Are you ready? The period of indulgence is nearly over then its the time for all good new resolutions to get going. So how successful are you usually? How long does your diet last? How many times do you actually go to the gym after you've spent all that money joining? Most people manage 2 weeks or at most, by February's arrival, good intentions have disappeared into a haze of guilt and self dislike that once again they failed. So don't let it happen again this year. 

I had cause to stop short this week whilst I was cooking supper. It was Wednesday. I was cooking pasta. I suddenly halted half way through when I realised that we had eaten Pasta every Wednesday for as far back into the recent past as I cared to remember. 

It’s terrifying isn’t it. You’ve been very careful for the last few months with your diet. You’ve  taken up a new activity and just when your trousers are starting to feel a bit looser - along comes … Christmas!  Do you feel a sense of inevitability that the weight is just going to pile on? If they made Christmas eating an Olympic event, would you be on the winning roster?

I read a lot of articles on this topic and quite frankly, although they are all full of very sensible advice, none of them are realistic. After all, we are under a lot of pressure to eat, be merry and turning food down or being careful looks like we’re not in the festive spirit. It’s enforced over-indulgence. Also because of this pressure it’s very easy to give in to our food obsessions because they are temporarily socially acceptable. So rather than telling you what you SHOULD be doing, here are some thought provoking solid facts:

0) The average woman needs 2000 kcals and man needs 2500 kcals to maintain weight. This we all know.
1) The average woman will eat approx 6500 kcals (7000+ for men) PER DAY day of this holiday.
2) This big increase in calorie intake does not limit itself to the 2 holiday days but begins up to 2 weeks before with parties and events increasing to Christmas and New Years’ Day.
3) 3500 kcals = 1 pound of fat
4) Our average woman/man is consuming 4500 kcals + of excess food PER DAY.
5) Little to no exercise over this period means all excess calories are turned into fat.
6) Here’s the maths: (an average of 14 indulgent days over entire 6 week period) 14 days x 4500 kcals = 63,000 surplus calories. This is 18 pounds of fat.
7) That’s why it’s so easy to put on a stone over Christmas. Scary isn’t it.

It’s not Rocket Science. If you don’t want to get heavier you have to be mindful of what you are eating and how much you are moving. It’s so easy to say, ‘I’ll eat what I want and worry about it in January’ or ‘I’ll suspend my diet and start afresh on Jan 1’ Don’t. You are making it harder for yourself.

I don’t want you to miss out. I want you to have a taste of all the lovely rich foods you have and will be offered. I’m just saying, stop at a taste. Don’t eat the whole plateful. It takes your stomach 20 minutes. to tell your brain you’re full, so eat a little, have a 20 minute break and ask yourself if you really need another plate of stilton. You also need to move around especially as your calorie intake will be up even by a little. I still think a post lunch walk with the dog or your loved ones is the best and most expedient way of using up some of the excess.

My Christmas wish would be that we could all eat and drink  as much as we want and still lose 2 pounds a week. Unfortunately, it won’t happen in this universe so the best I can wish for you is to continue taking responsibility for your diet and fitness and that you have a wonderful, happy and restful Yuletide.

Time may never stand still but I wish I could - just for a short time. The mere fact that I haven't been able to update this blog for 2 months is a perfect case in point. I do apologise to those of you expecting your monthly news and views but I just haven't stopped.

I'm hoping you'll all know exactly what I mean. I suspect you do. The number of people I come across that say to me,
"I know I should do some exercise but I just don't have the time".

When I think back, it feels like I used to have so much time. I spent a lot of it enjoying myself every evening going out with friends or getting on with my career or doing the shopping, decorating, gardening or whatever big project I had on the go.

Now it seems just to get through the day without too many things dropping off the edge is good enough. I'm every bit as busy but not particularily busier than I used to be. I just used to get things done and had the energy to do it.

That's the rub -HAD THE ENERGY -I just don't have the energy. Nowadays after my full day I'm somewhere between tired and exhausted. It feels like I'm working harder and harder to just stand still. Is this ticking any boxes with you too?

OK, so we are getting older! Don't I know it. I wish I could turn back those hands of time but I can't. I can only look forward to my relentlessly faster moving life whizzing past me. My mother, who is in her eighties tells me that days fly by in the blink of an eye. My small son tells me that days can go on forever if he's bored. What's going on?

Our perception of time is directly linked to our metabolic system. When we are young and our metabolism is new, we see time pass so slowly and we get a lot done if we want. As we age our metabolism slows naturally and as a consequence our perception of time speeds up till we reach the point we can't grab it as it flys past.

Can we do anything about this or are we locked in an inevitable cycle of deterioration.
The bad news - it will happen, there is no escaping aging.
The good news - it can be slowed down significantly.
How? I hear you say.
You already know! What speeds up your metabolic rate? Yes, exercise.

That 30 minutes of exercise that we can't find each day is the one thing that can find the time again to do it - if you get what I mean. The daily exercise, as well as giving you energy to do more with your time, also speeds up your metabolism which gives you the perception that there's more time with which to play.

Cool huh!

Does that help you find time to exercise tommorrow?
Have fun
Anne

Earthquake? What earthquake?  I was heartily involved in one of my favourite activities - sleeping! I'm probably the only person in the nation who was blissfully unaware the earth was shaking underneath me. I hope it didn't disrupt your life too much and didn't keep you awake for too long either.

The next morning, my darling little 10 year old declared, "I know how to make an earthquake in this house",

"How?", I asked, "By doing something so naughty that the walls shake with me being angry?".

"No", he replied, "It's much easier".

He walked over to me and put his hand on my tummy which was partly showing through my Jimjams and wobbled it around. He thought it was hilarious, as he pretended to stagger around the floor.

The trouble is that children have this uncomfortable ability to get to the nub of a problem directly and overtly in a way you just can't ignore. I knew there was a bit of a spare tyre appearing. Had I done anything about it? No. Had I even acknowledged it? Not at all. But there it was for the world to see following after my hips by at least .5 of a second.

Never mind earthquakes - what I need is a bit of a shake up!

