tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34309437138359145512024-03-04T22:09:16.468-08:00The Happy Health WriterAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14733573846149885326noreply@blogger.comBlogger97125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3430943713835914551.post-89898358255103086352016-04-25T07:58:00.000-07:002016-04-25T07:58:06.125-07:00How old are you, really?<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="color: blue;">I love
writing about the things that age us – and those that keep us young. And last
week, doing just this, I came across a brilliant little <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/guides/zg3hk7h" target="_blank">quiz </a>from the <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/guides/zg3hk7h" target="_blank">BBC’s HowTo Stay Young</a> – it took about 3 minutes to complete, and told me I am
biologically 20 years younger than my actual age.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="color: blue;">Now that’s
just what any girl wants to hear. So how did it come about?<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="color: blue;">Well,
starting with my height, weight, and age, I had years taken off for owning a
dog (doddle!), never having smoked, only drinking up to 14 units a week, and
having a sunny outlook. Stress is fine, it seems, as long as you can cope with
it by distracting yourself or talking about it (the box I ticked). And by
saying I was “always optimistic”, I had another 8 years knocked off my
chronological age. Had I been “mostly optimistic” (I was torn), I would still
have scored well – but not quite as well as I did.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="color: blue;">Exercise
was another biggy. I ticked that I exercise “most days”. There was a note on
this page to say that by exercise the test meant doing something for 20 minutes
that would leave me out of breath. I’m not sure how out of breath I should be –
but hope that a raised heartbeat on a 30-40 minute dog walk counts. If not I
could be 8 years older…<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="color: blue;">I was
proud of my biological age of 35 – but I could have knocked yet another five
years off if I’d regularly fasted.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>(Which could be just the incentive I need to go back on the 5:2 diet). <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="color: blue;">Chillingly,
I then tried putting in different results to see what would happen if – even at
the same weight – I was a 20 year 20-a-day smoker who drank more than 14 units
a week, ate a lot of processed food, never exercised, and was a born pessimist…
The result? Those habits – adopted by so many people my age – would have
pitched me at no less than 108!!<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="color: blue;">We are now
expected to live until our early 80s. But this little test shows just how much
our lifestyle should influence this expectation.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="color: blue;">Here are
some of the other things I’m doing to try and preserve my youth:<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="color: blue;">. Being
wordy – those who write complex sentences tend to keep a healthy brain for
longer. I write all the time – but only rarely is my writing complex, so I also
do the Times Codeword whenever I can. (Though I have to admit the Mirror’s
Codeword was far more challenging last time I did it, on the plane to Nice). <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="color: blue;">. Eating
blueberries – they’re full of anthocyanins, the substances credited with
keeping brains young and healthy.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="color: blue;">. I do
yoga, and swim – both of which help to keep me agile.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: blue;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">. I walk: </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 150%;">not only does it help to keep my
heart young, but a London University study found that just one hour of brisk
walking twice a week increases the number of neurons in the hippocampus,
significantly boosting mental skills in just 10 weeks.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: blue;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 150%;">. Finally, I’m also trying to
practice the sit to stand test – going from standing down to cross-legged
sitting on the floor, and back up again unaided and without too many wobbles. </span><span style="background: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 150%;">In one study of 51 to 80 year olds,
those with the lowest scores were 5-6 times more likely to die within the next
six years than those with the highest scores. If you’re going to try this,
start with </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 150%;">your
maximum score of 10.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Five for
sitting, and five for standing back up. Lose a point every time you have to use
a hand or knee for support, and a ½ point every time you wobble.</span><span style="background: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 150%;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14733573846149885326noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3430943713835914551.post-88778757228702853672016-04-24T09:20:00.001-07:002016-04-24T09:20:07.118-07:00War on wheat<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">So this is
what happens when you take your eye off the ball. Or, as I did, your feet off
the scales. I stopped stepping on them (that should have been a cause for
concern in the first place). And when I next did, I’d gained 1.5kg! And now
it’s 1.8! <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">So where
have I gone wrong?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">I’ll start
with the fact that my husband’s been making his own bread. Always easier to
blame someone else. I’m not eating very much of it. But nor am I eating none of
it. And it is delicious. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">We’ve also
had two holidays in the last three months – one in Paris, where we frequently
found ourselves in the delicious Moulin de La Vierge at the end of the
afternoon; and then in Roquebrune-Cap-Martin, near the French Italian border on
the Cote d’Azur, where more cakes and a lot of bread were consumed. Happy
memories of a baguette and Brillat Savarin in the Hanbury Botanic Garden at
Mortola Inferiore. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Steve’s
latest endeavour is his own homemade starter yeast. I nod off before getting to
the end of the detailed description of how this is made, but it essentially
involves flour and water (and nothing else), which is cosseted in the airing
cupboard and fed or not fed, with bits being thrown away – or not - according which
aficionado you follow… Who cares? What matters is that it made a sour dough to
rival any I’ve ever had from an artisan baker here or abroad. It is hard to
resist and I’ve just had another slice, toasted, with salty butter and a
banana. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">All these
carbs and excess pounds have ominously coincided with the news last week that
we need to stick to a weight loss diet for a whole year if we want to maintain
our new weight. That’s how long it takes for the hunger hormone ghrelin to
adapt to your new way of eating so hunger and cravings do not sabotage all your
hard work.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Or so says Signe
Sorensen Torekov, a researcher at the University of Copenhagen.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">After this
time ghrelin remains sufficiently suppressed but a coinciding rise in the
appetite suppressant hormone GLP-1 is sustained.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">This is
all well and good – providing you don’t succumb to your husband’s sourdough.
For it seems – and there are various studies that support this – that ghrelin
is putty in the hands of a good loaf of bread. A nice big slice of toast may
keep it down for a bit – but then it springs back with a vengeance. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Basically, found one University of
Washington study, carbs eventually make people hungrier than before they had
eaten… That is very bad news for any dieter struggling to maintain their regime
for a year, and hoping that a calorie is a calorie is a calorie – be it in a juicy
steak or a big fat baguette. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">I’m not
aware that the odd slice of Steve’s sourdough at breakfast has made me eat more
at lunch or dinner. But my weight is far easier to control when I give carbs a
wide berth. I even seem to be able to get away with a couple of glasses of wine
several times a week without the scales sounding a siren. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">I have not
yet tested the effects of different types of carb on my diet – and it may just
be wheat that’s the problem. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">It is
quite likely. Dr John Mansfield, author of The Six Secrets of Successful Weight
Loss, lists the 20 foods that people are most likely to be intolerant to, and wheat
is right there at the very top. But how it causes weight gain is yet again ghrelin-related,
the theory being that food intolerances cause a glitch with the lipostat – the
feedback mechanism that tells your brain that you’ve already overeaten and now
need to eat less and exercise more.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Yet
another theory – held by the nutritionist Stephanie Lashford – is that the
culprit food causes a reaction called angioedema, whereby every cell in the
body swells up – piling on pounds in the process.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Whatever
the cause, if I am to go with the wheat theory I now have a choice to make. Either I go back to daily weighing – in
which case Steve’s sourdough’s days are numbered, and breakfasts will be yogurt
bound once more. Or I put the scales away, eat all the bread I like, and never
look in the mirror or wear my favourite dresses again. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14733573846149885326noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3430943713835914551.post-10522509879548515072016-01-21T09:13:00.001-08:002016-01-21T09:13:17.626-08:00Zen and the art of soup making<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%;">Long time,
no posts – sorry about that. But one thing I have stuck to is the weight loss
regime. It’s amazing how much difference getting on the scales every day makes,
even when I seem to be doing little else to alter my weight. OK – let you in on
a secret – I have eaten very, very little wheat in the last six months. Minimal
bread, and hardly any pasta (only once in Italy, and that was a disaster as I
mistook zucca – pumpkin - as a label for the filling; not the shape of the pasta, which turned out to be filled
with one of my all-time unfavourites, hard boiled egg… yeeuch).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%;">My new weight
even survived Christmas in tact. But, since then, there have been a lot of leftover
hamper foods knocking around. Betty’s Yorkshire Gingerbread is to die for. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Who knew? I certainly wouldn’t have, and
I could have ignored it had I not tried one first morsel. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%;">By last
weekend I was starting to feel those carb cravings revving up again. And that
“will I get hungry?” question mark hanging over me whenever I was planning my
next meal.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%;">My
remedy was to cook soup – something I find hugely therapeutic on the rare
occasions have the kitchen to myself. And soup is a nice filling and comforting
winter food for lunchtimes that isn’t overloaded with calories.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%;">Over “twixtmas”
I’d already made and frozen several litres of turkey stock, and spent Sunday
night chopping onions for two soups – pea and ham, and celeriac and mushroom.
There were further onions for a lamb and aubergine stew, and a Spanish tortilla
– so all four burners had onions sweating on them.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%;">Then, for
the soups: easy mcpeasy – I added fried bacon, garlic, tarragon and a bag of frozen
peas (plus stock) to one pot</span><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 150%;">, and chopped and sautéed celeriac and chestnut
mushrooms with garlic and stock to the other.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%;">A new
ingredient I’ve just discovered that went into everything I cooked that night
is Lemon Salt from <a href="http://spicemountain.co.uk/" target="_blank">Spice Mountain</a> in Borough Market. (Deliciously umami and
I’ve just sprinkled it on an avocado too.)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%;">I had to
get written permission from my husband to use his <a href="http://thermomix.vorwerk.co.uk/" target="_blank">Thermomix</a> – but, after
promising to clean it thoroughly and put it all back together, back where I’d
found it, what joy! This is a machine that whizzes up soups to a fine cream.
