10 tips on fighting the festive flab in the New Year

Posted on January 1, 2014 by Frostie

10 tips on fighting the festive flab in the New Year By Garry Kerr, Head of Training and Operations at British Military Fitness

Nom, nom, nom…extra eating: During the winter and especially over the festive

season we typically eat more than we would normally and exercising is a great way

to burn those extra calories and keep yourself in shape so when spring finally arrives

you’re in tip top shape! Here are some tips to help you beat the Christmas flab!

1. Keep a fitness journal

A workout log can help keep your exercise routine on track when you’re

struggling to stay motivated because it will show you how far you’ve come

since you started, and therefore how worthwhile it is to keep going.

2. Commit yourself.

Get moving! Just do it! There is no time like the start of a New Year. You’ve

got the indulgences of Christmas behind but it’s important you commit. Why

not write all the classes you can attend in your diary so they are viewed as

actual appointments and you’re less likely to cancel.

3. Set short-term goals

Having something specific to aim for, such as losing a certain amount

of weight or entering a race / marathon for example the Major Series

in the Spring will help you stick to your training

plan. But make sure your goals are achievable. Setting and failing to reach

outlandish targets will put you off.

4. Find the fun in it

Exercise should not feel like torture. After all, you have made a conscious

decision to do it. You can take great pleasure from overcoming challenges

and progressing with your fitness alongside other people.

Does that mean that it will be easy? No. In order to change your body, you

need to experience ‘overload’. This means that you need to keep challenging

your body in order to increase your fitness levels. You will however improve

your fitness levels if you rest and recover properly after each workout.

5. Reward yourself

Once you’ve hit one of your targets reward yourself. By training and

committing to your training you’ve earned the right to spoil yourself. Whether

it’s a new item of clothing or fitness-related gadgets or clothing – enjoy your

achievements.

6. Use visualisation

If you don’t believe that you can do that final burpee or make it through

those final reps, you certainly won’t be able to but by picturing yourself doing

it before you try it, you’ll create a mental template that can translate into

success.

7. Eating right

Food is 90% of the health and fitness battle. You can make great changes

just through making small adjustments to your eating habits alone. While

changing any habits may seem like a daunting task, there is a wealth of

resources available to guide you. By eating a regular mix of proteins, fats and

carbohydrates you will reap the benefits of your physical training routine. You

will have both the energy to perform and the nutritional foundations needed

for recovery. This exercise and nutrition relationship will help you to achieve

your goals

8. Be realistic

Rome wasn’t built in a day. Unfortunately, while over-used, there is some truth

in that saying.

A healthy approach is to aim to improve on yesterday. By repeating this

process you will start to feel like you have made great improvements over a

course of weeks, months and years. It is also important to consider where you

want to be.

9. There is gain without pain!

While exercise should be challenging in order to encourage the body to adapt

and therefore improve, it should not lead to any injuries.

Many people, particularly those new to exercise can become over enthusiastic

because of the physical changes that they experience. Our bodies can only

truly complete exercises at 100% intensity for a number of seconds. Exercises

completed over the course of an hour-long session are performed below

maximum intensity. You should therefore focus more on your technique and

try to work as hard as possible but not push yourself to the point of nausea.

10. Abandon an all-or-nothing attitude

Don’t think of exercise with an all-or-nothing approach. If you unexpectedly

miss a session, don’t beat yourself up. Just get back on track tomorrow.

Remember; exercise and fitness is a way of life, it’s not a destination.

This Book Will Make You Calm, Confident, Happy, Sleep Book Reviews

Posted on December 29, 2013 by Catherine Balavage

January is all about becoming a better person. Hope is high and a feeling of renewal is in the air. So this series of This Book Will Make You…books came at the right time to be reviewed. Let’s find out if they can make you Calm, Confident, Happy and Sleep.

This Book Will Make You Calm

We got sent a lot of books on becoming calm at Christmas time and I think we all know why! We are all becoming more stressed in life and becoming calm will improve your health and life in general. The book helps you tackle anxiety and stress, it has great relaxation techniques, helps you handle panic and maintain a work-life balance. I love the techniques, graphs and strategies. I learned a lot reading this book. It is easy to lose perspective in life and forget about looking after yourself: this book reminds you what to do, and gives you lots of great, new, information too.

