Nutrition Q&A: How healthy are olives? Are cola drinks bad for you?

Our expert answers your nutrition questions
What is the difference between black and green olives, and is one better than the other?

Green olives are picked before they have been ripened by the sun and so contain the bitter-tasting chemical oleuropein. Black olives, however, are picked when ripe. An average 3g green olive contains around 3 calories and 0.3g of fat, while black olives have about 7 calories and 1g of fat. Olives bottled in olive oil can have another 25 calories each. The good news is that over half the fat in olives is the heart-friendly monounsaturated type.

Not surprisingly, those processed with brine can be incredibly salty. If you eat 20 olives you could notch up a little over 3g, more than half your daily salt maximum. Olives also contain small amounts of vitamin E, which is needed for our skin, and a range of supernutrients with antioxidant and antibacterial properties.

What can I eat to keep my prostate in good shape?

When it comes to helping to prevent prostate cancer, tomatoes are what you think of first. They are rich in the pigment lycopene, an antioxidant that collects in the prostate gland. Studies suggest that those eating ten or more servings of tomatoes a week, or tomato juice and purée, had a reduced risk of prostate cancer. Lycopene is best absorbed by the body from cooked or canned tomatoes, because the cooking loosens it from cell walls and fibre which otherwise make it hard to digest. Other foods containing lycopene include pink grapefruit, watermelon and papaya.

Meanwhile, a vitamin D deficiency has been diagnosed in many prostate cancer patients. Oily fish, such as mackerel, herrings and sardines contain vitamin D, as well as eggs. Another way to stock up on vitamin D is to get some safe exposure to sun each day between April to October. If you are not getting enough sun and vitamin D-rich foods, a 10 microgram daily supplement is a good idea.

Finally, some advice for younger men: keep your waistline in shape. A study reveals that white men who gained more than 10lb, and black men who gained more than 1st 11lb, from the age of 21 were twice as likely to develop advanced prostate cancer as their peers who stayed slim.

I drink six diet colas a day. Will the artificial sweeteners damage my health?

In terms of whether you will exceed the acceptable daily intake (ADI) of artificial sweeteners, the answer is no. In the case of the sweetener aspartame, which is used to sweeten diet drinks in the UK (often in conjunction with acesulfame k), you would have to drink 6-7 litres a day to reach the ADI. Your current consumption of just over two litres falls well short of this.

That said, I would advise you to cut back, if only because research indicated that women who drank four servings of cola a week over a five-year period had lower bone density, especially in the hip, which increases the risk of osteoporosis in later life. Cola also contains caffeine, and we are advised to consume no more than four caffeine drinks a day.




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A day in the beauty hall

We visit the largest beauty hall in Europe to discover what really makes women shell out hundreds of pounds on cosmetics?

I am skulking around the beauty hall in Selfridges, Oxford Street —the largest in Europe and the store’s busiest department, especially since the recession bit — watching women buy make-up and ­­­cos­metics. They all have the same facial expression: a mix of anticipation and excitement, with something slightly dreamy and glazed about the eyes, as if they have been hypnotised. It’s exactly the look my five-year-old daughter has if she’s ever in an old-fashioned sweet shop, of the kind where the jars of apple bonbons and fizzy cherry-cola bottles reach up to the ceiling. For women aged anywhere between teens and antiquity, the buying of cosmetics is the adult equivalent of buying sweeties, except it doesn’t make you fat, and it promises to make you beautiful.

The women — and what a mix, from ladies in hijabs (famed for their make-up and skincare consumption, according to several sales assistants I speak to; if your face is the only bit of you showing, you make damn sure it looks its best) to skinny teenagers in shrunken leather jackets — vary in their approach. You can tell the ones who have dashed in from work, because they make a beeline for X counter and know exactly what they want; this also applies to women with small children in tow. For others, though, shopping for cosmetics is a more languid experience: they waft from counter to counter, looking for the elusive one, for the potion, or the lotion, or the cream, or the lipstick, that’s finally going to allow them to flower, to be the spectacularly groomed, superhot person they always knew they were on the inside. I talk to some of them, and they all say more or less the same thing: they’re buying the stuff for themselves, because it makes them feel good, because it’s a treat, “because I’m broke, but my nails are by Chanel”, because it’s a form of therapy, because “it’s amazing in here, like a toy shop”.

