Chloe Marshall’s weight is causing a furore in the UK

For those who don’t know, the reason is that Ms Marshall is the first plus-size girl to ever get a place in the Miss United Kingdom beauty pageant. That fact has brought out doctors, dieticians, bloggers and journalists in droves to comment on her fat/curves/health/BMI and the rest, and whether she should be a role model for young girls or considered a fat disgrace. Can’t be easy when she’s only 17.

Marshall is 5ft 10 tall, so a standard catwalk height, and weighs 176 pounds (12 stone 8), which gives her a BMI of 25.3 by my calculations. Her measurements are 38, 32, 42 and she’s a UK size 16 (for women of my age, that used to be an 18).

I dunno. I have to admit that, for myself, she does look fat. Maybe it’s the photograph that makes her look so heavy but I would have guessed she weighed far more than this.

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The French Government today passed a bill to make the promotion of anorexia in the media illegal

It’s a been some time in the making. In contrast to countries like the United States, obesity, although on the rise in France, is not a major problem compared with anorexia, which has been an issue here since the 1970s.

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A visit to the ophthalmologist is one of those things you need to get round to - you never know what you might find…

The DH and I finally got round to seeing ours the other day. It wasn’t for want of trying, I should add. Here in rural France, it’s a 4-to-6-month wait, and last year we couldn’t get in. Nevertheless, it was a surprise to find I hadn’t seen her for four years. That’s a bit too long, and it’s risking glaucoma, so I was relieved to find there’s nothing wrong with my eyes.

It doesn’t stop me being blind as a fecking bat, of course. (more…)

I suffer from SAD - seasonal affective disorder. In truth, a lot of people in the Northern hemisphere do.

You probably know already if you’ve got SAD badly. It means you basically want to hibernate all winter - you can’t wake up, you can’t keep your eyes open, you can’t get enough sleep no matter how much you sleep, you eat lots and gain weight, and you generally feel low and depressed. February is about the worst month, but January’s no picnic either.

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I am streaming with cold at the moment.

In fact, half the neighbourhood seems to be down with something or other - it is February after all. But since it doesn’t help your morale to look rubbish when you’re feeling rubbish, here are some makeup and clothing tips for when you’re down with the lurgy.

Firstly, as we all know, you have to keep your nose in good order. The skin on your nose will split and crack from the endless blowing unless you take measures. The best method I’ve found is to use ‘balm’ tissues, which are impregnated with moisturiser, but if you can’t get hold of these, or the damage is done by the time you get them, a dab of calendula cream topped with Vaseline works wonders. Do the inside as well as the outside of your nostrils, and really slather the stuff on at night - it will do a great repair job by morning.

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Cosmetic surgery gives me the creeps, and here’s why

Let me say straight away that I am not against plastic surgery per se. Surgery that restores a face or body to normalcy after a tumour, or a car crash, or severe burns. Surgery for people who are sick of heads turning as they walk down the street because their appearance is so abnormal. Though I wish we were more accepting of deformity and disfigurement in our culture, we are what we are, and I am not against the kind of surgery that enables a sufferer to live a reasonably normal life.

But I really do believe that vanity cosmetic surgery is wrong. Just look at the breast implants on this woman - who on earth does she think she’s kidding? And this Brazilian bikini revealing a body that is - shall we say? - well past its prime. It is so terribly undignified.

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Many women spend their 40s going through pre-menopause before they reach the full menopause. Here’s how to handle it.

The pre-menopause (or perimenopause) begins for most Western women at about the age of 37 or 38 and usually lasts for about ten years, give or take. That means many of us are in pre-menopause throughout our 40s.

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The latest research shows that if you want to lose weight, you should focus on proteins.

According to a story in Reuters today, proteins help to keep a hunger hormone, called ‘ghrelin’, in check, whereas fats and carbohydrates do a feebler job at suppressing it. That means if you eat fats or carbs, you both eat more and feel hungry again quite quickly, whereas if you eat proteins, you’re satiated sooner and can manage without food for longer.

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It’s official (well official-ish) - high heels are good for you

According to a news story in the Daily Mail this morning, wearing moderately high heels of 2 inches and above could be beneficial for your pelvic floor muscles.

Research by Italian urologist Maria Cerruto found that women who raise their feet to a 15-degree angle (roughly the equivalent of a 2-inch heel) had 15 per cent less electrical activity in their pelvic floor muscles. This means that the muscles are more relaxed and therefore able to contract better.

“Women often have difficulty in carrying out the right exercises for the pelvic zone and wearing heels could prove to be the solution,” says Dr Cerruto.

Shoe designer Manolo Blahnik greeted the news with alacrity, but added that he felt shoes over 4 and a half inches in height were just too much.

To read the full story, click here.

Why does exercise get so difficult as you get older?

Today I started walking again - for the first time in a month. The wake-up call was putting my back out a week ago. (more…)