|
Now that we are well and truly in the autumn season our lives usually turn to a different pattern. The nights are drawing in and our summer clothes are put away and our winter woollies begin to make an appearance.
It’s also when we try on the party dresses in preparation for Christmas and we discover whether they have shrunk in the wardrobe or if they are looser this year. We then decide if we feel uncomfortable wearing short sleeves, or a low neckline that may not be as flattering as it used to be now that we are a year older. (You can tell that I am talking from personal experience here - as each year passes, I find there are more bits of my body I prefer to cover up!)
Just as we sweep away the leaves (fabulous exercise for our waistline) and dig over our empty vegetable patch (great strength work for arms and legs), it is also a good time to clear out old clothes that are cluttering up our wardrobe. A friend of mine told me that in the autumn she empties her entire wardrobe, laying them on the bed. Anything she hasn’t worn for two years goes to the charity shop!
While we are in the mood for sorting our life out, let’s look at what has happened to our body over the summer. Are a few pounds still lingering from your holiday? What about your exercise routine – has that slipped? Has your eating pattern altered? It only takes a slight change in our lifestyle and the foods we eat to make a difference in our weight and fitness over a period of a few months. When we are focussed on a forthcoming holiday, our willpower is much stronger and we are determined not to be the biggest person lying on a sunbed, but as we return to normal everyday life, good habits can slip a little and bad habits can easily creep in and it is frustrating to realise how quickly we can gain a few pounds.
Did you know that if we ate a couple of M&S ginger cookies extra, every day with our morning coffee, over a year we would gain 25lbs! So, as you can see, little habits can lead to a big difference in our waistline.
Here are my simple top ten tips to help you shed those unwelcome excesses:
- Serving our cereal in a smaller bowl really works. And don’t forget to measure your portion of size with your Portion Pots.
- Check the thickness of your bread. If you make your own, or buy unsliced, try to cut it thinner. Try to always make or buy wholegrain bread as that will keep you feeling fuller for longer. Avoid spreading it with butter or margarine or low-fat alternative. Add tomato, brown, fruity or similar kind of sauce or salad dressing or Marmite instead.
- Over the balmy summer evenings, it was easy to slip into the habit of drinking more alcohol. Cut back now and drink more water or low-cal squash. I love Diet Fiery Ginger Beer – the best one is sold in Morrisons. It has a real kick and is delicious.
- Watch your portion sizes of rice, pasta and potatoes but fill your plate with lots of fresh vegetables with a moderate serving of protein, then you won’t feel hungry but you will keep the calories down.
- Try something different for your breakfast. Eating two boiled eggs is surprisingly filling and keeps you going till lunchtime. They are low in calories, high in protein and full of goodness.
- Try having fresh fruit with live natural yogurt for a dessert instead of a manufactured pudding which will not be as healthy. A fresh peach or 100g of either strawberries, raspberries or blueberries, or a nectarine chopped up, with live natural yogurt is delicious. It’s low in calories and really healthy. Find a pretty dish in which to serve it and it feels like a real treat. Alternatively, for a complete lunch, I sometimes just have a whole punnet of strawberries with lots of live yogurt and it really fills me up. It’s good to ring the changes.
- Say ‘no’ to all snacks between meals. Fill up at mealtimes with more vegetables or salad instead.
- Cut out anything that’s high-fat – that means pies, cakes, biscuits, chocolate, butter and cream, and cut back on sugar. All are super-high in calories and unhealthy!
- Be sure to go for a 30-minute walk every day and follow Mary’s advice and her Fitness Challenge in this Newsletter each week.
- Walk tall and pull in that core. It makes a massive difference to your stomach muscles and your posture. You will look slimmer!
It is amazing what a difference a little change in our daily habits can make. The secret of success is to put on the ‘I can do this’ attitude - and actually do it!
