Innholdsfortegnelse for March 24, 2025 i Woman's Own

Your new-season sex plan? Oh, HELLO! If that’s not a headline to grab you, I don’t know what is – it certainly caught my attention! On p22, our brilliant health team and experts explain why a bit of planning can go a very long way to upping the oomph factor in the bedroom. There’s plenty more in the issue too, from spring fashion buys (yes, it really is finally spring!) to the instant anti-ager on p28 – can you guess what it is? You can’t beat a good breakfast, either – recently I was out with a friend and we had fried chicken with a potato rösti (I know, fried chicken for breakfast! But it really was 10/10!) So, bearing in mind my love of a morning treat, it’s no…

SPRING CLEANING It’s a basic, animalistic instinct to want to spring clean at this time of year. And there’s nothing like a good clear-out and cleanse to free your living space as well as your mind. Just ask lifestyle guru Marie Kondo. Her mantra is that if something doesn’t ‘spark joy’ why keep it? Obviously, things like toilet brushes don’t exactly set your heart fluttering but are necessary, so this doesn’t always apply. But the husband has taken it upon himself this spring to have a good old declutter. And as he’s a hoarder this is a big deal. However, whenever I try to join in he promptly goes through the bin to see what I’ve got rid of and fishes it all out again. So, ladies, I’m asking myself:…

Buy of the week Struggling to focus? Try R.Y.M Nutrition KSM-66 Ashwagandha (£19.99 for 30 capsules, rymnutrition.com) – an adaptogenic herb supplement designed to rejuvenate your mind. THE TO-DO LIST SLEEP ON YOUR LEFT Night-time heartburn? Sleeping on your left side keeps your stomach below your oesophagus, making it less likely for acid to flow back up. VIEW ART Book that gallery visit – just one art experience a month could extend your life expectancy by 10 years, says neurologist Susan Magsamen. EAT POTATOES Spuds may help fight cancer, thanks to their glycoalkaloids content – plant compounds that can prevent cancer cell growth.** If you do one thing Spend time with a pet Our animal friends can be much more than just a cute companion. In fact, 94% of Brits*…

She won’t invite her dad to her wedding Q My 24-year-old daughter is getting married this year but refuses to have her dad at her wedding. They haven’t spoken since he left us for another woman when she was 15. I forgave him a few years back and I feel she should too. He’s reached out a lot. What should I do? A You may disagree with your daughter’s decision, but it’s important to understand where she is coming from. It’s likely she feels a huge level of hurt from the past and experiences it in a very different way to you. For her, the wedding is about her future, and the decision not to have her father there shows she is not ready to forgive. Don’t rush her, rebuilding…

For decades now, women have found themselves earning less than their male colleagues, with men continuing to outnumber women in boardrooms and earning, on average, 13.1% more. Thankfully, the inequality appears to be levelling, with new research finding that almost half of female British business leaders are the sole or primary earner in their household. But keep the champagne on ice for now, because not everyone is celebrating women smashing the glass ceiling, with a new study by Durham University finding that men are sadder, and more prone to mental-health issues, if their wives earn more than them. A separate study found that while women tend to be drawn to men who they perceive to be intelligent and accomplished, men don’t want to be in ‘competitive’ relationships and may not…

READER QUESTION Q I’m researching hotels for a holiday and some charge ‘resort fees’. What are these? A This is charge some hotels make for things like Wi-Fi or bottled water in your room. These resort fees are mandatory and charged per night on top of the room rate. I’ve only seen them in US hotels – I chose not to book a hotel that charged resort fees of $50 (around £41) a night! If you book a package holiday always check whether any resort fees are included in the cost. Go green for less Defrosting frozen food in the fridge saves energy compared to doing it in the microwave. Just make sure you leave enough time for it to defrost properly! 3 easy ways to... save on home insurance…

18-24 March 2025 ARIES 21 Mar – 20 Apr The Sun, Venus and Mercury are in your sign until 24 March, meaning you can make bold moves. Be brave and go for exactly what you want. The sky’s the limit. TAURUS 21 Apr – 20 May With the Sun now in a Fire sign, you’ll feel motivated to take decisive action. If in doubt, follow your heart and let your passion and enthusiasm lead the way. GEMINI 21 May – 20 Jun As Jupiter moves through the last few degrees of your sign, you feel more able to express your innermost feelings to someone close. Both of you benefit from this sharing. CANCER 21 Jun – 22 Jul As a sensitive soul, you pick up on other people’s energy. Make…

