As we’ve mentioned before, many of the ideas for our blog come from conversations with clients. Or, sometimes, from family or friends. Wherever we go the same topic just keeps coming up, so we take the hint (!) and the rest, as they say, is history. 

 

This week’s inspiration comes from a surprising source, conversations with those at opposite ends of the age range. Children and those of more senior years (!). 

 

What’s particularly interesting is that it’s a subject we tend to think of as affecting children, rather than “grown ups”. However the conversations we’ve had recently show this isn’t the case at all. 

 

So what are we talking about? 

 

Peer pressure – the pressure to conform. 

Thanks to our increasingly sedentary lifestyles, sitting looks set to join the list of unhealthy “activities” alongside smoking, drinking, lack of exercise and junk food. But is it just the latest health scare or is there more to sitting than initially appears? 

 

Look at the modern lifestyle and there’s no doubt that we’re less active than our parents, let alone grandparents. Fuelled by the emphasis on labour saving devices and love of the “one eyed monster” in the living room – and many other places too (!) – much of the day is spent sitting. 

 

And this doesn’t just apply to those at work but children at school too, where much of the day is spent sitting in the classroom. 

It’s ironic that so many things in modern life, designed to make our lives simpler, seem to have had exactly the opposite effect. And top of the list for many people is the modern obsession with communication. OF EVERYTHING. RIGHT NOW THIS SECOND. 

 

The internet, allowing instantaneous access to information on any topic. E mails instead of letters written on paper, with real ink and delivered by real people. Mobile phones long since used simply for talking to people. Facebook, Twitter and the like; calling for continuous updates and instant opinions on any topic under the sun. 

 

Look back only 15 or 20 years and it’s easy to see how much things have changed – and in such a relatively short time. And estimates for the future are of faster and ever more dramatic rates of change. 

Dieting is a subject which comes up regularly with clients, usually in the run up to the annual fortnight in the sun – or Christmas / New Year. The conversation tends to follow the same pattern – and one you’ll probably recognise too. 

 

It starts off with them saying that they need to lose some weight. Or have been told that they should, often by a well meaning (!) friend or family member. 

 

And how bad they feel about their body. A long list follows of all the bits they don’t like. Tummy. Thighs. Bum. 

 

Now that they’re completely miserable – and feeling bad about themselves – the focus switches to the diet itself.