Words of the week - Flying

Hello from Australia.

Having spent 11 years living in South Africa and Dubai we're more than used to flying. Ether 12 hours direct from SA or 8 hrs to Dubai and 7 hours onto the UK. 

Child 3 moved out to Australia in 2017 and this is my 4th trip to visit him (3rd for Peter)

2019 My first trip was from Dubai and I broke the journey up with a stop over in Singapore for 2 hours. I got off the plane, stretched my legs, got a Starbucks, then boarded again with mostly the same passengers, back into the same seat onto Sydney. It was 2 x 7 hour flights. I flew back direct from Melbourne.

We used to joke that a 7 hour flight was short haul for us travelling between Dubai and the UK.

Covid stopped us visiting for 3 years, but I still made flights to and from the UK to Dubai

2022 My 2nd trip was 7 hours to Dubai. Peter came with me and we were now living in the UK. The usual stretch legs, Starbucks and then 14 hours onto Sydney. We had a couple of internal flights to travel to The Gold Coast and Sydney of 2-3 hours each. I flew home from Sydney and Peter returned 2 weeks later and spent a few nights in Dubai on his way back.

2023 Was a flight via Kuala Lumper which was 10 hours, 3 over stop over and yes, stretched legs and coffee, then 8 hours onto Sydney. We had more internal flights up to Cairns and Brisbane and flew home from Sydney via Kuala Lumpur Lumper where we stayed for 4 nights.

2025 We're back in Sydney, via 2 hours in Dubai and we've got 4 nights in Dubai on our way home. Another 7 hour and 14 hour flight. 

Emirates is our preferred airline, but often due to only being able to travel in the school holidays we've opted for other airlines as the price can differ between £1000-£2000 return for the two of us. We were silver members for many years with the airline and benefitted from using the lounge and early boarding, which we do miss being able to take advantage of.

We picked up the AirBus A380 in Dubai

There is so much more room in economy than other planes, so no need for any upgrades. We booked Premium economy with Virgin with our 11 hour flight to Vegas over Christmas and we really needed it. Emirates haven't compromised with economy. Our only issue with booking with Emirates to Dubai or Australia is making sure the code share isn't a Qantas plane, as it's a completely different flying experience.

I opted to have the gluten option on the flights. Usually I just don't eat the bread roll, crackers and cake, usually bringing my own. But I noticed this was a really heavy carb based meal flight. I actually wasn't impressed with any of my meals. They get served earlier than the rest of the cabin do, which also meant I had the tray for twice as long. I also didn't get to see what was I was going to have in advance and was served fish which I don't mind but it really doesn't reheat that well and was very rubbery.

The cakes and bread were really heavy with exceptionally long use by dates. It was also very fatty and sugary)

In theory the gluten free range looked promising

The reality not so good. I couldn't eat this.

I'll be popping some crackers, a cake and bread roll in my hand luggage for the return flight and just having a normal meal (chicken or beef).

Counting calories to lose the weight gained after stopping smoking.

Weight gain is easy, losing it is harder. We all know that.

I've spent this week counting calories to try to understand how I can best lose the 8kg in weight gain since I stopped smoking back in December.

According to my BMI I am over weight. I'm 5ft 7in and in mid February I was weighing just over 76kg. I've always weighed between 70-72kg for most of my life, but with some additional exercise and a house renovation during lockdown, I'd dropped to 68kg, where I felt my most comfortable, was happy with how I looked and how my clothes fitted. 

I'm not happy now and if it wasn't for lockdown I'd be having to buy new clothes for going out in.

I googled a few things, starting with my medication 'can it cause weight gain?' well medication doesn't cause weight gain, it causes an increase in your appetite, the weight gain comes from what you put in your mouth, however, my medication started in November, Beta blockers, does cause weight gain *sighs* Iron infusions also cause weight gain. I've had 2 iron infusions since October.

But that is no excuse, I've been more sedate with my activities and had bursts of exercise when I worked at the golf then did nothing for a few weeks in between, followed by isolation on my return to the UK and in general just eating the wrong foods, snacking and more snacking.

