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Life Happens, Changes are Disappointing, but Just Get Back on the Horse!!!!!

After doing so well right until after Christmas, my daily life schedule took a nosedive.  My mum went into hospital with a broken hip, and ended up in a much worse state, that I’m not going to mention again today, and I lost complete control over my eating and life for a while.  It happens, and as disappointing as it is, dealing with life changes is something almost all of us have to do as we get older.  Yes, there are people who never change when it comes to weight, and it’s a fortunate thing for them, but I’m not one of them.

Now don’t get me wrong, I haven’t gained stones and stones of weight, I’ve gained a few pounds, but it’s where that weight is that had me so disappointed.

I talked about my first In-Body scan here, which tells us about our body fat percentage, distribution of fat, protein and muscle, and what the visceral fat levels are.  They’re eye opening for sure.  I looked a bit on the thin side for a while, yet my visceral fat was still borderline.   In January, I went back for my second In-Body scan, and I’d done great.  I’d managed to increase my overall muscle by 0.5kg and increased the amount of calories I could eat in a day without gaining weight by a smidgen.  A few weeks later, post stressful month or so, and I’d gained a couple of pounds, yet I LOST a fair bit of muscle, reduced the amount of calories I can eat in a day, and my visceral fat went up by a fair bit.  The shift in my visceral body fat was just not visible on the scales at all.  Visceral fat is the dangerous fat around our midsections, that can lead to fatty liver disease.  I felt incredibly deflated after that, but at the same time, finding out the information from the scan, was incredibly empowering.

I gained weight..  Ok, it’s not great, but we’re all only human.  I’ve done really badly these last few weeks, but I know what I need to do, as I’ve seen the evidence on the In Body scan from Temple Medical, that it works.  Going to the hospital most days, work, and juggling daily life, means I haven’t had the time for me.  I know I need to change that, but it looks unlikely to happen any time soon, and I need to work more too, so I’ll just wing the best way I can for now.

What I wanted to write about, was the Body Contouring that Temple Medical let me review.  I have to say, that I have been very fortunate in having the opportunity to take part in this, as body contouring involves a treatment that helps to tighten loose skin.  I’ve seen people on TV having the treatments, but actually hadn’t thought about them for myself, even though I do have some loose skin that means I cover up more than I need to in warmer weather.

What Happens

You put on a lovely stocking suit.  I say lovely, as it’s actually not as bad as I first thought it would be.  It’s a bit like thick white tights material, and seems to make the treatments more comfortable. It does, I have to say, help hold in some of the wobbly bits for when your measurements get taken.   The treatment is in two parts.  The Ultrasound, to help with fat reduction and LPG Massage, to encourage collagen and elastin

The suit is pretty see through, so I’m not going full out on the blog in that, but you get the idea from my pictures.  Just look at those rosy cheeks with no make-up on and a hot room…

For the Ultrasound, at the beginning, you sort of shimmy out of your suit on the top half and cover up with a towel, while the ultrasound does it’s job on your tummy.  The therapist moves the head around the area to be targeted, for me the belly, which creates friction and heat as it’s moved around the skin, with plenty oil.  I didn’t find the heat uncomfortable at all.  It was a lovely warm sensation for me.

The second half of the treatment is the LPG, which Jana says is known as lipo massage.  It uses suction and rollers, moved across the body in sections, to help tighten skin.  There’s more about the detail below.  Now, I’d be fibbing if I said this part of the treatment was without any discomfort at all.  I wouldn’t call it painful, but you definitely know something is happening to your wobbly bits.  I felt it more on bony parts, like upper arms and upper thighs etc, which are more sensitive.  The therapist makes her way around your whole body, rollering as she goes.

At the beginning, I doubted there would be any difference whatsoever, but the weird thing was, that at around the last couple of sessions, I suddenly realised I wasn’t ashamed of my upper arms anymore.  After losing the weight, I had loose skin on my upper arms which really bothered me.  I often used to wear a long sleeved t-shirt under a short sleeved one to hide them.  One day, I popped on a short sleeve top, and didn’t instantly whip it off again to put another one under it.  I think it took me a couple of days to realise what had happened there.

