me
Before/After
Tuesday 24 April 2012
Justine Forrest: We made it!
Justine Forrest: We made it!: Well I'm officially a 'MARATHON RUNNER' wayhey!!!! 3 months of hard physical & mental training was all worth it and I've lived to tell the...
We made it!
Well I'm officially a 'MARATHON RUNNER' wayhey!!!! 3 months of hard physical & mental training was all worth it and I've lived to tell the tale, and what a tale. For anyone out there - if you enjoy running or fancy a challenge, try the London Marathon, it certainly won't disappoint!!. I did the Great North Run last year and that was an incredible experience but I have to say the London Marathon beats it hands down.
We set off at 7am Saturday morning from Preston train station, we got into London and went straight to pick our numbers up and register. We then went to the marathon Pasta Party, which is held in the same exhibition center . From there we went to the Marriott Hotel in Regents Park. It was along way, about a 4 mile walk , as hubby got us off at the wrong station!! my feet were killing me, I was starting to get very worried about running the marathon at this point. We've been so consumed with training and eating as healthy as we can over the last few months, that when the time comes you start to question yourself ,'are you fit enough'? - 'have you trained enough?' and it's all too late at this point.
Sunday 22nd April, got up at the crack of dawn and headed off for a very healthy breakfast of yogurt, fruit and a bowl of porridge & honey, super fuel food for the day ahead lol. After breakfast, we headed over to Greenwich for the start of the marathon. It's quite an incredible sight seeing all these people, running for all these fabulous charities, all dressed in their different charity vests congregating in their masses at the start. We took our places and chose to stand right at the back of the thousands of runners, well to be fair it wasn't my idea, it was my Hunk of Hoo's. All I could think was 'no way do I want to be at the back, the sweeper truck will come past me'. Then Hunk of Hoo explained that he thought it would be a great idea because - mentally it would be great for my confidence as we were sure to overtake loads of runners & walkers and secondly our kids might get to see us on telly as they were bound to show the people at the back . Well he was right on both counts, as our children were made up they could see us as clear as day and yes I overtook thousands by the end!!! whoop whoop lol. Something I've obviously never done before and what a fantastic boost to my moral that was.
4 miles in I was finding it so easy, Hunk of Hoo even had to pull me back a few times as he thought I might start to burn out. 10 miles in I was still looking strong and it felt easy, the miles seemed to be getting very long though. The sun was out and it was getting quite hot too. The crowds were amazing and outside all the pubs along the route they played loud music and chanted your name as you passed, it really does help, everyone from the stewards to the crowds were amazing and made the day. 17 miles in I hit what I think was 'THE WALL' and that lasted till 22 miles, when I managed to get it back a bit. Hunk of Hoo wore a photograph of ickle Christopher, in ICU last summer when we nearly lost him ,on his back and from 17-22 miles I constantly needed to look at it to focus and remind me why I was doing this, as I so wanted to stop and walk at that stage. I know I wouldn't have been able to do any of this marathon without my Hunk of Hoo, he is always amazing and he encourages me so much by constantly telling me how amazing he thinks I am, he is the sweetest person alive, I swear and I know I'm a lucky lady to have him in my life (but don't tell him that lol). I don't think my Hunk of Hoo struggled at any point of the run, he was fab and talked to me all the way around. From 22 miles we were the only ones running around us, I started to enjoy it again and was whoop whooping the crowd as we ran passed them, shouted our names out, it's a fantastic feeling. I think that's why my shoulders are so sore though, all that arm thrusting in the air I was doing, I should know better at my age lol. At the start of the run it was such a lovely sunny day ,then for the last 4 miles it started to rain and chuck it down. Good job it was only for the last 4 miles as it would have made it so much harder trying to run 26.2 miles in a downpour. Anyways we did it - united as ever crossing the finishing line, hand in hand and collecting our medals together, what a feeling. It didn't quite end there for me though, as when I stopped at the finish my legs went and as well as nearly being sick I nearly fainted and had to be helped to the St John's tent to be checked over. I then proceeded to spend the next 45 minute stretchered up being seen to by 2 doctors, 2 nurses and 2 physio's. At one point it did cross our minds I might get sent to hospital. It was all so worth it in the end though, it's a bit like childbirth in that way - at the time you swear you'll never do it EVER again then an hour later you want to do it all over again. But lets face it I did go onto have 3 kiddies so the possibility of doing the London Marathon again is high lol.
So the roundup is - We both crossed the line in 5 hours 57 minutes. We did the whole 26.2 miles without stopping or walking once, we also have 3 very proud children (you don't get to say that very often lol), they were and always will be immense, they tracked us every inch of the route and the second we passed the finishing line they printed our certificates out, bless. But most importantly we raised £2556 for our charity Ronald McDonald House YAY! What an incredible feeling!
A MASSIVE thank you to everyone who either sponsored us, came to our charity night, supported us and believed in us or gave us advice or sent messages and cards, every single gesture is truly appreciated - And not forgetting a big thank you to our lovely friends Nigel & Mary for looking after our most precious possessions - our 3 children and taking care of them all weekend like they were their own.
THANK YOU EVERYONE xx
We set off at 7am Saturday morning from Preston train station, we got into London and went straight to pick our numbers up and register. We then went to the marathon Pasta Party, which is held in the same exhibition center . From there we went to the Marriott Hotel in Regents Park. It was along way, about a 4 mile walk , as hubby got us off at the wrong station!! my feet were killing me, I was starting to get very worried about running the marathon at this point. We've been so consumed with training and eating as healthy as we can over the last few months, that when the time comes you start to question yourself ,'are you fit enough'? - 'have you trained enough?' and it's all too late at this point.
Sunday 22nd April, got up at the crack of dawn and headed off for a very healthy breakfast of yogurt, fruit and a bowl of porridge & honey, super fuel food for the day ahead lol. After breakfast, we headed over to Greenwich for the start of the marathon. It's quite an incredible sight seeing all these people, running for all these fabulous charities, all dressed in their different charity vests congregating in their masses at the start. We took our places and chose to stand right at the back of the thousands of runners, well to be fair it wasn't my idea, it was my Hunk of Hoo's. All I could think was 'no way do I want to be at the back, the sweeper truck will come past me'. Then Hunk of Hoo explained that he thought it would be a great idea because - mentally it would be great for my confidence as we were sure to overtake loads of runners & walkers and secondly our kids might get to see us on telly as they were bound to show the people at the back . Well he was right on both counts, as our children were made up they could see us as clear as day and yes I overtook thousands by the end!!! whoop whoop lol. Something I've obviously never done before and what a fantastic boost to my moral that was.
4 miles in I was finding it so easy, Hunk of Hoo even had to pull me back a few times as he thought I might start to burn out. 10 miles in I was still looking strong and it felt easy, the miles seemed to be getting very long though. The sun was out and it was getting quite hot too. The crowds were amazing and outside all the pubs along the route they played loud music and chanted your name as you passed, it really does help, everyone from the stewards to the crowds were amazing and made the day. 17 miles in I hit what I think was 'THE WALL' and that lasted till 22 miles, when I managed to get it back a bit. Hunk of Hoo wore a photograph of ickle Christopher, in ICU last summer when we nearly lost him ,on his back and from 17-22 miles I constantly needed to look at it to focus and remind me why I was doing this, as I so wanted to stop and walk at that stage. I know I wouldn't have been able to do any of this marathon without my Hunk of Hoo, he is always amazing and he encourages me so much by constantly telling me how amazing he thinks I am, he is the sweetest person alive, I swear and I know I'm a lucky lady to have him in my life (but don't tell him that lol). I don't think my Hunk of Hoo struggled at any point of the run, he was fab and talked to me all the way around. From 22 miles we were the only ones running around us, I started to enjoy it again and was whoop whooping the crowd as we ran passed them, shouted our names out, it's a fantastic feeling. I think that's why my shoulders are so sore though, all that arm thrusting in the air I was doing, I should know better at my age lol. At the start of the run it was such a lovely sunny day ,then for the last 4 miles it started to rain and chuck it down. Good job it was only for the last 4 miles as it would have made it so much harder trying to run 26.2 miles in a downpour. Anyways we did it - united as ever crossing the finishing line, hand in hand and collecting our medals together, what a feeling. It didn't quite end there for me though, as when I stopped at the finish my legs went and as well as nearly being sick I nearly fainted and had to be helped to the St John's tent to be checked over. I then proceeded to spend the next 45 minute stretchered up being seen to by 2 doctors, 2 nurses and 2 physio's. At one point it did cross our minds I might get sent to hospital. It was all so worth it in the end though, it's a bit like childbirth in that way - at the time you swear you'll never do it EVER again then an hour later you want to do it all over again. But lets face it I did go onto have 3 kiddies so the possibility of doing the London Marathon again is high lol.
