Disclaimer!

Disclaimer
Beverley has prepared the content of Bev's World irresponsibly and carelessly. She therefore disclaims all warranties, express or implied, as to the accuracy, originality or completeness of the drivel presented on this blog or on other linked websites or on any subsequent links. She vehemently denies that the information may be relied upon for any reason. Beverley shall not be liable for inflicting laughter, shame, disgust, torrents of tears and the eventual desiccation or crashing boredom on readers.

Find me on facebook. https://www.facebook.com/BeHappyOwls or search for Be Happy Owls

Saturday 31 May 2014

Always BeYOUtiful, they can't ask for more.



31st May 2014
We all should know that diversity makes for a rich tapestry, and we must understand that all the threads of the tapestry are equal in value no matter what their colour.  Maya Angelou


Well that was the best sleep ever – well maybe not ever, but it was 9 hours I badly needed!  I’ve felt really tired the back end of this week and yesterday I truly needed some rest, I struggled through my mornings work, ended up leaving some of it for this morning because by noon I just couldn’t think straight, too many hours worked over the last few weeks, need to reset that balance! 

Like so many of us, one of the main side effects I suffer from when tired is hunger, I just want to eat, I sat resting yesterday afternoon, constantly thinking, “I could just eat…..” how I didn’t I really don’t know, I kept reminding myself how I didn’t want to undo all the effort I’d put in over the last 7 weeks, I may not have lost lots of weight but I’ve been losing, not gaining and that’s what’s matters.  I’ve been eating healthy and feeling well and that’s more important than anything.  This reminder somehow helped me through the day, I had toast and satsumas for breakfast, I’d forgot to defrost the chicken for my curry so we had egg, chips and beans for lunch – some would say my subconscious forgot on purpose because I really didn’t fancy standing in the kitchen for an hour!  For tea we had hotdogs on Weight Watcher petit pains and onions fried using my WW oil spray, I served it with some salad leaves to try and aim towards my five a day and it did the job, fast food without the junk.  When I got my lobster hands later in the day, I opted for a homemade bowl of popcorn, and then we had a much needed early night.

We watched ‘Life of a King’ yesterday with Cuba Gooding Jnr, it was very good, well worth a watch if ever you get the chance, it was just one example of someone making a difference to other people’s lives!  Obviously yesterday was all about Stephen Sutton, an incredible young man who made so much difference to other people’s lives and will be remembered as a courageous amazing human being.  I was listening to Angelina Jolie earlier in the week on Radio two and she said something when asked about her humanitarian work that stuck in my mind, “if you don’t live a life of use to others then you really don’t have much of a life.” I think she makes a good point!  We lost another amazing lady this week Maya Angelou, one of her quotes was “I've learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.  

Just a small example of a few amazing people, none of whom had an easy life, so did the difficultness they experienced make them the people they became or was it just the way they chose to handle those difficult times – was it their attitude that made them who they are?  I think everyone knows Stephens story, maybe not so much Maya’s - she was raped at the age of 7 by her mother's boyfriend who was then murdered by her uncles. Angelou felt responsible for the death, and she was mute for five years.  Somehow she got over that and became a truly inspirational lady!  They say what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger don’t they!
It’s like failure, when you fail do you give up or do you try again?  Here’s a few examples of famous people who failed but didn’t give up;

  • Einstein wasn’t able to speak until he was almost 4 years old and his teachers said he would “never amount to much” (ooo I have something in common with Einstein, I had teachers that said that to me too!)
  • Steve Jobs – At 30 he was left devastated and depressed after being unceremoniously removed from the company he started.
  • The Beatles were rejected by Decca recording studios who said “we don’t like their sound – they have no future in show business.”
  • Oprah Winfrey was demoted from her job as a news anchor because she “wasn’t fit for television.”
  • Walt Disney was fired from a newspaper for “lacking imagination” and “having no original ideas”.
  • Michael Jordan – After being cut from his high school basketball team, he went home, locked himself in his room, and cried.

I bet we’ve all locked ourselves in our room and cried at some time haven’t we, do we give up or do we get up and carry on, after all failure is an integral part of success they say!

So whatever your age, wherever you are in your life right now, in the words of Maya Angelou, that wonderful inspirational lady, “You may encounter many defeats, but you must not be defeated.”

