Health and Wellness, healthy living

What is ULEZ?

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On 20th July 2023, something happened at a by election that could change how we all perceive climate change.

The seat which had a Conservative majority of less than 10,000, was targeted by the main opposition Labour party. Despite their rise in the polls generally, they failed to overturn the seat and after a recount, the Conservative candidate retained the seat by 495 votes.

Political pundits were asked, and politicians made comments about the result. One factor which many people agreed about was ULEZ. When I first heard this, I was asking myself what is ULEZ? It is ‘Ultra Low Emissions Zone’ and is being implemented by Sadiq Khan the Labour Mayor of London.

No one likes to have to pay to drive their car into inner cities across the UK and these zones exist in 12 cities in different forms.

Why are they there and do we need them?

First, I will state that I live in a small village in Cheshire about 3 miles from a city centre. I drive my car to a car park outside the city centre and walk in which takes between 10 and 15 minutes depending on my destination.

It would be easier sometimes to drive to a car park which is closer.

My reasons for not doing so:

  • Is it easier to find a parking space in the car park.

(The car park is rarely full)

  • Exercise.

(To a centre point in the city 1.12km x 2 = 2.24km per journey X 25 visits = 112km per year)

  • Cheaper parking and using less fuel

(Saving on parking of approx. £1.00 per hour and £13.00 fuel over 25 visits)

The Prime Minister has written an article supporting the motorist, with a review of LTN (Low Traffic Neighbourhoods) almost encouraging them to drive everywhere.

So where does this statement fit with the governments strategy of wanting to reduce air pollution and making the U K a healthier place to live?

Should the Prime Minister be asking for greater scrutiny from his cabinet colleagues about usage of the 80 + limousines available to the government?

Could they occasionally walk the 0.3 miles from 10 Downing Street to House of Commons or would the security issues required make this impossible?

We, the public, can play our part by using our cars less and turning to public transport or walking where possible. Many people are rushing around and haven’t got the time in their lives to look after their health, or have they?

We are encouraged to exercise and get our children away from screens (Nintendo, mobile phones etc) and appreciate outdoor life. A 10 or 15 minute walk would serve many people and improve their health. Additional exercise and healthy eating can reduce obesity and type 2 Diabetes, which are putting an additional strain on the NHS.

I recently joined a virtual challenge to walk 500 miles during the next year. Every mile will be completed walking through woods, horse rides or along local roads. I am doing this to keep fit, healthy and appreciate the world around me.

Are there small things you can do in your life to make the U K and the world a healthier place for future generations?

Uncategorized

Plastic Free July

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Logging onto one of my favorite websites to buy wine, I was surprised to read that this particular wine was being packaged in a recycled PET bottle as a part of their sustainability initiatives, It had been trialed and the business were following the trend of some supermarkets to display and sell some wines in plastic bottles.

Wine in plastic bottles or bag in box are generally aimed at the mass markets. The wine box which two decades ago was very popular, is slowly reappearing on shelves. However with the call to reduce plastic which can pollute the planet, some wine producers, bottlers and retail outlets are selling wine in plastic bottles.

There are definitely some advantages to this. Plastic bottles are lighter, making them easier to carry and can reduce a companies carbon footprint. It is also a benefit when shipping bulk wine around the world and bottling plants can use plastic reducing the risk of breakages .

Are there any disadvantages.? The obvious one is that wine comes in different colour and shapes of bottles. Does wine alter it flavour or oxidise if stored for 1 years or more as recommended by the vintner or retailer. Does it have the same cachet at a dinner party?

The retailer I mention in the first paragraph, states that the plastic PET bottle can be recycled, but doesn’t as yet have a system where bottles can be returned. So all the plastic bottles will go into a recycling skip together will all other household plastic. They will also get left in forests or on beaches. When the latter happens the plastic can be swept out by the tide and can injure or kill marine animals.

Plastic packaging has created many discussions around ‘saving the planet’. In my business the manufacture is moving away from plastic packaging into glass. The exceptions are those products that are usually used in a shower.

