A New YOU!
SETTING GOALS FOR THE NEW YEAR AND STICKING WITH THEM
COPING WITH CHRISTMAS STRESS LEARN TO MANAGE YOUR MONEY OVERCOMING FEAR
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Editor’s letter Welcome to Empower Magazine. An exciting and brand new lifestyle publication bringing positivity and inspiration to all our readers across Norfolk.
life without fear or doubt. For them to have self worth and ambition and to have dreams so big that no barriers hold them back from achieving what they want in life.
It’s packed with motivating, inspiring and uplifting stories. It also brings you practical advice and tips on day to day life, news and reviews, health, wellness and lifestyle choices, with the aim to empower people to a more fulfilled and happier life.
A recent survey, by the Campaign to End Loneliness and the London School of Economics, has just revealed the startling fact that Norwich is one of the worst cities in the UK for loneliness. Now, more than ever, is a time when something is needed to be done to combat this serious problem and to help the people of our fine city and beyond.
The magazine’s core message is of value, worthiness and self-determination. It is dependent on positive news to enable those looking for a better life to overcome the obstacles they may face. To be inspired by its content and make the changes they have always wanted; become a “somebody”, not a “nobody”. We want to encourage individuals to be stronger and more confident in every aspect of their lives. Empower Magazine is committed to helping the lives of everyone, especially young people, equipping them with the knowledge needed to live a
coming soon: empowermagazine.co.uk
In a world where there is so much negativity, we all need a bit of positivity and encouragement to help us through our day and this is what this magazine aims to achieve. Our goal? Simple. To inform, inspire and Empower! Hope you enjoy this first, sampler issue. Wishing you a Merry Christmas and a season full of joy and happiness!
Emma Harvey i December 2017 |
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december 2017
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10 06 SET GOALS, REACH, REPEAT Personal Trainer, Kyle Brooks, give us his advice on how to set goals and stick to them
10 A NEW YOU
Are you looking forward to Christmas or are you dreading it?
14 GO FISHING
22 YES, YOU CAN SAVE MONEY, LOSE WEIGHT AND SAVE THE PLANET
When your passion outweighs your fear
A brand new year, a brand new you
Going through a transformation to finding a new you
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Life behind the camera of Photographer, Paul Macro, and his journey through depression
Getting practical with your finances
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COPING WITH CHRISTMAS STRESS LEARN TO MANAGE YOUR MONEY OVERCOMING FEAR
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SET GOALS Reach at!
e p e R
ROOKS B E L Y SK WORD
WHY SET GOALS? Goal setting before you embark on any kind of project is imperative if you’re going to succeed. Often in the excitement and focus of getting started, people set themselves up to fail. Without a clear goal, you’ll never know when you reach your destination or how far you’ve come along the way.
Let’s look at an example of someone trying to lose fat weight. Specific would be setting a clear finish line of losing 2 stone of fat. To make it measurable they would need to take body fat measurements. Ensuring it’s achievable can sometimes mean changing the initial “specific” goal, for instance it could be adjusted to 1.5 stone of fat loss. Result-based again links in with having set a specific target and ensuring progress is measured. Time-framed will require a set date to aim for, which is again realistic or it could be an event such as a holiday or wedding.
IT'S NOT JUST ABOUT THE GOAL THOUGH Ultimately the determining factor when it comes to your success or failure is why you want to achieve your goal and how badly. Even the most determined people will be less likely to succeed in achieving their goal if they’re trying to do it for the wrong reasons or it doesn’t mean that much to them.
HOW DO I SET A CLEAR GOAL?
In order to make sure your goal is the right one, imagine you’re explaining it to a child and ask yourself one question. Why? Why do you want to achieve your goal? Why that goal? Why now? Why not before? Why will it make a difference to you? If you struggle with answering any of these questions, it’s probably time to reassess what you want.
One of the most popular ways to set goals is to use the SMART acronym of which there are many slight variations. Smart often stands for Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Result-based, Time-framed.
Once you’ve got this picture, your motivation will be obvious. This is a key part of a technique called motivational interviewing and it’ll serve you well when times get hard on the way to your goal.
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MAKE IT STICK
the best result, but it’s what I’ve found to be the best next step for myself and my clients.
Write it down, preferably by hand. Writing it by hand makes it far more personal, and when you look back on it at a later date, you’ll identify with it more because you’ll subconsciously recognise it as an expression of your aspirations. This process also gives you a chance to review your goals as you work through planning them.
