No one knows my secret. Twice a week after dropping my four-year-old off at kindy, my baby daughter and I go straight to the mall. I’ll always dress up nicely in my most expensive gear, and head straight for the rich suburbs.
I mainly target expensive items such as the latest perfumes that are often on display and easily reached. I steal to re-sell to make a profit and also just things for the family and myself. I’ll take as much as possible and slip them on top of the pram and underneath, and fill up the green bags, carry on browsing and finally walk out.
It started from when I was pregnant with my son. My partner and I were living in a pub and we could never afford the latest gear. I would only take clothes and lingerie to begin with but then when our son was born I found using the pram was less conspicuous. I would take the most expensive sheets, pillows and goose down duvets along with clothes for us all. I would come home and be so overwhelmed at how much everything added up to and would wonder why I never got caught.
When it came to buying groceries I would leave a box of nappies (sometimes two) along with bulk laundry power and bulk chlorine, go straight though the self serve checkout, scan one item and walk out with the rest. For all the items that had the security stickers on them I would just peel them off in the change rooms. I carried around a pair of nail scissors to make the process easier and to cut through clothes that carried the security beeper tag that they remove when you make your purchase.
One time I even managed to walk out with a top-of-the-range jogger pram. I would even return things I had not even bought to get an in-store credit.
When friends and family would visit they would always comment on our expensive things and were envious how I always managed to ‘steal’ such a bargain. They would often ask to go out shopping with me to let them in on all these great sales that I knew about, but I would never let on about my secret.
I feel guilty to this day and have been pulled aside a few times for shoplifting but have only been banned from one shop and all the other times I would make up an excuse about how I forgot and would just go and pay for the item.
When we moved overseas I thought I’d be able to live the same lifestyle and never get caught. Well I was very wrong. The first time I got arrested was for stealing over $200 worth of goods and I was let off with no criminal record. The second time I was caught shoplifting the store contacted the police as I drove off. They caught up with me, arrested me and I am due to appear in court next month.
If I could take it all back I would, and I’m happy to deal with my punishment whatever that will be.
These days I stay away from the mall altogether and only shop locally where people know me. I have to admit I am still often tempted to do it but I have a family to think of now and could never forgive myself if I ended up in jail.
Picture: Getty Images.
Your say: Have your say about this true confession below…
There’s always debate over whether there is a magic age that runners should hang up their shoes in favour of less stressful exercise pursuits like walking or swimming.
But visit the many seniors running groups or take a look around your local running track and you’ll see a fair share of incredibly active, incredibly fit older runners. Recent research from Stanford University published in a recent issue of Archives of Internal Medicine has found that it really may pay to simply…keep on running.
Stanford University research
At the beginning of the study, runners were younger, leaner and less likely to smoke than controls. After 19 years, 81 runners (15 percent) had died compared with 144 controls (34 percent).
Disability levels were lower in runners at all time points and increased in both groups over time, but less so in runners. At the end of the 21-year follow-up, in terms of disability, “the higher levels among controls translate into important differences in overall daily functional limitations,” the authors write. “Disability and survival curves continued to diverge between groups after the 21-year follow-up as participants approached their ninth decade of life.”
“Our findings of decreased disability in addition to prolonged survival among middle-aged and older adults participating in routine physical activities further support recommendations to encourage moderate to vigorous physical activity at all ages,” they conclude. “Increasing healthy lifestyle behaviors may not only improve length and quality of life but also hopefully lead to reduced health care expenditures associated with disability and chronic diseases.”
The authors note that regular exercise could reduce disability and death risk by increasing cardiovascular fitness, improving aerobic capacity, increased bone mass, lower levels of inflammatory markers, improved response to vaccinations and improved thinking, learning and memory functions.
YOUR SAY: Will this new research get you back out on the road and running? Tell us below…
Up until recently, so-called “natural” skincare products didn’t have a great reputation for their effectiveness in dealing with mature skin concerns.
