Abstainer or Moderator? The One Square of Chocolate a Day Test

What I should have had instead of wine and chocolate!

So I went down the pub.  Had a glass of red wine.  So far, so not so bad.  Cos, see, the Viva Mayr regime doesn't exclude the odd glass of wine.  However, of course, I didn't stop at the one.  I had another.  And then I went home and, before I knew it, I was sitting watching Poldark with my paw in the bag of mini eggs I'd bought for James.  Okay, let's step back there - I had metered out a small bowl of them, saving the majority for James but, well, you know how it goes...
Or do you?
According to a book I read lately for research, we all tend to fall into one of two camps - we're moderators or abstainers.
Gretchen Rubin, author of Better Than Before: Mastering the Habits of Our Everyday Lives says, 'We're often told, ‘Be moderate. Don’t indulge every day, but don’t deny yourself altogether because, if you do, you’ll fall even further off the wagon.’

You know the deal - it's behind the whole 80:20 eating idea - if you eat healthily 80 percent of the time, it's fine to indulge for the other 20 percent.  Except...it just doesn't work for everyone.  It certainly doesn't work for me.  I'm an all or nothing person.  I've tried moderation - again and again - and I come up short every time.

I actually find it much easier to give up something altogether than to just dabble in it.  I'd rather fast than diet; I'd rather wreck myself with four hours exercise a day than do a sensible hour three times a week. Maybe that's part and parcel of having an addictive personality?
Anyhow, with Gretchen, I found a kindred spirit.  'I realized that one way to deprive myself without creating a feeling of deprivation is to deprive myself totally,' she says.   'Weirdly, when I deprive myself altogether, I feel as though I haven’t deprived myself at all.'  And I nodded in total agreement.

Remember back when I stopped drinking alcohol altogether?  I didn't miss it at all.  Easy-peasy, lemon squeezy.  Now I drink it occasionally, I find that I really can't just drink the one glass, I'll scarf the bottle (and then look winningly at a second).  So that makes me one of life's Abstainers apparently.   'When we Abstainers deprive ourselves totally, we conserve energy and will-power,' says Gretchen. 'Because there are no decisions to make and no self-control to muster.'

According to her research, we fall into either the Abstainer camp - those who do better when they follow all-or-nothing habits - or the Moderator camp - those who do better when they indulge - yup, moderately.

How to tell?  Could you put a large bar of chocolate in your fridge and eat one square every day?  Or have one glass of wine and pop the cork back in the bottle without the barest urge to neck the lot? (feel free to substitute your favourite temptation here).  This is the point at which the Moderators shrug and go, 'Duh!  Of course I could. Who couldn't?'  This is also the point at which the Abstainers snort with laughter and go, 'Duh! Don't be an effing numpty!'

Gretchen reckons that the less we indulge in something, the less we want it.  'When we believe that a craving will remain unsatisfied, it may diminish; cravings are more provoked by possibility than by denial,' she says, and then quotes William James:  ‘It is surprising how soon a desire will die of inanition if it be never fed.’

inanition

[in′ənish′ən]

Etymology: L, inanis, empty

1 an exhausted condition resulting from lack of food and water or a defect in assimilation; starvation.

2 a state of lethargy characterized by a loss of vitality or vigor in all aspects of social, moral, and intellectual life.

And then she quotes Samael Johnson:  ‘I can’t drink a little, child; therefore I never touch it. Abstinence is as easy to me, as temperance would be difficult’.

Have I wrecked my Viva Mayr Cure?  Probably not, but I know myself well enough to realise that I've probably sewn the seeds for last week's good foundations slipping away.  For what?  For a glass of wine and a bag of sugar?  Pretty dumb, huh?

Anyway, the book is great - a real eye-opener.  If you are interested in what makes you tick, and why you find it nigh-on impossible to make healthy habits, or to ditch the unhealthy ones, I'd highly recommend it.  Click on the cover below to check it out.

How to eat - the Viva Mayr way - for weightloss, energy and good health

I did feel pretty grim during most of my week at Viva Mayr.  But then, it was only a week, and one is supposed to take the 'cure' for two or, preferably, three weeks.  Over the last couple of days, however, since I've been home, I have been feeling much better.  I'm continuing with the dietary programme and finding it an interesting process.

It's totally different from most detox programmes on offer.  Forget juicing and raw vegan regimes, the Mayr doctors believe firmly that cold raw food is tough on the digestion.  Their principles revolve mainly around getting the right acid/alkaline balance in the body and not stressing the gut with problematic foods and food combinations.  At a Mayr clinic you will usually be tested for food intolerances, either via conventional lab tests or by the less conventional kinesiology (muscle testing).

They don't advocate lifetime exclusion diets.  Often a short break from difficult foods allows the gut time to sort itself out (to use a highly technical term) and you can reintroduce the food later with no problems.

Anyhow.  There are a few general rules and regulations which seem to hold good for pretty well everyone so I thought I'd share them.  The proof of the pudding is in the eating, so to speak, so if they do speak to you, then try 'em out.  Nothing to lose and potentially a lot to gain.

