Who would I trade places with for the day and why

Hey lovelies,

I hope you’re having an amazing start to the week.

I’ve read many blogpost list ideas since I started blogging, lots of which were not relevant to me or my cup of tea but when I seen this idea, I knew straight away who it would be, so I had to do this post (the only problem is, I can’t actually remember whos’ list this belonged to).

The person I’d trade places with for a day is –

My niece, Tallie (Natalie).
~ Me & Tallie ~

Here’s my reasons why –

She’s one of the strongest people I have ever had the pleasure of knowing
She’s a mother & makes it look so easy & so much fun
She has the ability to let you know when she’s pissed off with you, with just one look, I’ve had that look on more than one occasion & immediately thought “why did I say/do that?”, honestly, I wanted the ground to just open up & swallow me (I’m so sorry for the times I received that look). She doesn’t need to argue with you & she doesn’t like to.
She loves love, happiness & smiles, she oozes them & has plenty to go around.
She’s so girlie, I love it.
She has the ability to light up a room upon immediate entry & no matter your mood, always manages to make you smile.
She gives her life to her children & has such a busy mum schedule but still finds time to make you welcome into her home, she would greet you at her door no matter the time of day with a smile & an offer of a hot beverage.
She puts me in mind of a swan, when you observe her, she glides by gracefully but underneath it all, her inner ‘legs’ must be going like the clappers. Hehe.
I’ve never known anyone like her.

The tag words I’ve attached to this post are just some of the words I would associate with Tallie.

I’m proud beyond words to call her my niece & wish I seen her more than I do.

Love you lots Tallie.

I do have more of an unrealistic pick –

Kate Middleton –

I would love to know if she’s able to live a remotely normal life with her family & how they all interact (here’s a thought for you, William & Harry remind me of Stefan & Damon in Vampire Diaries! William’s Stefan, more stable & Harry’s Damon, seems to like danger & take more risks. Hehe).

I hope you have an amazing week.

Bye for now.

♥

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I’m thankful for…

Morning lovelies,

It’s definitely feeling a lot like Winter lately & I love it, I love the whole Winter fashion thing, cozy hats & scarves, deliciously warm jumpers & beautifully huggable coats.

I go through my life living it in auto pilot more than I should. I walk to & from work 99% of the time, earphones in with music playing (can’t live without music). When I actually lift my head up & take a look, which I do quite a lot in the mornings, I love the scenery around me, nature has the best colour palette & the most beautiful of scenes, especially in the Autumn –

Autumn

Such a grand tree at about 7am

Close up of said grand tree

Close up of said grand tree (2)

Suns Rays in the Morning

I’m thankful for a lot of things in my life & even on doing this list, I’m bound to miss some off it but here goes.

Thing’s I’m thankful for & they’re not only material things either –

YouTube

YouTube may seem like a strange thing to be thankful for, but I’m incredibly thankful for the youtubers I watch, they make me laugh & bring me a lot of joy.

Nero

I’m thankful for a local coffee-house that has a fantastic atmosphere & amazing coffee. As soon as I walk in to my local Nero, I feel like I could literally sink into one of the sofas with my favourite coffee, take off my shoes, kick my legs up onto the sofa & sit there reading a book or writing blog posts on my laptop for hours. I’m even more thankful when the right staff are on shift. Hehe.

A company that allows me to be silly sometimes

The company I work for, even though an incredibly serious one, one needed to do an excellent job at all times because it’s a hospitality & retail company on our local uni campus, is more than willing to allow staff to get involved with silliness when the occasion calls for it, we’ve just had Children in Need & our company raised £1902, our highest amount yet, everyone got dressed up & a lot of people baked cakes & cookies, not me though, I can’t bake for toffee, I spent money instead of energy & bought cakes & tray bakes to sell, there were also lots of raffles going on around campus. I get dressed up at every opportunity –

Dressed for Halloween

Dressed for Children in Need

Weekends

I’m so grateful for the weekends, I have a fulltime job & a lot of the time in the week, feel like I don’t have enough time to do the stuff I’d love to do, so I often don’t bother starting anything but I REALLY need to snap out of that, at the weekend, I get all that extra time to do things I want to do, albeit, I don’t do it all but I do some. I take my hat off to parents cause I don’t know how you find all those extra thousands of hours each week to do all the parenting stuff that needs doing!

