Within Magazine - March Issue

The year is going so fast!

How are we in March already?! A quarter of the year has gone. Well at least we can be grateful of one thing and that is the welcoming of Spring! Finally, we no longer have to wear countless layers to keep the blood moving, nor do we have to leave extra early for work due to weather conditions. Spring is here ladies! We are celebrating it with a number of beauty essentials that will give us that Spring glow as soon as possible. We are also talking about Mother’s Day this issue, with feature writer Kathryn Lea talking about how it all began, to a guide on best gifts. We hope you enjoy this issue as much as the others. Let us know on Twitter: @WithinMagazine

Local boutique, LOVE Bridal Boutique, has scooped the coveted award for Britain’s Best New Bridal Retailer in the prestigious “You and Your Wedding Magazine” Awards.

This follows straight on the back of LOVE winning joint Best Regional Wedding Boutique in The Wedding Industry Awards.

The Altrincham-based boutique celebrates the accolade having only opened its doors in summer 2012. The driving force behind the award winning boutique is dynamic-duo and wedding powerhouse pair, husband and wife Jonny and Emma Draper.

The couple, from Didsbury, are well-known within the wedding industry, with Jonny winning Best Regional Wedding Photographer in 2013, and they are an inspiration for young entrepreneurs, not just locally, but also nationally.

Passion Having met when they worked together for an advertising agency in Manchester, the couple have turned their talents and passion to weddings with incredible success in a short period of time.

Owner Emma Draper, says: “We are overwhelmed and can’t quite believe we’ve been named Best New Bridal Retailer by You&Your Wedding magazine. We have worked really hard together to build LOVE Bridal exactly as we envisaged and are proud of our achievement.

“Our dream and vision for LOVE was to create a brand and personality of individuality, warmth and helpfulness that comes across as soon as a bride comes into contact with the boutique, whether that be from stepping through our door, visiting our website or interacting with our Facebook and Twitter pages, to ultimately wearing one of our dresses.

“We are delighted to have been recognised as one of the best in the industry by not one but two industry awards, having only been in business for just over a year.

Being named joint winner of The Wedding Industry Awards Best North-West Bridal Retailer, beating off serious competition in the Cheshire and Manchester area, let alone the rest of the North West, was no easy task and knowing that this was based on our brides’ feedback made it even more special.

An incredible couple of weeks!

“The judging panel for both awards is made up of wedding industry experts who are notoriously difficult to impress. It has been an incredible couple of weeks for us and an amazing start to 2014.”

LOVE Bridal Boutique stock an extensive range of dresses by hand-picked designers including the Queen’s couturier Stewart Parvin, Enzoani, Terry Fox, Raimon Bundo, Mia Mia by Alan Hannah and The Heritage Collection by Balbier/Wyatt. __________________________________________ Dresses are priced from £1,000 with a range of accessories starting from £75.

For more information visit www.lovebridalboutique.co.uk.

To make an appointment at LOVE contact Emma on 0161 941 6446.

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The ex-Emmerdale star has flogged herself on eBay to raise money for the Joining Jack muscular dystrophy charity.

Foxy Roxy will go on a romantic date in Manchester to the highest bidder on auction site eBay, after her showbiz pal Carolynne Poole persuaded her to take part to raise funds for charity Joining Jack.

The auction details revealed the “brand new, unused, unopened and undamaged item” is only available for “collection in person” from her Leeds home.

X Factor finalist Carolynne says: “I had already discussed with Roxy the charity I am involved in, Joining Jack, as she has a personal connection with MD through her friend Joe Alecock who also has the condition.

Former Emmerdale star and Dancing on Ice contestant, Roxy, told Manchester Evening News, last month how her New Year’s Resolution this year was to find love with a more sophisticated gentleman, after “dating a lot of losers”.

Bidding reached £4,000 from fellas eager to take single Roxanne on that dream date, which is to take place at Rosso Restaurant in Manchester.

Hats off to Roxanne for taking part for the charity. Here is a glimpse of what the lucky winning bidder will be getting on that special date!

The city of Manchester is currently in the romantic aftermath of the most exciting Valentines Day it has ever experienced courtesy of Key103 and Wreck My Dress.

Back in December, the team, made up of Worsley based Wreck My Dress and Greater Manchester’s Key103, came up with an idea. To create the biggest surprise proposal Manchester had ever seen.

The aptly named ‘Surprisal’ would be offered as part of a competition through the ever-popular Breakfast Show with Mike & Chelsea. Entrants were required to declare exactly why they thought they should become Manchester’s sweethearts, at the centre of one of the most romantic gestures the city, and indeed the UK would see this Valentines Day.

Judging Process Following a grueling judging process, the panel were moved almost to tears by the story of Darren Mcleod, who had planned to propose to girlfriend Rachel Hepworth in the Lake District during a romantic weekend break. The Stalybridge

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couple who have been together for eight years, both have children from previous relationship’s – Darren’s daughter Ella and Rachel’s son Callum.

Tragically, the romantic break would not materialise as the news of the unexpected death of Callum’s father came via a phone call the day before. Out of respect, the team chose not to focus too much on this sad event in the video, but instead to highlight the solid, close knit family unit as they move forward in to happier times.

Emotional With a truly emotional, loving, yet turbulent backstory, the team were left in no doubt that this couple were worthy winners.

Behind the scenes, the date was confirmed. Friday 14th February 2014, Valentines Day of course. The location was also confirmed (but not yet announced to the public) as Spinningfields. In the shadows of glass fronted buildings, financial headquarters, designer shops and top eateries, a true declaration of love would warm the hearts of even the coldest of Mancunian’s!

As the intrigue, Key 103 listeners were kept in the dark as to the identity of the couple, known simply as Mr & Miss X, building up anticipation for the events that lay ahead.

Much of the information was kept secret right until the eleventh hour, with Mike and Chelsea only announcing the location during their Valentines morning show.

Australasia Rachel was taken to The Great John Street Hotel on the eve of Valentines Day (13th Feb) for what she believed to be a ‘Groupon offer’ including a champagne breakfast at Australasia. This was to be the start of a long list of events culminating in the proposal in the heart of the city.

Following a rather bizarre taxi journey during the morning rush hour, Rachel remained clueless to what was happening, even as Corrie’s Simon Gregson and wife Emma joined them for their scenic ride of the city.

Once seated in Australasia, a well rehearsed Darren took his cue to ‘use

the bathroom’, before dashing across The Avenue to change in to his James Bond-esque tuxedo.

With a small army of stilt walkers, dancers, fire breathers, phony policemen (including Key 103’s own DJ Adam Catterall) and celebrities in place, a plethora of odd events unraveled in front of an unsuspecting Rachel. Whilst waiting for Darren to return, a large explosion from the kitchen followed by a fire alarm caused her to be ushered out on to The Avenue, where excited crowds had gathered for the morning’s action.

Deano Cammack, who had been Rachel’s ‘waiter’ in Australasia a little earlier kicked off the flash mob dance troupe. Mike, Chelsea and Matt joined in with the dancers as well as members of Little Stars Stage School. Music was provided by the hugely talented Sam Gray, performing a rendition of Drake’s ‘Hold on we’re going home’ – the couples favourite song.

Perhaps the start of the tear jerking moments came when a screen came to life playing a pre-recording of Darren asking Rachel’s son Callum for permission to marry his mum. The pre-recording had been filmed the night before, in The Hilton Deansgate.

On One Knee As the VT came to an end, Darren emerged from the stage and on bended knee said ‘There were a million and one things I wanted to say to you, but I just want you to know I love you more than anything else in the world…will you marry me?’…A very emotional ‘YES’ from Rachel followed. DJ Adam Catterall clarified her ‘YES’ to the waiting crowds not quite close enough to the action, resulting in an explosion of cheers, confetti cannons and a basket release of white doves.

