How to be an entertainer on a rainy day...

Here you have it: The Indoor Obstacle Course For Toddlers.  You
have: a place mat, inflatable thing from the high chair we no longer
use, a bit of material, a blonde afro wig*, a gift bag, crinkly wrinkly
paper, The Wobbly Cushion, The Less-Wobbly Cushion, my coat.
The LLO's shopping trolley (unrelated but placed there by him).

Well hello Dear Reader.  Long time no blog.

The noggin has been full and I've been up to my eyeballs.  That's my excuse anyway.  I've also been running rather a lot (for me).  I've been eight times now in total and it seems to be helping so hoorah for that.  Although I am NOT looking forward to the next run which claims to make me run (under protest) for a full five minutes in a stretch for several times throughout this hard-hitting workout.  You may laugh at this hardened runners within my readership (all two of you, love you Mum and Dad x), but know this, I cannot run for a bus so imagine my uphill struggle and sympathise.  There, that told you didn't it.

Anyway, I'm babbling on and not talking about what I wanted to talk about.  Why do I get so distracted and tangential when speaking to you?  It's because you're so interesting and ever so good at listening...  Argh!  I'm doing it again.

OBSTACLE COURSES.  There.  This is what I want to talk about.  Stick to the topic woman.

The poor LLO has chicken pox so we are in solitary confinement for a few days.  He's doing very well and is actually in a lovely mood and fine in himself which, considering the spots, shows that he has inherited his father's good temperament (and his mother's gauky good looks).  As he can't go to the childminder's with chicken pox, it's been just me and him doing nice things together and it's been a lovely treasured time for me although I'd obviously rather have him without the pox poor love.  Our usual routine is to charge around meeting friends, attending playgroups or swimming and we haven't had a good run of days where we have been at home together for a while.

Amongst all the books, most of which seem to be pig-based these days, toys, games, peekaboos (he calls them "IGGABOOooooos"), colouring, comics, naps and cuddles in front of the telly, we have also been out in the garden a lot and even braved the park when there was no one around which my doctor said was fine (so don't bother trolling me about that one, ye trolls).  As well as this, I tried out The Indoor Obstacle Course For Toddlers when it was raining.  We did this when he was much smaller but he really loved it this time.

The idea is that child does the course in bare feet and learns about texture and materials, as well as balance and other gross motor skills.  Be that as it may, it's all jolly good fun and no human can complete this course without a smile on their face.  You can get really fancy with it and go all around the house, but as the wee chap is flagging a little, we just made it in the hall.  I swapped the various components around and it seemed to make it all the more fun for him.

This idea came from a book I got out of the library called Child's Play which is a Montessori book that I got for some ideas for rainy days. And as it happens, "rainy day activities" was the last PBloggers discussion that I have just written up. So for more rainy day (or poorly-but-ok-to-run-around-a-bit) ideas, please check out the blog (click on the screengrab below!)

How the PBloggers Community entertain their families on rainy days

*The blonde afro-wig, obviously from my mis-spent youth, was known throughout the game as "the woolly woolly hat".  I was not permitted to wear it and was clearly told NO when thinking this would be a good idea.  

    

Run Fatty! Run Fatty! Run! Run! Run! Part Two

Am I alone in having a sheep smile at me?

I am a sufferer of Anxiety.  There, I said it.

For those of you who know me well, this will come as no surprise. For those of you who don't, Tra La La, now you know.  In the back of the cupboard of my mind, hidden somewhere behind the Marmite, I have always known I would one day write about my relationship with Anxiety.  In fact, I have part-written a post, but cannot seem to find the words or courage to finish it. One day I will. 

But know this Dear Reader: I am kicking Anxiety up the arse* with a big, fat, weighty, steel-toe-capped boot.

I'll tell you all about that one day too.

But not now.

So why am I telling you this? Goodness me Dear Reader, be patient!  All will become clear in a minute...

My recent lack of bloggage has been due to a frightfully busy time both at home and work.  I have been doing too much really, but have been having a great time as usual.  Last week, however, I had the truly terrifying experience of being interviewed on a live, high-profile programme on the national broadcast media as an "expert" in my area of work.  Whilst this was, perhaps with hindsight, a strangely enjoyable experience and probably something I would do again, I was utterly petrified.  Some people seem to take this sort of thing in their stride, remaining entirely unphased. I, on the other hand, was nearly sick in the taxi on the way there...

