Tag Archives: No more diets!

Healthy Eating… No More Diets…The plan that works…It really does…

Welcome to this week’s Healthy Eating…

Cheat week this week as by now I am on my way to see a friend until Friday so I have copied a previous post one of my early Healthy eating posts…But I will be back as normal next week…With news of my exploits and hopefully, the scales won’t tell too much of a tale of any excesses…haha…Holidays are to be enjoyed are they not??

Now to an earlier post but the advice stays the same and all these months later tHe weight is still coming off…If you have read this before ..my apologises but it may serve as a timely reminder it did for me…and for my new followers or anyone who hasn’t read the following…It works! FACT!

My first sourdough loaf is cooked, eaten and was divine…I was so chuffed at the lovely comments I received…Of course, I had to sample it in the name of quality control and with proper butter as well…haha…

It was lovely I thoroughly enjoyed it…No guilt…Just pure enjoyment…It was healthy( wholemeal) grass-fed butter and my home-baked bread …I savoured every mouthful…

Hubby ate the rest either a sandwich or toasted…

Sourdough Wholemeal loaf

The rest of the week has been just normal healthy eating and walking which has increased due to 2 factors one is that our granddaughter is staying with us for 8 weeks( school ) holiday and two my smartwatch is keeping tabs on my steps…The daily recommended guidelines are 10,000 steps which sounds a lot but doable…

As you know I advocate eating healthy balanced meals I don’t believe in cutting out food groups like meat, most fruits or pasta/rice/potatoes…I do believe we should avoid or eat little highly processed foods, food with added sugars, we should choose good quality cooking oils, avoid excessive intake of high mercury fish like tuna…Alcohol enjoy just not in excess. 

For me, that is easy to follow and coupled with the 16/8 intermittent fasting and exercise I am seeing results.

That hasn’t always been the case...At this moment I am the lightest I have been for a good few years …I have also accepted I will never be the weight I was when I married… More fat on a chip my husband used to say…haha

Life happened, I got married, I had kids… I ate what they didn’t, I worked and shopped in my lunch hour and while queuing to pay eyed the strategically placed sweets by the till ( those stores) know how to tempt one don’t they? The mums and friends who mean well…Just have one…That won’t hurt…

box four doughnuts iced

I feel your pain I know what you have been through or going through so does my friend Sally…Who is a Certified Nutritionist and knows the pitfalls and curve balls life throws at us …Both of us have struggled with weight at times during our lives …

It ain’t easy and while I may make it appear to be …I have eaten my share of what I shouldn’t and moderation did not come into it…I am now older and wiser…haha…Believe what you will…But I have realised I need to cherish this body as it is the one and only one I have or will have…Better late than never…

How to manage people…The well-meaning ones of course…

And remember…Losing weight is not a sprint, it is a marathon and your mental and emotional attitude towards the project is a key factor in your successful weight loss.

Sally’s posts are both informative with a little humour and she will tell you it is not easy she knows but I will let her tell you her story…

https://smorgasbordinvitation.wordpress.com/2019/03/16/smorgasbord-health-column-size-matters-the-sequel-before-you-get-started-managing-people-environment/

♦♦♦♦♦

Stuck for Recipes? Need some inspiration?…

Honey…Nectar of the Gods and so good for us…Sally will tell you the why and I will provide the recipes…Enjoy!

 

https://smorgasbordinvitation.wordpress.com/2019/03/13/smorgasbord-health-rewind-cook-from-scratch-with-sally-cronin-and-carol-taylor-honey-nectar-of-the-gods/

♦♦♦♦♦

Diets come and go...Faddy things aren’t they? Mostly a flash in the pan and not sustainable…A new one has arisen…A hybrid of the Paleo diet and the Vegan diet…All the good bits…The Pegan Diet…

I know it just had to happen, didn’t it?

The basics of the Pegan Diet…3/4 vegetables and 1/4 meat/fish @ each meal, the meat/fish from good quality sources…( no hormones and antibiotics)…It focuses on eating more fibre and low glycemic index fruits, eliminating sugar, dairy unless it comes from ( goat/sheep) products eating little or no highly processed foods thus avoiding foods produced using chemicals and pesticides…eliminating legumes except for lentils…

Great in theory and first glance and sounds similar to what I believe in however it is quite restrictive and would need some planning and the bottom line is we need a Healthy Balanced Diet…No eliminating essential foods… It seems to me that the people who market and promote all these diets think they have to come up with something new all of the time and I suppose celebrity endorsements don’t help that trend…

Frankly just because a celebrity endorses a product doesn’t mean it works…No one size fits all, no one’s lifestyle is the same as Fred’s next door we are all individuals with different needs, Stress levels, family commitments, work commitments so much factors into the equation…

Healthy Eating is a lifestyle choice and takes time to adjust…You will have blips or bad days/weeks but it is how you deal with it…

We just need to eat sensible, normal healthy foods and a balanced diet…Most of the time.

♦♦♦♦♦

 

Smartwatch Corner.

