Welcome to the first edition of our new publication that shines a spotlight on all things related to your health and wellbeing. Among other things, you’ll also find an article on the warning signs to look out for with stress, and some practical tips to look after your financial wellbeing in the run up to Christmas .

Perspectivecaba.org.uk

Getting a head start on ChristmasChristmas preparations seem to start earlier every year, but with finances tighter for many of us at the moment, planning ahead makes good sense. Here are a few ideas for making this Christmas more affordable:

• Start your present shopping early to snap up the best deals – retailers are making big reductions at the moment to entice us all to buy

• Buy online and save even more. A quick search on Google, or the price comparison sites, such as moneysupermarket.com or confused.com can easily save you pounds. Cashback and voucher sites such as quidco.com are also worth checking for the latest offers from thousands of retailers

• Better still, make your own gifts this year. Homemade presents are much more personal and show that you’ve really put some thought and effort in

• Christmas saving stamps are a good way of spreading the cost of your food shop. Most of the big supermarkets now sell them and most will add bonus stamps once you’ve clocked up a certain number

• Share the cost with your family. Each person can provide one element of the meal – the turkey, drink, puddings and so on. Most people like to contribute and it makes it all much easier, and cheaper, for you

• A Secret Santa is another good way of keeping a lid on spending. Everyone buys a gift for just one other person, chosen by ballot, and only spends up to an agreed amount

• Instead of buying expensive Christmas cards, why not send free ones online this year through ecards.co.uk? Or make your own, by reprinting a child’s drawing or printing a photo with a personalised message (see moonpig.com). It says a lot more and costs significantly less

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Four years into the recession and we may be feeling the pinch. But are the new financial constraints we’re now living with teaching us some important lessons about how we live our lives?

In his book ‘The Wonderbox: Curious histories of how to live’, cultural thinker Roman Krznaric talks about how in the 20th century we became highly dependent as a society on material pleasures as a pathway to happiness. We wanted to go on exotic holidays and buy ourselves designer clothes, and to afford those things, we had to work harder. But once those desires had been met, although we may have felt an immediate rush of pleasure, our life satisfaction levels returned to their earlier levels. In other words, buying those things didn’t make us happier.

As the economist Tim Jackson put it, “We spend money we don’t have, on things we don’t need, to make impressions that don’t last, on people we don’t care about.”

What we have seen during the recession is that people are moving away from this high spending, high-consumption culture – and as a result, many of us are starting to look at how

we can live our lives in a more simple way. There is a growing recognition that if we can find happiness in things that don’t cost us anything, not only will we become less dependent on the global financial rollercoaster, we won’t need to work as much. And that means having more free time to do more of the things we care about, things that are known to make us happier, such as spending time with our loved ones or giving time to a cause we believe in.

So while the tough climate may be causing us to cut back, let’s not forget that it’s also an opportunity for us to take a step back and reassess our priorities.

The Wonderbox by Roman Krznaric is available from Amazon and all good booksellers.

Why the recession is teaching us how to live better

On the screenThe Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey

This prequel to The Lord of the Rings trilogy follows Bilbo Baggins, an upstanding member of the “little people,” on the hazardous journey with Gandalf the Grey. Together with 13 fortune-seeking dwarves, Bilbo Baggins will be swept out his door and into a dangerous but grand adventure through the Lonely Mountains, where he must contend against all manner of enemies, from dragons, to giant spiders, hostile elves, ravenous wolves, and – perhaps the most perilous of all – a subterranean

creature named Gollum from whom Bilbo wins a magical ring (the ring that rules them all) in a riddling contest!

Directed by: Peter Jackson. Starring: Sir Ian McKellen, Martin Freeman, Hugo Weaving and Andy Serkis UK release date: December 2012

On the shelvesThe Casual Vacancy J.K Rowling

When Barry Fairbrother dies in his early forties, the town of Pagford is left in shock. Pagford is, seemingly, an English idyll, with a cobbled market square and an ancient abbey, but what lies behind

the pretty façade is a town at war.

