Future Proofing my life: Deposit saving then MFW journey in under 13 years

LadyWithAPlan

Orangetoes said:

Ooh love the sound of the heated throw! 

Its the Alaskan faux fur heated throw by Dreaml**d  - they are £99 on boot*.com  - and I got extra points   Its super soft, looks great and so cosy! I wanted it last year but didnt want to pay £130 and then when I was ready they sold out. Cant recommend it enough

savingholmes said:

Best of luck whatever you decide about the property and the phone 🤳

  Tx  - I am off the States next week - I do have a good battery mobile pack so will test that this weekend and also charge my old mobile - see how I go battery wise.  If I can make it work I will stay with my current - if its a pain and it doesn't last then I will get a new phone in the US cash as its cheaper.

On the flat I really like the £375k  - share of freehold, small garden, 2 beds but then I think of the dark lounge each morning ...  ... I need to get the mortgage in principal sorted anyway - apparently its had an offer - I gather just below... they want to sell it quick so it may take me too long to be ready but i think I am going to get focused, save more and look still.  I may look east london as well - have 2 friends who live that way both promising lunch and a flat reccy!
I definitely want to keep the mortgage under £300k as I want to keep saving into my sipp as well as pay the monster off

NSD! Finally - my card did get debited by some flowers I had delivered to  my parents but this was organised months ago.  I was meant to pop into the West end for a facial and baby clothes shopping but I ended up working til 10pm so feeling a bit brain dead .... but got loads done for 2 clients and I am away most next week .. no gym but I will go in the morning then shopping then baby shower then out for a show tomorrow and possibly dancing  

savingholmes

A show and dancing sound lovely. 

How is it going with chasing the overdue invoices?

LadyWithAPlan

@savingholmes Slowly slowly on the invoices but getting there.

Yes Saturday was fabulous - spent loads - even though apart the one bottle of champagne I bought for the baby shower (£22 v £28 cos of tesco card) I drank loads of champagne and paid nothing more for drinks in the daytime.

Saw loads of lovely friends and then ate a chinese then ubered into Soho for drinks, the show and then dancing  after - ended up in a club til late.
Ubers came to  over £40 and drinks - I think £80 over the day and night ..  having already spent my £300 treats and ent budget for Oct .. I will have to do a spending review - just trying to get csv files from the Hali - they only do pdfs to download - so I can more quickly separate spends into categories.

I may do 6 months spending review  though a  year would be better - all for FIRE.. and clarity of my spending.

I am abroad - and on the way out watched a doc by Dr Daniel Amen -0 he is a brain doc who also radio images brains as well as being a psychotherapist. I have read a book of his before but hearing him talk about brain health and how it affects everything - including how weight gain leads to slower brains! 

headlines include (you may want to skip this as I am now finally accepting my Harib* and crisp habit has to go for my brain as well
The healthier your brain the more successful you will be, impulse control, getting things completed.
Even with brain injuries you can help  heal your brain function with food and also he subscribes supplements - he did lots of research on NFL players..
Caffeine, alcohol, smoking etc all lead to decreased brain blood flow - I drink a lot of coffee so I am trying to slowly cut it down as of today
Inflammation is a major issue for your body and brain
Always floss as gum disease is terrible for your brain
Dont eat any processed food at all as its addictive and bad for your brain - Sugar, white flour etc  - 
coffee hides how tired you are
Daily exercise  hugely helps the brain and blood flow - make it happen no matter what

He loves a keto diet for your brain, eat oily fish, greens, oils, no white carbs, cakes, sweets, junk
Take vit d (I do this anyway  10,000 iu a day) as not enough vit d leads to increased chance of dementia..
Toxins are bad for your brain no matter what they say esp alcohol and w**d 
Manufacturers spend billions making processed food and takeaways appeal to your brain but they are terrible for your brain
Look at whats in your creams and toothpaste as they can also be bad for your brain
Negativity increases stress and it deactivates your brain.


The more visceral fat you have the worse your brain health -  there is a direct correlation -  you will get brain fog, feel slower, feel depressed ...  ...not good news given I def have a small extra bit of padding at present i have been unwilling to make the effort of daily exercise and eating better to shift. However  knowing this I am determined to get back to my normal weight. Got up too early  for a meeting to exercise (dark outside) and same again tomorrow but I did instead walk to meeting along the beach and back at the end of the day - then walked after and sat on the beach .  - over 20k steps today
I am determined to keep moving and not use food and caffeine to hide my tiredness.

When you get into 'ruts' of eating sweets or  a pack of crisps, a milky coffee with sugar, having a regular breakfast of white carbs or go to your fav takeaways  your brain gets into  a pattern thats v unhealthy so stop before you start.  You get depressed, negative thoughts, feel heavy and unhealthy , so best to not start.
Before eating or drinking  or doing anything ask 'is this good for my brain or bad for it?'
He used the analogy of buying a million pound racehorse - you wouldnt feed it junk, get it drunk or high, nor let it not be rested and not exercise... So why do that to yourself and your brain
He also suggested a yearly hormone check up
No contact sports!

I will do a EOM roundup today or tomorrow - just a bit jet- lagged. It was lovely walking along the beach getting my feet wet this afternoon after meetings. It is in a place in the US I used to live, work and study and I forgot how much I love the lifestyle here - outdoors, on the coast..Not planning to move here again - v different from London and far too far from family unfortunately and time zone- but still its hardly changed and I even went to my old fav cafe today - first went 30 years ago! Had the same delicous salad, a side of chicken breast and GF toast - only had one piece of it.


