The Weighting Game

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Diet, Health, weight loss

November 10, 2012

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In my profession I come across so many people who are unhappy about the way they look and frustrated about the way they feel.  Whether this is at a conscious or a subconscious level, it can deeply influence their moods and their self-talk, which over time affects their self-esteem bringing their quality of life down.

This frustration leads them to look for quick solutions to lose those extra pounds. They end up going on fad diets, cutting out food groups and lowering their calorie intake by skipping meals or starving themselves to lose a few pounds.  These results do show up as weight loss.  Yeah!! Success!! Maybe – but only short lived.

Here are some of my tips to losing FAT

1/ Dump your diet

Going on a diet is not the answer: it only provides a short-term solution to a long-term problem.  Let’s face it: if diets did work we would all be skinny and it wont be a  £30 million industry!  Besides, counting calories and weighing food is not how we are meant to live. It may help you to lose weight really fast, (mainly water and lean muscle) but it comes back on with a vengeance and the lost lean muscle is replaced by fat.  It also slows down your metabolism, which makes it a challenge to keep the weight off.

2/ Get rid of your weighing scales

Your weight can fluctuate anywhere between 2 to 6 pounds in one day and if you are a female it is hugely affected by the monthly cycle.  If you must, absolutely must weigh yourself then resist the urge to weigh yourself daily.  Just weigh yourself once a week, ideally first thing in the morning.  I would recommend investing in a Body Composition Monitor that uses an Electrode Technology to monitor your body fat, muscle mass, bone mass etc, its a lot more accurate, work towards building muscle and losing fat.

3/ Eat more whole foods

It’s much easier to over eat on processed foods, but by eating more whole foods you get more fibre in your diet, which is satisfying and helps you feel fuller for longer.  You are not likely to over eat on brown rice but it’s easily done on white sticky rice.  Whole foods take longer to break down into sugar and enter the bloodstream more slowly therefore less likely to cause insulin related problems. So, by eating more of the best, you will eat less of the rest.

4/ Eat 5 to 6 small meals a day, combining all food groups

It’s much better to eat little and often rather then skipping meals and then eating a big meal. Having 5 to 6 small meals and snacks will ensure your blood sugar level doesn’t drop which results in cravings.

Make sure for every meal you combine a good Lean Protein with low Glycemic Carbs, Essential Fats and Fiber.  It’s easier than you think – for example, you could have an apple with a handful of nuts.  An apple gives you the low Glycemic carb and roughage (from the skin) and almonds will give you the good quality protein and essential fats. Simples!

5/ Always plan you meals in advance

If your meals for the week are planned and the grocery shopping done you are less likely to grab processed or convenience food and more likely to take a yummy salad to work.  Getting the meat out of the freezer before you go to work in the morning, having a fridge full of your favorite veggies will get you cooking a quick meal when you get home late from work.  Even making a quick omelet and having it with a salad is a healthy option.  Or throw a sweet potato in the oven (it takes about 20 minutes to cook) whilst you prepare a small salad and go through your post.

If you would like more personalised, individual support to help you lose weight, I am now currently taking enrolments for my “28 Days to a Slim and Sexy You Programme” to improve your health with the benefit of losing weight and keeping it off.

It includes a FREE consultation, 5 coaching calls, tons of handout material, daily tips and yummy recipes to make sure you feel great and keep the weight off forever. Email me if you’re interested, or for more information

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Demystify Your Health

Categories:

Diet, Health, weight loss

November 6, 2012

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When I”m chatting to people who I can see are trying really hard to improve their health, I hear them earnestly telling me all of the things they are doing that don”t seem to be working.  All I ask them to consider is where their information is coming from.  Health is sadly not taught at schools alongside Algebra, even though it”s something that would impact most peoples quality of life more then Algebra ever could.   I always like to keep health simple and say to my clients that if its heavily marketed then keep away from it. The purpose of clever marketing is to increase sales not to tell facts.

So over the next few weeks I will publish a series of some of the common mistakes most people make on their journey to health.

MISTAKE No. 1 – Dieting And Depriving Yourself.

