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Getting ahead

I worked for some years for a freight company in the city. I had taken the job more out of necessity than anything else and I didn’t really like it. My boss was a lady by the name of Jenny, who enjoyed socialising with the male staff — if you know what I mean. It was something of a non-PC environment where anything went and speaking up on workplace issues was thought to be “against the code”.

Most of the guys either shrugged off Jenny’s attentions as being “in good fun” or enjoyed the attention. I worked closely with Jenny and her flirtations seemed harmless enough — I didn’t want to make waves so I ignored them. One night at our end-of-year party, the booze flowed freely and Jenny became more and more forward. People started leaving and soon it was only Jenny, Nicola (who worked downstairs at the reception desk) and I left.

Nicola was busy packing things away and Jenny asked me if I would like a cabcharge to get home. I was a little drunk and agreed that it would be best. She asked me to come into her office whilst she retrieved one from her desk drawer. She told me that I was her favourite staff member and that even though it was obvious that I didn’t really enjoy the job and my performance wasn’t crash hot, there were “other ways” of getting ahead. She also told me that she enjoyed working with me, especially as I gave her something nice to look at each day.

I was flattered but began feeling a little uncomfortable when Jenny closed the door and invited me to join her on her two-seater lounge for a night-cap. She ran her hands over my thigh and asked what I liked in a woman. I mumbled something about needing to get home. She asked which of the girls in the office I liked best and I said that she was very nice-looking, thinking that was what she wanted to hear. Jenny was attractive but I didn’t like the idea of getting involved with my boss as things would inevitably get a little strange in the office down the track. Soon she was unbuttoning her blouse and, my resolve weakened by alcohol, we started to get a little hot and heavy.

Afterwards, she told me that I should be a man and not mention this to anyone. In return she offered me a job in another department with better pay and conditions that I accepted and which ended up suiting me much better. I initially felt awkward about the way that I had attained the new position and have never told anyone about how it came to pass. I have since been given a managerial position but ensure that my staff get their promotions in the appropriate way. I still think of Jenny, who has since been transferred, and often battle psychologically with the details of my own transfer. I’m happy enough now, although I often feel a little cheap when I think of what I did to get ahead.

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How to have healthy bones

By Annette Campbell

When it comes to keeping ourselves healthy, sometimes we don’t think that much about our bones.

So to coincide with National Healthy Bones Week (August 7-13), Judy Stenmark — the CEO of Osteoporosis Australia — shares with us her top tips for bone health.

“It’s important to have healthy bones, to help avoid things like fractures and osteoporosis — when bones become fragile and brittle and break easily,” she explains.

“We reach our peak bone mass (how strong our bones are going to be), around the age of 20, so there’s a great window of opportunity for kids and teens to maximise their peak bone mass by building strong bones in childhood.

“And it’s crucial to then maintain bone strength through to menopause and beyond.”

Judy says the key ingredients in terms of building bones and keeping them strong are:

Calcium

Great sources are all dairy foods, including low-fat products. While dairy is a quick and easy source of calcium, there are also other options including fortified foods and drinks.

Exercise

Bones need the stress of our body’s weight through them, to grow and remain strong. So weight-bearing exercise is crucial. This includes activities such as walking, skipping, jogging, netball, etc. It’s also important to include weight-training, as there is a direct correlation between muscle mass and bone strength.

Sex hormones (oestrogen and testosterone)

Women need oestrogen in their body for bones to take-up calcium. So anything that interferes with our oestrogen levels (such as having been a young, anorexic teenager; or an elite athlete whose menstruation ceased) means we’re at greater risk of osteoporosis. Lower testosterone levels are also a risk factor for men.

Vitamin D

The presence of vitamin D assists our bones in absorbing calcium. The best source of vitamin D is sunlight (there’s not as much in foods and it’s not as well absorbed). This doesn’t mean sunbaking … it’s important to stay sun-safe. But about 6-15 minutes of incidental sunlight, four or six times a week, supplies an adequate dose.

National Healthy Bones Week is August 7-13.

This year the theme is “Make It Milk”, encouraging primary school-aged children to enjoy milk as a quick and easy source of calcium and other nutrients.

For more information visit: www.healthybones.com.au

Or contact Osteoporosis Australia: www.osteoporosis.org.au; 1800 242 141.

Picture posed by model.

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How to grow chokoes

choko

Chokoes are a no-fail veg. Starve them, forget them, and they’ll still give you an autumn filled with so much fruit you’ll be pestering the neighbors to take some and looking up recipes for choko chutney, choko pie, choko and ginger jam (which isn’t bad, actually).

My favourite way of eating chokoes depends on growing your own, so you can pick them young and tiny. Just like baby zucchini are much better than giant marrows, tiny chokoes are far sweeter and crisper than any you’ll find in the supermarket.

How to grow a choko

Buy a choko shove it down the back of the vegie cupboard till it sprouts, then plant it in a sunny spot with the sprouting bit out of the soil. Make sure there is somewhere for the vine to climb – along a fence, up a tree or along the bushes. Pick the chokoes when they are tiny and before the tough seed inside has formed.

