2020-05-01 Womens Health UK PDF

Welcome to
Women’s Health
There have been many occasions when she’s
predicted an imminent time of the month when
I’ve protested, saying it’s days off.
W H AT ’ S
I feel like Alice and I have both evolved in our
wellness journeys together. I watched as she N E W…
developed a lean, ripped physique through
dedicated training and carefully calculated
nutrition. And she trained me for a 12-week body
transformation in late 2017, when I lost my curves
but had visible abs. But did these bodies make
either of us happy? Not really. We both conceded
that the sacrifices you have to make to maintain
such a low level of body fat that your every muscle
is on show just aren’t worth it, as neither of us is
naturally built that way.
So, the Alice you see on this cover is a different
Alice. She’s happy, content, in love and enjoying Download our goal-
life. She looks incredible; so strong and powerful, getting podcast every
a living embodiment of a healthy, balanced Thursday. Each week,
lifestyle. I still struggle to keep my weight steady we’ll arm you with the
and Alice is helping me make some changes, but tools you need to turn
we’re doing it in a sensible, sustainable way – she’s aspirations into action.
leading by example. There’s no one more deserving Search for ‘Going for
of being on the cover of this magazine for a third goal’ and subscribe now
lice Liveing was one of the first time than Alice. I hope you agree. She’s the poster
people I met when I joined girl for happy, healthy living for good reason.
Women’s Health in January 2017. Elsewhere in this issue, you’ll find the story of
She was almost certainly the two more remarkable women. Sisters Claire and
first influencer I’d ever come Alex Danson were elite athletes, but serious
across, as she’d just been on her accidents they both endured within a year of each
first Women’s Health cover. Full transparency: the other ended their trophy-winning sports careers
whole fitness influencer world was completely and, in Claire’s case, her ability to walk. Their
new to me three years ago. I’d always been very positivity and determination is humbling – turn
engaged with health and fitness when it came to page 104 to read their story). And, on page
to my own lifestyle – and a genuine reader and 110, read our investigation into whether fitness
huge fan of WH – but I didn’t use social media, is having its own #metoo movement.
namely Instagram, as anything other than a tool I hope you enjoy the issue. Until next month...
for keeping in touch with old school friends. We’ve teamed up with
Then I met Alice – all big blue eyes, even bigger Fiit to create a 10-week
blonde hair and a welcoming, warm, genuine training plan designed
demeanour that makes you think you’re the most to improve fitness and
important person in her world at that moment. burn fat. Train with the
We’ve since become firm friends and I’m lucky Claire Sanderson likes of Laura Hoggins
enough to call her my personal trainer. She Editor-In-Chief and WH Digital Editor
knows me inside out and can read me the minute Follow me on Instagram @clairesanderson
Amy Lane from the
I walk into Third Space, in London’s Soho. She comfort of your living
knows if I haven’t slept well, she knows when I’m room. Head to page 86
hormonal and she knows when I’m on fire. She for more details and
even knows these things before me sometimes. your 14-day free trial.
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Photography | IAN HARRISON M AY 2 0 2 0 | 3

Chief International SHOWS & EVENTS
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Wellness Head of Events & Client
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Nikki Clare
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Officer
Jane Wolfson
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Women’s Health M AY 2 0 2 0 | 5
May
K N OW H OW E AT S M A R T B E S T B O DY B E AU T Y L A B
9 | IF YOU DO ONE 37 | A FOOD AWAKENING 63 | FIGHTING FIT 93 | TWENTY’S PLENTY

THING THIS MONTH... Your guide to eating smarter, One conflict-averse WH staffer Our pick of the best budget
whatever your goals tries her hand at combat sports skincare and beauty products,
10 | IN THE KNOW all tried and tested by WH
News you can use, straight 42 | TAHINI, FOUR WAYS 68 | THIS MESH WE’RE IN
from the science lab Create your own feast from Fascia is what’s holding you 98 | #SKINSHELFIE
BIKINIS (ON THE COLLECTOR’S EDITION) BIKINI AND JACKET, LISA MARIE FERNANDEZ; HEADBAND, ANTHROPOLOGIE (ON THIS PAGE) SWIMMING COSTUME, & OTHER STORIES; HEADBAND, ACCESSORIZE
the Middle East together – and keeping you fit Aesthetician Dija Ayodele
COVER PHOTOGRAPHY: IAN HARRISON. STYLING: SASKIA QUIRKE. HAIR: ADAM REED. MAKE-UP: AMY BRANDON. ALICE WEARS: (ON THE COVER) SPORTS BRA, SPLITS59; BIKINI BOTTOMS, FRANKIES
12 | ASK WH reveals the products on her
Why does a sleepless night 44 | FAKE SHAKES 73 | ROUTE TO WELLTH bathroom shelf
leave you craving junk food? Investigating the bulked-up Musician Emeli Sandé
claims on your packet of 100 | THE BEAUTY BUG
15 | FOOD FOR THOUGHT protein powder 74 | PT GUEST PASS Trend on trial: probiotic skincare
Do you really have to swerve A six-move glute-building
alcohol when you’re pregnant? 48 | WASTE NOT, WANT IT workout from Ciara Madden F E AT U R E S
Make a banging salmon dish;
17 | TECHNIQUE SCHOOL work magic with the leftovers 77 | HOW I GET FIT DONE
Master the bent-over row with How lifting helped one reader 104 | SISTER ACT
our complete tekkers guide beat an eating disorder Claire and Alex Danson were
elite athletes until two separate
19 | DOES IT WORK IRL? accidents changed their lives
We try the Alexander Technique
for its mind and body benefits 110 | UNWELCOME ADVANCES
Does the fitness world need
21 | FIT KIT HERO a #metoo moment?
This over-the-shoulder cycling
satchel from Rapha + Outdoor 116 | A LETHAL DOSE
Voices is totally our bag WH investigates the fatal
attraction of deadly diet pills
23 | SKIN DEEP
An aesthetic doctor reveals STRONG MIND 122 | FREE SPIRITS
the skincare magic of the Who needs booze with
succulents on your windowsill WEAR WELL mocktails this good?
51 | AGAINST THE CLOCK
25 | WHAT HAPPENS WHEN... When every fleeting second 131 | TRAVEL WELL
...hunger strikes feels precious, how to manage 79 | HIGH STREET STUNNERS Forget Glasto, book a place
anxiety about wasting time? Killer athleisure from the at these wellness festivals
nation’s favourite outlets
56 | RISE ABOVE IT 138 | MY WEEK ON A PLATE
The life-affirming power of 87 | ON OUR RADAR Olympic gold medallist
out-of-body experiences The garms and accessories Rebecca Adlington
we’ve been ogling this month
61 | CAN’T GET NO SLEEP
How one woman overcame 88 | RAISING THE BRA
debilitating insomnia Catch up on the high-tech
science behind the best
sports bras on the market
6 | M AY 2 0 2 0
26
Alice
Liveing
The pint-sized powerhouse and
Women’s Health’s resident PT
shares her fitness philosophy,
opens up about a difficult year
and reveals an inside look into
her wellness wonderland
M AY 2 02 0 | 7
I F YO U D O O N E T H I N G
THIS MONTH...
Catch early-bird
workouts
for boosted
fat burn
(high levels inhibit

the breakdown of
fat cells) after
maximum fat burn. fasting overnight,
Scientists divided which meant they
30 overweight or burned stored fat as
obese men (women fuel. Interestingly,
are next in line for the fasted workouts
Does the thought research, FYI) into didn’t result in
of even half a two groups. Over more weight loss,
banana before your six weeks, the group but they did have
morning 5k make who worked out on a significant effect
you want to vom an empty stomach on overall health
WORDS: MINI SMITH. PHOTOGRAPHY: GETTY IMAGES.
into the nearest burned double the via improved

wheelie bin? You’re amount of fat than insulin regulation
IMAGE MANIPULATION: COLIN BEAGLEY
in luck. Research the group who ate and more stable

Pretty published in the breakfast first – a blood sugar levels
fly
Journal Of Clinical result researchers – responsible for
Endocrinology And attributed to their everything from
Metabolism has lower insulin levels digesting food to
found that working keeping you awake.
out before breakfast That’s something
is the way to go for to tweet about.
Women’s Health M AY 2 0 2 0 | 9
I N T H E K N OW
NEWS YOU CAN USE

Want the latest health intel? We’ve combed
the science journals so you don’t have to
28
The percentage less
likely a woman is to
OFFICE experience early
LOL-ITICS menopause if she
- has sex weekly,
Slapping on a fake smile
at work could be holding
you back in the long run,
according to research*
that suggests that those
who try hard to be
It takes two
Chronic deliberators, listen up. Psychologists at
compared with
those who report
having some form
of sex less than
genuinely positive with monthly, according
their colleagues reap the
the University of Basel may have discovered the to a UCL study.
benefits, such as receiving key to making quick decisions: narrowing your
more support from
co-workers, making better choices down to two. The study found that when HAPPILY
progress on work goals participants focused on just two out of three NEVER AFTER
and being less prone to
foods on offer, they came to a decision faster – -
WORDS: MINI SMITH. PHOTOGRAPHY: GETTY IMAGES. ICONS: SERGEY DEMUSHKIN/PRASHANTH RAPOLU/NITHINAN TATAH/HYEMM.WORK/LAYMIK/AMIRYSHAKIEL AT NOUN PROJECT.
emotional exhaustion. Find
a legit office BFF – the the easier it was to discount the worst option, Those who place a lot of
lunchtime lols are worth it. value on happiness display
the quicker they could decide between the greater signs of depression
than those who are more
remaining ones. Now, flake or no flake?
*SOURCES: UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA; MICHIGAN STATE UNIVERSITY; NATURE CELL BIOLOGY; UNIVERSITY OF READING; CALIFORNIA POLYTECHNIC STATE UNIVERSITY
M I N D F U L- happy-go-lucky, a study
MESS suggests*. Glee-seekers
can become too tuned into
- their emotions and have
Prone to forgetting to pack a reduced ability to find
clean socks for post-spin? silver linings. Permission
Try meditating on it. A to be more Joey.
brain-monitoring study* has
found a link between ‘open
monitoring’ meditation
– ie, focusing on thoughts,
feelings and sensations –
and the error-recognition
part of the brain, helping
you to avoid making
mistakes. We’re installing
Headspace right now.
LOS S GA I N S
-
If you’ve recently
embarked on a journey
to reach your healthy size,
S LE E P I N G we salute you – now here’s
how to keep up the good
B E AUT Y work. A recent study*
- analysed a group of almost
This just in: beauty sleep 5,000 people who had lost
is a thing. Scientists and kept off an average of
have discovered a type of 3st 6lb to pinpoint the best
collagen structure that strategies for successfully
replenishes itself at night* maintaining weight loss.
– it was previously thought Their findings? The most
that these structures were successful strategies were
fully formed by the age recording daily food intake,
of 17. Your body clock is measuring out quantities,
responsible for the upkeep, thinking about past success
so sleep is key to keeping and staying positive if any
your skin looking fresh. weight was regained.
TH E WATCH | LONDON MARATHON 2020

26 April, BBC
EAT | BURGUNDY BROCCOLI
£1 per 200g pack, selected supermarkets
READ | CAN RUN
by Amy Lane (£14.99, Yellow Kite), out 16 April
TO - DO 2019’s winner Brigid Kosgei will be lacing Meet your new best brassica. Burgundy Women’s Health’s very own Digital Editor
LI S T up to defend her title, this time armed with Broccoli is a whole-head purple broccoli has penned a handbook for all prospective
a new world record after her epic two hours, that’s so tender, you can eat every bit, pavement pounders. Anyone who’s ever
14 minutes and four seconds in Chicago meaning less waste and a pop of colour thought they couldn’t run, consider this
last October. Catch her if you can. Prince would be proud of. your guide to getting going.
1 0 | M AY 2 0 2 0 Women’s Health
Why do
I crave junk
food after
a sleepless
night?
Sweet
dreams
foods more enjoyable and smells appear

more intense.’ The study saw its
sleep-deprived participants – each
running on four hours’ kip – choosing
the highest-calorie foods at a free
What is it about a night spent buffet provided by the researchers.
tossing and turning that makes Scans showed that their brain’s smell
you want to mainline pizza? A processing region was working overtime
recent study by Northwestern and sharpening food odours more
University in the US claims than usual, while communication with
it’s all in the nose. ‘Earlier another area that processes food-related
research shows that lack of signals was reduced. ‘Our findings
sleep increases the blood suggest that sleep deprivation makes
levels of compounds called your brain susceptible to enticing
endocannabinoids,’ explains smells,’ explains Dr Bhutani. A good
Dr Surabhi Bhutani, assistant night’s sleep never smelled so good.
professor at San Diego State
University and lead author of
the study. ‘These compounds
act on the same parts of the
brain as cannabis, making the
consumption of high-calorie
ASK WH
Is it bad for me never to have a period?

That really depends overtraining, to PCOS
on why you’re not having (polycystic ovary
a period. If you’re using syndrome) or thyroid
the progestogen-only small chance that the problems,’ she adds. If
pill, injection, implant build-up can become your lack of menstruation
or the hormonal coil as cancerous, particularly can’t be explained by
contraception, the good in women over 40,’ she your contraception,
news is: you’re fine. adds. You can still run a see your GP. ‘These
‘These contraceptive couple of packs together conditions need to be
A S K I N G FO R methods work by keeping for your holidays, though. managed,’ says Dr
A FRIEND the womb lining thin,’ says ‘Ideally, you need to have Mitra. ‘If oestrogen
H OW L I K E LY A M Dr Anita Mitra, clinical at least four periods levels are low, it puts
I TO AC T UA L LY fellow in obstetrics and a year,’ says Dr Mitra. you at increased risk
W E E M YS E L F gynaecology at the ‘There might be other of osteoporosis.’
DURING SEX? National Institute for reasons why a woman
Well, how likely are Health Research. ‘That isn’t getting her period,
you to wee yourself way, an egg can’t implant, ranging from lack of
generally? Sex itself
so you can’t get pregnant.’ oestrogen due to low
shouldn’t cause
leakage more than, Thin uterine linings body weight or
say, jumping on a don’t need to shed, and
trampoline or belly that means no periods.
lols. When you wee, If you’re running your
muscles in the combined pill back to
bladder wall contract, back, however, that’s a
forcing urine into
the urethra, while separate issue. ‘If this is
muscles surrounding the case, the lining could
the urethra relax, be building up inside the
giving you that womb and becoming
blissful feeling of thickened and abnormal,’
release. Spasms of says Dr Mitra, and that’s
the bladder muscles,
or weakening of the a problem. ‘There’s a
muscles surrounding
the urethra, can lead
to incontinence when
the bladder is placed
under pressure – such
as when you have
sex. However, doing
Kegels – one way of
doing them is to stop
your wee halfway
WORDS: MINI SMITH. PHOTOGRAPHY: MITCH PAYNE; STUDIO 33; GETTY IMAGES. ICONS: VECTORS POINT AT NOUN PROJECT
through, holding it, Late

then resuming – can period
build your pelvic floor
strength. If you’ve
observed damp
patches on the sheets
during sex, you could
be one of those
women who ejaculate
– squirting, if we can
Does cutting out it remains an
unfounded theory.
warns that culling
the key food group
she explains that
the jury’s still out
borrow Cosmopolitan
terminology. This is dairy really help ‘For the majority of will risk calcium on exactly why this
another matter sufferers, acne has deficiency and is. It’s thought that
altogether and
experts aren’t really
reduce acne? nothing to do with potentially promote it may cause a spike
dietary intake, disordered eating. in blood glucose,
sure what causes it, The idea that meaning cutting ‘Spots are mainly which can increase
or even what the fluid
what you put on out dairy will have determined by the size and activity
actually is. May we
suggest putting a your plate has a no impact on their hormones and of acne-triggered
towel down first? direct impact on skin,’ says Dr Anjali genetics, with oil glands. For most
your pores has Mahto, a Harley lifestyle being a sufferers, Dr Mahto
spread faster than Street consultant very small part of suggests seeing
you can say ‘oat dermatologist and the puzzle,’ she your GP, who will
milk latte’. But, author of The says. For the small be able to prescribe
luckily for fans Skincare Bible, who percentage of legitimate acne
of cheese, cow’s people whose skin treatments. Spot on.
milk and yoghurt, is affected by dairy,
Women’s Health M AY 2 0 2 0 | 1 3
FO O D FO R T H O U G H T
I’m pregnant:
can I have a drink?
If the imminent arrival of rosé season has coincided with a nine-month period of
abstinence, you have our sympathies. But do you really have to say a firm no?
When it comes to the occasional
tipple, evidence is inconsistent and
harder to interpret. Several large
reviews have found no consistent
‘Oh, go on, one can’t hurt.’ evidence of harm, but acute studies
As unsolicited health advice show that even one or two units of
goes, this is one to file alcohol can change foetal breathing.
alongside ‘you can’t get The issue is further confused by
pregnant if he pulls out’ in influences like nutrition, smoking,
THE EXPERT the folder entitled ‘no PhD, age, social support and stress.
Laura Tilt, registered
dietitian and founder no opinion’. And never Factor in, too, conflicting media
of tiltnutrition.co.uk are you subjected to more headlines and previous government
opinions-masquerading- guidelines (recommending
as-facts than when you’re having a baby. abstinence, but also a safe limit)
Your elderly relatives can probably recall and it’s no wonder you’re confused.
a time when drinking alcohol in pregnancy In an attempt to provide clarity,
was not only accepted, but recommended, UK guidelines on pregnancy and
thanks in part to a belief that Guinness is drinking were updated in 2016,
high in iron (spoiler: it isn’t). While experts based on a review by independent
now agree that regular drinking during experts. Their joint view? The safest
pregnancy is harmful, advice around the approach is to avoid alcohol entirely.
occasional drink is conflicting, and confusing. It’s worth noting the guidelines
Guidelines around drinking during acknowledge that risks of low levels
pregnancy exist because alcohol readily of drinking are probably small,
passes through the placenta. Given that a but there isn’t enough evidence to
growing baby doesn’t have a developed liver establish a ‘safe’ level. Some experts
to process alcohol, there’s a risk of short and feel that prohibition is too harsh,
long-term harm, which includes miscarriage, but the guidelines aim to provide
Drink
premature birth, low birth weight and foetal clarity in the face of uncertainty. positive
alcohol spectrum disorders (FASD) – the If you drank alcohol before you
umbrella name for a group of lifelong found out? The advice is not to
conditions caused by prenatal alcohol worry unnecessarily, as the risks of
exposure. Their severity depends on the harm are likely to be low if only small
amount drunk, the pattern of drinking and amounts were consumed. If you’re
stage of pregnancy. The most severe form concerned, chat to your midwife or
– linked with heavy drinking – is foetal doctor. The NHS Choices website
alcohol syndrome (FAS), which results and Tommy’s Pregnancy Hub also
in a small head size, low height, facial offer clear support and advice. For
abnormalities and learning disabilities. now, thank the wellness industry
Milder effects frequently go undiagnosed – for alcohol-free rosé is not only
PHOTOGRAPHY: GETTY IMAGES. IMAGE MANIPULATION: COLIN BEAGLEY
and may not be apparent until childhood, a thing, it’s a trend. Cheers.
with UK research suggesting as many as
17% of children may be affected.
Risks to a baby increase with the amount W E T T H E BA BY ’ S H E A D
of alcohol consumed. According to the UK’s
What to drink when you’re sipping for two
Chief Medical Officer, the chances of a low
birth weight and preterm birth may be ORANGE JUICE COW’S MILK GINGER TEA
increased if you’re drinking above one or OJ is a great source of vitamin Just 250ml of cow’s milk Ginger can help with nausea.
two units per day (a 125ml glass of 12% C, which boosts absorption contains around 40% of your Plus: ginger tea is a great
wine is around 1.5 units). Evidence also shows of iron, the mineral that makes daily calcium and iodine needs caffeine-free swap for tea and
healthy red blood cells for during pregnancy. Iodine is coffee – the recommended
that heavy and frequent binge drinking you and your baby. Bonus: vital for the baby’s brain daily caffeine limit in pregnancy
(the latter classed as six or more units in a 150ml glass counts as one development, while calcium is 200mg, which you’ll get close
a single sitting, or around two large glasses of your five a day. is key to its skeletal health. to with one high street latte.
of wine) is strongly linked with FASD.
TECHNIQUE SCHOOL
Keep your back

straight – don’t
arch or round it
Keep your gaze
slightly in front
of your toes
Hinge Squeeze the back
forward from
the waist
of your shoulder
as you row
SIGNS
YOU’RE
DOING IT
WRONG
Your back is
rounded. Do you
want to end up
injured? Then stop
that right now.
Use a mirror to
spot yourself and
make sure your
lower back is
straight and you’re
not hyperextending
Hold the dumbbell – that means no
directly under Brace arching either.
your shoulder your core
throughout You can’t maintain
good form. If your
Use your back form is failing
foot for support before you finish
your set, it’s a sign
that you need to
lift lighter. Don’t
feel pressure to
row the same
gargantuan weights
that the dude on
the next bench
over is using.
BENT- OVER ROW

MIX IT UP
Target multiple
muscles with
these variations
BARBELL ROW
Master this move and you’ll be bringing strong back in no time -
Use a barbell to
work both sides of
hings we ‘The bent-over row is a fantastic your back straight and chin tucked your body equally.
all want: a way of strengthening the posterior in,’ Skinner says. ‘Then draw the
never-ending chain muscles – an area that dumbbell towards your waist, ROWING
supply of supports posture and core keeping the elbow tucked into MACHINE
WORDS: MICHELLE OCTOBER AND KIRSTI BUICK. PHOTOGRAPHY: IGOR POLTZENHAGEN
-
flattering stability,’ says Orangetheory coach your side. To complete the rep, Want to add a
leggings, a Rachel Skinner. ‘It’s a compound extend the arm back to the starting cardio boost? Get
full-length Friends movie exercise, which means it uses position.’ Aim to complete three the best of both
(although we’ll take that reunion more than one muscle group, so sets of 10 to 12 reps on each side. on the rower –
remember to push
special) and better upper-body you’re working not only your back, Battling to balance? ‘You could out with your legs.
strength. Thankfully, that last but your arms as well.’ Skinner adapt the move and pop your
one’s a real possibility if you recommends adding a rowing hand [the one not holding the SEATED
incorporate the bent-over move like this one (or one of the weight, obvs] and knee on a bench,’ CABLE ROW
row into your routine. You’d be variations in the panel, right) into Skinner suggests. Too easy? ‘Go
-
This move will
forgiven for thinking this move your routine once or twice a week. heavier,’ she says. ‘As long as you target the biceps,
only works your arms, but the Here’s how to perform it. Start don’t sacrifice form.’ Got all that? too. Score.
pulling movement is actually holding a dumbbell in your right You’re ready to row.
one of the best things you can hand and take a big step back with
do for your neglected back your right leg so you’re in a split
muscles – namely, your lats and stance. Now bend both knees and
rhomboids. Bonus: you’ll work lift your right heel, keeping your AVO I D I F : You tend to
your biceps, too. toe planted for balance. ‘Keep experience lower back pain.
D O E S I T WO R K I N R E A L L I F E ?
The Alexander
Technique
Not a method for picking up birds in a bar, but a collection of practices to correct
poor posture. One WH staffer found it had unexpected benefits for the mind, too
If there’s a phrase But it’s also a form of in-body mindfulness:

that drags me by becoming aware of how I react to the
back to my demands of motherhood and work, I can
teenage years, it’s begin to fight those habits, to prevent
‘stop slouching’. excessive muscle tension and feel calmer
THE Parents and and think more clearly in the process.
GUINEA PIG teachers were Unlearning decades-long habits takes
Perdita Nouril,
WH Beauty Editor forever slinging time; it’s the reason you need regular
the command AT sessions in order for it to be effective.
in my direction. But moments I visit Robinson monthly, and the first
after I’d sat up – grunting part of the 45-minute session always
in a manner that only a involves a few minutes in which she
15-year-old can really master observes how I sit and rise up from a
– I’d revert right back. chair. This helps her to see where tension
Fast forward 15 years and, has built up, and me to understand how
while I’ve shed most my Kevin my habits are contributing to my posture
and Perry-isms, the slouch has and pain. Next, I lie down on a table
stuck. ‘It’s not entirely your while Robinson loosens the tension in
fault,’ reassures Jean Robinson, every muscle with her hands. It’s like
my Alexander Technique (AT) a methodical massage, it can be a little
tutor. ‘You’re a casualty of the painful when she digs her fingers in to
21st century production line release the tension, but once my muscles
that involves hunching over surrender, it feels super satisfying. We
a computer for eight hours also practise breath work, with me
a day.’ I found Robinson whispering ‘ah’ until I empty my chest
six years ago when both my of oxygen. This regulates my breathing
husband and mother-in-law and slows my mind – it’s a mainstay of
recommended a visit. They AT, but it’s only recently that the mind-
extolled the virtues of regular body benefits of breath work have started
sessions with her, and I wanted to be corroborated by clinical studies.
to see what all the fuss was I leave my AT sessions feeling taller,
about. Since then, the tension Pulling but the tension leaving my body has an
triggers have changed, but the the strings overwhelming emotional impact, too.
monthly appointments, which Problems that felt insurmountable
cost £45 each, are a non- before are reduced to nothing; and the
negotiable in my diary. When nagging anxiety of work deadlines and
I’m stressed with a deadline, mum guilt is temporarily muted. While
I clench my jaw and carry I first sought out AT for the physical
tension in the muscles in my benefits, it’s this emotional equilibrium
back and arms; I always carry This is where AT comes in. Devised by actor Frederick that keeps me coming back.
my daughter on my right hip Matthias Alexander in the 1890s, when he started
and type furiously fast on experiencing vocal problems, AT aims to restore the
my laptop with my left hand. natural balance of the head, neck and back. ‘The
These repetitive, and at times co-ordination and freedom of movement between these THE VERDICT
uncomfortable, movements parts underpins everything you do, so if you disturb Quick results
cause me physical pain in my this balance with excessive and inappropriate tension Value for money
neck and back, but they also [by one-handed keyboard bashing, for example] you Long-term solution
affect my mood, making me interfere with the most efficient use of your body,’ Energising
PHOTOGRAPHY: GETTY IMAGES
feel foggy, weary and irritable. says Robinson. The goal of AT is to counteract this by OVERALL SCORE
re-educating the mind and the body through a series
of movements in order to encourage your body to use
muscles more efficiently. The relationship between
head and spine is key; when the neck muscles work well,
the head should balance lightly at the top of the spine.
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The passion project of founder
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Although there are plans for
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Outdoor Voices has collaborated
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Photography | TIFFANY MUMFORD M AY 2 0 2 0 | 2 1

SKIN DEEP
WH ’ S
A LO E - G O
H E RO E S
Should £75
Dr Barbara Sturm
Hydrating Face Mist,
Prone to skin flare-

ups post-workout or
I use aloe after a stressful period?

