Innehållsförteckning för Best of 1 2018 från Chat Specials

We’re kicking off 2018 with a mini mag packed with incredible weight loss success stories. There’s Alison (p32) who has shed half her body weight, and Kimberley (pg36) who was eating herself to death before she turned her life around. How would you feel if your fiancé said he wanted to dress up as a Storm Trooper on your wedding day? Naomi’s reaction might just surprise you! (pg30) The best surprise Helen’s ever had (pg12) came on her son’s sport’s day when his classmates did something that had everyone in tears. While Michelle (pg18) understands plenty about the worry that comes with being a parent. Her daughter Poppy had her thumb bitten off by a horse and had to lose another body part to feel whole again. Prepare to be…

As I cuddled my newborn son Oliver close to me, I felt on top of the world. ‘He’s just so amazing,’ I grinned happily at my partner Richard, then 27. It was May 2005, and Ollie was four weeks early, but weighed a healthy 5lb 15oz, and was such a gorgeous little bundle. Richard and I excitedly called all our family and friends to make the happy announcement. It was the early hours, so Richard headed home to sleep. ‘See you in the morning,’ he smiled, kissing us both goodbye. Only, before he arrived, the doctor visited. She explained that her colleagues had some concerns about the shape of Ollie’s face. ‘What does his dad look like?’ she asked me. What’s going on? I thought, immediately panicking. My mind was…

It was a lovely evening, so I decided to take my youngest, Poppy, nine, out for a walk. ‘Can we feed the horses?’ she asked. ‘Of course,’ I smiled, grabbing a bag of carrots. Puppy loved horses. Luckily, we lived near a field full of them, and there were always local kids going up to feed them. I’d taken Poppy lots of times. So that evening in March this year, we ambled up the lane. Spotting us, two nags trotted up to the fence. ‘Lay your hand flat,’ I told Poppy, so the horse could easily snaffle up the carrot. I watched her carefully as she stood at the fence. Suddenly, one of the horses got all agitated, started pushing at the other, battling over the food. Blood was gushing…

Ryvita Rye Cakes, £1.39, Tesco Healthy snacking no longer needs to be dull and bland – these rye cakes, made from wholegrain rye, are not only tasty, but are bursting with nutritional benefits. Choose from delicious lightly salted or multigrain to tempt your taste buds. Fullgreen Sweet Potato Rice, £1.99, Waitrose A first in the UK! Enjoy 100% sweet potato with absolutely nothing added, delivering a wholesome, earthy flavour with a sweet and creamy texture. Higgidy Fritatta’s, £4, Waitrose Try this healthy pastry-free baked alternative to these Italian favourites, packed with vibrant ingredients – choose from Welsh goat’s cheese and leek, cherry bell pepper, feta and spinach, or chorizo, feta and roasted pepper. Robinsons Fruit Creations and Pressed Pear and Elderflower, from £1.99, Tesco These two delicious drinks are specifically…

1 What are you known as in your group of friends? a. The thoughtful one. You put your friends’ needs first and are there with a box of tissues at the first sign of trouble. b. The quiet one. You’re happy to take the back seat and let your mates take the lead. c. The bore. You always manage to see the down side to any situation. d. The fun one. You’re always up for a laugh and keen to try new things. 2 Who is your ideal partner? a. A family man. Someone who shares your love of family and good food. b. A protective man. Someone who will take care of you. c. You’d rather be alone. d. A daredevil who’ll travel the world with you. 3 How…

Lisa O’Keefe, Advisor of Adventures at Day Out With the Kids, suggests fun days out ideas to help you stick to your New Year’s Resolutions in 2018… SAVE MONEY If you’re looking after the pennies, you can still make the most of family time. A visit to your local park is free, and the kids will have hours of fun playing on climbing frames and running around. Another great way to enjoy a day out without spending loads is to visit a FREE museum. Packed with exciting exhibits and interactive displays, they’re great all-weather days out. One of London’s most iconic museums, the Science Museum has free entry, as does the World Museum, Liverpool. Another of our favourites is Yorkshire Sculpture Park in Wakefield, where art comes to life in…

