me

me
Before/After

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!

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.

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/ ♥
 

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