Keep this mist handy.
It blends aloe vera
extract with hyaluronic
vera in my
acid, broccoli and
purslane, an anti-
ageing powerhouse,
to calm and hydrate
What a sensitised skin.
skincare re-leaf
routine? The Body Shop

Aloe Soothing Day
Cream, £14
Suffer with skin drier
than the desert? This
WHAT EXACTLY nourishing cream
helps to quench
IS ALOE VERA? skin’s thirst and keep
THE EXPERT - moisture locked in.
Dr Barbara Sturm, A perennial succulent
founder of Dr of the lily family, aloe
Barbara Sturm vera is a thick, short-
Skincare stemmed shrub with
triangular, fleshy leaves
composed of three
layers; one of which HOW OFTEN
Given that millennials contains the slimy
apparently spend more gel that we typically HOW DOES IT SHOULD I USE IT?
Dr Organic Bioactive
money on pot plants associate with aloe HELP MY SKIN? - Skincare Aloe Vera
than their parents, vera products, such as - Always follow the Body Butter, £9.99
chances are you’re the aftersun. It also turns In all sorts of ways. guidelines for any This vegan hero
proud owner of some up in a lot of skincare For starters, the sugars skincare products contains the purest
very Instagrammable products. This gel is contained in aloe vera you’re using that organic bioactive aloe
succulents. Aside from mostly made up of have proven collagen- contain aloe vera. As vera, to ensure that
adorning your desk water (as much as boosting benefits, aggressors, such as a rule, it’s most useful the plant’s beneficial
or ornamenting your 99%), which is why speeding up wound- pollution. Then there's for treating mild polysaccharides are
windowsill, these you feel a cooling healing and helping vitamin A, which helps sunburn – you can optimised in order
plants are total effect as it evaporates bind moisture to the to speed up skin cell apply the pure form to help moisturise the
powerhouses when it off the skin. The skin. Aloe vera also turnover, and vitamin of the gel (or look for skin on your body.
comes to optimising remaining 1% contains contains six antiseptic C, which brightens a product that lists
your beauty routine – a huge number of agents: lupeol, salicylic skin and prevents aloe vera as its main
in particular, aloe vera. nutrients that are acid, urea nitrogen, damage to your cells ingredient) up to three
Native to North Africa amazing for the skin. cinnamic acid, phenols by impeding the times a day to help it
and Southern Europe, These include vitamins and sulphur, all of production of highly heal faster and soothe
it’s one of the most A, C and E (which which have an reactive molecules the skin. If you want Antipodes Apostle
studied plants on the are antioxidants), antibacterial effect, known as free radicals. to try it more for its Skin-Brightening
planet, with research vitamin B12, folic acid, so you’ll often find Last but not least, its hydrating and Serum, £44.75
showing that it has the enzymes, fatty acids it in products that mineral content plays antibacterial effects, The combination of
then you can slice
ability to reduce skin and minerals such target blemishes and a role in helping to aloe vera, mamaku
inflammation caused as calcium, zinc breakouts. It’s also control sebum open the one sitting black fern and
by anything from and magnesium. packed with skin- production. So, you on your windowsill, raspberry oil improves
sunburn to psoriasis. boosting antioxidants. know. Pretty useful. however, it’s best the skin on all fronts,
Here’s everything you Vitamin E, for example, blended with other helping to brighten,
need to know about acts as a shield against beneficial skincare hydrate and reduce
one of nature’s best environmental ingredients. redness. What more
skin healers. could you want?
W H AT H A P P E N S W H E N
I’m hungry
All of a sudden, a deep rumbling to rival Barry White’s lowest octave reverberates around the office – and
it’s coming from your stomach. What’s actually going on in your body when hunger strikes?
01 03 05
HOR-MOAN-ING
Mechanically speaking,
feeling hungry comes down
to hormones. ‘One in the
stomach, called ghrelin,
02
READY TO RUMBLE
DISCOMFORT ZONE
Let’s not give your gut all the
glory – it’s your brain that’s
responsible for getting you
to the fridge. ‘There’s an
04
HANGRY
LEVEL UP
Hunger levels can vary
significantly from person
to person and individuals’
levels can fluctuate. ‘Small
stimulates hunger and, an area in the brain called the differences in hundreds of
hour or so after you last As well as your friendly hypothalamus [which links As for the reason you’re genes accumulate to make
ate, your levels slowly creep neighbourhood hormones, the endocrine and nervous picking a fight over Pret’s people more or less prone
up and act on the appetite neural signals from the gut systems], the neurons of last kale and cauliflower mac to hunger,’ says Professor
sensors in your brain to jump in to let your brain which are involved in food and cheese? The answer Murphy. While that goes
encourage you to eat food,’ know what’s what. ‘When intake,’ explains Professor could be in your blood. some way to explaining
says endocrinologist the gut starts to empty and Murphy. ‘The activation of ‘Hanger is a low blood why your desk mate can
Professor Kevin Murphy. things start to move down, a molecule called AGRP sugar issue – that’s what seemingly be satisfied with
Between 10 and 20 minutes you reduce the stretch in provokes a sense of impairs mood,’ says a lunch that would only do
after a meal, hormones the stomach and the small uneasiness, prompting you nutritional therapist Daniel you for elevenses, it’s worth
associated with satiety (CCK, intestine, so that takes the to seek out food. That’s why O’Shaughnessy. ‘Humans noting that environmental
GLP-1 and PPY, fellow nerds) fullness signal away,’ says hunger feels so unpleasant: have evolved to avoid factors also play a role.
peak, keeping you full until Professor Murphy. Cue the it’s your body telling you starvation at all costs. So, if ‘Sleep deprivation can
the next feed. Protein and rumbles – or borborygmi, to rectify the situation.’ your blood sugar is running increase your levels of
fibre-filled foods sustain to use their proper name low after not eating for a ghrelin, which stimulates
these guys for longer, FYI. – which are just pockets while, that’s going to release your appetite,’ adds
of gas being squeezed as stress hormones and cause O’Shaughnessy. Nabbing
the intestines contract to more aggressive feelings to early nights and prioritising
sweep up any leftovers. come out.’ Do remember, prompt arrivals in the
though, that as a grown arse lunch queue it is, then.
woman, you do have the
capacity to keep a lid on it.
CREDITS MINI
WORDS: SMITH. PHOTOGRAPHY: GETTY IMAGES
GO HERE
It ’s b e en over t wo yea r s sin ce PT a n d b o na f id e sup er s tar of th e U K f itn e s s s cen e
Alice Liveing wa s la s t on the cover of Women’s Health. Two yea r s jam - p a cke d with
succe s s , personal grow th and highlight s aplent y, sure. But she want s you to know
that the surreal life of a wellne s s influencer isn’t ju s t one long dream sequen ce…
WORDS ROISÍN DERVISH-O’KANE PHOTOGRAPHY IAN HARRISON

27
COVER STORY WO M EN ’ S H E A LT H
Life very much imitates, if not art,
then theme, on the morning I go for
tea with Alice Liveing. I’m assigned
to interview her for the story to
appear alongside her Alice In
COVER STORY
Wonderland-styled photo shoot

and, thanks to a spontaneously
grounded Jubilee Line, I end up
bounding through the doors of
London’s Sketch as harried as
the White Rabbit, brandishing an
iPhone rather than a pocket watch.
28
Late for a very important date
with she who, perched on a round
blush-pink velvet sofa, looks just
as doe-eyed and cartoon-perfect
WO M EN ’ S H E A LT H
in expensive-looking black
activewear as her namesake did
in a blue dress and white pinafore.
This isn’t my first meeting with
Alice; her prolificacy within the
wellness bubble means we’ve
schmoozed at WH Live, spoken in
depth about an abusive relationship
in her teens for a mental health
piece and indulged in food and
industry gossip on a #spon beauty
trip to Rye. The week following our
chat, she’ll join Women’s Health’s
finest in a gaudily decorated house
in Essex to shoot images a world
away from anything she’s done
before. It’s fun – frothy, even – and
I’d assumed the temperature of
today’s chat would veer towards
that, given how comfortable the
stage school alumnus is with the
media, and how she is – by all
accounts – professionally and
personally thriving. But when I put
to her, minutes into our interview,
that she’s existing in a veritable
wonderland, she’s quick to open
up about the lows.
‘I’ve struggled with anxiety all
my life – I’ve always had an anxious
disposition – but, last year, shit just
hit the fan with all of it,’ she explains,
♥
before adopting a wide-eyed smile to thank through that – I can’t have the burden of having to talk
our ‘tea mistress’ for the stack of finger to others about what I’m going through when I’m going
sandwiches and elaborate sweet treats through it. I have to do it myself. Come out the other
she sets down between us. ‘It got to a point side. And when I have periods of bad anxiety, I now
last year where I sort of, like, I wouldn’t say focused approach, rather than recognise that I have to remove myself from social
I had a breakdown, but there was a point
where I was convinced that something was
wrong with me. I was absolutely certain
an aesthetics-focused approach.’
It’s a change that Alice believes
has allowed her to understand
media and have time away.’
BEYOND BELIEF
♥
that I was dying, basically. I was in [my that her value as a PT doesn’t Some of Alice’s success sits within the realms of
GP’s surgery] being like, “I have something depend solely on how defined relatability: being loved up with her boyfriend and
wrong with me, I’ve got cancer, I think I’ve the lines on her stomach are. excitedly planning on buying a house together. Some
got this...”’ It coincided with Alice suffering ‘I don’t have to be ripped with a are more out of the ordinary, like three-and-counting
excruciating pelvic pain from then- six-pack to be a [great] personal activewear collections with retail giant Primark –
undiagnosed adenomyosis (a condition trainer,’ she says. ‘And it’s taken which described the ranges as ‘sell-out successes’ – and
similar to endometriosis, where the womb me years to learn that.’ reaching 500,000 downloads for the first series of her
lining grows in the womb’s muscular wall), But what does this new, more podcast Give Me Strength. It’s easy to forget that she’s
and being prescribed a contraceptive pill intuitive approach to health just 27 years old, having been on the scene for five years
that caused her to have a near-constant look like? ‘I eat without now. I ask if she sees any parallels between her own world
and Lewis Carroll’s trippy wonderland, and she answers
with candour. ‘I think sometimes it’s very surreal,’ she
‘I don’t have to be ripped to offers. ‘I have seen and I have known many people who
have allowed a sense of fame and being known by lots of
be a great personal trainer’ people to [cause them to] get a bit above their station,’
she says – cautiously. ‘It’s a very strange world where
COVER STORY
you get a lot of things for free, and people send you
period for two months, which only added following rules and, with loads of things, and every day it’s your birthday... it’s not
to her downward spiral. I ask if she was exercise, I’ve become way more normal. You should never become accustomed to that
experiencing full-blown health anxiety? intuitive in terms of waking up sense of things always being available.’ The strategy
Though neither her GP, nor the [and thinking], what do I feel she’s developed to stop herself spinning, whirling
psychotherapist she was subsequently like doing? You know, I’m dervish-style, away from reality? ‘Firmly establishing a
referred to, described it as such, Alice resting a lot more,’ she offers. life outside of social media over the past couple of years.
29
believes that was the case. ‘I remember But this shift doesn’t mean A lot of my friends do what I do, and I found that quite
sitting on the sofa and turning to [boyfriend Alice goes easy on herself. Being difficult, and as much as I love and respect them, if
Paddy] and being like: “I think I’ve got guided by her body usually sees you’re constantly with your work colleagues, then [it’s
leukaemia. You have to believe me, I do! her do three or four 45-minute like] you’re at work all the time as well,’ Alice explains.
ALICE WEARS: (ON PREVIOUS PAGE) TOP AND SHOES, HOUSE OF CB; BIKINI BOTTOMS, ARABELLA LONDON; SOCKS, & OTHER STORIES; HAIR CLIPS, ACCESSORIZE.
I know what all the symptoms are.” strength sessions each week, ‘In meeting Paddy and having a wide, diverse group of
It’s a sobering image: someone who’s following a gym programme set amazing friends, my social circle has expanded and the
made a career out of inspiring and educating by fellow Third Space trainer stuff that I do now – at weekends and stuff – feels a lot
others to be their healthiest selves buckling James Ralph and elite PT Andy less Alice In Wonderland,’ she smiles. ‘Like going to
under worries about her own. Does she think Vincent. In addition, there’s the pub; watching the rugby; going for a Sunday roast.’
it’s too much of a reach to link the two? some ‘stretching and mobility
‘There’s definitely something in that,’ she stuff’, a leisurely weekend walk
(ON THIS PAGE) TOP, SHORTS, MISS SELFRIDGE; COLLAR, RIVER ISLAND. (INSET) DRESS, HOUSE OF CB; HEADBAND, TOPSHOP
nods. ‘I’m less interested in knowing about and her Saturday morning
everything I “need” to know about my boxing class, too. Alice went to
health. I think that sometimes we can be boutique boxing club Kobox
overloaded with information.’ When it for the first time last summer
♥
comes to the wellness world’s latest culture when, in the wake of that spell
war – those motivated by metrics versus of disabling anxiety, she
those who are intuitively feeling their way couldn’t bring herself to train in
– Alice comes down firmly in the intuitive the gym. ‘There was something
camp. ‘I’ve had to,’ she says. ‘If you go back about punching a bag’ – she
five years, I was so obsessed with data, giggles, almost apologetically
feedback from your body and whatever... – ‘visualising all the shit that I
it’s just too much information, and it’s was feeling anxious [about and]
another thing to worry about…’ just, sort of, getting it out on
the bag.’ While Alice has been
THROUGH THE increasingly open on social
LOOKING GLASS media about her down days, it’s
Alice sees this personal evolution reflected usually after the fact. I ask her
back at her. ‘I’ve seen a really positive shift in whether it’s a conscious choice
the way people approach exercise, in the way to share the lows once she’s on
people are taking care of themselves a bit her way back up. ‘I’m definitely
more,’ she says. ‘The whole mindset around
fitness has shifted to more of a health-
one of those people who has to
breathe and reflect and deal
♥
♥
with things myself first,’ she
says. ‘When my life has played
out so publicly, I can’t go
‘When I have periods
of bad anxiety, I have
to remove myself
from social media’
COVER STORY
30 I couldn’t really get my head

around it – I’m so old-school

with my content... but I’m kind
of okay with that, and I’ve
accepted that’s just how I am.’
Though Alice wants to stay grounded, her mood is CHANGING TACK encouraging an intuitive approach could
naturally buzzy – and she’s no more enthusiastic than Pleasingly self-aware, Alice have backfired. ‘Having to play that journey
when talking about her PT work. But given the many wants people to know that she [out] publicly could have been really
strings to her bow, how much time does she actually get believes she’s made mistakes in challenging,’ she reflects. ‘People could
to spend with clients? Not as much as she’d like, is the her transition from food blogger have turned away from me and been like,
JACKET, LISA MARIE FERNANDEZ; SOCKS, & OTHER STORIES; SHOES, JIMMY CHOO; HEADBAND, ANTHROPOLOGIE
STYLING: SASKIA QUIRKE. HAIR: ADAM REED. MAKE-UP: AMY BRANDON. ALICE WEARS: (OPPOSITE) BIKINI AND
answer – something she puts down to both last year’s to influencer to entrepreneur. ‘I “Who is this girl? She used to think this, but
(ON NEXT PAGE) SWIMMING COSTUME, & OTHER STORIES; SHOES, HOUSE OF CB; HEADBAND, ACCESSORIZE.
mental health struggles and the demands of other had a very restrictive approach,’ now she thinks this.” But I think it’s because
projects. She’s resolved to build it back up again, training she says. ‘I didn’t understand my journey was very, very similar to many
more clients both at London’s Third Space and the that people are in bigger bodies other people’s. A lot of us start something
Corinthia Hotel. ‘It reminds me: this is why you do what and that’s totally okay. I thought we think is totally healthy and is completely RABBIT: SNOWFLAKE AT URBAN PAWS. NO ANIMALS WERE HARMED ON THIS SHOOT
you do, get in the gym and train people. And also, like, I’m everyone wanted the same thing normal, and we get a bit carried away. And
hungry for education, I’m hungry to learn more. If I just as me, which was to be really you sort of wake up and you realise: oh shit,
sat back and thought: “Nah, I know everything. I’m just lean. So, anyone who wasn’t on it’s not actually healthy. Like, this isn’t
going to do videos and make money from it...”’ she makes that path, I thought, “Why not? what I’m supposed to be doing... it takes
a face. ‘I’m trying to constantly better myself as a coach, Why are you not going to the swallowing your ego and learning, and
and you only improve by having hands-on time with gym?” I really had to swallow respecting other people’s opinions – and
clients.’ That goal of betterment applies for Alice’s career those thoughts and just be like, realising that yours aren’t always right.’
in general. She wants to put her interviewing skills to use there’s a whole world out there And with that, Alice zips up her black
beyond her podcast and her Liveing Well events – on of people of different shapes puffer, thanks me effusively and bounces
TV. ‘Over the past few months, I’ve worked on pitching and sizes who are all worthy out, pink box of ultra-bougie patisserie in
a couple of documentaries to different TV channels,’ she of love and respect.’ hand. What wonderment has she to look
says – reeling off interests in politics, current affairs and, She knows that pivoting forward to for the rest of the day? A call
fundamentally, people. ‘But it’s such a tricky industry to from Clean Eating Alice to with her accountant to wrap her head
get into.’ It’s ironic that Alice’s sights are set on TV when around taxes. Reality bites.
♦
♦ ♦
she’d describe video as her biggest professional failure

to date. ‘I’ve never created videos that were quite right. Turn the page for Alice’s exclusive
28-day beginners’ training challenge
♦
♦
♦
KICK-START
28-DAY Start your spring health kick
with sustainable workout
habits and build a healthier
body with Alice’s exclusive or two filled reusable water
four-week challenge bottles instead of dumbbells.
On the days when you’re
hether she’s working not doing a workout, you’ll
with clients at Third find daily movement goals.
Space, speaking at a ‘When people start a new
public wellness event fitness plan, they’ll often see
or just scrolling the exercise they do as being
through her DMs on limited to their workouts,
Instagram, there’s one question Alice but what we really want to
always gets asked. And, no, it has nothing focus on is moving more,’
to do with shredded abs, shedding Alice says. ‘It all adds up.’
COVER STORY
pounds or even building strength. While this plan was
‘The common thread that crops up designed for beginners, it’ll
constantly is, “I really want to exercise, work for studio addicts and
but I don’t know where to start,”’ she experienced lifters, too. ‘All
says. ‘It makes total sense – asking the exercises can be made
exercise newbies to go straight into more difficult simply by
a gym to lift weights is like telling adding more load,’ says Alice.
33
someone who’s never jogged before ‘You could be a complete
to go and run a marathon.’ beginner who uses their
So, Alice has developed this 28-day body weight, or someone
challenge. But if the idea of a fitness quite experienced, like me,
challenge sends you running for the who can add some load and
hills, hear us (and Alice) out. This still get so much from it.’
kick-start isn’t about sweating yourself Which means, yes, if you’re
silly seven days a week – it’s about up for it, the workouts can
building healthy, sustainable habits, be done on the gym floor, too.
a better understanding of your body When you’re finished, check
and, of course, improved fitness, out @womenshealthuk or
strength and mobility. ‘The workouts @aliceliveing on Instagram
are built on simple key movements, for more workout ideas. Need
but will encourage you to break out further guidance? Join our
of your comfort zone to find ways of Facebook group at facebook.
moving that you enjoy,’ Alice says. com/groups/whgetfitdone
What does that look like, exactly? for helpful tips and tricks, and
Check out the plan over the page. Each to connect with the WH team.
week, you’ll complete three at-home Here’s to getting fit done,
10-minute sessions: lower body and for 28 days and beyond.
core, upper body and core, and HIIT,
plus one mobility session. The
workouts, including videos you can
follow along with, are available at
womenshealthmag.com/uk/alice- Share your clips
liveing. There’s no gym or fancy kit and videos with
required – all of the sessions can be @womenshealthuk
performed with your own body weight, on social media
using the hashtag
#getfitdone
with
Alice
Liveing
28-DAY with
Alice Liveing
KICK-START
Head to womenshealthmag.com/uk/alice-liveing for full details of the challenge
WEEK 1 WEEK 2 WEEK 3 WEEK 4
MONDAY MONDAY MONDAY MONDAY
UPPER BODY LOWER BODY HIIT UPPER BODY

AND CORE AND CORE AND CORE
TUESDAY TUESDAY TUESDAY TUESDAY
HIIT AIM FOR MOBILITY HIIT

12 ,000 STEPS
WEDNESDAY WEDNESDAY WEDNESDAY WEDNESDAY
AIM FOR LOWER BODY LOWER BODY

UPPER BODY
10,000 STEPS AND CORE AND CORE
AND CORE
THURSDAY THURSDAY THURSDAY THURSDAY
LOWER BODY MOBILITY UPPER BODY AIM FOR

AND CORE AND CORE 15,000 STEPS
FRIDAY FRIDAY FRIDAY FRIDAY
REST DAY HIIT REST DAY MOBILITY
SATURDAY SATURDAY SATURDAY SATURDAY
TRY A NEW DO A LOCAL AIM FOR TRY A NEW

CLASS/SPORT PARKRUN OR 13,000 STEPS CLASS/SPORT
YOUR OWN 5K
SUNDAY
SUNDAY SUNDAY SUNDAY
DO A YOUTUBE
MOBILITY REST DAY YOGA VIDEO REST DAY
Take
your pick
What eating ‘well’ actually means for you is about as crystal clear as a Hemsley bone broth.
Consider these pages your evidence-based briefing on the fuel your body really needs,
and how you can get it without losing all the joy of eating WORDS PAUL KITA AND MINI SMITH
e’ve all been there; lured
in by the quick-fix
promises of a brand-new
‘magic’ diet. After all, in be very harmful. These do nothing to change
our latest reader survey, your overall lifestyle habits, so once you’ve
the majority of you said one stopped the diet, you’re likely to return to
of your main health goals was to shed excess your old ways and regain the weight lost.’
fat. With so many diets to choose from – Which leads to this not-so-surprising
intermittent fasting, paleo, the 5:2, sugar-free fact: the best diet you can follow isn’t sexy,
– you’d think at least one would stick for and it doesn’t have influencer endorsements.
everyone. But in 2017, researchers from It’s based on the inclusion of healthy foods
La Trobe University, Australia, reviewed – not the exclusion of food groups – and
25 weight-loss programmes and found that it will last you far longer than whatever
they all ‘frequently fail to produce modest Atkins, Zone, Whole30, paleo, Mesozoic,
but clinically meaningful weight loss, with Bulletproof or keto plan is hot right now. As
high rates of attrition’. In other words, Thornton-Wood says: ‘The most successful
diets tend to backfire after a few months. diets are those that change your lifestyle
For dietitian Clare Thornton-Wood, it’s and eating habits on a long-term basis.’
a familiar story. ‘There remains a lot of To help you find a plan to persist with,
interest in quick-fix diets that involve we’ve digested (sorry) the past 25 years of
restricting various food groups, which can nutritional information and recruited the
help of the industry’s finest to provide you
with a zero-BS strategy for peak nutrition
– no cabbage soup required.
ly breakd
ai ow
d
power
e
n
Th
is
Fat 30%
Fish, nuts, etc
Protein 30%
Animal and plant-based
Carbohydrates 40%
Especially those high in fibre
1 WHY PROTEIN
IS IMPORTANT
It’s the essential nutrient
for building muscle. Its skill
base isn’t half bad: protein is
Seven unsung
protein sources
30
satiating, builds and maintains
muscle, fortifies your bones,
improves brain function and
aids your immune system.
2 HOW MUCH
TO EAT
Roughly 0.75g of protein
for every kilogram of body
weight. So, a 70kg woman
would need about 52.5g a day.
The percentage of 3 | FRESH
Figures suggest the average Brit
British adults who
is hitting, and often exceeding, are failing to meet MOZZARELLA
their quota. Chicken is great the government’s -
for protein, but so is tofu, oily recommended five 24g in 85g. Pizza’s
fish (such as salmon), pork, portions of fruit and partner in crime 6 | SCALLOPS
veg a day, according
shellfish, white fish, lamb, to the latest National tends to have fewer -
tempeh and much more. Diet and Nutrition 1 | DUCK BREAST calories than aged 17g in 85g. Plump,
Survey. The average - cheeses, too. meaty and oh so
3 WHAT’S THE
BEST HIGH-
PROTEIN SNACK?
Joe is only getting
4.2. Plus, we’re only
consuming half the
recommended fibre
16g in 85g. Skinless
duck breast is about
as lean as chicken
satisfying, these
molluscs taste
best seared over
A good-quality shake. Not (30g) – hitting breast, and a portion a medium-high
only do most ‘high-protein’ between 15g and 21g still comes in at less heat on each side
a day. So, given you’re
E AT S M A R T
bars on the market fall far than 300 calories. till crispy, then
likely doing fine for
short of the protein you need, protein, it may be wise The taste is rich plonked into a
but they’re also often highly to switch your focus. and full of flavour. risotto or butternut
processed. ‘Some bars with soup. So good.
minimal ingredients are fine 4 | MUSSELS
to eat on occasion, especially -
when paired with fresh fruit 20g in 85g. Try this
or veg, but you’d be better off easy recipe: add
with protein powder made into There are a bag of scrubbed
a shake,’ says dietitian Dr Brian this many grams mussels to a pot
St. Pierre. Just be sure to read of protein in one with beer and
large egg. Sorry,
the small print (see page 44). open-plan office butter. Simmer
2 | CHICKPEAS until they open.
- Serve with crusty 7 | EDAMAME
38g in 200g. They bread for dipping. -
form the base of You’re welcome. 9g in 80g. They’re
hummus and make technically soya
a great addition to beans, and beyond
soups, salads and being a great go-to
curries. Bonus: sushi bar appetiser,
they’re loaded they’re delicious
with gut-filling in salads, noodle
fibre: 17g in 100g. dishes and stir- fries.
They’re a solid
source of fibre, too.
5 | TEMPEH Keep a stash in your
- work fridge.
30g in 170g. You’ll
be able to find this
fermented soya
bean product (not
as gross as it sounds,
trust us) in any
large supermarket.
Crumble and stir-fry.
the number of calories
in one tablespoon of
cooking fat. Butter,
canola oil, bacon fat,
olive oil, sesame oil –
doesn’t matter which
1 THE SKINNY
ON FATS What’s the How fat
The right kind of fats may
actually help, not hinder,
your heart. It turns out
deal with
fatty acids?
-
functions
Science has identified three
scientists of yore unfairly ‘EPA and DHA are types of fat cells: beige (neutral),
the heart-healthy
blamed fat as the sole cause of white (not great for you) and
omega-3s that
heart disease: new research your body uses brown (pretty great for you)
shows that heart trouble may most easily,’ says
actually be caused by issues dietitian Dr Chris
ranging from your genetics to Mohr. ‘You’ll find
them in seafood, BROWN FAT
hypertension and inflammation. particularly
In fact, good fats may aid your cold-water fish
heart, in addition to helping (because they BEIGE TO BROWN FAT
to prevent cancer and assisting carry more fat for When beige fat browns
insulation). Fish – stimulated by cold
in nutrient absorption. is always the best temperatures – fat burning
2
direct source of increases, inflammation
HOW MUCH EPA/DHA. So, decreases and the risk of
TO EAT while we’re at it, metabolic disorders decreases
Aim for six thumb-sized eat fish at least
twice a week.’
portions daily. And get your Not a fish eater? BEIGE FAT
fats from high-quality proteins Get your DHA
(oily fish, grass-fed beef ). Use and EPA fix from
supplements BEIGE TO WHITE FAT
whole fats (butter, olive oil) If it’s not used for energy or
made from
when cooking instead of fats microalgae, such converted to brown fat, beige
up on
engineered in a lab (margarine). as Cytoplan fat whitens and is stored. Fat

burning decreases, inflammation
Fuel
For good overall health, eat a mix Omega 3 Vegan,

£25.50. increases and the risk of
of fat sources: monounsaturated metabolic disorders increases
(almonds, olive oil, for example),
polyunsaturated (chia, fish,
walnuts) and a little saturated WHITE FAT
(dark chocolate and butter).
Four unsung nuts and seeds
1 | BRAZIL NUTS 2 | MACADAMIAS 3 | HEMP SEEDS 4 | PUMPKIN

- - - SEEDS
The big boys in your These stout bulbs Also known as -
packet of mixed taste amazing hemp hearts, these These guys taste
nuts, 12 of them roasted, crushed carry a faintly great roasted and
contain 9g of and stirred into roasted flavour. Try lightly seasoned
protein, 5g of fibre oats or a yoghurt them scattered on with smoked
and a bucketload breakfast bowl your salad for a paprika for a fast,
of healthy fats. loaded with berries. little added crunch. easy snack.
Rethink
your
1WHY
CARBS
Hit the carb
Here’s an example daily menu of quality
ARE COOL carbs. Remember, variety is key, so
Carbohydrates are be sure to mix it up
essential. Consuming
the right amount of the Breakfast
Bowl of Greek yoghurt topped with
best kinds of carbs can
50g blueberries and 1 sliced banana
help improve your (2 servings)
athletic performance, -
recovery times and Mid-morning snack
body composition. 1 pear or apple, or 2 mandarins
(1 serving)
Also, know that there’s -
nothing magical about Lunch
carbs (or insulin) that Salad with 50g cherry tomatoes and
causes either excess 50g cubed, roasted sweet potatoes
(3 servings)
fat gain or hunger – -
so plate up. Mid-afternoon snack
Handful of nuts or seeds and 2 large carrots
(2 servings)
2 HOW -
E AT S M A R T
MUCH Dinner
Protein plus 90g cooked quinoa, farro or brown
TO EAT? rice with a double portion of sautéed greens
Try for six to eight (3 servings)
cupped handfuls of -
quality carbs every
day. What are ‘quality’
carbs? Fruit, legumes,
whole grains, potatoes
and sweet potatoes. The carb family tree
Is your mate banging on about soluble fibre again? Allow us to explain...
3 PACK
IN MORE
FRESH
CARBOHYDRATES
They provide your body (and brain) with glucose, a vital source of energy
STUFF
Research shows that
you should eat six to
10 servings of fruit FIBRE STARCH SUGAR
The roughage that It’s how plants store glucose. There are many types, and
and veg a day. That’s keeps you regular Potatoes are high in starch a lot of them are beneficial
enough to help fight
disease and maintain
a healthy weight.
INSOLUBLE FIBRE GLUCOSE
GOOD FOR YOU…
It won’t dissolve in water. Insulin shuttles it to cells

GENERALLY
Wheat bran has it for fuel. Honey has it
SOLUBLE FIBRE LACTOSE FRUCTOSE

It attracts water, slowing You’ll find it naturally in In fruit, it’s paired with
the absorption of sugar milk-based products fibre and antioxidants
(think: oats, beans, pulses)
GENERALLY
NOT GREAT
FOR YOU…
ADDED SUGAR SUCROSE

It’s usually excess, Glucose plus fructose,
empty calories such as table sugar
DIGESTION
470 39G 9G 26G 4
cals fat protein carbs serves
AIDING
BLACKENED AUBERGINE WITH TAHINI SAUCE

More than a suggestive emoji, aubergines are high in dietary
fibre; essential for keeping you regular. Combine with sumac
for a powerful anti-inflammatory punch
INGREDIENTS For the tahini sauce: a bowl and add the

20g bird’s eye chillies, 100g tahini paste • lemon juice and garlic.
stalks removed • 4 1 tbsp lemon juice Mix in the iced water
garlic cloves, roughly • 1 garlic clove, finely bit by bit. The tahini will
chopped • seeds of chopped • 100ml iced thicken at first, then
2 cardamom pods water • pinch of salt loosen. Add some salt.
• handful of mint 4 | Cook an aubergine
leaves • handful of METHOD on a skewer over the
flat-leaf parsley leaves 1 | Blitz the chillies in a flame of a hob until
• handful of coriander, blender with the garlic charred, then allow to
stalks and all • juice and cardamom seeds cool, repeat for all.
of ½ lemon • 75ml olive to make a rough paste. 5 | Peel the aubergines,
oil, plus extra to drizzle Add the mint, parsley, season and drizzle with
• salt and pepper • 4 coriander and lemon olive oil. Spread the
aubergines • 20g pine juice and blitz again. sauce over a serving
nuts, toasted • 20g 2 | Pour in the oil and platter and place the
pomegranate seeds stir – it should be aubergines on top.
• pinch of sumac • coarse, but not too dry. Drizzle over the paste
handful of parsley and Season to taste. you made earlier and
dill leaves, roughly 3 | To make the sauce, top with the remaining
chopped pour the tahini into ingredients.
SESAME STREET
E AT S M A R T
303 28G 6G 13G

cals fat protein carbs
4
serves
CELL
R E PA I R I N G
JERUSALEM CHOPPED SALAD WITH TAHINI DRIZZLE