Now however a new range of products called Priori Coffeeberry is excellent for revitalizing ageing skin.
Based on the anti-oxidant-rich whole fruit of the coffee plant, Coffeeberry is said to be at least three times more powerful at fighting free radicals than green tea, making it a true supernatural cosmeutical able to deliver great anti-ageing benefits.
Must-have is Brightening Facial Complex, 30ml, $160.
Beguiling, mysterious and touchingly beautiful, Venice conquers all, as Larry Writer discovered on a leisurely tour around this legendary Italian jewel-box.
Venice is one of the highlight cities of The Australian Women’s Weekly and Trafalgar World Discovery Tour — a wonderful opportunity to celebrate the magazine’s 75th birthday and remember the thousands of readers who enjoyed the hundreds of Discovery Tours held since they were first launched more than 30 years ago.
Some cities are summer belles, never lovelier than when bathed in sunshine, their streets, famous sites, beaches and parks teeming with locals and visitors. Robust Sydney, Rome, Paris and New York spring to mind. Yet Venice is a winter town, melancholy, romantic and mysterious, especially when the chill descends and fogs roll in from the marshes across the lagoon.
When to visit
Fragile, doomed Venice’s pleasures are best experienced in the less-congested months from October to March, when there’s room and peace to stroll and savour the art and architecture. Far better than in the northern summer, when millions of holidaymakers, most, it seems, clutching a chunk of pizza in one hand and John Berendt’s The City Of Falling Angels in the other, invade, clogging the city’s delicate arteries like a terminal case of cholesterol.
Why visitors are good for Venice
Yet even as summer turns the grand old city into a theme park for half the year, mass tourism is helping to save Venice. By far its biggest source of revenue, tourism is a lifebuoy to a city literally sinking into the Adriatic. Much of the tourist dollar is channeled into schemes to restrain the inexorably rising waters. Yes, noisy hordes sporting Hawaiian shirts, baseball caps, tanktops and iPods seem shockingly incongruous in a city so steeped in the past and whose residents, among Italy’s oldest and courtliest, dress up even to go to the market. Yet the consensus is that the interlopers are a small price to pay for survival and they are welcomed.
What to expect
You could spend a lifetime in Venice and not scratch its crumbling surface, but on a brief visit it’s possible to come to understand why it’s renowned as the most beautiful city on earth. Venice is a jewel box of art and architecture both gorgeous and priceless, but the greatest treasure is the city itself, a 457sq km lagoon-bound labyrinth of 118 islands riven by 177 silvery canals and countless cortes (blind alleys) and fondamenti (streets running by canals), and linked by 400 stepped bridges. It’s a place of bustling squares and shopping precincts, and of peace (there are no cars) and memories in the making: a tubby cat luxuriating on an ancient windowsill, the strains of Mahler’s 5th (so chillingly used in Visconti’s Death In Venice) wafting from a palazzo courtyard, or the vista from the single-span wooden Accademia Bridge down the Grand Canal to the glistening dome of Longhena’s Baroque Santa Maria della Salute Church.
Get the best from a visit
Venice is a city to get lost in, its intimate delights to be savoured at leisure. Nowhere else can you walk so far in a day without feeling remotely exhausted. As you explore, it’s as if the sights of this exquisite city — there seems to be something wonderful around every bend — lift energy levels and spirits as high as the carved winged lions, symbols of old Venice, that preen atop the buildings.
Venice at heart is a time capsule which makes only the necessary concessions to modern life &$151; hotels, trattoria and souvenir shops. Try to ignore all that and you’ll see the city almost as Lord Byron, Leonardo da Vinci and Marco Polo saw it, as you walk the passageways or ply the canals.
How to get about
Get the lie of the lagoon aboard a vaporetto (water bus) or gondola (around $170 an hour, a cliché, but still worth doing) along the Grand Canal. Crammed with other ferries and gondolas, police boats, traghetti (no-frills gondolas rowed by two men that will take you across the canal for around $1.70), produce barges and private pleasure craft, Venice’s “highway” snakes four kilometres through the middle of the city.
