Top Sante Photoshoot!

After losing 3 stone and battling my eating demons with Thinking Slimmer, I have become a little bit of a minor celebrity in the world of weightloss!  After my feature in the Sun, I was approached by Top Sante to do an article along with Ian, my long suffering husband, to look deeper into my issues with food and how the Slimpods have changed our lives.  We had a 2 hour interview and today we had our photoshoot.

I was sent two gorgeous dresses from Debenhams (size 12 Yay!  Still can't believe I'm not a 16 anymore!) and had a make-up artist arrive at my house to get me ready for the photoshoot with photographer Thomas Skovsende.  We were on location at a local hotel, Goldstone Hall.

Thankfully the weather was incredibly kind and so we didn't freeze or get rained on.  Apart from my high heels sinking into the lawn, there were no problems and me and Ian enjoyed having a professional take photos of us.  We've never had professional pictures taken of us, not even when we got married, so we enjoyed the experience.  Thomas was an artist who knew exactly what he wanted to achieve and wasn't afraid to tell me I was looking "freaky" when a concept wasn't working!  I don't know how his "au naturel" shots will look, he favours taking photos of real people doing real things rather than staging unnatural poses. (Very different to the Sun where it was all 'pop your hip' and 'bend that knee' etc)

Here's a couple of photos that were taken on my own camera of me and Ian in our outfits.  I have to wait until the magazine comes out to see Thomas's shots of us.

The Top Sante magazine article is due to be published in February, all going well.  

This is Day 4 of #NaBloPoMo 

Bonfire Night Fashion with Next

This weekend we will be donning gloves, scarves and hats and venturing out into the cold, dark November evening for Bonfire Night.  Ready for rockets, sparklers and Catherine Wheels, my children will be looking forward to the explosive fun of November 5th.

Next have a wonderful range of clothing for the older children in their Winter range which would be perfect for this weekend and beyond, seeing your children through the chilly weeks ahead whilst still looking stylish and trendy.

My 9 year old daughter Kizzy would be delighted to wear this ensemble from the older girls' collection for girls aged 3-16 years old.  It would be warm and cosy, practical and bang on trend.  The layered look is really fashionable and perfect for the colder weather.

Checked Hoody £16-21

Hooded Gilet £20-26

Mid wash Jeans £16-22

Suede Duck Boots £24-30

These gorgeous Winter Warmers are fabulous.  I love the colours and the design.  The boots are great and such good value, I love the fur lining.  Find these and other key items for winter online or instore at Next.

I'm No Nigella!!

I love to cook.  When I feel motivated, I love getting creative in the kitchen and experimenting with new ingredients, tweaking favourite recipes and getting use out of all my items of equipment.  So when Russell Hobbs held a competition on their Facebook page to find contestants for their Cookery Challenge, I jumped in with both feet.  I was utterly shocked to be chosen as one of four, who would compete in a cook off against four food bloggers, taking part in four challenges. I immediately had a feel of dread, comparing my skills against experienced cooks.  Each week a different Russell Hobbs Allure appliance is the focus of the challenge, and we cook a dish around a theme and video ourselves doing so.  Despite my fear of humiliation, this is pretty much right up my street!  I do like to step outside my comfort zone and be inspired to try something different.  I may not ever win a Michelin Star, but I can give this challenge a good go!

The only problem is that I talk utter gibberish when on camera.  As soon as the Flip is switched on, I lose control of my mouth.  This is OK if you are just doing a vlog, you can just retake what you want to say and consign the gibberish to the virtual cutting room floor.  But when you are cooking, there can be no retakes.  No second chances. Once you have cracked that egg, whisked the mixture or fried that onion, you can't undo it.  What you say and do is captured forever.

Watching back footage of me gibbering on about what I'm doing, spouting random nonsense or overusing the word "pop" in place of put, makes me cringe!!  But there is no going back when recording a step by step recipe.  I have new respect for Nigella, Jamie and anyone who has ever been on Masterchef.  They make it look effortless and easy to chat about whisking eggs, "popping" things in the oven and serving up to make the food look good and not like roadkill.

So far I've made Lentil and Caramelised Onion Curry served with raita and chutney and an Autumnal Apple and Almond Cake.  I'm having real fun with it.  The recipe videos are going live at the Cookery Challenge page soon.  Public embarrassment awaits!!