So the roundup is - We both crossed the line in 5 hours 57 minutes. We did the whole 26.2 miles without stopping or walking once, we also have 3 very proud children (you don't get to say that very often lol), they were and always will be immense, they tracked us every inch of the route and the second we passed the finishing line they printed our certificates out, bless. But most importantly we raised £2556 for our charity Ronald McDonald House YAY! What an incredible feeling!
A MASSIVE thank you to everyone who either sponsored us, came to our charity night, supported us and believed in us or gave us advice or sent messages and cards, every single gesture is truly appreciated - And not forgetting a big thank you to our lovely friends Nigel & Mary for looking after our most precious possessions - our 3 children and taking care of them all weekend like they were their own.
THANK YOU EVERYONE xx
Tuesday 17 April 2012
Justine Forrest: This time next week I'll be a little sore!
Justine Forrest: This time next week I'll be a little sore!: Well less than a week to go until the London Marathon. I'm thinking this time next week I might be a little stiff and achy. Cant wait to be ...
Monday 16 April 2012
This time next week I'll be a little sore!
Well less than a week to go until the London Marathon. I'm thinking this time next week I might be a little stiff and achy. Cant wait to be part of the biggest marathon in the world though, what an amazing achievement. A few years back I struggled walking - period!!!! Now I run nearly everyday. Wow it is a bit surreal when I think about it like that. I couldn't have done all this without the amazing support from my Hunk of Hoo and my children though, their all so proud of me and never stop telling me that. After the marathon I might get my life back, well for a few days at least as the week after it's the Blackpool 10k then the Great North Run in September, thinking we might even squeeze in the Preston Guild Marathon, well we'll see, I haven't done my first marathon yet lol. So for now we'll just keep training up until Friday. Thought I might pull it back more this last week but I'm finding when I don't run for a day or two it's really hard to get back into it and my breathing etc goes, so for now I'm just concentrating on getting through this week and then trying to enjoy everything the London Marathon has to offer. I know it's going to be mind over matter on the day, but I feel I'm strong enough and can do it. I know that when I hit the wall on the run the thought of what our inspirational children have come through and still have to go through will be enough to get me to the finishing line without stopping. Chris is wearing a photo of Christopher in Intensive Care when we nearly lost him last year on his running vest. He wore it at last years Great North Run and I so need to see it. Every so often I kissed it x. That half marathon run was totally mind over matter as I had been sat next to Christopher caring for him in hospital all summer and I had put on roughly a stone and a half through that really tough time, so when we eventually brought Christopher home we got 2 and a half weeks training before the GNR, which was ridiculous after both of us never running since our school days. Anyway, we did it, so I definitley know that when I need to I can certainly find enough inner strength in life.
We all had an amazing weekend in the Forrest household. Millie did a PB in her second discus event at Wigan on Sunday and she came 2nd, 'GO MILLIE'. Then our Alex played in two golf comps on Sunday and played 2 under her par?!?!? (what ever that means, I think it's a good thing lol). Her handicap has now been dropped to 12, 'GO ALEX'. Then I did a chefs demo at the MS Life Event at the Manchester Gmex Centre. It all went incredibly well, the team behind the cookery demo theatre said they wanted to book me for the next one and I've also got another 2 chefs demo's booked in. Very exiting stuff as it's my dream job and I so enjoy it, well what's there not to enjoy, it's all my fave things - talking, having a laugh, cooking, baking and meeting lots of lovely people!!!!!!x
We all had an amazing weekend in the Forrest household. Millie did a PB in her second discus event at Wigan on Sunday and she came 2nd, 'GO MILLIE'. Then our Alex played in two golf comps on Sunday and played 2 under her par?!?!? (what ever that means, I think it's a good thing lol). Her handicap has now been dropped to 12, 'GO ALEX'. Then I did a chefs demo at the MS Life Event at the Manchester Gmex Centre. It all went incredibly well, the team behind the cookery demo theatre said they wanted to book me for the next one and I've also got another 2 chefs demo's booked in. Very exiting stuff as it's my dream job and I so enjoy it, well what's there not to enjoy, it's all my fave things - talking, having a laugh, cooking, baking and meeting lots of lovely people!!!!!!x
Monday 9 April 2012
Justine Forrest: Apparently it's 13 days till the 2012 London Marat...
Justine Forrest: Apparently it's 13 days till the 2012 London Marat...: Well yes it's less than 2 weeks away to the Marathon!!!, Don't know what i'm going to do with myself after it's over?? Oh I know, I'll carr...
Apparently it's 13 days till the 2012 London Marathon!
Well yes it's less than 2 weeks away to the Marathon!!!, Don't know what i'm going to do with myself after it's over?? Oh I know, I'll carry on training for the Great North Run in September lol. All this training does take a lot of my time up though, so looking forward to not playing catch up with my life when it's all over. This week will be our last intense training week, I'm planing on doing 2 runs a day and lots of gym work in between. Then next week , we bring our training back and taper off until the 'BIG ONE'. A little worried though because my Hunk of Hoo has still got his chest infection. He started with it over 2 months ago now, he's really struggling breathing at the moment and he's been taking his asthma inhaler too. So first thing tomorrow he's booking a doctors appointment so he can get some antibiotics to hopefully clear it up before our run. Also today I've started with a bad neck. I've had a reoccurring whiplash injury for the last 6 years, it comes back to haunt me a couple of times a year and usually lasts up to 3 months at a time. At it's worst I cant sleep and I need treatment from my osteopath and strong prescription drugs from my doctor, so hoping it's not returning and it's just because I slept in a funny position last night.
This week a good friend of ours is leaving the gym we use to set up on his own. We our going to miss him like mad. He's been a real help with our training and has always been there to advice and help us both. I might get more work done at the gym if he's not there though, as we do tend to chat a little too much lol. We wish him all the luck in the world with his new venture, but i'm sure he wont need it! Big (((hugs))) Darren Salmon AKA 'The Terminator' x.
I've had a very busy and exiting Easter. Been extremely busy with my internet chocolate brownie orders as well as supplying 2 massive orders to a very nice food hamper business. They had a stand at the Chester Food & Drink Festival and they asked me to supply them with my brownies. I got a phone call at 2.30pm on their first day saying they had completely sold out and could I bake another huge order for the next day. I did and we dropped them off first thing on Easter Sunday before we went onto Alton Towers.
For an Easter surprise for the kids, me & my Hunk of Hoo had decided to take them to Alton Towers for the day because it's been so long, well over a year since having a family day out because of little Christopher's heart surgery and then his recovery and medication. So this was going to be a very big family occasion indeedy. Anyways, we get to Alton Towers and I remember I hadn't picked my purse up and we had no money to pay with, eeeekkkkkkk! We ransacked the car and found a new bank card that had dropped out of Hunk of Hoos pocket earlier in the day. We were so relieved, so we went to pay, but Hunk of Hoo couldn't remember his new card number and eventually he had so many tries it got blocked so we couldn't pay with it anyway. The lovely cashier on the till asked how much we had and after coppering up we managed to get £75 together, we negotiated the ticket price for all 5 of us down to £85, then the cashier said I can give you a voucher and knock off another £10, so in the end we just had enough to get in, phewwwwwww that was a very close call. We all had a lovely day, even me ,after being the butt of so many jokes all day. My fam seem to spend the day laughing at me on the rides as I am a little embarrassing I suppose. I did discover I'm way too old for all that, even the very tame rides scared me half to death, I literally thought I was going to die on a few occasions. If we ever go again I've promised myself I'm never ever going on anything and I'll just be the one left looking after bags lol. x♥ox♥o
This week a good friend of ours is leaving the gym we use to set up on his own. We our going to miss him like mad. He's been a real help with our training and has always been there to advice and help us both. I might get more work done at the gym if he's not there though, as we do tend to chat a little too much lol. We wish him all the luck in the world with his new venture, but i'm sure he wont need it! Big (((hugs))) Darren Salmon AKA 'The Terminator' x.