Its banks are lined with fabled palaces, once glittering with gold and freshly painted scenes by masters, but now a little tarnished by time. Look for the monumental Fondaco dei Turchi, built in the 12th and 13th centuries, and the Ca’ d’Oro, circa 1440, which once gleamed with gold.
Rialto Bridge
The majestic Rialto Bridge, built in 1588-91, spans the Grand Canal at its narrowest point. It is best viewed at a distance and from the water, for today it is covered with shops, selling cheap trinkets and, most of all, masks. There are more masks for sale in Venice than there could ever be faces to wear them, even at Carnevale in February, when they are de rigeur. There’s more atmosphere at the Rialto Market, where trestles groan with vegetables, meat and seafood, scaled, gutted and cleaned before your eyes by the flying fingers of the fishmongers.
Piazza San Marco
From Dame Nellie Melba to Madonna, Garbo to Grace Kelly, John F. Kennedy to F. Scott Fitzgerald, it seems more famous people have posed with the pigeons in Piazza San Marco in front of the Moorish glory of the Basilica San Marco than any other landmark. To enjoy this imposing piazza sans pigeons (which outnumber Venetians), go before the sun is on the square and the birdseed sellers have set up shop. It’s like a scene from Hitchcock’s The Birds to look up to the rooftops and see thousands of perching pigeons waiting to swoop down to the paving stones when the square comes to life.
The Piazza San Marco is best enjoyed over a bellini (sparkling wine with peach puree) at an open-air cafe. Beware, though, if you’re there in December, when the Christmas tides bubble up through the square’s grates and in a short time immerse the square in water. That’s when shopkeepers break out the duckboards, which are fun to cross — like planks in a pirate adventure — but keep to the right to avoid collisions and a soaking.
Doge’s Palace
The pink and cream Doge’s Palace on Piazza San Marco was home to the 120 doges who ruled Venice from 697 to 1797. Many were as cruel as they were pious. On a wall of the Gothic-style palace there remains a wonderful stone lion’s head whose gaping mouth was a repository into which citizens popped printed accusations against their enemies. If the doge, who clearly didn’t have enough to do, found the charge justified, he’d punish the accused, if not, the tattletale would cop it.
Many of the present-day staff at the palace, curmudgeons who only leave off chain-smoking and reading The Da Vinci Code to bark at visitors, seem to have inherited the people skills of the doges. The Gothic confection’s massive halls are home to such works as Tintoretto’s Paradise and Veronese’s The Triumph of Venice and Rape of Europe. There’s plenty here, too, for the children. In the truly scary armoury, they’ll take macabre delight at the weapons — crossbows, spears, swords, guns and maces – on display. There’s even a metal chastity belt, so have an answer ready when the kids ask — and they invariably will — what it is.
Bridge of Sighs
When you’re passing over the forlorn Bridge of Sighs, which crosses from the palace proper to its dungeons, it’s easy to imagine the condemned sighing deeply as they gaze through the barred windows for a last look at sky and lagoon.
There are many art galleries, but three must-sees: the Accademia Galleries, the Peggy Guggenheim Collection and the Scuola Grande di San Rocco. The art in the Accademia spans Venetian painting from Byzantine to Renaissance, Baroque and Rococo, and includes some of the finest works of Giovanni and Gentile Bellini, Veronese and Titian.
Sublime art
The Guggenheim’s contemporary art collection includes works by Picasso, Leger, Magritte, Klee, Henry Moore and Jackson Pollock, and is housed in a palace on the Grand Canal. Peggy Guggenheim, an American mining heiress who made Venice her home, is buried in the back garden with her many dogs. The Scuola Grande di San Rocco is a shrine to Tintoretto and includes his masterpiece, The Crucifixion (1565).
