How a poor person eats on a low carb diet

I can never buy two weeks of food for less than 150 euros. So I spend over 300 euros on groceries a month. So when my only income is 279 euros in student aid, this equation just doesn't work. Even though I try to buy the cheapest shit these days, it just doesn't work. Of course, that amount also includes hygiene products etc.

 

 

I don't eat lunch at all, but I eat breakfast at lunchtime. Previously, it was two slices of low carb bread with cheese slices. I still have some of that (now bankrupt companie's) bread left, but now I eat something else. Either two eggs fried in butter, or two slices of grain-free seed crispbread with those cheese slices.

Then it's already afternoon tea time. Sometimes I might eat sugar-free chocolate with that. Lindt is the best, but expensive. There are other chocolates, for example, the Red brand. And Lidl's sugar-free chocolate is just fine, very similar to Lindt.

For dinner, I eat 200 grams of frozen vegetables, usually either carrot cubes, or broccoli. I gave up on fresh vegetables when I got annoyed that they were always moldy. I used to put olive oil on broccoli, but it's too expensive now, and I only use butter for dinner these days. Then some meat. For example, chicken or minced meat. Less often fish, that's expensive too and I can't stand fish bones.

 

For an evening snack, a piece of cheese and unsweetened/unflavored yogurt. It seems like I eat too many dairy products, but I can't think of anything else that's cheap, low-carb, and preferably high-fat. Sometimes I also eat almonds or nuts.

I might also eat Gullon brand gluten-free and sugar-free chocolate chip cookies. That's the only similar product I know of on the Finnish market. I remember with nostalgia the sugar-free and grain-free lemon muffins that were on sale during the low carb diet boom.

In my opinion, I eat too little, and I've lost almost 10 kilos since I lost my job. I weigh 47 kilos now. But even though I eat a little, the grocery bill is terrible...

Well, the first thing I should do is give up tea. It's completely pointless. And I also drink expensive tea, Clipper, about four times a day.

Why do I spend so much money on food?

One reason is the low carb diet. Grain-based sugary crap would of course be the cheapest. And potatoes. Since I'm "poor" these days, I "have to" eat a little potato, e.g. in ready-made meals. Grain-free and potato-free ready-made meals are expensive. What's annoying about the cheapest ready-made meals is that the butter and cream have been replaced with cheaper and unhealthy vegetable oils.
 

I simply have such expensive taste. For example, when it comes to chicken, I usually only like the most expensive oven-roasted chicken. For example, I can't stand chicken strips. And recently it happened that I started to hate chicken legs, as I was nauseated before and after eating them. I'm such a snob that I don't like industrial/packaged minced meat, it should be ground in the store.

Ski jumping World Cup 2024-2025

I haven't followed the ski jumping season on my blog before, but for some reason now this happened. So this is part two.

Viaplay's false advertising

"Viaplay shows all the competitions of the winter sports season", Viaplay claims in its advertisement. This is not the case, so I'm pissed off, and want to demand my money back.

 

Yle is also crap. They are always in a hurry to get to their stupid and useless studio. For example, the live broadcast of the first competition of the Four Hills tournament was stopped right at the moment the final results were shown. They should try to understand that the live broadcast is always the most important, and no one is interested in their crappy studio. And they shouldn't even bother to show ski jumping competitions at all if they're not going to show them in their entirety!! That's why I prefer the Areena version of the broadcast on Yle, there's no useless studio there.

Germany is a shitty country

On Friday, Germany won the super team competition, my favorite Andreas Wellinger and Paschke. At first I thought it was a mixed team. I guess I should have realized something when I knew that the women are in China and the men are in Germany.

And on Saturday, Viaplay couldn't show the competition at all on TV!! Even though the channels had space. So I should be happy if they bother to show it even online?? They sell shit.

Then my favorite ski jumper Domen Prevc fell his first round jump. Hit his head and seemed dazed. Luckily nothing more serious. They probably didn't even check his head? Irresponsible.

And it just so happens that Domen reportedly holds the hill record for that hill.
 

Sunday's competition, amazingly they showed it on TV. On Sunday, Domen made it to the competition, to the second round, and didn't even fall or get disqualified. Amazing.

Domen has had such an incredibly crappy start to the season.

Is Switzerland a crappy country?

Traditionally, the Swiss competitions are not legally shown on any channel in Finland. I was just amazed when I found out that Yle is showing them.

They even showed Friday's qualifying. Except that... they stopped showing it in the middle. The broadcast was transferred to Areena, and it takes a long time to transfer there on TV. And then it stopped working on Areena too. I had to switch to my computer to watch Areena. Yes, it has been made difficult to watch ski jumping.

