End of the Road to Machu Picchu: An Update

First of all, I am sorry I have not written this post sooner, but I have been starring at my screen for weeks trying to figure out what I need to say. 

Last month, I woke up to an email from Childreach international. It read as follows:

As a result of financial difficulties and despite the ongoing efforts of all our staff and supporters, Childreach International has made the difficult decision to pause all its operations with immediate effect. We are currently working through what the implications of this will be for your trip, and collaborating with our suppliers to establish next steps for all concerned.

Within minutes of reading this email, I had convinced myself it was a joke, Someone has got hold of my email address and is trying to scam me I thought as I leapt onto the internet and searched for the Childreach International's website. My feelings of dread only deepened as the website was unavailable and no one was answering the phone number that was listed as their contact details.

as the day went on, it became apparent that it was true, Childreach International was going down and my trek to Machu Picchu,  the £1000 I had put into it, and over £500 of donations from family members and friends was gone. Within 5 hours of receiving that email, my fundraising page was suspended and I lost access to it all together. 

Over the days that followed, my group and I, as well as the hundreds of students across the UK waited to hear news from Childreach, and eventually, over a week later, it arrived in the form of a FAQ.

Can I be refunded for the cost of future fundraising events if they have to be cancelled?

We regret that we are not in a position to refund any costs incurred for fundraising events.

I have signed up to a Childreach International trip. If I chose not to go on an alternative trip will I be able to claim back my registration fee?

Your registration fees were not paid to by Childreach International therefore we are not in a position to refund them.

I am fundraising for a Childreach Event/ have donated money direct to Childreach International to support a fundraiser. Will the donations be refunded?

All money raised and donated to Childreach International up to and including January 19th 2018, via the BT MyDonate platform, has been transferred to Childreach International and used to meet the charitable objectives of the organisation, including our overseas programmatic work. These donations are non-refundable.
Donations made after 19th January have not yet been transferred and are currently being held in trust by BT My Donate. These are expected to be refunded to donors in the coming weeks.

One thing that I do want to say is Thank you to all of the people who gave money to me whilst I was fundraising, it meant so much given that many people can't really afford it and your support was incredible! The money that was raised has gone to helping the charity achieve its goals, so I draw some comfort from that fact, I am sorry I did not tell anyone sooner. But I hope you understand why it has taken me so long.

In terms of what I am going to do, maybe Machu Picchu was just a step too far. I will continue with my weight loss and look into doing a trek next year, who knows where I could go!?

If you have any questions, please feel free to comment below or message me on Facebook :) 

Xxx

Road To Machu Picchu: November

My progress from October to November :) 

It is getting clost to christmas, and with that comes the struggles of working out in the dark, cold and wet! Fatty food, and Christmas chocolate! This month I have lost another stone and I am working hard to get another half off before Christmas. Here is how it went:

Week 1:

The first week of November was really easy, I felt good, was busy and didn't have too many struggles with eating. I had a busy week of meetings, events and work so I made sure I had bulk cooked and portioned out my meals well in advance :) and it paid off, at the end of my first week I weighed in with an incredible 5.5lbs (2.5kg) loss and won Slimmer of the week as well! Something that really helped me stick ontop of my diet was the SW Honey roast salmon with tonnes of spinach and tomatoes, it is so easy to make and really nutritional so it's perfect for those post gym meals.

Week 2:

This is where things got tough. I spent the first half of this week working in London packing down a film set. It was hard work and I enjoyed it, but finding the time to eat healthy was difficult. I also had to deal with a lot of anxiety this week as the stress from assignments and the fear of failing in the film industry in general set in. I managed to keep it under control, but it did affect my weight loss as I only managed to lose 1 lb (0.5kg).

Week 3: 

During week 3 I spent an incredible 14 hours excercising, both in and out of the gym. I enjoyed every second of it and didn't push myself too hard as I was still able to walk at the end of it. My eating was good and I knew that all the excercise world affect my weight loss. I lost 1lb again but managed to gain an incredible 3 lbs (1.3 kg) of muscle.

Week 4:
After two weeks of not losing much I was determined to get my 2 stone award in group. I was at 1 stone 11lbs lost in total and wanted to finish November with a bang.  Unlike week 3, this week I made sure that I always had food, whether it was with apples in my bag or a Tupperware full of leftovers, I barely had to cook anything, so meals were really easy and quick to do! I also pushed myself by doing a tonne of cardio, including spinning! In one of my spin classes I pushed myself so hard that I ranked number 1 out of  and cycled 23km. And at the end of the week I was rewarded with 3lbs lost and my 2 stone award :)

I was bike #17

Remeber all of this is for my trek to Machu Picchu, please feel free to donate to my page: https://mydonate.bt.com/fundraisers/milliefarquhar1
I am so close to getting to my interim goal of £900 by Christmas :) even £1 will help!