Here's photos of my first two efforts which I am pretty proud of...I'm glad I've thrown myself into yet another crazy challenge and even though my embarrassing banter is an issue which makes editing quite tricky, I'm having a blast!!

NaBloPoMo Day 3 

Avocado...How Do You Have Yours?

My eldest sister was very much into her fancy foods. Coming from a quintessentially English meat and two veg family, I found her cuisine quite exotic back in the day!  She first introduced me to avocados.  This was not however a successful introduction.  My sister's ideas were fancy but the execution was not always as well thought out!  The avocado was horribly over ripe, which is definitely not the best way to eat them. My early foray into avocado was a little disastrous, but I am never one to be deterred by a bad experience.

The Avocado is sometimes referred to as an alligator pear with its leathery outer layer!  Within its reptilian skin lies a green flesh which really is a superfood.  It is recommended that you peel a ripe avocado with your hands to preserve the dark green flesh which is rich in carotenoid anti-oxidants. There are over 20 nutrients within the creamy  flesh, each one supporting our health.   85% of the avocados calories come from fat, but this is not a bad thing.  The fat is rich in health benefits for our bodies and is a mono-saturate which actually reduces our risk of heart disease.  So consuming avocado is beneficial and definitely recommended!

Over the years I have revisited avocados in a variety of ways.  My favourite way of enjoying them has to be as an accompaniment to Mexican food...as Guacamole.    I have a friend who professes to make the best Guacamole in the world.  I can't confirm this claim, having never tried every other variety in the world, but I can confirm that it is good! I've tried supermarket varieties.  I've bought long life versions in squeezy bottles.  I've even made my own. Perfect to dip, spread or pop into veggie fajitas, it adds a wonderful flavour and creamy texture that compliments the meal perfectly.

To make your own Guacomole, you can simply mix ready made salsa with mashed, ripe avocado.  It's that easy, although Avocado purists may cringe at the cheating aspect of this short cut.  But for a quick and easy side dish to your Mexican meal, this is genius!  Jamie Oliver makes a green Guacomole by blitzing up chillis, lime juice, avocado and fresh coriander.  Some people add sour cream or diced red onion and tomato.  Sometimes garlic finds it way into the mix.  Chunky or smooth, anything goes. Guacomole is as personal and diverse as you want it to be!

For me, the recipe I use is this:

2 fresh green chillies deseeded and finely chopped
1 onion finely chopped
Handful of fresh coriander
3 ripe avocados mashed
1 ripe medium tomato diced
Juice of 1 lime
Salt and pepper


Blitz the chilli and coriander into a paste.  Mash the avocado and stir in the paste. Mix in diced tomato and onion.  Add lime juice and season. Simple! Serve with tortilla chips.

 This is my entry into the Avocado Brotherhood competition!

My Name is Wendy and I'm an Addict

I can imagine myself in a draughty community centre hall.  A circle of chairs in the centre of the room are filled with nervous, fidgety people avoiding eye contact with each other, staring at the floor between their shuffling feet.  Slowly I stand up and take a deep breath as I announce "My name is Wendy and I'm an addict."  The ripple of applause rewards my admission and puts me on the path to recovery.

But what is the addiction I am confessing to?  I've battled my demons. I no longer drink and have been riding the wagon of sobriety for over 4 years.  I haven't  smoked since I was a nightclubbing teenager, back in the days when it was acceptable to wave a lit cigarette around on a crowded dance floor, risking the ignition of the alarming quantity of flammable hairspray that was synonymous with '80s hairdos.  I have even conquered the binge eating, yo-yo dieting that has plagued my adult life.  As for sex addiction?  Really, who has the time for that!  Drugs??  Hell I don't even drink caffeine and I totally hate taking  so much as an aspirin.  However, I do have a dirty secret....

I am an absolute unstoppable force to be reckoned with when faced with a bargain.  I'm not talking 50% off some designer handbag, or even the half price sale at Next.  I'm talking bargain basement, post seasonal  goodies sold at silly prices.  Things I don't need or even want.  Sometimes I don't even use them...but I MUST have them!

Today I went shopping and this is just some of the haul I returned with....

