@person Could you share that meal or do you alternate week by week? I don't mind eating the same thing everyday. I assume you are very busy during the week and this meal prep is ideal for your schedule. I am drinking black tea in the morning and having a very light breakfast. I used to eat a lot...and when I mean a lot I mean.... lots of bread.....cheese....yoghurt.... in big quantities...followed by chocolate...fried chicken..fast-food....pizza...and then probably the same for dinner. Once I cut all of that out and started eating clean (no ultraprocessed except once a month, dark chocolate with high % cacao as a sweet treat every now and then) I dropped weight like crazy. I'm also a big fan of walking and I have begun to go on walks without music or any external stimulation.
@marcitko I do have a gyria! Don't ask me why...and it will be put to use now! I will definitely chec the app you mentioned. Regarding calisthenics, there is a calisthenics park but I'm very shy and seeing all the jacked up dudes and people walking around and going to the beach makes me very self-conscious. Argh...talking about problems regarding too much "self"...
Peace!
Kotishka
Losing 30 kg Kotishka, wow, good for you!
You could get a Kettlebell (we call it Gyria). It's just one weight, but you can do very many exercises with it. My cousin and friend swear by it. I tested it only for a few minutes, but could immediately see that, yes, depending on how you lift it, you can target many various muscle groups.
Then there is calisthenics. I find it better and more fun than lifting weights in the gym. I use the 'Home Workout' app. It's free and tells you exactly what to do, completely guided. Not sure about the knees, but you could just skip those exercises or maybe there is the possibility to 'tell the app' (not sure).
I applaud your health efforts. Keep us posted!
Thanks! But I do think that dieting can be also great for the mind/body. Learning to cook, getting in touch with the ingredients, their nutritional value, and also being able to treat yourself... I have a rule of ONCE a month to indulge in my favourite cheesecake.
I should add I have poor knees so running/squats are a big now. However, there is a swimming pool I can use! I would go to the ocean but lately there are lots of news of too much poop water being thrown at it.... makes sense though...more people + no investment being made in the necessary infrastructure = more poop being produced and thrown...
Kotishka
I've been exercising about every day for a long time. For weight loss I have found that diet has more effect than exercise, but exercise has a better effect for the mind/body than diet does. So both are very healthy but in different ways.
If you can go to a safe area that's nice to go running in then that would cover cardio. I'd say invest in running shoes. I am forced to because I developed plantar fasciitis but it's in remission since getting proper shoes. Start slow to see if your body adapts to running. Some days vigorous and some days recovery.
I also do stretching with breathing at home. Some stretches I took from: sports practice, kung fu practice in the past, and some I made up. And then to build muscle: stomach: crunches, leg kicks on back. Build legs: squats without weight, calf raises on a step, walking leg lifts (kick and catch your foot with your hand and take a step). Build arms/chest: push ups.
For diet try eliminating the highest calorie indulgences and find ways to indulge that are less calorie like for me chips and salsa or bread and hummus. I've developed diabetes despite working on my diet probably because of my medication, and I've also had to work on carbs counting as well as calorie counting.
Jeffrey
Hello.
I want to become stronger and I'm looking at ways to train my body without going to a gym as I'm trying to be as frugal as possible.
What are your training routines? The reason exercise has become to me important lately (well, it should be to all of us) is that I was facing some health issues derived from sedentary lifestyle and poor diet.
I've lost quite a lot of weight (from 120kg to 91kg) and I would like to add some muscle as my doctor recommended me to continue lifting weights but I cannot afford a gym not any equipment where I am at currently. My target is to be around 80-85kg. I am also trying to incorporate Qi Gong and Yoga. Particularly this routine:
Kotishka
The plogging walks have returned....my new enemies...the cans...It is a great exercise to practice both patient, equanimity and loving-kindness because I still get thoughts of: "f*cking human beings, dirty pieces of ..." and then I return to compassion and also tell myself to not be so quick to judge others. Finally, one must realise that harbouring and generating negative thoughts is useless. Better just pick up the trash and keep walking.
This was today's view.

Kotishka
I saw a pair of wood ducks in my tree this morning. I couldn't see them clearly through the branches, and ducks don't usually perch in trees, but they looked like ducks. We normally see mallards, here, but I got my bird book out, and wood ducks have very distinctive heads, so I was pretty sure that is what they were, and then when I read the book and it said wood ducks frequently perch in trees, that clinched it. Beautiful ducks!
zorro
I watched the 2024 movie Civil War ...It's about the perspective of the journalists moving through a collapsing United States. As they travel toward Washington, D.C., what they encounter is like snapshots of different mini-conflicts rather than one coherent war.
Shoshin1
I have a good news story to share. In the Netherlands we have decided to get the nation off natural gas, as an effort to reduce climate change impact and also because it’s getting too expensive and unreliable, with our gas supply coming from Norway, Qatar and Russia.
So we have had a notice from the local council that our neighbourhood is due to have gas supply terminated in 2036, and that we need to update our house to find other ways of cooking and heating than by gas-fired central heating, for example. There was a meeting at the council offices, where the plan was explained to us.
The plan for our city is to sink a number of geothermal wells in our local area, from which warm water will arise at 70-80 degrees C which will be used to heat homes, bath water and so on. This will be distributed through so-called ‘warmthnets’ which will be laid under the ground. The company responsible for running the warmth nets will be owned 51% by the local council.
Sometime in 2028-2030 the warmth nets will come online and we will get a proposal for what it will cost us to get connected. Then when the connection is made the gas supply will get turned off, so the house will have to be prepared for that. That means quite a large renewal of the kitchen and the electrical arrangements. It’s going to be quite expensive.
But exciting times, to be at the forefront of the entire nation shifting away from a dependence on fossil fuels for warming houses.
Jeroen