Where to eat
Venice is generally less renowned for food than for its art. Great dining exists — carpaccio, seafood, risotto and pasta con il nero di sepia (pasta with cuttlefish in its black ink and tomato sauce) are delicacies — but you have to seek it out and pay for it. Avoid restaurants with a menu turistico at the door. This virtually guarantees gunky pizza, cardboard pasta and limp salad. Better by far to graze on delectable cakes and ice-creams from a cafe, or fruit and nuts from the Rialto Market, then go somewhere special once a day. Say, to, Da Fiore, Vini da Gigio (in the city) and Bussa Alla Torre on the island of Murano.
Airport transfers
The best way to get from the airport to the Piazza San Marco is by private water taxi. At around $153, it’s not as cheap as the sardine cans of the Alilaguna ferry line, but the whip across the water, past San Michele and the walled cemetery, as gulls wheel above, and on to the lagoon to dock amid a flotilla of bobbing black gondolas at the piazza is a justifiable luxury. When it’s time to return to the airport, don’t rush, brave the ferry (less than $10), which meanders from stop to stop, soaking up your last glimpses as you chug across the steely Adriatic, back to the real world.
There's always debate over whether there is a magic age that runners should hang up their shoes in favour of less stressful exercise pursuits like walking or swimming. Find out what the recent research says.
There’s always debate over whether there is a magic age that runners should hang up their shoes in favour of less stressful exercise pursuits like walking or swimming.
But visit the many seniors running groups or take a look around your local running track and you’ll see a fair share of incredibly active, incredibly fit older runners. Recent research from Stanford University published in a recent issue of Archives of Internal Medicine has found that it really may pay to simply…keep on running.
Stanford University research
At the beginning of the study, runners were younger, leaner and less likely to smoke than controls. After 19 years, 81 runners (15 percent) had died compared with 144 controls (34 percent).
Disability levels were lower in runners at all time points and increased in both groups over time, but less so in runners. At the end of the 21-year follow-up, in terms of disability, “the higher levels among controls translate into important differences in overall daily functional limitations,” the authors write. “Disability and survival curves continued to diverge between groups after the 21-year follow-up as participants approached their ninth decade of life.”
“Our findings of decreased disability in addition to prolonged survival among middle-aged and older adults participating in routine physical activities further support recommendations to encourage moderate to vigorous physical activity at all ages,” they conclude. “Increasing healthy lifestyle behaviors may not only improve length and quality of life but also hopefully lead to reduced health care expenditures associated with disability and chronic diseases.”
The authors note that regular exercise could reduce disability and death risk by increasing cardiovascular fitness, improving aerobic capacity, increased bone mass, lower levels of inflammatory markers, improved response to vaccinations and improved thinking, learning and memory functions.
YOUR SAY: Will this new research get you back out on the road and running? Tell us below…
An Australian research study published in the Journal of the American College of Nutrition has found that women who were regular tea drinkers had a 2.8 per cent higher hip bone-mineral density and lost less bone (1.6 per cent versus 4 per cent) than those who did not drink tea.
The women who participated in the study drank an average of three cups per day. Scientists cannot point to any one single reason why tea may have this beneficial effect, but there are several possibilities.
For one thing, tea contains potent antioxidants which may slow the activity of osteoclasts (the cells that break down bone). Tea also contains flavonoids, which are thought to boost the production of new bone-building cells, as well as phytoestrogens, which may have a bone-protective effect on women whose levels of oestrogen are low.
Spices are some of the healthiest ingredients in Mother Nature’s pharmacy and offer a multitude of benefits, including easing joint pain, improving circulation and – according to Ayurvedic medicine – stoking your agni, or inner fire, therefore making you feel more energetic. Here are five of our favourite healing spices (including one we bet you’ve never heard of) – and how to get more goodness out of them.
