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Exercise for Every Age: You Don’t Need a Gym to Stay Fit

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  Exercise for Every Age: You Don’t Need a Gym to Stay Fit “Exercise doesn’t begin when you enter a gym and stop when you leave it.” For many people, the word exercise immediately conjures up images of treadmills, exercise bikes, weights, changing rooms and expensive monthly memberships. There is nothing wrong with gyms. They can be excellent places to exercise, particularly for people who enjoy structured training and the social side of attending regularly. But we have perhaps allowed the fitness industry to persuade us that physical activity is something separate from ordinary life. It isn’t. Walking to the shops is physical activity. Digging a garden is physical activity. Cycling to see a friend is physical activity. Dancing is physical activity. Carrying shopping, climbing stairs, washing the car, pruning a hedge, doing DIY, playing football with the grandchildren and, depending on the conditions, sailing a dinghy can all make demands on the body. The important questi...
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Healthy Eating Without the Expensive “Healthy” Label

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Healthy Eating Without the Expensive “Healthy” Label Some of the healthiest foods in the supermarket don't have the word “healthy” written anywhere on the packet. Walk through a modern supermarket and it would be very easy to conclude that healthy eating is an expensive hobby. There are protein bars, protein shakes, vitamin drinks, superfood powders, fortified snacks, low-carbohydrate products, high-protein yoghurts, specialist breakfast pots and shelves of supplements. Many are attractively packaged. Some undoubtedly have their uses. But there is a danger that we have begun to confuse food marketed as healthy with food that actually forms part of a healthy diet . A packet of ordinary porridge oats does not need a picture of an athlete on the front. A potato does not need to advertise that it contains fibre, potassium and other nutrients. A bag of frozen vegetables does not need the word “superfood”. A tin of chickpeas does not need to be sold as a protein supplement. And an egg ha...
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What Costs Nothing but Could Save You a Fortune? — The Zero-Pound Green Home Challenge

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  What Costs Nothing but Could Save You a Fortune? — The Zero-Pound Green Home Challenge Before spending £10,000 making your home greener, how much could you save by spending absolutely nothing? When people talk about making a home greener, the conversation can become expensive remarkably quickly. Solar panels. Batteries. Heat pumps. New windows. External insulation. Smart heating controls. A new electric car. All of these may have a place. Some can make an enormous difference. But there is a much less glamorous question worth asking first: Are we already using the energy we pay for as intelligently as we can? That leads to my Zero-Pound Green Home Challenge . The rules are simple. You are allowed to change settings, habits, timings and the way you use things already in your home. You are not allowed to buy anything. Not even a £5 gadget. The challenge is to see how much energy — and money — you can save without spending a penny. Start With the Biggest Energy User: Heating In most ...
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