Parihaka and Kahui Roads - 4/2/26
This was pretty much the longest ride I have done so far on the Himalayan.
I headed along the main road past Okato and turned in at Mid Parihaka Road. From there I crossed over Wiremu Road to Upper Parihaka Road which is all dirt road.
The wind was pretty full on so I took the dirt road pretty gentle as I didn't want to risk anything.
Once again the bike was rock solid, although there were a few times where it felt like it wanted to slide out at the front. That I feel is more my skill level than anything else.
Parihaka is the site of a tribe that was well done over by the British who stormed in and stole the land from under them, killed some of their warriors, and basically raped and pillaged their way through the area.
I’m in two minds about Parihaka. On one hand what happened to them was atrocious and has only recently been formally acknowledged under the Adern government, but on the other hand I feel they are massive hypocrites. You see, every two years the Parihaka Tribe hold the Parihaka Peace Festival but I’ve picked up two hitchhikers from the tribe and both talked about rising up against the government and kick whitey out. Given that I’m whiter than sour cream and I’m the one picking them up I felt that to be pretty rich. I felt like telling those people to tuck in and roll as I push them out the door while we’re driving. I get why they feel the way they do but peace can NEVER be found at the barrel of a gun.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parihaka
From Upper Parihaka Road I joined up with Upper Kahui Road. After a brief pause to decide if I wanted to head back to Wiremu Road or turn left and head to the end of the road, I decided to head to the end. This took me to the start of the Kahui Track up Mt Egmont/Taranaki which is right at the base of the Egmont National Park.
I recorded a brief introduction video for a YouTube channel I want to startup so I’ll add that at some stage as well.
https://go.rever.co/pLdMzJoCt0b
Actifit, close but no cigar
As part of my fitness program I need a good way to motivate and record my efforts.
Chances are that if you’re on the HIVE network you’ve already come across Actifit (https://actifit.io).
For those who haven’t, Actifit is a pedometer app. It works well but the more I use it the more limited it seems.
I’ll get into this later but first let’s look at what it does do.
Actifit measures the amount of steps you do. For each step you will earn a certain amount of its AFIT token. You can use this token in the app or you can convert it to HIVE and use it on the HIVE network. The AFIT token can buy real life fitness equipment like jump ropes or in game fitness equipment. The latter will help you game more tokens with each post you create.
You can also win more tokens with the daily prizes at various levels.
Posting creates a post on the HIVE network. These are like blog, Facebook, or X (Twitter) style posts where you can earn HBD. Readers can Upvote or Downvote your posts. This affects the value of your posts and the ranking you achieve with each post. It is a sad fact that there are some who love to downvote Actifit posts. But if you write decent blog style posts then this becomes less of a thing.
There’s two issues I have with Actifit though. The first is that there is no doubt this is an Android app ported to iOS. It is obvious that the interface is a webpage wrapped in an app. The colours are ugly and there’s a hell of a lot of scrolling. This makes the app hard to use. Proper buttons and windows would be much better.
My second issue, and the one I dislike the most, is that Actifit doesn’t read from Apple Health by default. Worst still is that when you choose the data from Apple Health, it will still post Actifit’s version instead. It seems like a waste of time having the option in the first place. I suspect this is a result of working on different platforms and trying not to use proprietary systems. I feel this is a big mistake though because it makes for a Jack of All Trades Master of None type situation.
If this is sounding like Actifit is a bad app you should know that I'm not saying that at all. It's an app that I use regularly and I love how I can enter body shape details and have it displayed as an image in a HIVE post.
However, due to the issues I'm having with the iOS app (which is quite far behind in development compared to the Android app) I think I'll just move to using the built-in apps and post using Ecency (https://ecency.com/) instead. This is because I'm recording more data than Actifit provides and I can create one copy of an original post and copy and paste to other platforms far more easily.
**Do I recommend:**
The short answer is "Yes" if you are on the HIVE platform already. It's a great app but the iOS version is at least two versions behind so development is slow. If you're not on HIVE but you're interested in exploring the eco-system then this is a great way to get started. Then just use either Ecency (https://ecency.com/) or PeakD (https://peakd.com) to create standard blog posts etc.
