Category: Lifestyle

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Charity: Are you brave enough to let your child style you for a day on 10th June 2016?

I often get asked to help publicise events for charities, and I do pick some to share with you all, especially where I think they’re relevant to much of my audience.   The UK’s largest breast cancer charity asked me to write about a new fundraising event they have coming up in a few days…

Style a Child 1

The Very First Styled By a Child Day, is on Friday 10th June 2016.  

What that means, is having some fun with your child, and letting them give you a makeover, which they’ve styled in their own taste, after rooting through your wardrobe.  And you remain like that for the day.  It could be a fun challenge for some of you.  I remember one of my boys doing my make up when he was three.  Going on the school run like that, would have raised some eyebrows, for sure.  Mine are too old for this now, but many of you might enjoy getting involved.

Style a Child 2

Why?

To raise money for Breast Cancer Now, and help fund research into the disease, to help them achieve their aim, that by 2050, nobody will die from breast cancer.

How?

Style a Child 4

Let your kids choose your clothes, accessories, and even make-up, if you’re brave enough to let them.

Family and friends, as well as relatives and neighbours might be tempted to sponsore them, in a bid to see you look silly for a day.  Who knows, your child might send you out looking like a supermodel with a ballgown for a day.

This is the first year of the event, so they’re encouraging signups for the day on 10th June.

Themes – Some Ideas from Breast Cancer Now

Fashion face off – up the style stakes and challenge your friends, family or mums on the school run to take part and see which kid-adult team can create the wildest look for the most donations. Marks out of ten, please!

Strike a pose – so we promised you’d only have to dress up for a day, but we never promised there wouldn’t be proof you’d been styled by a child! Strike a pose and ask your nearest and dearest to pay for photographic evidence… or even a profile picture.

Kid’s catwalk – invite friends and family over in their own stylish creations and strut your stuff for the kids in a living room fashion show. Fundraising never looked so good.

Relive your childhood – throw a kids party… for adults! The kids are in charge of your wardrobe, so why not let them plan the party? Swap coffee and cake for party ring biscuits, balloons and party bags.

Finger foods of fun – secretly wish your lunch box was still full of sausage rolls and strawberry jelly? Let the kids pack your lunch for a day and indulge in the lunch of your youth, guilt-free! Then donate the money you would have spent on your grown-up lunch.

Do a dare – why should the kids have all the fun? Adults can get silly too by making a list of (very) public places to send you in the outfit… Whether it’s the local shop, the office or even your favourite restaurant, prepare to be dared!

Dare to let the kids choose what you wear? The challenge is simple: for one day only, the kids are in charge of your wardrobe.

Whether you’re a model mum, designer dad, a gran that can or an auntie with attitude, sign-up to look funny for money and help fund research that will save lives.

For more information or to sign up for Styled by a Child visit – http://breastcancernow.org/styled

Social Media

Support Styled By a Child on social media, encouraging everybody to get #StyledbyaChild – tag @bcnow_scotland on Twitter.

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Race for Life Training – A few weeks to go….

Well, what can I say….  I’m pretty rubbish at this running thing.  I’m doing it, but almost everyone else I see, seems to have got it licked, whereas I just plod along, step after step until I’ve had it.

The treadmill, I can do, but I’m struggling getting above 5 + k outside.  I get to around the 5k mark and I seem to have this mental block for actually continuing to run terribly much further without stopping for a good walking break.

I went out with a friend this week, for her first day of couch to 5k.  I really actually enjoyed redoing the walk 2.5 minutes and run for 1 minutes spells.  She struggled, as I did when I started, and I found it quite strange to not even get the slightest bit of change to my breathing while she struggled…  BUT, I was there a few short months ago…..

