Saturday 30 April 2011

WHAT WILL YOU BE CAUGHT WEARING?

At Centerpoint Salmiah, as a part of their decor...and to the attention of Customers.  

EXFOLIATION FOR SOFTER SKIN


At A to Z shop in Shuweikh, I saw these gloves. What a colour  huh? Well, its not wearing during winter or gardening purpose. It's 'Body Toning Glove' for exfoliating your skin during bath. It 's effects are like a loofah sponge, except they are in glove form. I wore one and tried to run the gloved hand on my other hand and felt, it's not rough at all, just comfortable enough to exfoliate dead skin and soften rough or dry skin, when you shower using soap or body wash, shower gel, shower cream so on. Not on your face please...!!! The gloves are sold in two pieces, one for either hand. 

They have diffrent brushes with long handles for massaging, scrubbing and exfoliating your skin during bath. Watch out, some of them are rough (gosh) but  some are soft and perfect.

DETOX DIET PLAN FOR 7 OR 10 DAYS - PART 3




Detox Food Plan for 7 or 10 days

Day 1 and 2:
Freshly prepared Juices only (not packeted ones or juices bought from restaurants or cafes)
(Do it in the weekend, so you don’t feel tired at work)

Breakfast : Fruit juice (no sugar, only honey for sweetness)

Lunch : Fruit/Vegetable juice

Dinner : Fruit Juice
  
In between when hungry : Have fruit juice

Take plenty of rest. Hot bath as described in previous post.   
Vegetable Soup
Steamed Vegetables
 Day 3 to day 7 or Day 3 to Day 10

Early Morning (upon waking) A tablespoon of lemon juice with 1 teaspoon of honey mixed in half cup of warm water. (Lemon is an excellent fruit for detox)

Breakfast : Bowl of chopped fresh fruits with few nuts and raisins.

Lunch choice 1 : Salad of your choice (avoid ready made salad dressing, use natural – prepare your own) Avoid spices. A cup of yoghurt. Brown rice if you wish

Lunch choice 2 : Freshly made vegetable soup, not canned or packeted (using vegetables of your choice or green leafy soup like spinach soup, along with a small salad, a cup of yoghurt. Brown rice if you wish.

Dinner: Boiled or steamed vegetables, vegetable soup  or Mixed chopped fresh fruits  or a healthy fruit/vegetable smoothie (without sugar)

In between when hungry : munch on chopped cucumbers, carrot anything low calorie or have some fresh fruit juice  

Include a lot of fiber and roughage in the detox diet,  to avoid contispation. Drink 8 glasses of water in a day.

Do not use any spices in your detox diet, except for salt and pepper for seasoning and chopped fresh or dried herbs. 

Avoid restaurant salads, fast food, sweets, pastries, cakes, chocolates, meat, chicken, oil, fish, egg, sausages, mortadella, cheese, fried food,  liver, cheese, anything packeted, processed  during detox.

Exercise from day 3 to day 7 (or 10) till the end of detox. Steam-Sauna is recommended (do only if possible). Don't let the inconvience of any sort to do Steam-sauna stop you from persuing a detox diet.

You will lose  half kg to one kg at the end of your 7 or 10 day detox, feel lighter, stomach toned down. In case you feel tired during your detox, its because you were used to eating differently and with simple detox food, your body might crave for the usual food you had. If you feel low in energy, have half a glass of water with one tablespoon of honey mixed in it, twice a day.

HOW TO DETOX - PART 2



A detoxification diet can be done twice a year. It is not to be done by pregnant women and, nursing mothers. The eldery, those suffering from any illnesses or life style diseases like hypertension, diabetes, high blood pressure, consult a doctor for a personalized detox diet.

A detox diet requires us to avoid alcohol, coffee, cigarettes, refined sugars and saturated fats, fast food, restaurant foods, packeted food and juices, cakes, pastries, icecreams, sweets, chocolates, tea, coffee, coke, chips, all processed food, meat, chicken, fish, sausages, flour, butter, oil. 

