Margaret Miles-Bramwell OBE HonMUniv FRSA

Ben and Laura

2010-08-01T15:09:00.001+01:00

Margaret Miles-Bramwell OBE HonMUniv FRSA: Togetherness

2010-08-01T13:11:00.000+01:00

Margaret Miles-Bramwell OBE HonMUniv FRSA: Togetherness

Togetherness

2010-08-01T13:09:00.001+01:00

p110-111_MMB's letterMayJuly v3.pdf

Facebook | Margaret Whittaker I'm aware of the systematic psychological battering of some of my friends. It kills me to see it. There must be something seriously wrong with these guys. Maybe we should start a group - we'd have to call it something that sounds totally unrelated to the 'bastard' species though. Any suggestions?

2010-08-01T13:04:00.000+01:00

Facebook | Margaret Whittaker I'm aware of the systematic psychological battering of some of my friends. It kills me to see it. There must be something seriously wrong with these guys. Maybe we should start a group - we'd have to call it something that sounds totally unrelated to the 'bastard' species though. Any suggestions?

I HAD A DREAM Slimming World's 40th anniversary year, 2009

2010-08-01T12:58:00.001+01:00

MMB interview_ks_v3.pdf

Slimming World Man of the Year 2010 Stuart Howells shows his ... on Twitpic

2010-07-25T18:06:00.000+01:00

Slimming World Man of the Year 2010 Stuart Howells shows his ... on Twitpic

Express.co.uk - Home of the Daily and Sunday Express | Express Yourself :: 40 years of successful slimming

2010-06-06T09:40:00.000+01:00

Express.co.uk - Home of the Daily and Sunday Express | Express Yourself :: 40 years of successful slimming

Leanne Needham - Slimming World's Young Slimmer 2009

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16st 9lbs lighter - meet Slimming World's Greatest Loser 2009

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What Slimming World means to me

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I've transformed my weight, I've transformed my life - with Slimming World

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Thanks to Slimming World I'm 8 stones lighter - for life!

2010-06-06T09:12:00.001+01:00

Because of Slimming World...

2010-06-06T09:12:00.000+01:00

Because of Slimming World...

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Jumping Jack Flash - 7½ stones lighter!

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20 stones lighter - meet Mr & Mrs Slimming World

2010-06-06T09:10:00.000+01:00

Slimming World's Woman of the Year 2009 - Rebecca Wheatley

2010-06-06T09:09:00.000+01:00

Biggest Loser UK Winner's Story - Jodie Prenger - Part 2

2010-06-06T09:07:00.000+01:00

Slimming World Members Tell Their Story

2010-06-06T09:04:00.000+01:00

Raise Your Voice (Nottingham's World Cup Anthem)

2010-05-27T17:56:00.000+01:00

Hey guys, pretty good! Well done Nottingham!

Eat Out and Lose Weight

2009-01-08T05:56:00.002Z

Lose Weight Eating Out

You don’t have to give up your social life, you don’t have to give up your weight-loss dreams, and you don’t have to give up on your favourite dishes.
Mini-Meals at Mood Beach Portals are the latest thing to help you lose weight and enjoy eating out on a budget. 5 euros is the price of each Mini-Meal, so your social life won’t be a strain on your pocket and these delicious tapas-size mini-meals won’t add to your weight problems. It’s a real alternative for real people and great value for money.
The idea for the mini-meals started out as a simple bar tapas menu in Mood’s Blue Bar Lounge. It was then expanded to give a fresh alternative on Boxing Day and proved to be such a hit that it’s now become a feature that will run through the whole of the winter months both in the bar and as a choice in the restaurant too.
Enjoy the Mood Mini-Burger, a neat little mini version of their famous Moodburger, complete with mini baps, a mini serving of chips and all and topped off with a quail’s egg. Take a Thai green curry with chicken or langoustines nestled in pure white rice and finish off with the dessert of the day – quite simply delicious and ingeniously quite simple. Choose from no less than 20 delicious dishes with delights like mini montaditos, toasted wholemeal bread served with scrambled eggs and wild mushrooms or smoked salmon – and how about a mini serving of tempura fish and chips! And like all great and simple ideas you have to wonder why someone didn’t do it sooner.

