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Ok, I gave it a go, and decided outdoors running in any of my current shoes is a no go. I only made three-quarters of a mile and my feet were killing me today. It doesn’t help that I bruised my arches on the daft shoes with too much support yesterday, which I only felt when I’d done my 5k.
Perhaps I’ll always be a treadmill runner, but kids were bored, and nobody had to go anywhere, so we went out for a wee jog.
In the end, we eventually went to the park, before hitting Maccy D’s.
I have to admit, that I’ll never be too old to play on swings. I was too heavy for a while, but now I’m a more normal size, it was fun to climb the chutes and swing away like I used to do. Who cares if I got funny looks. I also love how my boys, even though they’re all early teens, still wanted to go play. I bet they wouldn’t admit that in front of their friends!!!!
We had a lovely evening, and it was worth getting off our bums, cold or not.
My 13 year old took these on his phone, so forgive the poor quality, but I’ve spent so long – not doing things like this, that I couldn’t resist sharing on my blog. Fitness has to become a much bigger part of my life, and hiding away has to stop.
The next time you go to the park, give it a go. You never know, you might just enjoy yourself…
I did my first 10K yesterday. It was on the treadmill, and it took me forever, and I also had to walk a bit of it, but I ran solid for 90 minutes before I had to walk for a little bit, then I ran to the end.
Yes, I’m slow. It’s more of a jog than a run at my speed, but I’ve got two feet off the ground for a long spell of time. Maybe I’ll speed up, and maybe I’ll always be slow, but at my age, I’m just amazed that my body is coping with all of this.
Less than a year ago, I found myself out of breath climbing two flights of stairs. That was incredibly devastating as I used to be fit. Not 10K running fit, but I could have walked for hours on end at a speedy pace. Having a young dog helped then. Over the years, diabetes and the under active thyroid, along with my fibro which affected my feet and plantar fascitis in both of them as well, I ended up as a bit of a wreck.
I was heading towards a big birthday, and all I could see was that my life was headed towards a spiral of weight, being sick, tired and unfit. I struggled to stay awake after eating anything, but the diabetes was a bit out of control and my blood sugars were high. Once I added thyroxine, I seemed to find the energy I’d been lacking for a long time.
I started walking to get my blood sugar down and one day, on a whim, I started the couch to 5K routine. It was a killer. I barely made the first day of running for one minute at a time, interspersed with bouts of walking.
I now know that slowing to a walk is ok. If it needs to be done, there’s no shame in it. Several times, I almost gave up. Especially on the longer runs of 20 minutes plus. It seems incredible to me, that now, I think of 30 minutes of constant running as an easy run. This is me talking. 30 minutes of running is easy – well apart from the first few minutes, which are always a killer, until I find my running legs and my calf muscles settle down to a rhythm.
Yesterday, I did my usual three or four weekly 5K. Then I decided to go for 6.4k, to make it a 4 mile run. At 6.4k, I still felt strong, so kept going until around 8k, where I had to take a bit of a breather for a few minutes, then I picked the pace back up, now determined to hit the 10k mark. Possibly stupid to go straight from 5k to a 10k, but that’s an exercise high for you. I ran the last 1.5k very slowly, slower than my starting off pace, but I did eventually hit the 10k, and slowed to a walk to cool down.
My back hurt….. My feet hurt….. But I did it…..
What I’ve Learned Over The Last Few Months of Running… My Tips for New Runners – those even newer than me, and I’m still new.
It’s ok to be slow.
Never compare myself to anyone else. Other people don’t have my health issues, and what’s tough for me, could be easy for someone else. If you sail past me while I jog on, then just give me a smile as I end up eating your dust.
Weight loss can slow up when you start running.
I’ve heard of other people who’ve lost a pile of weight when they start to run. I’m told that some weight is fluid retention to repair the muscles that are stressed in some new runners. I have metabolism issues, and for me, weight loss has slowed to a snail’s pace. I am growing muscle in my legs, and although I fit into smaller clothes, my weight is not reducing at a rate to reflect that, but it’s ok to be heavier at a smaller size clothes. It will sort itself out over time, as long as I stay in a calorie deficit.