1. Keep cold liquids separate from mealtimes.  There are no carafes of water on the table at Viva Mayr as water is thought to dilute the digestive juices.  You're asked not to drink for half an hour before mealtimes, and for 60-90 minutes afterwards.  Curiously, the odd glass of wine with a meal is fine - but not the whole bottle!  Ideally 'eat' your wine with a teaspoon.

2. Always eat at a table, without any distractions.  So, no reading, no television watching, no working at your desk, no browsing Twitter, no conversation even.  Focus on your food and be mindful.

3. Smell your food before you eat.  Your brain will recognise what you're about to eat and will signal to your digestive system to fire up the right enzymes and acids required to deal with the incoming load.

4. Chew. And chew and chew and chew.  The more you chew your food, the more you make it easily digestible.  Digestion begins in the mouth, remember, with saliva.  The mouth can also be the last chance for some foods (vegetables in particular) to have their outer skin broken, allowing essential nutrients to be absorbed by the digestive tract.  If you don't chew, you risk losing out on vital nutrients and micronutrients.  You can also end up feeding the bacteria in your colon, producing gas. If you eat meat, then chewing is particularly important - if you're eating steak you should aim for 50 chews per mouthful.  Yup, you read that right.

5. Raw food is fine - providing you chew properly.  However Viva Mayr has the rule 'nothing raw after four (pm)' - as your digestive powers start lessening after that time and could cause food to sit around undigested overnight, powering up the gassy bacterial brigade.

6. Smoothies are fine - in small doses.  They are full of good things but tend not to have enough enzymes for easy digestion.  Have one small cup at lunch, if you like, but 'eat' it with a spoon very slowly (as for wine).  Eat fruit in the same way - slowly and well chewed.

7. Don't snack in between meals.  Instead use mid-morning and mid-afternoon as times to take water and plenty of it.

8. Make breakfast the largest meal of the day, lunch reasonable and supper very small and light.  Eat your supper as early as possible - at Viva Mayr dinner kicked off at 5pm.  A small bowl of soup is ideal.  Or a dish of potatoes drizzled with linseed or hempseed oil (Viva Mayr loves potatoes for their alkalising effect).

9. As far as possible, practice food combining.  So eat carbohydrate with vegetables, or protein with vegetables, but try to avoid mixing protein and carbohydrate at the same meal.  Though, to be fair, they seemed to mix them up a fair bit at Viva Mayr.

10. One small cup of decent coffee a day is fine - ideally at breakfast.  Then switch to herbal teas.

I was on a very strict diet at the clinic and, as you'll have seen, my meals were very bland and pretty uninspiring.  But it doesn't need to be that draconian. As we left, we were given copies of the newly published Eat Alkaline: The Viva- Mayr- Principleby Harald Stossier and Emanuela Fischer

Although it does go in to some of the philosophy behind the Viva diet, it's primarily a cookbook and a rather inspiring one too, packed with nice looking recipes, divided into the four seasons.  So, we're talking about things like Early Potato Strudel with Fresh Spinach.

Millet Wraps with Artichoke Dip...

Moist Poppyseed Cake with Warm Raspberry Sauce

In case you're wondering, yes, there are fish and meat recipes too, though Viva Mayr suggest you eat them just two or three times a week.
The meat-adoring, 'health food' abhorrent husband sniffed when he saw the book but when he started flicking through he had to admit that a lot of it looked 'rather good.'

Click the pic for a link

Kichadi and ghee recipes for autumn ayurveda detoxing

Okay, so here are the recipes for the autumn ayurvedic detox.

Ghee

Ghee is basically clarified butter and very simple to make (or you can be really lazy and buy it ready made). You will need unsalted organic butter.

1. Put the butter in a small pan and cook over a gentle heat.
2. Let it reach boiling point when it will become transparent and a white foam will appear on top. 
3. Allow to boil quietly for about 15 minutes–you will know when it’s ready because it will turn a lovely soft golden colour and white curds will separate out from the clear oil. The boiling will quieten down and become almost still. It’s ready. Be careful not to let it burn or turn brown.
4. Filter it through a muslin (drugstores usually sell them in the baby department) or let it cool until the solid curds settle at the bottom.
5. Store the clear ghee (discard the curds) in a clean (boil it first) glass jar that can be closed firmly. It will now keep pretty much indefinitely–in or out of the fridge. It may melt but that won’t affect it in any way.

It occurs to me that vegans won’t want to use ghee.  Coconut oil would be a suitable substitute – although not ideal as it’s cooling in its effects, and would aggravate vata (air) types.

Kichadi

Kichadi (also known as kitcheri and a host of other spellings) is a simple rice and mung dhal stew with spices and vegetables added. It’s really simple to make and is a bit of a moveable feast.  It is quite bland, so you may want to jazz it up with more veg.  I’ve listed a few additions that have specific healing properties.    

Use around 30g of basmati rice and 15g of mung beans per person.

* Mix the rice and beans together and wash in cold water.