The next thing to do is put it up on a wall or cupboard door, somewhere you’ll see it every day. It’ll be a great reminder, and even if there are some scribbles and parts you’ve rubbed out, these in themselves will give you hope that mistakes can be worked out. It’s what you do from there that leads to the finished product and accomplishing your goal.
AFTER YOUR GOAL IS SET Once you’ve decided where you want to get to (e.g. losing 2 stone), it’s time to figure out how to get there. This isn’t an easy task, and you must be 100% honest with yourself to get
ACTION PLANNING Action planning is exactly what it sounds like, planning what actions you will take to achieve your goals. They might not always be obvious, and can sometimes seem trivial but the important thing is to make sure they’re realistic. Using our 2 stone weight loss example, some basic actions might be
1 - to exercise more 2 - to snack less 3 - to get more sleep
BETTER ACTION PLANNING In order to make these basic actions more powerful and effective, they need to be more specific. They then form a December 2017 |
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KYLE BROOKS Personal Trainer
more coherent plan to hold yourself accountable to, reducing room to make excuses for yourself. Here’s what a more effective action plan might look like.
1 - To exercise for 30 minutes, 5 days per week, in the evening.
2 - To have no crisps,
sweets, biscuits, or chocolate in the evening.
3 - To be in bed with all electronic devices switched off by 10:30pm.
THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN GOOD AND BAD ACTION
PLANNING The difference between good and bad action planning. The second list goes into more detail about the exact action, and is therefore more likely to work. It’s possible to go into more depth but you get the idea. We all know what it’s like to receive unclear instructions and prefer to know exactly what to do, but it’s something that’s often overlooked when action planning. The more prepared we are, the better we do.
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BARRIERS AND TACTICS We’re all fallible and have sticking points that have held us back. By assessing these barriers (a perceived lack of time is very common) we can think of tactics to overcome them, e.g. cooking meals in batches at the weekend to save preparation time during the week, would allow more time to exercise.
“Kyle Brooks is a weight loss expert from Norwich and founder of Brooks Personal Training. The team at Brooks Personal Training specialise in weight loss only, helping business owners and professionals to make lasting improvements to their health.”
Another example would be that having committed to 5 evening workouts, one week you have 3 evening events. At this point you can only fit in 4 workouts and it would be easy to skip one, but instead if you plan you can just move one workout to the morning so you keep progressing.
So whatever you goal is, if you want to see faster progress, set some meaningful goals and clear actions using the advice above.
Contact information Unit 17B Alston Road, Hellesdon Business Park, Norwich, Norfolk NR6 5DS Mobile: 07935 726358 Email: kyle@brookspt.co.uk
brookspt .co.uk
Y L I A D SMALLEMENTS V O R P IM Y E K E H T ARTOESTAGGERING M R E T G LON
S T L U S E R
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you! A New WORDS EMMA HARVEY
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Fear.
The Oxford dictionary meaning of this is: 1. An unpleasant emotion caused by the threat of danger, pain, or harm.
you feared the most, and He got you through it” It reminded me of the verse in the Bible, Psalm 23:4:
2. A feeling of anxiety concerning the
outcome of something or the safety of someone.
3. The likelihood of something unwelcome happening.
4. A mixed feeling of dread and reverence.
So that sad, as a child I had a fear of death. Not me dying personally but of the loved ones around me. The first time I experienced death was at the age of seven when my granddad died. I didn’t understand it and felt great sympathy for my dad who had just lost his father and my nana who had lost her husband and partner in life.
Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me
I used to spend many nights thinking or worrying about it. Worrying about the fact that one day my parents would die, and how would I cope without them or losing any member of my family of which I was adopted into.
When tough times hit us and we go through tragedy, heartbreak or pain, we wonder how life will ever get better when all we see is darkness around us. You feel you won’t move on from what has happened but overtime we find we got through it. The heartache and pain my still be there but you’ve just learnt how to live with it. What you did without realising it was walk through that shadow of darkness and came out the other end.