I decided to investigate the best way to lose some weight, then maintain it, without going on a special diet, just plain and simple lifestyle choices. After all for most of my life I've weighed between 70-72kg. I've snacked, had takeouts, have a sweet tooth, enjoy chocolate, sweets, cakes, ice cream alongside a normal diet and moderate exercise in the form of dog walking, gardening, housework etc.

So that's how I came to count calories. If I can cut 500 calories a day I can expect to loose 2kg a month. I've lost 1kg in the first 3 weeks, but that's been with increasing my exercise, longer walks and joining in daily with Joe Wicks exercises for seniors, yes I know, but I have coordination issues, I need a slower pace. 

Here's what I've been eating, how I'm counting and why I'm so giving up cake and sweets and allowing myself the occasional bar of chocolate instead.

I'm already on a wheat free diet due to my migraines and a bleed in the small intestine and I don't have citrus drinks/fruit due to dental and bone implants.

Calories in hot drinks come from milk and sugars. If I make a latte at home it's 110 calories as it's a smaller cup.

Swopping apple juice for no added sugar apple squash saves almost 90 calories per glass.

Weighing out ingredients gives you an idea of how much you are eating. There are 109 calories in 30g of this fruit cheese, slightly less than cheddar. How many times a day do you just snap off a piece of cheese to nibble on?

I weighed the amount of butter, sugar and mix used to work out how many calories each pancake contains.

I don't always get to eat all my calories anyway.

It gets a bit complicated keeping note of everything you eat. I started day 1 recording items as I ate them, Day 2 I planned a bit more as I knew roughly how many calories were in a lot of things and Wednesday/Thursday and over the weekend, I'll be planning the calories, snacks and drinks to achieve 1500 calories a day.

I followed the advice to have a breakfast every morning, but that makes me want to eat more during the day as once I start eating I want to keep on going.

A typical example of Breakfast, lunch and dinner. Non fat yogurt, tsp honey, banana. Low fat bacon, gluten free roll with butter and brown sauce and Chicken breast, carrots, hummus and beet root salad, all contain similar calories.

And here come the extra calories. A slice of cake and 5 boiled sweets. This is the same as 2 and a half Crunchies, almost 6 milky way bars or 10 kitkat fingers. I do have some banana bread I made in the freezer that I omitted sugar from and it works out at 80 calories per slice.

There's so many other things I've discovered about food that I will continue with after the weekend when I finish counting the calories as it's so time consuming.

I'm starting a list of the most common foods I eat and their calorie content, I'm already reducing the amount of butter/oils I use in baking/cooking and cutting out sugar in drinks. Weighing dried products such as rice and pasta before cooking not only keeps the calories within the RDA but cuts down on food waste also. I often meal plan to help with reducing the amount of trips I make to the supermarket anyway and with meal planning I can swop meals around, reduce quantities of cupboard and freezer items if I want to eat a bar of chocolate or treat myself to a glass of wine.

To lose the weight gained I need to cut out cake and sweets, alcohol, chunks of cheese from the fridge as I pass. Staying up late makes me snack, eating too early makes me eat all day. Writing everything down makes me more honest with myself about what I'm eating, weighing foods and working out the calories makes me think twice about having that extra snack or eating just the one bag of sweets. I'm drinking a glass of water before each meal as it does make me feel a bit fuller. 

I aim to lose a further 2kg this month, increase my exercise and improve my diet. I won't be counting calories next week, I'll just be reducing portion sizes and thinking twice before I eat or drink something.

Do you have any tips on maintaining a healthy diet, losing weight and exercising you'd be happy to share with me?

A wheat free diet

I've been told I have an allergy to wheat and what a difference it has made to my life. I won't find out until the end of November after 3 months being wheat free whether it's the cause of my Iron deficiency anemia, but as I had a small, slow bleed in my small intestine, I am assuming this was the cause of low ferritin stores. A blood test will reveal all.

In the meantime, fantastic news, I've not had a single headache or migraine since I started the diet and my chronic pain in my neck is considerably far less painful and in fact on some days I hardly notice it all. Having suffered with migraines since I was a baby and chronic pain for 23 years after an injury at work.

Going wheat free has been an easy choice for me. I haven't opted for going Gluten Free as I'm not coeliac, I've just eliminated wheat from my diet, so a salad or sushi on the go rather than a sandwich, grilled chicken instead of a burger when eating out and just choosing menu items without wheat, so no more pizza, burgers, sausages, pasta, bread and keeping a check on ingredients for sauces.