I've had a very busy and exiting Easter. Been extremely busy with my internet chocolate brownie orders as well as supplying 2 massive orders to a very nice food hamper business. They had a stand at the Chester Food & Drink Festival and they asked me to supply them with my brownies. I got a phone call at 2.30pm on their first day saying they had completely sold out and could I bake another huge order for the next day. I did and we dropped them off first thing on Easter Sunday before we went onto Alton Towers.
For an Easter surprise for the kids, me & my Hunk of Hoo had decided to take them to Alton Towers for the day because it's been so long, well over a year since having a family day out because of little Christopher's heart surgery and then his recovery and medication. So this was going to be a very big family occasion indeedy. Anyways, we get to Alton Towers and I remember I hadn't picked my purse up and we had no money to pay with, eeeekkkkkkk! We ransacked the car and found a new bank card that had dropped out of Hunk of Hoos pocket earlier in the day. We were so relieved, so we went to pay, but Hunk of Hoo couldn't remember his new card number and eventually he had so many tries it got blocked so we couldn't pay with it anyway. The lovely cashier on the till asked how much we had and after coppering up we managed to get £75 together, we negotiated the ticket price for all 5 of us down to £85, then the cashier said I can give you a voucher and knock off another £10, so in the end we just had enough to get in, phewwwwwww that was a very close call. We all had a lovely day, even me ,after being the butt of so many jokes all day. My fam seem to spend the day laughing at me on the rides as I am a little embarrassing I suppose. I did discover I'm way too old for all that, even the very tame rides scared me half to death, I literally thought I was going to die on a few occasions. If we ever go again I've promised myself I'm never ever going on anything and I'll just be the one left looking after bags lol. x♥ox♥o
Thursday 5 April 2012
Justine Forrest: 17 days till the 2012 London Marathon!
Justine Forrest: 17 days till the 2012 London Marathon!: Last 2 weeks of hard training then we bring it back the week before the London Marathon, phewwwwww. Going out on a 10 miler first thing tomo...
17 days till the 2012 London Marathon!
Last 2 weeks of hard training then we bring it back the week before the London Marathon, phewwwwww. Going out on a 10 miler first thing tomorrow then back to the Brownie baking, have had 2 mad, busy baking weeks. Also had a very large hamper company order and I've also got a big brownie tower for a 21st birthday party over the weekend and lot's of local orders too. Easter has been very good for me and the brownies lol. Oh if you do fancy sponsoring me and my Hunk of Hoo to run the whole of the 26 miles in the London Marathon for a fantastic charity, my sponsorship page is - http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/fundraiser-massive web/fundraiser/showFundraiserPage.action?userUrl=JustineForrest&faId=168574&isTeam=false A massive thank you if you do take a peek.
We had a big 80's themed charity night last Friday at our local Indian restaurant, what a night, we raised over £1500 for our charity and it was such a laugh. Everyone had a great time. Alice Newby sang for us while we ate, what a voice, such talent. Then my Hunk of Hoo spinned the tunes until the early hours. Very pleased at how everything went and how much we raised. We enjoyed it that much we're thinking of doing it once a year for a different charity each time. Would love to do the next one for Operation Smile. The charity offers operations for children in poor countries who are born with cleft lip and palates and who don't get the corrective surgery needed like we do in this country. Our Oldest daughter Millie was born with a cleft lip and palate, so we know first hand how this type of birth defect can effect your whole life. Millie's a star and has been through so much in her short life, I cant image her not having the corrective surgery she's needed.
Cant wait for this weekend, we're going to have our first big family day out in over a year. We haven't done anything in such a long time because, Christopher hasn't been up to it. It's all a big surprise and the children don't know yet, but we're taking them to Alton Towers for the day, they are going to be made up. We haven't been there for years, in fact the last time we went I was 14 stone heavier and didn't go on any rides. Not this time, I'm going to go on EVERYTHING - Make way, I'm coming in lol!
Oh before I forget, a very good friend of mine has written this book - http://www.amazon.co.uk/Coffee-Tea-Gypsy-Me-ebook/dp/B007RFBZPA/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1333610822&sr=1-1 such a great Easter Bank Holiday read. She's an amazing writer, take a look. xx
We had a big 80's themed charity night last Friday at our local Indian restaurant, what a night, we raised over £1500 for our charity and it was such a laugh. Everyone had a great time. Alice Newby sang for us while we ate, what a voice, such talent. Then my Hunk of Hoo spinned the tunes until the early hours. Very pleased at how everything went and how much we raised. We enjoyed it that much we're thinking of doing it once a year for a different charity each time. Would love to do the next one for Operation Smile. The charity offers operations for children in poor countries who are born with cleft lip and palates and who don't get the corrective surgery needed like we do in this country. Our Oldest daughter Millie was born with a cleft lip and palate, so we know first hand how this type of birth defect can effect your whole life. Millie's a star and has been through so much in her short life, I cant image her not having the corrective surgery she's needed.
Cant wait for this weekend, we're going to have our first big family day out in over a year. We haven't done anything in such a long time because, Christopher hasn't been up to it. It's all a big surprise and the children don't know yet, but we're taking them to Alton Towers for the day, they are going to be made up. We haven't been there for years, in fact the last time we went I was 14 stone heavier and didn't go on any rides. Not this time, I'm going to go on EVERYTHING - Make way, I'm coming in lol!
Oh before I forget, a very good friend of mine has written this book - http://www.amazon.co.uk/Coffee-Tea-Gypsy-Me-ebook/dp/B007RFBZPA/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1333610822&sr=1-1 such a great Easter Bank Holiday read. She's an amazing writer, take a look. xx
Wednesday 7 March 2012
Abstaining from Facebook!
Filming in London went really well. It was a full on day, but I enjoyed every second of it. The experience was fab and I would love to do more stuff like this in the future. The production company e-mailed me this week to say that they were on with the editing and it was looking great, cant wait to see the final cut!!! A few days later, I did some After Dinner Speaking for a lovely group of ladies. I remember when I first started doing these, I used to get so nervous and stressed out, now I try to just enjoy myself and consentrate on the fact that I'm doing it all for the charity ' Ronald McDonald House', that's the bonus that keeps me going. It's very rewarding to give a little back to help such a fantastic charity which has helped us on many occasions through our little boys treatment at Alder Hey.
Last Saturday, me & my lovely hubby took part in the Blackpool 10k. Well ,we thought it's 7 weeks till the London Marathon - this little one should ease us both in and give us some experience of organised running as we've only ever done the Great North Run previously. It taught me some lessons indeed, like not setting off too fast and getting drawn into keeping up with other runners, like I did on Saturday. It wasn't anything to do with the distance we did because we run between 4/10 miles every time we go out. It didn't help that you ran twice around the same route, which is always quite a boring thing to do on any run. On a more positive note, I was also blown away with the support from my 2 girls. At every turn throughout the route they where there cheering me on. I thought they would just be waiting at the start & finish, I was so proud and happy to see them, they really did make a difference just being there for me. It's just a pity they wont be there when we run in the London Marathon, I could really do with there support. My hubby was also amazing. He encouraged and stayed with me the whole way round, never giving up on me, even when other husbands were running off from their wives to make good times, my hubby never left my side and talked to me all the way around. Training didn't go so well last week. We did run everyday apart from our rest day on Friday, but I only fitted in 4 spinning classes unlike the usual 8 I normally do. Hubby has had a chest infection for 3 weeks which hasn't helped things either, but he is amazing the way it's not stopped him from running. Some nights he's not slept but he's still up and ready to jog on at 5.30am. Just goes to show you what you can really do when you set your mind to it, bless. Last weeks training suffered because I was very busy with appointments for the children and baking my cake orders, I seem to spend my life playing catch up. This week though, I'm on it like sonic, helped by the fact it's the first week of the year that I've had no appointments, yay!