Detox diet is followed between 7 to 10 days as it takes the body some time to clean the blood.  Fast on liquids for two days (fresh fruit and fresh vegetable juices without sugar, and not packeted ones or what they serve in restaurants), followed by a carefully-planned five-day or eight day detox diet to enable the digestive system to rest. On the third day of the detox diet, you can start light exercises if you feel tired. If you feel energetic enough, exercise for half hour to 45 minutes depending on your physical capacity.

1. Eat plenty of fiber, including brown rice, green salad leaves, fresh fruits and vegetables (raw, boiled or steamed). Lemon, oranges, beetroots, radishes, cabbage, broccoli, and seaweed are excellent detoxifying foods. You can include potatoes, cauliflower, green leaves, beans, carrot….whatever vegetable you like in your diet. Avoid packeted cereals, cola, tea, coffee, flour,  white bread, meat, chicken, fish, liver during the detox.

 2. Drink green tea (with honey, not sugar) for cleansing the Liver.

 3. Take vitamin C, in form of Oranges or other fruits with Vitamin C, which helps the body produce glutathione, a liver compound that drives away toxins.

 4. Drink at 8 glasses of water daily.

 5. Breathe deeply to allow oxygen to circulate more completely through your system.

 6. Relieve stress by emphasizing positive emotions

 7. Take a very hot shower for five minutes, allowing the water to run on your back, followed by cold water for 30 seconds.  

 8. Sweat in a sauna atleast twice a week so your body can eliminate wastes through perspiration.


Calming and toning light exercise like yoga and tai chi enhance the body’s functioning. 



DETOX FOR HEALTH - PART 1



Last Sunday, I started a detox diet.  I really wasn't sure, whether I would stick to it for a week. As you know, I have been having low calorie food and the restrictions were reasonable. I was concerned if a detox diet would be tasteless, boring and have me low on energies. Since I am completing a week of detox diet today, I can courageously write this blog. In my personal experience, I feel truly good, lighter, healthier, more energetic, and I did manage to lose half kg in a week after following the detox diet. Glad I went through it. The intent was to rid my body of accumulated toxins. Now that I completed a week of detox,  Iam going to continue for another 3 days. This blog will be in three parts

So what is detox and why do we need to  detox?
Detoxification is about removing the accumulated toxins from your body by cleaning and nourishing the body from the inside out. By feeding your body with healthy nutrients, detoxifying can help protect you from disease and renew your ability to maintain optimum health.

The body has its own natural healing system but in today’s world, people lead stressful lives. Besides, they are constantly exposed to and consuming food laden with preservatives, additives, sugar and fat,  like fast food, restaurant food, pastries, chips, coke, and the huge variety of processed food available all around us. All this takes a toll on the body’s digestive system and general health. 

How Does Detoxification Work? 
A lot of toxins collect through time in our body and the impurities aren't properly filtered and every cell in the body is adversely affected. Detoxification aims at cleaning the blood by removing impurities from the blood in the liver, where toxins are processed for elimination. The body eliminates toxins through the kidneys, intestines, lungs, lymph and skin.  The diet would include fruits, vegetables, yoghurt, nuts and raisins brown rice. Detox diet is followed for 7 days or 10 days, as one wishes. 

A detox program can help the body's natural cleaning process by:
1) Resting the organs through fasting; 
2) Getting the liver to drive toxins from the body; 
3) Elimination of toxins through the intestines, kidneys and skin; 
4) Improving blood circulation 
5)  Providing body with healthy nutrients. 

See the next post on How to Detox.

Friday 29 April 2011

ROYAL WEDDING : PRINCE WILLIAM AND KATE DECLARED MARRIED




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Prince William, 28 and Kate Middleton, 29 got married at London’s Westminster Abbey today (29.04.11), exchanging vows shortly after 11am. The exchange of vows went smoothly, though Prince William did struggle to get the wedding ring onto his new bride's finger. The ring is Welsh gold given to William by the Queen. Prince William wore a bright red uniform of  Colonel of the Irish Guards and Kate wore a specially designed Alexander McQueen ivory wedding gown with lace applique designed by Sarah Burton. The train of the dress was 2 metres and 70 centimetres long. She wore  a 1936 Cartier 'Halo' Tiara lent to her by the Queen. Her jewellery was minimum. She wore diamond set earrings gifted to her by her parents.  Now they are married, the couple were titled Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, bestowed on them by Queen Elizabeth. Kate would also be known as Princess Catherine.  The Royal wedding was a beautiful event to watch which was shown live on  BBC World News TV Channel. 