I think it is wise to keep an eye on our weight so that we can act before it becomes a problem. Weighing ourselves once a week first thing in the morning in our ‘birthday suit’ is undoubtedly the best guide. Personally, though, I don't weigh myself every week, because I can remember being a slave to the scales many moons ago when I struggled with my weight and I weighed myself every day! Never a good idea. Today, instead, if my clothes fit, that’s a good sign, and I also just look in a full-length mirror without clothes. And I really don’t need scales to tell me if I have gained a few lbs. because those lbs are looking straight back at me! That’s when I ‘up’ my exercise and cut back on my food. It works every time.
|
|
Serves 4
Per serving: 334 calories, 9.6g fat (excluding rice)
Prep time: 10 mins
Cook time: 25 mins
4 skinless, boned chicken breasts, cut in half
600ml (1 pint) tomato passata
300ml (1⁄2 pint) low-fat live natural yogurt
2 tbsps chopped fresh coriander
freshly ground black pepper
mint leaves to garnish
for the tikka paste
1 small red onion, finely chopped
4 tbsps tomato purée
1 tsp ground cumin
½ tsp ground cinnamon
1 x 2.5cm (1in) piece fresh ginger, grated
2 garlic cloves, crushed
1 small red chilli, deseeded and chopped
juice of 1 lime
2 tsps vegetable bouillon stock powder
- Preheat the oven to 200°C, 400°F, Gas Mark 6. Cut the chicken breasts in half and place in a bowl and season well with black pepper.
- Place the tikka paste ingredients in a food processor and blend until smooth. Spread the tikka mixture over the chicken, coating on all sides. Leave to marinate for 20 minutes.
- Transfer to a non-stick roasting tin and place in the oven for 15 minutes until lightly roasted. Remove from the oven and stir in the tomato passata.
- Return to the oven for a further 10 minutes to heat through. Check that the chicken is fully cooked.
- Just before serving, stir in the yogurt and coriander. Spoon into a warmed serving dish and garnish with mint leaves.
- Serve with basmati rice cooked in boiling water with a vegetable stock cube.
|
|
|
 This week we received an email from Moira asking if we could help with the instructions for her Rosemary Conley Low-Fat Dessert Maker.
We get asked quite regularly about the range of cooking gadgets and appliances which we sold in the past and if it's just the instructions missing we can usually help. Sadly, as the company that used to make them no longer exists, we are unable to help with spare parts or replacements.
|
|
Fun, Facts & Fitness from Mary Morris MSc.
I occasionally give talks to our local women's groups and it always makes me a bit nervous as, from the minute I walk into the room, I try to assess the likely response to a speaker who is going to encourage them to take up more exercise and make better lifestyle choices. Often over the years I have been met with plenty of negativity, as encouraging a ‘professional couch potato’ to get off their sofa takes an enormous change of lifestyle that many are not willing to contemplate.
But recently I was invited to talk to my local Tangent Club and what I noticed immediately was there was an energy in the room, a room full of women who were keen to be encouraged to make better lifestyle choices. Now these Clubs are such an amazing opportunity for women to regularly meet up in a most welcoming atmosphere and if you are looking for something to help you get out of the house and make new friendships then this is the perfect place to be. Tangent provides the opportunity for women everywhere to be part of an organisation that is built on its roots of friendship which usually meets monthly, and also organises various social events and activities to raise funds for charity or to support the community.
All the ladies present were of a mature age, with some a bit younger than myself and plenty a bit older, so I knew I had an attentive audience. There is no doubt that when we reach a certain age our health and well-being become high on the list of priorities! I began on a light note, recounting a conversation with my 3-year-old grandson who wanted to know when I was going to die! - which I followed quickly with a similar question from my 12-year-old granddaughter, who gently asked me how long I hoped to live? – a far better approach I thought!
My whole purpose in giving these talks is to simply steer people in the right direction, to help them live their best (and healthiest) life for as long as possible. They were clearly inspired as at the end of my talk the chairperson asked me if I would put together 10 'Mary's' – a set of 10 exercises that would take only a few minutes every day. I explained that doing them would tick many of the boxes for keeping strong and mobile whilst being highly suitable for those in our age group.
So, I thought I would share these with you. They will take no longer than 10 minutes and work all your major joints and those important muscles that help you to stay strong and live independently for as long as possible. Combine them with your daily walk and you have got it covered.
10 MARY'S
- Shoulder mobility. Sit upright in the front third of the chair seat and place your hands on your shoulders and rotate your bent arms (forward, up, side and back) in a BIG circle slowly 8 times.