Celebration was most definitely the theme, as a Chinese dragon led a conga, stilt walkers and fire breathers around Spinningfields as family and friends congratulated the wonderful couple. Music and dancing also continued, as the crowd was treated to a rather impromptu gig from Sam Gray.

stunt as well as forming a large part of the supporting crowd. #KeySurprisal reached the prestigious achievement of Manchester’s top trending hashtag on Twitter, and images from the event have continued via a host of social platforms over the weekend, as the couple jetted off to Paris to celebrate.

Kate Cocker, Content Controller for Key103 expressed her gratitude to the Manchester crowd via twitter shortly after the event ‘This is Manchester’s greatest proposal and you (Manchester) made a dream come true’.

Achievement Numerous influential brands, businesses and people helped in the coordination and execution of The Surprisal, many of which played a role as an unsuspecting diner in Australasia. Local brands all got in on the act, and listeners of Key103 played a huge part in the ideas, format and creation of the

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Why did you want to go on tour now?

I was nervous about doing it. I was thinking, “Should I do a tour?” Then I said to myself, “Of course I should. I would always regret it if I didn’t do a tour.” So I took a deep breath and went for it. On the back of the third series of Miranda, it’s absolutely the right time to do it.

Will you be delivering a lot of people’s favourite routines from the sitcom?

If people are making an effort to come and see you, you should give them something brand-new. Equally, they would be disappointed if I didn’t say, “Such fun”. People are always coming up and asking me to say that.

Were you nervous about doing live comedy again?

Yes, I was at first because my last one-woman show was in 2005. But I started doing secret warm-up gigs, and luckily they have been going really well.

After the third gig, it felt like it was the hundredth, and I felt really comfortable on stage.

What subjects will you be covering in the show?

They will involve hilarity of all varieties! Audiences will recognise some of the themes from the sitcom. It will be continuation of that. I’ll also be telling some life anecdotes that people haven’t heard yet. I will be examining universal social embarrassment and general life conundra – that sounds like a geography term like tundra, doesn’t it? It must be my Geography A-Level coming back!

Do you enjoy audience interaction?

Absolutely. I love chatting to people and having that connection with them.

I want the show to be very theatrical, so that when people leave, they say, “I watched something unique tonight. I can’t believe I saw that!”

You should be playing to a “home crowd” on the tour, shouldn’t you?

I hope so. I don’t think people will spend 25 pounds on a ticket and then say, “I knew she was rubbish”. Only jaded comedians would do that! I hope everyone will be coming because they like me.

They know that I love galloping across stage. So if they boo me for doing that, I’ll say, “Why are you here, then? It’s your fault. You knew what you were getting!”

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What else do people say to you in the street?

They often ask me to say, “I’m going to sashay to the sachets” and “moist plinth.” The other day a five-year-old girl came up to me, stared at me and then said, “Clutch.” I thought she was mad. It was a really unnerving moment, I won’t lie. Then her mother told me, “She does that all the time.” I said that word once on the sitcom, and it’s become a catchphrase for that little girl. So once I realised she was not certifiable, I was delighted. And she’s right – “clutch” is a brilliant word! Another word that I can’t believe I haven’t put in the sitcom yet is “plume”. That’s a word that keeps on giving!

Are you pleased that you inspire such loyalty in your fans?

Yes, I’m really touched by it. I’ve always written comedy with the audience in mind, but now I feel I’ve got a real mandate from them to write the show, and that feels very special.

Does the fans’ enthusiasm ever get too much?

No. I’m able to go to Tesco’s and walk the dog and everything is fine. On a couple of occasions it’s been a bit much – one book signing was quite full on. It’s weird because you don’t feel like

a person who people would scream at.

You think, “Why is this happening?” If you’re a pop star, you expect that level of response. You don’t expect it as a little comedy actress. But it’s still a fascinating experience.

Does your fame still take you by surprise sometimes?

Definitely. I used to be an autograph hunter myself. I remember getting Bill Nighy’s autograph at the stage door once. Afterwards, I wrote a letter to him saying, “Thank you for inspiring me”, and he wrote back to me, which was lovely. Even now, I still feel like a fan.

In what way?

For example, this morning I was on Chris Evans’ Radio Two show sitting opposite Cliff Richard, Kim Wilde and Ranulph Fiennes. At a moment like that, you take a breath and think, “This is absolutely extraordinary.” At one point, Chris played a Cliff Richard song, and Cliff Richard was singing along in the studio. The 20-year-old me would have been thinking, “What am I doing here?

I have no place in this studio.” And the 40-year-old me was thinking exactly the same thing! Afterwards, I asked Cliff, “Do you still get excited about this business?” and he replied, “I wouldn’t do it if I didn’t.”

Have you experienced any other surreal moments of fame recently?

Yes. I was in the US the other day to publicise Call the Midwife, and I appeared on the Jimmy Fallon Show, which is recorded at 30 Rock in New York. That was a pretty big deal. It’s very nice to enjoy moments like that.

I feel really blessed. But it is hard to get your head around it. Nothing has changed. I still feel like a fan – I just happen to have a few fans myself now!

_______________________________________ Miranda Hart ‘MY WHAT I CALL LIVE TOUR¹ 2014 www.mirandahart.com PHOTOGRAPH BY JAY BROOKS, CAMERA PRESS LONDON Miranda will be performing at the Phones 4 U Arena on March 15th.

Late last year, Manchester outranked London as the 51st best place to live in the world. It is the new pub-dilemma of recent times, which city rules - Manchester or London? The capital of the country - London versus the capital of the North - Manchester!

As someone who has lived in both consecutively, I feel a good deal more capable than most who delve in to the debate. I’ve now been in Manchester for a good while longer than I managed to hack it down there, and I am aware that my somewhat remote upbringing may jade my vision slightly... So I’ll stick to the undeniable facts as to why Manchester is presently, the place to be.

The Guardian stated that London is, “the worst place in the UK to be a woman.” Here are a few reasons why I know that is true...

You’d think because nearly 8 million people surround you, that you’d never get lonely, but London is said to be one of the loneliest places in the world. It’s a weird place like that and I learnt the hard way. Apparently it is not OK to talk to strangers to pass the immense amount of mandatory time that everyone has to spend on the tube, it’s considered insane.

London isn’t very friendly.

It’s impossible to meet people unless through a prior acquaintance, or work related. There are a higher proportion of single people living there anywhere in the rest of the UK, mainly I think that is because London isn’t very friendly - something even Londoners admit to.

Everyone moves to London to try and ‘make it,’ so trying to get a job means having half of the career hungry population nibbling at your toes, and they’re hungry! To rent a flat in London is at least twice as much, and to buy, 4 times the amount! If you’ve got a budget, anything you can afford will be at least ¼ of the size and not half as nice. I’ve seen people sleep like Harry Potter in cupboards and under stairs too many times, and it’s not because it’s free; it’s more than I pay here now for a house, with a garden, and parking. Enough said.

Just to really reiterate what you’d be faced

with if you did make the move; a commute of hell on transportation that people behave like rude robots pushing and shoving as only the self-important types do, living like a sardine - shoe horned in to every available square inch known to man, woman and contortionist, being surrounded by so many people of which none seem very happy and just to add insult to injury, women earn on average 22.8% less than men!

Spot the Smiler One morning I was making my hour and a half commute to work, I remembered my first week in London. I used to play a game with my friends called “spot the smiler.” I found it hilarious how hard it was to find anyone that looked happy; then I realised that I was becoming one of them, one of the living dead! That’s when I came to the definitive decision that I was fleeing North, North to Manchester.

It wasn’t a hard choice to make; it was a no-brainer. Manchester has a very real and raw buzz going on right now, it is the place to be. As titled the, “New Creative Capital” and “The Capital of the North,” Manchester is literally causing a mass exodus from the southern front.

As the BBC begun to flee the south, it awakened the souls of us all to what we hadn’t been seeing. How much better Manchester really is!