 

Austria is a shitty country?

 

Well, then the bombshell dropped. It turned out that the Austrian competitions are not being shown in Finland at all. For example, the last two competitions of the Four Hills tournament. I just don't understand. Switzerland has been the different country up until now, not Austria.

Only free Eurovision Sport shows the Austrian competitions, online.

Four Hills Tournament

I've always hated the Four Hills Tournament KO system. It's unfair and pointless. Even now, Domen would have made it to the second round in a normal race in Oberstdorf. KO always means injustice.

In Innsbruck, Domen was probably about sixth after the first round, and in the final results, he was ninth. Amazing.

Then in Bischofshofen, Domen did well in the practice round and in the qualifying. I was already starting to hope that he had figured it out. But no?

 

Italy is the worst country

Italy is scheduled to host the Winter Olympics next year - again. And now there were supposed to be preliminaries in ski jumping. But there wasn't, because the hills haven't been renovated in time. I hear even the Olympic ski jumping itself is in danger of being canceled. And because of these Italian losers, there was a weekend without competitions in the middle of the ski jumping season. Quite a scandal. And usually they find replacement competitions for them.

There's a reason why I've always boycotted Italian food and wine...

Poland

Saturday's competition in Poland was surprisingly a team one. Thanks to Anze, Domen got to the podium! When the situation was that only Germany or Slovenia would get to the podium, I wondered which side I should be on. Well, of course, Slovenia, because it would be good for Domen to get to the podium. Well, of course the award ceremony wasn't shown anywhere, and it was difficult to hunt down even a single photo of it.

 

 

In Sunday's race, Anze was in a good lead after the first round, but just couldn't even get on the podium. Domen returned to his level and was the biggest loser in the second round, it's a wonder he didn't ruin the team race for everyone.

Ski flying Germany

Of course, Viaplay couldn't even show Friday's qualifying online, boo. Domen was second in the qualifying and missed out on the win only by 0.1 point! Damn you Forfang.

On Saturday, Domen was third by 0.8 points. He was 4th after the first round.

I told about my excitement about Domen's victory on Sunday already before. Later, it was also revealed that Domen holds the hill record for that ski flying hill.

 

Germany again

Before the next competition, the Prevc siblings were hyped. In what world does FIS live in? I knew very well that the flying hill was just a shooting star. Domen was not selected for Friday's mixed team race, and that's okay. Based on the training, he didn't deserve a place. Timi was disqualified anyway, so Slovenia didn't really do well.

In Saturday's competition, Domen was the first to miss the second round, a great performance from the winner of the previous competition.

And I haven't bothered to write down anything about Sunday.

USA

Domen won the qualifying. How is that possible on a non-flying hill? It might be a bit annoying that Viaplay can't show the qualifying anywhere. The competition itself didn't go well. Well, Forfang finally got the win he's been chasing for for a long time.

And then at midnight Finnish time there was the mixed team competition. I was surprised that Domen was on the team, when he was only the third best from Slovenia in the invidual competition.

But Germany's win was a big surprise. That Wellinger as the last jumper managed to win the competition for Germany. I didn't believe in Wellinger. 

Thanks again Viaplay for not showing the mixed team competition on TV!

Domen won the qualification for Sunday's competition, again. He didn't do well in the competition, again. But the last jump of the weekend was at the level of the qualifications. Good timing?

Japan

Good memories from Japan when Domen won his only competition there last season. And bad memories because there were problems with the unruly TV, which refused to tape the competition at night Finnish time.

In Friday's qualification, Domen was 6th. In Saturday's competition, which started at 8 am Finnish time, Domen was third, by 0.1 points. That hill just suits Domen. And what did the TV do? It stopped taping in the middle of the first round.

 

 

Sunday morning I woke up before five, during the break between rounds. I immediately realized that the TV wasn't recording. That it boasted that it had recorded for 0 (!!) seconds. What the hell is wrong with the TV when it can't record ski jumping?

I immediately realized that Domen was third after the first round. And from the recaps I could also conclude that Wellinger was probably fourth. But unfortunately both lost in the second round.

And only later I found out that Domen had won the qualifying...

 

Next up is the World Championships. To be honest I don't have high hopes for my favorites' success.

 

Ps. Exactly 28 years ago, Janne Ahonen won World Championship gold on the normal hill!

I have nothing to say

A few weeks ago one night I started having a burning pain in the middle of my chest. From there it would sometimes move to, for example, my heart and lower abdomen. This pain started when I was thinking about things. Thinking should be forbidden for me. When even so-called positive stress and excitement about things can cause such bad pain. So things are fine.