World leading Face Yoga expert, Danielle Collins (www.faceyogaexpert.com) has combined ancient Eastern techniques with newer Western approaches to design a series of face exercises to promote a youthful look. It’s fun, relaxing and free. What’s not to love? THE GIRAFFE Looking straight ahead, place your finger tips on the top of your neck and lightly stroke the skin down as you tilt your head back. Bring your head back down and repeat twice more. Then jut your lower lip out as far as possible, place your fingers on your collarbone and point your chin upwards, pulling the corners of your mouth down. Hold for 4 deep breaths. This releases neck tension, tones and lifts the neck area. THE OWL Make a big C shape with your thumb and index fingers.…

Sleep solutions 8.2 million people in the UK suffer with heartburn, but sleeping right can help reduce the effects. ‘Try raising the head of your bed by about 6 inches with some books,’ says GP Dr Sarah Jarvis. ‘Sleeping on your right prompts relaxation of the the stomach and the food pipe, which normally protects Weird weight loss If you’re struggling to lose a few pounds, try these weird but wonderful weight loss tricks! Clean up – cleaning your windows in a circular motion burns about 125 calories an hour! Check yourself out – watching yourself in a mirror while you eat makes you eat a third of the amount. Instagram it – Taking a photo of your food just before you eat it makes us focus on not only…

Money Matters Q I’m very careful with my spending, while my husband just buys whatever he wants. I’ve even found out he has a big credit card bill. How can I make him see how important it is for our future to be careful? Sarah, Cardiff A Issues over finances can cause more problems for couples than any other area of marriage. Often, it’s not money that’s the issue, but the underlying attitudes towards it. The key is to talk openly with each other and put in place an agreed set of values and principles. Draw up a realistic plan that you both agree on, for spending and saving and agree a budget. Finding out that your husband has run up a debt without telling you can feel like a…

Dancing around to loud music in my bedroom with a glass of bubbly in my hand, I felt so happy. It was 21 September 2013 and I’d turned 18 the day before. Tonight I was out with my friends to celebrate. First, I was going for a drink at my local rugby club, then on to Newport for some drinks there. After slipping into a new black dress, I hugged my mum, Jacqui, 37. ‘You look lovely,’ she told me, smiling. ‘Have a good night.’ We laughed and danced at the rugby club, then, at 11:30pm, some of us got a taxi to a bar in town. I was having a great time, downing shots. A couple of hours on, I saw a couple of my friends standing outside and…

Staring down at the pregnancy test, my heart sank. ‘Negative again,’ I sighed, chucking it in the bin. ‘It will happen one day,’ my husband Tom, 33, said, giving me a cuddle. We had been trying for a baby ever since we got married a year earlier, and I was losing hope. My GP sent me for tests which showed that I had Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS). ‘It’s unlikely you’ll conceive,’ the doctor said. I was completely devastated. But after a few weeks, I refused to give up and begged for a referral to our local hospital fertility clinic. There, I was prescribed Metformin to treat my PCOS. Tests showed that I wasn’t ovulating. ‘I’d like to prescribe you Clomid, a drug used to stimulate ovulation, but you’ll need to…

Use some magic powder! If you’re having problems with ants in your home, sprinkle a bit of talcum powder in the affected areas. They are repelled by the smell of it. Loretta Newton, Warwick Clip it in the bud Binder clips are great for keeping headphones untangled! Kim Clayton, Nottingham Don’t cry over spilled wax A good way to remove spilled candle wax from wood is to rub it with a mixture of water and vinegar. Kristin Rios, Stoke-on-Trent Plastic planting Cut a hole into an empty plastic drink bottle, fill it up with soil and use it as a handy plant holder. Jamie Yates, Blackpool Keep them in the dark I always cover my potatoes with a tea towel. Keeping them in the dark stops them from sprouting! Teresa…

