Thirteen years ago our wonderful and much loved German shepherd, Nikki, was diagnosed with heart failure and breast cancer having nearly collapsed and had been left at the vets for tests. By late afternoon, the vet broke the news to us that she was too ill to treat and there was really only one course of action to consider. I rang Mike immediately to break the news. This was a pet who was more than just a dog. She was part of the family and fundamentally responsible for Mike and I getting together in the first place thirteen years previously.
Thankfully, Mike said we should go and see her to say our farewells. We were prepared for the worst. But when we arrived at the vets and were shown through to the boarding area there was Nikki Noo, (it sounds daft now but that's what we called her). She was so excited at seeing us and I swear that if dogs could talk she was screaming ‘I’m OK! Please take me home! Please don’t put me to sleep!’. We challenged the vet and we pleaded with him for us to be able to take Nikki home. The vet, Mike Hayes, was a kind man and an extremely compassionate veterinary surgeon. He really loved animals and treated them wonderfully. He told us that medically, Nikki was extremely poorly. Mentally, she was doing well so, yes, we could take her home and see how things progressed.
Over the next month Nikki received so many cuddles and treats. Every day we made her feel special. We loved her and appreciated her and spent many a happy evening remembering the many antics she had got up to during her life. It was four weeks until her health finally gave in and we had to say good bye, but we were so grateful for the fact that we had been given that opportunity - those precious last days to make her feel really special.
Two weeks ago today, my mother-in-law was really poorly and was admitted to hospital. Our doctor warned us that it could be touch and go, particularly as she is 87 years old. As we visited her every day we could see her deteriorating and we were seriously worried about her. Thankfully, medically she was recovering and on Tuesday she came home to us and each day she has improved dramatically. We are so grateful for the excellent care she received in hospital to get her well enough to come home. We are hopeful of a significant recovery.
Over the next weeks, months, and hopefully years, I want to make sure that this very, very special and lovely lady knows how much we love her, appreciate her and respect her. She is a remarkable woman who is extremely capable, motivated, and always looks elegant – to the point that folk stop her in the street and tell her so! She never moans, never criticises, and she is a wonderful friend and mother. She is a true inspiration to us all. I am so pleased that we have the opportunity to say those nice things we think about her to her face and to make her feel really special during the last chapter of her life.
Showing posts with label health. Show all posts
Showing posts with label health. Show all posts
Friday, 11 September 2009
Monday, 17 August 2009
Let’s save our own life!
It is reported that if we eat healthily, are at a healthy weight, take regular exercise and we don’t smoke we can reduce our chances of developing a serious, life-threatening illness by a massive 80%!
Our problem is that we imagine we won’t have the stroke, the heart-attack, the bowel cancer or go blind – it will happen to someone else. But they don’t. The statistics are frightening when you learn how many people are affected and how lives are devastated. But the great news is that even losing SOME weight and taking SOME exercise can dramatically improve your health.
Last week we heard from one of the Trialists who had been testing out my new diet which will be the basis of my new book to be published in the new year. Bill is in his 60’s and is a big man. Bill lost over 1 ½ stone during the trial period and last week told us that he had serious case of cellulitis caused by a insect bite that become badly infected. Bill was told that had he not lost the weight, been eating healthily and taking regular exercise recently, his condition would have left the doctors no alternative but to amputate his leg. Bill is now well on the road to recovery, thankfully.
It’s never a ‘good week’ to start our diet and it’s never a ‘good’ time to get ill either. So, even if we only increase our activity by going for a 15 minute walk every day, or going to an exercise class or playing a sport, it can have a dramatic effect on our health. Then, couple that with eating less high fat food, stopping snacking on crisps and chocolate between meals, and cutting back on our alcohol by 50%, we really could save our life!
Check out our website if you want help, (www.rosemaryconley.com) – we have diet and fitness classes throughout the UK and an online slimming club for those who can’t make it to class – or just make a few simple changes to your lifestyle. You will be so glad when you’ve done it.
Our problem is that we imagine we won’t have the stroke, the heart-attack, the bowel cancer or go blind – it will happen to someone else. But they don’t. The statistics are frightening when you learn how many people are affected and how lives are devastated. But the great news is that even losing SOME weight and taking SOME exercise can dramatically improve your health.