* Melt a tablespoon of ghee (see above) in a pan and add half a teaspoon each of fennel, cumin and coriander seeds. Cook for a minute or two.

* Add half a teaspoon each of powdered ginger and turmeric plus the drained beans and rice. Allow them to become well coated with the ghee and then add enough water to cover the ingredients with a few inches to spare.

* Bring to the boil then cover and simmer gently, stirring occasionally, making sure the mixture does not dry out or stick. It should take about an hour to cook.

* If you wish, you can add seasonal vegetables (see below). Root vegetables will need cooking from the beginning (add at stage 3) while leafy vegetables can be added towards the end of your cooking time.

The following additions will help particular conditions:

• to tone the reproductive organs and promote fertility: add quarter of a teaspoon of fenugreek seeds; 4 neem leaves (fresh if possible); a pinch of hing; one onion; 2-3 cups of fresh asparagus.
• to strengthen the lungs: add two medium sweet potatoes, one onion, four cloves of garlic plus small amounts of hing, cardomom, dry ginger and peppercorns. 
• to strengthen digestion: add half a teaspoon of turmeric, one teaspoon of oregano, one teaspoon of grated ginger, three cups of fresh vegetables (carrots, squash, courgettes).

How to lose weight sensibly and keep it lost

I didn’t tell you about my recent retreat, did I?  It was fabulous, it really was – and I figure it might be interesting to those of you who are still looking for that magic weight-loss bullet.

I love The Body Retreat and this is the third of their breaks I’ve tried.  I met trainer Julie Brealy years back, when I did something nasty to my Achilles and my pal Trisha recommended her sports massage.  She was working for a local bootcamp in Devon at the time but now runs The Body Retreat alongside hypnotherapist and food guru, Juls Abernethy.  Most of their retreats are UK-based but twice a year they ship out to a gorgeous cortijo in Andalucia.

Yes, there’s a lot of exercise – and you know how I love to get my exercise fix.  But the interesting part for me was the food.  I’ve been doing a lot of juice fasting lately (reporting for Queen of Retreats) and, while you certainly do lose weight on these, it doesn’t stick.  It’s a great thing to do if you know you have been really poisoning your body and need a clear-out, but if you want to lose weight and keep it off, I’d go for something that combines sensible diet and exercise. 

The Body Retreat programme is precisely calibrated to optimise sustainable weight-loss and the aim is to instil sensible eating and exercise habits you can continue at home. It’s not endless salad either – we ate great paella, tortilla and even got to make our own (healthy) pizzas.  Can you make healthy and delicious pizza?  Yes you can!  

You get three meals a day at the BR plus three snacks, so you’re never hungry, but the portion sizes come as a shock.  I eat pretty healthy stuff at home but I swiftly realised that I’m simply eating way too much.  And yes, you can put on weight with too much healthy stuff.  J

Seriously.  If you want to shift pounds, you really do need to think about portioning down.  Don’t be tempted to skip meals – that will only play around with your blood sugar levels and hormone levels – in the long run, eating too little can actually cause you to pile on pounds as your body panics itself into holding onto fat.  So, three balanced meals plus three small snacks in between is the optimum – it keeps everything nicely ticking over and it means you don’t get hungry and then blow it all with a vast pig-out.

How small?  Take a look at the meals we ate and bear in mind these are small plates – a 9 inch side plate, rather than a dinner plate.  A couple of inches of smoothie, rather than a tall glass-full.  A small handful of nuts, not a bag of peanuts. 

The other thing Juls insists on is paying serious attention to how you eat.  Her golden rules:

• Always sit down to eat in a mindful manner (rather than grabbing something on the run or eating at your desk).
• Take a ‘posture reset’ – before you eat, sit up straight and take three long, deep breaths.
• Smell your food.  Lift the plate up and sniff it. 
• Really taste your food – sense each mouthful – notice how it feels in your mouth, its texture, its temperature, as well as its taste.
• Chew really well.  Digestion begins in the mouth.  And put your cutlery down while you eat. 
• Wait until every last morsel has been swallowed before picking up your knife and fork again.
• Keep checking in with yourself.  Are you full?  Are you satisfied?  When you feel satisfied, stop eating. 
• Regardless of whether you’re full or not by the end of your meal, always leave something on your plate.
• Oh, and don’t drink water with your food – it dilutes the digestive enzymes.   The odd glass of wine is okay, curiously enough, but just bear in mind it packs a heavy calorific punch.

Does it work?  Yes.  I shed nine pounds in a week.  And the lovely Wendy, who gamely volunteered to be pictured with me in the shots we took for the Daily Mail, has lost over six stone with these guys.  She keeps coming back (this was her eighth retreat), not because she needs to lose more but because it’s become her favourite type of holiday.  ‘It’s addictive,’ she says.  ‘No normal holiday makes me feel so good.  It’s not just about losing weight and feeling fit either; it’s about self-belief. Everyone’s so supportive and I’ve made really great friends.’ 

She’s right.  Yes, it’s hard work but there’s also plenty of down time by the pool and everyone was just so damn nice.  Seriously, just lovely, lovely people. 