The Road to Machu Picchu: Weeks 1 - 4

I have been overweight for as long as I can remember. It has been the cause of a lot of self doubt, hatred and anxiety. And with each negative, came the wave of comfort eating and hiding in the house that led to more and more weight gain. I have always been good at exercising and keeping fit, but no matter how hard I exercised, I pigged out just as hard.

Last year I went to Thorpe park and I was too large to fit on several of the roller coasters. It was the first time that I realised that my body was not only stopping me from doing the things I loved, but affecting those around me. I was always in constant fear that my larger form was inconveniencing those around me and I was always so tired, even walking up a flight of stars would have me out of breath.

Whenever I sensed a camera, I would try my best
to straighten up and suck everything in! but in 2016
this was as thin as I could make myself!

I realised that something had to change, I had seen online that one of my friends had been to Slimming World and lost an incredible amount of weight so I looked into it, and there was a group not far away from my house! But still my anxiety persisted and even though I knew the group would be friendly, I was so scarred of being judged and talked about that I put off going for a month! during which I continued to eat tonnes and gain weight.

I never minded having my photos taken, and at events I was
always happy to smile with my friends.
 But I would always be conscious
 of my double chin and bad skin condition!

It was at this point that my mother stepped in, she often voiced her worry about my body shape, being a GP she knew the dangers I was in, but I never really listened to her. When I left for university I weighed almost 21 Stone and I still hadn't attended one meeting for Slimming World. So she appealed to my competitive side by going first and telling how much fun it was and what plans she had to lose weight. This pushed me over the edge and I went to the first group I could, the very next day!

Week 1:

I arrived at the session 15 minutes early and had very bad anxiety, but within minutes I was welcomed by my lovely consultant Jo, given a wonderful cup of tea and was taught all about the world of Slimming World. Unlike many diets that I had tried before, Slimming World works by 'rationing' your calorie and fat intake to 15 syns a day. My first weigh in was horrible and I was 20 stone 7.5 pounds (130.4kg), I set myself an initial target of losing 71 pounds (33kg) I was upset about how heavy I was. I had always listened to my parents saying how my eating and weight was getting out of control but I never really believed them. but I set myself to the task and began my Slimming World journey. Over the first week I ate similar amounts of food that I normally do but changed the sugar and the fat for vegetables and fruit. I made sure that I did at least 40 minutes of exercise a day, whether that was just walking to campus or going to the gym. On my first weigh in I lost an incredible 6.5 pounds! (2.9kg) and I remember walking to the car and bursting into tears of joy!

Week 2:
After the success of my first week, I was on a mission! I spent most of the week in the gym and began working with a personal trainer, Kat. My eating was also improving as I didn't even dare eat anything sweet for fear of gaining weight. This wasn't such a bad thing though as it meant I was not spending nearly as much money as I used to. However, my stress levels were gradually increasing as my jobs within the University began. I was working as a Course Rep. for my department (English Literature), a student trustee for my student's union, where the meetings only really contained foods that were unhealthy and fatty, I tried to portion out meals in advance and have packed meals ready for me, but I had so little free time that it was hard to prepare meals. When I weighed in, I was still impressed with a 4 pound loss (1.8kg), I had 10.5 pounds in just two weeks and was not only given my 1/2 stone award, but I was slimmer of the week as well!!

Week 3:
Week 3 was difficult for me, I started as an editorial assistant for a publishers in London so had to commute in on Mondays and Tuesdays, so on-top of dealing with a commute, I was also sat at a desk all day doing relatively mindless tasks. Before, I would sit at my desk working eating as I went, not caring about calorie intake or Syns. But now, I knew just how bad the food I wanted to eat was. London is stressful at the best times and trying to juggle travelling and working there as well as my degree and other jobs was very difficult. Sticking to plan also made it challenging, but I did my best and at the end of the week had another 2.5 lbs (1.1kg) off. I was now just 1 lb off being a stone lighter and I was determined!

Week 4:
I was once again working in London, and when I got into the office on Monday, I discovered that all the work I had done in the previous week was wrong and I had to start over again. This led to a lot of emotional eating and the plan went completely out of the window! However, after Tuesday I started again and spent the rest of the week on plan. I was still working out a lot in the gym and I was gaining a lot of muscle mass! But with another 1.5 lbs (0.6kg) off, I wasn't complaining, I now had my stone award and felt unstoppable!