Other runners can be as*es…
Most other runners are encouraging, helpful and understanding. We can’t all be race winners, or even race finishers. If we get up off our backsides and try, we are all life winners. I think of myself more as a jogger, but everyone seems to refer to running nowadays, and the NHS app says I’m a runner, so run/jog, it’s all getting two feet off the ground. I’ve heard from other newbies who’ve had their speed dissed by experienced runners. Honestly, don’t care about it. We’re not all natural runners. Sometimes, people who are, don’t understand how much work it is for the rest of us.
Protein is more important than I ever thought.
Learning to run while you’re in a calorie deficit isn’t simple. When I started upping my time running, I was finding recovery tricky. I felt fine after the run, but quickly crashed. Some days, I needed two days rest between a run. After a bit of reading, I realised that I was nowhere near meeting my daily protein needs.
(Affiliate Link)
I needed to find a way to get more protein at lower calories, and got sick of things like eggs, so started looking at protein shakes. I finally settled on myprotein, as it has 20g of protein in 25g of powder, which suits me fine and didn’t break the bank.
A recovery drink stops me wanting to go to sleep after a long run.
I’ve found my holy grail of recovery drinks. Here’s my recipe for it.
50g Frozen Raspberries
50g Banana
20g Myprotein Powder
200ml Skimmed Milk
I blitz this in my Nutribullet for a few seconds, and I’m ready to go. Sometimes, I replace some of the raspberries with frozen Mango or Strawberries. I always use frozen fruit for this part, as I like the consistency and it’s easy to always have fruit in the freezer, ready to go.
It has around 220 Calories, with 25g Protein.
Running shoes are a must.
I’ve struggled with my feet throughout this process. I tried cushioning, but those didn’t support my arches enough, although I’m told I’m a neutral runner. Perhaps it was the plantar, but the neutral cushioned ones I had caused me problems with the ball of my feet and feeling my tendon move inside my arch. At the moment, I’m back to my old Nike support ones, but I need more cushioning on the forefoot, so I have a new pair on order. I don’t overpronate, so I don’t need high stability shoes, but I do need some support.
Doing some research into what shoes you need is very important. Much more than I realised at the beginning of all this. The right shoes help keep injury rates down. My current Nike’s are fine for 5k, but I need more cushioning for longer distances.
Don’t run in cotton joggers!
Honestly, really don’t, unless you’re in the early stages of the C25K. I skint my knees with mine on a 5k. I’ve got some silky trackie bums that slide over skin now, from Asda, and some others on order to try.
Enjoy it.
As hard as this sounds, it’s important to realise that exercise should be fun – eventually. I really hated the first weeks, and I still dislike the first 5-10 minutes of a run, but once I’m past that, I now begin to enjoy it. Who’d have thought I’d ever enjoy this…..
Music is Key.
I can speed up to some tracks, and others slow me down. I’m making a playlist of the songs that help me to go a bit faster and keep my motivation high. At around 7k yesterday, I got a little emotional, and almost cried. Not from pain, but because the song lifted me and I felt invincible doing what I was doing. I hope to keep doing this as long as I can, as I feel amazing after a run.
I don’t always enjoy every minute of a run, and some parts are difficult, but without the right music, I can’t cope. I tried using the treadmill and watching the news, but found that too boring. If my music is loud enough to stop me hearing my feet hit the ground, I’m happier. When I can hear each step, it puts me right off and I almost crumble. As well as that, some runs are just rubbish, especially if I’m not feeling 100%.
Your Nose may RUN, RUN, RUN
This did my head in to start with. Whenever I run, my nose feels left out and decides to join in, especially if it’s cold or slightly windy. I carry some tissues and a few antibacterial wipes in my pocket or my waist bag, as there’s nothing worse than a runny nose.
Running Outside is Tougher for me.
I do most of my running on a treadmill as I was lucky enough to get a great deal after Xmas. Without it, I doubt I’d be running so far at a time. Outside, my feet hurt much sooner, as the treadmill is much more forgiving on them. I’d go outside more if I could face being seen, but I’m not there yet. I have my treadmill facing a window, so I can see outside and just put on my music. I started off without the treadmill though, and I’d have kept going without it, although I suspect my progress would have been much slower.
If you decide to go for it, the best of luck, and let me know how you get on.
