Hen & Ink

Here it is, September and the seventh month of doing this food plan and intermittent fasting. It is a lot slower now, but feels like a way of life I can keep up. I’m down 18.3 kgs since I started in February. I barely seem to be losing but I skip breakfast most days and have become so used to the type of food that I adapt and make up my own a bit now.

That was last night’s dinner – delish. One of the biggest hurdles to this particular way of eating/fasting is that many of us have a tendency to want to see result quickly. I am realising that what is actually happening is that I am finding out how much food I actually need to eat as opposed to what I am used to. It is surprisingly less than I have been accustomed to eating. Whenever I feel I have not moved anything off for a while, I skip lunch too, and yes, I feel it and my stomach complains loudly (!!) but I sure appreciate dinner that night.

Unlike every other diet I’ve been on I want to lose this weight and keep it off, so I actually need to go so slowly that I am still enjoying my meals and the occasional treat, and if there’s a birthday, celebrate it.

I keep a mental note of the cafes I can get to on my bike trips that cater to gluten-free or keto dietary needs, and if I arrive at lunchtime, I choose the salad options rather than the carb ones. The longer I go without indulging in my old favourites like doughnuts or cake, the less I actually feel like them. True. I certainly don’t miss the feeling I had after I had over indulged in something fatty, gluten-y and sweet. . . The sleepiness that follows and the heaviness around the abdomen.

Next week I head off on a nearly month long journey around the South Island by camper van. I am hoping that I will be able to maintain much of what I currently do: peppermint tea in the morning for breakfast, and perhaps my main meal of the day will be at lunchtime when I stop on my journey. Which means that I will make a small easy meal in the van at night wherever I park.

Watch this space.

If you were wondering how the Fast800 was working for me, here it is. Over 16kgs lost since February, and so I’m halfway there to my goal. It is slow, but sure, and an easy lifestyle change. But you need to be in the right headspace, and put some will into it.

My key is: don’t overdo it. Keep your default mode to be the Mediterranean diet and intermittent fasting, and don’t worry if you have a birthday to celebrate or a night out. What works for me, may not be what someone else likes, but I’ve adjusted the plan to suit. I don’t have breakfast, I sip peppermint tea instead, and have more black coffees than I’ve ever had. At lunchtime I go for the paleo muesli, or the lighter lunch offered in many recipes in Michael Mosley’s book, and at dinner have grown accustomed to no spuds, rice, pasta, but plenty of veggies and some protein. It’s actually not hard to enjoy and I don’t have the cravings any longer.
I make my own ‘fooze balls’ out of date pulp and cocoa, rolled in coconut, if I want a sweet nibble.

And as I’ve been losing weight, exercise is getting easier to do, especially walking. And it really works best if you exercise on an empty stomach, because then you start using up the stored fat. Yeah?

Anyway, that’s my update, and if you wanted to lose weight yourself, I encourage you to have a go at the Fast 800 by Michael Mosley. When your doctor recommends it, you know it can’t be bad.

Onward and upward, or should I say Onward and downward.

It is now Autumn here, and the days are blissfully cooler – but not by much. Still, I can never do anything creative it seems, in the burning heat of summer, so I look forward to Spring or Autumn when a surge of creative energy gets me going.

I went out and bought a number of canvases/framed hardwoods, and gloved up to prime them and then paint a layer of black oil paint on them in preparation for the coming burst of genius about to be revealed on their surfaces.

Then I was offered more work – twice as much more – at the current administration position I hold at University. It’s short term, but still, I can see these paintings will be put aside for all the other tasks now crammed in to one day of the week. (I don’t count weekends – that’s for cycling and catching up with friends).

SO: what you see now are two paintings I just finished today, before I put it all aside.

The first is a whimsical imagining of the phrase “Real Life Comes From Within” which is painted around the sides of this piece. Self-explanatory, and quirky.

And the second one I had started late last year, and just decided I’d better finish it now. It is nothing like the first. It’s on circular hardwood – the edge is about 1.5 cms – and it’s an impression of an old English town, such as the many I wound through in recent trips.

