Cell phone use is linked to cancer. Who saw this coming?!  Sorry, you don’t get a prize.. But guess what, as usual, the findings were deemed inconclusive. The study was conducted over the past 10 years and pooled data from hundreds of researchers who interviewed thousands of people and studied a whole boat load of different cell phones. This international study, quite ingeniously named “Interphone”, found evidence that people using their cell phones for at least 30 mins a day for 10 years have a greater risk (maybe as much as a third higher) of developing brain cancer. The study is to be published this week and governments from around the world are eager to get their hands on it – as are the cell phone execs. Somehow, I don’t think this multimillion dollar study took into about the crazy cell-phone-wielding kids? And what about hands free devices and the thing where you can make your car stereo turn into a phone (is it still called a stereo?!). No doubt more money will need to be spent on this.

Ok, next. Gluten is good for you (unless, of course, you’re allergic). The hot new diet is the no-gluten one (Gwyneth Paltrow and Victoria Beckham are big fans), but apparently, not consuming gluten is bad for you. It can lead to headaches, tiredness and weight gain! Yep, that’s right. Gluten is found in bread, pasta, beer.. So don’t feel bad about eating french toast or pizza! It’s good for you! Dietitans have looked into the pros and cons of gluten free diets, and found that initial weight loss will happen, but switching to gluten free food will induce weight gain because people are more likely to eat potatoes, rice, buckwheat.. Also, foods that are manufactured as “gluten-free” contain more sugar and salt – which is super unhealthy. And, like organic and free-range things, gluten free will do a number on your wallet because its very expensive. So crack open a cold one and enjoy it with some garlic bread – it’s all part of a balanced diet!

This last tit-bit of stupidity made me laugh. Research has shown that insomnia is caused by our inability to “switch off” at night. No kidding! Apparently, the doctor behind this groundbreaking finding thinks we should look to the cavemen for the secret to a good night’s sleep.. Of course we can’t switch off at night – we have a million different things to worry and stress about! Did I turn the stove off? Is the door locked? Is the tap dripping? Mr. Caveman didn’t have any of this to disturb his slumber. He may even have found that the gentle sound of running water near his cave was relaxing. AND, lets not forget the invention of the light bulb. This has had such a big impact on how we sleep – instead of darkness and stars, there’s always that dim city glow.. Unless you’re lucky enough to live in the country. But still, we need down time. If you can’t find time to nap during they day then at least try not to work through lunch or at home.. We all need breaks – I’m sure Mr. Caveman took breaks during the day too! We have to rediscover the art of stopping.

With that being said, it’s time for a cup of tea!

I was a bit concerned when I started doing this that people would think that I was in some way taking the piss. I didn’t want people to think “why is this skinny cow doing this ‘get fit’ thing?!” I’ve always been quite a boney person – I have chickeny legs, boney knees, boney wrists and my collar bone sticks out worse than Victoria Beckhams! In high school, I was always SO self conscious because I was so skinny. Changing for gym class was an absolute nightmare. I hated showing my legs, and I would always wear high-necked tops so that my collar bone and boney chest wouldn’t be visible.

No amount of food that I ate would make me put on weight. I know a lot of people thought that I was bulemic, which is an awful condition, and awful for a 12-13 year old girl to hear, when they’re not! I would eat plate after plate of chips for lunch. It wasn’t until I was 18 that I finally weighed 100 lbs. And I was so happy!! Nonetheless, I was still very thin – but at least my weight finally consisted of 3 digits.

Oh, and clothes. It was impossible to buy anything that fit nicely or fit at all. I would have to alter all of my jeans myself – I would hide in my bedroom and by hand, sew the legs in. The up side to that was that I got quite good at sewing! I could do both legs on 1 pair of jeans in 1 night! But I couldn’t wear anything right off the shelf. My chicken legs would be swimming in trousers that were supposed to be tight.

In the last few years, since leaving university, work had kept me skinny, I would work through lunch, quite regularly, and 5 à 7 my way through supper. Unhealthy, yes.. But very awesome!!!

If I ever mentioned wanting to go to the gym or something, I’d be met with “but you’re so skinny!”. To which I would always reply “I’m skinny, but it’s not healthy skinny”. Which is true.

But now, after a year of no office job to stress me into not eating, coupled with the fact that I’m not 18 any more, my body has developed into quite an unfortunate shape. So that, my friends, is the point of my Get Fit For Summer Challenge. It’s not to take the piss or to make anyone feel inadequate. It’s an attempt for me to get healthy, by eating a little better and sucking up the pain and exercising every day.

Hey, if I had as many dollars as Heidi Montag, I’d pay for an ass lift, back re-shaping and lipo.. But, I don’t.. So my body has to be “shaped” the hard way!  And maybe my daily exercise updates will encourage some of you to do the same.