HERO by Katie Buckley (£16.99, HB, Headline) How can you forge your own path in a world written by men? Is love a sacrifice or a kind of freedom? Hero is torn. Her boyfriend is a good man and they are in love. But when he proposes, she is overcome with fear. He ups and leaves, and in the week before he returns to pick up his things from the studio apartment they share, Hero has time to reflect on love. To truly write our own stories, women must give up so much. Woven through with myths and fables, this startling and tender novel explores power and desire. MURDER BELOW DECK by Orlando Murrin (£16.99, HB, Transworld) Can Paul Delamare catch a killer at sea, or will he end up…

Nicole Kidman ‘THE TWISTS AND TURNS JUST KEEP ON COMING!’ The Oscar-winning star on quirky new film Holland… There may be tulips and windmills in this thriller, but it’s a long way from the Netherlands for Nicole Kidman’s character Nancy Vandergroot, who lives a seemingly idyllic life in the US city of Holland, Michigan. Schoolteacher Nancy is devoted to her husband Fred (Matthew Macfadyen) and son Harry (Belfast’s Jude Hill), but one day she makes a discovery that gives her an inkling that something isn’t quite right about her wholesome existence… ‘IT’S DARK, FUNNY AND THRILLING’ ‘When we meet Nancy, nothing in particular about her life is going wrong,’ says Nicole. ‘We see her house and family, and she is the picture of what we’re told success and stability look…

Just recently, I had dinner with my granddaughter, 17, and she told me a story about a girl she knows who is two-timing two boyfriends. ‘She needs to be careful, playing with fire never ends well,’ I found myself advising. I should know, because nearly 40 years ago I was that girl. And while it was all fun and games at the time, I certainly learnt a few lessons about myself. I met Mike* at a club in summer 1986. He was tall and blond, and when he drove me home and leaned over to kiss me, I pushed aside my guilt. What this handsome stranger didn’t know was that I wasn’t strictly single. ‘THEY BOTH TURNED THEIR BACKS ON ME’ SECRET ROMANCE I was 19, living in Cardiff and…

KATE LEAVING GMB? She’s been part of the show since its inception in 2014, but could Kate Garraway be eyeing up her TV options away from Good Morning Britain? The star, 57, is currently starring in The Great Celebrity Bake Off: Stand Up To Cancer and speaking about the fun she had, she described it as ‘brilliant’. The star also broadened her horizons earlier this year when she took part in The Masked Singer, saying of her time on the show, ‘Just to have an incredible chance to come out dressed as spaghetti and waddle around trying to sing. It’s been so much fun and everybody’s been great.’ And last month, Kate was announced as the host of DXB Unheard, a new podcast and YouTube series which aims to uncover…

Often regret having eaten certain foods, such as spices or tomatoes, because they play havoc with your digestion? Or maybe you avoid going out for meals as you worry something you eat will have you running to the loo. You’re not alone – 58%* of Brits experience gut health problems. But it’s not something you have to put up with. Here’s what could be triggering your tummy troubles and what can help you – and your gut – feel at ease. CHECK YOUR MEDICATIONS Certain medications can lead to irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) and tummy problems, says nutritional therapist Jeannette Hyde. ‘Cough medicines, for example, that contain sorbitol, which is poorly absorbed, can lead to fermentation and unhealthy bacteria in the gut. Antibiotics also strip the gut of good bacteria.…

Egg and mushroom brunch sandwiches SERVES 4 Cooking the eggs on a bed of cheese adds a crispy edge to this veggie stack. PREP TIME: 15 MINS COOK TIME: 25 MINS CALS: 908 FAT: 64G SAT FAT: 24G CARBS: 48G YOU WILL NEED 75g unsalted butter2 garlic cloves, crushed2tbsp each chopped parsley, chives1tbsp capers, chopped6tbsp finely grated ParmesanZest and juice 1 small lemon300g small flat mushrooms2tbsp olive oil1 small focaccia loaf (about 375g), halved and cut into 475g mature Cheddar, finely grated4 medium free-range eggs2 ripe avocados, roughly chopped3-4tbsp mayonnaise HOW TO DO IT 1 Heat the oven to 200C Fan. Mix together the butter, garlic, herbs, capers, Parmesan and lemon zest in a bowl. Set aside. 2 Put the mushrooms in a roasting tin, drizzle with the oil, and…

Lowering my aching body into the chair, I took a moment to catch my breath before reeling off my health complaints to the doctor. It was a long list of grumbles, including hip and back pain, difficulty walking and breathlessness. It was September 2010 and I knew he was going to repeat what he’d been telling me for the past couple of years, during countless appointments. ‘You must lose weight,’ he frowned and I just nodded because, aged 29, at 22st 4lb, 5ft 3in and a size 26, I knew that I was dangerously obese. But it hadn’t always been this way because, earlier in my 20s, a muscular size 16 and weighing 16st, I’d been proud of my strong physique, keeping fit by swimming and hiking regularly. ‘I WOKE…