So, big TICK, that’s them done, and put aside. And Monday I roll up my sleeves and put on my administrator’s hat again. . .

Yeah, there’s no other way to describe it. I’m not going to offer excuses, I enjoyed a good year – at least – of baking during lockdowns and celebratory cooking. The result: gout, hypertension and increasing immobility. The party must stop!

So – my doctor suggested I get a book titled The Fast 800 by Dr Michael Mosley and put into practise the diet regimes contained therein. Actually, a large portion of the regime is familiar already from my earlier wild success at weight loss when I got meal plans from a nutritionist. And so far so good!

I have no problem with intermittent fasting – and for the first couple of months or so I am happy to skip breakfast altogether and eat in the window between noon and 7pm. It’s been two weeks so far and I’m already 5kgs down. If you’d seen the endless reels from my security camera whose primary purpose seems to be an eye-opening revelation of what I actually look like in 3D – you would understand the importance of what I do. See pic.

My current focus is to eat no more than 800 calories per day within that window described. I must say, despite missing my usual fatty sweet treats, I have not felt hungry and enjoy the various salads and low carb meals I’ve been eating, many based on menu plans in the book. These are what they look like:

And I have eaten out a couple of times and found food to suit!

So – here’s to a steady decrease in the kgs and an increase in energy and accompanying exercise.

Onward and upward!

For the last few months I’ve been pursuing some oil painting goals – enjoying interpreting my inky line woodblock look in oils instead of gauche and ink. These are all for sale, if anyone is interested. Here they are in no particular order:

Send me a message on this blog and I’ll contact you.

2020 – the year we all felt the wall behind us and experienced life as most of us had not known it. I note very few resolutions coming up on my newsfeed – such is the hope embodied in merely the change of date from 2020 to 2021, that that itself is enough of a positive move. Surely things must get better – right?

Well, I’m an optimist, so I’m going to imbue this coming year with miracle cures and unexpected pleasures around every corner, and enough mixed metaphors to force you to swallow hard. The realist inside me – a wizened starving thing – whispers that many of my old favourites like travel and wage increases are things of the past for a long while yet. I’ve stamped the wretched creature down and shut the closet door on it again. And whenever that even worse skeleton looms – the pessimist – muttering things like ‘the end of the world is nigh’, I briskly turn on Netflix and subsume myself in mindless drama there instead. So far it has worked. Like the wee pig in ‘Babe’ looking forward to Christmas, unaware that pork is on the menu, I lift my chin to the blue sky and trill “La la laaaaaaa”.

Life in New Zealand has been pretty good, by comparison. We are of course painfully conscious of the suffering still going on elsewhere, on every level – socially, economically, physically and mentally. A traditional Christmas didn’t happen for many of my friends overseas, and there has been telling lapses in communication from many of my old associates and online buddies. I’m torn between sharing the good things I know about in the hopes of perking people up, or wondering if the sharing of them will only bring despair to those who have endured too long alone and still in the midst of the pandemic. There’s nothing more galling than a party next door when you are grieving.

If you could do with a little light-hearted distraction, then my next few paragraphs will be perky, so read on. Otherwise, I understand if you move straight on without another word. Here’s a virtual hug. { }

We did a different thing this Christmas, and moved out of Auckland to Rotorua to enjoy the celebration at my niece’s place there. Customarily we have it at my sister’s house, but this year loaded enough salads, presents, and festive treats into our cars and took the party to Jemma’s. She and her partner Rafa had decorated the house with lights, a real tree, and Chinese lanterns etc, and it was heart-warming to be immersed in that warm atmosphere for a couple of days. Down here in NZ, being a summer holiday, many presents are beach-themed, and we pushed that even further and had our Christmas dinner as a picnic at the lakeside. Great idea! Cold meat, salads, fruit pies with cream squeezed out of a can. And in between, a swim in the cool clean depths of a freshwater lake. It was not even that busy, so sitting on blankets/chairs on the grass in the shade of the trees with a gentle breeze flowing by watching other family groups doing the same was a treat.

