 This is the first trip I have taken to Malawi that I can admit I didn't fully enjoy. I am one of Malawi's biggest supporters but I have to be honest and admit that I am losing things to support. Malawi used to be beautiful but our countryside is being severely ravaged by its own people. The two key environmental problems I observed: 1. Heavy deforestation and 2. Frequent small-scale forest and countryside fires I drove from Blantyre to Ku Chawe Inn in Zomba then to Kasungu and back down along the lakeshore road covering over 1,200 kilometres. I completely lost track of the forest fires I saw during the day and at night. Even within Blantyre you constantly smell smoke from burning leaves and cars that should no longer be on the road. This pollutes the air and the scenery. Club Makokola is the only place I found that confirmed they do not burn their leaves. They sweep them all into flower beds and use them as compost. It actually looked strikingly pretty. I wish everyone would follow suit. Malawi doesn't have much in the way of natural resources. What we do have, or used to have, is gorgeous countryside and that is now mostly gone. It's more than sad. I often drive into the British countryside and despite the terrible weather the British countryside is lush, inviting and unpolluted. I have never seen a fire being burnt and developments are controlled to minimise environmental pollution. Malawians in Malawi, why are you sitting by the wayside and allowing your country to be destroyed? Is barren countryside what you aspire to leave your children? The poor may claim to need firewood but why aren't they replacing the trees they fell? The soil is very fertile; there are seeds everywhere. Plant trees and use fallen leaves as compost. When you've cut down all your trees what will you do then? Die from hunger and starvation, that is what. This does not have to be a Government-level problem. Everyone needs to take some responsibility. Replace trees that have been felled! Amongst many problems, missing trees means less carbon dioxide is removed from the environment and any strong wind becomes a sand storm. If our country can't match the beautiful scenery of other African countries we can expect even fewer tourists and even less forex than is currently available. I can't believe people don't see the wider repercussions of deforestation and burning fires. Honestly, do you need a degree to see these things? It's time for action. Wake up. Stop sleeping, beer-drinking or whatever it is you do in your spare time, start planting trees and stop burning fires! As you watch this destruction keep in mind that the Sahara Desert was once a forest and we are very much moving in that direction. You've been warned! 
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 By Heather I am currrently at the lowest weight I've been in 10 years! Having reached this optimal weight, I decided I don't want to lose much more but I do want to tone up. To this end, two months ago I increased my level of strength training. Actually, who am I kidding? I started a regular schedule of strength training for the first time in my life and the impact on my body has been awesome. Note: Strength training is the same thing as resistance training. What counts as resistance training? Resistance training normally doesn't require much movement from one place to another; it's achieved using the body's own strength.  Examples include:
What isn't resistance training? Any activity that involves a huge amount of movement and can increase your heart rate significantly e.g. running, cycling, dancing, football and other sports that involve a lot of moving. These are cardiovascular exercises or simply, cardio. Why is resistance training good? 1. It increases your strength (and energy) levels which is good in itself 2. It improves your muscle tone and with consistency builds muscle 3. It increases your metabolism; the more skeletal muscle you have, the higher your resting metabolic rate i.e. you burn more calories when you're doing nothing which certainly cannot be bad What's harder - resistance training or cardio? Personally, I would say resistance. Cardio involves a repetition of the sam movements over and over again so you can jog or cycle, for example, but have your mind in another place entirely. A successful strength traning workout involves lots of different actvities and your mind has to be more engaged in the session. Indeed, the first sessions are almost imppossible. Two months ago, I couldn't do two consecutive bent-knee leg-drops (the easiest form) it took me two full months to get to six consecutive leg drops. And the best bit? I found that I was eating a little more but still maintaining my weight. This goes to show that the combination of cardio and resistance does help with weight maintenance. If you don't already do both, start to incorporate both forms of exercise into you regime to get more out of your work outs. Currently, I do two 5 km jogs per week and two sessions of resistance training. I also use cycling as a mode of transport if I'm not going very far.  Although your personal finances and your business success are my primary interest, I believe you only operate at peak efficiency when you're fit and healthy. If you feel good, it filters through to your work. To help you with that, click for your free ebook: The Quick Guide to Sexy 
By Dr Harry
Fibre is an essential component of the diet. Even though it is not absorbed by the body, and therefore has no nutritional value on its own, fibre is vital to maintain a healthy digestive system. Another way fibre helps your health is by adding bulk to your food. These two features of fibre illustrate the two different types of fibre: soluble and insoluble. Soluble Fibre Like the name suggests, soluble fibre dissolves in water. It comes from parts of plants which draw in water and by forming a gel helps slow down the passage of food. So when it sits in your stomach it stays there for longer helping you feel fuller and reducing overconsumption. In this way fibre is a great brake on overeating by making you feel full and satisfied helping to control your appetite. That's why it is so difficult to eat a whole bowl of cabbage. Insoluble Fibre Insoluble fibre does not dissolve in water and passes through the body unchanged. Because it helps food to pass through the body in a timely manner, if you don't get enough fibre in your diet you may feel constipated! 
My wife and I have recently upped our fibre intake considerably by eating a lot more legumes.
Many people get a high fibre hit first thing in the morning by eating cereals such as bran flakes, weet-a-bix, shredded wheat etc. for breakfast because these are marketed as "high fibre". Personally, we like oats because oats are a great source of fibre but are also low in sugar and salt (which the other cereals mentioned tend to have added to make them more tasty). So oats are all-round very healthy. You can read our blog dedicated to oats here.