After four weeks of really hard work I was just over a stone lighter and I felt amazing! Exercise and working out is getting so much easier and I am loving every second! I won't deny that sometimes I feel the urge to get a pizza and I get so jealous of my friends eating whatever they want, but I know that when I reach my target, I will be so proud of myself and my efforts. I cannot wait to see what happens!

If you want to help me get to Machu Picchu, please go to: https://mydonate.bt.com/fundraisers/milliefarquhar1 and donate to Childreach International! they are an incredible charity dedicated to improving children's lives and even the smallest donation will help :) 

Millie Xxx

A Photo a Day...

Now whilst I have never been (and probably never will be) a professional photographer, I do love the fact that photos can capture a moment, an emotion or a relationship that would otherwise be lost to the 'mists of time.' I understand how clichéd that is, but it is the only way I can think of to explain my love for photos and what they represent. So I thought I would share my top 5 photos that I have taken and put on my Instagram account.

5. Reflection

I think I am more proud of the reflection in this photo than the actual events on it. I went to Lord's cricket grounds in London last year during the Ashes which is a big Cricket championship between England and Australia. Whilst there are a lot of imperfections in the rest of the photo I just love the reflection of the pitch in my sunglasses so it goes into my top 5.

4. The Globe

As an English Literature student, a love of Shakespeare is kind of compulsory, and the home of Shakespeare has to be the Globe theatre in London. Last year I was lucky enough to be invited to see Richard II, the stage was amazing with the old columns and stage covered in gold so it really gave off a feeling of the extravagance that Richard II was accustomed to :).

3. Medals and Remembrance

My family has always had a close connection to the Army. My Grandfather, father and now one of my brothers have all been (or still are) in the army with my Grandfather fighting in the second world war in the Black Watch. Every year we travel to France to participate in the remembrance services and my father wears his medals (pictured). Every medal and ribbon has a different meaning and I love seeing all of the different ones that the other veterans wear and asking which campaign or act they represent. I look at this photo and I see my father's history, the history of his regiment and I see the potential for anyone to become something great.

2. For days you cannot be bothered

I think everyone will join me in saying there are days when you just cannot be bothered and the idea of getting out of a nice warm bed and going to school/work just seems impossible. But whilst this photo may seem generic and boring, for me it represents the face that I can now post a photo without any makeup on and feel confident enough to post it on the internet. And sure, there's a filter on it and I was pulling a face, but I will always be proud of this.

1. Field of Corn

I love this photo so much because I took it on a family walk that we went on in October last year. There are a lot of fields near our house that are used for corn, They don't harvest it, but leave it in the field all year round for the local wildlife. And one day I decided to run through the fields of corn and felt like I was in a movie :). I love this photo so much because it reminds me of a wonderful evening and good times spent with my family.

I hope you enjoyed this post. If you want to see more of my posts, my Instagram username is: milliefarquhar 

Xxx

Immortal Words

Hey guys,

So a couple of years ago I wrote this story, it was for a competition at school (I got third place!) and I thought I would share it with you. The basic idea was that we could write whatever we wanted about whoever, but it had to contain the phrase 'And with that, I picked up my pen and I began to write'. I am by no means a good writer but I would appreciate feedback. I thought I would post more stories and things I have written over the years because I never really show people what I write and a couple of my friends wanted to see what goes on inside my head when I do sit down and scribble in various notebooks, so without further ado, here is the first of my stories.

Immortal Words

It was raining, as usual, and as I sat by the window I looked out and traced the raindrops as they slid down the glass, clouding the world from me. For all I knew, it had ceased to exist. And in that moment I began to think; I thought about how the world passes us by every day turning, turning. Always turning in the black void of space, so old and rigid on her axis. Constantly moving forwards and never looking back. And I thought that our lives are a mere speck on the face of our planet. We are born, we live, we love and we die.

She would not remember us, how could she? There are hundreds of countries filled with billions of humans, how would she remember each and every one of us. We all pass so quickly; people move in and out of our own lives daily and we never look twice - they are simply there one minute and gone the next. A simple hello could have started millions of possibilities and yet we never remember their faces, we never get to know them and we never stop to look at anything other than what concerns ourselves. Each of us are too busy occupying our own tiny little worlds to stop and think about the consequences of that person being in our lives or us in theirs. We are like the rain, running down the smooth glass at an unstoppable pace, weaving through the trails of people that have been before but never stopping, always running, always.

And with that, I picked up my pen and I began to write.

