Red Hot World Buffet left me cold

Well actually, more disappointed and disgusted!

I have been to Red Hot World Buffet at the Leeds Light numerous times. I like the option of being able to try different things, as at best I'm indecisive, with the pregnancy even more so.

As an 'all you can eat' buffet style restaurant, it was never going to win a Michelin star. But it is fast, (normally) good food.

On Sunday, we called in for dinner, expecting the usual good for value priced food.

We were seated quite quickly, it wasn't particularly busy. We were asked to vacate the table within an hour and half, not a problem, I didn't predict we'll be there that long.

We were seated and left alone. Normally Red Hot World Buffet Staff will appear to take drinks orders within seconds, but we ended up having to call a Manager over as nobody seemed to be free. We eventually got drinks and started to get dinner.

Fifteen minutes later, I called over one of the four staff stood around the till to request a refill. Order placed. Ten minutes later, another request. Twenty minutes later, a third and final request for the same drink...

Finally ten minutes later it arrived. An apology would have been nice but by that point I REALLY needed a drink!

Shortly after, whilst still eating, the bill arrived. We finished eating, feeling a bit rushed and irritated, and paid.

As I'm sure every woman who has been pregnant or knows someone that has realises if you can make it an hour without rushing to the toilet you are doing amazing! So I called on the way out. The second I opened the outer door to the corridor of the toilets, I was met with an overwhelming stench of urine. Unfortunately this made me feel sick, immediately. By the time I had rushed to the ladies' I was sick, trying to clean it up made it worse but I did, because it's even worse to clean up after someone else.

After quite some time, and possibly the entire content of the meal including the long waited for drink, I cleaned myself up and went to find a member of staff.

I managed to attract a young lady's attention and explained that the toilets, including the corridor, really smelled unpleasant and had made me sick. Her response was 'I'll take a look' and walked away.

After walking upstairs, I tried to speak to the front of house staff, but again, no real interest.

As I said I have visited the place several times as I know what I'm getting and what to expect. But I was really disappointed with the service. I have visited when it has been really busy and really quiet, and the staff usually seem to do a good job in what must be a very unrewarding role.

I was angry at the dismissive attitude of the staff. I actually tweeted RedHot (@RedHotWldBuffet) and received no response.

HiPP Baby Club & Competition

A quick Google of baby clubs or pregnacy sites will bring up an ever increasing list of helpful websites, offers, discounts, etc. I'm an advocate of moneysavingexpert.com and used the site to see what people thought about the websites before I joined up.

I joined up with quite a few and have to say I have been disappointed with some. 

A new contender to these sites is the Baby Club. It is run by HiPP Organic. 

What does it offer I hear you cry! 

As a member, you can enjoy all this for FREE

• Personalised baby calendar
• Exclusive offers and competitions
• Regular baby development emails
• FREE 1st year record book
• Expert advice at every stage
• A-Z of pregnancy & baby health
• Chat to other mums and health experts in the HiPP Chat forum
• FREE HiPP Organic samples and money off coupons

For me, I have been rather relient on the internet for pregangcy information. As it's my first baby I have also enjoyed reading the weekly updates about baby's development by following your baby's growth on your very own personal development page. Some women (and fathers too) read everything they can possible digest. I haven't read any books as there is more than enough information in the weekly emails for me, but I do like being able to log on to the site and ask questions. And believe me there are a lot of random questions that have cropped up! You can ask a midwife, a health visitor, a nutritionist, HiPP's Customer Service manager directly or ask on the forums if it is less specific. A lot of the ladies on the forums are going through the same as you, have been, or are trying to negoitate another way around it. They are a great support and a laugh too.

There are lots of helpful hints and tips, what to buy lists, what to pack for hospital, what to eat and what to avoid information. The foods guide for pregnancy can be printed out to keep handy, especially when those cravings kick in. The recipes for pregnant mums is a nice touch.