PRESCRIPTION QUERY Q Exam pressure during my daughter’s A levels caused her to suffer badly with anxiety and end up on medication. Her GP wrote a letter explaining her condition and she was allowed extra time in her exams. She took a gap year and came off the medication. She is now in her first year at university and tells me her anxiety is returning. She isn’t due to come home for several weeks. Can my GP still prescribe for her? A Your GP may be happy to talk to your daughter on the phone and, if necessary, prescribe medication if she is still registered with them. Alternatively, there will be a GP practice linked to her university, and she could register and be seen locally. Will it be safe…

Blunt cut The ultimate goal of a fringe – apart from making you look stylish like Viola – is to make your face appear more oval. If you have a long face or a large forehead, a full fringe will make your face look wider and more uniform. A blunt one cut straight across is perfect to hide frown lines! Keep a bottle of Batiste Sensitive Scalp Dry Shampoo, £3.59, Boots, handy to refresh between wash days. Faking it If you’re not quite ready for the chop, play around with a fake fringe first. It’s a great way to test whether it will suit you before you commit to a cut. Beauty Works Clip-In Fringe, from £74.99, beautyworksonline.com, is the same one Maya wears here. You can wear it as…

Too good to waste! Try these simple ideas to use up your leftovers VEG Wilting spinach, uneaten roasted carrots, or half a pepper loitering in the fridge? Blend into a soup, pasta sauce or smoothie. Freeze in portions for easy to use options. DAIRY If you’ve got a bit of yogurt or mayo left in the tub, use it as a base for a salad dressing. Add olive oil, a splash of vinegar, and season. Shake until emulsified and toss through salad. MEAT Give leftover roast dinner meat a new lease of life. Whizz up lamb and use in shepherd’s pie; add spice mix to your chicken along with some peppers to make fajitas or enchiladas; use roast beef in a stir fry with a simple sauce and veggies. Ditch…

CLUES & ARROWS Fill in the clues in the direction of the arrows. Sudoku To solve the puzzle, each 3 x 3 box, each column and each row must contain the numbers 1 to 9. Wordsearch Which of these Italian towns and cities is twinned with Edinburgh? The answer is the one missing from the grid. BOLOGNAFLORENCEGENOALUCCAMILANNAPLESPADUAPARMAPISARIMINIROMETRIESTETURINVENICEVERONA CROSSWORD ACROSS 7 __ Du Beke, ballroom dancer and judge on Strictly Come Dancing (5)8 Community champion (5,4)10 __ Dafoe, actor in At Eternity’s Gate and Shadow of the Vampire (6)11 Jack __, EastEnders character played by Scott Maslen (8)12 Hold back (8)13 Chuck (4)15 __ Crowe, star of Gladiator and A Beautiful Mind (7)17 Stephen __, actor in film The Usual Suspects and TV series Nova Vita (7)20 & 5Dn. 2024 sci-fi…

Film SNOW WHITE In cinemas 21 March Experience the magic of Snow White like never before in Disney’s latest live-action adaptation. The screenplay is by Greta Gerwig (Barbie) while Rachel Zegler (West Side Story, The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes) stars as the titular character. Music JAMES ARTHUR Pisces (Columbia), out 21 March It’s been 13 years since he won The X Factor, but there’s no stopping James Arthur as he releases his sixth album, Pisces. Expect songs from the heart that will make you want to sing at the top of your lungs. Tour ANTON DU BEKE: AT THE MUSICALS From 18 March until 18 November 2025, multiple locations including Swansea, Doncaster, Glasgow and Torquay, tickets from £38 Strictly Come Dancing’s Anton Du Beke comes to a…

SWEET DREAMS! Thirty years in the business and I finally got a snap with the legendary Annie Lennox. Eurythmics were the soundtrack to my teens – all the more nostalgic because Annie is from Aberdeen and I was brought up near there in Inverurie, just outside of the Granite City, from the age of 11. ‘My dad worked on the railways there,’ Annie reminisced. My dad was a helicopter engineer serving the oil rigs. Guess we’ve both done ‘nae bad’! TAKE THAT TO THE BANK... Asking Clare Balding to sit still is like trying to pin down a grasshopper. Currently touring UK rivers on 5’s Tales from the Riverbank, Clare delighted in her yomp along some of the country’s most beautiful spots. ‘It has been fascinating. It is one of…