Any book that can encourage our kids to eat more healthily has to be a good thing. That goes for adults too, if I’m honest. I think a very large proportion of the population doesn’t eat enough fruit and veg.
In this book, there are more than enough recipes to get started with, and includes lots of lovely and bright images of foods and their descriptions. We get to meet the fruit and veg within each colour, and there are lots of little tips, more than suitably tailored towards our younger cooks, with handy safety rules and a guide to the equipment needed for the recipes.
You can soon be cooking tasty, healthy meals with this recipe book. Alongside nutrition facts, there are 25 simple vegetarian recipes for children to cook at home, including soups, salads and stir fries, as well as sweet delights, such as muffins, cheesecake and cupcakes. The focus of the book is on earning to cook with our greens, reds, yellows and purples.
You can find out how carrots help your vision, and why peppers boost your immune system, while learning how to use different fruits and vegetables, and using different cooking methods.
For reds, recipes include tomato, pepper and cherries, with the purples, like aubergine, blueberry and raisins being quite neat.
Eat Your Greens, Reds, Yellows and Purples is published by DK on 1 April 2016, £9.99. DK.com
My personal favourite is always going to be the oranges, with carrot, butternut squash and pumpkin featuring, much to my approval.
There are some lovely recipes, including:
Green Bean Stirfry
Green Smoothie
Tomato and Onion Tarts
Layered Berry Cheesecakes
Sunshine Rice
Carrot and Orange Treats
The carrot and orange treats will go down nicely with my boys, and the green smoothie for me. Thanks for the permission to post the smoothie recipe.
Green Smoothie
Ingredients
1 small or 1/2 large banana
75g (2oz) green grapes
60g (2oz) baby spinach
150ml (5fl oz) milk (use almond milk if preferred)
1 tbsp honey
1 tbsp almond or peanut butter
handful of ice cubes
Method
Peel the banana and break it into chunks. Put into a blender along with the grapes.
Add the spinach, milk, honey, nut butter, and a handful of ice cubes to the blender.
Blend the mixture until smooth. If it’s too thick or not chilled enough, just add a few cubes of ice and blend again.
We’re told that spinach is rich in vitamins, which helps keep our blood healthy, and we can adapt the recipe to get a different flavour, by adding a large pinch of ground cinnamon or even a few fresh mint leaves.
In summary:
I love the light and bright pictures, with the great tips throughout the book. This would make a lovely present for kids who already have everything.
Eat Your Greens, Reds, Yellows and Purples is published by DK on 1 April 2016, £9.99. DK.com
Sorry, but I just had to share this one. My middle child, who has learning difficulties, has taken lessons for over 10 years. Yes, that’s right, lessons for 10 years, along with weekly swimming at his school, and swimming with us, his family on top. It’s been a long and difficult road for him, but he’s finally done it.
For years, he screamed at the sight of water, or even at the thought of jumping into the shallow end. We closed our ears and persevered, and eventually he made it in the water.
That was no small feat in itself, no matter how simple it might seem at first.
Determined to keep going, he was signed up for a whole summer holiday one year, every morning, in a group of 6. When they all moved up to the next class, he struggled along with trying to get his feet off the bottom of the pool as he walked along, his hands doing swimming motions on the top.
Three years later, he was still in the bottom group and his lessons kept going.
Thankfully, his school began swimming, which meant he could go away from lessons with little ones when he was growing fast, and every week since, they’ve persevered and kept chugging along.
Three weeks ago, we all went swimming, and he sailed along the top of the water. His feet didn’t touch the bottom once, but he was still frightened of going out of his depth.
It’s one thing being able to swim, and quite another being able to swim out of your depth.
To let you all know, he came home on Friday with a certificate from school, to say he’d jumped in at the deep end. It might not seem much to most of you, but for him, it’s HUGE.
It just goes to show, that perseverance and patience can win in the long-term when the brain says no. As a very active child, swimming was important to him, and for us too, knowing that if he fell into water, he’d at least have a fighting chance of possibly getting himself out again.
I can’t even begin to say how much this small thing means to us as a family. Way to go middler, you’ve done yourself proud….
The Co-operative sent me a lovely surprise gift for Mother’s Day with no expectation that I would post about it, but I think Mother’s Day is one of the most important days of the year. More so than a birthday really, as the day signifies all that someone thinks of their nearest and dearest.