The sales assistants, whether from out-there brands such as Illamasqua (the counter is manned by freelance make-up artists) or from “yourself, but better” specialists such as Bobbi Brown, agree that the beauty hall is about transformation; several say that it isn’t unusual, when giving makeovers, to have the customer in tears when the “after” is revealed. And then what happens? “They buy everything, including the brushes I’ve used,” says one sales assistant. “Hundreds of pounds’ worth.” As you would, if you went in feeling like a caterpillar and emerged in full butterfly glory — and thank you, Visa.

It’s the same story with skincare, which I find more puzzling. You get instant results with make-up, but skincare involves a certain amount of blind faith: all you see is a jar, and that jar can cost hundreds. But if people can get fanatical about make-up, they’re positively fundamentalist about face creams. For some, the longing for youth — and it’s ironic that words we normally shy away from, such as “plump”, are the very words that make people shell out £400 for a jar of cream — is akin to religion rather than to consumption. Earlier in the week, in Harrods, I asked a lady — a perfectly “ordinary”, middle-aged woman from north London — why she was spending nearly £200 on a jar of SK-II Ultimate Revival Cream. Her friend swore by it, apparently, and the friend was looking very good. Could the friend be looking very good because she was happy, or had just come back from holiday, or was having excellent sex? Or, um, because she had good genes? “Maybe,” she laughed, “but she says it’s this cream.” Did Ms Muswell Hill often spend £200 on a face cream? “I bought Crème de la Mer because of all the hype,” she said (£530 for 250ml; £160 for 60ml). And? “It was great. But you always hope to find something even better, don’t you?” Forgive me for asking, but are you rich? “I’m a teacher,” she said. So that would be a no. “Hey, I know you,” the woman said. “You wrote that book about shopping. You should know why I’m buying the cream.”

Because it’s a present to yourself? Because it’s about you, and the rest of your life feels like it isn’t? Because when you see those ads telling you you’re worth it, you cringe at the naffness while secretly agreeing? Because your life is lacking in luxe, and this cream will fix that? “There you go,” she said. “And if it does actually make me look better, it will be an added bonus.”

We all have, and frequent, an inner space that represents the gap between fantasy and reality. For women who wear make-up, that place, more often than not, is filled with cosmetics. It may be clichéd and sound reductive, but a harassed new mother buying herself a fabulous red lipstick will feel better. If she wears it, she’ll stop feeling like an elephant/scarecrow hybrid for half an hour, and convince herself she’s channelling Parisienne chic. But even if she doesn’t wear it, even if it sits at the bottom of her handbag, tossed among the nappies and the wipes and her keys and a slightly squashed banana, it will remind her of her other life the next time she’s rootling about for a headache pill — the life in which she is glamorous and is the kind of person who wears red lipstick, the life she’s not quite willing to give up on just yet. Even if that life isn’t a life she has ever had, or is ever likely to: that’s not the point. Cosmetics, to bastardise Wilde, represent the triumph of hope over experience.

Back in Selfridges, I have a chat with David Walker-Smith, the store’s director of beauty. He tells me that he brought his mum in to have a makeover at the Armani counter. “In the 1950s, women thought they just looked how they looked. Today, they all believe they could look amazing, if they knew how. And it’s true — they can. We have people here who can teach you the artistry required. I wanted to show my mum a bit of that.” Makeover complete, his mother went home. Her husband was away that night, so she slept in her make-up to show him the next day. I close my notebook: that story tells you everything you need to know about the power of cosmetics.

Except, one last thing: “You’re right to say it’s all about transformation and magic,” Walker-Smith says, “but the other thing is, we now have products that work — products that keep their promises. Things really have evolved. Some of those wonder creams really are wonder creams; they really will make you look better.” Magic meets fact, at long last. I’m supposed to go home, but I spend another hour wandering round the beauty hall, my faith not only intact, but renewed.