I’d love to be able to run the whole 10k, I really would, but with only 4 weeks to go, I’m nowhere near ready to manage that distance.  I’m not young, and I’m about a stone away from where I’d like to be.  I tell myself that running will be a whole lot easier when I’m carrying around that 14lb less, but I know that’s only fooling my brain while I’m reaching the end of a run… 🙂

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I’m still self conscious outside.  Actually, I find it excruciatingly embarrassing to plod along, as people tend to look up.  I know they don’t give a fig, but hey, we’re only human, and it’s tough to ignore people looking when you’re very self conscious.  I’m ignoring it as much as I can, and persuading myself not to care, although I’m still only very rarely running in our village.

It goes a little like this:

See a car coming towards me, lift my head, speed up a bit till it’s passed, then slow down a bit to get breathing under control.  See someone walking towards me, close my mouth and breathe through my nose till they go out of sight…….

But, it’s for a good cause, right?  Without the race for life, I wouldn’t be outside at all really.  I’d still be plodding on my treadmill, sweating buckets and thinking I was slower than a sleeping tortoise.  At least I know my timings are faster outside now, even if I’ll still struggle to finish the 10k in the alloted time.  I’m practicing speedwalking too, in the attempt to finish my 10k in the hour and a half, even if I have to walk half of it.  I’ll be alone, so I hope to have a bit of a crowd somewhere I can get lost in.  It’s a daunting first public distance outing.  I’m half wishing I’d opted for the 5k.  At least I know I could finish that, but then I wouldn’t be pushing myself, would I?

Raceforlife4Perhaps doubting yourself is common for a new runner who found it tough to get this far.  I love running, I really do, but seem to be taking much longer than other people to build up distance.

There’s no shame in walking though, so I’m keeping my fingers crossed there will be other walkers on the 10k, and they’re not all the local super speedies I see out and about 🙂  I know lots of people walk the 5k, and I wouldn’t mind having walkers on the 10K, but with only 456 people signed up to my local 10k so far this year, I’m starting to worry…..

In the meantime, I’m off out for another run, and intend to walk a 3k afterwards to build the distance to run and walk outside.  Oh, and if anyone has any tips for how to stop myself going scarlet in the face while I’m out running, I’m all ears…….

Sign up for a race for life place yourself at Race for Life – Cancer Research UK

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Sponsor me for cancer research.

Raceforlife2Ok, you know by now that I’m doing the Race for Life Aberdeen 2016, 10K.  I’ll be walking some, but I’m going to run as much as I can.  I have a slight knee injury, which means I’ve cut back on training this week to let it heal, but hopefully it doesn’t last for too long.

I’d like to raise £150 if at all possible, and if you want to sponsor me, feel free to use my widgets and badges to help you along.

My race for life Just Giving page is lesleysmith001 or click on the image below to take you to my fundraising page.  Cancer Research UK funded my place for running, so I’ll also be donating the entry fee I saved to my account.  If you do sponsor me, and you’re comfortable, leave a wee message so I know who did an awesome thing for me and the future of cancer research.

JustGiving - Sponsor me now!
If you’re a text person, and want to sponsor me, even if it’s a pound, simply text in a donation if you’d like to.   You can donate in numbers of £1, £2,£3, £5 or £10.  It takes a little while to show up.

E.g.
The number to text for Race for Life: 70700
SMBL55
£1

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Our Go Ape Experience

We all know exercise is good for us…..right…  It should also be um fun…..right??????   Bwahahahaha.  I couldn’t not share this quickly on the blog.  I’m so proud of what I’ve achieved in the last year so far.

As if some of you hadn’t thought I was nuts enough to start running at my age, I accepted a challenge from Simply Health, to try out a new Fitbit Flex, and use it for activities locally.  We all need more exercise, don’t we?

I worried a little about my hands as they’re weak, but I’m not going to let that stop me.  Little did I know what I’d let myself in for.  Numpy, yes me, that’s what I am, really and truly.  Next time someone asks me to do something like this, bop me on the head, then tell me what a great thing it is to do.  I’ll believe ya – honest.  It’s good for me too.

