WOWSAS! My most used word all week, well it saved me swearing in pain!! lol. Well, I made it home in sort of one piece, in fact, even if I do say so  myself, my recovery has been amazing. Three days after my surgery I was discharged, it was on Good Friday, a very Good Friday indeed. I spent a lot of time in hospital being very mad with myself for putting on all that colossal amount of weight in the first place and then needing these operations to remove all the floppy skin that just doesn't shrink back, it's all a slow painful journey at times, but it is all worth it and very necessary for me then to feel like the person I should have always done, one with not just self belief and confidence, but with a life!!! It also stops me revisiting my old life and gaining any weight I have already lost, all the incentives are there because there is 'NO WAY' I'm ever going through any of this again!  A week after surgery, my clips came out too. Now that was a good day, as i had about 100+ staples up and around my private parts going down both legs to my knees and around both hips. That was last Wednesday which turned out to be a very over whelming day for me. I just couldn't stop getting tearful, thinking about how far I've come in three short years. It's pretty amazing and with all the skin removal plastic surgery I've been through, as well as the initial 14 stone weight loss, I achieved all on my own, it just doesn't seem a long enough time to fit  all that in to, but I did and I now cant really remember my life before all this, it has changed in every way.  Anyways, everything getting better day by day, it just takes time, I don't think I'll be running many marathons just yet!
While I was in Hospital, little Christopher had one of his heart appointments at Alder Hey and the outcome is that he's having his next op at the end of June, so just as I get back to normal, another member of the family goes into hospital, typical in our family lol. Christopher also had to go to our family doctor's while i wasn't here because he wasn't feeling well, he had tonsillitus and is now on antibiotics, so is off school. That has been easier to be honest because I cant actually sit in a car to drive  so it means Chris hasn't needed more time off work. Chris and the kids have been wonderful while I've been in hospital, they've managed really, really well. everyones been fed and the house is clean and tidy with all the washing and ironing  done, bliss. All the cakes and meals I left in the freezer and fridge have all gone, so I'm just finishing off all the different soups I froze a few weeks ago. Since coming home Chris has googled a new recipe for tea every night, we've had some great food and thats from a man who usually cant boil water lol. My favorite to date has been a three bean chilli con carne topped with cheesey mashed potatoes. It had lots of cumin in it for extra spice which made it very tasty indeed and one I'll be making in the future.
I've also been kept going while I've been recovering by all the e-mails, texts, messages and cards I've received from family and friends. There all very much appreciated.  I was also contacted over facebook by a lady from Lebanon!?! She had seen my profile picture on facebook, of me before and after, then she had googled me and read my story. She said she had struggled all her life with her weight and now couldn't have a relationship with a man because she had no confidence. It was a shame, I really felt for her. She ended her message asking if i could help her. I hope she can take some of the things I told her and inspire her to make some simple changes to her life that will help her achieve her goals. Two nurses who were also looking after me on the ward wanted advice about weight loss, which just goes to show you, that just because they work with the aftermath of nursing lots of people who need skin removal surgery after weight loss, that still isn't an incentive not to put the weight on in the first place. Seeing the sights they all do on a day to day basis, it would have certainly put me off piling on the pounds.
Another reason why I have to get back to normal fast is that we're going 'Glamping' in a few weeks with the family and a group of our friends. We've done this for the last few years, weather permitting and it's such a laugh. We use to go somewhere overnight, but it's that much fun we've now extended it to a full weekender lol. The Glamping thing is apparently Glamorous camping, well you'd all know that if you watched TOWIE (The Only  Way Is Essex). Not that I watch it, but being in hospital and not being able to sleep much I had the pleasure of watching just about everything on TV lol.
Also, in a few weeks time, I've been invited to a luncheon in aid of the McMillan Cancer Charity at which they've asked  me to speek   about my weight loss journey, winning  Michael Winner's Dinning Stars TV program  and also my forth coming book. What an honor, I feel really privileged to be asked, as everyone at some point in their lives will be touch with cancer, whether it's through someone they know or experiencing it first hand them selves! 