See www.thebodyretreat.co.uk for a full list of breaks and holidays.

Big thanks to easyjet who flew me to Malaga. www.easyjet.com

You can see my report for the Mail here:  

And check out the full photo album on my Facebook page.  

One man, three witches and a hell of a lot of sex, magic and…steak.

Remember my anti-guru?  The guy whose book Symphonic Bridges kickstarted my ‘rejuvenation’ –y’know, the whole weight loss/exercise/meditation/spirituality malarkey?  Well, he’s written another one.  The Cave.  To be fair, he wrote it a while back but, up until now, it was only available in Polish. And now – it’s been translated into English. 

Here’s what I had to say about it…but don't take my word for it - check it out yourself.  

The Cave by Marek Stefanowicz

I’ve been waiting impatiently for The Cave to be translated into English for some considerable time. It’s a novel that’s also a guidebook on how to live consciously. But it’s not remotely dour and worthy – it’s packed with sex and has lashings of humour. So, really, what’s not to like?

Maste has vanished. His wife Margarita (yes, Bulgakov’s The Master and Margarita inevitably comes to mind) begs her friend Natasha to help. Natasha is a psychologist and a fortune-teller but, most importantly of all, she’s a witch. Her sisters, Olga and Irene, also highly intelligent (and beautiful) witches, agree to join Natasha on a wildcap quest across the world (each part of the book is set on a different continent) to find out what happened to the missing ‘madman’. 

It’s an unusual book, quite different from Marek’s previous titles, the semi-autobiographical Symphonic Bridges and the elliptical Pro-vocation (written in ‘real time’ on the website Authonomy). 

The Cave is a Rabelaisian, almost Milesian, romp, using humour to offset the deep spiritual and philosophical deliberations of the novel. Its language veers from the pedantically anal to the rhetorically extravagant (or, as it has been described, ‘grotesquely flamboyant’), playful, humorous and sometimes joyfully crude - as wild as a broomstick ride across the skyline of Manhattan (in lieu of Moscow) by night. It enjoys the same love of language as Symphonic Bridges but is, I suspect, more accessible by dint of its strong characterisation and surprising shifts in location and pace.

What’s it about? Really? Well, everyone sees something different in a book, of course, but to my mind it’s about life, about conscious living, about the stormy search for Self. Each sister undergoes a profound personal journey in the course of the book, changing into…something else? Olga takes the slow ‘baby steps’ route to enlightenment, becoming the Mistress of Breath while Natasha metamorphoses into the miraculous Mistress of Light. But perhaps the most appealing character is the bawdy, hard-living, tough-talking, no-nonsense Irene who scoffs at her sisters’ increasing spirituality and sticks firmly to her regime of whiskey-swigging, fag-smoking, steak-eating and casual sex (with the strict proviso that one night is always enough). She’s an every(wo)man, a modern-day pilgrim navigating the world in black leather and high heels. A head-turning heartbreaker, she is undoubtedly a Mistress of Sex who may eventually become the Mistress of Love. 

Ah, love. Love. It’s the bottom line, of course. And I love (Love) that The Cave makes us ask questions. Who are we? What are our limits? Do we actually have limits? What is consciousness? How far can science or gurus provide us with answers? What is the purpose of life? What is the one question? Is Love the answer? The reason?

Then, just when your head starts spinning (or turning into a pumpkin) there’s another shift and you’re eavesdropping on Friends in New York or sharing a group hug with the cast of Lost, diving into bed with an animagus or getting high with a snorkel in the bath. 

Which (witch?) is just as it should be. For I don’t believe spirituality needs to be po-faced and dour, worthy and hairshirtish. Far from it. The Cave is a total delight, a metaphysical masterpiece. There’s even a cat – called Behemoth of course.

Marek is an extraordinary writer and, as the world latches onto the need for a spirituality grounded in everyday unreality, I strongly suspect his books will become cult classics. 

The Cave is available in paperback or as an ebook for Kindle. Click the links.  

Special K turn me into a billboard

New Year means diets, right?  Well, not for me (I don’t really believe in diets and I really don’t think that this is the best time of year to be launching into starvation mode anyhow) but I know a lot of you are doing the diet thing.  So, get this, apparently if you want to lose weight, you need to cut out the negative ‘fat talk.’

My old friends at Special K have found that women (in particular) are starting off with a mindset destined for failure, slating themselves as ‘fat’, ‘chubby’ or ‘heavy’.  Only a third of women actually start diets  believing they will lose weight and three-quarters of women have daily negative thoughts about their bodies.  Poor bodies. 

Life coach Janet Thomson, who specialises in weight loss, says: ‘What women don’t realise is that this sort of negativity can become a self fulfilling prophecy.’ Spot on, Janet!  Thought is creative.  Keep focusing on being fat and, lo and behold, your mind will instruct your body to do its level best to keep you fat.  Seriously, it’s mind-body interface 101.

So Special K are trying to encourage women to focus on positive feelings when losing weight – pinning down what they will gain, rather than what they will lose.  Sophie Colling from Special K says: ‘The message is clear, the key to weight loss success is having a positive attitude and cutting out the fat talk.’