Steve even makes fish soup using all the bones, and they are crushed to silky
smoothness by this kitchen wizard. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%;">So we are
now eating soup every day at lunchtime. And though I am not really losing
weight any more (after losing 3-4 kilos, which turned out to be about 6% of my
bodyweight, I am hovering) the soups, and the daily weighing, are stopping me
from soaring again. And helping me eschew wheat...<o:p></o:p></span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14733573846149885326noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3430943713835914551.post-36408561534962420242015-08-23T07:50:00.001-07:002015-08-23T07:50:46.579-07:00Diet hard <br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNZXRrgcBHBZ2a0GrhiUkKouU4y0QYBteCYIsSOgZeNDuZAmTO74CV16IhQI4AYu7M_O9uWmRBcB20zaIhzGYQH2tqjD60Eqjxoph2_HwH74NH66SqqYhPf1-EBMd61sFXtk4JtgM2QbcU/s1600/bathroom+scales+.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="270" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNZXRrgcBHBZ2a0GrhiUkKouU4y0QYBteCYIsSOgZeNDuZAmTO74CV16IhQI4AYu7M_O9uWmRBcB20zaIhzGYQH2tqjD60Eqjxoph2_HwH74NH66SqqYhPf1-EBMd61sFXtk4JtgM2QbcU/s320/bathroom+scales+.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="color: red; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Everyone I
know of my age is trying to lose a bit of weight. And, if they’re not, they
probably should be. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="color: red; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">I was
shocked into my latest regime after spending two days in a bijou Seville
apartment with a mirror lined bathroom. When I told my friend and her daughter
about this, the daughter asked, “Do you mean there were mirrors on the floor
too?” Fortunately not – but the horror of seeing my body from every other angle
was enough to trigger my latest efforts to lose a bit of weight.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="color: red; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">I had for
too long been avoiding the scales – I was afraid that the results would cause
me to gain more weight instead of losing it.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="color: red; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">In the end
I decided to weigh myself in kilos instead of stones, as going metric would
enable a certain amount of denial on my part. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="color: red; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">I also
decided to weigh myself daily. This would A) hopefully inspire me and B)
prevent complacency from setting in. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="color: red; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">But the
results, over the last seven weeks, have been comparable to watching paint dry
– or at least dry, and then get wet again, as weight has a funny habit of
fluctuating hugely from one day to the next.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="color: red; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Along the
way I am, of course, trying to bear in mind all the diet tips I’ve ever come
across- many of them contradictory…<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="color: red; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">. Count
the calories – to lose weight a calorie calculator worked out I need to consume
no more than 1200 a day.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="color: red; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">. Forget
the calories – another theory is that you can eat all the calories you like, as
long as they’re the right ones. Protein is in, carbs are out. A high protein duet has been shown to boost metabolism by 80 to 100 calories a dat, while also helping you to feel more satiated so you eat up to 441 fewer calories daily. And cutting carbs can help to double or trebble your weight loss compared to a normal low fat diet... </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="color: red; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">. Eat an
apple before your meal and you’ll consume 15% fewer calories with your meal.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="color: red; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">. At the
first sign of hunger, have a glass of water. It may just be thirst sending the
wrong signal. Drinking <o:p></o:p></span><span style="color: red; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 150%;">water before a meal can also boost metabolism by 24-30% over the next hour or two. </span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
</div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="color: red; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Don’t drink juice close to a meal – the
sugar encourages overeating, with juice drinkers eating 3% more calories than
those who avoid them.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="color: red; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 150%;">. Drink coffee… it can increase fat
burning by up to 10-29%.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="background: white; color: red; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-size: 16.0pt;">. Drink green tea… its catechins are
supposed to help boost metabolism.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="background: white; color: red; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-size: 16.0pt;">. Avoid fizzy drinks. Full stop. The
full calorie versions are loaded with sugar (10 tsps per can of coke), but the
low cal ones are even worse as their artificial sweeteners increase appetite. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="background: white; color: red; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-size: 16.0pt;">. Use a smaller plate – you’ll trick
yourself into thinking you’ve had enough.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="background: white; color: red; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-size: 16.0pt;">. Don’t go back for seconds for at
least half an hour – it takes 20 minutes for satiety to set in.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="background: white; color: red; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-size: 16.0pt;">. Don’t drink alcohol with your meal
– it makes you less guarded and more likely to over-indulge. Plus it’s loaded
with its own calories. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="color: red; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">. Don’t “diet” – just eat healthily… Tried that, and it didn’t work!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="color: red; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="color: red; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<h2>
<br /></h2>
</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14733573846149885326noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3430943713835914551.post-24411774392201155442014-11-17T03:06:00.003-08:002014-11-17T03:06:34.866-08:00More Happy Health Writer musings<br />
<br />
Read more musings from the Happy Health Writer on my other blog at www.karenevennett.co.uk.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14733573846149885326noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3430943713835914551.post-72605383499331015652014-10-28T07:30:00.000-07:002014-10-28T07:30:53.746-07:00Good egg! <!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">“Botox in
a bottle”, “stem cells in a capsule”, “happy tablets”… when health supplements
make these kind of claims my first thoughts are usually, “yeah, yeah, yeah” and
“blah, blah, blah”… As a health writer, I’ve heard it all before. And usually
this latest miracle product that we should ALL be taking is quickly forgotten
and replaced by something else. I’m thinking of blue-green algae (surely the
reason we’re supposed to keep our dogs out of the lakes in Richmond Park?!) and
- what-was-it-called? – a product derived from rotting fruit. Long forgotten,
these supplements did not make it into the world’s medicine cabinets and we seem
to be managing perfectly well without them. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">So when a
friend started talking about yet another new product earlier this year, I thought,
“yes… and…?” And when it turned out it was not only dodgy sounding (derived
from a 9-day fertilized egg) but also sold via network marketing, memories came
flooding back of said blue-green algae - promoted to me in the 80s by people
who also told me they were signing up for their bodies to be frozen when they
died with the expectation that they’d be brought back to life within a few
decades (OMG, who would WANT their ancient decrepit body to be brought back to
life in a world that had long moved on without them?!) <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">But I
politely took the information on <a href="http://www.balance9.co.uk/" target="_blank">Laminine</a>, this 9-day chick fetus product, and
immediately forgot all about it. Until, some months later, a friend who’d also
heard about it at the same time, decided to trial it. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">My friend
has Parkinson’s disease and has so far resisted taking any medicine for it.
Instead, she has been going down a natural route, seeking out supplements to
help her – albeit at a huge price. Her health store bill topped <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">£1000 a month</i> this time last year – but
she felt she was halting the progress of her disease, even though she still had
tremors when she was excited or stressed. Two things she was unable to address,
however, were the constant pains all over her body, and the gnawing lethargy
that prevented her going out in the evenings and put her in bed early every
night.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Within
weeks of starting on <a href="http://www.balance9.co.uk/" target="_blank">Laminine</a> her pains were gone and she had more energy too.
As a bonus, her dandruff had also disappeared – and her health store bills had
shrunk.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">After a
while she wondered if she was just imagining it, and maybe another amino acid
supplement (for that is what <a href="http://www.balance9.co.uk/" target="_blank">Laminine</a> is, essentially) would work just as well.
Two weeks after swapping the Laminine for a supposedly high quality and similar
looking product (but not one derived from a nine day chick fetus, because
<a href="http://www.balance9.co.uk/" target="_blank">Laminine</a> is the only supplement in the world that comes from this source) she
was in pain again – and sleeping badly. Two days after swapping back to the
Laminine, her pain had gone again; she was sleeping like a baby, and her energy was back in the ascendant. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Interesting</span></i><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">, I
thought. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">But I still don’t like the idea
of networking</i>. I don’t get it and feel suspicious of the fact that the
product is not marketed in shops.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">And yet I
was intrigued. I started looking for other case studies. There are plenty on the
internet – but one woman I spoke to had a particularly interesting story to
tell. She’d had a knee operation that had gone wrong, leaving her unable to
straighten her leg, and only able to walk with crutches and in pain. She ached
so much that she needed prescription strength painkillers, and couldn’t sleep
without them. Six months after starting on <a href="http://www.balance9.co.uk/" target="_blank">Laminine</a>, she was off all her pain
meds, able to walk without crutches (except uphill when she needs one stick) –
AND – her spectacles prescription had improved from 3.25 to 2.25 in her right
eye. Her left eye, in which she has been completely blind since birth, was now
suddenly able to see the top line of the optician’s chart – not the best sight,
but an improvement on what she’d had for the past 52 years.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Still sceptical
about the method by which <a href="http://www.balance9.co.uk/" target="_blank">Laminine</a> is marketed, I agreed to meet one of the
sellers - Camilla.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She told me her story.