iPHONE KEEPS A RECORD OF EVERYWHERE YOU GO

 


Last week, an article by Charles Arthur in ‘The Guardian’ reported that Apple iPhones and 3G iPads are secretly recording and storing details of all their owners' movements, researchers claim. Apple’s iPhone saves every detail of your movements to a file on the device. Location data is kept in a hidden, unencrypted file according to security experts Alasdair Allan and Pete Warden and that Apple's iPhone keeps track of where you go – and saves every detail of it to a secret file on the device which is then copied to the owner's computer when the two are synchronised.

The article further states that "Apple has made it possible for almost anybody – a jealous spouse, a private detective – with access to your phone or computer to get detailed information about where you've been," said Pete Warden, one of the researchers. Simon Davies, director of the pressure group Privacy International, said: "This is a worrying discovery. Location is one of the most sensitive elements in anyone's life. Apple declined to comment on why the file is created or whether it can be disabled.

To read the entire article visit the link below – A MUST READ I must say :
http://radar.oreilly.com/2011/04/apple-location-tracking.html

WHAT YOU SHOULD KNOW ABOUT YOURSELF

You are braver than you believe, stronger than you seem and smarter than you think!

ROYAL WEDDING

The Royal Wedding April 29, 2011 : Happiest day in the life of Prince William and Kate Middleton

Prince William and Kate Middleton will be using 1902 State Landau used during William's parents wedding in 1981


Prince William and Kate Middleton are getting married today in Westminster Abbey at 11am (London time). The ceremony would have already begun and you can watch it live on BBC tv channel. Six hundred thousand spectators are expected to line the royal wedding route. Further two billion people anticipated to be tuning in to watch the event around the world.

Prince William and Kate Middleton penned a heartfelt message in their wedding programme to share with the world. ‘We are both so delighted that you are able to join us in celebrating what we hope will be one of the happiest days of our lives. The affection shown by so many people during our engagement has been incredibly moving, and has touched us both deeply. We would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone most sincerely for their kindness.’
Time Table of the Wedding Ceremony
8.15am to 9.45am: General congregation arrives at the Great North Door of Westminster Abbey.

From 9.50am: Governor-generals, prime ministers, the Diplomatic Corps and other distinguished guests arrive.

10.10am: Prince William and brother Prince Harry leave Clarence House.

10.15am: They arrive at the abbey’s Great West Door.

10.20am: Members of foreign royal families start arriving at the abbey.

10.20am: Kate Middleton’s mum Carole and brother James leave the Goring Hotel and arrive at the abbey at 10.27am.

10.25am: Some of the Royal Family, except those listed below, leave Buck- ingham Palace.

10.30am: The Choir of Westminster Abbey and the Choir of Her Majesty’s Chapel Royal, St James’ Palace, proceed to their places.

10.35am: The rest of the Royal Family, including the Duke of York, Princess Beatrice, Princess Eugenie, the Earl and Countess of Wessex, the Princess Royal and Vice Admiral Timothy Laurence, leave Buckingham Palace

10.38am: The Prince of Wales and Duchess of Cornwall leave Clarence House.

10.40am: The Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh leave Buckingham Palace.

10.42am: The congregation stand for the arrival of the Prince of Wales and Duchess of Cornwall as a fanfare is sounded.

10.45am: All remain standing until the Queen’s procession has reached the Lantern.
10.48am: The bridesmaids and pages leave the Goring Hotel, arriving at the abbey at 10.55am.

10.51am: The bride and her father Michael leave the Goring Hotel for Westminster Abbey in a Rolls-Royce Phantom.

10.58am: Kate arrives at the abbey unveiling her wedding dress for the first time. She takes three-and-a-half minutes to walk up the aisle to coronation anthem I Was Glad, by Sir Charles Hubert Hastings Parry from Psalm 122.