I was touched by his concern I was 25 and living in my native home of Portugal when I started suffering from bouts of high blood pressure. Tests revealed cysts around my kidney, and I was diagnosed with polycystic kidney disease (PKD). Turns out my twin sister and I were born with the condition. There was no treatment, so I was given tablets to lower my blood pressure and told to carry on with my life as normal. Nine years later, in 2008, I came to the UK to start my job as a radiographer. My renal care was moved to London’s Chelsea and Westminster Hospital – where, a year later, tests showed things weren’t good. ‘Your kidneys are functioning at 40 per cent,’ the doctor explained. ‘You are going…

I had flabby arms and huge thighs I had to think of my family I called from the kitchen, ‘dinner’s ready!’ I piled the plates with my home-cooked Chinese feast as my husband Steve, 48, and daughters Beth, now 25, Hannah, now 23, and Sacha, now 15, settled around the table. ‘This is delicious,’ Steve said. I’ve always loved cooking and usually made meals from scratch. We often had anything from Chinese and Indian dishes, to Thai curries and Italian pastas for dinner. But as we enjoyed our dinner as a family, I couldn’t help but notice that my portion of food was just as big as Steve’s. That can’t be right, I thought. Was I really eating as much as a grown man? I’d struggled with my weight my…

CAULI FRITTERS MAKES 12 YOU’LL NEED... 1mediumcauliflower 100g of feta cheese 1 cup of breadcrumbs 2 spring onions 2 garlic cloves 1 egg yolk 2 tbs of flour 1 cup of chopped coriander 2 tsp of dried thyme Salt & pepper 3 tbsp of vegetable oil for frying Soft cheese to serve HOW TO DO IT... 1 Bring a deep pan of salted water to the boil, add the cauliflower and simmer for 5-6 minutes. Remove from the heat and drain. 2 In a large mixing bowl, add the remainder of the ingredients. 3 Once the cauliflower has cooled, pour it into a food processor. Using the pulse setting, blitz into a grain like texture. 4 Add the cauliflower to the bowl and combine with the other ingredients, using…

Answering my mobile, I wasn’t expecting to hear my daughter Zara’s voice. It was last May, and Zara, 12, was at school. ‘I don’t feel good,’ she told me. She said she’d had a funny spell during PE and thought she was going to pass out. Zara has asthma and had used her inhaler in the lesson. Her chest still felt tight, though, and she’d had heart palpitations. ‘It sounds like an asthma attack,’ I told her. Despite her condition, Zara played a lot of sport. I assumed she’d over-exerted herself, but took her to the doctor, who checked her heartbeat. It was 120 beats per minute. ‘That’s high,’ the doctor said. ‘Around 70 is normal.’ Zara had an ECG, but the results were normal. A few weeks later, I…

EATING RIGHT Eating healthy, antioxidant-rich foods such as fruits and vegetables, whole grains and lean protein is an important part of maintaining a healthy immune system. Studies have shown that garlic has antibacterial properties and stimulates the production of white blood cells. Mushrooms are also a potent weapon against colds and flu, as they contain antibacterial and even anti-tumour properties. And some happy news: chocolate is good for you! As long as you keep the sugar to a minimum, cocoa reduces the risk of heart disease, and balances cholesterol levels. WASHING YOUR HANDS You can do a lot to support your immune system and save it from working too hard by washing your hands with soap and warm water more frequently. Researchers at Southampton University found that people who washed…

Remember me? I was in Chat back in 2014. I’d won £1,000 in the Chat Mag Bingo Sapphire room, and jetted to my favourite holiday destination – Benidorm! Me and my partner Ray, 64, had enjoyed sunning ourselves. I continued to play once I was back home. On Friday nights, we’d sit in front of the soaps and I’d sometimes play a bit of bingo. I loved the buzz of the site and chatting to other players. On 30 June last year, it was just another Friday night. Watching telly with Ray, I decided to switch on my tablet for a game of bingo. I clicked on the 75-ball Bingo Lounge room, my new favourite place to play. The tickets were 10p each so I bought 18 for the next…

