This is what life looks like....in Leighland...

Wednesday 30 January 2013

A weight on my mind...

Ok, so my GP weighed me today....

After getting over the urge to throw myself off the nearest tall building, I have to decided I'm going to try  The Fast Diet.  I'm sure most of you will know what this is, but for those of you who have been living under a rock (or in Leighland!!) and have no idea what it is - you 'fast' for 2 non-consecutive days and eat what ever you like for the other 5.  It promises not only weight loss,  but can help reduce high cholesterol, increase brain function and even help defend against cancer!  It's not fasting in the traditional sense - rather than 24hrs without food, it recommends women take 500 kcals and men take 600 kcals and wait 12 hours between eating.  While I'm incredibly skeptical, it doesn't cost anything so has got to be worth a try!

Now for the part that makes me feel sick...I'm publishing my weight and measurements for the world to see *gulp* the only other person on the planet who knows what I weigh is my GP.  No one else knows my measurements and this is very, very hard for me to do.  I have asked my other half to take some 'before' pics but as yet have not had the guts (no pun intended!!) to strip to my undercrackers in front of a camera :-(

Day 1:
Weight - 15st 7lbs
Waist - 41"
Hips - 49"
Under bust - 40"
Upper arm - 16"
Thigh - 28.5"

Wow, that is horrifying and I can't believe I'm going to publish this!!  But publish it I am, you always hear that admission and acceptance is the first step to recovery and I'm adopting the philosophy...

Wish me luck and don't forget to share your weight loss experiences!!  You can even share your experiences for trying to gain weight, I know there are many people who struggle as much trying to gain weight as others do to lose it!

<3

Tuesday 22 January 2013

Back to the resolutions....

Ok, so my New Years resolutions were supposed to be helping me to become thinner, more organised and frugal...
Although planning and executing birthday parties may be fun- stressful, but fun none the less - its hasn't really gotten me any closer to my goal :-(

So lets look at the weight thing.  Eeek!!  I have a few medical what nots that play havoc with body. They make weight gain unbelievably easy and weight loss ..wow, well lets just say it would be easier to get blood from a stone than it is for me to lose weight.  It doesn't help matters that since my car accident in August, I've gained another stone and half!!!!!! *insert sobbing here*

I really need to do something about this, not just for my health, it's my 10th wedding anniversary in a few months and we're celebrating in Egypt and worse still, I'm going to see the The Rocky Horror Picture Show in a few weeks!!  For the benefit of those why may have lived under a rock for the last 30 odd years and don't know what RHPS is, this is a picture of me as we we're heading out to a show in either '07 or '08.  I thought I looked pretty horrific then but I'm positively Bond girl-esque in comparison to now!!  Needless to say I need a miracle cure and I need it YESTERDAY!!!!!

Thanks to my medical what nots, the basic 'eat less, move more' philosophy just does not work for me.  After slogging my guts out at gym for 2-3 hrs a day, 5 days a week for 6 wks and losing only a measly 2 lbs, my soul was so crushed I decided to never go again...of course, I didn't stick to that and have joined gyms since, worked my ass off with no results and quit again so many times so I really need to try something else...but what??  I've joined Weight Watchers loads of times, struggled to work out the whole points malarkey ..lost a whopping 5lbs each time over a period of weeks and then hit a brick wall and stop losing weight no matter how strictly I stick to the regime.  So what's next??

I've been scouring t'internet looking for inspiration and am frankly coming up short....even looking at sites that are dedicated to people with the same what nots as me aren't helping much.  I already take the meds they recommend to regulate insulin resistance etc but without the promised results.  The only thing I can think of to try next is a VLCD - Very Low Calorie Diet.  You know the ones, meal replacement shakes and soups.  I have mixed feelings about these products, on 1 hand you're pretty much starving yourself and forcing your body into ketosis - not good for someone with insulin issues (not diabetes) but at the same time, they are packed full of vitamins and minerals, synthetic maybe, but vitamins all the same which is more than my current, obscenely limited vegetarian diet at the minute!!

I've looked at lots of them and have partially decided to try the 28 day Rosemary Conley Solo Slim plan as it involves real(ish) food that is delivered to your door, but it only seems to provide for 2 meals a day - breakfast and dinner so I don't quite get what I'm meant to do with all the cheese (they send 4 blocks of her own low fat cheese?!) Has anyone tried this one before?  What does it entail and how did you do?

