.png?resize=380%2C285)
By Judy Davie
**”I desperately need to lose weight. I was put on high blood pressure tablets five months ago and I have put on 10kgs. My height is 168cm and I weigh 80kgs. I am a very plain eater and do not like anything spicy. Please help!”
— Jane**
While high blood pressure may be hereditary, a symptom of a poor diet, or a combination of both, adopting a healthy diet is absolutely the right place to start treating the problem.
Whether we eat for good health or weight loss, what we eat should be the same. It’s the quantities that differ.
Many people who claim to be plain eaters don’t realise how much they rely on flavour from fat, salt and sugar, the very foods known to increase the risk of high blood pressure and atherosclerosis. Mashed potatoes made with butter, salt and milk, crumbed and fried cutlets, roast root vegetables, sweet and savoury pies with cream and ice cream are all considered plain food yet are mostly high in saturated fat, salt and/or sugar. You don’t have to eat spicy food to eat healthily but you will need to modify your range of cooking ingredients to find flavour without the saturated fat and salt.
Many of us are under the impression that all spices are hot, but it’s simply not the case. Many spices such as cinnamon, nutmeg, all spice, turmeric and cardamom, are partially sweet, impart flavour without heat and even have specific healing properties. Some herbs and spices are known to target a reduction in blood pressure. They include all spice, holy basil, ginger, dill, green tea, rosemary, stevia and valerian.
The biggest hurdle you face is your own thoughts and beliefs — if you believe you won’t like a change in diet, you won’t. It’s that simple. My advice is to keep an open mind, accept that you have to make these changes and embrace the first-time culinary experiences. Imagine how fabulous it would be if you not only lost weight but enjoyed the foods you were eating at the same time. It’s only achievable if you believe it.
Any deep fried food — home made or commercial Lard, butter or margarine made with hydrolysed fats Chicken skin, pork crackling, meat fat Meat pies, sausage rolls Full fat dairy, including milk, cheese and yoghurt
What to eat
Olive oil, avocado oil, camellia tea oil, canola oil, sesame oil Home made roast veggies made with a spray of oil Raw nuts Sesame seeds, sunflower seeds, flaxseeds Avocado
Flavoured chips, salted nuts and other salted flavoured biscuits Packaged foods with a high salt content. Salt is found in other food additives including hydrolysed vegetable protein, yeast extract, monosodium glutamate (620). Always check the nutritional panel and select products with a sodium content less than 120mg per 100g.
What to eat
Reduced salt products including soy, tamari, tomato sauce, tomato paste Raw nuts Plain wholegrain biscuits
By Judy Davie
It’s easy to be confused with the mixed messages banded around about healthy eating.
I have a simple rule: if it existed in nature 100 years ago then it’s real food and should be eaten. If you believe “in nature lies the answer” then you should be able to accept this rule. When someone tells you to substitute food with a synthetic potion or snack bar then you should hear internal warning alarms.
When you consider what our ancestors ate you can work through a process of elimination.
Biggest Loser contestant Marty Barrett talks to Woman’s Day about his time on the show.
**Starting weight: 160.6kg
Elimination weight: 130.1kg**
How was your time in the Whitehouse?
The last two weeks I shut down and this is something Gerard did a lot of. I was getting upset about the rumours that were going around about what Courtney and Munnalita were spreading about me. It’s all speculation but they were bagging me saying I said things about the Blue team which I never have. I heard her saying a lot of things to the Blue team and I was hoping they would know me enough to know it was a lie but it turns out people in the Blue team I thought I could trust I can’t. Damien did a deal with Courtney and stabbed me in the back.
Who do you feel most betrayed by?
It hurts that I’ve been back-stabbed by Pati. I’ve been playing the game and I knew it could happen, I just didn’t think it would as soon as it did, or by who it was from. Greg might be playing the game and if he is, he’s done an amazing job to fool me. My thing was to go in the house and just work hard and not worry about alliances until I felt it was needed.
Is there anyone you hated living with?
Munnalita’s definitely the villain and she’s negative all the time. That’s why I didn’t want to talk to her. She’s got an excuse for everything and I don’t think she’s going to change. She’s going to lose the weight and I’m adamant that when she goes home she’ll put it back on again. First major stress and that’s it. She’s the worst. Courtney’s got very low self esteem but his thing from day one is he’s here for the money, not to lose weight. That put him in my bad books pretty quickly. He’s not here to give 100%, he’s playing the game big time and backstabbing everybody.
Being single, are you looking forward to what’s to come in your love-life?
Before I went into the house I had three girls who wanted a relationship with me and they still do. We talk about life’s dreams and wants. But I don’t know if one of them will be it for me because in the meantime I could meet someone who’ll wipe me off my feet, or they could too.
Would you go on The Biggest Loser all over again given the chance?