This Book Will Make You Happy

Being happy. One of the greatest pursuits of human beings. We seem obsessed with happiness and trying to achieve it. Following on from the format of the other book- and all of the books- the book has strategies, tests and graphs. It focuses on CBT (Cognitive behavioral therapy) which has become trendy and mainstream, which is not to put it down in any way, I have heard amazing things about it and it works for a lot of people. The book helps you challenge negative thoughts, combat anxiety, manage your emotions and stop procrastinating.

There are positive mind maps and the three biggest crimes against happiness. A great book to bring you closer to happiness.

This Book Will Make You Confident

Everyone wants more confidence and everyone goes through wobbly periods This book promises the tools to build your self-belief and realise your full potential with practical exercises and the latest CBT research. Each book lets you know how it all works and what CBT is. They have great mind maps and techniques which I find very useful. This is a helpful book which helps you deal with insecurity, nature self-belief, challenge your inner critic and play to your strengths. Good book.

This Book Will Make You Sleep

I have been having trouble sleeping so was happy to review this book. Especially after finding myself cleaning the oven at 2am. That is when you know you have a problem. CBT, tips and exercises fill the book, sleep myths are dispersed, sleep facts are given and the book gives great advice. I find myself sleeping better after reading it. Recommended.

This Book Will Make You Calm, Confident, Happy, Sleep by Dr Jessamy Hibberd & Jo Usmar

Released 6 January 2014

This new series for busy, creative people will give you the tools to deal with common problems from anxiety and lack of confidence to sleeplessness and general wellbeing.

Psychologist Dr Jessamy Hibberd and lifestyle journalist Jo Usmar draw on the latest cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) to show how to develop coping strategies and learn practical techniques to tackle a range of problems quickly and effectively. From reducing worry and boosting energy levels to breathing and mindfulness techniques, these accessible, handy-size books will make your life more serene, stress-free and fulfilled.

About the authors:

Dr Jessamy Hibberd is a clinical psychologist who worked for the NHS before setting up her own private practice. She is a chartered member of the British Psychological Society (BPS) and accredited with the British Association for Behavioural and Cognitive Psychotherapies (BABCP).

Jo Usmar is a freelance journalist and editor. She has contributed to a variety of national media, as well as writing a regular relationship column for Cosmopolitan. She has appeared on TV and radio commenting on lifestyle and relationship issues.

Nair Brazilian Spa Clay Shower Power Cream Review

Posted on December 29, 2013 by Catherine Balavage

I hate waxing. I just don’t understand it. Why go through the pain? You have to grow out the hair before you can wax it, and your skin ends up looking like a plucked chicken.

Which is why I love cream hair remover. It is so easy to use and leaves your skin super smooth. so I was excited to review Nair Brazilian Spa Clay Shower Power Cream. I had never tried it before and had high expectations. It says on the packaging that it gives you smooth legs for up to seven days and only take five minutes to remove all visible hair. Big promises.

You apply the cream with the spatula provided in a thick, even, layer and then get into the shower and leave it on for three minutes, avoiding excessive exposure to water and then rinse off. After you have rinsed, your skin is incredibly soft and moisturised with no hairs. I am very impressed.

The cream is gentle and kind to skin. It has a natural blend of key ingredients: mineral rich clay, mango butter and acai palm. I use it on my legs and bikini line. My skin looks amazing afterwards and it lasts for the promised week.

This cream is one of my favourite products of 2013. It is easy-to-use and it works. Which is what every women wants in a beauty product: convenience, reasonable price and a great product. This is the best way to remove unwanted hair. A must buy.

Nair Brazilian Spa Clay Shower Power Cream is available from Boots.com

OCÓO The Beauty Drink Review

Posted on December 20, 2013 by Catherine Balavage

I had heard about the new beauty drink, OCÓO, before we were asked to review it, and it really caught my attention. Being your best self usually requires time, effort, and money. So something you can just drink which makes you more beautiful? I’ll take it.

Now the review. The packaging is beautiful as I would expect, the colour looks like cola and the smell is not awful like a lot of drinks. It tastes nice too.

I did feel healthy after I drank it as it is fulll of vitamins, however, just being sent one bottle to review means I cannot know whether or not the drink has a real impact on my ‘beauty’.

OCÓO Left a good impression on me. I think it could be a quick and easy way to get the nutrients you need. It is certainly a good idea.