What was also interesting, was that even after my last disappointing In-Body, where I’d gained a bit of weight and lost muscle, I’d strangely had a shift in my measurements.  Although heavier, my abdomen looked better, and had pulled in, and that was my biggest problem area.  I got off lucky in the loose skin stakes, considering my weight loss, but there’s always room for improvement I think.  I did leave happier than I went in, and I know what I need to do now.

I’ve come towards the end of my treatments with Temple Medical, however, I’ll always be grateful to them for helping me see what can be achievable with a bit more work, and that it’s not all about picking one exercise and thinking that’s enough to actually be fit and healthy.

I’ll let one of the therapists, Jana, give you the official information on the treatments I had.

Temple Medical Body Contouring

Ultrasound

The ultrasound device is called Med Contour. The treatment objective is to reduce adipose tissue in the affected area.

Med Contour is a non-surgical and non-invasive US machine specializing in fat reduction and fat loss. It does this by breaking down stored subcutaneous fat.  MedContour features its own patented FDA approved dual hand piece helping focus treatments better and leaving surrounding structures (i.e. skin, blood vessels, nerves and connective tissue) undamaged. Med Contour also has its own built in lymphatic drainage system helping the body to remove toxins, excess fluids and waste from the body. It carried a CE mark allowing it to be used as a medical device.  It operates at a frequency of 1000kHz. The frequency pitch is too high to be heard therefore no buzzing will be heard/felt in ears. Heat is generated as a result of the high energy, which is an advantage as it assists with skin tightening. If temperatures of >41C can be reached and maintained, the skin will tighten in the area.

Please be aware that the heating  is a secondary effect. It is not important for the mechanical ultrasound vibrations and not by the heat. The treatment will work even if the skin doesn’t get hot.

The treatment time in a combined treatment is 20 minutes.

LPG treatment

LPG (also known as lipo massage) is an intense and deep mechanical massage using suction and rollers to tighten the skin. It works in multi direction forces to activate the fibroblasts (skin cells) to create more collagen and elastin.

Fibroblasts are dormant and repair the skin after trauma to stop infection. The collagen and elastin they create pull the skin of the wound together. The LPG activates the fibroblast to wake them up, imitating trauma to the tissue. This creates collagen and elastin for repair, hence the tightening of the skin.

The treatment also breaks down surface fat calls me

  • Tightens the skin by the stimulation of the fibroblasts.
  • Helps to break down surface fat.  It is worked through the lymphatic system improving circulation, which will smooth out the uneven fat storage and trapped fluid under the skin. This leaves the body via normal bodily fluids.

In summary LPG

  • Enhances the surface of the skin by improving the appearance of cellulite, stretch marks and scarring.
  • Increases lymphatic drainage and speeds up the removal of toxins from the body.
  • LPG treatment will take approximately 30 minutes.
https://www.facebook.com/TempleMedical

templemedical.co.uk

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Deiss Pro Citrus Zester & Cheese Grater and Castle McLellan Pate

As part of the blog, I tried a couple of new products recently.  One thing I have never actually owned was a standalone Citrus Zester, so I was intrigued by the new new one from Deiss, that also doubles as a cheese grater with a multitude of uses, from grating lemon, garlic, ginger and nutmeg too.   As with all graters, you have to watch your fingers when you use it, and I’m grateful it comes with a blade cover, as it’s a much more substantial tool that the ones I’ve seen for sale in my local supermarkets.  I write more about it below.

Castle McLellan Pate

I do like a bit of pate, though mushroom is usually my stretch.

They say:

Castle MacLellan Foods Limited in Dumfries & Galloway has been established for over 30 years and is renowned for its high quality range of pâtés. Today we continue a tradition of excellence and the reputation as the pâté experts. It is our attention to detail and sourcing of authentic ingredients which enables us to create the finest recipes.

Castle McLellan sent me some samples of their pates’ to try, and as my kids also like it, I accepted a selection.  The ones we received were.

  • Oven Roasted Mushroom Pate, with garlic and thyme.
  • Smoked Salmon Pate, with lemon juice and horseradish.
  • Chicken Liver Pate, with Scottish heather honey.
  • Rannoch Smoked Duck Pate, with apple jelly.
  • Luxury Orkney Crab Terrine, with lemon juice & mustard.

