women of a certain age........

I’ve spent a lot of time this week reading up on diets and the menopause.  I brought a half price book  ‘The 5:2 Diet ‘ from WHSmith which I read about in the Daily Mail. I admit I’m a sucker for diet fads and over the years have brought every diet book ever published.  On the 5:2 diet, you eat normally 5 days of the week and basically fast on the other 2 days.  Well you don’t actually fast, you are allowed to eat between 400 and 500 calories per day on a diet which is high protein and absolutely carb free.   I like my food too much and don’t think I could survive on only 400 calories a day plus I don’t agree with cutting out a whole food group.  Over the years, low fat, high protein and restricted carbs has worked very well for me but now I am a ‘woman of a certain age’ I think I need to concentrate on calcium absorption, bone density rather than my BMI.

Once again this week, my hormones have been causing havoc with my body so I have been forced to look at ways to get them sorted.  There is no way I can carry on like this.  I went to the library and found some books but the choice was rather dated and I was disappointed so I turned back to the internet.  I think the World Wide Web is a wonderful tool but sometimes when I get on to some of these symptom diagnosis sites I convince myself I have every single condition.  For example this week, I have diagnosed myself with Polycystic Ovary Syndrome, PMS, Ovarian Cancer and an underactive thyroid.

I ordered a ThryoScreen which is a home test for hypothyroidism which arrived in the post on Wednesday morning. Basically it’s a finger prick test which unfortunately I f**ked up.  I read the instructions, got it all set up but then I couldn’t get enough of my blood into the phial. Plus Phil was nagging me to get ready to go out to the cinema.  So it was no surprise when my test result came out as invalid.  What a bloody waste of ten quid that was and I still don’t whether my thyroid is underactive.

After reading one of the library hormone books, I was tempted to order a whole load of herb supplements but I resist the temptation, not just because of the money but I don’t know enough about them.   I did though, order a multi-vitamin and mineral with a soya supplement pill which you take in the evenings.  I will try it for a month and see if it makes a difference. From everything I have read, one thing that I have learnt is that soya can help control hormones and has many other benefits.  I know that soya is good because when I put Phil on the prostate cancer diet which contained soya, he not only 2 stone but his blood sugar level dropped significantly as did his cholesterol and also his PSA level.  

I’m not a big fan of soya but I’ve brought some sweetened soya milk which I can just about hack with porridge oats.  The low fat soya yogurts are edible with fruit and linseed oils.  I don’t mind soya linseed bread, it’s actually quite nice.  I don’t have much experience of cooking with soya beans, but again I don’t mind giving it a go.  Tofu though is a big NO NO, hate the stuff with a passion.

Oh dear I hope this blog wont’ turn into a women’s problems page.  Perhaps I should think about starting a different blog detailing my own personal midlife crisis???  This week initially dragged but now we are at Friday already.  We haven’t been up to much. On Monday I blogged, made 2 lasagne’s and went to the gym.  On Tuesday I did a quick gym visit then went round to Rachel’s to get my hair coloured and cut.  As my hair recently has gone all fine and lack lustre, I had to go quite short.  Its okay and I think I like it although Phil didn’t say much when I got home.

Umm Wednesday.  Well it was gym as usual followed by left over lasagne and then a trip to the cinema to see ‘A Good Day to Die Hard’.  The reviews hadn’t been great so I wasn’t expecting much but we both enjoyed the film.  It was typical die hard stuff, a bit OTT but entertaining nonetheless and it didn’t go on forever.  Unfortunately we forgot that it was half term so Cineworld was full but for once, we had left enough time and we were early going into screen 14.

My Wednesday evening took on a different format.  I went round to Sue’s for an early supper of fishcakes but I had to lay off the grape juice because Sue had promised to take Nicola (daughter-in-law-to-be) to the Holiday Inn just off junction 14.  This is a possible venue for Nicola & Matt’s wedding in 2014 and the hotel were holding a wedding fair.  We picked up Nicola from Broughton, said hello to Sue’s grandkids and then went to the hotel.

Unfortunately the wedding fair wasn’t very well attended and there were only us and another couple.  The event staff had set up the room with a top table and guest tables all set up for a wedding.  Nicola was told there would be other suppliers available on the night for her to talk to but there was only a one man band that supplied balloons.  It was a little bit flat a little disappointing.  We had a drink in the bar and both Sue & I are not convinced that this is where Nicola wants to have her big day.  In fact I don’t think Nicola knows what she actually wants; she has big ideas but they don’t match her budget.

We dropped Nicola off back at her house and it was gone 9pm by the time we got back to my flat. We opened the wine, Phil got home when the pub shut and somehow it was 1 o’clock by the time Sue got a taxi home.  It seems mad now but after Sue left we watched some TV and didn’t go to bed until 3am.  As usual it was a fuzzy start to Thursday and I didn’t make it to the gym.  Harriet came round in her lunch hour and I cooked a full chicken roast dinner.

I seem to have developed an internet ordering addiction and this week I have excelled myself.  Not good for my credit card but things just had to be brought.  First there was my thyroscreen which turned out to be a complete waste of money. Next up was a Groupon deal, tickets for Phil & Steve to visit the car museum in London as part of a birthday present for Steve Pem’s 60^th birthday which is today.  Happy Birthday Steve P!  Last week I purchased another Groupon deal, this time it was a fresh water pearl set for G’s 21^st birthday.  Okay her 21^st isn’t until 2014 but I do like a bargain when I see one. 

My last Groupon purchase was full head highlights with a cut and finish at a salon on Bletchley.  I didn’t really need this offer because I have Rachel just around the corner that does my hair but this offer was super cheap.  My purchase of 120 advanced multivitamin with natural plant oestrogens haven’t arrived yet but I consider this purchase as a must have. It’s my step dad’s partners 65^t and she mentioned a particular kettle that she had seen on Amazon that would look perfect in her new kitchen.  Her birthday is not until May but I said we would buy it for her.  It was hideously expensive but I never know what to buy her and would prefer to gift something that she actually wants. I My last purchase was a pressie for Sue’s birthday next month.  Sue reads this blog so I’m afraid I can’t tell you what I got her, it’s a surprise.

We had thought that Phil may start back at Rexam on Monday but he hasn’t had a call to set up a meeting.  Phil doesn’t seem too concerned at the lack of contact, he is certain that it will happen plus it gives him a few more days to work on Daphne estate stuff.   I do hope that it does happen with my newly acquired internet buying he needs to earn some pennies to pay off my plastic!  It will seem weird him going back to work, but aside from the income, I think it will be good for him.  He needs to ditch those pyjamas and get back into the real world.  As for me, well I need to get on with my mid life crisis!