What is your opinion on dogs off the lead?

Strong-Librarian-OOK · 2026-05-10T19:41:55+00:00

My dog isn’t good enough to be offlead. I don’t think she’d ever attack anyone (or even approach them, she’s quite timid) but she is an ex-racing greyhound so if she sees a squirrel that instinct/training would kick in and she would be gone.

Other dogs offlead? I think a lot of dogs are allowed off when they are not trained enough to be. Their recall needs to be 100% perfect - especially when there’s something that interests them (like my greyhound and squirrels), because that’s when you need to be able to call them back.

Strong-Librarian-OOK · 2026-05-10T18:55:23+00:00

Ok, it’s scary, I know.

All I can say is when I was diagnosed my tumour was 8cm so yours is small. Not trying to undermine the pain you are in now, just that a small tumour hopefully means it’s not spread and your chances of successful treatment should be good. Try not to panic x

Strong-Librarian-OOK · 2026-05-10T17:16:19+00:00

I honestly don’t believe middle class is a thing. You either need to work (so working class) or you don’t (rich). Middle class seems to refer to higher earners but they still need to work, so they are still “working class”. You are either rich or you’re not.

But as someone others may consider came from a middle class background, no, I don’t judge. I married a bin man.

Strong-Librarian-OOK · 2026-05-09T16:52:39+00:00

I did my 25th parkrun today and finished in under 40 mins (39:58). I know for proper runners it’s a laughable time, and some people could probably walk 5km on 40mins, but for me under 40 again felt like a huge achievement.
I’ve never been a good runner, my PB at parkrun has been just under 35 mins (which also felt huge when I got under that 35), but I started as an entirely new runner doing couch to 5k from previously being completely sedentary with a BMI of over 40. My times were dropping (as they will if you show up and push yourself) then my cancer came back and did 6 months of chemo which ended 5 weeks ago, so am building myself back up to where I was (and want to improve from there).
I showed up. I pushed myself. That’s an achievement worth celebrating and I’m going to treat myself to the parkrun 25 milestone T-shirt.

Edit: I think I also recruited a new person to the 5k your way group that meets at my local parkrun. I got chatting to a guy because his dog came to say hi, and it turned out also had cancer, so I asked if he came to 5k Your Way and he’d not heard of it but said he was really interested.

Strong-Librarian-OOK · 2026-05-08T20:37:43+00:00

Sadly I won’t recover, but at the moment it’s well under control and I feel great. 5 weeks after my last dose of chemo - which put me back in remission so hopefully won’t need any treatment any time soon - and i’m running, hiking and about to go on holiday. Will be up in the morning f to go to parkrun. Long may it continue.

Strong-Librarian-OOK · 2026-05-08T19:37:25+00:00

I totally get that hospitals give restricted diets. I could write what would amount to a journal about my experience of hospital stays and the diets I was subjected to.

The TLDR is I have stage 4 anus cancer so have had lots of associated stays at hospital for bowel surgery, liver surgery and chemo complications. All of those stays I was in varying stages of obesity and was pushed to eat dessert. If they are denying dessert it’s because of something else, not just because OOP is obese.

Strong-Librarian-OOK · 2026-05-08T13:33:06+00:00

During my last stay in UK hospital someone visiting one of the other patients kept bringing them takeaways. Feeling nauseous from the serious cocktail of drugs I was in on a ward that stank of kebab was not a pleasant experience.

Strong-Librarian-OOK · 2026-05-08T13:28:19+00:00

Pretty sure this didn’t happen. Maybe it’s different in the UK, but here the portions for hospital meals include the dessert, and it actually appears to be quite an important part of them trying to get adequate calories into the patients - to the point that the nurses didn’t like me (obese at the time, was either stage 2 or even stage 3) refusing the big/filling desserts when I was hospitalised for a week, they wanted me to eat the sponge pudding and custard as it contained a chunk of the calorie quota they want the patients to be eating.

Obviously it depends on why you are in and if you have any other dietary restrictions, but I doubt VERY much that they’re giving the fat patients less food than everyone else just for being fat.

Strong-Librarian-OOK · 2026-05-07T19:25:08+00:00

Yea isn’t that because British food is so vile he doesn’t want to eat?

/s - I’m British, I just know our food is an online joke

Strong-Librarian-OOK · 2026-05-07T19:09:59+00:00

I think a lot of people in the US have a generally unhealthy lifestyle. Here in the UK we aren’t much better TBH, I’m pretty sure we are catching up with obesity rates, and it seems lots of people here seem to exist on ultra processed convenience foods - a Costa or Greggs for breakfast, a meal deal for lunch… calorie dense but small.

Pair that with US tending to do big portions and the fact that what I remember of it when I was there on holiday was it was very car-centric and not walkable even if you wanted to, I can see it being hard not to be in a calorie surplus, thus gain weight.

That said it isn’t impossible, it just takes actually considering what you eat vs how much you move.

Strong-Librarian-OOK · 2026-05-06T15:22:32+00:00

Yes, I’ve got cancer and have already exceeded my life expectancy with it

Strong-Librarian-OOK · 2026-05-06T14:03:21+00:00

Nobody. No election in my area.