The Getting ready for your arrival section is going to be very useful for me in the coming weeks, as it includes:

A free birth plan 

What really happens during labour?

Where to give birth

What to put in your hospital bag 

Postnatal support

There are lots of charts and tools for the new mum, and those a good few months in. HiPP offer a free HiPP Organic weaning starter pack (when baby reaches 17 weeks old) plus exclusive offers for joining. 

The HiPP Baby Club is open to those living in the UK and pregnant and/or have a child under 12 months of age. Once registered, Baby Club is available for you to use up to and including your child's 5th birthday.

You can join the HiPP Baby Club here.

And find out all about HiPP Organic here, including competitions, updates, etc.

In conjunction with HiPP I am pleased to offer a new competition. One winner will receive a goody bag of HiPP Organic Baby Food containing:

A selection of jars (3)

Creamy Porridge (1)

Fruit Pots (1 box of 4)

Fruit Pouches (2)

How Much?

(This was originally published 18 months ago)

The NHS South West Essex and Basildon council are due to start piloting a project paying severely overweight patients to lose weight from September. The scheme, Pound-for-Pound, is using Asda shopping vouchers as an incentive to lose weight.

One hundred volunteers will be selected from both sexes to participate in the trails. If it is proven to  be successful, the NHS hope to use it in the rest of the UK and save money in the long term.

Although there is no definitive weight requirements or set targets, the body mass index (BMI) of patients must indicate they are severely overweight. The BMI is calculated from their height, weight and gender. A BMI measurement of over 30 is considered obese. Nearly two thirds of adults within the UK are overweight or clinically obese and significantly more children are becoming classified as obese.

There are also no set targets, so the patients must agree to set their own goals. They will be educated about healthy long term weight loss through wholesome eating and exercise. The volunteers must agree to a weigh in after three months, when a photograph will also be taken to compare to their original.

Experts, such as Jo Grayley of Weight Watchers, have warned it is irresponsible  to reward weight loss financially and could encourage crash dieting. 'Without support over a three-month period, there will be weeks where motivation levels will drop. You would also get people who might do  silly things to lose a lot of weight for the reward. It can be dangerous to lose a lot of weight in a short amount of time. Losing weight should be its own incentive. I don't think attaching a monetary  reward to it is necessarily a good idea'.

It has certainly got many people debating the benefits of healthy long term eating. Katie Bolton of LeedsGrub (an on-line Leeds based food review blog) advised 'We need to eat to survive, but why not enjoy something we have to do by necessity.  I get far more pleasure from eating nice food than I do from looking  thin'.
Although she also stated, 'Healthy food is perceived as expensive, so giving people money to spend on better food could help them'.
She believes 'it is much more important to re-educate people in nutrition, budgeting for shopping and how to cook proper meals, this will help people to eat tasty enjoyable, nutritionally sound meals on a budget'.

Many of the commercially available diet plans (Weight Watchers, Slimfast, Jenny Craig) have websites where you can get hints and tips from professionals and forums where you can get support from other dieters. There are a number of diets available on the market, so is the reward of good health no longer enough?

Last year a government report recommended using a series of measures, including compulsory cooking lessons in schools and possible financial incentives. Although there were no proposals at the time, Department of Health sources indicated healthy eating vouchers were an idea.

The project, funded by Basildon Council who have set aside £1,000 for the scheme, believe it provides better value for money than previous schemes it has introduced, notably a £75 per month gym memberships scheme, which was rarely used.

A Basildon Council spokesman said: 'We don't want to encourage people to excessive weight  loss. It's a small push in the right direction.'

Obesity causes a host of health problems including diabetes, heart disease, infertility and some cancers. It is already costing the NHS hundreds of millions of pounds each year.

Although there are no targets for patients as yet, it remains to be seen whether the NHS will set targets for the doctors and nurses involved in the trial.

Questions have being raised around how the vouchers can be spent, Asda has confirmed it will only allow the vouchers to be  spent on healthy foods, such  as fruit and vegetables.