Running tips for beginners

January 2, 2020 | thetwodarlings

One thing I’ve been asked lots in the past few months is how did I get back running. I have actually always been a runner, I ran competitively for many years as a youngster but it’s funny looking back now to think that 800m used to break me mentally and physically, I was a sprinter and a field athlete and never really believed I had the mental strength for longer distance running. And then I had kids, and on my first lady I realised that unfortunately the weight you put on gleefully during pregnancy is actually rather difficult to shift after the baby lands. So I went back running after my first lady 7 years ago now and it’s always been a constant between the babies and the breastfeeding. Continue reading →

Cows Milk Protein Allergy – our experience

February 14, 2018 | thetwodarlings

I’ll kick off this blog post by saying that this is going to be purely about our experience with Lucy and her allergy to cows milk protein. I’m not a dietitian, we haven’t even been to one yet with her so I’m mainly going to talk about how we came about figuring out Lucy’s problem and what we are doing based purely on advice I have picked up Continue reading →

Be good to yourself this January and revaluate rather than resist the food you enjoy

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January 2, 2018 | thetwodarlings

This post is an ad in association with Brennans Bread

I don’t know about your house but here we don’t go in for new beginnings with the dawn of the new year. I find myself so fatigued by the end of January by all these offers of new diets and new fitness routines, urgh, just not for me, I am more about moderation and healthy, sensible eating all year round. That said I do find January a nice time to reassess what we already do, life is busy and sometimes we find ourselves stuck in a rut when it comes to food and routines so it’s a good time to take stock and look at how we can be sure to be good to ourselves for the year ahead! Continue reading →

The wonderful world of weaning

October 23, 2017 | thetwodarlings

Three kids in it’s fair to say I have a good bit of experience with the world of weaning. I remember back on my first lady the whole idea of weaning being so daunting, it felt like the first time as a mother I was left to my own devices, the advice of the midwives or public health nurse was long gone and I felt there was so much out there saying ‘oh if you give too much sweet food they’ll be fat’ and I was petrified of giving the wrong food. Continue reading →

Family dinner ideas

July 13, 2016 | thetwodarlings

I’ve done a post previously on how to get a relatively healthy dinner on the table in about a half hour so this post on family dinner ideas assumes a bit more of a time luxury in the evenings to prepare. I thought I’d put together a post on the meals I’ve done in the past week. Some evenings I’ll go for quick and some evenings I’ll go for broke and try something new altogether. In general though, I try and use different meat everyday and a different starch, so pasta one day potatoes the next. I keep threatening to introduce one veggie meal a week but thus far my husband has resisted the suggestion. Continue reading →

Reformer Pilates with Flex and the City

June 1, 2016November 26, 2018 | thetwodarlings

I’m the first to admit I’m neither fit nor flexible at the moment. Last year was dominated by long working days and minding the ladies so I didn’t find much time to myself to get out and exercise. And as soon as I found myself with a tiny bit of time to myself I was pregnant and then it was too late to start. As most mothers will know we often tend to put ourselves and our own wellbeing last as small (and not so small toddlers!) are lifted in and out of awkward carseats or cots, Continue reading →

Lunchboxes for Adults

October 30, 2015May 9, 2016 | thetwodarlings

I’ve spoken recently about my healthy initiatives having joined Slimming World (which FYI I gave up as I missed a week or two due to work commitments, oops!). I’m still following the plan however because I thought it was just brilliant (albeit there are a few more glasses of wine at the weekend perhaps!) so I was in the market for some new lunch gear. I had won a competition previously with Zazzle that resulted in the big lady getting her very own personalised lunchbox so when I was offered a Yubo lunchbox of my very own… Continue reading →

The Slow Cooker; revolutionising dinner for busy parents

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September 29, 2015November 25, 2015 | thetwodarlings

I bought a slow cooker probably about a year ago now in anticipation of going back to work. For some reason it sat gathering dust until recently but it’s use has become something of a revelation to us. We have used it a good few times over the past couple of weeks and are totally sold on the idea of its use. To contextualise things, we always make dinner the night before so that it simply needs to be heated and the accompanying starch (rice, noodles, spaghetti, pasta etc) needs to be cooked from scratch. I need to have dinner on the table in about a half hour after getting in the door otherwise the girls would literally be eating their spuds in the bath. Continue reading →

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