OK I'm throwing this out here to my blog followers in the hope that you might have a few ideas that can help me. An underactive thyroid has made it very hard to lose any weight, and the weight I'm carrying is putting pressure on my knee, hip and ankle joints. At the moment going for walks or any kind of heavy exercise is impossible. I'm trying to get a bit of weight loss through diets and supplements alone and need some advice. (I do hope to start low level exercise at home as soon as I can) I've found a few things recommended in alternative health books and online but I really want to see if anyone has successfully used these things and can tell me about them.
I'm changing my diet completely. I've read that protein is good for strong muscles and boosting metabolism and can help with weight loss so I'm putting more protein into my diet in the form of things like chocolate milk, seafood, cheese, eggs, greek yoghurt, cottage cheese, chorizo, red and white meat, peanut butter, peas. I'm also getting more veg into my diet in the form of home made soup, making it twice a week to have a steady supply of pea and ham soup, and my own recipe cheesy carrot soup. I'm also drinking orange juice and grapefruit juice daily and getting more fruit into my diet. I'm cutting out the non essential fats too, including the chocolate. Overall this should improve my health in some form, and hopefully get a few pounds off.
These are some of the other things that I've heard about but haven't tried. Have any of you used these things or know anything about them?
-nettle tea before meals-what does it taste like and does it work?
-graphites
-phenylalanine on empty stomach before bed
-bee pollen
Can you think of other non veg protein based foods that I can try? Any other supplements that can help tame the thyroid or help with weight loss? Any weight loss alternative therapies? Any exercise that targets the waist down and can be done in the home?
All suggestions welcome!
Welcome to Chuckles Chat where great
blogging minds unite to discuss the topics of the day mainly in the book
and blogging world. I'll be sharing my thoughts on a topic and then
inviting you all to share your thoughts. It's ok to disagree but PLEASE
be respectful of each other's views! All of the comments on my blog are
moderated and offensive posts ie racist, bigoted will not be published!
NB: I don't follow or leave comments on blogs run by
Google Plus, or DISQUS as I refuse to join something just to leave
comments, and I won't allow them to follow new people, update my
profile or post tweets 'on my behalf'. I won't comment on any blog that makes me sign in using another account.
This week I'm looking at 3 star ratings on our reviews.
This is what my star reviews basically mean on Goodreads and my blog:
1-didn't like, DNFed it, won't pick it up again
2-nothing special, probably DNFed, wouldn't continue series
3-like, as in decent read, may or may not read again
4-really liked, will read again and continue with series
5-loved, favourite reads
This can be an area where people very much disagree. OK most of us will agree that books that didn't do it for us are likely to be 1 star, and the books we loved are 5 star. The other three stars seem open to a bit more debate, especially a 3 star rating which is what I'm looking at here. Some people like me use the Goodreads model of 'like'. By that I mean I liked the book, I was entertained by it on some level and I don't regret spending my time reading it. I rate a lot of varied books as a 3, some I will read again and others I won't.
What kind of thing goes into my three star category? These are a few examples.
-biography/memoirs that entertained me but I wouldn't feel the need to read it again
-a prequel/spinoff short story that was fun to read but adds nothing important to the series plot
-strong plot but not enough depth to love the characters
-a trope that was offputting but the story was still goodenough not to be ruined by it
-a good plot brought down by something
-decent read but more could be done with it
-a bit bland but nothing to make me dislike it
-NF with decent information, one read was enough but handy to refer to
I regard a 3 star review as mainly being on the positive side. There may be a bit of constructive critical comment about improvements or things that didn't work for me, but the overall reading experience was pretty positive. If it is rated 3 star, I finished the book and didn't hate it either! But there are quite a few authors out there who take the more Amazon route of a 3 star being 'ok', which puts it the same level as my 2 star rating. Imagine the trouble I had when I was uploading the GR reviews to Amazon!!! Anyway, authors have been known to complain about getting a 3 star review when some bloggers still see it as a positive review. I've seen this lead to slanging matches online when a blogger is narked at being told their 3 star review is too low. But that is another debate!