She was not an unwell woman but wanted to take the product if she was going to
sell it. It arrived through the post at a time when she was seriously stressed,
her scalp was itching, she wasn’t sleeping, and her periods were haywire – the
doctor having told her that, at 42, she was already perimenopausal.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She claims she immediately lost ½ a
stone, because she stopped craving sugar; her periods got back to normal; the
itching and stress went; and she had more energy than she’d known in years. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Camilla is a
business woman and was looking for a new networking opportunity, after having
had huge success with Aloe Vera which she’d brought into the UK 20 years
before. She’d done her research – had the company investigated – and was
convinced it was worth promoting. A few months later, she travelled to Kenya to stay with a friend. While the friend immediately remarked how well Camilla looked, Camilla could only say how absolutely dreadful her friend appeared. She had terrible arthritis and had to grip one leg with her hands just to climb the stairs. No surprises - having seen Camilla's glow, she signed up for the product and is now running for buses, and making money selling the supplements to the many people who've been bowled over by the change in her... <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">I have run
the products’ details past nutritional therapists with mixed responses. It is
new – only being officially launched in the UK this winter – so not many people
know of it. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">One of my
contacts is keen to try it on her fibromyalgia patients, because of its track
record with treating pain. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">It is also
said to help with blood pressure, reduce signs of ageing, aid brain function,
increase libido, burn fat and curb appetite, increase muscle strength and
muscle recovery, reduce stress and elevate serotonin levels. Hence its claim to
be “stem cells in a capsule”, “botox in a bottle”, and indeed a “happy tablet”.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">I’m keen
to hear from anyone who can confirm or dispute these claims. Do get in touch… <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<br /></div>
<!--EndFragment-->Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14733573846149885326noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3430943713835914551.post-5187054546966979102014-08-05T02:18:00.000-07:002014-08-05T02:18:48.168-07:00Would I like to take a statin? No thank you
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<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYOyZ7Q5caDyhysb_RQxdFfVLON2dL0QrmMjHPnVYUXHkN5SFlAMcjEj2ZY1HSHqPei7YpbPcf30sKuDfkkdstZ7tKOTAVQolRjMw1Zth_MFfwVidcF0oRA6HMqAn3IupUvTppRVS1AJPV/s1600/STATIN+PIC.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYOyZ7Q5caDyhysb_RQxdFfVLON2dL0QrmMjHPnVYUXHkN5SFlAMcjEj2ZY1HSHqPei7YpbPcf30sKuDfkkdstZ7tKOTAVQolRjMw1Zth_MFfwVidcF0oRA6HMqAn3IupUvTppRVS1AJPV/s1600/STATIN+PIC.jpg" height="213" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 19px; line-height: 28px;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">I recently had a routine heart health screening – the kind you get when
you’re of a certain age – which concluded that I have a 13% risk of a heart
attack in the next 10 years. (Or, the way I view risk, an 87% chance of NOT
having a heart attack in the next 10 years). ‘There’s nothing you can do about
your family history or age, both of which influence this result,’ my GP
explained. ‘So it’s just a matter of eating healthily and taking enough
exercise’ (which I like to think I’m already doing). The further good news was
that, with my risk, the GP would not yet need to treat me with drugs. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">But then, just days later, came the news that NICE now plans to suggest
everyone with a 10% risk should be offered a statin…! So that would include me.
<br />
What would I do if I was offered one? Well 1) I'd hope my GP would be shaking
his head and pulling a “say no” kind of face while offering the drug. And 2) I’d
point out that actually I do not have high cholesterol so – whatever my overall
heart disease risk - what would be the point of taking a drug to lower the
already healthy level of fat in my blood? Far better to lower my overall risk
by taking a blood pressure drug if I have hypertension.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">I recently
had the pleasure of interviewing the Australian cardiologist Dr Ross Walker who
pointed out that </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; mso-bidi-font-size: 19.0pt;">you have to treat 60 people for
five years to prevent one <u>non fatal</u> heart attack, or 260 people for 5
years to prevent one stroke – and there is no difference in mortality figures
in people in either group, whether they do or don’t take statins.<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<br /></div>
<!--EndFragment-->Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14733573846149885326noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3430943713835914551.post-25952406780980014662014-07-28T11:02:00.000-07:002014-07-28T11:02:25.277-07:00A stone is a lot of weight to lose…
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVr04zjsKojjKaXB9hAV_0UeEZL7yohUT8raC-YlE4hsX-rBBo3WARgvuIuhKF3be3RgszmN1eDQd75ntg5HdPouRQhabLAgQ6EXSLPrn-4mVZhPBoqaFNPsK_BXD0Tvi4P0gwXHUds_x0/s1600/stone+weight+pic.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVr04zjsKojjKaXB9hAV_0UeEZL7yohUT8raC-YlE4hsX-rBBo3WARgvuIuhKF3be3RgszmN1eDQd75ntg5HdPouRQhabLAgQ6EXSLPrn-4mVZhPBoqaFNPsK_BXD0Tvi4P0gwXHUds_x0/s1600/stone+weight+pic.jpg" height="320" width="211" /></a></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 19px; line-height: 28px;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">We’re supposed not to gain more than a stone over our first adult weight…
So, at two stone higher than the weight I was up to the age of 35, I now have a
stone to lose… <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Having gained two stone in the last <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">talkamongstyourselves</i>
years is not that surprising when you look at what Dr Jane Johnston has to say
on the subject. On <a href="http://www.menopausematters.co.uk/weightgain.php" target="_blank">Menopause Matters</a>, she points out that past the age of 40 we
typically gain a pound a year if we don’t change our current eating and
exercise pattern. Then, once we hit menopause, things get even more depressing –
with the body trying to store fat the way it stored puppy fat at puberty. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">She gives the very demoralising example that, should we eat 1000
calories prior to menopause, we will burn 700 of them and store 300… But past
menopause the process reverses, and we store 700 and burn only 300!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">I’m hoping this is just an example and that we are not expected to gain
weight on a 1000 calories a day regime, or we’re all b***ered. The question is –
how do we lose it?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">I am persevering with the 2-Day Diet – but have to confess to already
overdoing the cheese, forgetting to trim fat off meat, and failing to weigh
anything except myself. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 19px; line-height: 28px;"><br /></span></span></div>
<!--EndFragment-->Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14733573846149885326noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3430943713835914551.post-18307472744988647572014-07-25T03:03:00.002-07:002014-07-25T03:03:55.103-07:00Why am I my own worst diet saboteur? <!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><br /></span>
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><br /></span>
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">‘Watch out
for sabotaging behaviour’, warn the authors of The 2 Day Diet. 'Loved ones may
try to tempt you with forbidden foods…' Yes, Siree! Last night, after a lovely
walk in the park, my husband says: ‘I think I’ll buy some wine. Do you want
some wine?’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">‘No, I
don’t!!’ I had so far managed no carbs all day and there were none on the menu
for supper, either. This was looking like a no carb day.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">So my
husband decides he’ll buy beer instead – no temptation to me as I can’t stand
it.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">But dinner
is running late, and, as we potter about the kitchen and he pours his first
drink, I am the one to sabotage my own diet. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">‘As I’m
not drinking tonight, I think I’ll finish off that champagne in the fridge,’ I
say.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Yes, at
the risk of sounding opulent, there was <i>leftover</i> champagne in our fridge –
opened two days earlier to celebrate our youngest daughter’s 18<sup>th</sup>
birthday, but it made her wince and there was a whole glass left. Actually a
very large whole glass (still in the bottle, and still fizzy – what are the
odds?)… </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px; line-height: 28px;">So I had
that, called it a carb, and told myself it was now a carb day – and then, after
dinner, watching Breaking Bad, I ate two of Steve’s home-made chocolates
leftover from a function he catered last weekend. ‘Only two more carbs’…</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Why do we
do it? Why do we dieters cheat on ourselves but pretend we’re cheating on the
diet and that the diet won’t know about those forbidden treats we sneak passed
our lips?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">The diet
book doesn’t care. The authors don’t care! The only person who’s affected by my
decision to drink a glass of wine and eat a couple of chocolates is me…<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<!--EndFragment-->Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14733573846149885326noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3430943713835914551.post-79606261722168166712014-07-19T03:48:00.001-07:002014-07-19T03:48:46.512-07:00The 2-Day Diet<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1Z6DpMP4R9hQciQLYrpi6vOJWFkGs6-hOc6-ED0ueCrDTH7jLxpAhveVodVSeEjD4Rd_Nnifdj_UGHLXd5fxq_WwNCWxFeOYB8Vka9P7wcOeDa-UY9AJw-PuOckGC975-DNvkwPOY6nzB/s1600/DIET+PIC.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1Z6DpMP4R9hQciQLYrpi6vOJWFkGs6-hOc6-ED0ueCrDTH7jLxpAhveVodVSeEjD4Rd_Nnifdj_UGHLXd5fxq_WwNCWxFeOYB8Vka9P7wcOeDa-UY9AJw-PuOckGC975-DNvkwPOY6nzB/s1600/DIET+PIC.jpg" height="320" width="191" /></a></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Say what
you like about diets – but ultimately they’re the only way to lose weight. Even
when someone says they’re just cutting down their portion sizes and eating only
healthy foods – that is <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">a diet! <o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Last year
I tried the 5.2 diet, consuming just 500 calories a day on two non-consecutive
days, and eating normally the rest of the week. Now – moment of truth – I
didn’t actually read the book behind this diet, so when I ate normally, I ate
normally for me… No doubt the book would have told me to eat abnormally for me
on the non diet days. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">I’m pretty
sure of this now as I’ve just bought another 5-2 style diet book – this one is
<a href="http://www.thetwodaydiet.co.uk/" target="_blank">The 2 Day Diet, by Dr Michelle Harvie and Prof Tony Howell.</a> The claim on the
cover is: ‘Diet two days a week. Eat normally for five.’ But, start reading,