Well in the last 2 days I've spent over £215 and I've not been anywhere! Well they do say - things come in 3's. I've just paid out for my dishwasher and hoover to be mended and now our car is in the garage, god knows what that's going to cost. It doesn't rain but it pours.
Sometimes in life you come up against the odd person who begrudges you and your family any happiness. It has happened to me, like it's happened to everyone else. Personally it doesn't bother me or get to me, I don't let it. There'll always be someone out there trying to drag you down through their own insecurities and jealously (cause that's what it is). In our personal circumstances it always makes me think these people are quite sick to begrudge any happiness to a family who go through so much, why would someone be like that??? I'm very pleased to say this only happens to me once in a while. Hooray to all the wonderful people who fill our lives with happiness. Just keep smiling, these people obviously aren't happy with their lives that they try to bring others down. Rant over lol :)
I was only thinking this because today I received 2 letters for our Millie, the first one was her National Insurance number, which means she's coming of age. I can remembered the day I got mine all those years ago, it made me smile. The second letter was a date for Millie's next operation. It will be her 8th and this one will hopefully make Millie speak a little clearer as her surgeon is going to be joining her throat muscles together were there is a gap. That one made me cry. Millie's been through so much with her cleft lip and palate and her cerebral palsy. This op is in the summer and once again we'll be staying at Alder Hey for a short while (hopefully) this time. Some people should spend a day at that amazing children's hospital, it might make them much nicer people, who knows???
On a brighter note Sunday's going to be a big exiting day for my Millie as she's competing for the first time in a para discus event at Stanley Park in Blackpool. This will be her first comp since being categorised a couple of months ago. Millie's so exited. She's been training hard for this for over a year now, I'll be there to cheer her on and support her like she does for me. 'Go Team Forrest'.
Millie has also been accepted into both her chosen colleges this week, as long as she carries on and gets her target grades she can then choose which one to go to. It might seem nothing to anyone else, but it's massive step for our Millie. All we've ever wanted is for Millie is to be happy and to achieve as much as she can. We also just want her to be accepted and loved by everyone she meets. The biggest compliment anyone has ever given me was to credit me with raising 3 well mannered, grounded, polite and happy children.
Our family Friday nights in, have been fantastic the last couple of weeks thanks to new series of The Middle and Modern Family starting on Sky One from 7pm. If you've never watched either of these shows, you seriously need to check them out, they are hilarious family viewing and so ironic. You cant beat snuggling up with all the fam, fire roaring, hot chocolate in hand with lots of whippy cream & marshmallows, followed by some sweet treats, my kind of heaven.
Last Sunday whilst we all sat down to our tea we decided as a family we should play a little game for one whole week. Everyone should pick something for everyone else to give up. They picked giving up facebook for me, I did try to convince them to make me stop eating cake for the week, but they wouldn't have it :( Hunk of Hoo got smiling more and he's also not allowed to tell anyone off, including me lol. Millie has to eat more fruit & veg, that's quite an easy one I thought. Alex has to look after her doggie, Nell 100% of the time and ickle Christopher has not to go on his xbox all week, he's really struggling, bless. Well in my next blog I will report back on how we all got on, my monies on meeeeee lol, keep smiley xxxx
Last Saturday, me & my lovely hubby took part in the Blackpool 10k. Well ,we thought it's 7 weeks till the London Marathon - this little one should ease us both in and give us some experience of organised running as we've only ever done the Great North Run previously. It taught me some lessons indeed, like not setting off too fast and getting drawn into keeping up with other runners, like I did on Saturday. It wasn't anything to do with the distance we did because we run between 4/10 miles every time we go out. It didn't help that you ran twice around the same route, which is always quite a boring thing to do on any run. On a more positive note, I was also blown away with the support from my 2 girls. At every turn throughout the route they where there cheering me on. I thought they would just be waiting at the start & finish, I was so proud and happy to see them, they really did make a difference just being there for me. It's just a pity they wont be there when we run in the London Marathon, I could really do with there support. My hubby was also amazing. He encouraged and stayed with me the whole way round, never giving up on me, even when other husbands were running off from their wives to make good times, my hubby never left my side and talked to me all the way around. Training didn't go so well last week. We did run everyday apart from our rest day on Friday, but I only fitted in 4 spinning classes unlike the usual 8 I normally do. Hubby has had a chest infection for 3 weeks which hasn't helped things either, but he is amazing the way it's not stopped him from running. Some nights he's not slept but he's still up and ready to jog on at 5.30am. Just goes to show you what you can really do when you set your mind to it, bless. Last weeks training suffered because I was very busy with appointments for the children and baking my cake orders, I seem to spend my life playing catch up. This week though, I'm on it like sonic, helped by the fact it's the first week of the year that I've had no appointments, yay!
Well in the last 2 days I've spent over £215 and I've not been anywhere! Well they do say - things come in 3's. I've just paid out for my dishwasher and hoover to be mended and now our car is in the garage, god knows what that's going to cost. It doesn't rain but it pours.
Sometimes in life you come up against the odd person who begrudges you and your family any happiness. It has happened to me, like it's happened to everyone else. Personally it doesn't bother me or get to me, I don't let it. There'll always be someone out there trying to drag you down through their own insecurities and jealously (cause that's what it is). In our personal circumstances it always makes me think these people are quite sick to begrudge any happiness to a family who go through so much, why would someone be like that??? I'm very pleased to say this only happens to me once in a while. Hooray to all the wonderful people who fill our lives with happiness. Just keep smiling, these people obviously aren't happy with their lives that they try to bring others down. Rant over lol :)
I was only thinking this because today I received 2 letters for our Millie, the first one was her National Insurance number, which means she's coming of age. I can remembered the day I got mine all those years ago, it made me smile. The second letter was a date for Millie's next operation. It will be her 8th and this one will hopefully make Millie speak a little clearer as her surgeon is going to be joining her throat muscles together were there is a gap. That one made me cry. Millie's been through so much with her cleft lip and palate and her cerebral palsy. This op is in the summer and once again we'll be staying at Alder Hey for a short while (hopefully) this time. Some people should spend a day at that amazing children's hospital, it might make them much nicer people, who knows???
On a brighter note Sunday's going to be a big exiting day for my Millie as she's competing for the first time in a para discus event at Stanley Park in Blackpool. This will be her first comp since being categorised a couple of months ago. Millie's so exited. She's been training hard for this for over a year now, I'll be there to cheer her on and support her like she does for me. 'Go Team Forrest'.
Millie has also been accepted into both her chosen colleges this week, as long as she carries on and gets her target grades she can then choose which one to go to. It might seem nothing to anyone else, but it's massive step for our Millie. All we've ever wanted is for Millie is to be happy and to achieve as much as she can. We also just want her to be accepted and loved by everyone she meets. The biggest compliment anyone has ever given me was to credit me with raising 3 well mannered, grounded, polite and happy children.
Our family Friday nights in, have been fantastic the last couple of weeks thanks to new series of The Middle and Modern Family starting on Sky One from 7pm. If you've never watched either of these shows, you seriously need to check them out, they are hilarious family viewing and so ironic. You cant beat snuggling up with all the fam, fire roaring, hot chocolate in hand with lots of whippy cream & marshmallows, followed by some sweet treats, my kind of heaven.
Last Sunday whilst we all sat down to our tea we decided as a family we should play a little game for one whole week. Everyone should pick something for everyone else to give up. They picked giving up facebook for me, I did try to convince them to make me stop eating cake for the week, but they wouldn't have it :( Hunk of Hoo got smiling more and he's also not allowed to tell anyone off, including me lol. Millie has to eat more fruit & veg, that's quite an easy one I thought. Alex has to look after her doggie, Nell 100% of the time and ickle Christopher has not to go on his xbox all week, he's really struggling, bless. Well in my next blog I will report back on how we all got on, my monies on meeeeee lol, keep smiley xxxx
Wednesday 22 February 2012
Food and an early night are called for!
Well I'm off to the 'BIG SMOKE' again tomorrow to be filmed cooking all day lol. Have been very, very busy 'prepping' for this day for the last 2 weeks. You just wouldn't believe how much hard work I've been putting in on this project, in between baking brownie orders and training for the London Marathon - which is in 9 weeks!?!?