My sense of smell

I explore the world around me like the whole world should, with my eyes wide open & my nose twitching in the breeze but I should embrace it with open arms like so many people do. I love the fact that I can smell the changing seasons, I love the smell of Autumn. Me & Richard went to a christmas fayre about 4 weeks ago & Richard got some Winter spiced fudge, I’m not exaggerating when I say this but when I smelt inside the bag, I immediately teared up, the smell was christmas to me & how thee perfect christmas candle would smell, I SOOOOO WISH I COULD HAVE TASTED IT!

My eyes

Richard struggles with his eyes, he had keratoconus when he was younger which nearly blinded him, he’s had cornea transplants on both his eyes meaning, his corneas are not the ones he was born with, he had rejection & nearly lost one of his eyes, the surgeon sown it shut & wrote it off but as it turned out, he did manage to regain his sight in his eye. Right now, he has a squint in one eye & a growth on his other cornea, he’s having surgery on his squint this week. I’m so lucky & thankful that I have the eyes I have, yes, I may need glasses to read certain prints but I don’t have any other issues & I can see fine, I’m incredibly thankful that I can see the world around me.

My family & friends

I’m so thankful for both my parents still being alive (so many [too many] of the people I know [Richard included] have lost one or both parents & it’s shite, everyday must be a struggle, I hear it gets easier with time & yes, maybe it does but Richard still breaks his darling heart over his fathers death, I know he thinks about his dad every day & often says he wishes I’d known him but what he don’t realise is, I do know him, I know him because of the things I’ve heard about him & way people talk about him when he’s in the conversation, maybe it will get easier but only with each breath at a time). I have a mad bag of family members each with their own annoyances (which we all have some of) & I love them dearly but the thought of having to tolerate them all together at the same time……………….oh boy, now then, I feel the need to vacate the planet, hehe, we all feel the need to be heard more than the next person & we all have a funny story to tell that simply MUST be told at exactly the same moment! My friends are crazy & I adore them, I know that should I need to, I can call upon them at any time for anything.

My darling Richard

Me & Richard at the Loughborough Uni fireworks night

November 2016

Hhmmm……………..where do I start with my darling Richard??? I’m thankful for him because he’s me in a male body except he’s a more disciplined version of me, he’s the me that I wish I could be better at, he’s got more self-control when it comes to the things I haven’t, like FOOD! Hehe. I’m thankful for the love & patience he shows me daily, for the laughs we share together. I’m thankful for him showing me what love is supposed to be like, effortless & just being with each other, sitting in silence if the occasion calls for it. Although, he can talk the hind legs of a donkey, did I mention he’s the male version of me?? Hehe. I tell him I love him daily but I don’t think I say thank you often enough, oh yes, I use my manners (most of the time, I’m not perfect) but I don’t thank him for just being here enough.

November 2017

To my darling Richard

My limbs

I’m so thankful that I have all of my limbs, I’m an extremely touchy feely person, I love all the feels & thrive on showing affection, I love hugs, given &/or received. I watch my poor mother struggle to get around the house daily in a wheelchair & it breaks my heart when I think about how active she used to be (that’s why I don’t think about it very much). My body aches constantly & begs me at times to stop eating the way that I do & I MUST listen to it & soon, one of my worst fears is that I get arthritis like my mum & end up in a chair!

My state of mind

I’m a positive person most of the time & I try so hard to be a happy person, which is easy a lot of the time, the problem I have is that I tend to allow people &/or situations impact on my mood, which, in turn, dictates how my day goes, especially if I’m at work. I do try to block out the negative & a lot of the time I manage it, sometimes, you’ll even find me laughing at the negativity people try to dump onto me. Doing a thankful list brings home that some shit just isn’t that important to me & I’m going to try harder to not let people & situations influence how my whole day goes, the problem I have is that when I’m in a bad mood or if I’m unhappy, I can’t just switch it off & if I try to swallow it, it really is like I’m trying to swallow a brick but I’m getting better though. I tend to wear my emotions like a badge. I don’t suffer from depression & don’t have bad anxiety, I have slight anxiety but not bad enough to go on about. I’m happy a lot of the time & at peace a lot of the time.

