CANCER

dja know, I never really swear in these blogs -- family audience and all ..

but seriously






FUCK, FUCK, FUCKITY FUCK



I was SO sure I was ok --- so sure, and SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO wrong.

Anyrate - lance wasn't the only one who could cycle up hills with mets on his lungs .. I have mets on my lungs, one on either side. Neat, symmetrical and seriously bad news.

And a "mini-muffin" sized tumour on my bowel has already been chopped out .. so I can hardly walk atm, never mind get on my bike.

The good news is my surgeon said I was a "dream to operate on" (great muscle tone, low resting pulse, low blood pressure etc) so the fitness regime has certainly helped.

In the back on my mind this 66% possibility of dealing with secondaries was always part of what the whole fitness thing was about ..


but still




FUCK FUCK FUCKITY FUCK, eh?

more sportifs

I sort of feel like I'm getting bit by a cycling bug .. and want to do more organised rides .. There is a not too long one next month, which I reckon I can do - organised by Rourke's bike shop .. called the Cat and Fiddle.

Went out to look at the Cat and Fiddle climb this weekend .. it is lovely out there .. did 30 miles with two long climbs in it .. and tbh the c&f is not a hard climb, just a bit long and gentle, which suits me! Lovely views out as well.

I had my new (look) pedals and shoes on today - new pedals are a bit of a trick when starting off up-hill -- but I guess I'll get used to the technique of spinning it round to click in .. they feel great when I an actually peddling .. rock solid!

first sportif

we just did the 70km ride as part of a charity thing on the route they will use near here for the Tour of Britain ...

marvellous ..

http://www.tourride.co.uk/

mont ventoux - done

Aubergine and spinach recipes

Aubergine slices -
this is from a book called Vegetarian Express .. it's SO quick and easy to make!

in a shallow bowl mix:
spoon runny honey
spoon balsamic vinegar
spoon soy sauce
spoon sesame seed oil

(they said tablesppon, but it was more than I needed for one aubergine, so a big teaspoon might be enough)


Slice an auberinge in about 1/2 inch slices
dip them in the marinade

put them under the grill, again they said pre-heated but the sauce is prone to burn so I suggest a low heat to ensure the slices go soft.

grill on both sides - just a few minutes each - the slices do soften quite well - but since mine had got a bit too brown a bit too quickly I actually finshed them in the micro!

when nearly ready to serve, sprinkle a few sesame seeds on each slice ..

Their tip was to slap into pitta bread with a bit of hummous, which would obviously be very nice

we had it with pitta and spinach salad:

Spinach Salad
This is a Turkish recipe: Borani Esfanaj

1 finely chopped onion
tbsp ghee (worth using this - makes the flavour really good but olive oil would do)

4 cloves garlic

tsp turmeric
tsp cumin
tsp ground coriander
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground cardomom if you have it in
(a good curry powder / garam masala would stand in for this list of spicse, tbh!)

small squirt of chilli paste or tabasco sauce or cayenne pepper for a hint of hotness

big bag of spinch - washed and roughly chopped

small pot natural yogurt (greek would be best!)


Method
Fry onion in ghee without browning
Add garlic and fry a bit more
Add spices and fry a bit more
Add spinach and cook until wilted and softened
Add the yogurt - no need to cook that much,just stir in.

Add salt to taste - is good served luke warm or cold.

These are two of my favourite dishes just now - kind of BBQ-y and salad-y as though it were the summer and the sun was actually shining!

june - one year on

Woo - it is now a year since my reversal operation - and thus a whole year since I last had a drop of alcohol .. cool ..

My weight loss has pretty much stalled -- a little over 4 stones -- I'd still like to lose another stone or two -- but hey, it's good and it'll be ok eitehr way ..

I've also been getting very strong on the bike - and my new target is to do Alpe d'huez and Mont Ventoux in France this year ... I think this is really possible cos I have been training at accelerating up hills to build my stamina .. on hills that B tells me are the same sort of gradient .. only you have to do it for two solid hours! LOL

I've never actually cycled an alpine climb b4 - tho I've done the foothills of mont ventoux and seen them all in the car - domestique-ing for brigid .. well now she'll have to peel the bananas for me!

end of march

It is nearly ten months since my reversal operation, and I've been keeping to a good healthy eating regime the whole time since ...

My rate of weight loss has slowed, but this weekend I clocked in four stone lighter than I was at the start of June ...

I am pleaed with this progress and can't quite belive that I'm still finding it relatively easy to stick with it

:)

Another soup

I made this from just what I happened to have in, looking a bit worn out and sorry for themselves really - but it turned out to be a good sweet combo for a mildly spicy soup tha I'll probably do again:

This makes four massive portions

two onions
tablespoon ground coriander
2 teaspoons ground cardomom
ghee or veg oil

three or four parsnips
1/2 celeriac
two carrots
one sweet potato

1.5 litres chicken stock

Fry the onion in some ghee until starting to brown, add the spices and warm them through, but be careful not to over-heat

Add the stock and the other veg, which need to to be chopped.

Cook until tender, upto 1/2 an hour depending on toughness and age of the roots!

Puree - reheat if necessary

Check seasoning

serve with a little melt of ghee or butter and some broken walnut pieces sprinked on the top ...

:)

more 1/2 term

Well, me n the missis went back to strict "health farm" with healthy food and cycling on five consecutive days .. but I still don't seem to have lost anything this is a bit of a surprise. Maybe there were just too many pub-lunches and hidden extras that made a difference ..

Or it could be the old "muscle weighs more than fat" thingy! My legs are certainly very strong now after all the hill work I've been able to do .. including up to Lask Edge from Rudyard and up to AXE EDGE from Longnor -- that is such a fun ride .. reall slog up then a brilliant descent on another road back to the village!

I bought myself a jacket in TKMaxx and a couple of tops to snap up my wardrobe into a slightly more funky look, size 16, which feels a lot better than size 22! I don't want to spend much on clothes that wont be around for long, but need the encouragement of actually looking better .. TKMaxx is great for that!

1/2 term

I've lost three and 1/2 stones since my operation in June last year, which has been a good steady loss of about 2 pounds a week, most weeks.

This has been going good, but last week I had a blip, with no loss at all, mainly induced by too much snacking on sweet treats at work. I was glad to get to half term, cos my missis will keep a good eye on me and get me back on track.

To this end we are being very busy, gardening on Saturday, a few miles up and down the Tissington trail on Sunday and a staggering 25 miles today .. well I was staggering by the time we got back .. we were out for nearly three hours, non-stop and the reason it was a fairly low average speed is cos we did some good hills. In particular I stayed on for most of the climb up to Lask Edge from Rudyard ... not an easy climb. It was worth it though, the views from there are really good, you can see out all around across past Mow Cop into Cheshire on one side, and across to Morridge on the other side, and the Cloud behind . lovely.. especially as the weather was kind to us, no rain and quite bright mlost of the time we were out, really.

We had tomato soup and homemade bread for lunch when we got back, very tasty. Then we had jacket spud and a sort of waldorf salad with radishes and no mayo... it is really nice. If I carry on being this strict I reckon I'l be back on target at the next weigh in.