There's plenty of menu choices, I just didn't eat the bread.

I have ordered a couple of Gluten Free meals over the past month with all the travelling we've been doing. I can't rate The Lounges enough for their range and taste, however a pie that tasted really nice in another restaurant didn't actually look that appetizing.

When I cut the wheat from my diet, I missed the carbs, the feeling of being full and turned to Gluten Free products ti supplement my diet, I put on weight and found myself craving sugar. I also started to experience trapped wind and a bloated belly, symptoms I never had in the past. Now 2 months on, I've just adapted my diet to 'no wheat'.

I've also observed that most GF premade food is also dairy free which in my opinion makes the food taste bland, was pleased to see this range in Asda.

I've bought some Gluten Free flour mixes for banana bread, cake mixes and yorkshire puddings as well as a pot of suitable gravy granules.

I've made a few mistakes, assuming an ale was barley or hops, to discover it contained wheat, so easy switch, just drinking G&T and wine now. A salad I bought in the supermarkets contained semolina grains and now having to carry my reading glasses with me everywhere.

I was so keen to have liver and onions, I forgot to ask about the gravy.

I take a few snacks out with me most days so I have something I can eat, if I feel peckish in a coffee shop, there are few GF options.

On the whole it's been much easier than I thought, but when my health was seriously suffering as a consequence it's not that difficult to do.

Looking after myself

I implemented the 9am rule, it's working well. It means I have to be ready to face the day by 9am, regardless of whether I'm actually going out or not, it also doesn't matter whether I have a full face of make up on and my hair done or even if I go and have a lie down. I'm not timetabling and scheduling my life I'm just motivating myself to make sure I don't get stuck in rut, which leads to boredom, which in turn, from experience, leads to depression. 

My 9am is now in it's 3rd week, it goes out the window on weekends when my husband is home, he is my motivation then, and it is going well. I've almost completed the whole 'to do' list for January and been getting to bed early.

But there are another few things I need to work on, but this needs co-operationkio from my husband. He works, he is the one with routine, the length of time and order in which he does things in the morning, when he comes home from work, the time in between entering the front door and when he's ready to eat and what time he is ready to go to bed. I don't have a problem with this, however this doesn't suit me. I need to eat earlier, I need to eat less carbs. Peter doesn't always start/end his routine at the same time every day and I find it difficult to get up and start mine or eat earlier knowing I'll have to cook twice or he'll have to eat his warmed up or cook his own, or go to bed earlier without him, as he will travel away often during the week and with me spending so much time in the UK without him, our time together is precious.

I feel selfish if I do my own thing, but it's self imposed and I need to just get over it. Not feel guilty if I go to bed early, eat my main meal at 4pm before he comes home, go to bed early, spend the evening in a another room as due to a bad neck I can't spend hours sitting on the sofa watching TV, as much as I'd like to.

I've always batch cooked, we have 5 kids, I always made enough for 7/8 meals and froze the rest, now I cook for 4 every meal time and freeze 2/3 meals in individual pots. Peter will cook several meals over the weekend and freeze them also. Every morning I'll take a pot out the freezer for him and I'll make myself something fresh each day. This means I can cut down on the amount of carbs I eat, have increased my intake of fruit and veg and dairy products and actually eat less and have stopped snacking as much during the day. 

The mornings are sorted I get up and get on with things downstairs, dishwasher, walk Bob, etc after Peter brings me up a cup of tea to bed every morning. It's just the evenings. Peter showers, cleans his teeth and goes to bed. I can't help doing a million and one taks on the way to bed, followed by bathing, removing make up, moisturising etc which takes far longer than his shower and teeth cleaning.

