New Diet Craze

I am constantly on the hunt for an easy way to lose weight. I'm not lazy nor am I really struggling to find time but I am someone who gets bored very easily & if I don't see results quickly I become very disheartened. I do find I become obsessive over not losing weight, so I will go from one extreme to the other. Over eating to not eating at all, you would think by the age of 30 I would fully understand that this is not good for my health.

Anyway, I walk everywhere, I do eat fruit & veg everyday but I always find the easy option of getting  junk food too appealing. I find gym fees to expensive so I have a couple of fitness DVDs I will resort to if I'm needing to tone up. But recently I have really let all this slip. When I mean slip up, I mean landslide, this is the heaviest I have ever been (10st 6lbs), which for my height means I am overweight & really should lose 2 stone to get back in track.

So back to the new diet craze "Raspberry Ketones", if it's good enough for Jessica Simpson, Beyoncé & Kim Kardashian it sure as hell is good enough for me. The idea & main purpose of raspberry ketones differ depending in which brand you choose. I have chosen "Forza Raspberry K2", available to buy from Superdrug, £23.00 for 90 capsules (1 month supply).

This is a food supplement not a replacement. I have been eating slightly differently to normal, making a conscious effort to eat sensibly & choosing healthier options than I normally would. I haven't increased my exercise but with this extra caffeine running through me, I've found I will keep going instead of sitting down. Raspberry ketones have the ability to aid fat burning, increase metabolic rate & aid weight lose. I have found though I am experiencing some side effects but the same I would experience if I drink a cup of coffee!! I get the shakes & feel a bit nauseous, but if I take these with food I feel so much better.

I will weigh myself  very week for a month & decide if carry in with these will be beneficial or if I should just eat better & exercise more. Wish me luck!!

30plusmummy x

Baby talk

As you may know "little miss" is 3 years old. In the last 3 years she has mastered every essential milestone a 3 year old should. But what's been the easiest, hardest, scariest & proudest.

Proudest

Well this has to be the easiest to answer, all of them. The day she picked up her rattle & managed to shake it herself (without trying to knock herself out!!). Sitting unaided, eating herself, walking (like bambi) down the hall to the most recent, going to anti preschool & completing her first 24 piece jigsaw all by herself. I honestly don't think there isn't a day goes by that I don't look at "little miss" & beam with pride.

All parents are fiercely proud of their children & I am no exception however I am not a parent who cannot see her child's flaws. She isn't always perfect & some things she finds harder to do than her peers.

Easiest

Sleeping through the night. Thankfully "little miss" mastered this at the tender age of 6wks ( but this depends on what you class as sleeping through), completing a solid 8hrs & by 8wks she was managing 10hrs. She has always been a great sleeper & could easily do 12hrs at night & 4 hrs during the day.

We were routine parents & knowing we had certain things to do at certain times helped me. I don't think there was something me or "mr" did that was overly special to get this result so early. I honestly believe that we had a great relaxing bedtime routine, "little miss" & I went out walking everyday, gave an extra ounce of milk at bedtime (however reflux would result in most of this ending up on the mass amount of towels surrounding us) but to us this was natural.

3 years later & she still sleeps 12hrs, the only thing that has changed is the timing of things. The routine is the same, bath, milk, story, bed. I was always told she would eventually drop her naps, at 18mths she dropped the morning 2hrs but changed the afternoon from 2hrs to a possible 3hrs. When she started anti preschool (afternoon placement) I was slightly concerned how she would do, but like everything else, she took it in her stride & will sometimes sleep before dinner or sometimes just needs her bed slightly earlier.

Working in childcare & with children & families has allowed me to really appreciate  how easy "little miss" made this for us as a family. I will never take for granted the sleep she has allowed me &"mr" to have over the years, very grateful parents.

Hardest

Oh my,  this one was my fault!! Toilet training, I am not going to blame this on "little miss" she was 18mths old & I wanted her toilet trained before I started work. I started on a Monday, it went well, did a couple of pee pee's in the potty & a couple of accidents but that was fine.

Tuesday, my breaking point!! By lunchtime I was phoning my mum in tears, close to throwing in the towel. Not one pee pee was successfully done on the potty & I couldn't see the light at the end of the tunnel. What a drama queen!! We never gave up though & whilst "little miss" napped with a pull up on, I researched hints & tips on potty/toilet training. Most I had already tried but one stood out & eventually became my saving grace. Tuesday night I rushed to Tesco, bought a pack of stickers & made a "little miss" pee pee chart.

