Tag: cold

How to clear a cold in a week in the middle of the winter

It’s the time of the year where a little bit of overindulgence, a bit more alcohol and less exercise can translate into catching the flu or a cold. In the winter in the north hemisphere, less sun exporusre, less vitamin d and inactivity can prolong the effects of a minor cold or bout of unwellness.

However there are ways to lessen the effects. Here are some recommendations on how to bounce back from a heavy cold in a week.

Days 1-3: Make hearty soups and salads. It may sound a long stretch of time to go without carbs however they don’t need to be excluded from the diet. Some tips if you are feeling too unwell to make too much fuss over cooking;

Include some brocken targatelli pasta or rice in your broth, and make sure there are carrots in your meals at least once a day and often if possible. Add lemon to soups and salads. Your body will thank you for the extra vitamin c and d. And always have your food hot.

Between meals have hot drinks with lemon and ginger, if your drinks cools down, pop it in the microwave.

Days 4-6: Walk for 5,000 steps or more, outside. The fresh air and the exercise will generate endorphins that will make you feel good and boost your immunity. Keep drinking hot drinks and eating hot food. This will help your body clear out the infection. Continue keeping your home or yourself, if the cost of living crisis is affecting you, warm by airing it twice a day and keeping windows shut the rest of the time. Get your heaviest blankets out for the living room area when you are lounging about in the evening. Use tealights and turn the lights down to make the space feel cozy. Even if you are feeling better, it is important to stay warm and help your body do its magic.

Day 7: Start your day with a 15mins of yoga. It will unblock your stiff joints and stabilise your mood. If you are an active gym goer, add 15mins of core and 15mins of weights. You will feel great and bouncy and generate energy for what starts to feel like a normal day. Continue drinking and eat hot and staying warm. Sometimes a little spice in the food will also help your body clear out the infection. Make your home feel cozy and pack away any medication you may have been using. You done it and well done!

Bernie’s mittens

The POTUS Inaguration will be remembered amongst other things for the memes that followed, most memorably Bernie Sanders sat on a chair in the bitter cold wearing a pair of hand-knitted mittens.

Most following the story will know Jen Ellis made them and how inundated with requests Jen was following that very memorable day.

Three days after that, having followed the story, I bought them online from Jen Ellis’ shop. All proceeds go to charity in Vermont and the mittens are made in partnership with the Vermont Teddy Bear Company.

In London, I received the mittens this week, over three months later and despite being 15C outside, I am super happy to have them to the point of being tempted to strut them out in the street.

After all, it’s still chilly in the evenings.

Lockdown urban London photos with people

Well here we go again, only this time things are a bit different.

In London, there are noticeably less people out after dark, but shopping malls and cafes are still serving take outs and grocery essentials.

This means the earlier photos from the lockdown in spring bear a significant difference to the way urban landscapes look now.

For example, there are a fair amount of labourers and cleaning staff going out and about their business as usual. Spaces look less derelict and more like Sundays before London got crowded millennium onwards.

In urban green spaces, people don’t consider being in fairly crowded conditions, a threat from covid anymore. Benches are open and cyclists have equal access to parks.

The level of interaction with larger crowds is a personal preference.

On a recent cycle with Simon around trendy Hackney Wick and guardian reader pretentious Hackney on Victoria Park, the crowds were heavily dense in many public play areas and entrances.

Away from the long queues outside to pick up coffees and take outs in places where some think it’s important to be at, our was certaintly picking a fish and chips from a good old reliable affordable local chippy just east of Victoria Park to the Wick.

No queues, no wait, no hassle. After a five minute walk, we were enjoying dinner on a bench in the park.

In my next blog I will write about meaningful ways to spend preparing for Christmas holidays and Christmas day itself.

Many get carried away with meaningless cultural traditions, missing the point. Culture can be as oppressive as American culture’s cultural non existence, when it adds no experiental reflection or mindful rest.

In a time of self reflection I couldn’t be luckier having met four days after landing back from a two month trip away early August 2019. And here we are still are today.

Back in the park, we sat watching the lowering sun introducing the mist, the temperature drop, the sensation of colours struggling to define themselves in this new reality.

I suppose this time, it is also the first time of the year’s season under covid for our urban neighbourhoods too. Well I say, we can only pay homage to this another new reality for the family albums to come.

