Weekly Update

 

Over this past month, my weight is coming down!  I'm not dieting, just trying to track everything that I eat, and I try to listen to the hypnotherapy music M-F.  I'm rereading The Diet Trap Solution and trying to read my advantages list daily (ie. why I'm trying to lose weight in the first place) and when I am eating, I'm trying to eat mindfully: purposely putting down my cutlery and focus on the taste and texture of what I'm eating, slowing down, and listening to my body when it says it's full.

In life in general, I'm still really busy.  I am managing to carve out some time to read, though, so my mental health is better.  It just means I have less time to do everything else. I've made reminder post-its for myself, but they're not having much impact atm.

Can you believe it's half-term next week??!?  I hadn't realised until DD1 told me this morning.  Time is flying by, and I still feel like I have loads to do.  On which note, I best leave this here, as Monday is my day for my FutureLearn course and I missed it last week as I was so busy with HE stuff.

Have a good week, all xx

Ember by Jessica Sorensen

This is book E in my A-Z of Fiction Titles.  I have read Jessica Sorensen before, and this book was no disappointment.  (In case you are confused by the naming of these books, they are all aimed at teens/young adults, but Ember is the cleaner version, whereas Ember X is the more adult version.)

The blurb says:

What if you knew when someone was going to die?

For seventeen-year-old Ember, life is death. With a simple touch, she knows when someone will die. It’s her curse and the reason she secludes herself from the world. The only person who knows her secret is her best friend Raven.

Then she meets Asher Morgan. He’s gorgeous, mysterious, and is the only person Ember can't sense death from. So when he pushes into her life, she doesn’t mind.

But when unexplained deaths start to haunt her town, Ember starts questioning why she can’t sense Asher's death and what he may be hiding.

This is a teen book.  It is set in a school and some of the characters are not as complex as they could be, but it is still really enjoyable.  I read the whole book last night (staying up much later than I intended) and would allow my daughters to read this.  It is dark (as you should expect when talking about death) and there are brief mentions of mental health issues (that in a book for adults, I would have expected to be explored more deeply), but overall it's a good read and I have added the next in the series to my wishlist. 

 

Red White and Blues by Rysa Walker

This is the sequel to the prequel series of the Chronos Books.  I read and reviewed Now, Then and Every When last September, and loved the book so much that I pre-ordered the next in the Chronos Origins series.  It was finally finished and delivered to my Kindle, so I just had to read it, even though it's not part of my A-Z challenge.

This book is as good as the first!

The blurb says:

The United States’ past is hijacked in a time-warping adventure of future interdimensional, high-risk games by the bestselling author of the CHRONOS series.

History is turned inside out when off-world travelers challenge Tyson Reyes and Madi Grace to a real-life game of Temporal Dilemma. Three rounds from the opponents and Hitler takes Europe, Pearl Harbor never happens, a fascist cloud hangs over the postwar United States, and CHRONOS itself is erased from existence.

Now Tyson, Madi, and a team of seasoned players must make their moves—in 1930s New York. Jazz and the blues waft from Village clubs. The World’s Fair draws assassins. Madison Square Garden hosts Nazis. And the Manhattan Project never gets off the ground.

Tyson and Madi have only three days to undo the strategy that changed the tides of war and the fate of the world. A surprise survivor from CHRONOS could be their best hope for flipping the timeline. If he’s on their side. But can they risk trusting him when the past, the future, and the lives of millions hang in the balance?

I really don't want to say too much about this book, for fear of giving away spoilers, but it is mind-bending, and incredibly well-written.  If you haven't read the first book, read that first, just so you can jump right into this one without too much hesitancy.  I have not yet read any of the Chronos Files series, but have added them to my wishlist, as I know once I start reading them, I won't be able to put them down.

 

The Dark Side of the Sun by Terry Pratchett

 

I had never read any Terry Pratchett before I met my husband, and have since read all (I think?) of the Discworld novels.

