Weekly Update Y2w10

Yeah, let's not talk about this week...

I am eating much more fruit and vegetables than normal, but I feel like I'm not losing weight anymore. I have had 2 nights where I haven't listened to the hypnotherapy app.  I find when I listen to it, I wake up when it goes off, yet when I have it on continuous loop, I don't feel refreshed in the morning.  Last night I didn't have it on at all, and I had a crazy nightmare*.  At least if I listen to it, it keeps the nightmares at bay.

I had a look at a longer term average (2 weeks) and that clearly shows that I'm not losing weight at all.  I go up and down a lot, but overall, I'm the same weight I always am.

We have finally finished painting the kitchen, so hopefully we can put the shelves on the wall, and I can keep on top of cleaning and start cooking again, so can take back control of my weight.

*Last night's dream was weird.  My dreams often are, and though I don't usually consider weird dreams as nightmares, this one was a bit more gruesome than normal.
It started fairly normally.  I was waiting for my friend Sarah to come visit.  She was coming to me, by train, then we were going to catch a train somewhere together.  She was due to arrive in 15min, but I was still in bed.  Then she wanted me to pick her up at the station.  We were on the train together, then we ended up in an Indiana Jones-esque land.  There were loads of women all dressed in white togas tied to the side of a cliff.  Then, when the king or his kids got bored, they would catapult one woman to the top of the cliff/aiming at the other women.  Whoever she hit, would explode and there would be random limbs thrown all over the place.  The dream went on, but it was very vivid, so I still feel tired now

First Lego League Junior - BoomTown Challenge

A group of HErs, including DD2, set up a Lego robotics team, in order to enter the First Lego League Junior.  In my area, there has been success with HErs entering FLL in previous years, sometimes not only winning regional heats, but national and internationally too!  This was the first time (that I know of) that a local HE group entered the Junior league.

The group was made up of six children between 6-9years old, and we met fortnightly for 2 hours from September/October to February.  For their age group, they were taking part in the Boomtown Build Challenge - designing and building a building from lego, incorporating a part that uses robotics and is programmable.  Most weeks, they were guided by a workbook which took the children through exercises looking at different parts of designing a building:

• What will the building be used for? 
• Who will be using it? Is it accessible?
• Is it strong? Is it stable?
• Is it environmentally friendly? etc

And there were small programmable mechanical/robotic structures to build such as a crane, an elevator, an automatic door, a fan etc.  Near the end of the weeks, the children had to decide upon a final building with which to enter the competition, build it, do posters to display and write a presentation for the judges.  They had lots of ideas, but rather than the oldest/bossiest/loudest child taking charge and demanding it all be done their way, they decided amongst themselves to use as many ideas as possible, and soon The Boom Eiffel was born!

One of the children particularly likes the Eiffel Tower, and as other children (incl DD2) have been there too, it was decided as a group that the design of our building would be based on the shape of the Eiffel Tower.

The base was made up of four separate rooms: pet shop, aquarium, cafe and souvenir shop.  In the build of the building was the elevator, to carry people up to the next floor.  The next floor consisted of a learning centre, where people of all ages can learn together, and a gym.  The next floor up was open to the air as it was a rooftop garden, and finally the very top floor was a cafe, serving produce from the garden, with a balcony so people could look out over Boomtown.  On the roof of the cafe was a wind turbine, some solar panels and a lightning rod.

Each child then created a poster to be displayed, and had to write their own presentation.  As DD2 built the garden and is concerned about the environment, she focussed on that side of things, whilst others talked about how the building was accessible and who would be using it.  Unfortunately, as DD2 was busy competing in a dance festival on the day of the Expo, we recorded her presentation in advance, so it could be shown with the rest of the team.

On the day of the Expo, the children were nervous but had a great time.  They spoke with the judges and other competitors, and all the children were given matching Tshirts so they could feel like a team.  And we are very proud to say that they won the prize for Complexity and Design!

The kids are doing their presentation again next week, at a local science fair during British Science Week, but they met up earlier this week to congratulate each other and to give DD2 her medal.

I was proud of myself for making a lego cake to share, lol. 

The Blade Heir by Daniel Adorno

I bought this book (for free, obvs, lol) a while ago but thought it sounded interesting by the title.  Now I have my new kindle and can sort books into 'read' and 'unread' I'm now choosing new books to read based on alphabetical order of the author plus whether the title sounds like it'll be good.

The blurb says:

The Dragons Have Awakened...

