To Boost or Not to Boost? - Day Nine

We're closing in folks. The finish line is in sight. Only one more day to go of this detoxing lark and I'm a free woman.

Free to do what though? Free to eat truck loads of chocolate (Easter is imminent you know)? Free to wolf down piles of pasta? Free to guzzle coffee and convince myself it's all for the worthy cause of keeping me awake?

Somehow I think not. Do you remember that horrendous day I had on Day Three? The detox headache from hell? Well I didn't think I would say this but I think it was kind of worth it. I mean I must have had some pretty grim stuff going on in my body if that's what withdrawal is like. Do I really want to invite more grimness in?

Breakfast: Eggs, tomatoes, cucumber & olives, Lunch: Tuna with balsamic vinegar & pine nuts, salad & boiled egg,   Dinner: Haddock fillets, oven baked ratatouille, garlic mushrooms & corn on the cob

And whilst I'm not ready to run any marathons just yet, I do feel very much awake. Yes. Without the caffeine. The herbal teas are taking a bit of getting used to but really I'm starting to question what coffee or tea really ever did for me anyway.

The fact that I love chocolate has not changed (and never will). Helen McCrea would need to be some kind of  all-powerful sorcerer to sort that. But now I know not only how to predict my cravings, but I also understand them and can prepare for them with wholesome, nutritious food. Raw cocoa is one of Helen's tip top recommendations. I knew there was a reason I liked her.

This morning I was asked, with only 30 minutes notice, to go on BBC Radio Newcastle as a phone guest. Eeek! Obviously, I was up for it but I was kind of nervous. The last time I was on the radio, only a few weeks ago, the BBC managed to lose me in their own building and I ended up bursting into the studio with only seconds to go to plug my business. Not ideal. But this morning, as I paced the floor of my living room, waiting for them to call, I felt alert, ready, positive.

I think it went okay too. I'm a little jaded that I didn't get a chance to mention my website (thecoolrulecompany.co.uk, if you're wondering), but I actually enjoyed chatting about the topic, which was toddlers and telly. Would I have been so in-the-moment if I'd been fuelled by sugar and caffeine as per usual? Perhaps not.

Hmm, Newsnight or Question Time?

So, I shall glide into Day Ten tomorrow with a whole lot of love for myself and my new-found mental alertness. I hope you'll join me for the home run!

Go well,

Abi

Sort out telly rules for your toddler and lots more besides with the amazing Cool Rule range. Just visit www.thecoolrulecompany.co.uk

Listen to my radio interview on iPlayer: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p015yrmt
Scroll along to about 9 mins, 12 secs to find me!

Find out about Helen McCrea's brilliant detox and fitness plans at www.femalefitness.co

Read Helen's expert nutrition blog at www.helenmccrea.co.uk

My Radio Story

I've been feeling rather keyed up recently because coming soon in the Cool Rule social calendar is The North East Baby & Toddler Show. Now there's nothing I love more than having a chance to rave about the Cool Rule range. It's fab to show parents, grandparents, childminders and carers how the Cool Rule Book and all the other fab Cool Rule products can transform the life they share with their toddler.

Looking forward to it!

So imagine my glee when I was asked by the organisers of the Baby & Toddler Show to go on BBC Radio Newcastle to further rave about The Cool Rule Company. And the glee was cranked up a notch when my good friend Maxine was also invited to join in to chat about her party-in-a-box business, Life's A Celebration. And that meant we could both plug our brand new joint venture, Moment Makers, a fabulous new at-home party experience for mums. Triple whammy or what?!

So for several days of blissful smugness, Maxine and I agreed that we shouldn't overthink it. Surely our natural enthusiasm would steer us into the direction of making radio art. This was, after all, only a few moments of recorded interview and would be edited and polished to perfection by the BBC's experts.

And that's when I got the call from the girls at The North East Baby & Toddler Show. "Erm, Abi, we've just found out you're going to be live on air. The Jonathan Miles Show. And it'll be a ten-minute interview tying into Mother's Day and International Women's Day. That's ok, isn't it?"

Of course I agreed that it was. That I wasn't at all phased by the change. That I knew all about talking into microphones and speaking eloquently and making an instant, meaningful connection with a radio audience. Of course it was ok.

So Maxine and I made good use of our time. Key messages were practiced and confirmed. Notes were avidly written. Radio voices were tried out. Panic was formed but quickly squished by messages of good luck from our friends, family and customers. It was all going to be alright. Big deep breath now. It was all going to be alright.

We arrived mega-promptly in the morning. Forty two minutes early to be exact. And the receptionist behind the rather magestic BBC desk directed us up to the canteen and assured us somebody would come and collect us for our interview. There was plenty of time for the supping of coffee and the re-checking of our notes.

Time well spent

Well, long after our coffees had been supped we started to wonder when someone was going to whisk us off to our interview. Surely we should be expertly surfing radio waves by now. We took it upon ourselves to go back to the reception desk and enquire.

As soon as the receptionist rang through to the correct department, a very harassed looking lady burst through a random door and shouted "Abi! We need you now!"

Maxine and I struggled through an intricate silver turnstile (which I considered hurdling over in the drama of the moment) and then raced down a corridor after the harassed looking lady who was jabbering away about some mix-up and a change in receptionists and how the girls from the Baby & Toddler show had been filling in for me. Filling in for me? Just how late were we?

Next thing we knew we were (silently) bursting into the Jonathan Miles studio. Now this was not the entrance we had envisaged. No jovial introductions, no explanations of the technical workings of the place. Nope. Just Jonathan Miles asking one of those poor girls from the Baby & Toddler show just why, exactly, women should continue to be internationally celebrated each year (oh lordy), as Maxine and I waited to be integrated into the whole experience.

And so the integration began. Mr Miles seemed rather intrigued by the whole naughty spot thing which was not really, as I recall, in my notes but I went with it anyway (I felt like putting him on a naughty spot for not coming to collect us from the canteen). And I did manage to squeeze in some info about The Cool Rule Book and how it's helping families across the nation. And then it was cue Maxine and her few seconds of fame.

Watch out Jonathan Miles!

I reckon Maxine and I did the best we could with the few seconds we were given and when I listen back to it, I marvel at how solid our voices sound considering we'd just done a full-on panic-sprint down an unnecessarily long BBC corridor.

Maybe we didn't get to chat about all the things we'd hoped to, but at least we'll have fun recounting how the mighty institution of the BBC was able to lose us in its very own building.

Have fun, go well,

Abi




The North East Baby & Toddler Show is at Newcastle Falcons, Kingston Park on Saturday 16th March from 10am - 4.30pm. Check it out and book your tickets now!
www.northeastbabyandtoddlershow.co.uk

Click on the iPlayer link below to hear us on the radio (available until 15th March 2013). Scroll along to approx 1hr 22mins to hear the point where we burst into the studio!
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p0151ld1

Find out why the Cool Rule Book and the whole Cool Rule range is sweeping the nation at:
www.thecoolrulecompany.co.uk

Find out how Maxine can help you with every party you'll ever have at:
www.lifesacelebration.co.uk 

Discover Moment Makers, the fantastic new at-home party experience for Mums at:
www.facebook.com/momentmakers or www.makethosemoments.blogspot.co.uk