The challenge they set, was to do the local Go Ape course at Crathes Castle, which is something I’ve never tried before, although I’ve watched my boys try out something smaller.  They had a blast, and it looked like fun.  I could do this……right?  Ya bet I could.  Maybe….

On what looked to be a really rubbish and drizzly, yucky day, we rocked up to start our safety briefing, in our recommended clothes, ready to get mucky and wet.  With gloves on, my hair tied back, and sensible shoes on, I was ready to go with a couple of my boys.  Thankfully the sun came out and it ended up as a pretty good day.

The experience of Go Ape, promises a tree top adventure, flying down zip wires, jumping off tarzan swings and high rope crossings in breathtaking woodland.  It’s a lot to live up to.  It also sounds painful for someone who wasn’t even a couple of flights of stairs fit not that long ago, but hey, even at my age, new things are worth trying.  If I can do it, then almost anyone can.  But….and you’ll have to read on……for where I needed a boost up…

Some others in the group in front of us were taking pictures of each other, very artfully, as they only had to hook themselves on and go, but as I’d two kids to supervise, and make sure they were hooked and unhooked on each time, I didn’t get time to take any shots at all, and had to make do with the ones from my other half’s phone.  We went last, as I’d two kids to keep an eye on, and it was just as well, as we seemed to take ages.

At the top of this slide, I looked down, checked sideways, saw some people watching and pretended to be not scared at all.  Not a jot.  Who me?  You’re kidding right!

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I got stuck at one bit.  I took one look at the Tarzan Swing, across to a cargo net and even my eldest said he was “shi****g” himself…  That didn’t make me feel any better, honestly…  Especially after hearing someone screaming when they did it ten minutes before us……  Having weak hands meant that I struggled to pull myself up on the cargo net after the Tarzan Swing.  My hands had almost had it, and pulling myself up to the platform was impossible, so one of the instructors had to give me a bit of a help up, which was fine.  I still had to do it myself, but with a little help from a pulley to take the pain away from my hands.  I am so glad I had gloves with leather palms on, or at this bit, I’d have struggled even more.  There was the option for a slightly easier route, but with boys being boys, they wanted to go the hard way, and mum being mum, and supervising, had no option but to go the same way… Duhhh…

The zip slides were incredibly more fun than I expected, even though I bashed my head on the second one by lying too far back as I dug my heels in to stop.  Just as well they have that soft bark on the bottom, or I’d have been spending the night in A&E.  As it was, my head sort of bounced and it was fine, but taught me to keep my head up on the next two…  Lesson learned….  Pretty quick…

The Go Ape experience, according to the internet, burns approximately 500 calories for a woman, so it’s a not too shabby way of getting some good exercise in there while also having some fun.  My shoulders ached just a little afterwards, but nothing major, although my hands might take a day to recover, but if you don’t have a touch of arthritis or anything in your hands, you’ll be fine.  I’m not sure that many other women my age would go swinging about like tarzan, but hey, we’re only as old as the things we do.  I’m nowhere near ready for the pipe and slippers…  Maybe when I’m 90!

Right, the Fitbit Flex.  Thanks Simply Health, for the lovely gift.

Fitbit Flex 1

This was easy to pair with my phone, and wearing it was quite simple, although it felt a bit strange being a little loose for the first couple of hours.  I used it to do a 5K on my treadmill to try it out, and felt oddly gratified that it showed 6.5K, on a par with my Apple Watch, when my treadmill hit the 5K, at around the same time as it takes me to do outdoors.    Bonus….I’m slow, but proving not to be as tortoise like as I thought I was on the treadmill.  Still plodding slow though.  I’m not kidding myself at all, uh uh…

This was my starting and end point today.  2062 steps before starting, and 5926 steps after it was finished, and I had food.  I was starving afterwards.  I could have eaten dry sawdust, I was that hungry.  I was going to say I could have eaten a scabby horse, but wondered if someone might actually take me seriously.  I wouldn’t eat horse, let alone a scabby one, and a scabby one, I’d be more likely to feed me to, as I’d feel so sorry for it.

