“Are you in love?” and other social pitfalls of weightloss

I have lost weight. Not a considerable amount. Not even a dress-size. Just a bit of tightening up here and there to make the bikini season bearable and lessen the blow of next month’s quarter-century-crisis.

My confidence got a boost when people first started noticing; even if it was male friends highlighting that my boobs – never my greatest asset – had shrunk! But knowing that Little Pot (Everyone has a pet name for their tummy, right?) was shaping up and people were noticing definitely made the 7am gym-classes worthwhile.

THE PRICE OF LOOKING “BEE-OOOTIFOOL”

And then it all started to get a bit embarrassing. Currently in Geneva with work, I’m met with wonderfully French comments of “You look bee-oootifool, are you een looove?” which always make me want to get my teeny tiny feminist sword and shield out and wave them about. Then there’s those who wish me luck in “finding Prince Charming” – Both super-cute and super-patronising all at the same time, as if they don’t remember the life-cycle of a twenty-something female: Work-Gym-Binge Eat/Drink-Sleep and Repeat.

Although nothing makes my English sense of propriety (otherwise known as ‘Hugh Grant Syndrome’) flare up more than when met with the direct question “Have you lost weight?” I wish I could possess ‘Camera Natalie’s’ composure and respond with “Why yes, I have, thank you for noticing.” But invariably the brashness of the question – usually from Americans or family members – combined with the inherent inability to receive a compliment gracefully, often leaves me fumbling around red-faced, hair twiddling for a response.

AVOIDING THE ‘W’ WORD

This is usually where I get to the moral message of my diatribe. I am not, repeat not saying that you shouldn’t compliment someone if you happen to notice that they’ve trimmed up and are looking good for it. Everyone likes to be told they look nice. Just try to leave the ‘W’ word out. Similarly don’t assume that there’s an ‘other’ involved. My gym buddy – who was recently stopped in the street and quizzed over ‘his’ identity – pointed out to me that this is a mistake often made by men whose automatic thinking is that behind every healthy/happy woman there’s a man (“literally”). Your trainers may come as a pair, but there’s only room for 1 on the treadmill!

And for those on the other side of the coin: Eat what you want. Exercise if and when you want. Drink tequila and if it makes you feel good, keep bloody doing it! Take the compliments with a smile (and perhaps more grace than I manage..) but mostly just make sure you’re putting the work in for the right person: You!

Off for a run!

Fake It till you Make It

On a recent Friday night at the pub, conversation turned to “If you could do anything, what would it be?” Without a moment’s hesitation I replied “Act”. Surprised at both the speed and randomness of the answer, my friend probed a little further.

I was always envious of my younger brother, who moved schools after GCSE’s to attend a Performing Arts school. We had both joined Am-Dram groups outside of school, taken roles in plays, and both possessed an inclination towards the creative. For my brother, his creativity was more lucid whereas mine was more pragmatic [read “safe”]. While he was still “figuring it out” and finding his niche, expectation denoted that I would choose a more “academic” route.

WORDSMITH NUMBER-CRUNCHER

Fast forward a few years and I am a Financial Broadcaster interviewing banking bigwigs on any number of topics from private equity to the price of Gold. I spend my evenings desperately researching how likely the SNB are to raise the exchange rate floor from 1.20, and my days trying not to throw a blank when an interviewee mentions a term not covered by my Investopedia-sponsored home schooling.

But somewhere amidst this fear of being “found out”, I realised that I was acting to a certain degree.

1. Interview questions: CHECK
2. Big Girl high heels that remind my brain it’s show-time: CHECK
3. Entertaining financial anecdote: CHECK
4. Knowledge of high-yield derivatives trading: ..Sure!

ACT AS IF

This idea isn’t uncommon within the Journalism industry. Ever noticed how one journalist will adopt several prefixes to their “Journalist” title in one week?

But we all do it constantly. At that very important job interview, we pretend to be the person we think our prospective employer will want to hire. Once we get the job we then have to continue to be that person, at least until the probation period is over!

I’m not even saying it’s a bad thing. If we take active steps to imitate something for long enough then, ultimately, those steps will lead us closer to that “lead role”.

Until then, just keep acting Dahlings!

