Last week, I shared a glimpse of my wild eating habits. To drive the point home, here’s a screenshot from my Saturday. 😅
Ok, this was excessive, even for me.
In my defence, this rare “binge” followed a hard 65km bike ride, a 10km speedy run and then a 2km swim.
I woke up the following morning with what I can only describe as a “food hangover” — not as bad as a booze hangover, but a similar flavour for sure; headache, nausea and a dry mouth.
Also, if my letter inspired you to buy a Ninja Creami, then a) thank me later, and b) do yourself a favour and get some Carrot Cake Protein Powder, so you can make delicious carrot cake ice cream.
45g of Carrot Cake Protein Powder
100g of Skyr or Greek Yoghurt
200ml of milk / non-dairy
A dash of cinnamon
1 tsp of psyllium husk or Xanthan gum
2 tsp honey or maple syrup
Mix, freeze, Creamify - YUM
1. Joolz Guides
Aside from 150km of cycling, 25km of running and 2km in the water, the remainder of the weekend was blissfully sedentary; most of it spent burrowing down numerous YouTube rabbit holes.
Occasionally, I chastise myself for “wasting” hours on YouTube, but since I rarely watch TV or binge Netflix, I rationalise it as long as the videos are positive, entertaining, and educational. The trick is the turn off YouTube Shorts and cull the “Subscriptions” list regularly, thus decreasing the chances of falling into a mind-numbing grief hole of TikTok-scented sh*t.
Sunday’s five or so hours of YouTube viewing was certainly not a day wasted as it was comprised almost entirely of Joolz Guides — a series of fascinating and witty walking guides of London neighbourhoods, perfect for a nosey-parker like me.
The host, Julian McDonnell, is genial and knowledgeable, weaving through London’s many villages in the fashion of a raconteur, excitedly pointing out interesting features and oddities (stink pipes are his favourite). Of course, you can also tell that a huge amount of research and work goes into every tour, with each one reaching a ~30-minute crescendo in a London pub. Joolz even commissions bespoke music to form the backdrop of each episode; it’s a wonderful combination, and a great way to spend an afternoon.
I can highly recommend it for lovers of London, history buffs, and fellow nosey-parkers.
Here’s the video of my local neighbourhood of Putney.
Find the guide for your “yard” here:
2. Play With People Who Are Better Than You
Last week, I was reminded how playing with someone better than you pushes you to try just that little bit harder - or a lot harder, in my case - than you would alone or with someone at your level.
I experienced this with my friend and colleague, Rob, over the weekend. I took him to my favourite swimming location for his first lake swim in preparation for a standard distance triathlon he’s doing at Dorney Lake in a couple of weeks.
Rob’s only been swimming properly for a few months (vs. my consistent swimming for the last 2 years) and was a good deal quicker than I, which is doubly impressive when you consider that he’s never swum in a cold lake before.
I must admit, my initial reaction was one of immense frustration. How could my several thousand hours of training in the pool and open water be trounced by such a “rookie”? Alas, it’s called talent. I quickly embraced it and chased after him, swimming faster than I had all year. Cheers Rob!
Have a great week, all 🙏