Well, I'm feeling really tired now, so I'll stop my ramblings until the next time ♥

Well, I thought I'd get this done before I start baking my orders. It's another very busy week in the Forrest household, so I don't know if I'll get another chance for a catch up before I go into  hospital next week.
On Friday last week, Millie was awarded a huge easter egg at school for all her achievements. Millie started crying when she had to go up on stage and accept it, all her friends had tears in their eyes and even her class teacher, Mr White ,was  moved in the same way. Millie is absolutely inspirational, she touches everyone that meets her. Millie is one of the reasons I finally came to my senses about my huge weight and then finally did something about it. Two of our children don't have that luxury about their health, but I did. I foolishly and selfishly was eating myself to death like a slow suicide. Not anymore. Millie and Christopher inspired me to choose life and do something about it. I have and I've never looked back!
Just before Christmas, someone I know contacted me to ask me for  help because she said in 2011 she wanted to try for another child with her husband. Again, that touched me and took me back to when I started losing my weight. At that point we, wanted another child and as I was massively obese at that stage it wasn't an option for us, as when you're the size I was it can stop you conceiving and it did. I think, in my case, it was natures way of telling me there was no way I could possibly carry anymore weight around as it would be very dangerous. Straight after Christopher was born we wanted another child. I suppose at the time we felt robbed that Christopher was so poorly and struggling with life and also the fact we spent so much time in hospital, we felt the first few months of Christopher's life were taken away from us and all those precious first new born baby months were gone forever. The lady who wanted advice was moved that I new exactly how she felt because I had been there. She wanted to lose about 5-6 stone and was struggling getting started. I gave her some advice and told her to make some small changes and include as much exercise as she could in to her daily routine. Even 20 minutes walking daily can make such a difference. I lost my first ten stone through choosing walking as my exercise daily, it works, I'm living proof!!! So I'll just have to wait until she can hopefully tell me she's pregnant again, yay!
It's a very exiting week for my Charity, Ronald McDonald House, as it's the" first dig" for the new house in Manchester, on Wednesday. Shameless actress, Rebecca Atkinson and myself will be doing the first turf dig, which I'm looking forward to very much and then we're going to be interviewed by the press and have some photo's taken. I've also been interviewed by the Longridge News and the Lancashire Evening post for their papers this week. I'll be a guest on  John Gillmore's BBC Radio Lancashire show tomorrow (Tuesday) from 3pm. I love Gilly, so that should be fun and I'm taking the children with me, as they've broken up for Easter and they love being included in all these exiting things.
Well, I'd better start baking, these cakes wont bake themselves and my orders are coming in thick and fast at the moment because, from next Monday, I'm going to be off for 10 days recovering from my next excess  skin removal operation!!!! The only down side from losing such a vast amount of weight!!(But I'm hoping to feel the benefits in my running!!
Oh, a note to self:- When I make chicken and veg soup for the freezer, I should freeze immediately as it's far to good . Suffice  to say, it got all eaten within a day or two and there ' s none to freeze!! Next on my freezer list are cheese and onion pies and our old family favorite healthy chillie con carne, which I will freeze as soon as they have cooled down. I must buy some more soup freezer bags, they are a must have and so handy.  X

Well what a very busy day I've had. Millie, Alex and myself have all had appointments, so I've been running around like a headless chicken today lol. The big news of the week is that, today, Christopher went on the surgery list at Alder Hey Children's Hospital for his next heart surgery which they inform us will be in a month or two, eeeeek. Christopher's very cool about it all and exited at the prospect of not being able to go to school for at least a month and being able to play on his xbox all day. God love him, bless. While we where there we visited Ronald McDonald House again and they told us, up to now, we've raised nearly £4000 in Christopher's name, so that was nice to know.
Next week I'm going to my first official outing on behalf of Ronald McDonald House Charities, I've been invited to dig the first turf for their new Manchester house build, so I'm very exited. All the press releases have gone out and the Longridge News are doing a piece on it for their paper next week too. I'll also be taking lots of my cakes with me for all the builders on site lol.
I've had the paperwork through for my next op which is on 19th April, fingers crossed. No I'm pretty sure this time it will go ahead. I went for my pre-op at RPH this morning, the nurse doing all my tests recognised me from the telly, it was very funny when the penny dropped and she said meeting me had made her day as she loved the show, aw. I still cant believe I still get recognised as it's been over a year since I was last on the telly and, since the show was filmed, I've lost a further 4 stone in weight.
