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Friday Favourites number 9.

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Friday Favourites. | www.missesmac.com
Wow, is it Friday already? Sure is! And that can only mean one thing: time for Friday Favourites.

If you’re new here, Friday Favourites is a linky collaboration, hosted by yours truly and some of the bestest Kiwi Mummy Bloggers. Friday evenings at 8pm (NZDT) is link up time. My awesome co-hosts are:

As usual, here are my pick of the bunch from last week’s Easter edition of Friday Favourites.

My top 3 favourite posts from week 8 of Friday Favourites:

1. | www.missesmac.com

The One About Easter from Maria at Happy Mum Happy Child
Maria has a way of putting everything I’m thinking down in words. And this blog post is no exception. It was around lunchtime on Good Friday when I realised we only had one nappy left. The panic set in. So I had a good giggle when I read Maria’s post. We’re never the “only ones” in this crazy parenting game!

2. | www.missesmac.comTrust me I’m a Pro – 5 parenting tips from a second time Mum from My Other Name is Mum
Being a new mum can be as confusing as all get-out-of-town so advice from those who have been there and done it can be awesome (or sometimes annoying). Claire’s tips are just awesome. ‘Super Wet Nappies’ and ‘Night Time Formula Feeds’ are genius. I wish I had known these when my little guy was a much littler guy.

3. | www.missesmac.comWhy it’s normal for our house to look like this from Odd Socks and Spontaneity
Blogging is a funny business. You open yourself up to the entire world one post at a time. Now, it may be only your friends and family who pop by but in reality, anyone, anywhere, at anytime, can learn a little bit about you. And that’s what this post made me realise. I have never met the author, I don’t know what country she’s from but I’ve had the privilege of a glimpse into her life.

What was your favourite post from last week? Did you discover anyone new?

Bloggers: see the bottom of this post to find out how to join the party!

Misses Mac

Friday Favourites:


To join in on this link party simply click the ADD YOUR LINK button above and share your favourite blog post of the week! Check out the links and discover some awesome new blogs. A link back here on your post is appreciated 🙂

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Friday Favourites – the Easter edition.

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Friday Favourites. | www.missesmac.com
Friday Favourites – the linky collaboration, hosted by yours truly and some of the coolest Kiwi Mummy Bloggers. Friday evenings at 8pm (NZDT) is link up time. My awesome co-hosts are:

There were some really great links shared last week – it’s pretty hard to pick my top three! But here you are:

My top 3 favourite posts from week 7 of Friday Favourites:

1. | www.missesmac.com

How to Find Time for Blogging and Still Have a Life from Karen at Mummy Do It.
As soon as I read the title I hoped Karen had some magical answers for me as I really struggle to find time for blogging, along with everything else (you may have noticed!) Karen has some great tips to share and definitely some ideas I will take on board! Thanks Karen 🙂

2. | www.missesmac.comThe Importance of a Mum Community from The Baby View
I agree wholeheartedly with this post. Having an amazing mum community has really helped me keep my sanity while coming to terms with being a mum. To know that you’re not the only one when things go wrong (or just plain weird) is so reassuring. Without my mum community I’m not sure that I would have made it this far!

3. | www.missesmac.comOur Non-Chocolate Egg Hunt by My Fun Box
This is an awesome post with loads of fantastic ideas on putting together your own non-chocolate egg hunt. And it’s not too late! The Easter bunny is still two sleeps aways! I am definitely planning a lot of non-chocolate Easter treats for my little man’s second Easter 🙂

What was your favourite post from last week? Did you discover anyone new?

Bloggers: see the bottom of this post to find out how to join the party!

Misses Mac

Friday Favourites:


To join in on this link party simply click the ADD YOUR LINK button above and share your favourite blog post of the week! Check out the links and discover some awesome new blogs. A link back here on your post is appreciated 🙂

Sign up to have new posts delivered direct by email!

Keto-what-now? One month on a ketogenic diet.

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Years ago I remember watching a made for TV movie called, First Do No Harm. It stars Meryl Streep as a mum to a little boy with epilepsy. Conventional treatment doesn’t seem to help him and she turns to a Ketogenic Diet to help elevate his symptoms. Yes, it was probably raining and I’m thinking there’s was nothing on either of the other two TV channels available in New Zealand in the 90s. But this was the first time I had ever heard of a Ketogenic Diet.

