The battery of blood tests I have had this summer following my hospital incarceration turned up lots of interesting things, amongst which was a serious vitamin D deficiency. Can’t say I was enormously surprised, given the lack of exercise and sunlight in my life. When you are as pale skinned as I am, it’s easy to treat sunshine as the enemy. On the flipside tho I don’t really have any wrinkles. Great: I can die early from vitamin D related conditions like cancer but hey I’ll look ten years younger in my coffin.
I am now determined to fit in an hour of outdoor exercise each day, even if it is only walking to and from appointments & meetings. Working from home means that it’s very easy just to stay indoors all day, playing on the internets and only seeing sun through the skylights of my room.
Based in Highgate Village for the summer, I now use walking across Hampstead Heath as both short cut & exercise: I can walk to my sister’s in Gospel Oak almost entirely on grass, (more like hay after this long, hot summer),
as well as taking a brisk 35minute walk due west across the Heath to check out new Whistles stock run errands in Hampstead.
On Saturday Clare & I power walked to lil’sis’ & back in the early evening sunshine to pick up my St Tropez samples, and yesterday I walked so far I considered crawling back up Fitzroy Park to Highgate Village by the end of the day. It started off with a hike west to my opticians in Hampstead,
and was followed by a yomp down Rosslyn Hill, a pitstop to buy the scarf above in Whistles, then onto lil’sis’ to collect her & Posetta Baddog for lunch at the Italian on the Parliament Hill section of the Heath.
There we met @wardrobeslave & Zelda the black lab/staffie cross that thinks she’s a puppy, ate Primrose Bakery cupcakes that WS brought for us,
listened to the brass band on the bandstand,
then burnt off the pasta with a walk over Parliament Hill…
Shorts: J Brand distressed denim (from Selfridges)
T shirt: LNA pale grey scoop neck with tails
Cardigan: Ancient old M&S navy dug out from the attic
Scarf: Whistles blue ombré scarf –Bought in the sale yesterday for £25 from £45
Shoes: Tod’s leather sandals (also dug out of attic)
Bag: Zimmerman beige laser cut leather (out of sight)
Earrings: Vintage turquoise chandeliers
Necklace: Georg Jensen Moonlight Grapes pendant
Posetta would like you to know that she is working her Purdey blue rope lead.
Thank you to J Brand for the shorts & LNA for the T shirt. I’m a bit stretched on clothes owing to a) the fire & b) not intending to be in London this summer ‚which is why I’ve been digging around in my mother’s attic looking for ancient M&S cardis etc.
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You look remarkable for someone in mostly donated clothing and the earrings are lovely. This new routine must be heaven for Miss Baddog.
We had lunch at the Holly Bush on Sat — worth a stop by next time you are up that way, they have really upped their game. Tho not sure about veg options as I’m a carnivore.
Blimey, you look about 17 in that picture — great photo!
That first picture is really lovely, with all that blue. It is also great to see the entire LLG, instead of just portions or sunglasses. Keep up the exercise outside.
@Pierre & @LookingFab: thank you both!
@Penny Dreadful: I always forget about the Holly Bush — must go. PB lives with lil’sis so she doesn’t get out quite as much she’d like..
There’s been something on Radio 4 about vitamin D deficiency — The Food Programme. Give it a listen on iPlayer?
Just to make sure, dogs are not supposed to eat sugar, their body accumulates it and after a certain amount they begin to get blind.
Just a tought…
Interesting post.
Sun is my enemy and I wear SPF 50 face and body, does that mean I would get vitamin D deficiency?
The vitamin D deficiency thing is so bizarre, one of my friends recently had blood work done too, the surprise being the vitamin D thing.…she’d just been on holiday to Mauritius a few month ago too.
Fab puppy scoffing cupcake shot too! Lol!
x.o.x.o
@A Brit Greek: It’s amazing how common it is…
@Kit: I think it’s def worth getting checked out…
@Nat: She’s just eating the wrapper! WE ate the cakes
@Jenni I think I have the podcast — will chk — thank you
That vitamin D defitiency is doing wonders for your youthfull looks!! Sounds like a lovely way to be spending your summer, great to get out and about eh! Loving your donation chic look! e xxxx
Why thank you. And yes, donation chic is def my way forward!
I love Primrose cupcakes! Best there are…
I think I am a convert now too!
