Leuty Parker

Blog

  • Chia seed pudding

    I’m on flexed dose of 3 units of Novorapid for breakfast. I have the ratio of 10g carbohydrates to 1unit of insulin so that means I need 30g carbohydrates for breakfast so I researched what are the best foods for your health?

    It came up with chia, the superfood. This is a great source of fibre, so good for your bowels. The fibre helps decrease your LDL cholesterol & even slows your digestion. For diabetes, this lowers BGL spike, keeping you fuller for longer. When cooking , it has guey texture when moistened, so I say it’s like frogspawn.

    So, for those reasons I chose to make it my star ingredient for my breakfast recipe:

    42g chia seed (reasonable above)

    250ml almond milk (low in calories, high in fibre, few carbohydrates, dairy free & high in vitamin D)

    130g jam (homemade, berries baked & stevia to sweeten without effecting your BGL)

  • Fullness

    The modern definition is very “now”. It is best defined using the acronym YOLO (you only live once).

    This seems a great way to live; no regrets. But you could consider it as impulsive or even selfish.

    In this definition, I would consider myself as pretty “full”. I tend to not really care what others think, I just do it anyway. Can be perceived selfish, definitely impulsive but m certainly unashamed.

  • Habit loop

    It is theorised that the way we act, in particular in habits, forms a loop. Where one action goes on to the next, the final has the end goal of the first action & it creates a loop. So the loop goes like this:

    Cue.

    Craving.

    Response.

    Reward.

    My version of this, subconsciously, is my reaction when my mum clears her throat (which I hate); she clears her throat > I click my fingers (I know it really annoys her) > she thinks I do it consciously. This is me just venting about her….

    This could be translated into a Pavlovian response. If you don’t know this, this is quite famous “ dogs”.

    Pavlov showed, in this experiment, that animals (including humans) could have a learned response. In this case, he used dogs, by starving them, so they’re really hungry, then filling a bowl with food that feed them, the association being the sound of his shoes, him walking to fill the bowl with food, would equal the desire to eat.

    I wonder if I can use this Pavlovian technique in my recovery; build a routine which becomes so regular that it becomes automatic. I do it without having to think.

  • Veblen goods

    This is the theory that if it’s more expensive, it makes these things are more desirable.

    A good example is the Louis Vuitton handbag. People don’t buy the item for any design detail… they don’t care. They buy it for the name. The acclaim the brand has made for themselves, through advertising or values customers like celebrities who they make an icon for the brand.

    In short, people will buy for the name. This is best exemplified in the Louis Vuitton handbag; people don’t care for the design, just as long as it’s got the “LV” logo on it.

    These high fashion brands make no money from the clothes, they do from the Veblen goods. The name they have built for their company. Selling cheaper –in comparison- goods, like handbags, wallets, perfumes or cosmetics.

    In a way it’s saying the more expensive & unattainable it is, the better. Like showing how special you are. How precious you are. Because you can attain this expensive thing which must have taken a lot of money & effort to get to point of sale.

  • Schadenfreude

    Is made up from a couple of German words: “Schaden” meaning “harm” / “damage,” and “Freude0”, meaning“joy.” It is used in English but sounds very German, & translates to a very apt fnding joy in someone else’s misfortune

  • AI & creativity

    This is a big argument; will AI (artificial intelligence) replace creativity.

    Being creative is too natural, connected to the human condition.

    This falls into the chaos & irrationally of our actions & emotions. This is also felt in pain & suffering. To be human is to be creative, & vice versa.

    AI doesn’t have an unconscious mind , where a lot of art speaks so loudly. This is found in historical pieces, where the message is conveyed by the skill.

    What a computer can do, is manage data. Therefore it can replace jobs that are not creative, like self checkouts.

    AI is sublime at getting things theoretically perfect, but it doesn’t think like humans do. That’s things that we’ve learned from our mistakes.

    There’s a split between the deep AI machine bots (what we think about now, when we talk about AI) and what is called “Go-fi” (Good Oldfashioned AI) which believes that there should be more progressming combined, more human input.

  • Masters tips

    I’ve probably mentioned this before, but I’m in the middle of doing my masters. A few submissions are essays so here are my tips on essay writing. It can fit into most masters level essays;

    Summaries the overall message of your points as a whole, in a just a few words. Perhaps sentences. This will clarify your overall theme you can expand on later.

    Your essay should do these things:

    1) experience what you’re trying to say overall(expanding in the main body)

    2) justify the point in detail.

    3) your recommendations of how it can evolve.

  • Onions

    1955 there was a single person who, secretly bought all the onions in the US. Vince Casuga, otherwise known as the onion king, cornered the onion market in the USA, where he bought out every onion.

    When he owned them, he could control the price. So people didn’t find out that he controlled the onion price, he had to do it inconspicuously, so other onion sellers didn’t drive up the price.

    Not only that, he bought onion futures, potential onions. A big bet where you promise that you’re going to buy this potential onion for an agreed price.

    A bit like what the lottery has turned out.

  • New exercises

    This one is for all those people who are learning to walk…

    I just went to the gym (as I do most days) & have a new workout plan. It’s a killer, but my aim is to walk leads.

    I train Edinburgh Leisure most days & have a personal trainer from NeuroPhysio Scotland. Here is my current work out plan:

    Cross trainer: . 5 minutes cross trainer forwards, 5 minutes crosstrainee backwards

    Matt work:

    Stretch hips. Forward lunges toon each leg, holding for 40 seconds, each leg x 2

    Reverse squat with 10 kg kettle bell, from high knees. 10 x 3

    Kettle bell twists 10x 3 (this is when you’re on your knees, sat on top of your feet, & put the kettle bell on the floor next to your thighs)

    Smith machine

    High knees, 10 each leg alternating

    Balance on 1 leg. No holding on as long as possible

    Tip toes with bar @ hip height 10 x 3

    Row machine

    Cool down, level 5, 10 minutes

  • Valentine’s Day

    With this big day coming up, there is a lot of focus on finding/having a significant other, & those who haven’t got one feel so lonely & unwanted, usually.