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

weezl74

wendy+5 wrote: »

What about giving Shirl 'permission' to use one, two, three or how ever many recipes she likes. Maybe she see the planner and feels overwhelmed. It's a lot to take in when she or DH has been made redundant or they have a couple of big bills come in.

Could you break it down a bit and say that using this planner for a week or two will save roughly X amount of pounds?

yes I'm very happy to do that

Would it go on the front page?

weezl74

Claw_back_money wrote: »

I've heard that following one of the TV cooks doing some recipe on TV, that lots of people went to supermarkets asking to buy 'tepid water'. I'm not sure if that's an urban myth? IMO that sort of misunderstanding is far less likely to happen with this site.

The site is fab in that in amongst carefully thought out recipes with associated shopping lists and tips, terms are explained, things described, and I know I followed a new recipe that was outside my comfort zone because I thought I understood what I needed to do.

Cbm

ETA - I postedthis because I don't think that the site needs a massive re-weezling to make it less scary - some of the intrinsic features will help with that. This is in response to both: questions about why people might benefit from dropping in and out of the site, and, questions about why people might find adopting the complete plan scary.

very helpful, thanks

this has been a helpful and inspiring bit of debate :beer::beer::beer:

mr_arty

Hi
Ive taken the experiment to the next level now – I have 6 meals which all have a price and a fat, salt and calorie content as well as amounts they require of the ingredients – salt, pasta, potatoes, chicken, beef, eggs and tomatoes. Of course I have just made these all up!
At the moment the program will try and find the cheapest way arranging a fortnights worth of main meals from the 6 meal I have made up. While doing this it ensures that limits on salt, fat and calories are obeyed. At the moment it also makes sure we only use full bags of rice and pasta but only those two ingredients.
What I have done so far is a scaled down version of what will be the final project in theory all it needs is more recipes and more constraints although the waste reduction part will need to become more sophisticated as at the moment it isn’t sufficient
Also hows the best way to get you my program email? Or like arty said earlier I use a website called dropbox which basically creates an online usb stick for you and will allow us to share a folder.

artybear

To have a look at what ive written you will need to do the following – (sorry if you know how to do any of these things or they are really simple just thought id write the full guide to ensure as little pain as possible)
1) Python 2.6.5 http://www.python.org/download/
2) Easy install for python 2.6 http://pypi.python.org/pypi/setuptools ( it’s at the bottom of the page the file is called [ setuptools-0.6c11-py2.6.egg (md5)]
3) Once you have installed these two you need to add python to your path im not sure what version of windows you are using but for vista and 7 you need to type environment into you search bar in the start bar then click on edit system environment variables in then click on the environment variables... button scroll down in system variables until you find one called path then click edit, in the bar go to the end of the section of text and type
;C:\Python26
You must include the semi colon joined on to the last character of the line. If you have xp then say and ill post how to do that too
4) You need to open a command prompt on vista/7 just type cmd and hit enter in your start bar search bar this will open a black screen of text then type (not the speech marks”
“Cd \” (cd stands for change directory)
Then “cd Python26”
Then “cd Scripts”
Then type “easy_install -U pulp”
This will install the linear programming module that Im using, now close the screen
5) Now you should be able to run my program you will need to place this program in a folder somewhere in your documents you will then need to find your way to this folder in the command prompt. To do this I recommend you place the file in a folder on your desktop so that when you open the command prompt screen you can type
“Cd Desktop”
“Cd (the name of the folder youve put the program in)”
Now to run the program type
“Python Test1_0.py”
This should hopefully run the program for you and you will see a lot of stuff appear on the screen ignore all of this apart from the lines after status: optimal – the quantities that start with num_ are the amount of times you will eat that recipe in 2 weeks and the quantities that start with amo_ are the number of bags of pasta and rice you will use.

If you have a look in the program using a program like programmers notepad (http://www.pnotepad.org/download/) (to do this just open the program using programmers notepad) you will see sort of how it all works – all the green stuff is comments which should explain how the program works.



Mr arty couldnt post links so doing it on mine. Sorry if it is confusingxxx

queen_of_string

artybear wrote: »

Wowie!!!!:D

I do think if I am size 8 my life will be perfect and things will be easy.

One of the main problems is Mr arty always tells me how lovely I look and I am worried about waking up a size 45 with him still telling me that and me believing him lol.

Just a quick personal share, I am now 40, I am nearly 14 stone and a size 16, this is the biggest I have ever been by about 2 stone and I am pleased to report that this is in no way impeding my life being the most perfect and lovely it has ever been.

