Take care of your mind as well as your body...

30th November 2016

Don't be afraid to be open-minded, your brain isn't going to fall out!

First of the month tomorrow, exciting time of year for most, sad time for others, it truly is a good time to be thankful for what and who you have and also to take time to think of others, is there something you could do to help someone else, a kind gesture, a donation, a visit, an invitation, is there a way you could make a difference to someone else's day?  

We never really know what's going on in other people's lives, so always be kind to others.  Mental illness affects 1 in 4 people, it's not something that should be hidden, we should talk about it openly, get help when we need it and support each other. Be observant and notice what's going on in other people's lives, take time to check in on people, the world unnecessarily lost a very beautiful young lady yesterday, it shouldn't have happened. 

I always promote the healthy and happy, it's important to take care of yourself and get the most from life.  Here are 10 practical ways to look after your mental health.  Making simple changes to how you live doesn't need to cost a fortune or take up loads of time, anyone can follow this advice, why not start today (this info was taken from www.mentalhealth.org.uk so for more details start there)

1) Talk about your feelings

2) Keep active

3) Eat well

4) Drink sensibly

5) Keep in touch

6) Ask for help

7) Take a break

8) Do something you're good at

9) Accept who you are

10) Care for others

Sounds so easy doesn't it, we all know it isn't which is why one in four are affected by mental illness. 

Right changing the subject because I need to!

Food... I made giant salmon fish fingers yesterday for our lunch they were amazing, I threw 2 slices of 400g wholemeal bread (3sp), 13g low fat Cathedral city mature lighter cheese (1sp), 1 teaspoon olive oil, into my food processor and blitzed it.  Then I mixed an egg with a pinch of smoked paprika, salt & pepper.  I got 2 salmon fillets (10sp), although there was enough mixture to do 4 fillets, dipped the salmon in the egg and then in the breadcrumbs, placed on grease proof paper on a wire rack in oven for about 20 minutes, gas mark 5.  Delicious, really delicious.

I'm keeping it short today, I want to say so much but can't, so I'm going to go make mom and me a cuppa and have a cuddle instead.  Love those around you as much as you can.  Family and friends are the most important part of your lives, never forget that and make time for them!

"I look like me" so important to accept that fact!

29th November 2016

A comfort zone is a beautiful place, put nothing ever grows there.

I made my Facebook live video debut yesterday!   I'd agreed to do a cook-a-long with Bonnie and anyone else who wanted to join in and I was asked on Saturday if I'd be recording it live, that I hadn't considered.  My thoughts on live stream have always been do I really want my behaviour recording and keeping, do I want to see what I look like when I'm doing what I do in a meeting really, the answer was probably not, then I realised that this is the version of me that hundreds of people see week in, week out and they seem to be okay with me so why not.  It seemed to go down well, I cooked chicken jalfrezi from the new Weight Watchers One Pot cook book (it tastes better when left to stand and the flavours come out more, so maybe make it a day ahead) and once I'd got used to how it works, this 'live' thing, we had a giggle, I could read my members comments and we all got to spend half hour or so with each other (albeit virtual) which we wouldn't normally do, loved  it.   However today's blog isn't about me, I've got me a guest blogger, one of my members actually, so I'll hand it over (I'm not sure if I was supposed to name them or it's anonymous, so I'll leave the name out for now)...

Guest Blogger

What do you see?

Take a look at the picture. What do you see?

Do you see a haggard old woman with a hook nose?  Some of you will see her straightaway but some of you won’t. Some of you might see a pretty young woman looking into the distance with her cute button nose. But some of you won’t.

For me this picture sums up how we might feel about how others see us.  What do you think other people see when they look at you? If you asked them (and they told you honestly) what do you think they would say? Are we ever brave enough to ask? Perhaps we should? We might be pleasantly surprised.

Some of us are on our Weight Watcher journey because we want to improve our health, our happiness but many of us want to improve the way we look too. How many family photographs do you have with you in it? Or like me are there a whole decade of pictures with you behind the camera because you couldn’t bear the thought of looking a picture of yourself?

Recently I found a beautiful photograph of my family with me in it that I had hidden away behind the sideboard for 13 years all because I could not bear to look at myself in that picture. I feel so sad now because when we found it the other day my husband said immediately ‘just look at you, how happy you looked then!’. That is what he saw, my happiness in that moment; he didn’t see the double chins or surplus pounds.

Weight Watchers is all about ‘Eat, Smile’ Move’ and often Bev reminds us to focus on ‘our happy’ and tells us we are all ‘BeYOUtiful’.  Wise words. Sometimes people find it really hard to love themselves and see their beauty, their sparkle, the radiance that others see in us. I guess they call it ‘self-esteem’

I would love to look like Elle McPhearson, Halle Berry, Jennifer Aniston or whoever the current definition of beautiful is. But I don’t. I look like me. People remember me by how I treat them, not how I look. I have learned it doesn’t matter a jot if when you look at me you see a haggard old woman or the pretty young girl. I am me.

I am learning to love what I see in the mirror and in those photographs. The weight loss is helping but I have learned to see the happy in the picture and not the shape of my body. I will always remember what happened in the picture; who I was with; where I was, not what my weight was.

This last week has been a painful reminder about how precious life is. Two friends diagnosed with cancer at a young age, one of my old school friends died and a former colleague had her life taken tragically last week. Life is so much more than what we look like and what we weigh isn’t it? Weight Watchers tell us this all the time – but how often do we forget the Smile of Eat, Smile, and Move? What have we got to be grateful for? What can make us smile this week? If the answer is losing 10lbs, dream on and think again!