The diet industry is one of the largest industries in the world.  There are all sorts of books written about how to lose weight, there are more diets out there than hot meals you can eat in a whole year.  Crazy diets like Grapefruit Diet, Cabbage Diet, Protein Diet etc.  Hold on!! Just think about it if the diets really worked we would all be skinny and happy and the diet industry would not exist!

Diets, by their very nature, are doomed to fail. That’s because when we “go on” a diet, we know that at some stage we are going to “come off” that diet. Once we reach our ideal weight, we go back to how we were eating before – which is what made us put on online casino the weight in the first place! This is when you look for another diet and then another. Diets are nothing more than a quick fix solution to a long-term challenge. So the key is to look at eating habits, health and wellness as a lifestyle, not a short term fix.

If your body is deprived of any macro-nutrients, it will crave for food, this is when no matter how strong your will power you will cave in, this then causes more frustration and negative self talk, believe me it has nothing to do with your lack of will power. Your body needs to have all that it needs, in order to function properly, and if it does not get it, it tries to compensate and finally shouts out for it.

How to Avoid Mistake No. 1

Promise yourself that you won’t “diet” again, EVER!! Look for programmes that are focused on health as a lifestyle and educate you on how to easily incorporate wellness into your daily life.

Questions To Ask Yourself:

  • Am I eating in a way that promotes my health and gives me energy?
  • Can I easily incorporate this way of eating into my routine for my entire lifetime?
  • How many diets have I tried, and how many of them worked long term?
  • Am I conscious of enjoying my food, and not depriving myself?
  • Do I have more than 10lbs to lose and want to do it in a way that is healthy and sustainable?

Remember Nothing Tastes As Good As Being Healthy Feels.

If you would like more personalised, individual support to help you lose weight, I am currently taking enrolments for my “28 Days to a Slim and Sexy You Programme” to improve your health with the benefit of losing weight and keeping it off.

The programme includes a FREE consultation, 5 coaching calls covering topics like. How Fat Storage Works, the Triad of Health, Managing Trouble Zones and Common Mistakes and much more.   Also included are lots of handout material, daily tips and yummy recipes to make sure you feel great and keep the weight off forever. Email me if you”re interested, or for more information

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What’s Wrong With Coffee?

Categories:

Diet, Health

November 1, 2012

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The other day I heard somebody say to me “What’s wrong with Coffee”?  And my reply was “there is nothing wrong with coffee if you enjoy it, have a cup of organic coffee and really relish it”.  But the reality for the majority of people is that they reach for coffee as a habit, something that fills in a gap for them, for energy boost or if they are stressed.

These are all the wrong reasons. Walk down any high street today and there is no shortage of coffee shops; all doing a booming business because, don’t forget, coffee is addictive.

Everything you eat has an effect on your body; good or bad depends on your choices.  When you drink caffeine, it triggers a stress response by acting on the adrenal glands to make adrenalin (your fight and flight stress hormone) in order to get you out of danger that ‘doesn”t actually exist’. The reason you feel mentally sharper after drinking coffee is because your brain is high on adrenaline, the purpose of which is to get your body ready for fight or flight.  Remember the body reacts the same whether it’s real stress or perceived stress.

So what really goes on in your body whilst you are enjoying your cup of coffee?  Well, triggered by the adrenalin, the blood supply is diverted from all your organs and digestive system towards the limbs in order to ‘make that run’. Now in order to ‘make that run’ your body needs fuel so it communicates to your muscles to release the glucose that is stored as glycogen into your blood stream, this big sugar dump raises your blood sugar level, your blood pressure rises, your heart rate increases, your respiration speeds up, your immune system stops working, your reproductive hormones and organs stop functioning because none of this is important when your life is in danger.

Phew!! It’s stressful just thinking about all that!

Now, of course, during all this time you could just be sat at your desk or sofa with your laptop dealing with your emails and workload causing you physiological stress, or worrying about something that you have no control over, though the hormone still communicates to all your cells that your life is in danger. After years of this abuse your body may suffer from adrenal exhaustion.

As if all that is not bad enough coffee is also an ‘anti-nutrient’ in that it stops the absorption of minerals, vitamins and anti-oxidants.

