My new search index to help you navigate round my blog.

Unlike some blogs mine is eclectic rather than a singular subject. This means that if you want to find a certain subject, you have to scroll through all the posts.

Now I am quite happy for anyone to scroll through my blog and see what interests them. You may want to look for gig reviews but find that my piece on the kickboxing gym is also interesting. If you read my blog for a fashion piece, there is no reason why you may not want to read a book review or a Filofax post.

I do think it is easier to see what is on the blog by viewing it either on a pc or laptop or scrolling down on your phone and clicking on view web version.

I have added tables below to help people find the main subjects I write about. If you type the title or the first part of the title, in the search bar, it will come up.

I will go back and update this regularly so that it can be a useful search tool.

Filofax and planner posts
Date	Name of post
10.11.14	Filofax – my collection
11.01.16	My Filofax diary set up
04.06.16	My Filofax collection – Blog Filofax set up
20.02.17	Filofax uses....index

Fashion and clothes posts
Date	Name of post
04.02.15	Second hand not second rate
09.08.15	Dresses, a girl’s best friend
17.04.16	Swapping clothes, raising money & a hint  of romance
13.05.16	Introducing Bob
12.06.16	Where did you get that hat?
23.04.17	Purple sunglasses and jackboots
08.01.18	2018 Filofax/planner diary inserts

Gig review
Date	Name of post
06.12.15	Our boy is back in town
21.03.16	Going back to our roots
24.04.16	London’s Calling Best of British
23.10.16	Rock it Billy
01.01.17	Auld acquaintance
27.02.17	You got to rock and roll with it
30.04.17	Gig reviews..... where to find them
30.04.17	That’s entertainment
08.08.17	No wasted years

Book posts
Date	Name of post
29.09.14	My love of books
14.08.16	The Rosie Project ... a book review
21.10.17	Beautiful books

  

Other reviews
Date	Name of post
12.09.16	Brush Demon...let the paint flow
14.06.17	Strangers with coffee
19.08.17	Shinkick Muay Thai

Humorous posts
Date	Name of post
19.09.14	Magpies and a walk on the wild side
04.10.14	Emails
23.10.14	Spider
22.01.15	Find a Penny
12.09.15	My bad luck
18.04.16	Dear diary 1
25.04.16	Dear diary 2
04.05.16	Letter to National Rail
29.05.16	Dad’s guest rant
03.07.16	Perks, perils  pitfalls of being petite
17.07.16	My thoughts on Pokemon go
08.12.16	What’s in the jar
11.01.17	The boyfriend ad
27.07.17	You couldn’t make it up ....the 7 disastrous dates

Weight and health
Date	Name of post
22.09.14	My weight and sugar
13.07.16	Consuming my brain
16.11.17	Missing autumn
31.12.17	One year with no sugar

Miscellaneous
Date	Name of post
06.09.14	Introduction
04.10.14	Why the colour orange? How I named my blog
21.11.14	Service with or without a smile.
08.11.15	Incorrect pluralisation – don’t tell the grammar hulk
27.03.16	My Strange Fascination With Rooftops
22.05.16	Summertime—why she and I do not get on
13.10.16	Our consumer driven society
31.12.16	My 2016
23.04.17	Midnight Walk
30.05.17	We did it!
13.07.17	How to stay cool and other tips

Cooking
Date	Name of post
29.12.15	Here’s one I baked earlier
10.01.16	Indulge me – cakes I have made

Quotes
Date	Name of post
10.09.14	My first quote
20.09.14	Quote
02.10.14	Quick quote
16.10.14	Quote 5 (oops, wrongly named)
01.01.15	Quotes

Updates
Date	Name of post
28.06.15	Quick post
06.12.15	Blog news
29.12.15	Quick blog update – search bar
08.02.16	Blog news
28.03.16	Blog news
11.07.16	Bloglovin link
14.08.16	What’s new
12.10.16	Blog update
23.12.16	Season’s greetings
10.04.17	Blog update
23.07.17	Coming soon on orangecoffee69
05.08.17	Coming soon...A review of the fabulous set by Waisted
29.09.17	Coming soon
24.12.17	Christmas message
11.02.18	Coming soon....blog index and search options
12.02.18	My blog search index

Coming soon....... blog index and search options

Coming very soon:

Unlike some blogs mine is eclectic rather than a singular subject. This means that if you want to find a certain subject, you have to scroll through all the posts.