I have been asked to review a lot of books for authors and a handful for publishers and on occasion I have been asked to not post a review unless it was going to be a 4 or 5 star. I really object to this as I feel it is cheating readers if we just bow down to instructions like that. Reading gushing 5 star reviews that say nothing about character, plot, style, pacing, tropes etc tells me nothing and makes it harder to decide if the book is my kind of thing. I like to read 3 star reviews and below to see the niggles readers had as this is very helpful for me deciding if I'm going to read it. Telling me I can read it but can only review it if I love it is not acceptable to me. I put reviews up on Goodreads, my blog and sometimes on Amazon and I will do this whether these authors like it or not. If you don't want an honest review of my opinion, don't give me the book, y'know?
Do you regard a 3 star review as positive or negative? Does your 3 star review follow the Goodreads or Amazon system? What do you think when authors ask you not to publish a review under 4 stars?
While traveling through
West Virginia on a camping trip, the Bakers and the Riveras—two
close-knit families—have the misfortune of running into a peculiar
hitchhiker. After ditching the hitchhiker, the families set up camp and
begin their vacation. However, they soon find themselves stalked by a
group of feral, cannibalistic people lurking in the woods...
The author of Butcher Road and Camp Blaze invites you to experience another brutal slasher inspired by classic horror movies. Can you handle a visit to Cannibal Creek?
My Review:
Two families are on a camping trip together and almost hit a hitchhiker. They are reluctant to take him when Jed asks for a ride as compensation, and he unnerves them all, especially the kids with talk about cannibals in the woods waiting to eat them. Taking a chance to ditch him, they forget that he knows where they will be camping and it is just a few miles away. Arriving at the camp site, they find it almost empty, and the young couple there are leaving early, saying that they are sure that someone was spying on them, urging the new arrivals to leave too. Despite misgivings from a few of the group, the two families decide to stay.
The stupidity of the characters in this book really is amazing and I was yelling at them for it! Joel is Mr Take Charge Guy who can't be told that he is wrong about anything and is competing with best friend Tony all the time on everything. This male ego thing didn't greatly endear me to either man but the stupidity gets worse when they ignore the warnings from the couple who are leaving. I get that you would ignore scare stories but deciding to stay in a place with 3 women and 3 young children when you are told there are peeping toms in the area? Keep on driving guys! Joel and Tony take the kids into the woods to find the creek and are convinced that they are being followed. At best it is creepy Jed who may be upset at being ditched, at worse, someone else more dangerous. Do they decide to leave? Nope. Well, if they did there would be no story, but the dumbass move let me yell at them!
The parenting skills of Joel and Linda, Tony and Valentina are seriously bad. After the warnings and the being followed thing, they decide to let three young kids and a teenage girl camp unattended in a tent set up away from the camper van. Meanwhile, the adults pump up the volume of the music inside, where they cannot possibly hear any trouble and start getting drunk. They are unaware that Jasmine has left the three kids alone in the tent to go sneaking off into the woods to meet boyfriend Joshua who has followed in his car. And even when Joel is meant to be checking on the kids, he is too busy trying to get one over on Tony to even notice the prowler by the tent...yeah great parenting! I wanted to slap them! And little Diego was the child from hell which was another strike against Tony and Valentina!
I don't want to go any further into the plot in this review or I'll spoil everything but lets just say it is going to be a very long night for everyone! The story follows what happens at the campsite and what is happening in the woods at various points. The action certainly continues throughout and there are plenty of tense moments in amongst the gore! It is very much based on a Texas Chainsaw Massacre type plot but the author does add his own stamp to it. I said that the characters annoyed me but it was in that entertaining way as you know their dumb choices are coming back to bite them, which of course is the whole point of the story. So there was never a danger of DNF or anything as the whole thing was too entertaining.