and it’s soon apparent you will be committing yourself to yet another 7-day
diet – it’s just that 2 of those days are a little bit harder than the rest.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Here’s
what you have to do:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">On 2
consecutive days (can be non-consecutive if you prefer but the authors think
consecutive works best) eat only 1000 calories comprising 0 carbs, 4-12
portions of protein (one portion is 30g of meat, poultry or oily fish OR 45g
seafood OR 60g fresh or smoked white fish OR 1 egg OR 1 rasher of bacon or thin
slice of ham), 5 portions of veg (there are however restrictions on these –
your best bet is leaves: a cereal bowl full of lettuce or watercress counts as
one portion), 1 portion of fruit (again there are restrictions – no bananas for
example), 5 servings of fat (eg 1 serving is 1tsp mayo or veg spread but the
word butter doesn’t seem to feature anywhere in this book).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There are a few other details but
that’s about it in a nutshell. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">The
protein should keep you full and the theory is that we go on feeling hungry
until we’ve consumed the amount of protein that we need.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">On the 5
‘eat normally’ days in fact you still only eat 1400 calories, comprising 3-8
portions of protein, and a maximum of 6-9 portions of carbs (the amount you can
have depends on your weight and age, and there’s a handy ready reckoner to help
you but as an example 1 medium slice of wholemeal bread would count as a
portion), 2 portions of fruit, 5 vegetables, and 3-5 portions of fat (again
your weight and height determine how much you can eat, and this is also in the
ready reckoner). <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Oh and I
forgot to say that on both restricted and unrestricted days you should have 3
servings of dairy (1 serving = 1 pot low fat yogurt for example) – but no more
than 4oz (120g) cheese each week.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px; line-height: 38px;">Despite
all the counting and weighing – not to mention the various restrictions – it
seems to be quite a do-able diet – so I am going to give it a whirl. I am right
at the top of my healthy BMI, and as some experts say we should never let
ourselves get more than a stone heavier than our lowest adult weight (eg what
you weighed at 18) I need to lose a stone…</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">I quite
like the idea that on a restricted day I can in theory have bacon, eggs,
tomatoes and mushrooms for breakfast; prawn salad for lunch; and chicken salad
for dinner. And that, on my non-restricted days I can have yogurt and berries
for breakfast, tuna sandwich for lunch, and chicken and rice for dinner. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Eating
just 120g cheese a week will be a challenge, and going butter-free could be
impossible…<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Let’s see
what happens!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<!--EndFragment-->Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14733573846149885326noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3430943713835914551.post-90916379276510617372014-05-16T09:08:00.000-07:002014-09-26T05:24:46.767-07:00(Still) desperately seeking small shoes… <!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicMk2x5-rFtXy7vFQ1vewBLo22Uic6vk3MLEG6wgoQGACJtT4vhLelMwzVTnnQvLh2e952D7q9kTBWnAl5ni-ZSHsp5lPaUoSWxnnCzqL6RBYOVm6dsFMcC5MZtsQbolSA-FTRpWPzuGQh/s1600/image+for+shoe+blog+.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicMk2x5-rFtXy7vFQ1vewBLo22Uic6vk3MLEG6wgoQGACJtT4vhLelMwzVTnnQvLh2e952D7q9kTBWnAl5ni-ZSHsp5lPaUoSWxnnCzqL6RBYOVm6dsFMcC5MZtsQbolSA-FTRpWPzuGQh/s1600/image+for+shoe+blog+.jpg" height="228" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 19px; line-height: 28px;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">A month
ago I wrote about my efforts to find a pair of pretty shoes. All I want is a
classic kitten heeled, pointy-toed pump. But most shoe shops only stock shoes
from size 36 up, and I am a 35. At least, I thought I was a 35… I have 35s that
fit me, and I even have 36s that fit me – but my 35s are Fit-Flops and
Birkenstocks, and my 36s are all boots. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">I was very
excited about visiting Pretty Small Shoes, in Bloomsbury, which sells shoes in
all sorts of small sizes and a wide variety of styles, mostly at £130.00. But –
sorry, lovely girls who work in the store – the shoes are so cheap looking and
so unbearably uncomfortable that I was hugely relieved to find that none of the
35s fitted me (they were TOO BIG!) – and doubly hugely relieved to discover
that the styles that I had pretended to like were not available in a 34 or
34.5. Phew! After politely trying them all on, I would have had to tell the
girls that the shoes were actually so tacky that I couldn’t be seen in them, and
would rather live on in my Birkies and Fit-Flops, never to be seen in an
elegant kitten-heeled, pointy-toed pump. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">But
failure always makes me more determined to find what I’m looking for, and,
after a bit of online research I discovered that<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Harrods stocks plenty of size 35s in ranges from Stuart
Weitzmann, Miu Miu and the like… <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">So last
Sunday Steve patiently accompanied me on a trip to Harrods’ shoe department. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">As someone
who normally picks up shoes in little boutiques or natural shoe store type
shops, I had forgotten how arduous shoe shopping can be. You can’t just “pop in”
for a pair of shoes. These days shoe shop assistants do not just disappear to
the back of the store to rummage among the boxes; they have to search on the
computer for stock, then, apparently, go out the back door and walk round the
block a few times while you sit twiddling your thumbs with one shoe off…<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">And, in
Harrods, this process had to be repeated in each separate concession. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">We tried
Stuart Weitzmann, Miu Miu, Jimmy Choo, and Louis Vuitton – all highly expensive,
but, by now, remember, we’re realising that finding a pair of shoes to fit me will be a once in a lifetime event. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">The
conclusion was that I am not a 35 – not in pointy toed pumps, anyway. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">One helpful Harrods' shoe man said I could have shoes specially made in a size 34 or 34.5 by Stuart Weitzmann - they could arrange this, and the price would be the same as the on the shelf price of a 35... but I would have to pay upfront (£330), and, if the shoes didn't fit me, or hurt, there would be no refund. I had also missed the boat for their latest order for small shoes and would have to wait until the Autumn to go on the list, and another 12 weeks for the shoes to arrive. </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px; line-height: 28px;">"Does Madam have an event in mind for which she needs the shoes?" </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">In Harvey Nichols, where we repeated the torturous experience, we learned that
there is in fact no such thing as a 35… “Our shoes tend to get bigger the lower
they go,” the Jimmy Choo assistant explained. The smaller your feet, the higher
the heels need to be if a shoe is to fit you, it seems. I tried on a very
pretty size 34 in a flat shoe – just to see if it would fit – and I could get
my thumb in the back! "If it had a higher heel it would be smaller" the assistant explained.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Now looking for a 34 - we thought 35 was hard enough to find - by
the end of our trip, we had established that Jimmy Choo and Miu Miu do make 34s…
even if their shops rarely stock them.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Salvatore
Ferragamo’s shoes start at a 34.5, and St Laurent’s start at 35. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Net-a-Porter
stocks some 34s, and even has a few pairs from Jimmy Choo and Miu Miu in just
the style I’m looking for… Will they fit? We’ve decided to order some in to
find out… And, if they do??? Well, I have saved £1000s on not buying pretty
shoes for all the decades that I’ve been an adult –so if I find a pair that
fits and feels comfortable (that is essential) I think I deserve a treat…<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><br /></span>
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">UPDATE: Neither Jimmy Choo's nor Miu Miu's 34 fitted me. They were TOO SMALL!! This when I am "normally" a size 35 in other brands and styles. I have since found two pairs of slingbacks in 35s, both of which fit thanks of course to the adjustable strap... And now a friend has introduced me to <a href="https://www.shoesofprey.com/" target="_blank">Shoes Of Prey</a> - who will make shoes to order, in sizes down to 31. They have just the kind of court I am looking for - and have agreed to let me send a measurement of my foot to make sure they give me the right size. They're in Australia so it will take some time to sort this order out - but I hope to have a pair in time for Christmas!</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<!--EndFragment-->Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14733573846149885326noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3430943713835914551.post-8667335677039005382014-04-13T11:34:00.000-07:002014-04-19T04:59:01.187-07:00We’re going on a shoe hunt. We’re going to find a small pair… <!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFLkogsxcL6u4S7rDhXrmO-Z0JOfMoB5YMJT6yzTkcpTQ1vQMm7liffT7WDr3pq0_M0VgiG-Q4wRK6Sa0Z4b_v5iR5su-JXLFzu_TcLjpWJYLApkBoyINRyMeDalENyvH4IL9M_gyZU64c/s1600/image+for+shoe+blog+.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFLkogsxcL6u4S7rDhXrmO-Z0JOfMoB5YMJT6yzTkcpTQ1vQMm7liffT7WDr3pq0_M0VgiG-Q4wRK6Sa0Z4b_v5iR5su-JXLFzu_TcLjpWJYLApkBoyINRyMeDalENyvH4IL9M_gyZU64c/s1600/image+for+shoe+blog+.jpg" height="228" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 19px; line-height: 28px;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">So there’s
Kylie Minogue – not much taller than me – draped over Graham Norton’s sofa with
her red shoes dangling, and I’m thinking: <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">“where
does she buy shoes like that - which fit?”</i> They are not the birkies, lace ups
and fit-flops I depend on. No – Kylie is wearing a beautiful stiletto heeled
court. And she looks comfortable in it.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">I am on a
crusade to find pretty shoes that fit me. But with size 35 feet (a UK two
according to some brands or a three according to others – though I’ve always
called it a two-and-a-half), it is a major challenge. I am no fun for the sales
assistants in even high end boutiques like Emma Hope and Joseph (I know, I
tried every style they stocked last weekend) – who know it’s not even worth
trying to persuade me to buy a shoe that flops loosely off my foot. Though
yesterday in Paul Smith, a particularly desperate sales girl tried to sell me
the idea of going to the shoemaker across the road for something tailored to
make my tiny feet fit into any pretty style I fancied…<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Back home
I have resorted to hunting online. And – who knew? – I could get a pair of
Christian Louboutins, or Jimmy Choos from Net A Porter, which stocks 35s as
well as some 34s… My daughters, also blessed with petite feet, have always – I
tell people – stuffed tissue into their toes to make their shoes fit. But it