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How to wear ankle boots

It doesn’t matter if you wear biker boots, shoe boots or weird clog-boot things, just make sure you keep them short and sweet

Not so long ago, ankle boots were little more than a bland compromise in the great declamatory drama that is fashion — something you reached for when your fabulous knee boots wouldn’t quite do up over your trousers, or your ballet pumps seemed a bit too flimsy to withstand the blast of winter. Then came Louboutin and Alaïa, with their pumped-up prices and fancy, souped-up designs, and the ankle boot emerged as a statement in its own right.

Shoe-boots, sandal-boots, shoe-boot- clog-things, bondage, centurion, Worzel Gummidge . . . the ingenious permutations appear to be endless, because as skirts — and, for that matter, trousers — get shorter, the eye requires something to provide a bit of interest on that long expanse of leg.


There are a few crucial points to bear in mind if you go ankle-boot-shoe-sandal- clog shopping this autumn. The first is not to listen to anyone who tells you that they’re ugly, even if that someone is yourself. I don’t think I’m giving too many secrets away when I say that not too many years ago the entire fashion desk at The Times abhorred the shoe-boot, deeming it the greatest enemy to leg enhancement since the jam doughnut. Now we love them. This is not us being fickle. It is us being open-minded and (after a season or two of feeling completely left out) fearless.

Other considerations: colour, practicality, versatility, warmth . . . if you want all four then the biker boot is hard to beat. It’s especially fashionable this winter, but it’s also a classic that can be worn with drainpipes and dresses. Moreover, it looks better the more beaten-up it is (not polishing boots is cruelty to leather, however) so in investment terms it’s hard to beat.

If you wanted a second pair, something with a medium heel and platform and cut low at the ankle to maximise leg length should do the trick when you are aiming for a more glamorous look. The lower cut means that it will work with any skirt as well as trousers. These boots look particularly good with bare legs (it doesn’t matter if they’re pale).

If you’re concerned about cold feet, or the boots rubbing, you can slip on a pair of ankle socks — it looks fine, I promise — and work a sort of Maggie-Gyllenhaal- in-Secretary look for, oh, another two or three weeks before that lovely, bone-gnawing damp — or hypothermia — kicks in.


Multimedia

* Pictures: 14 of the best ankle boots



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Green and confused: Subtle skills to cure bad habits How can stop people leaving the tap running?

I run a small environmental business. I’ve tried to introduce energy-saving measures but find it bewildering how people do not adopt simple habits such as turning off taps. What do I do?

Psychologists and a group of people called behavioural economists spend hours puzzling over such problems. The green police would like to shame or harangue us into changing our behaviour, but humans are peculiar creatures and subtle methods have to be employed.

To take an example: I’m Irish, a race famous for its fiercely independent spirit and loose approach to rules. Put a sign up saying “Don’t walk on the grass” and any self-respecting Irishman will make sure to walk over it.

In 2002 Ireland was the first country in the world to introduce a tax on plastic bags. In the run-up to the charge there was talk of mayhem in the shops, almost of revolution. Yet within days people were happily bringing their own bags and plastic bag usage was halved. Though Ireland is about to double the price of a plastic bag to around 40p, price is not the only factor influencing behaviour.

If I’m in the supermarket queue in Ballydehob and ask for a plastic bag, how do I feel? Well, I’m probably worried that the people next to me think that I’m some sort of spendthrift and ask for a loan. Or I might be concerned talk would get around about my doubtful environmental credentials. Worst of all, my fellow shoppers could think I’m a fool for forgetting to bring in my bags.

The point is that when it comes to changing behaviour, a range of factors is in play. Turning off taps is a big problem area. As children, your staff might have been used to leaving the tap running while brushing their teeth. Changing such habits is very hard. Psychologists suggest simple things, such as changing the tap, to break the habit cycle. Even altering the position of a rubbish bin can alter behaviour.

One study by the New Economics Foundation (www.neweconomics.org ) looked at messages in hotels asking guests to consider the environment and not use so many towels. The signs made little difference. Yet when the message was changed to state that the person before had only used so many towels during his stay, then a competitive element seemed to enter in and towel usage dropped. So to change behaviour it seems necessary to be both subtle and imaginative. And, if you employ any Irish people, make sure to take down those “don’t do” signs.

