Last year, 4,296 men went under the knife in an attempt to improve their looks.

According to the British Association of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons (BAAPS), the most popular procedure for men is the rhinoplasty, otherwise known as a nose-job. 1,043 were carried out on men in 2011, which is a 5% rise on the previous year.

The male tummy tuck is currently the fastest growing cosmetic surgery procedure in the UK, suggesting that many men are choosing the quick-fix over hard work in the gym.

Cosmetic surgery is fast becoming common place with male celebrities like Wayne Rooney, who recently had a hair transplant, and face-lift fanatic Boris Becker – only serving to fuel the rush to operating table.

One surgery-advocate, 21-year-old Billy Brandham from Luton, defended his £2,000 breast reduction by saying: “For nearly a year I had played football and worked relentlessly on an American body-sculpting programme called P90X. It started to get really embarrassing. I wasn’t able to wear a T-shirt without people noticing. People haven’t noticed the changes much. I think it was just a ‘me’ thing – something I had to do. Something I had to do to feel better.”

The number of male breast reduction procedures have increased by 7% since 2010. Treatments are becoming cheaper and more widely available, which experts believe may be attributing to the rise in popularity.

With increasing exposure to unattainable ideals, like David Beckham’s rippling torso in the Armani underwear campaign, men are losing confidence in their body image and expectations are rising.

Cosmetic surgery is expensive and comes with a plethora of risks. Always think carefully before choosing to alter your body surgically. A life coach can help you find other ways to improve your self-confidence, from working out an exercise plan to helping you build your self-esteem. To find out more about how a life coach can help you, visit Life Coach Areas. To find a life coach specialising in healthy living or self-confidence, use our life coach search tool.

View and comment on the original Independent article. 

According to new research by Nivea, Brits now hug each other an average of 13 times a day- that’s equal to once every waking hour. 

We’re not talking about the brief, awkward, squashed handshake kind of hugs Brits are used to – these are full-on 10 second cuddles. If we’re to believe such figures, that’s over 2 minutes of solid hugging every day, or 12.5 hours a year.

What ever happened to the 5 metres of personal space Brits used to entertain? Linda Blair, an American psychologist who lived in Britain for 40 years, thinks we’re finally warming to the idea of human contact.

Blair believes this is down to loneliness – a national endemic caused by our extensive use of technology. She argues that activities such as texting, emailing and social networking  have deprived us of the physical human contact we need. She said: “Remember that humans spent a lot of time depending on others when they are little, more than any other animal. Babies recognise other people by smell before they can even see”.

When we lead busy working lives, sometimes all we have time for is a quick text or a Facebook message while we’re on the train before we get home and slump in front of the telly. This goes some way to explaining why an apparent 41% of us would like even more than 13 hugs a day.

So who on earth is doing all of this hugging? According to Nivea’s poll, most turn to their partners, while 14% turn to close friends and a meagre 9% turn to their mothers.

Nivea also found that men would love a hug from Holly Willoughby, Lorraine Kelly and Nigella Lawson. Nothing Freudian about that.

Loneliness can be a serious problem when it leads to depression and social anxiety. Although most life coaches don’t operate a hug service, they will be able to help get you back on track and build your confidence so you can fulfil your potential. If you would like to find out more about how life coaching could help you, please visit our Life Coaching Areas section. 

View and comment on the original Telegraph article. 

Now, 72 days later, the curvaceous celebrity has filed for divorce due to ‘irreconcilable differences’.

Every moment of the couple’s romance has been televised and watched by millions, including the moment the giant sportsman proposed with a 20.5 carat-ring, by spelling out ‘Will you marry me?’ in rose petals.

The black and white themed wedding set in Santa Barbara, California, was split between a 2-part special aired on US TV and attended by the likes of Eva Longoria, Lindsey Lohan and Avril Lavigne.

Kim said: “I hope everyone understands this was not an easy decision, I hoped this marriage was forever but sometimes things don’t work out”.

Fortunately, the couple signed a prenuptial agreement before the marriage, and 31-year old Kardashian has asked that both sides pay their own legal costs.

This is the model’s second failed marriage, the first being with music producer Damon Thomas in 2003.