It wasn’t until recently that a close friend of mine said to me “You’ve just been through one of the toughest times in your life, but what you didn’t realise is that God showed you the thing
But how many times do you have to go through something or face the thing you fear the most? How many times does it present itself to you? How many knocks does it take before you stay
down or are you one of those people who says I can handle what ever life throws at me and will get back up every single time? I feel I am one of those people now. Why? Because there is far more strength in me than I realised. Being a Christian, I know that God would never put me in a position that I couldn’t handle or cope with. I may December 2017 |
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not have thought that before I came a Christian, and you may not believe what I believe, but what I do know, is that there is far more in you than you realise and you will always find that strength from somewhere. In the last 10 years I have been faced with my fear several times. Christmas 2007. What should have been a joyous time of year came a heartbreaking tragedy. My 10 week old niece died in her sleep, two days before Christmas day. I remember sitting at home a few days later trying to understand why this had happened. Trying to work out why something so precious had been taken away and as a big sister, was never going to repair or take away the pain and heartache my brother was feeling and would feel for the rest of his life. That heartache and pain for me lead me to question things about life. What happened out of that tragic event bought me closer to God and becoming a Christian. Sadly a few year later at the beginning of 2011, life all got too much for my brother and he attempted to end his life. Thankfully someone found him and called the emergency services who then called me to say they had found my 12 |
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brother slumped over in a lay by after taking a considerable amount of tablets, and that he was heading to A&E. I then had to break the news to my parents. The dread every parent doesn’t want to hear. That night has to be pretty much the worst night of my life. Knowing that my brother wanted to end his life. How did I not notice something was wrong? What must have been going through his head over the last few hours for him to do that? All I could do was pray and ask God to save my brother. I didn’t want him to die and I just kept questioning how would my parents cope if that were to happen. At one point things turned for the worse and it was looking like he need a liver transplant. I used all what was left in me to stay strong for my family and pray, hoping that God would be listening to me. He was. He heard me. He saw me cry every tear. He knew my life would not be the same without my brother in it. He also knew my parents tried for 10 years to have children, with no luck, until adoption was the only choice they could have to make their dream of being parents a reality.
My brother tried to end his life on a Sunday afternoon. By Friday afternoon that week, he was discharged and I bought him home. My prayers had been answered. Out of those tragic and heartbreaking events came a new realisation of life. You don’t always see how precious life is until a life is no longer and you see how short it can be. Knowing this, gave me the determination for wanting to do all I can in my life, do the things I want to do, see the things I want to see, visit countries far and wide, and use what gifts and talents I have be blessed with to help others My niece’s death could have pushed me in the opposite direction of not believing in God but I believe she guided me in the right direction, and through her death came an amazing transformation in my life. A new me was born, a clearer outlook on life was created and I don’t spend endless nights worry about what I feared. Life is to be lived, not spent on worrying about the things you cannot change. Fear is usually the one thing that holds us back from achieving anything. I’m not going to achieve overcoming death but having my faith and being a Christian has really helped me answer some of the questions I needed answers to. I have found myself being a stronger person because of what I went through. And its that strength that helps me
pursue the things I want to do in life. It gives me the extra determination I need.
Go out and do something you’ve never done before or face the thing you’re scared of.
I’d never be able to ski down the face of a mountain, let alone stand up properly. But after several hours of learning on real snow, I stood at the top of one of the mountains in France and skied all the way down it. Successfully? Well I made it in down in one piece and felt really proud of myself for that accomplishment!
I went skiing for the first time in my life this year. When I stood on the dry ski slope for a taster session, I thought
Always keep striving and believing you can do anything you want in life. Be brave, be strong, be fearrless!
When you overcome fear, you are capable of far more. You will feel more confident knowing that you can face anything. The fear of the unknown is what holds us back but if you just took that leap of faith, you never know what you can achieve!
"SUFFERING produces endurance, endurance produces character, character produces HOPE"
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GO ng i h is W
SS ORD
COTT McCRUM
F I
f fear didn’t exist, what would your life look like? Fear often governs our lives, especially for the young people of our city in Norwich. At Fearless, the local youth ministry of Proclaimers Church, our focus is about seeing these young people not only manage these fears but to overcome and conquer them, turning their eyes from yesterday’s painful history and focus on tomorrows triumphant victory.
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We believe in a generation of leaders that will significantly change the world they live in for the better, as they live fearless lives not dictated by media or culture but by a passionate, limitless and fearless God. This being said – I hate fish. Some people are scared of spiders, others frightened of the dark, afraid of heights – me? I’m scared of fish.
In the water, they can keep to themselves, but as soon as they are pulled onto land their unblinking eyes stare into your soul, flopping around sending my stomach into turmoil, their scales slimy and slippery from the watery world they have been pulled from. Their gaping mouths reminiscent of some bizarre alien creature that would normally reside safely behind TV or movie screens. Believe it or not, there is a reason for the fear of fish – but that’s a story for another time.
arises). It’s actually a beneficial evolutionary response that will keep you alive. But there is a second more dangerous fear – the fear that will keep you from living. It’s the fear of standing out, the fear of public speaking and raising your voice, the thing that will stop and hinder your growth, cropping up in a room full of new people during a networking event, or social events. It’s the war that wages on the inside of you.