I came home to my new unit, and watered my prolific garden and fell into a state of deep relaxation that is still upon me. I fiddle around with the garden, with cooking, reading, listening to music, and occasionally get my bike out for a ride or go for the walk around the harbour just below my house. I’ve just dismantled the Christmas tree, and put that season away in my garage for another year. NOW I’m revisiting my old nutrition plan and considering sliding carefully back into better habits again.

Yesterday, New Year’s Day, was a beauty. I started 2021 with a crisp walk around the water while the sun was still low, and then at 10am picked my sis up and drove the 10 mins around the bay to Pt Chev, which is opposite the peninsula I live on, with a much better beach. We slid into the still clear waters and stayed there floating and chatting for 30 – 40 mins of bliss. I listened amused to the ladies near me all complaining mildly of the noise of parties from the night before. Then it was home via my old house and the flatmate I had there, who we chatted with for a while, before I dropped Helen home.

I don’t have huge plans for the coming year. None of us know when travel will become easy again, and that was something I enjoyed doing over the last ten years. Actually the next trip I was planning to do was one around New Zealand, and I still intend to do that. I’ll treat it as I did my last two trips around Scotland, and put together a travel book for those who want to come with me (virtually) afterwards. An excellent idea especially since travel has become impossible right now. I do have two other books I have finished, but they need major editing, and I need to find the energy to tackle that. Meanwhile my two days a week at the University still bring in much needed cash, and get me out on my bike traveling in all weather.

I love the lead up to Christmas, which means warmer days, outside barbecues, meetings with friends, trips to the beach or messing about getting the garden going. Once the many Christmas gatherings and work dos are over, and Christmas is past, there’s nothing like the lax feeling that you don’t have to do anything, and time becomes less relevant. Most people have three weeks off around this time, but I save my summer holiday for February when schools are back, and my sis and I will be going north on our camping trip then. The University starts back in two weeks and I’ll be catching up on emails then. In the meantime, this is the most writing I’ve done in some weeks, and I’m comforted to know my fingers still find the right keys without my looking. Whew.

I’m going to go and read a little more of a book I need to return to the library. Here’s the series I’m enjoying right now. I’ll leave you with a glimpse of the last two months and let you sort out the event and the place based upon my narrative. Regard it as a sort of quiz. Happy New Year.

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Time to do an update on life at the end of the Peninsula. Has it really been 5 weeks since I moved here? Well, before we plunge in to more details, let me just say that I still love being in my new unit, and pinch myself regularly to remind myself that the move is behind me now, and the worst of the packing and unpacking and setting up home is passed. Best of all, I had what felt like a clean slate, to make my own impression on the place and to set up a garden of sorts.

Here are a few glimpses of the setting. The living room lacks the delicious green chaise lounge sofa which is held up in delivery by COVID-19 in other places. So we are using camp chairs and my one comfy leather chair to provide an impression of living room.

It’s compact, but just the right size for me. I have my studio nearly set up perfectly, and what feels like an immense bedroom, but I came from a king single bed before, so anything would feel bigger.

Yesterday I decided to do something about the lack of privacy. At the back there is a small area for hanging washing out between garage and house, which now has my chiminea, seat and worm farm. I have used some old pots and purchased new ones, to allow for a range of vegetables to grow against the garage wall. They love the sun and seem to be doing well.

It’s the front porch that’s been a problem. I have a friendly neighbour, who is right THERE, if you know what I mean. And the old guy who had this place before me, sat all day out the front waving at everyone who passed by, and so I receive a lot of waves and comments, which shows just how friendly everyone is. However, there are times I just want to sit unnoticed, and read a book or listen to an audio. So I’ve moved my main chair to the corner, and bought some more pots to block the access to my space. Apparently the plants I’ve chosen will rise up and obscure the view more. Might even lavish myself and get a trellis and pop it along the front. Watch this space.

Spring is a great time to move – everything feels fresh and colourful, and the days are getting longer. I received an invitation to the 14th annual street Christmas party the other day, and look forward to meeting the neighbours properly.

