How is everyone doing right now?

[Kiwififer]

KF try messing about with diet, it's amazing how much diff it can make re joint and muscle pain.
I'm doing ok, health is the only problem here but we're both holding our own for now.
Keeping calm and eating sweeties

Will do. I need to lose around 2 stone but being community based in my job, food is a fuel more than anything plus I catch my bus home right outside a M&S food hall. The Percy Pigs shout my name…

Because I work in mental health, I ask my SUs about how they are doing on a daily basis almost. I used to also ask my team to say something positive at team meetings be that about themselves or work related to try and keep a positive slant on things. It’s one thing we are not very good at in the sector and it causes a lot of burn out so we are all trying to keep each other going after the Covid chaos.

I lost 3 stone about a year ago by using a calorie counting app and sticking to the target. You put in your age, height, weight, and how much weight you want to lose each week. Most people choose 1 lb a week. The default setting is one where you are expected to burn 200 cals a day in exercise. There is another setting where you get to eat calories burned. This is for people who do a lot of exercise. So is you do 400 cals exercise a day you get to eat 400 cals. You need less cals as you lose weight, so your allowance normally drops a bit. I still use the app but I'm close to target so not really sticking to allowance most of the time. I have lost bit in the last few months.

Which one is it? I’m walking around 15k steps a day on average which is burning me over 800kals according to the app although my record is 25k steps! I genuinely thought I would be losing a few lbs here and there but while I haven’t put on weight, I haven’t lost any either. I’ve mainly cut out the wine as well which is a bugger!

[PreppingSu]

Health and fitness is certainly an issue that I wish I had been more on top of when I'm my 20's and 30's when I could eat what I wanted, run 5k easily etc.
Now not so much!
How am I doing? Stuck with 2 small fractures in my ankle, 3 weeks and going stir crazy. Being stuck in, not being able to garden, drive or do other things easily. The inactivity means a little bit of weight is creeping on.
Also, being a woman of a certain age, menopause (sorry guys, but it is all over health news/programmes and you need to be aware of it) is something else to contend with and symptoms a plenty. Been waiting 4 weeks to see the GP about it. So longer term, should I decide to go the HRT route, the concern would be being able to get hold of medication. I know there was a period earlier in the year where some makes were not available but that could have been an issue with demand going up.
I am currently reviewing my diet and making sure I eat more leafy greens, less processed foods etc. This means I will be preparing and cooking separately to the rest of the family as they aren't prepared to make the change with me. So organisation is the key.
I do struggle with meal prep organisation and very often do not want to cook from scratch after a day at work.
I am also considering a job change - away from a physically and mentally demanding role, which socks me dry most days into something that doesn't! Haven't yet found the right role....

But hey,ho I get up every morning and plod on!

[Frnc]

Will do. I need to lose around 2 stone but being community based in my job, food is a fuel more than anything plus I catch my bus home right outside a M&S food hall. The Percy Pigs shout my name…

Because I work in mental health, I ask my SUs about how they are doing on a daily basis almost. I used to also ask my team to say something positive at team meetings be that about themselves or work related to try and keep a positive slant on things. It’s one thing we are not very good at in the sector and it causes a lot of burn out so we are all trying to keep each other going after the Covid chaos.

I lost 3 stone about a year ago by using a calorie counting app and sticking to the target. You put in your age, height, weight, and how much weight you want to lose each week. Most people choose 1 lb a week. The default setting is one where you are expected to burn 200 cals a day in exercise. There is another setting where you get to eat calories burned. This is for people who do a lot of exercise. So is you do 400 cals exercise a day you get to eat 400 cals. You need less cals as you lose weight, so your allowance normally drops a bit. I still use the app but I'm close to target so not really sticking to allowance most of the time. I have lost bit in the last few months.

Which one is it? I’m walking around 15k steps a day on average which is burning me over 800kals according to the app although my record is 25k steps! I genuinely thought I would be losing a few lbs here and there but while I haven’t put on weight, I haven’t lost any either. I’ve mainly cut out the wine as well which is a bugger!

App is called Calorie Counter by Nutracheck. I just pay for the app, not the website. It's £23.99 for a year. It has pretty much every food product in it's database. You can create meals and you can duplicate them to make alternative versions. So it's just a few minutes or even seconds to enter in what you eat. The two main diet types are called Combined and Separate. I find the names a bit counter-intuitive. Most people use Separate, where you don't get to eat your exercise calories. If you use Combined you need to make sure you aren't over-estimating calories burned in exercise.

Half the reason I still use it is because I'm supposed to be on a special diet, and the app tell me how much salt, sugar, protein etc I've had.

I weigh every day and plot the weekly average on a graph on my computer. First 30 lbs took 9 months.

[itsybitsy]

Plodding steadily onward with the occasional 'Holy f*ck, what fresh hell is THIS?' moment. Probably like the majority of us.