I have this time travelled with my led face mask and also my face wand - last trip to europe 2 weeks ago I missed my led facemask... its v comforting.. and my skin really does look great - had a few people on sat say how it looked fantastic so ended up seding 3 lotrs of friends the links to buy a mask - I should be charging a commision!

KajiKita

Thanks for this post. It is reinforcing a lot of what I am already trying to do (cut back on all processed carbs, make them resistant where possible, no caffeine, no smoking, alcohol or recreational drugs, more activity, focus on sleep as a priority, eating oils as being good for your brain  etc.). I had neve looked at eating like this as being good for my brain, more as being good for my gut (so for immunity, mood etc.) but as the gut is now seen as ‘the second brain’ it does make sense. Adds more incentive to it!

Glad you’ve had a good trip away 😊

KK

Watty1

Great post on brain health.   I know I feel better when I move to as much of that as I can. I've fallen into a rut of chocolate, biscuits, wine and coffee and I know I have been using them as crutches to get through the day and evening.  You've reminded me to 'get back on a plan' which in part my plan to fill the freezer with home cooked easy meals was all about.  

Karmacat

You sound really enthused!  And yes, its not "just" the brain - it's heart, lungs, everything.  When I was in my 30s, I gave up processed foods for years and years - I was eating packets of cake and chocolates a day.  And when I stopped stuffing my face with all those empty calories, I had to start eating healthy food, I had to get the energy from somewhere - all the savoury things that we take for granted - veg, cheese, eggs, beans, sprouts, oils, herbs, all those things, I'd never felt so healthy or so energised.  Can't recommend it highly enough.

Merlin's_Beard

Man I wish I'd not read this after stuffing my face with cookies and drinking half a glass of wine but here we are...

LadyWithAPlan

Merlin's_Beard said:

Man I wish I'd not read this after stuffing my face with cookies and drinking half a glass of wine but here we are...

Thats is nothing compared to my weekend consumption!! but oops.
@KajiKita @Watty1

Watty1 said:

Great post on brain health.   I know I feel better when I move to as much of that as I can. I've fallen into a rut of chocolate, biscuits, wine and coffee and I know I have been using them as crutches to get through the day and evening.  You've reminded me to 'get back on a plan' which in part my plan to fill the freezer with home cooked easy meals was all about.  

Glad to be of help Yes its so easy when we get tired, busy, sad, have emotional things to process to lean hard on the junk ... I think thats why I have put on a few pounds - like 6-7 of them since my break up !
With me I cook v healthy but I let the crisps and the Hari*o in when I am tired/bored/hungover ...  but this doc was a great reminder for me as well that I know better.

Karmacat said:

You sound really enthused!  And yes, its not "just" the brain - it's heart, lungs, everything.  When I was in my 30s, I gave up processed foods for years and years - I was eating packets of cake and chocolates a day.  And when I stopped stuffing my face with all those empty calories, I had to start eating healthy food, I had to get the energy from somewhere - all the savoury things that we take for granted - veg, cheese, eggs, beans, sprouts, oils, herbs, all those things, I'd never felt so healthy or so energised.  Can't recommend it highly enough.

yes I also used to eat packets of biscuits daily and gave all sugary foods for a year inc chocolate - only would break it for a week at Xmas . - and i looked and felt great.  They have crept back - though GF and normally DF.

I started 6 months ago eating far more greens such as kale and spinach - at least half a plate a day with my main meal - that has helped me feel great and I miss them when I dont now  but the sweets do still kick in when I travel.
I always cook loads of food inc a GF DF protein blueberry oatcake to travel with as so often airlines 'forget my GF meals' 

KajiKita said:

Thanks for this post. It is reinforcing a lot of what I am already trying to do (cut back on all processed carbs, make them resistant where possible, no caffeine, no smoking, alcohol or recreational drugs, more activity, focus on sleep as a priority, eating oils as being good for your brain  etc.). I had neve looked at eating like this as being good for my brain, more as being good for my gut (so for immunity, mood etc.) but as the gut is now seen as ‘the second brain’ it does make sense. Adds more incentive to it!

Glad you’ve had a good trip away 😊

KK

Glad to be of help - I also wrote it to remind myself!
Caffeine is the hard one and harib* type sweets and crisps - especially when I travel ..
The constant question ' is this good for my brain'  on food and habits is new for me too but v useful - he was quoting loads of scary stats on increased mental health issues, slower brains, increased chance of dementia if you do all the bad things.
He also really stressed daily exercise as hugely helping the brain and blood flow so a real reminder why we all need to keep active.

I still will always have a nice glass of champagne but do think I need to overhaul a lot of life style habits.. Easier here in the sunshine

I am still away - I may extend my trip as can stay with a friend but looks like I will need to buy a new return ticket as cheaper - changing for 4 days is £359!! ouch so may not.. 

South_coast

Merlin's_Beard said:

Man I wish I'd not read this after stuffing my face with cookies and drinking half a glass of wine but here we are...

I tend to see that as more of an incentive. I remember years ago ordering a massive takeaway pizza/sides etc and scoffing the whole lot while watching Supersize Me in readiness for starting a diet the next day. I felt so repulsed it was easy to avoid the bad stuff for a couple of days 🤣!

themadvix

You might like the Zoe podcast LWAP - lots of food for thought there - pun intended!