Yes, I'm dealing with it. I daren't let it get out of hand. I'm watching my food intake like a hawk and I'm back out running and walking regularily. The silly thing is the maintenance doesn't take to much effort. It's much easier to keep the spare tyre at bay than to have to get rid of an entire Pirelli thats sneaked in without you noticing. With some effort on my part I will be back to normal within a couple of weeks. If I've got any sense, I'll carry on with the maintenance regime rather than resting on my laurels and thinking that now I'd got fit and reached my target weight I didn't have to try any more. Big mistake.

So have a quick look at your waistline. Do you need a quick shake up before it becomes a big problem again? Have you reached a dieting plateau? Then do something new. Climb a hill on Sunday or take up salsa dancing or go and dig over the allotment ready for spring planting.

If you've got stuck in an exercise rut, your body can get as bored of doing the same exercises as you do. Every six weeks you want to have a good shake up and a change.

So thro out the old and in with the new. A kind of exercise earthquake.

Stay in touch
Anne

It feels like that at this time of year. It's hard fitting in.

Fitting into your jeans after the yuletide excesses; fitting into a new routine with all the New Year's resolutions you made; fitting into a frame of mind that needs a lot of discipline to diet; fitting back into getting up early for work after a lovely long holiday and hardest of all for some - fitting in a gym.

I went to my usual pilates class this week which was, as expected, packed with new people who had signed on the dotted line and hauled themselves into an alien environment and were trying to make their bodies go into new and unusual positions. It was one man in particular who caught my eye and set my train of thought going. He had obviously not done any physical exercise for some years. He had put himself into a class with a lot of relatively bendy women and younger men. He tried to follow instructions but had become so alienated from his body it just wouldn't do what he wanted. He looked as if he felt uncomfortable and annoyed with his inability to do what seemed fairly straightforward things such as a stomach crunch, then he seemed embarrassed. He just wasn't seeming to be fitting in. I wondered if he would pack it in half way through and walk out.

Gyms can be daunting places to those who are not natural exercisers. They seem to be full of fit, young, healthy things. Whereas you can let yourself feel old, large and ungainly. It is in the mind. If you look carefully past the thin young things you will see many normal unfit bodies puffing and panting their way through their programmes, there are plenty around if you look for them. And so it is with you, noone is looking at you making sweeping decisions that you're too fat or too old or too unfit. To them you are just another body here to puff, pant and groan with the rest.

As to my pilates man - as awkward as he felt he did not give in. He doggedly pushed himself to the end of the class. He had had a big argument with himself and had decided not to pack it in at the first hurdle. He achieved so much in that class. It will get easier for him from now on. Noone laughed at him or was rude. In fact there was respect for someone who had clearly found a personal mountain to climb and had succeeded. By the end of that hour he fitted in with everyone one elses aims and aspirations around him.

Health and fitness is not easily won by any of us. It is a long hard slog for everyone. But feeling energised, healthy, confident and able is well worth the agony at the early stages. So whether you have also joined a gym or taken up square dancing or signed up for a swimmimg course, whatever it is, stick with it. Grit your teeth through the first difficult bit, DON'T GIVE IN, and withing a short time you'll discover for yourself what we're all going on about. You'll be fitting in to be fit and healthy.

I thought we still had a week left when this morning I was watching TV news where it was pointed out there were only 3 shopping days left. Help. It’s next week! So I’ve spent the day grappling with Christmas shopping with the rest of the nation who also thought they had weeks left as well. It was not pleasant. Queues, arguments, bad tempers, over inflated prices. By the time I got home I was not brimming over with festive spirit. ‘Give me a drink. Now”,  was my opening gambit on my return. I must have looked like a woman not to be messed with as I had a quick snifter in my hand before my coat was off, together with a few comforting sentences. But now the presents are bought, the kitchen is full of gooey, rich and exuberant food, I stop for a while, breathe a sigh of resignation and wonder how big I will be by the time we get out the other side of this enforced epicurean bacannale.

Is my sense of gloom warranted? Is it inevitable I will pile on pounds? Is my dose of overindulgent guilt just waiting round the corner for me? What can I do to help myself and all of you who ask me how to get through this period unfettered. If they made Christmas eating an Olympic event, which of us would be on the winning roster?

I have read a lot of articles over the last two weeks on this topic and quite frankly, although they are all full of very sensible advice, non of them are realistic. After all, we are under a whole lot of pressure to eat and be merry and to turn food down or to be seen to be careful looks like we’re not in the festive spirit. It is enforced over-indulgence. Also because of this pressure it’s very easy to give in to our food obsessions because they are temporarily socially acceptable.

Does this sound like your Christmas day?
Breakfast – a few sneaky chocolates – a little drinky or two while you get lunch ready – a few more chocolates – pre lunch drinks – blow out lunch of the year together with a decent bottle of vino – champagne with the Queen’s speech – tuck into chocs and biccy’s seriously – hit the alchohol as there’s no more cooking to do – early evening get out the ham, cheese and trifle and cake so that everyone can help themselves to supper when they get peckish – cup of tea – nibble at supper slowly and constantly for the next 3 hours making sure you’ve got a drink on the go at all times. (Maximum exercise involves moving from kitchen to living room and back again).

I can tell you that you really should go for a 3 miles walk after lunch and to limit yourself to 3 drinks in a 24 hour period and only eat 1 tin of chocolates but I know and you know you’re not going to do it so what I have decided to do is to give you some real, solid, down to earth facts and let you decide how to proceed.

0) The average woman needs 2000 cals and man needs 2500 cals to maintain weight. This we all know.
1) The average woman will eat approx 6500 cals (7000+ for men) PER DAY day of this holiday.
2) This big increase in calorie intake does not limit itself to the 2 holiday days but begins up to 2 weeks before with parties and events increasing to the big day, intake reduces slightly the week after then goes up again for new year.
3) 3500 cals = 1 pound of fat
4) Our average woman/man is consuming 4500 cals + of excess food PER DAY.
5) Little to no exercise over this period means all excess calories are turned into fat.
6) Here’s the maths: (an average of 14 indulgent days over entire 6 week period) 14 days x 4500 cals = 63,000 surplus calories. This is 18 pounds of fat.
7) That’s why it’s so easy to put on a stone over Christmas. Scary isn’t it.
8) It takes a very long time and a lot of mental effort to get rid of it again if your will power can stand it.