I’m not trying to be some great inspirational beacon of hope, just a real life example of how exercise and a good diet (dispite the slip ups), can (hopefully) pay off in the end!

Thank you again to those of you who have been following my updates. I hope you will keep reading!

Much love xx

Happy Sunday! I hope you are all having a lovely weekend and that the sun is shining wherever you are!

So after nearly a  month of no posts, I think it’s time to resume again!

I was in the bath yesterday evening and I had an epiphany whilst staring at my not-so-flat tummy..  How many of you promise yourselves that you’re going to work out and get all healthy before beach season starts? I know I do! Every year – without fail, I’m all like “YEAH, I have to get bikini ready.. I’m only going to eat salads and croutons and do 1,000 sit ups every day” and it never happens.. and then I schlepp around all summer feeling like crap..

But not THIS summer!!! I’m going to do a daily “Get Fit For Summer Challenge” blog, and I think (hope!) that actually documenting it will be the motivation I need to stick to it. I thought about doing video blogs for it, but being devastatingly camera shy, I figured that this would be an awful idea.. And, my stomach does not need it’s own internet air time!

Also, I was at The Room magazine’s annual party last week and the skinny-mini models made me super sad.. I don’t intend to be model-skinny, just a bit more compact!! After all, not *everything* is meant to jiggle!

So, starting tomorrow (not today because I just ate a giant bag of Cheetos), I’m going to get all healthy and exercise! And it’s going to be done properly – weights & measurements, possibly some photo evidence, etc. I’ll hit up some salads, sit ups, lunges, those leg lift things.. I think the main challenge will be trying to stick to a healthy diet in a country where everything is doused in oil… In case I didn’t mention before, I’m in Budapest, Hungary. The country of Pálinka, Paprika and Kólbàsz (fruit brandy, red pepper and Hungarian sausage!).

Oh lord, I just realized what a “lunge” is.. so i’ll have to “Vicky proof” the room before I lunge my way through a table or something.

Ok, just a little side note… This is not going to be some crazy “I’m not going to eat any wheat” diet or weirdo cleanse. I think diets are ridiculous.. So it’s going to be an exercise in eating in moderation – so 1 Cheeto instead of 1 BAG of Cheetos. And my boyfriend found a series of workout videos on YouTube that he thinks would be useful- I’m sure him finding them has nothing to do with the hot girl who stars in them!!!!!

Right, I’m going to leave you with this awesomeness that I was watching on YouTube yesterday. Enjoy! DeStorm – Ke$ha vs. Lady GaGa

I do enjoy writing these, it seems there are SO many stories in the news of what is good/bad for you. Maybe I’ll try to do them daily!

Ok, so lets see what changed from last week! Well, this week, “Sunshine” and “Blueberries” are good.. Whereas “Rickets” and “The ability to choose” are bad.

Sunshine, lolly-pops and rainbows… Yes, sunshine is amazing. It’s warm, it gives life.. And according to some new studies from France, it cuts the risk of cancer – just like beer. Having high levels of vitamin D in your blood may lower the risks of developing bowel cancer. If you live in a cave – far, far away from sunlight, then 2 alternatives are supplements and eggs! You might get more vitamin D for ordering your eggs “sunny-side up”!!!! Sorry, I couldn’t help myself!!

Next up is the little blueberry. I don’t like blueberries – either by themselves or in muffins etc. yuck. But apparently, they have the power to protect from memory loss! Research conducted in the USA on senior citizens showed that a pint of blueberry juice each day for a 3 month period led to 33% of the subjects doing better at memorizing lists, 40% of the subjects doing better at word association tasks. Supposedly, it is the “anthocyanins” (what makes the blueberries blue) that is responsible for this – and also is said to help ward off things like heart disease, cancer, Alzheimer’s and diabetes. Pretty impressive for a little tiny berry! Of course there are more tests to be done, but so far researchers are calling the results “very encouraging”.

You’d think that modern life would mean the end to diseases from nearly two centuries ago.. But no. Poor diets and lack of playing outside is causing a vitamin D deficiency in children and subsequently a lot of kids are developing Rickets. Researchers are saying that children are staying inside and playing their video games and not taking things like cod liver oil. Who took cod liver oil as a kid? I did.. mmm… Children who have Rickets suffer from bowed legs and fragile bone structure. The condition is linked to cardiovascular disease, diabetes, cancer and autoimmune conditions. Someone get these kids outside and give them some eggs!

