Blog - Ivor’s Daily Gallivant

Ivory’s Daily Gallivant Sunday May 14, 2023 I had great plans for the day which didn’t happen. (Could be one way or another my whole life has been like that) Got up late despite setting my alarm for seven. Last night I hadn’t gone to sleep until the early hours and when I finally dropped off, I needed sleep. Later in the day I felt like a nap, but I ran to the Co-op and back, to buy a jar of apple sauce and some mixed chilli’s instead and felt perkier afterwards. My healthy living coach has advised me that I go for a half hour walk for three days per week. Today I did some work in the garden (as a substitute) for half an hour by starting to cleare the way to the outside water tap which made me breathless. I’m out of condition. At this rate I’m going the garden is going to take longer than I imagined. Had my evening meal and made notes in my food and exercise diary for today ready for my Weight Management meeting on Thursday.

Ivor’s Daily Gallivant Saturday May 13, 2023 I had a shower and phoned Liv about the garden. She’s still recovering from her operation, and it’s agreed I will phone again in two weeks' time.Lunched on a corned beef sandwich. The weather is (as forecast) nice and sunny, but despite of all that I was reluctant to leave the house. I went to Marcella, but the curtains were drawn. So, I had a meal in Be Be’s and did some shopping in Lidl then I went home. The weather was ideal to go for a walk, but I didn’t. I decided to put that off until tomorrow and spent my time doing nothing in particular. I’m in a ‘don’t care sort of mood’, content letting the afternoon turn slowly into the evening. Looking back at my lack of achievement for the moment at least I’m not bothered. It’s Eurovision this evening and I’m making a point of ignoring it. It might be said I could have made more of today and I could have made more of my life, but I wonder if that’s really true.

Ivor’s Daily Gallivant Friday May 12, 2023 A usual sort of day when I was late getting up. My weekly Scrabble game with Andy was scheduled for today and I was expecting him to come here, but he thought I was going to his place and finally we didn’t meet, which was a shame as we both enjoy our games. I made a fish pie and had one portion at midday and put two portions in the freezer for later. The milk was getting short, so I ran to the Co-op to buy some more. And bought a canister together with some cut price small ham and cheese pizzas, and a Co-op house salad. Wondering how long it takes to digest dark chocolate I googled it and discovered it takes twelve hours, which may mean eating it for its serotonin content to help with sleep isn’t very shrewd, after all. I wrote an outline for a Food Diary, that covers the period between 11/5/23 to 18/5/23. And added my weights for the start date and the finish date.

Ivor’s Daily Gallivant Thursday May 11, 2023 The most important thing today for me was my online appointment with Cher the Healthy Living Coach to discuss my weight management program. In preparation I read most of the Slimming World Food Optimisation booklet and had kept a Food Diary since May 5th. In the diary I’d recorded a couple of instances where I’d ‘gone off the rails’ once when I eaten 12 squares of dark chocolate and the other where I’d eaten most of a packet of peanuts. My weight is roughly the same now as it had been at the beginning of my experiment. I learnt that the recommended dark chocolate dose is two squares. Cher suggested rather than having a snack I should have something to drink (possibly water) or snack on low calorie foods. She also suggested increasing my weekly exercise by three half hour walks. And instead of snacking do a task or activity in the house or garden. I went onto clean the top of the cooler, the door to the freezer and the waste bin. And have been drinking water with a dash of lemon juice. She sent an email with advice about the proportions of food which are appropriate for good health. And another online meeting for next week has been scheduled.

Ivor’s Daily Gallivant Wednesday May 10, 2023 Not much done or achieved today. I phoned my GP surgery to make arrangements for the weight management session with the Health Coach. Felt tired and had a nap. The phone rang three times, but I wasn’t in time to answer it. I phoned the surgery again and there was a record of the Health Coach trying unsuccessfully to call me. I heard no more. And had another sleep. I ran to the Co-op and back where I bought some cut priced raspberries, peanuts and Greek yogurt and onions.