Really, what’s there to complain about? And why not to?

  • Canary Wharf, Canada Place, London
  • Wharf Market, Jubilee Place, CW
  • Bow Gate, Victoria Park
  • Hackney Wick
  • Skate Park, Victoria Park
  • Bridge over the canal, Bow

Hiking in the UK

For outdoorsy adventurers, hiking is a much-loved choice of activity taken close to one’s place of habitat or place of visit.

The subtle differences between hiking in different parts of the world are on the type the equipment, the style of the hike like the intensity of the walk, and the distance covered. This reveals a lot about the flora and fauna, the weather conditions expected in general and the end objective for the hike.

This article presents a short oversight of hiking in the south of the United Kingdom, and towards the end of the winter. The overall equipment relevant message is to wear comfortable waterproof boots, bring a change of cotton t-shirts, carry 1-2 litres of water, prepare lunch snacks and carry cash for group saver fares, the pub lunch option and pub celebration at the end.

I have hiked in India, the Pacific North West in the US, in Scotland, in Bali, in Italy, in the Arctic part of Norway, in Morocco, on the north coast of Trinidad and in Tobago and in Fuerteventura and every single hike was different on many aspects.

In the south of the UK, hikes tend to be longer, often including a couple of very steep climbs up hills and the same dissent. The most recent hike took me up and down Pitch Hill in Surrey Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, twice climbed it on the same day, a near-vertical and rather muddy aspect, and over a distance of 30km round trip on foot.

Walking sticks were encouraged whereas in other parts of the world they are prohibited as it can attract lightning strikes in tundra conditions. UK’s well known cloudy skies, even in winter, require sunblock as there is still plenty of exposure doing outdoor sports to cause skin damage.

20 min stops every two hours are also encouraged to take in the views from higher viewpoints. In contrast, stopping for this long or any period of time longer to a couple of minutes, in the middle of the winter, in the northernmost part of Norway, will cause your body temperature to drop really quickly and dramatically and make the focus of the latter part of your hike an effort to warm up instead of watching the path or scenery. This can make the body feel very uncomfortable, and rather demoralising, in severe sub minus C conditions.

The photos in this post are from my hike in Surrey this week.

It looks mud messy but it was a great all round exercise. I could not recommend anything else more satisfactory to do outdoors this time of the year. Hiking engages people in community spirited discussions, recharges the body with a full-on exercise uptake, and in the UK, it is rewarded with log fires in the pub, local bitter brews, and new memories and vistas to take away.

Cozy spots for the last days of winter in London

Black Sheep coffee in Canary Wharf; one of my favourite spots for a good cup of coffee and chat and laptop working on the wharf.

The Williams Ale & Cider House; just cozy in Central East City in the heart of Spitalfields. A hidden gem for after-work chilled out drinks, a date, a catch up, surrounded by ancient looking stone walls and arches.

Boundary London rooftop bar; Nordic chic designer warm in the winter, quiet, great service, friendly vibes, hidden away on one of the rooftops in the heart of Shoreditch. Will come back in the summer.

Good vibes, always.

Motivation and commitment in the winter

I read a really succinct article about finding the motivation to your sport during winter in a cyclist’s magazine recently.

It identified the challenge between rationalising between the elements, the reality of enjoying time indoors and maintaining motivation.

We are all humans, and at times of pre Xmas binges, cozy nights in with friends or the SO at the pub or infront of the telly, it is easy to postpone and get distracted. We are not robots or operate in a purely mechanical mindset either.

“The distinction between motivation (the desire to do something) and commitment (a dedication to doing it) is subtle.”

On days we are not motivated we need to accept we are not in the mood however finding a way to meet the commitment to doing it, will pay off by feeling better at the end of it.

Finding a way to committing can be as simple as organising training in a group, or with someone else. You may not need the words of encouragement depending what stage you are in your sport, but knowing someone else is waiting for you, and that your absence will affect their training is the game changer.

The organisation of committing is the process to making it work. Putting the plan, into action, and knowing what is happening, and when.

If you start thinking what’s the point, you’ll miss the opportunity to feel stronger and build on your fitness. Acknowledging why the session is good for you, is often the bedrock of a building on your plan.