Well...It's been a while so I better get typing!

Well....here we are once again, and once again the time between posts has been so much longer than I would have liked, and had planned for. But sometimes things happen that cause the best of plans to go astray! 

In fact as I type I realised that this post has been sat waiting to be finished since late July!! So I think we need to get this done!!

Since retiring our focus on life has changed and the direction in which we find ourselves going has emerged organically over the last few months. I have always said that being retired gives you the opportunity to do what you want, when you want, where you want, if you want and with the people you want! This approach has enabled us to tackle life differently to all those years when work, inevitably, was the constant, and by default, the driving force behind how our lives played out.

But this retired way of life has taken a little time to adjust to, and being able to live in the moment rather than conforming to day to day demands has been interesting, especially as I am someone who likes (and has a need) to be organised and have everything planned out.

Simon often refers to us as Peter Pan and Wendy...he is Peter wanting to fly and explore in all directions while I am Wendy always wanting to keep us safe and calm. But together we compliment each other; Simon will push me outside of my comfort zone and I will temper his desire to fly too high and in that way we find our way through this crazy thing called life.

So just what has life dealt us these past few months? Well at times it has all been a bit of a whirlwind! 

We have been able to get out and about with our fellow Star Wars cosplayers as part of The East Midlands Garrison. Devoting time for this at weekends is now much easier as we no longer have to juggle work and free time. We have also been able to get involved with special troops during the working week. In July we were able to support a local charity called Ducklings at the children's school within Nottingham Queens Medical Centre hospital. We have also taken part in our local comic con in Nottingham, Emcon; both during the event and helping with their promotion leading up to it. We were also able to get out to a special cinema troop which celebrated the 20th anniversary of The Phantom Menace, along with some smaller events along the way and at each event we helped raise money for The East Midland Garrison's chosen charity of Pasic.

Promoting Emcon in Nottingham - May 4th 2024

Cineworld Sheffield - The Phantom Menace 20th Anniversary

Simon’s extensive, four decade, career in video games has opened up the world of retro gaming with invitations to take part in various events. We had a lovely weekend at the Nottingham Video Games Expo where Simon not only spoke at the event but he was able to share some of his original game design documents along with selling some of his game related art. He was even able to produce a piece of canvas art live throughout the event. He has also worked with a local college to share his experiences of working within the industry with their students and is looking forward to more collaborations in the future.

Nottingham Video Games Expo - art in progress

Nottingham Video Games Expo - completed art

Earlier in the year Simon had used his knowledge of electronics to help a friend with their university project. They were completing their final year in costume design and needed help with the programming of LED lights in their Neuromancer inspired outfits. After attaining a first they had one last thing to complete; a catwalk show and we were invited to attend. It was a great evening filled with friends, laughter and too much Chinese food. 

My favourite band, White Lies, we're out and about with some special gigs playing two of their albums in full; Ritual and Big TV. We were able to make one of their gigs in Manchester and got to experience Big TV in its entirety. As this album features one of my all time favourite songs, First Time Caller, I was very happy and excited to be able to hear it live! And as a bonus we had a great couple of days in Manchester too!

White Lies at Gorilla, Manchester - July 2024

There have been lots of opportunities for catching up with family and friends. We've had movie nights, a dark arts craft fair, a retro computer museum evening and multiple cinema trips. There was a weekend visit to Bournemouth to see Molly and Dan to help celebrate Mollys birthday. They then came to see us a couple of months later which resulted in a trip to a local Ninja Warrior centre...I was the official photographer for the day and let everyone else throw themselves around!

An earlier trip to Amsterdam in April had opened up an opportunity for Simon which resulted in another visit, at very short notice, in early August. And that visit resulted in an art commission for Simon in which he had 3 weeks to create 6 paintings for a fashion show!

August also saw us make a trip to London to meet a new friend for lunch while Simon spent every spare minute drawing to ensure that his commission work would be completed on time. 

Grabbing every spare minute to draw - sat on the train home from London

We also made it to the Droid Builders UK event where Simon was able to show off a couple of his own builds!

Droid Builders UK meet-up - Simon's creations - August 2024

Ethan finally completed on his first house at the end of July, almost a year after first seeing it! But as there was a fair amount of renovating required there was a lot of work to be done; quotes, planning, house sitting and more to squeeze in around our busy schedule and Ethan's work! In fact as I write the house has now been rewired, plastered, decorated, a new boiler fitted, a new bathroom installed, numerous deliveries have been managed and the kitchen and flooring are now being fitted! All very busy, and all very exciting for him. And I think Simon and I have become unofficial project managers!!

Ethan finally getting into his first home for the first time...now waiting for all the renovations to be completed!

And while all that was happening Simon received an invite to speak at an Amiga event in Spoleto, Italy. An invite with some of the expenses paid...well that was an opportunity we couldn't turn down! We also decided to make the most of the flights and extend our stay by a taking a few extra days in Rome. So as Simon was busy drawing away for his art commission I was busy organising flights, car parking and hotels.

Oh and as September rolled around we also had our second Disney cruise and this time we had the kids join us. And four days after we returned home we flew out to Italy for a week!

And breathe...I am hoping that as life calms down I will be able to find more time for blog writing which will mean I can share more about our recent travels to Amsterdam, Italy and of course our time on the Disney Dream. But for now I will stop and recharge my batteries!

