The one with the Pedometer 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!!

Tony Fergusson Weight Loss System - not for me...

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.....

A fresh day, a fresh batch of eating....

Today is a good day so far....

Breakfast - one grapefruit (managed to get juice on my trousers, top and keyboard though)

Lunch - Sushi pack from Boots, my new fave thing to eat...244 calories - hurrah for Sushi...

Plus one walk to Boots, 1km round trip.
I will update this again later.

Feeling very virtuos at the moment though!

Eating Confession day two

Today's eating is:

Breakfast - black coffee

Lunch - sausage sandwich
Snack - Banana

dinner - mashed potato, 2 Findus Crispy Pancakes
Desert - 4 Digestive biscuits

Exercise - walking round shops for two hours looking for some light shades (never found any I liked...)

Really bad day for food :-(

Fit Flop Fan !

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

The day the blog changed....

Due to some exciting things happening the blog here is about to eveolve into a dieting blog..... 

Stay with us to see what's in store....

Eating confession day one...

In an effort to name and shame myself I think I should outline all I have to eat on a daily basis, which may make me think and realise...OMG this is why I'm not a size 10!!

So....Tuesday 5th April - what did I eat?

Breakfast - black coffee

Lunch - Mini onion french stick, with pepper humous and a bag of crisps

Snack - Banana

Dinner - 2 sausages in a toad in the hole, gravy, mash and boiled carrots
Desert - fruit salad and half fat creme fraiche

plus

2 glasses of wine

Exercise - zero (oh dear...)

SLIMPOD..... what have I let myself in for?

I have taken delivery of a Slimpod. Well I already own the iPod Nano so along with my iPod and headphones.... I have downloaded "Slimpod"

Its a 10 minute hypnosis style thing, that I must listen to for 21 nights before I go to sleep.

As I'm about 2 stone over weight, I need it and will try anything once!

Tune in soon and I'll let you know how I'm getting on....

Check out http://www.thinkingslimmer.com/ to buy your own Slimpod.

Dear So and So....

I bumped into Dear So and So on the 3bedroomedbungalow blog and thought "Aha!" that could be cathartic so here it is....  my little Dear So and So blog post, it could turn into a moan, a rant or a giggle, who knows....read on and find out!

Dear Waterboard,

Thankyou for trying to repair my leak, but I'm not impressed that its now leaking UNDER the property, and I've no clue what to do!  I phoned today wondering how much my cheque would be - in respect of the leakage allowance, but discovered its not yet mended....and the potential now for huge problems, just does not bear thinking about.

I hoped you could help further, but alas I'm on my own.

Regards
Potentially Damp Resident of Plough Close


Dear Friend,

I had a friend, she was a good friend, I liked her a lot.  But sadly all good things come to an end.
I don't know what happened - why you and your father have decided to stab me in the back, I think it's jealousy weirdly enough and others have agreed with me.  I just hope whatever lies have been said have been worth it and you both can sleep easily at night.

Regards
Disappointed of Northants


Dear Hubby,

Well I call you hubby, you're not yet but we will be married one day I'm sure!  You're out tonight, I hope you're having lots of fun at the Comedy Club with the gang.  I've made a great dahl for tea tomorrow, I love the way you love the meals I cook - and I know we'll turn into 'Dad and Ann' one day where you don't want to go out cos you'll miss my cooking just like they do.  It makes us laugh now!

You're always there for me, no matter what gets me down, makes me happy, p**ses me off or give me a belly laugh - you are my constant, my rock, my hero.  Although I tell you every day, I'll tell you again - I love you.

Love, hugs and kisses
Your darling wifey
xxx


Dear Mischa,

I realise you are a cat and cannot read this....

Since I have 'adopted you' I've been able to have my little cat cuddles, and as you live elsewhere I don't have to hoover up the cat hairs!! What a result!

I had my own cat but when I moved out of an unhappy home I had to leave my stunning Persian cat, Pagan behind.  You, little Mischa, help me not miss him so much.  I come and feed you over the road when Mark is at Ellie's.  I love it when I park my car when I get home from work - you know the sound of my mini and you come to the end of the carport makign your little "mew mew" sound that sounds like a buzzer!

Long may you greet my homecoming!

Love
Aunty Cat Lover
x

CyberMummy 2011......we're attending...

The John Crane Blog: CyberMummy 2011......we're attending...: "Carly, over at MummysShoes has organised a Meet and Greet for CyberMummy. We've placed the event in our diary and will be attending this year"

I added this to the John Crane Blog, but I'm really attending as plain ole Helen at Enough on Our Plates..... Not sure whether you'd know me as this Helen though!!

Looking forward to seeing you all there!

The Blessings of Marriage

I have recently received two lovely little books - The Blessings Book and The Blessings Book of Marriage.