I didn’t expect anything at all, so my lovely surprise parcel was a nice way to receive an unexpected gift. I couldn’t make the Twitter Tea Party, so I had my own.
I think my biggest Mother’s Day tip, would be that mums are more concerned about what we do for them, than what they get. I’m lucky if I get a bunch of £5 flowers from the local shop and possibly a card if my hub actually remembers mother’s day is coming up, as he would need to buy for the kids :-).
What I’d really like, would be for them to make breakfast for my mum and I, and keep bringing her cups of coffee all day long, to save me going up and down her stairs around 50 times a day. Now that would be a fabulous Mother’s day break for me.
As it is, we’re lucky enough to have a carer for a few hours this Mother’s Day, so I will be able to take it easy, though I’m due for my next run session, trying to up my 5k time from the ridiculously slow to the almost acceptably slow……
In my parcel were some lovely little gifts. Thank you Co-op.
Most of you wouldn’t like the toasted spelt in the way that I do. The lovely nutty flavoured wheat is perfect for snacking. I toast mine until it becomes almost a dry nutty consistency as that’s what I enjoy. If you prefer yours softer, simply don’t roast/toast for long and check the cooking times on your spelt. Some of you might just prefer the spelt straight from the packet if you buy the ready to eat kind, such as I did, or a quick heat up for a minute in the microwave.
I made this in the Actifry, but you could easily use your oven to toast the spelt, or not toast it at all if you prefer the slightly chewy consistency it can give us.
I cheated and used a pack of Merchant Gourmet Spelt, that is ready to eat. Nobody said everything should be done from raw… I don’t always have time for that sort of thing.
I used my snacking basket to Actifry my sun dried tomatoes for 5 minutes.
After doing my tomatoes, I then put my spelt and chopped dates into my machine, along with a pinch of salt and pepper, and the oil.
I Actifried my spelt for 8 minutes, which will be far too long for most of you. Some might just like 1 or 2 minutes. Keep an eye on it and check every minute or so, to find out if it’s the right consistency and taste for you.
Serve with the sun dried tomatoes on top, and I added some edible rose petals to enhance the look of the dish.
It’s that time of year again when I’m looking for something for my mum, and being who my husband is, with no idea of what I’d like for Mothers Day, I usually end up buying something for myself and he takes the kids to get a bunch of flowers since I can’t do chocolates as a diabetic. I have horrific memories of some of the disastrous gifts he’s come up with over the years, and I’ve learned to get what I like myself, or drop enormous hints.
I do a lot of shopping with Tesco, so being asked to take a look at their Mothers Day presents range was something I would do anyway, and gave me a good chance to root through the online gift choices on Tesco Direct.
What I’d Choose for Myself
There is just so much to pick from. We don’t do large gifts for adults in our house, so the range on offer was ideal for me.
Von Shef Snap and Stack Cupcake Storage Carrier
I never know what to do with baked cupcakes. They usually end up squished into a plastic tub, or end up going all over the place. With a capacity of 24, for £13.99, this storage carrier would be perfect for me.
Quirky Gadget – App Controlled Smart Scale
At £39.99, it’s more expensive that I’d usually consider for Mother’s Day, but I can dream, and I’d absolutely LOVE one of these smart scales. I’ve looked at them more times that I care to remember.
If my other half is reading, this is a big nudge, nudge, hint, wink, wink….. Not only does it guide us through the baking process, it even gives us hints and timers for when to mix, bake or cook. My gadget girl head can’t wait to try one of these.
Afternoon Tea – Katie Alice Cottage Afternoon Tea Set
How about this to sit down with afternoon tea and a slab of lovely cake? I think most women appreciate nice crockery, and I’d like a set or two of these in my kitchen cupboards for when friends come round for the afternoon. Getting myself lovely cups and saucers hasn’t been top of my buying list, so as a present, I’d be delighted with these for £9, which includes a tea-cup, saucer and side plate.
Flowers
I almost always have to buy my own. If my husband bought them too often, I’d wonder what he’d done wrong…. For Mothers Day, he does sometimes let the kids buy me some, and although I don’t particularly like lilies, I like most other flowers, especially ones in either very muted pale colours or very vibrant reds and purples.