Ivor’s Daily Gallivant Tuesday May 9, 2023: Appointment at the Eye Unit at Southampton General It was scheduled for 7.45 and I had to catch the 6.54 bus from Holbury to be on time. Last night I’d gone to bed at 9.00 to ensure I had enough sleep. My alarm was set for 5.00 which would have given me enough time to get everything organised. The alarm didn’t go off but fortunately I checked the time and was able to rush for the bus in the nick of time. There was a lady waiting at the bus before I got there which reassured me, I hadn’t missed the bus. When I found the Eye Unit it was empty. Eventually my eyes were tested and examined, and I was given a blood test. It was a frustrating process, and my frustration was added to by the fact that I hadn’t had breakfast where I left home early and rushed to get there. The final result of today’s appointment was another appointment was to be arranged in three months' time when the blood test results were known. Having got up early I slept for a couple of hours when I got home, added a few more entries to my food diary, phoned my GP surgery about the Weight Management session on Thursday and ran to the Co-op and bought some milk (so I could have some tea), some dark chocolate (because of the serotonin content to aid me getting to sleep and a Nutrageous bar (which I reasoned was a good buy as it added nuts to my diet). When I ate it, it contained a lot of sugar which counteracted the sum of good work of my run. I ran past someone who appeared to be practicing the footwork for boxing. (It takes all sorts….)

Ivor’s Daily Gallivant Monday May 8, 2023 My self- discipline is nonexistent today. I ate twelve squares of dark chocolate this morning. I can’t be trusted to restrain myself. It will be the last large bar of chocolate I buy myself I vowed. I’ve been feeling bored and fed up all morning. And was frustrated trying to set up reminders on my iPad. I had a sleep from midday until 15.13 thinking if I were to write a report on myself for today it would say- ‘could do better’. After sleeping I took a blood sugar reading, and it was 7.7 (which is within the target range ofw between 5 to 15) had a cup of tea and went for a run, after which felt nice and perky. Googled does eating dark chocolate increase blood pressure it doesn’t and does it make you sleepy-it does as it contains serotonin. Properly used it could be used as a form of self-medication I thought. I got an email from Richard, about Bootleg Art Club which was between 5.30- 6.00. During which I did some more to my latest painting. Then I had a chickpea curry which was hot and spicy I prepared the garlic I bought a few days ago for the freezer: and cut my large slab of cheddar into three pieces which I stored in the freezer. And took a portion of vegetable crumble out for tomorrow’s main meal.

Ivor’s Daily Gallivant Sunday May 7, 2023 Despite the weather looking brighter today I stayed in bed until after midday and when I surfaced didn’t do much. My intention was to go to Marcella but that came to nothing. I showered and put on fresh clothes. I ran to the big Coop and back, and bought some foil trays, vinaigrette dressing and kidney beans. Kim phoned and we chatted for a while, and I phoned Marcella and spoke briefly to Hayley. I did the usual stuff like eating and sitting around, then a another day which I couldn’t have again was gone. I checked my weight sometime during the day and it was up a few pounds. Concerned I might be putting on weight despite trying to regulate what I ate I Googled average daily weight fluctuations, and a man’s weight can vary between 5-6 pounds during the course of a day. So, the discrepancy was within normal expectations.

Ivor’s Daily Gallivant Saturday May 6, 2023: Shiny Hat Party Day There was heavy rain thumping down on the conservatory roof this morning and I laid in bed until about ten. My right knee ached which is rheumatism. My plan for the day was to go to The Art House for lunch, but with this horrible weather I stayed at home. Which will save money. My breakfasted on reduced price strawberries, fruit and fibre and Greek Yogurt. (I always find anything with a reduced price especially tasty.) I’m avoiding turning on the telly or radio because of The Shiny Hat Party telling me ad infinitum how lucky we are with our marvellous Royal Family. I wrote a piece of satirical verse about today (It’s Shiny Hat Party Day/ Hip Hip Hooray) but sadly deleted it while attempting to post it. And have continued reading the Slimming World booklet. Which is difficult with my glaucoma. Sometime in the afternoon I considered wondering off to bed and having a nap but decided not to because it would make sleeping tonight a problem. Later the impulse was too strong, and I napped. When I woke, it was time to eat, and I had an especially tasty (reduced price) plant-based Kiev which I’d bought on offer. And various other stuff to go with it.

