FitFlop Fan here!

I now live in my Fitflops! I have black pair of Fitflops, as I had been wondering about getting a pair for a while, I now officially love them!

My first day wearing them was last Friday, when I had a reflexology appointment, I left the house at 10.50 to walk the short distance to the salon for my appointment at 11. By the time I had got there, after a short quarter of a mile walk I was fairly ...err...knackered for want of a better term!!!

I laughed with the receptionist, who had been considering a purchase and also the reflexologist too, saying they must be doing something!! I entered the treatment room, and slipped off my Fitflops, only to discover the colour of the black suede had transferred itself onto my feet – so I looked very dirty for my appointment which was quite embarrassing!!

It soon came off though with a wipe of gel from my therapist.

I walked back home after the treatment, taking it more steadily though. Since then, I have worn them around the house, into town and also into work too – they are plain black so look fine with ¾ length trouser for work – ideal!

My tired legs have stopped aching now but I can feel a little difference so far. So I’m thinking well worth the £45.00!!  Expensive for a 'flip-flop' but they are so much more!

I also suffer intermittently with pain in the ball of my foot, when it happens it is crippling and I cannot put any weight at all on it for around an hour, this spasm occurred the other day and I immediately thought to put on my Fitflops as they are very thick and spongy so I wanted to see what happened, I am so pleased to say I could walk easily and the pain subsided within five or so minutes!! It’s a bloomin miracle and I love them!

I am now looking to order the ‘Rebel’ pair which are new and look even more funky and good enough for work too.

Each Fitflop is very structured and has wobble board technology in the sole which apparently gets all the little muscles working to keep you upright and this is what exercises you and give you a taught tush (I hope!!). The top of the Fitflop is also very well desgned, they wrap round most of your foot offering good support, whereas a normal flip-flop is just a thong on top of your foot and the flippity flop all over the place – these really hold your foot with minimal toe grip to hold onto your footwear, which is bad for both foot and posture.

I’m using my Fitflops with my Pedometer and will update you on Tush firmness as the weeks go by... I am a total Fitflop convert now though – if you are undecided, I’d say – treat yourself to a pair, even if it’s only for the comfort of them – firm legs and tush will be a Brucie Bonus!!

FitFlops are available to buy at

http://www.fitnessfootwear.com/  or click FITFLOP

An honest review of Tony Ferguson Weight Loss

Tony Ferguson...hmmm...I’m not convinced. I’ve been giving the Boots exclusive Tony Ferguson Weight Loss programme a whirl but hit upon a few snags.

Price, I’ve tried the shakes at £1.99 a go, some soup and Munch Bars which are equally as expensive. So I was a little on the back foot before I began, still a little box of items were in the kitchen at the ready so I began.

Day one I decided on a strawberry shake for breakfast – I made it up in my nice pink shaker, which I love. But euch!!!! How sweet?? Ooh I did not like the chemically sweet taste of this one...... by lunchtime I was hungry, so had a few vegetable sticks and another shake – this time toffee. Which I have to say was delicious!! Very yummy, a little like drinking butterscotch Angel Delight...Mmmmm...

By evening meal time I was STARVING!!! Yet feeling very bloated and uncomfortable. We ate some roast chicken a few veggies, throughout the day I drank lots of water.

I followed a similar plan for about 3 days, until I decided I could stand it no longer...I’m too hungry on just shakes, with a hectic and stressful job I need something to actually ‘eat’ at lunchtime, or I may chew off my own elbow.

I realise the shakes contain all the nutrients I need for the day ahead but I don’t think my body realises so it needs sustenance!

Calories on the shakes are about 200 each which isn’t bad, the Munch Bar has a calorific content of over 800 calories though!!!!!! I refuse to eat that small calorific morsel for lunch when a hearty salad would fill me up more and be about a quarter of the calories.  (I've been told these are only 200 calories, and 800 KJ - I am off to check this out and will post later once I've discovered which it is)

The Tony Ferguson recipe book looks good and I intend to try the ‘Notatoes’ recipe tomorrow, this looks good!! Using cauliflower instead of mashed potato is a fun idea....

My Tony Ferguson programme came with a little folder explaining what I had to do, which was good and very nice looking. It explained the programme in depth – although the reference to natural weight loss made me giggle, I think natural is apples, salad, fish, organic food chaps, rather than chemicals in a beaker....but nevertheless the folder is very pretty.

I’m sure TF weight loss is wonderful for some people, just not me really - sadly.

I’ll keep my left over shakes in my drawer at work in case of emergencies, ie the days I forget my lunch and they can be used so I don’t have to rush to the sandwich shop and break my diet.