I even turned down the option of staying over in a posh hotel for the night because I would miss all my babies way too much. In saying that, with the things lined up for me this year, I might have to get used to being away every now and again.
Next Monday I'm doing another after-dinner speach at a social event locally. I don't mind this type of work, in fact, I really quite enjoy it lol. Well you know me, love talking and it's all about my favorite subjects ie - Winner, Cooking,Weight loss and how I ended up doing all this!!! And it's more money for my charity fund!!
Then, a week on Saturday, my Hunk of Hoo informs me that he's entered us both in the Blackpool 10k. He says it's ' just a little one' to get us in the mood for the London Marathon, as if I need it lol.
Well, on my return, I will no doubt blog all about my trip out of the Ridge and what I got up to. I've got a feeling I might fall asleep on the late train back home. I probably should consider hanging a message around my neck for someone to chuck me off when I hit Preston!
I even turned down the option of staying over in a posh hotel for the night because I would miss all my babies way too much. In saying that, with the things lined up for me this year, I might have to get used to being away every now and again.
Next Monday I'm doing another after-dinner speach at a social event locally. I don't mind this type of work, in fact, I really quite enjoy it lol. Well you know me, love talking and it's all about my favorite subjects ie - Winner, Cooking,Weight loss and how I ended up doing all this!!! And it's more money for my charity fund!!
Then, a week on Saturday, my Hunk of Hoo informs me that he's entered us both in the Blackpool 10k. He says it's ' just a little one' to get us in the mood for the London Marathon, as if I need it lol.
Well, on my return, I will no doubt blog all about my trip out of the Ridge and what I got up to. I've got a feeling I might fall asleep on the late train back home. I probably should consider hanging a message around my neck for someone to chuck me off when I hit Preston!
Saturday 11 February 2012
Go Team Forrest!
Just been hit with a brick of realisation - I can finally say i'm a good role model for my children to follow. It's taken me a long, long personal journey to come to that conclusion, mind! It's all about getting the balance right in life and the old me missed out on so much living and then in turn my family did too. All because I was 'morbidly obese' and extremely unhealthy/unhappy. I was also lacking in confidence because of it and that stopped me doing things with my family. Now, just because I changed what I ate and brought a little exercise into my life, I'm a very different person, not just on the outside, but on the inside too. I always think if you're good 80% of the time, you're allowed to be naughty the other 20%. I'm so proud of my children they are my biggest achievement in my life. If I died tomorrow, I'd died happy knowing I've produced 3 very well balanced, well mannered, polite, loving and caring members of society.
In saying all that my 20% naughtiness must of come last night. I did get very carried away eating lots of left over Christmas cheeses & savoury biscuits whilst watching - The Kings Speech, snuggled up with all the family. You've gotta love cheese & biscuits, they were the best bit about the film for me. Daughter No2 fell asleep as soon as the film started, Child No3 started complaining about being bored 20 minutes in, so started playing on his ipod instead. I must admit I'd only give the film 7/10. I have no idea what all the fuss was about when it was first released. It was a fun night though and supper made the film more bearable lol.
Today I'm going to dig some of my Ravioli recipes out as hunk of hoo and Millie want to make some for tea. It's only because Millie wants the recipes for Food Tech, I know her game. Well Mum's got to be good for something I suppose.
In saying all that my 20% naughtiness must of come last night. I did get very carried away eating lots of left over Christmas cheeses & savoury biscuits whilst watching - The Kings Speech, snuggled up with all the family. You've gotta love cheese & biscuits, they were the best bit about the film for me. Daughter No2 fell asleep as soon as the film started, Child No3 started complaining about being bored 20 minutes in, so started playing on his ipod instead. I must admit I'd only give the film 7/10. I have no idea what all the fuss was about when it was first released. It was a fun night though and supper made the film more bearable lol.
Today I'm going to dig some of my Ravioli recipes out as hunk of hoo and Millie want to make some for tea. It's only because Millie wants the recipes for Food Tech, I know her game. Well Mum's got to be good for something I suppose.
Thursday 9 February 2012
Justine Forrest: Great training week, feeling really good. Have str...
Justine Forrest: Great training week, feeling really good. Have str...: Great training week, feeling really good. Have streamlined our diets for the last month or so. Trying so hard not to eat any additives or pr...
Great training week, feeling really good. Have streamlined our diets for the last month or so. Trying so hard not to eat any additives or preservatives. Everything is made fresh from scratch and I'm only allowing myself my banana cake for my sweet cravings. All our bread is home-made and I've even dusted off my pasta making machine. It's not that much different to what we're used to, as I always make bread and cook everything from scratch anyway. Always have done. It's surprising how much cheaper making everything from scratch is and I also get an extra kick out of the fact I'm providing my family with the best I can afford. I'm as busy as the next person, so having no time is no excuse. I think it helps that I'm an immensely organised person. Oh and that thingy called -Tesco food delivery service is also an ingenious invention hahaha, couldn't manage with out it!
What a fab weekend I've just had. Cooked and baked for two days solid and then on the second day a friend of mine, a professional photographer, came round to take a foody shoot of my creations. Charlotte did an amazing job, everything looked so darn delicious. It was so much fun and I will reveal the reasons 'why and what for' eventually!!! hehehe. Check out Charlotte's website :- http://www.holden-photographer.co.uk/Site/Welcome.html
Today is cake Thursday, but because i'm being really, really good I'm now re-naming it 'Healthy Snack' Thursday, well for the moment anyway. I will always 'NEED' cake in my life, some people like a drink, I have cake as my vice. I tell myself it could always be worse and that way I don't beat myself up about eating a big slab or two lol. My moto in life is - 'you can have your cake & eat it', I'm living proof lol.
Oh and if you do fancy eating or giving cake this Valentines Day, why not check out my website for my award winning chocolate brownies :- http://www.browniesbyjustineforrest.com/ ♥
What a fab weekend I've just had. Cooked and baked for two days solid and then on the second day a friend of mine, a professional photographer, came round to take a foody shoot of my creations. Charlotte did an amazing job, everything looked so darn delicious. It was so much fun and I will reveal the reasons 'why and what for' eventually!!! hehehe. Check out Charlotte's website :- http://www.holden-photographer.co.uk/Site/Welcome.html
Today is cake Thursday, but because i'm being really, really good I'm now re-naming it 'Healthy Snack' Thursday, well for the moment anyway. I will always 'NEED' cake in my life, some people like a drink, I have cake as my vice. I tell myself it could always be worse and that way I don't beat myself up about eating a big slab or two lol. My moto in life is - 'you can have your cake & eat it', I'm living proof lol.
Oh and if you do fancy eating or giving cake this Valentines Day, why not check out my website for my award winning chocolate brownies :- http://www.browniesbyjustineforrest.com/ ♥
Friday 3 February 2012
Freezing Febuary!
Keeping very busy at the moment, have so much in my head. Training's back on track, too. The thing with me is, I've noticed over the last 3 years, everytime I achieve something - I then want to better it straight away, I spend my life not giving myself enough credit for things I've done and beat myself up about everything!! It's not such a bad thing, it certainly drives me on to want more for me & my family. It's like my running, I hate it most of the time, the only time I actually enjoy a run is when we're heading home, but it wont beat me, I will carry on until I'm getting some kind of pleasure out of it. If it wasn't for the charity that I'm doing it all for, then it might be a very different story!?! I dont know if I'll keep running when the London Marathon & the Great North Run are done this year, but I have actually inquired about places in the New York Marathon for next year, yes I'm mad, but anyone who knows me well enough will tell you how determined I am when I put my mind to it!!! Went for a long run first thing Sunday morning with my hunk of hoo. It was such a beautiful morning, made even better by the fact it was my ickle mans 11th birthday, yay. He had a lovely birthday weekend and got very spoilt 'obviously' lol. Monday we went back to Alder Hey for his big M.O.T. Everything went really well and his consultant was very pleased with his progress and he dropped two of his drugs. Now he can go back to playing his beloved footy and also playing out at break times at school. He came back the other day saying he feels much better when he's playing and he doesn't get out of puff as much and even his friends have noticed too, bless!
