So boys what should you do when you get cold

Over the next few weeks I will be working with British Gas as one of their Smart Mums ambassadors, thinking about the significance of energy conservation this winter.

This project comes hot on the heels of the energyshare campaign, where I saw the hard work of communities who are trying to create energy from renewable sources.  With all the complexities of such a project, its a far cry from the simplicity of flicking a switch in our homes to immediately emblazen rooms in light or to turn up the heat.

With the festive season being one of the coldest times of the year and now the boys are off school, its been a good time to have a chat with them about how we can save energy over the holidays.

I caught them by surprise, this Sunday, just as my youngest came home from swimming and my eldest was about to embark on a Pokemon Fest at the computer, wearing just a short sleeved top  - his choice - brrrrr.  The house was not particularly warm that day.

"What should you do if you get cold?" I asked.

A simple question.

"Turn up the radiators!" shouted one.

"Dive under a blanket!" called the other.

The first was just being a frivolous tease.  He knows we have a permanent choice of blankets in our living room, which are always put to good use whenever were sat around watching television, or using the laptop.  Aside from the technology, it takes us right back to an era when central heating wasnt available. Im snuggling under one, whilst writing this post.

Of course, being just seven and ten, when the boys are not sat around, theyre tearing around the house, using their own energy to keep warm.

Its just a shame I cant harness that and divert it back into the National Grid.

Or the sound of their laughter too, just like in Monsters Inc.

Were actually pretty good at managing the heating and putting on extra layers.  However, our particular downfall is leaving the lights on, especially in the childrens rooms, when they are rushing around to get to school.  Its always the bedside lights that are a pain to remember to turn off.

So he who laughed about turning up the radiators has now got his nose to the grindstone, designing mini-posters to remind him and his brother to turn off the lights!

And if that doesnt work, as a back-up plan Im busy gathering together a load of pennies as a financial incentive, so that each time they remember to turn them off, they will physically be able to visualise the saving too.

The problem with that last strategy is that I can see them turning on the lights especially to turn them off again.

Best not tell them about that one yet then!


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This is a sponsored post for the British Gas, Smart Mums project. More posts  are also available at the BritMums Smart Mums Blog.

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Why is it so hard to believe in yourself

I think the biggest problem for me in managing the transition from the Strict Diet to Maintenance is that I really fared well under the microscope of the trice-weekly monitoring at the clinic.

You cant cheat because they will catch you. The evidence is in the pee..!

Here, on the Maintenance, you are alone to your own devices and are not even required to come in if you "cant make it." You still have to keep your eating journal (which is mine 100% accurate - no!)

Id rather come in twice a week - Tuesdays AND Thursdays, just to know Im on track.

I feel like Im being fed to the food wolves, without having my clinic conscience there to guide me and steer me through my eating temptation and dilemmas.

To me this is the hardest test - can I make it on my own and guide my own eating behaviour?

Its taking some work, and I think with this first week under my belt (and some added guilt from the sugar rush and screaming halt on my ketosis burning) Ill have to get myself back on track.

If not, then I might just go back on the Strict Diet to reach my full 140 loss and then ease back into Maintenance. Otherwise, I just fear that I wont make it and will jeopardize what Ive achieved through stupid choices and mistakes.

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Paleo Its so easy a Caveman could do it!

The Original Paleolithic diet, was designed, as the name implies, to mimic the diets of our Paleolithic ancestors, who lived up until about 10,000 years ago, when modern agriculture began. It is based on the premise that, while our food technology has improved since the advent of agriculture, our bodies have been a little slow to catch up. We are better suited to the longstanding hunter-gatherer diet. The Paleolithic era lasted approximately 2.5 million years, it is theorized that during that time, hominids had sufficient time to adapt to the evolutionary pressures of the hunter-gatherer diet, and since then, weve had too little time to re-adapt to an agricultural diet.

Basically, you are physiologically designed to eat like a caveman or nomad, even if you no longer know it.

According to Dr. Cordains version of Paleo, there are six main premises to follow during the diet, all of which have roots in the ancient hunter-gatherer diet :

here is a link to the theory behind the rules

Unfortunately, these premises, while helpful, leave open a bit too much room for interpretation. Where does my favorite food in the world, coffee, stand in all of this? Is roasting considered processed? What about salt? Or honey? Different versions of Paleo cut these grey areas in different ways, and in the end, its really up to you. Unlike Atkins, there is not exhaustive list of what to eat and not to eat on Paleo, and no hard and fast rules concerning carbohydrates either. 

However, on her website ( here ) Dr. Cordain expounds a bit more on the rules of Paleo. As far as carbohydrates go, the theory is that you should obtain 35 - 45% of your daily caloric intake from carbohydrates, 20 - 35% from protein sources, and the remainder in mono and polyunsaturated fats. (Fats which are liquid at room temperature) For contrast, the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, makers of the infamous MyPlate and Food Pyramid, generally recommend a 45-60% carbs, 15-30% protein breakdown.