- Hands/Wrists. Clench your hands into a tight fist then open the fingers w-i-d-e. Pause for a second then go even wider! Do it 3 times then rotate your wrists 3 times in each direction.
- Spine. Still sitting upright, put your hands on your shoulders and turn your head and shoulders to the right as far as you can and then to the left. Do 8 altogether (4 right and 4 left).
- Posture. Now keeping your hands on your shoulders, or better still behind your head, pull your elbows back drawing your shoulder blades closer together behind you, then release. Do it 6 times slowly.
- Posture. Bend your elbows and 'fix' them to your waist with your palms up in front of you (as if you are holding a tray). Now keeping your elbows fixed to your waist pull your hands wider apart and sit up taller. Come back to the 'tray' position. Do it 6 times.
- Thighs. Still in the front third of the chair seat, straighten your right leg fully, lifting it off the floor and pulling your toes towards you. Hold for 2 seconds then slowly lower. Do 6 then repeat with your left leg.
- Tummy. Sit right back in the chair seat, pull in your tummy and breathe in. Now, as you breathe out, gently press your lower back into the back of the chair, hold for 2 seconds then relax. Do it 6 times.
- Sit to Stand. Back to the front third of the chair seat, cross your arms across your chest and take your feet back a little. Lean forward and with one swift movement stand up. Now slowly lower again and smoothly return to the seat. Do this 5 - 10 times.
- Press-ups. Place both hands shoulder-width apart against a wall, window ledge, sturdy table or desk, and with feet as far back as suits you (approx. 1 metre), bend your elbows outwards and lower your chest towards the surface and back again. Breathe in as you lower and out as you push back. Do this 8 times.
- Balance. Stand up with a good posture, preferably without shoes, and pull your tummy in. Now lift one foot off the floor and hold for as long as you can. Time it and aim for a full 30 seconds on each leg! Practice every day if you are not good at it!
Finally, when you have finished, do a Posture Stretch: Stand up straight, clasp your hands behind your back, and pull your arms up and further back behind you.
|
|
|
This Week's Fitness Challenge
- Have a go at the '10 Mary's' every day this week. Time it and assess whether it is something you could carry on with. If it proves to be too much for you to do every day then perhaps you could fit it in every other day? That would be brilliant too!
- On your daily 30+ minute walks check the time it takes you to walk a mile. You are doing a 'health walk' if you can do it in 20 minutes. It becomes a 'fitness walk' if you can do it in nearer to 15 minutes.
- Our joints easily stiffen the older we are – so do the Whole Body Stretch Programme from the website at least 3 times this week.
|
|
|
Did you know... 
Tangent is one of the largest women’s organisations in the UK, with around 500 Clubs and 10,000 members.
The National Association of Tangent Clubs is part of the Round Table family of clubs which is made up of Ladies Circle (for women aged 18-45), Round Table (men aged 18-45) and Ex Tablers (the 41 Club, for men over 40). While set up as the next step for past members of Ladies Circle, Tangent welcomes any women looking to be part of the organisation.
Whether you join Tangent (or any other organisation), or become a member of a gym, a dance class, a singing group, a bridge or chess club, or join in with any other social activity, the benefits of being part of a social group are immense. Socialising is good for our minds and bodies. Humans are social animals by nature, so we tend to function better when we are in a community and around others. People who spend a lot of time alone, such as the elderly or new mums, may have an increased risk of depression and lower quality of life. You don't have to be super-social to see the benefits of connecting with others.
- It can improve your mental health – it can lighten your mood and make you feel happier.
- Lower your risk of dementia – social interaction is good for your brain health.
- Promotes a sense of safety, belonging and security.
- Allows you to confide in others and let them confide in you.
So if you're not part of a social group perhaps you could be missing out!
|
|
|
And finally...
As I was reading Mary’s piece for this week and looking at her ‘10 Mary’s’, I found myself doing them, sitting at my desk and then I said to myself, ‘you could do these every day before you start working!’ I think they are utterly brilliant and I am going to do them! I really hope you do too!
Have a great week.
With love and best wishes,
Rosemary Conley CBE DL
|
|
LIVE LONGER | LIVE HEALTHIER | LIVE HAPPIER
|
|
|
|
