Latest news with #Bec
Hindustan Times
6 days ago
- Health
- Hindustan Times
Fitness coach shares 5 tips to 'stay on track with fat loss when life gets busy': Track less, plan more
Bec Gibbs is an online weight loss coach who shares tips and hacks for women, especially, on how to shed the extra kilos. From workout tips to diet hacks, Bec shares it all on her Instagram profile on a regular basis. On July 10, Bec shared how to stay on track with weight loss consistently. Bec added that while life might get busy, with the right habits, we can still continue with our fat loss journeys. Also read | Overeating derailing your weight loss plans? Dietician suggests 3 hacks to control your cravings While life might get busy, with the right habits, we can still continue with our fat loss journeys. (Freepik) 'How to stay on track with fat loss when life gets busy. Let's be honest, life isn't going to slow down. So, the key is learning how to stay consistent through the chaos,' she wrote. Here are 5 tips she suggested: Plan your weight loss meals in advance.(Shutterstock) 1. Lower your expectations, not your standards Some days it's not the perfect workout or 10/10 nutrition. It's a 20-min walk, a high-protein wrap, and water. That still counts. 2. Have go-to meals ready Keep 2–3 quick meals in rotation you can make without thinking. (E.g. protein toast + eggs, stir-fry, high-protein pasta bowl) 3. Stop aiming for perfect Missing 1 workout or eating a slice of cake isn't a failure. What you do next matters way more than what just happened. 4. Track less, plan more When time is tight, following a meal plan takes decision fatigue off your plate. 5. Remind yourself why you started You don't need motivation every day — you need a reason to keep showing up. In an earlier interview with HT Lifestyle, Dr Jaison Paul Sharma, MBBS, MD (Internal Medicine) - consultant diabetologist at Sharma Hospital in Garhdiwala suggested, 'Focus on whole, unprocessed, fibre-rich foods while reducing intake of ultra-processed carbohydrates and sugary beverages.' he also added that sleep is an underrated weight loss habit which should be taken more seriously. 'Sleep is another powerful metabolic lever; poor sleep raises ghrelin and cortisol levels, promoting fat gain. Aim for 7–9 hours of quality sleep per night,' he added. Also read | Woman who dropped 11 kg shares 6 'unpopular' weight loss hacks: Don't cut out any food, stop cheat days Note to readers: This article is for informational purposes only and not a substitute for professional medical advice. Always seek the advice of your doctor with any questions about a medical condition.
The Guardian
06-07-2025
- Health
- The Guardian
After suffering a breakdown at work, a nurse has had to confront her lifetime of damaging self-sacrifice
Bec* first came in for therapy for burnout. She was a psychiatric nurse and worked at a public hospital in an inpatient unit. She sobbed during our first session, full of guilt at having had to take leave after collapsing in tears during a shift. She said she was letting her patients and team down by being away. The strength of Bec's anguish at letting people down felt disproportionate to the circumstances, and I noticed that she wasn't concerned about her tears and collapse, just about the impact of her time off on others. I probed deeper, trying to understand this. Bec said she'd been working very long hours, usually pulling double shifts a few times a week. She was proud of her work ethic and said that always being available to her team and patients was important to her. She seemed to derive most of her identity from her professional role. While she had a partner, she was often too tired to see her girlfriend, or to socialise with friends or exercise. She was often stressed because of her long hours but felt too guilty to make any changes and kept pushing through her tiredness and stress, until the day she broke down crying. It felt important to understand Bec's relationship with work in the context of her underlying personality traits and the beliefs she had formed about herself. Often, when people are over-invested in work, they have a psychological makeup characterised by themes of self-sacrifice, abandonment of their own needs, perfectionism, enmeshment with others and the need to 'earn' their place in the world. We spoke about Bec's early life during our first few sessions. She was raised by a single mother who had a serious mental illness and difficulties with addiction, and was repeatedly admitted to hospital. Bec was her mother's carer from the age of 13, managing appointments and medication, soothing her mother and remaining attuned to her moods, remaining alert to the possibility of overdose, and helping with daily tasks. She developed great empathy for those who were unwell and said that she had a strong desire to help others, leading to her decision to train as a psychiatric nurse. She'd been praised from a young age for being so 'mature, kind and giving', and she had learned that her value lay in these qualities. Bec had almost no emotion in her voice and body language when she told me about her childhood. She seemed nonchalant about her mother's difficulties and dismissive when I reflected that becoming a carer at a young age would have come with struggles, such as missing out on important adolescent experiences or being able to live free of worry. 