When you're finally down to your pre pregnancy weight

On the 13th of May 2019 at my heaviest weight ever, 69kg,  I began my intermittent fasting journey and it's been one of the best things I've done health wise.

I started out with the Warrior Diet which means fasting 20:4 (fasting 20 hours a day with a 4 hour eating window) 5 days a week. After that I started mixing it up with 18:6 and some days even fasting 24hours and doing OMAD (one meal a day). 

Fasting and depriving your body from food means you're switching your body from burning glucose (primary source of fuel) to stored body fat.
You're also giving your digestive system a time to heal, and boy do I feel healthy now that I dont eat every 4 hours. 

Almost exactly two years and a lot of hard work later, I'm 10 kilos lighter and finally down to my pre pregnancy weight.

It's certainly not for everyone, but in my case- I'm loving life in the fasting lane! 

 

Cosmetic bonding before and after pics

I've been lusting after a dazzling smile for some time now, and was first considering Invisalign or veneers. That was until I heard about 'bonding',  which is cheaper that costly veneers and a much quicker solution to the lengthy tooth-straightening program Invisalign. 

Also there is no need for the teeth to be chipped down first. I guess it can be described as "shellac for your teeth". The procedure took 4-ish hours and was done in one sitting. I only did 6 front teeth in the upper arch, and to say I'm pleased is an understatement!

Mad a-boat these two!

Boat trip (Uber) on the River Thames to visit Daddy's office in the city. 

When you discover a lump in your breast...

 

Pic of the side of my left breast 

... the procedure in this country is that you call your GP surgery and they will give you an appointment ASAP (I was seen the day after), and the doctor will examine you. 

Here they dont mess around with anything to do with the breasts, and NHS has a 2 week urgent referral rule. 

I was seen by a breast surgeon at Charing Cross hospital last week (within fourteen days of seeing my doctor).  At the hospital I had a scan which confirmed my lump and after that I had a biopsy that was sent off to the lab. They had to dig quite a few times to get the amount of breast tissue that they needed and it was brutal to say the least as the above pic shows. 

Now it's just a waiting game and hopefully I'll get a good result in about 10 days time, so watch this space.. 

Mum's covid vaccination finally done

 

Train to Amersham 

Hard to believe it's only located 30 mins on the train away from central London

Taxi to Marlow vaccination centre for Mum's first jab- Second one is booked for 26th April. 

My fave spot at hers, and Sweetie's too lol

Keeping it shrimple

Freshly made prawn mayo egg dill open sandwich from Totally Swedish - quite the price tag at £9 but very worth it if you ask me - delish!

 

January 2021 in review

Train to Mum's where I've been staying the night once every week through Jan. 

Family Fun playing monopoly 

Consistency is key!
My fasting calendar for January. ( I love fasting and how it makes me feel!) Been pretty hard core the whole month and did OMAD (one meal a day) quite a lot - This had not been doable if we didn't cut out booze completely though. I reached my goal now and lost the excess Christmas kilos, 3.5kg, so can relax and be less strict now. 

I had a Mammogram in Jan to check all is good with my breasts (got the all clear!) at Hammersmith Hospital and to our joy we discovered this Keto restaurant in same area

Scarlett Grace loves wearing my clothes and here she's rocking my after-ski coat 

All is calm, all is bright ... Breathtaking surroundings from my daily morning walk or run in the park. I always leave around 7.30am so I catch the sunrise. 

My app on the iPhone says I've averaged 8500 steps a day through Jan which im happy with

Tuna egg avocado with low carb bread -my most eaten lunch during Jan, repeated several times a week. 

Gorgeous day to be walking on the beautiful serene Chiltern Street that's normally so busy with customers for Chiltern Firehouse, and of course the paparazzi.   

Blasting in my Bose This new tune with Deadmau5 has the perfect beat for brisk walking

Mum's garage roof inconveniently collapsed after the snow melted!!! As we own her property we are in charge of sorting it all and we currently have builders there- hopefully it will be much nicer, a lot drier and more secure once they're done! 

Oh I miss stepping inside London pubs for a cheeky drink!

Gosh he takes after his Dad, check the size of him! Sean is sooo tall and he only just turned 12 - Not long before he towers over me! 

Grabbing a take away coffee and English breakfast from a newly discovered cafe nearby

Mindful Chef meal with no kcal/carb rice (we cook 3 of them per week)

Wine not?
Stocked up on vino from this little gem in Connaught Village with big selection in all price ranges

Pic at dusk of my favourite building here in Marylebone 

kids' movie night on the floor with popcorn n snacks

Coffee and walk with hubby - my most expensive black filter coffee to this day - nearly £4!

Example of my choice of low carb lunch, lettuce cup chicken fajitas with full fat sour cream 

Mum is spreading happiness with her newly bought ukulele bass (a life saver for her during the isolation she says) and had learnt my fave Cliff Richard "I could easily fall" for my visit. I love her to bits!

Here I'm having coffee watching a Swedish live morning program after a sleep over.

As Mum is registered as 'extremely vulnerable' and is in my support bubble, we decided that its riskier for her daily carer to come (who visit so many peoples homes every day, and crazily has not had her vaccine yet!) compared to me who now have anti bodies after catching the virus in Dec. 

 

Therefore we cancelled the helper till Mum gets her first vaccine jab on Friday this week, and instead I've pretty much have been acting as my mum's carer. And we've had some lovely quality time and much longed after sleep overs! 

Snow much fun! 

Snow way?! We had snow blankets in London and the rest of country that was bringing lots of fun for some and misery for others lol!

An empty Marylebone High Street 

We checked out the brand new Nobu Hotel & Restaurant, only a stones throw from us

Leisure-wear love! - I've pretty much lived in hoodies n tracksuit bottoms throughout the lockdown 

Scarlett Grace turned 7, another bday in lockdown but we made up for it with lots of pressies, cake (that caught fire btw), helium ballons and cuddles!