It’s true – I hate fish. But it revealed something startling to me that I have seen play out in the teenagers that come into the life of Fearless. There are two types of fear. The first one is the fear that keeps you alive, the fear that kicks in your flight-or-fight response. It stops you leaning over the side of a cliff, or jumping out of a plane, or poking a tiger in the eye (if ever the opportunity
It says in the bible that “God hasn’t given us a spirit of fear or timidity, but of power, love and self-discipline” 2 Timothy1:7. In Fearless, we do not teach about the absence of fear. We teach about the overcoming of fear – feeling scared, yet being able to push through and conquer it. We have had the privilege of playing a part in a lot of teenagers lives, and we have seen stories of individuals with severe anxiety turn around and become some of the most
“God hasn´t given us a spirit of fear or timidity, but of power,
love and self-discipline”
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outweighs t r ea h r u o y e, iv r d your Once your passion, , there is nothing s es n s u o v er n nd a the fear you back. d l o h r o u o y p o t s to
Contact information
If fear didn’t exist, what would your life look like? Fear often governs our lives, especially for the young people of our city in Norwich. At Fearless, the local youth ministry of Proclaimers Church, our focus is about seeing these young people not only manage these fears but to overcome and conquer them, turning their eyes from yesterday’s painful history and focus on tomorrows triumphant victory. We believe in a generation of leaders that will significantly change the world they live in for the better, as they live fearless lives not dictated by media or culture but by a passionate, limitless and fearless God. Ages 11 - 17 Friday nights Proclaimers The Space Roundtree Way Norwich NR7 8SQ Tel: 01603 484630
@FearlessProclaimers proclaimers.com
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social people in the room. The quiet teenagers volunteer to pack chairs away just to stay a little longer with the right people in the right environment. But we have found in our experience that the key to realise the spirit of love, power and self-discipline has come entirely from building relationships and doing life with the youth that walk into the doors. Fearless doesn’t end on a Friday night – it stretches to the Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday – the whole week. It’s a full time gig. We get to do life with the individuals who come into Fearless, and it’s through the McDonalds’ conversations, watching football games, going to performances and plays they are doing – that helps bring out the power, love and selfdiscipline that overcome fear. I believe that a “new you” comes when your passion outweighs your fear. Two of our Fearless boys who haven’t been to Fearless for a few months mentioned one of their die-hard hobbies; fishing.
The one thing that makes my skin crawl. But I went with these two boys and a few other Fearless leaders to go fishing with them. I even caught the first fish. Was I almost sick? Yes. Did I hold a fish? No. Did I overcome my fear and suddenly like fish? No. Is this my last fishing trip? Absolutely not. Overcoming my fears is absolutely worth it so that I can invest and spend time with two boys that I fully believe have the capacity and ability to change their city. My passion to help these two individuals, among a mass of many other youths in the life of Proclaimers church, heavily outweighs the fears that I myself need to overcome. I believe the same can be said in all walks of life – once your passion, your drive, your heart outweighs the fear and nervousness, there is nothing to stop you or hold you back. Being Fearless is not the absence of fear; it’s being so driven that fear isn’t an excuse to miss your potential.
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A E V A H I can How E E R F S S E R ST
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WORDS
LORRAINE
GRAN T
A
re you looking forward to Christmas or are you dreading it? If you are dreading it, then you are not alone. For one in five people Christmas Stress will have started around November 12th - a whole six weeks until Christmas Day! Christmas tends to be a time for relaxing and spending time with family and friends. Although for many it is not so merry. Instead, it is filled with organising Christmas parties, cramming in last minute Christmas shopping and planning the big family Christmas dinner. As well as all of this there is the financial burdens that come this time of year. Parents are often worried about affording special gifts, let alone finding them. All this frantic activity can lead to stress, a lack of sleep, and ‘Christmas burnout’, which is anything but festive.
With Christmas just around the corner, lots of people are looking forward to celebrating in pubs, clubs, restaurants and at parties. However, for those suffering from social anxiety, this time of year can bring dread and fear instead of festive cheer. For those who experience social anxiety and have been invited to Christmas celebrations, will undoubtedly have begun to think of everything that can go wrong and imagining these things over and over again in your mind, already trying to think of ways to avoid the event all together. Social anxiety can bring fear and worry from what to wear to a Christmas party, eating in front of other people, chatting with people, coping with noisy crowds, to getting home safely. Social anxiety can affect people of all ages and of both sexes. Sometimes social anxiety is triggered by an extreme life event or from a culmination of stress built up over time.