Feel free to post comments, whether they be your own stories, questions, advice, or use the poll on the right side of the page to say what you think I should do.... xXx

Friday 18 January 2013

Lessons I have learned - How to organise a successful kids party

So both parties are now over and done with.

Lessons I have learned and can put into practice in future:


  1. Lists - make a list of everything you are going to need.
  2. Start planning months ahead of time - that way your not in a mad last minute dash and can buy what you need gradually instead of having to fork out a fortune in 1 go.
  3. Theme - the theme generally define party activities i.e. 'Princess' usually involves make up and nail painting, maybe dressing up or 'Pirate' generally involves dressing up and a modified version of 'pin the tail' with a treasure map
  4. Reconnaissance - eBay, eBay, eBay!  Don't be afraid of eBay, it's not all second hand stuff!  Instead of buying official Monster High party invitations at £4.49 for 6 on Amazon, I found these personalised invitations on eBay at £4.09 for 12! 
  5. Guest list - a good mix of ages helps the party run more smoothly as the younger kids tend to follow the older kids, who tend to follow your direction.  Also, you need to know numbers so you know how much stuff to buy!  
  6. Party bags - think about whether you need to buy official party bags or whether these would suffice once sealed with coordinating stickers and again, eBay, eBay, eBay!  In the past, I have bought super cheap mini colouring books or mini magic painting books, mini colouring books, paint brushes, noise makers, punch ball balloons etc most items are purchased in sets of 6 or 8 - worth remembering when deciding your guest list! Even this year when I decided to make necklaces for all of the girls, while I already had all materials needed, they can all be bought at amazingly low prices in eBay stores!
  7. Accessories - You may want to use accessories to make your theme come to life...I bought a bunch of vampire teeth at Halloween and used them as napkin rings at the parties!
  8. Catering - you could go out and buy stuff to make finger food with, you could buy ready made finger food, but could you make stuff the kids are guaranteed to eat?  And can you do it for less than the price of a Happy Meal?
  9. Cake - Its usually best to match the cake to the theme of the party unless you know there is something specific the birthday girl or boy will enjoy i.e. novelty giant cookie cake (my personal fav!)  Think about whether you could make it yourself or do you know someone who could instead of having to pay a lot of money for a small independent business to make it for you...
  10. Budget - it may seem a little odd to have this at the end, but you need to know how much items are before you can set a reasonable budget.  I made the mistake of setting my budget first which is why I was constantly breaking it - it was not realistic 
While I was constantly blowing my non existant budget, I did find a few ways to save money on a few bits and bobs - of the 7 kids invited to party #1, 3 belonged to my brother and 3 belonged to my cousin  and 1 to my BFF.  I asked the seller for 3 detailed invited and the rest were left blank.  I then wrote my own 'thank you' notes, got Lola to sign her name on them and slipped one into each party bag - so for my £4.09 I got personalised invitations AND thank you notes!!


All in all, I really did enjoy organising these parties and would very much enjoy planning and hosting more parties in the future!!

Tuesday 15 January 2013

1 party down, 1 left to go!

Phew!!

We survived the first party!  The kids all had a blast....SCORE!!!!  Unfortunately, the bank balance didn't...FAIL!!!

The birthday girl looked FAB in her Frankie Stein costume! The picture on the left was taken after she'd taken off her wig, so the pic below is from Christmas day so you can see how cooooool it all looks together!




A few hours before the party, Brian and I started feeling rather  guilty about the lack of food for the adults.    I had been adamant I wasn't putting anything on for the big 'uns in order to keep costs down, but the Brian ended up running out for last minute supplies - its just as well that he did too as although we had 1 less kid than expected, we had 3 extra adults!!

Pass the Parcel didn't go entirely according to plan either, it left the kids wanting more....literally!! I had strategically planned the games so that every kid would get to open one of the 3 parcels and would find a small pack of Haribo and I timed it so that the 3 prizes were age/gender appropriate! The problem though was that the kids who got the Haribo were upset that they didn't win a 'proper' prize!!

The 2 slightly older kids asked if they could win prizes for the best dancing then proceeded to jump up and down with excitement shouting 'WE WANT GANGNAM, WE WANT GANGNAM!' which ofcourse the little one joined in with too...there was soooooo much jumping and bouncing going on that I thought my floor might collapse!  Fortunately it held out, but the prizes that were meant to last for 2 parties were gone by the end of the first!!