My choice would be this Mother’s Day Seasonal Posy at £25, which includes the milk churn, if I could persuade my man to get them. I’d love something like this on permanent display, but it could get rather pricey, but for a special occasion, they’re gorgeous.
Many thanks to Tesco for allowing me to reproduce these images.
These are made from leftovers. Who wouldn’t want to know how to make something so delicious, and economical, while keeping lots of food waste out of our bins? You could even win a Slow Cooker with your own tips. Read on to find out more.
Ok, so what’s the issue? Did you know that around £260 million pounds worth of beef products are wasted each year in our UK homes? I know I didn’t. We might be nation of beef lovers, but that’s a lot of wasted meat.
And that’s not all. There’s also the half eaten sandwich, unfinished steak in a restaurant, or like some of my extended family members, anything that isn’t eaten on the day, is thrown out and never eaten.
I don’t subscribe to that way of cooking, and many of us are on a budget these days, so it makes sense to use our leftovers and put them to good use. It’s something I do regularly for my own family.
MEATY ISSUES – WHAT’S THE BEEF?
Love Food Hate Waste is launching the Meaty Issues campaign, where they will share our favourite tips, tricks and left over recipes to help us reduce the amount of beef we throw away at home saving us money and helping the environment along the way. Farmer and television presenter Adam Henson will also be talking about how we can do our bit to help get the best from our beef.
RECIPE USING LEFTOVERS WITH SOME ADDED INGREDIENTS
My Tips
Freeze what you can’t use immediately for another day. I have frozen banana, cucumber, meat, chicken, soups and much much more waiting to be used. I especially dislike throwing away beef, as it’s so expensive, and if an animal is providing food for me, I like to use as much of it as I can.
Make stock from bones to use another day in gravy, soups, stews and casseroles.
Measure your ingredients and check portion sizes before grabbing things in the shopping aisle. I find it easier to shop online for many things, as I tend to buy what I need, rather that just grabbing a big bag while the boys are moaning about being in the shop too long.
Meal planning. It really does help. This is one thing I really need to get smarter at, as I tend to over shop and have to freeze lots.
Recycle. Having a separate scraps bin really made me take stock of the raw/fresh food that went by way of the bin. In the days it went into the big bin, I didn’t have a good handle on how much we threw away. Now I do…..
If you don’t have enough of one thing, add something else from your cupboard to pad it out. This is exactly what I did for my Beef Rostis. I had a pan full of mashed potatoes, when family cancelled supper at the weekend. I wanted to use them up, along with a packet of beef slices that my mum had asked for, but hadn’t eaten more than one teensy slice from.
BEEF ROSTIS WITH ONION AND MINI SWEET PEPPERS
I had nowhere near enough of any one thing for this recipe, so I just threw a lot of different things together, and out came these lovely beef rostis. Even my husband was well impressed, and he’s quite a picky eater.
I had a load of mashed potato, so I added enough for a large batch of rostis. My boys ate two each with some mushy peas for supper, so they were very quickly demolished around here. I’d make these again, in different varieties.
Ingredients (Makes 10 Rostis)
800g Mashed Potato. 200g Beef, sliced thinly. 200g Onion, finely sliced. 3 Mini Sweet Peppers, sliced and with seeds removed. I used red, yellow and orange. 50g Carrots, sliced and cubed. Ruskoline Crumb Dressing. 5 Eggs. Plain Flour. 5ml Rapeseed Oil.
Method
I used my Actifry with the Snacking basket to cook these, but you can easily use a frying pan or even oven cook them too, although I’ve never actually made rostis in the oven.
Step One
Cook your onions with the peppers and carrots in the rapeseed oil, until fully cooked.
Depending on how you cook, you might need a little more oil. If yours are already cooked leftover vegetables, you can miss out this step. I sauteed mine in the Actifry. Try not to let them turn brown as it spoils the look of the Rosti when they’re cut open. I took around 10 minutes to cook mine.
Step Two
Put your potatoes and beef into a bowl, and add your vegetables and mix thoroughly.
Step Three
Get three dishes, and crack three eggs into one, and whisk them up briskly until mixed. Put Ruskoline into your second bowl, and plain flour into the third. You can add more of these as you go, if you need it. I used 5 eggs in total.