Make Monday matter!

28th November 2016

May your day be filled with good thoughts, kind people and happy moments.

Okay Monday let's do this!  I've had a lovely weekend, today's my day off too but I've decided I'm going to be productive of sorts, not sure how yet, just woke up feeling that way.  We've both got checkups and the hygienist at the dentists this afternoon so I may as well make today a to do day, get stuff done out, earn some fit points along the way.

Food yesterday was good, I had an eggy, cheesy giant crumpet for breakfast with ham, mushrooms and spring onions.  It was delicious!

For lunch I made a chicken hotpot thing, mmm so simple, just chicken, carrots, onions, sliced potatoes and chicken oxos.

Then for tea we had a fish finger sandwich, such a simple, yet tasty meal, they were half price in the new co-op across the road too, which also meant I added some steps onto my fitbit because I walked across!

Mom found a wallet too when she was out walking the dog and I returned that, so even more walking, ended with just over 11,000 steps on my fitbit which included a lovely hours walk on the morning listening to my audio book.

I've been saying "It's not Christmas yet" all last week but now I'm going to have to change that to "Christmas is getting closer!"  This is the time when it gets really difficult, offers are everywhere, the Pringles were half price as well as the fish fingers and yes I did buy mom a tube and yes I did have about 10 of them wasting valuable Smart Points, when spent unwisely they should be called Dumb Points!   I'm going to do my best to stay away from the big supermarkets now, thinking about online shopping maybe to help me resist temptation.  My main Christmas shop is an online one so I won't go silly the week before!

Yeah I'm going to have as little stuff in this house as possible for as long as possible, use up all the stuff I have in the cupboards and freezer, I can get fresh stuff as and when needed!

Here's to a cracking good week ahead, I'm cooking the chicken jalfrezi from the One Pot cook book today, a few of us in my group are going to cook it together to compare notes, I'll need to nip and get a few ingredients for that though as I don't have them.

Before I do anything though, I'm going to finish my water, put the kettle on for a mug of tea and think about the day ahead whilst having me five minutes of quiet.

Here's to making today a good day!  You up for that BeYOUtiful?

Yesterday was a 9/10

27th November 2016

No one is you and that is your power.

How often do you have a great day? Go on rate yesterday from 1-10 how would you score it, how would you even know how to score it, what would it depend upon?  Would it be how you felt? Whether you got everything done on your to do list or how much time you got to spend with those you love. what makes a great day in your world, how do you define it? 

I'm guessing most people want a good day but don't know what one even looks like, nor stop to think about it.   

How can you create a good day?  There's something for you to think about...

How do you define success?  Again a lot of people want success and the rewards that go with it, of without paying the price, it's good to remember the way we live today impacts tomorrow.  Success doesn't just happen, we achieve it bit by bit, step by step, little by little.  From a weight loss success point of view, you don't just wake up at your goal weight, you work at it, it takes time, small changes, little tweaks, one thing at a time and along the way appreciating those moments when you are going to do something that isn't going to help you get there.

Success isn't an event!  Take my Weight Watcher meetings for example, they are there to help people find success, but they have their limitations. Meetings are great places for receiving inspiration and encouragement, they often prompt us to make important decisions to make changes.  They even provide the knowledge and tools needed to make those changes, but real sustainable change is a process not a one off meeting or a month of meetings, it's using the information and tools to help you attain that success you want so badly. 

Yesterday for me was a good day, I have more good days than bad and even when I have bad days, in the back of my mind I tell myself this isn't a bad life, it's just a bad day and it'll be better tomorrow.  I'm sat here thinking 'what makes a good day in my world', my life is a simple one by choice, I like to live as easy and stress free as possible, I have a job I enjoy immensely, a mom I love dearly, a dog that is adorable and a calm mind which I'm thankful for.  Why was yesterday a good day then, what made it that way for me, well I woke up smiling and ready for my day despite my headache (that probably took my day down by a score because it wouldn't completely go away), I then got to enjoy the company of some wonderful people at my meeting, followed by an amazing massage by the amazing Karen.  On my way home I stopped at my new local Co-op to buy a few bits, this really added to making my day a good one - told you I have a simple life, the little things make my day.  A delicious easy cooked dinner of faggots, crispy potatoes and cabbage also made it a good day, not to mention the jam doughnut I indulged in, I don't have one very often but when I do and it tastes that good, well then it's worth the 10 Smart Points.  Relaxing with a few glasses of white wine and a snooze in my armchair also made it a really good day.  Finished off with a bit of telly watching with mom, enjoying an episode of Tipping Point before agreeing XFactor was rubbish and having an early night.   Yeah that's up there at a 9 on the score of a good day, no stress in my life, all my bills paid, living within my means, feeling well after a few weeks of a virus, all these things gave yesterday a good 9/10, today I've got rid of that headache, so here's to a 10/10 kind of day. 

As for weight loss success, I'm working on that, taking it one day at a time, yesterday I used a few too many Smart Points but today I'll go for a walk to try and counteract it a little, my different food list is coming along nicely and I plan to cook up something delicious for lunch.

Yep here's to a cracking good day, I hope you have one too BeYOUtiful and that you give a few minutes to thinking about what makes a good day in your world.