If you have no intention of using the HIVE platform then I wouldn't recommend as there are other fitness trackers out there best suited to your needs.
**What would I like to see changed:**
I'd like to see more development with the iOS app. As I've already said, it's at least 2 versions behind the Android version. I get why. Platforms like HIVE tend to attract Windows, Linux, and Android users more than macOS or iOS users.
I'd like to see a cleaner interface. If you look closer at the first screenshot you can see my point. Also the colours are so Android aren't they? They're goudy and jarring and at times make it confusing to use. Also, there's too much going on, with the "Post and Earn" button getting lost, looking more like a heading than a button.
For me, the lack of proper integration with Apple Health is a pain. Having incorrect information is really a no go for me so this needs to be fixed more than any new feature.
**Conclusion:**
I love Actifit despite its flaws. It's a quick and simple way for me to post to HIVE about my day without having to do much work.
There is still a lot of work to make this a nicer app to use but it's getting better.
I just wish they would read Apple's UI guidelines. It'll make for a cleaner app both on iOS and Android.
Post previously appeared on HIVE.
As part of a greater distribution plan of my posts, I am reposting existing posts from my HIVE account. My original article can be found here:
https://ecency.com/fitness/@thelowededwookie/actifit-close-but-no-cigar
Is anyone else having issues posting? Lately I've been getting "there was something wrong" errors when posting.
Diets, the new old scam
Most people do not know that a diet can badly affect your body. We are told that to be healthy, we must eat less junk food and more fruits and vegetables. But did you know that most nutritional science is flawed and could be dangerous?
Before we start, we need to understand what food is.
**What is food?**
Food is any substance consumed for the healthy growth of a body. This is the nutshell version. The more complicated version is that it is a collection of minerals that is broken down into usable elements for our bodies through a process known as digestion.
But people are told a watered-down version that does not accurately describe what is happening.
For example, we are told to avoid carbohydrates. But in the same breath, we are told to eat more fruits and vegetables. This seems logical until you realise that ALL fruits and vegetables are - in fact - carbohydrates. This is because a plant grows from a seed. Once that seed has germinated and rooted in the soil, it absorbs Carbon and water from the ground. It also absorbs carbon dioxide from the air. With sunshine, these Carbon, Hydrogen, and Oxygen molecules are bound with chlorophyll to create a plant. But that bound entity is composed of Carbon, Hydrogen, and Oxygen. This is the definition of what carbohydrate means - something that is made from Carbon (carbo), Hydrogen and Oxygen (hydrate)
Unfortunately, much of the so-called science is faulty. Here's a good example.
There's a lot of so-called science that makes the claim that red meat can cause cancer. Scientists have looked at everything from char-grilling to the components of meat. Their conclusion is that red meat is full of things that can cause cancer and thus should be avoided. On the surface, this seems reasonable. What is not said is the dataset for much of this information is small, un-scientifically small. This means there is not a proper dataset that provides a correct picture. Many of the studies ignore race, age, gender, environment, and other factors which can skew the results. In the case of red meat causes cancer, it wasn't revealed until later that most of the people in the study were white. What also wasn't mentioned was where the location of the studies was. It turned out that in the area where the study was taken, the people most likely to eat red meat were also most likely to smoke and drink heavily. It seems more likely that the increase in cancer by red meat eaters was because of these two other factors.
Take another example:
Eating ultra-processed meat linked to greater risk of early death (msn.com) https://www.msn.com/en-gb/health/other/eating-ultra-processed-meat-linked-to-greater-risk-of-early-death/ar-BB1m3L1Q#:~:text=Eating%20ultra-processed%20meat%20is%20linked%20to%20an%20increased,most%20processed%20meats%20such%20as%20sausages%20and%20ham.
Once again, it seems that the study is clear-cut. 114,000 studied gives a good amount of data-points does it not? Especially when you consider this study was taken over 34 years. When you dig a little deeper you start to realise the flaw:
*In the major study, researchers tracked the long-term health of 74,563 female nurses and 39,501 male health professionals between 1984 and 2018.*
*Female participants were aged between 30 and 55 at the start of the research, while men were between 40 and 75.*
*Every two years participants provided information on their health and lifestyle habits, with detailed food questionnaires completed every four years.*
For starters, food questionnaires were only taken every four years. So over 34 years, only 8.5 questionnaires were ever taken. So our true dataset is less than we thought.
Second, look at the jobs. Nurses and other healthcare professionals have a heavy workload and are under constant stress. This is punishing on the body and will increase sicknesses. Also, there is a large amount of drinking and drug-taking that is performed in this sector. Were these factors taken into account? No mention of it, so we can assume that the answer is no because previous studies have ignored these types of factors.
Also, what is the deal with the older participants? No one in their 20s participated in the study. The females were recorded in a smaller age range. So the data is skewed.
What would this study have looked like if the study was done in my sector? I work as a postie (mail delivery) and I have an active job riding a motorcycle. Other posties around the world walk and some drive. Would our results be similar over the same period? I'm picking the assumption would be that healthcare workers would be healthier but in one place where I once worked our health nurse smoked heavily.
Once again, these studies can't conclusively make the statement that it's the meat that's the problem.
**So what about vegetables?**
Numerous studies tell a story about how we need to eat more vegetables to be healthy but is this true? Many vegetables have oxalates that interfere with the body's ability to absorb minerals from them. Given this, it seems this advice might not be as safe as we thought.
Take iron for example. Because of these oxalates, we need to consume 2.8kg of spinach to get the same amount of iron that we can readily get from 100g of red meat. That's 28 times more spinach needed than red meat. Are you prepared to eat 2800g of spinach or would you rather 100g of red meat? If you say yes then good luck dying because that's not the only thing you'll need to eat. Replacing dairy milk with almond milk will require you to drink 6 250ml glasses. That's 1500ml compared to 250ml. What's worse is that almonds don't actually have calcium in them, it's added to the product.
Then you have to factor in minerals like Selenium, Magnesium, and Potassium. Sure, these minerals are found in vegetables. But because of the way crops are farmed for the market, many of these minerals are not replaced after harvesting thus the plants can't absorb them. But with cattle, these are often given to them for healthy growth and safer pregnancies. We then eat them if they're not performing and low and behold we get minerals not found in our vegetables.
Fruit is a different story though. For the most part, fruit is something we can get ready access to minerals and fibres from easily. Given that we are designed to "graze" fruit makes a lot more sense. We can just pick and eat
as we need. They provide sugar which we need to keep our bodies working. We can easily break down fruit if we have a high-fibre diet. Also, we're designed to graze - eat small amounts regularly - and fruit allows us to do that.
I'm not saying don't eat vegetables. I'm saying getting rid of a balanced diet in favour of one part of that diet is the dumbest idea ever. I get that some people won't eat meat for belief purposes. I respect that. But to give up on meat because you've listened to a nutritionist who says meat is bad, and vegetables are our saviour is the dumbest idea on the planet - and there are some really dumb ideas.
Given lots of unbiased research, there is little to suggest that diets work. You don't need to give up junk food to lose weight. Just eat less of it. I'm saying that a home-cooked hamburger is better for you because you know what's gone into it. It's super simple to make, and it's made **exactly** how you like it. Make your own meals, including a mix of vegetables and red meat, because together they unlock the full potential of your meal.
Reduce the portion sizes using trickery. Use a bread plate or a child's dinner plate instead of a full-sized plate. Either will fool your brain into thinking you've filled your plate while reducing your intake.
Eat what you want, but don't sit on the couch and do nothing afterwards. Go for a walk, even if it is just around the block. It'll aid digestion and will start to burn off your meal.
Diets are an exercise in futility. They remove something you enjoy and replace it with something you don't care about. How defeatist can you get? No one is going to accept that sort of behaviour in any other situation. Keep eating what you want, just less of it, and move more. Diets need not be a factor in getting healthier, so don't fall for them.
Most diets are meant to be for a short time and not long-term use. Most diets claiming they are "scientifically proven" use a small data set that ignores numerous other factors that might make the diet work. Above all, look at the money. If the diet worked, why does it need influencers to convince you that it works? Surely the data would speak for itself?
Think of a diet you've been on. Are you still on it? If it actually worked why are you not still on that diet? Check the social media pages of those influencers before and after they started the diet. Were they actually unhealthy to start with? If not then it stands to reason the diet isn't helping them.
Also, have you noticed that ALL diets have a disclaimer that includes the phrase "when done along side an active routine" or words to that effect? Could it be more logical that the diet is doing nothing but the physical activity is? Physical activity that could be done without the diet?
Diets are a scam. They are a multi-billion dollar industry and more people have had lasting harm done to them by these diets.
So I'll just leave this with you to think about. Eat whatever you enjoy because you're going to be motivated when you're happy. Just eat less of what you enjoy. Make your own meals instead of paying McDonalds or whatever to do it for you. Then go for a lovely walk. It'll do more for you than all those self-help books and websites that promote diets where you have to sacrifice your happiness to get a better body.
Let’s get moving
Motion is movement and movement requires energy. With this being the case it’s moving that I’m concentrating on with my body experiment.
While many claim many health benefits from diets, they are actually wrong and my experiment is trying to prove this.
So for this post I’m going to make the argument that movement is the best form of fat loss. I’m going to look at the physical benefits of moving and also look at the mental benefits of moving.
But first we need to look at the reason for us wanting to move more… getting rid of fat.
So fat is a carbohydrate made of two parts - Glycerol and fatty acid tails, of which there are three.
A carbohydrate is literally something made of Carbon, Hydrogen, and Oxygen. So with fat is no different. The Glycerol part is made of C3 H8 O3. The fatty tails are made of C16 H32 O1 but there’s three of them giving a total of C48 H96 O3. Together we have C51 H104 O6.
While this is good to know stuff it will soon become apparent why we shouldn’t be scared of carbohydrates like we are constantly being told.
First though we need to understand how the body uses carbohydrates.
We’ll explore fat as the carbohydrate because it’s what we’re trying to lose.
There are two ways to lose fat. The first is through ketosis. This is where the body produces ketones in response to lower insulin levels as a result of lower sugar or glucose. There’s two problems with this. The first is that ketosis is very inefficient. The worst problem has to do with the reason ketosis is started in the first place… low insulin levels. The very idea that we faff about with insulin levels seems like a stupid idea. I mean is that not the very definition of Type 2 Diabetes? It might be a good way to start losing fat initially but it will be by no means sustainable without the possibility of leading to the very thing your doctor is trying to avoid.
So let’s rule ketosis out of the picture. This leaves us with only one other option to reduce fat… Exercise.
This option might be more feared than Diabetes but it’s the best option because it’s lower risk. But when we exercise we do something pretty amazing.
Now, for those expecting a hugely scientific rundown as to what happens to fat then look away because you’re not my audience and you’re certainly not my peers. No, my explanation is going to be very layman focused and will ignore a bunch of other stuff that also goes on.
When we exercise we use our muscles. As such we need energy to operate those muscles. Contrary to popular belief, exercising does not convert fat into energy as this is chemically and physically impossible. That process completely ignores physics and chemistry rules. But exercising does create energy. Here’s how.
So remember all those numbers with regards to Carbon, Hydrogen, and Oxygen? Well, these are all bound together with something called Covalent Bonds. Think of them being balloons tied together with strings. When we exercise our bodies realise we’re using our muscles and so releases into our blood stream enzymes which “eat” away those bonds. Once those bonds are gone the atoms are now essentially free floating. But Carbon, Hydrogen, and Oxygen are unstable elements from an electron standpoint.
Hydrogen has 1 electron and needs 2 to be stable. Carbon has 6 and needs 4 to be stable whereas Oxygen has 8 and needs 2 to be stable. But each of these bind nicely to each other. They won’t stick to themselves though which is great. So Hydrogen will bind to both Carbon and Oxygen but it will more readily bind to Oxygen. Carbon will also bind nicely to Oxygen.
These form two common elements - H2O (water) and CO2 (carbon dioxide). For those paying attention you’re probably trying to work out how each is cancelled. There’s not enough Hydrogen to get rid of all the oxygen and there’s not enough Oxygen to get rid of all the Carbon. But what happens when we exercise? We increase the amount of breathing we do and what comes in with each breath? Carbon and Oxygen.
This means the byproduct of using our muscles is water and carbon dioxide. The water is either used by our cells for hydration, sweated out because we’re exercising, or peed out. The carbon dioxide is breathed out with each breathe. Here’s the kicker, around 80 something % is turned into carbon dioxide and thus most of the fat is breathed out.
For a better and more visual explanation of this I recommend viewing this video:
https://youtu.be/vuIlsN32WaE?si=MOd6414i8-NFTGBz
https://youtu.be/vuIlsN32WaE?si=MOd6414i8-NFTGBz%0A%0A
So now we know why exercise should be prioritised over diets we need to look at what is considered exercise. Here’s the kicker because it’s better than you think.
So we’ve determined that the only way to safely reduce our fat is to move our muscles. But this is something encouraging because that means every movement we make is going to burn fat because every movement we make requires muscles. See where I’m going here?
Think about the movements you make in a day. Say you walk to work. Great, that’s a lot of muscle burning. Say you take the bus to work. Not so much but if you’re scrolling on your phone then you are using muscles to pull on the tendons that move your thumb aren’t you? Same for holding your phone. Now, don’t get me wrong, that will burn very little fat but it will burn something.
Writing this post has burned around 2 - 300 kilojoules which is a result of the chemical reaction mentioned above. To lose weight I must use no less than 5784 kilojoules or consume no more than 5784KJ. Sure, it means I’ve got 5484KJ to go but you can see where I’m getting at don’t you?
All forms of movement count to reducing your fat!
I’ve emphasised that because it’s singlehanded the most important statement you need to understand in terms of fat loss.
Remember what I’m trying to prove? I’m trying to prove that “Eat Less, Move More” works. I’m trying to prove that given accurate knowledge, rather than knowledge from people peddling drugs or diets, you will be motivated to not just start but continue.
The “Eat Less” portion of the equation is not that important. Sadly, we’ve put the “Move More” part at the end but it’s the part of the equation that is the most important.
If you watched that video then hopefully you’d have heard and registered that the speaker lost at least 5 kilograms just by moving more. 5KGs is what I’m trying to aim for at minimum. So it can be done.
The point of this post is to encourage you to get off your fat lazy butt and move. Yes it is a fat lazy butt because you’re like me. You’re in the same shape or worse than me because you’ve done very little for yourself. But you’re worth it and you owe it to yourself to be better than you are now. Don’t do it because your doctor or your partner or your parents or the girl next door are telling you to lose weight. Do it for you because you are an amazing person and the world is lucky to have you and you owe it to yourself to keep living. I know you probably look in the mirror and hate yourself. Even if you don’t, you deserve to carry on living because you’re one in 8 billion. There is no other you. Sure, the same applies to every other human on the planet but guess what? I’m talking to you.
Start small. Start by walking up and down the hallway or around your apartment once or twice. Once you get more confident walk the hallway in your apartment or walk between three lampposts or power poles.
If people make fun of you then use that negative energy to fuel positive results. Don’t give up. Every day they mock you keep doing what you’re doing. Sooner or later that mocking becomes encouragement because they can see your determination. Then you build a following of supporters. Once you have supporters you’re down the end of the block. Then you’re around the block. Now you’re unstoppable.
Movement doesn’t have to be intense. It just has to happen more than what led you to the body you have now. “No Pain, No Gain” is a moron’s mantra spouted by people with big bodies and little heads. Intense workouts put a massive strain on your body and trying to do HIIT or 45 or whatever the flavour of the month is with your body is going to ensure you’re in the grave a hell of a lot faster than you would be in the condition you’re in now.
Think about this logically. When you go to the doctor and you say you want to lose weight what do they tell you to do? They mostly tell you to walk, right? Walk to the door, walk to the end of the street, walk around the block? Great advice.
Now, look at one of the first things said when it comes to gyms or exercise machines etc. “Please see your GP before performing these exercises”. Think about that. There’s really no warning from the doctors about walking but there is generally a warning that is NOT in fine print for gym memberships and exercise machines.
Why are we not paying attention to that? Why are we believing that high intensity training is the best for our fat loss goals when they include the most amount of warnings?
NO!!! Stop that now. You don’t need high intensity training. You just need to move more than you did and keep moving. Moving until you hurt does nothing for you. Working through the pain does nothing for you. What does work for you is working out doing what is comfortable for you.
So my recommendation is track how much you move. For this reason I love my Apple Watch. Most other fitness watches are more or less just glorified pedometers. Apple Watch is a movement tracker and so if you put it on your dominant hand like I do it records all the movements you do as opposed to whatever movement you do on your opposite hand. You will be surprised how much you move in a day.
Once you have that information simply do more than that. That’s the key to fat loss. Simply do a little more than what keeps you in your current shape.
But what about the mental side of movement? I’ve explored it a little with the motivation as the result of naysayers. But there’s more to it than that.
Initially the mental benefits come from motivation. But once you get moving you start to let your mind wander. Sometimes that can take you to dark places but often you start to correct that thinking. Dwelling on where you were verses where you are now is a great way to boost that thinking. Now you’re in a better headspace and now the world is your oyster.
Now you’re calmer when you go for a walk you start to think of funny things or solutions to problems.
There is also a well known link between exercise and mental health. I’m linking you to a podcast episode from The Rock which is a radio station here in New Zealand. The episode is from the Drive Show with Jay and Dunc and is an interview with John Kirwan, one of New Zealand’s most successful sports people. But he is a proponent for mental health and he gives some amazing advice. But you need to take note about his link between his surfing and his mental healing.
https://podcasts.apple.com/nz/podcast/the-rock-drive/id1237014332?i=1000646644585
Incidentally, I recommend his app Groov because it’s designed to get you thinking about mental health.
https://www.groovnow.com
Moving is what we’re designed to do and it can be done simply. If you’ve got the space then create a garden. If you don’t have that space or desire then there are other ways. In that podcast episode JK surfs. You can choose some other activity that works for you. That could be painting or photography. But make sure that these activities that you do make you happy.
This is cyclical. If you get your mental health right then you can move forward with your physical health and once you get your physical health on track you boost your mental health. I’ll explore this in more depth in a later post.
My next post will deal with the other half of the mantra: “Eat Less”.
Today I are mostly visiting museums
In terms of work I did very little.
Sadly we had a very good worker retire with his last day being today. It was a pretty low key affair as ordering food for him is unfair due to his diabetes. But we did farewell him nicely. It’s sad to see a good worker go and one we’ve already done earlier this month as well.
But we’re going to replace this worker but we didn’t replace the previous as his run was too small to make it viable.
We have another worker retiring in June but we’ll deal to that later on.
I did do some catchup deliveries of mail but it wasn’t a lot and most of my day was spent in the office. I’m trying to lessen the amount of paperwork I have to do each day but it’s not entirely going my way. I need to get my team carrying their weight where they should be.
Once I got home I had a bite to eat then took Little Wookie to Puke Ariki Museum here in New Plymouth. It’s a nice little museum and the Kount 5 Plus 2 exhibit was kind of a neat look back at a bygone music era for New Zealand as well as New Plymouth.
One thing that I take from today is that movement comes in all forms. Yes, riding a motorcycle is more demanding than non-riders will ever imagine. But driving a car is also a good form of movement. Walking through a museum is just as beneficial as walking through a park. The key is that I’m moving and while some movements work us more than others, it’s the fact we are moving that reduces fat and thus is the most important thing we can do for our physical health.
Heck, one thing no one ever thinks about with regards to movements is how much typing on a keyboard helps with our movement goals. We forget that our hands are working just as much as our feet on most days, even just mindless scrolling works muscles in us.
I’m going to write an article looking at movement in depth and will be my first real post other than daily updates.
Today’s Stats:
Height: 161cm
Neck: 39cm
Chest: 97cm
Waist: 87cm
Hip: 93cm
Weight: 74.07kg
Today I are mostly working
My job is more physical than you’d expect. I ride a motorcycle delivering mail and it’s quite a workout at times.
Today’s run was on the run I hate but I’m starting to like it more as I get to meet people and get the run dialled in more.
The town section of the run is easier if I walk which gives me an hour or so walk which is nice. This section is up quite large hills so it’s not a walk in the park.
When I got home I cut up some firewood and then took the dog for a short walk.
Today’s Stats:
Height: 161cm
Neck: 39cm
Waist: 88cm
Hip: 93cm
Weight: 74.7kg
BMI: 28.84
Body Fat: 29.71
Today I are mostly walking the dog
Height: 161cm
Weight: 75.5kg
Waist: 87cm
Chest: 97cm
BMI: 28.84
Body Fat: 29.71
If I’m being honest, I hate Mondays. It’s such a tedious day of the week and this week is a pain because we have ANZAC Day on Thursday. I hate public holidays in the week because they put you back. Mind you, in the immortal words of Arthur Dent in Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy… “Today must be Thursday. I never could get the hang of Thursdays.”
Work was kind of standard and not overly taxing. Tomorrow will be a huge difference though.
Took the dog for a good long walk. We live in a sort of caldera with big hills all around us so walking is a challenge. This is great when you’re trying to kill off a few kilos.
I did make a start on my introduction video but it still needs work. I’m hoping to have it up on Friday. Who’d have thought doing so would be so hard?
The purge of 2024
One of the things I like about read.cash is the ability to delete old posts and start again.
So I find myself now in 2024 rebooting my blog into another form and starting all over again.
This blog is now going to be about fitness, more specifically me getting into fitness.
The difference with this blog compared to most is that I'm not going to post fad diets or photos of gym sessions. Quite the opposite. I think diets are for morons and gyms are for people with big bodies and little heads.
No, I'm going to promote the idea that to get healthy all we need to do is just simply move more than we do and eat smaller portions of what we love... including junk food.
The reality is there is so much bad advice out there that we need to get back to simple basics and I'm going to prove it.
This is what I've got to start with.
Back at work after having a relaxing week off camping at the beach.
Holy crap balls. Why did I come back?
I’ve had one off with a broken leg for three months and now I’ve got another one.
I’ve also got one with COVID so they’re out for a week.
All while having lots of mail.👍
Wow, we weren't expecting this... although we kind of were.
I hate politics but I do give credit where credit is due. New Zealand got through a lot of bad events because of Adern.
I doubt NZ would have fared better under National.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/130990117/jacinda-ardern-announces-she-will-resign-as-prime-minister-by-february-7
#politics #primeminister #nz #newzealand
That’s a shame.
Apparently Uphold is no longer supporting equities in New Zealand.
I guess I’ll have to convert my Apple shares into BCH, chuck into Bitcoin Wallet then move over to a New Zealand exchange and cash it in. I kind of need the money at the moment. Anyone dealt with EasyCrypto in New Zealand?
#uphold #money #BCH
Inline with my new year empty feed I've managed to create a blank account on Hive.
https://d.buzz/#/?ref=thelowededwookie
I've had to use the name "TheLowededWookie" because I had created an account ages ago but forgot the details.
I've since backed up this new account heaps so I should be okay.
This is going to replace WoodenWookie which I setup because I was trying to setup a DIY blog which sort of got mixed with the rest of my reality and became less about wooden working and DIY than the my everyday life.
With The Loweded Wookie I can be more me which I'm looking forward to.
There will be caveats I realise. Limited posting for a while is one. At least until I can build my reputation.
If you're on Hive give us a follow and I'll return the favour.
Incidentally I will NOT be following my other account because there's rules against that. I don't want to be seen as gaming the system.
As someone who's been renovating our bathroom for the past year this is the start of a great podcast for DIYers.
https://www.nineyardsconsulting.co.nz/renovationnationclub
https://podcasts.apple.com/nz/podcast/renovation-nation-with-jen-dunc/id1662595634
https://open.spotify.com/show/7DJW6lN23PyV1mt7yt1awR?si=KJSMnOwcSzS1A8Sw3JYhow&nd=1
#DIY #renovations #home
You don’t know how over the moon I am that someone has resurrected one of my most favourite tv shows ever.