Red peppers are particularly rich in vitamin C – essential for
encouraging cell production to maintain healthy skin and bones
INGREDIENTS ingredients) • 2 tbsp 3 | Just before serving,

4 plum tomatoes, pine nuts, toasted, to fold through the mint
roughly diced • 1 red serve • pinch of sumac, and parsley and check
pepper, roughly diced to serve for seasoning. You want
WORDS: GEORGIA BROWN; MINI SMITH. FOOD STYLING: IONA BLACKSHAW
• 1 cucumber, cut into the salad to be sharp,

chunks • ¼ red onion, METHOD so add more lemon
diced • 1 spring onion, 1 | Put the tomatoes, juice if it needs it.
green parts only, finely red pepper, cucumber, 4 | Serve piled high,
sliced • 1 green chilli, red onion, spring drizzle with the tahini
deseeded and sliced • onion and chilli in sauce and sprinkle
80ml olive oil • 3 tbsp a bowl and combine. over the pine nuts
lemon juice, plus extra 2 | Next, pour in the and a pinch of sumac.
to taste • salt and olive oil and lemon juice, Could you be any
pepper • 1 tsp za’atar season with salt and more Ottolenghi?
• ½ tsp dried mint • pepper to taste, add
2 tbsp chopped mint the za’atar and dried
leaves • 2 tbsp chopped mint and mix well.
parsley • 80g tahini
sauce (see recipe
above and halve the
4 2 | M AY 2 0 2 0 Photography | ELLIS PARRINDER

593 40G 18G 39G 6
BEETROOT TAHINI DIP WITH HAZELNUTS

The nitrates in beets have been proven to increase blood flow to the
frontal lobe of the brain, fuelling high-level stuff such as decision
making and memory. Proper mind, body and soul food
INGREDIENTS METHOD blender a few times to

500g red pepper • 1 | Stab the peppers incorporate. Season
800g cooked beetroot, with a skewer and with salt to taste.
peeled • 3 garlic blacken them over a 3 | Serve this dinner
cloves, peeled • 2 large hob flame until charred. party-ready dip topped
red chillies • 220g raw Transfer them to a with the hazelnuts, a
(ie, unroasted) tahini bowl, cover with cling thinly sliced chilli, a few
• 30g coriander • 3 film and set aside. Once dill sprigs, the rest of the
tbsp lemon juice • cooled, peel, quarter sour cream dolloped in
70ml olive oil, plus and deseed them. the middle and a final
extra to drizzle • 100ml 2 | Place the cooked obligatory drizzle of
sour cream • pinch of peppers and beetroot olive oil. Serve with
salt • 40g hazelnuts, in a blender with the piping-hot pitta breads
toasted and chopped garlic, one chilli and for extra goodness.
• a few sprigs of dill • the tahini. Chop the
4 pitta breads, freshly coriander and add to
grilled or warmed in the blender with the
BRAIN the oven, optional lemon juice and olive
BOOSTING oil. Blitz until smooth.
Add half the sour
cream and pulse the
ONE FOOD, FOUR WAYS | TAHINI
E AT S M A R T
There was a time when tahini was confined to the menus of Middle Eastern
restaurants. But it’s 2020, and activities like batch-cooking your own
hummus constitute ‘weekend plans’. Tahini serves up antioxidants alongside THE EXPERT
Josh Katz, founder
a dose of healthy fats, too – all the more reason to make it a store cupboard of Berber & Q, a duo
of Middle Eastern
staple. We tasked a man who knows his way around a jar better than most restaurants in London
with devising four recipes that celebrate this smooth sesame paste
559 42G 27G 21G

cals fat protein carbs
4
serves
SEA BREAM WITH RAW TAHINI

A regular portion of sea bream will give you over 30% of your RDA
of vitamin B6 and selenium, a serious immune system supporter.
Bonus: the persimmon is packed with vision-boosting vitamin A
INGREDIENTS METHOD side down. Pour over

4 sea bream, pin- 1 | Slice 4 or 5 diagonal the raw tahini, followed
boned and filleted (ask slits across each fish by a good squeeze of
your fishmonger) • fillet – being careful not lemon juice. Garnish
pinch of flaked salt, to cut too deep – and with the persimmon,
to taste • 4 tbsp olive season generously pomegranate seeds
oil • 160g raw tahini • with flaked salt (we’re and herbs, and serve
juice of 2 lemons • 2 talking the fancy stuff). immediately (or at least
persimmons, peeled 2 | Heat the olive oil in once the applause has
and diced (available a heavy-based frying died down a little).
on Ocado) • 20g pan and pan-fry the
pomegranate seeds • fish skin side down until
coriander, marjoram crisp, turning over only
and thyme, to garnish at the very last moment
once the fish has all
but cooked through.
3 | Transfer the fish to
serving plates, a couple
of fillets per plate, flesh
IMMUNIT Y
SUPPORTING
E AT S M A R T
Has your
protein been
You throw it in everything from bakes to shakes,

but with reports that protein powder is being
bulked out with less salubrious compounds, is the
industry actually as clean-cut as it claims to be?
WORDS EMILY PRITCHARD
4 4 | M AY 2 0 2 0 P h o to g r a p h y | M I TC H PAY N E
T
dig. Much like your average
milkshake, the powder was
available in ‘chocolate malt’,
‘vanilla malt’ or ‘banana
cream’. It was also spiked. blocks of protein, can be broken down into two
Independent lab tests showed categories; essential amino acids – so-called because
that a 95g serving contained your body can’t make them and thus can only get
less than half of the purported them via food sources – and non-essential amino
40g of protein, consisting acids – which your body can make itself, as long as
instead of a combination of it has enough ingredients. Both kinds are used to
compounds that would create protein chains, but – crucial to the tale – they
hoodwink labs into verifying must be joined to each other in order to be effective.
the brand’s label. MusclePharm In theory, the protein per gram on your powder’s
denied the accusation on ingredients label refers to the mass of these long
Twitter. In the meantime, amino-acid chains. And here’s where it gets murky.
fellow big-name brand Iovate Under current EU law, a food’s protein content
Health reached a $2.5million is tested by measuring the amount of nitrogen
(about £2million) settlement scientists can isolate from it. ‘The testing method
over its role in its own breaks down everything contained in the powder,’
protein-spiking drama. Why, says Kevin Tipton, professor of human nutrition
exactly, might your scoop of and exercise metabolism at Durham University.
protein be far from delivering ‘By isolating the nitrogen, you can then work
on its promise? backwards to get an estimate for the total protein.’
he story sounds dark at worst and grubby
at best: that powder, which you’ve paid
good money for and bought because it
promises to have a very real effect on
Independent lab tests showed
that a 95g serving contained less
E AT S M A R T
your physiological processes, is potentially
cut with substances that you not only
know nothing about, but that are also
markedly less potent than the real deal
than half of the purported protein
ingredient. Such a scenario naturally
conjures up images of clandestine FAKE SHAKE Foolproof, right? Wrong. ‘Using this method, it
meetings where small packages of illegal In order to understand how doesn’t matter where that nitrogen comes from.
white powder change hands, but what protein formulas might be So, instead of the 5g of whey protein, or whatever
we’re talking about is nothing of the spiked, it pays to know more the label says is in the product, you might find
sort. A spotlight is being shone on the about what a quality protein a manufacturer “spiking” protein powders with
legal, mainstream production of protein supplement should contain. quantities of other nitrogen-containing compounds
powders – with whey protein sales alone ‘When you exercise to build to up the nitrogen content, thereby boosting the
at an estimated global value of over muscle, or do any kind of apparent protein content,’ explains Professor Tipton.
£7billion – and whether the molecular high-impact resistance sport,
make-up of your supplement of choice your muscles develop micro LAW AND POWDER
is really what you think it is. tears,’ says dietitian Aisling You’ll have likely seen – or indeed taken – the BCAA
Several large protein retailers have Pigott. Hence the DOMS. (branched-chain amino acids) supplements lining
been accused of deceptive labelling, ‘When you ingest protein the shelves of fancy health stores and adorning the
selling products where quality protein from any source, your body pages of sports nutrition websites. This sub-group
has been replaced with lower-priced naturally breaks it down into of essential amino acids doesn’t come cheap, but
compounds to cut costs, while still making its basic structure, nitrogen- the cost is justified by claims that BCAAs have
bold claims about their muscle-boosting containing compounds known superior muscle-boosting powers to other amino
powers in advertising and on packaging. as amino acids, which are then acids. ‘Leucine [one BCAA] is known to be important
The highest-profile case kicked off in transported to muscles to for muscle development,’ says Pigott. ‘But whether
2015. Following the continued efforts of aid their recovery, repair and it’s better taken on its own or with a more varied
one US attorney to take a series of brands growth,’ continues Pigott. intake of amino acids is an academic question;
to task – among them, Fit Foods, Body Amino acids, the building there are papers to support both theories.’ In the
Fortress and CVS – it was the case of manufacturing process of BCAAs from raw protein,
MusclePharm’s Iron Mass powder that non-essential amino acids are a plentiful byproduct,
piqued the most public interest. No making them cheap, cheerful and readily available.
doubt drawn to the story by Arnold With the protein powder market an ever more
Schwarzenegger’s product endorsement, crowded space, ensuring your product stands out is
business and health journalists began to less about how realistic your banana flavouring is and
much more about whether you can sell it for
a few quid cheaper – by loading it with these
offcuts from BCAA production, for example
– than other bags and tubs on the shelf.
Reducing costs was presumably the aim for than pea protein.’ It means that
MusclePharm when it was developing the 25g of whey protein should contain
Iron Mass powder. The independent lab roughly 2.5g of leucine (trusting,
results returned a result of 19.4g of protein of course, that the given figure for
(ie, joined-up amino acid chains, as promised leucine is true) – a label with figures H OW TO B E
A LABEL
on the label) per 95g scoop, and 6.4g of free that don’t match up is a red flag.
amino acids – the bulk of which were the If that sounds like too much
DETECTIVE
cheap, non-essential kind. Well done on the of a faff, ask yourself if you really
maths front if you’ve already spotted that, need to be supplementing with
even with the free amino acids, that’s a total protein powder anyway. ‘The public
far less than the stated 40g protein serving. perception seems to be that the
We decode the jargon
‘In addition, there’s a nitrogen-containing more protein you eat, the better,
so you don’t have to
compound called creatine, which is made up and that you need supplementation
of three amino acids,’ says Professor Tipton, if you’re looking to build muscle,’
which would help in bulking out a figure for says Pigott. ‘But in reality, most 1
CONCENTRATING?
‘Isolate’ describes a product that’s been
‘Protein powder has a role to processed to remove almost all of the
carbs and fat, meaning more protein per
gram. A ‘concentrate’ has skipped this
play only if you’d struggle to manufacturing step, making it cheaper.
get a decent meal or snack’ 2

E AT S M A R T
ISOLATION NATION
Concentrate isn’t necessarily bad news.
nitrogen. ‘It’s critical for your cells and people are already meeting, if not The carb and fat content of concentrate
for muscle movement, but it’s not part of exceeding, the recommended is still minimal, and can help the muscle-
building process. The real bonus of an
muscle protein.’ You might also find taurine protein intake.’ According to the isolate is its lower lactose content (a perk,
creeping its way in. ‘Taurine’s not even British Nutrition Foundation, you if you’re one of the 5% of people in the UK
an amino acid that’s naturally found in may be overshooting as it is – the who have trouble digesting milk products).
human muscle proteins,’ says Professor average intake is 64g a day, compared
Tipton, meaning it provides nothing in with the recommended 45g (the 3
the way of bulk building. average woman requires 0.75g of WHEY AHEAD OF THE GAME
protein for every kilo of body weight, Whey has a good rep in bodybuilding
SMOOTHIE CRIMINAL increasing to 1.2g to 1.7g per kilo for for two reasons. First, it’s a complete
So, legal? Yes. But shady? Definitely. Part strength and endurance athletes). protein (remember, it contains all of the
essential amino acids). It’s also quick to
of the problem is that protein powders are Consider that a chicken breast digest, meaning your body can break it
poorly regulated. Brands can get away with contains around 54g of protein and down promptly to get to the good stuff.
spiking on a technicality of definition, and a plate of lentils comes in at 13g.
The European Specialist Sport Nutrition ‘Protein powder has a role to play 4
Alliance (ESSNA) points out that some only if you’re pushed for time and CASEIN POINT
companies may even be misleading would struggle to get a decent meal Casein is derived from the same starting
consumers inadvertently, should they or snack,’ adds Professor Tipton. material (milk) as whey, and scores equal
rely on this fairly primitive measuring ‘Timing is absolutely crucial, too,’ brownie points for containing all nine
technique. ESSNA has lobbied for changes adds Pigott, pointing out that most essential amino acids. It’s digested more
slowly than whey, meaning your body
in EU legislation to redefine protein and of us are incapable of absorbing will receive a steadier dose of protein
make sure that non-protein nitrogen- more than 25g of protein in one go. over a longer time period.
containing compounds are declared. ‘It’s much better to spread protein
FYI, the European Commission has no intake throughout the day, and to 5
plans to change legislation. So, in the make sure you’re getting a serving
ICON: LIAM MITCHELL AT NOUN PROJECT
MILKIN’ IT
absence of robust rules in place to protect after sport or exercise,’ says Pigott. Milk protein is pretty much exactly
consumers, you’d be wise to play label She recommends between 20g what it says on the tin, reflecting milk’s
detective yourself. ‘Each protein has a and 25g of protein per meal, with natural composition of 20% whey to 80%
casein. Fun fact: these proteins naturally
certain individual composition of amino a snack like nuts or a 170g tub of
separate out from the liquid in milk
acids,’ says Professor Tipton. ‘For example, yoghurt (containing 15g to 20g of during the cheese manufacturing
whey might have a little bit more leucine protein) after a workout. They process. Gouda knowledge.
might not come in ‘banana cream’
flavour, but a 50g cup of oats serves
up almost 9g of guaranteed protein.
That sounds like a fair shake.
Pack
of lies?
E AT S M A R T
M AY 2 0 2 0 | 47
Not-so-spring
onions. Wet
lettuce. And a
carrot that’s been
hanging around
for actual months.
Food writer
Victoria Glass is
here to help you
cut down your
food waste (and
groceries bill)
with two recipes
made using one
set of ingredients
671 24G 40G 72G 2

about 10 mins off being
done, heat 1 tsp oil in
a non-stick frying pan.
Uncover the fish, lift
TERIYAKI SALMON WITH BROWN RICE each fillet out of the
marinade and place
AND PICKLED VEGETABLES in the hot pan. Cook
for 2 mins on one side,
INGREDIENTS tsp salt • 75ml rice fine matchsticks and then turn over and
2 skinless salmon or vinegar • 2 tbsp mirin finely slice your spring pour in (not over) the
sea trout fillets • 100g • 2 tsp caster sugar • onions. Granted, there’s remaining teriyaki
brown rice • 1 tsp 125g shelled edamame a lot of fine slicing here, sauce. Cook on high
unflavoured oil beans, cooked but everything else is for another 2 mins,
(sunflower, vegetable, a doddle, promise. then lift the fish out
groundnut – you pick) METHOD 3 | Whisk together the on to a warm plate
• 2 tsp sesame seeds 1 | In a shallow dish, salt, rice vinegar, mirin and simmer the sauce
(preferably black for the mix the teriyaki sauce and sugar in a bowl until it’s thickened a
prettiness factor) • 1 ingredients, then add until the sugar and bit (a couple of mins).
sheet of nori (optional) the fish – turning over salt have dissolved. 5 | Drain the rice and
For the teriyaki sauce: in the sauce to coat Tip in your veg and dish it up, then return
3 tbsp mirin • 6 tbsp thoroughly. Cover and the edamame beans the fish to the sauce to
tamari • 2 tbsp caster refrigerate for at least and give them a good coat before plating up,
sugar • thumb-sized 20 mins, but preferably toss (now, now). Leave sprinkling the sesame
piece of ginger, grated a couple of hours, to stand at room seeds over the top. Add
(no need to peel) turning occasionally. temperature, stirring a pile of pickled veg
For the pickled veg: 2 | In the meantime, every now and then. (any leftovers can be
6 radishes • thumb- crack on with pickling 4 | Preheat the oven to kept in the fridge for
sized piece of ginger, your veg. Slice the 180°C. Now rinse the a few days) and snip
skin rubbed off with radishes as wafer-thin rice in a sieve under a some nori over the
the edge of a spoon as you can, cut your cold-running tap and top if you’re using it.
• 2 carrots, scrubbed, ginger and carrots into boil in salted water for
topped and tailed (no about 20-25 mins, or
need to peel) • 3 spring according to the packet
onions, chopped • ½ instructions. When it’s
4 8 | M AY 2 02 0 Photography | ELLIS PARRINDER

686 33G 38G 60G 2
5 | Once the rice is
cooked, turn off the
heat, give it a stir (it
SALMON POKE BOWL should have absorbed
all the cooking water)
then pop on a lid and
INGREDIENTS METHOD edamame under cold leave it to steam while
125g frozen shelled 1 | Put the edamame water and set aside. you prep your avocado.
edamame beans • beans in a pan with a Leave the rice to 6 | Divide the rice
salt • 100g brown rice pinch of salt and cover simmer for 20-25 mins, between two bowls,
• 2 skinless salmon with boiling water. or according to the then arrange your
or sea trout fillets Simmer for about 5 packet instructions. other ingredients over
(must be pre-frozen, mins, or until tender. 3 | Next, cut the fish the top, as pleasingly
then defrosted, as per 2 | Meanwhile, put the into bite-sized pieces. prettily as you can be
guidelines around rice in another pan Then, in a bowl, bothered to, along with
consuming raw fish) with a pinch of salt combine the tamari, any leftover marinating
• 2 tbsp tamari • 1 tbsp and place a sieve over rice vinegar, sesame liquid from the fish.
rice vinegar • 1 tsp the top. Once the oil (if using), mirin, Sprinkle some sesame
toasted sesame oil edamame are cooked, ginger and garlic. seeds over the top and
(optional) • 1 tbsp drain them over the Sprinkle over the chilli serve straight away.
mirin • thumb-sized rice (you’re using the flakes (if using) by
piece of ginger, finely edamame water to crushing them gently
grated (no need to cook the rice, though between your fingers
peel) • 1 small garlic you may need to top and thumb as you go.
clove, crushed • a good it up with more hot Now tip in the fish and
pinch of chilli flakes water). Remove the give it a good stir.
(optional) • 3 spring sieve, rinse the 4 | Finely slice the
onions • 3 radishes • 1 spring onions and
large carrot, scrubbed, radishes and ribbon
topped and tailed (no the carrots using a THE EXPERT
need to peel) • 1 sheet peeler. Then use a pair Victoria Glass,
of nori (optional) • 1 of kitchen scissors to food writer, recipe
developer and
avocado, finely sliced cut the nori (if using)
author of Too Good
• 2 tsp sesame seeds into fine strips. To Waste: How To
Eat Everything
(£14.99, Nourish)
E AT S M A R T
STYLING: IONA BLACKSHAW
FOOD STYLING AND PROP
M AY 2 02 0 | 49
The thing that used to stretch out in front of
you as a kid is now feeling a little more limited
– a pressure that’s getting harder and harder
to ignore. WH reports on time anxiety…
WORDS
LAUREN CLARK
y phone reads 4.20pm and I’m 10 minutes
early for coffee with an editor I write for.
Loitering outside the cafe, I ought to feel
smug – having time to spare is a win – but
instead I feel a wave of panic. I think of the
invoice I need to chase – could be chasing
right now. Then there’s the email I was
S T R ON G M I N D
midway through writing when I left home.

These vital minutes that could have been
useful have now been rendered redundant.
I’m wasting time. It isn’t just work that
reduces my days into productivity chunks.
I get up before dawn to fit in a run, a load
of washing and a homemade breakfast
before sitting down at my desk. If I stay too
long at a Saturday party, I’ll berate myself
for the sleep I’ll miss ahead of hammering
life admin the next day. Only at times when
I’m sick or really hungover do I truly
switch off, and it’s a struggle. A recent bout
of flu turned into a competitive exercise
in watching all the films I’d never got tend to struggle with the idea
round to. Ticking off The Godfather and of wasting time, be it theirs
Thelma & Louise gave me much joy, but or someone else’s,’ says Alex
I couldn’t shake the feeling I could have Lickerman, author of The
squeezed in American Beauty if I hadn’t Undefeated Mind. ‘When you
kept falling asleep in a fever-induced daze. base your happiness and
What I’m experiencing is ‘time anxiety’ success on your ability to be
– an obsession with the passage of time, purposeful, to add value in some
or distress about the constant lack of it. way, you feel very unsafe just
Maybe you’ve felt it yourself when a friend watching the seconds tick by.’
is late to meet you, inevitably eating into
crucial to-do list time later. Or perhaps an STOP-WATCHING
unexpected queue at the post office not If you feel like time goes at a average individual has experienced loss, watched infants
only has your foot tapping, but your palms much faster rate than when it grow into young adults seemingly overnight and no
clammy. ‘The problem isn’t that time is used to stretch out in front of longer has school schedules or designated breaks to
finite,’ says clinical psychologist Dr Kevin you for what seemed like punctuate their years. The longer you live, the more you
Chapman. ‘It’s the perception of time being eternity in childhood (never- come to understand how fleeting and precious time can
out of your control that creates a negative ending summer holidays, sigh), be, so as responsibilities pile up and you chase new goals
relationship.’ You end up stuck in a vicious it doesn’t. But other things have in the name of growth, you become more attached to any
cycle of anxious thoughts, ruminating over changed. By adulthood, the given minute. Chief among the main adult time thieves
what feels like wasted moments – standing identified by author Claudia Hammond in her book
outside a cafe for 10 minutes, for example The Art Of Rest are the 2008 financial crash, which led
– to the point that it interferes with your to a smaller workforce taking on a greater workload, and
ability to go about your normal routine. technology, which has blurred the boundaries between
‘People who lead very meaning-driven lives business and pleasure. Factor in, too, the fact that being
‘It’s the perception
of time being out of
your control that
creates negativity’
busy is increasingly being
viewed as a badge of honour,
and social media streams
full of images of other people
achieving, and it can leave
the average person feeling
like they’re expected to do
more during the working day,
while trying to cram more
into their free time, too.
For Fay Mitchell, 31, a
primary school teacher from
Surrey, time anxiety doesn’t
show itself in an overpacked
schedule, but – ironically – in
time wasted. ‘It’s as if the fear of
S T R ON G M I N D
wasting time is so strong, I end
up not doing anything,’ she says.
‘It can feel like I’m immobilised
– I’ve got my to-do list and I
know how I should best spend
my time, but the expectations
I’ve set myself are so out of my
grasp, I do nothing. It’s like
sitting on your bed, wet hair in
a towel, watching the minutes
tick by and knowing you’re
going to be late but doing
nothing to start getting ready
– it happens a few times a week.’
Dr Lynda Shaw, a psychologist
and neuroscientist who
specialises in embracing change
(drlyndashaw.com), believes
that the drive to put every
second to good use affects those
in high-pressure careers, as
well as the self-employed who
are easily logging 12-hour days.
Crush
hour I can relate. As a freelance
writer, time has become money;
I’m acutely aware that if I don’t
use it well enough, I won’t be
able to pay my bills. And if
work-life balance feels elusive
when you’re freelance, it can
become harder still when you
throw motherhood into the
mix. ‘I wanted to be supermum,’
says Rochelle Rodney-Massop,
26, a single mother of twins living
in London, who works part-
time in the hospitality industry.
‘Despite falling pregnant aged
21 during my psychology
– it keeps you sharp. ‘But in
chronic situations – chronic
because the levels are too high
for too long – it suppresses
neurotransmitters like
dopamine, leaving you feeling
unmotivated and unable to
anticipate good things, and
degree, I was convinced I could still intern
and raise my kids. But when I landed a job
serotonin, crucial for your
mood, sleep, appetite and
‘The fear of wasting
in fashion merchandising after graduating,
juggling childcare with long office hours, a
emotions. This can leave you
moody and unable to sleep
time is so strong,
lengthy commute and renovating my home
felt impossible. There weren’t enough hours
properly, which in turn makes
you irritable.’ Research has also
I end up not doing
in the day, no matter how hard I tried to use
my time well.’ That the clock never stops for
linked chronically high levels of
cortisol with a greater risk of
anything’
mothers makes them particularly vulnerable depression, as well as high blood
to experiencing anxiety around time, says Dr pressure and heart disease. others find that makes them fidgety and
Shaw. ‘As well as the usual time pressures, While productivity hacks restless. The essence of rest is finding an
women often take on everyone else’s mental might feel like an obvious activity that stops the day-to-day stuff
load. Typically, they will absorb the anxieties solution, Dr Shaw tells me they going around in your head – something that
of children, parents, partners and siblings.’ aren’t, since it’s anxiety around really absorbs you.’ That could be reading,
managing your time that’s gardening, listening to music or – if that
TIME OUT triggering these feelings in the sounds too much like hard work – sitting
Living with a permanent sense of urgency first place. Likewise, typical back in your chair and closing your eyes. It
can have very real repercussions not just for ease-up interventions, like counts. ‘Spot unexpected opportunities to
your quality of life, but for your health, too. meditation and yoga, aren’t rest,’ she adds. ‘If you find yourself in a 10-
For Rochelle, the feeling that her life was always helpful. ‘When the minute queue at the post office, instead of
S T R ON G M I N D
out of control tipped over into her work and source of anxiety is that you’re feeling frustrated, reframe it. When you’re
affected her confidence in her ability to do not being productive, focusing on a train, don’t catch up on emails, stare
her job. I know myself that paralysing waves on the present – on the moment out the window – you’re already going
of anxiety and an inability to sleep soundly you’re sitting there, doing somewhere, so you’re already achieving
are among the things that time anxiety is nothing – can make you feel something. You don’t have to utilise
costing me. As well as losing hours of my meaningless,’ says Lickerman. every single moment.’ I think I’ve just
life – oh, the irony – ruminating over tasks And the more you fret about found my new life mantra.
not yet completed, my own abhorrence for time, the more paralysed you’ll
‘wasting time’ has affected my relationships. feel. Letting go of the idea of
I’ve come to resent the spontaneous ‘wasted time’ is a good place to
moments in life – bumping into a friend in start, says Hammond. ‘Valuing
the street, a phone call from my grandma rest is key. Some people can do
– because they set me back in my self- nothing and sit on the sofa,
inflicted schedule. Recently, a friend left me
a 10-minute voice note to arrange evening
plans. By the time I’d listened to the end,
I begrudged her for it. ‘If you’re always
thinking about what you need to be doing
now, or doing next, or should have done
earlier, that’s enough to provoke a harmful
response in your body,’ says Dr Chapman.
Indeed, Dr Shaw explains that any kind
of anxiety disorder can have an impact
on many of the body’s processes by
I PUTU KHARISMAYADI/GREGOR CRESNAR/BOMSYMBOLS AT NOUN PROJECT
PHOTOGRAPHY: GETTY IMAGES. ICONS: SYMBOLON/SUMIT SAENGTHONG/
turbocharging your cortisol response.

