When I attended Britmums Live last year I was only 9 weeks pregnant with Jelly Bean and I really wasn’t sure whether I would go again this year or not. I love to go along and find out the latest trends in blogging and social media but I also like to go and have a good old catch up with the blogging friends that I have made over my 4-5 years of blogging. It’s the perfect balance of ‘work’ and ‘fun’ but I wasn’t sure whether I would be able to do that with a new baby in tow. I actually sat in sessions last year watching some of the new Mums who were attending the conference with their new babies thinking “that will be me” but as happens in life when a new baby comes along, time just flies by and before you know it the “sold out” signs go up and I realised a little too late that I had missed the boat on Britmums Live for this year . . . or so I thought!
Back in April I received an offer of sponsorship to attend Britmums Live and so over the past few weeks we have been finalising the logistics of it. My sponsors were drawn to Mummy Matters because they like how I try to keep a healthy balance of life for my family. I want my children to look back on their childhood with a spring in their step, to know that I wasn’t a ‘mean’ Mum but also that I wasn’t a pushover. I try really hard to keep their diet healthy but children are children and they deserve the odd treats so they each have their own treat box in the cupboard for when they have been exceptionally good. On nice days we have a ‘no tv’ rule which the children initially moan about for two minutes until they have got outside to play and then several hours later I have to listen to the grunts and groans as I tell them it’s time to come in!! We play board games, we do puzzles together, they ride on scooters/bikes/rollerskates, we spend lots of time outdoors walking, playing football, puddle jumping and exploring AND they watch TV, DVDs and play their video games. My philosophy on life is “a little bit of everything”. I take the view that if you deprive someone of something then you only make it more appealing.
With all that in mind it may come as no surprise to you to hear that my sponsor is Coca-Cola who take the ‘energy in-energy out’ balance very seriously. So seriously in fact that they have developed new tools to help you achieve this balance in your family life too. Using the ‘Work It Out Calculator’ you can select the drink or calorie intake of your choice and then see a suggested activity to help you burn off those calories. Since I am breastfeeding I choose the Coca-Cola Caffeine Free Diet Coke which is only 0.5 calories which of course takes no activity at all to burn off but for someone like Hubby who enjoys a full fat Coca-Cola at 139 calories he could do 24 minutes of badminton, 30 minutes of walking, 17 minutes of running, 51 minutes of ironing (I like this option!!) or various other activities from gardening to canoeing.
The other cool tool is the Coca Cola Great Britain Caffeine Counter – do you know how much caffeine you consume in an average day? It’s surprising how quickly your intake can stack up. Whilst I am breastfeeding I try to avoid too much caffeine because I don’t want Jelly Bean awake all night so I prefer to not drink too much caffeine so that I can treat myself with a bar of chocolate every now and then (every day!!).
Their latest campaign is the ‘Share a Coke’ campaign which I have seen lots of people tweeting and posting about on Facebook where Coca-Cola is replacing their iconic Coca-Cola logo on Coca-Cola, Diet Coke and Coke Zero 500ml and 375ml bottles with 150 of Great Britains most popular names so you can share a coke with your family, friends and loved ones.
I am one of 6 guest bloggers attending BritMums Live on behalf of Coca-Cola who will be attending a lunchtime session hosted by Helen Munday who is the UK Director of Scientific and Regulatory Affairs at Coca-Cola who will be telling us more about Coca-Colas portfolio and active lifestyle initiatives. Stay tuned and I will be sure to share this information with you too . . . .