Tupler Technique Confession

I received a comment asking for an update. Well as anyone following the blog might have predicted I didn't keep up with the Tupler Technique despite being convinced that the technique could help me. I'm still 2 inches less than I was so that is very pleasing. I think the reason I stopped is that I had got to the point where I had to do the exercises lying down. I couldn't figure out how to do this when I was at work. Which is a bit of a cop out as I do work from home 2, 3, sometimes 4 days a week. But I'm just not organised enough to find the time morning, noon and night but I have to. I am going to attempt to start again and use the new year as the motivation. One thing I have always done though is wore the splint or one of those Velcro belts 24/7 and I'm always very careful to hold everything when I sneeze, etc. Still, sometimes I am not quick enough and the pain that rips through my stomach is incredible and it's got to be like Julie Tupler says - it's ripping the tissue. I don't think I can do without the splint as it just holds all my organs in and I feel very uncomfortable when I take it off. I definitely need the support and I must start the exercises again so I can make progress on the physical road to me discovering me.

The Life Audit

Those of you following the blog from the beginning may remember my love of (almost unread) self help books. One of these is The Life Audit by Caroline Righton.

I've had this book since 2009 and even spent an extra £10 purchasing electronic pdf copies of the paperwork to save damaging the book by writing my inner most thoughts into it.  But as you might expect from me I never quite got round to doing the audit properly.  It was just too big a task to take on.  However, I had visited The Life Audit website for some reason (can't remember why now) and noticed that an app (program for smart phones) was being developed.  So I kept checking back at the page or checking the App Store whenever I did updates to see if it had been released.

Then on the 10 December I noticed it had but with the shocking price of £4.99.  I don't, unless absolutely desperate and it comes highly recommended, pay for apps and even then would only pay 69p at most.  But I'd been waiting for it and it would finally help me do the audit and get something back from having purchased the book and paperwork. It would have a fab way to record all the things, like the daily time log (how easy could technology make recording such stuff, housework planner, storage stock take, etc. I naively felt the app must be good for the author to be willing to charge £4.99.  You'd have to be really proud of it and feel it was more than able to compete with the vast array of free apps, for example, like one of my favourites - My Fitness Pal.

I was naive, some would call me stupid and as stupid is apparently as stupid does I'm afraid I'd have to agree with them. I installed the app and opened it and straight away it looked disappointing.  The book contains some 48 charts covering areas such as time, health, relationships, home, money, work, leisure, citzenship, etc. Here are some screen shot of the The Life Audit app....

This is the screen you get when you select activities.

You can record activities under the categories shown on the left.  At £4.99 I'd want a little flexibility as to how these were labelled.  Also, once you select them the clock starts.  Fantastic.  You just have to remember to stop it when you finish that type of activity and start the next one.  The first activity recorded fine; the next one didn't but there is not a way to manually add the time that was 'lost'.  I tried again and the app failed again so this is not fit for purpose at all.  Not worthy of a free app let alone one that costs, yes, £4.99.

You can also record in the Journal section.  By filling in the ???.  It looks like you have a fair few characters to write your thoughts when you click on it but if you write too much then when you click okay it disappears and you have to start again.  Which ironically is a waste of the time the book is trying to save you!  

You can add notes to all the other sections.  But really people are NOT going to just note down what they have consumed when they can scan the bar codes in My Fitness Pal and have a compete FREE breakdown of the nutrients and calories the food they have eaten contain; giving them instant tracking of their calorie intake.

And when you want to view the journal - this is what you get.   I don't know if they thought they were being fancy or whether they had just got bored by then but really it's blurred!!

I used the app for less than a day and that was with trying to justify that I hadn't wasted my money.  But you know what - I have.  Please don't waste yours.  This is not good enough.  Not good enough at all.  I wouldn't even recommend to the author to give the app away for free.  The app should be driving sales of the book but right now it will drive sales away.  If it were me I would refund everyone's money and pull the app from the store before more damage is done.  Then I would go away and do my research properly.  My Fitness Pal links with other apps and may be there would be room for My Life Audit to link to My Fitness Pal who could cover off the recording of food consumed.  Why reinvent the wheel when someone has already perfected it.  Then I would develop the parts of the Life Audit that can't be found elsewhere.  Once I'd got a product that I was happy with and that worked for me and my friends.  Then I would offer it for free and build up a bit of reputation off before finally, maybe, putting it on for 69p.  

Anyway, hope the review helps because buying the Life Audit app certainly did not help me on the path to me discovering me.

The making of a lady.

Tonight I watched the period drama, the Making Of a Lady. I hadn't intended to watch it and even missed the first few minutes but the beauty of the property used for Polstrey drew me in. I did spend a while trying to find out if it was a National Trust property but despite my own self confessed brilliance at searching the Internet I couldn't find any reference to it. I did, however, find a write up about it which help me understand the earlier, missed, part of the story. So the heroine wants to marry for love but due to her circumstances comes to an arrangement with a Lord to have a marriage of convenience to them both. The scenes between them show a true loving couple and you can see the path their arrangement (aside from the troubles they find themselves in) is heading in and it is a real Cinderella romance.

