2020 Fashion on the Ration Challenge

PipneyJane

PollyWollyDoodle said:

Pip, how are you getting on with your running? I have restarted Couch to 5K, it’s been six months since I sprained my ankle and it’s only now that it feels safe to run on. I am doing it with a friend which really helps, we try and do two out of three runs together. We should have been starting Week 3 tomorrow, but she hasn’t been able to do her third run so we are going to do Week 2 Run 3 together, it will mean I’m repeating a run but I don’t mind. I have promised myself that if I can run all the way through lockdown, when the shops reopen I will treat myself to some decent running shoes.

Regarding the gloves, did you know that you can buy conductive thread (I’m not sure that’s the right name!)?  I think I got mine on eBay, I just stitched a bit into the fingertip of an ordinary pair of gloves and it made them work for using the phone.  Worth thinking about if you need another pair at some point.

Hi Polly.   Glad to hear you're running again.  I seem to be stuck in the perpetual loop of Week 5 which, on my App, transitions from three running sessions on days 1 and 2, to two sessions on day 3.  I can't quite cope with the latter, so am determined to conquer it before moving on.  (I'm not using the free NHS app.  I'm using one I purchased in 2012.)  Mind you, it took me 4 weeks to feel comfortable with week 4.  

Thanks for the info regarding conductive thread.  To be honest, having it in the running gloves was just a bonus feature.  Being lightweight and warm was the main reason for buying them.  It turns out that most of my gloves are sheepskin(!) so too heavy to run in.  (I have a pair of mittens, bought when I was 12; a pair bought in the 1990's that could do with re-stitching a seam on a finger; a pair my MIL gave me for Christmas about 6 years ago; and a pair that I found on the street, abandoned in a puddle!)

- Pip

TwibbleDee

Just to disturb y’all, our temps are still in the 70s and 80s (Fahrenheit) down here.  There’s a reason real wool yarn is rare.  It is getting a bit chilly in the mornings, though, and I should probably figure out which coat I’d shoved my leather gloves into after the last cold front.

I haven’t been doing anything useful in the evenings, just reading.  Hubby even cooked dinner last night because I was just exhausted.  I need to figure out why I’m that tired once I get home.  Maybe I need to haul out the blue light and do a dose when I get home.  I worry that if I ever move up north, I’ll have major problems in the winter - I’m definitely a sunshine person.

I’ve been eating low carb almost a month now - by the government guidelines, by BMI is now just “overweight” rather than “obese”.  I don’t put much faith in the government guidelines, but I’ll still claim that as a victory.  Down 7 pounds, 1.6% body fat, and feeling much better.  I did still crave chocolate like crazy yesterday, but picked up a low carb chocolate bar instead of going with my initial urge to get the specific one I was thinking of. Much better energy during the day, but still bonking at night (it used to be bonking at 1pm, so that is an improvement).  I might need to have dinners already cooked so I can just heat them up and eat as soon as I get home.

Laura_Elsewhere

Firstly, well done on the BMI - mine is finally a fraction below 35, like about 34.9, for the first time in many years - but it could make all the difference if I do catch Covid-19, having that slightly lower BMI... 

Secondly... er, I think bonking must be another of the words that has a different meaning in the States. Over here, it's a light-hearted slang term, not particularly offensive, for having sexual intercourse...!!! I mean, at night *is* the traditional time for that, I suppose, but... er... I suspect you mean something different!  

I found my sugar cravings can be controlled a bit by having a small piece of homemade fruitcake - I am *allowed* to have sugary junk but only if I eat a small piece, about 2-3 ounces, of fruitcake and wait quarter of an hour. Almost always it does the trick, I think because although it does have some sugar in, it has a lot of fibre and some fat and a load of other slow-burn fuels in it, so it stabilises my blood sugar levels and I lose the craving for sugar. 

Our temps here are consistently either side of about 10 degrees C, a cooler morning is 6ish at 8am, a milder morning is 14, that kind of thing. That translates to being around 50F, ranging down to 42F and up to 57F. That's well inland, kind of the west of the middle of the island of Britain, if that makes sense! 

catherinekate

I'm further north than most on here and it was 3 degrees this morning! Brr!
And yes what Laura said about the bonking. I love these cultural differences.
Anyone have any idea about repurposing clean but very worn old socks? I have gone through the soles of about 10 pairs in the last 6 months - all soles completely threadbare after years of good wear and now gone to holes so entirely unmendable, but I keep telling myself that there is good fabric in the tops. Currently the best option I can think of is to send to the charity shop as rags. (See the Stinky Lion story here for a cautionary tale)
I'm always behind on this thread so just been reading about literacy/grammar etc. Although I equally would bemoan terrible grammar, I am always mindful that several of my great grandparents were illiterate. Although there are still too many people "functionally illiterate" and there is a long way still to go, literacy levels in the UK are far, far higher than they have ever been. OK, back off my hobby horse!

thriftwizard

Thanks for mentioning fruit cake, Laura, that's another thing I can make for OH to snack on; he & I both love it, but the DDs don't.