Always BeYOUtiful. xx




Friday 30 May 2014

Enjoyin going at a snails pace this morning ;)



30th May 2014
Each person deserves a day away in which no problems are confronted, no solutions searched for.” – Maya Angelou


Eight and half hours sleep, I needed that!  just been up the garden whilst waiting for my kettle to boil and spotted a bit fat cheeky slug enjoying his breakfast on my petunias, they’ve already eaten one trough full, I watched him for a little while, then left him to it – it’s only by luck of birth I’m a human and he’s a slug I guess and we’ve all got to eat, so he can finish that plant, there’s plenty of others in my garden.

Today’s all about getting through the work I have to do so I can chill out later, felt drained this week, tis great being a woman with a cycle and I don’t mean the ones with two wheels! But I’ll be right after I recharge my batteries, a few early nights and some good nutritious food.  Planning a nice Chicken Pasanda for Dinner with brown rice, that’s what my meal plan tells me anyway ;) I might sit later and have a look at planning next week’s whilst I read my new Weight Watcher magazine, then I can order my shopping online again.

I’ve gone straight for a cup of tea this morning, the water can wait and it’s the best cuppa ever and no I’m not exaggerating ;) at all!  Who knows it may be a magic cuppa and it’ll restore my energy and I’ll get more stuff done than anticipated, although I can’t see me leaving my office before early afternoon, that’s a high to do pile!

I started listening to a book a few weeks ago called the chimp paradox and I just couldn’t get into it at all, then a Facebook friend posted that she’d bought it and I thought I’d give it a go, I’m so glad I did because just one page really reinforced something I’d already been thinking this week, it was about saying NO and this is a little piece taken from the book;

Can’t say ‘NO’?
What do you believe saying ‘no’ to someone will imply about you?
What are the consequences of you saying ‘no’ to someone?
e.g. if I say no then this implies I’m selfish and the consequences are that I will be seen as lazy!

·         Saying NO is the appropriate response of an adult who is respecting his or her own exhaustibility or boundaries.
·         Saying NO is a powerful thing to do by a balanced person.
·         People who are realistic will accept being turned down and appreciate that you have the right to say ‘no’.
·         People respect those who can say ‘no’.

Mmm do you need to say no a little more often maybe, I know I do, and I intend to.

If you fancy reading more the books written by Dr Steve Peters, I haven’t finished it yet but I will.

Right I’m off to start my day so I can get to the good bit quicker, have a great one, my cuppas perked me up already – bring in on ay BeYOUtiful!


Thursday 29 May 2014

loving my meal plan...

29th May 2014
Success is liking yourself, liking what you do, and liking how you do it.  Maya Algelou

It was nice to see the media talking positively about slimming clubs, however we already know Weight Watchers works and their meetings are a great place to get support, guidance and advice on losing weight sensibly and changing habits permanently. Never tried one or would like to find on that suits you, it’s as simple as typing your postcode into www.weightwatcherslocal.co.uk and of course you may be eligible to attend for free, just ask your doctor or health professional for more info about being referred.

Well it’s Thursday already, busiest day of the week for me, 5 meetings and lots of lovely members to see and celebrate their success with, I’ll have to make my meals quick and easy, tonight’s tea will be steak and salad, for lunch it’s egg and chips mmm all good food fast.  Yesterday was salmon and chips with roasted vegetables, absolutely delicious, tea was cheese toasties, I used a potato peeler to slice the cheese really thin so it only cost me a couple of ProPoints. 


I’m loving having my meal plan, I’ve not followed it to the letter but it’s got the meal suggestions there for me to use or adapt, it’s the repeated meals with the leftovers that has changed because I’ve given them to friends to try as I’m not a massive fan of eating things more than once in a week, I like choice, I only get 21 meals after all.

I’m loving fish right now and it’s suggested that we eat two portions a week for health reasons; fish is low in saturated fat and is also an excellent source of protein as it also contains lots of vitamins and minerals.  Oily fish such as salmon and trout are also high in omega-3 which can help prevent heart disease.  Good enough reasons for me, also fish is delicious and I actually prefer it to meat these days!

I never got round to making the fakeaway donor kebab meat, I’ll need to try and fit that in today somewhere as I defrosted the meat, if I cook it today we can eat it tomorrow, if I just can’t find the time, I’ll throw the mince in some curry sauce instead.
Right time to go get started, a shower first to wake me up then a cup of coffee, we can’t have tea we ran out of teabags last night, much find time to get some of those today!  This weekend I shall not be rushing anywhere!

Bring on the slow I say but first I’ll enjoy my busy day. 

Have a great day BeYOUtiful.

Wednesday 28 May 2014

168 hours in a week - what you doing with yours?