Please bear this in mind. If you want to at least stay the same weight or only put on a pound or two, you have to be mindful of what you are eating and how much you are moving. If you’ve done well so far this year with your weight management, don’t let it go. It’s so easy to say, ‘I’ll eat what I want and worry about it in January’ or ‘I’ll suspend my diet and start afresh on Jan 1’ Don’t. You are making it harder for yourself.

I don’t want you to miss out. I want you to have a taste of all the lovely rich foods you have and will be offered. I’m just saying, stop at a taste. Don’t eat the whole plateful. It takes your stomach 20 mins to tell your brain you’re full, so eat a little, have a 20 minute break and ask yourself if you really need another plate of stilon. You also need to move around especially as your calorie intake will be up even by a little. I still think a post lunch walk with the dog or your loved ones is the best and most expedient way of using up some of the excess.

My Christmas wish would be that we could all eat and drink  as much as we want and still lose 2 pounds a week. Unfortunately, it won’t happen in this universe so the best I can wish for you is to continue taking responsibility for your diet and fitness and that you have a wonderful, happy and restful Yuletide.

Happy Christmas everyone.

 

In your dreams!


It's funny how fate takes over some times. I was wondering what topic to pick for this blog, when it seemed to me that every other story on the tele was about diet pills. At the same time, a client of mine asked me what supplements  she should take.  So it's in the air at the moment. Should we use pills and supplements? I had to think for a while and decide what my view on this subject is.

The diet supplement business is worth millions of pounds a year. Billions globally.  As you know, there are chains of shops that are specifically geared to this industry and therefore there must be an awful lot of people who are buying this stuff. I don't just mean the obvious ones like vitamin C but some seriously strange and wacky concoctions.

The medical profession has known about the placebo effect for thousands of years and exploited it to good effect. The idea being that if you believe something is doing you good it will. Almost faith healing and at the lowest levels it seems to work. The mind is an extraordinary tool. I'm sure you all know someone who swears  blind they have experienced or witnessed some minor miracle or know someone who was cured through some kind of alternative intervention. However, I do not think there has been a single case of a serious illness cured by alternative medicine that has been clinically verified.

I'm not talking here about the stuff out on the edge. I'm talking about bog standard supplements that are sold individually or in specific combinations to help particular aspects ie. menopause or joint care. Vitamins and trace elements that are proven to be needed by our bodies to function healthily.

I talked to a nutritionist friend of mine who told me there are 2 schools of thought here. The first believes that if you eat a good, healthy, varied, unprocessed diet, there is no need for supplements because you should be getting all your nutritional requirements from your food. However, the other camp believes that although that might be right, in reality, the food we eat is grown in nutrient deficient soil with too many chemicals sprayed on it. It takes too long to reach us and is thus very degraded by the time we eat it. Thus much of the goodness is missing and must be replaced by taking an array of supplements. You have to make your own mind up on this one. There seems to be arguments for and against on both sides.

Me - I fall into the former camp. I believe that you should be getting all you need from your diet if it follows the golden rules: Fresh produce, five a day, oily fish, cut out processed food, etc. HOWEVER, I will add a proviso. I think it is perfectly reasonable to take a specific supplement for a while, should your circumstances dictate that i.e.
middle age - I take a daily dose of cod liver oil as I am mindful to keep my joints flexible . I do not want them to deteriorate as they are prone to at this point in life. I have just started to take a little extra calcium as I have a family history of Osteoperosis and I am moving quicky towards menopause.
Children - many children are faddy eaters and as much as we try to give them as good a diet as possible it may be a good idea to take a multi-vitamin and trace element complex occasionally.
Convalescence - if you've recently been ill or just under the weather for a while it does no harm to take a multi-vitamin to give you an extra umph
Pre Pregnancy - folic acid is recommended

...to name but a few. So there is a clear argument for sensible use as and when needed. If you are ever concerned, just ask your GP.

Finally, regarding supplements I'd like to mention trace elements. There's a whole list of these things like zinc and magnezium. It is imperative that we have them but we only need tiny amounts. Hence the name 'trace' elements. If I need to take a multi vitamin I always get  one that includes all the tract elements. Then I know I'm covered.

FAT LOSS PILLS

The papers are full of these ads to lose 20 stone in 3 days if you spend £200 on their 'Zammo Fat Fighter' remedy. Don't bother. If you are even contemplating buying these things, look at yourself hard. Why are you going to buy them. You want a 'get thin quick' scheme don't you? IT DOESN'T EXIST. You will end up a lot poorer and more bitter. Some of these things actually do burn up fat, but they are full of such unpleasant things that have addictive qualities and as a by-product will keep you awake all night. It centres around taking responsibility for your body and what you do with it. Don't look to someone else to do it for you.

There is a fat loss pill! It can only be prescribed by specialist consultants and they only give it to morbidly obese people who have run out of options. It seems to work. Before you go rushing off to your GP to blag a few packets, hear me out. The downside is that it works while you are taking it. What it can't do is change your relationship with food. If you haven't changed your habits and views then as soon as you finish the pills you will go straight back to your old habits and just shove the weight back on. It's a short cut to nowhere. For most of us it's not the answer. Change your habits, your diet, your exercise regime, your personal image. Change gradually and keep those changes. Stop hoping someone else will change your life for you. They can't - but you can.

Hello everyone. I hope you had a good summer. I'm sorry I haven't been in touch for a while but apart from a wet and cold week abroad in mid August, I've been on a course. This means I've spent hours sitting on my bum. I'm usually more active than this and I found myself slipping into a worse and worse posture till I got a back and neck ache from slumping over my desk.

This got me thinking about how we all take our backs for granted until they start to complain. We are told that back pain is one of the most common problems today. It's not suprising or difficult to work out why.

Tick any of the following if you suspect they apply:
a) spend hours sitting at a desk slumping towards a computer.
b) get home and snuggle into cuddly settee, ending up about 45 degrees to floor within 45 mins.
c) to stand up straight hurts and its easier to be in your bodies comfy position, even though you know it's reminicent of a rugby ball.
d) travel by sitting in car, sitting on bus, sitting on train, sitting on tube, get to destination and spend time talking to friend/client whilst ...you guessed it ... sitting.