The best way, in my opinion, to calculate the number of grams of carbohydrate you should be eating on Paleo is thus :

Begin with an estimate of the calories you consume in a day  [for me its about 1800-2200 Cal/day]

Then multiply by the percent of calories you should obtain from carbs [ lets start with 35%]

1800 Cal (0.35) = 630 Cal from carbs

Then using the generally accepted calories to grams exchange,* 4 Cals / 1 gram of carbohydrate, we find the number of grams of carbohydrates we should consume :

630 Cal  ( 1 gram / 4 Cal) = 157.5 grams

This means that if you consume about 1800 Calories in a day, 630 of them should come from carbohydrates, which means you should consume approximately 157.5 grams of carbohydrate in a day. (booyah algebra!) After three weeks on 45 grams or less a day, this seems like a lot to me, but in comparison to the average western diet, this is actually quite low. 

Now you may be wondering how all of this translates into a very real, everyday kind of life. I began this morning on my first day of Paleo with a fruit smoothie made with coconut milk and strawberries, a hard boiled egg, and a cup of coffee. I feel a bit guilty about the coffee considering it toes the line in the grey area of Paleo, but I just love it too much to give it up completely. What I have promised myself is this, I will have only the one morning cup, and the rest of the day will consist of tea to get me through. Seems fair enough.

The other thing which was different this morning is that, for the first time, I am not alone in my crazy scheme. My mother has decided to join me on Paleo in the hopes of kickstarting her currently flagging weight loss. Unlike me, my mom is not pesce-octo-lavo-vegetarian, (means I eat fish, eggs and dairy) and will be able to better eat the full range of Paleolithic foods. Hopefully, Paleo can do for her what it purports, and it will be wonderful to have a compatriot in my diet experiment. Time to get down with our caveman roots!

* For the full range of exchanges, including fats, proteins and alcohol, see here

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So who made your pants Lets talk about ethical underwear

Being a lover of fancy lingerie and a right nosey parker, I couldnt resist the opportunity to visit ethical pants manufacturer Who Made Your Pants?.

I have been following them on Twitter for about six months, having spotted that they use end-of-line lace, which other lingerie manufacturers discard at the end of their seasonal runs. However, I soon discovered that this business was not just about saving waste, it was about turning around peoples lives too.

And its that which tempted me to scoot all the way from Suffolk to Southampton for the companys open day and to finally have the chance to meet founder Becky John (pictured left) and to find out more about what goes on at Who Made Your Pants?.

Immediately, it was easy to detect the warm and welcoming atmosphere of a small enterprise that was specifically created to help the people who work for it. As Della, the Operations Manager took me on a tour of the business she described how the enterprise helps women, such as refugees, get onto the work ladder, in a way that allows them to overcome language barriers and other cultural hurdles.

Although clearly working as a team to create what felt like a family atmosphere, the philosophy of the organisation, which is managed as a co-operative, stems from one womans passion, that of Becky John, to tackle, in her own words, the issues of waste, both in wasted stuff and wasted lives.

Becky understands what this means, having volunteered with Amnesty and having been nurtured through her own life-changing experiences. With women who have arrived into the country from as far afield as Sudan, Somalia and Afghanistan, she wants Who Made Your Pants? to work for them, as well as enabling them to work for the enterprise.

It was very easy to see her passion as she explained,

"The women we work with are marginalised and isolated in so many ways and they are bursting to do something.  They are just like you and me and any other woman. They get bored, passionate and curious and thats why we are here, to unleash that and do something good."

Becky continued to tell me about one of the younger women who had arrived from Afghanistan with her mother. When she first met her at a refugee organisation, her body language showed her distinct lack of confidence. She was hunched over the table, very nervous and shy and she knew no English.  Shes now been to college for a couple of years, has done a media course and a computer course and now confidently teases her team. Becky recognises this as an amazing change and is just one of the examples of how shes seen her staff develop.

"I believe in this, and this organisation, with everything I am," she added. "Its about an opportunity to help women learn and help them feel empowered, as well as providing good role models for the daughters in the family."

And thats one of the reasons why Becky had committed to sponsoring last weekends Winchester Science Festival. She wants girls and women to follow their curiosity and have the confidence to believe in themselves.

I liked Becky very much and loved the environment that she and her team had created.  And by team, I dont just mean the Management Team.  It was everyone in this enterprise that makes the Who Made Your Pants? co-operative work so well.  Whether its translating basic vocabulary into one of the many languages, helping the women have access to office computers, respecting prayer routines or everyone enjoying delicious home-made food thats brought in to share.

