blogger, blogging, happy, health, healthy, love, miss pork pie, mummy, self esteem

10 Things That Make Me Happy

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Thank you to Rachel over at Coffee, Cake, Kids for tagging me in this post thread to take part!

As we have all seen on the news lately there’s been awful terrorist attacks in Manchester and London and I think that we all need to appreciate how lucky we are to have been safe from these terrible events. My heart goes out to all of the families and friends of the victims of these attacks.

This is why when Rachel tagged me in this, I thought it was a great time to reflect on 10 things that make me happy. Even when life seems a bit shitty, and it feels like the whole world is on your shoulders, I think we should all take the time to think about things that we are grateful for. So here is my 10 things that make me happy!

1. Blogging

This one may seem incredibly obvious but over the last few months, blogging has become a big part of my life again. I have met some of the loveliest people through blogging and had so many great opportunities too. I’ve had the chance to review items that I would never even have thought about trying and some that I’ve loved for many years too. I’ve also managed to start monetizing my blog, and I am now writing full time. That’s something I didn’t think I’d be able to do for years.

2. Dinky’s Smile

As you may already know, Dinky has autism. Since about the age of two, we have noticed and have been trying to get an official diagnosis so that we can get him the best help possible to help him thrive in life. I know for a fact he finds every single day a struggle, he knows that he isn’t like some of the other children at his school. Every morning we really find it hard to get him to school happily, it’s very rare that he goes in without any sort of panic attack. So those times where I do get to see my boy’s amazing smile, I absolutely love it. It melts my heart to know that at that moment he’s not worrying about anything and that I made that smile happen.

3. Mr. Pie

This is going to be corny as hell but I honestly don’t know where I’d be without him. He has supported me through the worst anxiety of my life, through stresses of home and work and also he is still supporting me as I’m taking the leap and becoming a full-time writer. He makes me smile daily, he’s my best friend and my soul mate. He is an incredible step-father to Dinky and they both adore each other (even though I know they wind each other up sometimes too). I doubt Mr. Pie will read this but I love you!

4. Vodka

Come on, you had to know this one was coming? It’s not an essential part of my life, but when I’ve had a rough day there’s nothing I love more than kicking back with a nice cold vodka and lemonade (or two) (okay three).

5. Gaming

GEEK ALERT!! I have loved gaming pretty much my entire life, but for around 8 years (oh my, that’s a bit bad!) I have loved World of Warcraft. I have also met some of the best people I know on the game, including my best blogging buddy Zara from Mojo Blogs who was pregnant at the same time that I was, and they were born literally days apart! I’ve gone back and forth with the game, playing whenever I can. I’ll never be as into it as I used to be before I had Dinky, but I still enjoy logging on and letting it take me away for a few hours.

6. Movies

Mr. Pie is a massive film fanatic, and since we have been together he has shown me literally hundreds of films and still manages to name and describe films I’ve never even heard of. I love it when we watch a movie together, it’s our time to chill out together, get cozy and watch a good film. Plus, there’s nothing better than lying there with your loved one after a long day!

7. The plan that myself and Mr. Pie have for life

We’ve been together for almost four years now and we’re constantly getting comments about marriage and more children. As much as we’d love to jump straight in and have all of these, we’re trying to do things the right way for us. We want to buy ourselves a nice home, build up some money and then go ahead and get married and have children. I just love the fact that we can both shrug off the comments because we know what our aim is and we will get there.

8. Cooking

I’ll admit, some days I really can’t be bothered to make much of an effort in our meal plans, but I do actually really enjoy cooking. Whenever I see one of those recipe videos floating around Facebook I can’t help but watch it, and then modify it in my head. When it actually comes to cooking, I love being creative and even changing the recipes up as I go along, and one thing I love even more is seeing Mr. Pie’s face when he tries my food. Any compliment from him is a big one in my eyes considering he is a chef.