Do you see my theme? Most of us spend most of our time on our posteriors so we have slowly become round shouldered with either lower back pain, pain across our shoulders or in our upper necks, a saggy flat bum because it hasn't had any use for a long time. It's not a great picture and I know I've exaggerated, but I bet I've touched on a nerve with a goodly number reading this. How do we stop ourselves from becoming this unlovely picture?

IT'S EASY... stand up straight.

That is really all you need to do. Admittedly, if you've spent years in a bad posture, your body will complain like anything when you try to change it. As with all exercise, you will be using muscles that have become weakened by misuse and strengthening them is not easy initially. It will get better but you must stick with it. So start at the beginning and look at yourself infront of a mirror. Stand in your normal posture. Note all the wrong curves and spend 5 minutes improving them. Move your hips to the front and back till you're more upright; rotate your shoulders back and down. Check your neck and make sure it's not sticking forward.

When upright try walking whilst keeping the correct position. Throughout the day stop for a second and just correct yourself again, look in mirrors or show windows as you pass to check you're looking good.

The advantages of putting yourself through this initial agony are:
a) You will look taller
b) You will look healthier and more awake
c) You will feel better about yourself
d) You will look better in your clothes
e) You are less likely to get back or neck pain if you don't have any at the moment
f)  If you have pain now caused by bad posture, you are going a long way to ease your symptoms (check with your GP)

Keep an aware eye on how much you sit in a day and the posture you sit in. Do you need to be sitting for all that time? Do you flop down whenever and wherever as a habit? Sitting upright is hard work if you're not used to it, do you avoid it?

So as we are all now back from lying on those sun-drenched beaches (ha ha) and returning to work with focus, don't forget your back. Give it some 'you' time, some TLC, it's time well spent. Personally I am really focussing on how I stand and sit. It makes me feel better all round and well worth my effort. I'm never going to be able to stand as upright as a ballet dancer (they train into good posture from a very early age) but there is always room for me to improve.

Till next time

Anne

I'm sure the bees wouldn't want my knees given the choice. Those of you following this diary know of my teeth gritting attempt to lose the extra weight I put on over Easter. I did what I said I would and set my mind with a vengeance to the task. I'd like to tell you it was my over excitement at fulfilling my task and in an exuberant overexertion at the Gym I hurt my knee.


Unfortunately, real life isn't that exciting. I hurt it getting out of bed. A simple twist that has tested me to the limit. I tried to pretend nothing was wrong for the first  2 weeks. However, my body was going to make a point no matter what. Everytime I did some exercise, it hurt slightly more than the time before. It refused to go away. Big mistake. Never exercise with an injury - you only make it worse. I should know that but I just hoped it would sort itself out. In the end after a short and very painful run, I was forced to admit defeat. Firstly I saw a physio who told me to hot foot it to the GP which is exactly what I did. After pulling and pushing the limb in question he referred me to the hospital for an MRI scan to see what's going on under the knee cap. So watch this space for the ongoing saga of the annoying knee.


This occurence has forced me to look at small injuries in a new light and to discover realistic ways to overcome them. If you too have had a small and very irritating sport related injury perhaps my conclusions may be of interest and help. Here they are:

1) It does no harm (especially if you are post 40) to take a supplement of Castor oil or Glucosamine to help oil your joints.

2) Just because you feel fitter and like a 20 year old doesn't mean you are. Older bones mean you must think about your body more as you go about daily tasks. Make sure you're in the correct position to undertake an action ie stand upright to walk up stairs, don't lean forward, don't leap out of bed to quickly and put all your weight on a knee that is still in mid twist. etc

3) If you are unlucky to sustain a small sports joint injury, quickly put ice on it and support it with a shaped support stocking for that part of the body. (Obtainable from chemists)

4) Don't use it for a week and certainly don't do any exercise with it. If it still hurts after a week, go and see either a physiotherapist or your GP. Do what he/she says.

Like me though, you will have to find ways to keep healthy. Remember if you are unable to move you will need less calories. If like me you have a lower body injury you could concentrate on some weights work with your upper body and vice verca.

So my attempt to regain my shape has been slowed down by my own stupidity. It's going to take me twice as long to regain my fitness levels. I'll tell you I will be making sure this doesn't happen again. I may be a very fit 48 year old but I am still 48 and I need to look after myself more than I thought. Sometimes 'experiencing' is the only way to really understand something.

Those of you that have been following this blog will know that the Easter holidays were not kind to my waistline and I am now in the sorry position of having to lose the half a stone I put on in a couple of weeks due to overindulgence and underwhelming activity. Boy have I been paying for it in the last couple of weeks. I've lost a slow 3 pounds but I'm feeling down about how long it's going to take me to get rid of the rest.

I noticed in myself how easy it is to tip into the reverse cycle of   feeling too tired to exercise, so eat comfort food to compensate that makes me more lethargic and feeling too tired to exercise .... and as the time goes on there are real physiological changes. Not just the waist line that is getting wobblier and falling over my not tight clothes but also feeling a bit slower a bit more fed up and a bit sadder and a bit less able to deal with it and get back on the right track. I'm afraid all this isn't imagined, it does happen to us.

A few years back a 6 month study in America looked at 150 people who were all diagnosed as clinically depressed. 50 of them  changed nothing about their lives and carried on as before. 50 were given 'Prozac' and told to  change nothing else about their lives except to take the medication daily. The last 50 were given  an exercise regime to follow daily with no medication.

The results were surprising. The first group as you would expect, saw no change. They carried on being depressed. The second group also as expected improved with the then relatively new 'wonder drug' Prozac, but also as expected a certain percentage suffered side effects from the drug. However, the general improvements in their well being were quantified. The big surprise was with the last group who had done nothing but exercise. There was also a huge improvement in the mental wellbeing of these patients. It was equal to that of those on Prozac. The extra benefit was that non of the last group were suffering any side effects as some were in the medicated group.