turns out that Bella finds size threes that fit from Zara, while Coco buys all
her shoes in a two from Asos. Further research has yielded the online store
<a href="http://www.pretty-small-shoes.com/" target="_blank">Pretty Small Shoes</a>, selling – well the clue’s in the name – in all sorts of
sizes, and mostly around £130.00 (well it’s a lot cheaper than a pretty small
Choo). <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Kurt
Geiger, Bella tells me, also has a bunch of small sizes – and she seems to be
right… <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Someone
needs to tell the lovely Japanese assistant in Agnes B who says she has to shop
for shoes on visits to Tokyo. I noticed she was wearing a pair of child like
lace ups – and her suggestion that I looked at “junior’ ranges wasn’t very
encouraging when I was thinking of a nice pointy pump with a tiny kitten heel… <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Don’t tell
anyone but I do have some pretty shoes (when you have small feet you tend to
buy anything that fits because it’s such a rarity) – and the problem has always
been that they may look lovely but they don’t often feel it. I don’t want to
wear something that makes me hobble or wobble. But that may have nothing to do
with finding the right size.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<br /></div>
<!--EndFragment-->Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14733573846149885326noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3430943713835914551.post-39256915040879132482014-04-13T10:37:00.001-07:002014-04-19T04:57:19.355-07:00Lent – I relent… (with consequences) <!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEQnDCnBLEyHlKoo6g_T-rz67hdG0-xq1ijZnPHeL0a1NtKeMiY9uXXpWEdP9dPnhhlVM1zZFCzIf55lhq9LBU3kzuAnpBsujItMPzAJQwQ0gJ1Qf1lDV3SmWgkJlV6I0HAoNdY2_KZhpS/s1600/wine+pic.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEQnDCnBLEyHlKoo6g_T-rz67hdG0-xq1ijZnPHeL0a1NtKeMiY9uXXpWEdP9dPnhhlVM1zZFCzIf55lhq9LBU3kzuAnpBsujItMPzAJQwQ0gJ1Qf1lDV3SmWgkJlV6I0HAoNdY2_KZhpS/s1600/wine+pic.jpg" height="302" width="320" /></a></div>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 19px; line-height: 28px;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">As I do not have a religious bone in my body, my Lent abstinence was
destined to fail. I’d embarked on it with the promise that I would make an
exception for my trip to Rome (just a few days into the 40-day booze fast), and
possibly also a press trip to muslim Dubai, where I correctly guessed that the
parallel world of corporate entertaining would make it impossible – nay rude –
to decline the flow of wine; albeit I’m still looking for an excuse for the
glass of wine on the flight out and – er – the whiskey from my friend’s
mini-bar.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Apart from those detours, not a drop passed my lips – until yesterday, when Steve
and I ate lunch at Little Social in Pollen Street where I washed down a
langoustine, stone bass, and chocolate moelleux with the
house white…. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Twenty minutes later, turning into South Molton Street, we were nabbed
by a very charming young man who instantly detected my nails <i>aux naturels</i>… And the whiff of alcohol on our breath. He was the young
manager of the Sakare skin care shop – and, though I am normally a dab hand at brushing off anyone
begging me to “<i>step this way for just a minute</i>”, seconds later we were watching
him buff my finger nails to an oily shine with the amazement of a Derren Brown
audience. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">You may find this genuinely hard to believe – but I had never come
across one of these nail buffer blocks that my youngest daughter says are
routinely given away free with magazines, the source of the one she has owned
for the past four years… I’m sure the salesman found it hard to believe too… My
hands were literally putty in his as he showed me how his magic block could
restore my nails to full shiny health. And then, the kill: <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">No, they don’t sell these alone – only with our hand and nail kit of
cuticle oil, hand cream and let’s not forget the nail file… </i>I have bought
nail oils before, which languish unused in my bedside drawer, also home to many
jars, tubes and bottles of hand cream. But, as the only people in London <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">(“Londoners really? Born and bred? Honestly?
What a change to meet someone who is not a tourist!”)</i> not to have seen a
nail buffer on sale for pence in our local Boots, or free on a magazine cover, we
parted with £35 – my husband having bargained the salesman down from £40. Back
home, despite Bella’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">“Oh no, how much
did you pay for that?”</i> we have had fun buffing nails and squirting on oil
and hand cream. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">The salesman nearly stung us for some Dead Sea salts and
cleanser too – very good quality they looked – but Dead Sea salts are Dead Sea
salts and, despite the lingering tingle of that lovely Loire wine, I remembered
that I have plenty of those already…<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<!--EndFragment-->Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14733573846149885326noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3430943713835914551.post-1377726803486134362014-03-13T07:43:00.000-07:002014-03-13T07:43:23.662-07:00When hunger strikes
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">A few years ago I watched the documentary <a href="http://blackgoldmovie.com/" target="_blank">Black Gold</a> and went off
Starbucks big time. The film tells the story of coffee production – and many of
Starbucks’ coffee growers were receiving such small sums for their produce that
they had to queue up at food camps because they couldn’t afford to feed
themselves on their meagre earnings. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Now food banks are rife across Britain – something I couldn’t have
envisaged a few years ago, albeit they may have existed on a smaller scale.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Our government is proud of its efforts to dig the country out of its
economic slump – but at what price? <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Read the <a href="http://agirlcalledjack.com/2012/07/30/hunger-hurts/" target="_blank">Hunger Hurts </a>blog that went viral for Jack Monroe who now writes about cheap ways to eat well,
and sign her <a href="https://www.change.org/petitions/george-osborne-make-march-19-the-end-uk-hunger-budget?utm_source=action_alert&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=51227&alert_id=XpbhfLZeGg_LwPOtJDuCY" target="_blank">petition</a> for an End UK Hunger budget this year and every year. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<!--EndFragment-->Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14733573846149885326noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3430943713835914551.post-46848275075792444302014-03-03T06:59:00.000-08:002014-03-03T06:59:05.859-08:00What are you doing for Lent? <!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYzjncUKy4TK5zLf5P7dtfefD6Cy5nUVoHRq5pQggvfKReYnPdxj1hVdKG8NM-NZ0_6T3DMn5NUZdM3iNdS3kPAhpCtLnhLnvClK8txRwhPddfBtAnIEwvzIAy718PUTnQfakPXT0Qg9MW/s1600/5+MARCH+IMAGE.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYzjncUKy4TK5zLf5P7dtfefD6Cy5nUVoHRq5pQggvfKReYnPdxj1hVdKG8NM-NZ0_6T3DMn5NUZdM3iNdS3kPAhpCtLnhLnvClK8txRwhPddfBtAnIEwvzIAy718PUTnQfakPXT0Qg9MW/s1600/5+MARCH+IMAGE.jpg" height="320" width="320" /></a></div>
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><br /></span>
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><br /></span>
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">It’s been
a stodgy winter. I’ve fallen right off the 5:2 wagon, and our food cupboard is
littered with unused sachets of Miso – a staple of our fast day. So, even
though I’m not religious, I'm planning to make a couple of changes for Lent. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">The first
will be giving up alcohol (although I may write in an exception for the weekend
I will be in Rome with my mother-in-law). My mother, who is very religious,
always finds giving up her sherry and wine for Lent a great way to lose a few
winter pounds. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">The second
plan is to take our dog for an extra walk each day. Through winter, I’m ashamed
to confess, he’s had only one walk most days. This is the early morning one
that boosts my energy for the day and gives Joe an excuse to lie on the sofa
with his legs in the air for hours on end. But around 4.0pm he generally comes
to my desk, nudges me with his nose and jumps up and down barking and looking
towards the front door. You can’t get much clearer than that – but, much as I
love him, I have looked out at the generally foul weather, and said, “You must
be joking!” He may be ready for a walk but I’m usually thinking about a cup of
tea and a piece of chocolate.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">He will
love the extra walk, and I’m sure I’ll benefit from it too.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">So, some
time tonight or tomorrow, I will measure my waist, thighs and upper arms. I
will NOT be stepping on the scales. I am going to focus on inches instead of
pounds.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">If – note
if – I keep to my Lenten promises I will report back at Easter. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<!--EndFragment-->Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14733573846149885326noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3430943713835914551.post-19094240944330772202014-01-20T09:04:00.000-08:002014-01-22T05:21:43.167-08:00January schmanuary… <!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhM4A98IOlE9vwM5gsvnz6vctKckQf1YThxZIXVqTzIqtZQTuIuMX0gWl5-a2fl3efZ7FExQlt9K6CjzLum3v1oy30GoxAwrFQkwY3OYzQvf_xG_baxWqZGypVbDZNHKYmJFgBXDzsEbUYY/s1600/JANUARY+fotolia_59985821.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhM4A98IOlE9vwM5gsvnz6vctKckQf1YThxZIXVqTzIqtZQTuIuMX0gWl5-a2fl3efZ7FExQlt9K6CjzLum3v1oy30GoxAwrFQkwY3OYzQvf_xG_baxWqZGypVbDZNHKYmJFgBXDzsEbUYY/s1600/JANUARY+fotolia_59985821.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 19px; line-height: 28px;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">January
is, we’re told, the most depressing month of the year. People think it’s
because it’s cold, dark and damp that we’re all so blue. And, of course, it
doesn’t help that we’re all staring at huge debts and bellies after the Christmas
splurge. But I think it’s got a lot more to do with the fact that we’re all
trying to diet – and diets set us up to fail, and there’s nothing like failure
to make us feel lousy.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">I actually
quite like January – it is the month of my birthday and my husband’s birthday,
too. So there’s a lot of celebrating going on. I started a few days before
mine, with lunch at <a href="http://www.galvinatwindows.com/" target="_blank">Galvin at Windows (top floor of the London Hilton) </a>with one
of my best friends who also has a January birthday.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">On the
birthday itself Steve and I ate out at <a href="http://www.gymkhanalondon.com/" target="_blank">Gymkhana</a>. Amazing! Go there - and eat
the rose scented knicker bocker glory! I did. And then, a few days later, I ate
the lion’s share of Indian sweets at another celebratory dinner with family. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">After
that, I decided drastic measures were needed. I’d missed a day of the 5:2 – a
friend had come round with a bottle of Chablis and a box of chocolates and
