I feel obliged to share many update(s), mainly revolving my new living arrangement. I apologize for yet another long lapse of content since late January. I am still inundated with  massive on-going rebrand + manuscript rewriting . Plus ~ my own daily work well approaching onto evenings, almost on a daily basis. And that considering I have moved to a new property ~ acquainting with long(er) commutes and potentially weeks and month(s) of ongoing remediations and fixes.

Disclaimer. Some may question surrounding my “privileges”, that is questioning on how and where my prior finances able to afford me to where I am at present. This article is inappropriate for me to address these in detail hence, such may only be written for another time if all these rise to scrutiny. 

Moving house. Settlement. Learning new things.

So I have settled into my new home.

I could celebrate out of a million reasons right now considering that owning a home is obviously, the biggest purchase (and arguably a “milestone”) in anyone’s life.

I absolutely felt privileged. I absolutely felt thankful. I even spent a few hundred dollars, on top of exorbitant amount for renovation, cleaning and fixing (more on that later). Yes, two zero’s worth of gift cards – to thank certain number of people.

But I don’t feel privileged at all, for any misunderstandings raised from presumptions that my circumstance is in anyway a luxury.

The last few months, albeit more stressful than ancitipated – forced me to look at things differently compared  to where I was, at least a decade ago. Every advice I receive or at least presented to me is not something I’d take in freely. Without me first threading them through in detail.

I am never discounting any or all advice/s as if they are irrelevant. I repeat. I respect and do envy ~ others’ knowledge and awareness beyond my own. However one (1) unwritten disclaimer I am experiencing, especially to do with home improvements, repairs and/or DIY advice ~ is that YMMV.

My WOE / food for thoughts

But more importantly how am I doing? WOE / way of eating wise and fitness training? Obviously, I could no longer sustain the seven day per week training as it was certainly unsustainable. From overtimes, long commutes, and long list of things to remediate, and fix.

Nutrition wise, I went for nearing three (3) weeks without a fridge. Impossible? Certainly challenging. But doable especially if you have already acquainted with prolonged and/or at least, regular fasting(s) with weekly carbohydrate cycling.

So below are my food for thoughts. You are free to adopt or adapt, as you wish. But keeping in mind this is entirely within context of CKD+IF, five+years experience onwards.

1. First and foremost – prepare to use up anything perishable.What this means:
   1. Be prepared to use entire can or source of fat in one feeding window.
   2. ^ Likewise, for protein source.
2. Emphasize and plan ahead a shorter feeding window. Without a fridge you are effectively left without means of storing food. That means two things.
   1. (Obviously) be prepared to consume any meat proteins (canned likely) in one go. Storing for later consumption is certainly not hygienic without refrigeration.
   2. You will have to practice a shorter feeding window. At allocating main feature meal (possibly as post workout and breaking the fast), then soon followed by dessert meal.
   3. Use one entire can of Coconut cream for both feature (savoury) and dessert. You will need to empty the can all at once in two (2) containers – for savoury and one for dessert meal.
3. Dried parmesan cheese = good source of portable condiments, fats and calcium.
4. Cream cheese ~ regular cream cheese especially those without carrageenan (coded 407a, due to health hazards); can be incorporated.
5. Yoghurts are somewhat hard to recommend.  500g are still ridicolously expensive and not cost effective compared to 1kg.
6. Notable source of proteins. These are what I have featured and discussed earlier in a video discussion:
   1. Corned Beef. A benchmark for canned source of beef ~ feat. 21g of protein per 100g.
   2. Sardines . Obviously need no reminder for its PUFA N3.
   3. Tuna. Certainly not ideal from mercury content.
   4. Liverwurst. My go-to post workout nutrient dense, next to sardine.
7. Peanut butter. Obviously not recommended for those with allergies. But considering they are temperature stable and need no refrigeration – they can be enjoyed as partial servings.
8. Coconut creams. At around 20g per 100ml, equating approx 80g per 400ml. An entire can suffices for most people’s low carbohydrate intake compliance ratios ~ of at least 60%.
9. Dessicated Coconuts. In addition to Coconut cream (depending if one can still stomach the short feeding window) ~ dessicated coconut can be considered.
10. When it comes to condiments on top of salt and pepper – any herbs and spices are all good.

*Note ~I did not use any means of portable ice storage, or eski at all throughout the time. 

The next thing people may wonder is what about carbohydrates? What about refeed days?

Oats come in handy. Soaked with apple cider vinegar soaked on kitchen bench for 24+ hours. Drain, reheat, and eat with any sweet incentives ~ honey, jams etc. So far, so good. I have not had any major sickness.

Just be sure to wrap them not just within glass containers but also with additional wrap of some sort, just to keep it enclosed.

Another convenient source of carbohydrates fats and proteins is surprisingly, just full cream milk. I am finding lactose free milk convenient in this regard mostly for the lactase enzyme. I was in actuality, suggested as lactose intolerant as per my nutrigenomics report. It was only until late of last year, that I am convinced that drinking lactose free milk, felt better than regular milk. At first, it took time acquainting with that distinct “added” taste on top of the milk. But, a small price to pay.

What I would not advise, is the following food groups. Especially when the aim to consume AND finish them in as few sittings are the priority.

1. Water heavy fruits & vegetables. If for any reason you felt full and unable to finish, and worse – you have no cool storage facility then unfortunately, it’s bound to attract pests. Any water-heavy vegetables (think cucumbers, zucchinis, lettuces bananas, fruits, berries) are danger zones.
2. Takeaway salads / prepackaged salad mixes. I don’t think all of them are that bad so long as cost vs quantity allows you to comfortably finish them in ONE (1) sitting without storing them for later. If it costs more than $3.50 for 200 or 300g and you find you cannot finish them, then trouble awaits I am afraid. We’re currently experiencing really hot summers here down under. And I certainly don’t want my new home to be infested with rats.
3. (Any) source of fats or creams that have no closed lids. Cardboard packaged creams in particular. So long as of course – you are able to comfortable to finish and eat them in just one (1) feeding session accross multiple meals.

I am trying to be succinct here in this write up. Hence I am afraid that is all I could share at this point.

Conclusion

Originally I wanted to share this update as simply as “I have settled, finally, into a home of my own”. And leave at that. But immersing myself in celebratory mood ever-after, is short-lived. A lot of responsibility(s) are still waiting for me to tend to for months on end anyway.

People often undermine how new living arrangement/s affect everything else. They say you’re “Done!” alongside “Congratulations!” cheerleading. However, until you face the number of extra responsibilities – it’s up to you to pick up where you have left off. And to this day, I am still struggling trying to find (yet alone create) new time ~ to reclaim my lost obligations.

Namely ~ my focus and attention hour onto this concept initiative. The rebrand. And continuing on re-editing the full rewrite of the manuscript.

Until next time, I wish everyone is well.

Live-It-Forward,

AW.