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So how can you avoid Christmas stress this year? Try to prioritise time and write to do lists. Break down the larger to do’s to manageable tasks. Be realistic about what you can achieve and ask for help...especially if family and friends are volunteering to help you. It is ok to say ‘No!’ If you can’t squeeze in any more around your table, or will not be able to attend several different parties or cannot afford to buy particular gifts then say ‘No’! You are only causing yourself more grief and the important people will accept your honesty rather than be disappointed. If you are going out to a party, ensure you know who you are meeting and where. Sticking together with at least one friend means you can look after each other. Ensure you know how you are getting home and plan ahead. Take a little time out for yourself every day, especially over the Christmas period. Take a walk, run a bubble bath, practice mindfulness. Try to clear your mind before you go to bed each night by dealing with any problems or completing to do lists so you don’t have to worry about forgetting something. If you are awake at night get up and do something that will ether tire you out or relax you and only return to bed when you are feeling sleepy. As a hypnotherapist, I see clients that are overwhelmed with stress and do not know how to start managing it. Hypnotherapy is very successful at treating stress and social anxiety. It can help you eliminate any negative effects from traumatic events in the past and
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at you can elp..." achieve and ask for h
"Be realistic about wh
EMPOWER YOUR MIND
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Hypnotherapy and NLP for the successful treatment of depression, anxiety, stress, pain, weight loss, addictions, fears & phobias, relationships, personal confidence and much more.
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Contact information to correct any distorted thinking and limiting beliefs. Hypnotherapy can help you deal with stress in a more natural and mindful way. By reprogramming the mind in the way that it thinks and behaves, it enables you to deal with any challenging situations more resourcefully, that in the past would have been a problem. Stress is common and can manifest and present itself in a variety of ways.
However, it is important to know that it is extremely treatable and no longer needs to be suffered.
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Yes Lo
lanet eP
You can save Mon e y n d A s t h a g i v e e W t h e s
WORDS N IKKI TWYNING 22 |
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2018. A brand new year, a brand
new you. If you’re anything like me those sharp pangs of reflection on New Year’s Day go something like this, ‘hmmmm, I could do with losing a few pounds’... and then, ‘I’d love to be able to put some cash aside each month’.... later I’ll take on the bigger issues, ‘what about climate change? Are three energy light bulbs and recycling my jam jars really making a difference?’ By the end of the Festive Season I have resolved, like so many others, to ‘save money, lose weight AND save the planet’. Put your hand up if you said that this year? Or the year before? Did you make it to March? Did you make it to the end of January? Did you make it through the week? Don’t lose heart. Don’t give up. Make those same resolutions this year and I promise I can show you a way to keep them! ALL of them. In the spirit of full disclosure, I should tell you at this point that I am a vegan. Wait. Don’t turn the page! Look back at the title and quickly remind yourself
why you started reading this piece. Stick with me to the end of this article - I promise it won’t hurt a bit. I’m a lifelong vegetarian, thanks to my mum making an extraordinarily bold decision in a time and place (1970’s Cornwall) where it wasn’t by any means easy or trendy. I am enormously grateful to her for not only making that choice but also sticking with it in the face of pretty relentless opposition. “You cannot possibly raise a child without feeding it meat? How will she grow? She will always be sick. Her bones won’t develop properly!” These were just some of the things that my mum had to argue against almost daily. Just to put your mind at ease - I’m tall, never sick and I have never broken a bone in my body (so, I’m assuming they’re fine). “But wait!” I hear you cry, “why are you telling me all this?” I’m telling you all this because just over 2 years ago I went from being vegetarian to vegan. For those not 100% sure of the difference, a vegetarian doesn’t eat meat or fish but does eat
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cheese, eggs and milk. A vegan diet is one that excludes any products made from animals, so obviously no meat, eggs or dairy but also excluding ingredients such as honey. The details can take a while to get your head around if this isn’t a way of eating that is familiar to you - but the part I like to focus on is ‘a plant rich diet’. Read that again.... ‘a plant rich diet’. That is the take away from this piece. THAT is the silver bullet.