No, there’s too much backstabbing, it’s not in my nature. I know I can do it myself now. I would go back to prove them all wrong and really stir up the pot. They thought Wal [season 1] was a stirrer but when people piss me off I can be a sarcastic stirrer better than anyone, but I don’t like to be.
Target stores around Australia have been overwhelmed with shoppers desperate to get their hands on Stella McCartney’s new budget range of clothing.
Hundreds of shoppers queued for hours on Monday morning in order to be first to buy from the new collection of affordable fashion, which includes oversized knits, trench coats and skinny jeans taken from the British designer’s own winter range.
Desperate fashionistas rushed the stores at 9am, clearing racks within minutes and even stripping mannequins.
In Melbourne’s Chatswood store, security had to be called in to break up a fight between two women who had both grabbed at the same item.
But according to most shoppers, the clothes were worth the commotion. “The clothing’s affordable,” said one happy customer. “Target’s stuff is everywhere and Stella McCartney’s isn’t.”
Clothing designed by Stella McCartney usually retails for over $1000 a piece, but the limited release at Target was priced between $30 and $200. Most stores had sold out within hours of opening their doors.
Watch the video: Fashion sparks stampede
The clown of terriers
The majority of terriers are named for areas of England, Scotland, Ireland or Wales where they originated — the West Highland White Terrier, Border Terrier, Skye Terrier, Irish Terrier, Scottish Terrier, Norwich and Norfolk Terriers, Welsh Terrier etc.
The Sealyham Terrier was named by its original breeder, Captain Edwardes, after his mansion, Sealyham, near the Sealy river in Pembrokeshire, South Wales.
Captain Edwardes is thought to have begun developing the Sealyham Terrier around the year 1860. As an avid sportsman he desired a dog to work with his hunting pack of Otterhounds and go to ground after badger. This required a dog with great courage, stamina, and agility and a white colour so that the hounds and sportsman involved in the hunt would not mistake the Sealyham for the prey.
The Sealyhams were not required to kill the badger, but to keep it in one place and to bark to signal the huntsmen of the badger’s location underground so that they could dig into the den.
Although there is no complete record of the breeds used by Captain Edwardes to develop the Sealyham Terrier, the Welsh Corgi, White Bull Terrier, Dandie Dinmont Terrier, Wire Fox Terrier and West Highland White Terrier are all thought to have played a role.
Although a rare breed today, during the 1920s and 1930s the breed enjoyed popularity and was owned by Gary Cooper, Cary Grant, Humphrey Bogart, Richard Burton and Alfred Hitchcock — whose own Sealyhams can be seen in his films The Birds and Suspicion. Sealyhams also were a popular subject for postcard artists during this period.
The Sealyham is a double-coated breed with a soft undercoat and a harsh, weather-resistant outer coat which requires regular maintenance.
For the show ring, the Sealyham is hand stripped — the long and dead hairs are plucked out by hand. The stripping process is time-consuming but the coat of a Sealyham kept just as a companion can be clipped. The luxurious furnishings on the head, legs and chest require regular brushing to eliminate knots and tangles.
The clown of terriers, the Sealyham is a loyal, intelligent, sometimes stubborn but always devoted companion, and although most terriers are busy dogs, the Sealyham is the couch potato of the Terrier world, having a much more relaxed attitude.
The Sealyham is a large dog in a small package and makes an ideal companion for both city and country living. A moderate amount of exercise will keep him healthy and happy.
For more information about pets, visit www.petnet.com.au
If you have a pet with floppy ears and have difficulty cleaning them, I have found moist pop-up towelettes to be a great solution. They’re soft and moist and smell good as well!
Trish
Let’s take action before the world becomes full of Paris Hilton look-alikes, pleads Libbi Gorr.
Body image seems such a shallow topic. We spend so much time thinking about our bodies, worrying about our bodies, dieting, exercising. There are so many other things in the world that we could be applying our minds to. But we have to accept that what you look like does affect your happiness.
As a society we are obsessed with looks and, possibly because it relates to a mating instinct, that’s the basic animal in all of us. But along with that, we have to remember what really makes a human being special is our individual flaws. For instance, Barbra Streisand and her nose and Cameron Diaz and her lop-sided face — those things make them special and unique.
Young girls are increasingly thinking they need to look like each other and Paris Hilton in order to be a success in the world. The sort of people I would like teenagers to look up to are people with more inner qualities than looks, people who’ve got curiosity, drive or kindness and community spirit. People are a whole package. There’s no use concentrating on what you haven’t got.
People sometimes think that skinny is “inny”, that you’ve got to be thin to win, but time and again it’s been proved that healthy is wealthy. Once all men and women get that into their heads, we’re going to be a much wiser community.
Do you agree with Libbi? Have your say on the Woman’s Day discussion board
Check out The Catch-Up’s website