OCÓO The Beauty Drink is based on scientific proof that beauty care is more effective from inside the body, rather than from outside. Bringing together natural and beauty boosting ingredients, OCÓO contains 100% of your recommended daily allowance of vitamins and vital substances to boost the appearance and health of skin, hair and nails.

The goodness inside

A renowned team of leading dieticians and dermatologists played a key role in OCÓO’s three-year development. OCÓO’s active ingredient complex contains anti-oxidative power from vitamin-rich Power Berries (pomegranate, açaí, aronia, blackcurrants, red grapes and cranberries), extracts of green and white tea, ten essential vitamins and traces of zinc, selenium, copper, iodine, essential B-vitamins (B1, B2, B3, B6, B12) and vitamins C & E.

· Pomegranate: Powerful antioxidant and supports the immune system

· Acai Berry: Contains omega fatty acids and anthocyanin to help boost healthy collagen

· Aronia Berry: Contains the highest oxygen-radical absorbance capacity value of all the ‘super food’ berries

· Red Grapes: Harness anti-oxidative potential that is 20 to 50 times higher than Vitamin C or E

Why it works

With its active ingredient complex, OCÓO works from the inside out. Synergetic effects make the ingredients work even better together than if they were to stand alone. Because the ingredients come as a delicious fruit juice – as opposed to tablets – they reach the body in the form of a solution, which enables greater absorption. Unlike traditional beauty products, such as creams and lotions that do not penetrate deep into the skin, OCÓO supplies even the deepest layers of the skin with important nutrients, precisely where these vital nutrients are needed!

Key beauty benefits*

· Anti-Aging: Zinc and Selenium contribute to the protection of cells from oxidative, environmental damage.

· Skin Care: Niacin, Biotin and Iodine contribute to the maintenance of normal skin.

· Collagen Formation: Vitamin C contributes to increased collagen production in the skin improving function and increasing skin’s elasticity and firmness.

· Hair: Copper contributes to normal hair pigmentation; while Biotin contributes to the maintenance of normal hair.

* Permitted Health Claims, see EU Commission Regulation (EU) No 432/2012 of 16 May 2012, published in UR-Lex Journal, Volume 55 (2012). www.ec.europa.eu

OCÓO is available from Harvey Nichols and Amazon

Why I Wrote Emotional Support Through Breast Cancer By Cordelia Galgut

Posted on December 20, 2013 by Frostie

My new book Emotional Support Through Breast Cancer, the alternative handbook, is a culmination of a process that started almost 10 years ago, when I was twice diagnosed with breast cancer. Before being diagnosed, as a psychologist, I sometimes supported women with breast cancer and considered I had a pretty good take on what they were going through and my clients were too polite to disabuse me of this. Little did I know!! Life on the other side of the fence turned out to be completely different and much harder than I could ever have imagined, both emotionally and physically. Indeed, I was so struck by the differences and fed up with the general lack of awareness I experienced amongst most of the people treating me and around me that I decided to set about writing about these issues from my new dual perspective, in order to raise awareness.

I started with a series of articles that were published in both the popular press and professional journals, which provoked many responses from women saying things like, ‘Thank goodness I’m normal, I thought it was just me who was still lying awake at night worrying about recurrence several years after diagnosis, until you said you did.’ Or the women who told me how sick they were of trite judgements from others such as: ‘It’s time you got on with your life!’; ‘You should be over breast cancer by now.’ or ‘You’re over-anxious.’ Strong themes that also emerged from their feedback were their fear of speaking out about how they felt about breast cancer, for fear of being judged and/or their treatment being adversely affected, and the ignorance of the health professionals treating them. However, they wanted me to speak out for them.When I did so, I was often met with skeptical responses from health professionals, saying things like,‘Oh it’s just the minority who feel bad ongoingly ,’ or ‘you’re overstating how traumatic the experience is.’

This chasm of a mismatch between the views of the health professionals and the women themselves, plus my new found awareness, spurred me on to write my first book, The Psychological impact of Breast Cancer: a psychologist’s insights as a patient, written for health professionals, the aim of which was to highlight both good and bad practice and what seems to help and what doesn’t.