Your Actions Speak Loudest

2009-01-07T18:57:00.002Z

I’m a mother of six – two step-children (in their 40’s now), another one we adopted (Tony says we kidnapped him – he was a young teenager at the time) and I proudly gave birth to three. My youngest is just 28. So although I hate giving advice to parents (people in glass houses and all that), and having made enough mistakes as a parent to make anybody else feel quite smug (my kids are really nice and forgive me most of these dubious errors!), but when it comes to weight loss, I feel I have to ‘step up to the plate’ (sorry about the pun!).

I know we think teenagers are God’s punishment for enjoying sex, but one of the most difficult and distressing situations a parent can face is having an overweight teenage son or daughter and seeing this affecting their lives. At this young age, you have every right to be concerned, because in most cases these days, it just gets worse. Unfortunately there are no easy answers and no quick fixes, yet there are things you can do. It’s tricky though. Get it wrong and you’ll simply have a rebellious teenager on your hands. I speak from experience! So here are a few tips of what to do that will actually help to avoid some of the pitfalls.

Let them know how much you love them and value them. List all the things about them that you love and tell them that even when they behave like a ‘Kevin’ they are just being normal teenagers and it never stops you from loving them. Your love for them is intuitive, impossible to switch off and unconditional.
Get into their map of the world. Show them you understand how unfair it can be when other teenagers appear to be able to eat anything and stay slim. It’s hard for anyone to understand and believe that most of their friends only seem to ‘get away with’ eating to excess, and so often what you think you see isn’t the whole story.
Tell them you understand about peer pressure from their friends and let them know that you can remember what it was like for you as a teenager and how much more difficult it is for them in this day and age.
Let them know why you worry about them and what you see the future holds for them as an obese adult who from their teens has been slowly but surely gaining weight.
Let them know you are there for them to listen, sympathise, empathise and care about them and their feelings.
Let them know that when they decide, not you, when they decide they want to do something about their weight you’ll do whatever you can to support them.
Be a good role model. Personally demonstrate by example good habits, eating, drinking and activity levels.
Organise fun days where you all get away from the TV and computer games and do something active
Serve up home-cooked family meals and make sure these are relaxed, enjoyable and absolutely non-confrontational family gatherings. No nagging, no digs about portion-size and no innuendo about their size!

Not easy is it? The changes need to start with you. Your actions speak much louder than your words. It’s a real test of your caring and it requires dedication and patience and the whole family’s cooperation and understanding.

You have my heartfelt good wishes.

Margaret x

Hunger Out - Love In!

2008-05-08T07:38:00.005+01:00

Freedom Non-Diet Diet
Just to clarify, the 'Freedom Non-Diet Diet' is not one I'm actually recommending. Going hungry is not something that is particularly appealing and this system does not fit the range of Food Optimising choices and so is not a recommendation to Slimming World members. It is, though, a factual report on how some people achieve weight loss. In fact, it is a system that drives more and more people to Slimming World as Slimming World has the way to lose weight without hunger. Going hungry has always been the weight loss route that is the downfall for so very many people. Slimming World has turned all of this on its head for the past 39 years.

Close To You
For anyone who is lucky enough to live in the UK, you most likely have a weekly Slimming World group close to you. Go to it. Use it. Take advantage of it. It is, without question, the absolute best possible way to lose weight. If you haven't succeeded on your own, then go and get the very best help available on the planet. It's virtually on your doorstep. The methods we use at Slimming World are so profound, so compassionate, so confidential, so warm, so supportive, they simply provide the best possible environment for anyone wanting and needing to lose weight in order to enjoy life to the full. The weekly fee is less than a packet of cigarettes! There's a money-back guarantee, because people never believe they can eat that much and lose weight, but of-course we can and do, hence the reassurance of a money-back guarantee.