We haven’t opened them all yet, as we couldn’t eat them all at once, but we have broken out the Mushroom and the Smoked Salmon.     I absolutely loved the mushroom one, as it’s a rich, creamy, over roasted mushroom pate, with full fat soft cheese, creme fraiche, and seasoned with a hint of garlic & thyme.

I was quite surprised to find that inside the outer cardboard wrappers, there are recipe suggestions for the pate.   Our Mushroom pate contained a recipe for wild mushroom soup, with garlic croutons, which would make 1 large bowl or 2 smaller bowls.  By that point, I’d eaten half the pate, and my middle child had eaten the bagel in the image, so we had none left to make the soup with, but I’d love to try making it.

There are lots of other recipes on their website at castlemaclellan.co.uk

My kids polished off the Smoked Salmon Pate, and I don’t think the other ones currently sitting in my fridge are going to last for long.  You don’t get the real colour of the smoked salmon pate below, but it was a lovely pale shade.

Castle MacLellan and proud makers of Scottish Pate, and are owned by the Kavli Trust, which supports good causes in the UK and abroad.  Part of the profits from the Kavli group are reinvested in strengthening and developing the groups operations, which the rest is donated to good causes in research, culture and humanitarian work, by supporting poor and disadvantaged people in the global south and in the Kavli countries.

Available to buy in Sainsburys, Aldi, ASDA, Morrisons, Co-operative, Booths, NISA, Budgens, Local Independent Stores.

Deiss Pro Citrus Zester & Cheese Grater

For the pictures on this post, I used the Deiss to grate some lemon peel to sit over the Smoked Salmon Pate from Castle McLellan.  Deiss is a small kitchenware company, and the Citrus Zester and Cheese Grater can be found on Amazon at a great price at the moment.  As of 23 April 2017, the price is £9.98 with free delivery.  That’s a pretty great price for such a nifty gadget.

The Zester & Cheese Grater are well presented and looks like a professional product from the word go.  It is very sharp.  I’ve already said this, as I ran my fingers across it to wipe away the lemon zest.  Big mistake.  Thankfully, I didn’t press, and my fingers recovered, but keep your hands well away from the blades when you are cleaning it, and if you put this in a kitchen drawer, make sure you use the purpose designed blade cover that comes with it.

Actually, I’m pretty pleased with this.  It’s far easier for me to hold and grate cheese, than my old traditional style grater, and I have more control it.   It’s made of a premium quality stainless steel that won’t rust, and has a non-slip grip, which is always important for any device with a blade.

I like it so much, that I’ve given my old graters away.  I guess that says it all.  It’s very light, and comes with a lifetime warranty, as well as being dishwasher safe.

Thanks to Castle McLellan and Deiss for our samples.

 

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A Future Bedroom Refresh for The Teen

Brought to you in collaboration with Teacherboards.

It’s safe to say middlers bedroom is a bit of a stromash at the moment.  He’s a child/teenager, as so many special needs children are, and although he wants to be a teen, he’s still a child at heart. His room badly needs doing, but as with everything else, life moves on, and here we are, with him now a couple of years into teenagehood, and he’s still got transformers curtains and childish decor.  Even he wants it changed.

When Teacherboards got in touch, I was still thinking about how I could possibly change his room into something that still lets him be a child, yet can be quicky and easily turned into a more grown up room for when his brothers friends come round, and he can swiftly, and on his own, make his room blend in to what a regular teenager would see as cool.  I hadn’t found anything that would allow him that privilege.

I did half think about the rainbow felt pinboards, but thought he might think those too girly. 

They come in 20 different colours, with beech surround.  They can be displayed vertically or horizontally, and include a wall fixing kit. These would have been perfect for him a few years ago, for making shapes, puzzles and more, but for this time round, I have been looking for something a bit more grown up.

I’d thought about buying a blackboard or giant sheets of paper for him, and the option of whiteboards were a very real possibility, then I spotted the paint…  Yep, that’s right..  Paint, but not ordinary paint.