Steve had produced halibut with roasted vegetables followed by a stinky cheese
platter. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">So, this
weekend, I thought I’d go back to trying the <a href="http://theharcombediet.com/" target="_blank">Harcombe Diet</a> – which promises
exponential weight loss, while NOT counting calories.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">The catch
is that you cannot eat any processed food, any fruit, cheese, milk, or any carbs (except for
50g raw weight of brown rice daily) for the first five days. Sometimes three
days will be enough to kick start the regime. This baptism of fire phase is
supposed to root out and eliminate issues like candida that cause us to crave
all the foods to which we are addicted and which make us overweight.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">It is an
interesting diet. I managed days 1 and 2 without straying from the rules beyond
a few (forbidden) salted almonds each day. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">I was
pleased with myself. Zoe Harcombe, author of the diet, says: “your body will
come up with all sorts of excuses why you need to eat certain things – you don’t!”
I ignored all those cravings. But it was hard. Amazingly, when carbs are this
limited, I find myself stomach churningly hungry even after a massive chicken
and ham omelette, or a lamb and pea keema. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">So it was
that, today, I slipped – and started thinking about those chocolates that Mary
brought me. “Just one little chocolate” my cravings told me.
“Just one little chocolate”.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Instead I
had two ultra thin rice cakes with butter – not on the “allowed” list but not
sugar either. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Then I had
another one.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Then I ate
the last two chocolate mint crisps from Christmas. And quickly shovelled one of
Mary’s soft centres into my mouth for afters.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">So – I
have failed a diet that is extraordinarily hard not to fail.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">And now I
will feel like January is a depressing month. And I will have to do a 5:2 day
or two so I can wear my favourite new clothes for our next blow out for
Steve’s birthday next week… <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Ho Hum...</span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<br /></div>
<!--EndFragment-->Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14733573846149885326noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3430943713835914551.post-73471394598329850842014-01-12T04:55:00.001-08:002014-01-12T04:55:13.767-08:00Peel the fear
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">In an excellent feature in yesterday’s Daily
Telegraph – <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Short Cuts to Self Help </i>–
Victoria Lambert gave us a quick run through of the most enduring self help
books on the market. I was pleased to see <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Mindfulness:
A practical guide to finding peace in a frantic world</i> was deemed the most
helpful by psychologist Hilary Bruffell. I have been practising mindfulness
meditation for a few weeks now and have mentioned on this blog before that
meditation (albeit TM) is now recommended by the American Heart Association for
bringing down blood pressure. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">But also featured was <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Feel the Fear and Do It Anyway</i>… which, as I tried to imagine
applying this to one of my phobias - driving on the motorway - immediately had
the effect of filling me with fear. Probably not a book I would want to read
then. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">But maybe we should all start by facing small fears
first? <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">On Friday I picked up a wonderful looking recipe by
Rachel Khoo for what she calls <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Crunchy
Kale and Citrus Salad</i>. What does this have to do with any of the above, you
may well be wondering if indeed you are still reading. Well, quite a lot it
turns out. Yes, it surprised me too. But, by yesterday evening, after I’d been
thinking about Rachel’s recipe on and off for 24 hours, and had now read
Victoria’s feature, I realised I was afraid of attempting it. The reason? <i>She
wants us to segment one grapefruit and one orange by cutting between the
membranes</i>. That shouldn’t be so hard. I know it’s the correct thing to do. But
I have never attempted it. I have seen my husband do it – but have, I now
realize, built up a fear of doing it myself. I am convinced I will end up with
a bowl full of citrus pulp – and hands covered in squidge. So by last night I
had decided the only way to make it without Steve’s help would be to invite a
friend round to help me make the supper I was going to give her! <br />
I have now found a way round this. I am going to buy some oranges and
grapefruits and PRACTISE, blender at the ready in case they have to be turned
into juice.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Long ago a friend said I should apply the same “start
small” approach to motorway driving. Travel one junction, in the slow lane, for
example. I still haven’t tried that.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">This week I interviewed a life-long couch potato who
took up running at the age of 40. She started with 30 seconds on, 30 seconds, off for just ten minutes. I could do that. And – if my 78 year old mother and
disabled 70-something friend can fearlessly drive on the motorway – then surely
I could do that too. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">But I will start with the oranges and grapefruits. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<!--EndFragment-->Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14733573846149885326noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3430943713835914551.post-25532655769139701232013-12-02T10:17:00.000-08:002013-12-02T10:19:34.747-08:00So spa so good...<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCn5YB5TfsXavOrqndlruL2OGyEbjLVNqXdXEu7zl-L8PALuaDQs7Q4OxkP_r2YGPIwJVfohNjTU_gZ6Ad6cGC5CVS4WoxSWHIj5UBuq7j2V4CbejRWLot7t_-WO4c13f7436_-00eAA6J/s1600/Spa_Pool-RGB.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCn5YB5TfsXavOrqndlruL2OGyEbjLVNqXdXEu7zl-L8PALuaDQs7Q4OxkP_r2YGPIwJVfohNjTU_gZ6Ad6cGC5CVS4WoxSWHIj5UBuq7j2V4CbejRWLot7t_-WO4c13f7436_-00eAA6J/s320/Spa_Pool-RGB.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">My name’s
Karen and I am a spa junkie. There – I’ve come clean and fessed up. I love
being pummeled by jet sprays and slow cooked in saunas and steam rooms. And I
have no trouble submitting to the hands of a good masseuse. So when I was asked
if I’d like to sample the spa at the Conrad Algarve last week, my answer was a
resounding “Yeee-eees!” Try and stop me!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">My husband
Steve, smiling agreeably, seemed equally keen – but he’s a man who’s 100 per
cent happier running through mud than having it rubbed into his body and it
didn’t take him long to start having second thoughts. It was quite a feat
persuading him that he really did want to lounge in the jet pool, and then have
a complete stranger handle his body. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">I thought
he was going to back out – or even run out of the treatment room at the last
minute. When that didn’t happen, my next worry was that he’d get the giggles
(he came close) or fall asleep and start snoring… Instead of slowly relaxing
during my own treatment, I felt my muscles begin to tense.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">But my
therapist Laura had chosen an Aromatherapy Associates oil of petitgrain for
stress relief, and despite the anxiety about Steve, I floated out of the spa on
a cloud – and even Steve admitted he’d have a treatment again.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">This spa
is in the most amazing setting, in Quinta do Lago, near the natural reserve of
the beautiful Rio Formosa, and its infinity pool – up and down which Steve
manfully ploughed while I basked in the steam room – has breathtaking views.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">As well as
wellbeing breaks the Conrad spa offers medical screenings with English speaking
medics through a local private hospital. These kind of screenings always carry
the risk that they’ll throw up some hideous problem like heart disease that,
once you know about it, you would be unwise to ignore. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>On other hand I can’t think of a nicer
place to find out that you have absolutely nothing wrong with you…<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<!--EndFragment-->Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14733573846149885326noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3430943713835914551.post-61747059715497738082013-11-24T03:41:00.000-08:002013-11-24T03:44:49.093-08:00The truth about painkillers <!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrraeI9RRW1APpa1IoOBGuXDWT4IAYX0290-znfxS_I7-MwZhHqNPXi8FN0wHJFlvkwLGW4nxTJMFpIU73xzRZ1d1Mg_ELGbNivrOxbpNaLhCvl4bu64xpMtQxi7DWBXKYE7QY_oxoRPSK/s1600/pain+relief+pic.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="246" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrraeI9RRW1APpa1IoOBGuXDWT4IAYX0290-znfxS_I7-MwZhHqNPXi8FN0wHJFlvkwLGW4nxTJMFpIU73xzRZ1d1Mg_ELGbNivrOxbpNaLhCvl4bu64xpMtQxi7DWBXKYE7QY_oxoRPSK/s320/pain+relief+pic.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 19px; line-height: 28px;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">I’m
scratching my head to remember the last time I had to take a painkiller…<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Oh yes – it was on holiday in August in
<a href="http://www.roquebrune-cap-martin.com/" target="_blank">Roquebrune Cap-Martin</a>. We’d been on our feet all day, trying to fit in about
eight Nice museums from our special Matisse pass – and now, as we walked back
to our little rental flat, Steve saying how he was looking forward to a beer, all I was craving was paracetamol, nurofen or both. I was also craving caffeine
– in any form – just sensing it would help my thumping head. I don’t often get
a headache but when I do I want to attack it from every front.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">In the end
I took nurofen, drank green tea, and went to bed for an hour before soaking in
a lavender bath. Then I was ready for my pre-dinner glass of wine.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">It worked
for me… And it also got my brain cells working overtime thinking about the many
unusual cures that can work for a headache. Back home I spoke to Dr Dougall
McCorry, a consultant neurologist at BMI Priory Hospital, who explained how
coffee, tea, cola, chocolate and even sex can help a headache. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">But
sometimes only a painkiller will hit the spot – and as a country we spend
around £530 million on them every year. You can spend a few pence on
paracetamol or several pounds on dihydrocodeine – but does price even matter?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Here’s
what I found out when I spoke to Boots pharmacist Manny Johal for <a href="http://uk.lifestyle.yahoo.com/painkillers--picking-the-right-pill-for-your-pain-134501155.html" target="_blank">Yahoo! </a></span></div>
