It’s broken….

Update 2: All seems to be fixed now, so that’s good. Thanks to the guys at WordPress for sorting that out - much appreciated.

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Update : The design template still appears to be busted, so I’ve gone back to the default sidebar for the time-being. The custom sidebar will be restored when the hard-working tech guys at WordPress have figured out what the problem is. Last comment I read was “It is very broken”, so it could be a while.

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The design template that underlies The Wolf’s Howl (Ocean Mist) seems to be experiencing some technical difficulties that is making it display incorrectly in all web browsers. Please bear with us while we run crying to technical support and ask them very nicely if they can put it back together again.

Wolfie’s July Project

I’ve written about my June Project (staying off the alcohol) in three posts so far; check out Taking Those Big Decisions, TTBD2 and TTBD3 for the full story. On the whole, I think it was a success. I had one planned day-off on 16 June, and I slipped slightly last Saturday, when I had two beers with dinner at Pizza Hut. The rest of the month, nothing. So, the June Project continues but is now joined by the July Project.

The June Project had two aims; the first was really financial - I needed to stop spending so much money in pubs at the weekends. Thankfully, that’s worked. I say thankfully, because the bike’s just gone in for some work and a new rear tyre. The June Project has helped me save some more money towards the bill.

The second aim, though, was to try and lose some of the extra weight that I’m currently carrying around (that might be working, too, as my jeans are definitely a bit looser) and it’s this aim that the July Project seeks to continue.

I wrote in Taking Those Big Decisions about a dietary supplement called Konjac Fibre; this is derived from the Japanese Konjac plant and it’s primary constituent - glucomannan - has been recognised for many years as a slimming aid. The way it works is two-fold; firstly, and most immediately, when taken with plenty of water (the correct way to take it) it swells to many times its original size and helps to give you a feeling of fullness. Secondly, it can help to keep your blood-sugar level at normal, thus meaning you don’t get the hunger pangs you normally would. In addition to this, by being a good source of dietary fibre, it helps to keep your digestive system functioning properly. Keeps you regular, as they say.

So this is the what I am now using. As from yesterday, I am taking two capsules before breakfast (at the ungodly hour of 6am), three before lunch and five before dinner. It’s only been two days, but I have already noticed a difference in my hunger responses - I still get hungry around the same times as before (breakfast 6.30am, lunch noon-ish and dinner around 7pm) but I am not needing to eat as much to feel full. All I need to do now is get in the habit of preparing smaller portions. And yes, it does keep you regular.

Studies have shown that taking Konjac Fibre in this way for three months can result in an average weight loss of six pounds (just under 3kg) with no other changes in lifestyle. So far, I’ve made one change - giving up drinking - and another has been foisted on me by my local supermarket; they didn’t have the cereal I normally buy when I did my monthly shop on Monday, so I’m using a different one. Looking at the product labels, I see that by using this cereal for a month my sugar intake will reduce by nearly 1.5kg. With that in mind, I see no reason why I shouldn’t have lost two stone (nearly 13kg) by the end of the year. I’ll keep you posted.

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Konjac Fibre is recommended by leading nutritionist Patrick Holford in his series of FatBurner Diet books. Check out this link for some more information from him about losing weight.

Smoking 3

The third installment in an occasional series about smoking. Check out Smoking and Smoking 2 for more on this subject.

It’s now 4 July - Independence Day for our American cousins - and while they are busy celebrating their freedom, in the UK we’ve lost part of ours, as the ban on smoking in enclosed public areas has now been in force for four days. [So far, the one change that I've really noticed is that there are a lot more people smoking while they're driving, which can't be good for road safety!]

I’ve already said that I’m not in favour of the ban for several reasons; the over-bearing “nanny state” attitude, the removal of personal liberty and the freedom to choose, and arse-about-face way that it’s being done. For instance, we now have to have “No Smoking” signs everywhere - even though there’s a blanket ban. As someone else said, do we have “No Murdering” or “No Burglary” signs? No. Why do we need all these “No Smoking” signs when it’s banned everywhere?

So I was cheered to see on the local news this evening the story of a vicar who tried to get himself arrested for smoking - by lighting his pipe in a police station. Good man! (This link should take you to a video of the story.) Unfortunately, it’s not a police matter - this stupid regulation is dealt with by local councils - so they just turfed him out.

But I think what his story does demonstrate is that there is quite a bit of feeling out there against this new legislation, not because lots of people want to be able to smoke but because they see it as another step along the slippery slope to total governance of our daily lives.

Of course, you can argue that the nation’s health is more important and you might have a point - if all of the medical evidence against smoking is actually true. I’m currently reading Slow Burn by Don Oakley which argues that a lot of the evidence against smoking is anecdotal at best and represents clever manipulation of statistics. I must admit that at the moment (not very far through the book) I am unconvinced by some of his arguments, but he does have the figures to back some of them up. I’d certainly recommend anyone - smoker or not - to check it out for a different viewpoint, if nothing else.