Last week someone from the area I live in, that I vaguely know, contacted me wanting advice on losing weight as in her words she's become too embarrassed  to leave her house in case anyone sees her. Her e-mail had me in tears and sent me straight back in time to my old life. Everything she wrote, I once felt, it was like reading my life. I felt very moved by her predicament and very touched that she wanted to share it with me and ask for advice. I sent her an e-mail back giving her some tips and things to think about, only time will tell if anything I said helped. I do wish her luck, it's not easy but its not that hard either, I know I've been there.
Well I'm going to start stocking the freezer up for all the family while I'm in hospital ,starting from tomorrow. The first thing I'm going to make batches of is my very healthy chicken and vegetable soup which will have me up and back on my feet after my op in no time. I roasted two large chickens in the oven yesterday for tea, so I'll be using some of the leftover chicken and all the stock and juices that came from them as a base for my delicious soup, it's making me hungry just thinking about it.

Well the sun has definitely had it's hat on this week up North. It's just like summer. Had all my washing out on the line all week and I'm dying to get all my summer clothes out too, but I think that might be tempting fate a little lol.
Every week I get quite a few people e-mailing, texting, ringing me or just knocking on my door with messages or questions about my weight loss. This week I was moved once again by a chef I know telling me that, because of our conversation two weeks earlier, she had made the decision to join a gym and change her life style to a more healthier one. She told me the defining moment came for her when she told me she was going to join a slimming club and I had told her, ' it's you that loses the weight and you wanting too, not the slimming club, you!'. She went away and thought about it and instead of spending her money every week on a slimming club membership she has used it to join a gym instead. I went on to ask her if her gym was full of the people she imagined went to gyms, she said she was very shocked to see everyone was normal and they were all different shapes and sizes and no one looked at you!!!! Just what I had tried to reassure her two weeks previously. She, like I, was put off going to a gym because we thought it would be full of fit people in hardly any clothes. She went on to say, this time it was going to be different for her. After listening to me and taking on board what I had told her, she felt she could really do this and that I had been her inspiration! I was again really proud that my knowledge and experience had helped someone else.
It wasn't really third time lucky for me this week, as I had imaged it being. I had my next operation cancelled for the third time this year and we're only in March, boo. I was supposed to be going into hospital next week for a thigh and bottom lift, as you'll know I've lost 14 stone in weight, which has left me with some hanging skin in places. Last June I had excess skin removed from my stomach and next weeks op was supposed to be my second operation with two more skin removal operations to follow. Apparently there's been a mix up at the hospital and I wasn't on the operating list for next week, which is deeply disappointing after arranging our lives around it and then the recovering time afterwards. I've had so much to do in preparation for this operation, not just with organizing our families life around it, but mentally getting into the right frame of mind, as its a big thing to put yourself through mentally and physically. Its definitely not a vain thing I'm undertaking, I'm having these operations done to finally be able to put the past behind me and move on for good. The amount of skin I'm having removed will make such a difference to everyday life for me. I'll no longer have to strap up my excess skin every morning before I get dressed and I'm really looking forward to feeling the difference when I run, as my training is going really well at the moment. But I think everything is for a reason and I'm trying to stay positive about the cancellation. On the plus side, I definitely wont be in hospital for Mother's Day, which I love because the family spoil me for the day and thats what Mother's Day is all about. Also we've been invited to a friends 40th birthday bash, which we thought we couldn't make and I've been asked to attend a ground breaking ceremony in Manchester for the new Ronald McDonald House they're going to be building there.
I had a meeting this week with the charity I'll be running for in the Great North Run 2011 and London Marathon 2012. They got in touch with me and asked to meet with me and talk through some fundraising ideas they thought I might be interested in supporting. It's an absolute dream for me to be involved, as our family has used Ronald McDonald House at Alder Hey Hospital in the past and the facilities there are incredible. It's truly an amazing place, it's a home from home at the most incredibly stressful time in your families life and it really does make such a difference to what you're going through. The ground dig is the first event I'll be going to and thats on 13th April. We went to the ground break for the extension at the Ronald McDonald House at Alder Hey 9 years ago with Christopher, when Ricky Tomlinson was doing the first dig on site. Christopher and Ricky where featured in all the press things about it. How weird is that, 9 years later they have asked me to attend in a totally different capacity.