We wanted to do something special As my nan, Jessie, looked at the computer spreadsheet, she burst out laughing. ‘That a lot of names on there!’ she chuckled. ‘Well, you’ve got a lot of grandchildren,’ I laughed. Nan has 12 children – who brought her 44 grandchildren, 99 great-grandchildren – and 20 great-great grandchildren – and her brood is ever expanding. I’d just made the spreadsheet so she could keep track of us! All 163 of us! Growing up, my mum Barbara would often take me and my three siblings to visit our nan. ‘You’re getting big!’ she’d say, giving us each a biscuit. She and my grandad, Arthur, adored us. Every year, Grandad would organise a big family day out to a park. We’d all play games together and…

Juice Goals Water Bottle, £4.50, Primark It’s important to keep hydrated while you work out, so fill up and drink up with this cute juice infuser bottle. Simply fill the middle with chopped up fruit of your choice, fill up with ice water, and you’ll have a delicious and healthy drink to take with you! Gym and Tonic Duffel Bag, £17, The Great Gift Company Whether you’re a gym bunny or a gin bunny, you’ll love this quirky duffel bag. Transport all your essentials on weekends away, days out, and of course, the gym! Cardio Shopper, £10, Paperchase Pack your essentials and head to the gym in style with this nifty bag. Perfect for carrying your towel, water bottle and headphones as you work out! Gym ball, £10, Tiger Use…

After a morning at the park, it was time to head home. But my son Henry, two, didn’t want to say goodbye to his best pal Ned and sobbed as we tried to leave. ‘Maybe Ned can come play at our house for the day?’ I suggested. Henry’s face lit up. I’m friends with Ned’s mum Gemma and we agreed a playdate was a good idea. On the way home, I popped to the shops to pick up a few bits. It was a warm Saturday morning in June and I didn’t fancy cooking in the heat, so I piled a basket with hummus, pitta breads, cocktail sausages, and sausage rolls. Once we arrived home, I laid out the food on the table. ‘Lunch is ready!’ I shouted. With the…

Brushing my bleach-blonde locks, I pouted in the mirror. Still not plump enough, I thought, gazing at my lips. I’d bought all the latest plumping glosses, but I still couldn’t achieve the dramatic look I was after. And looking down at my chest, the DDs in front of me were big – but not big enough. Even after three hours of applying makeup and fixing my hair, I still didn’t look as glam as I desired. It was last winter, and it’d been months since I’d split from my fiancé, who was also the father of my two kids. At the time, I’d been heartbroken. But I’d let myself go, and the break up had encouraged me to take back control of myself. After ballooning to 17st 7lb, I’d decided…

Save up in the new year Try these easy New Year’s Resolutions that will help save you money. Make your own lunches If you spend £4 a day on a sandwich, that’s £20 a week, or £1,040 a year. Swapping ready-made sandwiches for homemade lunches saves money every day, and only takes a few minutes. Cut out the cuppas Visa revealed that the average Brit spends £2.09 a day – almost £500 a year - on hot drinks. Fill up a thermos with coffee and take it to work, rather than buying a cuppa every day. Stop wasting food Avoid wasting food (and money) by freezing leftovers, making stock from old veggies, or turning stale bread into bread crumbs. Get fit easily at home You don’t need to join the…

I plunged towards the metal spikes As I rolled out of bed and pulled on my work gear ready to the start the first day of my new job, I couldn’t help but think how lucky I was. A 32-year-old Yorkshireman living in sunny Sydney, with the girlfriend of my dreams, and doing a job I loved – it was almost too good to be true. I pulled up in my white van bright and early to make a good impression and get started with my first task -clearing some pesky gutters. ‘Right, let’s get up there,’ I called to my apprentice. Together we dragged out the six metre ladders from the back of the van and placed them along the side of the town house. I laughed to myself…

I loved food too much to change my habits I missed out on so much time with Joseph As I stood on the scales, everyone cheered. I couldn’t stop smiling. I’d lost nearly 12st in just over a year – and I couldn’t believe that I’d kept it off. ‘You’ve done it! I knew you would,’ said my daughter-in-law Abbie. But I had her to thank. She was the one who had first introduced me to Slimming World. Back in January 2014, I was over 22st, a whopping size-34, and utterly miserable. I wore black, baggy clothes and hated going out. But I loved my food too much to change my habits. My biggest downfall was definitely chocolate. I’d eat tons of it – gorging on several Galaxy bars and…