Throughout my ‘yoyo dieting journey’ the name popped up a few times but I never gave it much time. Until a month ago. I spent way more time than I should have reading all sorts of keto experiences online, journal articles, blogs, ebooks and I thought I would give it a go. It looked logistically straight forward. In a very, very simplified nutshell:

  • A keto diet is a very low carb diet.
  • When you eat something high in carbs your body produces glucose and insulin.  Glucose is the easiest molecule for your body to convert and use as energy, so it’s your main form of energy.
  • Since glucose is being used as your main form of energy, your fats are not needed, and are therefore stored.
  • If you starve your body of carbs, you enter a state of ketosis.
  • Ketosis is a natural process in which your body burns ketones to avoid draining the protein stores in your muscles and instead uses energy from your fat stores.

OK, so what do I do to get my body in to ketosis?

It’s simple: eat lower than 20g of carbs each day. Ok, so maybe there’s more to it than that but if you want a simple starting point, that is it.

What’s on the menu?

Here’s a typical days worth of food for me

  • Breakfast: 2 x eggie muffin things with eggs, cream, cheese and bacon. Long black with double cream and stevia.
  • Lunch: 3 cups of spinach, some parmesan cheese and a tin of chicken. Olive oil, salt and pepper as dressing.
  • Dinner: “Inside Out Burgers” – burger patties with bacon, onion, cheese, mustard and low carb ranch dressing wrapped in iceberg lettuce.

After years of choosing the ‘low fat version’ of everything, I really struggle to get my head around eating things like butter, cream, olive oil, coconut oil. My head screams, “what the heck are you doing?” as I drizzle my double cream in to my morning coffee.

Key things that have helped me stick to the plan:

  • Ketostix. Pee on these bad boys and if they turn anything from blush to full on purple, you are in ketosis. They are not 100% accurate but for me – they definitely help.
  • Weighing myself. I weigh myself weekly. Anyone on any kind of weightloss plan will know that the scales can lie. You can lose centimetres yet add grams. But for me, the numbers came down – FAST – and I was motivated to keep on going.
  • Focussing on what I CAN eat. If you look at weightloss as basic maths: calories out > calories in. You can’t lose weight without some kind of deficit. For most of us that means limiting our food intake in some way. I focus all of my ‘food thoughts’ on the yummy things I CAN eat. Forget the stuff I can’t, I pour over delicious, low carb recipes and get excited about trying new foods. The world is my (low carb) oyster!

Results after the first month:

So, I’m not any kid of healthcare professional and I’m not following this way of eating as any kind of scientific experiment so my results are not necessarily quantitative. But one month in to a ketogenic way of eating, here is what I have found:

  • My weight has decreased by 5.5kg.
  • My clothes are becoming loose.
  • Six people have commented that they have noticed I have lost weight.
  • I have more energy than I have had since before I became a mum. This may be unrelated – the kid is sleeping well, which must be helping.
  • My quality of sleep is better. I can fall asleep quicker and I don’t wake as much during the night. Excluding child-related wake ups.
  • I eat less. Like volume. My meals are smaller and less frequent.
  • My breath stinks. “Keto breath” is a thing. I’m still working on how to deal with this (currently sipping peppermint tea as I write!)
  • Burger fuel do burgers wrapped in lettuce. I haven’t been brave enough to ask anywhere else yet.
  • People are very opinionated on what they think you should be eating. Best to keep your new way of eating to yourself.

My favourite websites for finding out more about a ketogenic diet:

There are so many! But the best I’ve found are:

Well, there you go. If you’re still reading, yes, this is different to my usual ‘mummy/mommy blogging’. But hey – this is my blog and I’ll harp on about keto if I want to! Just be thankful I haven’t started crossfit 😉

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Friday Favourites number 7.

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Friday Favourites. | www.missesmac.com
Friday, Friday, gotta get down on Friday! Yip, it’s that time again – time for Friday Favourites.