Smart phone and watch

I am still impressed with my new toy…I will say it keeps me focused…

So far I use the step counter…It does have other functions like running and workouts but I enjoy walking …The recommended daily steps are 10,000 which is doable…..Last Thursday I achieved 14,000 plus steps in one day…I was out and about doing kids things and shopping so although tired it was a revelation as to how many steps I did do that day…An average day for me is 6-7000 I am working on getting to 10,000 more often…

The other function I love is the sleep function...

lady sleeping

It shows 3 levels, Deep sleep, light sleep and Rem sleep plus gives you the normal range and tells you where you are in that either normal, high or low. Plus it gives your overall hours of sleep, how many times you woke up with an explanation of your total hours of sleep and how long you were in the stages and what happens to your body while you are in each stage of sleep…

It also offers an explanation as to what causes any changes and how you can remedy it with links to other sites for further info.

I am finding this really interesting as I am gradually seeing a pattern forming and am realising which factors are influencing my sleep for example what I am doing prior to sleep or what I have been drinking as I don’t eat after 8pm.

It also tells me my heart rate …An explanation can also be found on heart rates.

What I do find amusing is the little green man who buzzes and waves at me when I have been inactive for a while…

It also has other functions which I don’t use yet or may not as I purchased this mainly to keep a little eye on my health. Which while it may not be exactly spot on but accurate as these can be but as the watch is on your pulse give or take a few beats it is accurate enough for me…

Thank you for reading and please tell me in comments your thoughts if you have a smartwatch…x

About Carol Taylor:

Enjoying life in The Land Of Smiles I am having so much fun researching, finding new, authentic recipes both Thai and International to share with you. New recipes gleaned from those who I have met on my travels or are just passing through and stopped for a while. I hope you enjoy them.

I love shopping at the local markets, finding fresh, natural ingredients, new strange fruits and vegetable ones I have never seen or cooked with. I am generally the only European person and attract much attention and I love to try what I am offered and when I smile and say Aroy or Saab as it is here in the north I am met with much smiling.

Some of my recipes may not be in line with traditional ingredients and methods of cooking but are recipes I know and have become to love and maybe if you dare to try you will too. You will always get more than just a recipe from me as I love to research and find out what other properties the ingredients I use contain to improve our health and wellbeing.

The environment is also something I am passionate about and there will be more on this on my blog this year

Exciting for me hence the title of my blog, Retired No One Told Me! I am having a wonderful ride and don’t want to get off, so if you wish to follow me on my adventures, then welcome! I hope you enjoy the ride also and if it encourages you to take a step into the unknown or untried, you know you want to…….Then, I will be happy!

More and more of my blogging friends have joined me on MeWe…A social media site which is fairly new and which promises much without the restrictions some other social media sites are choosing to impose on many of us…Join me if you will on  mewe.com/i/caroltaylor3 

 

Carol is a contributor to the Phuket Island Writers Anthology: https://www.amazon.com/Phuket-Island-Writers-Anthology-Stories-ebook/dp/B00RU5IYNS

Connect to Carol

Blog: https://carolcooks2.com/
Twitterhttps://twitter.com/TheRealCarolT
Facebookhttps://www.facebook.com/carol.taylor.1422

Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/caroltaylor56/pins/

Thank you once again for reading this post I hope you all have a great week xx

CarolCooks2…Weekly roundup…Cempedak Fruit, Cravings and more…

Just in case you missed any posts this week…They are all here in one post so grab your favourite chair and a drink, settle down and enjoy…There are recipes, music, A rant from me …News that the Uk has a new PM…Boris Johnson…He is certainly making himself known and rattling a few cages…Will he succeed where others have failed? Will he unite the country…I sure hope somebody does…

The first post of last week came out as scheduled…I was in sunny Phuket and had a wonderful time my tan is topped up my skin is golden brown…That sea air did the trick…What did my post reveal ?….we have Meth- Gators…truly… the thought is quite scary…Isn’t it? But also lots of good news…Conservation and cleanups…

https://carolcooks2.com/2019/07/29/latest-news-on-plastic-recycling-and-climate-change/

Back from my 5 days od sun, sea and sand and the good was my weight stayed the same…To say that was one of life’s miracles is not true…I did increase my food and alcohol consumption BUT I also increased my exercise …Laps of the said pool and more walking…Who doesn’t like a stroll along the beach???

bangtao-beach-Phuket

https://carolcooks2.com/2019/07/31/eat-smart-eat-healthily-and-lose-weight-no-gimmicks-just-common-sense-the-graham-diet/

Whimsical Wednesday is where I can indulge myself…Mainly in past happenings…Things or people we should not forget… all sorts… The peter pan of pop…Sir Cliff Richard…Did you know he has sold over 250 million records worldwide? A short story from me…It was also National Avocado day last week…

Avocado two halves

https://carolcooks2.com/2019/07/31/whimsical-wednesday-with-carol-7/

As I was just back from sunny Phuket and catching up with my daughter I came back on a real high and had an extra spring in my steps…My head was buzzing with lots of ideas but I couldn’t settle so as Saangchai has been bugging me to do a blog post once again I resurrected an old one and let him have a few words and I might just might give him a monthly spot…

Yeah…my mistress has given in…woof …I will be back peeps..but before then I do have a guest spot over at the lovely Tori’s blog with the very pretty Lilley…on 23rd August…My guest spot debut…I might even get asked for my pawprint…Fame at last…woof

https://carolcooks2.com/2019/08/01/dogs-are-not-our-whole-life-but-they-make-our-life-whole-saangchai-and-soi-dogs/

Cempedak fruit was a new one on me and my daughter and her other half just loved it…I must say the Thai batter using rice flour is so very light and crispy…I ate way too many of them but they were such moreish little crispy bundles of fruit…and that BBQ mackerel were so moist and tasty but I can get that here …It is my new favourite fish at the moment.