What is the future packaging that is not only more sustainable for the planet but also meets a low cost criteria for the user?

Business, Mindset, Uncategorized, Writing

New Opportunities

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We are all different and so are our hopes, goals, and dreams.

We seek the advice of friends and loved ones.

We don’t always listen to that advice.

Life sometimes throws us a curve ball and our world can come crashing down around us. We have one of two options. Either stay down and listen to the negativity which can surround us or get up, fight back, and decide to cast off the shackles of negative people. Can we learn from our experiences, pass on our knowledge, and move forward in life.

Here are three examples which have impacted my life

One: Talking with a loyal customer and owner who I respected, he asked a simple question. “Have you thought about training to be a J P.” I immediately without thinking through the question, said no. My mind was saying ‘you’re not good enough’. At the time my negative mindset said you need to be working earning a living and not wasting time training for another vocation. I regret not asking for more information.

Two: After a car accident which could have been serious for me and other roads users, I decided to contact the Institute of Advanced Motorists (I A M) to take their driving test.

After the first lesson, I was shocked. Whilst all my friends had previously commented that I was a safe driver, I realised just how many bad habits I had picked up after thirty years and about one million miles behind the wheel.

Six months later after several lessons, reading their guides and studying the Highway Code, I passed their driving exam. It was very stringent, and I know because of the good habits taught by the I A M, I am a better driver and safer road user.

The first were very negative and gave me all the reasons not to look at the business model.  It later transpired that very few of this group had ever worked in a Network Marketing business. Their knowledge was hearsay.

The second groups advice was go and look at the options and sent me links and information to different articles. I took the advice of the second group so I could do my own due diligence.  I have made many new friend’s, benefited as a person, and helped others grow as individuals.

I know that this business model doesn’t work for everyone. It has worked for me.

When you are approached with advice or opportunities, step back and reflect on whether it can enhance or enrich your life and those who you love.

Three:

When the opportunity to step back from working 40 – 50 hours a week, I decided to look at part time opportunities. One business model which kept being raised was ‘Network Marketing’.

Two groups of people emerged.

The first were very negative and gave me all the reasons not to look at the business model.  It later transpired that very few of this group had ever worked in a Network Marketing business. Their knowledge was hearsay.

The second groups advice was go and look at the options and sent me links and information to different articles. I took the advice of the second group so I could do my own due diligence.  I have made many new friend’s, benefited as a person, and helped others grow as individuals.

I know that this business model doesn’t work for everyone. It has worked for me.

When you are approached with advice or opportunities, step back and reflect on whether it can enhance or enrich your life and those who you love.

Business

Exchanging Time for Money

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The background to this blog is my own experiences in the corporate and entrepreneurial world. Also inspiration taken from  ‘The Cashflow Quadrant by Robert Kiyosaki’.

Giving, Currency, Time, Customer, Wages, Exchanging

Most people who work start their careers in the ‘corporate’ world. That originally conjured up images of working for a national or international organisation. In this scenario the employee is offered a contract for a set period to complete specific tasks for which the employer will pay a renumeration which they believe is commensurate for the task performed.

Work 40 hours and get paid for 40 hours. In other words, exchange time for money! On paper it looks acceptable. You accept knowing that every month you will have a set net income to pay the household bills and hopefully have a little left over for the luxuries in life.

Some people leave or escape from the corporate world to start their own enterprise as entrepreneurs. They believe and, in many cases, succeed in providing a better service or product for a target group of customers.

The difference is that their passion for the task shows through and they can offer more flexibility to the client. These entrepreneurs are also exchanging time for money by doing the work and getting paid once. The work for their clients is usually a tailor made processes for that particular business.

A very small percentage start to leverage their time. They do the work once and sell or share the results many times. These are authors, lyricists, composers or franchisors. Every time they sell what they have written or produced; they get paid a royalty.

So how can we leverage our business?

I personally have worked in the corporate world and exchanged ‘time for money’. Contracts that say 40 hours rarely meant exactly that. I occasionally needed to work an extra hours to complete the task. Sometimes ‘overtime’ was paid and others it was expected. In sales achieving the target was the critical criteria.