Ivor’s Daily Gallivant Friday May 5, 2023 Yesterday afternoon I was exhausted and slept in the early evening so I wasn’t tired the rest of the night and couldn’t sleep. I woke my blog post for Thursday in the early hours this morning and published it directly. My friend Dan, a fellow insomniac read it immediately and complimented me, in conversation on messenger on my drawing of the radios. He must have been the first to read that post. My idea of getting a YouTube video to see what Ludlow was like could be used, to research all the coastlines featured in my 2023 Diary Adventures. And doing that research was today’s project I decided. By 7.00 am I’d watched two YouTube videos one of Bournemouth and the other Dartmouth. The Dartmouth video lasted half an hour and showcased what is on offer there beautifully. This morning I had my weekly weight check, and my weight has gone up since last week. I’m taking action to control my weight. Recently I started treating myself to four squares of dark chocolate every day and I’m wondering if cutting this down to two would have an impact. From today onwards I’m keeping a food diary. I had two runs to the Coop where I bought some groceries and one to Boots where I picked up my prescription. By the end of the day, I’d seen YouTube videos of all the planned destinations. I started a food diary, read up to page 57 of The Slimming World Food optimisation booklet. Relaxed with a cup of tea and went to bed late. And published this post.

Ivor’s Daily Gallivant Thursday May 4, 2023 Learnt from an email it’s ‘Mental Health Awareness Month’. The piece continued to give lists of ways of looking after your mental health on a daily, weekly, monthly and yearly basis. The topic of meditation and journaling was mentioned, it said that with journaling you’re only writing for yourself so there’s no need to produce a masterpiece……personally when do anything I do it was well as I can, I take a pride in everything I do and want my writing to be read…. Julie messaged me, she also got a message from her GP surgery, recruiting Health Champions and suspects it’s a way for private health companies to get personal data. I hadn’t thought of it like that and thought I’d been approached because of my success with getting my Type 2 Diabetes under control. There was a schedule of events at The Art House in my email which said Saturday May 6, 2023, will be the same as usual there, with no screening of ‘the shiny hat party’. So I will be spending my day there. I went to Hythe to do some shopping in Lidl, and got into conversation with an old boy with a straw hat and a white chin beard with a moustache about buying groceries at bargain prices. I told him about the MySuperMarket price comparison site. Before going into Lidl I treated myself to a coffee in Blackwax Coffee and Records and did a sketch of a couple of obsolete radios which were displayed on the wall. He said when they was living in Ludlow,; Audi was a third of the price of Tesco. I wasn’t sure where Ludlow is and have just Googled a YouTube video of it and it looks amazing with historic buildings, a thriving market and a Medieval castle. Peter Thorp got on the bus at the stop before Hythe Pier he was going home after attending Waterside Writers that morning. I didn’t know it was on. Their next meeting is on Thursday May 18th and I plan to go. Today was local government elections day. Unfortunately I didn’t vote because I had a postal vote and hadn’t read what to do before today. Voting required going to the polling station and posting my ballot details through their letter box, it’s a long walk, I felt tired, had stomach ache and wasn’t sure which party to support- now I’m no longer support Labour.

Ivor’s Daily Gallivant Wednesday May 3, 2023 I looked at the previous posts for this blog and they tend to start similarly and have a predictable pattern. In order to make it more entertaining from today onwards I’m going to write about different topics and choose more newsworthy stories. To live a full life involves having a wide range of experiences and interests. One of the reasons for this blog is for me to learn something new every day. What have I done today which stands out as interesting and newsworthy? There were two text messages on mobile: one was a reminder of my appointment with the Eye Hospital on the ninth and the second was an invitation to become, a health champion volunteer. I made a frustrated attempt to Google the websites referenced in the text message and for a while couldn’t think what to do.. Today was, the day for my weekly games of scrabble with Andy. As usual he won both games. I received two more birthday cards: one from Helen Field and the other from Richard Sears. Rather than giving up with the health champion volunteer idea I did a Google search and found an application form on the Diabetes UK website which I completed and sent off.

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