Sunday, 11 December 2011

Cereal Killer

Do you know what, If there's one thing that really gets my goat it's food, whether it be he lack of, the over consumption of, the lack of taste of or he ridiculous amount of sh** to be found in some types of. Yes, I like food, nay love it, but I hate some peoples understanding (or lack of as the case more often than not appears to be) of it.

Now I'm not pretending that I'm an expert in matters culinary, but I try to enjoy food but more so understand what I'm putting in my body, and obviously this requires a little time and effort.............................which is why there is an ever increasing number of fat people about. Yes obesity is on the rise, in fact British women are now the fattest in Europe, and before my male readers drop their pies, put down their pints and begin jeering, we're not that far behind chaps!!!!

Now it's not rocket science before the usual defensive arguments start pouring in about the difficulty of eating healthily, if you consume more than you burn, you're going to put on weight, and before you start, no one can retain THAT much water!!!!

So where to start??? This is far too much to cover off in one simple blog, but a good place to begin is where we should all look to begin, and where the route of a lot of problems lie in my humble opinion........the breakfast.

Now some people avoid a breakfast (a cardinal sin), some people have toast, some people have fruit, but for most of us we settle for that staple friend, the mighty Cereal, but herein lies another problem. Cereal has everything you need for a good, well rounded start to the day, but it can also be a dietary kick in the nuts, or indeed the lady parts if indeed you are a lady. Opt for a cheeky bowl of porridge, and you'll get a nice steady energy release all morning, a great warm start to the day and it will keep you satisfied until you need to fed your face again at lunch time, preventing the onset of the mid morning munchies. Opt for a bowl of bran flakes and you've consumed a healthy dosage of your recommended fibre in take for the day, top with nuts and a banana, and once again you have the energy to get you through the morning, plus, guess what, you're on your way to your 5 a day...(sorry, I've just slapped myself for writing that!!).

The issue however still arises when people convince themselves that they don't like porridge, or bran flakes or any number of the multitude of high fibre all round good chaps of the cereal world, and instead opt for what is essentially a bowl of sugar........FOR FUCKS SAKE!!!!  Show me a fatty, and I'll show you a cupboard that if it does have cereal in there it will more than likely be Frosties, Cocoa Pops, Frosted Shreddies or any one of the dozens of 'normal' oat, wheat or corn based breakfasts.....but covered in sugar and chocolate. 

Now this may sem like a bit of a flippant rant, but I'm a firm believer in precedents, and if you start your day with a bowl full of sugar, you're going to increase the chances of you getting a taste for it, and wanting to replicate it throughout the day, and you train your taste buds to adore sweet things instead of actual flavours. Furthermore, once you gt a sugar crash, guess what quick fix you're going to consume to pick yourself up again???? Breakfast is the starting point to a healthy lifestyle, and Cereals are full of goodness and can set you up for the day if eaten in the right context and right dosage. However, like most things in life, some are better than others and will do different things to your body.

So next time you're wondering why your fly's a little harder to do up, or you're wanting a Mars bar at 10:00am, or maybe why you're out of breath getting in and out of the lift. Have a cheeky look at what you're using to fuel your body, you wouldn't put Cola in you car and expect it to run now would you? If you don't eat breakfast, give it a go and lets not be the country that everyone points and laughs at, there's enough Americans to corner that market! And remember, when you do waddle down the cereal isle next, be a tad more open with your possible choices, and stay away from the Cereal Killers.

I am Spafmonkey.......here me roar!

Friday, 2 December 2011

A public kick in the privates

What a week, I sit here now not wondering what I should blog about, but instead wondering what not to blog about. With so much happening in the last 7 days I have experienced a multitude of rants screaming around this vacuous chasm I call a head.

Those of you familiar with my first two blogs will have noticed a rather strong footballing flavour, a taste too strong for some and although through time I believe footy will count for about 80% of all blogged material, this week I shall be bucking the early trend and venturing into pastures new.

So, what to bang on about this week!!! There's the sentencing of Ex Dr Conrad Murray, a bizarre theory I created on fidelity (probably my next blog), the up and coming Euro draw?????? All worthy candidates, but unlike the best player in the world, and very much like Highlander.....there can be only one, and it has to be this weeks industrial action!

This has completely boiled my piss to be quite frank, but probably not in the way you'd expect. This course of action began on Thursday and in some areas brought parts of the country to its knees. Toll bridges were closed, c 80% of schools were shut, Hospitals were running on skeleton staff, all because the public sector have decided to unite against the decisions made by the government to make significant changes to Salaries and Pensions.

I was out on appointments on Thursday, a route that should have taken 3o mins took me an hour. I saw multitudes of people standing outside places of employment creating picket lines, and my day was severely disrupted. But is this what ground my gears???? was it the so called greed of the public sector wanting he continuance of a so called unsustainable Pension scheme that started my urine bubbling away???? Was it the fact that they refuse to be part of the solution that had me shouting obscenities as I sat motionless in que after que after que............in short, no!

It is the the fact that everyone was missing the fucking point!!!!!!!!

The radio stations and the written media began early doors adding fuel to a fire that was burning viciously to begin with, interviewing the lowest common denominator from both sides. "Both sides" I hear you say? "what sides are they pray tell??" I of course refer to the Private and The Public sector!

I heard numerous interviews with fucking morons on the radio throughout the day which made me seethe with anger as public slated private and private slated public. "why should we be held accountable for the mess the private sector left us in"......."these people need to wake up and realise that we're all in this together, they need to stop being so selfish with their gold plated pensions"

AAAAARRRRRRGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHH

Am I alone in my thoughts, am I the only one who didn't See this course of action as Public vs Private? Seriously, thanks to the media and misrepresentation, Cameron must have been laughing his millionaire bollocks off by the end of Thursday, as what started as a protest against the government, and a demand to return to the negotiation table soon turned into a bitter row between those in the Public and Private sectors.

Let me attempt to put some perspective on this. I am no expert on the affairs of the public sector, I am a private sector worker and have been for the majority of my working life, but I do know this. The action on Thursday was a choice made by a body of workers who were simply not prepared to sit by while their employer slashed away at their future, and don't let anybody tell you any different. Now whether you agree with it or not is irrelevant, they were protesting against the government, not the private sector, nor were they refusing to play a part in reducing the deficit, don't forget they are part of the public spending pot along with everyone else. Furthermore, anyone in the private sector has already been through this, we've had our pensions and salaries slashed at, our unions have suggested strike action and we voted accordingly..............it was exactly the same but on a much smaller scale.

The bottom line is the private sector has no cause to be disgruntled at the public sector for voicing an opinion against their employer, nor has the public sector a cause to blame the deficit on the private sector or draw unrealistic comparisons of salaries and pensions to suit their cause........in fact......the two should have no cause for argument with the other in this case at all.....and yet Thursdays action ended with individuals from each sided baiting the other over social networking sites and radio interviews.

The point was lost amidst the anger and frustration so professionally whipped up throughout the course of the day, as If Cameron himself was stood above in the clouds conducting the madness like an orchestra. We are the public, we are paying the price for many contributing factors causing the huge deficit we find ourselves now having to pay off. The last thing we need to be right now is divided. Those that are for the strike, good luck with your cause but remember who you are protesting against. Those against be sure you know why and are simply not dancing to a tune so eloquently played for you from above, and if you still don't agree with it that's fine, but please look towards the reasons for action and ask yourselves the question......what would I do!



I am Spafmoney........hear me roar.