Integrity And Intelligence Working For You
If you could meet the people who run Slimming World, you'd realise why the company is so respected and admired by not only the hundreds of thousands of people who have been helped but also by health professionals - doctors, nutritionists, psychologists, dieticians. The people who work behind the scenes are some of the most dedicated, sincere, intelligent people of integrity I have ever had the privilege to work with. They knock themselves out on a daily basis to make sure that the service delivered to you in the group is, quite simply, the best.

Passion And Love Working For You
And as for the people delivering that service, our Consultants, all I can tell you is that they are every bit as passionate as I am when it comes to your success. I still don't quite 'get it' when people don't come to Slimming World but struggle alone or go elsewhere where the fees are often higher and the support is not just lower, it's non-existent. Maybe they don't believe a group of people talking about slimming can possibly help them. Maybe they are afraid their weight will be announced publicly, maybe they're afraid to commit in case they fail. Whatever the reason, I know that for every single member who walks through our doors, it's taken courage. And I know that if that person happens to be male, they have more 'bottle' than 90% of the male population. And what I also know is that they'll never regret that decision - just maybe regret that they didn't do it sooner.

I also know from all the marvellous letters I get from our members that you love Slimming World. Slimming World loves you - and as you've discovered, love changes everything!

Femme Fatale “Freedom” weight loss programme

2008-04-24T08:33:00.002+01:00

Femme Fatale “Freedom”
the second in the series of no-diet weight loss programmes

The basic premise of the Femme Fatale “Freedom” programme is to only eat foods of high quality, in very small portions and to savour every bite. This follows the no-diet style of keeping trim and sexy adopted by those elegant female Parisiennes.

With this system you eat and drink anything and everything but in extremely small portions. How do you know they’re small? Imagine your normal portions, then halve it and halve it again! Then eat very slowly and savour each tiny forkful and each tiny sip.

This requires a strength of will that few UK foodies have mastered, but the advantages are many. After surviving the initial feelings of starvation, (trust me, they are bad!) you will find that within 3 weeks your appetite will reduce and you’ll have established a new habit and you’ll really start to appreciate the flavours and the quality of the food. The reason you won’t be able to alternate with Simple Success Express now becomes more apparent, as with SSE you can stuff yourself until you’re full.

‘Freedom’ brings a slightly slower weight loss, especially if you take your portions size reduction in easy stages, (halve it for two weeks, then halve again for the next two weeks), then stay with it for life! But the results are fantastic and once you get the hang of it, you can go anywhere, do anything, and eat anything, with no restrictions, just control over your portions and speed of eating! Freedom!

BETTER OUT THAN IN?

2008-04-24T08:06:00.001+01:00

BETTER OUT THAN IN?

We've discussed the oil situation. No, not in the Middle East, here in Mallorca and, specifically, the effects on our waistline. As oil is pure fat, it is the single most fattening ingredient, calories for weight and volume. Thankfully, we don’t need that much to enjoy the health benefits of oil, or nuts or seeds, (all healthy fats, but fats nonetheless). So although talking calories is not my favourite way to help people, as it leads to the obnoxious practice of calorie-counting,it does need to be addressed in order to clear some of the more daft misconceptions about weight loss.

How we find so much to say on the subject says more about how difficult it is to slim down, as opposed to the complexity of the physiological requirements of weight loss. Losing weight is extremely straightforward. Calories in, calories out. That’s it. No more, no less. Get that balance right and you will lose weight and maintain that weight loss for life. And the facts are these:
1. It takes approximately 3,500 calories less than your body needs in order for your body to lose 1 lb or ½ kilo of body fat.
2. You can do that by either eating 3,500 less calories in terms of food or drink, or you can increase your activity level by 3,500 calories expended, while, at the same time, maintaining your present level of calorie intake. Or you can do a mixture of both.
A really good exercise I recommend to everyone, above all others, is to read the labels on the products you buy. If you thought I was going to say walking, then you have been misled by too much emphasis in the press on the wrong things. I can only imagine that the food and drink industry is such a powerful body, they don’t want food labelling to be the hot topic of the day. However, I strongly recommend you make it yours. And look at the kcals per 100 g. Forget the fats, the carbs, the fibre. To start with, just familiarise yourself with the kcals.

