I began teaching Facial Exercise in 1976. At that time, Isometrics were only form of facial training known to public. A year later, still teaching Facial Isometrics, I became interested in weightlifting and soon after stepped into competitive bodybuilding. This move called for a marked reduction in body fat. Consequently, this loss of fat had an aging effect on my face. As a Facial Trainer this was not an acceptable trade-off!

I had no intention of giving up bodybuilding, but determined to remedy my dilemma. On a hunch that resistance training could add fullness to my face in same way it did to my body, I decided to convert each Isometric exercise into an exercise using resistance. This was beginning of 'Facial Resistance Training' Est.1979

Knowing what it took to increase muscle density (fullness), I knew resistance training would be far more aggressive than facial training I had been doing. This took a lot of nerve on my part since I, too, had been duped into thinking any handling of face could prove detrimental. When I described my new training technique, which I later dubbed ‘FlexEffect’ as ‘an extension of bodybuilding’ or ‘facialbuilding’, fellow trainers thought I was out of my mind. Frankly, I wasn’t so sure they weren’t on to something.

Much to my relief, my hunch paid off. A very short time proved facial muscles to be every bit as responsive to resistance training as rest of body. My face was still thin, but with extra lift and firmness, I went from gaunt to a healthier more athletic look.

Who would benefit?

Everyone. A better question would be: who would get most out of it? The answer to this question is person who starts early, before signs of aging set in. For them, time stands still. However, majority of testimonials reporting excellent results are not from early birds; they are from late starters -- men and women ages 45, 50 and up.

Would you say FlexEffect is better than a surgical face-lift?

FlexEffect is not a magic bullet. There are those with such sun damage and advanced facial aging that they may never be able to achieve all they hope for in training. But that doesn’t mean they can’t get all benefits that only training can offer.

Cosmetic surgery can alleviate lines and sag but it cannot replace fullness of face. In most cases surgery flattens face, which is why so many women have cheek implants inserted at time of their surgery. The exact opposite is true of facialbuilding. FlexEffect does a beautiful job replacing fullness, considered to be most youthful feature of face.

The wonders of alcohol.

The achilles heel for many people. The 'norm' for some others. And poison if you have CFS/PVFS/M.E....

I remember when I first got Post Viral Fatigue Syndrome/CFS back in 1995, I thought that having a drink or two wouldn't affect me any differently to my PRE-CFS days.

Unfortunately I didn't realise what I was doing to myself.I didn't know how badly alcohol can affect severity of CFS...

Nowadays I don't touch alcohol at all, and haven't done so for a few years now. I'd rather see at least a few hours in day instead of being bedridden for weeks on end because of one alcoholic drink!

Because when you have CFS/M.E., you might as well be pouring arsenic down your throat...

------SIDE NOTE------- Okay - so that comparison might be a little 'dramatic', but you get what I mean right? ------SIDE NOTE-------

You see when you have CFS/M.E., you are likely to develop **alcohol intolerance**...

The smallest alcoholic drink - even a tiny bit, can send you into a relapse - as I learnt hard way many years ago.

Having an alcoholic drink now and again was enough to tip severity of my CFS over edge and put me in bed indefinitely.

When a **normal** person gets drunk they may feel a bit bad for a day or so, after which, they're back to 'normal', bouncing back and raring to go.

But when a person with M.E./CFS gets drunk - or even has just one drink, they're likely to feel like 'death warmed up' for what seems like an eternity!!!

Personally, I don't actually like alcohol much so I don't miss it. But even if I did, I have realised that alcohol no longer makes me feel way it used to before I had CFS...

Drinking alcohol now feels like I'm feeding myself poison, and my body reacts accordingly - i.e. a relapse - and I suffer consequences for a long, long time afterwards.

Unfortunately, us CFS sufferers are just not strong enough to resist poisons of alcohol. So it's unfortunately a case of accepting it, or getting much, much worse.

As Dr Shepherd writes in his book 'Living With M.E.':