Tuesday 13 January 2015

The Diet

It's funny when you mention to people "I'm going on a diet" because of how people think that diet's work. Most people will think a diet is something you do for a short period of time to lose weight... and the true facts show... while yes, some will work, a proper diet should be life long.

This all started for me a while back. I wanted to lose weight and so went onto fruit juice drinks (pure 100% fruit juice, as in, no added sugar, no crap, just, the fruit). During a visit to my doctors I mentioned about my weight and about a discolouration of the skin around my eyes and wondered what could be the cause of this. He arranged for me to have some blood samples taken and tested and a few weeks later I called the doctors to check the results were ok.

"You're going to have to come in" said the receptionist, instantly turning my knickers brown because I knew if everything was fine, I wouldn't be called in. An appointment was made for the same week and in I went. I saw the GP's health and diet lady who went through the results with me. They'd checked my cholesterol levels and while the overall mark was good, one part had spiked, showing that something had to change, we went through the results.

All the good cholesterol levels were either where they should be, or below the limits, so that's fine. However, the 1 that had spiked was the bad one. It was a whole 1 point over what it should be according to the dr's standards. This was also the bad cholesterol, the one known for clogging up your heart and leading to heart attacks and further health problems.

She explained about how my diet needed to change and that actually, while yes, fat in my food did play a part, it was more sugar that was known to cause these sorts of spikes in the results, so of course my idea of going on to fruit juice was a bad one.

She reffered me on to a health programme at my request (free access to a gym for 10 weeks.... ITS FREE, OF COURSE YOU CAN SIGN ME UP!!!!) and that is who I heard from today. They went through with me about how I want to create the change, what I would do to create it and of course wanting to know that I would commit to the changes they help me make, including diet and of course exercise.

I funnily enough had a food shop delivered today, the first one of the new year. While this time last year my freezer would have been full of frozen meals and crap, it's my fridge this time around that is full of stuff, all fresh and of course can now be made now I have an oven to cook stuff in! I can't wait to begin my new diet. It has less meat in it, more fresh produce and hopefully with a bit more exercise, will ensure that I am healthy for the future.

But where does this change in my life differ from others?

These changes I make are not just going to be a temp thing. Sure, there'll be foods i'll try over the next few months that I won't like, but, all in all, it should be good and LONG TERM. This isn't a fad diet, it won't be stopped once I've dropped a dress size, this is the way it has to be.

It is the first time I've made this sort of change in my life and i'd be lying if I said I wasn't excited and nervous about the future. I know the initial weight loss will be hard work, but being able to go back in 11 months time to the doctors and having them say I am in perfect health, will be the reward I want and i'm sure will make me feel a lot better about myself other than people saying "oooh, you've lost weight".

Tuesday 6 January 2015

Wigan Pier Nightspot - The Row

From a news article (click on the text to read the article)

In December, the building that once housed the famous Wigan Pier nightclub was knocked down. Council bosses described the former club as ‘one of Wigan’s biggest eyesores’.
The council bought the building in 2013, but it stood empty and rotting for more than 12 months.
The club’s popularity peaked in the mid-1990s with the explosion of the house music and rave scene. It closed in 2010 after rows over noise levels.

Working at Wigan Pier nightspot at the time it closed, I was first hand to see what was going on, and I can assure you, it wasn't connected with noise levels.

Wigan Pier as the club was known, correctly, peaked in the 90's as the rave and dance music scene's grew. In it's later years, the club did begin to hit difficult times. Infact, within it's last years it wasn't rare to hear that the club had closed early, in one time, it closed a mere hour after opening because only 3 people had gone in to the club.

The building which it was in was always rented and never owned by the club itself. We had been going through a period of the club being quite popular again and more people kept turning up, that was until I received a call on a Monday from the club.

It was from my friend Lorna who was bar manager at the time. She explained how the club had been given notice on the sunday, that the following weekend the club would not be allowed to open and as such, a farewell, last minute rave had been planned for the Thursday night. It would be the last time the club would open at this base.

What had happened is that the lease on the building was up for renewal. Instead of approaching the nightclub with a view to extending the contract, the owner had simply said that he wanted us out, no chance of staying in. It is VERY possible that his decision was even paid for by Wigan Council who had long sort to see the closure of many night spots within the town itself.

The Thursday night rave went better than expected, with attendance over capacity, reaching numbers of over 1,500 people trying to get in to the club to say a fond farewell.

Since then the building stood empty. Around about a year a go the middle floor of the club was removed, and the building quickly began to show sign's of collapse, before in December 2014, demolition work began to take place on the building.

However, it is important to not let the media try to report the history wrong.

The club DID NOT close over noise complaints, it was that the lease was up.

Since it's closing at the site, the Wigan Pier nightclub brand has been on tour, until being merged with "Bounce Till I Die".