Thai Cempedak Fruit

https://carolcooks2.com/2019/08/02/this-week-in-my-kitchen-cempedak-fruit-crispy-belly-pork-and-more/

Lastly, it was then over to the lovely Sally @Smorgasbord Health Magazine…Part Four of her series on cravings and we all have those some quite normal like chocolate…but coal maybe a little weird and even our pets …So pop over to Sally’s and it may be a revelation and just some dietary tweaks and cravings begone…

https://smorgasbordinvitation.wordpress.com/2019/07/31/smorgasbord-health-column-what-causes-your-cravings-part-four-coal-dirt-and-other-strange-stuff-by-sally-cronin/

That’s all for my roundup this week…Thank you for reading this post I do hope you found plenty to like and enjoy…Have a great weekend xxx

See you Monday for the latest recycling and environmental news and please wherever you are or what you are doing or buying think of its carbon footprint…x

About Carol Taylor:

Enjoying life in The Land Of Smiles I am having so much fun researching, finding new, authentic recipes both Thai and International to share with you. New recipes gleaned from those who I have met on my travels or are just passing through and stopped for a while. I hope you enjoy them.

I love shopping at the local markets, finding fresh, natural ingredients, new strange fruits and vegetable ones I have never seen or cooked with. I am generally the only European person and attract much attention and I love to try what I am offered and when I smile and say Aroy or Saab as it is here in the north I am met with much smiling.

Some of my recipes may not be in line with traditional ingredients and methods of cooking but are recipes I know and have become to love and maybe if you dare to try you will too. You will always get more than just a recipe from me as I love to research and find out what other properties the ingredients I use contain to improve our health and wellbeing.

The environment is also something I am passionate about and there will be more on this on my blog this year

Exciting for me hence the title of my blog, Retired No One Told Me! I am having a wonderful ride and don’t want to get off, so if you wish to follow me on my adventures, then welcome! I hope you enjoy the ride also and if it encourages you to take a step into the unknown or untried, you know you want to…….Then, I will be happy!

Carol is a contributor to the Phuket Island Writers Anthology: https://www.amazon.com/Phuket-Island-Writers-Anthology-Stories-ebook/dp/B00RU5IYNS

Connect to Carol

Blog: https://carolcooks2.com/
Twitterhttps://twitter.com/TheRealCarolT
Facebookhttps://www.facebook.com/carol.taylor.1422

Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/caroltaylor56/pins/

Thank you for reading …Have a great weekend xx

 

Healthy Eating…Eat Smart…Have you reached a plateau?

Welcome to this week’s Healthy Eating…I have discussed different ways of eating and foods, how sleep affects us and intermittent fasting but how is it for you guys? Do you find it easy? Do you struggle at certain times of the day? Or are you doing everything right and you are just stuck…Have you hit a plateau?

For me when that happens I just increase my walking add an extra days walk or walk a lot faster or even go and clean some windows which trust me in this heat you are guaranteed to work up a sweat and lose some pounds…

But why do we hit a plateau? I will leave that up to Sally to explain that as she is the expert …Sally will take you through why your body hits a plateau step by step…Because of course if you have been doing well and eating healthily then we don’t want to give up, do we? After our hard work, of course, we don’t.

https://smorgasbordinvitation.wordpress.com/2019/05/04/smorgasbord-health-column-size-matters-the-sequel-weightloss-hitting-the-plateau-by-sally-cronin/

My little plateau is over and I have mislaid another 2 lbs just a little more and I will be below the next stone I have set myself a target as we are going to Bangkok to meet up with our eldest son for the weekend in two weeks time …I am hoping he will notice the difference as we haven’t seen him since the beginning of February…

Now generally the only exercise I do is walking…I have never been a fan of the gym…But I want to tone up my arms I only wear sleeveless dresses and tops here so I think…No, I know I really need to just firm them up as I am losing weight …I found this little video and it is easy well you can feel that burn at the halfway mark but it gets easier and I feel a lot better…No jumping about just some lovely little exercises which take 5 minutes out of my day…Let me know how you get on…x

After all that I think we need to eat…Mangoes are in season at the moment so let’s have some mango chicken,,,,

For the Mango Sauce:

  • 2 fresh ripe mangos, fruit scooped out (or substitute 2 cups frozen or canned mango)
  • 1 red chilli, de-seeded and diced, or 1 tsp chilli sauce or 1/2 tsp dried crushed chilli
  • 1 tbsp rice vinegar.
  • 1 1/2 tbsp soy sauce
  • 2 tbsp fish sauce
  • Juice of 1/2 lime
  • 1 tbsp brown sugar
  • 1 thumb-size piece ginger, sliced
  • 3 cloves garlic
  • 1/4 tsp turmeric
  • 2 kaffir lime leaves, Take out the vein and roll and finely shred.

 

For the Chicken:

  • 1 cup all-purpose flour (or rice flour)
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 2 to 3 chicken breasts, cut into 2-inch-long pieces or you can cook the chicken breasts whole and slice..I have tried both ways and think I prefer to slice first.
  • 1/4 cup oil for pan-frying
  • 1 red bell pepper
  • 1/2 to 1 mango, cut into chunks (to finish the dish) optional.
  • 3 to 4 tbsp coconut juice or water.
  • 1/4 to 1/2 cup fresh coriander, chopped. 