Depression (and I don't mean feeling a bit miserable because your football team lost) is caused when your stores of the brain's chemical messengers, norepinephrine and serotonin become depleted. Most of us will suffer from it at some time in our lives and if you've had it you know how debilitating it can be. There are also varying levels of being depressed.

So with this knowledge we can turn it on its head and help ourselves, even if you're not clinically depressed but definitely feeling a bit low about yourself and the world. All we have to do is do a bit of exercise each day. That will have a beneficial effect on how much norepinephrine and serotonin we produce which will make us feel  better, give us a bit more energy and slowly drag us out of the doldrums.


I know it's not that easy.  To haul your body out to do something physical is tough when all you want to do is veg and eat 1kg fruit and nut. Come on do it. You know you'll feel better afterwards even the tiniest bit smug that you didn't do the chocolate bar.


BEING DEPRESSED OR LOW IS NOT AN EXCUSE  TO AVOID EXERCISE. Just give it a try and believe me it works.  So in 2 weeks when I write again I'll definately be a bit happier if not a bit thinner.


best wishes,  Anne

Could you walk passed a wisteria in full flower and not stick your nose into its lovely scented blooms? I couldn't. Temptation is a tricky thing.

I'm not the kind of diet Guru that claims to have turned their life around by means of a miracle cure and then for ever more look completely perfect.  I have no idea how they do that. In the real world of Anne Elliott, weight management is an ongoing thing. It doesn't take up every minute of my waking life. I'm not obsessive about it, but I am aware and know when I need to modify my lifestyle. Like now for instance. My Easter wasn't excessive but neither did I  deny myself anything. I was tempted a little too often by helping the children eat their chocolate eggs and the slightly larger, richer meals on an ongoing basis took their toll on my waistline. I've let slip and put on 7Ibs.

I'm looking back now on it all a bit cross with myself and wishing I'd been more careful. This morning I found myself saying, "well it was a holiday...I didn't do much exercise because I spent more time with the kids and besides, I was tired...lots of people came round so I  had to offer them a little something and it's rude if you don't join in...you've got to have a glass or two of wine on a holiday to celebrate". Thus I fell into two of the dieters worst traps.

1. Giving into temptation in the first place
2. Making excuses for yourself for having done so.

Be honest with yourself, I bet you've done it too.

Being tempted by the nice and naughty things in life is part and parcel of being a human being. When to sensibly give in to temptation is the rational you in control of the primordial basic you. The caveman in you that will eat anything and everything, especially fatty and sugary food to store as fat for the next few months of famine. The rational us knows we don't have to eat in preperation for such disasters. 21st Century Britain is replete with easily obtained food, but those basic instincts are very strong in us all. Luckily rationality allows us to override this wiring and choose a different course of action. So even if we keep a tight rein on our food intake, it's great to give in every now and then isn't it?

The serious damage is done when we don't take responsibility for our actions. Nobody stood over me and stuffed Easter eggs in my mouth. I wasn't forced at gunpoint to finish off the bottle of wine by myself.  I was not strapped to a chair so I couldn't move. I DID IT-TO MYSELF. I have to accept that. It's not the kids fault or the time of year or my friends coming round or any other excuse I gave myself. It's my fault. I put too much food and drink into my mouth, didn't move much and now I must face the consequences and deal with the results. I now have to lose that half a stone carefully and sensibly.

I have found this is a big problem for a lot of people trying to lose weight. They blame everyone and everything for their weight issue and constantly look for a miracle. "I can't lose weight because...."  My heart sank when there was a news item this week that scientists have found that 60% of the population has a genetic propensity to obesity. That means you have a gene in your make up that you are more likely than someone without it to get fat. Well, I thought, what better excuse to have for not taking personal responsibility for food consumption than to say 'it's in my genes, so I can't help it'. The ultimate excuse. 60% of the population were not obese during the war when food was rationed! therefore, it is not a given fact. It means you need to be aware of it and manage your weight just a bit tighter. This is from someone who put on half a stone in 2 weeks so I suspect I'm in that 60%.

So until I write again, I suspect I will be working to get rid of the extra fat I've put on. It serves me right.

Anne 

So what's the Easter Bunny bringing you this year? I know what I'd love is a majority share holding in Cadbury's. I can dream.

Easter is no joke to those of us trying either to lose or maintain weight. Personally, I think it's harder than Christmas. I do love chocolate and most of the year have learned how to keep it under control and use it as an occasional treat. I still use my 'freezing' trick as it moderates the amount I can eat in a given time. (see book - rewards) But Easter is difficult, especially with the children eating as many eggs as they can before noon.

There is now a growing scientific feeling that it is possible to become addicted to certain kinds of foods including sugary, refined carbohydrates and fatty, salty foods (note that these are the mainstay of much processed food). Being someone who has given up smoking and given up these high risk foods, I can say definitely it felt the same. I would quite happily accept that I was addicted to 'bad foods' through feel alone, never mind the science to back it up. I bet you never get a craving for carrots or savoy cabbage! We joke about being a chocoholic but how real is it in your case? Do you actually eat chocolate every day, do you reach for chocolate when you are unhappy, happy, peckish, full, can't resist if it's in the house. These are the same questions you'd be asking an alchoholic or smoker to ascertain their usage. Chocolate is great in moderation, it even has beneficial qualities but not in larger and constant amounts. You don't need me to tell you its directly connected to your waist line.

Many of these worst foods cause a release of chemicals and dopamine which is the 'pleasure' neurotransmitter - the feelgood we want, however, this doesn't stay around for long and as the feelgood wears off you reach for more of the substance to make you feel good again. You're on a loser with this.

There is no good here. Only a bad cycle. You need to learn to manage this, if possible to bring it under control and to enjoy your favourite food occasionally. If, however you are so addicted you just can't control it, I'm afraid the only way is abstinence. This may be for ever if you just don't trust yourself, or may be until you've got your eating and exercise habits more in kilter and can afford to try to reintroduce it as part of your improved balanced lifestyle.

But how does this get us through Easter? Here are a number of options you might consider.