'It is what it is,' she said, and this was a line she would repeat multiple times throughout our therapy, each time I touched on anything sensitive. Bec's difficulties struck me as difficulties that had been decades in the making. While she was 45 when she saw me, her patterns of overwork had commenced as soon as she started working as a nurse. She over-identified with this role and told me she couldn't sleep at night when clients were not doing well. Bec's pattern was typical of the archetype of the wounded healer. Many people drawn to helping professions such as nursing, psychology or paramedicine have experienced difficulties in life that have predisposed them to wanting to help others as a way of finding their own healing. They often re-enact early patterns, such as self-sacrifice. The wounded healer has been hurt but has not engaged in any healing work. They may try to resolve their own hurts by helping others. While people with this pattern can make excellent clinicians and healers with great empathy and sensitivity, this is usually facilitated by self-discovery, insight and good boundaries, and engagement in recovery work. When the wounded healer pattern is unrecognised, the outcomes can be disastrous with malignant behaviours, such as positioning oneself as a saviour, working to the point of collapse, or breaching boundaries with patients. As therapy progressed, Bec and I started to explore the messages of self-sacrifice she had unknowingly absorbed. The day she spoke about her sadness at having missed her school formal because she was caring for her mother was a turning point. We could then start to speak about the role of children in a family and the impacts of being parentified. We worked on emotional recognition and healthy lifestyle management, as well as boundaries. We needed to do a lot of work with the part of Bec that felt guilty for holding boundaries, as well as the guilt she felt when talking about her resentment toward her mother. We encouraged regular rest and worked on helping Bec understand and meet her own emotional and physical needs. Her progress in therapy was slow as the ground we covered was vast, but this work allowed Bec to have a more realistic appraisal of the importance of work, and to nurture an identity outside the self-sacrificial healer role. * Bec is a fictitious amalgam to exemplify many similar cases that I see Dr Ahona Guha is a clinical and forensic psychologist, trauma expert and author from Melbourne. She is the author of Reclaim: Understanding Complex Trauma and Those Who Abuse, and Life Skills for a Broken World In Australia, support is available at Beyond Blue on 1300 22 4636, Lifeline on 13 11 14, and at MensLine on 1300 789 978. In the UK, the charity Mind is available on 0300 123 3393 and Childline on 0800 1111. In the US, call or text Mental Health America at 988 or chat
SBS Australia
26-06-2025
- Politics
- SBS Australia
Jailing is failing: conference calls for re-think of youth crime crackdown
Bec is a resident of Queensland who says she and her family have been the victims of a series of break-ins allegedly perpetrated by a gang of juveniles. "As a victim, our entire family has been traumatised. We feel like prisoners in our own home now, in ways in which we never thought we would be. That should be where we feel the most safe but now we feel vulnerable." Bec is calling for justice to be served. "Yeah, to punish the people responsible in an adequate way." Bec and her family are among the public faces of a push by the Queensland government to introduce tougher laws to address what they say is a youth crime crisis. Children as young as 10 can now face similar jail time to adult sentences for a range of offences, after the state government passed a tranche of controversial crime laws - as Queensland Premier David Crisafulli told Channel 9 in early June. "We passed the first round of 'adult crime, adult time' before Christmas. In the past couple of weeks we've passed the second round." Stronger approaches have been adopted or are being considered across the country. Tasmania is said to be mulling a similar policy to Queensland's, and in New South Wales and the Northern Territory, they've brought in tougher bail laws - the Territory's coming after a Darwin shopkeeper was allegedly being killed by a young man who was out on bail. The Top End also lowered the age of criminal responsibility to just ten years of age in its first week of parliamentary sittings in 2024. Queensland Premier David Crisafulli says he makes no apologies for the approach his government has taken. "Before the election, I spent a lot of time listening to victims. Now it's time to deliver for victims. And I am still driven by that." But not everyone is on board. The Chair of the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child - Ann Skelton - has criticised the new laws, saying they display a flagrant disregard for children's rights. "We do not agree that the so-called exceptional circumstances warrant what will be a flagrant disregard for children's rights under international law... We urge the government of Queensland to stand firm with the principle that children should be treated differently from adults in the criminal justice system." Katie Kiss is the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice Commissioner. She's told NITV News the Queensland government's approach is a mistake. "I would encourage them to demonstrate some integrity here and to actually reconsider their positioning on this to ensure that while yes we agree that the rights of victims and those experiencing harm from crime are also supported in this process, but that does not give people the opportunity or the right to take away the human rights of our children." In Mparntwe Alice Springs, scores of experts and advocates have gathered for what's known as the Reintegration Puzzle Conference. Among them is a Noongar woman