These are both pretty little hardbacked books. The Blessings Book is currently £7.99 and the Marriage one is £8.99 from the website at http://www.theblessingsbook.com/

The idea is that each book has lots of beautiful sepia pictures together with plenty of spaces for you to write down all the little things that make you happy on a day to day basis. Maybe someone pays you a compliment or maybe your husband buys you flowers - you can write down what happened together with how it made you feel at the time. Then, when you feel down, you can read through your book and remember those happy feelings to cheer yourself up!

This would make a lovely and unusual Christmas present for someone. I have also noticed on the website that they also do a Blessings Book of Baby Blessings which at £8.99 would make a unique present for the new arrival.

Photos of yourself.....

If you're like me, you hate photos of yourself!  And on Tuesday, where am I off to?  yep a photoshoot, I predict I shall hate every minute!  But have to grit my teeth and bare it, as its for work and I cannot wriggle out!

The photograph above is one of my favourite photos of me, I'm in Gran Canaria on holiday, and we saw these Fuel for Life advertising hoarding, so me and my friend mimmicked the models on there.  We laughed and were maybe a little bit tispy.... but I think the photo just shows fun and laughter.

Let's hope Tuesday I can recreate the fun! 

Little Red Riding Hood - a Wolf's Eye View

It's storytime on the blog..... enjoy...

Looking through the trees I can spot a small girl, she’s skipping and singing too. The basket in her arms looks full, maybe there is food in there? She looks a happy child, one of those well fed, rosy cheeked sorts. The singing is nice, it’s soothing my aching head.

The loud grumble of my stomach reminds me how long it’s been since I’ve eaten.

Life here used to be good, yes prince of the forest that was me! Then they started cutting down the trees, people moved in and now I my once shiny coat is scarce, bald bits litter my back and the once sharp glint in my eyes is all but gone.

You see once the trees are cut away my tasty morsels also leave the forest, like the squirrel family from the proud oak tree down the path, they kept breeding each year and springtime would be like a fast food restaurant amongst the weighted branches.

I’m now forced to live on a less nutrient rich fast food diet. I pull dis-guarded McDonalds from dustbins with lids weighted down with bricks, as if that would stop me? And on Saturday nights I can lie in wait by The Kebab Stop, where I risk being seen by humans as I leap from shadow to shadow hoping to gain the prize, a half eaten kebab, no chilli sauce if possible…

“Grandma, Grandma!!!!!” the child’s voice snaps me back into reality and back to my quest, I need proper food. As this adorable child dressed in red skips ever closer to the little forest house, I sneak round and in through the back door, now what can I do with this helpless old lady………….

24 hours later...

The TRIA has been well and truly tested and so far I love it, it is well easy to use.

I've done both legs, my bikini line and under my arms too.  Firstly remembering to shower, shave and try myself thoroughly.  Hubby walked into the bedroom as I was doing my bikini line and wondered what on earth I was up to, as the TRIA is an odd looking contraption, and I was standing, legs akimbo with it aimed at my bits and pieces!!

There's no pain, not even any discomfort to be honest.  Even under my arms where it could be sensitive. 

So, now we need to wait two weeks.  I can shave in between times but no waxing, plucking or Veeting.  The hair follicles need time to go through their normal growing cycles so TRIA can catch them at the right time.

I don't know yet whether its working, I am assuming that it is, apparently hairs will begin to fall out in about 10 days or so. 

So far, 10/10 for the TRIA, but check back in two weeks for the next installment and update....

:-)

Mrs Impatient is here..... looking at her charging unit....

I've been looking for a while at the Home Laser Hair Removal treatments and wondering whether to take the plunge....  

The plus side, they promise to give you a totally smooth and hair free body for good, permenant hair removal....for ever!!   Well you can't say fairer than that can you?  So why haven't we all rushed to the shops and bought a kit?

The downside is the high price tag.  OK if it works the price is worth it.  But what if, horror of horrors, you spend your hard earned and it becomes something that lounges in the bottom of your drawer?

So "Enough on our Plates" is here to help.

I have been sent a TRIA Permanent Laser Hair Treatment set to try.  Take a look at http://www.triabeauty.co.uk/  to find out what all the science is, on this blog we'll get down to the nitty gritty of how it'll work for you, not what the marketing people say...

TRIA is currently a heart stopping £575 on their website.  But as they say, compare that to a lifetime of razor buying, or leg waxing or salon treatments, cheap by comparison....if it works.... let the story begin...

The postie arrived this morning, bringing my parcel.  Gosh I was excited - I really was ( you can call me a little bit sad ).  I had to work this morning so I was very good and left it sitting on the table.

The aqua coloured box sat there like an expensive box of chocoloates calling me to nibble.  But nibble I did not, I was good and left well alone until work was done.

I love packaging and so far the TRIA is captivating me with its lovely box, even the charging unit had its own little box to keep it all neat and tidy...talking of the charging unit...

I opened the box and began to read the instructions - drat!! I should have not had my resolve of earlier and opened the pack, cos now I had to charge it for 3 hours to ensure it was all fully charged and ready to use.

Oh how I wish I'd looked earlier!