Football, Oasis and Rain Manchester is known for football, Oasis and, well, rain mainly. But deciphering this in the loosest manner, it is what we’re all about really; fun, arts and creativity and a grungy honest and authentic lifestyle.

Since moving to Manchester, I couldn’t be happier, I knew I was in a great place. Living in any of the small town-like areas around here, you bump in to people that you know walking down the street. In fact, since I moved to Chorlton, it’s almost impossible not to see at least one friendly face a day, just by chance. And even when that doesn’t happen, I get to indulge in one of my favourite pastimes – chatting to randomers. Almost all of which are not

insane, go figure London!

We’ve really got the best of both worlds and everything you could possibly need within walking or cycling distance without even having to go in to town, let alone spend an hour on the tube. It’s actually a bit of a running joke amongst my friends that I don’t venture in to town much; there is everything you need round here. The boutiques and antiques on Beech road, the immense charity shop of Whalley Range, the restaurants of West Didsbury, the beauticians of Fallowfield and the bars of Chorlton. Then, if presented with prime opportunities, the spacious and above ground tram connects you to the centre of the hubbub for the latest diversities of fashion, food, music, bars and arts in mere moments. Oh how I love Manchester.

Northern Capital With some of the best countryside and three nearby cities just outside of our Northern capital, we are influenced and absorb all that surrounds us; hence why what us Mancunians do is real. Even down to the way we dress, the Hipster trend derived from the innate style of the necessities of living here.

Wellies, Barbour coats, wooly jumpers, durable denim, layer upon layers and pulled up socks are all part of requirement here for us ladies dealing with the elements whilst being ready for the city and country all at once.

That’s what makes Manchester so great, this old, cold damp and industrial town is finally being recognised for the underdog that it really is. We’re on the up rise to finally being acknowledged as the place of opportunity, of hope and of killer attitude.

Expect more London evacuees imminently.

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Boy George is a household name; a BRIT Award winning singer he is internationally recognised as one of the most iconic figures from the 80s and one of the most enduring names in English music.

This month following the release of his new album This Is What I Do, the man Boy George is coming to Manchester as part of a string of intimate tour dates to support the new record. This Is What I Do is George’s first release of new music in 19 years and has been dubbed “the comeback album of the year”.

George has called it the best work he has ever done and said “it felt like a really good time to start again, to repaint not only the idea I had of myself, but also perhaps what other people thought of me.”

To date the singer has sold over 100 million singles and 50 million albums as part of 80s band Culture Club and as an artist in his own right. But with a past tarnished by arrests, court cases and drug addiction, his musical ability and talents have been overshadowed in favour of tabloid scoops and gossip surrounding his private life.

Culture Club George shot to fame in 1982 as the front man of Culture Club, known for his androgynous, avant-garde style, and as Culture Club established themselves as the new kids on the block, George established himself as an 80s fashion icon and ‘the one to watch’.

Culture Club catapulted to fame following the release of their debut album Kissing To Be Clever in 1982, from which they became the first group since the Beatles to have three songs from their debut album reach the Top 10 in the Billboard Hot 100.

The group’s second release, Colour By

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Numbers (1983) was also a huge success, making them the first group in music history to have an album go Diamond in Canada for sales of one million copies. Sadly this success wasn’t emulated by their two later releases. Waking Up With The House On Fire (1984) was a commercial disappointment, which George attributed to the exhaustion from the group’s world tour.

Disagreements within the band Then in 1986 the group released From Luxury To Heartbreak amidst major disagreements within the band, and after their US tour was cancelled the group decided to split. Talk surrounding George’s drug abuse had by this time already begun to circulate, and in the same year From Luxury To Heartbreak was released, George was arrested and fined for heroin possession, and a year later received a conditional discharge for cannabis possession.

Looking back he said “I would tell my younger self not to do drugs if I’d have known the kind of misery I would cause myself.”

George struggled with his demons for years, but after his final relapse and a short prison sentence he found the strength to turn his back on his monsters, and thanks his supporting family and practicing Buddhism for the power to stay clean.

“I can’t imagine I will ever put myself in a situation like that again. I’ve taken things to the ultimate conclusion and there really is no happy place to go from there.”

The sad part of his story though, is that despite overcoming his personal demons under the unforgiving public eye, and coming out the other side poised, dignified and self-assured, his many other talents have gone under the radar.

In the last 20 years Boy George has established himself as a successful DJ. He has released a house album, played in some of the industry’s most iconic clubs such as The Hacienda and Space, and worked with big names like Ministry of Sound, Faithless and Groove Armada. Not to mention his fashion label B-Rude, two successful autobiographies, a critically acclaimed acoustic LP, and was co-producer, songwriter and star in award winning West End musical Taboo.

Forgetting the scandals, George is bringing all focus back to his musical abilities with This Is What I Do. The title evidently refers to his passion for music, and directs our attention back to the voice millions fell in love with rather than the name smeared in the news.

“I wanted to remind people of why they first took notice of me” he said, “and kind of draw their attention back to myself as a performer, rather than as a car crash.”

There is a bibliographical feel to the album too; he sings about heartbreak, forgiveness and redemption and refers to his turbulent past, like in the lyrics to King Of Everything, “tempted myself time and time again, like self destruction was so cool.” This Is What I Do is supported by a UK tour, starting in Edinburgh on March 30th and joining us in Manchester at The Ritz on March 31st.

If you can’t make it see him live, you need to listen to the album. With what critics have called ‘a forceful reclamation of his musical reputation’, Boy George has re-established himself as a standout artist in his own right and reclaimed his status as ‘the one to watch’.

By Shaunagh Durkin

So, let me introduce

myself. I’m Laura, the new Fashion Columnist here at Within Magazine. I’m also a fashion blogger, hence the alias of Tiny Twisst (my blog!) Writing about fashion is something that comes pretty easy to me, I guess because I kind of class clothes as my material boyfriend, for I am indeed a shopaholic - but we have no problems with that here, do we?! Get ready for a monthly display of my fashion tips, top buys and general fashion loving…

This month has been a very exciting one as London Fashion Week came to my city!

I went along to a ton of shows at Fashion Scout, which is based at the Freemasons Hall in Covent Garden and is mostly allocated to newer designers.

Fashion Week is a wonderful place for not only catwalk shows, but it’s the best place to people watch – a great way of picking up fashion ideas and trends from other fashionistas.

With an array of trendy bloggers, uncomfortable shoes, free coconut water (yes, really) and bags of popcorn all over the place, I can safely say I am in need of a

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long holiday and popcorn rehab – this fashion stuff is hard work!

My favourite show was Zeynep Tosun, a mixture of beautiful browns, icey blues and big bobble hats, which of course are amazing for bad hair days.

I don’t know about you, but I prefer to see collections that showcase wearable items… sure a crazy one here and there is nice, but there’s nothing like being inspired by the catwalk and know that maybe you can actually find something similar on the high-street, which as we all know is amazing for trends.

This month’s trendsetter of the month goes to the lovely (and very beautiful) Suki Waterhouse. A British model and actress, Suki is fairly new to the fashion scene, however more recently she keeps cropping up on my favorite websites.

The more I see of her, the more I want to steal her entire wardrobe. Also, not forgetting to mention her hair – she rocks the fringe/boho look so well.

For the sake of this article, obviously, I spent a good few hours looking through the photographic catalogues for Suki and let’s just say she always looks perfectly on trend.

This outfit caught my attention immediately. The matching suit is a great

wardrobe staple, as it can be worn for any occasion whether it be casual, or for something a little more special.

Here Suki has dressed it up with simple nude heels and a plain shirt – effortlessly cool but still making a big impact. Matching sets are slightly on the brave side within the fashion world, but I can assure you once you own one, you’ll want more and more.

I found these similar ones from River Island, all with a bit of a spring twist.