1) Don't have any chocolate in the house. Out of temptations way. Choose an alternative sweet food to nibble on.
2) If you can control yourself, consider chocolate coated raisins. Less chocolate and more dried fruit.
3) If you have enough self control, Decide how much you will eat over the holiday ie. 1/2 egg per day.
4) Eat peanuts instead. An american study found an ounce of nuts per day decreases incidence of heart disease substantially. They've also got antioxidants, good vegetable oils and anti-inflammatory substances.
5) Up your exercise level to compensate for your increase in calories eaten. This is a great idea anyway. The weather is improving and great to be out and about.
6) Start one of those big home projects you've been promising yourself. Redecorate the front room or dig over the garden etc. You'll use up loads of calories.

I'm sorry I can't say to you " go ahead, eat chocolate for England". If only. Its not easy. You may feel it's not even fair but that's how it is. I can't tell you any different. Chocolate is a high calorie food. if you eat a lot of it and don't use up the calories in exercise, you will get bigger.

Hey! The good news is the world is full of great tasting food. Why not spend the holiday trying some new ones.

HAVE A GREAT EASTER HOLIDAY

I didn't know what to write about this time. I know I'm a week late. But I thought you must be fed up with me nagging you to go and do some exercise or to keep going with the diet. What could I chat about that felt right for the time of year. It was this weird weather again that  prompted me. We've been going from hot to cold to hot to cold and back again. I've been dashing out into the garden whenever the clouds parted to do a bit of seed preperation. I noticed that my hands weren't winning. Into cold, then hot, then dirt, then soapy water, back out into the cold potting shed. My hands seem to have aged 14 years in the last 14 days. So my topic of personal interest today is SKIN.

Don't we take it for granted. As long as it keeps all the bits in, doesn't look too hideous and gets a decent clean every now its relatively forgotten.  I know that I should give it a bit more TLC than I do. After all it shows age and unhealthy lifestyle more than anything. If you want to tease a few years away, the quickest way is to go and have a decent facial.  I'm sure there's some ridiculous statistic that the womens 'skinware' industry is worth zillions of pounds. As a race we spend a fortune on these goos. So why don't we all look gorgeous?

I know men have traditionally shied away from these lotions and potions as a bit sissy but now there are companies directly talking to men and selling them all the creams we've always used but with a 'he-man' kinda message.
  'Real men do cleanse'
It's getting through slowly and all for the better. I like my men rugged, but not if their face looks like the Grand Canyon and quite frankly, a bit of deodorant never did anyone any harm.

The oddest thing I saw was in the Gym. A woman had showered and then got out the most expensive body lotion and tried to cover her entire body with less than a teaspoon of the stuff.
'Oh you don't need much of this', she told me as her skin was stretched to breaking point in order to see a little of the precious liquid. On the other hand I had the cheapest body lotion in a 5 mile radius and I liberally spread it a cm thick all over. Then I stood there like an idiot for 5 minutes and lo and behold it all got absorbed. The moral of this story is. £50 body lotion will not make your skin 50 times better looking than £1 body lotion. If you are losing weight, buy cheap, pile it on every day and slowly shrink wrap yourself into your smaller skin. You will look a lot younger as well because of all the moisturising your skin is getting.

Another good thing to do is eat a well balanced diet. Skin responds to different things. Vitamins from vegetables help with antioxidants, oily fish and nut contain esential fats that lubricate joints, prevent wrinkles and lubricate your skin. In fact there's a raft of things that help to keep your skin good. You could of course become obsessed with what does what to which bit, but I think life is too short. Eat a sensible well balanced diet and you've covered virtually anything you're likely to need.

The obvious don'ts.
Don't sit in the sun without some decent sun protection on.
Sleep enough or you will look rough by default.
Don't smoke
Alchohol dehydrates
If you're doing the garden don't forget the hand cream afterwards else you look like you've got old hags hands.

...and if you've just prent a fortune on a lotion with CERAMIDES in it and don't have a clue what they are, this one's for you.

Ceramides are artificially recreated fatty components of skin cells to help achieve a plumped-up effect. ENJOY


  

So what is your Poison?

Chocolate, crisps, potatoes, drink, cigarettes, fizzy drinks, take aways?




What do they all have in common? Apart from being bad for you they all have an addictive element to them. We all know about the dreadful things you can do to your insides puffing at the fags. We all know how dangerous it is to drink to excess. We probably all know someone who has moved from being a social drinker to a drunk. As for the rest of us, if we only have the odd few, remember how many sugar calories we are tipping down our throats (200 calories per glass of wine). But what about the softer addictions, the ones we all smile at knowingly;

WHY CHOCOLATE? "I ate 9 Mars Bars in one go last night!" There's a bit of us that knows we've done that as well, "That's nothing, I did a packet of Jammy Dodgers, 4 chocolate eclairs and a frozen choco cheesecake. Couldn't wait for it to defrost". I KNOW HOW THAT FEELS. BET YOU DO TOO.

Chocolate contains  Phenylethylamine which is thought to  create the same feeling as being in love. Why not eat less chocolate and go and fall in love. Cheaper for you and better for your liver.

Crisps. The trouble with crisps is the way they're cut. By being wafer thin they have a huge surface area that is exposed to fat during cooking and becomes covered by it. This also means a huge surface area to absorb and hold salt. If you think about it, the actual potato itself is hardly worth it. it's too thin to give you any real nutritional value and is just a way to transport the addictive fatty and salty elements.

Chips. Based on the information above which do you think is better for you - fat, chunky chips or thin cut french fries. It's the big fat ones because less of their surface area is covered in fat compared to the thin ones. If you're a chip-oholic DO NOT DEEP FRY chips. Make them yourself, cut them big and chunky and lightly coat in vegetable or olive oil, and cook them in the oven. Why not try veggie chips? make chips out of root veg like parsnips or carrots or suede.

Remember potatoes are efficient carbohydrates so don't cover half the plate in them unless you're intending to spend the evening mud wrestling and need the energy.

Fizzy Drinks should be blown up off the face of the earth. They are empty calories. Just flavoured sugar. You might as well sit and eat a dessert bowl full of sugar. In fact try it. It's really hard to do without being sick.