So I plugged it in and waited.  I ate lunch, I drank tea, I waited.  3 hours isn't long t wait really but due to the fact I'm the worlds most impatient person, coupled with my excitement, I felt like an eternity.

I bided my time by reading the instructions thoroughly.

Three hours later....

TRIA was charged and ready to go.  I sat on the sofa with a charged TRIA in my hand and giggled, why was I so nervous?  Well they say it can hurt a bit, bit like an elastic band clipping against your skin and so I was a little scared to press it on my skin!  Silly I know but each time I went near it I chickened out.

After around ten minutes I told myself not to be so stupid and go for it.  I did. I felt nothing. I laughed even more!  I turned up the setting to medium and felt a little warmth so left it on medium.

You are meant to do a patch test and wait 24 hours, so I did my entire left leg,  cos I AM IMPATIENT I told you that!!

I am currently hoping I don't have a reaction on one leg now - cos that would be (a) embarrassing and (b) serve me right.

Tomorrow I will be doing both legs, underarms, and anywhere else I'm allowed to and will log in and let you know progress.  The skin and hair looks no different when you're done, apperently hair will begin to fall out after 10-14 days.  So it is hard to know where you have been.

I need to do this once a fortnight for the first few uses.  I'll keep you posted on progress.

Ah yes I must just tell you this,  TRIA says to shave before use, as it targets the follicles not the hair, so I duly did.  Although I did wonder what would happen if I had not.  Enter willing guinea pig (otherwise known as poor unwitting partner).

He has some patches of hair on his back so he is well up for trying the TRIA and being smooth and hair free.  I said I had to do a patch test on him and would do an inch on his back, I said he should shave but I wanted to know what would happen if he did not.  Being a typical 'hard' man he agreed, removed his T shirt and sat on the floor before me.  I set TRIA on low and pulsed on his skin, "oh" he said "I didn't feel much"  so I turned TRIA up to medium....

"OWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW" he said.  Oops, lets just say you need to shave before a treatment cos it can hurt.

Log in again soon to see what happens next and how hair free and smooth we become (fingers crossed).
We'll do some before and after shots and hopefully it'll be so fabulous you will all run out and buy one.  Let the trial begin!

Stop Press! Santa has a cat in his pants!

Mew has been having fun with Pets at Home's latest offering - Santa's Pants!

As you can see by the picture above the item in question looks like a pair of red trousers with a black waistband (not much of a surprise there then!). They are very lightweight as they are made from a polyester fabric with a band of white sheepskin round the end of each 'trouser leg'. They seem robust enough to withstand some serious play.

The waist end has a metal ring set into it so that it stands upright on the floor making a hole through which the cat is supposed to run coming out through one of the leg holes.

There is rustling paper inside the fabric to further entertain the cat and two black pom poms which dangle from the waist for him to play with.

Being an older cat Mew hasn't spent a lot of time running through the pants but he loves playing with the black pom poms and we do occasionally hear him rustling about inside when we are watching TV.

I do think that they would be ideal if you have a kitten or even better two kittens as I think they would get some serious play out of this!

http://www.petsathome.com/ current cost - £8.99

10% off toys! What great timing!

We've spotted that Center Parcs, Treasure Island Toys and John Crane Ltd have all got together to offer a 10% discount deal on all John Crane Toys!

Hurrah, just in time for Christmas....OK so its a little early, but hey, I have just been into my local garden centre and ALL the Christmas decorations are up and on sale.  I was rather shocked!

So anyway, follow my link and do a little Christmas toy shopping early, go on impress your friends!

Click the link here to save money now!

Cat litter for cats and husbands!

We have recently tried Smartbedz Universal Pet Bedding and Litter for out cat, Mew, and we have been very impressed!

The litter is made from 100% straw which is dried and made into pellets which are dust free, so great if you have allergies to contend with, bio degradable and eco friendly. Being soft pellets they are easy to pick up if they get kicked out of the litter tray and they don't damage ther flooring either.

The pellets absorb moisture and odours quickly and effectively and once used they can be composted, dug into the garden or even flushed in small quantities. We have also found that they burn well on our log burner!

The 5kg pack costs about £6.50 whilst the 10kg bag costs about £11.50 and it lasts much longer than conventional litter so it is good value.

I bet you want to know why they are good for my husband too don't you?

Well he managed to spill a full bottle of olive oil on the kitchen carpet and, whilst I got a lot of it up with kitchen roll, there was still a lot in the carpet. I looked for online advice and someone had suggested using cat litter so I put down kitchen roll and poured a layer of Smartbedz on top. Within a minutes I could see the pellets becoming darker as they absorbed the oil and after two lots each down for 24 hours the oil had all gone and the carpet looked as good as new!

So there you are a great cat litter that is good for the environment - what more do you want?

The John Crane Blog recommends SES Baby Soft Clay

The John Crane Blog: SES Baby Soft Clay: "Ooh Baby, Baby! Baby Clay is a new innovation from SES Creative by John Crane Ltd.

We liked the above review of this new innovative Baby Soft Clay - we also know it smells nice too and comes off hands easily.