Save Money: Now, don’t get me wrong, I’d love to have the kind of influence that would make you throw your hands up in the air right now and declare yourself a vegan - but I am realistic in my persuasive abilities. So, let’s start small. Look at your last shopping receipt. How much did the meat cost? For each meal that includes meat what is the per head spend? If you were to make say two meals a week vegan or vegetarian, wouldn’t there be savings involved? When you next do your shop, give it a try. Make a note of that saving and put it in the “piggy” bank. As you get more familiar with vegan recipes and just exactly how much fruit and veg you can buy for the equivalent of four chicken drum sticks you’ll be quids in. Top Tip - remember what your original shopping budget was and put any savings you’ve made straight in to the savings account/jar. It will give you tangible totals of money saved - and everybody loves that!
LOSE WEIGHT: It’s simple to lose weight, right? Eat less calories than your body needs and....hey presto! You’ve lost weight. If only. The beauty and simplicity of
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" Don’t lose heart. Don’t give up. Make those same resolutions this year and I promise I can show you a way to keep them! ALL of them."
a plant rich diet is by getting those calories IN to work harder for you. You want to feel satiated while taking in fewer calories, all while enjoying higher levels of nutrients. Most meat eaters find that when they move to a plant rich diet, they lose weight. This is mostly down to the fact that you can eat so much more in quantity of fruit and vegetables than you can with meat for the same, or usually less, calorific intake. 100g of poultry is approx 270kcal - now, you could eat 100g EACH of broccoli, tomato and potato and still save yourself around 100kcal. By introducing a few vegan recipes to your weekly meal plans you can be losing ‘lbs’ while saving ‘£’s’.
into now, so I’m just going to outline a couple of ways a vegan diet impacts positively on the planet.
And finally....
Land use - A person on a ‘traditional’ meat and dairy diet needs approximately 24 times more land than a person on a plant based diet. You don’t have to take my word for it - think about it logically. Imagine your average allotment. The size of an allotment is such because it’s enough to feed a family of four with fruit and veg for a whole year. Now how many more
SavING THE PLANET: Yep. This one is a biggy for me and certainly an aspect of a plant rich vegan lifestyle that is only now starting to come to the awareness of the wider public. There are too many details to go
CO2 - We generally agree that CO2 is the bad boy of climate change, but what about methane? Yes, I’m talking herbivore flatulence here folks. Methane gas is understood to be upwards of 80% more devastating than CO2 when it comes to the planet’s rising temperatures. Being typically English though, we don’t like discussing cow farts but this is a serious threat to the future of our world - so I think it’s time we properly highlight the issues and its consequences.
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NIKKI TWYNING Nikki is a Freelancer working with small businesses in Norwich. She has been passionate about finding and following the best path to complete health and wellness for many
allotments do you think you’ll need if you decide to keep livestock? Don’t forget you’ll need to have additional land to grow the feed for all those hungry bellies. Now multiply that by 7.6 billion people and you’ve got yourself an awful lot of land use. Worse still, feed for livestock is being grown in countries where the people themselves are starving. I don’t know about you, but in the 21st Century and living in what some might call a ‘civilised society’, I thought we’d be doing better than this. Much better.
Start with something easy like Meatless Monday or by making lunch your vegan meal of the day. See how you get on. If everyone in the West made even just these simple changes (and note I said changes, not sacrifices) the positive impact on our health and the health of the planet would be enormous. The best part is it’s something we can do right now. We don’t need to wait for legislation or for President Trump to decide whether or not climate change is a real thing - we, you and I, can make a difference today.
IT'S SIMPLE:
2018 will be a great year if this is simply the year you decide to ‘live with purpose’.
If this article has been ‘food for thought’ then why not give it a go?
GENERAL information For wonderful recipes and general information, I would recommend, forksoverknives.com and onegreenplanet.org as starting points. Both are also on Facebook and have useful recipe Apps. Alternatively,
years. Excited about a plant rich vegan lifestyle and the benefits it brings to people, animals and the environment she is keen to help others cut through the barrage of information (and myths) that surround food and the food industry. Put simply, she strives to spark a reconnection between people and the food they eat – to eat with intention and not habit.
"Live with PURPOSE" Nikki Twyning
cut loose and have a nose around on Pinterest for endless vegan inspiration. If you would like to explore a vegan diet, please visit vegansociety.com
Contact information
– for events such as ‘Plate Up for the Planet’ and ‘World Vegan Month’. They have huge amounts of information to get you started and guide you through your journey.