My health

I’m incredibly thankful for my health, yes I’m overweight & my body hurts because of that & because my sugar consumption has gone up over the past couple of months but other than that (which is bad enough I know), I’m good.

There’s going to be lots I’ve missed off this list but I truly hope you have things to be thankful for this week.

I hope you have an amazing week.

Bye for now.

♥

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Addiction, Forever Living, Personal, Sugar

1 month after my Forever Living Clean9 Detox

Hello my lovelies.

Following my Clean 9 by Forever Living, I was a little worried about where to go from there, last time, I pretty much slotted back into my old mold in no time & I didn’t want to do that this time. I like to be prepared, I’m not a last-minute person, I don’t like to be caught off guard, not have anything in place to help me out & not knowing what’s coming (unless it’s pressie/birthday/christmas surprises)!

To help stamp out my sugar addiction, a friend suggested that I seek counseling & to begin with I did agree with her, I felt that it wouldn’t hurt matters but felt silly, could you imagine it –

Doctor – “hello, how can I help you?”

Me – “I need help with my sugar addiction!”

I mean, how silly does that sound???

Since I started this post & wrote the above paragraph (I started this post about 2 weeks ago), I actually feel at peace with where I’m right now, I now feel strong enough to handle it without doing something that extreme. I’m not getting sugar cravings like I used to, don’t get me wrong, I still get them but they don’t control me anymore. They’re worse when I’m stressed or anxious but I now know that is the reason & not because I actually want to eat the stuff!! I now know that my sugar dragon relies on my weakness to deal with my stress & anxiety levels, so I just have to make sure my armour hasn’t already got any kinks in it! She been rumbled & every now & then, she’ll test me when I’m not stressed or anxious but I don’t even entertain those times! I’m starting to realise that I’m stronger than my sugar dragon is & a hell of a lot stronger than I thought I ever could be & that’s so empowering to me!

As long as I know why I’m getting the cravings, I’m fine. A really weird thing I’ve noticed about myself is that I sometimes say “I really fancy some chocolate or I’ve got a craving”, when actually, 8 times out of 10, I haven’t & I really don’t know why I say it?? The only person I really tell about my sugar cravings is Richard, I’ve been known to ring him from work on the verge of eating chocolate, stressed & pissed off & by the time I’ve come off the phone, I’m laughing & not even thinking about the chocolate (he is my life line & never judges me or calls me weak – not that anyone else ever has)! I love you & I thank you my darling Richard Xxxx.

Since finishing my Clean9 detox, I’ve been staying away from sugar, wheat & dairy. The obvious sugars like chocolate, sweets, biscuits etc have been easier to stay away from than hidden sugars because I refuse to be one of those people who read every single label they see, wheat & dairy have been mostly easy, dairy definitely easier than wheat because I’m lactose intolerant, so I have to stay away from that but wheat is what I struggle to stay away from completely, at work the only thing I can eat is a salad, it’s a good thing I love salad in the warmer months but I feel I need to find ways to add a bit of variety to it so I’m not eating the same things every day, I don’t want to get bored! I also feel that I’d like to try some meal prep to see if that helps me out any.

It’s been about a month now & I thought I’d do my weight & measures, I’ve not done them since finishing the detox, so It’ll be news to me too.

My stats (in stones & inches) –

When I ended my detox, they were –

Weight – 15.6
Chest – 41 1/4
Biceps – 11
Waist – 47
Hips – 47 1/2
Thighs – 26 1/4
Calves – 13 3/4

My stats now –

Weight – 14st & 13lb
Chest – 40
Biceps -11
Waist – 46 & 3/4
Hips – 51
Thighs – 27 & 1/4
Calves – 14 & 3/4

A difference of 7lb off, with 2 & 1/4in on.

Regardless what my stats had been a month on, I definitely feel better in myself, I don’t get as stressed as I used to & when I do, I usually know why, I find work can stress me easily if I allow it to & if I’m due to start or have already started my period, it just amplifies it! The difference between before my detox & now is that I’m more in tune with my body & I know this sounds somewhat silly coming from a nearly 41-year-old but I know what to expect now & I know how to react to it. Also, my body isn’t in nowhere near as much pain as it used to be in!