Plus, maybe, to Mr Arty you would be? I know my OH just loves me, when I'm a 16 and when I'm a 12 just the same and would be the same at a size 45, though he would have some health concerns for me! Some men really, really aren't affected by all the stupid pron images and tv stars and models they have seen and like real people. ( Rumour has it some of them can even cope with the appearance of hairs on legs and even pubes ( which we all know are now officially banned)).

As far as the fish/ fishing debate goes, I am completely with Allegra.

I think that we all come with different capacities to cope with this kind of plan and even stimulating someone to think about their food spend when they're in dire straits could be seen as a win.

There are so many levels of win with the site.

I'd like to celebrate all of them, even the small ones eg " I looked at the site and it's really made me think about our food spend, I'm even thinking about trying a recipe or 2" upto the absolute win of " I found the site, I followed the plan, I learned to cook and now write my own plans at the same price point and have used the money saved to pay down my debts substantially. As a side benefit we are all healthier and not hungry."

Effecting lasting change is hard, even initiating tiny change can be celebrated I think.

Allegra

artybear wrote: »

Allegra-my mum is the bestest thing ever, I love her to bits and she has gone above and beyond the call of duty a million and one times for me. However she is also extremely blunt and sometimes says things that really should stay in her head. Her argument is that it is the truth so she is allowed to say it (i.e I have put on weight), my argument is that sometimes its better to be quiet and not upset people. However I will endevour to eat healthily and not worry too much.

Yep, she is like my mum. My mum's argument has always been that as my parent it's her duty to say these things to me before anyone else does and takes me unawares. I don't think she ever quite grasped that I don't give a toss what anyone else says, yet as she is my mum, she can get under my skin.

One of the main problems is Mr arty always tells me how lovely I look and I am worried about waking up a size 45 with him still telling me that and me believing him lol.

Can I go all mum on you now for a moment ? Listen to the man. This is someone you want to spend the rest of your life with, someone you love and respect - respect his opinions, too. Some men just do not like stick insects. If he thinks you look lovely, accept and appreciate it :cool:

On the topic of debt-busting......hmmmm......I think I am not envisioning Shirley how you are Weezl-approx how bad is it for them in your eyes?

How does £20-£25k unsecured debt, £170k + mortgage with next to no equity, and sudden loss of between a third and a half of the family income due to redundancy sound to you ? That was about average when I used to deal with debt.

Allegra

And Weezl, regarding the scariness - do not underestimate the powerful grip of habit. While some Shirls will jump with both feet at the first sight of your rope (and it is as attractive as a rope could possibly be, IMO), some will just be paralysed by the amount of change necessary - just the very idea of dropping the shopping bill by that much will freeze them up, and they will need to take baby steps just to get in the general proximity of the rope. Each and every one of those baby steps is a success for you, Weezl. You may know that they'd be out of that hole in a jiffy if they followed the plan to the letter, but you can not make them climb out of the hole if they find the very idea of the climb unbearably scary.

You can lead a horse to water, but it's not your fault if the blighter refuses to drink. You are way too hard, I think - on yourself. People have to be allowed to dig their own holes and make their own mistakes. I know your belief is that Bobs and Shirls of this world end up in their own little holes because they do not know any better, and it is true that some of them do; and those are the ones that are most likely to jump at the rope you have lowered down to them.

But not everyone does it for that reason. There are many reasons why people end up in debt, and you can not address them all at once. And even if you do them all one by one, you will not always be successful.... Just how many Brits do you reckon stayed behind on that island for god knows how long because they would rather fester and write angry letters than trust some weirdo with a beardo at the wheel of a mini bus ? I bet there were some.

nopot2pin

weezl74 wrote: »

:rotfl:
yeeeeeees, it's very catchy :rotfl::p

With regard to fancy shamcy names for the houmous varieties....

Could you not just call it houmous, and have the flavouring variations added at the bottom of the recipe page ?

Alternatively... number them, on the meal planner page...
ie
Houmous (1)
Houmous (2)
Houmous (3)
Houmous (4)

and link the appropriate page to each one ??

Not sure if either of those would be acceptable... just thinking

Allegra

1. Houmous
2. Tomatoumus
3. Pepperoumus
4. Caramelonionoumus

Ahem. You can see why I'm never gonna make it big in marketing, can't you ? :whistle:

aless02

Allegra wrote: »

1. Houmous
2. Tomatoumus
3. Pepperoumus
4. Caramelonionoumus

Ahem. You can see why I'm never gonna make it big in marketing, can't you ? :whistle:

:T:T:T:T

:rotfl::rotfl::rotfl: