Thursday 18th November
I didn't manage to finish off all the part started tasks but for two wonderful reasons, so I'm not beating myself about it. Completely out of the blue I heard from my late partner's brother who I haven't seen since the start of the pandemic so that was a pleasant surprise. Then, as soon as I put the phone down on the table it rang again and that time it was P who emigrated the day after we finished secondary school and who is now back in the UK ... she now has an Australian accent! There was a lot of catching up to do and we are hoping to be able to meet up in the new year.
My piano lesson was good fun. I didn't play the pieces as well as I have been playing them but not so badly that they were hopeless. Typically, I played them through again after the lesson and was note perfect! Anyway I'm moving on to new pieces, which I'm happy about!
The labelling session was interesting and a bit of an eye opener. One example is that she compared the labels of mayonnaise and mayonnaise lite and it was shocking to see the comparison - mayonnaise is a much healthier choice than the lite version because of the way the recipe is tweaked for the lite version. There's too much to repeat here but I think the thing that shocked me the most is how misleading so many labels are - apparently 'sugar free' doesn't necessarily mean there is no sugar in the recipes, just that there is less than 5%! I will be checking labels more carefully from now on.
Today I will be online for most of the day, taking part in a review session with my author friend. We're discussing the last lot of writing he sent us and will also be trialling a creative writing workshop he is developing. It should be a good day!
How absolutely fantastic to resume contact with old friends.
ReplyDeleteThey slap these labels on all the time, don't they. 'Protein' is another one. And beward 'fat free' - what have they added to compensate?
Have a lovely day.
xx
Hearing from his brother and my long lost friend really made my day. I felt all bubbly with excitement and sheer joy after hearing from both of them and woke with exactly the same feeling this morning!
DeleteI think it's the way they divide the sugar content down to fructose, glucose, etc., so that sugar doesn't show as the main ingredient that bothers me - it's really underhand and done with the intention to deceive.
Hope you have a good day too xx
Always great to receive surprise contact from special people. Two in one day! Wow!
ReplyDeleteYes, the first time I did Atkins I stopped buying anything supposedly "light" because of all the messing about they do to try and achieve the same result as the standard version of whatever it is. I have never gone back.
I don't know whether it's true but a friend once told me that in America TicTacs are labelled sugar-free as, although they are almost 100% sugar, they are so small as to fall beneath the maximum calorie count permissible to be labelled as such. But it might just be an urban myth!
It was lovely to hear from them both. I'd been trying to contact the brother so it was a relief to hear that he's okay, and hearing from P was a complete surprise. I had no idea she'd returned to the UK.
DeleteI think you may be right about the US Tic Tacs - the front of the containers show 'sugar free' but the nutrition info on the variety I googled showed 95.7g of sugar in every 100g.
Connection with two friends, long apart but not forgotten - what a wonderful treat - best of all no calories on those sweet treats. I am reading a book about making better food choices, especially around fat free, sugar free items. Our bodies & brain are not fooled by the fakes, so the craving increases for the desired fat or sweet, so he writes it is better to give in moderation full on. Sugar is like crack to our brains & we become quickly addicted to sweet. UMMM. Yeah to your piano progress.
ReplyDeleteWe're saving the calories for when we meet up!!
DeleteIt's difficult to know what's right sometimes. The nutritionist always advises eliminating sugar but including healthy fats in our diets - our brain will be satisfied with fats. Added sugar in our diets causes too many health issues and our bodies don't need added sugar at all. The naturally occurring sugars in fruit etc are enough.
How lovely that you received phone calls from both your late partner's brother and an old friend! Being able to reconnect like that is such a blessing, isn't it?
ReplyDeleteWell done on the piano playing! May I ask what the new pieces are? I was supposed to resume piano lessons, today, but, S is taking a longer break, she told me, so, I might not start until after Thanksgiving. Which is fine with me.
Labels are very misleading, aren't they? It's best to eat as much fresh and unprocessed foods as we can. As for sugar, I am addicted!
It is a blessing and has also made me realise that I am on track with the changes I want to make once I've had my booster jab, i.e. spending more time face to face with the important people in my life.
DeleteThe new pieces are just called hornpipe and dance and are to improve reading the bass clef notes as both have the melody in the left hand. I think C wrote these herself. They are relatively easy pieces but notices they both include the combination of note patterns that I keep making mistakes on! Should be an interesting week of practice.
I'm trying my best to stick to fresh and avoid processed foods. I found sugar easy to give up as my tastes were changing anyway and I now prefer savoury to sweet ... just the occasional piece of cake when I meet with friends.
Lovely to catch up with friends out of the blue like that. That's right about labels being misleading it's the one thing I remember well from lessons.
ReplyDeleteIt was lovely and really cheered me up. I don't spend enough time with other people face to face any more but am aware that I need to rectify that.
DeleteLabels are a nightmare and so many are designed to mislead. I'm not surprised everyone finds them so difficult to understand.