Caffeine is also a diuretic, leaving you dehydrated, which adds to the stress.

Not to mention that caffeine is addictive and affects your body just like any drug.  As your body develops a tolerance to it, you need more and more to feel the same effects. Eventually, your body reaches a point where, without it, you start to experience withdrawal symptoms.

Instead of reaching for your morning cup of coffee, try eating a healthy breakfast with slow releasing carbohydrates and good quality proteins, followed by a good lunch and you will be able to keep your energy levels up all day. The money you save from your daily coffee fixes can go towards organic foods or good quality supplements to keep your energy levels up and helping your body to repair itself.  Believe me your body will love you for it and you will still be saving money.

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What else leads to Osteoporosis?

Categories:

Diet, Health, Osteoporosis

October 31, 2012

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Growing up in Pakistan, I never saw elderly people hunched over, so when I came to live in the United Kingdom and saw this for the first time, I learnt that the condition is caused by lack of calcium in the diet, which leads to Osteoporosis.  Even though in the west there is much greater consumption of dairy.
This led me to question the traditional belief that calcium deficiency leads to Osteoporosis. It is true that calcium is necessary to prevent it – but it is not the whole truth.

As you get older, bone regeneration slows down whilst bone loss increases. This creates net loss of bone, particularly for women, as they lose calcium during menopause, which can result in weaker bones.  Osteoporosis affects men as well; approximately a quarter of all hip fractures are men.

One other factor to take into account is the blood pH balance and how it affects your bones. You see, bones store calcium and magnesium – both very alkalising minerals.  So, if the blood becomes too acidic the body leeches these minerals out of your bones, leading to porous and weaker bones.

This could be one of the reasons why Osteoporosis is so common in the west even though a lot more dairy is consumed.

Simple dietary changes can make your blood more alkaline which will help keep your bones healthy.

  1. Always eat a salad with meat.  Western diet is very high in meat, which can be damaging to the blood pH balance.  Its best to cut down on meat and choose plant based sources of protein.  However, if you are eating meat then have a salad with it or dark green vegetables.
  2. Eat lots of vegetables, especially dark green vegetables and fruit too this helps to alkalise the blood.
  3. Reduce your sugar intake by cutting down on deserts and substituting with fresh fruits.
  4. Cutting down on tea, coffee, alcohol will help too.  Choose water as often as possible.  If you dont like drinking plain water then try adding a slice of lemon or a slice of cucumber, a piece of ginger or some fresh mint to your water.
  5. Avoid processed, refined foods.  Steer away from white flour products by switching to whole wheat, or try other grains, like oatmeal, quinoa, millet, bulgur, brown rice etc.

Cut down on some of these acid-forming foods.  Alcohol, soft drinks, coffee, white sugar, artificial sweeteners, most boxed cereals as they are highly processed, cheese, meats.

Increase your intake of some of these foods that have an alkaline effect on your blood. Lemons and citrus fruits, (although acidic they have a very alkalising effect on the body) all salads, parsley and other herbs, seaweed, garlic, ginger, alfalfa sprouts, and almost all vegetables and fruits.

Bonus: Cancer cells cant grow in an alkaline environment.

 

 

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Healthy Cells = Healthy Bodies

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Uncategorized

October 30, 2012

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We are made up of around 100 trillion cells and there are about 250 different kinds of cells in our bodies performing different functions, skin cells, muscles cells, immune cells brain cells to name a few. These cells are constantly being renewed all the time.

All these cells need a constant supply of high quality nutrients both macronutrients (fat, protein, carbohydrate) and micronutrients (vitamins minerals and anti-oxidants) in order to function, keep you healthy and provide you with energy. If they fail to get these nutrients in the quantity or the quality that they require, the health of the cells becomes compromised.

Human Cells Under the Microscope

When enough cells in an organ become compromised, the organ itself is compromised and when the organ is compromised, guess what; YOU become compromised and this has an effect on your health and wellbeing and consequently you get sick.

The magic of it all is that if you give your cells (therefore your bodies) what they need in the way of nutrients then the cells (therefore your bodies) heal themselves. So it makes sense to look after our cells and provide them with good quality nutrients.