Halloween goodies galore...art sets, costumes, cups, plates, jugs, goblets, hats, masks, gloves, candle holders, scene setters, decorations, toys...all sorts of nonsense!  I just can't turn my back on the shelves of unbought Halloween/Easter/Christmas fayre that appears in the days following these events.  My garage is overflowing with things bought over the years but I can't help adding to my collection!

My eldest daughter despairs as I fill my trolley with armfuls of nonsense...but I can't help it.  It calls to me to give it a home.  Besides...who could resist buying  Make Your Own Halloween Craft sets reduced from £2 to 8p!!  I couldn't...I bought 20!!  And how about an inflatable axe for £1?!  I need one of those...honestly.  The monster windsocks for 35p were just too tempting...I got one of each design.  And you can never have too many spider napkins for 15p a pack.

So Wilkinson, Asda and Morisson's will find their shelves significantly emptier after my visit today.  But as a result my overcrowded garage has now got to house 4 huge bags of Halloween nonsense which I hope I remember to dig out to use next October!   Good job we love Horror stuff...maybe Fred can have a Monster Party for his 3rd birthday next year!  And who said that tinsel with skulls and spiders in it can't be used for Christmas??

At the end of the day, my obsession for buying mad novelty items for rock bottom prices isn't that awful.  I just thank my lucky stars however that my compulsion for purchasing does not extend to anything costing more than a couple of quid.  If I was a shopaholic with a passion for fashion and a desire for shoes and handbags, then I'd really be in trouble!  My entire stash today did not equate to more than the price of a pair of designer shoelaces...and they are going to bring much more fun!

**NaBloPoMo Day 2!**

Exciting Celebrity Announcement!

Today, the stylishly haired celebrity who is becoming the new "Face of Regis Salons" is being announced!  I am honoured to be one of the chosen few privy to this exclusive and exciting news which I am now allowed to share with you!  Just watch the short video below to find out who is going to be heading up this exciting campaign.  Plus you can find out how your own stylish locks could win you some fabulous prizes.

To celebrate Emma Willis becoming the Face of Regis Salons, there is a competition to find the UK's most covetable hairstyles in the LOCKS, ROCK & LOAD competition on the Regis UK Facebook page.  Style your Locks, Rock your look and up-Load your picture to the Facebook page.  The overall winner will receive a whole year's worth of hair services and a Canon 550D digital camera.  10 runners up will each receive a cut and colour up to the value of £100.

There is also a great competition on Twitter.  Just follow @RegisUK and look out for and RT the competition tweet.

Emma will also be writing a monthly blog for Regis at haveagreathairday.co.uk/emmawillis

I will soon be treated to my own Regis Cut and Colour and will be writing about my experience and rocking my locks!!

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NaBloPoMo Challenge

Never one to shirk away from a challenge, I am now signed up to NaBloPoMo!  I know it sounds like an infectious tropical disease, but NaBloPoMo is actually a natty little contraction of "National Blog Posting Month" where bloggers are being challenged to publish a blog post every day for the whole of November.  It is organised by the folks at Blogher in the USA, but this year we are joining in thanks to nlpmum.com.

I am quite a prolific blogger anyway.  But I'm using this challenge to reconnect with the reason I started blogging.  That is to write about me, my life, my family, our adventures.  I am going to try to write a daily post that is not review based, a competition post or sponsored.  I do love reviewing and truly believe it is a completely valid  part of the blogging world.  However, I have become a bit lazy and not really stretched myself or my imagination to the extent that I should.  So I am going to delve a little deeper and give a little more of myself this month. I'll still be keeping up with my review commitments

In the past I have found it very therapeutic to write about times in my life that I had previously kept buried.  I have written about my depression, my weight and eating issues, battling my demons and my teenage years.  I also love to talk about my five children and my parenting ideas; my husband who has been my rock through thick and thin and my extended family.  I love a good debate and usually have an opinion on everything!  So there is lots of material for a month of posts!

Why don't you join in?  The Facebook page has prompts and motivational ideas in case you get writer's block and you will find great support from other bloggers.  It is also a chance to discover some new blogs  for yourself as other bloggers will be posting links to their NaBloPoMo posts!

So with this challenge set...I will power through November one blog post at a time!