Rich at war with poor, teenagers at war with their parents, wives at war with their husbands, teachers at war with their pupils…Pagford is not what it first seems. And the empty seat left by Barry on the parish council soon becomes the catalyst for the biggest war the town has yet seen. Who will triumph in an election fraught with passion, duplicity and unexpected revelations?

From the author of the bestselling Harry Potter series, The Casual Vacancy is J.K. Rowling’s first novel for adults.

UK release date: Available now. Publisher: Little, Brown

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Ingredients450g potatoes, peeled and cut into chips

1 tbsp olive oil, plus a little extra for brushing

2 white fish fillets about 140g/5oz each

Grated zest and juice of 1 lemon

Small handful of parsley leaves, chopped

1 tbsp capers, chopped

2 heaped tbsp of fat free Greek yoghurt

lemon wedge, to serve

Getting on with getting movingAfter all the sport this summer, the nation’s interest in exercise is on the rise. Yet many of us are still much more likely to be sat on the sofa watching sport than taking part in physical activity ourselves.

So what’s stopping us from donning our trainers and hot-footing it down the gym or going for a quick jog around the block?

If we take heed of all the evidence, we know that exercise is the medicine we should all be taking. Regular exercise cuts our risk of developing major illnesses, such as heart disease, stroke and diabetes by up to 50%, and lowers our risk of dying early by up to 30%.

As well as the physical benefits, doing some kind of regular sporting activity keeps our minds ticking along healthily too, as Jodie Gill at CABA explains:

“Once you start doing some kind of regular exercise, the likelihood is that you’ll start to feel better in yourself, you’ll sleep better and you’ll have more energy. Being active is known to reduce your risk of developing conditions such as stress, depression, dementia and Alzheimer’s as well, so it’s really one of the best things we can be doing for our health.”

Get moving, however you want toIt doesn’t matter what exercise you do. The key is to find something you enjoy so that you start to think of it as something fun rather than a chore. And keep mixing things up, so that you don’t get bored. All of these activities will do the trick, as long as you’re working hard enough to break into a sweat:

• Go for a brisk walk, jog or a bike ride around your local neighbourhood

• Sign up for a class, ideally something that combines cardio and muscle-strengthening work in one, like aerobics, Step or Zumba

• Run up and down your stairs a few times, and then do some squats, lunges and press-ups (or half press-ups if you can’t manage full ones)

• Split your gym workout into three ten-minute bursts on different cardio machines

• Head to the park with the family or a group of friends for a game of football, rounders or frisbee

• Dance around your kitchen to your favourite tunes, or encourage your partner to join a dance class with you

How much is enough? Despite all the experts telling us that we should be exercising regularly, motivation – or more to the point, a lack of it – can thwart even the best intentions. With the busy work and home lives we all lead, it can be all too easy to come up with reasons not to make it to a fitness class or to fit in a run. But if we can just push ourselves to get going, like anything, exercise becomes easier once we get into a routine.

Jodie comments: “It takes just 21 days to create a habit. So once you have been exercising for three weeks you should be feeling better and exercising starts to become more habitual – and something that you can integrate into your life on a regular basis.

Most importantly, you don’t need to make a huge time commitment or complete an overly challenging workout to reap the health rewards from exercise. Experts recommend that we only need to do 20 to 30 minutes of ‘moderate-intensity’ aerobic activity three times a week, and also some type of muscle-strengthening activity and stretching twice a week, to have the greatest overall health benefits.”

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Entertainment

1. Heat oven to 200C/fan 180C/gas 6. Toss chips in oil. Spread on a baking sheet in an even layer. Bake for 40 mins until browned and crisp.

2. Put the fish in a shallow dish, brush lightly with oil, salt and pepper. Sprinkle with half the lemon juice, bake for 12-15 mins. After 10 mins, sprinkle over a little parsley and lemon zest to finish cooking.