Eating baby chokoes

Take a handful of tiny chokoes; peel them but don’t bother to cut out the centre as it won’t be tough yet. Steam or boil them for ten minutes, then dab with butter or toss in light sour cream with lots of chopped parsley or chervil.

Alternatively, sauté with garlic in olive oil; chopped red onion can also be added or a few small chips of fresh ginger. Tiny chokoes stir fried with ginger are very good indeed.

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What are the best flowers for hanging baskets?

hanging basket

Hanging baskets are a cheat’s way to get early flowers. Baskets heat up faster than soil in the ground and you can hang them over nice hot paving, beside brick walls or on warm patios too. In fact you can REALLY cheat and buy your flowers already blooming – just bung them in the basket and enjoy them all summer.

Four rules for great baskets

1 Keep moist. If baskets dry out too often the potting mix becomes water repellent – it’ll run down the sides instead of soaking in.

2 Mulch, with pebbles or coconut fibre to help keep moisture in.

3 Use a slow release fertiliser or feed with half-strength plant tucker every two to three weeks. There isn’t much soil in a hanging basket, so you need to feed little and often.

4 Soak the basket with a dribble from the hose or in a bucket of water at least once a month.

Which plants NOT to choose

Avoid annuals that are nearing their use-by date, like primulas in spring or petunias in autumn. When in doubt ask how long the plant will continue blooming.

Which plants will look stunning

If you’ve never grown a basket of blooms before, stick to the standard ones to begin with: petunias in all their many forms, geraniums (pelargoniums) and any succulent, though fat-fleshed, tough-looking plants that are boring by themselves look great once they’ve multiplied and start spilling out of the basket. To keep them flowering try to prevent them actually setting seed (which uses a lot of energy) by trimming off the spent flowers at least once a week.

All of these will wilt if they’re too dry, but mostly recover when you give the poor things a drink. Other good ones to try include lobelias, verbena, nasturtiums, brachycome daisies, violas and non-climbing sweet peas. All of these will flower for long periods of time and will tumble attractively over the edge of the baskets.

To trick them into flowering for even longer you can hang the basket in full sun in late winter to early spring and then, as the weather heats up, move them to a slightly cooler position so that they continue to bloom rather than being burnt off.

Although not a flowering plant there is a wonderful, silver-leafed dichondra (yes, the old, hard to deter kidney weed in very glamorous mode) on the market that will cascade in silver curtains down the side of a hanging basket. It requires full sun to maintain its silver sheen (shade makes it greener and less dramatic). This is another real toughie once established and only requires the occasional hair cut to promote fresh new growth.

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Diamond-shaped pull ups for pelvic floor awareness

pelvic floor exercises
  • Sit cross-legged on the floor and align your bones in the sitting position.

  • Visualise the diamond shape of the pelvic floor muscles.

  • Gently draw the centre of the diamond upwards.

  • Hold this lift and breathe naturally for up to 10 breaths.

  • Release the muscle and begin again.

  • If you lose the feeling of the upward pull before 10 breaths, simply relax and start again.

  • You can practise these pulls as often as you like in sitting and standing postures.

copyright: The Australian Ballet 2005

Extracted from Bodywise, discover a deeper connection with your body; ABC Books; rrp: $34.95; fully illustrated. Available from all good bookstores.

Bodywise is written by staff at The Australian Ballet. In 2005 The Australian Ballet is performing throughout Australia and internationally. Visit The Australian Ballet’s website, www.australianballet.com.au for details.

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Efficient abdominals

pelvic floor exercises

Efficient abdominals assist dynamic stability just as dynamic stability assists alignment. This is not about developing prominent abs as these are the outer muscles that do not play such an important role in maintaining alignment.

Most people associate rippling abs with an athletic physique but it’s possible to have an impressive outer definition with no dynamic stability. Rather, think about waking up your postural muscles each day by developing a sense of length and floating. Then you can forget about them and leave them to balance the forces on the spine. In this way you will not interfere with your natural patterning and your spine will find its most efficient balance without conscious effort.

It may be that you do not have sufficient endurance in these stabilisers to continuously support neutral spinal alignment. Dynamic stability is compromised if the underlying postural muscles are weak. In this case, you have to work slowly from the inside out, building endurance in the deepest muscles, the ones that are difficult to feel in the normal course of events, and gradually transfer this understanding to more intense movements. Your goal is to develop a sound base that will give you efficient abdominals that contribute dynamically to functional posture.

The deep unit

The deep unit comprises the transversus abdominals (TA), multifidus and the pelvic floor. These are the deepest muscles in your centre and the ones most implicated in good alignment. Exercise can help you discover and stimulate them.

The pelvic floor

The pelvic floor muscles are like a diamond-shaped hammock located at the base of the pelvis. You will wake up your pelvic floor by bringing the spine and pelvis into neutral alignment, but you have to reconnect daily with this deep stabiliser for this to happen. The action is deep and subtle, and this simple exercise helps you to become familiar with it. Here’s an exercise we recommend for pelvic floor awareness.