January's always a very busy appointment time for all of us. On average we have 4 appointments a week between Christopher, Millie and myself. Millie was back at RPH on Thursday to see her cleft lip & palate team from Alder Hey. It went ok, Millie now needs more surgery at the back of her throat because there's a large gap in her muscles there and they think it will help with her speech if corrected. They also think because of Millie's Cerebral Palsy she may have a delay on her speech and signals coming from her brain. That was a shock for us all, but it does fit with things she's experienced academically. This will be Millie's 8th operation and I know it's going to be the hardest one for her because most of her previous surgery she cant remember because she was so little. They think Millie's op will be this summer at some point and it will all be done at Alder Hey!!! She wont be able to eat any solids for 3 weeks post op, but Millie's been through all that before when she wasn't allowed solids for over 6 weeks.
Today, I've been for an M.R.I scan at Fulwood hospital. Over the last year I've been for a series of tests. Once upon a time I would never go near a hospital for myself or to any well womans clinic because of my size. I didn't want anyone ever knowing my weight as I was so ashamed about it. So now when they send for me to have any tests I automatically want them done to make sure I'm fit and well. Today was an experience, the tunnel thing I could cope with, it was the noise and I suppose it didn't help that I needed a wee very badly and I had to stay in this tunnel, very still for half an hour. While I was lying there, I was taken back to when it was my 26th birthday and Millie went into hospital to have a C.A.T scan on her brain. She was just 6 weeks old and we chose not to have her sedated to keep her still. She, as she always is, was amazing and stayed still and never cried the whole time she was strapped down and inside the scan tunnel. I remember when the results came back a few weeks later, they stated that Millie had a shrinkage on one side of her brain and we should keep an eye on her to see if she was developing normally. Another moment in our lives when I felt my heart had been ripped out and blamed myself for Millie's problems. We were then told to wait and see how Millie developed. Up until that point, apart from Millie having fits for the first few days of her life and having a cleft lip and palate, we thought there was nothing else wrong. Millie carried on showing no signs of brain damage, then at 6 months old our health visitor thought there was something wrong down the left side of Millie's body and sent her to The Willows in Preston to be assessed, that's when her Hemi-pleghia - cerebral palsy- was diagnosed. Thinking about that today made me feel so grateful, Millie could have so easily been confined to a wheelchair and mentally not with us. She's such a fighter.
Another thing that struck me was the size of the tunnel itself. There wasn't that much room around me, I certainly wouldn't have fitted in when I was 14 stone heavier, even if they had have squeezed me in there!! They play you a cd while your're lying there and the one they put on for me was the same cd I use to listen to when I first started walking around Longridge to lose weight, now that did make me chuckle, if it wasn't for the nurse telling me before I went into the tunnel to keep very still I would have been dancing away to the tunes and smiling!!!!! x
January's always a very busy appointment time for all of us. On average we have 4 appointments a week between Christopher, Millie and myself. Millie was back at RPH on Thursday to see her cleft lip & palate team from Alder Hey. It went ok, Millie now needs more surgery at the back of her throat because there's a large gap in her muscles there and they think it will help with her speech if corrected. They also think because of Millie's Cerebral Palsy she may have a delay on her speech and signals coming from her brain. That was a shock for us all, but it does fit with things she's experienced academically. This will be Millie's 8th operation and I know it's going to be the hardest one for her because most of her previous surgery she cant remember because she was so little. They think Millie's op will be this summer at some point and it will all be done at Alder Hey!!! She wont be able to eat any solids for 3 weeks post op, but Millie's been through all that before when she wasn't allowed solids for over 6 weeks.
Today, I've been for an M.R.I scan at Fulwood hospital. Over the last year I've been for a series of tests. Once upon a time I would never go near a hospital for myself or to any well womans clinic because of my size. I didn't want anyone ever knowing my weight as I was so ashamed about it. So now when they send for me to have any tests I automatically want them done to make sure I'm fit and well. Today was an experience, the tunnel thing I could cope with, it was the noise and I suppose it didn't help that I needed a wee very badly and I had to stay in this tunnel, very still for half an hour. While I was lying there, I was taken back to when it was my 26th birthday and Millie went into hospital to have a C.A.T scan on her brain. She was just 6 weeks old and we chose not to have her sedated to keep her still. She, as she always is, was amazing and stayed still and never cried the whole time she was strapped down and inside the scan tunnel. I remember when the results came back a few weeks later, they stated that Millie had a shrinkage on one side of her brain and we should keep an eye on her to see if she was developing normally. Another moment in our lives when I felt my heart had been ripped out and blamed myself for Millie's problems. We were then told to wait and see how Millie developed. Up until that point, apart from Millie having fits for the first few days of her life and having a cleft lip and palate, we thought there was nothing else wrong. Millie carried on showing no signs of brain damage, then at 6 months old our health visitor thought there was something wrong down the left side of Millie's body and sent her to The Willows in Preston to be assessed, that's when her Hemi-pleghia - cerebral palsy- was diagnosed. Thinking about that today made me feel so grateful, Millie could have so easily been confined to a wheelchair and mentally not with us. She's such a fighter.
Another thing that struck me was the size of the tunnel itself. There wasn't that much room around me, I certainly wouldn't have fitted in when I was 14 stone heavier, even if they had have squeezed me in there!! They play you a cd while your're lying there and the one they put on for me was the same cd I use to listen to when I first started walking around Longridge to lose weight, now that did make me chuckle, if it wasn't for the nurse telling me before I went into the tunnel to keep very still I would have been dancing away to the tunes and smiling!!!!! x
Saturday 28 January 2012
Last week of January!
Well what a week! Christopher sang & danced his heart out at the M.E.N on Tuesday night, how proud was I?? I cried my eyes out the whole 2 hours & 15 minutes, never been as proud, it was immense and so overwhelming. He did pay the price though and didn't go to school the next day because he was so tired and lifeless, so we spent the day snuggling and eating the left over crimbo chocolates as a treat!!!!. If you all hadn't noticed 'I love all my kids so much it hurts'. Millie and Alex also had a great week. Millie got her school report, which was glowing as ever and her parents evening was the same. All her teachers said she's a joy to teach and a fantastic member of society. She tries her hardest at everything she does, which we already knew because if there's one thing I try to instill in my children it's that anything is possible and you should give every opportunity a go and put 100% into it, which I think they all do. Sometimes, when I pick Millie up from school and watch her walking towards me, she totally blows my mind. She's had so many hurdles to get over in life and she's achieved so much, all this with her disabilities, she is truly inspirational and she certainly inspires me on a daily basis. Alex had a great week too, her training session on Sunday with the Lancashire Girls Golf Team went well and she also had a great write up about all her golf achievements over the last couple of years in the Longridge Golf Club news letter/e-mail. Alex is the quiet one of our family, but don't let that trick you into thinking she's soft, because that girl has got some serious courage and strength going on.
I've hit the wall with my training for the London Marathon this week and everything is overwhelming me. My running and gym work are going well but I'm just feeling the pressure of keeping focused. I'm so hungry all the time and I'm trying so hard to eat as healthy as I can because I do understand the importance of it when your training so hard. Hoping next week will be a turning point after we get this birthday weekend over with. I always struggle at this time every year since Christopher was born, mainly because we went through so much for the first nine weeks of his life as he hung in there. It's harder for me this year because of what he went through last summer. Things could have turned out so differently for us all and that frightens the life out of me. It's just something I have to find a way of dealing with and get myself out of this- end of January rut- I'm in, I'm so tearful all the time.
