heldor

it was definitely worth doing as I totally confirmed my suspicions that it was HORRIBLE.

Instantly I could feel it in my throat- it didn’t make me cough, but it felt like I was being scratched with fine wire in my throat or something. The taste was also pretty horrible- very musty tasting. I actually quite like the smell of cigarette smoke, but the taste is horrible. I didn’t even get the fabled head-rush. LAME. I tried a menthol, don’t know if that makes a difference- I’d heard that menthols made the smoke not feel as hot when you inhale or something.

Anyway, worth doing in that it made me realise it seriously wasn’t worth doing!

I just think I ought to try one once, so that I can confirm my belief that smoking is bad.

A really really easy way to feel good about yourself and do a good deed at the same time! I like the whole process- I find it really interesting, seeing the different people who come to donate, watching the blood-folks doin’ their work, going into the donation-room and seeing all the folks on their beds donatin’, seeing people giving their first time etc etc. I still don’t look when they put the needle in, but it doesn’t hurt at all!

The weirdest thing is that (at least in England) they tape the tube to your arm, and you can feel the heat of the blood against your skin as it travels down to the bag.

More than anything I think I like that going to give blood is a guaranteed half hour or so of people being really nice to me cos I’m doing a good deed! (Also orange squash out of plastic cups and chocolate biscuits, which makes me feel like I’m in primary school :P)

Gotta go again in the next few weeks! :D

It was awesome, when I painted my room I took ALL my stuff out of there and moved into my brother’s old room (to make it easier) which is way bigger and doesn’t have a heavily-sloped-attic-roof (I only had like a foot-wide stripe of room I could stand up in.)

Needless to say, I haven’t moved back! Now I need to paint my new room! :3 (I did the other one light green and heavy-cream, looks really nice and airy, if the room itself weren’t so horrible I’d move back :P)

Oh, man, I was halfway through the c25k programme and I totally dropped out- my hips were killing me, like a burning horribleness, like the end of my bone was being crushed at every step. Maybe some kind of… cartilage inflammation? is that even possible?

I wonder if maybe I’m too heavy for running… I have really good shoes, so it’s not that I’m wearing bad footwear- I went to a running store and had like an hour long fitting session with a specialist (was awesome, I’ve never had shoes so comfy and it was free!) Whatever it is, I’m gonna start at least exercising again, might start out cross-training a bit first, as it’s easier on the bonesies

oh man, I only watched a couple of episodes- that was shitty. (I even tried different dubs/subs etc, to no avail, I was sure it had to jsut be me- so many people love this show, but seriously, it was AWFUL- the quality of the art, the storyline etc etc. Back to yaoi and romantic drama for me!

I know it’s flippant, but I decided I’d rather do English instead (Which was what I’d been planning for the last 10 years, Law was the flippant decision really.)

I’ve written a couple of stories, having funwith it! It’s taking me quite some getting used to to stop myself drawing things out, forcing myself to get enough plot into a short period of time to be interesting.

I basically am a nerd, and want to increase my flexibility to the extent that i can comfortably squat/crouch with my feet flat on the floor for a long period of time. I blame my desire to do this on seeing how long people do it in Thailand- they just squat around the streets all day!

I’d also like to be able to touch my toes again, which I haven’t been able to do for years. I’ve been getting some back pain recently, so I think to strengthen up my joints like this would be good.

I just gave my fourth pint last week- I started out just wanting to try it, but now I’ve discovered it’s so easy to make a difference, I’ve decided I want to do it the maximum amount (3 times a year here in the UK) every year.

My third session went really terribly- I have incredibly deep veins, and they couldn’t get the needle in right, so they kept digging round and ended up going into the vein AND out through the back, so half my forearm (I’m not kidding) came up in a totally painless bruise, right in time for my senior prom (joy) Almost put me off, but I figure what’s a little haemorraghing between friends, eh? Anyway, fourth time I changed to my right arm and, though my veins are still really deep- no problems.

I and a friend of mine are sort of doing this together, it’s kind of our “thing” He and I tend to go together, or at least on the same day, and it’s kind of a joke we hold over one of our friends who’s unable to give due to the fact that she got a transfusion a few years ago.- She’s the sort that likes to be doing what everyone else is doing, so we’re a little mean over it, but I like to think it’s character building for her ;) Anyway, we’ve both decided we want to donate 100 times (takes about 30 years of regular donating) because at that “level” you recieve a free decanter and an “invitation” neither of us know what the invitation is for, but we both hope that the decanter comes with the option of being filled with blood as a mark of our huge sacrifices :P Obviously we’re mainly doing it because it’s a really easy way to do something good, but it’s fun to have a goal, albiet a slightly weird one, plus it’s great to have something that only we do (all our other friends are of the “ew, why would you do that? It’s my blood, why would I want to give it away” mentality- we’ve tried reasoning with them, but to no avail, we convinced one of them to come with us once but so far as I know he’s not gone back.)

Anyway, I’ll consider this goal “Achieved” when I’ve given one or two more times.

I’m starting law school in September- I can’t believe it’s really happening!

My sister fell through- she’s gotten into a lot of other sports and activities which aren’t open to me. (She’s currently training pretty intently to pass her lifeguarding qualification test, which she’s doing in conjunction with the RNLI, where she works in an admin-capacity. She’s doing it so that she can get more in touch with the lifeguards she works with, but it unfortunately means she spends every other night doing swim-training and board-paddling and, as the summer months arrive, she also does rock-climbing. All this means she’s already at a much higher fitness level than I am, so I don’t think we’d make a great team.