Anyway..

The calories on this throws me a bit, as it states calories up to that point in the day, rather than for the whole day upfront.   I ate 991 calores by 5.15 and it said I was 429 calories over for the day, which is deceiving at first.   I quite like that it monitors sleep.  I’ll need to get my youngest night own to wear it and see the quality of his sleep.   He’s a dreadful night owl.

At first, I took one look at the active minutes, and went huhhhh……  Only 9 tiny minutes, heartsink…after three hours swinging about like Jane hanging from the rafters!  Then I realised it only records spells where you’re active for more than 10 minutes at a time, and with spells in-between activities, it seems to have cut out for each one.  Gutted…but makes sense.

I’m a gadget girl, so I was always going to like this anyway.  I’m a sucker for electronics and I DO like the steps it counted for the treadmill.  Not that I’ve already told you that of course.

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So, the short story is, that getting more exercise can be fun.  Give it a go, you won’t regret it.  Even my eldest actually enjoyed it, and getting any 15 year old to enjoy a family activity isn’t as easy as making a custard pie…… Result all round..

Thanks to Simply Health for the Go Ape Experience and our Fitblit Flex

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Race For Life 2016 and Me

In my eyes, the goal  of Race for Life, is to bring women together and raise sponsorship online.  I don’t have a big circle of real life friends, but you know what, every little thing I can do to help, is a step closer to someone in the future being cancer free.  I don’t have anyone to run/walk with, and I can’t persuade anyone in real life to come with me yet.  Doing anything in public still fills me with a sense of dread, yet, I’ve agreed to run our local 10k, with the kind support of CRUK.

Ladies, if I can do it alone, so can you.  What do we have to lose?  There’s an option for a 5k if you think 10k is too far, and personally, I will be likely to walk as much of the 10K as I run, possibly more, but it’s a little over 6 miles, and I know I can walk that.  5k is only just a little over 3 miles, and with a little walking training from now till then, almost all of us could do it. It really is time to ‘lace up our trainers.’  It’s handy that my trainers have some pink in them….  I suspect I’ll have new ones by then.

Run Trainers

Yes, I can run around 8k, slowly, on a treadmill, at a push, with no wind or hills – but outside, I’m lucky if I can manage half a mile without thinking I’m going to keel over.

I’m Diabetic, I have Fibromyalgia, Costocondritis, feet trouble, and often suffer with back pain too.  Any sort of exercise is a huge challenge for me, but sitting on my backside doing nothing, isn’t an option if I’m to be healthy into my fifties, sixties and more.

For my local event 10k, the questions I wanted answered are given here.  You can find out what your own venue will have by checking the event pages.

Aberdeen 10k Facilities

  • Toilets
  • Refreshments
  • Parking available
  • Suitable for dogs
  • Suitable for pushchairs
  • This event is suitable for wheelchair users with assistance

The Course

The Aberdeen route will take you along the beautiful Beach Esplanade, taking in the amazing view of Aberdeen beach. The double lapped course is completely flat and the terrain consists of tarred roadways, with the exception of the finish straight which is a grassed area.

Meeting Point

The meeting point is within the main grass area of the event site next to Linx Ice arena. Please arrive one hour before the start time of your race.

The Training

Yes, I’m going to have to do some training, most outside.  I can walk the distance easily, but running as much as I can will be difficult, especially if I have a Fibro or Costo flare up on the day.  I’ve accepted that if it does happen, I’ll be walking it all, as no matter how much I want to run on those days, actually getting two feet off the ground makes an attack last for longer than it needs to.  Just the walk on a day like that, is a huge accomplishment.

I’ve downloaded the Race for Life App, and also the 10KIQPLAN.  There’s around 9 weeks to get moving.

