WiRE Blog

By WiRE member Anna Mason, a Health & Fitness Coach from Distance Dieters

Why diets don’t work?

It seems like almost every week, another fad diet is announced in the current favourite glossy magazines and newspapers but with almost a quarter of adults (24% of men and 25% of women aged 16 or over) in England were classified as obese it is safe to say that diets don’t work. Although they can offer short term success rates, in the long-run, diets do not help people to lose weight effectively, here’s why:

Diets Are Difficult

No-one likes a strict regime, least of all when it comes to meal times and what we eat. Often the problem eating has arisen out of convenience in the first place. After a hard day’s work, we often reach for the easiest and quickest meal to prepare without a second thought to the nutritional value. It takes will power to diet, and this may change with each day and depending on how we feel emotionally. It can be difficult to maintain the willpower needed to diet.

Hunger Cravings

Diets can leave us hungry, irritable and craving the foods we are depriving ourselves of. When we are hungry it can be hard to focus and stay calm. Diets can leave us feeling miserable.

Diet Hit And Run

Once we have made a little bit of progress, we can often fall into the trap of regressing back to our old ways. Eating what we want for a day, with the intention of ‘starting over’ the next day. It usually doesn’t happen and dieters can find themselves jumping from one failed diet to another, in an eternal search for the one that works.

Emotional Aspects Not Confronted

Eating habits are often closely related to underlying emotional aspects. We can eat for a variety of reasons linked to our emotions, when we feel depressed, stressed, anxious, when self-esteem is low, as substitute for other cravings or when we are angry. Diets don’t address the psychology of why we over-eat, or have poor diets in the first place.

Dieters Don’t Change Bad Habits

When people diet, they are often looking for a quick fix solution. Rarely are dieters interested in changing the bad habits that made them feel the need to diet. The reasons for being overweight are often to do with the way we eat, or the types of food we are eating regularly. Eating well for a short period of time may help with weight-loss, however, unless we change our bad habits, we are unlikely to keep the weight off. The key to losing weight is, adopting a healthy lifestyle, not just for a little while, but for life!

Find that key to adopting a healthy lifestyle contact Anna by mail or by telephone for your free consultation.

anna@distancedieters.co.uk

Tel 0845 533 5302

This months e-newsletter feature partner is Dyke Ruscoe & Hayes

Another day, another tax return – or make that 2.65 for each employee, every day until the 31 January 2011 deadline.We try to get clients returns in early – every year – but clients (bless you) so often have a way of leaving things to the last moment, or forgetting that last bit of vital information!

We understand, we really do.. (I always put off going to the dentist) but getting the books together just has to be done so you may as well get on with it.

I had one of my favourite clients in today to go through the basics (accounts and the return). Then he started to ask me about capital gains tax and inheritance tax and was there any way to protect his hard-earned money from the potential son in-law from hell who (he was convinced) was going to marry his daughter and then run off with A N Other. We also talked through his brother’s marital problems and the financial implications.

Then two of my older clients came in and I’m still trying to work out how my query about family wages turned into how much the price of diesel has risen (I set them up with a PAYE scheme eventually).

Lisa phoned to complain about the bank (again) – quite right too on this occasion – the banks are certainly being very cautious at the moment, quite unnecessarily so in several cases. I’ve spoken to the bank and persuaded them to play ball and Lisa sent me flowers!

Later, I had a new client, sent by a local solicitor. Let’s just say there were money-laundering issues which meant that I couldn’t act…

So, onwards and upwards as they say – now where did I put my tax return??

Dyke Ruscoe & Hayes Ltd are based in Ludlow 01584 872421/Tenbury Wells 01584 810322 and Craven Arms (ask for Jackie, Peter, David or Carl) and do everything you would expect accountants and business advisors to do – marriage guidance extra!

By WiRE member Julie Penfold – Happy Talking Health

Five Reasons To Love Brussels Sprouts

Much-maligned and loathed by many yet sprouts are the best seasonal veg around in the month of December and are loaded with healthy goodness. Read on to find out why you really should eat your sprouts this festive season.