As a self employed person, I could set my own targets and decide when to work. There was no  paid holiday and all expenses come from my pocket. As a sole trader, there were less options when I decided to sell the business.

Investing in property or stocks and shares brings a different set of problems. The investor is reliant on the performance of others to get a return on money. Also the investor has to have the funds to invest.

Network Marketing, which, for some reason, is much maligned is a great opportunity for an entrepreneur to leverage his time. The products or service on offer are usually consumable. We all need gas or electricity for heat and light and most people I know wash or take a shower most days and when the product runs out buy a replacement. When that happens and the consumer buys again from the person who introduced them to the product or service. The consultant or ambassador, then earns an income or commission. This is the beginning of earning a residual income. If the consultant build a team of other people who want to earn commissions, this is the beginning of leveraging his business.

I buy whenever possible from people or businesses who I know, like and trust. And I support businesses who provide me with a good service. The alternative is to buy from corporate organisations where because of their size you as a customer become a number or statistic.

When shopping on the high street or online, what criteria do you use when buying products or services, corporate businesses, or people you know, like and trust?

France, Travel, Writing

They Don’t Always Understand Me

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3

I speak a foreign language, and I’m in a foreign country so the local population don’t always understand my dialect or pronunciation of words.

After visiting France for annual holidays for more than 30 years, people who know me would think I should be able to speak the language. I can to order food, wine, beer and other essentials in life, but I am unable to speak French fluently.

And the locals don’t speak English or do they?

What I have learnt is that the locals speak their dialect of their language either clearly or mumble, soft or loud, or slowly or quickly.

We stay in the Lauguedoc region and regularly local visit market to buy our food for self catering. Gradually we have been accepted by the locals in the shops and market.

I have heard comments in French ‘je ne comprends pas’ to shrugs and turning to another French person and mumbling a phrase which I imagine could sometimes be derogatory to ‘shall we speak English’?

What we are observing is that the local people are saying, ‘you have made the effort to visit our area on a regular basis, buy from local shops and order in our language, we will make life easier by talking in your language and helping you understand our language better’.

Last week at a local fish stall, the owner proudly ask me if I followed rugby? ‘Oui’, I replied. He smiled and extolled the wonderful French rugby team who the previous week had demolished England. This week I asked him about the six nations championship, and he just shrugged and said ‘maybe we will win the world cup’. We felt we had been accepted as part of his community and the bridge is ‘rugby’.

With another trader we, or rather Ann, have meaningful conversations about life, strikes, food and Brexit. Most of the French traders we have met think the English are mad! Note English not British. I wonder why?

To learn a foreign language would have been easy at school for me, but I’ll admit I didn’t apply myself then. Now its fun talking to different people, understanding the culture and discussing issues that can affect us all irrespective of which country we live in.

We practise our French and they practise their English. No longer are we offered in, menus in English in restaurants or given explanations with gestures, which might look like a game of multi lingual charades.

To be honest sometimes it is hard understanding dialects from a different part of the U K, in our native tongue. For example, Glaswegian, Cornish or Welsh.

France which after the revolution in 1789, is now in its Fifth Republic. During these changes different governments have previously banned all regional dialects until today when many of them have returned if there have been speakers of these dialects to teach younger generations. It gets a little more complicated as close to the Spanish border we have found a Catalan influence with names in both French and Catalan. Flags of France and Catalonia have hung side by side from buildings.

The same may happen in French regions close to international borders with other countries.

France and Europe may not have a great reputation with many people in Great Britain. Our experience is if you are prepared to learn and speak the language, the locals are friendly and will help you to understand their language and customs.

Business, Uncategorized

Another Survey?

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Travelling, visiting an attraction, eating in a local restaurant or hotel.

We all do these things from time to time.

I am reasonably sure that I will get emails from the organisation or company where I have bought a product or service.

“This survey will only take a short time (usually 2 – 3 minutes), and your response will be used to help us improve our product or a service to our customers’.