.... as well as special cake for Who Made Your Pants? Open Days.

All hands on deck - to cut the celebratory cake!

Of course no visit to any organisation like this would be complete without a nosey around the bins and it was great to see that all the lace off-cuts are sent to a local social enterprise to stuff cushions, so no waste is created.  Theyve also had requests from Knickerbockaglory artist Fanny Gogh, to provide extra lace for her fabulous fundraising collages, which helped raise money for the British Heart Foundation.

But recycling and repurposing doesnt stop with lace. Waste reduction is really at the heart of the business and almost everything acquired into the office is reused or upcycled, including computers, printers, desks, whiteboards, book cases and some reconditioned machinery.

"I love old and have always loved things that are different," Becky tells me. "Even our stock boxes are from the Ordnance Survey."

As she shows me the page of the annual report, which highlights how little waste they created in 2011, I realise that even as a small business it weighs waste to ensure that its included in the business assessment criteria.

Becky nods at my positive response.

"If you are going to be a good organisation, you have to start at the very beginning, so weve done this from the start. We also try to engage the women in the recycling process and help them understand why it needs to be done."

She tells me that this enterprise could have been based around anything, but due to her ludicrous love of underwear, a passion to which I also confess, and her desire to provide the world with a fabulous ethical choice, knickers it is!

Having risen out of her fundamental question about who made her pants and the welfare of the women concerned, Who Made Your Pants? has made great progress in helping a small group of women in the UK and Becky still campaigns to raise awareness of the issue of sweatshops.

My pants in progress!

Having seen my own pants being made last Tuesday, by a small team of women working for an enterprise that cared about their welfare, the first thing I did on my return was to contact my long-standing lingerie brand to query their own ethical and sustainability policy.

Seven days later, Ive still not received a reply but I shant give up.

People like Becky John really do make you stop and think, and if you are inclined to begin asking questions about fast fashion, you cant really find a better place to start than with pants!

More information about Who Made Your Pants?,  its ethos and how it is run as a co-operative, can be found at www.whomadeyourpants.co.uk. An online shop, where you can browse and purchase the beautiful lace goodies, is also available.

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So how did I fare after 2 years

Well, the ultimate test of my willpower and ability to stay away from those pitfall foods and manage stress shows is evidenced in the photos.  Im at my heaviest - 214 - and am rejoining my Ottawa clinic on January 5th.

Enough is enough!

While I have tried to restart a few times, the last two years were very stressful and active.  I left my job to start my own consulting business, and also work in a very emotionally charged field of anti-human trafficking.  Suffice to say, having the luxury to spend a large amount of time for myself and on my personal health needs was not front and centre.

However, enough is enough.

I had to bag up all of my beautiful clothes that I purchased when I reached my previous goal weight of 140 lbs/Size 8/10, give them away and over the last 2 years, replenish my closet with 12, 14, 16, 18 and the odd size 20 items.  It was heart breaking.  I was just elated when I bought gorgeous clothes from JCrew - received compliments from friend, family and colleagues - but it vanquished as quickly as it came.  Within 8 months I went from a 140 to 155.  Within 10 months to 165.  Within 12 months to 180.  And now, two years later, 214.  Holy s%&^*!

No - this is not me...

Even more depressing was trying to find a dress and look that is true to me for my nieces recent wedding.  My dress was a comfortable Size 20, but as I am my own biggest critic, it looked like a Macys moomoo with glitz and glam to deflect attention from my 40DD bust and wide-load butt.

In true form, the clinic made a courtesy call prior to Christmas to let me know that I still had a 2-week credit in my file.  I told them Id be in on Monday, January 5th at 9:00 a.m..

As my children are now 14 and 9 years old, my eldest is joining me for 3x weekly exercise and fitness activities as he is a fitness enthusiast, and my 9-year old aspiring Cordon Bleu chef will be helping me prepare and stay on track with my meals.

I learned a lot of tips and tricks the last go-round, so I know what works for me in the loss department.  Now, once I regain my goal weight, I will need to stop thinking that I can be left to my own devices and get serious about that slippery slope of sugar, carbs, alcohol and portion sizes for my metabolism.

Ive lost 2.5 decades to obesity and regret.  I think this year, for every pound I need to lose, Ill need some physical and ceremonial activity to free the fat back to their home - and not feel this sense of ownership to weight, obesity and regret.

This will be a real test of mental and lifestyle shift.

Heres to 2015.  By May 13th (my 47th birthday) I WILL be back to my 140 amazing weight.  A body remembers - I remember - so this is my personal pledge and resolution.

So here we go.

Do I regret having to be back here, starting from scratch again to relive (and reinvest) in losing unwanted pounds and reclaiming my healthy natural frame?  Yes - Im also chagrined.  However, thats life and my lessons learned.

H.

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