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<!--EndFragment-->Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14733573846149885326noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3430943713835914551.post-40856794537576097812013-11-18T07:36:00.002-08:002013-11-18T07:36:45.024-08:00Put that loaf down, now!<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Today’s <a href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-2509255/Carbs-rot-brain-Doctor-slams-grains-silent-brain-killers.html" target="_blank">MailOnline reports that ‘Carboyhydrates rot the brain’</a> – this is according to a US neurologist, David Perimutter, who
says </span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">‘The origin of
brain disease is in many cases predominantly dietary,’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">His book, </span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;"><i><b>Grain Brain: The Surprising Truth About
Wheat, Carbs, and Sugar – Your Brain’s Silent Killers</b></i> is not the only one to
demonize some of our favourite foods. Last year I found myself bombarded with
ads for <a href="http://www.wheatbellyblog.com/" target="_blank"><b><i>Wheat Belly</i></b></a>, written by another American doctor, William Davis. Its
sell was ‘lose the wheat, lose the weight.’ And I recently interviewed a woman
who did just that - losing three stone since Easter this year by giving up
wheat and being careful about most other carbs. She now lives on the kind of food that is frowned
upon in many circles – steak in cream sauce, egg and bacon, and loads of cheese
– yet not only has her weight gone down but her cholesterol has also plummeted,
from 7 to 5 in six months. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">Is her
brain also sharper as a result? Only concerned with her weight at the time, this
wasn’t something I asked her – but a study published in Journal of Alzheimer’s
Disease found that elderly people who ate a high-carb diet were more than three
times as likely to develop mild cognitive impairment – which has been linked
with a higher risk of dementia. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">According
to the Mail article: <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<i><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">People
whose diets were highest in ‘good’ fats, such as those found in nuts and
healthy oils were 42 per cent less likely to get cognitive impairment. Those
with a high intake of protein (such as meat and fish) had a reduced risk of 21
per cent.</span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<i><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Lead
author Rosebud Roberts, a professor in the department of epidemiology at the
Mayo Clinic, said: ‘A high-carbohydrate intake could be bad for you because
carbohydrates impact your glucose and insulin metabolism.</span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<i><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">'Sugar
fuels the brain, so moderate intake is good. However, high levels of sugar may
actually prevent the brain from using the sugar - similar to what we see with
type 2 diabetes.’</span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<i><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">She added
that high glucose levels might affect the brain's blood vessels and play a role
in the development of beta amyloid plaques, proteins toxic to brain health that
are found in the brains of people with Alzheimer's. It’s thought these plaques
are a leading cause of the disease.</span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<!--EndFragment-->Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14733573846149885326noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3430943713835914551.post-23772015472547716892013-11-14T09:12:00.000-08:002013-11-14T09:12:15.335-08:00Weight to go with mmmmmmmm-maple syrup… <!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">I’ve known about the Maple Syrup Diet for years. The product’s PR has
tirelessly tried to sell me stories about how you can live on its key
ingredient Madal Bal Natural Tree Syrup (a form of palm tree syrup) for five days while
detoxing and losing weight. And I have equally tirelessly resisted her efforts.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">But, two weeks ago, when I was desperate to find a case study who’d lost
weight on the 5.2 diet (not as easy as you would imagine, considering half the
population seem to be doing it), Kate came up with a lovely lady who has used
her Maple Syrup cocktail on the fasting days – and lost two stone since July.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">That simultaneously struck me as A) a great idea and B) an extremely
scary idea. Scary because I couldn’t get my mind around going through a whole
day without any solid food, which is what the case study has done. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">But she promised me the drink satisfied her appetite and kept cravings
under control. So I decided to give it a whirl. I had my first cup instead of breakfast this morning, with a second cup two hours later. Following
my case study’s advice, I made it into a hot drink – 20ml of syrup + 300ml hot
water + juice of ½ a lemon + pinch of ginger – and I have to say it is
delicious! <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">There are 70 calories in a cup. And, if I was doing this properly, I
would have had nothing solid to eat all day, and just seven cups of the drink.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">But I had a nasty shock at lunch time – a traffic fine for straying into
a yellow junction, and this on top of the news last night that the car in which
I’d strayed was going to cost me £1300 to repair after its gearbox had broken the
day after the offence. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">I needed comfort food! There was leftover ratatouille in the fridge, and
I’d just been sent a batch of reformulated Slim Pastas to try. So – olive oil
aside – this seemed like a justifiable 5.2 meal. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">The new pasta still has a texture that is hard to compare to anything
I’ve ever eaten, but the penne that I had today were not totally inedible. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Did my comfort meal cure my blues? No. There is probably no substitute
for genuine carbs when you want a pick-me-up. (Though I have just read that big
eaters of pasta are more likely to develop depression further down the line –
we will explore this another time).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Do I think Slim Pasta and Madal Bal Syrup are sensible weight loss
products? Not entirely – but there’s a lot worse out there.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Will I try them again? Yes. In fact I can see the syrup becoming quite
addictive…<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<!--EndFragment-->Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14733573846149885326noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3430943713835914551.post-37839995906574201482013-10-26T08:30:00.000-07:002013-10-26T08:30:18.132-07:00Oh I do like a little bit of butter on my bread… <!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">I was
raised on AA Milne’s <a href="http://www.poetryfoundation.org/poem/241532" target="_blank">The King’s Breakfast</a>. I, like the King, preferred
plain butter to marmalade on my bread. I still do… spreading it thickly on
nasty old crusts to make them more palatable. Do I feel guilty about this
“guilty pleasure”? Just occasionally – when friends and relatives flaunt their
holier than thou healthy spreads: Flora, Benecol, etc. But these are not only
disgusting to eat (I’d rather skip the toast or bread, to be honest – which
probably <i>would</i> be healthier – than have them spread with one of these) I have
spoken to many experts over the years who’ve strongly disputed their much
marketed health claims. Last summer one of the PRs for Flora told me the
company was planning a press event at which we journos would all get to make
our own Flora from scratch – fascinating! – it sounded like something from
Jimmy’s Food Factory and I couldn’t wait to roll up my sleeves and get stuck
in, certain I’d be even less likely to want to eat it as a result. But when the
invitation finally came through, it was for a demonstration with chef James
Tanner and dietician Nigel Denby ‘cooking and serving scrummy recipes using
Flora Buttery’… Not quite what I had in mind. <br />
Next to the huge companies who make spreads like Flora, poor old butter hardly
gets a look in PR-wise. The voices who shout loudest always tend to be
believed. But last week a <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2013/oct/22/butter-cheese-saturated-fat-heart-specialist" target="_blank">heart expert stepped up and spoke out about butter v spreads</a>, and today Dr John Briffa has a great piece on this in the
Times newspaper.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">I was
delighted, reading it, as I spread some lovely butter on my bread to eat with
my tomato and mozzarella salad. As Dr Briffa says, butter should not be a
guilty pleasure – just a pleasure. As AA Milne’s King knew only too well.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<!--EndFragment-->Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14733573846149885326noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3430943713835914551.post-8995253956433748852013-10-19T09:12:00.000-07:002013-10-19T09:12:13.783-07:00Good night, sleep tight...<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #242424; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 20px;"><br /></span>
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Apparently the national average of zzzzs has fallen to just 6.5 hours a night - and sleep researchers say that could be damaging our health more than if we skip a session in the gym. Getting that extra hour in bed (we need 7.5 to 8 hours a night) boosts the immune system, and may even protect against memory loss. Which reminds me, I think I have already blogged about sleep on these pages. But what the heck, I am not above repeating myself in the name of a good cause... </div>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #242424; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 20px;">Let me first confess – I sleep extremely well most nights. Often when I think I’ve woken in the wee small hours, it is actually early morning, and my alarm clock’s due to go off in about 20 minutes.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #242424; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 20px;"><div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; background-image: none; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-size: 14px; margin-bottom: 19px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">
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You probably hate me by now. But what can I say? I realise I am quite unusual, as well as very lucky.<span id="more-1737" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; background-image: none; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-size: 14px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"></span></div>
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A lot of my friends are far less lucky, though – and poor sleep is a subject we chew over endlessly when I’m with them.</div>
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And when I ask them about their bedtime routines, I’m not surprised they have trouble dropping off at night.</div>
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They’re trying to relax by watching TV in bed, or they go straight from desk to duvet – their poor brains still buzzing with work or facebook.</div>