Poking the Payroll

Switzels Matlow, the sweet-making firm behind Refreshers and Mr Chew, have claimed that of the 500 staff who work at its Love Hearts factory in Derbyshire, 122 are in a relationship with each other.

The cynic in me can’t help but think that this conveniently timed announcement just ahead of Valentines Day smacks slightly of a last-ditch PR ploy to sell these pastel-coloured, cellophane-wrapped declarations of edible PDA.

But then it is also a fact that 40% of people have admitted to having a relationship in the workplace, with a staggering 84% of 18 to 29 year-olds stating that they would date a colleague. This figure drops off to 36% for survey participants over the 30 mark – Presumably because they already pinned down that bloke from Accounts, let him put his pencil in her sharpener in the Stationary cupboard, then caught him making out with the slutty secretary at the Christmas party during in their Twenties.

THE COUPLE THAT PLAYS TOGETHER STAYS TOGETHER

Image courtesy of specialagentkate, Flickr.com

An article by Gary McClain and Deborah S. Romaine suggests that the likelihood of a relationship taking place at work increases with the level of commitment the job demands. This perhaps might explain why the bar industry is notoriously incestuous. The long, unsociable hours at work surrounded by over-sambuca’d, over-sexed customers have encouraged many after-hours relationships to blossom.

There’s also the notion of shared experience. Who can understand you better than someone working within the same company as you? Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie infamously met on the set of ‘Mr and Mrs Smith’, and magazines are constantly touting celebrity couples who met on the set of this or that film. When I first heard about Harry Styles and Caroline Flack my first thought was..OK well yes my first thought was the age gap, but then it struck me ‘Well, where else is he going to meet someone?!’ Plus there’s something very attractive about a person with a skill. Where does someone portray their skill-set more so than in the workplace?

DON’T POKE THE PAYROLL

Either way, the pitfalls of entering into a workplace romance are obvious. While it’s all going great, you’re the company’s hottest couple. But when it goes wrong.. [Insert crying in the toilets/Being passed over for promotion/Co-workers gossiping about you story here].

Just ask John Prescott. In 2006 police were forced to investigate a complaint that the then-Deputy Prime Minister had broken the law by having sex with his secretary in his Whitehall office during their affair.  Some companies have even introduced policies regarding inter-office dating, particularly managers dating subordinates.

Perhaps the best office romances are the under-stated ones; the relationships that slip under the radar so that when they do end, the collateral damage is minimal. The Big Bang Theory co-stars Kaley Cuoco and Johnny Galecki dated in secret for two years, allowing them to maintain a professional relationship when the romance reached its mutual end.

This being said. If anyone does wish to exchange Love Hearts, as one couple at the Derbyshire factory are purported to have done before they got chatting in the work canteen, then don’t look at me.

Been there. Done that.

HAPPY LOVE DAY!

Ebay: Selling your stuff and your dignity

Like many women I own too many clothes. And shoes. And bags.

Image taken from Flickr.com

I hold regular purging ceremonies, donating to charity, to friends younger sister’s, and also on occasion to our loft (just in case!) and yet still my collection grows!

And so in a dual effort to clear out my wardrobe and also make some money I decided to sell some stuff on Ebay.

It’s not deciding what to sell that troubles me. I’m pretty mercenary about what stays and what goes.

Item gets ditched if:

• It hasn’t been worn in a year
• It’s not vintage or designer (and therefore of no use to future generations of Shopaholics)
• I can’t think of a really good excuse to keep it (I mean really good)

Easy peasy. It’s writing the description’s that I struggle with!

There’s something just beyond cringingly intimate about describing your clothes

It feels a bit like a dating site-Funniest, prettiest picture; honest but not so honest that noone will want to date you..I mean buy you…I mean..ARGH!

Where else would you have to put the exact measurements of the skirt you wore that night you had way too much tequila and threw your chips at some guy in McDonald’s?! Too short and you look like a slut, too long and you cut off half your target market.

But you battle on, trying to view your clothes through the eyes of a prospective buyer, and before you know it you start mentally visualising said skirt with items in your wardrobe, ooh and those shoes I saw last week…!

Dad won’t notice another box in the loft will he?!

Britain’s Rainbow Babies

Last week, the Royal College of Midwives announced that parts of Britain are facing a dangerous shortage of midwives; putting mothers and babies across the country at risk.