This book is perfect for fans of the classic 70's/80's horror films. There is gore, cannibalism and sexual violence as you would expect from this slasher type book in the genre. This is the second book I've read by Jon Athan, the first being Camp Blaze, which is based on Friday 13th, and I'm planning to read a lot more of him. The books don't mess around and just get straight into the story which is what I like to read.
Read January 2018
4 stars
Welcome to my Game of Thrones Gossip,
where us fanatics get the chance to discuss everything we love
about this amazing TV series. I
decided to do a whole series of these discussion posts that let us say
everything we want and enjoy every second of it! Please feel free to comment fully and without restriction!
I have to warn you that it is important
that you have seen all six seasons before reading any of these posts because these posts and blogger
comments will be exploding spoilers all over the place. If
you haven't watched the series and plan to, be warned that it's a bad
idea to be here right now! I take no responsibility if you read on and
things are spoiled for you.
Now I'm looking at the main characters introduced in
season three, what our season two characters were doing and
looking at all the bests bits. Enjoy the season three posts!
After the breaking of her betrothal to allow Joffrey to marry Margaery Tyrell, Sansa is unsure of what her future actually holds. She is somewhat wary when Littlefinger offers to smuggle her out of King's Landing at the appropriate time, knowing his reputation but wondering if it is her best chance to escape the Lannisters. Shae is suspicious of Littlefinger and is concerned when Ros warns her that he is not to be trusted around Sansa. Shae ensures that Tyrion is informed about what Littlefinger is planning.
Margaery cultivates a friendship with Sansa and introduces her to her grandmother Olenna, who has a fearsome reputation. Sansa is startled whenOlenna starts to question her about what Joffrey is really like and if his reputation is deserved. In spite of her fear, Sansa blurts out what shereally feels, talking of what Joffrey did to her father and calling him a monster. Olenna says that is what she had heard and thanks Sansa for the truth, indicating that the wedding will still go ahead but Margaery at least knows what to expect. The Tyrells promise not to betray Sansa by sharing what she has said.
Margaery is the one who tells Sansa about the possibility of being married to Loras Tyrell, which would allow her to go and live at Highgarden with Loras and Olenna, safe from the Lannisters. Sansa is delighted by the idea and is able to spend a bit of time with Loras which makes it even more appealing. She is unaware that this plot will also give the Tyrells possible command of Winterfell should Robb fall in battle. It is a terrible blow to her when word gets back to the Lannisters and Tywin decides to marry Loras to Cersei and Sansa to Tyrion. With Littlefinger gone, Sansa has no escape route and is in despair and she is revolted by the thought of her husband-to-be despite the kindness he has always shown her. Margaery points out that he isn't bad looking and is said to be a good lover, and Sansa decides that it is at least better than having to marry Joffrey.
Sansa is revolted by the prospect of Joffrey giving her away in the place of her father and watches as he removes the stool that Tyrion intended to use to cloak her. It is a miserable affair and the crowd led by Cersei are amused by Tyrion's struggles and Sansa having to kneel to be cloaked. It gets worse as she watches her reluctant husband get drunk at the reception and Joffrey offers to pay her a visit to get her pregnant instead. When Joffrey then declares that the bedding ceremony is to start, Sansa is horrified, and is relieved when Tyrion puts a stop to it, backed up by Tywin. Once alone with Tyrion, she nervously prepares to undress, and he stops her, saying he won't bed her until she wants him to. Showing no tact, Sansa asks what happens if she never wants him.
In the days after the wedding, Sansa and Tyrion get to know each other and find that they like each other as people, sharing a few laughs as thety stroll through the garden, not caring about the whispers and sniggers around them. Perhaps there could be a thaw in their relations...until news comes from the north about the Red Wedding. Any chance of Sansa warming to Tyrion is gone with the murder of her parents and brother now at the door of Tyrion's family.