I am working on an index piece that will make it easier to search for the various subjects and posts.I hope to have this piece ready this week. 

As normal I have had my head stuck in a book when I should have been on the laptop. :-)

2018 Filofax/ Planner Diary Inserts.

Every planner/Filofax user will tell you that the inserts they use are very important to them.  The most important insert is, of course, the diary.

There are so many different types to choose from and they range from the original Filofax brand through to the cheap, barely known brands that you can buy online. Of course there are many other brands and Etsy has a large range of handmade inserts all in different designs. If you follow the Philofaxy blog you will know that they also do a brilliant range of inserts which are easy to use and easy to adapt with your own personal touches.

This year I discovered that Paperchase is no longer doing their diary inserts. (I was told this in my local store and checked online. Sadly my email to Paperchase was not answered.) I decided to look on Amazon and find the 3 different diaries I needed.

My personal diary/planner is a pocket size which I can carry with me. For this I chose a Collins diary insert. This is a week on two pages and I use it in conjunction with a page, half page or post it note inserted for urgent reminders. I like the clean lines and uncluttered look of the Collins diary and the obvious demarcation of the days. I also have a section in the front with “to do” pages which I check every day. The Collins paper is nice to write on and not too thick. As I carry this one with me I don't want to make it heavier than necessary.

Week on two pages pocket size from Collins.

For my A5 work Filofax I ordered an unknown (to me) brand, NBplanner. A week on one page is enough as, once again, I also use a “to do” section and lists so that I don’t forget anything. The NB paper is not the best paper but still perfectly fine for my work Filofax.  I also use two fold out vertical year planners from Filofax for various sets of dates that I need to keep for work. This saves space on the daily diary pages and means I can look up certain things in one place. 

NB planner A5 week on a page.

Filofax vertical year planner.

       

                       

My final set of diary inserts is for my A5 Blog Filofax. I like to record what posts I have done, when I  have posted them, etc. I decided to splash out of a Filofax Stripes refill pack. I did get this on offer on Amazon and wanted to see what it was like. The paper quality is good and I like the bold design. Each month has a different colour and there are also separate plain or lined pages too.

I don't think I really need a week on two pages for my blog diary, so next year I will probably go for a week per page. I do also have a planning section so do not use the diary for this as I make pages of notes when I plan.

Filofax A5 Stripes

Two different months

Various pages from the Stripes pack.

      

As I use a fair few “to do” pages, I decided to use some from the fabulous Philofaxy inserts and change them to suit me. The free downloadable files on the Philofaxy blog are so useful and there are many different ones to choose from. I print on A4 and cut to size and can get 4 pocket size pages from one.

For Christmas lists I added gingerbread men down the sides and  for general use I added orange flowers. I will probably make various other ones depending on my mood, but this was a good start. It has also encouraged me to experiment more with the files on Philofaxy.

  

Look out for more Filofax/ planner related posts and my previous Filofax posts by typing Filofax into the search bar.
Any comments on my blog can be sent via my email address:  saraorange69@gmail.com 

One year with no sugar........How I did it and what the future holds.

On the 28^th of December 2016 I decided that enough was enough, I was overweight because I could not stop eating sugary foods and had to do something about it.

A year later, after not eating any chocolate, cakes, sweets, biscuits, puddings etc, I am 32 pounds lighter, I have lost 6 inches off my waist and feel generally healthier.

I battled on and off for years with my weight and my eating problems and have only ever found short fixes. I have lost a couple of stone on several occasions but always put it back on quite quickly. I could not do without copious amounts of sugary food and it was always my downfall. I don’t drink, have never tried drugs or cigarettes but was clearly addicted to sugar to such a degree that I would regularly binge on sweets and biscuits; ripping packs open to get to them.

Over the years I have tried many ways to lose weight including diets, exercise and hypnotism. I paid a hypnotist to stop me overeating and it worked for a short time. I also tried Paul McKenna’s Think Yourself Thin. This was successful for a while but there was still something missing.

In December 2016 I discovered Paul McKenna’s new weight loss book and CD, Get Control of Sugar. I read the whole book in one sitting and was blown away. He had worked out that the missing link in his previous book was targeting sugar addiction. He did this  alongside some very interesting facts about the evils of sugar and it made total sense to me, I felt totally in control. 