There are now speculations that the marriage was in fact a lucrative publicity stunt, with both parties raking in a value of £200k a week from the partnership.

If you are currently going through a divorce or separation, you may wish to consult a life coach in order to help you to consider your next steps. To find out how a life coach could help you, please visit our factsheet on relationships.

View the original BBC article here.

The infamous midlife crisis is nothing but a midlife myth, according to new research by Experian Credit Expert.

Long gone are the days of balding men in jazzy sports cars and middle-aged women with suspiciously taught foreheads.

Only 13% of the 2000 adults interviewed said they would like a cosmetic makeover, and not one person voiced the desire to own a sports car.

Either there’s some serious denial going on or the midlife stereotype has suddenly become rather dated.

Experian interviewed 2000 adults between the ages of 40 and 59 for the study. The results show that men and women are now far more interested in making long-term lifestyle changes than they are in splashing out on flashy ‘toys’.

Today, the age of 40 marks the start of a midlife-renaissance, with 85% of adults having already made significant changes to their home, family and work-lives.

2/3 of those asked said that they had recently sought out and made new friends, over half had taken up a new hobby and 56% had started a new exercise regime.

A staggering 70% expressed a desire to travel the world. Men were more interested in improving their work and home lives whereas most women wanted to seek different experiences and embark on new adventures.

In light of the recent results, Peter Turner, the managing director of Experian, said the middle-aged are: “channeling their energy towards making positive, fulfilling changes”.

People seem to be realising that life does not end when the children fly the nest; rather, life begins.

By this age adults are about halfway through their working lives, and beginning to tire of it. ½ of those questioned agreed that changing their career would make them happier.

According to the BBC, 4million people in the UK are working more than 48 hours a week, which is high above the European average.

As a result, stress and depression levels in the UK are continuing to rise.

The results from Experian’s study shows that Britons are finally beginning to take action by making significant life changes. If you are interested in making changes to your life, then why not talk to a life coach? You can find a large database of experts at the Life Coach Directory.

Forget the sports car, it’s the age of adventure.

View original article at The Mail Online

‘Incidental activity’ such as bobbing your legs up and down, getting up to put the kettle on climbing stairs or walking around the office could help to boost long term fitness.

Researchers from Queen’s University in Kingston, Ontario, conducted a study which involved monitoring the duration and intensity of any incidental activity using an accelerometer which volunteers wore on their right hip for a week. As well as measuring how much they moved, researchers also tested their cardio-respiratory fitness levels.

Generally the volunteers were sluggish, but those who managed 30 minutes or more of low grade physical activity each day had healthier hearts and respiratory systems.

Study leader Ashlee McGuire said: ‘It’s encouraging to know that if we just increase our incidental activity slightly – a little bit more work around the house, or walking down the hall to speak with a co-worker as opposed to sending an email – we can really benefit our health in the long-term,’ she said.

‘Best of all, these activities don’t take up a lot of time, they’re not difficult to do, and you don’t have to go to a gym.’

View the original Daily Mail article.

The experts are of the belief that the elimination of bacteria and viruses has made our immune system weaker which has subsequently affected the functioning of our brains, preventing the production of feel good chemicals such as serotonin.

The researchers pointed out that rates of depression among the worlds poorer nations are far lower than those in the western world, with around 1 in 10 Brits suffering from depression compared to just one in a hundred in Nigeria.

A scientist on the study, Dr Andrew Miller, said: ‘We believe the immune system is causing depression.’

‘As people develop and grow up, their immune system develops. If they are exposed to more bacteria and parasites, they are able to better control the inflammation.

‘Nowadays people’s environment is much cleaner and hygienic so our immune system never really learns how to deal with infectious agents. We are overactive because our immune system has not been trained.’ He said.

The scientists studied how the inflammation or over-reaction affected the brain by recruiting 27 participants to take drugs designed to treat hepatitis C (which causes similar reactions).

The researchers concluded that certain reactions could prevent the brain from producing feel good hormones such as serotonin and they have now moved on to testing whether anti-inflammatory drugs could be used to treat depression.

View the original article.

The chemical in question is Dopamine, which is known to produce a feel good response to stimuli such as love, food, money etc.