I was like an addict getting a fix It was the harshest wake up call To say that I was addicted to McDonald’s grub would be an understatement. Nothing would hit the spot like a trip to the fast food restaurant, and boy, did I go a lot! Morning, noon and night, in fact. As you can imagine, it played havoc on my figure. By the time I was a married mum of two, I tipped the scales at 23 and a half stone. My stomach was so big, the rolls of fat would hang down over my growing waistline. I ran out of breath doing even the simplest tasks and my health was appalling. Did it make me want to give up my trips to the drive-thru? Did it…

In my head? Q I’ve been getting flashing lights in my vision and it makes me feel sick. I don’t have a headache - is this a migraine? Amanda, Oxford A If you have any funny visual symptoms, or nausea and sickness, with or without a headache, you should discuss it with your doctor. Although migraines can manifest in this way, it is important that your doctor rules out any other potential causes. Holding my breath Q Last month I was told my nine-year-old son has asthma. I’m terrified about him doing anything, but I don’t want him to miss out. What can I do? Lisa, Derby A People with asthma should be able to live completely normal lives. Exercise and fresh air are integral to this. If he has…

Cheeky bellini I got to sample this delicious cherry bellini at a restaurant in London recently. It may not be your typical winter warmer, but it certainly cheered me up. Angela, Basildon Do you think we should be worried? After watching the film IT a few months ago, my hubby has been obsessed with evil clowns. He snapped this picture at our local pub. Claire, Redditch It’s all the same to me I spotted this cute shop on a recent trip to Bath. I’m not exactly sure what they sell there, but the name of it made me giggle. Stacey, Oxford A true chocolatey indulgence... What a way to start the day! I had to snap a picture of this delicious hot chocolate I had at a local café. Perfect…

The moment the picture of the tiny Chihuahua popped up on the screen, I fell in love. ‘Poor thing,’ I sighed. Because the tiny eight-week-old pup had sadly been born with no front legs. He had been surrendered by a Texas breeder to a rescue organisation in New York called The Mia Foundation. They rescue animals that have been born with defects. I wish I could give him a home, I thought to myself. I even named him Pee-Wee because he was so little. Sadly, he was 1,000 miles away. But my 50th birthday was coming up in a few weeks… ‘I want to get you something big,’ my best friend Dawn, 47, said. ‘There’s only one thing I want,’ I replied. ‘Pee-Wee!’ I couldn’t get him out of my…

Aries 21 Mar - 20 April Fundamental modification and effective transition formulate the driving force this year. Any domestic complications could require tactical assertiveness. Romantic situations may be highlighted in July and September. An appraisal of personal circumstances provides answers and creates conditions for success. Potentially helpful crystal: Dolomite Taurus 21 April - 21 May A sense of spiritual reference leads to renewed hope. April is important with respect to romantic decisions. Alternative solutions play a role in attaining improved results within business. An exploration of contacts overseas deliver new opportunities with unexpected results. June and November prove exciting with regards to social horizons. Potentially helpful crystal: Rainforest Jasper Gemini 22 May - 21 June Unity sets the scene for enhanced emotional discovery. Autumn proves significant, enabling positive communication. Romantic…

Hot to trot My mum’s friends persuaded me to sign up for a 5k charity run. We practised a bit and although I wasn’t great, I felt confident when the day came. But half way through the run, I had awful stomach cramps and an overwhelming desire for the loo. What a time to get runners trots! As the inevitable happened, I took off my top and tied it around my waist. I was too embarrassed to tell anyone why I crossed the line in just my sports bra! Lauren, Bristol Pride before a fall I joined a gym and on my first visit, one of the staff members caught my eye. He was gorgeous with huge muscles and I was desperate to impress him. I hadn’t been to the…