Now that we are approaching the Spring/Summer season (yes, honest) it’s nice to inject some shorts and dresses, to show of those pins! River Island have a ton of amazing matching sets, so it’s definitely the place to look this season.

Pleats were another big trend on the catwalks recently, so this pleated skirt is a must. The soft peach shade makes it perfect for any outfit pairing; I’d wear with a contrasting top that has a strong pattern.

As I mentioned, hats were big on the catwalks this season, so this one by Topshop is perfect for covering those lazy hair days.

It’s still cold; let’s face it... so this will help keep all that brainpower warm.

Denim has always been a massive part of my wardrobe, no matter what season I’m in. I love the acid wash on these jeans; they will look great with soft pastel shades and chunky sandals in the summer

I’m not yet bored of the gingham trend, and this smock styled dress is very cute. I’d wear with tights, brogues and a bright orange blazer; monochrome items are great to mix with bright colours.

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We don’t blame you for avoiding the male dominated weights section of the gym – all that grunting, sweating and chest puffing is both irritating and intimidating.

But, according to Jean-Ann Marnoch from the fitness industry watchdog REPs (the Register of Exercise Professionals), lifting weights is an essential for women.

“Lifting weights strengthens muscle and bone, which helps reduce the risk of osteoporosis or brittle bone disease,” which women are more at risk of than men.

“Lifting moderate to light weights has also been shown to give improvements in muscle metabolic rate, or the rate at which your body burns calories.

This means that even at rest, your body is a better fat burner.”

It’s time to stop the myths!

Still not convinced and worried weight training will leave you with Madonna-eqsue muscles? Don’t be. Here are a number of common myths which have left us in the shadows for years!

The Myth: If I lift weights, I’ll bulk up like Arnie.

The Truth: “On a moderate training plan, building up excessive bulk is impossible,” says our expert. Add to that, bodybuilders spend

pretty much all day, every day, lifting HEAVY weights and eating large amounts of protein every couple of hours to achieve that look.

Unless you put in that kind of time and effort, you’re not going to turn into Popeye.

The Myth: I’d rather burn fat, and cardio is better for that.

The Truth: Cardiovascular exercise will burn a higher percentage of stored fat but a muscular body is a more efficient body. For every additional pound of muscle you gain by lifting weights, your body burns around 50 extra calories every day.”

If weight loss is your goal, muscle is your mate.

The Myth: To tone up I need to do lots of reps using light weights.

The Truth: “To add definition, you need to lift heavier weights for a fewer number of repetitions,” advises our expert. Why? The extra challenge from heavier weights increases the number of fibres from which muscles are made, so you’ll tone up faster.

Make sure your routine works your whole body equally at each session too, to get the most body benefit.

So there you have it. A healthier, stronger, fitter body is only a few weight training sessions away.

Happy lifting!

Virgin Active’s ethos is that they want you to feel like a family and they want you to feel a part of it.

Well, Virgin Active, in Didsbury, is a perfect example of that. Their health club boasts the very latest in gym equipment with a spacious and well laid out gym that provides a fun and professional environment to get in shape. The fully trained instructors can give advice when you need it and access to state of the art equipment ensures you get the most out of every workout.

You will find this gym within 303 Deansgate, the landmark Beetham Tower.

Here you can benefit from a range of brand new cardio stations (including iPhone/iPod integration), resistance machines and free weights all set in a quiet air-conditioned room. You can also benefit from the breath-taking 20 metre heated pool with separate Spa pool, Sauna and Steam room! This is the perfect place to pop in for a workout -even towel hire is included! Highly recommended. Meter parking and an NCP are both available in the surrounding streets and the Metrolink station is just a short walk away. So no excuses!

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This month, we tried and tested the Naked range. The 100% natural shampoo and conditioner didn’t let us down either!

The gorgeous scented products help to rebuild thin weak hair into the lushes locks we all dream of.

Definite buy. You can thank us later!

We love everything in the Too Faced spring collection, especially this “Teddy Bear Hair” brush. It’s just a really cute, tongue-in-cheek idea. And the brush itself is great. It comes in a retractable case and has super-soft bristles. Perfect for adding a pop of colour to the cheeks.

We’re definitely getting Carrie’d Away with Nicole By OPI’s latest celeb collaboration. OPI are Introducing 14 new nail lacquers inspired by award winning recording artist Carrie Underwood! This colorful mosaic of hues features a variety of finishes, including playful pink, red and coral crèmes; chunky and textured glitters in gold, silver and white; and sultry eggplant and earthy green shades. Gorgeous!

If you’re fighting a constant battle with flat hair and getting that ‘unsatisfied’ feeling every time you run your fingers through it - good news! There is hope for us! We have finally met hair’s new best friend.

Introducing Signature Look Wind Blown 05 Dry Finishing Spray - it’s lightweight, yet boosts roots in one quick spritz. Get back to running your fingers through your hair and actually getting a handful of volume. Seriously, try it.

(But be quick because we are ordering it in bulk…)

Every time a new season comes around, an essential has to be a new fragrance. Our top choice this month has to be Lalique’s new fragrance, Lalique de Lalique.

Perfume Lalique greets you with the notes of Chinese gardenia, Sicilian mandarin orange, accords of blackcurrant as well as blackberry.

A refreshing smell which will have people turning their heads for more!

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“I met Joel in a nightclub. He was tall and well built, with dark hair and blue eyes – my dream man. The relationship became serious quite quickly, and six months after we had met we bought a house and started planning our wedding.

Looking back, he made all the decisions - what furniture we bought, where we went on honeymoon, and even what we watched on television. Because he earned a lot more than I did, at the time I guess, I perhaps thought he deserved more of a say than I did.

He didn’t get on with my family and friends, so after we moved in together he started to put pressure on me not to see them as often. It was very subtle – he’d take me shopping on a weekend, when I would have gone to see my parents, or he would tell me not to be long when I popped around to a mate’s house for a glass of wine because he needed me to help him with some DIY.

Controlling

because I’d forgotten to get a present for his sister’s birthday. The midwife noticed the bruises on my arms and asked if I was experiencing domestic abuse. I looked her straight in the eye and told her I’d fallen. I almost convinced myself that’s what really happened.

Trapped I loved my new baby daughter, but as I lay in my hospital bed, desperate to get back to my son, hoping Joel would not lose his temper, I felt trapped. Where could I go, a mother of two young children, with no job, no money, and, thanks to Joel, no relatives or friends I could have asked for help?

I had no self-confidence or independence.

Joel controlled every pound I spent and demanded to see the receipts for everything I bought. And he would ring several times from work. If I was out he would demand to know where I had been. I had about an hour to get to the supermarket and back. If I were any longer, he would lash out.

Gradually I lost contact with my friends, and only saw my family rarely. At the time I found it flattering that he wanted to spend so much time with me. Now I know it was a way of controlling me. He also used to choose my clothes. He hated me wearing short skirts or tight fitting tops, saying he did not want other men to look at me. I was only in my 20s, but I used to dress like a woman twice my age.

Sometimes several months would lapse and I would tell myself everything would be all right. But then something would set him off again. He didn’t hit the children, but they picked up on the tension between us, the atmosphere of fear in the house, and they were withdrawn, clingy, nervous kids.

About six months after we got married, I discovered I was pregnant. It wasn’t planned, but I was happy and I thought he would be too. But he wasn’t. He called me a stupid bitch, and struck me in the face.

I was in total shock. I ran upstairs and lay on the bed, with tears running down my face. After a while he came up. He started crying too, apologising repeatedly, begging me to forgive him, and saying it would never happen again. Of course it did.

Then one day Joel struck me as I held our daughter. Blood was everywhere and she was screaming in sheer terror. I knew then I had to do something. I had to get out.

I telephoned a domestic abuse helpline from a phone box outside the supermarket. I was too afraid to ring from home.

The woman, who answered, was fantastic.

She helped to calm me and gave me information and advice.

