I'm finally....

.... understanding me!

Weight has always been a struggle, even as a child and I've never fully understood exactly why. I somehow managed to lose weight following the Slimming World plan but have found the maintaining bit really hard. Old habits really don't lurk too far away and I've never fully understood the damage they can do. 

When I was trying to conceive my children, 20 years ago, I was diagnosed with PCOS. One element is problems in conceiving, others include unwanted hair growth, weight gain/management, acne 

Struggling to maintain my weight loss, I decided recently to look a little deeper into the role PCOS plays in my weight management and found this fabulous site, where you can enrol in a starter kit and the condition is fully explained to you. I'm most definitely a visual learner, so being able to watch videos and see diagrams, has made it all make much more sense. I have looked into it before and I think when I started Slimming World, I was so strict with myself, I actually followed a PCOS diet without really thinking but as old habits have crept back in, that layer of strictness, which enabled me to lose the weight has gone.

Basically PCOS is a hormone disorder, where something is fundamentally wrong with our hormones. It affects your Beta cells and how your body processes insulin. Insulin impacts on our ovaries and we in turn produce too much testosterone, which increases insulin etc. Food too impacts on our testosterone levels (dairy) and our insulin levels (carbs, gluten, sugar, glucose) Keeping your blood sugar levels constant is key, controlling spikes in insulin  that can't be processed and are in turn stored as fat.

As a result of my investigations, the best way forward is to 

Avoid GLUTEN

Eliminate DAIRY

Eat foods with a LOW GLYCEMIC LOAD

Have a PLAN

Manage your CRAVINGS

it also suggests you

EXERCISE regularly

manage your STRESS

Get enough SLEEP

I have bought a few books on Glycemic load, I have been investigating dairy and gluten foods and have come up with a plan. 

I intend to go gluten free where ever I can but I'm human, so when in Cornwall, I will still enjoy a pasty or a portion of chips! I've decided to not go dairy free but low dairy. I don't eat much dairy anyway, but would waste so much money if I had to buy special products just for me, when I eat so few. I think the Glycemic Load is key - choosing foods with a low GL. It also suggest you eat protein with carbs, when snacking, which is something I've done for a while, it also suggest snacking 3 times a day - mid morning, afternoon and evening, so blood sugar levels are kept constant. So I've adapted my food planning sheet to reflect this. At the moment there is a lot to take in, I don't have much weight to lose, just a few stubborn Christmas pounds but I want to start feeling in control of my weight, so I can keep it off forever.

Sorry for the rambling, I think I had to get this all written down for me to process all the bits of paper currently floating around on my desk but if it does help anyone else along the way, then great! 

January....

....is flying by!

I hate the January Sale as it starts before Christmas (this year - Dec 23rd) and doesn't seem to let up until it's done, which is the 24th this year! It seems endless but blink and January is nearly over and with the added supply teaching I've done, I can't quite believe we're entering the last week.

I always ease my way through the month by keeping busy and filling my house with flowers - you can't beat a £1 bunch of daffodils, to brighten up any dull January day.

My amaryllis, a Christmas gift, has flowered beautifully, 

timed to perfection to brighten the past week.

We have latterly had some beautiful cold days, ending with some magnificent skies.

I treated myself to a couple of hours off mid week, to go and see La La Land. Our local cinema does an 11am Wednesday screening, with coffee and biscuits for £6.50. I love it as there's only a few others in there and as I generally never get around to seeing the films I want to see, I now can. It was so good, I ordered the soundtrack and it's a perfect addition to my driving sessions with Sophie, now she can concentrate with a little background music playing. 

Have a good week - the sale ends midnight on Tuesday - I've loads of orders to get out tomorrow and then I suspect it will go eerily quiet once the sale ends - time for a good tidy up and sort out I think!

SALE ends soon

SALE ends midnight on Tuesday

50% off EVERYTHING!

Last chance to grab a bargain

Bit of a mixed bag

Quick catch up after a really rather busy week!

Started off nice and relaxed on Monday with a quick coffee and catch up with my lovely friend, before doing the days orders.