Thankfully it's winter here in Dubai and both Peter and I love being outdoors. We have bikes, but rarely go for a bike ride at the same time, but we do like to walk the dog together  We like to get outdoors as much as possible. We've recently moved to a new house, 15 minute drive from the beach and we visit it at least once on a weekend, whether it's for a paddle, walk, coffee or all three. We used to live 1km from the beach, but hardly went there, why? because it was at the end of the road, so we could go there when ever we wanted, so we just kept putting it off. We also have a lovely garden, it's small, but more manageable, we've had it landscaped and in the process of having it fenced off, for privacy and so we can leave the dog outside without fear of him jumping the wall. We've also got two balconies, but we only use the one off the bedroom, it means I can sit out there with my tea in the mornings if I choose without having to get out of my pjs first and on a saturday, you'll find us out there, sitting in silence for most of the morning. 

It'll be too hot soon for the outdoor life and we'll have to look at other ways to get out of the house. I'll be spending the bulk of summer in the UK, it's just too hot for me here with nothing to do all day when temps are in the high 40's. Peter will carry on working and have a couple of trips over to visit me. It's fairly typical of what most expats do out here.

One Daily Positive 2017 Week 7

I decided not to drink any coke this week, or any other fizzy drinks. I can drink 2-3 cans of coke a day without thinking about it. It's not good for my weight or my teeth. there's no list this week, apart from daily stuff like housework, everything else has been done, apart from a few things I need to sort out when I get to the UK next month. My weight at the start of the week was 72.9kg, I gave up weighing myself as I lost and gained a kilo during the week. By Tuesday I stopped having sugar in my coffee, but I found myself eating more food. We ate out 3 times this week and a fair few pints were consumed also.

I've also realised that I only use my mobile phone in Dubai for Social Media, it's only Peter who physically calls me. Every public place has wifi so I'm spending February 3G free when I'm out and about, I don't need to keep checking my status when walking in the park or sitting on the beach and as a result I've been reading a lot more. I do have a small amount of credit for when I drive into the desert in case of an emergency.

Peter was working late all week and the time dragged by. On Monday the only person I spoke to was at the window at Costa Coffee drive through.

Sunday was spent mainly at the dentists after I collected some old duvets to make some more dog beds with and the afternoon was spent sorting the material out.

Monday involved a trip into the desert with Bob and I spent a few hours tidying the sheds and garage, while the weather is cool. I cycled and walked to and on the beach, had a coffee and wrote my address book up to date, although I don't know why I bother writing letters to so many people these days as only my mum and 2 friends write back. I spent the evening working out and resetting ALL my passwords online after accidentally clearing all the cookies when I was looking for flights for Peter for the UK in April.

Tuesday was another long day. We woke up to heavy rain. Bob and I went out for a Valentine's lunch and the ironing got done. I also started on a new dog bed design and cut some squares for making bandana's. I visited 11 puppies and their 2 mothers who are looking for a new home and took them some valentine heart shaped dog biscuits I'd baked. I had a sleep in the afternoon then went to Costa Coffee for free coffee, cake and balloons, getting home at 9pm.

Wednesday morning was spent cleaning the house, the weather has been really cool and it's been raining most of the week, so doors are flung wide open. It's also been very windy, so along with the muddy paw prints the house was covered in a fine layer of sand. I went food shopping and stopped for my obligatory coffee. I ended up cooking several meals for the next week along with the dinner.

Thursday I spent the morning in the nail bar and sorted out my outfit and accessories for a boat party on Friday, which was cancelled due to the weather. Rory's time with her foster family came to an end and I collected her for the afternoon, not once, but 3 times she cleared our 6ft wall and I found her desperately trying to bounce her way back into the garden. We went out for dinner, neither of us could be bothered to cook. We received sad news that Peter's Aunty Marion had passed away unexpectedly on Wednesday.

Friday we met friends and their dog out in the desert, we brought Jelly home with us for the night, while her humans had the sofas cleaned. Late afternoon we visited Dubai Mall and had Dinner over looking the fountains. We finally got round to booking Peter's UK trip in April, just internal flights and car hire to book for me now.

Saturday morning around 4am we were woken with an almighty crash and flash of light, seriously thinking a plane had crashed, it was that loud and bright, another crash and flash and we recognised thunder and lightening. Not something that happens often in Dubai, it took a while to get back to sleep with the noise of the heavy rain. We went out for breakfast, food shop and spent an hour removing layers of sand from the kitchen where the window had been left open over night. After Jelly was collected I took Rory to visit a potential foster family. I ended up leaving her there and we'll see how it goes for a week.

