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Finding comfort in science
I’ve been very hard on myself this past week about Bella and so I took some time last night to do some research into the disease the vet diagnosed her with. He said it was proliferative ileitis which is a bacterial infection in the intestines thought to be caused by the bacterium Lawsonia intracellularis. It […]
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Eat healthily or fit in?
My average blood pressure for the past few days is 115/73. A few weeks ago I thought I’d never see a reading under 120 but then one day I got one and gradually over the next few weeks it happened more and more often to where this is now the norm and I’m disappointed if […]
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Another year, another birthday
It was my birthday yesterday. I’m 46 and edging ever closer to half a century. But I’m in great health, indeed I feel healthier than I’ve ever been, and happier than I’ve ever been. I just got the results of my annual (although it has been two years now) blood tests this week and everything […]
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A year of blunders
The UK has made so many mistakes during the pandemic. We started by following the flu pandemic playbook which meant our goal initially was to slow the spread but not eliminate the virus. Something which is too late to do now and perhaps unfeasible anyway. I also realise that no one expected vaccines to become […]
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Don’t be an idler competiton
As many of my readers know a pet hate of mine is when motorists sit in their cars with their engines running poisoning us all with their fumes. Last year I contacted the council about the problem to see whether they could help. After all, it is illegal in Scotland to leave your engine idling. […]
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Engine idling, butt flashing, and balance training
I’m the most hated parent at Highland Dance. I asked another two motorists today to switch their engines off. They both did and were very good about it but I know how much people dislike being told what to do even if when it’s done politely. I had to do it though because the man […]
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Engine idling and nobody in London needs an SUV
As regular readers of my blog will know, one of my pet peeves is when people sit in their cars with the engine running. This happens a lot outside primary school gates where children gather and inhale the fumes. Pollution from motor vehicles is especially harmful to children because they are smaller and absorb more […]
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Piling on the pounds
I’ve put on a kilogram of weight over the past couple of months. I would like to say it’s extra muscle from doing Joe Wicks’s PE class every day – after all, muscle weighs more than fat – but I think that’s wishful thinking. Perhaps I just need to accept that I’m nearly 45 and […]
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Testing capacity in the UK and cruciferous vegetables
The UK seems to be finally catching up to Germany in terms of testing capacity, albeit a couple of months late. I’m not 100% sure why it has taken so long but the government here says it’s because we don’t or didn’t have much of a diagnostics industry in the UK. I think there’s some […]
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Daffodils, jumping shot, and a roundup of the news
I ventured out for some exercise today. Mostly I stay in and just do The Body Coach live streaming in the morning followed by a trampoline bounce in the afternoon. It’s a lovely spring day today and the daffodils are in full bloom so it must be time for a jumping shot. Here’s a round-up […]
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Panic buying and the UK response to coronavirus
I don’t understand the panic buying. Do people not realise you can order groceries online and have them delivered? Anyone facing quarantine can still order groceries and have them delivered to their home. There’s no need to buy stuff to last the duration of the quarantine. Also, you can’t buy several weeks’ worth of fresh […]
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A vegan’s blood test results
I recently had the Well Woman blood tests done by Medichecks. There’s nothing wrong with me but now that I’m 44 I thought it would be good to start monitoring things like cholesterol since there’s a family history of it. I also like to check my HbA1c regularly for diabetes. Since I don’t have any […]
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Where’s my 8-pack?
I’ve been doing the baby shark abs challenge for more than 30 days now (32 days to be exact). It has got much easier, so much so, that now I think I could go on doing the exercises for longer than 1 minute 33 seconds. I feel stronger too and notice my new strength in […]
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Baby shark abs challenge
We’ve got a 30-day challenge going at work as part of health and wellbeing which involves doing the baby shark abs challenge every day for 30 days. It’s the hardest 1 minute and 30 seconds you will do all day. I’ve been doing it since last Friday and for the first three days, I thought […]
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A nutritious, cheap, and easy vegan meal that kids like and vegan bodybuilders
I made a delicious and disgustingly healthy meal tonight which was a hit with everyone, including the kids. It was also very simple, indeed half of it required no cooking at all. The cooked half was a recipe from Rukmini Iyer’s The Green Roasting Tin which involved bunging orzo and tomatoes in the oven for […]
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You don’t need to eat fish to get DHA omega-3s
Tell someone you’re vegan and suddenly they become an expert dietitian and will start listing nutrients they think you’re deficient in. Often the suggestions are silly, like protein, but someone who has done their homework will list something valid like B12. Vegans do need to take regular supplements of B12 or eat fortified foods. So […]
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A vision for King Street, Aberdeen
Earlier this year I applied for and received funding for the Aberdeen Cycle Forum to commission two visualisations of streets in Aberdeen with a bike path. One of them has just been released. It’s for King Street and extends the King Street Design Competition we held by taking the winning designs and turning them into […]
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Mass bike ride in Aberdeen on Sunday 28th April
The Aberdeen Cycle Forum is organising a mass bike ride on Sunday 28th April at 11am, starting from Marischal College. This is part of Scotland’s Pedal on Parliament 2019 but this year is a little bit different because the usual Edinburgh ride which attracts thousands of people is not happening. Instead the focus is on […]
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How to be a healthy vegan
Climate change is spawning a mass vegan movement in a way that concern for animal welfare never did. Animal Liberation was written in 1975 and until the last few years, veganism was a fringe movement with a bad reputation. Its impact has been small and slow. But this has changed with rising concern for the […]
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Beetroots, beans and bikes
We went to the allotment today and the kids harvested a couple of beetroots. The allotment is giving us beetroots, tomatoes, broccoli, kale, and herbs right now. The other crops have either died away with the cooler weather or have been harvested already. We have an abundance of kale which should see us right through […]
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