Weezl and friends Phase 2 -giving it a whirl for Shirl! Testing meal plan for a month

queen_of_string

Who's Tom?

shanks77

I used to love constructing programs in my techie days. All this tech talk is making me want to explore the world of creating websites, and maybe even make a few bob from them (that's bob with a lower case 'b' not a Bob). I have never done one. My techie days were spent creating solutions to business problems that were run either batch overnight or on pseudo conversational screen programs (that little sentence should shake out the long distance techs amongst us!)

?????????????????????????????????????????????????????? That shows how techie i am:rotfl::rotfl:

Dick_here

shanks77 wrote: »

My techie days were spent creating solutions to business problems that were run either batch overnight or on pseudo conversational screen programs

That's what some people still spend their working hours doing, so I'm told... so don't think your 'old-fashioned' skillset is now redundant

weezl74

hello chaps

Shanks I've made all your changes now, and I'm not cross or chasing up the M6 with a pitchfork

How much do people feel it is important/helpful/essential etc for shirley/kitty's plans to go above the 5 a day?

Or do people feel 'just' 5 a day is right?

I've been pondering this a lot of late, and would appreciate as many views as people are willing to give

LURKERS, this includes you!

artybear

I personally think 5 a day is fine, unless you have a massive surplus of fruit to add to the planner?

I know that the 5 a day is a silly rule in reality as various countries have different guidelines but at least it is one everyone feels happy with here.

I was veggie for 8 years and probably still only had 'just' 5 a day (although I am a student, a group not generally known for great diets:D:o) so probably the average veggie would have alot more. However if it is a problem on the planner (and fruit is very expensive:eek:) I think 'just' 5 a day is an acceptable standard.

Hope that makes sense??:)

Also I hope you are less frazzled today weezl and the boys slept for you (do babies sleep at this age?? I have no idea-I slept for 8hours a night from 6 weeks but not sure thats the norm??:cool:)

Lesley_Gaye

weezl74 wrote: »

hello chaps

Shanks I've made all your changes now, and I'm not cross or chasing up the M6 with a pitchfork

How much do people feel it is important/helpful/essential etc for shirley/kitty's plans to go above the 5 a day?

Or do people feel 'just' 5 a day is right?

I've been pondering this a lot of late, and would appreciate as many views as people are willing to give

LURKERS, this includes you!

with our tiny budget, to achieve 5 a day is fantastic. 'Real' recommendations are more like 10-12, but that is too much for most people in the UK to even think about attempting

if we can get more in without compromising other things, that would be super duper for the health of Bob's and Shirley's everywhere

what are you thinking of doing?

Lesley_Gaye

!!!!!!_here wrote: »

That's what some people still spend their working hours doing, so I'm told... so don't think your 'old-fashioned' skillset is now redundant

aah thanks !!!!!!. I do think my skill set is from the Ark sometimes. Although other times, people ask me to do something for them, or explain something that I consider extremely basic, and it reminds me how much I have learnt over the years

Helen105

artybear wrote: »

Also I hope you are less frazzled today weezl and the boys slept for you (do babies sleep at this age?? I have no idea-I slept for 8hours a night from 6 weeks but not sure thats the norm??:cool:)

I wish my GS was like you Arty. I was on night duty last night as DD has an exam today, and we had an interesting chat at 1.30 and then again at 5.

With regards to the 5 a day, I think we should regard this as a must and anything that goes over a bonus. This is a minimal cost plan after all and there have to be compromises sometimes.

weezl74

interesting thoughts helen, arty and lesley (and more please-lurkers-I can seeeeeee you!)

At the moment we have quite a bit more than the 5 a day in both planners, especially when we follow the logic that a dish containing say 70g of veg one and 90g of veg 2 is just as good as a dish containing exactly 80g each of veggies one and two

My main reason for querying it, is that keeping it quite a bit higher than the 5 a day does mean other compromises nutritionally for shirley and kitty.

And, (sorry Lesley ) I'm not actually sure about the view that says '5 is ok but 9 or 10 would be better' but I'm happy to be proved wrong. It's just that I've hunted high and low and can't find anything to substantiate it from a health point of view.

New research is suggesting that above 5 a day is only helpful in reducing incidents of smoking-related cancers, not other types of cancer. This is because more 'goodness' is needed to offset the cell damage done by the cigarettes. In America where fruit consumption has gone mad, there are increasing concerns that fruit sugar in the diet is responsible for at least some of the crisis of obesity and diabetes.

It also worries me a bit at a (sorry) political level because even in the developed world we do not have enough supply of fruit and veg per capita (including that which we import) to give everyone in the UK 5 a day (most of Europe has and imports enough fruit and veg to allow just under 4 of the '5 a day' daily) the developing world has enough for 2-3 portions per person daily.

So I get uneasy putting 8 a day in a subsistence planner.

I'm reminded of slogans like: 'the world has enough for everyone's need, but not enough for everyne's greed'

My worry is just that because it's about fruit and veg, it's never perceived as 'greed'. That's about naughty things like cheese and chocolate, right? Well no, not really.

The majority of winter potatoes eaten in the uk are grown in the desert in Egypt. There is no nutrient in the sand, and no water, so twice a day, water is pumped from a depth of 50 Nelson's columns, has fertiliser added and the potatoes are irrigated. Potatoes aren't indigenous to Egypt, so the seed potatoes have originally come from scotland. Potatoes don't travel well on their 3 week trip to the uk from egypt, they bump together too. So they have to be buried in nice wet peat. From Egypt? nope, from Ireland EIRE.

So potatoes in the UK in winter have been taken from scotland to egypt and back again, surrounded by mud which has come from Ireland to egypt and back again. Our motorways and shipping lanes are full of food making countless, pointless journeys.

This troubles me.

So certainly not meaning to offend anyone, and I know it is a very popular view, but I'm becoming less convinced that at a health level, global level or environmental level more than 5 a day is better.

I am very willing to hear the other side of the story though

poohbear59

I agree on keeping to the five a day. Lots of people still struggle to achieve five a day when spending bucket loads of money on food so the fact that this plan is actually meeting the five a day is brilliant.

ETA As our posts crossed I just wanted to say that I firmly believe as you do that transporting foods half way around the world so that we can have fresh foods 12 months of the year and all have our 8 a day, or whatever, is wrong on an environmental and political level.