11am: The marriage service begins and is relayed by speakers along the route. The congregation sing Guide Me, O Thou Great Redeemer.

12.15pm: Following the ceremony, the carriage procession of the bride and groom with a Captain’s Escort of the Household Cavalry, followed by the Queen’s procession with a Sovereign’s Escort of the Household Cavalry, leaves the abbey.

12.30pm: The bride’s carriage procession arrives at Buckingham Palace.

12.40pm: Members of the Royal Family arrive at the palace.

From 12.40pm: Other guests for the reception arrive at the palace.

1.25pm: The Queen, Kate and Wills and their families appear on the balcony. The couple kiss on the balcony.

1.30pm: Fly-past by the RAF and Battle of Britain Memorial Flight.

From 1.30pm: William and Princess Catherine join the palace reception for 650 guests.

Late afternoon: The bride and groom leave the palace for some downtime at St James’s Palace.

Evening: Prince Charles will host a private reception for 300 family and friends at Buckingham Palace. It will include a best man’s speech by Prince Harry.

To view more details, visit:
www.royalweddingweblog.com/

A well wisher in London

Well-wishers line the wedding procession route

Union Flags in The Mall, London, on the day of the royal wedding.



Thursday 28 April 2011

MAKE SOMEONE HAPPY


Are you going to make someone happy today? 

I am going to make myself happy this evening, by taking a lonnnnnggg stroll in Salem Al Mubarak Street (Salmiah). With lots of shops on either side of the street and being a Thursday...its going be bustling with lots of people, traffic, and the bright evening lights...I like that!  

TREES




This tree is a part of the décor at  ‘River Island, Avenues Mall


An interesting art work using wood pieces to create the effect of a Tree, Top Shop, Avenues Mall

A colourfully lit date palm tree at Lulu Hypermarket, Qrain  


Wonder if this old lone tree that stands without any leaves,  has a history of its own. It stands in front of AG Mart, Salmiah (near Galleria 2000). You can’t miss it.   

THE WAY BACK



Last evening, I watched the 2010 movie ‘The Way Back’ on DVD. In the movie, Janusz, a Polish POW, is sentenced to 25 years in the Siberian Gulag prison camp for espionage. He, along with seven other prisoners execute an escape plan. The prisoners escape by foot in April 1941 and trek all the way  from northern Siberia, across Russia to Mongolia, the Gobi Desert, Tibet and across the Himalayas through a short route to reach Sikkhim in India in September 1942, and attain freedom (during which time, India was under the British rule). This incredible journey to freedom covered 4000 miles by foot (6500 kms)! I appreciated the movie for it’s profound message of human endurance and not to give up hope and no doubt, the cinematography and the amazing landscape. 

Starring :  Jim Sturgess, Colin Farrell, Ed Harris, Saoirse Ronan, Mark Strong, Dragoa Bucur, Gustaf Skarsgard
Directed by : Peter Weir
Supposed to be a beautiful book.   

The distance Slavomi Rawicz covered during his epic escape  
This movie is inspired by and based on the famous so called true story, a 1956 book ‘The Long Walk’ by Slavomir Rawicz, and he describes a 4,000 mile, 18 month escape by himself and six other prisoners. The book sold half a million copies and was translated into 25 languages. There were two huge controversies, whether it was possible for a human to achieve such an extraordinary feat and whether it was really Rawicz who achieved this feat or some other Polish prisoner. Lot of investigations and research was done when the book came out. Rawicz after the war, settled in Nottingham, UK and died in 2004. In May 2009, Reader's Digest published an article that a Polish man Witold Glinkski claimed it was he who made the long walk! Whoever made the walk, it is a beautiful book and a nice movie.  
Slavomir Rawicz who described in his Novel 'The Long Walk' his 4000 mile escape by foot
It's weekend..what better way to unwind than to watch a good movie...You could get the DVD of this movie 'THE WAY BACK' (on rent perhaps) and enjoy! 

ACCEPT OTHERS THE WAY THEY ARE


Accept others the way they are. You cannot change other people. To try to change them to fit what you want them to be, is like trying to change a dog into a cat or a cat into a horse. They are what they are; you are what you are. - Don Miguel Ruiz