Race for Life have a training plan on their website, for beginners and for intermediate runners.  I’m going to try a bit of both, to help me run outside a little.

What to Wear

I have a pink t-shirt that will do the job wonderfully, but I’ve bought the official race for life cap, as I don’t want to risk getting sun on my face.  I burn too easily to take that chance.  I also splashed out on the lightweight rain jacket, and the little wrist wallet for money and my car key.   Apart from that, I’ll have on my trainers and a pair of running trousers.  I don’t do skin tight leggings.   Maybe one day, but not yet.

Raceforlife

I’ll be blogging my training, so if you think you’re alone in trying to do this, you can keep me company.

Other Ways to Help

If you can’t walk or run, or you’re a male, there are other ways to help, offline and online, including a Bakesale, Volunteering, Quiz Nights, or even getting your kids and their schools involved.  You don’t have to run on the day to raise money for a good cause.  Personally, I’ll open a Just Giving account and hope I can raise something to help out.  I might not raise a lot, but if I don’t try, it’ll never happen.

Find out More

With Cancer Research UK, and Tesco as their partner, a huge following, that includes thousands of women and young children has been successful across the UK.

They say:

Cancer Research UK’s Race for Life is a series of women-only events raising money for research into all 200 types of cancer.

This years campaign has kicked off in earnest, with around 300 events, up and down our little land.

Did you know, that every couple of minutes, someone, somewhere in the UK, is diagnosed with cancer.  I don’t think there can be many of us who have not been touched by cancer at some point in our lives.  Personally, my mother is a breast cancer survivor, and my mother in law fought a brave battle with cancer before she died.  My own experience has been limited to rogue cervical cells which were treated when I as in my twenties.  I am ever thankful of the research done in the past, to allow me to stop those developing into potential cancer cells.

Race for Life events raise money to find new says to prevent, diagnose and treat cancer.   There is no Government funding, so it’s all down to us, the people who live with cancer and it’s affects on families.

The success of race for life seems to be stemmed from largely being women, who can walk, jog, run, or amble around the courses, all with the single goal of finishing the distance, and bringing some much needed support for research.  If you want to find out more about how the money is used, check it out here.

Events that might be close enough for you to attend, include.

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You’re Never Too Old to Play on a Swing

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.

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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.

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The next time you go to the park, give it a go.  You never know, you might just enjoy yourself…

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Running on Empty – What I’ve Learned from beginning to Run

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Run Watch

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.

Run Trainers

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.

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My Middle Child Finally Swims

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….

 

 

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I’ve a confession to make.

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….

Me (1 of 1)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.

There, I’ve done it.  So, now you all know…

Love and light,

Lesley

ps, ginger tea for weight loss tends to get mentioned a lot.  Make your own mind up about it.

 

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Happy New Year for 2016….

Just a little thank you from me to my readers.

Thanks to you all.  Yes, all of you.  I’ve had a great year on the blog, and without readers, there wouldn’t be any point continuing to write.  I also want to thank all those who’ve stuck by me through the years, still getting and opening their little e-mails when I publish a post, and I’m still slightly thrilled when the report comes in, to say how many of you have opened each one, whether it’s to enter a giveaway, check out a recipe, or just to find out what I’m talking about.

We still have our three boys, who are now all moody teenagers with a definite preference for spending all day in bed whenever the opportunity arises.  I have a parent with dementia living with me, and another parent with dementia in a care home an hour or so away.  The days are often too short….and I still miss my furry four legged friend who left us last year.

I’ve a few things on the go for next year, and will begin early in the year with an e-book full of soup maker recipes for those of you who are interested.   I keep being asked, so I’ve finally got it almost done.

Massive best wishes to all, and I hope you can all have as happy a new year as is possible for your own circumstances.

The very best of the seasons greetings.

Lesley
x

Lesley Happy New Year

 

 

 

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Review: Titan Steel Lightening Cable. Is it the strongest cable on earth?