It’s as simple as that. Healthy cells = healthy bodies.

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5 Major Health Mistakes People Make: #4 Removing whole food groups

Categories:

Diet

October 29, 2012

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Last time I talked about mistake # 3 ‘Avoiding Exercise’ when people are trying to lose weight. This week I want to talk about mistake # 4 ‘Removing Whole Food Groups From Your Diet’.

In the 90s, we removed fats from our diets and loaded up on high-glycemic carbs instead.

Then in the 2000s, so many people followed the Atkins Diet, embracing the fats (including the unhealthy fats) back into our diets, and removing all the carbs, even fruits and vegetables.

What next?

One of the keys to vibrant health and ideal weight is supplying your body with the proper and complete nutrition it needs for the cells to perform and regenerate correctly. Your cells need nutrients from all of the major food groups – low Glycemic or slow releasing carbohydrates, lean proteins, essential fatty acids (you have to get these from your diet because your body does not make them) and fibre.

If you remove any of these macro-nutrients from your diet, your cells can’t function properly. What’s more, you get ravenously hungry and tend to overeat or eat the wrong foods. This is because your body keeps sending out hunger signals because it’s not supplied with all the nutrition it needs. Especially in the western world today our diets are calorie rich and nutrient poor therefore the oxymoron that ‘we are overfed and undernourished’.

How to avoid mistake no. 4

Don’t be swayed by fad diets or programmes that remove whole food groups. Know your options for low glycemic carbs, healthy proteins and good fats, and how to easily combine them.

Questions to Ask Yourself

• Do I know what low-glycemic carbs are?
• Do I include a low-glycemic carb, healthy protein and good fats in every meal and every snack I eat?
• Do I know lots of options for the above so I don’t get bored?
• Do I know how to combine these foods easily so I can make quick and tasty meals every day?
• Do I understand how ‘good fats’ actually help me lose weight?

Remember Nothing Tastes As Good As Being Healthy Feels.

If you would like more personalised, individual support to help you lose weight, I am currently taking enrolments for my “28 Days to a Slim and Sexy You Programme” to improve your health with the benefit of losing weight and keeping it off.

The programme includes a FREE consultation, 5 coaching calls covering topics like. How Fat Storage Works, the Triad of Health, Managing Trouble Zones and Common Mistakes and much more.   Also included are lots of handout material, daily tips and yummy recipes to make sure you feel great and keep the weight off forever. Email me if you’re interested, or for a free 30-minute consultation

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MISTAKE No. 3: Avoiding Exercise

Categories:

Diet, Exercise, Health, weight loss

October 19, 2012

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5 Major Health Mistakes People Make

Last time I talked about mistake # 2 ‘Skipping Meals’ when people are trying to lose weight. This week I want to talk about mistake # 3 ‘Avoiding Exercise’

MISTAKE No. 3: Avoiding Exercise.

Remember playing as a child? For most of us it was our favourite past time. It involved skipping, jumping, hopscotch, climbing trees or chasing our friends and cousins just because ‘it was fun’? We called it play then; now we call it exercise, something that needs to be done, which takes the fun element out of it.

We all know that exercise is important to our health. Today”s lifestyle we spent too much time sitting at our desks, computers, driving, watching TV etc, that our bodies don’t get enough movement. Exercise helps us manage stress, keeps us feeling and looking younger, increases our energy, improves our circulation and our immunity, therefore our ability to recover from illness. Do you still need more convincing… well, it even releases “happy hormones” that can keep us from relying on food to feel good.

However, if exercise feels like a chore then it quite possibly means you haven’t found the right exercise for you, the one that you look forward to and cant wait for the next session. If you are having a busy day then just take 20 minutes out and go for a walk, step out walk for 10 minutes turn around and walk back, done! And you know you feel so much better for it, or break it up in three 10-minute sessions.

Weight or resistance training of some sort should also be incorporated in your exercise regime, especially for women. It helps to maintain bone density, as you get older and also helps to increase your metabolism. Weights wont bulk you up (unless of course you’re on steroids) they will just tone your muscles.