One Sunday I was wondering why my stomach muscles were so sore. Well, it was because of the wild party the day before. When I was sitting on the armrest of the sofa in a bad position. Then it was nice to have endometriosis pain and stomach muscle pain at the same time. I'm starting to be even more convinced that the blood in my nose during my period is due to endometriosis. Yeah, I'm just delusional.

I was home alone again for a week recently. Surprisingly, this time I didn't have any trouble sleeping. I didn't have time to think about literal bad things because I had other things on my mind.

 

 

I tried to look for a manual for my mobile phone in the boxes of the wardrobe so that I could change to a cheaper phone plan. I couldn't find the manual. And I searched in vain, since it's online. The hardest part is always trying to remember the model of my phone, luckily I had written it down on this blog (Nokia 1100). I opened the phone without the manual, but I didn't dare remove the battery. We'll see if Globetel is a scam company, and what all goes wrong.

I should go through my belongings anyway, probably as a way of cleaning out the house, but I just can't. I have diaries, calendars, notebooks, letters and other papers in the boxes. For example, notebooks where I have written down the results of ski jumping competitions.

Well, I finally managed to put a cardboard box full of cat stuff in the wardrobe. It had been waiting to be moved in the kitchen for quite a few months. I still haven't gotten around to going through the cat toys.

 

 

Even this little bit of doing things was taking its toll on my body, my back started to hurt. And the next morning when I woke up I had a terrible stomach ache, I thought if it continued I wouldn't be able to go for a run.

I finally opened a bottle of iron supplement that had expired a few months ago. Why I only did it now is because I'm scared of the side effects of iron. I read about new symptoms that iron deficiency can cause, such as bruxism. The bottom line is that there's nothing that iron deficiency can't cause.

A movie suitable for Valentine's Day?

This blog post contains affiliate links.

 

I "celebrate" holidays in a great way, meaning I watch a movie that fits the theme. On Valentine's Day, a romantic one.

Last year I watched The Buccaneers miniseries, and the movie 27 Dresses. The year before last I probably watched Titanic.

 

 

Now I checked my DVD shelf to see if there was anything suitable for the theme.

Pretty Woman

Some Like it Hot

The first Sex and the City movie (I liked to watch it quite often years ago)

A Walk in the Clouds (Keanu Reeves)

Where the Heart Is (Natalie Portman and James Frain, I like him)

A Fish Called Wanda

Someone might argue that not all of these are suitable for this purpose. I've also wanted to watch Gone with the Wind for the millionth time for some time. And what about my favorite Red Eye? I've only seen it a few times recently, and it was on TV only six times last year. Many people have thought Red Eye is a romantic movie at the start of it.

 

 

The Notebook

Well, I ended up watching the movie The Notebook on Viaplay, for the first time, even though I've been meaning to watch it for a long time. Now my interest was piqued by an online comment that said the male lead in this movie is a toxic asshole. Well, he did blackmail the woman into going on a date with him right at the beginning by threatening to commit suicide.

In The Notebook, a rich girl Allie falls in love with a poor boy for some strange reason, and her parents don't like that.

That movie is based on a book by Nicholas Sparks. I haven't read it, and I don't think I've read any other books by that author. But I hear the relationship in the book is less toxic than in the movie. You always have to add drama to movies.

What did I think of the movie? It's hard to say. I really couldn't be a movie critic. I guess The Notebook has been quite popular, I don't quite understand why.

I have to say that I'm not a fan of Ryan Gosling, but I do like Rachel McAdams (and James Marsden). I shed a few tears towards the end of the movie, but I have no desire to see this movie again.

 

Previously, I would have played Friday today, in honor of Valentine's Day, wearing pink outfits. So those pink outfits would be on the game characters, and not on me... Is this the first time I really miss Friday? When I've been feverishly thinking about what to play this Friday night... There's just no game that's fun.

 

 

Should I just drink my sorrows away? I haven't been drinking much lately. I've never had such a large and diverse Absolut vodka collection before. I've kind of grown to like that Absolut Watermelon.

 

 

Writing rush

Nobody is interested in these stories about writing, but someone could argue that this whole blog is not interesting either. I still want to document the progress of my writing here.

Writing has always been a beloved hobby of mine. I have loved writing since I was a child. The stories I write are mostly romantic nonsense.

 

 

I actually decided to focus on writing instead of studying for a while. I gave myself one week at the end of January, and with that excuse I whipped myself into writing. Right at the beginning I finished 2 short stories, and the following week the third. And then when I was supposed to focus on finishing the fourth, I did two more.

