I get that people need to have issues, being perfectly content the whole time isn't normal and isn't necessary right. But today I have the biggest gripe with Social Media for taking minor issues, that effect such a small percentage of the population and building it up to mass proportions until it is all we are forced to see on our screens, hear on our radios and watch on our telly screens.
Last year it was breastfeeding. Personally, I have no issue with breastfeeding. If you feed your child, and you're out, and your child is hungry, then of course you must feed it. However, you don't need to take a photo of yourself doing it; do it so publicly that everyone around you cannot avoid looking in your direction; do it in the most public of places possible, just to gain the reaction of those around you.
Some people don't like it, some people get freaked out seeing boobs in public, some people get turned on seeing boobs in public. Feed your baby like we used to do before Facebook was invented - wherever you needed to and without drawing a crowd. It's not an issue, it's just feeding a baby!
This year it's all about gender neutral, and I'm now fuming. Social media has jumped onto the bandwagon, where someone has said to someone else "my daughter hates dolls, she only likes playing with trains but when I walked down the girls aisle of ToysRUs it was all dolls, this is a disgrace" and someone else responded "this is awful, the government are to blame. How dare they stereotype our children" and now everyone is obsessed with gender neutral.
Now, I don't have an issue with gender issues. I know of someone who at the age of 16 has started to go through a sex change. It was a long thought out process, and this person has lived through it whilst at secondary school and luckily has a very understanding family who have been very supportive. However, I do agree that this person is in a minority, and learned and they grew that they were in the wrong body. I do have an issue though with taking away a child's gender before they've even had a chance to explore it.
It is a fact, if you're born with a nünny then you are girl, if you're born with a winky then you are boy. FACT. That's biology. Another fact that separates boys and girls is puberty. Both sexes go through it differently, and cannot choose how this happens. So, my big question is, what is so wrong about treating boys and girls as they are and letting them decide themselves how they want to progress?
I have two daughters, aged 9 and 5, they were dresses a lot of the time and have long hair that sometimes hurts when I brush it. At the moment their favourite toys are dolls and they play houses, schools and other really girly games. When I tell them to play in the garden, they grab the football, they try and climb trees, they run through mud and get filthy dirty. Without any influence from myself, I asked them what they want to be when they grow up (please do bear in mind they love playing mummies at the moment). One wants to be an Archaeologist and the other a Scientist. Neither have said that they want to stay home and be a home maker.
When they play with their friends, they all play together, boys and girls. Sometimes my youngest will tell her boy friend to be her baby and she will mother him, other times she might say that she is his dog and he needs to take her for a walk. Her imagination is immense and all her own. She decides what she wants to do, but she knows that she is a girl.
If I take my girls shopping to the toy shop (rarely) and they don't fancy any more dolls down the pink aisle, then they will go down the blue aisle and look at Transformers or Batman toys and they might choose something there. It doesn't make them gender neutral to be playing with "boys toys", it makes them normal.
For the very, very small minority of parents who might be worried about their children's gender, I say to you, deal with it with your child. Understand their likes and dislikes and act accordingly.
To everyone else, I say let your child be the child they are. Don't confuse them more than life already does. Don't follow social media if you can't laugh it off either.
Tuesday, 22 August 2017
Friday, 12 May 2017
Man's best friend
Just a little tale today of an experience I had with my gorgeous Cockerpoo, Ben, yesterday.
People are ok, some are actually quite nice. Some people look out for others, want to help them and provide for them. Some are complete arseholes, only out for themselves at everyone else's expense, think the world owes them a living. Some are lowest of the low and really do need to be locked up.
Nearly all dogs, on the other hand, are wonderful. The only dogs that have aggression problems are the ones who have been brought up by the lowest of the low above. Dogs can be trained from the earliest age to be loving, loyal, caring, sensitive and that's before you look at working dogs, who are trained to be the eyes and ears of humans, to understand illnesses and react to a situation to prevent their human from getting sick.
My 5 year old daughter asked to take our dog in to school yesterday for her Show and Tell. There were a group of 30 four and five year olds sitting in her classroom when I brought Ben in. He was calm and slightly nervous, but I gave his lead to my 5 year old, and she gave him a treat and asked him to sit.