Lucius suffers each night from recurring nightmares of a black dragon called Kraegyn. The frightening dreams signal the return of the dragon tribes that wreaked havoc on the peoples of Azuleah centuries ago. Confused and uncertain of his role in the gathering storm, Lucius joins his elf brother Siegfried on a perilous journey to reforge the Requiem Sword--the blade which once defeated Kraegyn.


Lucius' quest will take him through the kingdom of elves, dwarves, and faeries. Though he will gain allies on his quest and uncover secrets surrounding his past, can Lucius survive long enough to stop Kraegyn's ascension?

The Blade Heir is Daniel Adorno's debut novel and is an epic fantasy tale modeled after the works of C.S. Lewis, Stephen R. Lawhead, and Michael J. Sullivan.

Lucius is a human who lives with his adopted elf-family amongst the elves.  He soon discovers that the fate of humankind rests with him, and he needs to go on a quest accompanied by his elf-brother.  Along the way he meets various allies and enemies, and learns more and more about Yesu and the divisions between humans, elves, dwarves, faeries, as well as the Draknoir and their evil leader.

I really liked this book.  It is easy to read and has much more going on than I was initially expecting, especially as this is Daniel's debut novel.  Having read some of the other authors listed in the blurb, I can definitely see the influences they ave had, and that makes me want to read the story more.  In a fantasy world full of magic and mythical creatures, I am intrigued to see how the story develops, and how the various strands fit together.  And, ultimately, whether what I expect/hope will happen (in regards to various scrolls and prophesies within the story) will actually happen.

Rather than just adding the sequel to my wishlist, I have actually bought it immediately so I can keep reading Lucius' story.

Weekly Update Y2w9

Over the past week my weight has come back into control.  I did go out for a meal with friends on Friday night with a few drinks and ate until I couldn't eat any more - I couldn't finish the main and couldn't face dessert - so as expected my weight increased the following day.  Then yesterday I wasn't careful with what I was consuming, and every time someone asked me if I wanted a biscuit, or a slice of cake, or a Welsh-cake, or half a Belgian bun, or a can of beer... I kept saying yes.  But that's ok.  Not ideal, but ok.

Over the whole of last week I dropped over 2.5 kilos (around 5.5lb) which is quite a lot, and certainly more than I was expecting. Whether it was because of the newfound motivation, or whether the hypnotherapy is working, or because we had a Riverford veg box last week and I don't want to waste our money, or because I was more active due to painting the house, or because of something else entirely, I don't know.  But, I'm still listening to the hypnotherapy each evening before I go to sleep, we have another veg box arriving on Wed (but then will be going to fortnightly as it is more veg than we eat in a week!) and I still need to finish painting the kitchen (all the awkward bits near the ceiling and in the far corners) so hopefully I'll have a similar downward slope on the graph this coming week too.

The Unschooled Life by Lizi Gambell

I was given a copy of this book for free, in exchange for an honest review.  As someone who unschooled/s her child(ren), I was interested to read Lizi's take on it.

The blurb says:

Are you considering home education? Are you curious about unschooling?

The Unschooled Life combines personal storytelling with advice and guidance for any parent on a home education journey. In this book, Lizi Gambell tells how her eldest son became deeply unhappy at school, and how things transformed when they left the system and started to build their own learning life. Lizi shares the ups and downs of this decision, including the process of confronting her own conditioning, and the wonder to be found in learning alongside her children.

The Unschooled Life includes chapters on:
Developing your Education Philosophy;
Juggling a family and work with self-care and wellbeing;
Coping with other peoples’ questions and criticism;
Tackling screen time and the lure of new technologies.

Using anecdotes from her own life, Lizi shows how a real family can develop a holistic approach to education and parenting, and live happily outside the box! Lizi is a remedial hypnotist, with a deep interest in the mind, self-confidence, and overcoming anxiety. In The Unschooled Life, she brings this unique perspective to the opportunities of unschooling.

If you are looking for a how-to of home education in general, this isn't the book for you. There just is not enough information about the technical side of where to start and who to contact (if indeed anybody) if you decide to home educate. There are some useful parts, but primarily this is a book about Lizi's personal journey.

If you are looking into unschooling, I would say this book is more useful.  Unschooling is a sub-type of home education where you follow the child's interests and natural curiosity, rather than imposing a curriculum or formal work on them.  This is what I did with my girls, allowing them the freedom to learn in their own way and own their own education.  Though much of the book is about Lizi's approach to home educating her children, it is good to read a real life example of unschooling in action, and if you are concerned that this approach is neglectful or too hands-off, then this book will reassure you.

