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Turning 40

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I turn 40 in less than two months. 40. That age that when I was a child seemed like old age yet now feels like I blinked after turning 25 and here I am. I’m not worried about turning 40, it doesn’t feel like a huge change yet it is. 40 is very different to being IN your 30’s. It feels like a different statement is made when you say I’m 40 as to when you say you are late 30’s especially as a woman.

Women of my generation are lucky in that in most cases women are now getting celebrated at all ages. We see stories every day of women who started careers at 40 or 50, female actors winning awards and sometimes even not choosing to start families until they are my age. 40 is not over the hill by any means but it just feels different.

I think for me the biggest issue I have with it is that I don’t feel healthy or well and the older I get the more that seems like it may be something I can’t change. I am doing everything I can to better myself and get well but a lot of it is out of my control. I imagined having big parties and weeks of celebrations for my 40th but I can’t think of many things right now which wouldn’t cost me too much physically to do. I know my family, my friends and my partner will want to make it a big deal for me and I appreciate that in so many ways yet the thought of it alone is tiring.

In lockdown I had a few things I knew I wanted to achieve before my 40th, then I caught covid in October 2020 and quite honestly nothing has been the same since. I wasn’t hospitalised, thankfully I didn’t die ( obviously) but my life has been significantly impacted by a virus which honestly when I caught it I thought oh great I can get this out of the way now and thank goodness I am at the best fitness I’ve been in for a long time so I can beat it. Um no covid doesn’t work like that and long covid sufferers are more than likely to be women of my age who were previously fit. I’ve had to adapt my life and there are some goals which I’ve had to put on the back burner maybe forever.

I am determined that this next year will see an improvement in some way in my health. I am determined to make my life better for my girls and my partner and my family. It will not be easy but I will do it. Not sure how exactly but I will. For now I am going to look to my 40th and find a way to share that time and celebrate it with the ones I love.

I bet you missed my rambles? More to come I’m sure…

Are You Getting Enough?

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Fruit and Veg that is. Most of us have had it instilled in us over the years that we should be having our five a day but did you know some countries recommend seven a day, ten a day? Japan even recommend thirteen!

Unfortunately a LOT of us aren’t getting anywhere near that.

I was invited to an event recently by Tropicana and the stats were eye opening and definitely made me think.

I asked a question on social media last week about whether people thought they were getting their 5 a day. A high percentage of people admitted to difficulty in getting their little ones to eat the right amount of varied fruit and vegetables – even more admitted to ensuring their little ones had their quota but they themselves knew they weren’t actually eating enough. I can understand this – I know I worry a lot about what my children eat but some days as a busy mum I grab something quick and easy and not a lot of thought goes into what I’m eating.

Do you know what a portion size is?

We should be eating 5 x 80g of varied fruit and vegetables each day. A minimum of 400g per day.

Did you know one of your 5 a day could be achieved by simply drinking a glass of orange juice?

Five surprising ways to get your 5 A Day from Independent Nutritionist Fiona Hunter

1. Use 100% fruit juice to make jelly or salad dressings– just 150mls of 100% fruit juice will count as one of your 5 A Day. If you’re following a dairy free diet, make your own muesli and soak it in juice to give your breakfast some zing in the morning!

2. Try adding chunks of apple, mango, pineapple or slices of pear to a green salad or add dried fruits like ready-to-eat apricot or raisins to rice, pasta or couscous salad.

3. Serve roast pumpkin or celeriac instead of roast potatoes. Slice pumpkin or
butternut squash or celeriac into large chunks and place in a roasting tin, drizzle over a little olive oil. Season to taste and bake at 400C/gas mark 6 for 30- 40minutes.

4. Serve meat or fish with a spicy salsa – mix finely chopped red onion, chilli and tomato with avocado. For a fruity salsa, mix onion, chilli mango and cucumber.

5. Mix cooked pureed spinach, carrot or shredded cabbage and thinly sliced spring onion into mashed potatoes.

I’ve started to make a concerted effort to increase our intake of fruit and veggies as a family. Fruit isn’t usually a problem for us as we all enjoy it but I’m aware that we don’t always get the right amount each day and there isn’t always enough variation in what we eat!