And, to push home the message, they are inviting people to go and get a makeover at Westfield in London’s Shepherd’s Bush, to think about what you would like to gain if you had the body you’ve always wanted.

So there we were - ten of us bloggers sitting around on the plush red sofas and looking at the words surrounding us.  Freedom. Dazzle. Sparkle. Shine. Energy. Confidence. Oomph.

‘What do you want to gain?’ asked a woman with a clipboard. 

‘Umm.  Money?’ I said hopefully.  ‘A lot of money?’

She frowned slightly.  ‘I’m sorry, I don’t have that on my list.’

‘How about wild success?  A publishing deal?  A Porsche 911? A cabin in the woods?’  She frowned.  ‘Ah, sorry,’ I said. ‘Am I aiming too high? How about a pair of Fly London knee-high boots? A big bag of Jo Malone?  A hair cut? A fringe?’

‘Sorry.’ She shook her head and I perused the list of acceptable words and the acceptable phraseology and got into a long debate about how most of them didn’t fit – grammatically speaking – into the format. 

‘I mean…’ I said.  ‘You can’t say ‘I want to gain sparkle’, can you?  And even if you could, you can’t go anywhere with it. I mean…I want to gain sparkle to what?’

‘You’re a writer, right?’ she said with a sigh.  I shrugged.  ‘Sorry.’

We finally decided that I wanted to gain the freedom to sparkle and shine. I felt a bit like an ad for glittery sanitary towels but never mind.  It was done.  She heaved a sigh of relief and handed me over to Nicoll who was going to fix my hair and makeup. 

‘What do you want me to do?’

‘Whatever you like,’ I said.  ‘You’re the expert.’ Cos, really, what’s the point of telling someone who Knows What They’re Doing what to do? I don’t get that.

‘Right ho,’ said Nicoll. 

A whole flurry of hair spray and backcombing and straightening ensued (yes, more straightening) and when I looked in the mirror I seriously didn’t recognize myself. 

Then came the bit I’d conveniently forgotten about. 

‘Hi, I’m Joel Anderson.  I’ve photographed…’ and he rolled off a list of famous and beautiful people.

‘And now us?’ I piped up from the sofa. ‘What a come down, huh?’

He smiled vaguely with a little frown of confusion.  Anyhow, it was painless and swift, a bit like tooth extraction under general anaesthetic and I thought that was it.  Finished.  We were sitting around chatting and debating what would be the best thing for Jayne to eat at the Thai restaurant given she’d never eaten Thai before, and then up came a shriek. ‘OMG! Look! There’s Alice! Up there!’

Holy shit.  Our pics had been turned into adverts and were being beamed onto those huge shifting billboards.  The girls looked amazing – one and all – absolutely stunning.  Dazzle and sparkle and shine and oomph indeed. 

But it was odd.  I could see it was me but it didn’t look or feel like me.  Not remotely.  Maybe I need to grow into the new sparkly shiny me, eh? 

NOTE:  Today, Monday January 7^th , has been designated as “Gains Day” and Special K are asking women to share their positive feelings on twitter at #IWantToGain and also at www.myspecialk.co.uk – the idea being it will help you focus on the positives and achieve your slimming goals. Go for it! 

Lovely Nicoll usually specialises in makeup and hair for weddings - do check out her website.  www.bynicoll.com 

I love yoga but...just...owwwwww.

Ow, ow, ow, ow, owwwwww.  I swear to God there is not one single muscle in my entire body which is not aching today.  Back, arms, legs, bum, shoulders, calves, neck…yup, they all hurt like hell.  Yesterday I went back to yoga after a long long break and hellfire I can feel it.

I do a lot of stretching and incorporate plenty of yoga postures (asanas) into my fitness regime but seriously, it’s nothing like doing a proper class.  Paul Cartwright is, quite simply, a great teacher and so when I was asked if I’d like to join a private 90 minute vinyasa class he runs here in Dulverton, I jumped at the chance.  But really…owww.  I’d figured I’d shake it all out at Zumba last night but when I pitched up at the hall, there was no thumping music; just a whole pile of vegetables.  Bloody flower and produce show.

Anyhow. By pure coincidence, I got an email yesterday from a friend who has decided she wants to take up yoga. What type should she do? What did she need to know?  So, let’s have a think. 

Yoga is one of the oldest organized systems of exercise known to humankind – at least 3,000 years old and possibly even older.  Yet it’s a system that seems tailor-made for modern times.  

On a purely physical level, yoga puts pressure on all the different organs and muscles of the body very systematically.  As well as toning the outer body (which it does exceedingly, nay, fabulously well) it tones the whole inner body too.   The precise postures of yoga work deep into the body, causing blood to circulate profoundly rather than just around the outside edge of the body, nourishing every organ and softening the muscle and ligament tissue.  The deep stretching is said to bring both bones and muscles gently back into their optimum alignment while lubricating the joints. 