World Tournament of Champions

2008-04-24T07:55:00.006+01:00

The most exciting family show in Mallorca. Opened May 2008, family fun medieval style on the outskirts of Palma, Mallorca. Amazing riders will thrill with their skill and leave you hoarse (or should that be horse?) from shouting encouragement for your personal knight.

Guests experience spectacular pageantry, dramatic horsemanship, breathtaking swordplay, falconry, sorcery and romance while feasting on a four-course banquet served by your very own serf or wench.

Fantastic entertainment, live action and most certainly a KNIGHT to remember - even when that's in the afternoon!

Next door to Son Amar on the Palma-Soller road, before you get to the Soller tunnel. Matinees and evening shows. Tel: 900 200 500 (free phone).

THE TRUTH ABOUT OLIVE OIL

2008-04-24T07:50:00.003+01:00

THE TRUTH ABOUT OLIVE OIL
and we aren’t talking about Popeye’s girlfriend!

Is it slimming or is it healthy? If it’s good for you then it’s good for slimmers too, no? With slimming and health, we are usually talking one and the same, but occasionally there are exceptions. These most notable exceptions fall into the oils/fats category. Vegetable oils (especially extra virgin olive oil), and nuts and seeds can all be extremely beneficial to health but, unfortunately, not to the waistline! So, as we all here enjoying the immense pleasures of being on these glorious Mediterranean island shores, I think there are a few facts worth getting straight.

The health benefits of olive oil (extra virgin being the best, thanks to it’s lack of processing – and in Mallorca we have some of the best of the best) are due to both its high content of mono unsaturated fatty acids and anti oxidative properties. That means benefits to the heart, the stomach and some evidence that, along with fish oil, it can protect against colon cancer. A word of caution though, because if oil is heated to very high temperatures, or re-heated many times (for the purposes of deep-fat frying), then this can cause the oil to transition to contain trans fatty acids, considered by many to be even more of a threat to our health than saturated fats, like butter!

Clearly, olive oil, along with fish oil, is the good oil, the healing fat. But herein lies the rub – and the huge confusion that exists. Oil is a fat. In fact, oil is not just a fat; it is the purest form of fat. Fat is the highest calorific food group with the lowest levels of satiation and satisfaction. In fact, fats are often used commercially to assist and encourage us to eat more, not less. Put in the simplest terms, oil really is the enemy of the slimmer and every bit as fattening as butter or margarine. You will find olive oil in the Healthy Extras of Food Optimising (Slimming World’s weight reducing food program) because of its health benefits but you will see it is recommended to have only one or two tablespoons per day, because of its fattening properties.

So, like everything else in the world of nutrition, everything in moderation. Our recommendation, as always, is not to ban it from your table but instead, to treat it with the respect it deserves and treat yourself to a just a little – a small sensation - each day, that you can savour and enjoy.

2008-03-25T09:01:00.006Z

Dear Readers,

I remember chuckling to myself as I read a cheeky birthday card that showed a cartoon couple lying in bed and him saying “How was that for you darling?” “How was what for me?” she retorted.

So, I was wondering if any of you feel the same way about the always massively hyped New Year’s Eve? Was it an anti-climax? Or did the earth move for you? I hope it was something closer to the latter and that you weren’t seduced into having expectations way beyond reality। If you weren’t, then, like me, you probably had a great night। I always find New Year’s Eve both poignant and exciting। For me, it’s a time to say goodbye to the past and hello to the future. It’s a time to stretch my vision to what can be, not just what is. It’s a time to feel electrified by the possibilities of life.