I can’t guarantee that the Tital is completely indestructible, as we’ve not managed to break ours, but a virtually indestructable cable is one thing that we really needed.

My middle boy is very hard on his chargers and we’ve gone through quite a few in his iPod lifetime.  As much as we try to tell him to be careful with them, they fray, get pulled apart, and don’t usually last for more than a couple of months at a time.

Titan Cable 1

Fuse Chicken, offered their new Titan cable for us to try, and it’s been put through its paces by him.

There are two versions of this cable.  One for Apple, and one for Android.  If you do ever decide to buy one, make sure you choose the right one, as they’re not interchangeable.

About the Titan Charging Cable

  • Made from industrial grade cable, wrapped in dual layers of flexible, high-strength steel.
  • Connectors are sealed with a one piece housing, fused directly over the electronics and metal casing.
  • It charges and syncs.
  • USB connector.
  • It winds and twists into shapes you can mould for your charging point.  Some people even use it as a stand for lighter devices, though I’d worry about the connection port on my device, so I resist using mine for that.
  • Titan took a chainsaw to the cable, and couldn’t break it

The Hype

Ok, so I’d seen some negative reviews about this cable on Amazon, so I really went into reviewing with an open mind.  I was actually really pleased with it on first taking it out of the packet.  How my cable performs in use, is all I can tell you about.

Titan Steel Lightening Cable

Due to the reviews, I allowed my middle boy to do his worst with it for over a week, making sure it has gone through several rounds of being fairly roughly handled.  Ours is still holding up well, and hasn’t broken the connectors.

Would I buy this?  I’m afraid to say I would.  I have a very accident prone boy who goes through cables like water.

 

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Bank Accounts & Scary Debit Cards for Tweens and Teens

I spent a long while, looking for bank accounts for my boys recently.  They’ve had savings accounts for years, but I hadn’t realised that kids as young as 11, can have their own debit cards.  In my head, I had that little milestone filed away for 16+.  I got their new accounts with the RBS, and we just got on with it.  They have apps on their phones which let them know how much money they have left, and they feel all warm and fuzzy, as the pseudo grown ups that such freedom brings.

Debit Card

Until…….

I overheard a conversation at the table next to mine, when I was clacking away on my keys in our local coffee shop, having left the man in charge of the house while I got out for a while.  Nobody knew I’d gone out for a solitary coffee fix, but hey, why should they!

Anyway, the conversation at the next table turned to wealth management.  Having absolutely no idea what that meant, I started seriously lugging in on their chat about savings and current accounts for their kids.

From what I could gather, wealth management for regular kids is just posh speak for being in charge of their own accounts.  In circles of people who have serious money, it will mean something entirely different, but calling sproggets pocket money ‘wealth management,’ is a bit OTT for me.  I pretended to be laughing at something on my computer screen, as I did a very unladylike snort, but it did bring home some issues that have niggled at the back of my head for weeks.

A few months ago, I’d had one of mine complain about not having his own debit card to buy things online with, but as a principle, it’s something I still struggle with.  As far as I knew, it wasn’t legal for someone under the age of 16, to actually get involved in buying online at all…  Perhaps I’ve been living in the dark ages.

I still have not got to the bottom of it, but my youngest has a debit card now, and he’s bought and received goods he’s paid for online.  I guess it does make a difference that most shopping accounts don’t ask for dates of birth, but whatever it is, I’m elated that kids can learn all about budgeting and paying for goods sensibly.  On the other hand, it also fills me with complete horror.  Just what on earth can they get access to when they can buy anything they want online……

Perhaps I’m worrying too much, but that would frighten the life out of me if I was a parent and had absolutely no idea what my kids were up to online.  As it is, I nab the statements once they’re read them and I can research what they spend until they’re older.

I’m not too sure if I like them growing up nowadays.  The world is a much scarier place than it was when I was their age.