From The Times


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Paris Hilton insists: 'I'm smart' The star says that her persona, complete with baby voice, is an act

She is best known for her prolific social life, vast wardrobe of designer clothes and love of tiny dogs, but socialite Paris Hilton is making an effort to shake off her “airhead image”.

The heiress has claimed that her persona, complete with baby voice, is an act.

“I would do the baby voice and it’s kind of like this character I made up, but in real life I’m completely different, I’m very down to earth, I’m smart, I know what’s going on,” she says.

Since bursting into the public eye in 2003 when a tape of her and her former boyfriend in bed together made it onto the internet, Hilton has made millions from fans.

She has starred in several of her own TV shows including The Simple Life and Paris Hilton’s British Best Friend. She also has her own perfume, has designed a clothing line and launched a singing career.

The star has also tried her hand at politics. Last year, she jokingly announced her intention to stand for president after John McCain criticised celebrity in a campaign advertisement. Posing in just a swimming costume on a sun lounger she said: “That wrinkly white-haired guy used me in his campaign ad, which I guess means I'm running for president. So thanks for the endorsement white-haired dude and I want America to know I'm, like, totally ready to lead."

In Fearne and Paris Hilton, due to be shown on ITV tonight, Hilton, rumoured to be worth around $30 million, gives a tour of the colour-coded wardrobe and private nightclub in her Hollywood home. The mansion also has its own miniature replica house complete with chandeliers, air-conditioning and furniture, for her dogs Prada, Dolce and Marilyn Monroe.

Hilton insists that she has a sense of humour about her public persona: “It’s kind of like I almost play to the image and kind of have a laugh at myself about it. I think a lot of people will assume that I’m just like an airhead. But in my everyday life, when I’m hanging out with my friends or if I’m in a business meeting I’ll talk in my normal voice."


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Communicating with children using smells

A school has started using scents as a clever way of communicating to children with multisensory impairments. Carol Midgley reports on an inspirational scheme

Sofia’s world is largely a dark and silent one. As a blind and deaf child of 9, her sense of smell is one of the few means by which she can interpret the landscape.And what she is smelling today, on a small, laminated square, is the seaside. The ozonic scent of salty air, wet sand, seaweed and ocean spray has been replicated and impregnated on to a scrap of paper.

Alongside her, Harrison, 4, is rolling his head back and smiling deliriously. The aroma infused on to his card is that of a farm yard. Horses, hay, manure, cows, green fields — incredibly all this has been distilled on to an inch of cardboard. Another smell that has been created in readiness for November 5 is the bouquet of Bonfire Night.


The children are among pupils aged between 2 and 19 at the Seashell Trust School, in Cheadle Hulme, Cheshire, formerly known as the Royal School for the Deaf, where a soap and shampoo firm has been enlisted to help severely disabled children to communicate for the first time via olfaction.

PZ Cussons, the company behind Imperial Leather and Carex, which has an innovation centre in nearby Salford, has seconded its creative perfumer Kate Williams to work with the school to help children with varying levels of multisensory impairment to make choices about what they eat and drink, the activities on offer and to help them to put the environment in context.

It may involve using smell to tell a carer whether they want chocolate or strawberry milkshake or it may be, as Anne Gough, who runs the school’s sensory unit, says, that the staff use smells simply for comfort, pleasure or to calm. A marshmallow scent is good for this. Vanilla is apparently the universal smell of happiness. Most children will respond positively to something that smells sweet.

The Seashell Trust is both a day and residential, co-educational, non-maintained special school, offering specialist provision for pupils who have severe and complex disabilities, combined with communication difficulties.

One boy, whenever he goes to the park, sniffs the metallic chains that hold the swings. Kate has therefore recreated that unique, ferrous smell and this is a way of telling him that he is about to go to the park. For most people it is almost impossible to imagine such levels of disability, such sensory limitations, but Anne, whose inspirational skills last year won her the Special Needs Teacher of the Year award, believes that we must not underestimate such children’s capabilities. “People will be amazed at what these children can achieve,” she says. “Some people have low expectations of them and I think this is wrong.”