Baby Boy When we had our baby boy he bought me a huge bunch of flowers and for a while everything was fine. But the baby took up a lot of my time, and the housework slipped.

It was mainly verbal abuse – he called me stupid, a useless mother, fat and pathetic.

One day the baby was teething and I hadn’t been able to put him down. By the time Joel got home, the house was a wreck with washing airing everywhere, a pile of dishes in the sink, and nothing for dinner. He demanded to know what I had been doing all day, and lashed out at me again. Then he walked out and went to the pub.

A short time later I was pregnant again, the abuse was happening regularly. The slightest thing would set him off – just little things like us running out of bread.

Once he pushed me against a door

I had to get out!

Over the next few weeks I rang back several times, just to talk it through. I was determined to leave by now but I had to build up to it. Gradually I began to gather together documents I might need, like the children’s birth certificates.

I was put in touch with a women’s refuge and two of the staff arranged to meet me at the supermarket a week later. That day seemed to take forever to come. I waved Joel off to work as normal, my heart thumping. Would he realise something was going on? Would he come home from work for some reason? I waited until his car had turned the corner and then stuffed a few clothes and the children’s favourite toys into a couple of holdalls.

I couldn’t carry anything else apart from my handbag, which contained the documents, a couple of photos, and £50 – the housekeeping money Joel had given me that morning and all the money I had in the world. I walked away from our home without a backward glance.

I was terrified the staff from the refuge would be late or not turn up. But when I got there they were waiting. I got into the car with the children, who were confused but excited, and as we drove away, I felt such a tremendous sense of relief it was hard to hold back the tears.

I wasn’t looking forward to living in a women’s refuge but everyone was so friendly and the children soon settled down. After talking to some of the support workers I decided I would like to study again, so I began a computer course, which I hoped would help me get a job.

No regrets I lived in the refuge for six months while I sorted my life out, and I now have a housing association flat. Money is tight, but I have no regrets. I am gradually starting to regain my self-confidence, re-establish my links with my family and friends, and the simple freedoms other women take for granted, like choosing what to eat, what to wear, and what to watch on TV, give me enormous pleasure, as does seeing my children thriving in a stable, loving home.

As for Joel, he was shocked when he discovered I had gone, as he did not think that I would have the courage to leave him - nor did I. At first he tried to woo me back but when that didn’t work he showed his true colours and became very aggressive.

However, the refuge staff supported and encouraged me to recognise that I had made the right choice.

I am now in control of my own life. Joel does see the children and although he is always trying to win me over I know that he will not change.

Anyway I like my life just as it is. Do I still love him? No. I loved the kind considerate man that I first met but I know he is long gone.”

If you have experienced domestic abuse and would like help, visit: womensaid.org.uk

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Hairdresser horror stories are all too common amongst salon regulars. Some people’s experiences are embarrassing and even traumatising, causing many women to ditch the professionals and literally take matters into their own hands.

The Colour Catastrophe

Lauren Maughan was excited to visit her new stylist once she found out about some of his high-profile clients.

“My cousin had just gone from blonde to brunette and I loved her results so I thought I’d try it for myself. I was a natural blonde with light streaks so when I got to the salon I let the stylist know I wanted a chocolate brown colour. He told me that he thought I suited blonde hair, but I told him I was sticking by my decision. I did, however, agree to go with what he described as a ‘red tinge’ as I thought there’d be no harm in mixing it up a bit.

He applied the colour and once enough time had passed he rinsed it out. I was shocked with what my eyes met in the mirror. The chocolate brown I’d asked for had somehow turned into a bright shade of red with my blonde streaks coming through.

If I had to describe it I’d say I looked like a funny coloured zebra. He started to dry my hair which just made things worse as then I could really see what the colour looked like.

Once I got home I started taking pictures of myself to see if it looked better on camera.

It didn’t. I even went as far as trying on different outfits to see if different colour clothes complimented the hair, but nothing worked!

It wasn’t long before I bought a box dye and had a friend help me apply it. We made a mess but I finally got the colour I wanted, and ever since then I’ve been doing my own hair. It’s easier and cheaper for me to do it

32 | Within

myself and unless I want to do something drastically different, I don’t see myself going back to the hairdressers any time soon.”

The Grim Trim

For her 25th birthday Danielle Deschamps’ mum thought a trip to a renowned salon would be the perfect gift.

“For a while I’d been thinking about what to do with my hair because my birthday was coming up, so my mum paid for me to go to a really upscale salon as a treat. I phoned before my visit and was told that my hair would be well taken care of and that I’d be given advice on how to maintain my hair health once I’d left.

When I arrived at the salon I decided I wanted my shoulder-length hair straightened which on its own was ridiculously expensive. I asked the hairdresser if she was going to style it and she told me it would cost extra so I decided to get a trim instead.

I asked If I could have my split ends cut off, JUST my split ends. She started to trim a little bit off the front which was fine until she pulled all of my hair back and started to cut. All I could see was chunks of hair falling to the floor.

She cut it so short that she couldn’t even pull it into a bun. When I asked her why she took off so much she said they were dead ends that I needed to get rid of. I came out of the hairdressers, rang my friend and burst into tears, I felt bald! That same day I made an appointment with my regular hairdresser and had extensions put in. I’ve come to the conclusion that there are too many hairdressers that just don’t know how to trim hair. Now the only person I’ll let near my head with a pair of scissors is me.”

The Fringe Fiasco

During a trip to London Rachel Grey* thought it would be the perfect time to try out a new ‘do that she could surprise her boyfriend with.

“I went to visit a friend for the weekend and whilst there she asked me if I could keep her company when she went to get her hair cut. I’d been thinking about getting a fringe for a while and I decided it would be a good idea for me to go along so I phoned to book a last minute appointment.

When we got there my friend was seen to first and I was called shortly after. I let the hairdresser know that I wanted a blunt fringe that covered my eyebrows, making sure I was very specific with my description. All seemed to be going well until she started to cut up into the middle of the new fringe. I asked her what she was doing to which she replied: ‘I thought you’d look better if it was rounded.’ When I looked in the mirror I felt like screaming!

She had cut so far up the middle of the fringe that it formed the letter ‘W’. The worst part was that if she wanted to even it out she couldn’t because the centre of the fringe was so short it would have been about an inch above my eyebrows.

For weeks afterwards I had to pin the fringe back until it was long enough for me to even it out. I’ve since decided to grow it out as I don’t have the skills to maintain it and I can’t trust a professional to do a good job.”

By Carly Lewis

Like many families, Mothers Day when I was a child, began with breakfast in bed for Mum, homemade cards, along with chocolates and flowers if Dad had remembered to call at the shops beforehand. But for many Mums, my own included, the perfect Mother’s Day usually involved Sunday lunch, a day off from the housework and to have all the family making big fuss of her.

Ok, so like many occasions throughout the year, it can seem as though it’s become just an endless cycle of consumerism, but the concept of Mother’s Day stretches as far back as the Egyptian, Greek and Roman empires. Over the centuries, motherhood was celebrated in many cultures and in many different ways.

Anna Jarvis But it wasn’t until 1914, after many years of tirelessly campaigning, that Anna Jarvis of Philadelphia, USA, successfully achieved her goal to have one day, each year, devoted to our mothers. Many other countries, including our own, adopted this annual custom spread throughout America, and the rest, as they say, is history.

It was only during the years that followed, did Anna Jarvis realise that this worldwide day of celebration, a day that she had fought so hard to achieve recognition for, had become a monster of her own making. Horrified at the commercialism and lack of true sentiment that Mother’s Day was beginning to represent, she then spent her many remaining years publicly embittered by this and died without having married or ever becoming a mother herself.

Being a Mum can be the best!

So how do we show our love and appreciation of the woman that gave us life? Being a Mum can be the best, most rewarding job in the world. But also the hardest. Apart from being able to cook like Nigella Lawson, and have the negotiating skills of a world leader, you need the ability to answer more questions than Google or Wikipedia and still be able to look cool or at least acceptable on the school run. All this and more whilst on minimal sleep and maximum patience.