This is the most ridiculous thing I’ve heard all week. Apparently, when we are given too many things to choose from, we feel depressed. For example, imagine you’re at the market and you’re standing in front of 18 kinds of apples, and you don’t know which one to buy, the uncertainty and confusion will make you miserable. A Professor from Stanford University said that this could lead to increased anxiety, depression, drug abuse and even suicide. What a bloody load of rubbish. According to the specialists, choice is supposed to be a sign of freedom. But in the context of shopping, choice is merely price comparison and branding coupled with pretty packaging – “Same sh*t, different bucket”, if you will… Modern life has turned everything into an anxiety attack waiting to happen: kids picking their major in school, buying appliances for your home – like how the new hot thing is red washing machines.. What happened to simple white appliances?! Too much choice is bad.. but it’s good for people in the marketing field and the pharmaceutical companies as more and more people will need crazy pills for their anxiety and depression resulting in too much choice!!

Check out the “Health” section for more health & wellness related “news”

fruit & vegetables vs. pills & medication

Ok, it’s time for another round up of the week’s stupid health news.

I found this fantastic article on Wednesday with a dreadfully long winded headline: Don’t eat cereals that change the colour of the milk: Unlikely but brilliantly simple rules that will transform the way you eat

No, I didn’t make that up!!! Feel free to read it, it’s really quite insightful! Here are some of my favourite bits:

Don’t eat cereals that change the colour of the milk
Um, I thought that it was because of cocoa powder – which is good for you, right?! I get the ones that are coloured purple or bright green etc, because I’m sure that’s all awful chemicals and colourants etc.. but what about Nesquik? It looks suspiciously like dog food, but cocoa is natural.. actually, I guess it depends on whether or not cocoa is good for you or not this week! And what about Fruit Loops?

Avoid foods Grandma wouldn’t recognize
I’m not sure that my Grandma would know what tofu is let alone recognize it.. Or goji berries.. Or ginseng.. Well, my Chinese Grandma would of course know what they are and how to best cook them.. Is this rule calling White people stupid?! lol

Buy smaller plates and glasses
I’m pretty sure that if I went by this rule, it would only encourage me to help myself to more helpings – since the tableware is smaller!!! Makes me think of Zoolander “What is this.. A school for ants?!?”

It’s not food if it has the same name in all languages
I’m going to pull the Chinese card again and say “TOFU”!! … I wanted to be smart and think of more things, but I got nothing…!

Ok, that’s enough of that.. If you want to read more of these stupid rules, then check out the link!

Now for some happier health news! A study done in the UK showed that the average woman burns 48,000 calories per year by shopping! So now we have an excuse to go running around the shops! But it’s true, especially if you don’t drive and you have to rely on public transport or walking to bring all of your new treasures back home! Carrying stuff is a workout in itself!

And finally, this isn’t really health news, but I’ll throw it in anyway. According to yet another useless study, the weight of the average woman’s purse/handbag has decreased by 50% over the last two years. Apparently, this is due to the take-over of gadgets like BlackBerries and iPhones replacing the heavy cell phone and bulky address books/planners. I don’t know about you, but my purse always weighs a ton! And it’s full of so much crap! I have to have about 5 lip glosses and hand cream, and maybe some ibuprofen, and maybe a book, and of course my glasses case, a nail file or 2.. and then there are receipts, loose change, old bus passes, Mentos <3 .. And what doesn’t help is the fact that the new hot thing is those great big giant purses – even “small” bags are still really big. So ok, your phone might not weigh 2lbs like it did before, but to me, if there’s more space, then I’ll cram more crap in there. Maybe an additional hand cream and a few more lip glosses!!!! Did I mention that make-up makes me happy???

They should have factored in the weight of a woman’s handbag when doing that shopping study.. I remember when I was in college, they had some chiropractor people come in and weigh people’s school bags to see what kind of long term damage hauling a heavy bag around all day was doing to them.

Check out last week’s stupid health news too!!

1. The fizz in carbonated drinks might cause weight loss!
Researchers believe that injections of carbon dioxide will trick the body into causing fat to shrink – therefore making the subject thinner. This has been tried and tested in Italy, and apparently the results were good. The next trials will be in the USA – targeted on overweight subjects. I can see if this is actually proved to be right, there will be people injecting cola and stuff into themselves.. Remember the lady who injected cooking oil or something into her lips… yuck.

2. Baby formula is apparently just as good as the real thing!
According to some “expert”, baby formula is just as good as breast milk. He said that babies fed on breast milk were only SLIGHTLY healthier – but this was because of conditions when they were in the womb, and NOT because of the milk. I think that in a world where we can grow ears on the back of mice and find treatments for disorders like haemophilia, that the formula that is available to babies must be pretty good. But isn’t breast-feeding like bonding between mother and baby? And it’s what it’s there for.. It’s free, sterilized, readily available. What’s better than that?!Of course, if a mother is unable to breast feed, then yes, of course, formula is the alternative. Makes me wonder what baby formula company sponsored this research…..