Many people tell me that however hard they try, they just can't lose weight. When it comes down to it they are drinking several fizzy drinks during the day and not recognising them as part of their food intake. if you know you are guilty of this one look on the label. A small bottle is equivalent to a breakfast meal or lunch meal, so if you have fizzy orange with your lunchtime sandwich at work, you've basically had 2 lunches! If it's the carbonated fizzyness you like, why not by a bottle of sparkling water and add some real fruit juice to taste. Much better for you and part of your 6 glasses a day.

Weaning ourselves off this junk is not easy and takes a while to get your tastebuds used to healthier options. You will also have to go through a bit of addiction withdrawal, like when you can't get a Mars Bar out of your mind.

The best way to be with these indulgence foods is to be in control of them rather than them controlling you. Have the odd chocolate and enjoy it. Not have to eat the local supermarket dry of the stuff. Eat healthier versions of the junk ones.

Get a healthier addiction. Life - that's a good one!

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           


I want to talk about the thorny topic of self image.  If you're overweight, the last thing you want to do is look at yourself in the mirror. I know how this feels. I didn't look for years, and if I think about it there are very few photos of me when I was large.   I suppose I walked around still imagining I was that gorgeous long thing I was in my twenties. I certainly didn't want my dream bubble popped by a harsh bit of reality like a mirror or photo. Its amazing how we can delude ourselves - if it doesn't fit, then just don't look. The silly thing is even when reality did bob up, like when I was buying my size 26 clothes, I still managed to not see what the rest of the world could. I was a big fat woman who just didn't want to see it and resolutely refused to do so.

I found comfort in the political correctness that surrounds us. No one was going to call me fat in case I took offence. It was like the whole world was trying not to tell itself it was piling on weight. Luckily someone did have the courage to tell me - my lovely six year old daughter - who, unaffected by the rash of political correctness and with complete naive honesty said, "Mummy, you look like a slug!"

I roundly told her off for being such a rude little girl. I was embarrassed and affronted but it must have struck home because a while later,  I looked at myself full length in the mirror. I looked with fresh eyes and tried to see my figure how a complete stranger might see it. You know she was right. I did look like a slug. It was not pretty. The image I was carrying around in my head was not what was in front of my eyes. I looked a little like a rugby ball. My thighs were huge, my waist non-existent, my chin turned into three. I was twice as wide as I remembered me being. It was not good!

Finally however,  by spending a few minutes calmly looking and this time seeing, I had a body image in my head that was based on reality and not emotionally charged imagination. I had stayed calm and written a mental list of all the things I  knew needed changing. Now I knew what I was up against.

I would urge you to do this too. Take a good, long, calm look at where you are now. Leave your emotions in the hallway for 10 minutes. Don't cry when you finally see how much weight you have put on over these many years. Quietly make an inventory of  what needs to be done.
By not becoming hysterical, you can use your new found knowledge as the baseline from which to work your diet.
i.e. I need to: lose 4 stone
get rid of my batwing upper arms
find my knees
rediscover my jlo bum

You will stand more chance of being successful if you are completey honest yet positive about the task than if you just have this fuzzy 'ooh I must lose some weight' thing. Say to yourself, 'I have the following problems (a,b,c,) which I am going to deal with. '

The other thing this honest apporach gives you is  - nowhere to hide! Because you understand the task in hand you can only be successful or fail. Look in the mirror again 4 weeks later. Are those batwing arms tightening up? Have you done enough tricep curls? Are your knees reemerging? Have you been doing enough exercise?

The good bit is when you look and see those goals slowly getting nearer. You can see your waist is shrinking; you only have two chins left. It's a great feeling. As I've batted on before, TAKE THE ODD PHOTO of yourself. There is nothing better than looking back at this fatter, more tired person. You will begin not to recognise the old you as you. YOU WILL HAVE CHANGED YOUR SELF IMAGE

 

















It may still be grey and dreary most of the time but I have seen the sun try and hack through the clouds. When it does, it does your heart good and Spring doesn't feel quite so far away. I don't feel quite so down about getting out of the house for a good walk or run. But don't be fooled. It maybe the warmest winter since records began but it certainly isn't warm enough to be a reckless dresser.

Whatever activity you do, it's so important to wear appropriate clothing. Not just appropriate for  the movement range you need, but also for the ambient temperature. You must always keep your muscles warm when you exercise. Don't let them get cold. You'll get cramp easily and not be using your body as efficiently as you should. Your muscles can't do what you're asking of them if they're more concerned with trying to stay warm enough to function. Whenever I'm out on a freezing cold day and I see a runner jogging around in a skimpy pair of shorts or vest top I want to stop them and tell them they're wasting their time but I don't. I just think it.

So what is best is a tight layer to keep warm air trapped between your skin and the material. Something stretchy enough to give you full movement. Layers on the top bit. Here I'm wearing a tight long arm stretch t-shirt with a light rain jacket on top. Gloves, hat (huge amounts of body heat go out the top), a must have if you're getting a bit thin on top as well, cotton type socks to soak up sweat and suitable trainers for the job. You might want to take a light rucksack if your walk is going to be any distance then you can shed layers as you warm up and put them back on when you get chilled.

That's the next point. When you've finished, do some stretches and don't let yourself get cold. Either shower immediately if you've built up a sweat or put on enough to keep you cuddly warm whilst your body cools down after your exercise.

I have been asked recently, what to do about eating hearty winter things. Brilliant. Do it. At this time of year we all need carbohydrates to give us energy and keep our bodies warm when it's naturally colder. Remember your body uses a lot of its calories just trying to maintain your body temperature at a constant. But that's not a grand excuse to do a loaf of bread, packet of biscuits and 5 choccy bars in a day. KEEP IT IN MODERATION. Have an extra potato or extra chunk of bread. Don't be tempted to go for a lot of sweet things.

Speaking of which, Valentine's day is soon here. If the love of your life gives you a delicious box of chocs. Take them with the love they were given with. BUT DON"T EAT THEM ALL IN THE FOLLOWING 30 MINUTES. Either put them in the freezer and use them as your daily reward or if they're very posh, eat one a day and savour every mouthful.

ENJOY

Anne

It's hardly the easiest thing to start what might be the biggest and hardest thing you've ever undertaken, when you look out the window and everything is grey, grey, grey. Your spirits sink before you've even started.