While this has been a widely recognised feeling amongst those within the profession for some time, the RCM has decided that with a 22% rise in birthrates in England, it was time to shock the government into action and force David Cameron to honour his pre-election pledge to recruit more midwives.

This also coincided with Grazia and SANDS presenting a petition with more than 1,200 signatures to Downing Street. Grazia launched a campaign in co-ordination with SANDS earlier this year following a number of celebrity stillbirths and the publication of The Lancet Stillbirth Series. The aim of the petition was to pressure the government into allocating more funding to research into stillbirth.

11 babies are stillborn in the UK every day. A recent Lancet study placed Britain 33^rd out of 35 high-income nations in terms of stillbirth rates. An easier way of interpreting this information is to think of the UK as ranking 3^rd worst out of 35 high-income nations, with only France and Austria performing worse. It also indicated that that those living in the East Midlands are a third more likely to suffer stillbirths that those living in the South-West.

I have spent the last 3 months investigating the issue of stillbirth rates in the UK as the country is slowly beginning to wake up to this devastating problem.

Please listen to the documentary below as I talk to medical experts, and the Royal College of Midwives to find out how the UK came to be in this position. With interviews including MP Christopher Heaton-Harris, an NHS Trust bereavement midwife, and founder of Count the Kicks charity Sophia Mason, I also investigate what is being done to protect these precious lives.

Students and Social Medi@

Students: Sexing up social media

The relationship between students and the British media is a tenuous one. They call it “outmoded” while it calls them “lazy” and “ungrateful”. The recent furor surrounding student fees in the UK has acted only to exacerbate the situation further as many papers condemned the student protests.

The birth of social media however, has created an opportunity for students to integrate themselves into the media landscape.

We all remember our first venture into social media. Mine was Bebo, while for some MySpace was their chosen arena to showcase wall posts full of teen angst and pouty profile pictures taken from above.

One of the earliest social media sites, Classmates.com launched in the US in 1995, was designed to assist members in finding friends and acquaintances from kindergarten, primary school, high school, college, work, and the US military.

From the off, these websites were designed with the social habits of students, and former students, in mind.

Not only are these sites frequented most by students, but many have also been established by students.

In 2004 Mark Zuckerberg and his college room-mates at Harvard University launched Facebook. Now considered the most used social networking service, it is estimated that over 85% of university students have a Facebook account.

Witness the Fitness

However Zuckerberg is not the only student getting in on the action.

In January I told you about Floxx. But for those of you living in the dark ages here’s a quick recap:

In June 2010, UCL student Rich Martell set up FitFinder. Using his bedroom as an office, his website allowed the anonymous cataloguing of any “hotties” studying in University libraries across the country, under the tagline “Witness the Fitness”.

Despite being taken offline and fined by UCL for “bringing the university into disrepute”, in January this year Martell returned with Floxx-the new FitFinder.

Backed by Former Dragon Doug Richard, users are able to post 140 character messages detailing any “hotties” in the vicinity; plotting them on a map, allowing users to see where the best looking people hang out.

It is the simplicity and universality of plotting on a map that has already led Floxxing to take place around the world, even in Moscow!

Media on the move

Despite criticism, the success of student-led social media start-ups such as Floxx and Facebook, has led other media outlets to place a much higher value on student participation.

A recent example of this is the launch of the “i” Paper. Considered a condensed version of the Russian owned Independent, the “i” aims to provide concise and digestible, yet high quality material for those who want news on the move.

Amongst businessmen and commuters, the i paper also considers students and young people a part of their target audience.

The development of mobile apps supporting Facebook, Floxx and Twitter amongst others, continues to place power in the hands of the user. In a world where a student’s smart phone is his/her best friend, it is almost no surprise that the younger generation is increasingly leading the way in mobile media.

That traditional media is starting to catch on only confirms that it is up to us, Generation X, to continue to pioneer ways of keeping the media alive…

So keep pouting, poking and liking because it all acts to shape the media footprint of the future!

Netball: A Game of 4 Quarters

With over 75,000 affiliated players and schoolgirls up and down the country enjoying the sport, it is no surprise that Fiat has added the All England Netball Association to its sponsorship portfolio. It was a much-awaited turning of the tide for Netball, a sport which for years has been short-changed in the sports world and the media.