In small doses – think: running for a bus
THE
CLOCK-WATCHER’S
GUIDE TO
TIME-WASTING
What a
drag
SWAP DREAD FOR

AFFIRMATIONS
‘Let go of your obsession
with not having enough
minutes, hours or days by
swapping catastrophic thoughts
(“I never have enough time to
do X”) with realistic, upbeat
affirmations (“I have time for
only one thing, but I’ll do it
well”),’ says Dr Chapman.
COMMIT TO DOING LESS

‘There’s a tendency to
underestimate how long things
will take to do – thinking it will
take an hour, not two or half
a day,’ says Dr Shaw. Instead of
S T R ON G M I N D
writing a list of everything you
need to do, pick two or three
tasks and just commit to doing
those that day. The rest can
wait until tomorrow.
TAKE REGULAR BREAKS

‘Block out spaces in your diary
to do nothing, even for half
an hour,’ advises Dr Shaw,
pointing to the work of social
psychologist Graham Wallas,
who came up with a method for
productivity. ‘After identifying
a problem, he suggested an
incubation period, where you
do something totally unrelated
and stop thinking about the
issue. During these moments,
your unconscious mind is given
the breathing space to come up
with the solution.’ Clever, eh?
SLEEP ON IT
Up all night worrying about
time? Dump your thoughts on
paper and deal with them in the
morning, says Dr Shaw. ‘Then,
when you first stir – when
you’re not quite awake, but not
asleep – your brain is in a light
meditative state called alpha
frequency. You’ll get the
answers to so many questions
floating around in your head.’
Going for a walk, staring out
of the window, daydreaming
and counting your breath can
also get you into this state.
S T R ON G M I N D
Intentional out-of-body experiences are gaining traction

in wellness circles, with converts claiming they can ease
anxieties and grow confidence. Can leaving your body
behind really be a holiday for your head?
WORDS CHARLOTTE HAIGH
y soul was
peeling away
from my
physical body drop on Netflix this summer. Accounts
– whatever of OBEs vary from person to person, but
“I” am was a common theme is a sense of the self
separate from it. I felt myself temporarily leaving the body. The idea
rising high and looking down that the mind can have a break from its
on myself in bed. Then I floated usual ruminating ways is the reason the
up higher so I could look down experience has gained fans in the wellness
on the town where I live…’ world, with some crediting it with helping
Jess, a 40-year-old teacher them to shift perspective, gain insights and
from Lincolnshire, is describing unearth new answers to old problems.
an experience that happened
WHERE’S YOUR HEAD AT?

in 2015 as she was in bed,
drifting off to sleep. Since then,
she’s had two more out-of-body Accessing this kind of insight is what Jade
experiences (OBEs, as she’s Shaw believes is driving increasing numbers
come to learn) and has gone of people to her workshops. The 34-year-old
from feeling terrified at the lack astral projection consultant (if that isn’t
of control she experienced a LinkedIn win, we don’t know what is)
during them to feeling grateful was formerly a choreographer, working for
for having had them at all. the Royal Academy of Dance and Sadler’s
Though she can’t put her finger Wells, before she experienced her first OBE
on why, Jess credits the OBEs in 2014. ‘I was running my own company
with giving her a sense of peace but wasn’t very fulfilled by it,’ Shaw recalls.
and greater perspective. ‘I used ‘I’d read about astral projection and it
to feel stressed about the fact sounded like something that might help
S T R ON G M I N D
that I didn’t have a partner or me. I’d started practising some meditative
a child and worry that I was techniques I thought might induce an
going to end up alone,’ she says. OBE and then, one night, it happened.
‘[Since having the OBEs], I trust I remember looking back at my body with
that if I do things that make me shock and awe.’ Her initial reaction was one
content in the here and now, of fear, but when those feelings subsided,
things will fall into place. I’ve she found it a cathartic experience. ‘I
begun to see them as something realised I’d over-identified with my body all
quite special. I feel lucky.’ my life and the experience showed me that I
Sounds like quite the leap, wasn’t limited to my physical being. That, in
right? Yes. But so, some could turn, made me realise there were probably
argue, is believing in OBEs at all other limitations I was putting on myself.’
– something much more likely So profound was her experience that Shaw
now that they’ve become more set about developing a technique that
widely known via the power of allowed her to have intentional OBEs, and
binge-worthy TV. An OBE, also as well as working on supernatural media
known as an astral projection, projects – she’s a consultant on Behind
is described as an expanded Her Eyes – she now shares her strategies
state of consciousness; one in through workshops. ‘I’d thought they would
which you feel as though you’re attract wellness and spirituality seekers,
moving through an alternative but I’ve had people with long-term illnesses
reality, and if The OA – a needing support, stressed people for whom
supernatural drama about mindfulness hasn’t worked, those who’ve
a young woman who resurfaces had spontaneous OBEs and feel scared,
after being missing for seven and individuals wanting to understand how
years – introduced OBEs to a they can be of service in the wider world.’
mainstream audience, Stranger The idea of turning to alternative wellness
Things and Black Mirror have solutions during periods of transition and
cemented the supernatural into uncertainty is nothing new, nor is taking
the zeitgeist. The psychological a holiday from your day-to-day reality, be
thriller Behind Her Eyes – in that a trip or just some scheduled me-time.
which OBEs are a central But is there any basis to the idea that taking
feature of the plot – is set to a break from yourself can be helpful? British
para-psychologist George Tyrrell coined
the term back in 1943, but interest in OBEs
goes back centuries, with many cultures,
including Tibetan Buddhism, recognising
and practising a version. In the UK, they
became a particular source of fascination
in the 19th century, with a burgeoning
interest in psychic experiences, séances and
the like. More recently, scientific research
has gone further than ever before in helping
to understand why OBEs could have such
a profound impact on people. ‘OBEs are
what psychologists call a “peak experience”,
where you go beyond your sense of self,’
says Shaw. ‘The concept of “awe” has a role
to play in this, as research has shown that
fleeting moments of awe can help you feel
more connected to the world around you
and can even change the course of your life.’
More recently, tech developments like
VR and brain-stimulation techniques have
enabled scientists to study OBEs in a more
direct way. Professor Olaf Blanke, a Swiss
neuroscientist, has carried out extensive
research into OBEs as part of his broader
work on the neuroscience of consciousness
– one of the goals of his lab is to develop
novel diagnostic and therapeutic solutions
S T R ON G M I N D
for Parkinson’s disease and dementia. In Let

experiments, he and his team have been it go
able to induce the state using transcranial
magnetic stimulation – which stimulates
brain cells non-invasively with magnetic
fields that trigger electric currents in a
region of the brain called the right temporal-
parietal junction. ‘This area brings together
and integrates sensory perceptions,’ explains
Professor Blanke. ‘When there’s been a
breakdown of communication between brain
cells here – even a temporary one – it alters
your perception of your body as a whole. So
you may feel you’re not attached to it. This
can happen with certain conditions, the most
common being severe migraine, which can
interfere with normal brain processing.
Epilepsy can also be connected, along with
emotional shock and stress.’
space. ‘You see that your own body isn’t your sole
NEW OUTLOOK
anchor,’ she says. ‘Even if you don’t believe in a soul as
such, you come away feeling that your body isn’t the
That this state in the brain is linked with essence of you, and that can be very healing.’ She also
conditions such as severe migraine, epilepsy spontaneous OBEs consider has a more existential explanation: the idea that when
and emotional shock and stress – where them positive.’ Shaw has a few you recover from the initial fear and uncertainty, it can
normal brain processing is interfered with theories. She believes the have a ripple effect on the rest of your life. ‘People start
– calls into question the idea that anyone benefits come from something looking at ways to live in alignment with their true
should be attempting to induce an OBE in similar to the ‘overview effect’, a selves, and find their life purpose. It’s common for
the name of wellness. ‘OBEs aren’t always psychological term referring to people to change career after my workshops, or leave
linked with illness or stress,’ explains the cognitive shift in awareness relationships that aren’t fulfilling.’
Professor Blanke. ‘We know that 5% of astronauts experience when Feel inclined to turn on an in-body out-of-office?
healthy people experience OBEs, usually looking down on Earth from ‘There are ways to achieve OBEs,’ says Professor
while falling asleep or waking, and they Blanke. ‘This is usually through meditation techniques,
do seem to have benefits. People tend to but it does need to be targeted in order to achieve
have a different outlook on life after an the effect, so it’s important to manage your
OBE, although science can’t currently expectations.’ He warns that you’re not guaranteed
explain why. Most individuals who report to get the clear experience. Shaw uses techniques
E XIT S TR ATE G I E S
WH contributor Charlotte Haigh
attended one of Jade Shaw’s
workshops with the intention
of leaving her body behind
Arriving at the College of Psychic

Studies for Jade Shaw’s sold-out
workshop, I’m sceptical. It’s not that
I doubt OBEs exist, but I feel you either
have that sort of brain or you don’t. And
I put my own bunch of neurons in the
latter category. However, I’m immediately
impressed by Shaw – she explains the
concept of OBEs in an articulate,
grounded way. Forget the paranormal,
OBEs are all about expanding your
consciousness by getting into a certain
state of mind, not unlike meditation.
Shaw manages our expectations,
explaining that it’s unlikely we’ll have an
OBE today – but promises that we’ll
leave with techniques we can practise.
After sharing her own experience of
OBEs, she encourages us to set some
astral projection intentions, and we get
into groups to discuss what we hope to
achieve if and when we have an OBE. I
say that I want to find solutions to some
big questions I have about my path in
life; I’m very involved in climate activism
and I want to come up with some new
‘I feel more chilled than ideas about the best ways I can help.
Shaw teaches us ‘exit techniques’ we can
use to leave our bodies, and the first is
I have in months, with my ‘the rollout’. We practise rolling from
side to side on yoga mats, then Shaw
scepticism blown away’ uses muscle relaxation and breathing
techniques to take us into a state of
deep relaxation. Once we’re there, she
tells us to summon that sense of rolling
in our minds, until we have a sense we
might roll out of our bodies entirely.
I don’t get close to that sense, but I do
Meanwhile, research continues. In 2017, the AWARE emerge feeling more chilled out than I’ve
study, published by the International Association For Near felt in months. Next, we do a ‘spiralling’
Death Studies, reported on near-death experiences among technique. As before, Shaw takes us into
people who’d suffered cardiac arrest, which in some cases deep relaxation, then encourages us to
imagine that we’re spiralling out of our
like visualisation and involved OBEs. The authors found some of the OBEs bodies. This time – probably because
meditation during the process corresponded with reality, even though no heartbeat was I’ve just had lunch – I nod off completely,
of falling asleep, when you’re present at the time – for example, one patient reported and I’m not the only one, judging by the
already moving towards an looking down on his own body and seeing what was going on gentle snores coming from around the
room. But others say they began to feel
unconscious dream state (see in the emergency room, despite having no heartbeat – a pulling in certain parts of their body,
panel, right). As for Jess, she’s potentially suggesting consciousness may be separate from which Shaw confirms is a good sign. One
now working with a shamanic the brain and body, although some scientists are sceptical. of her tips is to practise these techniques
practitioner in the hope of The AWARE2 study, with further data, is due to be published when you’re close to sleep. A good idea
is to perform them after getting up for
achieving OBEs deliberately. soon. ‘And future research might look at ways to use virtual
five minutes after four to six hours of
reality and robotics for intentional OBEs,’ says Professor sleep, then heading back to bed, awake
Blanke. ‘We may also look at mild doses of psychedelic but dopey. I leave the workshop with
medicines, along with virtual reality techniques, to enhance my scepticism blown away by Shaw’s
OBEs. They raise all sorts of questions about consciousness, approach, and inspired to practise.

and what the inside-body experience actually is.’ Find out more about Jade Shaw
and her workshops at jadeshaw.com
I was nailing life, but really I was just running
‘I was having
away from my insomnia. When I returned
to the doctor, explaining that my poor sleep
clearly wasn’t just due to exam stress as I
was no longer studying, they explained that
the issue most likely stemmed from a panic
nightly panic disorder, and prescribed antidepressants.

The medication helped, but it was too late to
make a difference at work. I’d had so many
disciplinary meetings about time off that I felt
attacks about hounded. I told myself if I didn’t sleep, I’d be

fired. I quit my job to go freelance and, after
a few successful months, tried to come off the
medication. I was comfortably cohabiting
not sleeping’
with my boyfriend and, after all, the pressures
of office culture were gone. But instead, I had
a full mental breakdown. The only way I can
describe it is a feeling of wanting to rip my
brain out of my skull just to get some relief.
After university exam stress triggered insomnia for one reader, she In my experience, people don’t take
was left with a debilitating condition that would cost her her job insomnia seriously. Unlike anxiety and
depression, they tend to explain it away,
saying things like, ‘Sometimes I don’t
Up until my final year of university, sleep well, but I still come into work.’ They
I’d never slept particularly poorly. simply don’t – or won’t – understand. Their
I was one of those people who thrived dismissiveness is so isolating. On top of
under pressure, doing a million things that, you spend 12 hours alone each night
OUR
at once – I was always pretty resilient. with your thoughts, which gradually
S T R ON G M I N D
THE CASE But my exams in 2015 triggered become more negative as the night goes on.
PSYCHIATRIST
STUDY something in me and everything In that moment, there’s no one you can talk
Miriam Johnson, 26,
a communications changed. It started with not being able to because everyone else is doing the one
manager from London to relax – my heart would be racing so
fast, I wouldn’t fall asleep until 6am,
even when I took herbal sleep aids. Within a few weeks,
SAYS... thing you can’t – sleeping. In daytime hours,
you don’t have the energy to do things to
lift your mood, like exercising or seeing
it had got to the stage where every time I started to drift Insomnia is defined as a friends, so you’re essentially alone with your
off, I panicked that I’d stop breathing and was about to regular inability to sleep – be negative thought cycle 24 hours a day. On a
die, jolting myself awake again. It wasn’t a rational way that falling or staying asleep, very small level, it gave me insight into why
waking up too early, or a
of thinking, but by then I was too tired to be rational. people are kept awake as a torture method.
combination. This can affect
I went to my doctor, who prescribed zopiclone, the Things only improved after I went to see
daytime energy levels, mood,
go-to drug if people are struggling to sleep – it’s only a specialist on Harley Street at the end of
concentration and appetite –
meant for short-term use as it can be addictive. But it 2018. After spending so much money to
which can in turn impact social
didn’t help; I stayed awake for four days straight, at connections, relationships
see her, I felt like I had to follow her advice.
the end of which I took an exam that would count for and working life. Medications So I went back on antidepressants and put
the largest portion of my grade. My housemates tell to induce sleep are available, in measures to ensure my sleep hygiene
me I was barely coherent, walking around talking but are considered a last resort was impeccable, like giving up alcohol and
nonsensical rubbish, and I barely remember the exam and an unwise long-term getting up at 7am every day, regardless of
at all. I somehow managed to get a 2.1 but, looking solution. Sleep hygiene is key: plans or if I’d slept. No screens for at least
back, the whole experience was terrifying. regular bedtimes, obeying two hours before bed – or sex, for that
After graduating, things improved slightly. I got a job caffeine and screen curfews matter – and I’d do breathing exercises for
in dance music PR and my insomnia came and went and ensuring a comfortable 15 minutes to slow my heart rate. I also kept
rather than being a permanent fixture. Then, a year sleeping environment. It’s a ‘worry diary’, writing down five things I
into the role, as my responsibilities – and the pressure, not a mental health disorder was anxious about and what I was going to
increased – it returned. I’d come into work shattered or in and of itself, but those do the next day to solve them. After writing,
have to call in sick because I was too tired to function. experiencing anxiety and I was to slam it shut. It sounds silly, but it
My workplace wasn’t remotely understanding – it was depression often struggle was cathartic and, combined with the
before the mental health conversation had really come with insomnia. Professionals medication and lifestyle changes, it worked.
to the fore – and I got a reputation for making poor generally expect that, by Within two weeks, I’d doubled my sleep from
life choices or just being hungover after going on big treating the underlying around four hours a night to eight or nine.
benders. In reality, I was lying in bed having nightly mental health disorder with Today, I’m still on antidepressants, but
talking therapies and/or
AS TOLD TO GEORGIE LANE-GODFREY
panic attacks about not sleeping. I only follow a modified version of that sleep
medication, sleep will improve
I was convinced that it was a biological issue, that my routine. Most of the time, I sleep normally,
– but always alongside good
body couldn’t switch off. So I became obsessed with but I do still feel anxious when I haven’t
sleep hygiene practices.
running, clocking up at least six miles every day before slept because I worry it’ll start all over again.
work in a bid to exhaust myself at night. People thought Dr Sarah Vohra, consultant I think it’s a battle I’ll always have to face.
psychiatrist and author
@themindmedic
As WH’s Junior Fitness Editor,
when it comes to workouts, Kirsti
Buick has pretty much done it all.
Except, that is, proper combat
sports. Here, she steps out of
her comfort zone – and into her
opponent’s personal space...
Women’s Health M AY 2 02 0 | 6 3
Approaching the ring at
Gymbox in Holborn, in which
20 or so gym-goers are
sparring, I feel intimidated.
The rhythmic thwacking of
gloves and body parts hitting
pads almost drowns out the
gritty hip-hop soundtrack.
The scene demonstrates
why Muay Thai is known as
the ‘art of eight limbs’;
unlike in kickboxing, where While we train,
only kicks and punches are several sweat-
allowed, Muay Thai fighters drenched fighters
use elbow and knee call out to Tieu across
strikes, along with punches the gym floor and I
THE and kicks, to best their take the opportunity to
GUINEA PIG opponents. Also allowed chug some water as he
Kirsti Buick, is clinching, whereby you points out his star pupils
WH Junior grab hold of your opponent, to me. ‘She joined this
Fitness Editor usually by the neck or month,’ he says, pointing
shoulders, to hold them in to one woman, and then
place for your attacks. In another as she heads for
matches, fighters score the showers. ‘She’s just
points for strikes, technique signed up for her first
and dominance, and the amateur fight.’ Gymbox
fighter with the highest has been offering Muay
score after all five rounds Thai classes for 15 years,
ong gone are the days of dull wins – unless someone is
cardio and monotonous he says, but he’s noticed
knocked out before that. an upsurge in women
strength training – you want ‘Ready for a tough joining recently.
exhilaration, sweat and skill workout?’ Muay Thai pro Break over, we’re into
fighter and instructor David
from your workouts. Which is the ring. Tieu straps on his
Tieu asks me above the din. own protective pads and
why demand for combat-based My coach has arrived for our begins cycling through
sessions is on the up. ‘Combat one-to-one session and I’m the drills again. This time,
classes are becoming more incredibly grateful I’m not I’m aiming for him. ‘Weak,’
and more popular in the UK being thrown straight into he says flatly in between
the ring for a group class. strikes. ‘You’ve got to
as people see the various ‘Obviously,’ I return, with
disciplines as more accessible be aggressive. Visualise
confidence I don’t feel. He an opponent. Your ex-
and a brilliant way to get fit,’ talks me through the correct boyfriend.’ Cliché, but it
says Third Space combat master stance – left foot in front works. The satisfying crack
of right, feet slightly wider of my shin hitting the pad
trainer Natalie Gyte. Stats from than hip-width apart for
ClassPass confirm the trend – sends a jolt of adrenaline
balance, and hands raised through me. For the first
the studio-hopping app saw a in fists at eyebrow height. time, Tieu cracks a smile.
250% increase in bookings for It’s similar to boxing but I’m a sweaty mess after
An ancient tradition that with your hips angled more
UK combat-style classes in 2019. dates back to the battlefields
the 60-minute session
towards your opponent so – my wrist tracker clocks
‘Beginners find a whole of the Burmese-Siamese as to allow you balance 436 calories burned – and
different level of motivation as War in the 1700s, Muay Thai and freedom of movement the next day, my aching
they learn a new skill and become has since found its way to for kicking and knee strikes. body is clearly none too
good at it,’ says Gyte. ‘There’s a UK gym near you. The Tieu demonstrates basic impressed with this new
sport’s origins are debated, punches (a jab with my
such joy in mastering a complex movement style. My shins
but it’s generally thought left hand, a cross with my
skill that challenges both your throb painfully for two
to have evolved from the right) and eventually moves days, too, which Tieu
body and mind.’ Although I’m hand-to-hand combat style on to knees and kicks, assures me is normal via
a gym class regular, my HIIT- in which all Thai soldiers showing me how to twist text. ‘Next session, we’ll
were traditionally trained. my torso in the direction of
strength-spin combo has Over the years, it became the movement to add
focus on shin conditioning,’
become a touch stale of late, he adds, sending me an
a popular sport – it’s power to each strike. article with a featured
and the idea of a challenge, currently the national sport After a few minutes of image of a man delivering
rather than sweating through of Thailand – and made its flailing – I can’t seem to kicks to a thick bamboo
way west. When performed balance well enough to stop
a workout for a workout’s sake, correctly, Muay Thai, which
stalk. Full disclosure: I
myself from stumbling after probably won’t be taking
piques my interest. Conflict- literally translates to ‘Thai kicks – the (flexible, to allow
averse as I am (my ability to run him up on that. I definitely
boxing’ in English, is, as one for clinching) gloves are on. got a good workout in
from any kind of confrontation online blog waxes lyrical, We head for the punchbag but, unfortunately, I feel
practically provides a workout ‘a beautiful symphony of and Tieu barks out drills that my coordination has
kicks, punches, knees and as I alternate slamming
in itself ) I’m tempted by the a four-limb limit.
elbows with fluidity and my fists and shins into the
idea of learning how to hold my grace’. Unfortunately, heavy canvas. I can’t get
own. So, in the interest of finding there’s nothing remotely my kicks high enough; I
my own fighting fit, I decided to symphonic about my should be aiming for my
first foray into the art. opponents’ ribs (about my
try four of the UK fitness scene’s
own rib height on the bag),
most popular disciplines. where they can do some
serious damage, but to do
so feels like I’d be begging
for a pulled groin or to
fall on my back.
6 4 | M AY 2 0 2 0
leg closest to the direction
you’re travelling – and
never crossing. ‘Always try
to get back into the centre
[when in the ring],’ he
explains. ‘You never want
to be pinned to the ropes.’
We strap my hands up
in boxing wraps to protect
my wrists and Barker hands
me a set of gloves before
slipping on a set of pads. He
has me show him my jabs,
crosses and the like, and
declares himself impressed.
‘You’re not dropping your
hands from your face and
you’re generating some real
power in those crosses,’ he
enthuses. I preen. My Muay
It’s a grey Wednesday
Thai lessons have taught
morning and I’m in a
me something, at least.
B E S T B ODY
boxing ring, facing former
For what’s left of the
world champion turned
session, he calls out combos
co-founder of London’s
(‘jab, jab, cross, left hook’)
12x3 Gym, Darren Barker.
for me to swing at him,
I’ve done boxing-style HIIT
as he skips around the
classes a handful of times
ring to both avoid me and
before, so I’m moderately
push me backwards. I’m
comfortable in the sleek
concentrating so hard that
warehouse-like space.
it’s almost meditative, and
Boxing fanatic Ellie
I barely notice my pounding
Goulding trains here, too,
heart and aching arms
Barker tells me, so I know
until Barker calls time out.
I’m in good hands. It’s no
Over 420 calories burned,
surprise that this combat
with a maximum heart
style is beloved by celebs
rate of 186bpm. Nice.
– it’s a single workout that
When 12x3 opened its
promises cardio, strength
doors in Aldgate, East
and mobility benefits. Plus,
London, three years ago,
I won’t have to kick anyone
its classes were about 40%
in the ribs today. Win.
women. ‘Most come for
Again, we start with
the sweaty cardio and
stance. ‘Getting this right
conditioning workout,’ says
is crucial for balance and
Barker, but an ever-growing
power. You want to be
number have their sights
stable enough to hit with
set on competing. ‘Give it
force but not so rigid that
six months,’ adds Barker
you can’t get away,’ Barker
with a grin. ‘Maybe sooner.
says. To that end, I have my
And we’ll have you ready
non-dominant leg in front,
for an amateur fight.’
feet slightly narrower than
Maybe it’s Barker’s praise,
I had them in Muay Thai.
maybe it’s how much I
‘Not facing your opponent
enjoyed the session, but
squarely means there’s less
I book in for round two
of you to hit,’ Barker says.
before I leave.
Footwork is also key – you
want to get in and out fast
enough to deliver a blow
and be out of reach before
your opponent has time to
retaliate. He spends time
showing me how to dart
forwards, backwards and
sideways at speed, and
how to veer off to the side
to get away – very light on
your feet, leading with the
M AY 2 0 2 0 | 6 5
Unlike the samurai
version, Brazilian jiu-jitsu
(BJJ) doesn’t involve
striking your opponent at
all. ‘The beauty of jiu-jitsu
is that it’s not about being
bigger or stronger than
your opponent,’ he says. ‘It’s
about leverage, technique
and skill – which is why it’s
sometimes referred to as
human chess.’ Jiu-jitsu was
a last line of defence for
samurai warriors who found
themselves thrown off
their horses and disarmed.
Their heavy armour meant
throwing jabs and hooks
wasn’t an option, so
grappling was a more A word of warning: steer
effective way of beating clear if close physical contact
their enemy. In those with strangers makes you
battles, the winner was uncomfortable. At one
the last man left breathing. point, I’m on my back with
In modern BJJ, you can my legs wrapped around
win by accumulating points Slater’s waist as I attempt
for positional dominance, or to keep him from pinning
by getting your opponent me to the floor. Oddly, I
to submit. don’t think about it at all
I spend almost all of our until after the fact. The
hour together on the floor. movements are incredibly
Slater teaches me to build technical and require as
my guard – basically, using much concentration as they
my limbs to keep my do physicality. I’m too busy
adversary literally at arm’s working out which way
length. If an opponent has I should be twisting my
you down on the ground,
B E S T B ODY
torso and the best position

he explains, keep them for my hands to become
away from you with your uncomfortable. It doesn’t
legs bent at 90°, placing raise my heart rate as much
your feet on their hip as boxing or Muay Thai (my
bones. He shows me moves tracker reads 287 calories
like the ‘shrimp’ – in which burned), but I leave with my
you curl up on your side muscles feeling as though
like the crustacean. No I’ve done an upper-body
matter how hilarious I find strength session. Slater isn’t
it, it’s a useful escape if a stocky man, but the force
your opponent manages I had to apply to get him in
Two men are tumbling to get past your guard, and those locks was akin to a
around on the floor in what a BJJ fundamental. Slater resistance workout. Along
one might mistake for a also shows me techniques with building strength, BJJ
twitchy sort of passionate for getting up off the floor is also great for balance,
embrace – were it not for without dropping my guard, coordination and mobility.
the fact that they’re in the and (my personal favourite) I’ve yet to decide if I’ll
jiu-jitsu studio at the Soho the Kimura lock, which, be back, but Slater makes
branch of Third Space. They when applied correctly, a convincing case for my
don’t look up as trainer and can break an arm. It won’t future as a jiu-jitsu champ
Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt actually go that far in – and points out that of all
Alex Slater ushers me into a match, Slater says – the fighting styles I’ve tried,
the glass-walled room. He hopefully, your opponent this is the only one in which
bows as he enters, and will tap out before you I won’t get punched in the
turns to look expectantly endanger their limbs. Pity. face. Not something to be
at me until I do the same. Of all the arts I’ve trialled, underestimated.
‘I always start my classes this one seems like it would
GOLD MEDALLIST IN BOXING BASED IN NEW YORK (JENNIFER-CHIENG.COM)
PHOTOGRAPHY: ALLIE HOLLOWAY. MODEL: JENNIFER CHIENG, AN OLYMPIC
this way,’ he explains. ‘It’s be the most useful when it

part of the tradition of this comes to self-defence. ‘It
discipline.’ As a fighting depends,’ Slater says. ‘These
style that was first practised techniques are excellent for
in the 1500s by Japanese defending yourself against
samurai warriors, jiu-jitsu someone bigger and
– which roughly translates stronger, but only if, through
to ‘peaceful way’ – isn’t practice and repetition,
short on tradition. In the they’ve become instinct.
early 20th century, several You won’t walk out of here
prominent martial artists now and be able to take
brought the art west to someone down.’
Brazil, where it evolved
into the simpler style
more commonly practised
today, Slater explains, as he
takes me through familiar
warm-up stretches.
execute each move.
Just 30 minutes in, my
arms and obliques are
already protesting.
Lewis insists he wasn’t
going easy on me.
I know he’s probably
fibbing, but the idea
that I could potentially
sweep a grown man
to the floor makes me
feel pretty damn good.
There’s no doubt
that MMA is a male-
dominated sport,
Lewis says, but
high-profile fighters,
such as former UFC
It conjures up images champ Ronda Rousey,
of beefy, bloodied are helping to turn
men roaring as they the tide. ‘Women tend
tear each other to to catch on to the
pieces inside a metal basics faster than
cage, so, needless to with thick mats and men,’ he adds. ‘They’re
say, mixed martial arts the sides are more naturally more flexible
(MMA) is the session a thin mesh than the and more focused on
I’m dreading the most. iron bars I’d been accuracy, form and
When I descend the anticipating. ‘It technique, while men
stairs to the impressive prevents the fighters tend to rely on brute
underground space at from slipping out and force.’ Most of the
different, with rules
London’s Fight City doing more damage women who enter
like ‘no headbutting’
Gym, my matching [to themselves or Fight City come for
and ‘no fingers in an
Lululemon kit is just each other], as they the self-defence
opponent’s orifices’.
one reason I feel out might do if they were we forgo gloves, but classes. ‘For that, you
Competitors draw
of place. Mismatched in a boxing ring.’ MMA fighters do use can’t beat a knee to
technique and tactics
punchbags hang from MMA is about fingerless gloves for the crotch,’ says Lewis.
from a variety of pinning his left
the ceiling around more than the violent fights. I learn that it’s Movement in my class
martial arts, such as forearm in place.
a boxing ring in one showmanship seen not just a striking was slow, with a focus
boxing, karate and From here, he
corner, while a weights online, Lewis explains. sport; for a true MMA on technique and
wrestling, to take instructs me to twist
area dominates It actually dates back experience, Lewis drilling combos. My
down their opponents. my torso and swing
another. And right by to the Olympics of declares, I need to tracker shows 350
In most cases, this my left leg behind
the foot of the stairs, ancient Greece, in a learn to grapple. That calories burned, and
involves getting your him, which I can kick
sits the cage. sport called pankration is, to take my my muscles – my back
rival to submit – or back to knock him
But Fight City Gym (from the Greek ‘pan’ opponent to the floor. and arms particularly
knocking them out. off his feet and fling
coach and pro MMA and ‘kratos’, meaning Lewis shows me – ache the next day.
We warm up with him to the floor. It
fighter Wendle ‘Kojo’ ‘all powers’). As the how to get the ‘inside A great workout, no
general stretches, takes me several
Lewis is certainly not name suggests, pretty advantage’ (the doubt, but I’m not
then Lewis walks me awkward fumbles
what I’m expecting. much everything went grappling equivalent sure all this tumbling
through the basics. and apologies, but
He’s blessedly free – the only rules were of the high ground) around on the floor is
The stance is similar eventually I get it
of black eyes or no biting and no with my left hand my vibe. Back to the
to Muay Thai, right. Workout-wise,
missing teeth, and eye-gouging. How behind his neck, boxing it is, then.
although he instructs it’s totally different
has a gentle manner reassuring. Today’s me to lower my fists forearm pressed
that puts me at MMA isn’t much against his collarbone from anything I’ve
slightly and bring my ever tried before – I’m
ease. ‘People don’t feet closer together. and my right hand
understand the cage twisting in all sorts
He shows me how of strange directions
thing,’ he says, waving to jab, cross, kick,
towards it. The floor and using multiple
knee and elbow – muscle groups to
inside is cushioned
Women’s Health M AY 2 02 0 | 67
It’s the word being whispered or years, scientists researching pain, (which hold water like sponge)
movement and recovery did the and various other cells, such
by doctors, trainers, yogis and anatomical equivalent of paving over as fat cells. And, similar to the
masseuses alike. And caring paradise to put up a parking lot. They citrus fruit pith, its main job
for it will have you moving, tossed the shiny, webby tissue that is to keep your internal bits –
performing and looking as covers ‘the good stuff’ – ie, muscles, muscles, joints, tendons, bones,
though you’ve cheated ageing. nerves and organs – into the bin. Little did they know, all of it – in place. Layers of this
But what exactly is fascia, and it actually held the answers they’d long searched for. amazing tissue run through your
If this sounds like a dramatic, dun-dun-dun beginning entire body. If – god forbid –
how much attention does this
to a Marvel epic, it sort of is. Because that webby stuff, your fascia were to be separated
underrated body part deserve? called fascia, has emerged as a superhero in its own from your body, it would look
At least four pages’ worth... right in the worlds of both fitness and overall health. a lot like a webby wetsuit
Before we can get into all fascia does, you have to first (emphasis on the wet), covering
understand what it is. Imagine an orange: if the peel is everything from your skull to
like your skin, the white stuff beneath it – you know, the your fingertips and your toes.
thready film that surrounds each wedge, holding them
all together in one sphere – is like your fascia. This
connective web-like substance is made primarily of
collagen fibres, as well as gelatin-like glycoproteins
6 8 | M AY 2 0 2 0 I l l u s t r a t i o n | A DA M H AY E S
B E S T B ODY
But why has it become so buzzy, popping up in ‘fascial stick in place, while chronic hear proper job signals and goes rogue, it
yoga’ and ‘fascial massage’ in the trendiest studios and stress can trigger them to can leave the fascia and move into a place
spas? For one, new tools are letting researchers see and thicken in an attempt to protect it’s not supposed to be, doing things it’s
measure what it’s doing inside your body (versus looking the muscle underneath. It’s also not supposed to do,’ says Professor Pratt.
at the dried-up version previously discarded from key to injury recovery, because If you’re trying to build a leaner body,
cadavers). That makes the material much sexier to those it weaves between vessels and you’ll want to make your fascia your friend.
in lab coats. And perhaps the bigger reason: as functional supports blood flow. What’s That’s because when fascia is properly
medicine and fitness – or considering the body as a more, because fascia contains gel-like – ie, hydrated, strong and relaxed
whole rather than focusing on individual areas – becomes cells that communicate with – your muscles are able to receive more
more widespread, practitioners are taking a closer look one another, as well as other oxygen and contract fully, as well as slide
at the common threads that bind every part of your body. cells throughout your body, over each other without friction to produce
‘Fascia is one of the most important and pervasive researchers now think this more force. That upgrade means you’ll
systems, because it connects every other system tissue might be the channel power every workout more efficiently, in
together,’ says anatomy expert Professor Rebecca Pratt. through which conditions such turn scoring better and faster results.
First and foremost, healthy fascia is crucial to easy daily as autoimmune diseases or So how do you make sense of a
movement and exercise performance. Ever been so tight cancer spread. ‘If a cell doesn’t physiological system that’s so profound
from sitting in one position for too long that your stairs and so vital to your existence? It’s simple,
feel like Everest? That’s your angry fascia talking – actually. Follow our guide over the page.
prolonged sitting can cause the once-supple fibres to Don’t worry, you can thank us later.
Fight against tight
As yet, there’s not enough evidence that nurturing your fascia can directly reduce your
‘ I SAW A risk of cancer or other diseases (if only things were that simple), but the tissue can have
SO F T-TI S S U E a direct impact on your energy, your 5K performance and perhaps even your stress levels.
P RO ’ So why wouldn’t you want to give it some TLC? Here are a few habits to adopt now...
Media executive Leah

