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It was two years ago that Mary and I were asked if we could help and offer our experience when a health and wellbeing initiative was launched within Leicestershire Police. It was a very new and rather exciting challenge for us and we were very happy to offer all the support we could.
Back in 2021 we decided that the best way to organise a wellness campaign was to put the team of volunteers on The 28-Day Immunity Plan for a month. This is a book Mary and I had co-written in lockdown, and which had just been published in paperback by Penguin. The book offers a healthy eating plan and a progressive exercise programme that is designed to promote weight loss and increase fitness. The main focus of the plan is on boosting our immune system so that we can better fight viruses and infections.
Little did we know what tremendous benefit the volunteers would experience and how inspiring they would be to their colleagues. So positive was their feedback and so obvious were their health, weight and fitness benefits, that they have inspired many others to participate. Last week we launched Team 5.
From Team 4, participants were asked to say in three words how they felt at the start of the 28-day programme. Here is a small selection:
- Tired, overweight, unfit.
- Overwhelmed, anxious, excited.
- Hungry, sluggish, motivated.
- Unfit, ashamed and sloth-like.
- Bloated, dissatisfied, determined.
After following the Plan for the four weeks the volunteers were asked to sum up in three words how they now felt. Here is just a selection:
- Happy, healthy, energised!
- Positive, focused, happy!
- Happier, in-control, aware.
- Energised, optimistic, inspired!
- Confident, healthier, happier.
At the end of the programme Team 4 had achieved an average weight loss of 9.4lbs and their Wellbeing Score went from 4.8 out of 10 to an incredible 9/10 in just a month! To our delight, as with all of the previous teams, participants asked if they could ‘carry on with the Plan’ because they felt so good.
One of the participants of Team 4 was Laurence, a police staff member, who had started with a BMI of 30.1, which classed him as obese. He wanted to become a Special Constable and to do this he needed to pass a fitness test so the Health and Wellbeing Adviser, Sally, encouraged him to participate in the Team 4 challenge. Laurence has now lost 26.5 lbs (12 kg), lost 4 inches off his waist and his BMI is down to a healthy 24. He says: ‘The biggest change for myself was the mental wellness. My self-esteem has grown leaps and bounds!’ Laurence is now attending his Special Constable Police Training Programme and goes running 4 - 6 times a week!
Since the start of this initiative, every month, Mary and I join in with an online session open to the participants of all the teams for a catch-up and question time and it is always inspiring to hear their amazing stories of changed lives. If you would like to hear more about the Police Challenges, Mary and I recorded a video in September 2021 where we discuss the Police 28-Day Immunity Plan Challenge.
So, why am I telling you this story? We all need to be inspired and if you haven’t quite kick-started your wellness campaign for 2023 then maybe, just maybe, this might inspire you into action.
I explain the principles of The 28-Day Immunity Plan in the Boosting Immunity section of our website and if you wish to buy the book it is available from our Shop. Mary explains in her section below why exercise is vital in boosting our immunity and demonstrates in real-time videos The 28-Day Immunity Plan Workout. There is also a DIY Fitness Test on the webpage that will show you how fit you are today so that you can see with your own eyes how your fitness improves over the coming weeks.
When we wrote this little book we had no idea how extraordinary its effect would be in transforming the lives of those who follow it. It really, really works!
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Serves 6
Per serving: 390 calories, 2% (8.9g) fat
Prep time 10 mins
Cook Time 30 mins
400g lean minced beef
1 teaspoon easy- garlic or two cloves, crushed
1 large onion, finely diced
1 large carrot, coarsely grated
1 beef stock cube (optional)
2 x 400g can chopped tomatoes
1 x 340g jar tomato and basil pasta sauce
2 tablespoons tomato puree
1 teaspoon Tabasco Sauce
1 tablespoon Worcestershire Sauce
1 tbsp chopped fresh basil
52g (dry weight) spaghetti per person
1 vegetable stock cube
Freshly ground black pepper
Chopped fresh herbs, to garnish
- Preheat a large non-stick pan. Add the minced beef and dry fry until starts to change colour.