Netball is played up and down the country at school, university and club level

It was hoped that Fiat’s sponsorship of the Netball Superleague-netball’s equivalent of the Premier League-would draw more attention to grassroots level Netball and therefore widen the pool of talent. Almost four months on and it’s difficult to tell if the reality has lived up to the expectation.

SPOT THE SPONSOR

Attending a Hertfordshire Mavericks game at the Herts Sports Village, there seems little change to when I last attended a Superleague match in 2009. Schoolgirls, enthusiastic Mums and reluctant Dads sit in the stands with signs of Fiat branding few and far between.

“I was unaware Fiat were sponsoring it,” says one netball coach, attending the match with forty-three students. “I only knew because there was a dirty great sign on the court at the last televised match” remarks another.

Netball and Hockey coach Annie Thomas regularly brings her students to these matches. As co-ordinator for Hertford and Ware’s School Sports Partnerships, she’s keen to see improvements to a sport which forms part of the sports curriculum of sports up and down the country. “Hopefully any company that is prepared to put money into a sport like netball is good news,” enthuses Annie. “If it can filter down into the area, that would be ideal.”

BUYING INTO IT

Many at the game attribute Fiat’s interest in Netball to the Superleague’s regular spot on Sky Sports; a proverbial door opening to a wider audience.

Sky coverage of the Netball Superleague has been in place since 2006. Viewing figures estimate an average of between one hundred and fifty thousand and two hundred thousand viewers per match. However these figures still fall short of the estimated one million people who play the sport in England.

“Fiat’s sponsorship deal is to pay for part of the Sky coverage,” England co-captain Karen Atkinson explains, “the All England Netball Association and the players and the rest of the clubs don’t necessarily see a lot of that sponsorship, it’s just a high-profile name.”

Karen has every reason to be sceptical. Between 2007 and 2010 the Superleague was sponsored by the Co-Operative Group. In 2008 the Co-Operative backed a very public bid to get Netball included in London 2012. Despite support from then Prime Minister Gordon Brown and a host of national teams such as New Zealand and Australia, where Netball is a professional sport, the bid failed; marking a significant blow to the sport and its players.

While unsure about the deal, it is impossible to deny the opportunity that having Sky coverage provides for young enthusiasts.

“For young people to be able to watch that level of good adult netball on TV is great for participation,” says Karen. “Hopefully it is going to bring a bit more publicity to the game and people will maybe take it a bit more seriously when they see a big-name sponsor.”

But she also believes that putting all its balls in one basket could be dangerous for the game. “We need to attack it from lots of angles, tap into even more fans and maybe a variety of people.”

GAINING EXPOSURE

For netball, this “variety” means the two “M’s”: Men and the media. Female sports continue to be under-represented in the media and patronised by male public figures.

Earlier in the year I went on TalkSPORT Radio, pioneering Netball as a feature on the Hawsbee and Jacobs show. A poll carried out on the website showed that listeners were keen to hear about England Netball and so Team Bath player and England international Tamsin Greenway was booked for the following day. However the feature was dropped the next day with the producer citing a vote of no confidence in Netball as a topic, and I was left to call and cancel.

But in a listener-led poll, how does one justify a vote of no confidence?

THE FINAL WHISTLE

But for young netball enthusiasts that time is now. Bored of the lack of recognition female sport receives, they believe that Netball’s got what it takes to succeed in the media.

“People should pay more attention to Netball” says 17-year-old Alice Coley, “Boys get so much more attention than girls, and netball is better than people think it is.”

“I love Netball and I love watching Netball” agrees fellow student and netball enthusiast, 18-year-old Olivia Chapman, “I think that Netball’s an interesting sport and you can get into it once you understand that rules of it. I think everyone can enjoy it, even boys and men.”

It’s clear that Netball’s going to have to play the long game if it’s serious about a future on Britain’s sports agenda.

With the England netball team taking bronze at last year’s Commonwealth Games in Delhi, and as favourites for this year’s World Netball Series, young girls around the country have a national squad they can look up to.

Karen sums it up quite simply, “there’s a perception of the game that needs to be changed and I think we could do it.”