I, on the other hand, never believed in love or marriage. Poppycock! When I was younger I felt marriage licences should be valid for certain lengths of time 5 years, 10 years; with the option to have a rethink after the licence period was up. That was until I met (this is where I should insert - THE LOVE OF MY LIFE - but anyone following this blog will know the use of those words have dropped off to almost non existence) my OH (that seems to be the way some of the world refer to the people that they are obviously not that attached to. It doesn't sound very attached does it. Does it?) Anyway I digress. It was as if we were reunited. That in a past life we had been cruelly separated (add relevant dramatic music) but now we had found each other and we were destined to be together forever this time. What a crock of shit that turned out to be. How did I not see it? How did I go from not believing in love and marriage to thinking I'd found some lost part of me. And believe I did. For over 12 years. That was until I watched my OH DM (private message for those not on Twitter) some woman to say he loved her and wanted to be with her. From our bed when he thought I was asleep. I still can't get over how sick that was but hey ho. That was the Canadian woman. Turned out it wasn't her, or wasn't just her, I maybe should say.

I'm sure you can go back to the beginning of the blog if you want to take the roller coaster with me. Anyway, it happened apparently because I didn't show that I loved him. But then when I saw the private messages on his dirty account with her who shall not be named he explained to her that soon after marrying me he realised I wasn't the one. SOON AFTER MARRYING ME. Well, it might have been helpful if he had given some indication at some point at least during those years, maybe? There I was, like the cat that got the cream, with my one, my life only he wasn't my life, my one. He wasn't my anything. He loves me now. So he says. And yes we are more honest with each other. Closer some ways except I feel like my heart is locked away for safe keeping since I can't be trusted with it. And I disappoint him every time I say I hope so after he says he loves me. But it doesn't really matter if he doesn't does it. I've already been broken; the irreparable damage has been done. I'm a Gemini so you can't lay all that on me and then expect me to think the fairy tale was ever real. SOON AFTER...echoes in my mind. Pretended to love me for years but didn't so how the hell can be love me now? Yes I hung in there I did what I needed to keep my family together and his drinking is less of a worry for myself, the children and for him. But for me the fairy tale has been forever damaged. It's one thing not to believe in love, marriage and fairy tales but it is quite another to have the fairy tale ripped from you. It was lovely, if heartbreaking, to see the scenes they played out in the Making Of a Lady. At least fairy tales are still alive and kicking in films and tv shows as much as it turned on the water works for me. Someone's got to keep the dreams alive. As for me it's a timely reminder of the need to get swiftly back to me discovering me.

A late blog post

Disappointingly, I didn't get a chance (or should that be make a chance) to cook last week.

I tried to make amends on Monday; at the same time as using up old food from the freezer.  I had brought, by mistake, Tesco's Finest salmon fillets which were smoked.  Disgusting!!  I knew I would need something that would cover up the smell and taste and make them edible so as not to waste the money we had spent on them.

I had found, ages ago, a recipe on my favourite food website BBC good food for smoked salmon kedgeree but the other half had said no way was he going to eat the salmon.  Well I searched the Internet again but couldn't come up with anything better. So I gave it a chance.  I made a point of reading through the comments as they can be so helpful.  There was an issue with the rice not cooking in the time given apparently and someone else had mentioned the use of curry paste instead of powder.  Also I was going to be using cooked salmon fillet rather than proper smoked salmon.  So armed with the two recipes, the comments and bit of courage I set about my task.  I soaked the salmon for a bit in the hope of getting some of the flavour out and then put it in the oven covered in butter and tin foil.  I used the rice idea from the chicken biryani recipe and soaked the rice in warm water first.  Adding the salt to the onions certainly seemed to caramelise them so much quicker (wish I knew the science behind cooking - looking for a good book suggestion if anyone is happy to share).  I guess it draws the water out quicker or something?  Then instead of the tea spoon of curry powder I used a table spoon of biryani curry paste left over from our biryani the other night.   I figured that at least it is a flavour that we know we like. I didn't have any parsley so used the coriander again left over from the biryani.  This gave me confidence that the two flavours would work together.  I ended up cracking one of the eggs when I put it gently into the boiling water so I will remember to leave them out of the fridge longer next time.  I didn't get the timings right as the rice as drying out but not fully cooked so I just kept adding a bit of water from the kettle.  And I was late putting the eggs on to boil and for some reason the salmon just wasn't getting hot enough in the centre.  Anyway, I carried on regardless.  I plated it up and it looked good considering my initial worries (why oh why did I not take a picture!!).

It turned out to be very edible and my other half even said he would have it again including the funny smoked salmon.  So I call that a definite success.  I am even more pleased in that I didn't follow a recipe exactly but had to think for myself a little on this one so a very good step on the road to me discovering me. :-))