I spotted this paint on their website, and I knew I’d found what I was looking for.

Ideapaint – Dry Wipe Whiteboard Wall Paint, in white.

Write on after four days.
• Environmentally compliant.
• 10-year limited warranty.
• IdeaPaint is odourless when dry (after 24 hours) and will cover an area of 4.65m² per package.

It would be perfect for him….  Absolutely and without any doubt whatsoever.

I can just imagine him drawing away on the walls to his heart’s content, never having to worry about what mum and dad will say, and just the thought of having your walls as your canvas, is genius, for all kids I think.  It would also let him quickly wipe away any evidence of squiggly wiggly lines if he wants to look more grown up when his brothers friends are around.

Given the price, at £168.60 including vat for 4.65m² , I could only justify one wall done in this paint, but that would be enough for him, and would keep him a very happy boy indeed..  I’ve never seen this in classrooms but I’m sure some of you out there have seen this in action.  I’d love to know what the kids actually think of it.

Now, all I have to do, is save up the money, and he can have the drawing board of his dreams……

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Having Wide Feet Isn’t Fair…….

Brought to you, in collaboration with Simply Be.

I think the name of this says it all.  I’m one of those people with boats for feet.  Really, when I was around the age of 10, I’d hit a size 7 in shoes, and was just touching five foot tall.  By the time I was 11, I’d gone into 7.5 and have fluctuated between 7 – 8 over the years, depending on the styles, manufacturers and widths on offer.

In an upmarket shoe shop, they once measured me as having a C width….  I don’t know about their tape measures, but standard shop shoes tend to be around a C to D width, and I’ve hardly ever been able to get anything with a heel on in a D width, unless the manufacturer has been very generous indeed.  Perhaps it’s my high instep that throws the width I need off, but I’ve always had to consider good width shoes.

I remember years ago, buying a pair of Sole Diva boots.  They were ankle boots, in black suede wedge, and a good height, at around 3 or so inches high.  They were like pillows on my feet, and I loved them.  Over the years, I’ve tried to find another pair that are similar, but never come up smelling of roses for this.  Simply Be asked me to take a look at their ranges for the new season, and the first thing I headed to was the shoe department, for obvious reasons.

I’ve not looked at these for a while, so it was nice to see regular shoes in EEE widths, as well as regular.  I’ve tended to live in trainers and fitflops over the last year, but that has to stop as I go into a new business venture for the future.  I do need footwear that will be a little smarter going forward.

I quite like the look of these silver mules.  in E width for £35.

These look quite comfy for standing about all day in, and cool enough to go with jeans on black trousers.

I’m very much a jeans with sandals girl in summer, and jeans and boots girl in winter.  Perhaps I shouldn’t say girl, given my age, but you know what I mean.  I also think it’s important for brands to design for women, not just for very skinny, boyish figures, which is why I’m not surprised that there are several online shops now that have good clothes, in a range of sizing.  For jeans, at the moment, I seem to very between brands, ranting from size 8 to size 12, depending on who makes them.

The one thing I’ve learned over the years, from being all sizes of clothes, is that if a size 10-12 model on the larger clothing ranges doesn’t look good in something, then it’ll look ten times worse on me.  I go for things I like the shape of, and try them.

These jeans have a great shape, and at £28, for a shape I like, is good value.  I tend to pay for shape rather than brand with jeans, which I think many of us middleaged people do.

Brought to you, in collaboration with Simply Be. Opinions are my own, and not reflective of Simply Be.

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The Spring Beach Clean – ps, it’s not what you think….

Every so often, as bloggers, we’re asked to share initiatives that are actually beneficial for all of us.  This is one of those initiatives, that I think we all need reminding of from time to time.

The #binit4beaches campaign team contacted me, and asked me to do a post, which I’m delighted to do.  They are a group of environmental campaigns and businesses, working together to reduce the pollution in the UK’s rivers and seas.

They say.

Did you know that there are approximately 200,000 sewer blockages throughout the UK every year, of which up to 75% are caused by fat, oil and grease poured down the sink? These blockages can cause sewage to overflow into local rivers and to the sea, places we all want to be able to enjoy safely with our friends and family.