How to avoid mistake no. 3:

Find something active you love to do, and do it often!

If you hate running, for goodness sake don’t run! Find something you love doing. It could be walking, swimming, cycling or try Nordic walking, and even weight classes. There are so many dance classes now with fun music. You could even do Yoga or Pilates. Mix it up as much as you can!

Questions to ask yourself:

• Can I schedule my exercise in my day planner each week and make it non-negotiable?
• Can I have a workout buddy to help keep me accountable?
• Am I doing at least a 20 to 30 minute exercise of any form on a daily basis. (minimum)
• Do I have a coach that can help devise a plan to incorporate all of the above?
• Am I having fun when I am doing my chosen form of exercise

Remember Nothing Tastes As Good As Being Healthy Feels.

If you would like more personalised, individual support to help you lose weight, I am currently taking enrolments for my “28 Days to a Slim and Sexy You Programme” to improve your health with the benefit of losing weight and keeping it off.

The programme includes a FREE consultation, 5 coaching calls covering topics like. How Fat Storage Works, the Triad of Health, Managing Trouble Zones and Common Mistakes and much more.   Also included are lots of handout material, daily tips and yummy recipes to make sure you feel great and keep the weight off forever. Email me if you”re interested, or for more information

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Mistake No. 2 of the 5 Major Health Mistakes People Make: Skipping Meals

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Uncategorized

October 6, 2012

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Last week I talked about ‘Dieting and Depriving Yourself’ as mistake #1 when people are trying to lose weight. This week I want to talk about mistake #2: Skipping Meals.

When you forget to eat breakfast or you skip a meal because you’re too busy or on a mission to lose weight, your body goes into starvation mode. Your metabolism slows down, your blood sugar drops way below the normal level, and this sets off a series of hormone responses in your body that causes you to store fat.

Eventually, you’ll feel so hungry that you will either faint or you’ll have to eat ANYTHING, and it probably would be high glycemic, and not very nutritious.

Eating 5-6 small meals per day actually helps you lose weight, and one of the most important keys to sustainable weight loss, health and energy is keeping your blood sugar stable. When you eat every 3 to 31/2 hours, your blood sugar never gets too high or drops too low. This not only keeps your metabolism happy, it also diminishes those unhealthy cravings for high glycemic and nutritionally deprived sweets cakes and crisps.

You see, when it comes to blood sugar and a healthy weight, what you eat is just as important as how often you eat. If you skip the high glycemic foods that cause your blood sugar to spike, like white bread, boxed cereals, sugar, fruit juices, and processed carbohydrates etc. and instead, chose lots of lean proteins, healthy fats, and low glycemic vegetables, fruits, and whole grains, not only will you feel good, you will also lose weight and your blood sugar will love you for it, as will your body. Did you know that studies have shown that those who eat a high glycemic breakfast consume up to 80% more calories during the day than those who start the morning with a low glycemic meal.

How to avoid mistake no.2

Make it a priority to keep your blood sugar even throughout the day. Eat 5-6 small meals per day, beginning with a healthy, low glycemic breakfast.

Questions to Ask Yourself

• Do I eat every 3 to 4 hours during the day?
• Do I eat breakfast every morning? If so, do I know if it’s low glycemic or high glycemic?
• Do I know which are the healthy choices to include in every meal and snack?
• Do I keep low glycemic nutrition bars, fruit and other healthy snacks in my car, gym bag and work?

Remember Nothing Tastes As Good As Being Healthy Feels.

If you would like more personalised, individual support to help you lose weight, I am currently taking enrolments for my “28 Days to a Slim and Sexy You Programme” to improve your health with the benefit of losing weight and keeping it off.