The blurb says:

DOM SALABOS HAD A LOT OF ADVANTAGES

As heir to a huge fortune, he had an excellent robot servant (with Man-Friday subcircuitry), a planet (the First Syrian Bank) as godfather, a security chief who even ran checks on himself, and on Dom's home world even death was not always fatal.

Why, then, in an age when prediction was a science, was his future in doubt?

When I saw this book in my family's shared Kindle library, I thought it was another Discworld novel, but it is not.  It is set in a world when Probability is considered a science, but, should never be used, so is viewed almost as a religion.  There is space travel between worlds, and definite interplay between people of differing religions and races.

It took me ages to read this book.  There is a lot going on and it is confusing as it seems to jump about a bit, with not logic or transition between different scenes.  Once I got my head around what was happening, the book was more enjoyable, but it is still not at the same level as any of the Discworld books.

Weekly Update

Things are going well!  I have actually lost weight this week - half a kilo, but it all counts.  I'm not actively "dieting" at the moment, I am merely tracking what I eat, eating mindfully when I do, and I am meaning to keep up with the hypnotherapy (which I haven't for a few days...).  Being aware of what I'm eating, eating slowly and knowing that I need to write down and track whatever it is that I do eat, is helping me make wiser choices.

Exercise-wise, I'm going for a 3Km walk every other day.  This week there are free BodyGroove sessions lunchtime and evenings, that I haven't been able to join yet, but I do recommend them nonetheless (the link is on my FB page).

In other news, I am even more busy!  I have more people asking for maths tuition, and I'm having to turn them away, as working full days Wednesdays and Thursdays (plus the prep around them) is enough for me.  When DD2 goes to school, I'll try and spread them throughout the week, and so should be able to fit more people in (since 5 half days is more than 2 full days).

In the Home Ed world, I've been busy doing lots of admin stuff, as well as actually helping people with advice and support.  I know I'm a freak, but I don't mind admin.  It keeps everything organised and you get a sense of achievement when it's done.  It's a shame I don't feel the same way about tidying and cleaning my house!

I have also said I would host some sessions on Engineering for this year's HE Science Fair.  Last year I offered maths tuition, though only the people who I already tutored wanted any, lol.  This year, I've decided to go for a more hands-on demo, looking at what engineering is, and then 3 separate types of engineering.  I'm not a natural teacher (of a group, as opposed to a 1:1 tutor), so I will be pre-recording them, and the rest of each hour, they can do the activities themselves at home.  I have planned what I'm going to do, and what I'm going to talk about; I just need to write some decent notes (beyond my current "talk about engineering"!) and then get around to doing it before March.

And then there's my FutureLearn courses that I have been doing.  I got loads done over Christmas, so signed up to Unlimited, and since then finding the time to study is difficult.  I had planned to do it Monday afternoons, but then other things come along - like yesterday, I was sat at my computer 9am-7pm, including lunch, doing HE admin stuff that needs to be done because the government's HE Inquiry is still going on.

And to keep me sane, I need to find time to read.  We've had to take our pup to the vets a bit recently (D&V, though she's declared fit again now), so I've been able to use that time to read, as we're not allowed in the vets due to coronavirus.  A couple of times when I've tried to read during the day, I've fallen asleep, which isn't a good habit to get into as I have far too much stuff to do.

So, yeah, I've been busy, but that's life. 

Trim Healthy Mama Plan by Barrett and Allison

 

Trim Healthy Mama Plan was recommended to me from a friend, and we read it simultaneously, but not together. Despite meeting up fortnightly to discuss the book, we've discovered that this method didn't really work for us, so we have now gone back to reading a set number of chapters each week of a book, and meeting up weekly rather than fortnightly.

The blurb says:

Forget the Fad Diets, Join the Food Freedom Movement!