You look bronzed and lovely, it’s great to see all these pictures of the park and your lovely pup. I am based in a central London office all day and utterly jealous of your chance to be out and about a bit more — I know it’s a tough discipline to get into though, so tempting to stay inside in PJ’s all day!
@TLC I do seem to be posting rather a lot of photos of Hampstead Heath of late…but I’m glad you like them x
I just found out that I have a severe Vit D deficiency too! Are you on supplements? I blame that nasty English winter we just had…
Lovely pics of you (and your legs) on Hampstead Heath! xx
Gorgeous earrings, beautiful skies.
I’m glad about the sudden attention that Vit D is getting, especially since the best source of it is free. It’s good for us in the long run– we’d all be better, happier people if we could spend more time outdoors.
Best ever buy, those earrings. And you are right. We all need to get OUTDOORS more…
Chiming in with ‘me too’ on the blood tests re: vit D. There are other things wrong but this is one of them. Oi.
PS: You look fabulous!
It’s amazing how many of us do have that deficiency…hope you getting it sorted out dear. sx (and thank you!)
You look amazing in that photo! Vitamin D deficiency aside I think this summer is doing wonders for you. I’m pleased to know that you know now what was causing all the issues and you will be able to take care of it.
But have I mentioned how gorgeous you are looking!
xx
Thank you Jean! What a lovely start to the day! x
Same here with the Vit D deficiency & I was diagnosed after spending 5 months in Bangkok. Darn the sunscreen. Can’t live with it, can’t live without it.
Bangkok? Blimey. You are a cautionary tale. Really, I think everyone in the Northern hemisphere shld get checked out x
At least London and NY are such great walking cities! Take care and soak in the sun!
’tis true, although really what I want to do is get back on my bike…
You look fab — like a more fashion fwd Cat Deeley.
And the pic of Posetta covered in cake crumbs made me laugh outloud!
x
You know I love you, right?! x
You look fabulous, Vitamin D deficiency and all. I too am very pale, use a ton of sunblock and hide out from the sun. My doctor has made me take supplements for years, and told me to increase my intake of Vitamin d fortified milk.
I hope you get it sorted out soon and your idea of exercise is excellent. My dogs and I have been hiding from the extreme heat here, but will make more of an effort to go out in the early morning or evening.
Posetta, what a perfect shot. It make me laugh out loud, which is a great start to a day.
Medics now recommend 20 mins at NOON. Which scares the beejesus out of me. Ack. xx ps I’ll tell ratbag you said so!
Ooh — now I want a cupcake. And sadly I don’t have a doggy, so I’ll get it all to myself!
I hate my face being in the sun, so always cover up. What is the answer? Is there an answer?
I recently had a blood test with my doctor friend, I too have both severe vit D and calcium deficiency OOpps. I’m slightly lactose intorlence so I don’t eat anything made of dairy products, small cakes and biscuits are fine hence why I was sooo tired, dizziness and hungry in the nights. Got prescribed some supplements :S
Thank you Sasha, if I hadn’t read your post I’d probably vit D deficiency for the rest of my life.
You look lovely in that photo. And such greenery in the middle of London…sigh, so wonderful to actually be able to exercise in such beautiful surroundings.
Me, I just look at travel magazines while trundling along on the treadmill
Thank you Nishita, it *is* beautiful there this time of year x
Exercise in the sun — what a pleasant doctor’s order! You look fabulous, and I hope that this picture is indicating that you are truly on the mend. MMx
PS: You are staying more or less up the street from where I live in N1. *waves arms in the air*
If you are vitamin D deficient you are most likely magnesium deficient too. One of the best ways to get magnesium is an epsom salt bath. Your body will only absorb the magnesium that you need and your vitamin D levels will increase too.
Take the Pill, LLG. I don’t know if it’s as good as taking a sun bath, but it’s better than nothing.
At this time of year, it starts to get hard to get your daily Vitamin D from the sun. So take the pill. Only problem is, where you’ll find D pills with enough potency in the UK? So far I’ve had to order them cross the Atlantic.…(sourcing from iherbs.com) Anybody has a tip where to find Vitamin D >50 micrograms pills in the Old World?
NOt sure if that’ll be what you need, this is what we used to take every winter, when I lived in france: sterogyl drops
http://www.db-pharma.com/dbpharma/fiche-uk.cfm?id=25
you can take 1 dop for each 10 microgram you need
1 drop = 400 IU of vitamin D2 (= 10 μg of crystallized vitamin D).