Category: Family

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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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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.

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Halloween Is Coming

This often fills my heart with dread.  Standing out in the freezing cold for ages, while little cherubs run amok through the streets, knocking on doors and telling jokes to get sweeties.

My middle boy is now a teen.  He’s the same height as me, and takes a size 8 shoe already.  He STILL wants to go door to door, asking why the chicken crossed the road, and the house owners look at him with staring eyes, as the answer is always ‘to eat his supper.’

Our kids call it Trick or Treating nowadays.  Americanism has taken over, in more than just Halloween, but the kids love dressing up, so who am I to spoil their fun.

Halloween

This year, his disability is embarrassing him, and to be honest, at times, the rest of the family too.  Our embarrassment is for him, as we’re used to his antics and inappropriate comments and funny hand actions, and sometimes, just sometimes, the unbelieving looks from strangers get through, and he understands he’s made a big faux pas.

We try to head it off by only visiting houses where people know him, but with the pumpkin outside the house rule, he can take off to join the tots at the home of someone I don’t know.  All I can do is raise my eyebrows and try to send a telepathic signal to the disbelieving recipient of the chicken dinner joke, that makes them laugh, despite knowing it’s not even a joke, let alone a funny one.

Half a decade of trying to get him to change his joke has come to nothing.  This year, I’m not even going to try.

The best bit about Halloween, is when it’s over….  We can retreat back inside our front door, while he dumps his bag of sweets on the lounge floor and tries to count them out.

Recapping some of the Halloween, here’s Devils Food Cake Recipe from a couple of years ago too.

Enjoy your spooky evening.

Happy Halloween

Devils Food Cake Halloween Nigella 570
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Soup Maker Recipe: Pickled Onion and Celery Soup

Pickled onions are pungent.  This recipe won’t suit everyone, but if you like a tangy taste, give it a go.  How tangy you want pickled onions soup, depends on the vinegar the onions you pick have been pickled in.  The stronger the vinegar, the more pungent the soup.  Sweet vinegar will give a vegetable soup that tastes like most others, but the celery helps give it some bite.

Serves4 – 6
Prep time10 minutes
Cook time28 minutes
Total time38 minutes
DietaryDiabetic, Gluten Free, Vegan, Vegetarian
Meal typeSoup
MiscFreezable, Serve Hot
By authorLesley Smith

INGREDIENTS

  • 150g Small Pickled Onions (Drained. Use Sweet Vinegar if possible, for a less tangy taste.)
  • 150g Celery (Chopped and Sliced)
  • 150g Potatoes (Cubed)
  • 150g Carrots (Sliced)
  • 800ml Vegetable Stock
  • 1 tablespoon Olive Oil
  • Salt & Pepper (To Taste)

NOTE

Makes 1.6 Litres

METHOD

Step 1.Lightly saute the pickled onions in some olive oil. The goal is to release the pickled onion taste, without the onions becoming brown or overcooked.
Step 2.Add all the ingredients into your soupmaker and choose the chunky setting.
Step 3.Serve chunky, or blend if you prefer your soup smooth, but the tangy oniony taste that you can get with the chunky version will fade into the other vegetables when they’re pureed.

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I have Tinnitus. What is it?

I have what I guess is likely to be a milder form of Tinnitus, but it’s still there all the time.  For every second of every day, it keeps me company through thick and thin.

My tinnitus is like that of 1 minute 44 on the video below, with just a higher pitch.  It used to be combined with the heart pulse noise immediately after that, but after suffering with it for two years, the pulsing tinnitus has eased off a lot.  I suspect that was more down to an inflamed inner ear than actual tinnitus itself as I have a nerve very close to my main vein, according to my ENT specialist who tried to pin it down for me a few years ago.  At about 3 minutes 55, is how highly pitched mine is.

http://youtu.be/2mV-Z54fiBo

What is Tinnitus?

Simply, it’s a blooming nuisance.  It’s loud, always there and drives me to distraction when I’m trying to sleep.

In acceptable terms, it’s a loud noise we feel in our ears, causing noise in our heads.    The noise can be:

Buzzing, humming, grinding, hissing, whistling, beating, throbbing…. You get the picture?

There are different forms of Tinnitus that are more rare.  The pulsatile kind that I used to also have, has an easier explanation with the real heartbeat to cause the feeling.  Some people even have musical hallucinations, where they hear whole songs.

What causes Tinnitus?

Loud noise probably helps it along, and it’s the one thing everyone seems to think about with Tinnitus, but it’s only one factor.  I’ve had very mild Tinnitus since my late teens.  The worst thing about it, is knowing, that never again in your life, will you experience total silence.  That’s actually quite distressing at times, though I have learned to live with it most of the time.  I dread how bad it must be for those who have severe Tinnitus with extremely loud noise.

I can pin down the worst of my Tinnitus to the time the pulsing started in one ear.  Those two years were horrific.  I couldn’t sleep, my head felt fuzzy, and as if I were hearing through cotton wool.  I went to doctor after doctor, appointment after appointment, always being told there was nothing wrong, then one day, I woke up, the ear popped and the worst of the pulsating disappeared.  What I was left with, was an increased level of Tinnitus in my right ear, with the same level of my high pitched whistling Tinnitus in the left as before.  My Tinnitus is now very lopsided.