named Rocket, who these days works with the Justice Reform Initiative, but has spent time in prison. "I was in and out most of my life from like, two weeks after my 18th birthday. And it was just like they had a revolving door at the front of the prison until something finally clicked. And I got sick of seeing that revolving door and seeing Aboriginal women going in and out, in and out." Rocket is worried about the nationwide crackdown on law and order - and there are plenty at the conference who feel the same way. Catherine Liddle is the chief executive of children's organisation SNAICC - or the Secretariat of National Aboriginal and Islander Child Care - and an Arrernte/Luritja woman from Central Australia. She is concerned that these recent government responses are punitive approaches that will actually make contact with the justice system for vulnerable young people more likely - especially Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. "We are standing in the middle of an incredible storm, and at the centre of that storm are children; in particular, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children." The numbers appear to back up these concerns. Figures from the Productivity Commission indicate that First Nations youngsters are detained in youth detention facilities at 22 times the rate for non-Indigenous youths. Northern Territory Children's Commissioner, Shahleena Musk, has told NITV this is more than evident in the Top End. "The Northern Territory has the highest detention rate in the nation. On any given day, 94 per cent to 100 per cent of children in custody are Aboriginal children. So we're regressing when it comes to Closing the Gap targets, we're failing to meet national and international standards and commitments, and we're failing to protect the and promote rights of really vulnerable children who are being catapulted through these systems." Robert Tickner was the Australian Minister for Indigenous Australians in the Hawke and Keating governments. He was handed the report of the 1991 Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in custody - and says even after all these years, little has changed anywhere in the country. "In the three and a half decades almost since the Royal Commission report came down, things have really gotten worse. And at this particular point in time we're at the lowest point we've been. We've got now record levels of Aboriginal incarceration right around Australia, and we've got a youth detention centre which is totally failing. It's almost at the point of collapse." Advocates say the law and order systems championed by state governments are often problematic because they do little to reduce rates of re-offending, or to address the reasons why people end up in youth detention or adult prisons. They say the evidence shows most people entering prison usually arrive there because of an underpinning cycle of trauma or disadvantage, and that prison both exacerbates and entrenches a broader cycle which needs to be broken. Rocket says she has seen this first-hand. "You know, I've seen how the system was just churning people out - in and out, in and out - and it really annoyed me. I got really mad about nothing being done to stop the offending. Like, I was an addict and you know, there was no programs for me to address my addiction. All I had to learn about was my triggers and stuff. And once I learned about them I was able to change my life and address my addiction." There's also evidence to back up the concern that help isn't there within the system at an early enough stage to make a difference. A 2022 report from the Sentencing Advisory Council in Victoria said that children who are first sentenced between the ages of 10 and 12 are more likely to reoffend than those first sentenced when they are older. And Shahleena Musk says in her jurisdiction, 85 per cent of children who had previously spent time in custody were returned to prison within 12 months. Catherine Liddle argues that state governments serious about keeping people out of prison should invest in local communities and the strengthening of families - something she says dozens of other reports and reviews have also recommended. "If we're truly investing in diversionary tactics, if we're truly investing in our communities, then we're saying at this moment in time if a child is unsafe, what do they need? And as a parent - and any parent in the country will know this - when they look at their children and they're sitting with them at the dinner table, they know that they need food. They know that they need a house. They know that they need shoes. They know that they need to be able to go to school, to play sport, to learn how to adult, to have a girlfriend, to go to a Christmas party, to go to a birthday party. These are things that are fundamental. Investing in an environment, investing in the programs, investing in the services that support that for all families stops children hitting tertiary interventions." The state governments are pushing back against these kinds of arguments. Northern Territory Chief Minister Lia Finocchiaro says the Country Liberal Party believes they have done the right things. "We're very strong and comfortable with our decision to lower the age (of criminal responsibility). If we're capturing young people early while that offending is in its infancy, we can turn their life around through boot camps and bush camps, and other alternative sentencing options." Queensland's Minister for Youth Justice and Victim Support, Laura Gerber, says the state has taken steps to increase support for vulnerable children, and have established