On her way home from school we typically give Izzy a banana to munch on – she is always incredibly hungry but I’d rather not give her a chocolate bar or bag of sweets unless it’s an occasional treat.
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On some days she has a Tropicana kids carton too which is a blend of orange juice and water – another one of her 5 a day. Done.

Because we eat dinner as a family around 5.30 – 6pm I give the girls a plate of veggies/fruit to munch on at about 4pm. Sometimes with a peanut butter dipping pot which they LOVE.

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It tides them over until our main meal, gets extra goodness in them and also keeps them quiet for 15 minutes! Always a bonus.

When I make our meals I try to find ways to add extra fruit and vegetables into them. Like this chicken curry to which I added peaches and frozen peas as well as frozen spinach. The peaches made it slightly sweet and well frozen spinach and peas are the simplest ways to add greens to your meal.

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Recipe to follow soon!

Do you want to find out more about how juice can help you achieve your 5 a day? Visit the Tropicana website for more info.

The Doctor will tell you what is good for you…

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One of the things that nobody warns you about when becoming a parent is the amount of times your child will get ill. The amount of times you will hold a thermometer to their skin, hold a sick bowl or administer calpol at 3am. The amount of times you will question yourself about whether to call the Doctor/go the hospital or call NHS direct..the amount of times you will ask your partner “What do you think we should do?”

Being a parent is hard. I imagine as your child gets old it gets a little easier as they can tell you where it hurts and how much etc etc but when you have a toddler with a consistently high temperature but no visible signs of any other affliction- what do you do?

This week began with us laughing about our lazy daughter. She was asking earlier than normal to go to bed and having teenager like strops when being woken from her daytime nap. We laughed about it. Lazy girl.

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Then on Monday night she felt hot! Really hot. Her temperature when I managed to get a reading after all her wriggling was a steady 39.3. I gave her calpol, it didn’t do much. We gave her ibuprofen and it reduced enough for us to think we didn’t need a Doc but not enough for any of us to sleep peacefully. She slept fitfully in a bath of sweat but the next morning she was a little brighter (still hot) her appetite didn’t return and she wasn’t her usual beaming self but we weren’t too worried-just teething surely? Yesterday was much of the same with a terrible nights sleep for all of us, fever again with an obviously unhappy girl and calpol/ibuprofen doses every 4 hours. We were all exhausted and slept until an unheard of 10am. Mad. When she woke she was sad, really sad. Whining and telling me she was crying, not wanting food and incredibly hot.

I gave in. I called the GP for advice. My Doctor listened to all I said and asked me lots of questions. He told me that he wasn’t overly concerned from what I’d said and that he would see her Thursday morning (24hrs later) I almost agreed but I looked at her peaky face and sad eyes somehow knowing she wasn’t right. He agreed to see her today – he wasn’t happy about it but I insisted.

At the surgery the first thing he did was take her temperature, then he took it again and then once more. It was 40.2. He didn’t quite believe it. He told me that we may have to take her to the hospital. After a (very ) thorough check he established that she had an ear and throat infection and was probably in a fairly huge amount of pain. Poor Izzy. I felt awful. I think he did too. I’m so glad I insisted but still feel guilty that I left her suffer for several days.

But how do you know when to make that call? How do you know it isn’t just teething or a fever which would break on its own?

When do you brave the wrath of the inquisitive doctors receptionist when you dare to ask for an appointment? Or the GP’s critical face when it really is nothing?

I would say if you feel that something isn’t right it probably isn’t. It’s better to check. Only you as a parent know your child. Even today when Izzy quite frankly looked hideous and ever so sad the GP told me he was astonished at a child looking so well with that high temp and infection but to me I knew – she wasn’t right. I don’t think I will do that again, leave it so long because I felt I was being over cautious.

How do you decide when to take that next step? Is it when they aren’t sleeping or sleep too much? Not eating/drinking or do you just know?

One thing I do have to say is the Cbeebies show Be Happy, be healthy and get well soon has made GP visits so much easier as Izzy gets excited saying Doctor Doctor and is very relaxed about being examined. Thank you Dr Ranj.