43/365 #WIDN Enjoying the rain in Dubai.

 44/365 I Love the freedom of living in Dubai, compared to South Africa.

 45/365 #LoveYourSelfie.

46/365 Red, changing the soft furnishings to mark the seasons.

47/365 A message.

48/365 Wide angle, although portrait mode is more suited to living in Dubai.

49/365 Muse my inspiration for everything in life is directly related to the amount of caffeine I have.

On the blog this week:

My Sunday Photo - V is for Valentine
Animal Tales and HDYGG? - Plants that are dangerous to animals
Travel - My top 6 tips for starting a conversation when travelling
Parenting - You don't need to entertain children 24/7

An Indoor Cat.

Our cat is sad.

Our cat is over weight.

Our cat isn't allowed outside.

It's summer in Dubai and with temps in the mid 40's during the day and not dropping below 30c at night, we've been keeping out cat and dog indoors. We've reintroduced the litter day, which the cat is using, we don't want the cat or dog suffering with heat stroke as the cat did last year, when it was outside for too long.

The dog of course gets to go outside for a pee and poo and a walk when the humidity isn't too high and the pavements are cool enough to walk on, but the dog can be contained in a walled garden, the cat of course can jump the wall and wander off.

Another reason for keeping the cat in is that it is over weight, weighing in at almost 6kg, nearly double it's ideal weight and this is due to the increase in people leaving out food for the stray cats, which of course our cat has enjoyed tucking into and gaining weight.

But the cat is sad, the cat wants to be outside, roaming the streets and eating the food that has been put out. We want to keep our cat healthy and safe, but we can't explain this to the cat, make the cat understand, despite our constant conversations with the cat, when it sits all day looking at the door, looking at us and meowing to get out attention to open the door.

Summer is coming to an end, as in temps will drop below 35c and it will be cool enough for the cat to be outside at night time, but the cat doesn't understand us, the cat  doesn't understand why we have reduced it's food intake.

The cat just thinks we're being mean.

Week 86 - My Sunday Photo - Too many carbs

Both Peter and I have piled on a few pounds during our UK trip.

Since leaving the UK early 2011 we've noticed how much healthier we've been eating than we did in the UK.

Whilst travelling we've eaten out nearly every night. Eating bread, potatoes (chips, crisps, etc) and pasta almost every day.

We've OD'd on Carbs.

We've also been drinking a lot of sugary drinks as well as upping our alcohol intake (pub meals almost daily).

On our return to Dubai we said we'd get back into our normal healthy diets. Yesterday I felt a bit headachy, we went out for a salad for lunch, which I had a glass of water with and homemade lasagne for dinner. I drank rose tea throughout the day and took to my bed at 5pm with the start of a migraine.

I spent all day today in bed, mostly sleeping and drinking water. At 4pm I downed 2 cans of coke and ate 4 welsh cakes, at 5pm I felt well enough to take a walk on the beach, followed by a burger, curly fries and mountain dew. I took a shower, walked the dog, did a load of washing and took the bins out.

At 8pm I was suffering with indigestion, felt sick and my headache had returned.

I'd OD'd again on carbs, but I did have 3 hours of feeling well and was up and and above, but that was because I had a sugar rush. My body fooled me into thinking I was feeling ok, but when the rush went, I felt no better than I had before 4pm.

Lesson learnt, I need to ween myself off the carbs and fizzy drinks slowly, so my body stops craving sugar. I'll start the morning with porridge and fruit juice and will make sure I have some carbs at lunch time to keep me going till dinner, which will consist of chicken and veg and salad.

What's getting me down right now?

Winter
Our house has NO insulation, wooden and metal window frames and single pane glass, it is also open plan and very little sun light reaches inside the house, it gets dark by 5.30pm and the sun doesn't rise till 6.45am which leads me to:

Power cuts
Last week was 3 days without electricity, this week 3 mornings in a row the power has switched off, hot baths are limited as is the use of the electric blanket and this morning I had to get ou to dry my hair at the gym, which leads me to:

Health
I came back from the Uk beginning of May with a chest infection, very soon I had pleurisy, the last weekend of June I actually felt well and went to Kruger, I returned with the flu, took to my bed which means I haven't been going to the gym or attending my physio and that leads me to:

Diet
I've had little taste or sense of smell, I haven't felt hungry, when I have eaten it's been junk food, preprepared food and chocolate and coke and in turn I've had headaches, suffered with my neck which is made worse by the cold of winter.