SecureCare facilities for young people with mental health needs. And in Victoria, Attorney General Sonia Kilkenny says their approach emphasises early intervention and diversion from the justice system as key strategies. Victoria's Youth Justice Commissioner, Andrea Davidson, says now Children's Courts and the Supreme Court have the power to impose electronic monitoring and intensive supervised bail for teens in the metropolitan area - as part of their bail conditions - that's an extra incentive for youths to take their situation seriously. "The electronic monitoring trial represents a new way to support young people and help them to turn their lives around... We know that there is a small but very complex group of young people responsible for repeat offending including whilst on bail... We're committed to providing the best possible outcomes for young people in Victoria, using an evidence-based understanding of what works to address offending behaviour and divert young people away from the community justice system." Mindy Sotiri is the executive director of the Justice Reform Initiative, a group that lobbies for a reduction in the number of people in Australia's prisons. She argues that overall, governments ARE ignoring the evidence about what works to combat youth crime. She says there's also problematic attitudes towards Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people which sees them over-represented in the justice system. "The issue is that we are sending far too many people into prison. We are policing communities and imprisoning communities, rather than actually building up communities." She has told NITV a 2025 Human Rights Watch report contained examples of First Nations children being de-humanised and maltreated, highlighting cases where Australian children were subjected to harsh conditions in detention, including solitary confinement. She says children's basic needs aren't being met in some communities or families because of widespread inequality. And when that's coupled with high representation of First Nations children in the child protection system, it's a recipe for disaster - and how they end up in youth detention. "Making sure that the supports and the preventative and intervention programs that are necessary to ensure that these children are not in contact with the child safety or the justice system in the first place, is where we should be starting here, not legislation that fills the jails and the new detention centres being built." These are all problems that Tyson Carmody is trying to address. The Arrernte man is the founder and director of Kings Narrative, a support service for Aboriginal men and one of a number of grassroots organisations that seek to address the drivers of incarceration for First Nations people - especially young people. "When we can know and understand our story - and particularly our trauma stories, and in our narrative we call them Problem Stories - if we can name those stories and understand them and see them for what they are, then we have better ownership over rewriting those stories to what we call our Preferred Stories or our Stronger Stories. And from my grandfather's teachings we know that the best Preferred Stories and our Stronger Stories are found in our culture." Still, frustrations remain. Closing the Gap data released by the Productivity Commission in March showed just four of the 19 national targets are on track to be met, including Indigenous incarceration rates. Their numbers indicate Australia is not on track to meeting the targets on adult imprisonment - and in fact, things are only getting worse for young offenders. For Robert Tickner, it's little wonder. "As long as politicians keep using Aboriginal affairs as a party-political football, the people who will most lose out are Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians. But you know what? The whole nation loses out when politicians treat Aboriginal affairs in this way. We've got to get some common ground here." Others are frustrated over what they say is a consistent lack of resourcing, which has been backed up by the release of an independent, Indigenous-led review. The review was led by a group called the Coalition of Peaks, and engaged with more than 500 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and organisations across Australia. University of Technology Sydney's Jumbunna Institute director Lindon Coombes says the review found Closing the Gap goals aren't being met because too often there's a lot of talk, followed by inadequate funding to meet the need. Mindy Sotiri says there ARE signs of a willingness for genuine partnerships that do work if they're properly supported and resourced. "The system is broken. But what we can see at the moment is a real appetite to change things. We have all this evidence about what works in the community. We have all these examples of First Nations place-based programs now that really make a difference when it comes to reducing incarceration. We have incredible examples of community organisations working with people post-release that can reduce re-offending by up to 70 per cent." But Robert Tickner says real, wider change will only happen when governments of every level listen to what the experts - and the evidence - are saying, and back it up with real funding. And he says that change must start at the top. "No minister for Aboriginal Affairs - no matter how well-intentioned - can do this. This is a matter for our Prime Minister. I have a great respect for his integrity and his compassion, but on this issue, I beg of him to show leadership to get this issue before the National Cabinet."
