LET'S START WITH THE BODY . . .

H E A L T H

It is said that first thing a man does when he wakes in morning is to look out of window to see how weather has changed overnight, and first thing a women does on waking is to look in mirror to see what night has done to her face. Enough said ... but if your look in mirror is followed by 'Oh, my God ... I could do with a face-lift, etc. etc.' (don't worry, we've all been there) before you start layering on more make-up and deciding to embark yet again on another diet/exercise regime (which will probably have been forgotten anyway by weekend), let's stop wishing, and start by trying to make best of what we have got.

We may not be able to recapture healthy glow of youth, but we may be able to inject a little sparkle by giving as much thought to inside of our bodies as we do to outside. Just think of what would happen to a house if it were not built on firm foundations. Also how would our cars run if we filled them up with wrong fuel? Similarly, how can we expect our bodies to function smoothly if we just worry about paintwork and not concentrate on engine? So analyse what you are putting into your body. Is it mainly 'comfort/grab-a-snack - I'm in a hurry' food, eg buns, crisps, chocolates etc., or is it nourishing food with all vitamins and minerals body requires to operate efficiently?

Many moons ago, a colleague of mine, who had a connection with a pharmaceutical company, said idea had been muted within company that as elderly often start day with a cup of tea and digestive biscuit, then a good way of ensuring that they receive all necessary vitamins and minerals was to add them to digestive biscuit It seemed a great idea, but when you think of how we absentmindedly dip into a packet of biscuits, then we would probably overdose on vitamins. Although we need vitamins we can also have too much of a good thing. It is worth remembering that whereas body will expel too much of say Vitamin C, body will store Vitamins A & D and an overload of these vitamins can have a detrimental effect. So leave it to experts to get balance right. It is better to start day (together with your nourishing breakfast) with a good multi-vitamin and mineral tablet. The tablet container will show RDA (which stands for 'recommended daily allowance'), and it will also show how tablet equates with this.

A good multi-vitamin and mineral supplement is Holland & Barrett's Formula for 50 PLUS called ABC PLUS SENIOR (on half-price offer at present time).

The workday begins early due to commute by train that most people endure. This can range from 20 minutes to over two hours with majority of people standing, as there are not enough seats. Walking is focal point in daily exercise regime. On average, people walk one to two kilometers to train station in morning. After arriving at closest station to their office, people typically walk another one to two kilometers to their place of business. At end of their long day, workers go through same routine. All in all, average Japanese individual will walk between three to five kilometers per day. Interestingly enough, these walks generally occur immediately or soon after meals, which helps with digestive process.