Getting out of bad habits!

I felt like before my operation I'd got into a really good routine of having the right balance between clean food and junk food in order to maintain my weight. Honestly, I hadn't factored it in as something that would be affected by my surgery - I was wrong! 

To be honest the first two weeks after surgery I had to just let food happen! My family very lovingly looked after me, that included anything they could russle up or pick up from a shop/takeaway. Plus most of my visitors brought me sweets & chocolate. The problem is now I'm trying to find my feet again, metaphorically and physically! But what I eat isn't just 'clicking' back into place for me. Half the time I have no appetite, the rest of the time I just want pastries or chocolate which totally isn't 'me'!

I think the fact that I haven't been able to go grocery shopping yet doesn't help. Normally I have lots of clean and healthy snacks bought in. Also, I love to bake. I'm forever cooking clean cookies, oatmeal, scones etc. 

Mentally I'm struggling. All the guilt tripping negativity is coming back but as always I'll battle against it. I know it'll be fine in the long run but let thus be a little advance warning, surgery + healthy eating is hard!!! 

As always, much love, Beth xxx

What I use to edit my photos...

Recently I've discovered a few apps that have completely transformed my attitude towards photo editing. I've always used Instagrams standard filters but you know how frustrating it can be when none of them make your photo look the way you envisioned. 

       So, I was watching a vlog by Ben Brown were he showed how he edits his photos for Instagram. He mentioned Snapseed for the basic adjustments - exposure, crop, temperature, colour etc. Then another app called VSCOcam for filters, grain and fade.

      Personally I just love the feel that VSCOcam gives you. They aim to provide filters that give a vintage, film camera feel to them. Here's a few examples of unedited photos next to photos I've edited through the two apps...

I hope you have a go at using these apps! 

Much love, Beth xxx

Endometriosis - why it's not wrong to ask questions!

I feel like as we go through life we all learn lessons. I learnt one just last week! I'm hoping maybe my new found knowledge might be able to help some of you too. 

Any timid guys might want to stop reading here... The dreaded 'P' word is coming up!

Being honest, I don't think I ever would have found out I had endometriosis if it hadn't been for my mum. I've always had painful periods from the word go! Every other girl in high school seemed to float through their period without any bother and I'd be the crazy girl sitting in the corner rocking back and forth, cramped up in pain, with the P.E teacher trying to convince me I'd be in less pain if I ran around the room for the lesson... Fun!

But after numerous doctors appointments with not much feedback other than being prescribed painkillers. I genuinely believed excruciating pain was normal or at least normal for me. I knew about cysts on your ovaries but beyond that I was naïve. 

Back in December, I was in quite a lot of pain in my stomach and I went to see a GP, I ended up being admitted to hospital with suspected appendicitis. Many tests later, my appendix was fine! But a cyst had shown up in a scan of my ovaries. 

Hence why I was initially referred to a gynaecologist. At an appointment 3 months later, I kind of felt like it was going no where, after doing another scan and the doctor not being able to see a cyst this time, I was beginning to feel like it was all in my head. Fortunately my pushy, but very loving, mum wasn't leaving the appointment without some sort of explanation. It was then that a laparoscopy for endometriosis was suggested. 

Even right up to the morning of my surgery, I felt like it was a waste of their time, I genuinely thought they wouldn't find anything... How wrong I was!

So...Don't give up! Make a nuisance of yourself and always always always be honest with people about your symptoms.

When trying to do research on the surgery I found a surprisingly little amount of Information on what would happen and how long it would take to recover. So, I'll be doing another post about the operation and the after affects.

I'm a week post surgery now and doing well despite quite a lot of pain initially! 

Thank you for reading this (if any guys continued reading, wow, you have my respect).

Much love, Beth xxx

A healthier version of an Irish Scone

A few weeks back I was craving a scone but since I was at home and had the time I wanted to make something instead of buying it. I also wanted to see if I could make a healthier version of our family recipe for scones. Of course I headed to Pinterest! 

       I had a look for an Irish scone recipe and something came up for a mix between a scone and a soda bread. I wanted to give it a go, however I did make a few adaptations... I added nuts, chia seeds and flax seeds as well as exchanging the white flour for wholewheat flour. 

Here's the link to the recipe I found: http://thekitchenmccabe.com/2014/03/03/irish-fruit-and-oatmeal-scones/

      They turned out really well! I found that they were quite different to any other baked goods I'd made before but they tasted great - I even had my brother request I make them again. Just a tip, I found they don't rise much so only roll it out as thick as you want it. Enjoy! And let me know if you have a go at making them! 

I can't wait to make them again :) 

Much love, Beth xxx

Ed Sheeran at the 3 Arena, Dublin on Friday 3rd October!

I was privileged enough to get to see Ed Sheeran live! My friends and I have been fans for the longest time, so with the release of his latest album and news of his tour we knew we wanted to go see him!

I think Ireland loves Ed! There was 4 nights in Dublin, in a row, all sold out! We managed to get tickets to the first night of his concerts. We queued in the downpour of rain for just over 2 hours... I literally felt like I couldn't move when they finally let us in, my jeans had absorbed most of the rain and i felt like I was dragging my legs behind me! It was worth it!

As a spoonie, you're probably wondering how did I cope with the travelling, standing etc? To be honest, I had to accept that I was going to be in pain. In an ideal world, I wouldn't have stood around, I wouldn't have bought a standing ticket and I would have arrived just before the concert started. But would that have been fun? For me...no! 

I had an amazing time with my friends, my best friend was really considerate about people pushing against me, we couldn't exactly stop it but knowing someone had my back helped. 

As you can imagine Ed sheeran was amazing, he performed just him, his guitar and a loop pedal for the whole performance, infront of 20,000 people each night... Just amazing! I loved the sections of the concert were he just improvised and used the audience participation as inspiration!

The warm up act (I hate calling them that) were Saint Raymond. I thought I'd never heard of him but apparently I had come across a YouTube video of his in the past so I knew one of the songs. His music was really unique and definitely something I'm in to. I've been listening to Saint Raymond since the concert so I guess that speaks for itself! 

Here's a few photos from the concert...

I hope you're having a great week!

Much love, Beth xxx

Quotes that help me improve!

One of my favourite things to do is find inspirational quotes that help me improve mentally and realise that other people are going through the same situations and feeling as me. I'm always trying to become a better version of myself, here's a few quotes that have helped me recently...

What quotes have helped you recently?

Much love,, Beth xxx