Let’s Cook! 

Place the 2 ripe mango cut into chunks, red chilli, rice vinegar, soy sauce, fish sauce, lime juice, brown sugar, ginger, garlic, turmeric and kaffir lime leaves in a food processor or blender. Blitz well, until more or less smooth.

Taste the sauce.

You should have a balance of sweet, sour, spicy, and salty. Add more sugar if you find the sauce too sour (this will depend on the sweetness of your mangoes). If not spicy enough, add more chilli. If not salty/flavourful enough, add more fish sauce. If too salty or too sweet, add more lime juice. Play with your flavours add a little at a time and keep tasting as you can always add more it is harder to adjust the balance if you have put too much of one thing in…Just keep tasting…

Set to one side.

Then In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour and salt. Add the chicken pieces and turn or gently stir them to coat evenly.

Heat a wok or frying pan over medium-high heat. Add the oil, then begin frying the chicken pieces, 3 to 5 minutes per side, or until light golden brown and cooked through. Remove chicken from pan and set on a paper towel.

Lastly, put a pan over medium-high heat and add the mango sauce plus red pepper. Bring to a gentle rolling boil, then reduce to a simmer and cook until the peppers have softened but are still a little crispy

If the sauce becomes too thick, add 3 to 4 tablespoons water.

Add the fried chicken pieces, gently stirring them into the sauce. If desired, add chunks of mango (fruit of 1/2 to 1 ripe mango). Simmer briefly, just until everything is hot.

Do a final taste-test for salt (tasting the sauce together with the chicken). Add a little more fish sauce or chilli if desired.

Transfer to a serving dish. Sprinkle with fresh coriander or some lightly pickled vegetables or deep fry some julienned vegetables and serve with  Thai jasmine-scented rice or rice of your choice if you are trying to reduce your calories then cauliflower rice makes a lovely accompaniment.

If you prefer fish then this sauce goes equally well with fish just slice your fish into goujons and cook then add to the sauce.

Enjoy!

Smart Phone Corner…

 

It keeps a  record of everything this phone…Last night I woke up 5 times or so it said …I sort of vaguely remember stirring but 5 times it also told me to drink less water…I must admit I probably did drink quite a lot of water b4 I went to sleep so it could right…

screen shot huawei phone fitness app

But looking at the screenshot 3 of those were when I woke up early and just lay there dozing so it must have clocked that…a little smart so and so isn’t it?

But I like the displays they are easy to read and informative …It also keeps me on track and I have a record of my weight loss, sleep patterns and exercise as in walking although I believe I can set it to record my arm exercises and of course it checks my heart rate

I hope you have enjoyed this post and if you have any comments or suggestions, recipes anything please share…Enjoy your week xxx

About Carol Taylor:

Enjoying life in The Land Of Smiles I am having so much fun researching, finding new, authentic recipes both Thai and International to share with you. New recipes gleaned from those who I have met on my travels or are just passing through and stopped for a while. I hope you enjoy them.

I love shopping at the local markets, finding fresh, natural ingredients, new strange fruits and vegetable ones I have never seen or cooked with. I am generally the only European person and attract much attention and I love to try what I am offered and when I smile and say Aroy or Saab as it is here in the north I am met with much smiling.

Some of my recipes may not be in line with traditional ingredients and methods of cooking but are recipes I know and have become to love and maybe if you dare to try you will too. You will always get more than just a recipe from me as I love to research and find out what other properties the ingredients I use contain to improve our health and wellbeing.

The environment is also something I am passionate about and there will be more on this on my blog this year

Exciting for me hence the title of my blog, Retired No One Told Me! I am having a wonderful ride and don’t want to get off, so if you wish to follow me on my adventures, then I bid you welcome! I hope you enjoy the ride also and if it encourages you to take a step into the unknown or untried, you know you want to…….Then, I will be happy!

Carol is a contributor to the Phuket Island Writers Anthology: https://www.amazon.com/Phuket-Island-Writers-Anthology-Stories-ebook/dp/B00RU5IYNS

Connect to Carol

Blog: https://carolcooks2.com/
Twitterhttps://twitter.com/TheRealCarolT
Facebookhttps://www.facebook.com/carol.taylor.1422
Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/caroltaylor56/pins/ 

MeWe is a new social media and one which many of us are turning to mainly migrating over to as FB has banned many of my friends and for what seems no good reason that we can see I hope you will join us there.

MeWe: mewe.com/i/caroltaylor3

Healthy Eating…Eat Smart…No More Diets…

Welcome to this week’s Healthy Eating…How has your week gone? Are you finding the going tough, easy or a little in between …Good days and bad days…We all have those and we can’t change the past but we can change the future…

Cutting out the Samsung and soda( although) the soda was just carbonated water, the biscuits with my tea and increasing my exercise is working wonders… I have lost another 1.9 kilos this week although I am sure Sunday’s trip to the park helped greatly…He who shall not be named said let’s go down this road it will be quicker…To give you an idea a trip to the park from my house and back is probably around 4,000 steps…I clocked nearly 12,000 steps…Needless to say, he who shall be nameless will be ignored if he ever suggests a shortcut again…