I wrote about all those I had known, all those I had forgotten and all those I had yet to know. My dreams and hopes all poured onto the paper in front of me. Every laugh, love and smile were immortalised, a colourful reminder of the past in a world full of grey. And it is my gift to you, every time the rain clouds your vision of the colours of the world read my story and feel the colour return. This story is who I am, it is what has defined me, what has moulded me, what has turned me into who I am today. And when I am gone, my loved ones will remember me by my story. When they and all those who knew me are gone, my story will be the only thing of me that will remain. My body cannot live forever, but my words and my memory are immortal. You remember a person, not by their face or the sound of their voice. But by their deeds, what they did and how they did it. These things form our story. And in the end we are all stories, so let’s make it a good one.

Xxx

It's the Island Life for Me

Hey Guys,

So a post is long overdue and I thought I would share with you what I have been doing while I was away.

For the past month I have been living on an Island up in the North West of Scotland named Tanera Mor with no internet and no mobile phone signal, I have been going here for the past 18 years give or take a few and every time I see this place I feel an inexplicable sense of freedom, which is a bit bizarre given that once the boat leaves you are pretty stuck (not really, a boat is but a phone call away). But there is something enchanting about the heather covered hills and the rocky landscape that makes even the occasional rainy day unspeakably beautiful.

But Millie, I hear you ask, What do you do every day. Well esteemed reader I work in the Island's little café where baking and coffee making are the order of the day. I have always loved working there, as the people that come and visit the Island can be really interesting and fun to talk to. Last week I met a woman that had travelled around the world With nothing more than a guitar and a back-pack. She used her guitar to busk her way through America and even managed to get a job on a cruise ship to Tokyo as an entertainer/waitress, when she returned home she realised that she had spent so much time learning about the rest of the world that she hardly knew anything about her own country. And that made me think about how negatively I think about the UK, many people consider it to be this dull and cramped place where it is either raining or pouring when in fact we have so many brilliant and beautiful places available to us.

One of our busiest days

There are also occasional chances to see amazing wildlife, Tanera is quite popular among the bird community and sometimes, just sometimes, something truly magical happens. Last week we saw a huge pod of dolphins (about 150 dolphins) in our 'back yard', so naturally we went out to see them and instead of seeing them run away as so many animals do whenever humans come nearby, they changed direction and headed straight towards us, and for about an hour we were in fits of childish giggles at the sight of the dolphins playing in our wake, especially the young calves breaking with their mothers. It is a memory I hope never to forget but hopefully it will not be my only experience with them.

On my walk back home yesterday I decided to take a detour up one of Tanera's many hills and was greeted with by far one of the most gorgeous views I have ever seen. It was one a day with very little clouds and even less wind and the entire sea looked like a massive mirror and ironically sat and just wrote for about two hours. I can honestly say it was one of the happiest moments of my life. Simply because in that little window of time, I felt no stress, no anxiety about the future or events of my past and I felt no responsibility or pressure. I was just happy, at least until I realised I forgot to put any suncream on and retreated indoors to nurse my new sun burn. 

Unfortunately my adventures here end tomorrow, and I will be returning to the world of shops and reliable internet. But I shall forever be an Islander and I eagerly await my next trip up.

Should anyone want any information about staying in one of the Island's five self-catered holiday lets then go to www.summer-isles.com I whole-heatedly recommend it, even if it is just a day trip from Ullapool or Achilitbuie, it is truly an awe inspiriting place to see.

Books, Books and More Books

Oh Hey There,

So a couple of months ago, I applied to study English Literature at various UK Universities and as of a week ago, I will be studying English Literature at Reading university. AHHH!!! I am so excited.

Due to the fact I will be studying Literature I have been reading a hell of a lot more that I was before...Plus the fact that I haven't really got anything better to do.

The best way to read I find is to alternate between a 'modern' book and classic. This means that I have slowly worked my way through a wide range of genres and writers that I wouldn't normally consider reading, I thought that I would give you a list of my favourites from the past few months and maybe you could give me a few recommendations.

The Name Of The Wind + The Wise Man's Fear - Patrick Rothfuss

• These books are beautifully written and are by far the best books I have read in a while...I can't really explain the story but honestly...anyone will love these books...There is romance, comedy, adventure and action...Try them

The Throne of Glass series - Sarah J. Maas

• I put these books into one of my favourites and I cannot get enough of them...The most recent installment was the Heir of Fire which was published in September and now I am secretly kicking myself for having to wait for 6 months before the next book is published....uggg

Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen

• Self explanatory really...this is the original romance novel and I love it

The Three Musketeers + The Count of Monte Cristo - Alexandre Dumas

• Whilst these books are written in 'Olde' French translated into English they can be very difficult to read. I mean it took me several days just to get a basic understanding of what he wrote....It's a bit like learning Shakespeare just instead of a play it's couple of books that are 300 pages long.

So any recommendations you have will be brilliant...i'm looking for a new book to read so fire away

Xxx