Yoga can improve the oxygenation of your blood and boost your circulation.  It also helps your body to detoxify, as it encourages lymphatic flow (the “waste removal” system of the body).  Not only does your body detox when you perform yoga:  your mind does too.  The specific yogic breathing techniques (called pranayama) directly affect the nervous system, eliciting the “relaxation response” so you feel calm, cool and in control.  Allegedly.

If you practice yoga regularly you will almost automatically balance your weight and develop a leaner body.  Many yoga teachers also say that yoga can help improve will power:  people often find it easier to stop smoking or lose weight when they start yoga.  Concentration improves and most people report a deep sense of inner peace.

Yoga is totally safe - providing you find the right teacher and the right class.  However it is a powerful system and should be treated with respect.   One over-enthusiastic Iyengar teacher once pushed me way too far and I ended with a trapped nerve in my shoulder.  Another teacher was so bloody wafty and ‘new age’ she used to forget what she was doing in the middle of a series of asanas.  Go by word of mouth if you can and be prepared to try out a few classes and “shop around”.

If you have any health problems (particularly heart conditions, back problems, or if you have had any kind of surgery) you should find a very experienced yoga teacher or a yoga therapist.  Yoga is wonderful for pregnancy (I did classes with the lovely Sebastian Pole – founder of Pukka Herbs) but you will need to avoid certain postures.  Ideally, find a class specifically designed for pregnant women or have individual sessions with a yoga teacher or yoga therapist.

WHICH TYPE OF YOGA SHOULD YOU PICK?

Yes, I can...

To be honest, it doesn’t really matter.  I’d be more inclined to go by the teacher, rather than the type. Hatha yoga is the general name for the physical practice of yoga.  The majority of classes will simply call themselves by this name – or simply “yoga”.  However over the years many different approaches have sprung up.  Whichever type you pick, always start with a beginner’s class.  Yoga postures (known as asanas) are very precise and to begin with you will need a lot of individual attention. 

Here’s a brief guide to the most popular types of yoga and their approaches.

Hatha yoga:  expect relaxation, warm-up, postures, breathing and deep relaxation.  Many teachers will also include meditation.  Ideal for everyone and the most commonly available class.

Vini yoga:  puts emphasis on individual tuition and individual needs.  Safe, gentle and ideal for beginners.  Often taught on a one-to-one basis. A good introduction for anyone nervous about yoga.

No, I can't...

Iyengar yoga:  a very focused, precise form of yoga.  Teachers use “props” such as blocks and belts to help you into position.  Good if you want the benefits without too much “weird stuff”.  Not my game but is very popular.

Yoga therapy:  therapeutic form of yoga with a medical background.  Will usually offer classes for specific problems and conditions, ie back pain, arthritis, asthma, pregnancy.  Individual tuition usually available.  The best choice if you have a medical condition.

Sivananda yoga:  gentle yet pure form of yoga based around 12 key postures.  Has a strong spiritual element (often includes chanting and meditation). 

Dru yoga:  a very gentle, holistic approach which uses graceful flowing movement sequences.  Said to release negative thought patterns, energy blocks and deep-seated trauma.   

Ashtanga vinyasa yoga:  so-called “power yoga” which uses a specific breathing technique and sequences of postures carried out at far greater speed than other forms.  It’s an intense workout and not suitable for beginners. Paul does a variation of this called vinyasa flow (and also incorporates other types of yoga – many teachers blend their own fusions).

Bikram yoga:  intense and highly athletic, the yoga studio is heated to temperatures of 100 degrees to allow students to stretch that bit further.  Again, not ideal for beginners.

The British Wheel of Yoga:  www.bwy.org.uk

Needless to say, I rave about yoga in most of my health books.  Many are now available in e-format for Kindle (at a fraction of the hardback or paperback price). Check out my author page at Amazon here. 

Do you really have to exercise? Of course not.

I’m pretty sure that, if I didn’t exercise, I would go crazy. Cos when you’re working out hard, you simply don’t have the capacity to churn stuff over in your head.  Yes, I do a lot of exercise already but I’d love to do more. Why?  Because it not only cuts out the mental crap but it makes me feel good, really good. I love the way muscles appear out of fat; and I love the sheer endorphin high I get when I'm in the 'zone'.  I can be feeling as miserable as sin, as low as low can go and getting up and going out to exercise can feel like the last thing I want to do. But it's much easier just to slump on the sofa, right? Or stick your paw in the cookie jar to blunt your feelings. So really, I push myself out there because I know damn well that exercise will sort me out - for a little while at least. :-)

And there's a good reason why.  We weren't meant to be couch potatoes.  We weren’t designed to sit for ten hours a day behind a computer screen and then slump for the evening in front of a television.   Our bodies were designed to move, to work, to be fit and active.  In the past most of us would have relied on the earth for our livelihood and our daily bread - days would have been spent in the open, working physically very hard.   Nowadays our daily bread tends to come from the supermarket (and is full of crap but let's not go there for the moment) and so we need to find other, more artificial ways, to keep active and fit. 

kettlebells really tone muscle

Do you really have to exercise? Of course not.  You don't have to do anything. But if you want to live longer and in better health, it's not a bad idea to give it a whirl. Exercising regularly allegedly reduces your risk of early death by a pretty impressive seventy per cent.   It keeps your lungs and heart working at optimum levels and prevents the dangers of heart disease.  Stress levels drop when you exercise and your mood naturally elevates.  Regular exercise can even help you sleep and perk up your sex life.  