What They Asked Bloggers

We were asked to become WATER AMBASSADORS, by informing all of you who read us, about the simple things we can do to help at home.

Remember that when you’re washing up, after making any of my recipes, DON’T pour oils and grease down the sink.

Instead wait for the oil or grease to cool and either wipe with kitchen roll into the bin or create a fat trap in an old jar to throw away later, either way; make sure these products go in the BIN, not the SINK!  I’m actually really good for doing this now, but a few years back, I’d have just turned on the hot tap, and let it swish down the plughole, never thinking where it would all end up.  Clean pipes, mean a higher chance of clean beaches.

Oils and grease can cause sewer blockages, which can overflow into homes, rivers and finally to the sea.  And we all want our beaches to be places we enjoy safely, especially if we have children and dogs with us.

This Easter make the change and #binit4beaches.”

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Update & The Twiddle Mitt for Dementia

Those of you following my blog, know my mother has dementia and has been in hospital for a while now. With the wrong medicine initially, and the trauma, her hearing and sight are now fairly badly impaired, although at a medium distance, she can still make things out, but not close up, even with glasses.  They missed her retina scan at the hospital, and I’m hopeful they actually take her to the rescheduled appointment this week as I’m working, but apart from that, she gets to rest a lot more and is generally much happier.

She’s had a rough time, but she came home for a visit today.  A few days ago, they told my husband they’d changed her care package to help me with her, apparently, from something different to what I was told, but nobody has told me what that is yet, and at the home visit today, they told me there’s no care……

She didn’t seem to recognise terribly much, and it’s clear the OT etc had no understanding of how little she could do before she went into hospital.  She’s seen as a significant risk of falls, which really isn’t any different to before, but with her dementia more advanced, her confusion is very sad.

The poor thing was frozen in her wheelchair when they got her here.  The OT who came with her looked a bit taken aback when I asked why she didn’t have her coat or any socks on, on a cold breezy day.

Social media, however, is amazing.  People regularly message me and ask how she is and one of my Twitter friends sent me a gorgeous twiddle mitt for her.  She’ll get more use of it at home than in hospital, where they don’t give it to her, and she only gets it if I’m in, but it’s a fabulous thing.  I’d never heard of them before.  With lots of stitched in little bits, and a wooden toggle inside, it’s great for warming hands and fiddling with.  The lovely purple mitt that I was sent, has tinsel wrapped around it, and a couple of little bells, and some fancy stitching.  It’s simple, and lovely at the same time.

I’d never heard of them before, but I’ve since seen them on e-bay, as I’ve been looking, and some hospitals have been asking for them to give to patients.  It was one of my Twitter friends who was knitting twiddle mitts for her local hospital, who knows about my mum, and very kindly sent me one.  The kindness of strangers is often overwhelming.

The blanket she has on her in this pic, is one I made when I was 15 – several decades ago…..  She used to recognise it as something from home, but I’ve taken it home and given her a thicker one, as at the moment, she doesn’t seem to recognise much from her old life, and is always cold, so the thicker blanket it is.  She’s getting thinner and thinner by the week, as she hardly eats anything, although she seems brighter than she has for a while.

Thanks to everyone who reads me, and sorry for the sporadic posts these last few months.  I am still here and pottering away with a few different things.  I hope to let you all know more soon.

x

 

 

 

 

 

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Review: Bahlsen Minis

We received some new samples this week, of the Bahlsen Mini range.  My kids tend to like these as they’re easily eaten, and we loved our Christmas samples, so although my boys had to wait a few days until I had time to take some pictures, the packets didn’t hang around for long.  My youngest had some pals around, and for early evening snack, these did the job perfectly, although I had to grab some of my favourites before they were demolished by teenage boys.

My favourites were the Waffle Minis, which are crispy mini wafer rolls, the ones in the centre in this picture.  Light and crispy, they’re more like a sweetie than a biscuit.  Perfect.

My eldest preferred the Messino Minis, with the soft sponge, orange fruit filling and dark chocolate on the top.

Available in Tesco.

Thanks to Bahlsen for our samples.