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

Allegra

weezl74 wrote: »

(devil's advocate!)

if the govt says 5 a day and some woman in Wales with 2 babies and no nutrition degree says 1-2....

reckon they'll go with the 5 a day campaign.

Specially since some kind souls have since perpetuated the erroneous (in my view) add on that '5 a day' (but ideally fresh really and really ideally 9 portions if you're middle class.)

Yes. And you'll get criticised to hell and back.

But some people will read your explanation, use their noddle, and see sense. Especially they'll see that you can eat five or more of fresh a day, yet still be deficient in vital nutrients if you don't get the balance right. And then they'll sit down and work it out for themselves, take an interest in what they ingest, learn to fish.

It's your call - the broadest possible appeal, toe the line, or go hardcore and fringe and help those who need it most while challenging recieved wisdom.

I can see benefits to both.

weezl74

Allegra wrote: »

Yes. And you'll get criticised to hell and back.

But some people will read your explanation, use their noddle, and see sense. Especially they'll see that you can eat five or more of fresh a day, yet still be deficient in vital nutrients if you don't get the balance right. And then they'll sit down and work it out for themselves, take an interest in what they ingest, learn to fish.

It's your call - the broadest possible appeal, toe the line, or go hardcore and fringe and help those who need it most while challenging recieved wisdom.

I can see benefits to both.

2 tough questions for you then allegra:

what would you do?

And would you risk putting the hardcore month on the same website and risk losing the shirls and kitty's who only read you cos of 5 a day ness?

*zippy*

If it helps Weezl as a newbie you have challenged some of my of my original non-negotiables, I am hanging on to some still I have to admit, but if finances meant I had to stick to the £100 or less I would let most of them go except free range chickens/eggs, but thats because we keep chickens so i'm emotionally involved on that issue, but I would deal with it by buying a few hens who were better layers in winter than those we have now.

A weezl month would be interesting, but think the thought of 50p would be quite scary for alot of people, when you did your original thread weezl did anyone join you for the challenge?

weezl74

thank you *zippy*

ermmm I lived on 50p a day during part of 2008 and 2009.

Other than DH I don't think anyone else did that particular price point,:rotfl: altho lots of frugal friends came and helped and posted recipes I agree it would be scary and no-one would follow it exactly.

So I'm torn. Aim at 50p a day and then people will hit 80 with their own add ins or aim at 80p and some will hit £1.10 with add ins but you look more credible......

ponder ponder.....

weezl74

pretty please would anyone hunt down susan's post where she spelled out how the new recipes page might look and navigate?

Allegra

*zippy* wrote: »

A weezl month would be interesting, but think the thought of 50p would be quite scary for alot of people, when you did your original thread weezl did anyone join you for the challenge?

That is a very interesting question (and Weezl, bear with me cos it does connect to the questions you ask). I did, quietly, as a lurker, and I failed. The main reasons for this:

a) too much, too soon
b) DD and her non-negotiables (if I kept her budget seperate, as I did for Shirl's month, I'd probably have done it)
c) I got the point where I wasn't really sure why I was doing it, and it took me a couple of years to get that cristalised in my mind.

Would I do it now ? Certainly if I needed to, financially, but not just to direct my finances to a different source. But I would - like I did Shirl's month - do it for a short period of time to prove to myself, and perhaps others, that it was possible to do it if absolutely necessary. Knowing I can do it if I need to would give me a peace of mind that there is something to fall back on if things hit rock bottom, and that is very important to me.

So it was important to me to address this first, because it shows that I am a sort of person that is drawn to extremes, and therefore not exactly typical of the population at large.

Bearing this in mind, I'd say that if it was me in your shoes, and had to make that tough call (which luckily I do not have to) I would definitely go hardcore and take the associated risks.

It's easy for me to talk, though, because it's not my time, money and effort sunk into the project; and because I do believe that the Shirls you'd lose by showing your hardcore side, while probably quite voluble, would be very few - I do actually believe that most people who need the help of CFR would just take whatever they need from it, quietly, even if there were aspects of it that they were unsure about. I think that CFR's - and your - biggest critics are people that CFR is not really aimed at. Are they entitled to their opinions ? But of course. Should their opinion be a deal-breaker ? No.

But as I said again, it's easy for me to talk. I am not a Shirl either, nor am I you, and as such, my opinion definitely isn't a deal-breaker, either

*zippy*

Thats what I was thinking, I lurked on your thread and greatly admired you, but never thought for a minute of doing it, i'm wondering if it would be alot of work for you and people would just cherry pick a few recipes. I've been telling lots of people about the website and their faces are a picture at 80p, I can imagine them at 50p

If in your heart though you would like the 50p menu out there and it sounds like you would then I think you should go for it, it may not be for everyone, but it will help some and it may be for Shirl further down the line when she is more confident.

artybear

Is anyone else going tingly with excitement at the though of a weezl month? I am!!!!!!!! In the pub waiting for the match but spying on u all from mr artys iPhone.

weezl74

*zippy* wrote: »

That what I was thinking, I lurked on your thread and greaty admired you, but never thought for a minute of doing it,

:rotfl:

thank you for your honesty. D'you mind me asking why you would never have dreamed of it?

If it's too personal, please just ignore me!

Allegra

weezl74 wrote: »

pretty please would anyone hunt down susan's post where she spelled out how the new recipes page might look and navigate?

Do you mean the php gobbledygook (sorry ! It is so to me !) or something else, Weezl ?