Ah, Christmas, the season to be jolly, drink too much and try to get as many mince pies down you as you can. As a nation, Britain is adept at over-consuming during the festive season.

In 2016, The Independent reported that the average Brit consumes 6,000 calories on Christmas Day alone. This might actually show the nation is improving though. A BBC report from 3 years earlier stated that the nation was eating an average of 7,000 calories on the big day. So, pat yourselves on the back for shaving off those unnecessary extra 1,000 calories.

Not surprisingly, after all the fun of the festive season, many people take a look at their waist and decide to get fit in the new year. This is the time that gyms sell most of their memberships, and off-licences take a dip in takings.

Could there be an easier way to lose weight? Is the answer in your kitchen already? 

What is the best way to lose weight after Christmas?

It could be said that there are two basic rules of weight loss. These are generally accepted to be exercise and eating healthily.

If you exercise you will burn off calories, and tone up. You will be fitter, have less body fat, and look better. Eating healthier is also important. Reducing calories and fat in your diet will also help you to shed a few pounds.

The problem with the diet part of this equation is that people get bored easily. They may also be strapped for time and so they resort to convenience food instead of cooking.

This is where an Instant Pot, or a multi-cooker with a pressure cooking function, may be able to help. 

Breaking down the Instant Pot

One thing to realise before getting too excited is that this appliance doesn’t cook food instantly. The name could be a little misleading there. However, the Instant Pot is capable of producing cooked food far quicker than through traditional methods such as baking.

The reason for this is that the cooker uses very high temperatures to produce steam and build up pressure. This means that essentially, the Instant Pot is a pressure cooker. Yet, the appliance also has many other functions and can cook rice, saute food, and slow cook too.

The appliance has been around for over ten years now and has sold tens of millions of units in the US. It has proved very popular in the UK too, and if you don’t already have one, you may be interested to know whether it could help with weight loss. 

Could the Instant Pot help you lose weight?

It must be said that no appliance can make you lose weight unless you use it appropriately. If you are using your multicooker to saute bacon for every meal then you probably won’t see any results.

Nevertheless, the Instant Pot has great potential for helping someone who is dieting to continue. The reasons that the IP may help are to do with the cooking method, a couple of its functions, and the online resources available.

Starting with the latter, there is a wealth of resources on the internet for the Instant Pot. Boredom is the enemy of anyone dieting, but there is a huge range of recipes on websites such as Corrie Cooks, and other Instant Pot bloggers. This means that you can have an almost endless supply of diet-friendly recipes to try out.

The way the Instant Pot cooks, and its functions can also help you to diet. 

Why is the Instant Pot’s cooking method diet-friendly?

If you keep making cheesecakes in your IP then it won’t matter how the appliance cooks. However, the cooking method lends itself to making healthy food.

A pressure cooker works by cooking with steam. This means that you rarely ever need to put any oil in the cooker. Therefore, you will reduce the number of calories and fat in your diet if you stick to cooking this way.

Pressure cookers are said to make food more digestible and yet retain more nutrients. So, there could be hidden benefits to pressure cooking your food.

Yet it isn’t just the ability to cook food quickly that is appealing to dieters. Slow cooking can be just as useful to someone who wants to have a hot meal ready in the evening but doesn’t want to spend ages preparing and cooking it. A healthy stew can be made by throwing all the ingredients in the pot before work and then switching the machine to slow cook.

Using the slow cooker could be a good way to avoid the temptation of picking up a takeaway on the way home. Knowing you have a meal already cooked might help with your willpower. 

Is the Instant Pot useful for maintaining a healthy diet?

Again, it will depend on what you put in the pot, and how you use it. Typically though, a pressure cooker might be used for stews, soups, broths, and other dishes that lend themselves to lots of vegetables and lean meats.

Because of the lack of oil, you will be eating a lot of lower-fat dishes if you use an IP this way. There may be a few hidden health benefits too.

Cooking under pressure means that food retains more water, and is, therefore, more moist and succulent. This is very good for tougher cuts of meat and means that you can digest them easier.

But, there is also something else to be gained from cooking with steam. Certain food can end up producing carcinogens when cooked at high temperatures. Many people like blackened meats, and even toast. There is a belief though that this can be carcinogenic. Even food that doesn’t go black but still reaches high temperatures may end up producing some of these compounds.

Pressure cookers such as the Instant Pot do not produce these compounds. It is believed that there is little risk of acrylamide, or other carcinogens being produced by pressure cooking.

Why do you need to lose excess weight?

Of course, you may not need to lose weight at all. Bravo to you if that is so. Some people, though, would benefit from losing a few pounds.

The British Nutrition Foundation reports that losing excess weight can help with fertility problems, and lower blood cholesterol levels. There are numerous other health benefits from losing excess fat too.

Being overweight can lead to a loss of self-confidence, back and joint problems, heart disease, diabetes, and many other conditions. 

Are there any negatives to using the Instant Pot for weight loss?

