DECORATIVE ITEMS

I would have liked to sit on these inticrately done little sofas  but for that, I would have to be a really tiny person like Lilliputians in Gulliver's Travels. These sofas are small show pieces you can adorn your shelves. Very artistically done! 

 Wish I could sit in a chariot like this and take a ride along Salem Mubarak Street when there is least traffic. A small cute looking decorative item for any shelf!

A replica of an ancient Egyptian King's throne? 

Nice decorative item for a child's room. It's quite small and pretty.

A huge variety of interesting looking photo frames. If I were to choose, I'd have a difficult time. 

 

Elaborately adorned Ornamental Jewellery boxes.

 Some really cute decorative items  and little toys for children

They are all available at Centerpoint, Salmiah,  near H&M (and surely in all the Centerpoint branches). 

WEIGHT LOSS UPDATE

Though I have been following a low calorie diet diligently for the past two months, I wasn’t consistent with my exercise for the past two weeks. The weather, my schedule and having fallen sick for a week being reasons for the relapse. Let me share a secret with you…When you stop exercising for whatever reason and there is a break, there would arise a reluctance to return to the exercise regime. You know what you should do that time? Kick yourself and convince yourself, to get back on track. You can’t achieve weight loss without exercise! I have been exercising for the past  5 days now and there is some positive result. I have lost half kg after such a long gap.  

Our body is the only tool, medium, matter, through which we can experience the world, its beauty and richness and we have an important responsibility to feed our body right and let it get sufficient exercise and maintain a healthy weight.

My weight loss update:

25.02.2011 - 76 kg

04.03.2011 - 74 kg

12.03.2011 – 72 kg

21.03.2011 – 71 kg

29.03.2011 – 70.5 kg

05.04.2011 - 70 kg

26.04.2011 – 69.5 kg

Total loss 6.5  kg in 2 months

NO STRESS

 

Brain cells create ideas. Stress kills brain cells. Stress is not a good idea.

~ Frederick Saunders 

  

BRAGGING: PART 2 - ART AND BENEFITS OF BRAGGING

Just when I thought that I understood why people brag, I came across another interesting aspect to Bragging. 

It ain't bragging if you done it.-Dizzy Dean

Peggy Klaus, is the author of a book called BRAG! The Art of Tooting Your Own Horn Without Blowing It. A top Fortune 500 communication and leadership coach, Klaus has taught thousands of professionals the art of bragging with style and grace. She is the President of Klaus & Associates in Berkeley, California. Klaus is a much in-demand consultant who has spent nearly a decade advising some of America's top Fortune 500 executives in the art of self-presentation and promotion.

Author Peggy Klaus of the book 'BRAG'

 Now the big question, To brag or not to brag? What does Peggy share through her book?

In Peggy's words, Quote

‘Bragging in today’s competitive world is a necessity and a matter of choice to promote one’s self. Downplaying your own success could allow others to grab credit for your achievements. If done with grace and style, bragging successfully while artfully communicates your talents and accomplishments without you sounding like a pompous ass. A person can gain connections, motivation, and skills that can lead to raises and promotions, and stronger professional relationships. By learning this book’s guiding principles, tips, and best practices, you can toot your own horn in a manner that is sincere, comfortable, without antagonizing anyone. Bragging is an art, an individual form of self-expression and communication that, once mastered, is the key to opening doors. And if you learn to brag with finesse, you may find others begin to also come out of their shell. It’s a freeing experience'. Of course, when you brag, you should not seem to be doing so. Just don’t be a “brag bomb” and let all that success go to your head'. - Peggy Klaus 

Unquote

I found the two set of views by Morty Leftkoe and Peggy Klaus (Part 1 and 2 of Bragging) quite...hmmm...what to say...enlightening! I realize there is huge difference between between healthy self promoting talk  that would help a person to be immensely recognized for his efforts, sincerity and positive accomplishments to come up in life and unhealthy pompous bragging with the intent of putting others down and showing off that one is better and bigger than his whole lot, for personal gratification due to self esteem issues. 

To read more about Peggy Klaus book, click Here 

BRAGGING : PART 1 - IS IT GOOD OR BAD?

Have you come across a friend, relative or colleague who brags non-stop?. Seriously, why do some people brag? I did a small research on this to understand the psyche of such people and found a nice article by Morty Leftkoe, that answered my question. Morty Leftkoe says it took him 50 years to realize he was bragging and he needed to stop. Later he helped many people habituated to bragging, deal with their self esteem issues to overcome ‘bragging’ about themselves.