Indeed, one of the hardest things for sensory-impaired people to understand is concept and representation. But by using the smell-card, one child with partial vision has learnt to recognise pictures and words — a remarkable achievement. A further development in progress to help children to recognise classmates or members of staff is to create unique scents for staff, and thus enable them to distinguish between teachers. Plug-in fragrances are already used to help children to understand days of the week. Monday smells of lemon, for instance, and Tuesday of lavender.

Sofia’s ability to read the world around her is limited even further by her physical handicap. Her hands make involuntary movements and thus she cannot even rely on her fingers to relay information and navigate her surroundings. “If Sofia was being taken to the farm, she would just arrive there and that would be it,” says Kate. “But if you have introduced the idea beforehand by smell it helps to put it in context.” Similarly, since she is fed by a gastric tube, presenting the smell of milk communicates to her what is about to happen.

“Eighty per cent of your learning is visual and 15 per cent is aural so that only leaves \ these children with 5 per cent. This is why it’s so important to give them a medium,” says Anne. “What Kate has done is incredible. These aren’t smells that you can buy in a shop; she has had to break down the smell into individual elements and recreate it in her lab.”

The Seashell Trust changed its name last year to emphasise working with students rather than providing things for them. Children who are deaf are usually educated within mainstream schools.

The Seashell thus offers facilities for pupils with multisensory impairment and with multiple learning difficulties, autistic spectrum disorders and physical and medical conditions. All children are taught on a one-to-one basis which makes it an expensive place to run.

While fragrance may not seem like a major breakthrough, to these children it provides a language. Simply being able to communicate to a teacher — whether it’s with a smile or a gesture — what they do or don’t want to eat while out on a day trip empowers them by giving them choice.

Kate says that creating a fragrance is like creating music. A single note may be orange oil or lemon oil and chords are created when things are put together. “When we gave the fragrances to one child, it was like we spoke to him in a different language, one that he understood,” she says. “If you can create a fragrance to help the children learn they just run with it.”

The 2009 UK Teaching Awards will be broadcast on Sunday October 25 at 6pm on BBCTwo.




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Sex advice: the fallout from a gay fling at work Coming out of the closet as a married man is still no picnic, but your wife needs honesty as much as

Q A gay colleague helped me while I was working late one evening. I said, in mock gratitude, “I could kiss you”, to which he replied, “Why not?” Soon we were engaged in a sexual act. I feel very excited whenever I look back on the incident. Should I start a relationship with him, or try visiting a gay bar to find out whether this is what I really want, before discussing it with my wife? Or should I view the episode as a one-off?

A Before we deal with the issue of your sexuality, I would like you to consider how you would feel if your wife “accidentally” had sex with one of her work colleagues and subsequently felt conflicted by a choice between (a) establishing a relationship with the man with whom she had sex, or (b) secretly experimenting with other men in order to establish whether she was (c) 100 per cent certain that she did, or didn’t, want to have sex with you any more. Harsh, isn’t it? Cheating is cheating, regardless of whether it is with a member of the same sex or of the opposite sex, and your confused sexuality does not excuse selfish or insensitive behavior.


Same-sex experimentation is pretty common. Research at Harvard School of Public Health in the US in 1994 found that 20.8 per cent of men and 17.8 per cent of women admitted to same-sex sexual behaviour at some point.

While one homosexual experience doesn’t define anyone as gay, a married man who re-evaluates his sexual identity as the result of a brief encounter can be sure that he isn’t completely heterosexual. Many men and women successfully ignore sexual attractions to people outside their marriage, but if the events you describe were just a one-off sexual experiment, you wouldn’t now be contemplating clandestine trips to gay clubs. Let’s face it, if you were incontrovertibly heterosexual this probably wouldn’t have happened in the first place, since total sobriety and a wife waiting at home would usually be more than enough to deter the average man from engaging in an impromptu sex act with a gay work colleague.

Your insistence that this event was not premeditated is somewhat reminiscent of the man who turns up in A&E having “slipped in the shower” and mysteriously lost a shampoo bottle, but it is true that sexuality doesn’t necessarily remain static and some people discover that they are attracted to men and women later in life. The Klein Sexual Orientation Grid uses seven component variables of sexual orientation to describe a person’s sexual proclivities, based on their past, present and ideal sexual disposition. Taking the test online (bisexual.org/kleingrid.html) would help you to gauge how much your behaviour, fantasies, emotional preferences, social preferences, lifestyle and self-identity may have shifted away from heterosexuality.