1 Feel the warm For centuries, ginger has been used as a digestive tonic and a wealth of research supports its claim to fame as a safe and effective treatment for nausea, including that caused by motion sickness, morning sickness and the side effects of chemotherapy. Two ingredients in ginger are thought responsible for its effects: gingerol, which slows the action of a nerve receptor in the body that triggers the vomiting reflex, and shogaol, which helps neutralise stomach acid. Ginger stimulates circulation, counteracts congestion, relieves abdominal cramping and indigestion and has mild blood-thinning qualities, thereby helping to reduce blood-platelet stickiness. Ginger’s anti-inflammatory properties also make it useful for treating osteoarthritis.
2 Colour yourself happy Turmeric is the spice that gives curry powder its deep yellow colour. Studies show that it has a powerful anti-inflammatory effect, due to its high content of compounds called curcuminoids. These curcuminoids have an inhibitory effect on the enzymes that trigger the development of cancer cells and they may slow or even prevent tumours from forming by interfering with their ability to create the new blood cells that they need to feed the tumour growth. Curcuminoids also reduce cholesterol, may improve certain eye conditions and have an overall anti-inflammatory effect, so playing a possible role in slowing or preventing Alzheimer’s disease, arthritis and carpal tunnel syndrome.
3 Try something different Ever heard of annatto? These dark red spicily-scented seeds are widely used in Latin American and Afro-Caribbean cuisine, and also have a long history of medicinal use in both cultures. Traditional African healers seem to have used it for everything from jaundice to headaches – even as an aphrodisiac! While these rather exotic claims have not been supported by modern research, what we do know for sure is that annatto contains carotenoids which have substantial antioxidant and possibly anti-cancer properties; it’s also a natural stimulant and diuretic, so it may be of assistance during a detox or weight-loss program. According to the science of Ayurveda (India’s ancient healing system), annatto, with its mildly bitter taste, makes food more easily digested and creates energy.
4 Buy the best Many spices have already circled the globe to get to a store shelf near you, so buy from a specialty spice shop or food market with a high turnover to ensure freshness. For maximum flavour, aroma and health benefits, buy smaller amounts of spices more often and, where possible, buy them in their whole form, e.g. cloves, nutmeg, cinnamon, peppercorns, and grind them yourself. Tip: Buy a mortar and pestle to grind your spices; easier and quicker still, use a small coffee grinder, but make sure it’s only used for this purpose – you don’t want curry-flavoured coffee.
5 Store smarter Keep your spices in airtight containers, otherwise their volatile compounds will dissipate into the air. Make sure you store them in a cool, dark and dry place as heat, light and moisture will all have a negative effect on flavour and aroma. (However, don’t hide them in a too-dark corner of the pantry – if you don’t see them, you’re less likely to use them) Be conscious of how long spices last: in a whole form, you’ll get around 12 months out of them; if they’re pre-ground or powdered, it will be less, around 6-9 months, particularly if you’re opening the jar often.YOUR SAY: How do you incorporate spices into your lifestyle? What are your favourites and why? Tell us below…
YOUR SAY: How do you incorporate spices into your lifestyle? What are your favourites and why? Tell us below…
With a recent survey showing that four out of ten adults report they are eating more vegetarian meals than they did a couple of years ago, it’s time to take a look at your own family’s meal patterns.
Hippie food?
“By giving vegetarian meals a go, people will be doing their wallet, their health and the environment a big favour. Once people try, they will see just how many delicious, healthy and easy options there are for plant-based eating,” she said.
Plant based meals makes cents
A comprehensive comparison of three seven day meal plans was undertaken by Ms Guy and team: a traditional meat diet; a diet moderate in meat; and a vegetarian lifestyle. Accredited Practising Dietitians compiled healthy and nutritious menus for each diet, with all snacks and drinks included. How much each plan costs in dollar terms was decided by a trip to the supermarket purchasing all foods based on a family of four adults.
The findings were surprising:
Traditional meat diet
Cost four adults just under $195 a week, or $50 per person in meat alone. One week’s worth of food for four adults eating under this menu clocks up a hefty $508 or $127 per person.