I walked along the Thames and took this picture because it summed up my mood and the season. Damp, drizzly, dull, dank and dreary. Now I think I'm a fairly up-beat person on the whole but I couldn't help but succumb to this overwhelming greyness.

It's just post Christmas. I'm cross with myself for putting on a few unnecessary pounds and it's time to stop eating such rich food, get back into the Gym or at least start an exercise routine, but who wants to do anything when the world has no colour in it? How could I break this negative mood?

Heck, when in doubt, go shopping! The sales are on, I need new trainers and my white track suit is now grey after too many mixed washes.

Was that a good idea? I found a half price sale and got myself new training outfits and shoes. Not only did I get a great bargain (and nothing makes us feel better than that) but I can now swan into the Gym looking pretty good even if I don't feel like it. Call me crazy, but I also picked some rather loud pink and green stuff because I needed colour in my life. At least I'll feel cheery if I'm doing a bit of road running on yet another grim morning. So if you see a jogging fairy cake, it's likely to be me.

The next thing we should all consider is to make sure we have a good reason to lose weight and get fit before we start. I know that sounds a bit self evident but it's not specific enough. We're all individuals and we all need our own personal motivation to see this through. WITHOUT IT WE WILL FAIL. This diet relies on you taking control of your lifestyle rather than someone else telling you what to do. You need a rock solid reason to carry on when temptation is staring you in the face.

The reasons are as numerous as the number of people doing the diet. Perhaps you are developing medical problems and a healthy lifestyle will benefit you; perhaps you want to be a good example to your children; perhaps you want to stand infront of an audience and do an impersonation of Tina Turner strutting her thyng! Why not give yourself an enormous aim like I did. I decided to get into a Boxing ring for 3 rounds for charity. I told everyone so I couldn't get out of it. Why not consider, in 12 months, trekking up Kilimanjaro or swimming 10 miles or running a marathon or paragliding the Grand Canyon either for yourself or for charity. Do something bigger and harder than anything you've ever done before. You'll be amazed what you can achieve. It is a great motivator on the exercise side. And its so exciting.

What have you got to lose? A whole pile of negative things
What have you got to gain? A whole new confident, extra-ordinary you!


If you want to e-mail me your reason and you fancy telling the world, I'll put it up on the site for you.

good luck

Anne

How strange is this? Roses in full bloom in the middle of December. I took this photo this morning and it just felt confusing. Not how things should be. Same a doing a diet over the festive days.

For many people, Christmas is a time of great concern. You can see it looming, you know it's going to be days of over eating and over drinking. You know you're going to feel outrageously bloated afterwards plus have a hearty dose of guilt thrown in for not having the determination to keep your eating under control. Any exercise regime has flown into the wind while you've been sitting like a slug infront of the tele for a solid week. None of your clothes fit round the waist and you feel like a giant chocolate orange.

I've been that solid slug, and if I close my eyes I can remember that over full, exhausted, grim feeling knowing that I've undone weeks of hard work in a few days.

But what's the option? Certainly not dieting over the holiday. How miserable would that be?

'I'm afraid I'm only allowed brussel sprouts and a tad of cranberry jelly to taste'

There is an option - Common Sense. I know I keep batting on about this but I really believe that underneath it all, we know what the sensible thing to do is. We just close our eyes to it.

As far as this diet is concerned, eat what you want, when you want BUT instead of eating 6 ton of chocolate, just have one or two. As well as the richness of the food we consume it's also the amount that gets us at Christmas. The 'eating' off switch seems faulty til January 2nd. Your poor body just can't cope with the onslaught. You don't have to do a crate of Babycham. Just have one or two and enjoy them. You don't have to keep the soft fizzy drinks industry afloat by yourself.

More than at any other time the mantra must be: Eat WELL, eat LESS, do some exercise. Go for quality not quantity. Enjoy to the maximum everything you pick and then stop. Eat as richer food as you desire - just not in amounts the size of bricks.

To top off some good food, make sure you've got out into the fresh air and done something physical. Just a quick walk round the park can make you feel so much better. I think it's lovely to go for a jolly stroll all wrapped up then come home to a yummy glass of mulled wine. It blows out that mussy 'been in the house too long' feeling and sets you up for the rest of the day. If you've already started to exercise regularly, don't stop. Make sure you make at least two trips to the gym or swimming baths or whatever you've begun. You'll feel better for it. At least you won't feel guilty and you'll be ahead of the game on 2nd January when you decide to diet with a vengence. 

Believe me, if you use the common sense approach that you know you should be following, you can still have a great Christmas, have a bit of everything you enjoy and not feel like that desperate lump when it's all over.

HAVE A GREAT HOLIDAY

Are you ready for the party season yet?   There's nothing like a good shin-dig to make you have a quick look at your waist line and spur you into action.

But what's the most effective way to attack the waist?

Its a 2 pronged attack I'm afraid. You can do as many sit ups as you want but you won't lose that spare tyre.

You have to attack it from underneath and above. Stomach crunches and all those other waist exercises we all love to hate can only bring in your waist, strengthen your core and hold you in. They are well worth doing for this alone but they cannot do anything about that roll of fat we all carry around. In order to reduce that, you must do regular cardio-vascular exercise - that's hearty walking, power walking, running, cycling, rowing or any other activity that gets your heart pumping a bit faster and you just a little breathless. As well as being good for your heart, your circulation and a raft of other things, if you do cardio for more than 20 minutes you will be using up that fat store. I can't promise its going to hit ONLY the problem areas (if only!) no, it goes for fat all over the place, but some of it will be from your tummy.

If you are also eating our well balanced reasonable amounts as well you'll be doing as much as is humanly possible to get into that little black number.

Don't forget to do a general weights workout though. A shapely shoulder is every bit as exciting as a pin thin waist, especially as you might have a little off the shoulder number waiting to show you off. Weights should be done every other day and on the whole don't tend to use as much time as Cardio.

BIG REMINDER Don't do yourself an injury. Before you start doing weights, make sure someone qualified has shown you what to do and how to do it safely. It's one of those things that your exercise is much more effective if you are in the correct body position and the movement is using the correct group of muscles for the exercise.

Be gorgeous
Anne