Wyar is no stranger to
massage tables. But after
six sessions with a fascia
pro, she came to one
conclusion: Life. Changing.
Having struggled for a decade STRETCH EACH EAT MORE FRUIT
with severe backache, I have a MORNING AND VEGETABLES
you-name-it-I’ll-try-it-approach to Even a quick forward High levels of
pain management: acupuncture,
acupressure, chiro, cupping,
fold can help break up inflammation
physical therapy, I’ve done it all. collagen in your fascia, throughout the body
So when a co-worker suggested allowing more oxygen infiltrate the fascial
structural integration, described to hit your muscles and MOVE tissue, causing pain.
as intense fascia manipulation?
Instant yes. I booked a session
setting you up for better DIFFERENTLY A diet that’s packed
with therapist Jessa Zinn, who movement all day long. ‘Movement is key with fresh produce and
told me to lie face up on the table. To reduce tension, hold for the health and healthy fats and light
WORDS: KIRSTI BUICK; MARISSA GAINSBURG. PHOTOGRAPHY: BERSA/ARTPARTNER. ICONS: ALICE NOIR/JOSHUA GANYON/VICTORULER AT NOUN PROJECT
‘But the pain is in my lower back,’ stretches for at least two hydration of fascia,’ on processed foods (the
I said. ‘To treat your back, I have to minutes. Or hit the mat: says Thomas. But if typical Mediterranean
treat your front,’ she responded.
Apparently, fascia functions like a yin yoga (or fascial yoga) you’re always moving in diet) helps minimise
tucked-in top: ‘When a shirt is too keeps you in poses about the same way (by, say, the I-word. Adding
tight at the waist, it pulls at the twice as long. Stuck at a performing a similar a daily collagen supp
neck – but you don’t yank at the desk all day? No1 Fitness weight-training routine might even boost the
neck to fix it,’ she explains. ‘You
untuck the shirt and reorganise
founder and fascia every week), there are collagen profile in your
the material.’ My stealth body specialist Harry Thomas going to be areas that fascia, too, further
shifter? Extreme tightness in my suggests a frog stretch aren’t getting the strengthening the web.
hip flexors and lower abs. Sitting to open up your hips. attention they need.
for hours a day with improper ‘You’re often only
posture pulls my pelvis into an
anterior tilt, drawing my lumbar moving backwards
spine into an unnatural curve. and forwards, up and
Relieving it required deep, steady down in the gym,’ says
pressure from Zinn’s thumbs, Thomas. ‘But you want
fingers and even elbows to
reorganise the fascia. During one to be challenging the
session, she focused on two pelvic body in different planes
muscles, my iliacus and psoas. as well. Think about
Each time she hit a tight spot, GET HOPPING getting away from the DRINK UP
she’d coach me through the
Fascial tissue stores midline – by turning Your body is 60% water,
tenderness: ‘That’s it, just breathe
– great release, Leah.’ Her praise more kinetic energy lunges into lateral and much of the H2O
motivated me to stick with the than any other type of lunges, for example.’ is to be found in your
stretches and stabilisation tissue – FYI, it’s this If this all sounds a bit fascia. So, if you’re
exercises outside of her care. One spring-like material, complicated, he dehydrated, the tissue
such: rolling my stomach on a
semi-deflated ball to keep my not powerful muscles, suggests simply adding will be dry and brittle,
psoas spongy. Understanding the that enables kangaroos a new class to your not wet and spongy.
relationship between body parts to catapult themselves workout mix to get you The consequence:
bound by fascia has empowered 30 feet. Because of this moving in different compromised mobility.
me beyond my back issue, too.
This week, when I could hardly
relationship, experts directions. Things like Even your skin can look
bear a pain in my right shoulder think plyometrics dance or Muay Thai are dull when your fascia
and the headaches that came (explosive jumps) great for variation. isn’t hydrated, because
with it, a lightbulb went off: make your fascia more the superficial fascia
it’s not my shoulder; it’s my
durable and resilient (the layer closest to the
teeth grinding. I grabbed my
FaceBlaster (a fascia tool for your by increasing its surface) gives skin its
visage) and glided into the tension density. Three times healthy tone. Down
around my jaw, ears and neck. The a week, spend up to your eight glasses daily
next day? I felt amazing. Turns out, five minutes doing – plus a glass or two
the best treatment you can give
yourself is listening to the very pain hopscotch over an extra on days when
that you try so hard to ignore – agility ladder, or do you’re exercising hard
and, sometimes, seeking a little three sets of 10 to 20 to replace what you
help from a magical pair of hands. jump squats. lose in sweat.
Women’s Health
GIVE YOURSELF
A ROLL
Relieving kinks with
your trusty foam roller too hard or for too long
improves range of – if you dig in to the
motion and reduces point of pain, you’ll
soreness. Why? send a stress signal to
Kneading soft tissue your nervous system,
removes collagen which will make your
build-up and amps fascia stiffen up again.
up blood flow, which Which areas should
pumps nutrients to the you roll pre-workout?
area and flushes waste. Whatever needs waking
‘I have my clients do up for your session,
this for a few minutes says Thomas. ‘If you’re
before training,’ says deadlifting, roll out
Thomas. ‘It just releases your hamstrings. If the
any tightness and focus is squats, go for
prepares the body for the quads.’ After your
movement. We call it workout, release the
“taking the handbrake area you’ve worked
off”.’ Start by pressing with a long slow roll up
into the muscle gently, and down tight muscles,
rolling up and down just or give them a good
a few inches. Stay there stretch. Increasing
until you feel it release. blood flow to the tissues
There’s no need to go you’ve just used can
speed up recovery.
The Women’s Health
B E S T B ODY
foam roller, £8.99, is
available now at Argos
ROUTE TO WELLTH
Emeli SWEAT
I used to find exercise
a chore, but now, after
overhauling my lifestyle
EMBRACE
I’ve straightened and
dyed my hair for years,
but now I’m letting it
Sandé
a year ago, I genuinely go back to its natural
enjoy it. I start my day curl. It’s about identity,
with 30 to 40 minutes FUEL being honest with
of cardio – a 3km I eat fruit for breakfast myself about how I look
treadmill run, followed after I’m done with my and embracing that.
by a 3km stationary morning workout. I was recently gifted
The medical student-turned-musician, 33, on going cycle and 10 minutes Lunch tends to involve some hair products by
vegan-ish, her inside-out body transformation and of skipping. Then I a generous portion of Bouclème and they’re
cool down with half an grains, like steamed super gentle; it feels
how she finds freedom via her journal hour of yoga. I never as if they’ve brought
quinoa and couscous
used to ‘get’ yoga, but with veg. My favourite my hair back to life.
I’ve been hooked ever go-to dinner is my My sister got me into
since I did Adriene sister Lucy’s chickpea natural beauty, too, so
Mishler’s 30-Day Yoga bolognese recipe. If I now I use coconut oil
Journey on YouTube. want something sweet, to seal moisture into
I’ll have a few spoonfuls my hair – as well as for
of vegan ice cream – I taking my make-up off.
had the most amazing
double caramel one
PROTECT the other day.
I’ve had anxiety most

STATS
of my life and, at some
AFFIRM
Age: 33 points, feelings of I’ve got a positive
Job: Singer- depression – so I’ve
songwriter affirmations app on
Fitness MO:
always been aware of CHILL my phone, which
my emotional health. means that every
Cardio and yoga Between work, evening
But it wasn’t until morning I’m greeted
B E S T B ODY
Wind-down secret: events and early starts,
A good book developing a regular by a lovely positive
exercise routine that I rarely get the eight message. Yesterday’s
I realised how powerful hours’ sleep I need, but was, ‘I choose to be
my actions could be in I more than make up happy.’ I definitely
protecting my mental for it on my days off. protect my happiness
health. Now, after Watching movies like by monitoring how
yoga, I meditate for 10 The Hunger Games – much I’m on social
minutes and journal. which I’ve seen so many media – I’m currently
times I don’t need to aiming to log in no
pay attention – helps more than three times
my brain switch off. a day. I’m determined
Not before bed, though to train my mind to
– I used to play music be more focused and
RETHINK or watch TV for two patient, and be able
hours before, but now to read a book – or
Earlier on in my life, I I switch off electronics
wanted to be a doctor, just enjoy the moment
and read. It’s been a – without switching
and when studying game changer.
medicine, I’d grab my attention to my
crisps and refined phone.
carbs for quick energy,
not realising they Follow Emeli on
WORDS: GEMMA CALVERT. PHOTOGRAPHY: SIMON EMMETT. ICONS: EVGENY FILATOV/PROSYMBOLS/
EUCALYP/BECRIS/MONKIK/TILL TEENCK/DAIRY FREE DESIGN/VECTORS MARKET AT NOUN PROJECT
exacerbated my stress. Instagram @emelisande

But watching the
Forks Over Knives ENERGISE
documentary five years For me, feeling healthy
ago helped me wake means waking up
up – both in terms of feeling bright and
respecting animal life ready to take on the
and the nutritional day. Rather than relying
benefits of a plant- on coffee or energy
based diet. I’ve flitted drinks (I prefer herbal
between veganism tea) I try to prioritise
and vegetarianism rest and experiment
ever since. with other natural ways
of helping me feel
at my best, like reiki.
I tried it for the first
time a month ago and
I felt really peaceful
at the end, like my
energy had shifted
and I was back to my
normal, balanced self.
01
SQUAT HOLD
Targets: Glutes,
P T GU E ST PA S S quads, hamstrings
Do: Hold for 1 min,
CIARA
repeat 3 times
(a) With your feet
hip-width apart, tilt
(a)
your pelvis backwards
as you bend your knees
and sink as low as you
MADDEN
can into a squat. Hold
for 1 min, focusing on
keeping your weight
in your heels, your
chest up and shoulders
back. Push through
your heels to return to
standing, shake it out,
Bottom decidedly more pancake and as soon as you’re
ready, get back down.
than peach? Ciara’s bum-building
workout is just what you need
for glute gains
02
hether she’s sunning
herself in a booty-
baring bikini or doing
a fathoms-deep squat
on Insta, Ciara Madden
(aka @ciaralondon) is SQUAT JUMP
the definition of glute goals. One of the
Targets: Glutes,
questions the PT, founder of Body By
hamstrings, calves
Ciara and head of sculpt at BOXR is asked Do: 3 sets of 20 reps
most often? How can I build a booty like (a) Stand with your
yours? It’s not rocket science, she says – feet hip-width apart,
but it takes hard work. ‘The glutes aren’t bend your knees and
just one muscle. To grow them, you need push your bum back to
sink into a deep squat.
to target the entire muscle group: the
(b) Driving through
gluteus medius, maximus and minimus.’ your heels, explode
The good news? You don’t need heavy back up into a jump
barbells or loaded leg presses to get this (a) (b) before landing right
done – to start with, anyway. We got back in that deep
squat position (not
Madden to create an exclusive workout standing upright – no
for WH to take you back to bum basics. cheating, now) and
Once you’ve nailed these moves, add go again immediately.
weight. ‘There’s no point loading up
until you’ve mastered the exercises,’
Madden says. ‘Weights vary for everyone.
If you start with 10kg, for example, aim
for 15kg in the next few weeks, and so
on. Ready? Get a good playlist together,
WORDS: KIRSTI BUICK. HAIR AND MAKE-UP: KATIE PETTIGREW AT
LHA REPRESENTS. STYLING: ABIGAIL BUCHANAN. CIARA WEARS:
enjoy yourself and don’t forget to breathe.

BRA AND SHORTS, BOTH GYMSHARK; TRAINERS, CIARA’S OWN
NEED TO KNOW…
1 | Perform this leg and glutes workout twice
a week, Madden says, ideally with a full-body
session and an arm workout on other days.
2 | Catch your breath between moves, but
don’t waste too much time on rest during
the workout. ‘Most of us live busy lives, with
limited time to get to the gym,’ she says. ‘If
you made it there, get it done. Rest after.’
74 | M AY 2 0 2 0 P h o to g r a p h y | P H I L I P H AY N E S
03
JUMP LUNGE
05
KNEELING
DONKEY KICK
(b)
Targets: Quads, glutes,
hamstrings, calves (a) Targets: Glutes,
Do: 3 sets of 10 reps hamstrings, core
on each side Do: 3 sets of 1 min
(a) Start in a wide on each leg
lunge, making sure (a) Start on all fours
your back leg isn’t and, engaging your
directly behind you core, lift and straighten
– keep your feet in one leg out behind
line with your hips for you, pointing the toe.
increased stability. (b) Pulse the leg a few
(b) Sink down into inches up and down
the lunge before for 30 secs, then
jumping straight up, switch legs. It’s a small
switching legs in movement, but your
mid-air to land back glutes are going to burn.
in a lunge with the
other leg in front. Use
a TRX for support until
you feel comfortable
enough to balance
alone. When you’re
04
ready, add weights.
(a)
PULSING
B E S T B ODY
CURTSY LUNGE
Targets: Quads, glutes,
hamstrings, calves
Do: 3 sets of 30 secs
on each leg
(a) Start with your feet
hip-width apart, then
(a) take a big step back on
your left leg, crossing
it behind your right.
(b) Keeping your body
upright, bend your
knees until your right (b)
thigh is nearly parallel
to the floor, and pulse
a few inches up and
down for 30 secs.
06
Shake it out and
switch legs.
HIP THRUST
(a)
Targets: Glutes,
hamstrings
Do: 3 sets of 1 min
(a) Lie on your back
with your legs bent.
(b) Place a 10-15kg plate or
weight on your pelvis.
(b) Driving through
your heels, raise your
hips to thrust the plate
up as high as possible,
(b) squeezing your glutes
and pausing for a sec
at the top before
dropping back down.
Continue for 1 min, then
rest for a few breaths
before your next set.
HOW I GET F I T D ON E
‘STRENGTH TRAINING
HELPED ME BREAK
FREE FROM MY
EATING DISORDER’
Former ballerina Gabriela Cunha
Viana, 24, an assistant art director,
model and dancer, used workouts
to bolster her self-worth
eople tend to think

naturally slim women
don’t have body issues.
But in my Brazilian family,
B E S T B ODY
where everyone was
beautifully voluptuous,
I was always ‘the skinny one’ and I felt
enormous pressure to live up to that.
People seemed to congratulate me for it
constantly. When I started doing ballet and
began modelling in my teens, my obsession
with being slender only got worse. There
are pictures of me from that time where
you can see my bones jutting out of my
chest. At my smallest, I weighed just 7st I started feeling healthier too. When
12lb, which, at 5ft 9in tall, was much lower I was at my skinniest, I was anxious and
than a healthy weight for my frame. weak because I wasn’t fuelling my body.
It reached a point where I had complete Under Mikhail’s guidance, I finally began POST-GYM SNACK
body dysmorphia. I tried to eat as little as eating enough food to not only give me A bowl of juicy
possible. At meals, I’d move my food around energy to work out, but to feel better in watermelon chunks
with my fork to make the rest of my family general. I’d do four weight-training sessions
think I was eating. When I couldn’t avoid a week – two upper and two lower body.
eating, I’d purge afterwards. I was throwing For the first time in my life, I felt strong.
AS TOLD TO KIRSTI BUICK. HAIR AND MAKE-UP: JOLANDA COETZER AT LHA REPRESENTS.
up every day, as a way to maintain control. Gabriela in her early Because I’d kept going when workouts
dancing days in 2013
At 19, I moved to London from Portugal got tough, I’ve been able to build up a sort
ULTIMATE
for a fresh start and I started working at of mental resilience, which helps me cope POWER MOVE
Gymbox on the reception desk. I’d given up when I feel temptation to revert back to Front squats with a
ballet, which eased the pressure I put on the old me. Now, I know that I can put bar – they make me
myself, and while my bulimia had dissipated my headphones on and smash out a good feel like such a badass
a little, it still flared up when I was stressed session to pull myself out of that. I’ve
or anxious. One of the trainers at the gym, started dancing again – just a few events
Mikhail St Catherine, coaxed me into trying here and there – and I teach barre. I’ve
PICTURED AT THE MOVE STUDIOS, FULHAM
weight training. After the first few weeks, also got into running and I do about four
when I began to build muscle, I freaked out strength sessions a week by myself – but PROUDEST PB
and wanted to quit. But Mikhail was so Focusing on building I still check in with Mikhail if I need 85kg back bar
patient with me and he coached me through muscle in 2018 guidance. I’ve started modelling a bit, too squats – it felt
my fears. It helped that every time I trained, – more fitness than high fashion. As long as like a near-death
experience, but
I felt amazing afterwards. I felt more I’m training and my headspace is good, I’m I nailed it
empowered with every workout and became OK. I’d guess I’m around 9½st now, but I
addicted to that feeling of overcoming my try not to weigh myself. I don’t want to give
own expectations and limitations. that number power over me any more.
P h oto g r a p hy | TO M WAT K I N S M AY 2 0 2 0 | 7 7
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82
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83
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84
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85
AR KE T
MODEL: REBEKKA SANDOK AT PREMIER. MAKE-UP: LISA SLONEEM USING MAC COSMETICS. HAIR: ELVIRE ROUX AT
The second instalment

CAROL HAYES MANAGEMENT. FASHION ASSISTANT: ABIGAIL BUCHANAN. FASHION INTERN: KERRI BRENNOCK
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87
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WORDS: ABIGAIL BUCHANAN
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This bra packs a punch with double- If its super-soft sweaters and cashmere The latest collection, fronted by A new-season sneaks update courtesy
layered construction, sweat-wicking buys are anything to go by, Hush’s new surf champ and all-round boss of the Italian sports brand, with a primary
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– it’s made from recycled Econyl to boot your coffee run as it is for the gym chance to channel her style dose of heritage sports brand cool
It’s the most crucial bit of kit for women, but what does
it take to create a sports bra worth its weight in hold?
WORDS ABIGAIL BUCHANAN AND H A N N A H B A N K S -WA L K E R
T
PHOTOGRAPHY M I TC H PAY N E
WEAR WELL
88
here was
w a tim
time (before 1977, to be precise)
when sports brasb as you know them didn’t
exist at all. That
Th was before Lisa Lindahl,
then a student at the University of
Vermont, came
Verm cam up with the idea of sewing
two jockstraps
jo together to make a sport-
specific bra aft
specif after taking up jogging. A
high-tech solution?
high- solu Not so much. But she
was o on to som
something – these days, the
market for spo
mark sports bras stands at an
estimated £10
estim £10billion globally.
There’s no denying
Th d the importance of
making sure your
makin y assets are cared for while
you exercise – that part of your body needs
a heavy dose of TLC. A 2018 study from
the University of Portsmouth found that
breasts can move up to 14cm during exercise
if left unsupported. There are no muscles
within the breasts – they’re essentially
a collection of fat and tissue held to the
body by ligaments and skin – and the issue is that design decisions and allows brands to put
neither of these are especially strong. The a figure on how well their sports bras work.
connective tissue that holds the breast to the chest For example, Shock Absorber can say that
is comprised of Cooper’s ligaments, which naturally its bras reduce breast movement by up to
extend with age and over time – but exercise without 80% compared with wearing no bra at all.
supporting them properly and they could stretch up Nike’s newly developed Fe/Nom Flyknit
to 2cm during high-intensity workouts. Contrary to BREAST IN TEST bra uses fabric technology originally
how your breasts may appear to move up and down as One of the challenges sports developed for footwear – a compressive,
you run, burpee or push press, they actually swing in bra creators face is that every woven fabric that removes the need for
a figure of eight. ‘They move in every feasible direction woman’s breasts are different the irritating bulk of wires, foam cups and
– in, out, side-to-side and up and down,’ explains and so have different demands clasps. But it’s not just the big sports brands
Mari Thomas, expert sports bra tester and founder depending on how they move, that are turning their attention to bra
of sports bra brand Maaree. ‘This can not only be their size and the level of activity design: M&S worked with the Japanese
painful, but can cause the breasts to sag.’ being performed. Traditionally, company Asahi on its newest sports bra,
A good sports bra aims to deliver on two counts: sports bras focused on managing which was tested using avatars to assess
comfort and performance. Movement aside, breast downward movement, but their breast movement in micro detail.
tissue sits on top of the pectoral muscles, so it stands brief has had to change as we’ve Lingerie brand Triumph’s latest sports
to reason that any clothing that supports that area will learnt more about exercise and bra is the product of an attempt to tackle
have an impact on the activity of these muscles. And how the body responds. Testing 360° breast movement without adding bulk.
it’s true – another University of Portsmouth study
conducted on female runners found that wearing
a proper sports bra can reduce the activity of your
pectoral muscles by 55% during exercise. So? Well, this
‘Breasts move in every feasible
WEAR WELL
translates to less muscular fatigue and, as a result, more

fuel in your pecs’ tank to go harder for longer in any direction – in, out, side-to-
movement that engages those muscles, from jogging
and Pilates to CrossFit-style training. Debbie Risius, side and up and down’
senior research associate at Portsmouth University,
states that a woman’s choice of sports bra can also how effectively a bra tempers ‘One of the main feedback points we get is
90
influence her breathing rate and thermoregulation the figure-of-eight movement that sports bras are restrictive and heavy,’
during exercise. This is down to the fit of the bra and relies on measuring breast says Triumph global head of creative design
the fabric from which it’s constructed: a 2013 study motion with systems that can Sian Thomas. ‘So one of our main aims is
found that, while all sports bras reduced the cooling simulate human movement and to make our sports bras as feminine and
ability of the breast – simply by virtue of being another analyse breast biomechanics. light as other bras.’ How? Triumph’s
layer of clothing – sports bras made from polyester ‘We place a number of 3D newest innovative concept, Dynamic Lite
allowed for better thermoregulation than bras made motion markers on a woman; a fabric, means its bras have completely
from other composite materials. couple on her nipples and then breathable cups that rely on a strong
Sports bra research has gained momentum as designers a few more on more stationary lightweight mesh to support without
have begun to apply the same attention and innovation parts of the body, such as the constricting or making you sweat more.
to bras as they do to trainers and leggings. ‘It’s become collarbone and the hips,’ says Lululemon spent two years developing
increasingly clear that a good sports bra is critical to a Thomas, on the process of its Enlite bra with insights from the
woman enjoying exercise,’ says Thomas. ‘So many girls developing a Maaree bra. ‘Then brand’s Whitespace lab, where researchers
and women stop playing sport because of the discomfort we have the woman take part are multi-disciplinary experts, says
and embarrassment caused by poor breast support.’ It’s in physical activity, commonly Whitespace director Chantelle Murnaghan,
why most women are prepared to spend on a bra, as running on a treadmill, first from fields including biomechanics,
they see it as an investment, rather than a style choice. wearing the bra that’s being neuromechanics, physiology, engineering
tested and then again wearing and human insights – plus, feedback from
ICONS: FAHMI RAMDANI/CLAIRE JONES/PHAM THI DIEU LINH AT NOUN PROJECT
a contrasting “control” bra. You more than 1,000 women. Lululemon is