The study involved scanning the brains of eight volunteers over three sessions, using two different kinds of scan.

The first type of scan is a nuclear medicine imaging known as PET, and this technique was used for the first two scans. For the first scan session the volunteers listened to music which they really enjoyed and in the second scan they listened to music to which they were indifferent.

The third scan session involved both music tracks from the previous two scans being played alternately, whilst a functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) scan was taken.

The results revealed that levels of dopamine were found to be up to 9 per cent higher when the volunteers were listening to music which they enjoyed.

Authors of the report have said this study is significant in proving that pleasure can be obtained from listening to music which is comparable to the pleasure obtained from basic biological stimuli.

View the original article here.

The study, which was lead by Daniel Nettle a behavioural scientist at the Institute of Neuroscience, incorporated 4,500 women across the UK and found that girls who are not breastfed as babies or who grow up without a father are likely to have their own children earlier.

The team of researchers found there are four kinds of ‘disruption’ which seem to effect young girls the most, bringing forward the age at which they first become pregnant by an average of six months.

The four major factors that seemed to cause the most impact on the age at which a woman had her first child were: whether she was breastfed, how involved her parents were in her upbringing, whether her father was present and whether her parents moved house regularly.

Nettle explains that what happens early on in childhood has a huge impact on the remainder of our lives and though we may advise 14 and 15 year old girls not to have children young, events from their early years may have resulted in them developing short term goals such as having babies young way before sex education even begins.

”Rather than just telling girls to use condoms, authorities should think much more about the context of people’s early years.” He said.

Original article

Other than using our eyes to scan the screen, the most active part of the body is our hands and though it may not feel particularly strenuous our tendons and muscles muscles in the fingers and wrists might have something else to say.

Below are a few helpful tips which will keep our precious hands in good condition:

Posture
According to experts whilst at work we should be sitting up while typing and leaning back a little at the keyboard which allows the spine to stretch. If you don’t have the money to spend on a pricy office chair then get yourself a back support to stop you slouching and invest in a wrist guard or a supportive mouse pad which will give your wrists more support and have also been found to improve posture.

Movement
If you are sitting in the same position for an extended period of time then get up for two minute every half and hour and take a little stroll around the office and have a good stretch from the tip of the toes to the finger tips.

Exercise
Finger exercises and wrist strengthening will increase the blood flow to your hands and tighten muscles in order to reduce pain. Apparatus such as a resistance band will work extensor muscles and will hone in on certain finger extensor muscles which provide the basis of the the finger strength in healthy hands. Even just a few exercises two times per week will help to improve your range of motion.

View the original article and full list of tips here.

Christine Srebrenick always had fantastic luck finding jobs when she was already employed, but it’s a different story when it comes to finding work when she’s unemployed.

After getting her last job as a billing coordinator through a friend and her job before that through a friend, both when she wasn’t looking, Christine had never imagined it would be so hard to get a job when she needed one the most.

After loosing her previous job due to company closure Christine has now been unemployed for 17 months and has only had one interview for a full time position which was unsuccessful.

Christine decided she needed to take drastic steps and sat down with a career coach who provided her with a fresh perspective.

Christine’s coach helped to give her CV a dramatic overhaul, updating the retro template and removing her objective in what she wants from a job. Employers are now less concerned with what you want from them and are keen to see what value you have to offer.

A career coach will also help those who are unsure to look at things from a different direction and perhaps consider things they thought were not possible. Christine had been book keeping for most of her adult life and although her coach encouraged her to take a refresher course to bring her back up to speed and encouraging her to apply for book keeping jobs, there was also encouragement to pursue a totally different profession.

Christine had previously held aspirations of becoming a marine biologist and her coach suggested she apply for a job working at a college with a marine biology programme as most colleges let employees attend school for a reduced fee.

Other advice included networking. Its difficult to make friends when unemployed so Christine was advised to create opportunities to network such as joining Linked or using Facebook to find people to introduce her to people at places she wants to work.

Career coaches can help you to explore where you really want to work and what you need from a job in order to find fulfilment. They will help you to explore possible career options and will then help you to formulate a plan of action which will get you there.

If you would like to contact a life coach specialsing in this area then you can do so using the hompage of this site.