Sunday will be Christopher's 11th birthday and that in itself is an amazing achievement with everything he's been through in his short life. So we make every birthday a special one. Going through what Christopher has keeps me grounded and makes me not take life for granted, as there's always someone worse off and Christopher is doing amazing. He's been through it and he'll always have his heart condition, which he'll need treatment & drugs for, but hopefully he will carry on doing well and achieving his dreams. He goes back to Alder Hey next Monday for a M.O.T on his heart and hopefully he'll have some good news about one of his drugs, we'll see. For the moment he carries on being closely monitored because of the surgery he had last year. Hopefully, someday, his appointments and tests will go down in numbers and he can get back to playing his beloved football, but if that's the price we have to pay for sharing our lives with him then it's a small price. So today I've been ordered to make 2 fudge cakes for Christophers' birthday cakes, one for Sunday and one for his class at school to enjoy. Every year when he blows out his candles we all wish for the same thing, so far our wishes have come true and Christopher carries on getting stronger and stronger. Here's to many more wishes coming true for my ickle man. Good luck to Christopher for Monday at Alder Hey Children's Hospital and hopefully good news! xxxxx
I've hit the wall with my training for the London Marathon this week and everything is overwhelming me. My running and gym work are going well but I'm just feeling the pressure of keeping focused. I'm so hungry all the time and I'm trying so hard to eat as healthy as I can because I do understand the importance of it when your training so hard. Hoping next week will be a turning point after we get this birthday weekend over with. I always struggle at this time every year since Christopher was born, mainly because we went through so much for the first nine weeks of his life as he hung in there. It's harder for me this year because of what he went through last summer. Things could have turned out so differently for us all and that frightens the life out of me. It's just something I have to find a way of dealing with and get myself out of this- end of January rut- I'm in, I'm so tearful all the time.
Sunday will be Christopher's 11th birthday and that in itself is an amazing achievement with everything he's been through in his short life. So we make every birthday a special one. Going through what Christopher has keeps me grounded and makes me not take life for granted, as there's always someone worse off and Christopher is doing amazing. He's been through it and he'll always have his heart condition, which he'll need treatment & drugs for, but hopefully he will carry on doing well and achieving his dreams. He goes back to Alder Hey next Monday for a M.O.T on his heart and hopefully he'll have some good news about one of his drugs, we'll see. For the moment he carries on being closely monitored because of the surgery he had last year. Hopefully, someday, his appointments and tests will go down in numbers and he can get back to playing his beloved football, but if that's the price we have to pay for sharing our lives with him then it's a small price. So today I've been ordered to make 2 fudge cakes for Christophers' birthday cakes, one for Sunday and one for his class at school to enjoy. Every year when he blows out his candles we all wish for the same thing, so far our wishes have come true and Christopher carries on getting stronger and stronger. Here's to many more wishes coming true for my ickle man. Good luck to Christopher for Monday at Alder Hey Children's Hospital and hopefully good news! xxxxx
Wednesday 18 January 2012
3rd week of Jan ♥
Went out for a lovely surprise romantic meal with my hunk of hoo this week. He even surprised me with a gorgeous new top. I do pull his leg, I call him my Gok Wan/Vidal Sassoon, I try not to give him too much credit - it would only go to his head, but he does have really good taste. He's great to take shopping as he'll tell you exactly what you look like when trying clothes on, he definitely isn't one to say everything looks good on you and he never gets bored, bonus! At times it does get a little annoying that he's so honest, but all my friends think that's a wonderful thing and they all wish their fellas were like that. I will give him 10 out of 10 for being very romantic and having good taste, well he did marry me lol.!!!!
Well I've had a fantastic response to posting some of my recipes on my facebook wall, so much so that I'm working on a fantastic idea with the lovely Rosemary Melbourne, watch this space.
My little Christopher is singing at the M.E.N next week with his after school 'Glee Club'. He's beyond excited, bless. We're all going to watch him and I'm pretty sure, even though it's at the M.E.N and it's such a massive place, we'll still be able to hear him, think he takes after his Mummy!!
It's also Christopher's 11th birthday on the Sunday of that week and he's having a friend to sleep over and they're going to watch WWE all night, apparently. So proud of that little boy and what he's achieved in his short life, he's overcome such adversity and come out the other end still smiling and happy. On the Monday after his birthday, he has another big M.O.T at Alder Hey Children's Hospital to see how things are. It's not all been plan sailing since spending all summer in hospital with him, I can tell you, and at times he's such a huge worry for us all. He's come home from school twice this week because he's not been well and then he's had a series of what I think are heart palpitations, nothings ever simple, I do hope this is just a glitch and he carry's making a good recovery from his surgery.
Third week into January and so many people are starting to wane with their NY resolutions, it is hard to stay focused and on track, but by February things should start getting easier, you just have to persevere in whatever you're trying to stick to, whether it's staying fit or to lose weight or to stop smoking etc etc, keep strong and carry on. You've got to be in it to win it! Summer will soon be here and what a different person you'll feel.
My marathon training is going well, my leg feels much better after being fitted once again for new running shoes. Back to pounding those Longridge streets. Started going out at 6am for a run before life starts for the day, then coming home to microwaved porridge made with water and a touch of skimmed milk, honey, sultanas and dried apricots. You should try it, it certainly makes a difference having a good healthy breakfast inside you and it's slow releasing too, so keeps you going all morning!!!
Well I've had a fantastic response to posting some of my recipes on my facebook wall, so much so that I'm working on a fantastic idea with the lovely Rosemary Melbourne, watch this space.
My little Christopher is singing at the M.E.N next week with his after school 'Glee Club'. He's beyond excited, bless. We're all going to watch him and I'm pretty sure, even though it's at the M.E.N and it's such a massive place, we'll still be able to hear him, think he takes after his Mummy!!
It's also Christopher's 11th birthday on the Sunday of that week and he's having a friend to sleep over and they're going to watch WWE all night, apparently. So proud of that little boy and what he's achieved in his short life, he's overcome such adversity and come out the other end still smiling and happy. On the Monday after his birthday, he has another big M.O.T at Alder Hey Children's Hospital to see how things are. It's not all been plan sailing since spending all summer in hospital with him, I can tell you, and at times he's such a huge worry for us all. He's come home from school twice this week because he's not been well and then he's had a series of what I think are heart palpitations, nothings ever simple, I do hope this is just a glitch and he carry's making a good recovery from his surgery.
Third week into January and so many people are starting to wane with their NY resolutions, it is hard to stay focused and on track, but by February things should start getting easier, you just have to persevere in whatever you're trying to stick to, whether it's staying fit or to lose weight or to stop smoking etc etc, keep strong and carry on. You've got to be in it to win it! Summer will soon be here and what a different person you'll feel.
My marathon training is going well, my leg feels much better after being fitted once again for new running shoes. Back to pounding those Longridge streets. Started going out at 6am for a run before life starts for the day, then coming home to microwaved porridge made with water and a touch of skimmed milk, honey, sultanas and dried apricots. You should try it, it certainly makes a difference having a good healthy breakfast inside you and it's slow releasing too, so keeps you going all morning!!!
Thursday 12 January 2012
week 2
It's now the second week of January and I'm still on it like 'SONIC' lol.
Had to go to my osteopath this week, as my left shin started killing me, even to walk on never mind run. The results were that I've got a torn tendon/shin splint, so I've had a few days off running and upped my other gym training to compensate. So just waiting for my new trainers to be delivered now then I'll see how my leg feels.
Been asked for lots of recipes over the last few weeks, so I've started a recipe wall on my facebook page. Its a mix of cheap family friendly meals, mixed with healthier lifestyle tasty choice meals & snacks, I've had an amazing response about them with lots of comments about me writing a cookery book with my recipes!!??
I'm blogging on a Thursday this week and Thursdays only mean one thing in the Forrest home - 'Cake Thursday' lol. Well that's what I've named it, as every Thursday I make a different cake/pudding and I take some down to the gym for the personnal trainers Darren & Mark to taste test for me before the family get the rest. Today it's my families favorite, it's Brioche Bread & Butter Pudding with proper vanilla ice-cream. It's my hubby's new favourite. See, that's one of the things I do try to advise people and get across to them, a little bit of what you fancy does you good as long as you know when to stop and you don't go onto eat the whole family size dish full!!??!! I used to!!!
I truly believe in life - anything is possible and you can achieve your goals, you've just got to want them enough!
Had to go to my osteopath this week, as my left shin started killing me, even to walk on never mind run. The results were that I've got a torn tendon/shin splint, so I've had a few days off running and upped my other gym training to compensate. So just waiting for my new trainers to be delivered now then I'll see how my leg feels.
Been asked for lots of recipes over the last few weeks, so I've started a recipe wall on my facebook page. Its a mix of cheap family friendly meals, mixed with healthier lifestyle tasty choice meals & snacks, I've had an amazing response about them with lots of comments about me writing a cookery book with my recipes!!??