The most obvious problem with using an Instant Pot to aid with a diet, is if you don’t already own one. If you don’t have a multicooker already then it means buying another appliance.

The typical kitchen is stuffed with gadgets and appliances already. So, you would need to weigh up whether you are likely to stick to your diet, and whether it is worth the expense of buying another gadget.

Another concern may be that Instant Pots aren’t good for cooking everything. Some things such as fillet steak for instance would be better grilled or cooked in a skillet. 

Summary

Before embarking on any diet it is worth remembering that exercise is an important part of losing weight, and then keeping those pounds off. An Instant Pot can only help someone to lose weight if it is used to cook lower-calorie, and low-fat food.

Having said that, a multicooker could help someone to shed some fat, and keep them on track through the convenience that they bring. Losing weight in the New Year could be very beneficial healthwise, and in other ways too.There are a number of unintended benefits of losing weight, and these include gaining a boost in self-esteem. Apart from feeling more healthy, you will feel much better about yourself. Before embarking on any new diet and fitness regime, however, it is always worth discussing it with your regular doctor.

Once you prepare your home for the winter, you can now focus on reducing your gas bill during the cold winter months.

You can, therefore, reuse any heat or pick the perfect clothing for the cold winter months. It is beneficial to lower your gas bill since it can save you money. Keeping your boiler in good working order is essential to its economy, sign up for protection at www.corgihomeplan.co.uk.

Here are the top tips for reducing your gas bill during the cold winter months:

1. Regulate the Thermostat

It is easy to regulate a smart or manual thermostat. Therefore, one of the best ways of reducing gas bills is regulating the thermostat.

To save some money, you can reduce the temperature of the thermostat by 1°C every week. You can heat your home at 20°C (68°F) to make your home more comfortable for the people living in your home.

If no one is at home, you can reduce the temperature to 13°C (55°F) since you do not have to heat your home when no one is at home. If you heat your home, you will just waste energy.

If you want to go to sleep, you can set the thermostat to 15–16°C (60°F). However, you need to set the thermostat to 20°C (68°F) when you are waking up.

2. Avoid Using a Wood-Burning Fireplace

A lot of people use wood-burning fireplaces to generate heat in their homes. If you, therefore, have a wood-burning fireplace in your home, you do not have to use it to generate heat.

A wood-burning fireplace generates heat. However, most of the heat escapes your home through your chimney. In addition, the hot air leaves your home, so cold air gets into your home through the gaps in your air vents, doors, and windows.

Therefore, you are more likely to use more energy to keep your home during the cold winter months. Also, a wood-burning fireplace can do more damage to our environment.

3. Dress Appropriately

Dress appropriately to keep yourself warm during the winter months. Wearing appropriate clothing can even stop you from adjusting the thermostat.

It is, therefore, important to purchase a fleece bathrobe, a heavy sweater, and merino wool socks. They can keep you warm. And they can even lower your gas bill.

You can also purchase:

• Merino wool slippers
• A cashmere beanie
• A wool poncho
• Long underwear
• Thermal leggings

3. Get a Portable Electric Heater

If you stay alone or you spend most of the time alone in your house, you can get a portable electric heater. It is much cheaper to use a portable electric heater. It, however, costs more money to heat your home with central heating.

If you are in your bedroom, use your portable electric heater to heat your bedroom. You do not have to heat the other rooms. It can, therefore, lower your gas bill.

It is, however, risky to leave a portable electric heater unattended since it can cause a fire. You need to turn off your portable electric heater before leaving the room.

5. Reuse Heat

Having a hot shower or cooking in your oven can generate heat. You can, therefore, reuse this heat. The heat can increase the temperature of your house. Once you finish cooking, do not close the oven door.

Keep the door oven open to increase the temperature of your kitchen. Once you take a hot shower, do not close the bathroom door. Keeping the bathroom door open can increase the temperature of your other rooms and save energy making you more environmentally friendly.

6. Close Your Curtains

The temperature drops quickly in the evening. Once the sun sets, you need to close your blinds, blinds, and windows to keep your home warm.

Closing the blinds and curtains can prevent cool air from entering your home. They can, therefore, help keep your house warm and lower your gas bill.

7. Get Insulated Window Panels or Thermal Curtains

Last, but not least, you need to get thermal insulated curtains. The high-density foam core of these curtains can prevent heat from leaving your home. In addition, the extra layer of these curtains can block outside noise. So, the outside noise will not enter your house.

It is even better to buy insulated window panels since they can save you more money. The foam panels press closely against the windows to keep your home warmer and prevent cold air from entering your home.

However, they cannot improve the appearance of your home since they are not aesthetically pleasing. You can use regular curtains to make your home beautiful since they are aesthetically pleasing.

Residents of Suffolk will have been delighted to see the county’s stunning landscape feature in The Dig, a 2021 film about the 1939 excavation of Sutton Hoo.

The area has long been known for its wealth of Anglo-Saxon artefacts, but it didn’t have global notoriety until it was represented on Netflix. The streaming platform had a hugely positive impact on the site and its surrounding area, and last year it witnessed its highest number of visitors since opening in 2002.  