Last week we heard from one of the Trialists who had been testing out my new diet which will be the basis of my new book to be published in the new year. Bill is in his 60’s and is a big man. Bill lost over 1 ½ stone during the trial period and last week told us that he had serious case of cellulitis caused by a insect bite that become badly infected. Bill was told that had he not lost the weight, been eating healthily and taking regular exercise recently, his condition would have left the doctors no alternative but to amputate his leg. Bill is now well on the road to recovery, thankfully.
It’s never a ‘good week’ to start our diet and it’s never a ‘good’ time to get ill either. So, even if we only increase our activity by going for a 15 minute walk every day, or going to an exercise class or playing a sport, it can have a dramatic effect on our health. Then, couple that with eating less high fat food, stopping snacking on crisps and chocolate between meals, and cutting back on our alcohol by 50%, we really could save our life!
Check out our website if you want help, (www.rosemaryconley.com) – we have diet and fitness classes throughout the UK and an online slimming club for those who can’t make it to class – or just make a few simple changes to your lifestyle. You will be so glad when you’ve done it.
Wednesday, 27 May 2009
Has Britain really got talent?
I have to admit that this is the first year I have watched Britain’s Got Talent. And the reason I watched it is simply because, quite by chance, I happened to be watching the programme six weeks ago when Susan Boyle walked on to the stage and sang unbelieveably beautifully. I talked about it at my classes, I made my colleagues watch her on YouTube in the office and every time I watched her sing ‘I Have a Dream’ from Les Miserables, I cried.
I obviously wasn’t alone. That performance has been watched over 100 million times on You Tube. Our lives have been enhanced by Susan’s innocent but beautiful performance.
On Sunday, she had us all on the edge of our seats as we felt the weight of the world’s expectation upon her. She faultered on her second note and we learned later that she had had a cold last week. But her brave and powerful rendition of a difficult song won her a worthy place in Saturday’s final and Susan certainly has set this year’s standard at a very high level.
Whilst Susan’s performance has shocked the nation in a beautifully, positive way, there has been another more surprising side. I am amazed at the very overweight folk who are perfectly happy to flaunt their flab in front of around 14 million folk. But perhaps this is a good thing. Many folk are in denial as to their size and maybe we needed to see what being seriously overweight really looks like. So when Piers Morgan, having just watched a vastly stomached drag queen perform on Monday evening, said that he would be off to the gym the next day, I think he was speaking for a great number of the male population. Let’s hope it worked as a prompt for all of us to eat less and do more!
But let’s look on the positive side. There have been some brilliant dance acts – Diversity and Flawless to name just two who have reached the final, and MD Showgroup ,who are youth campaigners as well as dancers, but who, sadly for them, didn’t get through from last night’s show. But how fantastic to see young folk of today being creative, active, dancing, working as a team and being focussed on a goal. Everyone who has participated will have worked their socks off and, as with all challenges, you win some and you lose some but I really hope that all of these youth dance groups will carry on setting an example to the youth of today. Let’s hope the media will be creating some positive headlines in the press, promoting the fact that young people can have fun keeping fit and entertained without resorting to crime.
And the shock of last evening’s show was the fact that Stavros Flatley, a Greek-style Riverdance parody performed by a 41-year-old dad and his 12-year-old son were voted straight through to the final. I do not believe that they earned the viewers’ vote because of their dancing skills. But when ‘dad’, Demetrios Demetriou, publicly thanked his son for inviting him to dance with him and tearfully explained to the nation that their relationship had blossomed as a result, I think a little tear must have filled a lot of eyes across the land and I bet there were more male voters last night than ever. We should not underestimate the value of ‘doing things together’ as families, helping family members to bond and get to know each other better. That is exactly why we have launched Kids 2 which are health and fitness courses for parents and children. The emotional and practical results are priceless. If we don’t have a Kids 2 course running near you yet, you could contact your local Rosemary Conley franchisee (please enter your postode to find your nearest franchise) and register your interest.
I obviously wasn’t alone. That performance has been watched over 100 million times on You Tube. Our lives have been enhanced by Susan’s innocent but beautiful performance.
On Sunday, she had us all on the edge of our seats as we felt the weight of the world’s expectation upon her. She faultered on her second note and we learned later that she had had a cold last week. But her brave and powerful rendition of a difficult song won her a worthy place in Saturday’s final and Susan certainly has set this year’s standard at a very high level.