At first I also listened to the hypnosis CD every night. After the first few weeks I listened to it twice a week, then down to once a week. Very quickly I was listening to it once a month and now only if I feel I need a boost.

I lost the first twenty pounds in four months just by cutting out all sugary food.  I was still eating fresh fruit as that contains natural sugar, but not even having jam or honey. I was walking a lot as I always have and it is something I enjoy, but still not attending a gym. I do exercises for my back every morning but these are not fat burning or toning.

The pleasure I got from seeing the scale go down and my dress size dropping outweighs the enjoyment I used to get from sugary food. To be quite honest, I was previously eating so much sugary food that it had, primarily, stopped tasting good. As with many addictions, it becomes a compulsion, something I had to do, it was a part of me.

The weight loss did slow down but stayed off and not eating sugar was easy. I was astonished that I did not miss the sugary foods at all, I didn’t even have cravings and that surprised me the most.

In September I had a double foot operation and was unable to walk for a few weeks. I worked from home and then got lifts to and from work. I was on crutches and special shoes for seven weeks. In this time I only gained one and a half pounds. I have since lost the one and a half pounds and carried on losing more. I had reached a plateau after losing twenty seven pounds then seemed to have a natural kick-start when I started walking again.

I am currently only able to walk small distances so hope that increasing this when it is medically possible, will help me lose more. I would also like to get fitter and more toned but have not yet decided how I want to do this. I should really lose another seventeen pounds to be an “ideal” weight; however I would be happy to lose another eleven pounds.

To feel healthier, to have less reoccurring illnesses and to be in less pain has been a very important part of losing the weight. Yes I have caught the dreaded lergy this week but no one can avoid all germs. My skin has been clearer for the first time since I was a teenager and I have a lot less headaches.

The psychological effects of weight loss have also been of great benefit to me. It is easier to feel happier and more content when your body is not weighed down with something that acts like a poison inside you. If you eat or drink anything that makes you ill then it is as silly as knowingly consuming poison. Some people can eat sugar with no effects and some people, like me, should steer clear.

As well as cutting out all cakes, sweets, biscuits, chocolates and puddings I have avoided processed food as much as possible. I do a lot of cooking from scratch so that has been easy. However, I know it slips into the occasional thing and a sauce in a restaurant could contain hidden sugars. I do still eat a little bread, a couple of times a week usually, and that contains sugar. I do think that the large amount of sugar that I have cut out has made a huge difference to my health.

I still bake but don’t try what I am making. This is a heinous crime in cooking but that was my decision. I still have only had positive feedback on my baking so must be doing ok.

In the book Paul McKenna does say you can go back to eating small amounts of sugar and really enjoy it. I have decided to stick to what I am doing for now, but never say never. I may one day fancy a piece of chocolate or a slice of cake and would try it with caution. I may introduce honey back into my diet but, right now, I am doing alright.

I have NOT substituted sugar with sweeteners of any kind as this is not good for your body either. I have always preferred diet drinks if I really fancy a fizzy drink or the occasional glass of squash, but I do not believe sweeteners are healthy. I have never liked sugar in tea or coffee so that made it very easy for me.

Personally not eating sugar is a way of life for me now. I do bang on about it quite a lot because it has had a huge effect on my life, but it is normal for me not to crave sugar.  I eat loads of vegetables, a bit of fruit, some beans and pulses, some meat, fish and dairy and some unrefined carbs like potatoes, sweet potatoes, a little bread, crackers, rice and quinoa.  I drink a fair bit of black coffee, the odd latte and a lot of water. I still eat fairly low fat as I had to have my gall bladder removed when I was 30 but I do enjoy the food I eat and make sure it is full of flavour.

I believe that the only way to lose weight is to find that system that works for you and stick with it. It took me many years to do this and the Paul McKenna Get Control of Sugar book and CD is perfect for me.

Below are pictures showing my weight loss journey. The first one was taken on NYE 2016. The second pic is after losing about 25 pounds. The last two were taken in the last few weeks.

I have no affiliation with Paul McKenna or his products; this is purely my personal view. I have no medical or dietary qualifications, everything in this article is my personal opinion.

Christmas message

Happy Christmas and a fabulous New Year to all my wonderful readers.

 

Big apologies for the lack of posts recently. I am writing several pieces right now but it is a busy time of year........ many birthdays and Christmas and, quite frankly, a large pile of books to read. J

🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