If you have never received any surveys, consider yourself very fortunate and you will probably want to stop reading this latest blog now.

Whilst the questions are generally of a tick box nature, they can be numerous sometimes asking for a value of 1 to 10.  One being very poor or negative and ten is exceptionally good or positive.

Under some of the questions there is a box to add additional comments. This is where I can provide positive feedback. Not to be negative. I am sure there are many people who are negative.

Finishing the survey there is a note saying ‘thank you for completing the survey’. ‘Would you like us to contact you about the survey’? ‘Please confirm your e-mail address here’.

This sounds positive and as someone who has been involved in sales and   marketing. I will always encourage companies to improve their product or service. If I believe that my comments will help the business move forward I write comments.

Sometimes the comment will be, ‘can we contact you direct to discuss something that you feel may improve our service. My response is always ‘please do so’, however I have recently noticed that despite my views and providing positive criticism very little happens.

Does the business concerned through its customer services or marketing department actually read the comments or are they just filed away and ignored?

Is there a culture that we only want to read about positive comments and excellent or 10 out of 10 markings for what we’re doing for our customers?

Maybe there are some marketing businesses who read this blog and are prepared to comment or are all the surveys sent out by independent companies? They then provide a summary which their client wants to hear?

My personal view during my life working in the corporate world and as a self-employed salesman is that I embraced all criticism whether it was of me or a product or service I sold on behalf of a third party. I have never been afraid of passing on all types of comments. Sometimes as individuals we must recognise that we do not provide a product or service that is satisfactory to all of our customers.

Apologies are often difficult to give as people do not like admitting that errors can sometimes occur with the product or service.

How can businesses move forward particularly if they have a claim to be among the best in their business sector if they don’t look for constructive criticism and talk to their clients.

Recently I have completed surveys for a restaurant, a hotel and a travel company. I have generally been very pleased with the service and products used but I’m very happy to give any pointers which I feel would benefit the organisation.

Will I be contacted by the company with which I have the contract if I can provide ideas to help them improve their product? if past experience is a guideline it will be highly unlikely

I will continue to complete these forms and return them online and expect one day I will get a response to my questions. Also I am not expecting any form of recompense if I have been let down. Sometimes an apology is all that is required.

Health and Wellness

Statins, Are they an Easy Option?

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As a ‘Baby Boomer’, I am in that age category where, age, weight and body should be measured. Advice can then be given by a doctor or specialist about my individual need for medication. In this case statins.

The possible side effects mentioned in the recent BBC article are muscle pain.

Consider statins for millions more people in England, NHS told

During a routine appointment with my G P, about 3 years ago he decided to request a blood sample to be sent for analysis for prostate. All men have one and in many it gives problems and can result in long term illness or cancer.

We continued to have our conversation and he recommended that as I tick all the necessary boxes, I should start taking statins. He gave all the right reasons without advising if there were any possible side effects. As I wasn’t happy being put on the spot, I decided to defer.

The side effects listed on the NHS website.

Statins – Side effects

There was no consultation or conversation about lifestyle including diet, exercise, and general health. However, I should ‘go away to think about it’ and phone the surgery with my decision. I talked with two friends who are G P’s and asked their opinion about the drug. Both said that although not my G P they would not recommend taking another drug as I led a healthy lifestyle.

So why was my doctor so keen to promote the drug?

Is it to help reduce the risk of heart disease?

Do G P practises benefit in any way when patients start taking additional medication that might not always be essential?

Why in this case did the doctor not start a conversation about my lifestyle, diet, and exercise, when as it states in the article, ‘the decision should be based on a conversation with your GP and should be combined with other measures such as eating a healthy diet and exercising regularly to get the most benefit,”

This all happened before the first Covid pandemic lockdown. About 3 months later I needed to phone the surgery and I spoke to a nurse. When she asked me about statins and I said no, her attitude was very terse and abrupt.

Educating or empowering patients with information about a healthier lifestyle would serve the NHS far better than just to prescribe another drug. Drugs cost money and we constantly hear from the Government how the resources in the NHS are stretched. Advice is free and it is our responsibility to look after our health.