Goodness only knows how I managed it, but I did not appear to be trembling, panicking or particularly nervous and my friends and colleagues have all said that I came across well.  My insides did not reflect this confident exterior however!

Anyway, once it was over, I was on a high, riding a wave of relief and enjoyed the congratulations I received upon my return to work.  Later that evening though, I smacked head first into a wall of exhaustion and felt completely drained. Then my old adversary Anxiety turned up and wouldn't leave me alone for about a week.  This time, he outstayed his welcome so I had to do something to make him leave.

And that something was to RUN.

All the gear and no idea
As you may recall from the first part of this particular post, I am deeply unfit and my running, jumping and skipping attire was somewhat lacking.  I reported that I eminated the appearance of "Albert Steptoe with some sort of shoulder twitch" so have rectified this situation with properly fitting trousers and a sports bra that have sat in the cupboard since the last running attempt. 

Clobber on, trainers dug out of the bottom of the wardrobe, upbeat music on my phone, Couch to 5k App running and off we go.  It felt good.  The weather was fine and the music uplifting.

I am fully expecting to see these signs popping
up around the village in the coming weeks

All sheep must be kept on a lead
My route includes two laps of a loop and I could feel the seratonin being generated with every pace.  The music seemed to really help me and lightened my step as I embarked on the first lap of my loop.  People I passed smiled and said hello (not that I could hear them over Freddy Mercury who was having such a good time; he was having a ball).  I ran past horses in a field, saw a hot air balloon, skipped over the bridge that spans the ford, jogged past the pub, ran through a blossom-filled and heavily scented avenue of trees and strode out confidently as I ran past the kids sat in the bus stop determined to make it look like I wasn't having any trouble at all with this running lark and hoping that they wouldn't laugh and point at me.

I also ran past a man with a black woolly sheep on a lead and I am 100% sure that that sheep smiled at me. Neither man nor sheep were there when I completed the second lap of the loop so I am now slightly suspicious that perhaps this running around isn't doing me as much good as I thought and that I am, in fact, completely losing the plot.  Oh dear.

Anyway despite the grinning sheep, I have been three times now and am going to try to keep it up.  I am finding that what I eat during the day and whether I run before or after dinner in the evening makes a difference to whether or not I get stitch and how tired I am when I get back.  What the running is definitely doing is helping me wave good riddance to this particular phase of Anxiety and I'm hoping it will help to keep it at bay.

Over to you
Do you have any experience of using running or exercise to help your mood?  Do you have any running tips for me?  And most importantly, can you recommend good music to run to? I like to keep my pace aligned to the beat and whilst Freddy Mercury is having such good time defying the laws of gravity and doesn't want anyone to stop him or his rocket ship which is apparently on a collision course, his song is the only one that fits my running pace out of the handful I've tried and I suspect I'll soon get fed up of the same song on repeat.  All advice gratefully received.

Thank you!
x

*Please note that this is the first swear word to be used on my blog.  Although I may mutter the odd expletive, I was taught by my dear Nana that swearing shows nothing but a lack of vocabulary so I rarely write them down.  It's just that I HATE Anxiety so much, that a swear word seems an appropriately lowly term for such a loathesome beast.  Please accept my apologies if I have offended your delicate ear Dear Reader, and know that this shall not be a common occurrence.

My Top Ten Tips for Losing Weight

It doesn't all have to be about rabbit food...

As you may or may not know, Dear Reader, I started this blog back in April 2012 to track my weight loss progress and to cast, in virtual stone, my pledge to lost two stone from my ever expanding waistline. My very first post explains all this rather nicely.  In the end, I lost nearly three stone and blogged about other hopefully more interesting and entertaining things, but I'll skim past that minor detail.

I have a few tips for those trying to lose weight that I thought I'd share.  Here's my top ten:

1. Join WeightWatchers*. I didn't honestly think this would work for me, but the weight fell off following their programme.  The recommended food plan makes logical sense to me in that it is balanced and nutritionally sensible.  It is not rocket science and no one from NASA was there.  Unless they were undercover.

2. Exercise. I didn't go mad on this at all and, in fact, have so far only attempted one run that was a little amusing (with hindsight).  What I have done is to opt for more activity such as going out with the LLO rather than being indoors (unless it was soft play which is exhausting enough for any grown up trying to go down a tunnel slide.  Don't pretend you don't know what I mean).  He loves being outdoors anyway, unless it is cold and snowing in which case being indoors is the loudly proclaimed activity of choice.