I am really pleased as got to think ing about a goal weight and I fixed one in my head and my very smart watch also suggested one which was similar to what I had decided …That was until I read my friend Sally post over at Smorgasbord magazine where she talked in-depth about our ideal weight and how to calculate it…It was 10 kg less than my smartwatch and mine which was only based on what I used to weigh when I married and thinking I was too thin then and it wouldn’t suit me now and I have had children…

My decision was to split the difference which is 5 kg less than my original target…

 

I will now hand you over to Sally because quite frankly Size Matters to most of us for different reasons but it also matters that we are happy and healthy and eat a balanced diet…

https://smorgasbordinvitation.wordpress.com/2019/03/30/smorgasbord-health-column-size-matters-the-sequel-weightloss-how-much-should-you-weigh/

Once you have popped over to Sally’s and worked out your ideal weight…If it seems a lot cut it down into small targets and it could take a year or even more but by that time you and your family will all be eating healthily and be fit and well…

It will become much more of a lifestyle if all the family is included …Healthwise many of the chronic diseases today are caused by our lifestyles and what we eat… We are allowing these manufacturers to get away with murder as that is what it can amount to…Gone are the days when we could buy food safe in the knowledge that it was good for us…

We may be busy and work 24/7 or not have much money to spare but healthy eating requires thought and action and need not be expensive.

The kids don’t like vegetables or salad or ?????

If they are hungry they will eat… If they help grow or prepare and cook their food…They are more likely to eat it… We need to be sneaky as parents…Yep, you heard…A slice of tomato or beetroot, a piece of carrot in their smoothie and they won’t know they will just love the taste…Who doesn’t love a smoothie?? But it gets that veg down them and as they get older …tell them the truth…

Generally, fussy parents begat fussy kids so before you say you don’t like something think you might be making your kids even fussier! That is the truth it wasn’t until we had our restaurant that I realised many of the adults were fussier than the kids …Grown men who wouldn’t touch a vegetable at all..but happily down 10 pints of beer with crisps…True…

Where to start???

I would start by clearing my food cupboards, fridge and freezer… Read the packets with the kids, look up the words you don’t know do a little research, learn how they affect the human body and our kids, learn what chronic diseases they are linked to…Take charge…Decide what preservatives and chemicals you or your children shouldn’t be exposed to… Know what foods they are in… Boycott those foods…Don’t buy them…

Make them a smoothie who doesn’t love a smoothie?

Papaya, Banana and Lime Smoothie.

This one has just 4 ingredients.

Half a papaya….  seeds removed.

1 banana

4 fl oz of coconut milk

1-1 1/2 limes. I like to taste the lime so I would add one and a half hubby prefers just 1 lime.

But like with anything….and you know what I am going to say…Don’t you??? TASTE.

Blitz the papaya and banana with the coconut milk then add your lime juice, Taste and add more if required.

Papaya,Banana,Lime smoothie

Pour into a chilled glass and enjoy!

If you want a more frozen smoothie then just freeze the papaya and banana. I always keep bags of frozen fruit for smoothies…I just didn’t want brain freeze today…haha.

Sometimes I add a few slices of tomato, carrot, beetroot it is a great way to get some veggies and with fruit, they taste great…

Smartwatch Corner…

Smart phone and watch

I am still impressed with my new toy…I will say it keeps me focused…

There is also more and more growing evidence that eating fat doesn’t make us fat it is the sugar we eat which makes us fat…

Which leads me to what I have discovered that Fitbit and Apple are exploring a little known technology which could be the answer to healthy eating and peak performance.

  • Fitbit, Apple, and Google are investing in continuous glucose monitors that let people track their blood sugar and see how food affects their body.
  • Usually used only by diabetics, the devices could provide key insight to other people who want to eat better, lose weight, and even improve athletic performance.

It is a really interesting article as yes I want to look after my body even at this time of my life BUT I know I feel better for losing weight, cutting out processed and foods which have added sugars but I can’t see inside my body and really know immediately how a certain food reacts  and effects me…

I think that is why the sleep patterns interest me as every day I can see how long I slept, how much time I was in each stage of sleep and whether it is normal, low or high with an explanation…

I am really getting into this sleep malarkey or understanding how beneficial to our health and bodies sleep is… I now also know that when I was drinking and sometimes it was in excess of the daily recommended guidelines …A couple of times I woke suddenly, panicked and eventually calmed down but found it difficult to get back to sleep…It scared me… It was because the alcohol was affecting my REM sleep…

How to improve REM sleep

There are several ways to enhance both REM and NREM sleep to reap the benefits of a good night’s sleep. The following tips may help improve REM sleep:

Establish a bedtime routine

Following the same bedtime routine, every night prepares the body and mind for sleep. A regular bedtime routine may help to maximize the amount of time asleep, potentially increasing the number of REM sleep phases experienced.

Reduce nighttime awakening.

Bright lights can interrupt sleep. For optimal sleeping conditions, switch off cell phones and other sources of noise, and remove light sources from the bedroom. Keep temperatures between 60 and 67 degrees Fahrenheit.

Get enough sleep

A healthy adult requires 7-9 hours of sleep a night. Sleeping less than this reduces the number of REM sleep phases experienced.

Address medical conditions

Certain medical conditions, such as sleep apnea, can affect sleep quality and impact REM sleep.

