Sleep - Living Long and Strong with Verne and Roy

June 15, 2022June 16, 2022

#24 Hey, Honey – local is lekker!

As you can’t have helped noticing, says VERNE MAREE, Big, Bad Sugar is the new villain on the block, having taken the place of fat. Now fat is good, as long as it is good fat. That generally holds true wherever you’ve planted your flag in the diet wars. (Except for low-fat vegans, who are unlikely to make old bones… or be reading this blog.)

But there may be a special place reserved for honey. There’s most definitely a place for it in my Low Carb, No Crap™ diet and lifestyle plan.

Postcode honey – as local as it gets! *Photo credit: Carrie Titchmarsh*

That’s because I don’t believe carbs are the enemy, either… unless they’re carbage, like anything white and refined. Eating the Low Carb, No Crap™ way doesn’t mean villifying carbs. (It’s more about choosing your carbs selectively, and according to your unique needs and tolerance levels.)

May 13, 2022June 2, 2022

#22 How is Your Light Diet? Part Two: Circadian Rhythm

How is your light diet? For your best night’s sleep ever and to reduce unwanted body fat, VERNE MAREE recommends hacking your circadian rhythm with red light in the morning, getting plenty of natural daylight, and minimising blue light after dark.

As promised in Part One of this series on light, here are some thoughts on how sunrise and morning light sets us up for a good night’s sleep, and how too much blue light can actually make us fat!

#21 How is Your Light Diet? Part One: Vit D, Sunshine and More

Our light diet may be as important as sleep, nutrition and exercise, VERNE MAREE discovers.

I rejoice when I see Roy outside with his shirt off. Not only because he – like most of us – looks heaps better with a tan, but because I know it’s boosting his immune system and helping him to live long and strong.

In fact, he’s just had a load of blood tests – and his Vitamin D is way up where it belongs.

Light Diet — Roy on Yallingup Beach, WA, a couple of weeks ago.

(The above pic of Roy on Yallingup Beach was taken a couple of weeks ago; click here for that travel blog post, and if you like it, please sign up to Travels with Verne and Roy!)

March 20, 2022April 28, 2022

#19 When to Eat

When to eat might be as important a question as what to eat. VERNE MAREE spills the beans on how Roy and she are faring with Intermittent Fasting (IF) and Time-Restricted Feeding (TRF).

It’s not just what you eat that matters. When you eat is important, too. I’m a firm believer in both intermittent fasting and time-restricted feeding. If you’re not already on track, why not give it a try?

February 11, 2022February 11, 2022

#17 Snoring

Snoring – are you a perpetrator or a victim? VERNE MAREE confesses to having been both, and offers some solutions.

Snoring is no joke… it’s a serious hazard to your health, and possibly to your relationship, too.

Snoring couple — Photo credit: Kampus by Pexels

True Snoring Story, UK Summer 2005

Snorers often don’t like to admit they snore, and Roy was one of them. But his cover was irrevocably blown one summer, when he rented a lovely converted barn in Warwickshire – close to his mother’s home – to accommodate the whole family.

#15 Grounding

What is grounding, anyway? Getting and staying grounded is becoming increasingly important for mental, physical and emotional health… and can be difficult to achieve in these ever-crazier times. Verne Maree thinks that walking barefoot on Mother Earth is a good place to start.

December 5, 2021December 5, 2021

#10 A Good Night’s Sleep – Dreams and nightmares

A good night’s sleep includes plenty of dream sleep and – if possible – avoiding nightmares. Why do we dream? Dreaming helps keep us sane!

(Featured photo: In case you’re wondering, the Corpse Bride above is granddaughter Mia, Halloween 2021.)

In the wee small hours, Roy’s hairy arm reached out to prod me awake. According to him – though it’s hard to imagine from such a sweet thing as I am – his wife was snoring like a dervish.

#9 – Christmas Wish List for a biohacker

Here’s my Christmas wish list! All I want for Christmas* is a countertop water flosser, a new cover for my MacBook Air, an ozone generator with oxygen tank, the new Gen. 3 Oūra ring sleep tracker, a couple of mood-enhancing wearables like Hapbee and Apollo Neuro, an infrared sauna and a continuous glucose monitor.

purely in my biohacking capacity, that is…

“What do you want for Christmas?”, 11-year-old Mia asked me a few days ago. Only in retrospect did I realise my granddaughter was probably hoping I’d ask the same question in return – but she’d given me the idea for this blog post, and not being much of a multi-tasker, my mind wandered and I dropped the ball.

My husband didn’t ask what I wanted, so I told him anyway: an ozone generator plus an oxygen tank. Not only might this be the weirdest ever Santa request, it didn’t help my case that I thought it was the kind of tank that scuba divers use.

#5 The Oūra Ring

Confessions of a biohacker generally include purchases of supplements, books, toys, technology and devices – including ones like the sleep-tracking Oūra ring – that track the success of your biohacking efforts. Here, I’ll explain what made me do it, admit it’s not the best activity tracker, describe how to order an Oūra ring, how to track your sleep and how to hack your sleep – and, most importantly, how the Oūra ring works and how to make it work for you.

I finally did it! In June 2020, I treated myself to an Oūra ring – “the world’s smartest sleep-tracker”. Paid for with husband Roy’s Singapore credit card, this was a bit of a sneaky transaction, effected one night while R C Titchmarsh himself was watching the Hungarian F1 Grand Prix next door with son Carl.

He’s never delighted when Hamilton wins, and his mood wasn’t improved when he saw the purchase confirmation in his inbox.