Vitamin D - Get yourself tested

I'm writing this post out of a some what quiet desperation to let people know about Vitamin D deficiency and the extent to which it can effect your life.

It sounds a bit silly really doesn't it - Vitamin D deficiency? Harmless. Or it did to me anyway. When blood tests showed that I was Vitamin D deficient earlier in the year my first thought was oh, I suppose I should step outside more. Quickly followed by, I guess I should drink more orange juice too. (Totally wrong there btw past Abbie, that's Vitamin C!) I didn't for a minute think that the lack of Vitamin D in my system could be causing all my aches and pains, giving me extreme fatigue and effecting my mood in a horribly negative manner.

It's just Vitamin D deficiency right? It doesn't mean anything. Everyone has it at some point. It's just one of those things that sorts itself out.

No.

Vitamin D - Get yourself tested

Tuesday, 24 October 2017

Losing The Baby Weight + XLS Medical Giveaway

During my pregnancy with Lily I put on over 3 stone and naively thought I'd lose it as soon as I had the baby. Imagine my surprise when after having her I only lost 10lbs and the rest of the weight wouldn't budge! I wasn't happy with the way I looked and through sheer determination I managed to lose the entire 3 stone and more but my gosh did it take a long time. Two years to be precise. 

I tried a mixture of everything to lose that weight - from Slimming World to smoothie diets, cycling and the 30 day shred and to be honest it all got rather stressful, doing that much for such a long amount of time. 

With this pregnancy I'm piling on the pounds again. I'm a little over half way and have already put on a stone and a half so it's looking like I'll gain about 3 stone in this pregnancy, just like with Lily's. Of course it's not a massive deal - I'm fine with it as long as the baby is growing healthily but it's making me think about the ways I want to try and lose the baby weight this time around as I don't think I can go back to two years of constant dieting and exercising just to get back to my pre pregnancy weight. 

Losing The Baby Weight + XLS Medical Giveaway

Tuesday, 3 November 2015

Slimming World FILLING Snack Ideas

If you're anything at all like me you don't eat little and often, you just eat often! I'm a snacker and I always have been but small snacks just don't fill me up. I like to use all 15 of my syns on Slimming world so I'm not left feeling hungry and I usually calculate in advance how many syns I'll have left over at the end of the day and plan my snacks from there.

Slimming World FILLING Snack Ideas

Thursday, 18 June 2015

InstaNatural Vitamin C Facial Toner Review

I've spoken on my blog about InstaNatural's products before and how impressed I am with them and so I was delighted when this lovely company got in contact to see if I wanted to review their new Vitamin C Facial Toner.

I've mentioned before that my skin can get easily irritated but I've found so far that my skin copes really well with InstaNatural's facial products, including this particular toner.

InstaNatural Vitamin C Facial Toner Review

Wednesday, 17 June 2015

Brushing Your Children's Teeth

Lily brushing her teeth before bed

Do you brush your child's teeth as often as you should? A recent national dental health survey has shown that nearly half of 8 year olds and a third of 5 year olds have signs of decay in their milk teeth! This is a shocking revelation and hits home the need to make sure you regularly brush your children's teeth morning and night (or make sure they do it properly themselves if they are old enough!).

Lily absolutely loves her teeth being brushed (although it was a struggle at first). It's all part of her 'big girl' routine and on the odd occasion where she might not want to cooperate, she soon changes her mind with a "Oh, I thought you were a big girl?". Luckily because Lily loves having her teeth brushed so much, usually the first thing she says in the morning or last thing she says at night is "Oh no, Daddy hasn't brushed my teeth yet!" even before we've had chance!

Lily loves to run the toothbrush under the tap herself, put the toothpaste on herself, and thankfully also brush her teeth herself. She always goes first and does her best (she's definitely getting more thorough as she mimics our actions) and then when she's finished doing her part she'll always announce "It's Daddy's turn now" where James then brushes her teeth properly to make doubly sure!

Brushing Your Children's Teeth

Wednesday, 13 May 2015

Green Smoothie Update

So it occurred to me the other day that I havent given any sort of update as to how my green smoothie-ing has been going since I started in January. I mentioned before that I wanted to start drinking daily green smoothies as one of my new years resolutions (and its probably the only resolution i've kept to!) 

I did the green smoothie diet a few years ago and stopped after a fortnight, but this was because I was using them as meal replacements for breakfast and lunch and couldn't keep up with it. This time around it's less about losing weight and more about getting more greens into my body as well as my 5 a day as I'm usually rubbish at managing to stick to my 5 a day. It's also just generally about getting more liquid into my body as I'm awful for rushing around throughout the day and not remembering to stop and have a drink and before christmas I was finding myself feeling very dehydrated and with a lot of headaches.

SO 7 weeks into green drinking and I'm still going strong! Honestly the benefits I'm getting from having my green smoothies every day is unreal. I've found that since starting them I've had much more energy, my skin looks better and I've managed to feel fuller for longer which means less pointless snacking.

I've heard a few people say that they felt like their skin started to look glowing after starting green smoothies and I don't know if it's just coincidence as my skin tends to go through good and bad patches and could easily just happen to be in a good patch right now.. but it really does look so much better! One thing I am sure about though is that the drink has done wonders for my energy levels. I started noticing a difference after just a few days and wondered if it was just psychosomatic but after running out of ingredients a few weeks ago and going nearly a week without having any smoothies I really truely felt the difference. In that week I felt drained and lethargic and back to how I was around christmas.. I actually started craving them again! 

I have to be honest and say that I havent lost any weight since starting them, but I havent been eating particularly healthily nor have I been using them as meal replacements so that's probably why. 

I think the fact that green smoothies are so easy to make is why I've managed to stick to it thus far..you literally just wack your chosen ingredients in a juicer and voila! Much cheaper than the bottled stuff in the supermarkets ;)

Sorry for rambling on so much, I only meant for this to be a quick update..I just love them so much!

Over the next few weeks I'll be sharing my favourite smoothie recipes with you too, so don't forget to check back for those if you're interested :)

Green smoothies really have helped me out tremendously! ..Long may it last! 

Green Smoothie Update

Tuesday, 17 February 2015

52 Week Photography Challenge - Week 1 (Beginnings)

Like most bloggers I am obsessed with taking photos so what better to do than to take up a photography challenge! I think I attempted one a few years ago (I might go back and try to find it actually!) but it was a photo a day challenge and it all got too much, I think I only made it to the middle of March if I remember correctly! 

Mummy B's photography Challenge is perfect because its 1 photo a week, so not too taxing and I like the sound of all the subjects! This weeks subject is 'Beginnings' - 

As its the start of 2015 I'm doing the cliche thing that everybody does at the start of the year which is to start eating healthily again. For me this is less about losing weight and more about feeling guilty about the amount of crap I've put into my body over the Christmas holiday. When I eat rubbish I start to feel all lethargic and so I'm hoping that the green smoothie diet will help revitalize me and give me back some much needed energy...Oh and I wouldn't complain if I were to lose a few pounds in the process ;)  

52 Week Photography Challenge - Week 1 (Beginnings)

Tuesday, 6 January 2015