Raining_again

We're all bunkering down here in northern ireland, waiting for Ophelia to pass.... My sky dish sounds like it might be ripped off at any moment... hae prepared for the electric to go off, candles and matches out just in case...

y'know what? Let mutual friend think what he wants to think. You & boxer have an agreement you are both ok with so he can go stuff his opinion up his ass to be quite frank.

Personally I think the easiest way you can operate a diet or way of eating is the best way as you're likely to stick to it long term. I do keto and IF and on a lot of groups i'm on people are extremely anal about how much protein/fat/calories they get, and even scrutinize the TYPES of carbs they eat... I just combine IF and eat under 40g of carbs a day. If i'm not losing weight I try to eat a little less. Full stop. If I counted anally I would fall off the wagon within days. I'm still kicking ass, am now 18 stone and still going strong (i have tipped the scales close enough to 22 stone in my life). I used to get this far into a diet and be totally mentally exhausted and give up, and put on the weight again. But I think the right diet for me, and the right MH tactics are keeping me going

Most people will hang on because they incur costs with their own solicitors too, even if it falls through. So unless the housing marker suddenly has skyrocketed to justify that loss (i doubt it has) they will hang on in. Just keep calm and keep harassing all involved to keep the process moving! Mine waited 6 months and we reckon i gained at least 5 thousand in value in that time lol

My freakin god. My mum's cat is freakishly identical to your friends @Serebii. Extremely sorry for your loss. Another friend of mine lost theirs to the same way, its horribly sad. I'm not saying its right, but sometimes it is actually unavoidable, cats can and do dart onto the road very quickly and just don't give you the time to react. I don't think anyone *really* wants to run over a cat, even if they don't like them, because they can damage your car. My mum hit a cat once, it darted from under a fence (possibly being chased or chasing) but thankfully where it was it wasn't at great speed and it got away. A week later we saw that the house it darted from blocked off the bottom of the fence, so it must have been their cat. My Mum lives with that guilt to this day, but it really is just one of those things... thankfully she wasn't speeding! Its why, even if I had healthy cats, they'll all be in an inside arrangement. Windowboxes and catios aren't too difficult to put together and its really not as "cruel" as people would think. Cats are very adaptable.

@Animal I hear you. I am built very big asides being overweight, and when i've been slimmer, I've still been "large" (my dads a big thicc military man and my mum is tall and wide, so cursed genes) and having to accept that had been difficult. Especially being a female, the ideal body presented in the media being these ridiculously small feminine frames, thigh gaps and tiny waists, you're either born with that or not. I spent most of my 20s being unhappy, and not caring enough to try hard enough to lose weight. On top of having undiagnosed adhd, which has a strong connection to a lot of eating disorders (emotional disregulation, overthinking, obsessive tendancies, boredom eating) I was pretty much a disaster. Any time I got anywhere near being slim I was just as unhappy as i ever was so it all slipped again. I'm getting to a stage in my life where diagnosis is within reach, and I am accepting of my physical shape - which is giving me a lot more control over my eating. Its still an uphill battle but i'm getting there step by step. I'm also getting to a stage where i'm nearly at the weight I was before I started the diet rollercoaster, I'm just into the 17stones - I haven't seen 17st anything since i was 21 (now 31)

leangains.com Dr Michael Moseley did a Horizon documentary that's very interesting, goes into the science of it. from my perspective: You can do IF whatever way you want, usually i fast from 9-5, every weekday.. you can also do entire day fasts. (this obviously depends on job, lifestyle, and gym routine) I used to do Mon-Wed-Fri every week, an entire 3 days of fasting, but this is not for the weak minded (and possibly not for gym performance at least on those days) i've also done 5pm to 5pm, IE sunday have breakfast & lunch, fast, then have dinner on monday (this was 3x a week as well). I actually used to go to the gym after my sunday lunch, workout, have my protein shake, then fast from then til monday night, for some reason it was mentally the easiest, and when I made the most gym gains. But its finding your own groove. I read a book called the Alternate Day Diet, long before fasting became a thing and before LG became well known. and I just played around with it. You can't really go wrong, just make corrections as you go if its not working as well as you'd like. edit: see it became SUPER popular and now everyone has an opinion on it. And I fear the ketogenic diet is going the same way tbh!

t'is indeed.

You may find you take a fitness stall if you try keto, in the first month or so before you become fat adapted your performance can be affected. Not everyone gets it but a lot do. Just worth thinking about if you are weighing up the options. A lot of gym rats I know would couple lifting and IF if thats up your street

Have we all given in then? I had a month lapse from keto, but im back on it and have just got back to my lowest weight before i stopped.