I am completely disappointed it’s shown on a crap tv station.
https://i.stuff.co.nz/entertainment/stuff-to-watch/300774503/quantum-leap-sky-finally-debuts-much-anticipated-reboot-of-beloved-90s-series
I hate search engines. If Microsoft pulls this off and gives me the results I actually want instead of a list of ads then I'm all for this.
I'll move to Bing super fast and Google can screw themselves.
I'm pretty sure Apple is working on this at system level too.
https://www.pcgamer.com/microsoft-hopes-that-adding-conversational-ai-to-bing-will-actually-make-people-want-to-use-bing/
I love good clean comedy.
Crassness for the sake of being crass just makes a comedian incredibly unfunny.
https://youtu.be/UIimvo3NAbM
#comedy #standup
It's that time of year again where I clean out my blogs to start all over again.
I'm looking forward to this year.
https://www.publish0x.com/lowededwookie/the-great-purge-2023-xnnwoyk?a=8mepNZpbMy
#blog #life #newyear
And people think that the Labour government’s Three Waters plan isn’t needed.
It’s stuff like this as well as poor water supplies around some small towns, and water poisonings such as in Havelock North a few years ago that prove New Zealand needs government controls set.
https://i.stuff.co.nz/the-press/news/130893088/dirty-water-at-summer-swimming-spots-embarrassing-say-local-leaders
Rode a double decker bus yesterday for the first time ever in my 47 years on this planet.
It feels real slow.
https://youtube.com/shorts/mCYU7nzw6sA?feature=share
Orion on a clear Oakura night.
Weirdly enough I read an article a decade or so ago that said the complete opposite. It has to do with a “broken” gene that also gives redheads a higher tolerance of pain.
The worst part is that you can’t trust sunscreen lotion. A recent Consumer Institute survey showed that most sunscreens don’t do the job they claim at the levels they claim. Worse is that many can actually be classified as as carcinogenic including, of all brands, the Cancer Society branded one.
I try to be good with the sun but I don’t trust sunscreen lotion and slapping on hats and shirts overheats me.
Bring on autumn.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/life-style/wellbeing/300771042/redheads-beware-your-hair-is-making-you-more-sensitive-to-the-sun
Oakura Beach Camp looking towards New Plymouth.
Stunning weather. Too hot but I’ve been out a couple of times on the paddle board. Even managed to stand up a couple of times.
It’s kind of choppy out there though.
Having some deserved RnR at Oakura beach until Tuesday.
Woke up to the sound of of waves hitting the beach and a Tui (also known as Parson Bird) singing with a tune that sound remarkably like David Bowie’s “Fashion”.
Took the paddle board out onto the sea as well. Going to be a good weekend.
#rest #relaxation #beach #holiday
https://noise.app/cryptorah/pqj8g44k
You haven’t added me.
I’ve followed you so once you’ve added me we can communicate correctly.
As a Postie who rides a motorcycle, I see idiot stuff like this in town.
I can’t wait for automated drivers to remove morons from our roads.
https://i.stuff.co.nz/taranaki-daily-news/news/130770005/the-trucking-company-sharing-video-of-some-of-new-zealands-stupidest-driving-decisions
You know it’s a kiwi summer when you get sunburnt on a rainy day.
Way to go hole in the ozone.
It’s time to decommission the old beast.
It’s an early 2011 MacBook Pro that’s had a tough life. Little Wookie spilled water on the keyboard when he was much younger. This killed the keyboard and prevented the power switch from working. To turn it on I had to remove the bottom cover, disconnect the battery then plug-in the power. I could then reconnect the battery.
Speaking of which, that’s pretty much well past its use by date. Not charging properly now.
I won’t even mention the fact it can’t even upgrade to the latest version of macOS.
It’s sad but it’s time.
We’ve NEVER had a good box of HelloFresh. Every single box we’ve had has been manky vegetables so we killed our subscription after the second box.
https://i.stuff.co.nz/national/130769916/maggot-mince-curry-anyone-hellofresh-customer-disgusted-by-contaminated-meat
If you’ve even been afraid that the wings on your plane will fall off have a watch.
https://youtu.be/Ai2HmvAXcU0
@lowededwookie