Step Four
Form your mix into slightly smaller than palm sized balls and flatten them, pressing together to firm them up. They may be a little moist at this point, which is what the flour is for. Dip each patty into the flour and make sure it is fully coated. I flour all my rostis first. When they are all covered in flour, I finish the next two steps for each rosti in turn, covering it with egg, then rolling each one around in the ruskoline until fully coated. Be warned. It’s a messy business. Kids love making these.
Step Five
In my Actifry Snacking Basket, these took around 5 minutes for mine to be thoroughly hot. You could shallow fry yours or oven bake on a moderate heat for around 20 minutes, or until fully hot inside.
Now pop on over to Love Food Hate Waste and add your own tips…
Leave the skin on baby potatoes, and simply wash and chop them into small pieces. I didn't do this scientifically, or to any definite shape.
Peel the sweet potatoes, and chop them up in the same way as the baby potatoes.
Put them all into the Actifry, and drizzle on two spoons of the oil, and mix in the bullion powder. For this, I used what I had, which was a tub of red wine casserole powder. Just use what you have, and if you're out of something, crumble in a stock cube or two.
Select around 20 minutes on your machine, or until your baby potatoes are fully cooked.
Yes, I have. Through stress, and under active thyroid and diabetes, over the spell of a few years, I gained a bunch of weight, and I mean a whole bunch.
100lbs if I’m to be exact.
Last June, I was diagnosed and put on meds for my diabetes and for my underactive thyroid. The thought of losing a limb or going blind terrified me, but the possibility of losing was daunting. I’d reached as low a point as I could go.
Yet, I didn’t really share. How could I? I met many of my fellow bloggers in 2011, in London, but have not met any since.
My circle has shrunk and shrunk, and while my kids are part of the reason, they’re not the reason I turned down a lovely TV company on their offer of being part of something awesome. My weight gain was also the reason there have been so few photos of me over the last few years. I’ve avoided the camera like the proverbial plague.
So, last June 2015, I kick started my change. To stay alive and keep my limbs, I needed to get in control of my life. Having my thyroid balanced again made a huge difference, and instead of maintaining and often gaining at sometimes calorie levels of 800-1000 a day, suddenly, eating 1200 calories a day meant I was losing weight which helps with the diabetes.
Having a medical condition may have been responsible for me gaining weight, but I have still had to put the work in to lose it, and it’s been a long haul so far.
I’ve lost weight in the past, pre online diet websites, and I used to track using a spreadsheet. This time round, I took My Fitness Pal seriously, and it’s free, so I had nothing to lose by starting to log my food. I started off being majorly stupid. Going down to 300-400 calories a day, and all low carb at the same time. It was completely unsustainable, but it’s the way I’d lost weight, every time, since my first “diet,” at 15, when I lost a stone the sensible way, by calories in v calories out. What my 15-year-old self knew, was that fad diets just don’t work – at all. Somehow, along the way, I forgot how to be sensible. And now you know why I make so many soups….
As of now, I’m 83 pounds down, and with only 17 to go until my gain started, probably around 2009/2010, I’m eyeing up being back to the weight I was at 15, as I can see me getting there this time round. I’m conscious that I will have to eat at this level for what is possibly the rest of my life, eating around the 1200 calorie mark, but I can live with that. What I struggled with is gaining at 1000 and less, as people just didn’t believe me, so I’d hibernate away from the world more and more, until I became a virtual recluse, only going out the front door when it was absolutely necessary or for people who knew me through the gain. For people I hadn’t seen for years, I made every excuse under the sun to avoid seeing them. Ok, I know it’s a flattering picture from a night out, but hey, after all this weight loss, I deserve a little bit of flattery. 🙂
The one thing people don’t tell you when they’re really fat, is how much of a struggle it is to get through daily life. Just tying shoelaces is a near impossibility, as is bending down to pick things up from the floor. And the shame, when you’re the fattest person in a room is simply incredible, if you feel all sorts of negative emotions around being overweight, which I do. My father in law died, and the only thing I could get on my expanded backside was a pair of dark coloured jeans, that were so tight that I felt they were cutting me in half. I saw the half lopsided eye sliding people, even though I wore what looked like a suit jacket to cover up a bit, but I suspect many people thought my wearing jeans was disrespectful, but I’d no choice in it. I’d convinced myself that “something” would fit, and on the day, when I tried to find something……there was nothing. It was put on the jeans or not go, and that wasn’t an option for a family member.
