A magnificent timber time machine

I recently had the pleasure of undertaking a site visit to probably the largest cruck frame building in Derbyshire.  The best part was that it still formed part of a working farm and was still used by the farmer.  Whilst I understand the need to preserve these buildings and to find a viable modern use it really was a pleasure to see this building being used in a similar manner to that of its original purpose, obviously it was no longer lived in.  The conversion of these buildings to homes and holiday lets does provide a modern use but it does result in a significant change in their character.  So much of the building is usually lost, hidden or replaced.  With the insertion of modern partition walls, new roof and compliance with building regulations you loose the internal aspect and what a loss it would be for this magnificent timber structure.  

Food Diary

In my quest to become more healthy and match food intake to my lifestyle, I've found that the best advice is and always will be 'everything in moderation'.  However the recommended 2000 calories per day for woman depends largely on your lifestyle.  I try to keep active but the day to day convenience of modern life keeps me relatively sedentary.  I don't have to walk to work or forage for food, I have a car and I drive to the supermarket once a week.  On this basis I've found that I require fewer calories than the average person.  So I wouldn't say I'm dieting, I enjoy food and I always will but keeping a food diary has helped me appreciate what I eat and made me think more about more healthy options.  After 3 weeks I found that I feel healthier and have more energy than I did before.  Anyway that's my short blog.  I have lost a little weight and I now have a healthy BMI of 22.1.  I don't know if that means anything but it feels good to know.  I shall keep up with my food diary and I would recommend it to you too.

Calorie-counted - First Update

I've never felt the need to go on a diet.  I'm average height of an average build - not especially thin but not overweight.  Just average.  Until almost 4 years ago when I gave birth to my first child (I say first, so far he is my only child).  During pregnancy I felt I had a licence to eat much more food, unfortunately this increased appetite never faded and I continued to eat more than I had before.  I wouldn't say now that I'm fat, but I am noticeably heavier.  It wasn't until I happened to weight myself last autumn that I noticed I was approaching 10 stone.  This signalled alarm bells - not immediately but I thought to myself I don't want to tip 10 stone.

So its now February and I thought I would try watching what I eat.  Well this has to be one of the most difficult self inflicted challenges I've ever undertaken.  I have literally become obsessed with what I eat.  I downloaded an app for my phone which decided, based on the information I put in, that I should restrict my calorie intake to just 1200 per day, equating to shedding 1 lb per week.  Its only day 5! I've had very little in the way of unhealthy snacks and I'm certainly eating more fruit and vegetables.  But going from eating whatever I liked whenever I liked regardless of how good it was, to just 1200 calories per day is hard work.

This is a chart of my current progress after 5 days with calories on the side and days along the bottom   In terms of how I feel:

• I seem to have developed backache 
• I feel generally irritable (this maybe because I've opted to cut out coffee)
• Hungry!

So far I don't appear to have shed any weight particularly.  I can see why most people don't stick to diets - bodies are slow to react to change!  But I thought I would record my progress on blogger as a personal record of my progress.

Wish me luck - any tips, encouragement or advice would be welcome.