There are so many unanswered questions that I would like to put to health specialists. Also continue my search for resources that I can use to help me lead a happier and healthier life.

When my parents were alive, they regularly had their prescription drugs for each day sorted out at breakfast time. Each year the number of pills increased. Eventually I pressed them to ask their doctor for a drug review. The result was both had their medication amended to align with their health needs at that time. They felt better and happier having had a discussion with their doctor.

As more information is available via the internet, (not always to be trusted) we are talking to a triage nurse before being allotted an appointment. Will this result in a breakdown of communication between patients and doctors due to pressure in the NHS?

A generic pack of the controversial cholesterol preventative drug Statin – with logos removed

#statins #prescription #drugs #healthyliving

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Business

Preparing Your Business for Sale: A Friendly Guide

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This is the first guest blog. I have asked people I know and trust to write articles for the blog. All will be written by individuals and small businesses to empower the readers with information.

The subject is about buying or selling a business and the contributor has 18 years’ experience in this area of expertise.

So, you’re thinking about selling your business! That’s a big step, and it can be a bit overwhelming at first. But don’t worry, with a little bit of preparation, you can attract buyers and increase its value. In this guide, we’ll break down the common steps you need to take to get your business ready for sale and make the process as smooth and stress-free as possible.

Determine Your Business’s Value

Knowing the fair market value of your business is crucial to your decision making. If you want to retire, the value will be an important part of your pension planning, and you need to know if it is enough or not. A business broker will give you a clear indication of value, market conditions and the time it will take to find a buyer. They are a part of your advisory team guiding you through the process

Get Your Financials in Order

The first thing you’ll want to do is gather all your financial records and documents, like tax returns, profit and loss statements, and balance sheets. Make sure everything is up-to-date and organised so that potential buyers can easily see the financial health of your business. A buyer will want to see at least 3 years of records, but possibly going back to pre pandemic to be able to fully assess any Covid specific trends.

Make Your Business Profitable

Buyers are always on the lookout for profitable businesses with a strong track record of growth. If your business has room for improvement in this area, now’s the time to focus on increasing profits and cash flow. Selling a business is not the time to minimise profits to reduce your tax bill.

Update Your Business Plan and Operations Manual

Your business plan and operations manual are the ultimate guide for your business. After you’ve sold it’s these documents that the new business owner will want to refer to for guidance. Make sure they are up-to-date and showcase your business in the best light possible.

Get Legal Issues Sorted

Before putting your business up for sale, it’s essential to make sure you have all your legal ducks in a row. This could mean reviewing contracts, ensuring necessary licenses are valid, permits are in place, and any disputes with employees or customers are resolved.

Upgrade Your Technology and Equipment

If you have not invested in new technology or equipment which is seen as standard in your sector, a buyer will want to bring it in. They will estimate a cost to upgrade and will deduct that cost from any offer made to you to purchase. Do these upgrades yourself and you are in control of the costs. You also benefit from the upgrade before sale.

Make Your Business Look Good

First impressions do matter, and the physical appearance of your business is no exception. Make sure it’s clean and well-maintained, and that it presents a professional image to potential buyers. A car that has been through a valet will attract more interest than one which is filthy.

Hire professionals

Hire a business broker to be by your side throughout your business sale. They have gone through hundreds of sales and know how to navigate every circumstance. But you will also need your accountant and a commercial solicitor as part of your team during the process. Experience is essential.

Marketing Strategy

Finally, it’s time to find buyers! If your marketing strategy doesn’t reach the people who want to buy, the rest of these tips are redundant.  A Business Broker will have access to relevant advertising platforms, supplemented with old fashioned letter writing and modern social media posts. Most importantly, the marketing strategy needs to be relevant to your business sector to reach the people who will ultimately buy.

In conclusion,business owners have more options and are generally able to get a higher price for their business if they make exit planning an ongoing part of their business plans. You needn’t make huge decisions today, but it is important that you start to plan.