However, my mother asked me if I’d go jogging with her (we’d both like to be fitter) and so I’m going out this weekend to get some running shoes (all I have are converse boots- not much cushioning for running!) and then we’re going to start out going 3 times a week. We’re following a running plan I found online which involves a lot of walking to begin with, working up to running 3 miles 3 times a week. It’s not a huge distance, but I currently can barely run 100 metres!

I’m looking forward to getting into this and getting healthier!

I gave up on this entry, partially because I didn’t like the idea that so many people judge themselves solely on their weight, but probably largely based on the fact that I didn’t think I could do it.

To that end, i’ve decided to try again- I don’t have to lose 50lbs over night, I’m going to take my time. I may not even get all the way down. Right now, what I want to do is work myself down to a place where I feel healthier, happier and more comfortable in my body.

I think I was helped by moving my room from upstairs in the attic to downstairs. The room’s a little smaller in terms of floor space (more usable space though) and so anything out makes the place look kind of cluttered, especially as I’ve got a new, bigger bed taking up space. I think it’s just a change of mindset, I’ve come to really dislike anything untidy, and I have a clean-up about once a week just to get everything perfect. It’s nice, not to mention one seriously untidy room can make the entire house smell less-nice, especially a bed room as it’s likely to be covered in worn clothes.

anyhoo, I’m very happy with not living in filth any more!

well, I’ve made a few things now; a couple of scarves, a couple of hats and a pair of fingerless mittens. I’ve found out I really like knitting “in the round” with four needles, and that I really can’t stand making jumpers (at least not while I’m so big as to facilitate knitting a big one!) just cos they take so long, and I suppose I’m into instant gratification!

anyway, now I’m trying to get my head around knitting socks; I just can’t deal with turning heels!

I posted this as a comment, but I think it needs to be stated here:

I don’t think diet pills are a sensible or advisable way to lose weight. They encourage laziness- you never build up will power of your own, and that’s essential to maintain a healthy weight. You sound like you’re looking for instant results, and that’s really not possible if you want them to stay off.

you can lose weight by dieting, but you CANNOT keep weight off by dieting. to lose weight and keep it off, you need to significantly change the way you eat forever. once you gain fat, your body stores the memory of having it for around 10 years. that’s how long you have to maintain a low weight before your body stops trying to store fat. your body wants to keep fat on it, , and will strive to get back to the highest weight you’ve ever been. To really lose weight you have to not diet but instead change the way you live and eat forever. Diets and only eating small meals will actually mean that when you quit your diet you will very quickly put all the weight you’ve lost back on, because the body quickly goes into starvation mode.

This is how people become anorexic- the less you eat, the less you need to eat for your body to put on fat. Your best option is REALLY to get off the diet pills and start eating large, healthy, sensible meals. This, coupled with regular exercise is how you’re going to drop your weight.

and you can- all off you.

And remember, please- the healthy weight range is called that for a reason! it is actually JUST as bad for you (in fact worse) too be too thin, your body can’t power itself and will quite quickly shut-down. Many people (especially teenage girls) think that to be within the “healthy weight range” is to be on the cusp of being “fat” but remember, you need to be healthy to be happy, and that weight is called healthy for a reason- it’s the weight your body functions best at. If you’re ever unsure of whether you’re at a healthy weight, your general practitioner will always be willing to talk to you and check you out.

I struggled with my weight for a while, hell; years. and I’m in a healthy enough place now. I hope that everyone’s reasons for losing this weight are good ones, and that you’re actually over weight, not already thin people trying to lose more.

And just remember, no matter what you look like someone, somewhere, thinks you are beautiful.

I’ve decided- I don’t need to lose 50lbs, I’m beautiful as I am. I’ve become a lot more accepting of myself, both physically and mentally, recently. I’m not obese, I’ve been told that by my doctor, and while I may want to lose a few pounds, I don’t need to. I’m taking this off, but I’m keeping up the promise to myself that I’ll get in shape. I may not need to lose weight, but I do want to get more healthy by doing more exercise. I’d like to be able to start running 5k regularly. and one day work up to a marathon… (dreams, dreams.)

I was considering joining the communist party for a jolly, just to confirm certain people’s opinions that I am a lefty-socialist bastard, but tbh, I may believe in socialism as a beautiful form of government, it’s not the one for me. right now, of the 3 main parties, I’m totally against labour and, shockingly, really really drawn to the Conservatives. I always considered myself a lib-dem, but really, they’re unlikely to achieve a majority in commons (one in the lords is basically an impossibility) and they’re just a glorified pressure group in many ways (think Ralph Nader for any Americans) they can influence govt through getting the other parties to pick up ideas for legislation, but otherwise can’t do much.

Anyway, it surprises me but the Conservatives are really seeming to be one of the most progressive parties around right now. I’m not sure what their stance on gay marriage is, I’d imagine sort of.. accepting without embracing it, but I really like their strong stance on green issues.

Lib Dems are still almost hooking me with their anti-uni-fees though!

I can’t hack jumpers I’ve decided, too much monotony, too much work without enough gratification. I’m working on these awesome fingerless mitten jobbies, finished one and like.. a fifth (maximum) through the second; hoping to have the pair done by the end of my christmas break to wear them in the new year!

Queen Mary’s- London. Now just a matter of getting the right grades to fulfill my offer!