3. Smacking your child will make them more successful!
Good news for advocates of smacking your child when they are naughty and misbehaving – bad news to those who are against it! According to researchers, children who were smacked up to the age of 6 tended to do better in school, do volunteer work and go to university. I received the odd smack on the bum for being bad when I was a kid.. And I’m not unbalanced or anything. I think as long as discipline is carried out consistently, then the child will grow up to be solid member of society.  Obviously there is a lot more to go with that – other parenting factors, a nurturing and loving home, patient care givers etc.. But I don’t see what’s wrong with the odd smack! So YES! Finally a decent health article!!!

4. Eat yourself skinny!
Christ, I must have read about 4 of these articles this week. Skinny-mini columnists proclaiming that their love of food keeps them skinny. And then they mention that they cycle to work, go to the gym, take kickboxing classes, eat expensive organic food, and “indulge” on meat only once a week. Ok, they admit to the occasional burger (not a tofu one).. But eating nuts and couscous every day with a cucumber and yellow bell pepper salad does not constitute it being a meal. Yes, I’ll admit, it’s bloody healthy, but where is the KD and steak & kidney pies?! I really admire people who have the willpower to go the gym on a regular basis – and those who can afford the ghastly gym fees.

5. Women who don’t vote are less likely to have pap-tests, mammograms, etc
Yet another useless study. The money for this research should have been spent on getting the women to a doctors office to have them checked. The head researcher behind this said that women don’t go to vote because of their hectic and/or disorganized lifestyle. Therefore, because of time management, they do not have time to go vote, go to the doctor etc. A study from the US said pretty much the same thing. In families with more children, *both* parents were more likely to not go to get screened.  The authors said “This is probably because parents have less time to get screened, and prioritize the needs of their children above their own”.

I don’t understand useless studies. There must be better things for the research money to go towards – not for a bunch of scientists to sit around finding the correlation between women voters and cervical screening. And skinny people drinking zero calorie water and non-fat lattes really piss me off..! Maybe I’m just jealous because they are successful columnists and I’m not!! Yes, that’s probably it!
Ok, I’m going to wallow in self pity and have a cola and eat a bag of Doritos!

Happy Saturday!

They said that his kitty moob is fat, which is common with cats that have been fixed. Vets sometimes call this an “apron”. My cat actaully got lost for a few days, and when we finally found him, his moob had nearly gone. We took him to the vet straight away, and she said that he’d converted his fat to energy and that it would grow back. And grow back it did! He likes to sit up on his back legs like a prarie dog, and now he looks like a penguin warming it’s egg!

Just remember not to call your cat fat, it might hurt it’s feelings!

Kitten after his first hair cut

As all you cat owners will no doubt have noticed, your cats have this dangly bit of skin on their bellies. I call this my cat’s “moob” – because he is a male cat, and his fat is in his boob area… male boob….. Anyway….!

I got Kitten (yes, very imaginative name I know, but it stuck) when he was very young, and as he has always been extremely fluffy. Because of this, I never noticed his moob – that is, until I got him shaved. I remember when I went to pick him up from the vet after his haircut, I was in shock.. “Oh my god, my cat is fat!” I said to the vet tech, laughing. And he wasn’t even 1 year old yet! I had always figured that he was big because of his poufy fur.

Kitten, to put it nicely, is a beast. His feet are huge, he weighs around 13 lbs. Each time I take him to the vet, I ask if they think he’s overweight. And every time, the reassure me that he is not.

They said that his kitty moob is fat, which is common with cats that have been fixed. Vets sometimes call this an “apron”. My cat actually got lost for a few days, and when we finally found him, his moob had nearly gone. We took him to the vet straight away, and she said that he’d converted his fat to energy and that it would grow back. And grow back it did! He likes to sit up on his back legs like a prairie dog, and now he looks like a penguin warming it’s egg!

Kitten in the Flowers

According to all of the vets that Kitten has been to see, these fat pads are perfectly normal. Also, the fact that they may sway when he walks is also not uncommon. Please note that this extra fat is not necessarily because your cat is over weight. Even a skinny cat can have this extra pouch on its belly. So don’t put your cat on a crash diet – as this will probably encourage them to eat even more!

If your cat’s tummy fat starts to feel different, or if you feel a lump or something else abnormal, take your kitty to the vet – just to get them checked out to make sure everything is ok.

Also, for girl cats, if they have had babies, they will have looser skin – which again, is normal. It seems that for both sexes of cat, being fixed is the main reason for this dangly skin in the abdominal area.

Just remember not to call your cat fat, it might hurt its feelings!