If you haven’t discovered Friday Favourites yet, this is a linky collaboration, hosted by yours truly and some of the coolest Kiwi Mummy Bloggers. We’re here to remind you of some awesome bloggers and maybe even introduce you to someone new. Friday evenings at 8pm (NZDT) right here is party time. My awesome co-hosts are these babes:

Here’s my top 3 favourite posts from week 6 of Friday Favourites:

1. | www.missesmac.com

Colours Are For Everyone + 38 More Phrases For Feminist Parenting from Sacraparental.
Now, I’m not a feminist. Well maybe I am. Honestly I’m not sure – I might have to google it. I do know that my little monkey sometimes goes to daycare in a singlet with pink teddy bears. And last week I bought him his first Barbie. He ripped its arm off and then a leg and chewed on both limbs. Regardless, I really enjoyed reading this thought-provoking piece. I especially like the “How to tell if a toy is for boys or for girls” flowchart.

2. | www.missesmac.com{{Shop Tours}} Global Baby from The M Hustle.
This post should come with a warning! It describes the Auckland baby store, Global Baby, in glorious detail with even more glorious images. It’s shops like Global Baby that make me thankful that I have never won lotto. If I did I would buy all the gorgeous baby things and end up on channel 3 explaining how I spent all my money on baby things and I now live in the street.

3. | www.missesmac.comWhen Breastfeeding Doesn’t Come Naturally by Ange at NZ Real Health.
Ange’s story reminded me of my own struggles with breastfeeding. It’s a tale of when “breastfeeding goes tits up!” We have some amazing breastfeeding advocates in our community and there is so much support out there for new mums. But sometimes it’s just nice to know that you’re not alone if you’re struggling.

What was your favourite post from last week? Did you discover anyone new?

Bloggers: see the bottom of this post to find out how to join the party!

Misses Mac

Friday Favourites:


To join in on this link party simply click the ADD YOUR LINK button above and share your favourite blog post of the week! Check out the links and discover some awesome new blogs. A link back here on your post is appreciated 🙂

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Friday Favourites number 6.

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Friday Favourites. | www.missesmac.com
Week six of Friday Favourites already? Isn’t this year just zooming by! I can hardly believe it’s almost Easter!

If you haven’t discovered Friday Favourites yet, this is a linky collaboration, hosted by yours truly and some awesome Kiwi Mummy Bloggers. We’re spreading the love in the hope of introducing you to some new blogs. Friday evenings at 8pm (NZDT) right here is party time. My awesome co-hosts are these babes:

Last week’s Friday Favourites was a bumper crop of blogs with 27 links!

Here’s my top 3 favourite posts from week 5 of Friday Favourites:

1. | www.missesmac.comDIY: Multipurpose Marble Trestle Table for less than $90! from Vinyl Home.
There are people in this world who are just plain clever. And crafty. Katja from Vinyl Home is one of those people, if this gorgeous table is anything to go by. As gorgeous as it is, it actually looks really easy to make. I would love a workspace as beautiful as this. It may not improve my productivity but it sure would look great on Instagram 😉


2. | www.missesmac.comThe Reality of 3 Kids from Lisa at Lisasaurus.
I have one kid. And despite being asked approximately once every hour, I have no immediate intention of having another. I know how much work my little man is, the thought of doubling it, and starting again from scratch, terrifies me slightly. When I imagine having 3 of them I just can’t comprehend how the logistics of life work! Lisa’s post is a honest insight into life with 3 kids.

3. | www.missesmac.comA Little Golden Book Themed First Birthday by Charlene at Teacher by trade Mother by nature.
This was the first post of Charlene’s I ever read. It was just after my little man’s first birthday and I didn’t have any first birthday party envy at all. I swear. Such a gorgeous and unique theme for the massive milestone that is the first birthday.

What was your favourite post from last week? Did you discover anyone new?

Bloggers: see the bottom of this post to find out how to join the party!

Misses Mac

Friday Favourites:


To join in on this link party simply click the ADD YOUR LINK button above and share your favourite blog post of the week! Check out the links and discover some awesome new blogs. A link back here on your post is appreciated 🙂

Sign up to have new posts delivered direct by email!