I suppose it’s a bit like success, which we sometimes perceive as a single, one–off event. If we refuse to be happy unless, and until, we’ve reached our goal, be that a weight-loss goal or any other, then we could spend a great deal of our lives being miserable. I prefer the idea proffered in a quote I read recently – ‘Success is a journey, not a destination’ – very satisfying!

Actually, I have to admit to a tiny, little obsession of mine. I love inspirational quotations. I’m an absolute sucker for them. They all seem to speak to me directly. I soak them up like blotting paper. I suppose it’s not a bad thing. They certainly do inspire me reach higher, do better, improve constantly. Although I find I usually apply them to my job they can of-course be applied to anything in our lives. Here are a few that might help you with slimming or work or relationships.

• Shoot for the moon। Even if you miss, you’ll land among the stars. (Anonymous)

• First say to yourself what you would be; and then do what you have to do। (Epictetus)

• Our goals can only be reached through a vehicle of a plan, in which we must fervently believe and upon which we must vigorously act. There is no other route to success.
(Stephen A। Brennan)

• Have the courage of your desire। (George Gissing)

• People can have many different kinds of pleasure। The real one is that for which they will forsake the others. (Marcel Proust)

• What lies behind us and what lies before us are small matters compared to what lies within us। (Ralph Waldo Emerson)

A particular favourite of mine and one that I know every Slimming World Consultant has the privilege of experiencing time and time again, is this

THOSE WHO BRING SUNSHINE TO LIVES OF OTHERS CANNOT KEEP IT FROM THEMSELVES.

Wishing you the warmth of Slimming World’s special brand of sunshine throughout this cold, damp winter and beyond,

Paris is in the Mood for good

2007-09-04T01:52:00.001+01:00

Good title - not mine of-course, thanks goes to Jenny Caven at Slimming World. Well, the story is we hosted a charity event for Playing for Good - translated means, we closed the whole Mood Beach Club, restaurant and all, for the day, then fed and watered 450 people (extremely expensive water as you can imagine). However, it did give us a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to actually spend time with the likes of Paris Hilton, Goldie Hawn and a gorgeous actor and Academy Award Nominee, Terence Howard. He said I was good at hugging - its a reputation I aim to promote! And if you check out the link of Playing for Good, you'll see there are 5 extremely worthy charities who got just a little more of what they so desperately need.

As soon as I get the photos back, I will surely post them, so watch this space. Que vaya bien mis amigos.

Get in the Mood

2007-08-23T18:09:00.001+01:00

Latest venture for me has been to open a restaurant, beach bar, beach club that serves food that I can actually eat, enjoy and still lose weight! Good trick or what!

Mood Beach Club no membership required, is THE place on this beautiful island of Mallorca.

If you've never done Mallorca for years, you're missing out - big time. It is truly stunning - no wonder it became a favourite of tour operators so fast. Over the last few years Mallorca has regained its balance - development is strictly controlled now, and nothing detracts from exquisite mountains, valleys, breathtaking views - not to mention the sunshine. It's truly cosmopolitan and the night life is anything you want it to be. You can choose restaurants so sophisticated they are visited by royals and celebrities alike or you can choose low-cost easy meals at hundreds of little cafes and local restaurants. You can do night clubs or orchestras. Son Amar is a world-class variety show that rivals anything in Las Vegas and it's only a few kilometres from the centre of Palma.

Back to Mood Beach Club and for the moment I'll just post a few photographs so you can see for yourself. Here's a link but no pics on this at the moment - just lots of info

Lost just over 3 stones now - and have survived the summer so far slightly less than I was at the beginning, which, believe me, with all the visitors and eating out and entertaining is quite a feat!

What do you really want?

2007-04-01T17:34:00.000+01:00

What you really want - is that to lose weight?

And there’s the key to your success – what you really want. If you’re slimming because you feel under pressure from someone else to lose weight, the chances are you won’t make it. Has your doctor told you that you should lose weight for your health? Unless you want to look after your health and do it for your own sake, you’ll simply end up resisting every lifestyle change you’ll need to make. Has your partner told you it’s about time you did something about your expanding waistline? If you resisted a swift swipe to their solar plexus, chances are you’re still feeling hurt, angry and resentful, and that’s not going to help you achieve your goals.