The programme includes a FREE consultation, 5 coaching calls covering topics like. How Fat Storage Works, the Triad of Health, Managing Trouble Zones and Common Mistakes and much more.   Also included are lots of handout material, daily tips and yummy recipes to make sure you feel great and keep the weight off forever. Email me if you’re interested, or for more information

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5 Major Health Mistakes People Make: #5 Not Taking a Good Quality Multi-Vitamin and Fish Oil Supplement

Categories:

Health

September 6, 2012

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Taking high-quality nutritional supplements is one of the simplest things you can do to improve your health today and for the future. A high-quality multi-vitamin feeds your cells the micronutrients they need (vitamins, minerals and antioxidants) to keep your heart pumping, renewing your skin, building your muscles, your immune system and maintaining a healthy digestive system. A pure fish oil supplement feeds your brain, your nervous system, your hair and your skin; it also makes it easier for your cells to take in the vitamins and minerals they need and release the toxins they don’t need.

As we are made of trillions and trillions of cells, (blood cells, muscle cells, brain cells, immune cells etc) as long as we take care of our cells and give them all that they need in the way of macro and micronutrients, the cells, and therefore our bodies will naturally heal themselves.  (link to my blog on Cells perhaps?) And if you thinking you get everything that your cells need from the foods that you eat, well, think again!  It was certainly true 50 odd years ago but what with intensive farming leading to soil depletion, green farming, the food miles, not to mention the use of strong pesticides and preservatives in our foods.

Of course it’s important to eat a balanced diet, (and organic as far as possible), the supplements simply fill in the gaps in your diets and provide you with what’s missing in our foods today.  The western diet is generally extremely calorie rich and nutrient poor.

How to avoid mistake no.5

Do your research and find the best supplements you can find.

Never sell your health to the lowest bidder. The little extra money you’ll spend on high quality supplements is nothing compared to the price you’ll pay for not taking care of your body.  Plus you get the added benefit of increased energy, better skin, and stronger immune health.  Remember it’s so much easier to look after your health whilst you’ve got it rather than trying to claw it back once its gone.

Questions to Ask Yourself

• Do I take a high-quality multi-vitamin twice a day, every day?

• Do I know how to choose a high-quality multi-vitamin?

• Do I believe that a high-quality multi-vitamin and fish oil can support my health, energy, immune health, skin, hair and anti-aging?

Are you ready to commit and make a HUGE shift in your overall health & wellbeing?

Then give me a call and let me help you. 

Remember Nothing Tastes As Good As Being Healthy Feels.

If you would like more personalised, individual support to help you lose weight, I am currently taking enrolments for my “28 Days to a Slim and Sexy You Programme” to improve your health with the benefit of losing weight and keeping it off.

The programme includes a FREE consultation, 5 coaching calls covering topics like. How Fat Storage Works, the Triad of Health, Managing Trouble Zones and Common Mistakes and much more.   Also included are lots of handout material, daily tips and yummy recipes to make sure you feel great and keep the weight off forever. Email me if you’re interested, or for a free 30-minute consultation

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TO YOU ALL BESTOWED WITH THAT WONDERFUL TITLE “MOTHER”

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Uncategorized

March 18, 2012

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Today on Mothers day, thinking of my mum thousands of miles away I was inspired to write this.  

Motherhood is great, and at times not so great.  You know what I mean; we mums have all been there!  I reckon If you were to put on a scale all the highs and all the lows of motherhood they will probably weigh in the same.  However what the scales cannot measure is the deep joy, the love, the pride, fulfilment and the friendship a mother enjoys throughout the various stages of her role, which completely tips the scales.  Nothing in the world can replace all that. Ever! 

A mother’s role is all-important, it doesn’t just stop with bringing up her children the best she can.  Mother is, in most cases the first teacher the child learns from, and whatever the child learns throughout the early years does not just stop with him or her, it gets passed down the generations.  It’s just as important to pass on all the great values, as it is to love and nurture the child because it’s what shapes future generations.

I am so grateful to my mother who stood for what she believed in and provided me and my sister with the best private education that she could not afford, she fought for it and struggled to do so, not just financially but also in a culture that placed more importance on son’s education, she prioritised our education over my brothers, because she believed that the girls go on to become mothers and they pass on that education and values to shape the future generations.   I am grateful to her for showing me how to go after what you really believe in, against all odds.  So perhaps I am not a rebel.. I am my mothers daughter.  I love you mother, and I hope I have instilled those values in my own two lovely daughters.

What is the biggest lesson you learnt from your mum?

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