The website for more info is www.tonyferguson.co.uk and it’s a Boots exclusive so try www.boots.com too.

There are also Facebook pages to search for – where I was actually VERY impressed with the level of interaction, I posted a comment saying how bloated I was and they posted a reply within hours about this, saying it was normal and due to changing my eating habits. So that was good customer service in my view!

By the way – I am still 10st 6lb – but can’t blame Tony as I only tried him out for 3 days. Onwards to the next plan of action then.....

John Crane Pintoy Doll Family

John Crane Pintoy Doll Family Toy Buzz has entered the Summer Photography competition, with a little imagination!!

We're loving seeing all the entries here and hope you are enjoying visiting other blogs to see what jenny has been up to!

I've managed to lay my hands on more Jenny's if you wish to enter, it's not too late and you could win £200 worth of toys!

Now that’s a clever idea!

I have always been overweight and have been on various diets for most of my adult life. I have counted calories, weighed my food, combined types of food, been to slimming clubs – you name it I have tried it!

Now I have had the chance to try The Diet Plate. As you can see from the picture the surface of the plate is split into various sections and the idea is that you fill each section with the food group written on it. There are small sections for cheese and meat and larger sections for salad and vegetables. There is also a ring round the plate to show the amount of rice or pasta that you should eat in one meal.

The idea is that the plate counts the calories for you and I can see that this would be a really useful aid to the dieter who doesn’t have much time to spare. The plate comes complete with a booklet which explains exactly how to use it together with information about the basic food groups and a chart to follow your weight loss.

The one that I am using is made especially for females but there is also a slightly different one made for males as they would need to eat more calories. There is also one for children although I have to admit that I am not happy with the idea of using the term ‘diet’ for children. There is also a diet bowl available.

All in all I think this is a really clever idea for all you dieters who don’t have the time or don’t want to be bothered with counting calories.

HoMedics Pedometer on trial - or is that ME on trial??

I’m currently testing various items from the HoMedics Range and quite frankly love em all!!

The lovely Elaine from the PR company has now sent me a pedometer, I shall quote a small paragraph from her – “Walking is a great way to incorporate exercise into your daily routine. Using the HoMedics MiBody 360 Pedometer (£49.99) you can track your movements, keeping count of steps, distance and calories burnt. The clever 3D accelerometer technology ensures the pedometer works in your pocket, in a bag or round your neck, with a 15 day memory the unit can remind you of your hard work while the results can be uploaded to your PC for further analysis.”

So with pedometer attached I began my week. Firstly you log into the pedometer and add in the time, date and your stride (you need to measure this). Putting the time and date in is rather important, as then the pedometer knows when to zero itself. I’ve not stayed watching it at midnight so have assumed this is the cut off time.

Each day you place the pedometer round your neck and walk, well just assume your usual day’s activities really. It counts your steps and measures the amount of km walked in the day. Then zeros at midnight. I logged into my laptop this evening and hooked the pedometer up, you get a nice little graph showing you steps/distance walked each day and calories used. It was a scary sight of total laziness this week!

I’ve tried it round my neck on the lanyard provided and also in a pocket, apparently you can drop it into your handbag too and it STILL works! I even popped it in my sock when I rode the exercise bike and it worked! So not only does it count steps it counts ‘activity’ too.

My main gripe about bog-standard pedometers is the awful clicking sound, every time you take a step click, click, click – really annoying! And it means you can’t wear them discreetly either. This funky new pedometer is silent, and looks rather trendy – it has the look of a Wii about it really.

I do rather like my addition to my HoMedics Collection, but now need to stop writing and go for a walk, as I have come to the conclusion I have too sedentary a job with only 2000 steps taken during a working day – eek!

As to be healthy you need to be doing 10,000 I have a hefty 8,000 to make up now, cripes better get my trainers on!!

Keep Cup helps save the planet!

The lovely PR from Keep Cup sent me a cup to try....

I wondered when she emailed what it would be, Keep Cup sounded weird, it put me in mind of the Moon Cup actually but luckily it was not so personal!

Keep Cup looks like a plain version of the card cup you get in Costa Coffee and to all intents and purposes that is exactly what it is.

Every year it is estimated that worldwide disposable paper cups alone account for up to 4.5 million tonnes of landfill, 54 million felled trees, and 340 million joules of energy. So anything Keep Cup or anyone else for that matter can do to reduce the waste is a good thing.

The KeepCup comes in various sizes, all made to fit under the group heads of commercial coffee machines, as it has the same volume as standard takeaway cups, it ensures consistent portioning of espresso and milk; plus the four separate components can be personalised in your chosen colours, making the KeepCup unique.