Quote from the article

'For most of my life, I didn’t see my bragging as a problem. I did it and most of the people were aware of it. I realized that bragging is actually a way to compensate for a low level of self-esteem. Once we have a negative sense of ourselves, we need to find something that makes us feel good about ourselves to compensate. They are survival strategy behaviour, because we feel we need them to survive. Having people think well of me, makes me feel worthy and important.’ – Morty Leftkoe

‘Is every comment about one’s accomplishments “bragging”? Not necessarily. Here’s how to tell the difference between someone bragging and merely stating facts: Are the “facts” repeated frequently; does there seem to be a need on the person’s part that you really get the importance of what they are telling you; does the speaker have a lot of energy on “the facts”? If so, you probably are hearing bragging coming from people who need you to think well of them to feel good about themselves. If the accomplishments are presented as information, something the speaker is proud of but not “invested in,” without looking for or needing a positive reaction from you, it probably isn’t bragging.

Bragging isn’t bad and it isn’t wrong. It’s not the bragging you want to get rid of, it’s the beliefs that have you brag, to get the approval of others to feel okay about yourself. And you can stop the bragging anytime you want by eliminating the negative self-esteem beliefs and the survival strategy beliefs that cause it... ‘– Morty Leftkoe

‘Unquote’

To read the full article, click Here  

YOU HAVE THE RIGHT

You have the right to what enters your sphere of existence. You have the right to decide who and what you surround yourself with. You have the right to create an environment around you that is only for the highest good, where energy flows - Pamela Leigh Richards

DEAR JOHN

The movie, 'Dear John' is a touching romantic drama about a soldier who falls for a conservative college student while he's home on leave. This movie was released in early 2010. If you enjoy romantic drama, it’s a nice movie to watch – you could get the DVD. The film made a strong box office performance, knocking off 'Avatar' after seven weekends in first place and grossing a total of $112,157,433 worldwide when it ran in the theatres. The ending of the movie is slightly different from the ending of the story in the novel. Don't let me get you curious about the ending...watch and enjoy the movie!

.

Directed by Lasse Hallstrom

Starring : Channing Tatum, Amanda Seyfried, Richard Jenkins

Running time : 107 minutes

Based on the book ‘Dear John’ by Nicholas Sparks (2006)

Novelist, Nicholas Sparks wrote quite a few books which were adapted into films, Message in a Bottle (1999), A Walk to Remember (2002), The Notebook (2004),  Nights in Rodanthe (2008),  Dear John (2010), The Last Song (2010)

QUIZ - ARE YOU GOING THROUGH AN EATING DISORDER?

I stumbled upon this site that had some interesting Quizzes and I tried out this Quiz 'Are you suffering from an eating disorder' and my results are : 

Not suffering from an eating disorder 

You do not have to fear about suffering from an eating disorder as you are eating right. You do not worry too much about what others have to say about your body. Thats the right attitude.

Now that's a relief!  

 

Love food? But worried about your weight? Are you on a weight loss regime? Do you go on and off diets? You wish you could fit into small size clothes? Do you find comfort in food especially when you are stressed, sad or worried? Never mind what food habits you had so far... Take charge...show yourself  what you can achieve. 

Go ahead, click on the red link below and try out this fun Quiz and find out your results!. 

Quiz- Are you suffering from an eating disorder? - Health & Fitness Quizzes

TO KUWAIT WITH LOVE

I saw this nice display in the window of 'Al Ostoura', at Zahra Complex, Salmiah. 

PIANO RECITAL AT FANAR MALL

Fanar Mall in Salmiah

Musician on the Piano 

When I was at Fanar Mall last week, I noticed a musician playing beautiful music on the Piano. It was Thursday evening, around 7pm. The whole Mall resonated with his soulful music rendering. At one time he played the song 'Where do I begin' (from movie Love Story). If you enter Fanar from the front entrance of the Mall, the Piano recital is at the back center portion of the Mall, on the ground floor itself, that leads to the coffee shop. No matter where I was in the Mall, I could hear lovely songs being played on the Piano. That was a delightful experience. 

WHAT HUSBANDS HEAR

COLA AND SOFT DRINKS

Carbonated beverages or soft drinks is something young and old enjoy especially in the summer.  It seems refreshing the moment we drink it, but  the hazard it poses is something worth knowing.  

1. Caffeine and high amounts of sugar in soft drinks can seriously interfere with the digestive process. This means the body does not absorb nutrients from food completely eaten, and even eaten a few hours earlier.