So take a moment to think about what you want for you. If you make this huge effort to change your life, your eating patterns, your activity levels, what’s in it for you? Be utterly selfish about this. Be as trivial as you like. When you discover what’s important to you, nobody else, just you, you will have increased your chances of success ten fold. And with that success comes a feeling that is so strong, so good, so profound that I find it hard to capture in words.

The difference of having far greater self-esteem is beyond anything we can imagine until we’ve experienced it. To say it’s about having more confidence is true, but that only tickles the edges. It’s about an inner peace that has to be there, if you want what we all want – happiness. And that happiness shines through and keeps us warm no matter how grey the day, no matter what daily problems beset us. It’s the source of amazing joy – an old-fashioned word maybe but the only one that really captures for me the essence of what improved self-esteem brings.

The other marvellous thing about this success that leads to improved self-esteem that in turn brings this amazing happiness into our lives is that success is virtually immediate and ongoing. If it’s five stone you want to lose, then the minute you start making better decisions about food, you can feel it. You don’t have to wait until you’ve lost the five stones. And this feeling of pure pleasure and pride in yourself becomes super-charged every single week you step on those scales and see one more pound gone. And that’s boosted even more when you discover you need a size smaller in clothes and even more when other people start to notice. It’s mind-blowing!

Success really is a journey and not a destination. Enjoy the journey – it’s a fabulous ride!

Yours, as always,
Margaret x

Miracle Waiting For Slimmers

2007-04-01T11:54:00.000+01:00

Dear Slimmers,

Are you waiting for a miracle? I think most of us are at some point in our lives, especially at those times when we feel stuck between a rock and a hard place.

Slimming can feel like such a place, can’t it? We want to be slim but we don’t want to make any changes in our lifestyle, especially around food.

The problem is that while we wait for the miracle, time ticks away. Before we know it, another year has passed and we’re no closer to where we really want to be, in fact sometimes we’re even farther away. That year becomes two, then five then ten. And no miracles. Looking back, we can remember the disappointments – the ‘miracle’ pills that weren’t, the ‘miracle’ diets that weren’t.

Maybe some of us who are waiting miss the real miracles that are around us everyday. Can anything be more miraculous than having someone to love, comfort and care for. And for those of us who are really lucky we have someone who actually loves us right back.

When I was a Consultant for Slimming World, I cared deeply about my members. I know I was, to put it mildly, less than perfect. I know I made mistakes. Yet somehow my members knew that I genuinely cared about them and about their success and they forgave me everything. And I knew that they were in difficulty, their lives marred by their unwanted weight, and feeling the pain of guilt that caused them distress. They came to Slimming World, to me, for help and I did everything I could to give them the best possible help they would ever find anywhere, and they knew that. No judgements, no criticism, only support. That mutual respect, that mutual care, was an intoxicating mix that brought success to so very many.

As Chair of this amazing company Slimming World, I still feel the same about our members after 38 years and the miracle is, there are hundreds of Consultants throughout the UK who feel every bit as strongly as I do, giving their all to help each and every member in their care.

They say that in order to become very good at your job, you have to first fall in love with it. They say for a magazine to be first class, it has to be loved by the people producing it. I hope you can see what I see, I hope you can feel what I feel. A lot of love, a lot of care and a mutual respect between our members, our readers and all those people here at Slimming World who want, more than anything, what you want – your ultimate and lasting success.

In order to be slim, there are changes to be made, but they needn’t be as drastic as you may imagine. There’s a way to lose weight that doesn’t mean going hungry. There’s a way to keep motivated that doesn’t include guilt. There’s the Slimming World way.

There’s a miracle around the corner just waiting for you, when you stop waiting for the miracle.

Warmest wishes and much love, as always,

Margaret