Vegetarian diet A massive 20% reduction in costs can be achieved by maintaining the vegetarian diet. The menu was by far the easiest on the hip pocket, coming in at $394 for four adults or just over $98 per person.
Moderate meat diet A reduction in the amount of meat consumed saved four adults almost $90 a week, with the meat reducer diet (comprised of 2 chicken meals, 2 fish meals and one red meat meal) coming in at $418 per week or $104 per person.
YOUR SAY: Will you include more vegetartian options in your weekly meals? Tell us below…
Whether you’re planning an exotic holiday or road trip this summer, chances you’re going to get stuck at an airport or road stop where there is limited food choices available. So here are some top tips to keep your healthy eating goals on track while you are in transit.
Vending machines
Smart buys:
Ditch the high fat chips and go for portion-controlled packs of lightly, salted pretzels.
Look out for small packs, around 30-50g, of dried fruit and unsalted nuts with appetite busting protein.
Bypass the fruit juice and choose water or diet soft drinks with zero kilojoules.
Home helper:
Keep a long-life, tetra-packed breakfast or smoothie drink in your car or carry on bag.
Airport
Skip the in-flight jumbo choc-chip cookie and say “yes” please to the fresh fruit.
Aim to arrive in time for a food court meal like a falafel kebab and prevent ravenous hunger which can lead to overeating.
Grab a couple of sushi hand rolls and nibble on nori while you wait to board.
Home helper:
Stock up on frozen, healthier meals for that homecoming dinner and stop dialing for pizza on your taxi trip home.
Petrol station Mini-Mart
Head passed the ice-cream freezer to the milk fridge for a tub of low fat fruit yogurt or drinking yogurt.
Go for wholegrain fruit and oat bars with less than 100 calories or (around 400kilojoules) rather than that 900kilojoule muffin.
Grab a tub of packaged fresh fruit for a healthy low fat snack .
Home helper:
Pop a piece of sturdy fruit in the car glove box or handbag, but be mindful of interstate and international restrictions
YOUR SAY: What are your tips for healthy snacking on the run? Tell us below…
There are few pastimes more pleasurable than curling up with a good book and losing yourself in another world. Books Editor Carol George spoke to Bryce Courtenay, one of Australia’s best-loved authors, about which stories inspired his own literary passion.
The only thing I ever stole in my life was a book. I was six years old and it was the most beautiful thing I’d ever seen, bound in wonderful red Moroccan leather. No one would read it in a million years — it was about the abolition of slavery — but it was magic because I learned to read with it.
I was born illegitimately in South Africa and raised in an orphanage. The first thing I ever remember is being hit. I had an English name, a terrible stigma at the time, because of the Boer War.
A temporary teacher called Miss Bornstein was the first person to take an interest in me. I trusted her and I asked her to help me read that stolen book. She must have thought there was something in this little kid, for she agreed. From then on, she sent me a book a month and it saved my life. Through books, I could escape the orphanage, in my head at least, and go anywhere a story took me.
Reading inspired me and I finished up winning a scholarship to a posh boarding school. Without reading, I’d have become a railway fettler or a drunk. I used to invent stories and serialise them for the bullies, in exchange for not being beaten. It was survival, so that’s where it all comes from.
The very first book I totally identified with was Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens, which I read when I was about nine years old. Like me, he was alone, poor and miserable. So here was this terrific story about someone in a hopeless situation, yet things turned out well. It gave me hope.
Probably the most beautiful book I’ve read is The Pearl by John Steinbeck. It’s very short — and I’ve read thousands of books since — but it was the first time I actually saw how beautiful words could be, how astonishing a story could be.
It’s a magnificent plot about a young Mexican couple who discover an incredible pearl. Greed is a theme, but in a way, it’s one of those stories that tells you everything about life. If you want to know the truth, there is one place you can go — books.
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