In a couple of weeks I finally finished 5 short stories, and put them on sale on Amazon. And at the moment I have 6 short stories actively in the works.

I have been writing surprisingly much now, although the hardest thing about writing is always opening the text file. It can easily take years before I have the energy to do it. But then once I start writing, it is often really hard to stop.

 

 

It's annoying how much time goes into things other than writing. That is, making covers. And even coming up with names for the characters. I had to create my own file listing the names of the characters used in my short stories, because I was about to use the same name in two of them. I wondered why that name sounded so familiar.

No wonder I'm getting confused when I counted that there were 9 short stories in the works at one point. In addition, there are at least 3 ideas that I haven't even started, and 1 that I've started that I don't know if it will become a short story or something longer (I didn't even remember it existed).

The most annoying thing is one particular short story. I got the idea for it on New Year's Eve. I wrote a lot of it in my head at the time, but I didn't "have time" to write anything down because I had to play Friday. And even after the new year, I still didn't get to write it. And I forgot almost everything. But it's okay, I finished writing it now anyway, and it became the longest of these short stories. Certainly a little different than originally intended, but the basic idea is the same.

Mutts (affiliate link)

 

I am happy that I have now been able to advance my writing. This is quite rare if not unique for me. The most surprising thing has been that I have been able to continue writing even after I started doing those studies again.

I live in the hope that I will finish certain writing projects before I die. These current short stories are just snacks.

J.R. Ward: Lassiter (affiliate link)

 

 

 

Poor person bought expensive socks, and dreams of toothpaste

Clothes just dare to fall apart. I'm talking about the clothes I wear at home. Socks, underwear, t-shirts, pajama pants, leggings, sweatpants. The problem with pajama pants is that they are only available in stores once a year at a certain time of year. The same thing with fluffy socks, of course.

My shoes also fell apart. My only "better" (=non-sneakers) "winter" shoes, ankle boots. The heel started to come off. Luckily, it stayed partially on until I got home. Other similar ones fell apart during the last move. Now I only have sneakers.

The 46-year-old towels are also showing signs of falling apart. Can't you trust anything in this world anymore?

 

 

 

Heat Holders-socks

 

I made a daring move, and bought socks. I only had three pairs of Heat Holders socks (affiliate link), and I need more. I now ordered three new pairs, from the same online store as last time. The socks cost almost 15 euros a pair.

I am against plastic in clothes, and that is why it is sad that the only socks that are warm enough for my feet are made of acrylic, i.e. plastic. I can't even wear acrylic clothes on other parts of my body, they itch and cause red marks on my skin. And of course, I always wear knee-high wool socks over my Heat Holders socks.

 

I also dream of a longer winter jacket. My current one was given to me for free by relatives as a poor relief fund about 15 years ago, and it's otherwise good but too short. Padded trousers could also be nice in the coldest weather. Of course, I do have a pair. It was a good idea to steal them from my aunt, since I've never worn them because they're too short for me.

Durable underwear?

And what would be good underwear? The last time I bought a multipack of Sloggi (years ago), they fell apart in the first wash.

And now, most recently, I bought a multipack of Pierre Roberts. I broke the first one in my anxiety on the day my cat Tabitha died, and I thought it was my fault. But no. The others have also broken in the same place, i.e. the seam. So, not gonna buy again.

So soon (now?) I won't be able to find any panties for me in the supermarkets, for example. They have to be made of cotton, durable and not have itchy lace in them, for example.

Parodontax toothpaste

I have been completely addicted to Parodontax toothpaste for decades. Without it, my gums start to bleed. A few years ago, a big bad company bought Parodontax and ruined it completely. They removed all the active ingredients, so it no longer keeps your gums healthy.

The original Parodontax toothpaste is almost impossible to find anywhere anymore. Only in Holland. It may be that they are running out of stock there too. I ordered "a few" tubes of it through Amazon Germany a couple of years ago. And I had been wondering if I should order it again now, when/if they still have it.

But now I found out that, for example, on Amazon Germany you can get a toothpaste called Paromed, which has the same ingredients as the original Parodontax! Is this what I have been waiting for? A copycat product to save me.

I've been dreaming of a cheaper phone subscription for a long time, and now I found out about a company called Globetel. The cheapest monthly fee is 5.90e. Let's see if it's a scam company. To change the subscription, you should know how to change the SIM card in your cell phone... where are the instructions for my 25-year-old Nokia cell phone? Yeah, I'm just so helpless. I'm afraid that if I open that ancient cell phone, it will break forever.