then measure the difference
in the movement recorded by
the motion markers.’ Motion
testing like this informs product
PTOPS: B AND L MOTION MARKERS, SUPPLIED BY VICON.
FIND BAND CUP STRAPS
YO U R F IT
Make sure it This should Adjust them to
stays level all encase the sit securely on
around your breast with your shoulders,
Sports bra brand Shock body and fits no bulging again, with
Absorber’s guide to firmly with or gaping. no more than
> > no more than three fingers’
finding the best-fitting
three fingers’ width give.
brassiere for your breasts width give.
SUPPORT
SHOP
LULULEMON
ENLITE BRA, £88
WH Editor-In-Chief
Claire Sanderson
also bringing biomechanic swears by this bra for
testing methods to its superior support
consumers themselves. and fit. Available in
‘We’ve been trialling a new 30 to 40, A to E.
experience called “Your
Signature Movement”,’ says
Murnaghan. ‘The process –
which involves the customer
running on a treadmill
wearing a bra equipped with
sensors – uses intelligent
digital technology to map
guests’ unique physical
SHOCK ABSORBER
requirements and sensory INFINITY POWER
preferences.’ These insights BRA, £50
then match a customer This bra is proven to
with the running bra that reduce breast movement
WEAR WELL
will suit them best. by up to 80% – that’s
Clearly, brands are taking serious support. Available
their sports bra designs in an in 30 to 42, A to F.
increasingly individualised
direction as they try to cater
to the equally important fit,
91
support and confidence
needs of consumers. Before
starting Maaree, Thomas was
a sports bra tester in a lab at
Loughborough University,
where she tested models
from the high-end to the high
MAAREE SOLIDARITY
street. ‘You might assume HIGH-IMPACT
that a lot of brands do their SPORTS BRA, £59
testing in-house, but this Designed with
isn’t the case,’ she says. ‘Most overband technology,
companies didn’t have the proven to offer bounce
equipment or technology to reduction in all
do this, so it was outsourced directions. Available
to someone like me. However, in 32 to 38, C to G.
many high-street brands
don’t consider properly
testing their sports bras at
all, which is why I always
encourage people to make
sure they buy their sports
bra from a company that
specialises in this area.’
Only the breast for you. TRIUMPH TRIACTION
EXTREME LITE, £40
An ultra light
breathable sports bra
that doesn’t skimp on
support. Available in
32 to 42, A to F.
products
UNDER £20
Everyone loves a bargain – and if that bargain can make your complexion fresher, your skin feel
plumper and your face look more preened, all the better. When we asked WH readers what they
wanted from their beauty toolkits, the feedback was unanimous: affordable results. So we put
scores of products to the test and found 20 that our team would rather not live without
HONEST BEAUTY MAGIC BEAUTY BALM £16
-
Best for: Honestly? Pretty much everything. Created by clean beauty mogul
Jessica Alba, it’s great for moisturising your face, lips, hands – anything, really.
How it works: It harnesses some of nature’s most moisturising oils, including
coconut, sunflower, rose, jojoba, nobilis flower and shea butter.
Verdict: A multi-tasking hero if ever there was one. The balm is thick enough
to stop skin drying out and hair becoming tricksy (a lifesaver during cold spells or
long-haul flights), but it was post gym or swim – when I don’t have my entire hair-
styling kit to hand – that it really came into its own. It tames any flyaways post-hair
wash and, swiped across lips, cheekbones and eyelids, it gives a fresh dewy highlight.
Tested by Saskia Quirke, WH Fashion Director
SMASHBOX
ALWAYS ON
CREAM TO MATTE
LIPSTICK £19
-
Best for: Those who
want a matte lipstick
but find them drying THE INKEY LIST VITAMIN B, C
or uncomfortable. AND E MOISTURIZER £4.99
How it works: -
Thanks to a unique Best for: Skin maintenance. Think of
primer oil complex, this as a daily supplement for your face.
the formula glides on How it works: This lightweight
B E AU T Y L A B
LIXIR SKIN NIGHT creamy but dries with moisturiser infuses skin with minerals
SWITCH ESSENTIAL a matte finish. that slow down the glycation of
LIPIDS £20 Verdict: I find most collagen, which leads to wrinkles. All
- matte lipsticks really the while, vitamin B is busy controlling
Best for: Dry and dehydrated awkward to wear and the flow of excess oil, while vitamins C
skin. While it can be tricky to I’m constantly aware of and E provide the armour your skin
tell the difference between the their presence on my needs to fight off harmful free radicals.
two, Lixir founder Dr Colette lips, but I barely noticed Verdict: This product quashes the idea
Hayden believes it’s not that it with this formula. that decent skincare needs to be spenny.
important, as the results are the Every time I checked The concertation of ingredients is
same: dullness, tightness and it in the mirror, it was enough to make a difference and it feels
visible patches of dead skin. still in place and lightweight but not too watery. It’s
How it works: By targeting looking fresh as ever. definitely the best moisturiser I’ve
dehydrated skin when it Tested by Saskia come across for less than a fiver.
switches into repair mode Quirke, WH Claudia Canavan, WH Digital
overnight. The blend of Fashion Director Beauty & Health Editor
ceramides, essential fatty acids,
phospholipids and glycerides
rebuilds the lipids of the skin
cell membrane, reinforcing the
epidermal wall that traps water,
so skin is less able to dry out. CHARLOTTE TILBURY LIP CHEAT IN PILLOW TALK £17
Verdict: This is one clever -
skincare product because no Best for: Nailing a nude lip.
matter how much moisturiser How it works: The original Pillow Talk Lip Cheat liner found
or hyaluronic acid you put on fame as the ultimate nude, with one sold every two minutes, so it
skin, a lack of essential lipids made sense to launch two new sub-shades. Pillow Talk Medium is
means it can’t retain water. a warm berry pink and Pillow Talk Intense is a deep tawny brown.
For me, this was obviously Verdict: The Medium offering is my perfect match. The added
where I was going wrong. I was warmth to the pink hue works with the yellow undertones in my
wary of the texture as it felt skin. Now that I can actually wear it, I see what all the fuss is about.
a little greasy, but it’s really It’s a colour that feels lived in – they’re my lips, but better.
worked to bolster the effects Tested by Roisín Dervish-O’Kane, WH Senior Editor
of my follow-on moisturisers.
I’m totally sold on this one.
Tested by Perdita Nouril,
WH Beauty Editor
REAL TECHNIQUES CUSTOM
COMPLEXION BRUSH £11.99
-
Best for: Make-up novices and those with no time for a 30-brush set.
How it works: The brush has a slide mechanism on its side,
allowing you to switch up the density of the bristles so you can
customise your look. Want to go all out? Slide it to maximum
density, allowing the brush to lay down more product on the skin
for full coverage. Prefer the ‘I woke up like this’ look? Minimum
density gives you super light but even coverage.
Verdict: This game-changing brush is proof that you only need
one excellent tool to ace your base, allowing for total customisation.
My concealer brushes, beauty blender and stippling foundation
brush have been officially rendered obsolete.
LA ROCHE-POSAY Tested by Claire Sanderson, WH Editor-In-Chief
EFFACLAR MICRO
PEELING PURIFYING
GEL £14.50
-
Best for: Tackling bacne, ERBORIAN CC CRÈME
or any other pesky spots £18
that appear on your body. -
How it works: Skin on Best for: The days when you
the back and chest can be don’t want to wear a full face
up to five times thicker of make-up, but still want to
than on the face, so this protect skin and even it out. LAURA MERCIER PURE
micro-peeling purifying How it works: It uses black, CANVAS PRIMER £17
gel has been formulated red and orange pigments that -
with 2% salicylic acid to are encapsulated but dissolve Best for: Ensuring your make-up
B E AU T Y L A B
reduce sebum secretion into the skin when applied. This goes the distance without the use
and clear out pores. means they’re not vulnerable to of silicone, the main culprit for skin
Verdict: My body loves oxidation, so remain brighter in congestion that’s found in pretty
exercise – my skin, colour and can adapt perfectly much every primer.
however, isn’t such a fan, to your skin shade. Mineral- How it works: This water-based
and it tells me this with based SPF offers sun protection and micro algae-infused primer
random breakouts on without clogging pores, and hero evenly smooths skin and, crucially,
my back and chest after skincare ingredients, including forms a barrier between your face
a sweaty workout. This centella asiatica and adenosine, and your foundation. This prevents
body cleanser was help to increase collagen your skin from drinking up the
therefore a godsend. production, antioxidant activity moisture in your foundation, which
It cleared up random and reinforce the skin barrier. is what makes it look patchy.
pimples on my décolletage Verdict: The texture is so Verdict: This surpassed all
after a few days, but fine, it melts on to skin and expectations. It subdued the
wasn’t drying. It’s now is completely undetectable. appearance of pores and redness
a staple in my washbag. When wearing it, I’ve been and meant I didn’t need to bother
Tested by Roisín complimented again and again with mid-day touch-ups.
Dervish-O’Kane, on how great my skin looks Claudia Canavan, WH Digital
WH Senior Editor with no make-up. Guess the Beauty & Health Editor
cat’s out of the bag now, eh?
Tested by Perdita Nouril,
WH Beauty Editor
NYX BORN TO GLOW! RADIANT CONCEALER £9

-
Best for: Banishing pesky dark circles without sinking into fine lines.
How it works: Micropearl pigments help to camouflage dull skin as they
reflect the light. Added vitamin E helps to moisturise thin under-eye skin.
Verdict: For a budget option, the formula is really good – it didn’t settle into
lines as promised, but this was only the case if I really moisturised my eye
area first. It’s the applicator that really gets my vote. It’s spherical, which
means it’s easy to blend without tugging back and forth on the skin. I also
like how there are 24 shades, so all complexion tones are covered.
Tested by Frankie Hill, WH Acting
Managing Editor/Picture Director
11 12
DOVE DERMASPA BEAUTY SLEEP
MIDNIGHT MELTING BODY BALM £9.99
-
Best for: Anyone looking to give the same TLC
to the skin on their body as they do to their face.
How it works: It’s formulated with active cell moisturisers,
which encourage your skin cells to maintain moisture, making
skin texture feel smoother and look even in tone.
Verdict: I often neglect the skin on my body as I find it such a
chore, but this buttery texture nursed dry patches back to health
and soothed skin irritated from when I’ve shaved my legs in a
rush. Also, I didn’t have to use it every day, as the effects lasted.
I prefer this, as it means I can use it because I enjoy using it,
GARNIER FRUIT AHA rather than being a slave to it. The lavender was an added bonus,
SHOT FRESH-MIX too, as it helped to induce a sense of calm before falling into bed.
TISSUE MASK £3.99 Tested by Victoria Joy, WH Deputy Editor
-
Best for: Tackling the telltale
signs of a long, testing week
14
that creep up on your face.
13
Blame cortisol for this – L’ORÉAL INFALLIBLE
it can throw your hormonal 24H MATTE COVER
balance out, causing breakouts £9.99
or making skin look duller -
than dishwater. Best for: Those who have
How it works: It’s the oily or blemish-prone skin.
equivalent of a green juice for How it works: Infused JORDAN SAMUEL SKIN
your skin. First, it’s packed with with a blurring serum and THE AFTER SHOW
glycolic acid to slough away dead mattifying powders, this TREATMENT CLEANSER
B E AU T Y L A B
skin cells, revealing brighter foundation is able to reduce £20

and healthier cells underneath. the appearance of oil on the -
It also includes anthocyanosides, skin while managing to Best for: Removing heavy-
which are full of antioxidants conceal any blemishes. The duty make-up.
to protect against free radicals. 24-hour wear means it can How it works: Its emollients
Verdict: Don’t expect miracles endure heavy gym sessions, and high levels of olive oil are
when you peel it off after the rain and humidity. what makes it effective at lifting
recommended 15 minutes. Verdict: I usually find away stubborn make-up or SPF.
Rather, it was the next morning matte foundations a bit one- Added aloe leaf juice means it’s
that my skin looked noticeably dimensional and cakey, but kind to sensitive skin types, too.
better. My forehead felt smooth, this felt fairly lightweight Verdict: It effectively removes
rather than grainy, and my and mattified my skin every last ounce of make-up, but
complexion looked perkier, without making it look flat. without leaving my skin feeling
akin to turning the brightness The finish was diffused and like it’s been stripped.
up on an Insta filter. For a a little went a long way. It Tested by Perdita Nouril,
one-off treatment when skin put up a good fight when WH Beauty Editor
is in need of a pick-me-up, this I exercised, too, pretty
did the job admirably. much staying in place.
Tested by Frankie Hill, Tested by Claudia
WH Acting Managing Canavan, WH Digital
Editor/Picture Director Beauty & Health Editor
BAREMINERALS PORELESS CLAY CLEANSER £19

-
Best for: Keeping dirt build-up at bay so pores don’t get wider.
How it works: Most cleansers simply work on the surface
of a pore, rather than reaching down to flush it out entirely,
so it remains clogged. This superfruit acid cleanser, however,
contains a cocktail of noni fruit, orange and lemon extracts
that are able to penetrate pores and dissolve the dirt inside.
Verdict: After three weeks of using it, I needed less concealer
and foundation to blur blackheads across my nose. I also liked
how it didn’t feel as though I’d used paint stripper on my face,
which some pore-cleansing formulas are guilty of.
Tested by Perdita Nouril, WH Beauty Editor
THE BODY SHOP HEMP
HYDRATING & PROTECTING
SHOWER OIL £9
-
Best for: Providing an intense hit
of nourishment during your shower.
How it works: Its hero ingredient
is hemp, a plant rich in omega-3 and
CATRICE COSMETICS PRO NEXT-GEN NUDES & omega-6 fatty acids, which cleanses
PRO NEON EARTH SLIM EYESHADOW PALETTE and moisturises skin without
IN 010 ELEMENTS OF POWER £9.99 clogging pores, helping to protect
skin’s natural moisture barrier, too.
Best for: Those who fall hook, line and sinker for a Verdict: If I buy a shower oil for
dazzling 30-shade palette, only to just use a handful of them. less than £20, I usually find it
How it works: Fourteen shades and textures sit together doesn’t deliver on the luxury front.
in a way that makes blending easy. Look at it in four-square It lacks that spa-esque aroma or
sections, using those groupings to create one uniform look. doesn’t envelope my skin and
Verdict: I’m wary of splashing out on expensive palettes hydrate in the same way. This,
because I feel like I never have the time to experiment with however, has a gorgeous earthy
bold looks. But because this was only a tenner, it didn’t matter aroma and lathered beautifully.
so much. There were only five super-glittery textures, so It left my skin so soft, I didn’t need
I didn’t feel too overwhelmed and it became easy to figure to bother with a moisturiser.
B E AU T Y L A B
out how to layer them over the nude matte shades. Tested by Victoria Joy,
Tested by Saskia Quirke, WH Fashion Director WH Deputy Editor
MAX FACTOR FALSE LASH HADA LABO LOTION NO. 1

EFFECT PRIMER £11.99 SUPER HYDRATOR £15.95
TED BAKER NEWYRK LIQUID - -
EYELINER £19 Best for: Boosting the effects of Best for: Fans of retinol who suffer
- your normal mascara. dry skin as a side effect.
Best for: Creating all manner of eye How it works: Unlike most eyelash How it works: Some hyaluronic acid
looks, from floating liner to feline flicks. primers, which contain white moisturisers only contain one or two
How it works: Its genius lies in its pigments, Max Factor’s boasts blue, molecules, whereas this contains four,
weighted top end, which gives you more which enhances the depth and including the much-hyped sodium
control when tracing along the lash line. darkness of black mascara. acetylated hyaluronate (super HA),
It’s also waterproof and smudge proof Verdict: I was convinced this which is able to retain 2,000 times its
and lasts 24 hours, thanks to polymeric product would be all hype, but I was weight in water, rather than the usual
film formers that helps pigment stay put. mistaken. Although it adds extra 1,000. It therefore boosts moisture in
Verdict: Liquid eyeliner can be pretty time to your routine, it’s worth the skin way beyond the superficial.
scary stuff. Making your wings look the effort, especially because the Verdict: In Japan, a bottle sells every
symmetrical is infamously tricky, yet effects of a recent lash-lengthening two seconds. After using, it’s easy to
the length and weight of the pen really treatment are starting to wear off, so see why. I saw a difference in my skin
helped to make the task easier. The my lashes feel a bit stumpy. It gave after just a few days. I applied it before
pigment was intense and not watery them renewed volume, but didn’t my anti-ageing serum and it felt easy
WORDS: PERDITA NOURIL
so didn’t feather once on my lids, which make them look clumpy when I to slip into my routine. The results are
is common when using other liners. followed with my normal mascara. addictive, which is great, as it comes
Tested by Perdita Nouril, Tested by Frankie Hill, in a massive bottle.
WH Beauty Editor WH Acting Managing Tested by Claudia Canavan, WH
Editor/Picture Director Digital Beauty & Health Editor
#SKINSHELFIE
Dija Ayodele
The aesthetician and founder of Black Skin Directory reveals what’s in her beauty arsenal
A typical day: Most DAY NIGHT M A K E- U P

mornings start with the
school run, followed by an
hour at the gym. When I get NEOSTRATA FOAMING DHC DEEP HOUSE OF GLAMDOLLS
home, it’s a quick shower GLYCOLIC WASH £23 CLEANSING OIL £24 GLAMLIFT WHEEL £15
then breakfast before work This is my favourite This is a staple for I don’t wear foundation,
THE EXPERT sets in. This consists of cleanser and I’ve used removing make-up so I just use this to dot
Dija Ayodele, 33, running my website, it for many years. With and sunscreen. It’s wherever I need a bit of
Founder of Black blackskindirectory.com, 18% glycolic acid, it super lightweight and extra coverage. Having
Skin Directory
which connects people of deep-cleans, exfoliates very efficient. A little darker skin means any
colour with expert skincare and brightens my skin really does go a long pigmentation from
professionals. I set it up after finding that very quickly. Left on way, which is very good breakouts is more
women of colour struggle to locate for a few minutes, it for my pocket in the pronounced, but this
dermatologists and skincare professionals acts as a mask. long run. concealer has been a
who are experienced in the demands of mainstay for over five
darker skin. I also run my clinic, West Room SKINBETTER SCIENCE OSMOSIS RENEW years. The consistency
B E AU T Y L A B
Aesthetics, and when I’m not seeing clients, REJUVENATE EVEN TONE ADVANCED RETINAL and coverage are great,
I’m working on growing my businesses. My CORRECTING SERUM SERUM £76.50 blending effortlessly
day tends to finish at 4pm when I do the £127 This serum contains with my skin.
school pick-up. To unwind, I like to read I use this every morning 0.15% retinaldehyde
a book or a magazine or put on a podcast – to tackle and prevent and is the only product MAC MINERALIZE
I love Myleik Teele’s Podcast and Yes, Girl! hyperpigmentation I use on my skin at SKINFINISH £26.50
– and go for a walk around the farm I live on. and discoloration. night. It has additional This is the best finishing
At the weekends, I spend my time with my I love the fact that it’s powerful ingredients, powder there is. I use it
two children – they’re six and one. hydroquinone-free, so such as niacinamide daily to mattify my skin
doesn’t bleach the skin and beta glucan, to and it works wonders
Skincare philosophy: Focus on the but leaves it brighter rejuvenate the skin and without making it look
quality and combination of ingredients to and more even. fade dark marks for a flat and dull. I apply it
preserve long-term skin health, rather than more even complexion. all over my face after
using a copious number of products in ULTRASUN FACE my concealer.
a 10-step routine. Skin is a self-balancing ANTI-PIGMENTATION ZELENS LIP
organ and you confuse it when you flood SPF50+ £32 TREATMENT OIL £40 CHARLOTTE TILBURY
it with ingredients. Sunscreen is a must, I can be prone to dry HOLLYWOOD LIPS IN
even for darker skin lips, and this luscious SCREEN SIREN £25
Skincare non-negotiable: Vitamin A tones. There’s a real oil instantly makes Because you can never
for accelerated cell turnover, exfoliation, lack of education when them feel plump and go wrong with a classic
collagen stimulation and fading it comes to people of hydrated. My routine red, especially one that
hyperpigmentation. colour using SPF, which can be quite functional, doesn’t budge.
is why I set up a sun- so this adds a certain
Main skincare concern: Patches of post- awareness campaign beautifying element,
inflammatory hyperpigmentation after a last year, which as it smells lovely and SIGNATURE SCENT
breakout. When darker skin suffers any type Ultrasun supported. feels very luxe.
of inflammation, extra melanin is produced, It’s brown-skin-friendly FRÉDÉRIC MALLE
which is what hyperpigmentation is. – you don’t get any PORTRAIT OF A LADY
chalky white marks £165
– plus, the formula is I love this scent. The
lightweight, sits well blend of Turkish rose,
AS TOLD TO PERDITA NOURIL
under make-up and has patchouli, benzoin,

a clever ingredient called cinnamon and
Ectoin, which actively sandalwood is divine.
tackles discoloration. Every time I wear it,
I feel glamorous and
sophisticated.
9 8 | M AY 2 0 2 0 Photography | PIXELEYES
B E AU T Y L A B
B E AU T Y L A B
1 0 0 | M AY 2 0 2 0 Women’s Health
WHAT’S BUGGING YOU?
acteria has had something of
a makeover. It was once confined to
conversations around the efficacy of bacteria is to protect the skin The beauty industry has dabbled with
of household cleaning products, and keep it healthy, just as the probiotic products for years, but rarely have
but a wealth of research and bacteria in the gut work to ensure the bigger brands – or the average consumer
resulting buzz around the natural your digestive system is running – taken note. Until now. A recent Mintel
microbiome in human bodies has turned biotics – efficiently and effectively. Scientists report touted probiotics as one of the
both pre and pro – into mainstream terminology. know that diets low in fibre and biggest drivers of the UK facial skincare
Plenty of you sat up, interest piqued, and soon fridge fruit and veg can cause an imbalance market for 2020. Searches for ‘microbiome’
doors were lined with kefir, brunch wasn’t brunch in the gut microbiome, giving rise on Google increased 110% last year,
without sourdough and Dr Megan Rossi was celebrity to increased levels of bacteria that according to Treatwell’s Beauty Report
first, PhD gut researcher second. The shift has given aren’t helpful to the body; if these 2019. ‘Probiotic skincare has been bubbling
rise to a whole new industry of probiotic foods and get into the bloodstream and are away for some time now, but it’s only in the
supplements, and now – never one to be left behind transported to skin cells, they’ve past couple of years that it’s become a status
– the beauty industry is after its piece of the pie. been shown to trigger inflammation, ingredient,’ says Lisa Payne, senior beauty
The truth is that your skin is covered in bacteria; acne, redness and dryness, says editor at trend intelligence business Stylus.
at any given moment, trillions of microscopic French cosmetic doctor Marie Lancôme Advanced Génifique Serum, £30,
single-cell organisms can be found whiling away Drago. If the skin microbiome is which launched in 2009, contains seven
the day on the top layer of your epidermis. It’s a compromised in a similar way – say, different prebiotic and probiotic extracts
microbiome, just as you have a microbiome in your by applying products that are too in its anti-ageing formula. The Elizabeth
gut, and it exists all over your skin – face and body. abrasive or acidic or eating lots of Arden Superstart range, created to bolster
There are particularly common strains of bacteria high-sugar foods – you’re more your skin’s defences, blends skincare
– take cutibacterium, staphylococcus hominis and vulnerable to environmental darlings glycerin, ceramides and hyaluronic
staphylococcus epidermidis, for example – but the stressors, such as pollution and acid with two strains of bacteria. And
specific make-up of your microbiome is unique to UV rays, resulting in inflammation, smaller brands have centred their entire
you and largely dictated by your genetics and loss of elasticity, acne, rosacea, sun ranges around the concept of probiotic
lifestyle, including where you live, what you eat and damage – the list goes on. So, the skincare. UK-based Aurelia Probiotic
the products you use. The function of this collection thinking goes that if consuming Skincare’s Revitalise & Glow Serum, £64,
probiotic foods can help you
maintain a healthy gut, feeding
your skin with probiotics can help
the dermis in the same way.
Women’s Health M AY 2 0 2 0 | 1 0 1
is a potent probiotic formula that increases collagen antioxidants.’ That should remove the
production by 140%. In a probiotic skincare first, need for bacteria-specific skincare. The
Mother Dirt has harnessed live bacteria to level up growing preoccupation with clean-as-
its products. The hero ingredient in the brand’s OA+ a-whistle skin isn’t doing your dermis
Mist, £49, is ammonia oxidising bacteria (AOB), any favours, either. Ingredients and
which naturally converts sweat into nitrate and nitrate preservatives designed to strip the skin
oxide, calming inflammation. skin microbiome, concurs. can’t discern between good and bad
Brands aren’t turning to probiotic formulas without ‘Lactobacillus is naturally found bacteria, so they’ll wipe out hundreds of
cause. Research from the past decade points to the in the vaginal tract, but it’s not species of the good stuff, too. It’s the same
theory that bad bacteria in your skin’s microbiome can part of the facial microbiome,’ reason gut experts warn against colonic
be warded off with the help of topical probiotics that he explains. ‘I would always treatments – to wash away the bad, you’re
help good bacteria on the skin to thrive. In 2017, the choose a strain that’s naturally likely to see the good disappear, too. Known
University of California, San Diego discovered that two found on the area of the skin offenders include foaming sulphates (SLS),
particular strains of bacteria – staphylococcus hominis you’re treating. Sadly, there’s which strip the skin of its natural oils, and
and staphylococcus epidermidis – can eliminate no one good strain that would methylisothiazolinone (MI), a harsh
staphylococcus aureus, found in higher quantities on work for all applications.’ preservative that inhibits bacteria from
the skin of people with eczema. Scientists swabbed the Dr Barbara Sturm, aesthetic growing in the water found in skincare,
two strains of bacteria from the skin of an individual doctor and founder of her thereby extending its shelf life. Acids such
eczema sufferer, cultivated it in a lab and incorporated eponymous skincare brand, as glycolic and lactic, as well as physical
the microbes into a moisturising lotion. Next, they
applied the formula to the volunteer’s forearm and noted
an improvement in the condition within just a day.
What’s more, a year later, a study by the University of
‘Probiotics have recently
Antwerp in Belgium found that applying lactobacillus
to mild-to-moderate acne can help reduce inflammatory
become a status ingredient’
lesions and blackhead formation. The bacteria altered
the skin microbiome, specifically reducing the is keen for people to learn how scrubs with grains or beads, have the ability
abundance of staphylococcus. to live in harmony with their to make skin glow, but be aware that they’re
skin in the first place, rather also culprits for stripping away everything
FEED YOUR SKIN

than turn to probiotic formulas in their wake. ‘Every time you cleanse, it
to repair damage. ‘Healthy takes around four hours for the acid mantle,
As with all trends that have enjoyed a sharp rise in skin is usually ever so slightly the skin’s outermost protective layer, to
popularity, there are those who question, if not the acidic, with a pH between 4.2 re-form,’ explains Dr Joshua Zeichner,
legitimacy of probiotic skincare, then the blanket and 5.6,’ she says. ‘This protects dermatologist at Mount Sinai Hospital, NYC.
claims that it would benefit everyone. Some question it against all the damage life At the end of the day, you’re unlikely to
the idea that particular strains of bacteria are suitable throws at it, and naturally stop cleansing your face or turning away
for all skin types, given that everyone’s skin microbiome prevents bad bacteria breeding. from acids that promise glowing skin, so it’s
is different. Mike Wilson, professor of microbiology So focus on hydrating and about weighing up the pros and cons of each
at University College London, has concerns. strengthening your skin product you use: if probiotic skincare allows
‘Introducing any microbe that’s not part of the resident barrier, which maintains the you to find the sweet spot between getting
microbiota of a particular body region is potentially pH, with ingredients such as rid of daily grime and build-up without
dangerous,’ he says. ‘Take lactobacillus: despite hyaluronic acid, niacinamide letting bad bacteria run riot, happy days.
research showing its positive effects on acne-prone and botanicals packed with And if the idea doesn’t seduce you now,
skin, it doesn’t occur naturally in healthy skin know that research into identifying more
microbiota. It’s very difficult to predict what it would strains of beneficial skin bacteria is
do to the microbial communities that reside there.’ Dr developing at pace, and experts believe that
Bernhard Paetzold, co-founder of S-Biomedic, which advanced formulas will benefit your skin. So
designs therapeutic and cosmetic applications for the keep an eye out as you quaff your kombucha.
WO R TH YO U R W H I LE
Microbiome crying out for TLC or doing just fine on its own? These probiotic buys will still deliver the goods…
Tula Skincare Gallinée Eye The Beauty Elizabeth Arden Superstart Murad Hydration
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One family.
Two athletes.
A stirring story
of resilience...
Two ye ar s ag o, the Da ns on s is ter s we re o n top of th e
spor ting world, but, following a s taggering period
of mis for tune, both are now recove ring from
life - changing injurie s . Here, Claire and Alex
tell th eir s tor y to Vic toria Woodhall
1 0 4 | M AY 2 02 0 Photography | TOM JENKINS