Tuesday in the hairdressers when the phone rang - could I do some supply teaching cover tomorrow!?! So a mad afternoon or orders, food shopping, juggling followed.

Wednesday and it turned out to be all day Thursday too, we were out the door by 7:50am, much to the groans of Sam and I was in a Nursery class of 3/4 year olds!! Exhausting!

Friday morning more of the same, then catching up with orders, then an hour or two of driving with this one - reversing around a corner, parallel parking and manoeuvring into a parking bay! 

I have spent the weekend cleaning, food planning and shopping, making up, picking and packing orders, as I'm wanted in again all day tomorrow and who knows if more too!

The SALE is still on but stocks are getting low particularly on the spotty bags, so get them whilst you can as they're not being reprinted.

Have a good week - I wonder how mine is going to turn out!?!

SALE madness

Our SALE is in full swing - lots of you out there are keeping me very busy and grabbing a bargain along the way, enjoying the 50% off  EVERYTHING!!

These mixed pack of cards are proving to be a very popular choice - so much so, some cards are now out of stock and alternatives are being put in their place.

As are these bags - but grab them whilst you can, as these will not be reprinted. I have to order in the 30,000's so I'm phasing these out now and am down to my last few 1000!

 

I treated myself to this lightbox in the SALE. I've wanted one, not been able to justify the cost but got this with 50% off, so I couldn't resist.

I've started the year back on-plan! I enjoyed a few too many treats over the festive period but am back on it, I aim to lose the few extra pounds and keep myself in target range! It's great food, lots of choice, so no real hardship - in fact, I actually enjoy getting back on it.

I hope your start to the New Year has been a good one. The weather hasn't been great, really foggy but it's not stopped Sophie taking over the school run and driving us to school and back every day now. We endeavour to go to Yeovil when we can too, as that is where her test centre is based, so lots of practice needed and he said as soon as her theory is out of the way (first attempt early February), he'll book her in for her test!! That sounds way too soon but it takes 4-6 weeks to come through and I guess it's still a couple of months away. I must confess, I won't be sorry to stop doing the school run, although I'd still have a year of taking Sam if Sophie goes off to uni, or persuade him to get up earlier and get the bus - pretty sure that would be a no! 

Have a great week!

Hello 2017!

 

Happy New Year 

 

and hello 2017!

We celebrated in style last night, with a sparkly Viennetta!

The children were out enjoying themselves, we were taxi service for one of them after the bells chimed, so a quiet New Year's Eve for Jeff and I.

 

This morning, the start of a new year, is always exciting.

A clean page lies before you, new goals to work towards, exciting dreams to hope for, new opportunities and experiences to challenge us and new adventures to explore. However, we have nothing too big or exciting this year ahead of us, no money for a holiday - this year is a 'get on with it' year!

Sam has his GCSE studies to focus on, it's all seemed a long way off up until now and he does say, 'try to go to the gym at least once a week' - the jury's out on both!!!.

Sophie has her AS levels in the Summer, her driving test when she's ready and I guess her attention will turn towards university applications.

Jeff wants to keep the weight off, keep up his fitness levels and I hope he'll stay injury free!

I want to keep the weight off, slowly get back into running if my back and hip allow. I want to finish the outstanding rooms in the house - bathroom, utility, hall, stairs and landing!

I want to grow fruit and vegetables in our garden, plant bulbs for next spring and allium's for next Summer. I want to enjoy having Sophie and Sam around, as I realise more and more how independent they're becoming and how they'll be off doing their own adventures soon. I want to flirt with the idea of a little foreign adventure, even if it was just for a couple of days - no holiday this year is hard! I do have Take That to look forward to in early June and I have a school reunion in April, celebrating 30 years since we left school, now that does make me feel old! And I want a new challenge for me, not sure what yet, more on that as the year unfolds!

I hope your 2017 is full of everything you want it to be. I'm a firm believer in things happening for a reason, so what will be, will be. As long as you can spend the year happy and healthy, feel the warm sunshine on your face and meet everything with a positive 'can do this' attitude, you can't go far wrong.

Here's to a fabulous 2017 x