This book was read by women with breast cancer, too, although it wasn’t really meant for breast cancer sufferers. The fact they were reading it, and the feedback they were giving me, highlighted more than ever the need for a support manual that didn’t downplay breast cancer’s emotional effects and that validated women’s deep and enduring emotions about the gamut of effects the disease has. There was also a need to directly challenge the whole notion, so prevalent in society at large, that you’re abnormal if you can’t ‘move on’ or ‘get over’ an extreme life trauma such as breast cancer. In fact, I challenge the whole assumption that you can get over breast cancer, especially given that scars remain, both emotional and physical, and fear of recurrence is ever-present. How can we ‘get over it’?

Our review of the book is here.

Get The Perfect Brows

Posted on December 18, 2013 by Frostie

The ‘Scouse Brow’, Cara Delevingne’s Power Brow, and Keira Knightley’s are amongst the most enviable brows around. When correctly matched with the shape of your face, your eyebrows can be the ultimate beauty statement.

Leading permanent makeup artists Karen Betts, has worked on the brows of the stars, and gives her guide to shaping your face effortlessly with the correct brows.

Due to an emphasis on the upper portion of the face, and the small jaw line, it is important to have well-groomed brows. A curved brow will balance with your chin and achieve a youthful look

SQUARE

Softly rounded brows are the ideal solution to an angular face. Be sure to create a sharp peak at the top of the brow for them to appear stronger.

ROUND

A high arch, and angular style will help make the face appear longer and slimmer. Avoid rounded brows as these will only add volume to the face.

DIAMOND

Soft, curved eyebrows will reduce the widest part of the face and soften the angular look. Be careful not to arch them too severely as this will accentuate your narrow jaw.

Treatments with Karen Betts start from £395, call 0844 8016838 or visit http://www.karenbetts.co.uk/

Color Wow Review: Root Cover Up, Brass Banned Mousse & Raise The Root Thicken + Lift Spray

Posted on December 17, 2013 by Catherine Balavage

First of all I want to point out that I don’t dye my hair. Luckily I have testers who do and you can still use Color Wow’s products on hair that is not dyed.

We have a review special of Color Wow. A hair brand that kept catching our eye. Their packaging is simplistic but sophisticated and they are the people who make the ingenious Root Cover Up which is basically eye-shadow for your hair which covers up your roots. Color Wow is the latest innovation from Gail Federici, co-founder of John Frieda’s hair care company.

We tried their Root Cover Up For Blonde & Brunette Hair and both testers absolutely loved it, it really works; saving money and time.

The Brass Banned Correct & Perfect Mousse For Blonde Hair & For Dark Hair stops your hair looking brassy, you cannot feel it in your hair after you use it and it really holds your style. It will fast become a favourite, it makes your colour ‘wow’.

Their Raise The Root Thicken + Lift Spray is another favourite as it has UV protection in it. Perfect for people who dye their hair as it stops the sun fading the colour but also great for people who don’t too as the hair and scalp is an often overlooked area when it comes to sun protection. The spray holds the style while being flexible, creating a lift all day. Another great product.

We highly recommend Color Wow. Available at feelunique.com and QVC

[Note, being British we spell ‘colour’ as ‘colour’, the American spelling is ‘color’. The brand is American and we have kept their spelling]

Douvall’s Argan Oil Gift Set | Christmas Gift Ideas

Posted on December 10, 2013 by Catherine Balavage

Gifts from Harrods are the ultimate decadence, and this gorgeous and stylish Douvall’s Argan Oil Gift Set from Urban Retreat at Harrods is affordable luxury for someone you really love. And I mean really love. Don’t be scared of keeping for yourself, it is that type of present.

Upon trying the Douvall’s Limited Edition Christmas Gift-Set I was impressed at how my skin looked after. I am a fan of face oil anyway, massaging it in and using the muslim cloth to take if off after really leaves the skin exfoliated and clean. Something about the massage and the face oil really has an effect on wrinkles and skin tone. The organic argan oil moisturiser is not only light enough to use on the face but can also be used on the body, on split ends, cuticles and in the bath. I love both of them, they are products that really work.

The limited edition set includes 50ml of Douvall’s best-selling Organic Argan Oil Moisturiser, which protects the face, body, hair and cuticles whilst minimising the appearance of fine lines, and 150ml of Douvall’s All-in-One Argan Oil Cleanser, enriched with natural almond, safflower seed and grape seed oil which leaves the skin smooth, dry and moisture balanced.

Douvall’s Christmas Gift-Set – £48. Available from Urban Retreat at Harrods www.urbanretreat.co.uk/beautique and www.douvalls.com

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