aaaargh my computer is playing silly buggers. Running slow as a very very slow thing. CPU usage is always between 75% & 100%, even with no applications running, and there's nothing in the processes list that seems to be using a lot of system resources. I panicked in case it was my CPU over-heating but it was exactly the same after the computer had been turned off over night, so I don't think it can be that. I've system restored to days ago before this started happening, I've run spy-bot, ad-aware and norton anti-virus - nada. I am now running on-line virus scan. And if that don't help I don't know what I'm going to do.

More diet research. The BBC reports that "solo diets are no way to lose weight", and apparantly women who diet with a support group are less stressed than women dieting on their own. They also say that women dieting in groups are less likely to put the weight back on. I'm not entirely convinced - they only studied the women for 8 weeks. And I would quite like to know who funded the research (cynical, moi?). However it does say you don't need to pay for a slimming club and can form a support group with friends or family. And of course there's always the interweb.

Weighed myself this morning. Have lost 0 lb. Booo. Could've been worse, at least I haven't put any one. Must Try Harder. Hmm.

I've had enough of trying to get wiv da kids and their modern popular music. Bored with all that stuff now. I've come over all dub. Dub albums wot are [insert appropriate words here to make me look like I know ghetto speak iration babylon etc] good:
Dubwise and Otherwise from the Blood & Fire Audio Catalogue
Dread Meets Punk Rockers Uptown - legendary Don Letts' selection of legendary souds from the legendary Roxy Club where legendary punk legends like Joe Strummer used to go. Legendary.
King Tubby Meets Rockers Uptown - classic dub album from the King of Dub.

and I expect the Trojan Dub Box Set will be joining the WMP Non-Stop Dub play list before long, soon as I get a copy.

skankin'

Forgot to weigh myself this morning. There was a tiny bit of snow so O was in mad rush to get up and get dressed and get out in it, so what with that and his attempts to re-create the prevailing weather conditions in the bathroom with talcum powder, getting on the scales slipped my mind. Will try and remember to weigh myself tomorrow. (I try and always weigh myself first thing, before breakfast, for consistency).

Went to belly dancing last night which was fun and hard work. I am finally getting the hang of it, well some of it, and can even manage to co-ordinate arm and leg movements for some steps wooo I'll be getting a jeweled navel next heh.

forgot to mention that I did do some exercise yesterday. Rather than get the tube, I did some walking round the streets of London (all together now... so how can you tell me you're lo-oh-nley...), probably about 30 mins worth in all. Incidentally popout maps are fab. I use the central London one a lot, to see if things are walkable. Going everywhere by tube does rather distort one's view of London's geography.

not a Good Diet Day yesterday. Had to go to stressful meeting, overslept so no time to make sarnies (note to self: make sarnies night before in future). Bought shop sarnies with lotsa cals - it's really hard to find veggie sarnies that are not calorie ladened, they all egg mayo or cheese etc. That's my excuse. What my excuse is for the snacks I ate too or the egg & chips I had for me tea is, I haven't worked out yet.

But good news, I finished W&P at last, tho I will have to go back and read it again in a few months - I did 'skim' some the war bits, sorry bout that Mr Tolstoy. I have now started on Homer's Iliad . I know this all makes me sound like a bit of a literary ponce but I'm not, honest. It's partly cos I want to plug some holes in my reading and mainly because Books Etc are having a bogof offer on Penguin classics.

Rondette's house of frippery

Rondette found this: PawSense is a software utility that helps protect your computer from cats. It quickly detects and blocks cat typing, and also helps train your cat to stay off the computer keyboard. I need it. Flippin' cats.

Quite a good weekend, both life-wise and diet-wise. Went to Science Museum on Saturday for net meet with the Reds and the Pauls, which was fab. I used to hate the idea of meeting net people in rl, now I love it. Didn't do much on Sunday - tried to go swimming but the pool was shut for a water polo tournament.

Today has not been such a good day. Feeling a bit stressed and low and resorted to comfort eating ie mini cheddars & chocolate buttons. Boo. 350 cals and still feeling stressed. Bah.

Hurrah! I am re-appointed Fat Fighter of the Week, for I have lost 2 lb. Wooo hooo!

I guess it must have been the walking (and the belly dancing last night) plus the avoidance of puddings, that done it.

Marjorie’s Tip For Today: Painless (relatively) ways to save calories

* Cook with heavy, thick-bottomed (preferably non-stick) pans – that way you can use less oil
* Avoid frying if you can – grill instead
* Use less oil for cooking eg if your recipe says use 2 tablespoons of olive oil, try using 1 instead (this usually works well, particularly if you use heavy pan)
* Try using One-Cal spray for frying things like veggie bacon – I don’t usually recommend ‘diet’ products but this one really works, and it means you can have fried eggs wooo hoooo
* Experiment not using butter/marg on sandwiches, toast etc. If you use a ‘moist’ spread/filling eg hummus, you probably won’t miss it. And ‘bulk up’ your sarnies etc with salads & veggies
* Try making sarnies with tortillas. You’ll be less likely to butter them, and they taste like fancy sarnies from the shops, but with less cals (if you leave out the mayo, dressing, etc)
* Don’t put dressings on your salads. If you use stronger tasting salad leaves you might not even miss it. Or try using just balsamic vinegar, or lemon juice, or lime juice.
* Use stronger cheeses (eg parmesan, mature cheddars) that give you more taste for your calories, so you can use less of them
* Promise yourself to never ever drink sugary fizzy drinks again. If you can’t resist them, drink only the ‘diet’ versions
* Don’t automatically put butter on your veggies – try them without, you might even like it! If you can’t resist having butter, at least use less
* If you do sometimes use butter, keep it in the freezer (cut it into small pieces before freezing), so you aren’t tempted to spread it on toast, bread, etc

The BBC reports fairly depressing news that most diets don't work. "Just one in every 100 people who go on a diet succeed in shedding weight permanently." And this is despite the fact that people in Britain paid over £10 billion to the diet industry last year.