Whilst Susan’s performance has shocked the nation in a beautifully, positive way, there has been another more surprising side. I am amazed at the very overweight folk who are perfectly happy to flaunt their flab in front of around 14 million folk. But perhaps this is a good thing. Many folk are in denial as to their size and maybe we needed to see what being seriously overweight really looks like. So when Piers Morgan, having just watched a vastly stomached drag queen perform on Monday evening, said that he would be off to the gym the next day, I think he was speaking for a great number of the male population. Let’s hope it worked as a prompt for all of us to eat less and do more!
But let’s look on the positive side. There have been some brilliant dance acts – Diversity and Flawless to name just two who have reached the final, and MD Showgroup ,who are youth campaigners as well as dancers, but who, sadly for them, didn’t get through from last night’s show. But how fantastic to see young folk of today being creative, active, dancing, working as a team and being focussed on a goal. Everyone who has participated will have worked their socks off and, as with all challenges, you win some and you lose some but I really hope that all of these youth dance groups will carry on setting an example to the youth of today. Let’s hope the media will be creating some positive headlines in the press, promoting the fact that young people can have fun keeping fit and entertained without resorting to crime.
And the shock of last evening’s show was the fact that Stavros Flatley, a Greek-style Riverdance parody performed by a 41-year-old dad and his 12-year-old son were voted straight through to the final. I do not believe that they earned the viewers’ vote because of their dancing skills. But when ‘dad’, Demetrios Demetriou, publicly thanked his son for inviting him to dance with him and tearfully explained to the nation that their relationship had blossomed as a result, I think a little tear must have filled a lot of eyes across the land and I bet there were more male voters last night than ever. We should not underestimate the value of ‘doing things together’ as families, helping family members to bond and get to know each other better. That is exactly why we have launched Kids 2 which are health and fitness courses for parents and children. The emotional and practical results are priceless. If we don’t have a Kids 2 course running near you yet, you could contact your local Rosemary Conley franchisee (please enter your postode to find your nearest franchise) and register your interest.
Thursday, 30 April 2009
So drinking wine will make you live longer?
In the news today is the announcement that if you drink half a glass of wine a day, you could live five years longer. Is this good news, I wonder, or is it just going to make us feel guilty if we drink a whole glass or worry if we don’t like wine?
The body has an interesting relationship with alcohol. On the one hand we are told it is good for our health, and on the other, the body treats alcohol as a toxin and works very hard to burn it off. In fact, in the pecking order of how the body burns the food and drink we consume, alcohol goes straight to the top of the queue, followed by carbohydrate and protein. Fat in our diet is the last food group to be used as fuel for energy as it is designed to be stored on our body in case we find ourselves in a famine. Fat provides us with an emergency energy supply and keeps us alive when other food sources run out.
Overall, despite often conflicting reports being published in the press, alcohol in moderation is good news for our health. I include a small amount of alcohol in my diets and I do not want to exclude any food group completely, but it should be treated as a treat and should be measured carefully otherwise you may be very surprised at how little, if any, weight you are losing.
Last year we launched a clever little product called Portion Pots® to help dieters quickly and easily measure their servings of foods such as cereal, rice, pasta and wine. The yellow Portion Pot® is the wine measure – a 125 ml measure. Whilst the food ‘portions’ were commented upon favourable, not so for the wine. ‘Is that it?’ people asked worryingly as they eyed up the size of the yellow pot. Why the surprise? It represents a standard pub measure of wine yet we would not dream of pouring such a measure for a friend or we would be thought we were being mean. With larger wine glasses becoming fashionable, we are used to having a much larger measure.
Like so many other foods we consume, we have become used to eating and drinking larger portions. If we are to look after our body, drinking moderately and eating smaller portions will help our weight and our health. Nobody can make us do it. We have to make the choice ourselves and we have to develop a new habit of moderation if we are going to stay healthy.
If you are interested in our Portion Pots®, just check out our website.
The body has an interesting relationship with alcohol. On the one hand we are told it is good for our health, and on the other, the body treats alcohol as a toxin and works very hard to burn it off. In fact, in the pecking order of how the body burns the food and drink we consume, alcohol goes straight to the top of the queue, followed by carbohydrate and protein. Fat in our diet is the last food group to be used as fuel for energy as it is designed to be stored on our body in case we find ourselves in a famine. Fat provides us with an emergency energy supply and keeps us alive when other food sources run out.