Email: contact@theplantinception.com
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WORDS EMMA HARVEY
Lifethrough a We caught up with one of Norfolk’s finest landscape photographers, Paul Macro, to find out what life is like behind the lens, talk about his new book and how he copes with depression
D
epression. It’s one of those words which is like the elephant in the room or in this case, on the page. Some may see it as a wishy washy excuse for someone who is sad, not being able to do something or function in a ‘normal” way when in reality it is something that is real and effects the lives of so many people, of all ages, from all walks of life, across the world, on a day to day basis and is a common mental disorder. The stigma bought with depression is largely due to the negative nature of the illness and makes it harder for depressives to talk to friends, family, colleagues. Due to the lack of knowledge of the illness people think it is ‘made-up’, it’s something that you can snap out of or its a sign of being weak. In England, 1 in 6 people report experiencing a common mental health problem (such as anxiety and depression) in any
given week and approximately 1 in 4 people in the UK will experience a mental health problem each year. It appears that how people cope with mental health problems is getting worse as the number of people who self-harm or have suicidal thoughts is increasing. How you cope with depression is something Paul Macro, Landscape Photographer, knows only too well and has openly spoken about his experience to raise awareness of this health issue. Paul has suffered with three bouts of depression and shares how he dealt with it, faced that demon head on and has now successfully published his very first photographic book called The Norfolk Coast, a photographic journey around the beautiful coast line of Norfolk. It’s easy to give up on something, and two out of the three bouts of depression Paul suffered, he caved in, gave up and packed in his job. The third time though was different. And that’s when Paul decided to face depression head on, push through it and stick with what he was doing. Paul was on his way to a shoot when panic struck him. He had to pull over and stop driving. With his phone held in his hand he was ready to call the client to say he wasn’t coming and was going to cancel doing the job. Again he was ready to do what he had previously done, give up and quit. But he managed to compose himself, push through how he was feeling, and do the job. What made the struggle
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hing, et m o s t n a w Y L L EA R u "If yo you can Achieve it " worthwhile was the positive feedback the client gave him and how they were really happy with outcome of the shoot that day. The client may not have known what was going on in Paul’s head that day or how hard it was for him to actually get there but every time that client now posts out one of the photos on social media, he realises that he made the right decision not to give up and quit. Last year in June Paul forced himself to take two weeks off work. Unable to sleep and relax, he found himself driving around Norfolk at 4am and ended up at Cromer. A couple of days later he returned to Cromer with his family and captured an amazing sunset shot of the pier, the photograph which is now the front cover image of his new book.
Left page: Holkham Beach, Top and underneath: Burnham Overy Staithe, Top right: North Norfolk Railway at Sheringham,
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Above: Cromer Pier, Right: Brancaster Staithe Village, Sheringham Park, Hemsby, Cromer Pier at night
Out of those dark days, came the idea of this beautiful pictorial journey to showcase Norfolk’s stunning coastline. Years of hard work, days of capturing the right images, months of planning, days of working with a copywriter and graphic designer and Paul’s book is finally here. From what started as a hobby seven years ago, Paul turned is passion of photography into his day job and loves being behind the camera and it really shows throughout his work in this book. On receiving the news his sample book was ready to be collected, Paul couldn’t wait to see his book so he jumped straight into his car and headed over to the printers, driving with excitement like a child on Christmas day waiting to open his presents. He never dreamt that one day he would have published his very own book and there it was, sat waiting for him to open. All wrapped up ready to be seen for the first time by the man who had this vision and his reality of a book was about to be opened. Wow! He knew then he had chosen the right people to help him achieve this. Copies of the book have already been on pre-order since March this year with the awaited anticipation of receiving their copy, not just in the lovely county of Norfolk but further afield and across the ocean to Amercia so far. The wait will be no longer and the journey of Paul’s book will have made it to homes far and wide. 30 |
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Paul's TOP TIPS For budding Photographers: 1. Enjoy it! Experiment, develop your own style, be patient. At times you can see the ideal image and idea in your head but it make take years to get that actual shot. 2. If you’re taking photographs at the beach, be careful and be prepared of tides. Paul has been cut of by the tide more than once so don’t put yourself in danger. 3. Back up your photos! 4. Print them out! The saddest thing about photography is so many people take photos on their phones these days and no one ever sees them. No one takes the time to get them printed like we used to. 5. Know your limits. Focus on what you’re good at. And that goes for anyone. Paul says he could have put his book together but it would have looked horrendous! He’s not a copywriter or a graphic designer, so use the skills of other professionals to help you.
WANT A COPY OF THE BOOK Orders can be placed at paulmacrolandscapes.com RRP £30. £34.99 for UK P&P and delivery by courier.