"Independent market analysts Datamonitor, who conducted the research, says that the diet industry is guilty of raising expectations unrealistically." Too right. They sell us quick fixes and easy answers, but do they really have an interest in us losing weight long-term? After all, if we do lose weight and keep it off, we won't need to pay for their books, magazines, clubs, diet foods, etc, etc etc any more.

As another BBC report puts it "with research suggesting 95% of slimmers regain the weight, does the diet industry rely on our failure to make its profits?"

When I were a lass, my mum used to tell me that women have to suffer for beauty. Usually she said this while I was protesting at her burning my face as she curling-tongued my hair into a Farah Fawcett flick (look, it was the 80s, OK?). Now it turns out she was wrong. It seems that if we have nice wads of money, we can pay for other women to suffer for our beauty for us. According to the gruaniad, Vickie Bekham et al pay up to two grand for 'real hair' hair extensions. The real hair has to come from somewhere. "My extensions come from Russian prisoners, so I've got Russian cell block H on my head" quipped Vickie. Oh how we larfed. As, presumably, did the Russian prisoners and asylum inmates forcibly shaved to provide them. I hope she got her mum to use the curling tongues while the hair was still on another woman, too, saves her any discomfort.

umm. and the alcohol. i forgot to mention the alcohol. oops

Marj has demoted me, I am no longer fatfighter of the week.

oh dear. Last week was so not a good week. I averaged around 2000 cals/day, did no exercise (except one belly dance class) and so put on 1 pound. boo.

This week will not be much better, I suspect. We were away for a long weekend, lots of eating out, not good. I tried to be a bit good. I didn't have cooked breakfast (I have always loved staying in B&Bs and having a fried brekkie in the morning, particularly when they get veggie soz 'n' bacon in for you yummmmmm). The B&B we stayed in was lovely (Wild Cherries) - Sue the Landlady gave us fab breakfasts of cereal, fresh fruit salad, toast, hot x buns, croissants (I declined the buns and croissants but O & R enjoyed them).

We ate out for all our other meals, and I wasn't as good as I could've been about my choices for meals. I did manage to resist having puddings too, tho, which I feel quite smug about. I also managed not to eat lots of choccie and crisps and crap on the long car journey there and back, which is another improvement on my previous behaviour.

Did get some exercise while we were there - walks in the grounds of C's college, in an ancient yew forrest and at the coast, as well as games of footie in the park.

An interesting series has started on BBC 2, Diet Junkies, looking at the diet industry, how big business exploits concerns about obesity to it's own advantage, and how in spite of the millions spent on diets and diet products, the western world keeps on getting fatter. Last night's was about diet gurus like Atkins, Weight Watchers etc. The contrast between them and the NHS "eat less, exercise more" diet approach was interesting. Big name diets promise you miracles if you follow their rules. We don't want to think that losing weight is as simple, and yet as potentially hard, as eating less and doing more. We want miracles and easy answers. But there aren't any, really. Any diet that works comes down to consuming less cals than you expend. Even Atkins, according to Horizon the other week, seems to come down to that, the latest theory being that protein makes you feel fuller so you eat less. Next week's Diet Junkies is about meal replacement products "linked to the deaths of over 50 dieters". BBC2, Tuesdays, 8pm.

whoo read jude's journal read it read it read it for it rocks.

Oh dear, this has not been a good week, diet wise. I have eaten at around my maintenance calories most days, rather than nearer my 1500 a day target. And I haven't done much exercise, either. Didn't go to aquarobics last night, cos I went to see the rather marvelous Eric Schlosser promoting his new book. Must must must make myself go to belly dancing tonight, at least.

We're off for the weekend tomorrow, visiting C in Sussex. Not, I repeat, not, a valentine's day romantic thing omg no. I don't want to buy my emotions prepackaged from Hallmark, thank you very much, nor do I want any over priced red roses, grown on the other side of the world with water stolen from local people. If you love someone, you don't need a special day to tell them. And equally, giving someone a tacky card and a box of chocs doesn't make up for treating them like sh*t for the other 364 days of the year. Valentine's Day Bah Humbug!

Marjorie's Tip For Today: For Valentine's Day

Some cynics like Clazza don't believe in Valentine's Day. She is just bitter and twisted; real romantics like me love it. However a word of advice - if your beloved buys you a big box of chocs for Valentine's Day, poke them very hard with a very sharp stick.

To avoid having to do this, tell them in advance that they had better not buy you big box of chocs or else. The people close to you should be thoughtful and supportive about the fact that you are losing weight, not go waving temptation around.

You will note I say big box. If you want to have some choc, a small box of chocs may be OK, if you fit it into your calorie budget. And if you must have chocs, may we recommend buying fair trade?

came across another calorie counting site today - Calories per Hour. It looks good and is free (although it is American so concentrates on American foodstuffs and uses American measurements - cups etc). Also useful, you can find out how many calories you use doing different activities. And it's not trying to sell you anything, unlike most calorie and diet sites (tho not the Mighty Marjorie Dawes natch)

oh dear I fear my new jeans are a little too snug. Went to newsagents this morning with a fiver tucked into that little pocket you get inside front pocket (watch pocket I think it's called?). And then I couldn't get the fiver out. Eeep. Luckily nice man let me have my grauniad anyway and pay him next time. How embarrassing. And I haven't been a good girl about my diet this week, either, so not much chance of them being less snug in the next few days. Oh well, onwards and thinwards.