TwibbleDee

Laura_Elsewhere said:

Firstly, well done on the BMI - mine is finally a fraction below 35, like about 34.9, for the first time in many years - but it could make all the difference if I do catch Covid-19, having that slightly lower BMI... 

Secondly... er, I think bonking must be another of the words that has a different meaning in the States. Over here, it's a light-hearted slang term, not particularly offensive, for having sexual intercourse...!!! I mean, at night *is* the traditional time for that, I suppose, but... er... I suspect you mean something different!  

I found my sugar cravings can be controlled a bit by having a small piece of homemade fruitcake - I am *allowed* to have sugary junk but only if I eat a small piece, about 2-3 ounces, of fruitcake and wait quarter of an hour. Almost always it does the trick, I think because although it does have some sugar in, it has a lot of fibre and some fat and a load of other slow-burn fuels in it, so it stabilises my blood sugar levels and I lose the craving for sugar. 

Our temps here are consistently either side of about 10 degrees C, a cooler morning is 6ish at 8am, a milder morning is 14, that kind of thing. That translates to being around 50F, ranging down to 42F and up to 57F. That's well inland, kind of the west of the middle of the island of Britain, if that makes sense! 

Definitely a different meaning over here.  "Bonk" is like when you're running a marathon and you hit the 20-mile mark and your brain just stops and doesn't want to go any further.  When you're zoning out and just done.

In other news, it was quite a surprise to the youth minister when I mentioned that he should be prepared for laughter on any international mission trips - he decided to name the youth ministry "Rooted".  He decided he's not worried about what the Aussies think of the name. :-)

skogar

Twibbledee - that's great on the weight loss. Bonking is a term I've heard  used by cyclists here (particularly those doing competitions od training  hard) for problems due to low blood sugar I'm told its quite scary as all of a sudden you go from cycling hard to falliing off the  bike. Not something  I've had experience of with my limited mileages, slow speeds and regular refreshment / rest stops.

PipneyJane

@TwibbleDee, I have two suggestions re chocolate cravings, both tried and tested by me over the years.  (I love chocolate.)  The first is to sip a mug of low calorie hot chocolate instead of a chocolate bar - that’s what I did to cure the afternoon “chocolate munchies”.  It gave me the flavour fix without the sugar.  The second is to only eat 70% or 80% chocolate, not milk chocolate or something with a filling.  The reason for that is it will give you your “chocolate fix” in one or two squares, without the sugar fix.

The other thing I did was to keep an emergency 70% chocolate bar in my desk drawer at work.  If I was really having a rough day, I’d take it out, sniff the wrapping, ask myself if the day was bad enough to need to eat the bar, and then put it back in the drawer.   That chocolate bar became legendary.  The lovely guys I used to work with would buy me a multipack of bars occasionally, in case I ate the emergency bar.

catherinekate said:

I'm further north than most on here and it was 3 degrees this morning! Brr!
And yes what Laura said about the bonking. I love these cultural differences.
Anyone have any idea about repurposing clean but very worn old socks? I have gone through the soles of about 10 pairs in the last 6 months - all soles completely threadbare after years of good wear and now gone to holes so entirely unmendable, but I keep telling myself that there is good fabric in the tops. Currently the best option I can think of is to send to the charity shop as rags. (See the Stinky Lion story here for a cautionary tale)
I'm always behind on this thread so just been reading about literacy/grammar etc. Although I equally would bemoan terrible grammar, I am always mindful that several of my great grandparents were illiterate. Although there are still too many people "functionally illiterate" and there is a long way still to go, literacy levels in the UK are far, far higher than they have ever been. OK, back off my hobby horse!

You’re all northerners to me, @catherinekate.  I think I’m the only true southerner here, being born south of the equator.  I feel cold if it’s less than 20C.  

Thinking of the socks, are they handknitted or commercial?  If the former, you can re-use the yarn.  If the latter, how about chopping the feet off and sewing the tops together to make a sausage shaped drought excluder.  You can then stuff it with the feet.

You’re welcome to your hobby horse.  Rant away.  On the literacy front, my dad remembered the shame when he discovered that his grandparents couldn’t read.  He worked with a lot of Italian and Greek immigrants, whose English wasn’t great,  and would help them with any official paperwork.  

- Pip

Laura_Elsewhere

That Tiki jumper that was too hot in October is just right now!

(The green silky skirt is actually level all round and only jsut below knee-length, but there's a weird optical illusion going on... pink straps are from my trusty little backpack's drawstrings)

maddiemay

Great photo @Laura_Elsewhere, the jumper looks really cosy and love the skirt, those pockets are fab - love garments with pockets.