- Remove the mince from the pan and wipe out the pan with kitchen roll. Return the meat to the pan, add the garlic and onion and continue cooking for a further 2-3 minutes stirring well. Add the grated carrot and crumble to beef stock-cubes over the top. Add the tomatoes, puree and mixed herbs, then mix well to allow the stock cube to dissolve. Reduce the heat to a gentle simmer, add the tobasco and Worcestershire sauces and season generously with the black pepper. Cover with a lid and continue to cook for 30 minutes until the sauce thickens.
- Meanwhile, bring a large pan of water to the boil with the vegetable stock cube. Add the spaghetti and cook for 12 – 15 minutes until the spaghetti is cooked but slightly firm in the centre. Drain through a colander.
- Arrange the spaghetti on a warmed plate and pour the sauce on top. Garnish with fresh herbs.
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Fun, Facts & Fitness from Mary Morris MSc.
My constant aim with this weekly message to you all is to help keep you totally motivated to get moving and keep moving.
Its importance in life literally tops the charts for me personally, and it helps that I love to move, particularly if music is playing! But it would be naïve to think it is the same for everyone. Some people find exercise unbelievably boring and there are elements of it where I would agree. However, we do need to find some activity that 'ticks their box' and gets them moving more as it has always been very clear to me that those who are most sedentary suffer the most ill-health.
When I teach exercise I make it a rule that I let everybody in the class know 'why' they are doing it. This is always most needed when I am aware that the move is repetitive and seemingly mindless, as in squats for example, but I feel passionately that when they are made aware of how good it is for them, it ups their game considerably.
This idea of learning new facts about the body, which in turn increases our motivation to exercise, became very clear to Rosemary and to me when we researched The 28-Day Immunity Plan together. We were particularly excited to learn more about the lymphatic system.
Now most of us have a pretty good idea of the importance of the blood circulatory system, with the heart (the pump) at its centre, and how it plays a vital role in keeping us fit and healthy. But critically, the lymph system is the circulatory system of our immunity. And here's the thing... it does not have a pump! So how does it work and what can we do to keep it in tip-top condition?
- Move more! Muscles moving regularly throughout the day act as a 'pump' for the lymph system to ensure that our whole body is bathed in lymph fluid. This clear fluid, of which there is around 15 litres in the body, carrying many of our immune cells, is found in every nook and cranny of our body.
- This fluid contains our white blood cells which need to be in constant flow through the body, on the lookout for anything untoward, protecting us from illness and infection.
- Our vital organs are cleansed by this fluid.
- Just 20 - 30 minutes of aerobic exercise is all that is needed to 'boost' the lymphatic system. Walking is enough!
- So, your foundation for health and well-being begins with the lymphatic system. Now that should motivate you to get you moving!
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This Week's Fitness Challenge
- Your daily 30+ minute walk has now just been given an added boost – ensure you make time in your busy day to fit it in. Please, no excuses.
- If you have a Balance Cushion, use it for just 2 minutes every day, perhaps while you brush your teeth! The studded surface stimulates the lymph system underfoot.
- Drink plenty of water throughout the day this week and every week. Lymph fluid moves through the body much more freely when hydrated.
- Practise deep breathing. Try it this way... Breathe in through the nose for 3 counts, hold your breath for 4 counts and let the air out through your mouth for 5 counts. Deep diaphragmatic breathing is a vital component of lymph function.
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Did you know... 
From the Middle Ages, there were local officials in England called constables who were responsible for keeping the peace but if somebody witnessed a crime they were expected to raise the alarm and all men were supposed to help catch the criminal. This was known as the hue and cry and was abolished in 1827.
 From 1663 there were paid nightwatchmen in London and in 1749 a magistrate called Henry Fielding formed a group of men known as the Bow Street Runners based at his office in Bow Street to patrol the streets and catch criminals.
It was in 1829 that the Home Secretary, Sir Robert Peel, established the Metropolitan Police Force based at Scotland Yard in London. The 1,000 constables employed were affectionately nicknamed 'bobbies' or, somewhat less affectionately, 'peelers'. Although unpopular at first, they proved very successful in cutting crime in the capital and by 1857 all cities in Britain were obliged to form their own police forces.
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And finally...
I am determined to be the fittest and healthiest I can be this year. My aim is to cherish every moment and to live my life to the full and there is no time like the present to make some really positive choices and changes to boost our health and well-being.
Let’s all be the healthiest we can be in 2023!
With love and best wishes,
Rosemary Conley CBE DL
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LIVE LONGER | LIVE HEALTHIER | LIVE HAPPIER
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