7NEWS
08-06-2025
- General
- 7NEWS
Sam Mac's letter to all stay-at-home parents as he returns to Sunrise weather after ‘Dad leave'
Dear stay-at-home parents, I see you, I feel you and I salute you! In fact, I hereby nominate ALL OF YOU for an Order of Australia medal. I've just completed* (*= narrowly survived) my block of 'Dad Leave' where I was primary carer for our two beautiful girls while my darling fiancée returned to work. Know the news with the 7NEWS app: Download today Sleep schedules, meal prep, nappy changes, packing the snacks, cleaning the high chair, sterilising the bottles, washing the onesies, wrestling the toddler to the ground in a failed attempt to put her shoes on, the ordeal of just trying to get them out the door to the park, the ordeal of just trying to get them to LEAVE the park. It's meltdown after meltdown after meltdown, and that's just me. Am I right?! Wowsers. The PTSD is real. I'm having flashbacks to the gourmet vegetarian omelettes I lovingly prepared the girls in week one. This was a restaurant quality dish cooked to perfection and delightfully garnished and plated. Both omelettes were aggressively thrown on the floor before I'd even turned the cooktop off. I can still hear the splat sound. I remember taking a few deep breaths and writing an entry in my gratitude journal about how blessed I was to have this quality time with them. Kidding, I hid in the pantry and cried. When I eventually emerged from the pantry the toddler was eating purple play-doh. But here's the thing about parenting: Even on the worst days, there's little glimmers of magic. Little moments that you hold onto and treasure forever. Mabel, our youngest, is nine months old and this has been such a sweet spot for milestones. While I've been on 'Dad Leave' Mabel has started crawling, learnt how to wave and even said her first word: 'Dadda'! (Without this precious time, I may not have been able to successfully brainwash her). Oh, and I've experienced some milestones of my own. I've grown a beard for the first time in my life, my showers have been reduced from daily to weekly, I found my first grey hair and most shockingly of all, I became a coffee drinker (it was that or wine). Those changes might sound normal to you, but anyone who knows me will agree this is a monumental shift. This is survival. As my 'Dad Leave' comes to an end, It's time to return to my job as TV Weatherman for Sunrise, Australia's number one breakfast show. My workdays start at 3.30am where I'm on live television every morning interviewing people from all walks of life and I do approximately 130 flights per year. Now, I've intentionally left the following statement til the end of my article in the slight hope my fiancée doesn't see it, but here goes….being a stay at home parent is harder than working full time! There! I said it. Stay at home parents don't get a lunch break, there's no sick days, not even a Sunday sleep in. It's an express train of emotions and never ending tasks. I'm fully aware making that statement, in writing, will come back to haunt me and will be Bec's secret weapon to win countless arguments in our future, but it had to be said. If you are the stay at home parent, I welcome you to share this article with your partner (just ideally not with mine…I'm clinging onto the hope that statement somehow flies under her radar) And while I'm speaking my truth, I should point out, I ate that omelette off the floor. Two hours after it was cooked. That's when I knew it was time to go back to 'work'. For a well earned break. My apologies in advance to Seven Network who can expect to be charged an excess baggage fee for all of my upcoming flights when airport staff see what I'm packing under my eyes right now. Oh boy. Daddy needs a nap. In closing, I feel closer than ever to my girls, and they're both bloody amazing. I also feel more connected to my fiancée. My admiration for her (and for all stay at home parents) has entered another stratosphere. You are the real MVP's. The hardest and most rewarding role in the world. I encourage more workplaces, and particularly more Dads to take on the primary carer role for a stint if you can. It will change you. And your family will be all the better for it.
NDTV
08-05-2025
- Entertainment
- NDTV
Hikers Cook Garlic Naan, Risotto, Cheesecake And More On Trail. Foodies Love The Idea
Those going on a hiking trip have many fun things to look forward to. Some enjoy the time spent in nature away from the grind of daily life. Some enjoy the spectacular views they come across on the trail. Some enjoy it as a dynamic workout. Some simply enjoy being in the company of their fellow hikers. However, a particular trio of friends recently decided to elevate their hiking experience in a whole other way - by incorporating a cooking competition into it! They seem like a true bunch of foodies, don't they? Hiking enthusiast Bec Cliffe took to Instagram to document a part of their experience. She posted a short clip giving a glimpse of the many delights prepared by the two friends who accompanied her on the trail. We also got a sneak peek at the surrounding view they enjoyed as they dug into their delicious feast. In the caption, it was revealed that they made numerous sweet and savoury treats, including garlic naan and dal, cheesecake, pancakes, mushroom risotto, rhubarb and apple crumble, and French toast croissants. Moreover, they also carried along a 4-kilo cast iron pan to cook some of the dishes. Bec also said they decided to undertake this cooking feat during "the hardest hike in Victoria." View this post on Instagram A post shared by Bec Cliffe | Hiking Melbourne (@hikingbec) In another video, Bec humorously explained how she managed to relish "the most elite hiking food." Her 'recipe' for success? She explained: "Step 1: Find friends who can actually cook; Step 2: Drag them hiking; Step 3: Announce a "friendly" cooking competition; Step 4: Document their creations while contributing absolutely nothing." View this post on Instagram A post shared by Bec Cliffe | Hiking Melbourne (@hikingbec) The idea has received a lot of interest online. Many foodies loved the idea of making such a competition a part of a hiking trip. Several people were curious to know the recipes followed for making the dishes shown in the video. Read some of the comments from Instagram below: "I need friends like that." "I love this idea so much, amazing." "4kg omg. This is epic though!" "That sounds like a perfect camping trip!" "Oh my goodness, this is a DREAM." "These vibes are immaculate." "Now that's fun!!" "We were used to do those kinds of cooking competitions in scouts!" "What I would like to see are the recipes!" here are some wholesome snacks you can carry along with you for the trip.