Health & Wellbeing

What to talk about next?

Well, I've introduced myself and I've spoken about my love of all things Disney so I think the next logical subject will be to chat health and wellbeing.

Now I do have a couple of pages that talk about various aspects of my life with regard to eating well and looking after myself but I think it feels right to give a bit of an overview of where I started and where I am now.

For most, if not all of my life, I seem to have been in a constant battle with my weight. I was never really happy with the numbers on the scale or the image in the mirror looking back at me. I think I was pretty typical of most women craving the slim and sexy figure but never being able to obtain the image I had in my head. 

As we moved into the late 1980's my then fiance, Simon, was diagnosed with familial hypercholesterolaemia, a genetic condition leading to high cholesterol levels and was told to adopt a low fat diet as a matter of urgency. We dutifully did as we were told; we ate as low fat as we could, we embraced the plethora of low fat foods that appeared on the supermarket shelves, we abandoned eggs, cheese, full fat milk, yogurt and cream and we even became regular gym attendees! But I still battled with my weight and my figure. Two children later and things had not improved, and all the time we stuck religiously to the low fat diet and did as we were told by the powers that be.

And then in 2014 a couple of things happened. First we watched a couple of documentaries; 'Fat, Sick & Nearly Dead' and 'Fed Up'. They highlighted the perils of processed foods and sugar along with the strength and commitment of people who were prepared to put in the effort to getting themselves fit and healthy. Then a few weeks later a chance conversation with my daughters karate instructor introduced me to a locally run group called 'Get Real Fat Loss'; a 90 day challenge to lose weight. Now I have never bought into the whole weight-loss industry of clubs and meetings but this was different. It was run by a local guy, Jason, who wanted to give women the right information to set them up for a new way of eating and living. We were a small group of women who encouraged each other by way of a private Facebook group all guided by Jason who gave us personalised food plans along with some body weight exercises (see my page Getting Real for more details).

About two thirds of the way through the 90 days I had reached my target weight and by the end I had lost around two stone (28lbs) and dropped from a UK dress size of 12/14 down to an 8 (and sometimes even a 6!). Then, while on my 90 day journey, I read a book by Gary Taubes called 'Why We Get Fat and What to Do About it' which provided the science behind the nutritional changes I'd made. So what were those changes? At that time the major change I made was the number of carbohydrates in my life - no more potatoes, no more pasta, no more rice and no more bread. All those foods that I'd been told were good for me because they were 'low in fat' were in fact hijacking my insulin response and causing me to hold onto fat rather than burn it. (see my page Eating Well, Staying Healthy for more information).

Since then I have been able to stick with the low carb (or keto) approach to eating and as the years have moved on I have become more focused on eating real foods. I try to cook everything from scratch and limit the amount of processed, and especially the ultra processed foods, in my diet. The approach is that if something has more than five ingredients or contains things that wouldn't appear in a standard kitchen cupboard then I will not buy it. There is a great book by Chris van Tulleken called Ultra Processed People and I would urge everyone to read it and understand just what the so-called 'food' in the lovely packaging on our supermarket shelves actually is!

The bodyweight exercises that I started back in 2014 have now evolved into a weights workout three times a week. Around 2018 I had joined a local gym with Simon and both our kids but when the 'lockdowns' happened in 2020 we decided to convert our garage into a home gym and it has been one of the best decisions ever. We have enough equipment for us to workout effectively and are still able to use the garage as a garage! It also means 'getting to the gym' is easy and quick and we have no excuse for not getting out there and getting a workout done.

Then a couple of years ago I decided to step away from my job of 18 years as a pre-school manager and I entered the world of retirement. Being at home enabled me to spend more time being active; daily walks became the norm and gym sessions didn't feel quite so onerous. I was also able to spend more time 'on me' and began to incorporate cold showers, Wim Hof breathing and meditation into my daily life. 

Last year Simon decided to set himself a challenge to lower his body fat percentage. As part of a routine check-in with our doctor we were introduced to a set of scales that recorded not just our weight but our BMI, body fat percentage, muscle percentage, visceral fat percentage and our RM calories (resting metabolic number of calories). And while all our figures were great Simon wondered whether he could get his body fat under 10%. With an upcoming cruise (Disney of course) as incentive he found a personal trainer to try and help him achieve his goal. So with a focus on getting enough protein in our diet and increasing our daily step count to around 14,000 Simon hit (and has maintained) his goal and along the way I also managed to reduce my body fat much to my surprise. 

Late last year we took the decision to invest in an infrared sauna after a home improvement project gave us the extra space we needed. A daily sauna has now become part of our lives; thirty minutes a day to relax, meditate and absorb the benefits of heat exposure.

And as we rolled into the new year Simon joined me in this retirement malarkey so we now have the time to pursue those things in life that have had to take a back seat during our working life. We have the time to devote to our own wellbeing, to concentrate on our diet and exercise, to spend quality time together, to kick start travelling more than we have been previously able, to enjoy spending time with our Star Wars cosplay family as well as numerous projects that we now have the time and the head space to take on.

And that is where you find me now...enjoying life with my soul mate and best friend by my side, in the best physical shape of my life and looking forward to each and every day and the possibilities that lay ahead.