So now I've completed a full cycle with Winter, Power cuts, health and diet I'll tell you what else has been getting me down.

Charity work
The more I do, the more I see, the more useless I feel that I can't help more people and the more money I spend. There are new people and structures in a few of the places I volunteer at, who want set days and times so they can plan around my arrival, but that's not how I work, I'm a volunteer I give my time and my skills when I can.

Work (lack of)
Or at least some kind of an income to fund the voluntary work.

Face book
I've temporally deleted my account. Why? Well I'm sort of fed of people thinking they keep in touch with me purely because they 'like' a picture or comment. I'm also fed of people make huge announcements on face book and then expect that I trawl through their posts looking for these said announcements and then reply with heart felt sincerity. You have news to tell me, then tell me, when we moved to SA we told people individually, even if it was on a private message and waited till all had replied before we made it public. I get upset hearing about pregnancies, marriages etc at the same time as casual acquaintances.

USB port
There are only 2 on my MacBook Air and one of them doesn't work. I've only had the laptop for a few months and it should be repaired under warranty, but it will be away for weeks for the repair and I'll have no computer access.

Decisions for the future
I'd love to have a say in our future, our timescale and the how, when and where.

So I have lots getting me down right now, I'm being proactive about dealing with these issues, but when you suffer with ill health, ones ability to focus on what's important, goes out the window.

Giving up smoking is killing me

I gave up smoking on August 17th 2012.

For 4 fabulous days I was a non smoker.

On day 5 I smoked 1 cigarette.

On day 6 I smoked 2 cigarettes.

On day 7 I smoked 2 cigarettes.

On day 8 I smoked 3 cigarettes.

It is now day 9 and I feel like the hungry caterpillar, but for cigarettes.

I get to 1pm every day without giving smoking a thought. I'm back to swimming 1km everyday and with ease. Head down 10 lengths freestyle, without stopping. I can now swim it in 15mins instead of the 40mins it was taking previously. I have plenty to do in the mornings and then by 1pm I want to smoke.

I've changed my morning routine, I associate a morning cuppa with a cigarette, so instead I have fruit juice, but by 1pm I want a cup of tea and I start to think about smoking, by 4pm I am smoking a cigarette.

It tastes vile, I cough, I can smell the smoke already on my clothes and in my hair. I hate the smell of other people smoking, I always have, that doesn't make me want to smoke. I'm making crafts and sewing and gardening to occupy my hands. I spend more time upstairs as I don't smoke indoors and I'm not near the door just to pop out for one.

I've smoked for 24 years, I don't enjoy it, I'm addicted. I don't need a cigarette to calm the nerves, relax me, make me happy. I need the nicotine. It doesn't calm the nerves, relax me or make me happy, it just stops that nagging feeling inside as my body screams for the 24 years of nicotine it has gotten used to.

I think I was too adventerous, I told everyone I was a non smoker from August 17th onwards. I haven't failed, I've just stumbled at the first hurdle, not realising what a challenge I was embarking on.

So I will carry on smoking my 2-3 cigarettes a day, increase my exercise, cut back on the fats and sugars and will become a non smoker on September 3rd 2012.

I'm driving for 5 hours with my son to Kruger Park and spending a week in a tent and going on safari. I can't smoke, I won't be able to buy cigarettes and I will have changed my environment and routine and see if that works.

UPDATE

Well my plan to stop smoking at Kruger back fired. I'm back to 10-15 a day. I followed all advice, I re read the book and I know I'm stupid. The nicotine had a stronger grip on me than I ever thought possible.

I'm stopping smoking (again) tomorrow. Hubby is away for another 2 weeks, I've smoked the last cigarette in the packet this evening. I have no cash on me and no need to go out. I want to stop, I will stop, it's just harder than I realised.

UPDATE 2

I asked the Doctor for help. I've been prescribed Champix, I've picked day 11 to stop.
Check back on September 21st and I'll let you know whether I'm thinking about cigarettes or not.