I'm blogging on a Thursday this week and Thursdays only mean one thing in the Forrest home - 'Cake Thursday' lol. Well that's what I've named it, as every Thursday I make a different cake/pudding and I take some down to the gym for the personnal trainers Darren & Mark to taste test for me before the family get the rest. Today it's my families favorite, it's Brioche Bread & Butter Pudding with proper vanilla ice-cream. It's my hubby's new favourite. See, that's one of the things I do try to advise people and get across to them, a little bit of what you fancy does you good as long as you know when to stop and you don't go onto eat the whole family size dish full!!??!! I used to!!!
I truly believe in life - anything is possible and you can achieve your goals, you've just got to want them enough!
Friday 6 January 2012
Week One!
The first week of January is nearly done & dusted, hope everyone's feeling fit as a fiddle and there's no January blues going around??!!?? Me, I'm rearing to go!!
Spent a lot of time this week at hospitals, on appointments , and I am happy to say no great changes in everyone's health here at the Forrest Family (which is always a good thing), oh, apart from, after a year of on going test's, I've just been diagnosed with Endometriosis. I've still got more test's to have next month to see how my consultant is going to treat it. I feel good apart from the extra bleeding from other areas when i'm on my periods and I also feel rubbish and have heavy legs at those times too. In saying that I ran on the treadmill at my gym for 2 hours the day I was diagnosed and I felt flipping fine'ish, considering I was on my periods and I felt I was dragging lead weights around on my legs !! Please believe me, I only ever brag about my running because I'm still in shock that I can. I spent so many years morbidly obese, not being able walk very far. Also, I might sound like I enjoy running but I can categorically state 'I HATE IT'. The only time I enjoy it is when I've finished a run and I feel amazing and obviously I do it all for my charity, which I'm working very hard raising money and awareness for. I do think keeping a healthy diet and doing lots of exercise helps with lots of conditions though, I know from experience that when I was 14 stone heavier, I had lots of medical issues and 'ALL' of them have cleared up since losing my weight, I know it doesn't always work for everything and everyone but really it has to help.
My training for the London Marathon is going really well and I feel good now all the Christmas junk food has been eaten or put away and we're eating extra portions of fruit and veg. I hate all those temptations at Christmas, but I'm pleased to say I didn't put on any weight, well I don't think I did! You see I didn't weigh until today so as to not mess my head up and now I am the same weight as before the party season began. One of my top tips is to hide those 'evil' weighing scales. I spent years being a slave to them and really, at the end of the day, it's all about how you feel, you can tell from your clothes if you've lost or put on weight, I don't need my scales to tell me this. It totally messes with my head, if I've lost but only a bit I'm disappointed!!! If I've gained because of water retention and it's that time of the month, then I'm gutted again and I'm more likely to seek solace in junk foods.Once a month is plenty. Through my weight loss, I use'd to get Chris to hide our scales in our loft because I knew I couldn't get up to get them!!! It really does help.
Well, I've had Sushi for lunch courtesy of Tesco's home delivery. I just love fish and now I live a healthy lifestyle I pick healthy tasty things to eat. It's the quality with me these days not the quantity. Don't get my wrong, I couldn't afford to feed the whole family everyday on this stuff, but for a treat for myself when I'm training so hard, it's nice and it gives me something to look forward to at meal times. Tea tonight will be a large brown pitta bread topped with a low cal houmous, topped off with slices of red pepper, cherry tomatoes and red onions, then for pud, natural yogurt, strawberries, blueberries, honey, dried apricots and grape nuts. Then much later on, when we're all snuggled up watching the telly, I'll join the family and have an options hot chocolate drink, well it is Friday night lol!!!
Oh, before I go, the feature editor from Chat Magazine rang earlier to tell my my featured article about my weight loss has been published in their monthly magazine (NOT their weekly one) It's a special addition magazine all about weight loss and it's on sale now and is out all January.
All year round friends and people I don't even know get in touch with me to ask about how I lost my weight and have I got any tips and handy hints for them, no more so than this past week. I do always try to help everyone, well I've been there and come out the other side and still maintain it, I call myself a recovering foodaholic because that is what I am, I will always struggle with food, but now I finally know how to mange it and stay healthy. It's really rewarding for me to be able to pass on my knowledge and I really do hope it helps others. There really is no better way than taking advice from someone who has experienced all of these issues and achieved massive lifestyle changes. I spent the last 20+ years being morbidly obese and thinking the only option was surgery (that was no option for me) or diet groups, I am extremely pleased to say it can be achieved and maintained all on your own, I am living proof!!! x
Spent a lot of time this week at hospitals, on appointments , and I am happy to say no great changes in everyone's health here at the Forrest Family (which is always a good thing), oh, apart from, after a year of on going test's, I've just been diagnosed with Endometriosis. I've still got more test's to have next month to see how my consultant is going to treat it. I feel good apart from the extra bleeding from other areas when i'm on my periods and I also feel rubbish and have heavy legs at those times too. In saying that I ran on the treadmill at my gym for 2 hours the day I was diagnosed and I felt flipping fine'ish, considering I was on my periods and I felt I was dragging lead weights around on my legs !! Please believe me, I only ever brag about my running because I'm still in shock that I can. I spent so many years morbidly obese, not being able walk very far. Also, I might sound like I enjoy running but I can categorically state 'I HATE IT'. The only time I enjoy it is when I've finished a run and I feel amazing and obviously I do it all for my charity, which I'm working very hard raising money and awareness for. I do think keeping a healthy diet and doing lots of exercise helps with lots of conditions though, I know from experience that when I was 14 stone heavier, I had lots of medical issues and 'ALL' of them have cleared up since losing my weight, I know it doesn't always work for everything and everyone but really it has to help.
My training for the London Marathon is going really well and I feel good now all the Christmas junk food has been eaten or put away and we're eating extra portions of fruit and veg. I hate all those temptations at Christmas, but I'm pleased to say I didn't put on any weight, well I don't think I did! You see I didn't weigh until today so as to not mess my head up and now I am the same weight as before the party season began. One of my top tips is to hide those 'evil' weighing scales. I spent years being a slave to them and really, at the end of the day, it's all about how you feel, you can tell from your clothes if you've lost or put on weight, I don't need my scales to tell me this. It totally messes with my head, if I've lost but only a bit I'm disappointed!!! If I've gained because of water retention and it's that time of the month, then I'm gutted again and I'm more likely to seek solace in junk foods.Once a month is plenty. Through my weight loss, I use'd to get Chris to hide our scales in our loft because I knew I couldn't get up to get them!!! It really does help.
Well, I've had Sushi for lunch courtesy of Tesco's home delivery. I just love fish and now I live a healthy lifestyle I pick healthy tasty things to eat. It's the quality with me these days not the quantity. Don't get my wrong, I couldn't afford to feed the whole family everyday on this stuff, but for a treat for myself when I'm training so hard, it's nice and it gives me something to look forward to at meal times. Tea tonight will be a large brown pitta bread topped with a low cal houmous, topped off with slices of red pepper, cherry tomatoes and red onions, then for pud, natural yogurt, strawberries, blueberries, honey, dried apricots and grape nuts. Then much later on, when we're all snuggled up watching the telly, I'll join the family and have an options hot chocolate drink, well it is Friday night lol!!!
Oh, before I go, the feature editor from Chat Magazine rang earlier to tell my my featured article about my weight loss has been published in their monthly magazine (NOT their weekly one) It's a special addition magazine all about weight loss and it's on sale now and is out all January.
All year round friends and people I don't even know get in touch with me to ask about how I lost my weight and have I got any tips and handy hints for them, no more so than this past week. I do always try to help everyone, well I've been there and come out the other side and still maintain it, I call myself a recovering foodaholic because that is what I am, I will always struggle with food, but now I finally know how to mange it and stay healthy. It's really rewarding for me to be able to pass on my knowledge and I really do hope it helps others. There really is no better way than taking advice from someone who has experienced all of these issues and achieved massive lifestyle changes. I spent the last 20+ years being morbidly obese and thinking the only option was surgery (that was no option for me) or diet groups, I am extremely pleased to say it can be achieved and maintained all on your own, I am living proof!!! x
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