Avoid alcohol before bedtime

As moderate to high levels of alcohol intake before bed can reduce the number of REM sleep phases experienced, and any amount delays entering the first REM phase, it is advisable to avoid alcohol consumption in the hours before bed.

A regular bedtime and an excess of the hard stuff were causing mine and as I haven’t had a repeat of that for a while I think I am correct.

Thank you for reading and please tell me in comments your thoughts if you have a smartwatch and how you get on with it…x

About Carol Taylor:

Enjoying life in The Land Of Smiles I am having so much fun researching, finding new, authentic recipes both Thai and International to share with you. New recipes gleaned from those who I have met on my travels or are just passing through and stopped for a while. I hope you enjoy them.

I love shopping at the local markets, finding fresh, natural ingredients, new strange fruits and vegetable ones I have never seen or cooked with. I am generally the only European person and attract much attention and I love to try what I am offered and when I smile and say Aroy or Saab as it is here in the north I am met with much smiling.

Some of my recipes may not be in line with traditional ingredients and methods of cooking but are recipes I know and have become to love and maybe if you dare to try you will too. You will always get more than just a recipe from me as I love to research and find out what other properties the ingredients I use contain to improve our health and wellbeing.

The environment is also something I am passionate about and there will be more on this on my blog this year

Exciting for me hence the title of my blog, Retired No One Told Me! I am having a wonderful ride and don’t want to get off, so if you wish to follow me on my adventures, then welcome! I hope you enjoy the ride also and if it encourages you to take a step into the unknown or untried, you know you want to…….Then, I will be happy!

More and more of my blogging friends have joined me on MeWe…A social media site which is fairly new and which promises much without the restrictions some other social media sites are choosing to impose on many of us…Join me if you will on  mewe.com/i/caroltaylor3 

 

Carol is a contributor to the Phuket Island Writers Anthology: https://www.amazon.com/Phuket-Island-Writers-Anthology-Stories-ebook/dp/B00RU5IYNS

Connect to Carol

Blog: https://carolcooks2.com/
Twitterhttps://twitter.com/TheRealCarolT
Facebookhttps://www.facebook.com/carol.taylor.1422

Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/caroltaylor56/pins/

Thank you once again for reading this post I hope you all have a great week xx

Healthy Eating… No More Diets…

Welcome to this week’s Healthy Eating…

How has your week been? Good or bad? Mine has gone well…I will get this over with my first sourdough loaf is cooked, eaten and was divine…I was so chuffed at the lovely comments I received…Of course, I had to sample it in the name of quality control and with proper butter as well…haha…

It was lovely I thoroughly enjoyed it…No guilt…Just pure enjoyment…It was healthy( wholemeal) grass-fed butter and my home baked bread …I savoured every mouthful…

Hubby ate the rest either a sandwich or toasted…

Sourdough Wholemeal loaf

The rest of the week has been just normal healthy eating and walking which has increased due to 2 factors one is that our granddaughter is staying with us for 8 weeks( school ) holiday and two my smartwatch is keeping tabs on my steps…The daily recommended guidelines are 10,000 steps which sounds a lot but doable…

As you know I advocate eating healthy balanced meals I don’t believe in cutting out food groups like meat, most fruits or pasta/rice/potatoes…I do believe we should avoid or eat little highly processed foods, food with added sugars, we should choose good quality cooking oils, avoid excessive intake of high mercury fish like tuna…Alcohol enjoy just not in excess. 

For me, that is easy to follow and coupled with the 16/8 intermittent fasting and exercise I am seeing results.

That hasn’t always been the case...At this moment I am the lightest I have been for a good few years …I have also accepted I will never be the weight I was when I married… More fat on a chip my husband used to say…haha

Life happened, I got married, I had kids… I ate what they didn’t, I worked and shopped in my lunch hour and while queuing to pay eyed the strategically placed sweets by the till ( those stores) know how to tempt one don’t they? The mums and friends who mean well…Just have one…That won’t hurt…

box four doughnuts iced

I feel your pain I know what you have been through or going through so does my friend Sally…Who is a Certified Nutritionist and knows the pitfalls and curve balls life throws at us …Both of us have struggled with weight at times during our lives …

It ain’t easy and while I may make it appear to be …I have eaten my share of what I shouldn’t and moderation did not come into it…I am now older and wiser…haha…Believe what you will…But I have realised I need to cherish this body as it is the one and only one I have or will have…Better late than never…

How to manage people…The well-meaning ones of course…

And remember…Losing weight is not a sprint, it is a marathon and your mental and emotional attitude towards the project is a key factor in your successful weight loss.

Sally’s posts are both informative with a little humour and she will tell you it is not easy she knows but I will let her tell you her story…

https://smorgasbordinvitation.wordpress.com/2019/03/16/smorgasbord-health-column-size-matters-the-sequel-before-you-get-started-managing-people-environment/

♦♦♦♦♦

Stuck for Recipes? Need some inspiration?…

Honey…Nectar of the Gods and so good for us…Sally will tell you the why and I will provide the recipes…Enjoy!

 

https://smorgasbordinvitation.wordpress.com/2019/03/13/smorgasbord-health-rewind-cook-from-scratch-with-sally-cronin-and-carol-taylor-honey-nectar-of-the-gods/

♦♦♦♦♦

Diets come and go...Faddy things aren’t they? Mostly a flash in the pan and not sustainable…A new one has arisen…A hybrid of the Paleo diet and the Vegan diet…All the good bits…The Pegan Diet…

I know it just had to happen, didn’t it?