On a more prosaic note it can control your blood pressure and boost your immune system.  Some physiologists even reckon it can increase your creativity.  On the other hand, if you don't exercise you will be putting yourself in danger of heart and artery disease; your muscles and bones could develop problems; you could find yourself prone to gastrointestinal problems and you will be more likely to suffer nervous or emotional upsets and illnesses. 

But - and it's a big but - it has to be enjoyable.  Enjoyable exercise sound like an oxymoron?  Nah. It doesn't have to be. The good news is that you don't have to live down the gym or run for hours every day. But it’s worth doing some form of exercise regularly.

weights do NOT bulk you out. 

The main problem is that people take up forms of exercise they don't enjoy, they aren't naturally good at or that they feel they should do and so they get bored, disillusioned and give up.  The key to making exercise work for you is to find something you actually enjoy - not what you feel you should do but what you would really like to do.  

So you don't have to race out and buy on-line skates when you have absolutely no sense of balance and are terrified of speed.  And you don't have to do Zumba because all your friends do or play squash because your husband wants some practice.  People fork out a small fortune on gym memberships only to find they hate pumping iron and they loathe spinning.  Before you join a club test it out for a while - any club worth its salt will offer trial memberships for a month or so. 

Throughout my book The Natural Year I give ideas on how to incorporate exercise into your life and suggestions on different things to try.  But for now, just try something...anything.

 

Take a look at your local sports centre – where I used to live the local one offered  everything from trampolining to five-a-side football, from ballroom dancing to table tennis (and it was only a small rural centre).  Think about the sports you enjoyed in school - are there any you'd like to take up again?  Netball can be good fun, or volleyball or softball - if you like team games.  Or get back into badminton or squash or tennis.  Many adults take up gymnastics or ballet again and love it without the peer pressure of youth - or learn something new like (ye gods) golf.   The key issue is fun.  You don't have to be brilliant or the best - you just need to do it and enjoy it.  A friend of mine has taken up belly-dancing and adores it.  She reckons she's the worst belly-dancer ever but doesn't give a toss. And if one thing doesn't work out, try something else. Sometimes you have to ferret around a bit to find what works for you. You might have the right sport but the wrong class, the wrong teacher - it's a real case of horses for courses. Just don't give up, okay? 

Physically unable to exercise? Try qigong (chi kung) – you can even do it sitting in a chair – and it still gives great results.  Broke?  Walking, running, wild swimming don’t cost a penny. 

KEEPING MOTIVATION HIGH

In order to keep exercising you have to keep your motivation high.

* Be realistic about your size shape and body shape.  Hordes of exercisers lose heart because however hard they work they don't end up looking like supermodels.  Dump unrealistic role models ‑ these people spend hours, and a small fortune in personal trainer bills, to look that way.  Plus your body type might be against you (I discuss this more in the book and will try to put up a blog post on it soon). 

* Start slowly.  You shouldn't try to change your exercise habits overnight or you will become demotivated because you don't see changes happening immediately.  Make gradual changes to your lifestyle and they will become a permanent way of life without any special effort.

* Break through the one week barrier.  Yup, just one week. Sports psychologists promise that if you can get past the first week, you've passed the period in which half the drop-outs occur. Needless to say, this means exercising more than once a week. :-)  If you manage to work out regularly for six months, you're likely to have created a longlasting habit.

* Try to get a friend involved.  Exercising with someone else is the supreme motivator.  Sportsmen and women have coaches, most super‑fit actresses and models have their own personal trainers and if you've got the funds, a personal trainer will undoubtedly get you moving. However a good mate will often do as well. It is much easier to stick to a regular exercise schedule if you know that someone else is waiting for you in the park, the gym or the pool. 

    Adapted from my book The Natural Year – a seasonal guideto holistic health and beauty, in which I talk about my belief that we can all live more balanced lives if we work with the forces of nature, rather than pitting ourselves against them.  Now updated and available for Kindle at Amazon.com and Amazon.co.uk  

Lose weight and get healthy this August

Want to lose weight? Want to give your health a kickstart?  August is the perfect month to start a new healthy regime. 

In my book The Natural Year I give suggestions (nothing more) about how you might adjust your diet and lifestyle to live a little more in tune with the seasons.  Generally this is pure common sense – making use of seasonal foods; adapting the amount and type of food you eat according to the weather.

So, how about August?  Well, this is a time to eat light and cool. Soft fruits are plentiful now so make the most of them (but aim for organic if you can – pesticide use is heavy on soft fruits). Think about super salads and check the recipes from Exmoor House for summer barbecues and picnics.  Middle Eastern food is adapted for hot weather – I am still missing the heavenly vegetarian food of Israel from my trip last year.

