Tuesday 12 February 2013

A Scientific Cure for Wardrobe Damp.

Autumn is well under way, soon winter will be upon us, and in preparation I've been doing some research on t'internet. I entered the words "damp in wardrobe" and came up with some remarkable facts.

Why "damp in wardrobe" I hear you ask? Well the simple fact is that all over the country wardrobes are being plagued with damp, and it seems that the problem gets worse in the winter, and is especially troublesome around Christmas time. Many people have experienced it. They hang their day to day working clothes up on 23rd December each year, and then on the 2nd of January get them out again to wear, only to find they have shrunk. Damp can be the only cause. Unless ....

My search took me on a journey,  as they often do, and I ended up finding out the best way to banish the scourge of winter damp and ensure that your clothes fit as well in the Spring as they did last Autumn. And it is not to simply buy another, brand new, damp proof wardrobe.

We are talking weight here, and evidently it is not so much what we eat, but how we use the fuel our food gives us, that causes excessive growth in the waistline region. Put simply, during the winter many people simply are not active enough.

Two things are to blame. Work, and play. More people sit down to work than ever before. Computer screens are stared at, 'phone calls taken or made, and vehicles driven. And very often a whole day is spent sitting down either working or eating.

After work we come out to play. On long summer evenings that might entail getting out and about, but in winter, when it is cold and snowy, it is a different matter. Televisions are sat in front of, nice warm cinemas are visited, restaurants are eaten in, and when we are tired and hungry after a hard day at work and a struggle home in the cold, it is all too easy to get a takeaway. Then it is a comfy sofa, in front of the fire, with a nice curry, or whatever takes your fancy, and a few hours in front of the telly.

As a nation, a lot of what we do is done sitting down, especially in the winter, and it is not doing us any good. It is time to get off our collective bums and become a bit more active. But how? Join a gym?

Actually, it turns out that you don't need to splash out a few hundred quid on a gym membership if you don't want to or can't afford it. Most gyms offer good value for money, and they will get you fit as long as you go regularly, but not joining one will not condemn you to a life of obesity. The point is that all you actually need for a relatively healthy lifestyle is a good diet and to be physically active. And one of the best ways for you to stay physically active is to go for a daily walk. If you get yourself wrapped up warm, putting those gloves and scarf that Auntie Doris gave you for Christmas to good use (admit it, you have three pairs already, you never thought you'd use them, did you) you can enjoy the best that the British countryside has to offer all year round, and the best news of all is that, by and large, it is free.

It turns out that the reason why walking is so good for you is that it helps you to not only stay physically fit, but also mentally fit as well. A brisk country walk will get the heart pumping, but it can also help to relax and soothe the mind. It can help you to deal with the stresses and strains of everyday life. And if the scenery you are walking through is particularly good it can really lift your mood and help you to beat the winter blues.

But don't just take my word for it. Have a quick look at the walks on my You Tube channel web and then imagine yourself walking beside me through the Lakeland landscape. It may not be the same as actually being here, but if it inspires you to go and seek the finest views where you live then it will have done it's job. Close to most urban areas there are landscapes with their own natural beauty just waiting to be explored, usually for FREE. And walking through them comes with the added bonus of  actually being good for your mind, body and soul. How cool is that!