Counting calories is out. All the food groups are in. Becoming trim and healthy doesn't have to be difficult or painstaking anymore. After trying almost every fad diet out there, Serene Allison and Pearl Barrett, creators of the Trim Healthy Mama movement, took matters into their own hands. Through trial and error and much research, they created the Trim Healthy Mama Plan, the breakthrough lifestyle program to help readers of all ages and stages get healthy, slim down and keep off the weight once and for all.

Based on the authors' successful self-published book, this simplified, improved, practical plan shows readers a unique way to lose weight and get healthy by eliminating sugar, and still eating hearty, delicious food. The biblically-sound and highly effective eating approach centers on Satisfying meals (which include more fats and protein) and Energizing meals (which include more carbs and protein), as they are the key to success.

Scrumptious whole, unprocessed foods, including fats, blood sugar friendly grains, proteins, fruits, and vegetables, are eaten in a way that boosts metabolism, yet still fits into anyone's hectic lifestyle. It's family friendly and effective for pregnant and nursing mothers, pre or post- menopausal women, and also those without weight or health issues--even men and growing children.

The book includes menu plans, a list of key super foods to eat on plan, time-saving tips, and pantry stocking and lifestyle advice to help readers successfully reach their goals.

Join the Trim Healthy Mama movement and along with thousands of others, and discover the groundbreaking, easy-does-it, and delicious way to eat for health and weight loss.

From the blurb, we thought this eating plan would dovetail nicely with the 2B Mindset book, You Can Drop It! and the fact they were writing from a Christian point of view is an added bonus.

The essence of this book is that there are two types of meals (S meals which are fat-based, and E means which are carb-based) which your body digests and processes differently.  To stop your body going into a rut or being overloads, you need to mix up these types of foods whilst ensuring a long enough gap between meals/snacks to that your body is being fuelled only by either S or E foods at that sitting.

It is worth noting at this point, that I only had the plan and not the accompanying cookbook.  The book regularly says about recipes that are in the cookbook, or that they can easily be found online (such as on pinterest) for free.  There are a few recipes written within this book, but it is more the theory side of things.

The theory seems sound (to an uneducated person like me), however, when you look at the recipes, there seems to be much need to buy specialist foods.  Rather than sugar, you need stevia, and not only one kind of stevia, but differing blends depending on whether the use it to be very sweet or medium sweet.  Apparently these mixtures are detailed in the cookbook, or you can buy the premixed versions direct from https://trimhealthymama.com/.  Not only sweeteners, they also recommend you buy specific flour blends, collagen, gelatin, glucomannam, whey powder, lecithin, dietary fibre, nutritional yeast, and a host of other oils and flavours to be used in your cooking.  I do believe them when they say this is all natural and good for you, however, I'd rather eat whole foods that provide this or that (even if it's deemed as "less healthy") rather than have a kitchen that is stocked like a Chemistry lab.

So, this diet or eating lifestyle isn't for me.  There are plenty of stories online about how this is amazing and it has worked for them, so if this review hasn't put you off, then it may be worth trying it.

The Daily Message by Eugene H Peterson

 

The Daily Message is a Bible-in-a-Year using The Message version.  I have not read much of The Message version before, but I do like it's simplicity to understand.  It may not be the most accurate in terms of specific words used from the original language, however this translation means the Gospel is more accessible as it gets the meaning across.

The other thing I particularly liked about this book, was that every 7th day was a rest day for reflection on the previous week - for me, this was a catch-up day, so even if I fell behind slightly, I knew that by the start of the next week I would be all caught up.

The blurb says:

The Daily Message is the perfect one-year reading Bible, allowing for both flexibility and time to let the readings soak into your heart and mind. Arranged into six readings per week, this simple, easy-to-do plan will revolutionize your daily quiet time with God. Features include:

• Discipleship Journal’s “Book-at-a-Time” reading plan
• Inspirational words from Psalms or Proverbs and thoughtful questions for deeper reflection
• Alternative reading plans that allow you to start any day of the year and read at your own pace

If you have considered trying to read through the Bible in a year, but thing the task is too mammoth or the language is too antiquated, then this is the book for you.