And if you want to speak to a Business Broker with 18 years of experience in valuing and selling businesses, please connect with alex@uscita.co.uk

Good luck!

Health and Wellness, Travel, Writing

ARE HOLIDAYS REALLY A BREAK FROM WORK?

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Swapping tales of faraway places with family and friends conjures up images of visits to places we never imagined. Some are on our bucket list, but many are inspired from the dreams of the conversations.

So why do we go on holiday?

First most of us look forward to a break of two weeks to see another part of the world, sit in different surroundings and experience a new lifestyle. If we really like the experience we might return the following year or at a later date.

My first experience of another country was with my parents and holidaying in France. We stayed in a holiday camp run by the French Railways. We never returned!

My next was to the Balearic Islands staying in a villa with a number of other people I had not met before. I continued going on these holidays to stay in villas outside the main tourist areas for 8 years. It was on one of these breaks that I met my wife.

Packing a bag, catching a flight, and arriving at a Mediterranean destination at an unsociable hour was something I took in my stride. Before the advent of mobile phones  and the internet, if I was delayed on the return journey, it  was very difficult to advise my employer. If flights or trains were delayed or cancelled there, no advance warning just turn up, join the throng of passengers and hope that you could find a chair or piece of floor to sit on.

Then technology took over. If delayed somewhere, you could phone the office and warn them. Then I heard tales of how some employers then asked employees to take their phone so they are always available, and their holiday can be interrupted by a manager or director. 

So why do we put up with all the inconvenience of delays, other irritable passengers, risk of illness and the myriad of other things that can happen for two weeks away from work?  After all, the holiday is there to help recharge our batteries so we can continue performing at the highest optimum level for our paymaster and enhance our lives.

Generally U K travellers opt for a beach holiday in preference to a city break, followed by a break in the peace and quiet of the countryside.

What happens from the moment we make our decision?

A major factor is stress. Are we going to the right destination at the best time of year for us? Holiday booked; deposit paid. Will the agent or tour company remember to ask for the balance of money to be paid? (One year a company forgot, cancelled my holiday, and then blamed me for not paying them. They put the wrong payment date on the invoice) Tickets, passports and suitable clothing. Have we ticked off all the other items we need that have been added to  the holiday list?

Lets look at health. In the U K we do not get enough Vitamin D. Lets get a top up on holiday.

‘Vitamin D helps regulate the amount of calcium and phosphate in the body. These nutrients are needed to keep bones, teeth and muscles healthy. A lack of vitamin D can lead to bone deformities such as rickets in children, and bone pain caused by a condition called osteomalacia in adults’.

https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/vitamins-and-minerals/vitamin-d/#:~:text=Vitamin%20D%20helps%20regulate%20the,condition%20called%20osteomalacia%20in%20adults

Some tips when travelling abroad:

  • Travelling abroad means we’ eat ‘foreign food and drink the local water’. Travellers’ tales about hygiene exist and are sometimes exaggerated. We just need to be aware and take due diligence.
  • Language. Unless you are going to another English speaking country, be prepared to take a phrase book and learn some simple phrases. My experience is the that the locals love it when they hear visitors attempting to speak their language and respond in a positive way. Speaking another language will also help stimulate our brain.
  • Be aware of local customs and dress accordingly. I have seen people turned away from places of worship and restaurants because of their clothing, or lack of it.

Here is a list of simple tips recommended by ABTA

https://www.abta.com/tips-and-advice/planning-and-booking-a-holiday/local-laws-and-customs

Travelling can and should be fun. We can take so much of the stress away by thinking positively and including the travel as part of our holiday. Airport staff, baggage handlers, customs officials, cabin crew are there to help and most have a smile on their faces when talking to travellers. They are not servants to our needs but there to help the smooth transition in that part of our journey.

When I arrive in that foreign country, I have found that if I smile and address them in their language, I feel better and I generally get excellent service.

This year when I travel, I will be thinking how fortunate I am and looking forward to a new experience even if it is to a part of the world I have visited before.

Are you as the reader looking forward to a holiday in 2023? I love to read recommendations of places to visit and when to travel.

