Why I am changing my lifestyle

09/07/2015Leave a comment

I suppose every person has a reason as to why they turn their life around, eat better, exercise more and similar. I have never really been open about my reasons. I have a wonderful life, a loving husband and great family and friends. The one thing missing in my life is children.

I have been struggling with infertility for five years now. Now in my early 30’s its starting to become my main focus of losing weight and getting fit. Its time to really push now to get down to my target weight and focus my energy on getting the doctors to do more. I have not received a diagnosis of any medical issue but from my research I know that weight and related health are one of the big factors.

Being open and truthful I feel guilty with every negative test that I can’t give me husband a “mini me” as I know that he will be the most amazing dad. Its not fair that something so natural can be so tough for some.

Picking myself up and ensuring that I can keep going to reach the end goal will be the biggest reward of all and make this hard work worthwhile.

I want to blog about my lifestyle change not infertility – I won’t be beaten. I want to share what I am a learning along the way 🙂

The best is yet to come, Gilly x

First Assignment – Blogging 101

06/07/201506/07/20154 Comments

I am taking part in Blogging 101. This specially designed course helps bloggers improve their writing and blogs. Each day I will have an email with day’s task and try to blog, and today marks the first one!

Day One: Introduce Yourself to the World

So this one is a bit more difficult for me as I have been blogging on and off for a while now, but no harm in trying!

I am Gilly, a 30 something wannabe blogger from Aberdeen, Scotland.

WholeLottaGilly first came about when the realisation hit me that I had put on so much blooming weight! I decided that it wasn’t time for a diet but a total lifestyle change. Changing what I eat and actually starting to exercise has had such an impact to my life (not only physically). I decided that I needed to share and document my progress with the aim of keeping me motivated as well as supporting others.

Outside of my work I am also very passionate about events, charity work and my family. I went with WholeLottaGilly as a title to try and keep my blog open ended to what I could write about from recipes to holidays 🙂

I am looking forward to being introduced to new blogs and meeting likeminded and passionate bloggers through Blogging 101.

Gilly x

Go Volunteer

06/07/20152 Comments

The first post on WholeLottaGilly about my passion for fundraising and events! I know it sounds cliche but I love raising money and organising events. I considered starting a separate blog for this but hoping I can combine this into this blog – I welcome feedback and suggestions to this!

If you want to fundraise I think I can help! Fundraise for a cause that you care about, want to improve and get that general good feeling doing something fulfilling.

Over the past 3 years I have raised more than £150,000 for charities and good causes through various events and fundraisers but sometimes the worry about pulling an event off can be overwhelming. The best way to learn? Volunteer.

I started volunteering with different organisations and charities – this gives you the ultimate experience of fundraising, learning from people already successfully raising money. Over the years I have met some amazing people doing amazing things and the whole journey has been so worthwhile.

Do your research, find a good cause or local charity to help. Drop them an email and offer your services. Charities appreciate any offer of help, especially when you are prepared to give up your own time to help their cause. The more passionate you are of the cause then the more you will get out of the experience, pick something close to your heart that you have an interest in.

For me I was introduced to a local cancer charity; Friends of ANCHOR. This particular charity makes a great impact in my local area, and has even helped my family and friends through the hard times facing the devastating news of cancer. From supplying fresh fruit in the wards to raising hundreds of thousands towards the latest technology in cancer treatment this charity means so much to me.

From small coffee mornings to weekend action packed events volunteering with this charity has exposed me to all types of fundraising as well as meeting life long friends. This has given me the confidence to organise and succeed in my own fundraising plans.

Raising funds always feels amazing, but you will never know the feeling of making a difference until you have given it a go!

We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give

Winston Churchill

What are you waiting for?

Gilly x

5 Years and Counting

05/07/201505/07/2015Leave a comment

This weekend has been action packed celebrating our 5th wedding anniversary. How time flies! Following tradition, and with it being 5 years I sourced a beautiful handmade beer bottle holder, complete with opener on Etsy by a company called knot just boxes. Stocked with his favourite local brewed Brewdog he was absolutely delighted!

The hubby bought my stunning new earrings and treated me to a gorgeous meal out to Native by Nick Nairn in Aberdeen. Booking a table was not an experience I would like to repeat, but after 15 minutes and the gentleman phoning me back we finally got there!

To be honest its quite difficult in Aberdeen to find somewhere serving local Scottish produce, but Native ticks all the boxes. The menu has a lovely selection of locally sourced ingrediants. I finally settled on traditional Haggis, Neeps and tatties topped with crispy parsley. This arrived beautifully presented but the whisky sauce container was so hot I couldn’t lift it. The hubby had slow braised roast pork belly, hand dived Orkney scallop with crispy black pudding and apple sauce-pork crackling. I was jealous when I saw how tasty it looked!

Then for the main course I definitely had the best choice 🙂 Peppered, dry aged Inverurie beef strips with hand cut chips, fine beans and shallots accompanied with whisky and wild mushroom gravy. Brian opted for his favourite ‘Fish and chips’. The haddock fresh from Peterhead with generous proportion of hand cut chips, home made tartare sauce and lemon.

We didn’t have space for pudding (hoping I will next time!) I did however manage a cheeky French Martini from the bar. Needless to say the diet was out of the window this weekend but today we had a nice long walk so hopefully that worked off some of the food consumed 🙂