The idea is, you take your cup to Costa, Starbucks or similar and ask them to fill it with their coffee, you pay the same price, but know you have made a small step to saving the environment.

The KeepCup is made of food safe polypropylene, is BPA free, non toxic, recyclable,

reusable and recyclable. It is dishwasher and microwave safe, stackable, lightweight,

splash-proof and fits in car cup holders.

As a non caffeine drinker I’ve not taken mine into the local Costa to try, however I love my own Dandelion Coffee so I topped up my Keep Cup, placed the lid on tight and popped it in the cup holder in the car – perfect!

I may not drink coffee, but I do often race out of the house in the morning with no time to spare for a cuppa – so Keep Cup is lovely to have a hot drink on the move!!

Visit http://www.keepcup.com/  to order your KeepCup now!

RRP:
• 8 oz – approx £8
• 12 oz – approx £9
• 16 oz – approx £10

We love Tailball - except when it goes on the roof!

Last weekend we had visitors, so Master J was a happy boy, he loves having people round – no matter who they are, I think it’s just a 9 yr old ‘thing’. So our friends were heading over for the day. They have a five year old girl, Miss D, who is adorable! But we did wonder whether 9 year old boys and 5 year old girls could play together without a row.

To give Miss D her due, she’s a bit of a tom-boy anyway so that helped a lot.

Himself had been to Tesco and brought lots of lovely BBQ items to cook once we had sailed down the river in the sunshine. He also returned with two giant bubble wands (one pink and one blue of course!!) for them to make giant bubbles with. These were a great hit – as we all like bubbles no matter how old.

We also had a Tailball set. It’s new from Mookie Toys – you know the people who brought us Swingball, which is addictive in itself (but a bit dangerous for a 5 year old we summised). There are different Tailball Sets in the range so we chose Tailball Light. You are meant to be able to play this one indoors but I think you’d need a much bigger lounge than ours...or at least less valuable ornaments dotted around!

Master J decided that he’d test the Tailball the evening before. It consisted of two lime green, very vibrant looking bats, they also looked very robust too. Plus one ball, which seemed very bouncy, it was also green and had strips of flouncy plastic trailing from it in a tail (hence tailball) This tails seemed to slow down the balls speed making it easier for little ones to get to the target, whilst it did not stop any of its bouncy capacity. For Master J this was good.

Although Himslef and I left him to it in the garden for a while whilst we made tea...and all of a sudden the Tailball had ‘accidentally’ managed to make its way onto the roof..... we think there was a little help from a 9 year old whacking it really hard with the bat to see how far it would go.

We can confirm.....it can go a long way.

One set of ladders, a very brave husband who is not afraid of heights and much shouting of “over here a bit” the ball was back on the lawn – with strict instructions it should stay lower than window height.

On our way out the next day, we packed Tailball and it was a hit! Boy and girl playing nicely together whilst four tired parents sat in deckchairs and tended the BBQ. Bliss in a pack for only £12.99!!

I like my radiators al dente!

I am not usually a great fan of pasta - I can take it or leave it if you know what I mean, but I recently had the chance to try a couple of items from the Garofalo pasta range so I thought I would have a go.

First of all I tried the spaghetti and made the obvious spaghetti bolognese and I have to say that I really enjoyed it! The spaghetti cooked easily and quickly and tasted really good.

I had intended to give the other packet to my husband, who is currently working away from home and so catering for himself, as he loves pasta, but I decided that I would try that one too.

The other one is called Radiatori - hubby said it was because it looked like little radiators and when I checked on the Internet I found he was right!

I cooked the pasta in boiling water and made a sauce with Quorn mince, tomatoes and mushrooms together with various flavourings and again it was a delicious meal!

So I started as one who wasn't bothered either way about pasta and now I am a convert - Garofalo is really tasty.

Is this rude or is it my dirty mind?

I got sent a Shake Weight to try, you see I’m on a health kick and had already gotten some Homedics Bathroom Scales and begun to lose weight, so seeing this I got sent a parcel and note saying “Shake Your Way to Summer Arms!”


Apparently it’s the Miracle Fitness Gadget that tones arms in only 6 minutes a day!

So summer is upon us, which means it’s time to come out from hiding and reveal what lies beneath my winter layers. The thought of short sleeves and even…eeek…strappy tops fills me with dread.... But now I hear there is no need to worry as the Shake Weight, especially designed for women, is the answer to my summer prayers!

The Shake Weight is a revolutionary new take on the dumbbell. The average dumbbell will build muscle in your arm but the Shake Weight is specifically designed to tone your arm as well as your upper body. The resistance movement creates up to 240 muscle contractions a minute which increases muscle activity by up to 300% ensuring you get a concentrated work out.