Bon Voyage!

Footnote:

From 1st November 2023, visitors to the  E U, (European Union) will have to apply for an ETIAS authorisation before travelling. For residents of the U K, this is happening because the country decided to leave the E U.

https://etias.com/

Health and Wellness, healthy living, Restaurants

What is Your WHY?

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Since I started self-employment business in 1989, I have met and enjoyed the company of many business owners connected with food manufacturing and retailing.

Many of these business owners have been very innovative with new ideas in their development kitchens. This has necessitated of course, the need to sample the products before they are produced for sale. Much of this sampling means that either the owner eats an excessive amount of food and often an unbalanced diet. I have occasionally enjoyed sampling some of these foods. Sadly not all of product development results in the products being available for sale or on the menu.

Walking through a restaurant recently having enjoyed an excellent meal, a voice rang out ‘Mr & Mrs Girling’. I noticed a couple standing by the bar with a friendly looking dog. As I passed the couple, I looked round expecting to see a familiar face. I didn’t recognise anyone.

Ann, who was behind me, stopped and said ‘Iain, you nearly walked past Peter’. He was standing there with his wife.

Talking to Peter and listening to his story reinforced how important a ‘WHY’ can be. Their excellent Liverpool based restaurant ** suffered during lockdown in 2020 and 2021. He was by his own admission, putting on excess weight due to much sampling of new ideas for the menu and eating the wrong foods at different times of the day.

A visit to the doctor confirmed his worse fears. Peter was diagnosed with Type 2 Diabetes. His physician sought to address the issue by immediately writing out prescriptions for medication.

His choice was to continue or change his lifestyle. Taking medication for the rest of his life was in his words ‘not an option’. Peter made the decision to change knowing his wife would support him every step of the way. 

Over the next few months, Peter did his research on the internet looking for the answers. He then designed a new regime of healthy eating for himself, whilst still overseeing new options for the business. The results have been phenomenal. He has dropped his weigh by over 40kg, is looking healthier and has a new zest for life.

Peter is continuing to monitor his food intake and through his decision decided that the business should look at the menu with healthier eating options for his clients. Many of these people will have themselves suffered with health issues because of the Covid pandemic. Either working from home or being furloughed has increased stress and other work related illnesses.

Peter now can spend more time with his wife, Elaine, family and playing with his grandchildren. Also because of the decision he took, Peter is no longer taking medication for Type 2 Diabetes. This is proof that as individuals we can all take responsibility for our health and wean ourselves off prescription medication that doesn’t always serve us.

Every day, he has his ‘WHY”. and Peter, is proof that if a ‘WHY’, is strong enough we can all change our habits and improve our lifestyle.

I have my own diabetes story too. Several years ago I was looking at the NHS website and realised, to my horror, that I was at high risk of developing type 2 diabetes. I made some changes to my diet and over the last few years have reduced my weight by 10kg and that risk has massively rescinded

Too many people these days are happy to let the NHS sort out their health problems without realising that they can, like Peter, take responsibility for their own health.

Type 2 diabetes is hugely costly to our NHS ( Evidence has shown that the NHS spends around £10 billion a year on diabetes – around 10% of its entire budget – and the NHS DPP (Diabetes Prevention Programme) is highly cost effective in the long-term.*) and, if more people were to take responsibility for their own health it is largely avoidable and that cost could plummet.

Six years ago after a very enjoyable Christmas and New Year, I weighed myself and realised that at 90 + kgs, I needed to address my own health. I stopped eating cooked breakfasts at networking meetings and replaced them with food that served me and helped to balance my blood sugar levels.

If there is one thing you could change about your health, what would it be?

Lets connect and I’d love the opportunity to share what I do.

#lifestyle #healthyliving #health #diabetes #lifestylechanges #why

* https://www.england.nhs.uk/2022/03/nhs-prevention-programme-cuts-chances-of-type-2-diabetes-for-thousands/#:~:text=Evidence%20has%20shown%20that%20the,effective%20in%20the%20long%2Dterm.

**https://lunya.co.uk/