I have some degree of hearing loss in my left ear, but it’s not too major.  It’s certainly liveable with.  For me, the worst Tinnitus was caused by inner ear damage.

The NHS says this about inner ear damage:  “If part of the cochlea is damaged, it will stop sending information to parts of your brain. These areas of the brain will then actively ‘seek out’ signals from parts of the cochlea that still work. These signals are over-represented in the brain and cause the sounds of tinnitus.”

There are other things that could cause Tinnitus, such as earwax, infection, a perforated eardrum and yes, those dreadful loud noises as a child / young adult, when we thought we were invinceable.

How to Treat Tinnitus

Sadly, there isn’t really any way to treat it that’s actually helpful.  The only thing I’ve found is distracting myself from it.

Although mine is there all the time, there are some points in the day when I’m more conscious of it than others.

If you’ve blocked ears etc, some medical intervention might help, but for many of us, it’s simply a case of managing the noise in our ears.

I notice the noise most when it’s quiet.  The noise feels all encompassing then.  It’s so loud, that in the absence of other noise, I can’t possibly imagine being able to hear anything else on to of the sound, yet at the drop of a pin, I can hear it through the other noise in my ears.  I’m not quite sure how to describe that, but it’s very deceiving.

I’m getting used to my noise.  Mine is annoying, but not debilitatingly so.  I can blot some of it out.  Bedtime is difficult as I have to sleep on the worst affected ear.  Somehow, it helps to drown the noise out to lay on it.  On really bad nights, especially if I have a cold, I tend to use music under my pillow, making a noise I can hear through the high pitched hissy singing tone.

The Future

Well, mine isn’t going to get any better.  I really do have to learn to live with it, and be prepared for the time I could get worse.

I deliberately stay away from loud noises, in case it makes the problem even that teensy bit worse.  If you invited me to a disco, I’d probably have ear plugs in, well hidden under my hair.  I might have to ask you to repeat what you’re saying, but at least my ears won’t deteriorate any further from loud music.

If you have Tinnitus, take care of the noise around you.  I suspect it really does matter.

 

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Scottish Independence Is Dead – For Now!

1.30am

As I start to write this, I have no clue what the result of the Scottish Independence vote will be.  To be honest, I don’t think it really matters, even though it will be history in about seven hours or so.

As an exercise in dividing the nations, it’s done a sterling job.  Many Scots have divided from the English, and the yes and the no from each country is divided against each other.

It wasn’t about Salmond, and it wasn’t about Cameron.  It ‘s a vote for Westminster or the Scottish Parliament, but that message didn’t get through.  I found the TV coverage pitiful and biased, but hey ho, I can’t influence that.

I have to admit, I had a wee bit of a wobble at the polling station, but the cross went in the yes box.  It’s the hope you see.  I’m a glass half full sort.  Our NHS seems to be reducing, we have food banks, elderly people without care support, disabled forced out of their homes, unfair bedroom tax and lots more.  I can’t blame people for wanting to give it a go themselves.

Although my parents generation are more in tune with the union, it was because they had historical industries where they felt proud to be British.  With little of those industries or trade unions left, the younger people in our country are not seeing that meshing of populations, or meshing of ideals, goals or thinking, but there are enough of the elders around to make the final decision.

Actually, the young have been raised on a diet of banking scandals and unfair distribution of wealth, which always seems to favour the already wealthy.  The elders should win this vote, but in another thirty years time, it could be very different.

5am

  • The vote is in and we bottled it as a nation.
  • Fear won over hope.  That’s pretty understandable, given that people tend to be resistant to change.  They almost always resist change in the workplace, so it shouldn’t be a surprise that they resisted it for life.
  • The onus is now on Better Together and the no voters to PROVE their positioning.  But then again, it makes no difference to us, because we can’t do anything about it, even if they give all our money to the man on the moon.

The one thing I have to hope for, is that whether we are independent or not, the damage between the populations can be fixed, and we can carry on living and working together as close neighbours and friends.

The decision is made, though I think it will only fuel further divisions among the populations of the UK.

I really hope not.

We all need to kiss and make up  now, while we watch Government either fulfil or renege on their promise of more devolution for all of us, not just Scotland.

 

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We’re all going to die !!!!!

Long term readers of my blog will know that I have adopted children, one of whom has full-blown foetal alcohol syndrome and is in a dedicated special school, where he is now settled after a few years of sad instability at the hands of the education department staff.

He is now 12 years old and heading towards the teen years very fast.

He has also just begun to learn how to join simple words from some simple letters. Read cat sat on the mat, but not so advanced yet. Just the cat is a huge deal.

For 12 and a half years, he has rarely watched TV, and on the rare occasions he has, it hasn’t been sustained, but more of a one-off.

Imagine my surprise when he came through to see me last night.  He’d been in the family room while I was in the lounge, reading in peace.

“Mum, the news is bad.”

“What’s on the news?”