3. Sandwiches, be weeny.  This may sound odd but, when I had a sandwich, I cut it into eight rather than four.  Yes, my plate was identical to the LLO's but he didn't mind that I was copying him and it meant that my sarnie took slightly longer to eat, giving the food time to hit my stomach before I reached for the cake tin.

4. Make the fridge fruity.  I made sure I had plenty of my favourite fruit in the fridge and would grab a handful of blueberries when I started to crave chocolate.  It seemed to work.

5. Use a smaller plate? Tosh.  I am not an idiot; if my dinner arrives on a saucer, it is a tiny meal and not enough for my appetite. Instead of this recommended trick of the weightloss trade, I just piled my plate with vegetables or salad (not peas, sweetcorn, beans, pulses, nuts or avocados but anything else).  My big plate was always loaded and ready to be devoured and no extra calories-of-doom for me.

6. Beware of the Buffet Bonanza.  I love a buffet. You can pile up on your favourites and leave the frankly DISGUSTING cheese and pineapple sticks back in the 1980s.  Who likes those things?  The trick here is to leave your favourites until last.  Pile your plate up with salad or vegetables first, then add whatever else you want.  Then eat all the salad etc first and tuck into the tasties last.  You are less likely to go back for more then.  This goes for barbecues too.

7. WeightWatchers' recipes.  These were the rocks that helped us weather the storm and our main meal was usually derived from one of their recipes everyday.  We are mostly a cook-from-scratch family and have had some lovely meals following their published recipes.  If you don't want to join WeightWatchers, then you can pick up their monthly magazine which has some great recipes.  I have to say that we found some of the recipes in the books I bought less exciting.

8. Grate your cheese and make it mature.  Grated cheese goes further than sliced and you need less if it's a strong mature one than a mild.  Cheese is the very definition of FAT so go easy.

9.  Plan your week.  Do a menu plan for the week and stick to it.  Shop for it then eat it.  Yum.  If you find yourself hungrily looking in the fridge at dinner time thinking 'What can I create?', you will cook a cake.

10. Most importantly, don't be extreme about it.  Don't be in a rush if you want the weight to stay off. Don't go hard core and cut everything you like out as you will only crave it.  I still had chocolate or biscuits most days and saw the weight fall off.

My question to you:  This is especially aimed at anyone who has reached their goal weight.  How do you maintain it?  I have had ever such a lot of compliments about my thinner profile (not that I am anything special to look at, there's just less of me now) so have started to think: 'Just one enormous slice of Victoria Sponge won't hurt...' which is fine so long as it isn't followed by another slice, and isn't a daily habit (which could so easily happen for me).  I expect the answer is to keep going to the WeightWatchers meetings.  How do you keep your motivation going?

If you have any other tips, please comment below.  I'd love to hear them.

x

*I don't work for WeightWatchers and they haven't paid me or asked me to write this.  They know NOTHING of this post, although they will when I hit the publish button!

Happy Birthday to Me!

Would you believe it?!  This little blog is one year old today!
Have some cake everyone!  xx

Source: tipjunkie.com via Margaret on Pinterest

Actually, this is more my kind of cake...

Source: blogs.babycenter.com via Samantha on Pinterest

Good grief, or this!!

Source: epicurious.com via annB on Pinterest

My Mum's Vintage Bright Orange Slow Cooker

My Mum's vintage PIFCO slow cooker

During last week's PBloggers discussion, my slow cooker received considerable attention.  Not only that, photographic evidence was demanded by Kate over at Just Pirouette and Carry On, Vicky at Single Mother Ahoy, Michelle at The Crowther Clan and Laura at Max and Mummy.   Considering the topic of the week was parental guilt, I hadn't anticipated that I would be required to tweet a photo of my slow cooker so was unable to meet their demands.  Therefore, to go one better, I thought I'd write a little post about it.

Life, Dear Reader, really is the very definition of rock and roll around here these days.

My Mum gave us her rather lovely vintage slow cooker a couple of years ago.  As you can see from the photo, it is not a subtle piece of kit but has bubbled meals since I was a little girl.

The trouble with it being somewhat 'vintage' is that I worry that when we put it on and go out for the afternoon, it might catch fire.  So my husband took it to work and got it PAT tested and it had it's test today by coincidence and passed with flying colours!  Hoorah!

Votes Please!
Kate insists that I name the slow cooker so please vote below for your favourite option - or add a comment to come up with one better...

Name my Slow Cooker