The basics of the Pegan Diet…3/4 vegetables and 1/4 meat/fish @ each meal, the meat/fish from good quality sources…( no hormones and antibiotics)…It focuses on eating more fibre and low glycemic index fruits, eliminating sugar, dairy unless it comes from ( goat/sheep) products eating little or no highly processed foods thus avoiding foods produced using chemicals and pesticides…eliminating legumes except for lentils…

Great in theory and first glance and sounds similar to what I believe in however it is quite restrictive and would need some planning and the bottom line is we need a Healthy Balanced Diet…No eliminating essential foods… It seems to me that the people who market and promote all these diets think they have to come up with something new all of the time and I suppose celebrity endorsements don’t help that trend…

Frankly just because a celebrity endorses a product doesn’t mean it works…No one size fits all, no one’s lifestyle is the same as Fred’s next door we are all individuals with different needs, Stress levels, family commitments, work commitments so much factors into the equation…

Healthy Eating is a lifestyle choice and takes time to adjust…You will have blips or bad days/weeks but it is how you deal with it…

We just need to eat sensible, normal healthy foods and a balanced diet…Most of the time.

♦♦♦♦♦

 

Smartwatch Corner.

Smart phone and watch

I am still impressed with my new toy…I will say it keeps me focused…

So far I use the step counter…It does have other functions like running and workouts but I enjoy walking …The recommended daily steps are 10,000 which is doable…..Last Thursday I achieved 14,000 plus steps in one day…I was out and about doing kids things and shopping so although tired it was a revelation as to how many steps I did do that day…An average day for me is 6-7000 I am working on getting to 10,000 more often…

The other function I love is the sleep function...

lady sleeping

It shows 3 levels, Deep sleep, light sleep and Rem sleep plus gives you the normal range and tells you where you are in that either normal, high or low. Plus it gives your overall hours of sleep, how many times you woke up with an explanation of your total hours of sleep and how long you were in the stages and what happens to your body while you are in each stage of sleep…

It also offers an explanation as to what causes any changes and how you can remedy it with links to other sites for further info.

I am finding this really interesting as I am gradually seeing a pattern forming and am realising which factors are influencing my sleep for example what I am doing prior to sleep or what I have been drinking as I don’t eat after 8pm.

It also tells me my heart rate …An explanation can also be found on heart rates.

What I do find amusing is the little green man who buzzes and waves at me when I have been inactive for a while…

It also has other functions which I don’t use yet or may not as I purchased this mainly to keep a little eye on my health. Which while it may not be exactly spot on but accurate as these can be but as the watch is on your pulse give or take a few beats it is accurate enough for me…

Thank you for reading and please tell me in comments your thoughts if you have a smartwatch…x

About Carol Taylor:

Enjoying life in The Land Of Smiles I am having so much fun researching, finding new, authentic recipes both Thai and International to share with you. New recipes gleaned from those who I have met on my travels or are just passing through and stopped for a while. I hope you enjoy them.

I love shopping at the local markets, finding fresh, natural ingredients, new strange fruits and vegetable ones I have never seen or cooked with. I am generally the only European person and attract much attention and I love to try what I am offered and when I smile and say Aroy or Saab as it is here in the north I am met with much smiling.

Some of my recipes may not be in line with traditional ingredients and methods of cooking but are recipes I know and have become to love and maybe if you dare to try you will too. You will always get more than just a recipe from me as I love to research and find out what other properties the ingredients I use contain to improve our health and wellbeing.

The environment is also something I am passionate about and there will be more on this on my blog this year

Exciting for me hence the title of my blog, Retired No One Told Me! I am having a wonderful ride and don’t want to get off, so if you wish to follow me on my adventures, then welcome! I hope you enjoy the ride also and if it encourages you to take a step into the unknown or untried, you know you want to…….Then, I will be happy!

More and more of my blogging friends have joined me on MeWe…A social media site which is fairly new and which promises much without the restrictions some other social media sites are choosing to impose on many of us…Join me if you will on  mewe.com/i/caroltaylor3 

 

Carol is a contributor to the Phuket Island Writers Anthology: https://www.amazon.com/Phuket-Island-Writers-Anthology-Stories-ebook/dp/B00RU5IYNS

Connect to Carol

Blog: https://carolcooks2.com/
Twitterhttps://twitter.com/TheRealCarolT
Facebookhttps://www.facebook.com/carol.taylor.1422

Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/caroltaylor56/pins/

Thank you once again for reading this post I hope you all have a great week xx

Healthy Eating…SmartWatch…

Welcome to Tuesdays Healthy eating post…It seems like last weeks post on Intermittent fasting is something many of you are following or thinking about it certainly seems to be the way forward and is on many health professionals radar…

Healthy eating is not about deprivation but about choosing foods for the well-being of the one body we have been given…I believe as do many that we need a healthy balanced diet and the occasional treat is fine and to be enjoyed…

When I stated what I had cut out last week it was foods I believed were having a negative impact on MY body…It is foods which have empty calories, do not add anything healthy to MY diet…That’s it!