“Well, the army has killed two of their own people.  Cigarettes are now banned forever so dad has to stop smoking or he’ll be in jail, and Saharan sand is smothering everybody and we’re all going to die.”

Sand

Then, off he pops, happy as Larry, to listen to more gore from the news while I go and put on the kettle.

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Happy Mothers Day: Sunday 30th March 2014

Mothers Day

I used to think of Mothers Day being a little like Christmas for Mums.  Now I’ve grown up, I appreciate every little thing that anyone does for me on any day, and hope I will be pampered just a little bit on that one day a year we are meant to get a break.  It doesn’t always happen, and I have been known to buy my gift and get it wrapped so that the kids can give me something I really want.

So, what is Mothering Sunday really?

Mothering Sunday is when children usually give a gift to their parents, even if it is just breakfast in bed, or a big hug to say they appreciate them.

Mothers Day is usually the fourth Sunday of Lent and means it can end up on different days each year.

Traditionally, it was known as the day during Lent, where fasting rules begin to relax.  Like so many other holidays, it’s said to be inspired by stories in the bible.

Historians believe Mothering Sunday came about from the 16th Century habits of visiting a mother yearly, where young women in service and apprentices were allowed to go and visit their parents for that weekend.

In our modern world, it is more used as a means to honour our mothers and showing our appreciation for them by buying gifts, or spending time with them.

More formally known as Mothering Sunday, it’s held on the forth Sunday of Lent.   We can work it out to three weeks before Easter Sunday and is usually around the end of March or the beginning of April.

The modern version of mothers day is no longer basked in religious connotations.   It’s a celebration of motherhood that is revered by families UK and world wide.   People all over our little country visit their mothers and bring gifts and food to their mothers and their grandmothers.

HOW TO CELEBRATE

As it is a day to honour the women in our lives that have given up so much to be our mentors and guides, we should try to make a special effort to show our appreciation, love and affection for our maternal relatives.  The women can be our mothers, grandmothers, step-mothers, foster mothers, adoptive mothers, mothers in law and many more.

An important part of mothers day is not the gift, but the time we spend with our treasured relatives.  If people can afford it, they usually take their mother figures flowers, chocolates and gifts, before whisking them off for a meal to celebrate the occasion.  Those who cannot visit their nearest and dearest tend to send gifts and cards to remember them by.

Be sure to book early if you are going out for a meal, as places can be hard to come by at short notice.

Kids, if you’re listening, hint hint, I’d quite like not to cook this year.

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AFC – Scottish League Cup Winners 2014 – The Sheep Are On Fire

For the first time in 19 years, the cup came to Aberdeen Football Club.  I remember the last time our local team won it and I took my kids down to see the parade this time round.

It started here: the win against Inverness Caley Thistle at Celtic Park where the sheep won 4:2 on pens.

Forty thousand fans made the trip to Celtic Park, and although we couldn’t manage the match, we all watched it on the telly, and breathed in as it went to extra time and then penalties.  Inverness played a cracking defensive game and it was touch and go all the way through.

Winning on pens didn’t matter, as we brought the cup home.   The kids have supported the Dons all through the last decade of losing streaks and it was lovely to see something positive and share in a winning club while they are still kids.

Well done the Dons.  We went down to the cup parade today.  Sadly the sun was in our eyes and it was difficult to get pictures, but you get the idea.  There was lots of cheering, clapping and singing going on as the bus set off on its way.  We were at the start, but on Union Street it sounded like a footie match in progress.

Fabulous…..It’s a memory the kids will never forget…

Dons 2

Dons 3

Dons 5

Dons 7

Dons 4

Dons 9

Dons 10

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Aunt Bessie’s with “New” Added Roastiness for Mother’s Day Cooking

In Association With Aunt Bessie's

It’s that time of year again when we have to think about what we are going to get for our mothers.  My own mother is notoriously difficult to buy for as she always says that she wants “nothing.”

She does like a good roast dinner though, and I’m not always in the mood to actually make roast anything from scratch, so keeping it simple is always a good idea.

I am planning cooking this mothers day, as there probably won’t be anywhere left now that we can actually book.  My car is due an MOT and is out of action for a week or two, and relying on a replacement car in the meantime means I don’t have enough seats to take us all out.

We’ve always eaten our meals with the boys at the table and we’re lucky enough to have two tables to choose from.  We have a smaller table in the kitchen, and a bigger one in our family room/dining room/everything room.

I love having everyone around the table and all chatting while they eat.  It’s just such a throwback to my childhood when we all sat around the table then.  I’ve kept that tradition up with my boys and they just don’t ever consider going anywhere else to eat.

For a lovely homely dinner, it’s likely that we’ll start with a roast, home-made roast potatoes and Aunt Bessie’s for my Yorkshires.

My roast beef cooking tips are here if you are interested to see how I cook mine..

For Aunt Bessie’s and roast dinners, they’ve launched a new fun advert, starring the Aunt Bessie Grannies, Mabel and Margaret. This is an adventure with a mobility scooter!!!

Home Bake Yorkshires

To round it all off, here’s my roast potatoes recipe.  Mother will be proud…I hope.

[gmc_recipe 19618]