I’m finally able to stop and do other things than decorating and shopping for the house as well. For instance, my clever sewing sister made me a sunhat just now. (No, don’t ask, she isn’t taking orders for these). She made a draft using calico or similar, to see if the pattern would fit, and used it as a draft for her own hat. And then I got to keep the original, and dyed it green this morning FINALLY, a hat that is broad, can be squashed into luggage, and is wide enough for a fat head.

I’m about to plunge into making some preserves for Christmas this afternoon. Now that I’ve worked out how the oven heats up, and which elements on top work the best, I’m feeling more confident cooking on it.

Last Friday straight after work, I borrowed my sister’s camping van, and went out to enjoy the night with friends, at Piha on the west coast of Auckland. Perfect weather, and so good to get away and sit around chatting in the dark after a good meal at the local surf club. I’ll leave you with a few of the sublime images from that holiday.

Can’t believe it was June that I last posted. Obviously life has been too exciting and busy to find time to sit down and type any of my thoughts up. Who knew? I’ll try and make up for it in the coming weeks.

Today, I want to talk about . . .

CHRISTMAS CAKE!

Yeah, see that pic above. THAT is the quintessential item I am talking about, and I am totally baffled by the current bad press it has received. When I went to the USA in 1996 I was stunned to discover this worthy item was not regarded with the esteem it has received for years in my part of the world. I still don’t get it. Any connoisseur of edible items would place this among a number of tasty treats, because if a proper fruit cake does essential things well, they are 1) richness 2) moistness 3) complexity 4) aroma 5) flavour. What’s not to like?

There you see, clasped in my hand, is a square of such delectable dense flavours and textures, that only a cup of Earl Grey tea sipped alongside it is worthy. On top of the varied fruity contribution inside the dark body of the cake, is a layer of almond marzipan and a topping of royal icing. The cake itself is redolent of brandy, which has been generously added before baking. The whole sensation of a bite of this gourmand delight, is that of a festival. A rejoicing of flavours. A waltz of wonder.

And yet. And yet, I hear it is scorned by a whole body of people. It is repellant to an entire nation. It is an INSULT to give it. I think back to my trips to the supermarket in Georgia, where I went to purchase a proper fruit cake and instead, aisle upon aisle of something called ‘butter cake’ but not made with butter. Cakes resembling polystyrene sugar mounds covered in frosting, so sweet and so lacking in flavour and texture, and leaving an oily aftertaste clinging to the insides of my mouth long after the sugar went down. All the same except for the colour and artificial flavour. If they had cream in between the layers, it was that dreadful ‘non-cream’ called Dairy Whip. (Let me hasten to add, I knew a few excellent American cooks who would have made their own cakes with alacrity. I’m talking about what I found in the bakery aisle.)

Maybe it is something to do with familiarity and what you grew used to growing up. We always baked from scratch at home, and for birthdays, still do. That means getting that rich yellow butter and softening it, and whipping it with some sugar, until creamed. Then adding gradually eggs and flour and the other ingredients, and then a long process of cooking, and then icing it. (Making up the icing from icing sugar, butter, and flavouring). Somehow the effort that goes in comes out in the eating. Birthday cakes used to be fruit cakes too, but gradually have come to embrace a wide range of delectable possibilities from cheese cakes to carrot cake. BUT Christmas cake has always been a fruit cake, and best of all, is one made by oneself, in ones own oven, drenched in brandy or rum, full of soaked dried fruit, and made a few weeks/months before Christmas, to ‘mature’.

For as long as I live, I shall endeavour to keep the legend of the dense, rich, dark fruit cake alive and enjoyed. And just to boost its ratings, I am adding some pics here, for my own pleasure, if not yours.