Wednesday we started & "little miss" loved placing the stickers on each time she went to the potty successfully. I wrote down the time she went & what she did & added a star if she had asked all by herself without adult prompting!! No accidents all day, relaxed mummy & happy baby.

Thursday, we ventured out the house to the local park. Yes , we took the potty with us. Didn't feel awkward about this at all. "Little miss" still napped & slept at night with a pull up on but during the day she was dry & asking to go to the toilet or potty, generally by saying "I need a pee pee"!!

It took a further 4 wks for naps to be dry & we waited till she was in her big girls bed to do night time. It was hard doing it as young as we did & I did question if she was ready or not, but looking back it was only 1 terrible day.

Scariest

This has taken a lot of thought, not sure if one individual milestone has been scary but add them altogether & it's scary how quickly they grow up!! Everyone uses the phrase "blink & you'll miss it", it's so true, I find myself looking at "little miss" & wondering where all the time has gone. The endless photos & videos help to remind me of everything we have been through. Every now & then I remind myself to stop & just enjoy the moment.

& that is exactly what I am going to do now.......

30plusmummy x

Perfect Skin Everyday

I have always been very lucky with my skin, breakouts were very few & far between, didn't suffer from an oily t-zone & looking at my mum, I'm not going to suffer to badly with wrinkles.......

That was all written past tense, pre baby, pre working mummy, pre saving money!! I didn't work for the first 2 years of "little miss" being in the world so things had to change. I couldn't spend as much on my skincare & it eventually took its toll. My skin became very oily & I wouldn't go a day without a huge spot/zit protruding on forehead, cheek, chin etc...

Prior to maternity leave I was using Estée Lauder & there was no way I was entertaining the subject of asking my husband for the money to carry on with that regime..... I tried Avon, Tesco,  even resorting to using "little miss's" baby lotion as a moisturiser but nothing was helping. So when I decided to go back to work I made a pledge that I would resolve my skin issues without breaking the bank!!

It took me 6 months after starting my business to find the time to start researching skincare regimes. Pre mummy, I would walk into a department store, find the shiniest counter that smelt the best & spend without thinking. Not now, I needed something that would work, keep working but wouldn't leave me feeling guilty about spending money on me.

I did internet searching, asking friends & family but it was a shopping channel where I found my perfect skincare.

Liz Earle skincare essentials regime has completely changed my skin & me. Cleanse & Polish is described as the hero product for Liz Earle, it is very easy to use & the results are amazing. My skin has never looked better & I can now walk out my house without makeup on. It isn't the cheapest on the market but at £43 for the 3 piece it has great results & lasts me a month. I understand some peoples budgets will not be as big but I have worked out I'm spending less on makeup to cover up, when wearing makeup I don't need to touch up as it's not falling off as my skin isn't getting greasy & I find myself not wearing makeup as I'm so proud of how fresh & clean my skin looks.

Unlike so many different regimes all you need to decide on is the moisturiser, the cleanse & polish & instant boost skin tonic are made for all skin types. I use the light moisturiser as I don't want a heavy one to make my skin greasy again, to be honest though don't think it would happen.

When ordering directly from Liz Earle you will regularly get free p&p, extra free gifts & always a 30ml tube of cleanse & polish (mine is in my shower & great to take away).

30plusmummy x

About Me, He & She

I am 30plusmummy, a 30 something mummy to one "little miss" & wife to "mr".

 I am more than a mummy but there is nothing I want to do better or nothing I want to do more. "Little miss" is 3, not long started anti pre-school & makes me smile everyday. Being a mummy isn't the easiest job but as cliche as it can possible get it does have to be the most rewarding. Talking about work, I run my own childcare service, just when I think I have seen it all & worked out how to deal with it, something new always happens when I least expect it. I am always looking for a great way to lose weight, without too much effort. Enjoy the internal pursuit of looking young & staying young.

Finally I have one other job, my marriage. 6 years strong but it can be work, not always hard work though!! "Mr" is the greatest dad, does everything for his family & puts "little miss" & I first, always. I love him more everyday & appreciate everything he is & does.


Whatever I write is not meant to upset, hurt or annoy......it's just my opinion, my view & my crazy hormones having a moan.

I hope you enjoy reading as much as I do writing.

30plusmummy x