He was such a good dog, and sat still whilst my daughter spoke about him and had a question and answer session with her classmates. Then they all stood in a circle whilst my daughter walked around the inside of the circle and the children (who were all extremely well behaved too) patted and stroked him. One little girl was petrified and hid between the teachers legs, crying. My daughter steered clear of her with Ben. A few times Ben looked over at me for reassurance he was doing the right thing. This dog is so clever, he knows that the children are delicate and not to play rough with them, like he might do with family adults.
After my daughter had walked him round, the frightened girl said she might like to touch him. He sat as still as he could whilst she stroked his back, within a minute she'd stroked his head too. That evening she went home and asked her Mum for a dog of her own! The dog was so patient but also so grateful for all the compliments and petting he received. Because he was patient and calm, the children were also very calm around him. None of them got overexcited, one child did sing to him, but that was quite lovely.
When I brought him back home, he jumped up at me, which he always does so gently (he's never snagged my tights EVER) as if to say "didn't I do good!" and we had a big hug.
Why can't people be more like dogs!
Friday, 27 January 2017
No diet works for everyone
Hello my lovely readers,
well I'm sorry it's been more than a few days but I've been experimenting with myself.
After trying a low carb diet for a week but giving in to my serious sugar cravings, I was back to where I started. I contacted my dear Dr. Xand again and he suggested that if my sugar cravings are too high, low carb isn't for me. Maybe I should do a fasting diet.
For the record, fasting doesn't mean going without food for a day or more, but on certain days restricting the calories quite dramatically, although please remember from my previous blog that my usual calorie consumption is between 1000 and 1200 a day anyway. So I'm trying the 5:2 diet, where I will eat normally for 5 days, telling myself I'm not on a "diet" and then fast on 500 calories twice a week.
It's up to me the days I choose to fast and so on week one I've decided to fast Friday and Monday. That gives me my weekend and Tuesday food-day at work to eat what I want. But do you know what? I did so well on my first fast day that I didn't want to eat stupidly on my "normal" days. Where I might normally be tempted with the cake section in my favourite coffee shop, I didn't want to ruin my hard work, so made sure I'd had a healthy breakfast before we went to the coffee shop.
On Tuesday food-day at work, we had mini dessert pots, full of chocolatey goodness and fun. I had two (they were 89 calories each) but I didn't have crisps, bread or pork pies, and so I didn't put on any weight.
In fact, in one week I've lost over 3lbs, feel good and happy to keep going.
It's Friday again today, and I can't believe how full up I am from my home made salad, with boiled eggs, ham, a little cheese, some soda bread. A real feast but all under 500 calories. I'm looking forward to not worrying about what I eat because I know I'm not going to ruin this hard work.
For me, the 5:2 diet is so far so good, but it's been just over a week, so I'm not promising anything yet.
Let me know how you're getting on!
well I'm sorry it's been more than a few days but I've been experimenting with myself.
After trying a low carb diet for a week but giving in to my serious sugar cravings, I was back to where I started. I contacted my dear Dr. Xand again and he suggested that if my sugar cravings are too high, low carb isn't for me. Maybe I should do a fasting diet.
For the record, fasting doesn't mean going without food for a day or more, but on certain days restricting the calories quite dramatically, although please remember from my previous blog that my usual calorie consumption is between 1000 and 1200 a day anyway. So I'm trying the 5:2 diet, where I will eat normally for 5 days, telling myself I'm not on a "diet" and then fast on 500 calories twice a week.
It's up to me the days I choose to fast and so on week one I've decided to fast Friday and Monday. That gives me my weekend and Tuesday food-day at work to eat what I want. But do you know what? I did so well on my first fast day that I didn't want to eat stupidly on my "normal" days. Where I might normally be tempted with the cake section in my favourite coffee shop, I didn't want to ruin my hard work, so made sure I'd had a healthy breakfast before we went to the coffee shop.
On Tuesday food-day at work, we had mini dessert pots, full of chocolatey goodness and fun. I had two (they were 89 calories each) but I didn't have crisps, bread or pork pies, and so I didn't put on any weight.
In fact, in one week I've lost over 3lbs, feel good and happy to keep going.
It's Friday again today, and I can't believe how full up I am from my home made salad, with boiled eggs, ham, a little cheese, some soda bread. A real feast but all under 500 calories. I'm looking forward to not worrying about what I eat because I know I'm not going to ruin this hard work.
For me, the 5:2 diet is so far so good, but it's been just over a week, so I'm not promising anything yet.
Let me know how you're getting on!