Having to raise 4 children single-handedly after our Dad passed away left my own mum with no option but to go out to work and cease being a full-time mum.

She worked hard to provide for us and although we laughed about it with her years later, going out to work each day as she did, leaving her home in the care of four teenagers, must have been a nightmare. She probably spent all day worried that we’d burn the house down.

This may have been because in the past we’d discovered that battleships is so much better with real fire, we’d slam doors so hard that the glass broke, argue and fight endlessly then attempt to cook using more fire and heat. Yes, we did all that and more. Hopefully by the time we’d grown up she could remember why we were her pride and joy once again.

Mums by nature, have to forgive, mostly through love and partly because the silent treatment was difficult when she had to remind us, yet again to do homework, tidy our rooms and “will you get up now, you’re going to be late” at least three times.

When I became a Mother Growing up over the years, when she had to lay down the law and we’d hate her for it, my mum would point out that we’d understand when we had children ourselves. It wasn’t until I became a Mum myself that I realised how true these words of wisdom were. She’s no longer with us, and for all the misdemeanor’s, all the sleepless nights, temper tantrums, teenage strops and hormone fuelled moods she endured, I’m still in awe of the way she coped with whatever life threw her way. She only knew her grandchildren for a few years but I’m forever thankful for the source of inspiration, advice and support that she was to me. Hopefully, she’d be just as proud of them as I am now that they’re all grown up.

So, when it comes to letting our Mums know how much we love them, it’s difficult not to get swept along with today’s idea of Mother’s Day. To be honest, I really do appreciate flowers and chocolates, but like many Mums, having the family around is the best. Even better if they treat you to lunch – hint, hint to my two!

Many years ago, I needed a new mop and bucket. As money was tight, hubby thought it was the perfect gift.

The rest of my family were horrified and hubby, who incidentally, is now ex-hubby, got lots of stick. So unless your Mum specifically asks you for a new household tool or appliance, even if it will make life easier, it’s not the best way to show how much you love her. Neither going down the route of anti-ageing or cellulite cream, and do not, repeat DO NOT, buy her exercise equipment, support underwear or sex toys – shocking but true and all there on the internet!

Show your Mum how much you love and appreciate her, but at end of the day, its not about the cost or extravagance of the gesture, it’s about the thought behind it. She’s made you laugh, made you cry, loves to embarrass you in public, and even now, when you’re all grown up and in charge of your own life, she still loves being your mum.

She was there when your first tears fell, when life didn’t go as you wanted and when you first had your heart broken.

But also, she was there at all those feel good times, the jokes you shared and the times when you almost made her burst with pride for what you’d achieved and accomplished in life. It’s the most challenging job she’s ever done…so thank her for it. You’ve only got one Mum so spoil her rotten, make a fuss, but above all, make sure she knows just how special she is to you.

By Kathryn Lea

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It’s a classic and something that won’t disappoint.

A bunch of fresh colourful flowers will put a smile on any mothers face! With so many local florists, it can be tricky to pick the right one. If you’re looking to deliver in the Trafford area than a strong candidate has to be Ken Fraser florist. Based on Marsland road, Ken Fraser has a great range of bouquets to choose from and always look fresh!

For something closer to Didsbury/Chorlton then a favourite of ours has to be Delias. Located snugly on the village front of East Didsbury, Delias has been running for over 40 years! They focus on quality and originality and will offer a lovely personal touch, which will put a smile on your Mother’s face.

Altrincham is host to Barkers Florist. Open 7 days a week and with over 15 members of staff, with 60 years experience, this place certainly isn’t messing about when it comes to flowers. Barkers replenish their fresh flowers and plants with deliveries from Holland each week and are always on hand to provide anything from a thank you token to a lavish display of affection. So, if you need some advice, or you have purely forgotten about a gift on the actual day, check out Barkers.

You can thank us later!

Many of us are trying to cut back and save pennies. But that doesn’t mean we cannot purchase some great gifts for Mother’s Day. One of the best parts about Manchester is that our city is full of cute independent shops which house some beautiful buys.

You may have read the feature on A Sweet Thought in our last issue. The adorable sweet shop is based in East Didsbury and has some real tasty treats.

So if your mother has a sweet tooth, this is the spot!

Based in Gatley Village, Vintage Belle Candles homes some wonderful buys, including some sweet smelling bespoke candles. It’s a lovely gift shop and you are sure to find something she will love.

All ladies love Chocolate! A great shop for the coco treats has to be Simon Dunn Chocolatier in Chorlton. Their gorgeous luxury handmade chocolates are to die for!

Plus, offering a personalise service, giving you the chance to write a little message.

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The Metropolitan in Didsbury will be serving a special Mother’s Day menu so why not spoil her with a 2 or 3 course meal this Mothering Sunday.

The Metropolitan is a cosy Manchester pub, serving traditional food and is certain to be fully booked, so get in now to avoid disappointment.

If looking for something closer to the city centre, then try Annies. A great restaurant and bar in Deansgate, Annies are offering a special Mother’s Day menu this year. Choose from a host of stunning starters, mouthwatering mains and delicious desserts and give your Mum a Mother’s Day to remember with some of Annies beautifully crafted dishes.

Gary Barlow is back with a bang. This album hit the No1 spot in rapid style and after listening, we understand why! Great hits that your mum will love. Our top recommended album.

For something a litter lighter on your bank account, how about Cibo in Didsbury. The Italian is a back-to-basics restaurant serving rustic Northern Italian cuisines that are simply delicious! It’s the perfect place to visit with the family. The quirky barnyard-style building looks extremely inviting inside and out. There’s a pretty wood burner to dine beside and a spirally staircase leading up to the ‘attic’ where guests can dine under a wooden beamed ceiling.

A favourite classic in Mother’s Day gifts is Spa treatments. After a year long of taking up the motherly duties, every woman needs a nice break.

Our first choice has to be Hale Country Club & Spa. We featured this in our last issue as one of the local places every woman should visit at least once, and there is good reason. You can only expect the best from their luxurious selections of full body and facial massages. Finish off with a relaxing dip in their heated wellness pool to top it off. You will be in her good books for a while to come!

One of our favourites in the city centre is none other than Harmony & Serenity Spa. Indulge and Relax in deeply soothing Decléor products. She can take the time to discover the range of spa and beauty treatments lasting from as little as 30 minutes to half day, full day and weekend breaks, if she fancies a longer break than usual. Set her up for the motherly duties in the year ahead!

If you wish to take your mum to a restaurant for Mother’s Day and say thank you in style then why not splash out at Michael Caines’ Abode Restaurant in Manchester City Centre.

Located in an atmospheric lower level dining room, Abode serves exciting and innovative European cuisine utilising the best local and regional produce and ingredients from Manchester, Lancashire, Cheshire and surrounds.

A big favourite since his X-Factor days, Olly Murs will have your mum smiling for joy while doing the cleaning with this album on!

It’s a well-known fact that an essential to every woman’s life is bags. We can never have too many!

Introducing Your Bag Boutique, an online shop that offers some great pieces!

We challenge you to find a mother out there that doesn’t love a bit of Tina Turner!

This album is perfect for Mother’s Day!

What sets YBB apart from the crowd? All their gifts are personlised! And it gets better, the quality of the bags are extremely high quality and personalised to a high standard! The ladies of Within swear by theirs, and so will your mother. You can thank us later. www.yourbagboutique.com

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The Laundrette opened in August 2013 on the former site of the Soap opera laundrette on Beech Road, Chorlton.

The road is full of quirky, cool shops and bars, and The Laundrette fits right in. All their food and drink is made fresh on site each day and they strive to support the local community in using fantastic local suppliers. This spot is

Most Altrincham folk will already know of this place, however, many people in Manchester in general may not have heard or seen Oxford Road Café.