As you can see, my pal did an amazing job on the cakes, everyone loved them and Lola thought she was the luckiest little girl in the world!!  Thanks Cakes by Rachel

Fingers crossed tomorrows party goes as well as the first!

Thursday 10 January 2013

Birthday parties on a budget, Leighland style


With my little lady's  4th birthday fast approaching - as well as the limit on my overdraft...its time to arrange an awesome party on a non-existent budget!

I like to put my own handmade, quirky ‘lil stamp on things and party planning is no different!!  There's the mouse ears head bands and pink with white polka dots cupcakes from the Minnie Mouse party, a freaking awesome Elmo cake with Elmo cake bites and Elmo party hats for my best friends sons party, and the Monster High cake from last year which had pink and blue sponge under the black fondant!

Being a resident of Leighland, I have a compulsion to top these quirky details each year...but how do I do that this year with no money?!

Well for starters, the whole being broke thing kinda helps.  Kids birthday parties are generally held in a soft play...at £9 per kid for the cheapest party before taking into account the cost of cakes and party bags, with 14 kids to invite, there was just no way we could manage that this year.  Que cheesy playlist on the laptop, a super cool colour changing disco ball borrowed from a pal and a handful of tacky £1 musical statues/pass the parcel prizes followed by catering courtesy of Maccy D's!! Price per kid = £3.10!!
Yay!!


I talked a little about the cake in my last post and have now enlisted the help of a very talented gal pal who is making 2 batches of 12 MH inspired cupcakes and after rooting through my craft chest, I found I had enough silver rolo chain and some fab little kitsch cupcake and cherry charms to make necklaces as party favours for all of the attendees!

I think I'll have some happy little girls here next week, now if only I could think of something cool to use as party favours for the 2 boys that will be there....any suggestions??




Monday 7 January 2013

The Birthday Cake Saga


OOPSIES!!  

My Daughter is 4 next week and because I can't stand the thought of having 15 little kids running around my house at the same time, I thought I'd be clever and have 2 separate parties on 2 different days!



Great idea, sure...but what's the 1 thing no birthday girl or boy can be without??  Their cake!!  2 parties means 2 cakes - not the easiest feat to achieve when you're on a tighter than tight budget of as little as physically possible!! (Damn you recession!!) 

I was going to make them myself, like I did last year but as you can see from the photo - while I put a heck of a lot of time and effort into it....it looks more than a tad naff!!

So get answering the poll to the left of the page here (if you've viewing on a phone or tablet you'll probably have to look around for it I'm afraid!!) and leave comments with your hints, tips and suggestions as to my best course of action...the theme of the party is Monster High x 

Sunday 6 January 2013

Welcome to Leighland!


Things are a little different here than in the outside world...


In the real world...I'm a 30 something, hunk of chunk, who has soooo many ailments - I may as well be chucked on the scrap heap!!  I have absolutely no concept of time - so I'm late for everything!  I ignore the fact that most of my creative projects end in failure, I have less than 2 pennies to rub together, I live in a constant state of utter chaos and have lost every single thing that I own at least 10 times...

...In Leighland, I'm a size 10, I'm about 18yrs old and very flexible!  I love DIY & crafts so I am automatically incredibly good at it, I live in a world of serene tranquility and order and am very, very rich....

Well, the people I love have suffered long enough and the time has finally come to do something about it!


My New Years Resolution's for 2013 are:
LOSE A MEGA AMOUNT OF WEIGHT!!!
Master the art of ORGANISATION
Make at least 1 small dream a reality (In other words, pick a project and see it through to the end regardless of whether it fails or not)
Actually be on time for stuff!!
Stop holding my breath (seriously, I don't even realise I'm doing it until my head feels like it's going to burst or His Lordship shouts at me!!)

Should be pretty easy right?

So how am I going to get all this done? 

Well, this blog is going to be a kind of online journal if you will, cataloging my attempts and giving monthly reviews of what I've learned or improved upon (hehehe!!  If I manage even 1 of those I'll pass out in amazement!!) and hopefully my trials and tribulations will provide you with a little entertainment if nothing else!!  So join me on my journey and help me along the way by sharing your hints, tips, suggestions and experiences too!!!