Hello, its Peter here and welcome to Fridays Levy Letter. I hope your day is going well. I hope youll be able to join me tonight on BBC1 at 6.30pm. Joining me tonight on the programme is the Emmerdale actress, Malandra Burrows and well also have something of interest for all those living on the east coast as we look at the coastal erosion affecting that part of the area at the moment. So I hope you can join me then.
Thanks for the emails after yesterdays letter about some comments I made on the television and in the letter about the diet that Im trying to follow at the moment. This isnt so much to lose weight, but its a healthy eating diet. Im trying to cut out some of the toxic foods, according to Gillian McKeith. Well, I certainly opened up a little hornets nest with this one after I said I was giving up certain foods. This one comes from Neil Graham, he says, It sounds like half the population at this time of year are looking for some shortcut to shed some weight and talking about the latest so-called expert Mrs McKeith lets ask one or two questions of Mrs McKeith before we all jump to follow her. Firstly, how much money has she made from her book, TV show etc and how much of her free time does she give to those who really need help, but cant afford it? Secondly, if these foods are so toxic to use, why are we able to buy them? The Department of Health, the HSE, the Foods Standards Agency etc would have toxic foods withdrawn in a heartbeat for fear of overloading the NHS. Certainly with us talking about Gillian McKeith, its prompted some lively response! And just one more here about eating from Rosemary Harrison, Peter, we watched the programme last night on diets and operations designed to make people thin and wondered what happened to the young man from Hull, who had a stomach operation against his fathers wishes. You promised to report on his progress. Well, Rosemary, we did follow this story up a month or so back. Hes actually lost an awful lot of weight. I cant remember the exact figures, but I will find out and maybe well get him back in on the programme again as well. One of the things that Im trying to cut down on as well is tea and coffee, because Gillian says they are loaded with caffeine. So Im trying to get into herbal teas at the moment, but if I read many stories like this one in the paper today, then this will prompt me to give up tea altogether. Apparently, its the most expensive cup of tea in the country. Almost as expensive as a glass of champagne! But at £8.50, Harrods are promising to present connoisseurs with the perfect cup of tea. The store is starting to stock Tieguanyin tea a rare Chinese variety, which sells for £1700 per kilogram or £8.50 a cup! Its believed to be the most expensive with an exceptional taste! Well, it would need to be an exceptional taste at £8.50. Anyway, should you want any of that, and Im sure that you dont, then Harrods is the place to go! Hair Straighteners Now, these hair straighteners appeared out of nowhere as far as Im concerned. I always remember walking into the dressing room and finding that the girls all had a pair of hair straighteners one day. The first time I saw them I didnt know what they were. I picked them up, which was a mistake, because I picked them up by the end and they were actually plugged in, so I got very burnt. So I always remember that one, and since then, whenever you walk into a dressing room anywhere, theres always a pair of hair straighteners plugged in somewhere! Anyway, the news that will strike terror into the hearts of women everywhere is that hair straighteners are out. The same fashion industry that decreed coiffeurs should be sleek, flat and bereft of even the slightest kink has decided that a gentle curl and the slightest wave is the way to go. Straight hair is so last season apparently! So all those people, who own hair straighteners dont need them anymore, because curly is in! But I d! ont think the avid hair straightener users around me will ever stop using them, but well wait and see. Curly hair is in, so good news to all naturally curly haired people out there. Do you have a view on that or indeed on anything else, then do get in touch. Email me at [EMAIL PROTECTED] Id be interested on some views on this one as well. Most mothers with young families would prefer to stay at home and look after their children, a study found yesterday. No great surprise there then. A survey of working mothers found that just 6% wanted to work full time. Half wanted to combine bringing up their children with a part time job, while more than a quarter wanted to be full time mothers. Nearly all the women questioned, mostly in their forties by the way, revealed they were desperate for a different sort of life and felt stressed by having to juggle their roles. They were asked in an ideal world what they would like to be. 26% said they wanted to be a housewife and mother. The most popular response was given by 50% and that was to be a mum, who worked part time. That apparently, is the absolute ideal a mum who works part time. Any views on that or on anything else, then I look forward to hearing from you. In The Country Researchers from three different universities and we know what theyre like! have declared in the British Journal of Psychiatry that if you live in the country you have less chance of being barmy than if you live in a town or a city. Well, can I just say as somebody who lives right in the centre of a city that Im perfectly normal!! I dont want any response on that one either. That was just a statement. And finally for this week, a short week on the Levy Letter of course, the top ten items bought in the 2006 sales, which are on at the moment. What do you think they are? Well, number one are shoes - thats the most bought item. A pair of jeans are number two, CDs are number three, no surprises there. Books four, lingerie five. At number eight is an overcoat, number nine are cosmetics and the tenth most bought item in the sales is a digital camera! And on that note, that is exactly what Im going to treat myself to this weekend. Seeing as most of the viewers of Look North have a digital camera, I think I should buy one this weekend, so by Monday I expect Ill be completely baffled by it all. Im not sure how to get the pictures from the camera to the computer, let alone sending them to somebody like me, but maybe by Monday Ill find out. Ill update you all on Monday how I get on! Well thats it from me. Have a very good weekend and keep warm! Join me tonight on BBC1 at 6.30pm. Look out for your Levy Letter on Monday. And if theres anyone you know whos not signed up to the Letter and would like one, then all youve got to tell them to do is go to www.bbc.co.uk/humber or www.bbc.co.uk/lincolnshire, click on Levy Letter, following the instructions through, register and then your daily Levy Letter comes through every day as you know. Look out for your Levy Letter on Monday. Take care Peter And for the latest news and more where you live, go to: http://bbc.co.uk/humber and http://bbc.co.uk/lincolnshire ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- To unsubscribe from the BBC Look North newsletter, go to http://www.bbc.co.uk/england/looknorthhull/newsletter/newsletter_index.shtml, enter your email address in the unsubscribe box.