If you want to lose weight, this is an ideal time of year to do it gently, naturally and easily.  Your body doesn’t need so many calories to keep warm and you naturally feel less hungry when it’s hot.  If you really want to kickstart weight loss, try juicing. 

I’ve talked about juicing before but, if you haven’t already discovered the wonder of fresh juicing, August is a good month to begin. Not only are they delicious but they are a great way to get lots of vitamins (particularly those essential anti-oxidants) without having to chomp your way through pounds of steamed veg.  They also have individual health-giving properties of their own.

Many naturopaths say that a day a week on a diet of vegetable juices will be beneficial to anyone.  They usually recommend you have between 500-700 ml up to a litre.  Take the juice in sips throughout the day, don't just gulp it down.  Make sure in addition you drink plenty of water - you could also supplement the juice with weak rose hip tea to help elimination through the kidneys.

So why is vegetable juice so wonderful?  In general vegetables are highly alkaline in their nature and have the ability to bind acids and eliminate them through the kidneys and urine.  So it's not surprising that alkaline vegetable juice can be so useful for people who suffer from rheumatism and arthritis.

As far as weight loss goes, a few days on a juice fast will shrink your stomach and make it much easier to carry on with a light diet.  Obviously, if you have any health issues then check with a health practitioner before any kind of fast.

Anyhow, a quick run-down of some super-juices to try…

THE SUPER-JUICES

CARROT:   The essential oils in carrots have an effect on the mucous membranes of the body and stimulate the circulation of blood in the stomach and intestinal tissues.  Because of this balancing action carrot juice is also good for constipation and diarrhoea and all sorts of digestive problems. 

Often when the digestion is sorted out, other problems disappear - many people find their headaches, eczema and bad skin all vanish when the digestion is functioning properly. If you suffer from frequent coughs and colds remember carrot juice - it is refreshing and soothing and helps battle against infectious diseases. 

Packed full of anti-oxidant vitamins it is a feisty fighter against the free radicals that cause disease and ageing.  And its rich supplies of carotene (provitamin A) improves the eyesight and stimulates the production of rhodopsin (visual purple) the lack of which causes night-blindness. 

As if all that were not enough, carrot juice is said to help balance your weight and to give a beautiful complexion - certainly worth trying. 

BEETROOT:  This dark purple juice is my absolute favourite (and now you can get beetroot in all shades - including white). Beetroot contains betaine which stimulates the function of the liver cells, protecting the liver and bile ducts.  100mg of beetroot juice contains 5mg of iron in addition to trace elements which encourage the absorption of iron in the blood.  Everyone can benefit from beetroot juice but it is particularly recommended in the first two years of life, during puberty, during pregnancy, when breast-feeding and during menopause.    Children from six months to two years need only a teaspoon of juice before meals.

CELERY:  Celery is alkaline and encourages elimination and so it is recommended for any diseases or problems connected with an accumulation of wastes and toxins - ie rheumatic and arthritic ailments.  It also regulates the water balance in our bodies and is superb for elderly people.  Personally I don't like it solo -  so mix it in with other juices (but it's a question of taste).  

TOMATO:  Tomato juice is highly acidic so not recommended for arthritic or rheumatic conditions.  In addition, quite a large number of people find they are intolerant of tomato.  However it has interesting properties.  The old herbals say it can help with overtiredness and combat unpleasant body odour.  They also suggest it is a protection against premature ageing.  It is a lovely refreshing juice which cleanses the body. Bloody Mary?  Hmm, not quite the mix I had in mind. :-)

Of course, you can experiment with a wide variety of juices.  Naturopaths will often recommend particular combinations and Polarity Therapy, a therapy that combines elements of naturopathy, ayurveda and other Eastern influences strongly advocates the use of fresh natural fruit and vegetable juices to aid healing and general health.  The following are recommended by the founder of Polarity Therapy, Randolph Stone:

FOR CONSTIPATION:  cabbage, spinach, celery and lemon juice.

FOR SKIN CONDITIONS:  carrot, beetroot and celery juice.

FOR ARTHRITIS:  carrot, celery and cabbage juice.

FOR HIGH BLOOD PRESSURE:  celery, beetroot and carrot juice.

FOR LOW BLOOD PRESSURE:  carrot, beetroot and dandelion juice.

FOR ASTHMA AND CATARRHAL CONDITIONS:  carrot and radish juice.

TO OPEN UP SINUSES AND AIR PASSAGES - horseradish and lemon juice (4oz of horseradish and 2oz of lemon juice, combined with one teaspoon of garlic juice and a tablespoon of honey - take a teaspoon four times daily.)

TO HELP YOU SLEEP:  celery juice.

TO SOOTHE THE NERVES: lemon and lime juice.

FOR SORE THROATS AND COLDS:  lemon, lime and pineapple juice.

Adapted from my book The Natural Year – a seasonal guideto holistic health and beauty, in which I talk about my belief that we can all live more balanced, healthier lives if we work with the forces of nature, rather than pitting ourselves against them.  Now updated and available for Kindle at Amazon.com and Amazon.co.uk