How did The Dig inspire people to visit Suffolk?

The Dig focuses on the story of Basil Brown, an archaeologist hired to excavate the burial mounds of Sutton Hoo. Ralph Fiennes plays Brown, with Carey Mulligan starring as the lady who hired him, landowner Edith Pretty. Brown and his team uncover a ship from Anglo-Saxon times, along with a treasure trove of other relics from the era. The film was met with critical acclaim and nominated for five BAFTAs.

Historians have been drawn to Suffolk to see the sites of discoveries like these first-hand for decades, but the popularity of this picture has seen people of all interests flocking to the county. The site recorded its highest monthly visiting figures in August last year, with 33,781 tourists stopping by. Many of these people may have been intrigued about the ancient history, while others simply enjoy visiting famous film sets. Certain viewers may have seen Suffolk’s marvellous scenery for the first time in the Netflix film and were encouraged to visit because of that.

Netflix has a habit of sparking cultural phenomena

One of the reasons why Netflix has been able to become the most dominant entertainment service in the world has been through creating content that leads to crazes in society. Making a Murderer was one of the first hugely popular and unavoidable hits, and there have been many more since the 2015 true crime release. This has often been referred to as the Netflix effect, when an unprecedented sensation comes from nowhere and causes ripples throughout popular culture. Just like how The Dig inspired people to visit Suffolk, other films and television series have influenced viewers in different ways.

One of the most recent examples of this is Squid Game, an intense and twisted South Korean series that stormed its way up the viewing charts in the final months of 2021. The series was so well-loved that many people started learning Korean, with Duolingo seeing a 76 per cent rise in users interested in the language.

Tiger King had a similar impact in 2020 and propelled the infamous big cat owner in the series to worldwide fame. Now, there’s a vast amount of related merchandise, including the Joe Exotic slot at Duelz Casino, which is known to have one of the best free spins no deposit bonuses online. Other Netflix series that has had a seismic effect on popular culture include Stranger Things, which sparked an increase in 1980s nostalgia, and Money Heist, which inspired people to learn Spanish and watch other films and series from the country.

Suffolk tourism companies were unprepared for this Netflix effect

Despite recording record numbers at Sutton Hoo in the months after the release of Simon Stone’s film, tourism companies in the area were not ready to capitalise and had not anticipated the Netflix effect. If they had, they could have set up more souvenir shops, stalls, and tours to cater for the extra people.

This serves as a lesson to others that the power of hits on the streaming service shouldn’t be underestimated, and businesses need to be ready to take advantage of them. This is especially true for the tourist industry in settings that show up on the screen. After the impact of The Dig, other locations that appear in Netflix shows should brace themselves for an influx of visitors in the aftermath of their release.

The effect of The Dig has been beneficial for Suffolk tourism, but it’s a shame that companies in the area didn’t exploit this extra attention enough when they had the chance. Other filming locations can learn from this mistake and prepare for additional visitors if their sites are used on the streaming platform.

IoT devices have transformed the way we live and work. Helping us to achieve more in less time, there’s no denying the advantage of the digital world. However, being connected also makes us more vulnerable. As we post about our daily lives and habits, shop online more, and provide our personal data to third-party websites, there’s a reason why cases of identity fraud are increasing.

We’ll provide you with some simple ways you can keep your financial information secure and safe while you’re online. 

Use two-step authentication

More and more devices, apps, and websites encourage users to set up two-step authentication. Tools like Google ask for a 6-digit code from the Google authenticator app, as do other sites like Outlook, Facebook, and Amazon.

Two-step authentication adds a second layer of protection and is used alongside a password. This additional layer of protection makes it much harder for potential hackers to retrieve any of your personal information.

Use a VPN

Whether you’re shopping online or you’re transferring large sums of money, using a VPN to do so will provide you with a private network that encrypts your data (https://nordvpn.com/download/), making it virtually impossible to hack. You’ll need to enable your VPN each time you want to create a virtual and invisible defence around your online activities.

Check your credit report regularly

Did you know you should check your credit report regularly? By doing so, you’ll be alerted to any suspicious or fraudulent activity happening in your name. Tools like Experian and Clear Score help you keep track of your credit score.

They’ll also help to see if you can boost your score. Credit scores play an important role in everyone’s financial futures as they not only impact lending eligibility for things like mortgages and loans      but      can also affect mobile contracts, car insurance, and bank accounts.

Be mindful of what you post online

If you’re a regular social media user, you may have taken an innocent snap of your freshly painted front door, or perhaps you’ve had a big birthday, and numbered balloons were involved. While      these happy snaps may look great for the gram and      all your followers, they’re also a great way for scammers and hackers to get a hold of some of your most vital information, like your house number and date of birth.

It’s always wise to be mindful when posting online. You can also make sure your social profiles are private and that you only add people you know.

If you think your financial information has been compromised, you should contact your bank immediately and change all your passwords.