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It’s no good trying to tell them that these things are causing or exacerbating their <a href="http://www.avogel.co.uk/health/sleep/problems/" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; background-image: none; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #008922; font-size: 14px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: underline;">sleep problem</a> – because, for them, filling their heads with late night TV or online chatter is far easier than letting in the stressful or anxious thoughts that take over when their minds are left to wander.</div>
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So although we read a lot about <a href="http://www.avogel.co.uk/health/sleep/hygiene-tips/" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; background-image: none; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #008922; font-size: 14px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: underline;">good ‘sleep hygiene’</a> – creating the right environment for sleep by lowering the lights, having a relaxing bath, using sleep inducing oils (eg lavender, lemon balm, bergamot or sweet marjoram), and sticking to the same bedtime every night – these tips are only useful if you’ve already tackled any chronic stress in your life.</div>
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And – surprisingly – you may not even know that you’re stressed.</div>
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While it’s obvious to anyone whose short periods of sleeplessness always coincide with a busy or challenging time in their life, when stress is a long term it may not be quite so obvious. Long term, the turbulent feelings stress causes can become so familiar they’re almost comfortable. And, allowed to go on too long, sleeplessness can also seem familiar and normal to you.</div>
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But it is not normal to sleep badly. And taking longer than half an hour to get to sleep, or waking in the night and not being able to drop off again, <a href="http://www.avogel.co.uk/health/sleep/insomnia/" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; background-image: none; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #008922; font-size: 14px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: underline;">are signs of a problem with insomnia</a> if they happen three nights a week or more.</div>
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If this sounds like you, it could be a sign that you need some extra help – so ask your GP to refer you to a cognitive behavioural therapist who can help you unravel your worries.</div>
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Herbal remedies such as <a href="http://www.avogel.co.uk/herbal-remedies/valerian-hops-dormeasan/" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; background-image: none; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #008922; font-size: 14px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: underline;">valerian</a> can also help to calm a stressed mind – and the correct dose will work just as well as an over the counter sleeping pill, but without any side effects. Usually the only barrier to herbals working is psychological – because a lot of people (wrongly) expect them to fail, and then they do!</div>
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You could also try these great sleep tips I was given by Dr Jason Ellis, director of the Sleep Research Centre at Northumbria University:</div>
<ul style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; background-image: none; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-size: 14px; margin-bottom: 14px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">
<li style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; background-image: none; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-size: 14px; list-style-position: inside; list-style-type: disc; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Try counting backwards in 7s from 2000 – it’s so hard you won’t have any space in your head to worry about sleep, and may even fall asleep.</li>
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<ul style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; background-image: none; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-size: 14px; margin-bottom: 14px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">
<li style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; background-image: none; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-size: 14px; list-style-position: inside; list-style-type: disc; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">After a couple of weeks you’ll be retuned to this, and it may no longer work. Instead try focusing in minute detail on a strawberry in your mind. Once you have perfected it – colour, smell, tiny pips, shiny skin etc, try to turn it blue. This is another way of emptying your head of worries about not sleeping.</li>
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<ul style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; background-image: none; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-size: 14px; margin-bottom: 14px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">
<li style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; background-image: none; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-size: 14px; list-style-position: inside; list-style-type: disc; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">If you’re still awake after 15 minutes get up and do something – ideally leave the room, and only return when you’re sleepy.</li>
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</span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14733573846149885326noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3430943713835914551.post-35373868671819238062013-09-29T03:47:00.001-07:002013-09-29T03:47:14.499-07:00No texts please, we’re British
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Last night I got a text from <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">a
complete stranger</i>.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">It read: ‘<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Hi, it’s Anna. Just
looking through my sexy dresses and can’t decide. R we going straight to
bedroom and I can wear something naughty? Or u prefer more normal going out
dress? Of course I will have coat on top.’</i><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Great! I will be dining out on this one for months.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">I could have had a bit of fun with my reply, but I’m sure my honest
little <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">‘Sorry you have the wrong number’</i>
was enough to make her squirm. It would have made <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">me </i>squirm, if I’d misfired a text like that. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Seriously, though, misfiring texts must be a sign of brain overload. (Anna
take note). <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">According to a story in the Times yesterday, we are all far too
overstimulated these days – with symptoms such as memory loss, speaking too
quickly, slurring our words, being distracted, and feeling really tired all the
time. According to the Royal College of Psychiatrists one in five of us is <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">unusually tired</i> at any given time.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Texts, twitter and other social media are filling our heads with
constant chatter, and our poor old brains just don’t know how to switch off.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">The result is a near-permanent state of exhaustion that makes the brain
feel like it is constantly misfiring. But we’re also producing a constant flow
of stress hormones like adrenaline that make us feel so wired and hyper-alert
that we do not even realise how tired we are. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">The solution, if you’re one of the wired tired, is to wind down more.
Give your brain a break.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">It’s easier said than done, but I tried it this week – with a session of
Mindfulness Meditation. One hour of silence, music, and gentle words of wisdom
while we focused on our breath or a mantra in our heads.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">My friend came out of it looking like she’d been on holiday for a week.
She’d completely emptied her head – that’s the aim of meditation, but it’s hard
to achieve.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">For me thoughts had come. But mostly they were creative, like little
sparks of light – often food related sparks of light (there was a leek gratin
somewhere along the way) - and none had lasted longer than a couple of seconds.
<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">The American Heart Association recommends meditation for the treatment
of high blood pressure. Specifically they recommend Transcendental Meditation.
But as our meditation leader, Yoga Bowers, says: ‘the many forms of meditation
are like different paths leading up the same hill. They all get to the
top in the end.’ </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 19px; line-height: 28px;">It seems crazy, though, that we have to book a session of Mindfulness Meditation in order to calm down a head that is overloaded by texts, emails, and tweets. If taking an hour out in a meditation centre sounds too much to squeeze in, why not start by taking an hour off from your phone. Not just when it's charging. Mindfully switch off your phone, laptop, TV, and radio. Unplug your ipod. Lie on your bed and see how long you can focus on your breath going in and out. Then see how refreshed you feel when you get up.</span></span></div>
<!--EndFragment-->Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14733573846149885326noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3430943713835914551.post-14341355555660348822013-09-22T03:05:00.000-07:002013-09-22T03:05:43.040-07:00Versatile Blogger - my nominations<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Confession: I only read a very small number of blogs. And, after <a href="http://healthehelen.wordpress.com/" target="_blank">Healthehelen</a>, who is my favourite, there are just 5 that I really enjoy reading. Here they are, my nominations for the <a href="http://versatilebloggeraward.wordpress.com/vba-rules/" target="_blank">Versatile Blogger Award</a>...</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">. <a href="http://www.drbriffa.com/" target="_blank">Dr John Briffa</a> - because he's a medic who hasn't had the wool pulled over his eyes. You can always rely on John for a good, well-researched, anti-statin story.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">. <a href="http://www.zoeharcombe.com/" target="_blank">Zoe Harcombe </a>- for her relentless campaign against obesity and the food companies that shamelessly promote it, including Netmums who have recently got into bed with Kellogg's.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">. <a href="http://www.rocknrollerbaby.co.uk/" target="_blank">Rock'n'Roller Baby</a> - whose blog about life with young children makes me wish I could go back in time and do it all differently.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">. <a href="http://reciperifle.blogspot.co.uk/" target="_blank">Recipe Rifle</a> - who brings me back down to earth when Rock'n'Roller Baby is making me go mushy in the middle.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">. <a href="http://thefrugalcook.blogspot.co.uk/" target="_blank">The Frugal Cook</a> - for coming up with a 5.2 recipe (hot smoked salmon with avocado) that makes my tummy rumble every time I think about it. </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I hope you'll enjoy these as much as I do...</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14733573846149885326noreply@blogger.com0