By SHANNON SKAE, health and life coach at Revive with Shan What is fast food? And is it bad for us? Fast food is food that is easily prepared, commercialised, and heavily processed. It does not require much time to make and is high in saturated fats, trans fats, preservatives, and additives. Examples of fast foods include cakes, sweets, biscuits, chocolate, sugary drinks and sodas, takeaways, and processed foods such as deli meats. This food is tasty and can be a feel-good meal in moderation. But having too much of it can have adverse health side effects such as: Acne…
Author: Nyx Mclean
By SHANNON SKAE, health and life coach at Revive with Shan Why is it that almost everyone in society seems to do things at a breakneck pace? We work fast, socialise fast, use the internet fast, eat fast, and do not get enough sleep. We move at warp speed to fit all our tasks for the day, week, month, and year. Many of us do not take holidays or the breaks that we need because, increasingly, financial stability is precarious. Believe it or not, stress and doing everything at a fast pace only slows you down. It can slow down…
By ROD AMNER and NYX MCLEAN We are a community made up of many different lived experiences and ways of thinking about the world. Every one of us matters, and what we have to say about the world matters. It makes for a richness to life that would be otherwise one-dimensional if we all thought the same way. Those lived experiences and perspectives will sometimes clash, as we have seen around COVID-19 and vaccination conversations. Different views are important, but when the diversity of thinking devolves into name-calling, stereotyping, and violent speech bordering on hate speech – if not crossing…
By NYX MCLEAN Pronouns: They/Them International Transgender Day of Visibility falls on 31 March every year, and is a day that celebrates transgender people, raises awareness of the discrimination faced by transgender people, and also seeks to celebrate their contributions to society. One way that transgender people are frequently harmed is through the use of incorrect pronouns – sometimes this is deliberate, but more often than not, it is done accidentally because people often assume what another’s pronouns may be based on the way they look. Imagine for a moment that your closest friend has told you that they are…
By SHANNON SKAE, Health and life coach at Revive with Shan I decided to write this article because I have recently begun a course on becoming a diabetic educator. This disease sparks a lot of uncertainty, and people often do not know that they have it. A person can have diabetes for ten to twelve years and not know about it because it does not present symptoms for a very long time. People can also be pre-diabetic due to their lifestyle, which puts them at greater risk of developing it. Diabetes mellitus is defined as a metabolic disorder where the…
By ROD AMNER and NYX MCLEAN We had a despairing conversation today – as editors and concerned Makhandans. Several stories are brewing in our news diary that ask tough questions about our public service offices. To list only a few of the items that appeared in our most recent news diary meeting: First up is the state of litter and waste management in Makhanda. There’s the not insubstantial matter of the 130+ illegal dumpsites in the city, which in September last year, the high court ordered Makana Municipality to catalogue and remove. But, just as disturbing are the attitudes…
By SHANNON SKAE, health and life coach at Revive with Shan Body positivity is something we hear about a lot. It means to embrace and be happy in your body no matter your shape or size. Body positivity drives self-acceptance and a positive attitude towards our bodies. As a movement, body positivity aims to challenge how society treats the body. It encourages acceptance of all body types, helps to build confidence in the body, and works to address unrealistic beauty and body standards. It is a movement for a reason, challenging the aforementioned is difficult in a society that places…
By SHANNON SKAE, health and life coach at Revive with Shan Orthorexia is defined as an unhealthy obsession with eating healthy food. The idea is to eat only “pure” foods and not anything deemed unhealthy. It is not currently recognised as an eating disorder in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual. However, this may change as awareness of this disordered eating approach gains awareness. Eating nutritious food is usually good for you, but if it becomes a compulsion, deprivation, or restriction, you likely have orthorexia. This approach to eating can cause physical problems because what someone deems healthy or unhealthy can…
By NYX MCLEAN As the editors of Grocott’s Mail, Rod Amner and I have written in the past calling for ward councillors to tell us if they are in conversation with their constituents, whether that is on social media such as WhatsApp or Facebook, or offline in regular ward community meetings, or elsewhere. We have also asked Makhandan citizens to tell us if their councillors are in conversations with them. We received some responses from the usual suspects and groups that we, as the editors of Grocott’s, are already a part of. I was quite frustrated with the lack of…
By SAM BABAYA Last week, an un-dated voice note warning of an impending petrol shutdown was shared on Makhanda WhatsApp groups. None of these rumours has been confirmed by petrol stations or residents – and this is almost certainly fake news. With the constant influx of new information being shared on social media, it is sometimes difficult to identify valid versus fake news. It has become the responsibility of readers to differentiate information from misinterpretations and propaganda. Here are five ways to fact-check your news to ensure you are not a victim of fake news. Five steps to fact-check your…