The Quitbit Lighter 
Fed with bread
Would you like to learn how to make local Irish breads in a very relaxed atmosphere within a small group? If so, why not head to a thatched barn in Co. Down where you can hear about traditional breads, how they formed the diet pre and post famine in Ireland, and then try your hand at making them yourself.
Taking place at The Stables, Killinchy, in conjunction with NI Food Tours on January 19, this is the perfect opportunity to learn about the culinary history of the country. Once you have made a selection of breads, everyone will all sit down at the table and feast on them, accompanied with an impressive selection of local jams, dulse (seaweed) butter, and smoked butter.
You will take home a bag of breads that you have made along with a copy of all of the recipes used.
Food on the mind
We all know that changing your diet plan can radically alter your weight, but new research has shown that mindfulness can also aid a person in their weight loss efforts.
A recent study from the University Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire National Health Services Trust in the UK – in collaboration with other clinical and research institutions – revealed participants who attended mindfulness sessions lost more weight than those who attended less or none at all.
Participants who had attended three or four mindfulness sessions lost, on average, three kilograms (6.6 lb), while those who had only attended one or two mindfulness sessions lost an average of 0.9 kilograms (around 2 lb). “Surveys of the participants indicate [that] mindfulness training can help this population improve their relationship with food,” explains the study’s first author Petra Hanson.
Mindfulness can help people change and manage their eating behaviours with more ease.
A spark of inspiration
With the new year in full swing, it’s now the perfect time to give up any bad habits that have been haunting you over the past 12 months.
One vice worth dropping is smoking, and while this may seem impossible, there are some gadgets that can help you along the way. The Quitbit Lighter is a fully functional lighter that you use to light a cigarette, but tracks how often you do it, and if you use it too much it will stop working.
A timer on a display tells you when you can have your next cigarette. The lighter is wirelessly connected to an app where you can set plans, reach goals and check statistics.
It tracks only your smoking so you can share it with a friend or relight your own without counting twice.