Overall, despite often conflicting reports being published in the press, alcohol in moderation is good news for our health. I include a small amount of alcohol in my diets and I do not want to exclude any food group completely, but it should be treated as a treat and should be measured carefully otherwise you may be very surprised at how little, if any, weight you are losing.
Last year we launched a clever little product called Portion Pots® to help dieters quickly and easily measure their servings of foods such as cereal, rice, pasta and wine. The yellow Portion Pot® is the wine measure – a 125 ml measure. Whilst the food ‘portions’ were commented upon favourable, not so for the wine. ‘Is that it?’ people asked worryingly as they eyed up the size of the yellow pot. Why the surprise? It represents a standard pub measure of wine yet we would not dream of pouring such a measure for a friend or we would be thought we were being mean. With larger wine glasses becoming fashionable, we are used to having a much larger measure.
Like so many other foods we consume, we have become used to eating and drinking larger portions. If we are to look after our body, drinking moderately and eating smaller portions will help our weight and our health. Nobody can make us do it. We have to make the choice ourselves and we have to develop a new habit of moderation if we are going to stay healthy.
If you are interested in our Portion Pots®, just check out our website.
Tuesday, 31 March 2009
Polypill not the only answer to improving our health
So there’s a new tablet called the polypill to be launched to help reduce our risk of stroke/heart disease and lots more. Of course this is good news but in the time that it takes for this pill to be launched, we as a nation can dramatically reduce our risk of heart disease, developing type 2 diabetes and cancer and reduce our risk of stroke by making a few simple changes to our lifestyle. Even a 10% weight reduction if we are overweight or obese will effect dramatic improvements to our health and this can be achieved by eating less fat, taking more exercise and moderating our alcohol consumption. I firmly believe that we should take responsible steps ourselves to save our lives rather than take a pill.
The benefits to our self-esteem when we lose weight are dramatic and there is no doubt that the products and services that we offer within our organisation are helping thousands of people on a daily basis. It was so heart-warming to meet so many successful slimmers who came to our Stand at the Vitality Show last weekend. If you need help, log on to
The benefits to our self-esteem when we lose weight are dramatic and there is no doubt that the products and services that we offer within our organisation are helping thousands of people on a daily basis. It was so heart-warming to meet so many successful slimmers who came to our Stand at the Vitality Show last weekend. If you need help, log on to
Sunday, 22 March 2009
Jade Goody's death
It was sad to wake up this morning to the news that Jade Goody had lost her battle with cervical cancer in the early hours of this morning. I know nothing of Jade's lifestyle other than what has been reported in the press but what IS shocking is this young mum of two little boys has died at the young age of 27. Cancer could happen to any of us and often we can have illnesses that linger beneath the surface and we don't realise it until it is too late to turn our health around. What it does highlight is the importance of investing towards our future well being by eating healthily, taking plenty of exercise and keeping our weight to within healthy limits. We sponsor a website that helps folk to make a quick assessment of where they are on the healthy-weight barometer. It's free, just log on to http://www.obesityawareness.co.uk/ if you'd like to check yourself out.
Right, we're off for a walk with Waise our dog now - she's been trying to get me to go with her all morning - and I'm looking forward to a healthy lunch of fresh soup with some fresh bread that Mike's baked this morning. I'm looking forward to my daughter coming over this afternoon for Mother's Day so all in all, it's a good day to be alive - and healthy.
Right, we're off for a walk with Waise our dog now - she's been trying to get me to go with her all morning - and I'm looking forward to a healthy lunch of fresh soup with some fresh bread that Mike's baked this morning. I'm looking forward to my daughter coming over this afternoon for Mother's Day so all in all, it's a good day to be alive - and healthy.
Wednesday, 18 March 2009
Obesity danger rivals smoking
The report out today by a group of Oxford University experts, which warns that obesity is as hazardous to health as smoking, shortening life by a decade, just goes to reinforce the importance of controlling our weight, eating a healthier diet and taking regular exercise. By taking some relatively simple steps we can dramatically improve our weight and health. Visit my website, http://www.rosemaryconley.com for help and support.
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