I honestly didn’t think that the lasting results from my detox would make me so happy, it’s pointed out so much I didn’t even realise before the detox, you know the saying “I can’t see the wood through the trees”? Well, that’s how I was feeling before the detox, I had so much going on with my body, health & head space that I really didn’t know what I was going to do & it was really getting me down. Since doing the detox I have a lot more clarity & I’m able to control my cravings, it’s only been a month so it’s still early days & I’m always thinking of ways to plan ahead for times when the cravings hit, which, as I said, are mostly when I’m stressed or on my period (thanks so much hormones!).

I’m so glad I decided to do the detox, a few people called me mad for doing it again after what I went through the 1st time but I felt like I had to! It wasn’t as hard as I’d anticipated & if you’re struggling with body pain, food addictions or/& intolerance, maybe you should consider giving it a go. It was the best money I’d spent in a long time! It does however, come with a health warning, so if you are thinking about doing it, make sure you read the top blogpost link.

Here’s a few blogposts for you, incase you’re interested in doing the detox –

My plans for the Clean 9 by Forever Living

My Forever Living Clean 9 round-up

My tips for doing a Forever Living Clean9 detox

Here’s a link to my 1st day, incase you want to see how my days went, they were quite repetitive but I still kept at it –

Forever Living Clean9 Detox ~ My day 1

I hope you’re having a fab week.

Bye for now.

♥

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Exercise, Treadmill, Yoga

My hopeful exercise routine

This post is one for people as nosy as me!!

I see loads of people, on the internet & people I know trash themselves in gyms & workout classes! Well, not me, no thank you. I’m not into working out till I can’t breathe, I’m lazy for one & heavily unfit for another! Maybe one day I’ll be able to run for 20 minutes on the treadmill but, right now, nope!! Over the years, even though I consider myself a go with the flow kind of person for the most part, I’ve come to realise that when it’s stuff that I struggle with, like healthy eating & exercise, I definitely feel that I need some kind of structure & routine (that’s why I never got on with slimming world, it’s far to lacks on structure & it’s so easy to cheat).

I like calm easy fitness. I love the idea of yoga because it sounds to me like it’ll help me concentrate on my breathing, something I’m rubbish at, I occasionally find myself holding my breath for no apparent reason! Random I know but I do! It sounds like it’ll also focus on helping me stretch out my muscles, I suffer a lot with cramps & muscle spasms (I assume that’s to do with my weight & lack of health), so I’m hoping it will help with that too.

I’ll be starting the week off with Monday morning yoga, the only thing I’m wondering is, when I start work at 9.30am it’ll be easier to do that but when I start at 8am, I may just wait until I get home?? Decisions, decisions??

On Tuesdays, I’m really looking forward to going on the treadmill, especially when the warmer weather comes so I can have the window open next to me & feel the breeze coming through. I’m hopeful that Richard will join me on occasions, on the treadmill & rowing machine.

Thursdays I want to throw in some kind of dance fitness, we have the Wii & my niece has the Wii Dance games, so I’m hoping to pinch some & throw my (not so) massive body around my lounge & hope I don’t break anything! Hehe. Or even throw on my feel good soundtrack & shake my booty to it.

I feel like I want to do more yoga to wind down for the weekend (I may be getting this all wrong & find yoga really hard!).

Over the weekend, I’d love to go for a walk (weather permitting of course) with Richard. Also, me & Richard both enjoy swimming so we can throw some of that in the weekend too. We’re going to be growing a lot of produce this year, so the weekends will contain garden &/or allotment work (it all counts).

I may throw in some more yoga mornings when I’m on the later shifts & some more treadmill sessions when I get home from work after an earlier shift, I’ll see how I go.

I’m not going to be 100% with “I must do this on this day” but I want to stick to a routine with the majority of it.

If you have any exercise tips for a lazy exerciser, then let me know.

Have a glorious weekend.

Bye for now.

♥

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Live Life With A Smile

Sarah Mordew

Tag Archives: Health

Who would I trade places with for the day and why

Hey lovelies,