Added more power banks/batteries/gas for the camping stove, and battery operated/solar lighting and tea lights. I've also just bought another hot water bottle and some head torches. I've got more than enough bits and bobs to keep me sustained during these potential power outages now, unless there's some godawful apocalyptic total black out for a month and then I reckon there'll be bigger things to worry about than whether I can make a cuppa on a CampingGaz. Still got the Jackery in my Amazon basket - they're offering me a Pay in 3 option, which is very tempting, so it's still sitting there while I continue to mull it over. Probably should work on being a bit more decisive.

I've also just bought some new (to me) books to keep me going if/when the telly goes off as I've read every book in the house!

[GeeGee]

Plodding steadily onward with the occasional 'Holy f*ck, what fresh hell is THIS?' moment. Probably like the majority of us.

Added more power banks/batteries/gas for the camping stove, and battery operated/solar lighting and tea lights. I've also just bought another hot water bottle and some head torches. I've probably got enough now bits and bobs to keep me sustained during these potential power outages now, unless there's some godawful apocalyptic total black out for a month and then I reckon there'll be bigger things to worry about than whether I can make a cuppa on a CampingGaz. Still got the Jackary in my Amazon basket - they're offering me a Pay in 3 option, which is very tempting, so it's still sitting there while I continue to mull it over. Probably should work on being a bit more decisive.

I've also just bought some new (to me) books to keep me going if/when the telly goes off as I've read every book in the house!

I read that the power stations are flying out very fast all over the place ...
Got mine from there great delivery good price and its a neat piece of equipment
Don't be kicking yourself if you really want it and find there's none left or ..the prices go mad and its out of reach totally
Mull a bit faster

[Arzosah]

'Holy f*ck, what fresh hell is THIS?'

I love that phrase, I just love it

Added more power banks/batteries/gas for the camping stove, and battery operated/solar lighting and tea lights. I've also just bought another hot water bottle and some head torches.

The thing about several power banks is that you can recharge your stuff over and over again even if the power stays off, is that right? Stuff being my phone and my kindle, mainly.

I've got more than enough bits and bobs to keep me sustained during these potential power outages now, unless there's some godawful apocalyptic total black out for a month and then I reckon there'll be bigger things to worry about than whether I can make a cuppa on a CampingGaz. Still got the Jackery in my Amazon basket - they're offering me a Pay in 3 option, which is very tempting, so it's still sitting there while I continue to mull it over. Probably should work on being a bit more decisive.

itsy, can I ask, which one have you put in your basket? The bigger ones seem to provide what I want, but the price seems *so* high. And yet the more reasonably priced ones feel like I'd be skimping if I bought them.

I've also just bought some new (to me) books to keep me going if/when the telly goes off as I've read every book in the house!

I don't have many novels I haven't read in book form ... lots of manuals and whatnot ... might have to have a think about that.

[Frnc]

Roofers put hole in lodger's daughter's bedroom ceiling. Mess everywhere. This was after the price went up because most of the slates weren't great, so using new tiles instead.

Lodger said she doesn't need it anymore anyway, as she works with him, so no need to visit. So I get an extra room! Guess what's going in there.

You guessed it. Cr@p from my room. I can hardly move in here. I could make it a dedicated prep room, but I might put my exercise bike in there. Deffo space for some preps though.

My exercise bike is a fire hazard anyway. It's not flammable, but it's in the way of being able to climb out of the window.

Was worried they might not get the felt on before rain forecast this evening, but they really worked hard this afternoon and got it on.

[Medusa]

We are doing OK thanks. We have a warm house, our bills are paid and we eat well which is more than many people have right now. We have fuel to last us for the winter and food stores plus power banks, batteries, lanterns, candles and additional ways to cook if things get worse. There are lots of things we would like but few things which we actually need. We have spent quite a lot of money in the last couple of years on the house, some of which was very boring and not particularly nice to look at (pointing and a new oil tank) but needed. We agreed as a family to spend much less on Christmas to take pressure off everyone due to price increases on everything. We have concerns about elderly members of the family which has led to me sorting wills and writing an advanced decision so that everyone knows exactly what I want and don't want when the time comes and I have started de-cluttering. Just thankful to have what we have really.

[Yorkshire Andy]

Still got the Jackery in my Amazon basket - they're offering me a Pay in 3 option, which is very tempting, so it's still sitting there while I continue to mull it over.

Look at some other brands remember persud mentioned ecoflow look for ones with lithium iron phosphate battery LiFePO4. More cycles = longer life

[jansman]

We are doing OK thanks. We have a warm house, our bills are paid and we eat well which is more than many people have right now. We have fuel to last us for the winter and food stores plus power banks, batteries, lanterns, candles and additional ways to cook if things get worse. There are lots of things we would like but few things which we actually need. We have spent quite a lot of money in the last couple of years on the house, some of which was very boring and not particularly nice to look at (pointing and a new oil tank) but needed. We agreed as a family to spend much less on Christmas to take pressure off everyone due to price increases on everything. We have concerns about elderly members of the family which has led to me sorting wills and writing an advanced decision so that everyone knows exactly what I want and don't want when the time comes and I have started de-cluttering. Just thankful to have what we have really.

That’s a lovely way to put it Medusa.