Growing acceptance and positive role models in popular media have helped to destigmatise homosexuality, but “coming out of the closet” as a married man is still no picnic, and, weirdly, for a man to declare himself bisexual seems even more problematic — there are almost twice as many bisexual women (2.8 per cent) as men (1.8 per cent) in the population.

The psychologist Beth Firestein speculates that this may be because male bisexuals feel “pressured to label themselves as homosexuals instead of occupying a difficult middle ground in a culture that has it that if bisexuals are attracted to people of both sexes, they must have more than one partner, thus defying society’s value on monogamy”.

Right now you see only two options for yourself: to forget what has happened or to explore a possible gay identity in secret. But there is, in fact, a third way. Honesty is never the easiest option, but if you were to bite the bullet and explain what has happened to your wife, your “tremendous excitement” would be exposed for what it really is — a messy and difficult lifestyle choice with widespread implications for you and her.

While that truth might not necessarily set you free, it would set your wife free and allow her to make an informed decision about what she wants and deserves from her marriage.



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Pedal power: how to get the best from your bike

Cycling is great exercise, but it's far from a complete workout. Consider some other activities for all-round conditioning



According to the cycle charity Sustrans, almost one third of commuters in the UK now use the National Cycle Network. In London alone, more than half a million bike journeys are made daily by commuters, a figure that has doubled since 2000. Cycling is not only greener and an effective way of beating the rush-hour, it also provides a daily workout without the need to visit a gym. But is the bike alone enough to guarantee a high level of fitness?

Cycling is among the best cardiovascular activities and works all the leg and buttock muscles. Coasting along at a snail’s pace will burn about 180 calories an hour, and more intensive pedalling can consume up to 400 calories an hour or more. The bad news, however, is that not all your fitness needs are met on a bike.

“Cycling isn’t the best route to all-round conditioning,” says John Brewer, professor of sports science at the University of Bedfordshire. “If cycling is your only form of exercise, it may be worth adding other activities as well.”

So where does cycling fall short?

Bones Unlike running or weightlifting, cycling is not a “weight-bearing” exercise. Bones react to external stress through impact with the ground or resistance by stimulating growth so that the skeleton becomes stronger. “Cycling is great for people who suffer from joint injuries,” Brewer says. “But it does not prevent osteoporosis.”

Studies have shown that cyclists who spend long hours in the saddle are more prone to brittle bones. One, published this year in the US journal Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise, found that almost every member of a group of male cyclists in their 20s and 30s had signs of osteopenia, a medical condition one step below full-blown osteoporosis. In March researchers at the University of Missouri found that cyclists had lower bone density than runners or weightlifters.

What to do: Switch at least one of your cycle rides to a run or a walk. If that is not practical, try weight training once or twice a week or invest in a skipping rope and do at least 20 skips or star jumps a day. Studies at the University of Nottingham showed that taking the stairs instead of the lift could significantly boost bone mass in the hips and legs.Arms, shoulders and back “To develop strength and tone in your arms and shoulders, you need to include weight or resistance training,” Brewer says.

Although cycling doesn’t work the arms and shoulders, it can place strain on those body parts. “Cyclists often have a hunched posture,” says Sammy Margo, of the Chartered Society of Physiotherapy. “That can lead to excessive flexion of the lumbar spine, a forward rotation of the hips and pelvis, and shortening of the back of the neck.”

What to do: Push-ups and pull-ups are great for developing upper-body strength. Invest in dumbbells or perform a routine of arm and shoulder exercises using water bottles filled with sand two or three times a week. Make sure your saddle is positioned correctly — your extended leg at the bottom of the pedal stroke should be almost straight. Also check that your handlebars are not too low — that can cause stress on the lumbar spine.