3. Meanwhile, mix the capers, yoghurt, remaining parsley and lemon juice together, set aside and season if you wish.

4. To serve, divide the chips between plates, lift the fish onto the plates and serve with a spoonful of yoghurt mix.

Recipe makeover: healthy fish and chips with tartare sauceIn each issue, we’ll be giving a classic recipe a healthy makeover to show you how you can still eat your favourite foods and be healthy at the same time. To kick things off, the British classic fish and chips gets healthy.

Serves: 2 / Prep: 5 mins / Cook: 40 mins

Nutrition per serving: 373 calories, protein 35g, carbohydrate 41g, fat 9g, saturated fat 1g, fibre 3g, salt 0.96g

You don’t need to make a huge time commitment or complete to an overly challenging workout to reap the health rewards.

Getting a handle on

A certain amount of stress is good for us. But if levels start running too high, our mind and body pay the price.

While a degree of stress can be motivating and can help us get things done, if levels are excessive, we risk reaching stress overload or burnout, and that’s bad news for our health. Stress causes our adrenal glands to produce the hormone cortisol – and too much of it in our system puts us at increased risk of impaired cognitive performance, high blood pressure and heart disease. So while a certain amount of stress may be part and parcel of modern life, it’s important to keep an eye out for the early warning signs that things are getting too much.

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Top five stress-bustersBe active. If you’re feeling stressed, physical activity can help to clear your mind, so that you can identify the cause of your stress and deal with your problems more calmly.

Make connections. A problem shared is a problem halved. Having a good support network is a cornerstone of wellbeing in times of stress.

Make some ‘me time’. Carving out some time for yourself is essential. Try to set aside some time at least a couple of nights a week for socialising, relaxation or exercise.

Challenge yourself. Pushing yourself to learn something new, such as a new language or sport, builds confidence – which in turn helps you to become more emotionally resilient and better able to deal with stress.

Be positive. Try to be ‘glass half full’ instead of ‘glass half empty’. You can train yourself to be more positive, even if you’re a natural pessimist. Start by writing down three things at the end of each day that went well, or that you’re grateful for. You should find it helps you to look at your situation from a more positive viewpoint.

It’s not always possible to change a stressful situation, but you can usually change your reaction to it.

The following statements can help you to get a handle on whether stress might be becoming an issue. Do any of these apply to you?

• You’ve been feeling more irritable, short tempered, overwhelmed or anxious recently

• You find yourself always focusing on the negative or being constantly worried about things

• It’s hard for you to relax

• You’re sleeping a lot more or less than usual

• You’ve been having some physical symptoms (such as nausea, dizziness, aches and pains, diarrhoea, constipation, frequent colds, chest pain or a rapid heartbeat)

• You don’t really want to mix with people or socialise that much

• Loss of sexual appetite

• You’re eating much more or less than normal

• You find yourself procrastinating or neglecting your responsibilities

Take steps to manage stressIf you answered yes to any of these, it could be a sign that stress is becoming a problem. If you’re worried that may be the case, the first step is to take some action, and not just hope it will go away on its own. Talk to your GP or call the CABA helpline on 0800 107 6163, and then start looking at how you can alleviate excessive stress in your life (see the panel opposite for some ideas on how to do this).

Wendy Saunders, Head of Development at CABA, comments:

“It is not always possible to change a stressful situation, but you can usually change your reaction to it. Stress management is really about taking charge and looking at what changes you need to make to reduce your stress levels. This could mean changing the way you think about a situation, making changes to your schedule or your environment, or looking at how you can handle problems differently. And at stressful times, it’s even more important to take care of yourself, and set time aside for rest and relaxation.”Visit caba.org.uk/training for a full list of stress management courses in your area.

Free independent support for chartered accountants and their families

Call CABA on +44 (0) 1788 556 366 CABA 24 hour helpline 0800 107 6163 (UK only) Email enquiries@caba.org.uk

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