Due to the phenomenal increase in muscle activity, you only need to use your Shake Weight for six minutes a day. The new Dynamic Inertia technology enables the Shake Weight to move rapidly from side-to-side as the internal resistance and shaft bounce the weight back and forth.

Alex Gerrard is the new ‘face’ of Shake Weight according to the Daily Mail – also according to them, she giggled her way through the routine, as we did too.

Using the Shake Weight – feels well rather rude!! I’m saying no more, I’ll allow you to find out for yourselves, suffice to say my other half walked into the room whilst I was completing the six minute DVD and exclaimed “Oooh baby!!” with us both collapsing in heaps of laughter!

You too could get going and start to see visible results with toned arms that you will be proud to show off. My Shake Weight really does get arms toned, you can feel a good ache at the end of even the very first workout so long as you do it properly.

The Shake Weight™ retails at £29.95, does not require batteries and comes complete with a bonus workout DVD. Available from www.highstreettv.com and selected Tesco

Summer just got cooler with Extra® Chewy Mints

Caroline, a lovely PR lady sent us some mints to try, we liked them a lot.

Wrigley’s Extra Chewy Mints are a combination of sweet, chewy and minty to tantalise your taste-buds for the ultimate refreshing indulgence.

Each packet contains green and white coloured mints flavoured with - Peppermint, Spearmint, Sweetmint and Coolmint. They look like aqua coloured Skittles to be honest. A bit like when Pacers looked like aqua/minty Open Fruits or am I just showing my age now?

They were good for a hit of freshness after a meal, and very chic to have in a little bowl on the coffee table for guests to dip into.

Himself took some in the car with him and as we were quoted by the Wrigley’s PR “Extra® Chewy Mints are essential for every summer outing!” and yep we liked them on the move too

The PR also sent through some key dates where you can check out these lovely mints through the summer!
• National Picnic Day, 18 June – Grab your picnic basket and a bunch of friends
• Summer Solace, 21 June – Perfect excuse for a lazy Sunday in the beer garden
• Wimbledon Grand Final, 4 July – Join the crowds on Henman Hill
• National Kissing Day, 6 July – Get the girls together for speed dating with mints and lipstick at the ready
• Edinburgh Fringe Festival, 3 – 25 August – Get immersed in the largest arts festival in the world


RRP price in the UK 59p

Minty Facts of the Day...
Following last year’s Extra Ice Mints launch, the Mints Category saw growth for the first time in five years. The Extra mint brand delivered 67% of category growth in 2009 which equates to over £2.3m. In fact, Extra Ice Mints are up 31% YTD, which is double that of any other mint brand within the category.

Galloway Lodge - just right for a treat

A fridge well stocked

We’re on a bit of a, well not a healthy eating thang, but more of a GOOD eating thang… as you could see by the Simon’s Pie post we did a while back!

How I see it, a little of what you fancy does you good. Too much rich choccy or too many cakes and you’re fat, but just a little is OK.

Galloway Lodge Preserves is one such luxury.

They are a family run company in Gatehouse-of-Fleet in the heart of Galloway, devoted to making delicious marmalades, jams, chutneys, jellies and mustard for over 30 years and use only the finest ingredients and cook in small batches using traditional methods. This guarantees a quality product with an authentic taste.



We tried a Raspberry Jam made in very small batches of 18 jars using only the best quality fruit- Glen Ample Raspberries from Perthshire

We also sampled a marmalade too. A rich traditional marmalade made with medium cut peel. Pete liked this one best.

At £2.90 a jar they’re not the cheapest preserves on the market – but quite a good taste. We were impressed and loved our morning toast on the patio just a little touch more that week!

They’re nice as little gifts too, as the jars are very pretty.

For more information visit http://www.gallowaylodge.co.uk/home  

Well my nails are stronger!

I have recently tried a product called Vertese which was supposed to improve my hair, eyes and skin. It came in the form of a month's supply of tablets, one to be taken daily and the box of thirty tablets costs £4.25.

As I am a diabetic and already have to take a variety of tablets I was wary of taking any more but upon investigation I found that these were entirely natural so I decided to give them a go. Incidentally they are also suitable for both vegetarians and vegans.

The question is do they work? Well I have to say that I haven't noticed any difference in my hair, eyes or skin but I did notice an improvment in my nails!

I have a log burner and so I saw wood on a regular basis and my small garden is mainly rockery so when I have been working outside my nails are usually split and broken. However after I had worked out there yesterday for over two hours I noticed that my nails were still intact and looking better than usual.

Taking these tablets is the only thing that I can think of that I have been doing any differently so I can only put the added strength in my nails down to Vertese.