You are in charge of yours and nothing wrong with having a drink of alcohol or a biscuit or two if you fancy it… for me altogether they were having a negative impact …

Enough of that…I have attached this little chart of Sally’s for you to check out if you want…No pressure here…just conversations as to what works for us as individuals no one size fits all…

fat accumalation chart

 

This little table certainly focused my mind… As did Sally’s and my recent post… together we are aiming to help you reach your goals…There are some great ideas to help you with your healthy eating and some straight talking from Sally…I just provide the recipes…

https://smorgasbordinvitation.wordpress.com/2019/03/09/smorgasbord-health-column-size-matters-the-sequel-emotional-factor-willpower-and-childish-things/

Nothing worthwhile in life is easy…Think about writing a novel….That bit is easy but what comes after …editing and rewrites etc BUT we do it…Healthy eating and or weight loss is just the same so… Let’s go and do it!

Stuck for recipes? Need some inspiration?…

In this series, we look at cooking and your diet from a different perspective. Usually, we emphasize the health benefits of food and how they can be incorporated into your diet. But, what happens if you do NOT include them in your diet.

We wanted to share with you what happens if your body is deprived of individual nutrients over an extended period of time.

https://smorgasbordinvitation.wordpress.com/2019/03/06/smorgasbord-health-column-with-sally-cronin-and-carol-taylor-cook-from-scratch-to-prevent-nutritional-deficiency-vitamin-b1-thiamin/

Smartwatch Corner!

I have a smartwatch….Yeah…It is smarter than me…Honestly not something I would ever have envisaged buying…Why? I am really not a gadgets person…Or one who has to have the latest phone person either…However when I could not have the apps I wanted on my phone because Samsung loaded all their bloatware and by the time they had done that it left me very little to play with and I ended up having to uninstall an app to add another app and my needs are small…I don’t play games, pay with my phone or any shopping channels not of my choosing…

This made me have a rethink and consequently, I bought another phone which allowed me to install the few apps I do have …It also had a pre-installed fitness app which one’s grandson alerted me too…Thank you, Aston x

It also focussed my mind…Told me how many steps I have taken in a day…Also, lots of other stuff if I wanted…I found I did…

legs people walking

Image by MabelAmber on Pixabay

Hence some research into smart watches …So starting next week there will be a smartwatch corner as I discover new things about it…That saying about there is life in the old dog yet is coming true…Haha

The lovely girl in the shop set it up and synced( get me) it to my phone…It has just waved at me and shown an image of someone getting up and walking…Please, I am writing…haha…

But joking aside it is showing me the error of my ways..She who tries but is not perfect..is listening oh hallowed smartwatch… just don’t get too smart…

It has however piqued my interest about my sleep pattern for example…I was normal on all counts the first night..It also explained every step with links …I was impressed as I like to know that statements on health are backed up by research…

Then life in the form of my grandsons birthday cake stepped in…I had two pieces and enjoyed them (I also) knew I should have stuck at one…The second was I am loving my Green tea but not a good idea to have a late night pot of the said green tea( caffeine)…My smartwatch had a hissy fit yesterday morning reflected in my sleep pattern stats…

It bloody knew…Haha

Once I had digested those stats and I didn’t like them one lickle bit but I also knew what caused the blip…This morning I woke up bright and bushy-tailed unlike yesterday and my sleep pattern was much better so hopefully, tomorrows will be back to absolute normal …Smartwatch it is… I am impressed (so far)

I am also impressed by how our bodies react…A wonderful piece of machinery which we can abuse and abuse and then we can much of the time apply a little moderation and TLC and it purrs like a well-tuned car…Mine will never be a Rolls Royce but maybe, just maybe a little Honda Jazz…

Until next week…xxxx

Thank you for reading and please tell me in comments your thoughts if you have a smartwatch…x

About Carol Taylor:

Enjoying life in The Land Of Smiles I am having so much fun researching, finding new, authentic recipes both Thai and International to share with you. New recipes gleaned from those who I have met on my travels or are just passing through and stopped for a while. I hope you enjoy them.

I love shopping at the local markets, finding fresh, natural ingredients, new strange fruits and vegetable ones I have never seen or cooked with. I am generally the only European person and attract much attention and I love to try what I am offered and when I smile and say Aroy or Saab as it is here in the north I am met with much smiling.

Some of my recipes may not be in line with traditional ingredients and methods of cooking but are recipes I know and have become to love and maybe if you dare to try you will too. You will always get more than just a recipe from me as I love to research and find out what other properties the ingredients I use contain to improve our health and wellbeing.

The environment is also something I am passionate about and there will be more on this on my blog this year

Exciting for me hence the title of my blog, Retired No One Told Me! I am having a wonderful ride and don’t want to get off, so if you wish to follow me on my adventures, then welcome! I hope you enjoy the ride also and if it encourages you to take a step into the unknown or untried, you know you want to…….Then, I will be happy!

More and more of my blogging friends have joined me on MeWe…A social media site which is fairly new and which promises much without the restrictions some other social media sites are choosing to impose on many of us…Join me if you will on  mewe.com/i/caroltaylor3 

 

Carol is a contributor to the Phuket Island Writers Anthology: https://www.amazon.com/Phuket-Island-Writers-Anthology-Stories-ebook/dp/B00RU5IYNS

Connect to Carol

Blog: https://carolcooks2.com/
Twitterhttps://twitter.com/TheRealCarolT
Facebookhttps://www.facebook.com/carol.taylor.1422

Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/caroltaylor56/pins/

Thank you once again for reading this post I hope you all have a great week xx