The transversus abdominals and multifidus are also explored in the Bodywise book.

copyright: The Australian Ballet 2005

Extracted from Bodywise, discover a deeper connection with your body; ABC Books; rrp: $34.95; fully illustrated. Available from all good bookstores.

Bodywise is written by staff at The Australian Ballet. In 2005 The Australian Ballet is performing throughout Australia and internationally. Visit The Australian Ballet’s website, www.australianballet.com.au for details.

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When there’s a niggle

stretching

What do you do when your excuses not to exercise are coming fast and furiously this winter, and suddenly there’s a legitimate niggle that may stop you in your tracks?

Firstly don’t panic

Getting physical can be difficult in an already busy life and often winter can open up a whole new bag of worms when various body aches, pains and other niggles start to surface. The first step is to assess whether it is an old or new injury and get professional help and advice as soon as possible.

Cut back but don’t stop

While you may find some activities too hard or simply undesirable while rehabilitating an injury, remember you can probably continue most others but just at a lesser pace.

Don’t get down on yourself

It’s not your fault. Stay in control. Remember how you felt before starting to exercise. Yes, maybe you were not injured but didn’t exercising make you feel better mentally as well as physically? Keep positive. All athletes, even recreational ones, are likely to face coping with injury at some time.

Manage your injury

Keep up your rehabilitation until the pain has gone completely, the flexibility has returned fully and the strength has built up again. Other issues such as sense of balance in knee and ankle injuries have to be kept in mind.

Remember cross-training

If you cannot run, maybe you can keep your aerobic fitness up by cycling. If you cannot cycle how about a swim or some boxercise? If you cannot do weights with your upper body because of a shoulder injury for example, keep pumping with your legs. If your legs are the problem, work your arms. Getting that blood flowing through the body is the goal, one way or another.

Prevention

Finally, remember that prevention is better than a cure. Always make sure you warm up well, stretch slowly and deliberately, train at whatever you have decided to do, then warm down. If you don’t feel right, get professional help. Don’t give up. Even two steps forward and one step back is better than no steps at all.

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Who is Botox most suitable for?

brow

Question

Who does Botox suit?

Kathryn, via e-mail

Answer

The best candidate for Botox is someone in their late 20s to early 50s who is concerned about wrinkle lines in their forehead region and around the eyes. Botox eliminates the frown lines temporarily and prevents long-term formation of permanent wrinkles.

Unfortunately Botox can’t treat all problems. The rate of patients undergoing cosmetic brow-lifts has decreased, due to the success of Botox, yet there are patients who will need a surgical procedure to lift droopy eyebrows and eliminate deeper wrinkles.

The AWW beauty team

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Flattering jeans

Image: Getty

Question

I can never find a pair of jeans that really flatter my figure. I am not overweight, but in many jeans, my bottom looks too big. To compensate, I wear long, flowy tops to hide my bottom. I have lots of pretty, shorter tops that I love and I want to wear them with jeans. Please help me!

Brieanna, via e-mail.

Answer

Try a relaxed fit jean that isn’t too figure hugging in the bottom area, this will look more flattering and be more comfortable.

Although hipster jeans are still the most common style found in fashionable shops today, a higher-waisted jean is slowly becoming fashionable again. A higher waist would be more flattering for a fuller figure, and help close the gap between your waistband and shorter tops, avoiding the unsightly stomach bulge. For a pair of great higher cut jeans try:

  • RM Williams – (08) 8259 1000

  • Perri Cutten – (03) 9427 8687

  • Levis – (02) 9900 0842

  • Carla Zampatti – (02) 9264 8244

  • Simona – 1800 654 116

  • Country Road – 1800 801 911

Failing this you could layer your short tops over longer tops to cover your tummy whilst wearing lower cut jeans. French Connection (1800 640 249) and Witchery (1800 640 249) make a great lower cut jean at a very affordable price.

Don’t be afraid of stretch denim, although it may be a little figure hugging it’s much more comfortable and helps avoid the unsightly “love handle” look that is often the result of tight, rigid denim. Stretch denim is actually more flattering, giving a streamlined silhouette.

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Diamond-shaped pull ups for pelvic floor awareness

You can practise these pulls as often as you like in sitting and standing postures.
pelvic floor exercises
  • Sit cross-legged on the floor and align your bones in the sitting position.

  • Visualise the diamond shape of the pelvic floor muscles.

  • Gently draw the centre of the diamond upwards.

  • Hold this lift and breathe naturally for up to 10 breaths.

  • Release the muscle and begin again.

  • If you lose the feeling of the upward pull before 10 breaths, simply relax and start again.

  • You can practise these pulls as often as you like in sitting and standing postures.

copyright: The Australian Ballet 2005

Extracted from Bodywise, discover a deeper connection with your body; ABC Books; rrp: $34.95; fully illustrated. Available from all good bookstores.

Bodywise is written by staff at The Australian Ballet. In 2005 The Australian Ballet is performing throughout Australia and internationally. Visit The Australian Ballet’s website, www.australianballet.com.au for details.

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