I’ve declined to go to two funerals of people I should have gone to, simply because I couldn’t face people seeing how fat I’d got. I always pulled childcare duty, going out of my way to do it, in an excuse to be busy, and have a reason not to go.
Then, we’d have someone like the TV personality who gained and lost weight to “prove,” how lazy us fatties were, and I’d feel even worse about myself, and possibly eat something that took me over my very low maintenance level, and that would make it even worse again.
It’s safe to say, that I’ve lost more years than I care to think of recently, due to the wobbly blubber that I laid down under my skin.
So – extreme weight loss…. Yep, that’s what it’s called. I qualify for that now, but I’ve still got possibly a fair few to go, before I try to reach my age 15 weight……. I think I’ll aim for the 100 mark, then see where I go from there. At the 100lb mark, is where people used to tell me I was too thin, despite still being past the middle section of the BMI chart. I’ve also started C25K, using the NHS running app, and have lost inches that don’t correspond to the numbers on the scale, so I’m getting slowly smaller, despite not losing so much recently.
The big ho ha, is people I’ve not seen for months, for whom, I’ve dropped almost 6 stone, and they say nothing……… I’m never sure whether to laugh or not. Perhaps they’re scared to say anything in case I pile it back on again. 🙂
Anyway, that’s where I’m at, and why this blog is turning so foodie. Food is becoming something I enjoy very much now that I can eat more than I used to, but making healthy choices has become a big part of my life, with some treats thrown in.
My youngest has joined me in doing Couch to 5K, and we’re muddling along nicely, despite my fibromyalgia that means my feet often suffer. Hopefully they get better with time, and I did the first weeks wearing Fitflop trainers… Nothing else would do, but I’ve now got myself proper ones, and I’m really pleased that one of my boys has joined me in doing it.
The last part of my weight seems to be taking an age to shift. I only lost 1lb in the last three weeks, so it’s going to take a while.
It’s that time again, the Shrove Tuesday, that every year, brings out the pancake maker in all of us.
This time round, I’ve opted for a fruity version, with some lovely strawberry pancakes, that get a little bit of goodness in our kids, while they enjoy some deliciousness at the same time. Pancakes are easy to make, but somehow, I always manage to burn the first couple, until I get into my stride. I rarely have that perfect circular shaped pancake. I just throw mine in and hope for the best. I’ll keep my pancake shape envy under wraps….as they taste awesome anyway.
This recipe can make up to 12 fairly largish traditional and quite fluffy pancakes, but you could get more if you make them smaller. I think I make ours too big.
Start by simply putting all your ingredients into your mixer, or bowl. Mix for around three minutes. The mix is thick in this version of pancake batter, so don't let it scare you.
Heat a thick bottomed frying pan (or any pan) on the hob. I prefer not to use oil to cook my pancakes, but it means I do have to keep a close eye on them. I leave the heat almost at the lowest that it can go and cook them very slowly.
When you see the top of the dollop of pancake mix beginning to bubble up, then it is time to turn over your pancake to cook the other side, which won't take long at all. Don't leave pancakes alone on the hob as they will burn very quickly.
Spread with a little butter or strawberry jam to complement the added fruit, or a drizzle of maple syrup.
As of now, I’m 83 pounds down, and with only 17 to go until my gain started, probably around 2009/2010, I’m eyeing up being back to the weight I was at 15, as I can see me getting there this time round. I’m conscious that I will have to eat at this level for what is possibly the rest of my life, eating around the 1200 calorie mark, but I can live with that. What I struggled with is gaining at 1000 and less, as people just didn’t believe me, so I’d hibernate away from the world more and more, until I became a virtual recluse, only going out the front door when it was absolutely necessary or for people who knew me through the gain. For people I hadn’t seen for years, I made every excuse under the sun to avoid seeing them. Ok, I know it’s a flattering picture from a night out, but hey, after all this weight loss, I deserve a little bit of flattery. 🙂
Quick, creamy, and packed with zing this is my kind of lunch Thanks for the easy, nourishing recipe, Scottish Mum.
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