1. Brussels sprouts are an excellent source of vitamin C containing more than four times the levels of oranges. Just one small cup of sprouts contains an adult’s daily allowance of this essential cold-buster

2. They are also rich in vitamins A, K, B1 and B6 – great for healthy skin and increasing energy

3. Sometimes described as small leafy mini cabbages – brussels are also rich in calcium, potassium, iron, manganese, lutein and fibre

4. Sprouts are low in fat and high in protein

5. Finally, sprouts are high in folate (folic acid) which makes healthy blood cells. Folate is a crucial nutrient for healthy cells and is essential for children, pregnant women and those planning to conceive.

Did you know: If the thought of green sprouts turns you off – a new red version of the vegetable is now available which is milder and sweeter (yet still contains all the nutrients listed above) could be the solution for you.

Are brussels sprouts loved or loathed by you? I’m firmly in the thumbs up camp. I’d love to hear your comments…

Organise ‘Abit of a Do’ to celebrate the amazing things that women do around the globe and help Oxfam raise funds for millions living in an unfair world.

Oxfam is committed to a world where women and girls together can achieve their individual and collective potential. All across the world Oxfam is working with women to help them have something to celebrate, even in the harshest of environments.

To help you make your celebration the best it can be Oxfam will provide you with all of the support you could need – from party ideas, to discussion topics, from simple recipes to complex cocktails.

Oxfam know the obstacles facing women around the world, and know that there is a long way to go before every woman can join this celebration. That’s why, as part of your get-together, they want you to raise much needed funds. The easiest way is to include an on-line giving page with your invites, don’t worry they’ll provide you with the details on how to do this.

Every penny raised will go to their work with women like Emilina, Karo, and millions of other women across the globe who need our help and support. Together we will empower more women to escape poverty and overcome adversity. With over 1000 women a day dying through maternal health issues and 40,000,000 girls not having the opportunity to go to school we know you’ll agree that it is a worthwhile cause that needs action now.

We hope that you will join thousands of women on the week of the March 8th, to reflect on all that has been achieved and to help make sure that women around the world have even more to celebrate in the future.

To find out more about Oxfam and their work, visit www.oxfam.org.uk or if you are interested in getting involved in the Oxfam Do please contact Catherine Butt at cbutt@oxfam.org.uk

Sliding wildly down the long snow covered drive towards Shugborough Hall, I was hoping to discover the magic of Christmas and neither Catherine nor I were disappointed. Festivity was drifting from every corner of this beautiful stately home; from the smell of the roasting chestnuts to the glorious harmonies of the carol singers and the crisp snow covered ground. Placed neatly in front of the house was the thriving Christmas market with businesses tucked in every corner and hoards of shoppers ready to purchase those all important Christmas presents.

Having wandered round the vast diversity of different businesses, it struck me that many hadn’t tailored their stands to the festive season. In an ever evolving marketplace products and services must be tailored to changing consumer needs. This couldn’t ring more true at Christmas time, so why had many businesses not picked up on this? A simple festive hat or sprig of holly to tailor to the Christmas market

As I pondered on this, I couldn’t help but notice the stall next to me. The owners of Bow Wow Baking were drawing crowds of people to their stall. Neatly decorated with bowls of homemade dog treats and mini dog cupcakes, the stall was sprinkled with red Christmas bows and festive cheer. A well considered strategic implementation to add value by cashing in on the festive season.

With a batch of Christmas star dog treats neatly wrapped in paw decorated bags and festive red ribbon attached, these biscuits catered for both festive shopper and fussy hound alike. To me, this is an excellent example of market awareness. They knew who their target market was, made a line of products, adding value by using festive Christmas stars and packaging and priced their products effectively for their target market. Knowing that people were there to do their Christmas shopping with a little cash to spend, Bow Wow Baking did a promotion of buy two and get one free to appeal to those with less ready cash and even the men bored by shopping were hooked in.

In my opinion, this small market adaptation and product diversification was an innovative approach to embracing the seasonal change. In my mind successful businesses are those that get it right for their customers, it’s about flexibility, quality, convenience and tailoring your products directly to customer needs. Perhaps this is why Bow Wow ‘really took the biscuit!’