Core muscles Most of the power to pedal and stay balanced on a bike comes from the body’s core muscles. But although cycling relies on core strength, it doesn’t build it. “Improving core strength will not only improve your fitness in everyday life, it will enhance cycling performance,” says Professor Brewer. “The less energy your body needs to devote to keeping upright, the more it can devote to pedal power.”

What to do: Regular Pilates is the best way to develop core strength and is used by many elite and Olympic cyclists, Margo says. “As well as strengthening the trunk area and the muscles that provide power for the legs, Pilates will help to realign the body and open up the chest, relieving the tension and pain that can result from sitting in a cycling position for long periods.”

Get the most from your bike

Stick to sit-up-and-beg bikes for short commutes — they help posture and reduce back strain.

Recumbent bikes make your hamstrings and gluteus muscles work harder, and the semi-prone position means that knees, shoulders and necks suffer less strain.

On a regular bike, your handlebars should be at saddle height or slightly lower. Do not hunch your back or grip handlebars too tightly.

Aim for a constant 60 to 80 revolutions a minute on flat surfaces. Do not set your gears too high.







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How neurolinguistic programming helped me lose weight Could neurolinguistic programming kick-start your diet?

I am standing in the returns queue in Marks & Spencer. There is a certain amount of tight-lipped frustration in the air. I, on the other hand, am in an excellent mood. For once, I am happy to wait.

I get to the front of the line. I am returning items bought online, I explain. The assistant nods. I wait for her to ask me why. Instead, she begins scanning the labels. “There’s nothing wrong with them,” I volunteer. “They’re all fine,” I add. And then I can’t help myself: “It’s just that they’re too big.”

This has never happened to me before. I do a lot of online clothes shopping, see. When you’re a size 16, buying clothes over the internet is the least painful of options. I can try everything on in the privacy of my own bedroom, and if things don’t quite do up… well, that’s between me and the dog.


The clothes in question weren’t terribly exciting: a pair of work trousers, a top, a long cardigan. But they were definitely too big for me. Puzzled, I checked the labels. But no, it wasn’t M&S’s fault: it was me who was the wrong size. Tentatively, I reached for my bottom drawer. Here is where I keep my few remaining pairs of pre-pregnancy trousers.

I chose my favourite, from Whistles: a size 14. They did up, with ease. I sat down on the edge of the bed. A wave of pure joy washed over me.

Granted, a size 14 is not exactly sylph-like. But for me it’s a triumph. To have got there without any noticeable deprivation or insane exercise programme is even more thrilling. It has been a slow, gradual transformation, and I have just one person to thank: Susan Hepburn.

Hepburn is a hypnotist who specialises in neurolinguistic programming, focusing on weight problems. Back in April, we began with a detailed conversation about my life-long struggle to control my weight. Hepburn is both a perceptive and practical therapist. She asked me my ideal dress size. A 12, I replied. She laughed. Was I sure? Not a 10? Most of her clients wanted to be a 10. I stuck to my guns: a 12. Besides, I thought: it’ll never happen.

On my second visit she recorded our session straight onto my iPod, which I then listened to at home. We had our third session in June, and since then nothing. Except, of course, for the shrinkage.

If I think really hard about it, I can see how she has changed the way I eat. At work, when I go to buy coffee and my eyes greedily scan the array of treats behind the glass counter, I can hear Hepburn’s soft Barnsley burr, instructing me to “make healthy choices”. She seems to have done what years of diets and exercise regimes have never managed: to normalise my relationship with food. It is neither a source of comfort, nor an obsession; it is simply fuel. If I am hungry, I eat; if I am not, I do not. I have only one regret: I should have asked her to make me a size 10.

Susan Hepburn: 020-7487 5200


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Fashion file

Day Seven: Kate Lanphear’s Favorites from Paris Fashion Week






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Balmain's Next Craze

Fashion-file

Could the shiny black boots worn by most of the models on the Balmain runway today be fall 2009’s answer to spring’s much-obsessed-over crystal-studded stiletto stunners? The sleek, motorcycle-esque, slightly futuristic high-heel boots feel sexy in a don’t-mess-with-me kind of way. Looks like Balmain’s devoted ladies will have no problem upholding their rock-star-cred well into next season.

—Violet Moon Gaynor

Photo: Imaxtree










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