We did 10 miles first thing Saturday morning. It was pretty hard going and when I've run since my legs have felt really heavy. Hey ho, we're going to do another long one this Sunday. In the next month I want to be able to complete 13 miles, so we'll know for sure that we can run that distance. Cant really believe it myself, only 6 weeks ago I couldn't run for 10 yards without stopping and we actually started training to 2 miles, which I found incredibly hard going. Now we go out 3 times a week and do 5-6 miles each time.
We'll it's Friday and that only means one thing in the Forrest house, movie and home-made take-a-way night. If that makes any sense, I actually make a healthier option take-a-way meal ie pizza, curry, burgers, something along those lines. So tonight it's 'Pizza night', Christopher's chosen this weeks menu. So the pizza dough is in the bread making machine as we speak and my home-made Summer Pudding is setting in the fridge. We just love Summer Pud, all that fresh fruit and it's so good for you. I use brioche instead of normal white bread. It makes all the difference. Just got to make the coleslaw and a big bowl of salad, yummy. Christopher has also chosen this weeks film which is the Elephant Man. I bought this film years ago for us all to watch together. I loved this film when I first watched it in the 80's, I found it so inspirational with a strong message that nothing in life is perfect and there's always someone worse off than you. Millie, our oldest daughter, was born with a cleft lip and palate and she also has cerebral palsy, so the messages in this film actually touch on our lives. I love watching films like this with our children, it sends out such a good positive message.

Well it's Blog time once again! What a good week we've had. My runnings going really well.Me and Chris  ran 7 miles first thing Sunday morning!!!!!  UNBELIEVABLE!!  Well, we thought so!!
Millie, our first born who's nearly 15, has been talent spotted in Disability Athletics for the shot put. So all day Saturday we were at Sportcity, next to  Manchester City Football Club, supporting her while she attended a training day. At the end of the day, Millie was approached by a coach from Wigan Harriers to train with them every week, as they think she's got  real potential and  she could go far in the world of disability sports!!! We're all really thrilled for Millie, as she's sports mad, but is very limited  to what she can manage , due to her cerebral palsy.
Our middle daughter, Alex, had an  eye test this week and needs glasses, it turns out shes short sighted just like her Daddy. God she looks so cute in her new specs lol. She's not so keen, so I keep reassuring her that she looks beautiful in them, aw.
Christopher, our little boy, had another appointment at Alder Hey Children's Hospital in Liverpool. It was for a fitness test on a treadmill, to see how fit/unfit he actually is, according to his age group. He's going to be having more heart surgery at some point, so these test's are to help map everything out.
I'll be running the GNR and the London Marathon with my husband Chris, so even though training is hard at times, we've got each other to push each other on and keep each other company which is lovely. And someone to shout at on a tough day!!??!!   I've been going through and typing up all my hand written recipes this week, which is a job and a half, as some are very well worn and sticky lol. Lots of them are very tasty and healthy and have helped me immensely through my weight loss. So watch this space, hopefully at some point, they'll all be featured in my book when its published!!!

Well I've managed it, yay! Doing this blog thingy has taken me sometime, I can tell you! There's never enough time in the day for these things and I seem to spend my life playing 'catch up', anyway. Leading this busy life that I do, after spending years being under active because I was morbidly obese, is fantastic and I wouldn't have it any other way now.
Well it's four weeks into my Great North Run (half Marathon) training and finally I'm getting it, yay! My running has now become a lot easier and I'm now doing five miles a day, five days a week. Trying to also be very good with what I'm eating, as I find there's nothing worse than running when you've eaten a poor diet that day. My book is also coming along nicely and I'm really enjoying writing it. It's been a very emotional journey for me, at times, but all in a good way. After losing 14 stone in weight recently, my book has helped me immensely to leave the past behind and make me even more determined never to return to my 'OLD' bad habits and ways.