The recommended daily intake of fibre is 25g for women and up to 40g for men. Exact figures depend on age and gender, but a general rule is: the more the better! Unfortunately according to the British Nutrition Foundation, we are usually missing out on this daily target, only eating 60% of the recommended amount of fibre per day. Over time, this can have a negative health impact.
One way to get some extra fibre in your diet is to increase the amount of fruit and vegetables you consume. For example, why not add a sliced kiwi to your breakfast routine? The exact amount of fibre per food varies, but a minimum should be 3g per 100g (or 3%) to count towards your daily fibre intake. Some foods are "high" in fibre which is defined as 6g of fibre per 100g (i.e. 6%). Fruit and vegetables are generally high in fibre, so as long as you are getting your "five-a-day" you should meet your daily fibre target. Foods high in fibre: 
Some foods are higher in insoluble fibre while others are higher in soluble fibre. Since they both have a positive effect, it's best to get a mixture in your diet. Some super foods are high in both insoluble and soluble fibre. You may not be surprised to learn that oats contain both types of fibre. Insoluble fibre is that which is based on cellulose - a plant component found in green vegetables and whole grains. Soluble fibre is based on pectin and gums and is found in all fruits. And by the way, chips don't count - unless they contain the potato skin! 
Although your personal finances and your business success are my primary interest, I believe you only operate at peak efficiency when you're fit and healthy. If you feel good, it filters through to your work. To help you with that, click for your free ebook: The Quick Guide to Sexy By Heather As this small analysis shows, not all oats are equal. The key differences are:
Oats are a great source of fibre (fibre helps to reduce cholesterol), thiamine and iron. Oats contain more soluble fibre than any other grain. This results is slower digestion ultimately meaning you feel fuller for longer. Oat groats are the only source of antioxidants called avenanthramides. These compounds are known to protect one from the hardening of arteries. All in, oats are definitely one of the best foods you can have for breakfast. I have them almost daily.
Nutritional info per 50g serving
This nutritional information was taken off the pack of Mornflake Coarse Oatmeal, Scott's Old Fashioned Porage Oats, Scott's Original Oats and Quaker Oats So Simple. I had no idea that the sugar content was so different!  Although your personal finances and your business success are my primary interest, I believe you only operate at peak efficiency when you're fit and healthy. If you feel good, it filters through to your work. To help you with that, click for your free ebook: The Quick Guide to Sexy  Let me just say I felt a mixture of inspiration and shame! Shame that I have friends who say "I'm not good with technology" and inspiration to work hard on learning how to build apps (I signed up to a course two weeks ago). How did this transpire? I was at the library. The old lady called up the Librarian to ask how she could do something. The Librarian failed then called another Librarian who in turn failed. The old lady insisted that she had done the very thing she was asking for help with on that very computer earlier that afternoon. After 15 minutes, I couldn't stand it anymore and being the nosey busy-body that I am, I asked if I could help. It turned out she wanted to print a panel of pictures and she wanted to bring up the "print Wizard" that she had seen before. I tried a few things and within seconds I thought I might not be able to help her but I'm nothing if I'm not persistent. In about three minutes I solved her problems.  I had observed that the old lady was rather confident in her use of computers and I told her so. She said, in a slightly posh voice, "I have one at home you see, I'm rather daring." I asked her where she'd learnt and she said she took a course in 1997 and also took a course on Photoshop at which point she produced a picture of her with Stalin. It still hadn't clicked that it was photoshoped. "When was this?" I asked. "Well for him, it's 1951 and for me it's 1968". Guys and dolls, if you ever utter the words, "I'm not good with technology", Triple shame on you! We all have to grow old but we never have to stop learning!   By Heather After a hard day’s work, there’s nothing I desire less than exercise. I also hate waking up early in order to exercise so finding an appropriate time to exercise has always been challenging for me. When should you exercise? Find a time that’s easy for you. The number of calories you burn is not impacted by the time you choose to exercise at all. For me, midday, after a hard morning of graft seems to work well and weekends, as soon as I wake up. I have, over time, discovered that if I tell myself I’ll exercise later...later never comes. I have to do it as the first thing during the weekend because after that, there’s always something much more fun to do. How intensely should you exercise? Mild to moderate exercise is good enough for most people. Moderate exercise should make you warm, sweaty and slightly out of breath. Anything that gets you out of breath and very sweaty is vigorous activity.  Recommended activity levels Britain’s Chief Medical Officer, the Government’s top doctor, recommends the following:
Does the US Government advise the same? Pretty much. The US Department of Health splits its recommendations into aerobic activity and strength training. They recommend that:
 Note that these are the minimum recommended guidelines for exercise. You can do a lot more if you wish and if you’re trying to lose weight, you will need to do more. Whether or not you are trying to lose weight, the key message is:
If you mess up one week, scrap it and just set new goals for the following week. You don’t have to make up the lost exercise. If you can, great, but being over ambitious can lead to feelings of failure causing you to give up exercising entirely.  Although your personal finances and your business success are my primary interest, I believe you only operate at peak efficiency when you're fit and healthy. If you feel good, it filters through to your work. To help you with that, click for your free ebook: The Quick Guide to Sexy |
By Heather
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