_1999]

Just got back from going to the panto in Nottingham with the family. We've not been to the panto in about 20 years and you know what? It was bloody brilliant. Silly yes, cheesy yup but hilarious (tears of laughter belly laughs from all around) still. Oh and the Hoff was in it hamming it up as Captain Hook.

[Spindles]

My big payday finally arrived after a couple of pretty spartan weeks working almost every night since xmas eve. I was queueing outside the supermarket at 9, back home by 9:15 (joy of living 2 mins walk from the supermarket), had all my bills paid by 7 and now I'm going to head off to town to treat myself to some new socks and pants and maybe push the boat out and buy a £10 hoodie \o/

[Spindles]

Finally got round to putting down laminate floor in the living room (which has been bare floor for 2 years, nearly), got a bargain price on some of the expensive stuff which was end of line and did it all with 1 pack less than I bought in less than 4 hours. Hopefully it should help with the cold a bit.

[oneeye]

Had a great day out on the beach in sunny Teignmouth, first time our new dog (Bruce) has seen the sea; magic

[grumpyhack]

Builders have just about finished and should move off site this weekend after five months of extension building.

Except that now means talking to other firms about solar panels (PV & thermal), wood burning.stoves/fires etc. Any advice appreciated.

[eFestivals]

Except that now means talking to other firms about solar panels (PV & thermal), wood burning.stoves/fires etc. Any advice appreciated.

Heart Woodburners, Bristol.

[JamesT977]

My x-men blu ray boxset came today