The book itself is very easy to read.  Lizi writes as if you're a friend, so it is informal in style, with plenty of anecdotes and stories that reiterate what she is saying.  If unschooling is new to you, then I can see this book being an easy intro to the topic.  At the end of the book, there are also plenty of 'further reading' to choose to dig deeper if you think unschooling would be right for you and your family.

My main criticism of the book is the final topic on screens.  As Lizi mentions that she follows Sandra Dodd and has read Sandra's Big Book of Unschooling, I was expecting Lizi to be considered a Radical or Whole-Life Unschooler, but the chapter on screens suggest that she is not as she does impose arbitrary limits (imo). Screens and various new technologies are not a problem.  By giving children broad and various opportunities, they will self-regulate and learn loads whether using technology or otherwise. Am I a radical unschooler? Ideally I would be, however, we did implement bedtimes, after years of not having one, when my children were dancing more in the evenings and not recognising their own tiredness cues. I don't know if that technically makes me a not radical unschooler, but at my point in life I don't really care. Rather than Sandra Dodd, I tended to follow Joyce Fetterol's Joyfully Rejoycing and would recommend her to people looking to unschooling.

Overall, this book shows the joy that Lizi has for her family and seeing her children learn naturally as part of an unschooling lifestyle. For people new to the idea of home education or unschooling, this lighthearted book will give you a positive, but realistic, view of how children can effectively learn outside the institution of school.

No More Diets by Sheila Granger

I do like books that help keep me motivated when I'm trying to lose weight, and though I have some that I read and reread (which it looks like I haven't reviewed, so I'll have to remedy that at some point!), I thought I would try a new one.

This book is all about changing your mindset through hypnosis, specifically the Virtual Gastric Band that Sheila Granger has patented.  Having used hypnotherapy when pregnant (and it worked a bit too well during labour, lol) I know that the relaxation techniques can help, so I thought I would give this book a go.

The blurb says:

By picking up this book, you’ve taken the first step in your journey to a happier and more fulfilled way of life.

Forget about yo-yo diets that make you feel constantly deprived. Instead, internationally-renowned clinical hypnotherapist Sheila Granger will introduce you to her pioneering Virtual Gastric Band therapy! By resetting how you think about food, Sheila will help you to:

-Discover a healthier, better you!
-Understand what makes you overeat and STOP!
-Shed excess pounds without trying…
-Live the life you choose…

So, what are you waiting for? Pick up your copy of No More Diets! and start living the life you deserve. With Sheila’s help, you truly can start believing in yourself – today!

I have to be honest, half the book reads like an advert for VGB - which I suppose it is.  I was hoping there would be a bit more about the techniques involved, though the chapters entitled "What type of eater are you?" and "You are the author of your own story" are the more useful ones, imo. 
Of course, it could be because I have read other books in a similar vein that I found this book less useful for me, whereas somebody totally new to the idea of not dieting may find some of the concepts about why we eat, and eating mindfully, much more amazing.

Reading this book has had an effect, though - I have more seriously considered hypnotherapy for weightloss, and last night I found a free app that has a 20min relaxation soundtrack that claims you can lose weight by listening to it every day for 3 weeks.  Having just finished a course of therapy, I do understand that by talking to someone 1:1, you can get things tailored to you as an individual that will be more beneficial than a generic free app, but we'll still see how it goes. (The natal hypnotherapy I used when pregnant were from CDs, so 'generic' can make a difference.)  If it does have an effect, I can then determine if I want to take it a step further and seek out a VGB practitioner.  I did have a look on https://sheilagranger.com/ and while there is 1 practitioner in my area, they have not put any prices online.  Until I believe it will make a difference, I'm not going to contact them to ask the prices.

Weekly Update Y2w8

We were away last week at a dance festival so stayed in a caravan (yes, during Storm Dennis!) rather than travelling to and fro every day.  We ate out on site and in a couple of pubs, and ate easy-to-cook food in the caravan.  My goodness, I miss vegetables.  Not only has my weight skyrocketed, I've felt bloated all week (still do, truth be told, though am feeling a bit better), and one night my stomach pain returned, so I got to sleep around 5am, before having to wake again at 7am to get the girls to their competition.

The graph isn't pretty,  but it is what it is.  I'm not going to sugar coat anything, even on the days where I tried to find food with vegetables (eg one day I had veg soup starter as a main) I still ate the accompanying bread and butter.

Looking at the positive, because I have come away feeling bloated, having had pain, and missing vegetables, I am much more motivated to eat properly now I'm back home, and able to use my fancy new kitchen.