8 Minute Abs

Started the New Year determined to get rid of those mince pie tops you seem to have gained over the festive period?

My best friend introduced me to 8 Minute Abs a few years ago; a short YouTube exercise video, focussing solely on your abs.

Lycra-clad bodies and motivational chants of “Come on Gang” aside, the video really is good. You work up a sweat and for those without the time or means to attend the gym, this is a perfect alternative that you can fit into your morning routine quite easily.

Also on YouTube are workout video’s focussing on legs, arms, bums and other areas; all in 8 minute segments.

The best thing about these video’s are that they require no additional gym equipment, and as they’re on YouTube are completely free so no gym membership fee’s to worry about either!

Floxx: The New FitFinder

http://www.floxx.com

FitFinder is back kiddo’s!

Yesterday I wrote about Loughborough’s Gossip Girl and mentioned FitFinder which allowed the anonymous cataloguing of hotties studying in University libraries across the country, under the tagline ‘Witness the Fitness’.

Despite achieving over 5 million posts across 50 different universities the website was forced off-line after the founder, UCL student Rich Martell was fined for “bringing the university into disrepute”. It was thought that UCL were forced to bow to pressure placed on it from other institutes over concerns of sexist content and anonymous bullying.

Facebook campaigns to bring back FitFinder were immediately launched with Martell promising FitFinder’s resurrection.

And now from the ashes that was FitFinder, we have Floxx.

Funded by former Dragon’s Den businessman, Doug Richard, the concept of Floxx remains the same. Users can post 140 character messages detailing any hotties in the vicinity.

An improvement to the new site is that these hotties can also be plotted on a map, allowing users to see where the best looking people hang out. Hence the name Floxx, a play on the term ‘flock’, as the website facilitates social gravitation to all the “hotspots” (pardon the pun) in the country-much like sheep.  

One of the main criticisms of FitFinder was the distraction it created for students revising for end-of-year exams in 2010. However, Floxx places no limits on user participation; meaning those who fell in love with FitFinder and have since graduated are not secluded from the action simply because their playground is no longer the campus library.

I give it three months tops before, like Facebook and many other social networking sites, workplaces begin to restrict access to this undeniably addictive website!

Lets map the beautiful people!

Loughborough Gossip Girl: Your One and Only Source Into The Scandalous Lives of Loughborough’s Social Elite

Ever woken up after the morning after the night before hoping that noone saw you make out with, or even go home with that person you really shouldn’t have done?

It happens to everyone, and often with a little damage limitation work carried out by your nearest and dearest, your dirty little secret can often stay that way.

That used to be the case for students at Loughborough University too.

Until now.

Based on the hit American TV Show Gossip Girl, an anonymous Loughborough student has set up a blog cataloguing the antics of “Loughborough’s Social Elite”.

“Whoever it is, they know everything,” a 2nd year Management student told me, “and noone’s got a clue who it could be”.

While the gossip is basically an A-Z of who went home with whom last night, the social stalker also publicises potential love triangles, cheating partners, and also tensions between housemates.

An email address has been set up for people to send photo’s, sightings and gossip to. While Gossip Girl clearly has a finger in a lot of pie’s, the website relies on the input of others. One may say those featured only have themselves or their friends to blame.

Appearing on the site is a clear status symbol, and one which seems to be taken well by those named and shamed. Everyone that appears on the site is a Club or Committee exec and well-known around campus. The fact that Loughborough students of all years live in halls, and the majority of students living in housing are based within The Triangle means that not only is the community quite small but that gossip travels fast and easy.

But you can’t help but fear for the little people. Knowing that your Sports exec boyfriend or girlfriend has cheated on you is one thing. But having everyone know? And for the cheater, wondering which of your friends sold you out to the website?

And it really is everyone. Since being set up in November 2010, the site has received over 72,000 views spanning as far as America and Malaysia.

Much like FitFinder last year which started at UCL and spread across UK universities facilitating anonymous admiration of hotties studying in the library, there are bound to be spin-offs. Already someone’s created a Loughborough Gossip Guy. It’ll be interesting to see if the same template can be applied to other universities.

With the Christmas holidays nearly over, Gossip Girl’s mailbag is no doubt fit to burst with juice gossip to get 2011 started.

“You know you love me”

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