The café, located on Oxford

This well-appointed deli is our go-to place for a deliciously posh brunch.

Thyme Out Deli, in West Didsbury is a delightful place to enjoy food. Scoff their Foodie’s Breakfast (which runs to wild boar sausage and

Road (Sherlock’s job is safe) is locally known as one of the best breakfast and lunch joints in the area, with local fresh produce being served with a smile! We recommend the Hash Browns, which are just divine!

This place is something special.

The ‘Burger’ and ‘Gorilla Dog’ are something of a legend at Gorilla, located on Whitworth Street, as are the ‘Spicy Bean Burger’ and a ‘Sweet Potato Wrap’. It’s a great place to hang out during lunch time, and fancy a drink afterwards – no need to move, Gorilla is also a bar slash restaurant.

“We source all of our ingredients in the most sustainable, responsible & ethical way we

also perfect for the warm spring days, which are just around the corner. The seating outside is lounge heaven – comfort being priority.

Now, yes we admit it that they do focus more on Cocktails and Pizza’s. But we ask you to tell us a Brunch of Cocktails and Pizza, which didn’t end up brilliant! Exactly.

can. All our meat is free range or freedom farmed & locally sourced. Our bacon is from Cheshire pigs & our sausages are hand made by WH Frost Butchers to our own recipe.

Our eggs are free range & laid in Cheshire. We care about animal welfare & only purchase from farms that think the same as us. All of the food we serve is made & cooked fresh in our kitchens and our bread and cakes are hand made in house.”

– Gorilla If that doesn’t sell it to you, then we don’t know what will!

portobello mushrooms) then stock up on artisan breads, cheeses and other gastronomical delights. If it’s sunny, try to get a table in the “secret garden.” Just watch out for the hens. Yep, you heard us right! Those eggs really are fresh.

Within | 39

I’m a bit of a fitness freak and love to exercise, although I eat healthily I never really diet and just tend to eat what I want.

I started Diet Chef in the first week of January and continued with my weekly fitness routine as usual. The meals were quite varied, so I always looked forward to my dinner and had fun choosing which dish I’d tuck in to after a workout. They were really tasty!

I’m not big on snacking, so I only ate the odd bag of popcorn provided. My favourite was the salted flavour, but there are plenty of low calorie snack options inside the hamper that you’ll never feel the need to reach out for a chocolate bar.

The meals are pretty straightforward, Granola and/or Porridge for breakfast, Soup for lunch and a nice hot prepared meal for dinner. Diet Chef provides a few other snack options other than Popcorn such as cereal bars, which are ideal as a quick and easy snack before I head to the gym.

2 weeks into Diet Chef and I had lost 7lbs 3oz and felt great! I still had energy to be a fitness freak even though the meals were really low in calories, they still provided plenty of nutrients to keep me going.

40 | Within

Due to the size of each meal it’s taught me that my main weakness is portion control, when I exercise I presume I am entitled to eat however much as I want and not gain any weight, but now my portions are similar to that of Diet Chef and I have lost a further 4lbs and managed to maintain my weight loss since!

Diet Chef will change your eating lifestyle. Try it once and you’ll probably never eat the same again, or weigh the same!

Hannah Burke, 26 Sub-Editor

Diet chef isn’t only a meal plan, they provide tasty snacks too, including Choc Chip Cookies and Sweet and Salted Popcorn (below)

I pulled my face at Diet Chef adamant it was just another faddy diet that wouldn’t work for me. I’ve tried so many that don’t get the results I’m after, but this was only a two week trial and I was going to complete it and gain results even if it killed me!

It turned out Diet Chef was surprisingly easy and I must admit I was genuinely shocked at how much I didn’t feel like I was on a diet. I wasn’t crying into a tiny bowl of fruit that was replacing my usual bowl of cereal in the mornings, nor was I dreading the measly salads I take for lunch in work in hopes I’d shed some pounds fast.

Diet Chef certainly went down a treat with our team. It’s an easy diet plan to follow and is a massive plus that all of your meals are already prepared for you.

This ensures they’ll be no replacing certain foods with other fatty high calorie foods.

Our dieters have said that Diet Chef didn’t really seem like a diet as such, which is definitely something that puts people off!

All of the meals provided were varied and you could mix them up. We’d recommend

In fact, I felt satisfied after every meal.

Breakfasts were my favourite, and I used the breakfast bars to snack on if I ever got hungry between meals. All of the options were really low calorie but tasted like good hearty meals, I did wonder if in fact I would lose any weight at all…

Week 1 was incredibly easy and I was extremely apprehensive as I stood on the scales on Day 8 but then extremely surprised to see I had lost 3lbs 5oz. Seeing these results after only a week felt really good, and for me this would be the point where I would give up and reward myself with a big fat take away and put it all back on again in one meal! But, there was only 1

Diet Chef to anyone who’s willing to change his or her lifestyle.

Don’t get us wrong, if you’re planning on losing a few pounds for a specific event that’s taking place then Diet Chef will certainly help you shift those pounds, but if you’re looking to maintain your weight loss for the future then Diet Chef will definitely be there to kick start things off for you at the starting post and it’ll definitely see you through to the finishing line.

more week to go and I WAS going to lose more!

During Week 2 I began running, determined to drop an extra few pounds, and by the time that week had ended and there was no more Diet Chef meals gracing my cupboards I was very VERY delighted to find I had lost a further 5lbs!

Since successfully completing my two week challenge I am pleased to say I have lost a further 3lbs and maintained it, and I have also continued to run 4 times a week.

I feel super fit and Diet Chef certainly kick started something wonderful!

Emma Watts, 36 Accounting

All in all we would highly recommend Diet Chef to people of all sizes. It’s so diverse that we doubt you’ll get bored and veer off track, which is the result of a majority of diets out there today. So, what are you waiting for? Let the Chef come to your door and help you become a massive loser!

Have you tried Diet Chef? What did you think of it? We’d love to hear your thoughts on the subject.

Within | 41

Hi Caity, shall we get straight into our 60 second rundown?

Yeah definitely! Lets go for it!

On a Desert Island, what would be your 3 essentials?

A Volleyball, a lighter and rum.

What are your guilty pleasures?

Chips and Guacamole.

Biggest pet-hate?

When people look around or at their phone when in conversation.

Name one person you would like to have dinner with and why?

Jay-Beyonce. Technically that’s two people, but I feel like they kind of merged into one super-being.

What was your very first job?

Teaching dance Your career has progressed greatly in the last few years.

What do you love most about your profession?

I love the fact that everyday I wake up and I’m excited to go to work and that I get to be apart of something that’s shared with so many people around the world.

If you could work with anyone in the film industry, who would it be?

I want to do a girl version of fight club with David Fincher :P Apart from your career, what are you FREAKISHLY good at?

Waking up right before my alarm clock goes off #wizardstatus Who inspires you?

14th Dalai Lama Do you have any fears, and if so what?

Hair in the drain.

Favourite thing to do on your days off?

Have my best friends over and cook/eat all day into the night. + wine If I gave you a plane ticket to anywhere in the world where would you go and why?

Borneo, my dad said it’s amazing, and It’s rainforest is 130 million years old. I want to run around there. Please send plane ticket a.s.a.p. :) What would you title your biography?

Forever green.

Most treasured possession?

My passport.

Biggest regret?

No regrets. I try to rewrite my story so everything has meaning.

4 words to best describe you?

You’d have to ask my friends.

The perfect date?

Dinner and then a bonfire at the beach to make S’mores.

If you could be successful in another profession, what would it be?

Singer/song writer but only if I was ridiculous good. __________________________________________ The Machine is set for release in the UK this month. Go check it out!

Photography: Gilles Toucas www.gillestoucas.com Makeup by Anthony Merante at Celestine Agency using MAC Cosmetics.

