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Fish oils could be the “Elixir of Life”

/ Dee / 3 Comments

During my search to find what’s best to eat while trying to lower my cholesterol, I find that apart from porridge oats, the omega-3 in fish oils can be another “super cholesterol reducer”

Not only that, it appears from recent research that an added bonus could be their anti-ageing properties too.  The report makes interesting reading and I shall certainly be increasing the amount of oily fish in my diet.

Read the report in the today’s ” Mail Online”  http://bit.ly/cm6Sg7

So….it’s porridge for me!

/ Dee / Leave a comment

Since finding out that my cholesterol level is 8, not a good number to be, I have been reading up on what to do about getting it lower.

I have found out that porridge oats are an excellent thing to eat if you have high cholesterol, as the soluble fibre and beta-glucans helps get rid of the nasty cholesterol stuff in your blood stream.

In the course of trawling the internet, I came across this amazing site that tells you all you ever need to know about oats, how much is grown, how long we have been eating them and why you should add them to your diet.

http://bit.ly/cUY9G9

So, I will now start each day with a bowl of porridge oats and see if they can help me get from a level of 8 to one of 5 which is much more healthy

How do I lower my cholesterol?

/ Dee / 4 Comments

I have had a blood test recently to try and find out why I feel so tired all the time and have no engery.  The tests didn’t find anything other than I my cholesterol level is too high.  It is 5 which is not good evidently.  So I have set about trying to find out what I should do to get the level down.  It seems that we make cholesterol in our bodies anyway but it is only when it is high that it becomes a bad thing.

I have read lots of stuff on the internet, some of which is quite confusing, but there is evidence that you can reduce the level by changes in diet and exercise. So out go prawns, eggs, red meat, cakes. biscuits, pastries

 and in come porridge oats, walnuts, olive oil, blueberries, chicken, oily fish, turkey….

     hmm doesn’t seem too bad!      

I will also have to start doing some exercising as I have been quite lax of late.  Do I have to hit the gym or would swimming be OK? Anyone got any other tips, they would be gratefully received

To tweet or not to tweet, that is the question……..

/ Dee / 2 Comments

Why would you want to send out little tweets to people you don’t know and probably never will know, is it in the hope that you will get lots of followers and so think you are a mini celebrity?  Or is it that you are so frustrated with your life, that you want to invent a new you, that could be anything you wanted it to be. Or is it that you have things to say that need saying and Twitter is the only place you can get your voice heard? Whatever the reason, there are millions of twitterers out there, sending millions of tweets every hour.

I started tweeting a few months ago to see what it was all about and found, to my surprise, that within a few days a lot of people were following me.  I had no idea how this came about and still don’t, but then I found that I too was following people and I haven’t a clue how that works either.  Some of these people are just blatantly selling themselves or their business and it all seemed to be about self promotion. Not many want to comment on what’s happening in the world, if they aren’t telling me about what they can do, they seem quite happy to retweet others’ comments or links to articles in the press. 

 Perhaps I am missing the point, or expecting too much. I do exchange regular tweets with some great people who are in the same time zone as me.  We send tweets on all sort of things, but the time difference means I miss a lot of what happens from my followers and followees on the other side of the world.  That said, I have found that even though I am not sure how it all happens, I do enjoy tweeting and probably that’s what it is all about, so I shall carry on and hopefully one day I will find out how it all works

Make sure the Haitian people get all the benefit

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After all the heartbreak, hurt, depravation and terror that the Haitian people have endured these last days, I hope that all the money donated in their name finds its way to them soon and that none of it gets swallowed up in expenses, fees and the like, as has happened so many times to donations made in the past.

The whole world has been moved by their plight and donated willingly to help them; they have nothing, they need everything we can give them, let’s make sure they get it.

Thinking about comfort food

/ Dee / 4 Comments

The winter has been unusually cold here, as a result I found I have been making more dishes that can only be described as comfort food.

Chilli con Carne – wonderfully warming

Bangers and mash – the best way to eat potatoes

Fish Pie – big chunks of tasty fish, creamy sauce and mashed potatoes again

Shepherd’s Pie – spicy tasty mince beef,  oh and mashed potatoes..

Macaroni Cheese – lovely pasta and tangy cheese

Lasagne – layers of creamy pasta and melted cheese

Sticky Toffee Pudding – my all time favourite pud especially with custard

My mouth is watering just writing about them

What are your favourites?

2010 – not trying to be superwoman!

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I am back in the office today after the holiday and, as usual after a break, after a couple of hours it feels as though I have never been away!  I tidied my desk before I left on Christmas Eve, no mean feat given the amount of paperwork that had landed on it during the previous few days, but I knew how good I would feel when I unlocked my door and saw the vast expanse of mellow, polished wood, bare except for my pc, filing trays, pen holders and telephone.  And I did! I also patted myself on the back for getting the Christmas present buying and wrapping all done and dusted with seven shopping days to spare! 

This is so unlike me.  I accepted years ago that I am one of those “last minuters”, one of the group of people who make organised folk hold up their hands in horror.  I could have a mountain of work to do or very little and either way, it will be finished with about five minutes to spare – there is always something else that needs doing, that seems more interesting.

I have been trying hard to understand why I changed, why my Christmas was more organised this year and why I was so determined to have a clear desk on my return to work.

I know I have driven my family mad on occasions, such as we are about to embark on a holiday and I have to go back because I have forgotten to pack something – toothbrushes usually.  Why was I not more organised? (Duet from husband and father here)  Of course I always resolved to change, but sadly it never happened. I always seemed to have so much to do though it all got done in the end.

My sister sent me a book recently, all about making more time for yourself. I read it and, as with most books of this type, thought how it would fit into my life.  I don’t come home from the office, after delegating goodness knows what, to goodness knows who, to find that the vegetables had been peeled and are waiting in water, or that a bath had been drawn and candles lit all around the sides!  But, the idea of more time for me, did stay with me longer than most.  Perhaps  my sub-conscious swung into action and, without realising why, I got the shopping out of the way, the house cleaned ready for guests and my office desk cleared for my return in the New Year.

Perhaps, also, I am my own worst enemy.  Maybe I have to accept that I can’t do everything,  that I am not Superwoman, but am instead a wife, mother and business woman who is just good enough!