My dear, dear friend runs a sanctuary for old, sick, & stray cats. She has had 5 die in the past month. One was 20 and in severe renal failure. Two white cats with no ears (both cancer) one was 8 and one was ~18. One was a trauma case, was stuck in between rafters in a house fire, at the age of 16, she survived for a few weeks but between her age, the injuries and the emotional trauma she just didn't get through it. One was a lovely little 16 year old who had a massive tumour on his liver. They're all like my second family - to say i'm heartbroken doesn't even attempt to cover it. The last one that died, passed away on my freddy's 6 month anniversary. We just cried in each others arms on Saturday. Rescuers fatigue is such a real thing :'(

I spent about 3 months solid complaining about how shit awful both mine and my vendors solicitor were lol They are fucking phone monkeys that check documents, and BARELY follow protocol correctly.... and they want thousands for it n all. Swear i'm in the wrong career (don't get me wrong there are gooduns out there but they are few n far between)

Hiii Jayseven welcome back *waves manically*

97 feckin pound a month? when you say switching on light bulbs, are you sure its not electric heaters or ovens lol.... I didnt even pay that in the depth of irish winter, in an eco7 heating system on prepaid electric.....!! Estimates are estimates and they are ultimately fixed when you send in readings, so you'll pay more now and less later if you are found to be using less than they've estimated, they won't actually TAKE more money in the long run, its just a faff to sort out. I moved into my house and was paying £30 a month on electric, as a standard cost for a new customer. I submitted readings and i was using nowhere near that, so i've been paying £11 a month until my credit reduces. I use between £16 and £18 a month. Also re the view and bid, i think when you know you know.... You'll almost certainly know straight away. My house was the 3rd i viewed, 2nd i bidded on. 1st one I got into a bidding war, and it got over the amount I wanted to pay (i think their sale fell through in the end) 2nd was an orlit house, and unable to be mortgaged. 3rd was the one i live in.

cant see why a taxi wouldn't transport you and a cat secured in a carrier...... I had fun with all 3 of mine in my car this week. Clementine managed to get out and decided it would be a good idea to sit on my dashboard in front of my view of the road... lol this was her on the way back:

oh my word Ine thats awful. I hope you guys get it sorted soon!

yeah i get pee shivers too... sorry internet.... lol

awk @shorty if i can do it a man of your calibre can. I ripped off all my doorframes and refitted new smaller ones. you just need a saw and one of those angle mitre boxes. (for doorframes and skirting boards). Half decent long nails with the small heads. A LOT of measuring and a lot of patience.

oh my word you are taking mummy and baby thats just too awesome <3 I'm so happy for you guys <3

get two at the same time, 100%. It's a million times easier especially if you've not had before. And you really should have 2 unless theyre special needs cats that don't like other cats... because generally speaking cats like to socialise, and its a lot of work to get two cats to tolerate each other #beenthere Generally litter rule is number of cats + 1, and ensure theres one on every floor. Though I generally just have number of cats = number of litters and it works ok for me. If you had 2 kittens from a litter they may share but bear in mind (especially when they are fully grown) it will involve poop scooping more often... if they litter tray is full kitty WILL go on the floor. In terms of litter type, i recommend clumping, you save a shitload of money because the pee "clumps" and you just scoop it and poo out, and i only change it when its looking really manky... maybe once every few months or so i'll do a complete empty and refill. non clumping has to be emptied out every week completely as the pee doesnt clump so cant be lifted out. See what the sanctuary they come from is using and try to buy similar type (ie wood pellets clay etc) Give me a shout if you need any help with anything else - i've a lot of experience having had 4 FIVs and volunteering in a rescue I'm currently working with a cat with behaviour problems, a needy girl cat, and a semi feral, all of which have FIV and their own seperate health problems...... its fun..... but i wouldnt have it any other way tbh!

I'm going to post this here, its not really good or bad (or maybe just a mix of both) but I'm going to be positive. I have been going to therapy for a while, and myself and my therapist are piecing together a referral to the ASD service, in relation to a suspected adhd diagnosis. So that's a thing I guess....? I'm really not sure how to feel about it but it would confirm a lot of things in my entire life up to now... I kinda wonder how it was missed for all these years.... (i have the attention span of a goldfish) but I guess its one of those things being female its not as typically seen. And the whole chronic psoriasis/physical ailments/significant bullying thing kinda overshadowed a lot of it. It feels like it might be a battle but its never too late to get a diagnosis!

ripptoe is pretty up there with useful information. I believe I watched a squat vid of his and it opened my eyes to so much. I'm doing shit all exercise because im having a ROTTEN flare up of all the pains... my hip in particular is crippling. Being in your 30s is fucking great, that juvenile arthritis is really setting in now -_-

Yeah i had just a bath with a single row of tiles in my rented accomodation. WORST. Thankfully i have a proper standalone shower with electric shower fitted in the house i bought. I'm just not a bath person at all.

Yeah definitely the first year, maybe 2 are the ones you're worst off financially speaking. Even if a house is "ready to move into", like mine was, you can still find a million and one jobs to do and they all cost money, and add up! Even stupid shit like curtain poles, curtains, maybe a new carpet here or there, (if you're like me a tank of oil for ofch) and before you know it you're into the thousands. And that's after handing over many thousands on a deposit, fees, and other bits and pieces in the legal course of getting a home. Living on beans and toast for a while lol

@nightwolf i'm so sorry to hear about all that shit, you really couldn't make it up. While I love the NHS for what it is, it has a LOT of failings. I recommend you make an official complaint. The relevant trust needs to own up to their mistakes, and like you say its not the "coal face" staff that are at fault. Love you loads, hope you get through this ok my dear xx I'm going through a bunch of shit too but my chronic pain kinda dims in comparison to you......! I'm also being ignored by pretty much everyone, which is extremely frustrating.