9. Our car

We haven’t had much luck with cars over the last three years, but I have loved each and every one of them. At the moment we have my Dad’s old Freelander and I absolutely adore it. It looks beefy, it drives incredibly and it’s also something that makes Dinky smile. Even though the car isn’t an absolute necessity for us, I certainly do miss having one when we don’t. Having that freedom there to just jump in the car and go somewhere is amazing, and of course, it makes life 10x easier with shopping and school runs!

10. My life

It took me ages to think about this final one because I wanted to make it a good one. I was sat there thinking about what I appreciate and I realized that I hadn’t even listed the most important one, the whole reason I started writing this post, I’m grateful and happy with my life. I may have 3458345 things to groan about certain things that are going on in my life, but in general, I have a great life, an amazing partner, an incredibly loving, intelligent and funny son, supportive family, food on the table and a roof over my head.

I nominate Katie Shacklock over at The Perfect Juggler to give us her top 10 things that make her happy!

 

 

 

 




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Why I am giving up Coca Cola and why I think you should too!

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Anyone that has met me for more than ten minutes will know that I absolutely adore coke. For about 5 years I’ve had a 1-litre bottle a day at least and it’s never really affected my health. Or so I thought.

Recently I’ve got into the mindset that I need to sort my health out, and not with fad diets or magic pills that will make me lose 10 dress sizes in a week. We all know they’re bullshit. I’ve been looking into food that will benefit me and any ailments I do suffer with so that I can improve my health over time and actually stand a chance of sticking with it.

For two weeks I documented everything I consumed, including drinks and I was mortified when I looked back on it to see how much coca cola I actually consume. Below is a table from Coca Cola‘s website with the “nutrition” information for a 1-litre bottle of normal Coca Cola. So with me consuming at least 1-litre a day, that would mean I am consuming at 420 calories just from Coke alone! For me to lose weight at a healthy rate I’m recommended to consume between 1500 and 2000 calories per day – nearly a quarter of that is was coke! To check the calories you should be consuming to either lose, gain or maintain weight, you can check your BMI and get the best information here.

Nutrition Facts
Not a significant source of calories from fat, saturated fat, trans fat, cholesterol, dietary fiber, vitamin A, vitamin C, calcium, and iron.
*Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet.
Serving Size: 12 fl oz (360 mL)
Servings Per Container about 3
Amount Per Serving
Calories 140
% Daily Value*
Total Fat 0g 0%
Sodium 45mg 2%
Total Carbohydrates 39g 13%
Sugars 39g
Protein 0g

After I got over the shock of how many calories I was consuming from Coke alone I decided to look into how else it was affecting my health. As we all know, Coke is an acidic drink, so not only does it raise the acidity in our stomachs but it raises the acidity in our whole bodies. In turn, this is one of the reasons we have breakouts or our already sore and dry skin doesn’t seem to go away. There’s another reason for me to quit right there. I’m constantly moaning and trying to look for the “cure” for my psoriasis when in fact, it’s what I do and don’t put into my body that makes it worse/better.

My teeth friggin hurt. This year I’ve had more trips to the dentist than I think I took in the whole of my childhood. I’ve never really noticed any problems with my teeth until now, but in the last year or so I’ve had a tooth removed, one tooth has broken and will need to be removed and also increased tooth sensitivity. I did some research on this and read that every time you take a sip, the effects of the sugar last for 20 minutes, so if you’re drinking it all day your teeth will be under constant attack. Admittedly this information was reflecting on all types of fizzy drinks, but the results are still awful. Here’s the full article here.

My weight has suffered a lot over the last 5 years. Now I’m not saying I eat perfectly because I’m far from that, but for example, if I was eating the recommended amount of calories for my weight, then I’d be consuming an extra 400 calories a day! I dread to think how much Coke has contributed to my weight gain over the years.

Another thing I worked out was how much money I have spent on Coke over the last 5 years. I would go for the 2 bottles for £3 deal, so 1-litre bottle a night would mean I’d have 7 bottles a week which would work out at £12. Times that by 52 would mean I’d spend £624 a year and times that by 5 would mean over the last 5 years I’ve spent at least a whopping £3120 on coke, and that’s not including drinks I’ve bought out. There’s me wondering why I can’t afford much. No, it’s not much per week if you really think about it but I could have done so much more with that money over time.