S LUG
S I SG
T OE
E R SAC
HTER E
Women’s Health
Above: Claire
competing in a
triathlon before
her accident
Right: Claire (left)
with sister Alex
hould you need a poster family for how
sport can save your life, it would be Alex
and Claire Danson: Alex, 34, one of Great
Britain’s most-capped women’s hockey
players, Olympic gold medallist and MBE,
and little sister Claire, 31, European
triathlon champion. As remarkable as it is
for one ordinary family to have produced
S I S T E R AC T
two world-class athletes, that’s only where

this remarkable story of exceptional highs
and life-changing lows begins.
It’s early January when I meet them.
It’s the start of an Olympic year and the reduced her ability to live a normal life. After she
excitement around British sport is building returned home from Kenya, artificial lights and loud
faster than a Dubai skyscraper. But we’re noises brought on excruciating headaches and eye pain,
not meeting in the buzzy Shinjuku district rendering everyday interactions nigh on impossible.
of Tokyo, where the games are due to take She’s been working ever since to regain her fitness and
place in July, nor Hampshire, where the level of function. Motioning around the spinal unit cafe harder than expected and you’ll
sisters call home. We’re in the spinal unit where we’re sitting, Alex ponders: ‘The godsend in all get from life what you put into
at Salisbury District Hospital, where Claire of this is that because of my injury, I’ve not been able it,”’ says Alex. She knew from
has been recovering for the past four to compete, so I’ve been able to be here [with Claire].’ the age of 12 that hockey was
months. Last August, she collided with all she wanted to do. Claire
a tractor while riding her bike. She broke FAMILY VALUES recalls being dragged along
almost every bone in her body, fractured It’s only been 24 hours since Alex was last here, but when to countless training sessions
her skull, punctured both lungs and was I arrive, she’s listening intently as Claire talks about her and matches, doing her
paralysed from the waist down. She was latest milestone – swimming on her front. Until now, homework en route in the car,
not predicted to live. ‘Doctors said the Claire has had to swim on her back, supported by a being gifted a spare medal if the
only reason Claire survived was because physiotherapist. In a major step towards independence, team won. Aged 16, Alex was
she was so fit,’ says Alex. Then, turning to she’s now finding her stroke on her front, albeit with a picked for the national team,
her sister, she says: ‘They told us you’re snorkel until she regains rotation in her fractured neck. which meant time away from
superhuman – and that’s true, you are.’ ‘Did you do lengths?’ asks Alex. ‘Yes, but they weren’t her studies. She opted to study
Alex has been a near-constant presence at pretty,’ answers Claire. ‘But it’s major, look how far two A-levels rather than the
her sister’s side since the accident. That the you’ve come…’ says Alex, with the insight of someone usual three and ended up
elite athlete has been able to spend so much who understands the power of progressive milestones. dropping out of university
time here while her teammates are in the Their closeness is nothing new. The sisters grew up after a year to focus on hockey.
final phases of their Olympic training can be in Hampshire with their brother, who runs his own Over the course of a decade,
explained by the staggering misfortune of business. When I ask where the athletic gene comes between taking time away for
the first freak accident to befall their family, from, Alex credits her ‘mega sporty’ mum and ‘mega the Olympics and completing
12 months before Claire’s crash. Alex was on clever’ dad with always encouraging them to do what modules from far-flung corners
holiday with her now husband, also called they wanted, while putting in the hours to make sure of the globe, she got a degree
Alex, in Kenya when, in the throes of each of their three children had the opportunity to in open studies (a course that
laughter, she threw her head back and hit it achieve it. ‘Mum and Dad always said: “Work a bit allows you to study modules
against a concrete wall, causing an injury so from various subjects) from
severe that doctors believe it caused a bleed The Open University. ‘All of the
on her brain. Very quickly, it significantly decisions I’ve made have been
Left: Claire
undergoing
physiotherapy in
the spinal unit at
Salisbury District
S I S T E R AC T
towards being a good hockey player,’ she
explains. ‘Good’ is putting it mildly, of Above: Alex
course. Who could forget the buzz around captaining this horrible feeling all over my body,’ Alex remembers.
England on the
Great Britain’s women’s hockey team during hockey pitch ‘I didn’t like being on my own – it’s so pathetic. It was
Rio 2016, when the squad aced game after dark and I was scared. Claire would come in and lie
game, then beat the Netherlands, the in my bed and stay until she knew I was asleep, then
defending champions, in a dramatic penalty get up at 4.45am to do her triathlon training.’
shoot-out to win gold. The following year,
Alex was made captain of the England team, conversation, more than one SHATTERING STIGMAS
awarded an MBE and launched the Alex person talking at once,’ she While the Danson family was picking up the pieces
Danson Hockey Academy, which aims to get says. ‘Or us talking at normal following Alex’s accident, Claire’s athletic career
children into the sport. speed,’ interjects Claire. ‘We was going from strength to strength. She came to
Being at the peak of her career when she all had to talk really slowly and competitive sport later than her sister, in her mid-
suffered her head injury, in September 2018, really quietly – which was fine twenties, but had always been a good runner – bored
made it all the more painful to accept. ‘One
of the hardest parts in all of this, aside from
the physical trauma, has been losing my
identity,’ she reflects. ‘Going from leading
‘I went from leading my country
my country, aspiring to qualify for the Tokyo
Olympics, to just trying to get through a day.’
to just trying to get through a day’
In the immediate aftermath of the accident,
she didn’t seek medical help. She tried to go once we learned that’s what at work one day, she entered the South Downs
about life normally, even showing up for we had to do.’ It was Claire, Marathon. Training for the race gave her the running
training sessions. But when she started who then worked from home bug and, in her quickest 26.2, she clocked an impressive
being violently sick and having seizures six as a private tutor, who became three hours, 17 minutes. ‘But I’d always get injured
weeks later, she was rushed to hospital with Alex’s lifeline, spending every doing long races, so I tried swimming and cycling,
a suspected bleed on the brain. While there day by her side. Nights were the too, and started doing triathlons,’ she adds. In May
was no evidence of one, so much time had worst. ‘I felt so dizzy and I’d get 2019, Claire won the ETU Triathlon European
passed since the accident that doctors Championships in the 30-34 age group and was within
believed it could have gone undetected. touching distance of meeting all the requirements for
Alex went from being an elite athlete to turning professional. On the morning of the crash,
moving back in with her family, as the noise she’d been for a swim with a friend, then set off on
of building work meant she couldn’t return her bike for a training ride on a route she’d ridden
to the house she and her partner Alex hundreds of times before. The last thing she remembers
shared. ‘I couldn’t tolerate people, noise, was a vehicle coming around the corner towards her.
in April – she describes her frustration at having to
adjust her expectations for the future she’d planned
for herself. ‘There’s lots of stuff we can do [in hospital],
but it’s nothing like going out in the real world,’ she
says. ‘I never quite got where I wanted to with triathlon.
I feel like I still have something to do, but it will be
something different. It’s working out what it is.’ As for
That Claire even survived the accident her personal life, she’s been told that she can still have
is nothing short of extraordinary. Doctors children. When I mention that I have a family member
suspect she wouldn’t have were it not for in a similar situation, who became a mother in a
the family friend – a retired anaesthetist wheelchair and whose son is now 10, I can see that this
– who arrived at the scene by chance and makes her emotional. ‘The only thing I ever really
realised she needed an air ambulance. The wanted was to have a family,’ she says. ‘If someone said
family rushed to her bedside and were told to me, you can do triathlon, but you can’t have a family, international hockey via a
to expect the worst. ‘We were sat down by I’d say, “Oh well, I love triathlon, but I’d rather be heartfelt stream of thank yous
a doctor – who we renamed Dr Doom – a mother instead.” It wouldn’t really be a choice.’ to the people who made her
and told that Claire might never move, and career possible – with the
might be on a ventilator for the rest of her ATHLETIC MINDSET caveat that it was not ‘a sad
life,’ Alex recalls. But to their shock and It’s clear that, despite what’s been thrown at them both, retirement’. Her glass-half-
delight, Claire raised her arm. ‘It was thinking like athletes and team players is in the Danson full attitude doesn’t surprise
probably day two or three, but it felt like a DNA. Alex, the experienced captain, encouraging and me – throughout our
long, long time,’ says Claire. ‘I had no other rallying; Claire, the fierce competitor, working on conversation, if ever there’s
way of getting attention.’ She began to spell making marginal gains. Board games are now an outlet an upside or a point of gratitude
out words through the painstaking process for their competitive energy: Rummikub and Dobble to be found, the sisters won’t
of squeezing someone’s finger while they are favourites. Playing takes Claire’s mind off things, but let the discussion move on
pointed to letters on a board; Alex could is also a great chance to reconnect as a family. ‘I always until it’s mentioned.
guess what her sister was saying from just
a few letters. She spelled out a plea to her
family to check that she was being operated
on by the best surgeon, and in a clear
‘There are moments when
I feel desperately sad.
S I S T E R AC T
statement of intent, the word ‘para-athlete’.

Seven months on, Claire’s been told
that she’ll never walk again. And yet, her
Instagram profile (@cdanson10) is a
And then I get up anyway’
compelling catalogue of life lessons that
everyone should read – and heed. It’s filled win,’ she jokes. Perhaps they’re both so used to I wonder if the same steely
with the unvarnished truth, rather than pushing boundaries, breaking records, defying odds, determination that gets a
unrelenting positivity. In one picture, taken that they believe they can take on anything. ‘There’s person out of bed pre-5am for
by Alex, Claire is sobbing in their mother’s a little part of me that thinks maybe [I’ll walk again], training sessions, and spurs
arms. ‘You have to be truthful,’ she tells me, because you never know,’ says Claire. ‘I haven’t given them on after a brutal defeat,
speaking of her goal to destigmatise life in up that idea because I think, if you give it up, then it’s can be drawn upon during the
a wheelchair, starting with the idea that the never going to happen.’ But while there’s some darkest of times. I put this to
hardest part is not walking. ‘It’s a ridiculous interesting stem cell research working towards helping Claire. ‘I think you take all of
misconception. Not being able to walk is people who are paralysed to regain movement, she’s those things that you have, like
really the easy part…’ She speaks candidly not pinning her hopes to it. ‘I figure the best you can the motivation, dedication, the
about her exasperation with no longer do is continue to work with what you have and see if determination,’ she replies. ‘All
being able to do a lot of everyday things, any little bits [of movement] come back, which could of those things that you apply
including going to the toilet. Describing happen, and then see where it develops.’ to sport can be applied to any
the mortification of wetting herself when Claire’s biggest personal goal at the moment is to situation. If I was ever injured,
her catheter becomes blocked, she tells me go home – her parents are building a ground floor wet or finding something difficult
that she hopes her experience will lift some room and making other minor adjustments to the with training, it would be like,
of the shame around the subject. When house ready for her return. She says that she’s lucky “Well, [giving up] is not an
I ask Claire how she manages her periods, she’s small in stature, so the doors don’t need widening option, you just get on with it.”
she says that she hasn’t had one since her to accommodate her chair. As for Alex, at the time of our It’s kind of the same here. Not
accident. ‘It may just be the shock,’ consoles interview, she was working towards competing in Tokyo, doing a physio session and not
Alex. ‘I don’t know, I haven’t actually had with an acute awareness that it may not be possible. The getting up isn’t really an option.
ADDITIONAL PHOTOGRAPHY: GETTY IMAGES; INSTAGRAM
that conversation,’ says Claire, and makes following month, she announced her retirement from It would be the easiest thing to
a note-to-self to bring it up with the doctors. say life’s a bit rubbish and I just
But the biggest challenge she’s facing now can’t be bothered to deal with
is the loss of everything she’d trained for. it. There are moments where
While her physical progress and steadfast I just cry, where I feel desperately
determination have left those treating her sad and that it’s not fair. And
stunned – she completed her first then I get up anyway.’
wheelchair 5k unaided in January and is
planning to compete in the UK Inter Spinal
Unit Games at Stoke Mandeville Stadium,
the birthplace of the Paralympic movement,
Claire
Alex
Pictured here with her mother,

Claire shares one of her
darkest moments, as the
reality of leaving her ‘able-
bodied triathlon’ days behind
her sinks in.
-
Alex with her husband, also
called Alex; the couple were on
holiday in Kenya when Alex
injured her head.
-
Just 17 weeks after the
accident, Claire spends three
days at home with Alex and
the family over Christmas,
having previously needed
round-the-clock care.
-
Alex at a yoga retreat in
Wales; she describes how
yoga helped her to live in the
moment, when it was tempting
to focus only on her future.
-
A declaration of independence:
Claire posts this picture on
Instagram, showing followers
her incredible achievement –
her first solo 5k, only four and
a half months after her accident.
-
Alex was part of the gold-
winning Team GB at the 2016
Olympics. She had hoped to
compete in Tokyo, but recently
announced her retirement
from international hockey.
Women’s Health M AY 2 02 0 | 1 0 9
1 1 0 | M AY 2 02 0
A s stor
harassm i e s o f
inside U t e n
make h K g yms
within te a d l ines
fitness h e
WH ask w o r ld,
s
we need o : d
rules of n e w
engage
WORDS
ment?
ROISÍN
DERVIS
H-O’KA
NE
And yet, that leaves over 1,200 incidents where a
fitness professional did cross a line. To be clear, we’re
not talking about serious sexual assault or violence
here, but smaller acts and words that, according to
your stories, take place in poorly staffed leisure
centres and luxury £20-a-class studios alike. Small or
not, these encounters still have serious consequences,
and they deserve to be aired.
SPEAKING OUT
Until 2017, Charlotte Foster was a regular at the industry-specific. From his
North London branch of a studio that offers high- research on contemporary
intensity interval workouts. ‘I loved it, until I noticed fitness culture, University
that one of the trainers would habitually sexualise of Winchester sociologist Dr
the movements he was asking us to do and provide Luke Turnock has learned
corrections in a similar manner,’ the 33-year-old that many women – and men
business consultant tells WH. ‘He’d correct – believe the gym has become
deadlifts with directions to “bend over like you were a significantly more sexualised
taking it from behind”.’ Project manager Kristine space in recent years. Some
Weeks, 30, had a similar experience a few years ago reasons are obvious, such as
at a relatively high-end, medium-sized gym chain. ‘A fit kit brands popularising
trainer who’d started off being friendly began making an aesthetic of tight leggings
faces at me in the mirror when I was on the treadmill; and barely there crop tops
running his tongue round his lips,’ she recalls. ‘The on sexually suggestive models.
final straw was when he made a gesture on the machine Other contributing factors
T O O C L O S E F OR C OM F OR T
next to me about my bum while I was squatting; I was are less so. ‘The mirrors, the
completely mortified.’ For others, inappropriate lighting, even the way the
behaviour didn’t just impede their workouts, it machinery is positioned
made them fear for their safety. ‘I’d booked a session in many gyms gives the
he conversation around consent, power with a trainer after he approached me in the gym impression of being “on
imbalance and blurred lines has been of my local leisure centre to correct my squat form,’ stage”, which can contribute
getting louder, driven by brave women recalls Nadja Cook*, 29, from London. ‘We were to a feeling that the gym is
speaking out about historical incidents, communicating via text and, after we couldn’t find all about looks,’ he explains.
and has been largely centred around the a good time to meet, he began sending random Dr Turnock has a theory
casting couch, boardroom and public messages asking how I was and then he started drunk about how this performative
transport. But there’s one area in which texting me – even trying to come over to my house.’ feeling could translate into
it’s never really been fully explored – the This isn’t a story playing out exclusively in harassment. ‘Some male
fitness arena – and recent ongoing social testosterone-fuelled gym environments either. exercisers – especially those
media storms suggest it should be. Accusations of sexual harassment at the hands who subscribe to “lad culture”
In June 2019, survey data from reviews of yoga trainers have been murmured within the – may take this as a signal
site FitRated found that 71% of women yoga community for years; accusations given a global that certain behaviours are
have had an interaction or experience platform last November when the documentary acceptable in this social
at the gym that has made them feel Bikram: Yogi, Guru, Predator dropped on Netflix. context, where they wouldn’t
uncomfortable, while a survey from It details the sexual harassment and assault that be in others. For example:
March this year by booking platform former students of Bikram Choudhury, founder “She must want to be looked
mindbodyonline.com showed that 37% of of the eponymous hot yoga method, claim to have at because she is on show;
women in the UK are likely to encounter been subjected to while under his tutelage. therefore, it is acceptable for
unwanted romantic attention in the gym. While no one within the WH community shared me to comment on her looks
To try to work out how big a problem experiences as extreme as these, several reported and make sexual comments.”’
sexual harassment is within the UK health times when yoga teachers’ actions marred the calm As for professionals who cross
and fitness world, we asked you. In the they were seeking in the session. Like when a teacher the line? ‘With some personal
main, the picture is positive. Among the in tiny shorts leaned his groin forward on to Claire trainers buying into these
5,000+ people who responded to a poll we O’Keefe*, from Glasgow, while her bum was in the air cultures, too, I can see a
posted on WH’s Instagram Stories, 95% in downward dog pose. ‘He held me there for what scenario where it could
reported that they hadn’t been touched felt like an eternity and I felt horribly aware of what encourage that sort of
inappropriately in a workout class; 94% it must have looked like,’ she tells WH. ‘I spent the behaviour,’ adds Dr Turnock.
reported never experiencing a yoga whole class distracted, trying to ensure my form was According to Cathy Brown,
teacher coming too close for comfort when perfect so he wouldn’t do it again. But he did, multiple former professional boxer and
adjusting their form; and 89% hadn’t been times. I was 24, had only been practising yoga for
made to feel uncomfortable in a PT session. a year, and didn’t feel like I could say anything.’
ANATOMY OF A SCANDAL
How did we get here? Francine Davis, chief strategy
officer at PureGym, told the BBC that gyms mirror
the world outside – that ‘harassment can happen in
any area of life’, implying that this is a societal issue.
But others believe that elements of this story are
1 1 2 | M AY 2 02 0 Women’s Health
almost non-existent,’ he explains.
‘Qualifications are being offered on way
too little contact time, meaning people are
getting jobs in positions of responsibility
with little to no training. And if there’s
not enough time to properly teach the
fundamentals of personal training, then
it’s not too much of a stretch to assume
that issues around etiquette and consent
aren’t being adequately covered.’
IMPACT ASSESSMENT
When the women WH spoke to took
their concerns to those in charge in person,
the responses were mixed. For Nadja,
returning to the gym and risking running
into the man who had been harassing her
over text was out of the question. ‘I just
cancelled my membership,’ she says. ‘I
emailed the leisure centre to report the
individual, but they never got back to me.’
Charlotte received an equally lacklustre
‘He made a
gesture about
my bum while
I was squatting
– I was mortified’
response: ‘On the couple of times that
I sought the trainer out after class to
‘ I ’ M ALWAYS ON GUARD complain about his behaviour, he’d just
I N TH E GYM NOW ’ laugh it off. Eventually, it got so bad that
Rebecca Erin, 26, a secondary school I stopped going to that studio, forfeiting
now trainer at Third Space, teacher from Cardiff the cost of a number of sessions I’d
London, harassment by I used to be someone who wholeheartedly already paid for.’ The male receptionist
coaches in gyms seems to loved the gym – until I was sexually at Kristine’s former gym was horrified
have become a bigger problem harassed at the Birmingham leisure centre and gave her a full refund after she
in recent years. ‘I get people I attended most days. One trainer always complained about the trainer making
approaching me saying, “What approached me to chat and was soon asking sexual gestures. However, the female
shall I do? I’m working out in about my personal life. He was big, imposing manager at another London gym laughed
the gym alone and a trainer and pushy, repeatedly asking me to train off one woman’s complaint about a PT
keeps interrupting me, asking with him – I only eventually said yes asking her out and then proceeding to
for a date or trying to push me because he promised to stop asking. I felt insult her appearance after she declined
to sign up for PT sessions,”’ uncomfortable in that first session and, at his advances as ‘gym floor banter’.
she tells WH. ‘Gyms put these the end, he asked for my number. When I Women who do complain are in the
trainers – often young men said I didn’t want another session, he said minority, both among the stories
– under pressure because this wasn’t about training and, when I said submitted to us and the aforementioned
they have to hit their numbers I had a boyfriend, he said: ‘He doesn’t need FitRated data, the latter of which found
and recruit clients, but they to know.’ I went straight to the female that 50% of respondents chose to leave
need to be told how to do this receptionist but was essentially told: be the scene after more serious instances of
with a bit of etiquette and grateful for getting male attention. I felt harassment, and only 16% felt confident
awareness.’ Nike trainer Luke small, stupid and unsafe. Relocating to enough to confront their harassers, either
Worthington agrees, but Cardiff meant I could start again, but it’s publicly or privately. Why, then, are
believes the foundations of changed who I am in the gym. I wear baggy smart, self-assured women struggling to
potential problems are laid kit to avoid unwanted attention and am cold speak up and make a formal complaint
when would-be PTs are and abrasive if any men try to talk to me. against an individual or facility? Many
training. ‘The fitness business It’s not an ideal coping strategy but, right women who reached out to us feared
is booming and a consequence now, it’s what I rely on to feel in control. making a fuss, while a lack of adequate
of this is that a professional infrastructure to report issues
barrier to entry – which has anonymously was a barrier for others.
always been too low – is Some, like Claire, didn’t feel able to say
anything about the instructor attended a barre class at a studio in London where
pressing his crotch into her attendees were asked whether they were happy to be H OW TO C R E AT E
bum as she assumed that he
– the expert – must be right.
touched; another is training for a PT qualification
that does, encouragingly, contain information on YOUR WORKOUT
‘I told myself I was being a
prude and that he was just
asking clients whether they want to be touched.
Some studios even provide small consent cards that BOUNDARIES
doing a yoga teacher’s job,’ you can leave at the front of your mat to indicate Trainer Cathy Brown on how to
she recalls. ‘I’d never have whether you’re happy to be corrected via touch or draw the line in the gym – and
dreamed of saying anything.’ not. If your regular haunt doesn’t use them, you can what to do if it’s crossed
We reached out to seven of buy them online, or make your own. Because, while
the UK’s biggest gym chains, there’s nothing wrong with adjusting form, no one
asking for their harassment should ever feel like it’s mandatory. ‘There’s no
policies, and the picture isn’t exercise that absolutely requires physical contact
particularly encouraging. in order to coach,’ says Worthington, plainly.
From one, we heard nothing. ‘Everything can be taught, and taught well, through
Two made the right noises but, demonstration and explanation.’
at the time of writing, hadn’t EXPRESS YOUR NEEDS
provided their respective UNDER CONTROL If you know that you don’t like hands-
policies. Representatives for What Brown believes fitness spaces really need is on adjustments, say so at the start.
A good trainer will try to get to know
another, implicated in a few a better understanding of boundaries from those
you, giving you an opportunity to say:
of the stories we received, operating within them. ‘A boundary is a guideline, ‘I don’t particularly like being touched
appeared hesitant to provide rule or limit you create in order to show how you when I’m doing exercises.’ If they don’t,
one, even after a telephone want people to behave around – and communicate ensure you make your needs heard.
‘I told myself I was being a prude

and that he was just doing his job’ OBSERVE A PT AT WORK

Don’t commit to spending your money
conversation. Virgin Active’s with – you,’ explains psychotherapist Jennie Miller, on a bundle of training sessions before
senior communications author of Boundaries (£9.99, Harper Collins). you’ve been able to get to know their
officer assured us that the In an ideal world, Brown believes all fitness style. It’s absolutely fine to say: ‘Look,
chain had a dedicated professionals should be capable of reading clients’ maybe we can do one session first, just
to see how we get on.’
safeguarding team in place body language and asking what they are and aren’t
and would involve the police comfortable with. But, as things stand right now,
where appropriate. EasyGym’s she believes the onus of responsibility lies on
CEO wrote back to say that exercisers to lay down their own terms (see her guide,
they'd remove the offending right). ‘There’s an element of personal responsibility
party, be they an employee, here,’ she explains. ‘Yes, you are paying a trainer to THINK: HOW DO YOU WANT
self-employed trainer or a lead the session, but you still have to say: “This is TO COMMUNICATE?
member. And AnyTime Fitness me; this is what I feel comfortable with.”’ The same Many trainers prefer to keep in contact
via WhatsApp or text, but if that
– a budget gym with branches applies in a yoga setting; perhaps show up a little
doesn’t work for you, say so. Email can
across London – said that staff early so you’re able to have a quiet word with the be less in-your-face and allows you to
or gym goers’ memberships teacher before the whole class files in. retain an element of formality.
would be terminated if they On leaving the gym, full refund credited back to
PHOTOGRAPHY: GETTY IMAGES. ICONS: DELTA/ADRIEN COQUET/GREGOR CRESNAR/ LINE ICONS PRO/ADNEN
fell short of the behaviour her debit card, Kristine wrestled with a sense of
and etiquette rules outlined unease. Yes, she’d reported her concerns, and been
KADRI/GUILHERME FURTADO/AZIZ FATHU ROHMAN AT NOUN PROJECT. *NAME HAS BEEN CHANGED
in their joining contract. vindicated, but there lingered a worry that she was
The collective response blowing it out of proportion. ‘I really didn’t want to
suggests that the industry has make a big deal out of it, but I couldn’t leave without RAISE YOUR CONCERNS
If you don’t have any problem with
a way to go when it comes to saying anything,’ she reflects. ‘But now, possibly hands-on adjustments, but your
taking this issue seriously – because of the way the media has raised awareness trainer’s actions have become sexually
let alone adequately tackling around harassment, I’m confident that I wouldn’t suggestive, it’s important to express
it. Of course, there are pockets wait to report a staff member being so inappropriately that it’s not acceptable. If they take
offence? They’re not a good trainer.
of progress. One WH staffer sexual with me. I’d like to think that I wouldn’t stress
over speaking up, either. If something or someone
has made you feel uncomfortable then, 99% of the
time, what’s going on isn’t right.’
It’s a conclusion that Worthington backs
wholeheartedly. ‘People feel unsure as to what the REPORT ANY ISSUES IN WRITING
“rules” are in fitness spaces, and when it’s okay to If someone has behaved inappropriately
complain,’ he says. ‘But the rules about how people with you – trainer or fellow gym goer
treat you are your own. If someone’s behaviour – report it. Email the manager and
include as much detail as you can. Feel
makes you feel uncomfortable, you don’t have to like you’re making a fuss? Think: you’re
tolerate that under any circumstances or in any calling out unacceptable behaviour,
setting.’ Got it? Good. Now pass it on. which hopefully means such behaviour
won’t impact anyone else in future.
1 1 4 | M AY 2 02 0 Women’s Health
DR OPPI N G PI L L S
Y
ou’d probably years, poisonings from
think of diet DNP – a chemical that’s
pills as a almost as explosive as
public health TNT, the compound in
crisis we’ve already dynamite – are at
dealt with, legislated a record high once
for and moved on from. again. WH reports on
But after a steady fall in the unlikely comeback
cases over the past few of a worrying trend…
WORDS MEGAN TATUM
in explosives and I knew that it could be
fatal, but that wasn’t a deterrent. Anorexia
makes you rationalise the irrational. I’d
been told by doctors that if I carried on
before. DNP has been in and out of the headlines for as I was, my organs were going to start
decades. It was in the munitions factories of the First shutting down. By that point, I’d already
World War where its use as a potential weight-loss drug stopped having periods and was regularly
was first recognised; workers exposed to the chemical passing out.’ She took DNP and, in less
suffered fatigue, excessive sweating and elevated body than an hour, the severe side effects kicked
temperature, plus an unbidden drop in weight. By the in. She started sweating profusely and
1930s, it was being billed by pharmacists and drug firms became confused and delirious, but she
in the US as a magic bullet for slimming, until its severe was ultimately lucky – her body didn’t heat
side effects – everything from fever and vomiting to enough to induce fatal hyperthermia.
heart attacks and comas – led to it being banned in many Lasting evidence of its effects and other
countries around the world. The UK took longer than symptoms of her eating disorder were
most; it wasn’t until 2003, nearly 70 years after the US, picked up at a hospital appointment a few
that the Food Standards Agency (FSA) issued an urgent days later and she was admitted for
warning that DNP wasn’t fit for human consumption. in-patient treatment for anorexia. It was
The warning came in response to the rising use of the first and last time she took DNP.
DNP among amateur bodybuilders, who were using Why Abigail survived when others have
the drug to burn fat and build muscle, trading advice died is difficult to explain, as it’s impossible
and stockists on online forums. to predict how DNP might affect any one
It was arguably the death of 21-year-old student person. During a criminal case brought
Eloise Parry in 2015 that cemented DNP in the British against the man who sold the drug to Eloise
public’s consciousness. In the weeks leading up to her Parry, a lawyer for the prosecution compared
bigail Davies felt like she was death, Eloise was admitted to hospital multiple times, ingesting any amount of DNP to playing
on fire. Within an hour of suffering from side effects of taking the drug. On 12 Russian roulette. ‘Each of your body’s cells
swallowing two small pastel- April 2015, she took eight capsules and died hours later contain mitochondria, whose job it is to
yellow capsules, the teenager at Royal Shrewsbury Hospital. Her tragic death reignited generate energy,’ says Professor Gino Martini,
began to sweat profusely and lay the debate around DNP, leading the FSA to launch an chief scientist at the Royal Pharmaceutical
down on the sofa at her parents’ awareness campaign around its dangers. The statistics Society (RPS). He explains that within an
house, attempting to conceal suggest it was effective; data from the National Poisons hour of taking DNP, it inhibits the ability
the overwhelming effects of the Information Service (NPIS) shows that use of DNP of these mitochondria to regulate energy
chemical she’d just chosen to steadily declined in the years following. Until 2018 output efficiently. ‘As a result, the cells are
ingest. Her body began to heat that is, when cases suddenly spiked. In the 10 months stimulated to work harder and faster,
at such an alarming rate, the between January and September 2018, there were 17 generating more and more energy – and
noise from the TV quickly cases referred to the NPIS, compared with 12 in the heat. This means that your core temperature
melted into nothing and she whole of 2017 – an increase of 40%, with 35% of these rises, and you can reach the point of
lost the power of speech. What cases tragically proving fatal. Considering the cases overheating or dying from heat exhaustion.’
Abigail, then 15 years old, had noted by NPIS are only those that make it to A&E, In the worst-case scenario, DNP can raise
taken was poison. The tablets there’s really no way of knowing how widespread use body temperature from the average of
she’d ordered online days of DNP currently is. What is clear, experts say, is that 37.5°C to a potentially fatal 43.1°C.
earlier were marketed as a young and often vulnerable women are making up Following the death of Eloise Parry, the
weight-loss supplement, but a far bigger proportion of users than before. In these RPS was among the organisations calling
they contained 2,4-dinitrophenol switched-on, health-literate times, why is this deadly for tighter controls on the sale of DNP. It
(DNP) – a chemical that’s drug making a comeback? may be illegal to sell the chemical as a diet
nearly as explosive as TNT, the pill – which must adhere to strict food safety
compound used in dynamite. CHEMICAL REACTION standards enforced by the FSA – but DNP
‘It felt like I was burning from When Abigail typed her details into the online form to can be sold legally as a fertiliser, wood
the inside out,’ Abigail, now 27, purchase a pack of DNP, she was fully aware of the risk preservative or pesticide. As of 2019, DNP
tells WH. ‘That’s the only way – but in her mind, in that moment, it was a risk worth doesn’t appear in any registered pesticides
I can think to describe it. There taking. She was first taken to the doctor six years earlier, for sale in the UK or the EU, and it’s widely
was a point where I thought to but while her GP suspected she was suffering with thought to have been withdrawn from
myself: “This is it. This is where anorexia, she was told her weight wasn’t low enough to commercial agricultural use. But given that
it ends.”’ The circumstances receive treatment. ‘An eating disorder is like a cancer,’ information about its use as a dieting aid
that led the teenager from Abigail says. ‘If left untreated, it spreads and gets worse. exists online, even the wholesale outlawing
Swansea to this point were The longer it went on, the more it controlled my of DNP may not be enough to prevent women
complicated and, with hindsight, thoughts. I needed to do anything I possibly could to in the UK from purchasing DNP-containing
she describes her mindset that satisfy my eating disorder and was already taking up products from websites registered abroad.
day as ‘desperate’, so intent to 100 laxatives a day when I discovered DNP.’ A simple ‘Policymakers need to be conscious that
was she on shedding weight. online search into fast ways to lose weight promptly there’s still a global platform where people
While Abigail’s story is deeply led her to a website selling DNP as a diet aid. There can purchase and access anything they
distressing, it isn’t unheard of were no age or health restrictions to prevent her from want,’ says Elisabeth Julie Vargo, a social
– because we’ve been here purchasing the pills and, within a week or two, they psychologist who has worked on one of the
arrived at her parents’ house. By that point, she was
so severely unwell that she had given up all hope of
surviving the disease. ‘I’d read that DNP had been used
TH E
few research papers on DNP use. Indeed, it took one