PAUL MACRO
Landscape Photographer
The sights, sounds, and smells of Norfolk, and specifically the Norfolk coast, are woven into my soul; my happy childhood is a bright tapestry of memories. I’m a Norfolk man, born and brought up in Norwich. Seaside holidays at Burnham Overy Staithe with my parents and younger sister, Kelly, played an important part in my childhood. Several times a year, at all times of the year, my family spent holidays and weekends in our caravan, where the beauty of Norfolk’s unspoiled beaches and wide skies provided the backdrop to our other world, where there was peace and contentment and sibling harmony. My passion for Norfolk’s dark winter skies and rough seas, fiery sunsets and tough, wind-slapped greenery was born from an early exposure to these beauties – before I knew they were beautiful. Do I have any dreams or ambitions? Well, I dream of having somewhere to escape to in North Norfolk, where we – my partner, Sarah, and our children, Bethany and Molly, can recreate the happy holidays of my childhood.
Contact information
8 Thorpe Rd, Norwich NR1 1RY Mobile: 07727 644092 Email: info@paulmacro.com
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Bahhumbug... not? or WORDS ANGUS McCRUM
He finally said he was hoping there was something cheaper he could get for his wife. The lady brought out a mirror and placed it on the counter. What is it about Christmas that is so amazing, and yet so frustrating! So many people love Christmas and at the same time struggle with money – sometimes they struggle with money all year – only to find that their next Christmas makes things worse. We want to be generous to our loved ones and especially at Christmas time. That’s the great part. But the impact of how we plan for it – or don’t plan – can hit us for months to come! This is what most people understand about money. We earn it; we spend it… but end up spending more than we earn. Controlling our money doesn’t come from a monthly budget. Control comes from decisions we make before we even get to spending our money.
I
was reading a Readers Digest when I came across this story: A young man wanted to buy something for his wife for Christmas but money had been tight for some time.
He went to the store to look for something nice for her. The assistant showed him a lovely bottle of perfume for £30. Asking if she had anything cheaper, she frowned and replaced it with a £20 bottle. He grimaced and reluctantly, he asked if there was anything cheaper. With raised eyebrows, the frustrated assistant placed a £10 bottle of perfume on the counter.
It’s all down to purpose. The “Why” behind the “What”. Why am I spending this money…? At the end of their lives many consider what they’ve accomplished. I’ve not heard anyone say, “I wish I had spent more time making more money!” Most often, the echo of regret is wanting to have spent more time enjoying beautiful, ‘imperfect’ relationships. Choose now how you want to look back at the end, and head for that. Now that we have our “Why” we can begin to build our future by taking control of our present. All good things require time, effort and thoughtfulness and so this is no different – grab a pen and make a start….
"CONTROL comes from DECISIONS we make BEFORE we even get to SPENDing our Money" 32 |
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2. V (Variable expenditure) • Draw a line down the middle of the circle. The lefthand side is for our needs – but the amount fluctuates - Regular needs – food, petrol, groceries, etc - Other needs/individual items we know we will need during the year – tooth brush, shaver, bicycle - Total each column up • In the right-hand side… we’ll come back to this one!
STEP 1 Draw 3 circles on the top of the page and label them F, V and S. • F = Fixed
• V = Variable
• S = Savings
STEP 2 1. F (Fixed expenditure) • Under your circle F (Fixed expenditure), write down your monthly, annual and quarterly fixed amounts. Total each column up - This is for those non-changing bills like rent, gas on payment plans, etc.
3. Savings • This can be many as many segments as you like. I’ll list 3: - Short term – like saving for Christmas! Birthdays or a car break down - Medium Term – maybe a special holiday, school/uni fees, house deposit, or that car! - Long term – retirement fund – its never too early to start one! Family....
These are the bills that support our lifestyle.
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Now the big questions...
STEP 3 Add up your monthly, quarterly and annual totals for F & V. Work out how much you need to save each month. And then how much you want to save each month.
So, have a Happy Christmas... Determining how you choose to live your life will help you determine how to spend your money. Manage your life; manage your money. Go on and live life to the full!
"LIVE with PURPOSE"
F + V + S = _________ Income = __________ Your income less all your expenditures and savings should leave you with some money to spare. If not, you either need to earn more or spend less! The spare you have left over, you are free to choose what to do with – and this is the other half of the Variable circle: Leisure! You could even save some of your leisure money for an extra special treat – reward yourself for saving well!
Contact information
ANGUS McCrum
Independent Financial Planner
Trinity Norfolk Ltd, The Enterprise Centre, University Drive University of East Anglia, Norwich, NR4 7TJ M: 07794 563858 T: 01603 951576 Trinity Norfolk Limited is an appointed representative of ValidPath Limited, which is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority
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