Hair by Michael Kanyon at Celestine Agency Styling by Monty Jackson Margaret Maldonado Agency

Jayne Torvill, Christopher Dean and ITV have announced that Dancing on Ice will end this year and is being followed by the last ever Dancing on Ice tour - a spectacular live show, that will perform across the UK, starting in this month.

Jayne and Chris said: “This year is the 30th anniversary of Bolero and our Olympic Gold medal in Sarajevo, so for us, it seemed a fitting time to say goodbye to Dancing on Ice. We wanted to go out on a high!

But, we will not be retiring or hanging up our skates just yet. We are delighted to announce the last ever Dancing on Ice UK arena tour, starting this month.

We can’t wait to be back on the road and we’re already planning the show.

Sensational Welsh singing brothers - Richard and Adam, are bringing their remarkable harmonies to The Lowry, as they embark on their very first UK tour with very special guest Charlotte Jaconelli.

Millions watched this summer as the singing brothers from Holywell, wowed the nation with their extraordinary talent on Britain’s Got Talent.

It will be the biggest and best tour we’ve done to date and there will be some great surprises for the audiences across the country - we hope you will come and see us.”

Thank you for the support!

“We have loved every minute of Dancing on Ice, it has been a real pleasure to work on one of the UK’s most popular entertainment shows.

We will miss it hugely and would like to thank all of our fans for their continued support over the years.”

The 2014 Dancing on Ice tour will star skating legends Torvill & Dean and feature a host of celebrity skaters from the ITV show.

The Manchester leg will be performed at the Phones 4 U Arena on 28th – 30th March.

The show won them numerous standing ovations and third place in the final.

Tenor Richard and baritone Adam perfected their skills watching Pavarotti master classes online. Their hard work and dedication paid off, they signed a multi-album deal with Sony Music. They visit The Lowry on March 11th.

Within | 45

The Wanted breakup reports seem to not stop the boy band from doing a final reunion tour in the UK and Ireland. The group is setting aside personal differences as they try to carve their respective solo careers.

Elyar Fox (“Do It All Over Again”) announced that he will open the “Word of Mouth” concert tour, along with The Vamps, in what could be the band’s final tour, said Digital Spy. Elyar Fox posted on Twitter: “I’m going on tour with @thewanted and @TheVampsband YEEEEAAAHHHHHHH.”

Boy band, The Wanted’s tour, will start on March 14 at Echo Arena in Liverpool and will see them gracing Manchester’s Phones 4 U arena on March 18th.

In a related report, The Wanted also released the official artwork cover for the “Glow in the Dark” single despite the breakup reports. “Glow in the Dark” is still part of the album “Word of Mouth.” The single will officially be aired on Capital airwaves on Marvin’s show, Capital FM revealed.

ter account on February 16: “Make sure you’re listening to our mate @ MarvinHumes on @CapitalOfficial tomorrow night to hear Glow In The Dark on your radio!”

So if you’re lucky enought to have tickets to the tour, make sure you enjoy every minute of it. Because it may well just be the last time you see the band on stage.

The Wanted also posted in its official Twit-

International comedy sensation Pam Ann speeds into The Lowry with her most explosive show yet, the all-new FLY! PAM ANN is the comic creation of Australian comedian Caroline Reid. An emerging icon in gay culture, she portrays the air-hostess Pam Ann, a mixture of comedy, camp and glamour, and a pun on the legendary airline Pan Am. Performances tend to emphasize the vagaries of air travel, including the identifying quirks of various airlines around the world, mixed with a generous dose of ribald humor and double entendre!

This is one side-splitting laugh fest you don’t want to miss!!!

Pam has developed a cult-like international following for her hilarious shows and riotous repartee. In the vein of Dame Edna, Lilly Tomlin, and Tracey Ullman, Caroline Reid brings her own blend of comedy to the screen and to live audiences across the globe!

Caroline has performed with Cher on her arena tour, at Royal Albert Hall (broadcast on TV) and a sold out West End run in London. Pam is always developing new and hysterical characters to add to her repertoire of comedy.

Pam Ann will be performing at The Lowry on Monday 24th March, with tickets still available.

Following on from the huge success of ITV2’s The Big Reunion, 911 are thrilled to be back with a brand new album ‘Illuminate – The Hits and More’, plus a brand new tour! Yes, that’s right – the 3-piece boy band will be back in Manchester on Wednesday 26th March, playing their classic hits along with new releases, at The Ritz.

911 were one of only five music acts to score 10 consecutive Top Ten hits in the 90’ss and the band enjoyed success with 4 hit albums between 1997-1999

Starring West End star and multi-platinum selling artist, Marti Pellow and featuring some of the most famous and inspiring stage music ever written, including the classic songs Don’t Cry For Me Argentina, On This Night Of A Thousand Stars, Oh What A Circus, You Must Love Me and Another Suitcase in Another Hall, Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber’s extraordinary musical embarks on a spectacular national tour.

including the top ten hit albums “There It Is” and “Moving On”.

In late 2012, it was announced that 911 would be reuniting for the ITV2 documentary TV series “The Big Reunion”, along with Five; Atomic Kitten, Liberty X, Honeyz, B*Witched and Blue. The series started on 31st January 2013 and instantly became the biggest show the station had had for more than 5 years with 911 one of the highlights as their honesty and storytelling quickly entranced their audience.

Bringing to life the dynamic, larger-thanlife persona of Eva Peron, wife of former Argentine dictator Juan Peron, Evita tells the story from her young and ambitious beginnings to the enormous wealth and power she gained and her ultimate rise to sainthood.

A definite must-see for any lover of big shows. Andrew Lloyd webber pulls it out of the bag once again!

Scorpio

Taurus

Capricorn

Gemini

Listen to someone who knows what they’re talking about. You may not like what they have to say but it could prove beneficial in the long run. An old flame comes back into your life.

But be wary.

You could start firing on all cylinders this week when Mercury pushes ahead, paving the way for greater progress and better communication.

Regarding health, try not to take on too much. Avoid stress if you can.

If you’ve ever wanted to launch your own business, this would be a wonderful time to do so. You could get some start up money from a lending institution or government agency.

Don’t be daunted by the paperwork.

Mercury forges ahead as Mars and Saturn enter their retrograde phases.

This may affect work, lifestyle, and relationship matters as you could find yourself at an impasse. In relationships, certain folks might seem quite unapproachable.

Leo

Libra

Aquarius

Cancer

An unexpected windfall is on the way. Put this money toward a new computer, phone or car. Having reliable equipment will boost your professional prospects.

If you’ve been thinking of opening a home based business, now is the time to do it..

You can’t always have it your way, as this month goes to show. Just as Mercury pushes ahead in your romance sector and brings a chance to make headway with a budding relationship, Mars turns retrograde in your sign.

You could be questioning yourself and your motives over the coming weeks.

As the month opens, your sense of fun could encourage extravagance or some needless risk with money. By March 12th this danger should be over, but the memories of foolishness may linger. It’s a special Full Moon for you during this month, when love is so thick in the air you can almost taste it.

Friends from afar may send you unpleasant news as March opens, but it’s nothing to rock your world.

Friends and lovers near at hand are here for you. By March 5th it will all be old news anyway. Frivolous feelings won’t be much help now. Respect and listen to your heart.

Virgo

Sagittarius

Aries

Social opportunities abound in early January, but beware of letting just anyone into your circle of trust. A seemingly wild rebel is more trouble than they are worth. You enjoy their irreverent sense of humour, but it won’t seem so funny when you become the butt of their jokes.

A family outing may bring happiness and fun. Plan a romantic night in. Book a weekend away. Shopping may bring you some luck.

If you’ve been thinking of opening a home based business, now is the time to do it! Buying a scratch card could end in success.

Acquiring a new gadget saves you time, money and energy. It’s amazing how quickly you can do work when you have a good computer, phone or car at your disposal. If you play your cards right, you can get a great discount.

48 | Within

Editor

Omar Thompson

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