Wednesday, 11 January 2017
Alexis Noble Life Coaching: Inspiration to start a healthy 2017
Alexis Noble Life Coaching: Inspiration to start a healthy 2017: A Life Coach will always reach out to another Life Coach, and today I connected with the amazing Doctor Xand Van Tulleken, half of Drs Xand ...
Inspiration to start a healthy 2017
A Life Coach will always reach out to another Life Coach, and today I connected with the amazing Doctor Xand Van Tulleken, half of Drs Xand and Chris, two of my daughter's favourite TV presenters, and for me, presenter of How to Lose Weight Well.
After watching the programme this week, I decided to contact Dr Xand, as my own diet is making me demoralised after only one week. But I'm a Life Coach so I always see the positive right? For you I will, but not for me.
So this blog is going to be my own diary of my 2017 start to losing a few pounds and getting out of my bad habits.
One thing to note first, is that I've already changed a few habits. I was very worried about my bowel movements, I have admitted to years of laxative abuse, and worried about my colon, so I pestered my Doctor for a Colonoscopy and had great clear results with no issues... something everyone should do if at all worried about bowel movements. Don't delay. Bowel problems can mean a lot more than bad digestion and a colonoscopy can check for cancer as well as other issues.
Secondly, I decided that I was intolerant to every food going. The thought of meat made me want to be sick, the consumption of too much dairy did actually make me sick, and then anything with sugar in burnt the back of my throat. Back to the doctor and he explained Acid Reflux (not that I wasn't already aware, as of course I had googled it). This can be related to being overweight, Hiatus hernias and other issues. Once again, following my panic and over googling, the doctor gave me some pills to counteract the Acid in my body. My God these pills really work.
So now that I know my bowel works and my Esophagus is fine (although I am still dairy intolerant), I can start my new year diet.
It's now the 11th Jan, I've been going one week and next week, on the 17th Jan, I have a big, BIG function I would like to be a few pounds slimmer for, but I've put another barrier up for myself....
I look at people who have lost a lot of weight in a minimal amount of time and I get super envious...they cut out drinking for a month - I had the total of about 6 alcoholic drinks in the WHOLE of 2016, they start walking - I've been wearing my pedometer on my underwear for the past two years, and have worked my hardest to get over 7000 steps a day, they cut down takeaways and pies - we have a takeaway possibly every 2 months and the only pie I eat is apple, they cut down from 3000 calories a day - my average is 1200 and has been for over a year (but bear in mind I am only 4ft 10).
Woe is me, poor me, pity me! That's not going to get me slimmer. I need to stop comparing myself and start doing.
So back to the diet. I won't list the foods one by one, although I have logged them for myself, but put it basically, I'm on Atkins. I'm having an Atkins shake with Almond milk for Breakfast, an Atkins bar for a snack, ham, tinned fish, avocado and salad for the rest of the day. It went really well, in one week I lost 3lbs.
And then yesterday I ordered lunch for the guys at work. Ordered from Costco, I made sure I picked up a freshly cooked chicken and a great big Greek salad and a pot of hummus. Of course, I still had to order sandwiches, crisps and dessert for those not on low carb diets and that's where it fell down...
We'd not had mini cheesecake bites before, and believe me they were only bites, so I tried 3 different flavours, and then the Sticky Toffee Loaf, well I had to just check it was up to standard (it was).
I still avoided the crisps and bread so was quite happy, and was convinced I wouldn't have dinner. But after 8 hours at work, then two hours with children and my brain not stopping, and my feet still walking I was hungry at 8pm. I had a bowel of sugar free Alpen. Not so bad, right? I added it all on my diet app, still well under 1500 calories and I went to bed for a good 9 hours sleep.
How on earth can that have made me put on 1.5lbs! It did though, so once again I felt cheated and that's when I tweeted Dr Xand. He told me to weigh myself every day, to not worry about what the weight is until after 2 weeks. (In hindsight from that, I've still lost half a pound in a week, better than putting on).
So dear reader, what I'm trying to get at is, if you yourself are trying to lose weight, gain weight, maintain weight this new year. Don't necessary look at how well others have done, but focus on what YOU can do, set your own personal goals, and a plan that will work for you (some great Ideas on How to Lose Weight Well) and stick to it as best you can, whilst still living and being realistic in the meantime. Have a chat with yourself every two weeks to see how progress is going and then look to increase exercise or decrease extra bites to keep you going.