WH contributor less than five minutes to find a site
SKINNY
ON DIET
P RO D U C T S
her everyday life – is convinced that the supplements
were behind the deterioration of her health.
based in Asia selling DNP capsules, with a pack of 30 Registered nutritionist Mel Wakeman believes the
costing the equivalent of around £23, plus postage.
‘Not for newbies,’ the bright red packet warned, while DETOX TEAS behaviour of women like Helen, who gamble with their
health in the pursuit of weight loss, can be explained
describing the capsules as being ideal for ‘powerful THE PROMISE by a culture in which unscrupulous companies have
shredded, ripped condition’ and ‘burning calories Natural, cleansing multiple platforms to prey upon their vulnerabilities.
teas that speed up ‘Companies pushing products like “skinny teas” and
super-fast’. On another site, the product blurbs make
your metabolism.
similar claims, though in small print is the caveat: appetite-suppressing lollipops on Instagram and
‘Not recommended for human consumption.’ THE REALITY Facebook know exactly what buttons to push with
‘Some of the added their messaging: that to be healthier, worthy or
DIET CULTURE ingredients will be
laxatives,’ says dietitian
successful you should be thinner,’ says Wakeman.
That DNP remains affordable and relatively easy to Priya Tew (dietitianuk. Only specific health claims authorised by the EU
get hold of could explain why an increasing number co.uk). ‘When they’re around weight loss and fat-burning can be used for
of women appear to be buying it. Between 2011 and saying that they aid with weight-loss supplements, and companies can’t make
weight loss, it’s because
2014, women made up just 23% of DNP cases referred to promises about how much weight can be lost over
they’re helping you lose
the NPIS, but this proportion rose to 42% by 2018, as it fluid. These products a certain period of time. But these rules are difficult
became talked about as a more mainstream weight-loss can also be triggering to enforce on digital platforms, even by the platforms
solution. ‘Type “diet pill” into Google once and it’ll for those with disordered themselves, Wakeman explains. Consider, too, that
throw up all kinds of weight-loss supplements, then eating habits.’ the internet doesn’t fall under UK jurisdiction and
you’ll start seeing them on social media because they’re policing these companies feels a bit like a game of
targeting you – it becomes very tempting,’ says Helen
APPETITE- whack-a-mole. ‘Even with the recent move from
SUPPRESSING
Hine, 36, a former model from Dorset. She believes that Instagram to ban accounts promoting products
the addictive nature of weight-loss products and the that are ethically dubious, they’re always one step
behavioural psychology of digital advertising led her
down a path that, looking back, leaves her incredulous.
LOLLIPOPS behind,’ she says, as sellers can open new accounts
under different names. Factor in, too, that the women
She was working an 80-hour week across several jobs THE PROMISE who are looking to these products for help may well
and going to the gym every day when she first started Kim Kardashian famously be battling poor mental health or low self-esteem,
endorsed Flat Tummy Co
using dieting aids a decade ago in an attempt to lose lollipops. The idea is that and it’s not difficult to see the path from those
weight to elevate her modelling career. Names of diet you stave off cravings perfectly legal teabags containing laxatives to the
pills were dropped in the gym like PT recommendations with low-calorie sweets. illegal but no less available packs of DNP. ‘It’s not
and discussed as a way of accelerating weight loss unlike the person taking a legal prescription
THE REALITY
without ramping up your workouts or changing your ‘The ingredients alleged painkiller who moves on to an illegal substance,’
nutrition. Using terms like ‘fat stripper’ and ‘lypo tech’, to control cravings agrees Chevese Turner, chief policy and strategy
they were available from mainstream fitness websites, haven’t been properly officer at the National Eating Disorder Association.
and Helen describes how using them became a kind of tested to show that the The fact that the digital age has made it easier to
amount contained in
compulsion. ‘What was attractive was the ability to a product has an effect,’ purchase DNP, while simultaneously making diet
transform my body in minimal time, so they gave me says Tew, who advises products more seductive, only highlights the need
a rush,’ she says. ‘Those effects were enough to make steering well clear. ‘They to support vulnerable people before they become
me want more and more.’ She ended up ordering a 100% do not work.’ desperate enough to swallow poison, says Abigail.
supplement containing DNP and, after receiving an ‘Unfortunately, lack of funding means many cases
initial pack containing 10 pills, she took them on and off
over several years, alongside a number of other diet pills. DIET PILLS are left to escalate, as mine was. There isn’t that early
intervention that’s necessary to prevent people from
It wasn’t long before her body began to respond to THE PROMISE getting to the stage of trying something like DNP.’ In
the toxic cocktail; with the most severe of her symptoms Diet pills can act as the early stages of disordered eating, red flags include
ADDITIONAL WORDS: NARZRA AHMED; ISOBEL BRIDGE. PHOTOGRAPHY: GETTY IMAGES
metabolism stimulators, grazing or bingeing, skipping meals and cutting out

– heart palpitations, sweats, headaches, severe fatigue
appetite suppressants
and abdominal pains – regularly coinciding with when or blockers – they food groups, as well as using diet pills, laxatives or
she was taking DNP. So acidic were the capsules that prevent fat being supplements, advises Turner. ‘Anxiety tends to
she began spitting blood. ‘I knew this supplement was absorbed from food. increase as people get closer to having a disordered
stronger than anything else I’d taken, and the ingredients THE REALITY relationship with food and, for this reason, many people
read like a list of crazy chemicals but, in my mind, it was ‘Some appetite will begin to engage in fewer social interactions, too.’
just the next step to losing more weight, which I thought suppressants do work,’ For those considering buying a weight-loss product
I needed to do to make a success of my career,’ she says Tew, with the – any weight-loss product – online? Know that any
vital caveat that they unregulated or unapproved diet pill bought off the
recalls. Becoming a parent and realising the symptoms
should only ever be
were impacting on her ability to live a normal life forced taken under medical internet – DNP-containing or otherwise – can be
her to stop using diet pills. ‘I became so unwell that supervision, since you dangerous. ‘This is because of the unpredictability of
I couldn’t tie my shoelaces, walk up the stairs or put risk malnourishment. ‘The how your body might react,’ says Professor Martini,
my son on a playground slide without my legs burning. key is to be sceptical who also urges caution around supplements or weight-
about any diet product.
If I pushed through the pain to go about my day or do If it sounds too good to loss aids sold over the counter, which contain high
a workout, the fatigue would make me ill for days on be true, it probably is.’ levels of caffeine. ‘If you’re looking to lose weight, do
end. My health was destroyed.’ Though it was never so through a balance of nutrition and exercise, and
confirmed by a doctor, Helen – teetotal and active in always consult with your GP or pharmacist first.’
Free
While yo u tr y to explain th e
s o b e r- c u rio u s m ove m e nt to
dis t ant relative s enquiring
whether your alcohol swerve
is down to the current status
of yo u r ova ri e s , we’ll s h a r e
s o m e re cip e s fo r b o u g i e
b o oze -f re e b evs
WORDS ISOBEL BRIDGE AND TRISH CLASEN
spirited
sips
smash with the back of
a knife (careful, now).
2. Chuck them in a pan,
LEMONGRASS
add 1.4ltr water, bring to
a boil, reduce the heat
and simmer for 5 mins.
ICED TEA
3. Take off the heat,
add the teabags and
honey, and allow to
brew for 5 mins.
CALS 24 | FAT 0G | 4. Strain into a pitcher
CARBS 6G | PROTEIN and stir in 470ml of
0G | SERVES 6 cold water. Serve over
ice with mint. Zing.
INGREDIENTS
3 lemongrass stalks • 6
green teabags • 2 tbsp
honey • ice • 6 sprigs of
mint, plus extra, to serve
METHOD
1. Halve the lemongrass
stalks lengthwise, then
L I K E A V I R GI N
d
RED PEAR
SHRUB TANGERINE
SPRITZER SOUR
CALS 74 | FAT 0.5G |
CALS 169 | FAT 0G | CARBS 16G | PROTEIN
CARBS 41G | PROTEIN 2G | SERVES 1
0G | SERVES 2
INGREDIENTS
65g sugar • 1 vanilla pod
• 5 cardamom pods • 2
ripe red pears • 6 tbsp
apple cider vinegar • ice
• sparkling water
METHOD
1. In a saucepan, bring
the sugar, vanilla,
cardamom and 125ml
of water to a boil.
2. Cut a few slices from
the pears to use as a
garnish and roughly
chop the rest, adding

that to the pan, too.
3. Reduce the heat and
simmer for 10 mins, then
let it stand for 30 mins.
4. Strain, then stir in the
apple cider vinegar. Pop
in the fridge to cool.
5. Line 2 glasses with
the nicely sliced pears,
add ice, and divvy up
the mixture among the
glasses. Top up with
sparkling water.
1 24 | M AY 2 0 2 0
SOBER
SCENE
INGREDIENTS
125ml tangerine juice
(you’ll need about 6
tangerines) plus some Put down the
peel to garnish • 1 tbsp elderflower cordial
lemon juice • ½ tsp and pick up a menu
maple syrup • 1 tbsp at one of these joints
egg white • 3 dashes
of orange bitters • ice
– they’ve given their
liquor-free offerings
METHOD the uber-luxe
1. Pop all the ingredients treatment
except the peel in a
cocktail shaker and shake
vigorously (see, that
hen do cocktail making
class wasn’t a complete
waste of time) for 1 min.
REDEMPTION,
2. Pour over ice and
LONDON
Their locations in
CHERRY
garnish with a sliver of
Notting Hill, Shoreditch
tangerine peel. Voila.
and Covent Garden are
CRUSH
all totally teetotal. Get
your dairy and wheat-
free fix with some of
their nibbles, too.
CALS 119 | FAT 0G |
CARBS 30G | PROTEIN
1G | SERVES 6
THE BRINK,
LIVERPOOL
Banning the booze
INGREDIENTS
never felt so good.
50g sugar • 4 cloves
All profits from their
• 1 star anise • 3cm
mocktails go back into
piece of ginger, sliced
the community, which
• 1ltr cherry juice •
then supports those
crushed ice, to serve
recovering from
addiction. Shampagne
METHOD
Cocktail, anyone?
1. Pour 125ml water and
the sugar into a saucepan.
2. Stir in the cloves, star
anise and the ginger,
EDEN,
bringing gently to a boil.
MANCHESTER
For those who never
3. Reduce the heat and
know where the
simmer (refrain from
night will take them,
stirring) until the sugar
this flower-power
dissolves – it should
restaurant/bar/
take about 3 or 4 mins.
nightclub has just
4. Once cool, strain the
about everything to
syrup into a pitcher and
offer, including a
stir in the cherry juice.
delicious Watermelon
Fill your glasses with
No-jito. (See what
crushed ice and pour in
they did there?)
your cocktail. Berry nice.
THE CONNAUGHT
BAR, MAYFAIR,
LONDON
It doesn’t get more
bougie than this bar,
where the mocktails
come with a healthy
upgrade. Order the
Glossy, featuring
kombucha, oolong tea
and grapefruit juice.
M AY 2 0 2 0 | 1 2 5
GREEN
MARY
CALS 75 | FAT 1G |
CARBS 17G | PROTEIN
2G | SERVES 6
INGREDIENTS
225g tomatillos, husked
(Can’t find them? Use
green tomatoes or unripe
red tomatoes with a
squeeze of lime) • 1
cucumber, peeled and
chopped • 4 stalks of
celery, chopped • 50g
fresh coriander • 1
jalapeño pepper,
deseeded • 115ml lime
juice • 30g fresh
horseradish, squeezed of
excess moisture • 2 tbsp
pepperoncini (a kind of
preserved pepper) brine
• 1 tsp green hot sauce
(like Tabasco) • ¼ tsp
salt • ½ tsp pepper • ice
To garnish: Celery •
pepperoncini • Aleppo
pepper
METHOD
1. Pop the tomatillos or
tomatoes, cucumber,
celery, coriander,
jalapeño and lime juice
in a blender and whizz
until smooth (about
1 min). Strain through
a medium-mesh sieve
into a measuring jug,
pressing to extract as
much juice as possible.
2. Next, whisk in the
horseradish, pepperoncini
brine, hot sauce, salt
and pepper.
3. Serve over ice,
garnished with celery
and pepperoncini, in
a glass rimmed with
Aleppo pepper for max
presentation points.
CREDITS GO HERE
GINGER-
HIBISCUS
SPRITZER
CALS 23 | FAT 0G |
CARBS 6G | PROTEIN
0G | SERVES 8
INGREDIENTS
5cm piece of ginger,
sliced • 6 tbsp dried
hibiscus flowers • 3
tbsp agave syrup • ice
• sparkling water
METHOD
1. In a saucepan, bring
the ginger, hibiscus,
agave syrup and 240ml
of water to a boil, then
lower the heat and let it
simmer away for 5 mins.
2. Remove from the heat
and let it stand for 10
mins before straining
into a pitcher and stirring
in 480ml of cold water.
3. Pour a few tablespoons
of syrup into each ice-
GUAVA
filled glass and top up
with sparking water for
a gloriously fresh fizz.
MARGARITA
CALS 78 | FAT 0G |
CARBS 20G | PROTEIN
1G | SERVES 1
INGREDIENTS
Ice • 115g guava nectar
• 3 tbsp orange juice •
2 tbsp lime juice • salt
• lime wedge, to garnish
METHOD
1. Fill a cocktail shaker
with ice, then add the
guava nectar and the
juices and shake it like
a Polaroid picture.
Don’t have a cocktail
shaker? Just chuck
everything in a blender
for a frozen version.
(Don’t have a blender?
God help you.)
2. Strain into a salt-
PHOTOGRAPHY: CHELSIE CRAIG. FOOD STYLING: REBECCA JURKEVICH
rimmed glass filled

with ice. Serve with
a slice of lime, as
fancy as you like.
Forget big crowds, blocked toilets and
hangovers in muddy fields, the best
fests are all about health, fitness and
great food (comfy bed a plus)
What? Wellness and plus a healthy restaurant
spirituality in the Indian Ocean overlooking the infinity pool.
I stayed in a luxurious junior
When? 22-24 May 2020 suite with a muslin-draped
four-poster bed, complete with
MAURITIUS
How much? £230 for a a 24-hour butler on a bicycle.
three-day pass, plus £310 Not cheap, but worth it.
per night for a double room Sounds dreamy – what’s
at Heritage Le Telfair; the festival like?
heritageresorts.mu. Return Small, friendly and welcoming
flights with Air Mauritius to everyone from solo travellers
from £729; airmauritius.com to families. There’s even a free
WELLNESS
wellness-oriented kids and
Isn’t Mauritius teens club, so parents can
a place for loved- focus on their downward dogs
up couples? for three days in peace. With
Traditionally, yes, over 60 workshops on the
Nicki Grihault, but the colonial- programme, plus sunrise and
WH contributor style Heritage Le sunset excursions, it was hard
FESTIVAL
Telfair resort’s to choose what to go for,
C Beach Club makes a good particularly with some
‘wellness village’ under the intriguing classes on offer, like
tropical sun, with activities finding your shamanic spirit
in Bedouin-style tents and animal and acroyoga (yoga
a music stage on the beach, combined with acrobatics).
I opted for crystal healing, yoga
breathwork to ‘reformat your
ribcage’, drumming sessions,
and rocking a half moon, side
plank and a fallen triangle in
T R AV E L W E L L
‘strength through yoga flow’,

with London-based yogi
Hannah Barrett. Most welcome
was a free massage taster from around a bonfire on the
the spa’s beachside pop-up. An beach. Opportunities for
inspirational talk tent in the self-expression included live
tropical garden offered sessions art, enhancing creativity
with experts like Dr Sandra through yoga and painting,
Stallaert, whose stress-busting, and dance sessions (including
heart-based meditation brought the traditional Mauritian séga
a tear to my eye. A highlight was in billowing skirts).
the queen of raw vegan cooking And when I’m not hanging
(and French actress) Marie- out with my spirit animal?
Sophie Lelouch, who showed Book some off-resort excursions
us how to make easy raw, hot in the wild, beautiful south of
soup that, despite resembling the island. I opted to awaken
green sludge, is said to deliver my chakras at sunrise at the
a boost in optimism, energy and Seven Coloured Earths Geopark
awareness. The days took on a and joined a mindfulness walk
rhythm, with healthy vegetarian at sunset on iconic Le Morne
lunches (think DIY salads, mountain. Although I’ve been
homemade ice cream and to Mauritius over 20 times,
tasty cakes made from quinoa) doing sun salutations on the
and evening rituals with clifftop as the sun rose over
torchbearers and live music a spectacular surf-sculpted
shore was like seeing it anew
and one of the best things I’ve
done. I felt I’d found my tribe.
MOUNTAIN YOGA FESTIVAL this is not. This is a serious
yoga festival, set in St Anton,
a ski resort 1,300m up in the
– no matter your skill level.
Things kick off in earnest with
Thursday’s opening ceremony,
to improve your headstand
technique (just make sure it’s
a class led in English – German
Austrian alps, the streets of where hundreds of attendees classes are also on offer). If you
which are lined with Mini gather in the spacious hall of can bear an early start, grab
Egg-hued houses that look St Anton’s dedicated wellness your head torch and join the
straight out of the old Ladybird centre to move through a gentle sunrise group hike at 4.30am
What? Peak fitness and sun storybooks. When I attended, flow and tap into the energy of and take in that clean, pine-
salutations in St Anton, Austria the weighty clouds, thick mist the chosen element. (2020’s scented air. Or, you know,
and intermittent biblical theme is earth, so perhaps just nip up to the rooftop of
When? 3-6 September 2020 downpours – rogue for the it’ll attract more temperate the Hotel Arlmont to do a few
time of year – ruled out climes.) Over the next three lengths in the pool, taking in
How much? Tickets from £218 mountaintop asanas. Sad, but days, you can centre yourself the postcard-perfect vista
per person, including access not spirit-dampening for the in the hushed – almost holy – afterwards from the adjacent
to all sessions, chairlift passes sensible waterproofs and quiet of the morning meditation panoramic sauna. The spa –
and lunch at The Gampen; hiking boots-clad crowd. And sessions; lean in deeply to set over three floors – deserves
mountainyogafestivalstanton.at. quite fitting, really, considering postures in yin classes, a good few hours’ attention,
Three nights at the Hotel that water was the element accompanied by the hypnotic actually. Though, be sure to
Arlmont from £225 per person, that inspired the programming sound of Tibetan singing bowls, swallow any British prudishness
including breakfast, dinner and of the 2019 festival. and attend discussions about as a couple from your morning
access to the spa; arlmont.at So, it’s pretty ‘woo-woo’, yeah? how your root chakra affects vinyasa class make sauna small
Very, so maybe swerve if, for you, your sex life. Oh, and sample talk completely starkers. After
Yoga at a yoga is more of a conditioning the Alpine-meets-Ayurvedic a long day’s physical and mental
festival, you workout than holistic mind- lunchtime buffet at the workout, three courses of
say? How novel. body life philosophy. If, mountaintop restaurant Alpine fine dining fare at The
Hold your scorn: however, the latter is your vibe, The Gampen. Don’t miss Arlmont’s restaurant, washed
Roisín Dervish-
some gentle hatha you’re in for a treat. It’s fun the frittatensuppe: strips down with a glass of Austrian
O’Kane, WH in a tent the and silly and wholehearted of pancake in broth, which riesling – and perhaps followed
Senior Editor morning after – a perfect experience to share sounds weird but is at once with another in front of the
a rager in welly boots that with a similarly yoga-mad pal light and deeply comforting. fire – is all the sweeter.
would make 2006 Kate Moss tip I’m in the market for
her feathered fedora in respect, a challenge, though.
Oh, you’ll get it. Book into an
advanced inversion workshop
CREDITS GO HERE
1 3 4 | M AY 2 02 0
T R AV E L W E L L
THE BIG RETREAT
advance, courtesy of Hotel Bell Tent – no dreaded evenings, but it won’t be anyone
tent pole struggle for me. It was a bit chilly at night, you’ve heard of – where I
but nothing a cosy duvet and jumper couldn’t fix. became a regular at the gin bar.
What’s the vibe? There’s also a brilliant mocktail
Healthy with a side of hippy. The person meditating bar, vegan ice cream from Ice
next to you is just as likely to be sporting the latest Green and wood-fired pizzas
leisurewear as they are tie-dyed harem pants and fresh from the oven. Some
What? A back-to-nature a mandala tattoo. The joy of this boutique wellness highlights were unexpected,
reset in Wales festival is that it welcomes everyone – there were like lying in the grass by the lake
couples, groups of mates, solos and families – and and cloud gazing (apparently
When? 22-25 May 2020 makes sure there’s something to keep them all there’s stand-up paddleboarding
occupied over the weekend. When I picked up an and SUP yoga this year), a
How much? £199; activities timetable from the little open-air info sunset meditation session,
thebigretreatwales.co.uk stand, I was amazed by how much was on offer and washing my face first thing in
even had mild FOMO – hot pod yoga clashing with ice-cold water from a campsite
Wales? I can a gin workshop and wild swimming, what to do? The tap and all the silly hand-
think of sunnier compound is split into distinct tented areas laid out painted signs dotted around
places to camp. in acres of lush countryside, and I vowed to cover that made me smile, like:
Possibly, though as much as possible, including fitness (think zumba, ‘Warning: may contain nuts’
my triangle poses parkour and HIIT classes throughout the day), pinned to a tree.
Amanda Statham,
WH Contributing
and gong baths yoga in the Feel Good Field (I ticked off hatha and
Travel Editor took place in kundalini), plus cookery – don’t miss a session with
plenty of spring Bug Farm Foods to discover how to make cricket
PHOTOGRAPHY: KARL AHNEE; TERESA ARIAS
sunshine in Lawrenny, part of crepes and grub granola. There’s also a Talk Tent,
the stunning Pembrokeshire hosting authors like Shahroo Izadi, who writes
Coast National Park. Besides, about changing habits for good, and arts and crafts
most of the activities were in – take time out to carve a spoon or have a go at
enormous tents, so it wouldn’t charcoal drawing, I swear it’s better for an anxious
have mattered if it had poured brain than any mindfulness app you’ll download.
down. I stayed in a bell tent, And when I’m not learning to lino print?
complete with a comfy bed, I found myself gravitating towards the foodie area
which had been assembled in in front of the music stage – there’s live music in the
M AY 2 0 2 0 | 1 3 5
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FITNESS EDIT
HIGHTIMES YOGA,
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WH PROMOTION FOR JOHN WEST
Becky Adlington, 31, is a former competitive swimmer and Olympic gold medallist
MON TUE WED THU FRI SAT SUN
8am 8am 8am 8am 8am 8.30am 8.30am

Homemade Porridge oats White blondie Homemade Porridge oats Pancakes made Weetabix with
granola with with one scoop protein shake granola with with one scoop of with almond almond milk.
vegan yoghurt, of protein with almond or vegan yoghurt, protein powder milk, served with Decaf coffee
raspberries powder and cashew milk strawberries, and almond milk yoghurt, fruit
and blueberries. almond milk. blueberries and maple syrup 1pm
Decaf coffee Decaf coffee 12pm and banana 1.30pm Feta, tomato,
Leek and Cheese and 1pm spring onion
12pm 12pm potato soup 1pm ham salad A homemade and garlic on
Cheese on John West John West baguette from Mediterranean sourdough
wholemeal toast Lunch On The Go 7.15pm Steam Pot Rich my local café salad with capers
with beans Mediterranean Vegetarian Tomato Pasta and olives 6.30pm
Style Tuna Salad sausages with Sundried 3.30pm Beef roast dinner
2.45pm with roasted Tomato Tuna Banana. 7.15pm with vegetables,
Banana. 7pm vegetables Some sweets Vegetable Yorkshires and
Some sweets Padana Romana 7pm spelt pasta lots of gravy
vegetarian pizza I’ve tried to Jacket potato, 7.15pm bake with tuna
7.15pm at Pizza Express reduce my beans and cheese Chicken fajitas Surprisingly,
Veggie chilli meat intake for with tortilla chips, I do my weekly my diet hasn’t
con carne with a Tuesdays are various reasons, I live for carbs. sour cream and shop at the changed much
wholemeal wrap a particularly which can make Whether it’s guacamole weekend – I like since I stopped
busy day, so I it hard to get pasta, rice to plan out my swimming
A few years often grab lunch protein into my or potatoes, On Fridays meals and put competitively
ago, I did on the run – the diet, especially if I can’t get I swim from together my – the biggest
some genetics Mediterranean I’m training. I do enough. Having noon until 1pm shopping list difference is the
tests with a flavoured tuna CrossFit at 9am, to carb-load was so I’ll grab an based on that. sheer volume
nutritionist that salad is my go-to. so I start the day one of the best easy lunch Summer and I used to have to
taught me some My daughter, with a protein things about afterwards. I like I absolutely love eat. I love eating
things about my Summer, plays shake (I use competitive to make sure pancakes, so out and so does
body that I didn’t tennis and alternative milks swimming. that Summer has we try to make Summer. It’s
know before. I often have a when I can, to John West Steam a balanced diet them every something I
I found out that session with my reduce calories) Pots make it so and tries new weekend. couldn’t do when
I can’t process personal trainer, and make sure easy – just add things, and I love It’s a treat I was training,
caffeine, so now so we generally I have something hot water and Mexican food, so for us both and so now we often
I stick to decaf eat out in the substantial you have a we’ll finish the a great way to head out for
coffee and tea. evening for ease. for dinner. complete meal. week with fajitas. start a Saturday. a Sunday roast.
THE VERDICT Becky does really well with fruit, vegetables to boost her omega-3 – mackerel and salmon are great
and wholegrains, so her fibre and vitamin C intake are sources. Calcium, essential for healthy bones, is also an
EDITED BY: YANAR ALKAYAT
great. However, she might be missing out on all the protein issue. Plant milks can be a good source, but only if calcium
she needs because it’s lacking in some of her meals; leek is added. She needs three servings per day, either from
and potato soup may be low in it, for example. She’s adding calcium-fortified plant-based milks or
THE EXPERT some protein powder to her breakfast, but she could also cow’s milk, yoghurt or cheese.
Consultant dietitian
Sarah Keogh choose more beans and lentils to bump up the levels in For more information on John West
her vegetarian meals. Becky could also eat more oily fish products, visit shipshape.john-west.co.uk

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What is the editor's relationship with Alice Living?

What is the editor's relationship with Alice Living?

What changes have Alice and the editor made to their fitness journeys?

What changes have Alice and the editor made to their fitness journeys?

Welcome to

Photography | IAN HARRISON M AY 2 0 2 0 | 3

Get WH delivered Colin Beagley

direct to your door Isobel Bridge

every month, or choose

to p115 for our latest Lydia Spencer-Elliott

9 | IF YOU DO ONE 37 | A FOOD AWAKENING 63 | FIGHTING FIT 93 | TWENTY’S PLENTY

(high levels inhibit

into the nearest burned double the via improved

in luck. Research the group who ate and more stable

NEWS YOU CAN USE

TH E WATCH | LONDON MARATHON 2020

foods more enjoyable and smells appear

Is it bad for me never to have a period?

through, holding it, Late

Keep your back

BENT- OVER ROW

If there’s a phrase But it’s also a form of in-body mindfulness:

SUPERIOR SAVE SPEND SPLURGE

Photography | TIFFANY MUMFORD M AY 2 0 2 0 | 2 1

Prone to skin flare-

I use aloe after a stressful period?

routine? The Body Shop

WORDS ROISÍN DERVISH-O’KANE PHOTOGRAPHY IAN HARRISON

Wonderland-styled photo shoot

30 I couldn’t really get my head

around it – I’m so old-school

she’d describe video as her biggest professional failure

WEEK 1 WEEK 2 WEEK 3 WEEK 4

MONDAY MONDAY MONDAY MONDAY

UPPER BODY LOWER BODY HIIT UPPER BODY

TUESDAY TUESDAY TUESDAY TUESDAY

HIIT AIM FOR MOBILITY HIIT

WEDNESDAY WEDNESDAY WEDNESDAY WEDNESDAY

AIM FOR LOWER BODY LOWER BODY

THURSDAY THURSDAY THURSDAY THURSDAY

LOWER BODY MOBILITY UPPER BODY AIM FOR

FRIDAY FRIDAY FRIDAY FRIDAY

REST DAY HIIT REST DAY MOBILITY

SATURDAY SATURDAY SATURDAY SATURDAY

TRY A NEW DO A LOCAL AIM FOR TRY A NEW

engineered in a lab (margarine). as Cytoplan fat whitens and is stored. Fat

For good overall health, eat a mix Omega 3 Vegan,

Four unsung nuts and seeds

1 | BRAZIL NUTS 2 | MACADAMIAS 3 | HEMP SEEDS 4 | PUMPKIN

It won’t dissolve in water. Insulin shuttles it to cells

Wheat bran has it for fuel. Honey has it

SOLUBLE FIBRE LACTOSE FRUCTOSE

ADDED SUGAR SUCROSE

BLACKENED AUBERGINE WITH TAHINI SAUCE

INGREDIENTS For the tahini sauce: a bowl and add the

303 28G 6G 13G

JERUSALEM CHOPPED SALAD WITH TAHINI DRIZZLE

INGREDIENTS ingredients) • 2 tbsp 3 | Just before serving,

• 1 cucumber, cut into the salad to be sharp,