So to sum it up, coke is bad for your skin, your weight, your teeth and your bank balance. I’ve already forgotten what I liked about it!

 

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How To Cope With A Newly Discovered Food Intolerance

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A food intolerance can really put a dampener on your fun. The discomfort and bloating can have a significant effect on your quality of life, and some people find that they have to stop eating some of their favourite foods as a result. A food intolerance is generally caused by your body developing a difficulty when it comes to digesting certain types of food, and can even cause irritable bowel syndrome, or IBS. While it isn’t an allergy and isn’t fatal, it does take some special care to manage the symptoms.

 

Start to explore dietary alternatives

With a food intolerance, it’s recommended to try to remove that food from your diet almost completely, at least to start with. This means you might want to find some alternatives, especially if your intolerance is a prolific food type, such as lactose or gluten. Supermarkets and cafes are starting to really get on board with alternative foods these days, so there’s never been a better time to discover an intolerance (if there was ever a good time). You never know, paying more attention to your diet could even have some positive effects on your wellbeing. Explore your local supermarket “free from” shelves, and give your local hippy cafes a visit to find some of their smart alternative ideas. If you’re a keen cook, finding alternatives for your home cooking is a new way to experiment with undiscovered ingredients or world cuisines.

 

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Give your digestion a helping hand

Food intolerances can really take their toll on your digestive system, and you will probably experience some bloating and discomfort as a result, particularly if you’re also suffering from IBS. Using dietary supplements and probiotics can really give your digestion a boost and reduce some of the symptoms of flare-ups. The best probiotics for IBS can also work to help reduce symptoms of food intolerances, such as the gas, bloating, and pain, and just help to put your mind at ease. Even if you can’t cure it, treating the symptoms will give you some relief.

 

Don’t cut the food out altogether

It may come as a surprise, but once you’ve gone through the elimination process to discover once and for all which foodstuff is actually causing your problems, it is often recommended that you reintroduce that food to your diet, in tiny measurements. In some cases, this will enable your body to rebuild a tolerance to the food, so in time you’ll be able to go back to eating it in normal quantities again. This approach should only be undertaken very slowly and gently. Be sure to listen to your body, and not push it beyond comfortable limits – you could end up setting yourself back even further.
Dealing with a newly discovered food intolerance can be tricky, especially if it’s a foodstuff which is prolific, such as lactose or gluten. The symptoms such as discomfort and bloating which occur when you accidentally eat some can be alleviated by supplements and treatments, but avoidance is obviously the most successful means by which you can avoid flare-ups. Just remember, it’s not a death sentence, nor is it necessarily permanent.

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I challenge YOU to better yourself.

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Who’s up for a challenge?

I’ve been a yo-yo dieter for years now. I’ve tried everything from weight watchers to slim fast, slim pod, slimming world, crash diets, boot camp and even “magic” pills.
None of these worked for me because I felt like I couldn’t eat certain things. After a few days or weeks of eating like a rabbit I would give in and binge out on crap.

I’ve been feeling like I’m always going to be overweight, and for a while I’ve not really cared too much until recently when I saw some photos of myself at a family get together. I felt sick looking at how bad I’ve let myself down. I’m don’t just look big, I look unhealthy.

So the challenge…

I challenge anyone out there that wants to lose weight or improve their health to join me. I will be doing weekly posts to share my success and I’m inviting you to all leave your links so myself and everyone else can read your blogs. We can all encourage eachother.

Here are the 5 tricks you NEED to follow to successfully lose weight (and not go without your favourite foods!)
I run a Twitter account that I plan on sharing the best tips and tricks, and also motivation for all of us! Follow me over at www.twitter.com/missporkpie

I also run a Facebook group over at www.facebook.com/missporkpie – come along and join me in improving your health!

I am going to be using the hashtag #WeightlossWednesday – I hope you will all join me!

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