I’m just speaking for myself here, so not saying this is true for everyone or even many people, but the cost of the gym isn’t the biggest barrier for me.

I like what you say about expanding availability - there isn’t a gym within (reasonable) walking distance of me. I think facilities being in communities makes a difference.

However, one of the biggest barriers to me is childcare. Somewhere where I could take them to do their own activities while I worked out would make it far more likely that I use it, and I suspect this is the case for others. My partner works long, unpredictable hours, so I can’t sign up for the weekly classes (that I did before having children) as I don’t know that he’ll be around to look after them.

I also have chronic health issues, which don’t prevent me exercising all the time, but there are days where I cannot leave my bed because of migraine, so again, committing to something regular is difficult. (Again, persoal to me, but I’m not alone in having a chronic condition.)

I tend to walk everywhere I can as accessing formal exercise has too many barriers for me, so I do have an acceptable level of fitness, but I miss doing classes as I found these really motivating.

Sorry for the long reply - I don’t disagree that price and access are issues, but there are more besides that I think need to be addressed. Stress and available time being factors in additional to the others I mentioned.

I also think there are issues with the weight loss drugs besides cost, one of those being the need to stay on them longterm. That’s not even getting into using weight as the sole metric of health.

You might enjoy the podcast Maintenance Phase if you don’t already know it. They have a Dr Oz episode and Oprah has a few of her own too.

That’s so weird - I heard about, for the first time, and looked up this ice-cream only this morning. There was a failed petition to change the name, which generated a number of counter petitions.

Me too. Still the celebrity death that most upset me. Would have loved to see him do Taskmaster too.

Smashing username. Jurassic Park!

Someone I know was working with a person who has a therapy dog. Apparently the dog is trained to understand when they become overwhelmed and just sit on them. It sounds like it has a similar mechanism to these techniques.

Our house is about 150 years old and we dug down to the dirt floor in one of the downstairs rooms. We found suspicious white bits, and had to send a sample off. Luckily it came back clear. It was unlikely anyway, as asbestos wasn’t in widespread use here in the 19th century.

However, we do have corrugated asbestos roofing on our “scullery” but it’s in one piece so can be left until we renovate that part, then disposed of safely. It’s pretty common to find it on sheds and outbuildings here.

I have everything I need for a Nadja of Antipaxos costume, but I don’t think we’re going anywhere.

My girl cat slept on top of me all night. I’m now hurting from not being able to change position while sleeping. (I guess I could have moved, but she’s too sweet to disturb)

Thank you so much! I will try some magnesium glycinate. I am taking iron as well as I’m almost always low on that. Appreciate you taking the time to help.

Some are more gentle on your stomach.

You may have helped me solve a mystery. I started taking it a few weeks ago and I’ve had a lot of abdominal discomfort recently, but never put the two together. Also, I’ve unfortunately not seen any improvement in my chronic fatigue.

Oh, you don’t like bonfire night? Fireworks too loud? /s

Edit: Seriously, good luck to you guys - I’ll be watching nervously from the UK (where our election was on 4th July.)

Three shares, folded in half, then in half again. Maybe two squares if it’s quilted.

Stop trying to make fetch happen

Yeah, I guess so. It’s probably so they put lower overall salt on the packaging.

Michael Hobbs reading the bit where JD questions his sexuality cracks me up.

Not only “spices” but paprika and white pepper too!

I’ve been using Daylio for years.

It’s designed to track moods and the activities associated with them, but it’s adaptable, so I use it to track my headaches. It’s very easy to use and it doesn’t feel onerous to record the information.

Man I love those books. Only time I’ve finished a series and gone straight back to the beginning again.

It’s starting to get cold here, which means more cat cuddles!