I'm going to update my blog again in a few days and I will be truly honest on how well I'm doing or how many cheats I've had (I did start back on the licquorice allsorts but in no quantity like I used to) and would love to know how you're getting on to. If you need some moral support, that's what I'm here for, and for myself, I'll just pick the top TV doc to go to for my support and then hopefully get an autograph for my daughter.
Good luck and see you in a few days.
After watching the programme this week, I decided to contact Dr Xand, as my own diet is making me demoralised after only one week. But I'm a Life Coach so I always see the positive right? For you I will, but not for me.
So this blog is going to be my own diary of my 2017 start to losing a few pounds and getting out of my bad habits.
One thing to note first, is that I've already changed a few habits. I was very worried about my bowel movements, I have admitted to years of laxative abuse, and worried about my colon, so I pestered my Doctor for a Colonoscopy and had great clear results with no issues... something everyone should do if at all worried about bowel movements. Don't delay. Bowel problems can mean a lot more than bad digestion and a colonoscopy can check for cancer as well as other issues.
Secondly, I decided that I was intolerant to every food going. The thought of meat made me want to be sick, the consumption of too much dairy did actually make me sick, and then anything with sugar in burnt the back of my throat. Back to the doctor and he explained Acid Reflux (not that I wasn't already aware, as of course I had googled it). This can be related to being overweight, Hiatus hernias and other issues. Once again, following my panic and over googling, the doctor gave me some pills to counteract the Acid in my body. My God these pills really work.
So now that I know my bowel works and my Esophagus is fine (although I am still dairy intolerant), I can start my new year diet.
It's now the 11th Jan, I've been going one week and next week, on the 17th Jan, I have a big, BIG function I would like to be a few pounds slimmer for, but I've put another barrier up for myself....
I look at people who have lost a lot of weight in a minimal amount of time and I get super envious...they cut out drinking for a month - I had the total of about 6 alcoholic drinks in the WHOLE of 2016, they start walking - I've been wearing my pedometer on my underwear for the past two years, and have worked my hardest to get over 7000 steps a day, they cut down takeaways and pies - we have a takeaway possibly every 2 months and the only pie I eat is apple, they cut down from 3000 calories a day - my average is 1200 and has been for over a year (but bear in mind I am only 4ft 10).
Woe is me, poor me, pity me! That's not going to get me slimmer. I need to stop comparing myself and start doing.
So back to the diet. I won't list the foods one by one, although I have logged them for myself, but put it basically, I'm on Atkins. I'm having an Atkins shake with Almond milk for Breakfast, an Atkins bar for a snack, ham, tinned fish, avocado and salad for the rest of the day. It went really well, in one week I lost 3lbs.
And then yesterday I ordered lunch for the guys at work. Ordered from Costco, I made sure I picked up a freshly cooked chicken and a great big Greek salad and a pot of hummus. Of course, I still had to order sandwiches, crisps and dessert for those not on low carb diets and that's where it fell down...
We'd not had mini cheesecake bites before, and believe me they were only bites, so I tried 3 different flavours, and then the Sticky Toffee Loaf, well I had to just check it was up to standard (it was).
I still avoided the crisps and bread so was quite happy, and was convinced I wouldn't have dinner. But after 8 hours at work, then two hours with children and my brain not stopping, and my feet still walking I was hungry at 8pm. I had a bowel of sugar free Alpen. Not so bad, right? I added it all on my diet app, still well under 1500 calories and I went to bed for a good 9 hours sleep.
How on earth can that have made me put on 1.5lbs! It did though, so once again I felt cheated and that's when I tweeted Dr Xand. He told me to weigh myself every day, to not worry about what the weight is until after 2 weeks. (In hindsight from that, I've still lost half a pound in a week, better than putting on).
So dear reader, what I'm trying to get at is, if you yourself are trying to lose weight, gain weight, maintain weight this new year. Don't necessary look at how well others have done, but focus on what YOU can do, set your own personal goals, and a plan that will work for you (some great Ideas on How to Lose Weight Well) and stick to it as best you can, whilst still living and being realistic in the meantime. Have a chat with yourself every two weeks to see how progress is going and then look to increase exercise or decrease extra bites to keep you going.
I'm going to update my blog again in a few days and I will be truly honest on how well I'm doing or how many cheats I've had (I did start back on the licquorice allsorts but in no quantity like I used to) and would love to know how you're getting on to. If you need some moral support, that's what I'm here for, and for myself, I'll just pick the top TV doc to go to for my support and then hopefully get an autograph for my daughter.
Good luck and see you in a few days.
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