I thought I’d give you an update on the nutrition plan started early this year. You remember how well it all started, with a drop of 10kgs in the first month? Well, then we had lockdown, and Easter, and heaps of home baking to cope, and before you know it, I was in a steady plateau. Still, it was encouraging, when we came out of lockdown, to find that I had not put it all back on DESPITE these home made goodies consumed in that six weeks:

I’d do it all again! Actually, the thing to remember about my new food plan, is that I am resetting my lifelong habits and forming new ones, so it’s going to be a long slow process. I just enjoyed these buns, and chocolate, and cake, and then continued on my journey.

Since I was doing so well missing three breakfasts a week, and not noticing that too badly, we have upped it to NO breakfast at all, seven days a week. I have a black coffee with a dash of cream mid-morning, and before you know it, it is lunchtime already. THEN I have either the breakfast food I miss and love, or something savoury. And so far so good.

In fact, yesterday I decided to spend a few hours buying and cooking some winter salads and vegetable items, to keep in containers in the fridge. Then when the next few meal times come, I can take a snippet from each one, add protein, and voila! It was a great success and I really enjoyed the meal last night.

Here are the containers waiting for me in the fridge. Mmmmm.

And this morning, my weight showed it was steadily going down again, in tiny increments. Perfect. As proof, I tried on a green puffer jacket worn around Scotland in 2015, but too tight to do up in recent years. Happy sigh.

Winter has truly set in, here in New Zealand, so this puffer jacket will get some wear. We are fortunate in Auckland, though, that we can still walk or cycle all year, so I will be keeping up my exercise as well. I wish you all health and good heart!

Goodness, I’m not sure what happened? I think I slumped into an almost comatose state listening to my audiobooks and watching Lightbox and Netflix and forgot to be communicative. Sorry.

We’ve been a week into level 3 now, which is much like level 4 but with small business opportunities for shopping online, take away food and coffee, and being able to drive within the region to enjoy a break from the house. As a result of all this strict observance, I am thrilled to say that today was the second day WITH NO NEW CASES OF COVID-19! It means that the level 4 lockdown worked, but until the next week goes by, we won’t know if level 3 has maintained the good effort. Watch this space.

On a lighter note, I’ve seen less and less of Con and Rona, who have been disgraceful in their conduct. I’m ashamed to put the following pictures up, but I need to be honest with you, my readers. Last sight of Con was on the front of this newspaper:

Yes, there he is wandering in a crowd of people NOT keeping their distance. He’s not going to be allowed back inside my bubble, that’s for sure.

And as for Rona! Last seen partying away on Bondi Beach – although how she got to Australia I don’t know. She’s innovative, so probably stowed away on a cargo plane. Another one never intruding in my bubble again.

I will say, the lockdown obviously did her figure a LOT OF GOOD, unlike my own.

Yes, my most creative efforts have gone into the creation of food, and even so, I’m a bit tired of my own cooking. I have – after a few weeks of more indulgent baking – tightened the belt, emptied the flour bin, ceased buying treats at last. Here are some recent food efforts and you can see they are looking more healthy.

HOWEVER, when we were moved into level 3 a week ago, I cycled to Henderson and stood at a table in front of a cafe I enjoy – Little Sister – who created a delicious take away meal for me. By the time I got it home on my bike tucked under the rack, it was a tad cold, but still very tasty and best of all, cooked by SOMEONE ELSE.

I am still working two days a week from home for the university, and after a shaky start, all my software and apps are functioning properly. So work is fine, and our online meetings are a fun way to stay in touch.

Auckland region is suffering a drought after weeks and weeks of little rain – we’re nearly at a third capacity in our dams. So it is with some relief I say that some heavy squalls are blowing over right now, and cycling anywhere has become an effort. I went for a long one yesterday in blue skies, and a sudden bank of black cloud blew up and before you know it I was trapped waiting under a motorway overbridge while rain poured down. Eventually I just gave up and got wet, and was thrilled that my battery took the brunt of the sturdy headwinds coming my way and the icy rain that hammered my head. How refreshing!

I’ll leave this update with some pics that I shared to my workplace, as part of our fun social communication these days. We were asked to provide some pics of our travel in the past, and how we might recreate it during lockdown, so these were a fun memory brought to life from home. Enjoy.