28th May 2014
The moment you change your perception, is the moment you rewrite the chemistry of your body.  Dr Bruce Lipton

Because of my job I spend a lot of time on Facebook, I actually enjoy it, getting to be sociable and helpful without having to leave the house, however I know it can consume my day if I’m not careful, so a month ago I left quite a few groups on there and then the week before last I the changed notification settings for most of the groups I’m left in so that I didn’t have loads to read through each day and it’s really made a difference.  Thankfully I’ve never had the notifications sent to my phone like some do; I have to go onto Facebook to read any as having my phone constantly beep would drive me insane!  Now though it means if and when I have the time I can pop into the groups that aren’t ones I set up and need to be as active in, as and when without it taking over the precious time that I do have and it’s made a difference.  Yesterday it even meant I managed to fit in an hour of college work instead of getting involved in numerous conversations online.  Let’s hope I can keep the momentum going because studying takes up much more time than I anticipated and I have a lot less free time that I thought I had, there’s only 168 hours in the week after all, I work between 40 and 50 of them, then I sleep at least 50 of them, that doesn’t leave that many!  68 hours left to get everything done in, that includes traveling to work, cooking, cleaning, eating, dog walking before even getting onto the good stuff, so yeah I really do need to think about how much time I spend not just on Facebook but doing anything because time is the one thing you can’t get back. 
Have you ever thought about how you spending yours?

The Steak and Pepper Goulash was delicious by the way, we had it for lunch yesterday and for tea I had the leftover allotment frittata, just as tasty served cold that was.  I like this planning, it’s really helped this week as I feel organised which most certainly seems to be helping me stay on track.  Easy meal today, we’re having roast salmon, veggies and Actifry chips, mmm nom nom, I had planned to have leftover goulash for tea but I’ve froze them instead because there’s so much in the fridge that needs using up, so I’ll have a quick look at lunchtime and get something ready for the evening.  Plans are meant to be moveable and adaptable; they don’t have to be written in stone.  I have eggs that need using up, so maybe egg sandwiches, mom can have those too, I can make and leave them for her.

Anyway I’m rambling, I think I’m gonna need coffee this morning, whatever the side effects are ;-) I need a bit of oomph, and my pint of water ain’t doing it!  Oh one last thing, I’ve mastered the bread pudding, I made it again for mom yesterday, left out the milk and this time I added 20g of ginger and 80g of sultanas for a change, it was delicious!  Here’s the recipe again, to save you looking.



Bread Pudding (total 24pp) uses 8pp from weekly allowance if following F&H
  • 8 oz/225 g calorie controlled brown bread, broken up into smallish pieces (14pp)
  • 1/2 pt/300ml cold tea
  • 10-15g splenda powdered sweetener (to own taste)
  • 1 egg (beaten) (2pp)
  • 100g sultanas (8pp)
  • 1/4 tsp mixed spice

Put the bread in a bowl and add the cold tea. Allow to soak for 1 hr.
Drain the bread and squeeze out any excess tea (using your hands!)
Mix the bread with the rest of the ingredients.
Pour into a greased 8" square baking tin

Cook at 180C/gas 3/4 for 1 1/2 hours or until firm to the touch and brown on top.
Allow to cool for 30 mins or so in the tin, before cutting into squares.  Serve warm or cold.

Also we were talking about this recipe last night so here it is to save you looking for it;

Fake away Donor Kebab

Serves 4, F&H or 4pp's per serving

1 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon dried Italian herbs
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon onion powder
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
500g extra lean mince beef (16pp)

Preheat oven to gas mark 4/180C.  In a large bowl, combine the dried oregano, dried Italian herbs, garlic powder, onion powder, cayenne pepper, salt and black pepper. Add the beef mince and mix thoroughly for 2-3 minutes. Take out all of your beef mince and mix thoroughly for 2-3 minutes. Take out all of your aggression on the kebab mixture, punching and kneading until no air pockets remain and the kebab meat is extremely smooth.  Shape the seasoned mince into a loaf and place on a baking tray. Bake in the middle shelf of the oven for 1 hour 20 minutes, turning the loaf half way through the cooking time to ensure even browning.  Once cooked, remove from the oven and cover with foil. Allow to rest for 10 minutes. Slice the donor kebab as thinly as possible and serve with pitta and salad.  NOTE: On F&H you can have WW pitta bread, if doing ProPoints you will need to add extra pp's for the pitta bread.

Have a great day, Eat Gorgeous & BeYOUtiful. xx