Real Mums of All-Bran Challenge

Three lesser-known facts about me:

• I am a notoriously awful breakfast skipper.
• I could happily eat chocolate as a breakfast substitute on the odd occasion, however.
• I don't believe in brand campaigns because I never think they'll work.

So, I'll eat my hat after I write this post.

Here's a secret:

Since I ate dodgy fish and chips 8 weeks pregnant with Effy while watching the Cowes Week fireworks, I have never had a happy gut. I spent both pregnancies either constipated or positively upset, and especially since having Lowen I've felt bloated, and somewhat irregular... Just not "right".

And this is why I was so keen to try the 5 day challenge, care of Real Mums of All Bran.

Here's the thing. I really felt better as a result of eating a bowl of All Bran for five days. I HATE to admit it, remember point three above? 

Suddenly my gut felt happier, less bloated, more comfortable, more regular and definitely more "right". And just when I was wondering if it were mind over matter, when I had finished every scrap of the joy I'd been sent, within a couple of days my innards were back to their usual tricks. Cue a trip to the supermarket and a more conscious effort to eat bran. Happy guts.

There's more to this than a happy gut though.

First off, when I think of All Bran, I think of my granny eating it and recall it tasting of flip flop or something equally unsavoury... Well, Bran has come along way in 25 years because all three flavours (Golden Crunch, Red Berry Crunch and Chocolate Wheats) we were sent to try were delicious. D and Effy loved them all too. There's no points for guessing which flavour disappeared fastest, however...

The Chocolate Wheats were a huge hit. Now, I know I said I could happily eat chocolate for breakfast, and this would fill that box. I'd consider it to be a weekend cereal. A healthier treat to start your Saturday. The Red Berry Crunch went down well and what I really liked about it as that you could really taste the berries coming through, and there was a generous quantity in every serving. The Golden Crunch was a definite week day cereal, but enjoyable despite it's slightly more "ordinary" demeanour. 

Needless to say, the other pro from this challenge is that I ate breakfast with Effy. Recently she's tended to mess around in the company of non-eaters at the table, so it's been easier to potter and leave her to it, but enjoying cereal with her on her non nursery days (she has breakfast with her pals at nursery) has made for a lovely start to our mornings once Lowen is back in bed for her first nap of the day.

And unlike other cereals, I didn't feel like I wanted a snack three minutes after breakfast. Just slipping that one in there.

So, I learned a lot doing this challenge, but most importantly I've realised how key my gut is to my mood... A happy gut makes getting on with day to day stuff easier, and I am really trying hard to not be a breakfast skipper any more but eating bran-based cereal daily. I really do feel All-Bran New! I've also learned that bran doesn't taste of old shoe. Hurrah! 

This post is an entry for the Real Mums of All-Bran Linky Challenge, sponsored by Kelloggs™

Morning Stories

Despite being on maternity leave, mornings are pretty hectic in this household. D's commute to work is over an hour and he's gone not long after 7am, and I find the only way to a) get my day started and b) successfully get ready without children screaming/peeing on the floor/turning on the oven and setting the house alight (ok, perhaps a *slight* exaggeration) is to shower and at least be dressed before he leaves. It's made even more hectic on Tuesdays and Thursdays when there's a nursery drop off and another person to get out of the door and sometimes I feel like a tornado is sweeping through my morning as we try to get organised. In addition, I've started running recently to burn off my baby weight and some more, so that puts more pressure on my morning as I cannot bring myself to run in the evening as I'm zonked by 8:30 when both children are down.

D isn't a huge breakfast man, and I can often take or leave it... It's one of those things that I have if I have time for it but it's regularly an apple that I grab to take in the car on the way to work. Effy has her breakfast at nursery but often has a piece of fruit with her milk and catches 15 minutes of tele while we whiz our way through our starts to the day.

Cue the BelVita breakfast biscuit: The solution and thus the resolution to restore mornings at Thursday's Child HQ! Packable, grab-able, split-able, shareable... A whole HOST of ways in which I can get something into all of us and an item that will definitely stay on the shopping list when I go back to work. Effy loved the milk and cereals variety and on a busy morning last week was able to share them with daddy before they both flew out of the door... They're also a good thing to have in the cupboard for the day we run out of fruit and the last banana has gone squishy. My only niggle about them is that to her, they're just biscuits and I don't want to set a precedent for biscuits for breakfast, but I guess there's more explaining to be done as she gets older... However thinking about it, looking forward they might be a good way to get a selection of wholegrains and fibre into a girl who only wants to eat sausages ever at the mo (that's the toddler, not me!). D and I also enjoyed Yogurt Crunch cocoa variety, however we felt that they were more for a midmorning snack than breakfast... Unless you like chocolately goodness first thing in the morning. That said, I was completely unaware of how many varieties were on offer and will be having a really good nose in the supermarket next time I do my shop because they sound delish!

So, in conclusion, a hit in this household and a product that I can see being useful when I go back to work later in the year, when our mornings will only get even more chaotic, I imagine. A big thumbs up from Thursday's Child HQ!

This post is an entry for the #MorningStories Linky Challenge sponsored by BelVita Breakfast. I was supplied this product for free for the purpose of the challenge but all opinions are my own. Learn more at www.facebook.com/BelVitaUK