Happy Days!

One, two, three o'clock, four o'clock blog!  Five, Six, Seven o'clock, eight o'clock blog! Nine, ten, eleven o'clock, twelve o'clock blog!  We're gonna blog around the clock tonight!

So I've reached a turning point in my life, a new job and a new routine.  I'd been stuck in a rut and had become lazy and demotivated due to the misery of a horrible job.  Just the act of leaving was enough to lift my spirits and I'm much happier now so I thought I'd start a blog to keep me motivated and allow me to keep track of my accomplishments.

You could say I'm old before my time as I yearn for a long gone era when everything was simpler and slower.  Ideally I'd have probably liked to be in my prime in the seventies; largely so I could have followed Queen's career from day one and see them perform live with Freddie!  But also a time when children played outside, building forts and exploring the countryside, rather than sitting on a sofa, playing xbox and eating processed foods.  A time when people knew their neighbours and everyone else in the community, we ate seasonal, locally sourced foods and everyone knew how to cook.

I try not to eat ready meals or processed foods.  A good rule of thumb is: if there are more than 4 ingredients and/or if you cannot pronounce or do not know them, do not eat the product.  I like to cook my own food and, if I can, I like to buy locally produced food.  We have a great market which is much cheaper than supermarkets for vegetables and the meat and fish are such better quality that it is worth the small increase in price.  If like me you scour for deals then you can still beat the supermarket prices!  I must admit that I have been going to the supermarket a lot recently, but I still buy british, and my new routine addresses this. I'll post about the more adventurous dishes I make.  I also bake a lot of sweet goods, they taste far superior to anything you can buy pre-made and they are healthy, actually good for you, providing you don't live a sedentary lifestyle and have a balanced diet.

I work in IT so I spend 8 hours a day tied to a desk.  The human body is not designed to do this and it's very unhealthy; therefore I try and get up as much as possible during the day and at least walk through the office (providing it doesn't interfere with my work of course).  As I said before, I've become lazy and have therefore gotten somewhat out of shape.  I've signed up for the gym again and will keep you posted with my progress.  Going to the gym alone is not enough to keep in shape and healthy, and it takes a considerable amount of the 16 hours a day I have left after work; my brother, a Personal Trainer, says that the most effective results are achieved by a very small but significant lifestyle change.  Sit down less and be more active in general.  Walk or bike instead of driving, instead of using our modern conveniences do things manually.  For example by cooking my own meal and doing the washing up I've spent perhaps two hours standing in the kitchen, walking backwards and forwards using my arms; all of which is using energy and 'keeping my engine ticking over'.  I'm still watching TV or listening to music while I'm working but instead of sitting on the sofa, not moving, I'm getting that exercise in when I don't notice.  If your body is working hard enough, which could simply be standing at the ironing board, at the least active part of your day then you don't have to worry about going to the gym at all.

By using old fashioned methods and abstaining from modern conveniences you naturally lead a healthier, more active lifestyle and you save money on fuel and purchasing and running all these time-saving, health-degrading devices.  Hopefully now you can see why I long for the return of a bygone era.

In addition to an apparent obsession with home cooking and living in the past, I watch a lot of TV, Movies and am passionate about music.  As I've already mentioned, I love Queen!  Greatest band ever, I won't dwell on that for now.  I love music of all kinds from classical to Heavy Metal, Rock, Hip Hop, RnB, Disco, Soul, Motown, Swing, Big Band, you name it, and if I haven't heard it then I'm eager to listen!  Recently I've been watching Modern Family, Archer, Parks and Recreations, Community, Breaking Bad, The Walking Dead, Touch, How I Met Your Mother, Eastbound and Down, Terra Nova, Eli Stone and I recently worked my way through all seven seasons of Only Fools and Horses which might just be the best written show in history.

I've rambled on for long enough now and I need to get up and get active again.