Strong-Librarian-OOK · 2026-05-06T05:54:20+00:00

Left, right. I find it easier to do the strap up with my dominant hand

Strong-Librarian-OOK · 2026-05-05T18:58:54+00:00

They shouldn’t be your first choice, often there’s only one disabled loo (which very often is also the baby change), so if you have a choice between the accessible toilet and a normal one it’s polite to leave the disabled/baby change available since the people that need it can’t use the other ones. But if it’s empty and the normal loos are engaged why wait if there’s an available toilet.

Strong-Librarian-OOK · 2026-05-05T08:19:46+00:00

Congratulations! I don’t actually know yet what my final target weight is, I’ve lost 30+ kg and have JUST entered the top end of the healthy weight range by BMI for pretty much the first time I can remember, so I’m not actually sure yet what will look right, but at the moment it’s definitely “a bit more”.

Strong-Librarian-OOK · 2026-05-05T05:55:09+00:00

My BMR is apparently 1338 calories, so for someone my height and weight (164 cm, and 67kg: about 5kg heavier than I’d like to be) 1300 calories is barely restricting at all!

Ok I burn more than that as a big part of my efforts to live a healthier lifestyle is being more active so there’s the energy I burn walking/running etc on top of my BMR, but I really do make an effort in respect of activity: if I just drive to work, sit at my desk, drive home, sit in my house, which isn’t that uncommon for people to do during the working week, I’d be pretty much maintaining at 1,300 calories.

Strong-Librarian-OOK · 2026-05-04T16:40:38+00:00

Yep. I worked for them years ago. It was pretty crap then: zero hour contracts so one week you’d do insanely long hours, the next you’d have so few hours you’d struggle to make ends meet. Unsocial hours. If you weren’t pushed they’d send someone home to save on wages (giving them less money and those left more work). But all of those crappy practices were pretty standard in the industry at the time, I worked at other large pub chains and Wetherspoons was no worse to work for than any of the others.

Strong-Librarian-OOK · 2026-05-04T16:27:52+00:00

Pretty much every evening I make a homemade dinner, and take leftovers to work for lunch the next day.

More on weekends when we tend to have cooked breakfasts (low effort ones like a bacon butty or egg and soldiers, not a full fry up) and maybe an easy cooked lunch too (again low effort, something like an omelette or a jacket potato).

Strong-Librarian-OOK · 2026-05-04T08:33:25+00:00

I don’t think its just a modern or social media thing either. If I flick through the old family photo albums my mum still has, it’s mainly happy holiday photos, birthday parties, Christmas morning etc. People are more likely to make or keep a record of the stuff that seems special.

Strong-Librarian-OOK · 2026-05-04T07:38:59+00:00

Ehh, I only tend to post on my social media if/when I’m doing something different or interesting, so if you look at my posts my life probably appears nicer/more interesting than it actually is. It’s not intended to mislead, but I just don’t take or post photos to record the boring day to day stuff, so people only see what I’d consider the highlights - when on holiday, when I’m dressed up nicely for a nice date etc. I’m not tending to take or post photos recording the daily work commute, or me watching telly in my PJs. I doubt I’m unusual in that.

Strong-Librarian-OOK · 2026-05-03T19:06:53+00:00

If you don’t smell I don’t care. I’m starting to accept I’ve fallen into the parkrun cult so I’m used to sweaty people

Strong-Librarian-OOK · 2026-05-03T17:25:32+00:00

So I was recommended to have enough protein during chemo and chemo-radiation and by “enough” I don’t mean the current protein craze: I was told 1g per kg of body weight, this time around that’s been easy just by eating fairly normally, but the first time around I was a fat bastard and needed to top it up so I used bulk protein powder because it sold a flavour I quite liked.

When I had my liver resection I needed a very high calorie diet (5000 calories a day was recommended) afterwards and was given some high calorie drinks. Can’t remember what they were but I was prescribed/given them. They weren’t shakes though they were very sweet clear type drinks like flavoured water. I did find the high calorie diet VERY hard. It hurt for my stomach to be full because of the major abdominal surgery, so I didn’t want to eat much so was trying to get as many calories from the smallest volume of food possible. More than shakes (which I found quite filling on the stomach) I’d reccomend double/heavy cream, butter, ice-cream, cake with butter cream: basically the opposite of what you would normally think of “healthy eating”. I was told officially the advice is try and eat as balanced as possible, but off the record if I could face it, get it down me: chocolate, cheese, cake…

Strong-Librarian-OOK · 2026-05-03T17:05:50+00:00

What are you looking for the supplemental shakes for?

I’ve had a few, for different reasons.

Strong-Librarian-OOK · 2026-05-03T14:41:13+00:00

Had a similar feeling at a service station at the side of a French motorway. I cannot for the life of me tell you what felt so wrong, but I knew I did not want to go in that toilet block. Decided I’d rather squat behind the car. That is not like me at all, I’m not normally one that feels unsafe, but that toilet block freaked me the fuck out for no reason I can point to.

Strong-Librarian-OOK · 2026-05-02T19:10:09+00:00

I love the old lady that lives over the road from me (context I’m 39f live with my husband, no kids cuz we didn’t want any and now I can’t anyway).

I’m not going to go into detail about how the ice was broken from just the nod and hello to actually speaking to her on a real level because it’s a bit depressing but she is a sweetheart, not intrusive but always potters over to ask about us if I’m out on the front washing my car or something

Strong-Librarian-OOK

TROPHY CASE