2. Drinking soft drinks while having fever or flu will make it difficult for the body to fight disease.

3. Soft drinks are very acidic, especially Cola and it depletes the body of water. In order to neutralize a glass of Cola, it takes 32 glasses of pure filtered water. It is well known by the medical profession that disease loves acid. If we could get our cells to maintain a normal pH (slightly alkaline), cancer could not grow in our bodies. Cancer can't live in an oxygen-rich environment. Cola drinks make our bodies poor in oxygen

4. The bubbles and fizz in soft drinks can potentially burn human insides. This is caused by the phosphoric acid and carbon dioxide. The phosphorus in the acid upsets the body's calcium-phosphorus ratio and dissolves calcium out of the bones. This can eventually result in osteoporosis

5. Sugar in Cola Soft Drinks will cause an increase in "empty calories" that offer little or no nutritional value. This causes people to eat more because they always feel hungry. Their body is telling them that they need to feed the cells. Never finding the proper nutrients, the hunger becomes a vicious circle resulting in obesity

6. A diet high in Sugar, such as that found in Cola Soft Drinks, will cause blood sugar levels to skyrocket. The pancreas works to level out the high sugar levels by producing insulin. If Soda and Cola Soft Drinks are consumed at a high level on a daily basis, this will cause the pancreas to "wear out", resulting in diabetes.

7. Caffeine in Cola soft drinks artificially stimulate the body and increase the heart rate. This artificial stimulation temporarily arouses the intellect and fatigue seems to disappear, but shortly the "sugar high" dissipates. Caffeine raises blood pressure, increases heart rate, and cause plaque to form in the arteries (cholesterol).

8. Due to the higher sugar content, acidic content, additives, preservatives and dyes in Cola, the  functioning of the digestive enzymes in our stomach is reduced. Less food is digested the rest gets fermented. The undigested fermented food creates odors, gas, and poison, which is absorbed by the intestines, and these toxins lead to diseases.

9. Phosphorus found in Cola Soft Drinks (pH 2.5) renders hydrochloric acid (pH 4.5) in the stomach ineffective. This promotes indigestion, bloating and gassiness. Carbon dioxide is a waste product exhaled by humans, but they ingest it when they drink Soda and Cola Soft Drinks.

10. Olyethylene Glycol is an ingredient used in soft drinks. Glycol is used in anti-freeze in automobiles and as an oil solvent. When Cola Drinks are poured on your windshield in a snow or ice storm, you will discover that it will keep the windshield from freezing over with ice.

See Source for more information :

http://nutrition2success.com/soda.php

http://trendsupdates.com/drinking-too-much-cola-may-result-in-paralysis/

WHO MAKES A HERO?

LAKOOCHA FROZEN YOGHURT

I visited Lakoocha Frozen Yoghurt at Galleria 2000 Mall, that is located between Sultan Center and AG Mart in Salmiah. I was amazed to know that a serving of Lakoocha yoghurt contains only 25 calories!. What Lakoocha offers is healthy low calorie frozen yoghurt of  four flavours  - Mixed Berry, Strawberry Cheesecake, Dulce de Leche and Original. Time to time, they would also have new flavours. Lakoocha frozen yoghurt taste quite good and one does not have to worry about calories and the good part is yoghurt contains protein and  good bacteria, essential for our health. Lakoocha offers FIVE toppings of your choice. Fruit topping include kiwi, strawberry, mango, pomegranate, raspberry, blueberries, bananas. The fruits are replaced twice a day to provide customers with fresh fruits. The other toppings are almonds, oreo bits, kitkat pieces, marshmellow, chocolate sprinkles, coloured sprinkles, M&M, chocolate chips, cornflakes and Italian chocolate sauce. They provide Home Delivery  as well. Staff, Mr. Sajeed  and hostess Yheng were extremely helpful and the ambience is very comfortable. I had 'Mixed Berry and Strawberry cheesecake' with an interesting mix of topping without having to wonder or worry about calories.  If you happen to be in Salmiah, do visit Lakoocha for healthy and low calorie frozen yoghurt experience.

Galleria 2000 Mall

 

Nutritional information in a serving of Lakoocha Frozen Yoghurt

Seating view at 'Lakoocha' taken from top floor. 

Lakoocha Frozen Yoghurt, Galleria 2000 Mall, Tel : 25758585

Home Delivery Service : Available 

Facebook link: www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=127948890114#!/group.php?gid=127948890114&v=info

KUWAIT SCIENTIFIC CENTER 'A BILLION ACTS OF GREEN'

Commemorating the Earth Day, Kuwait Scientific Center held seminars on 'sense of sustainability', presentations and an exhibition related to creating conciousness in protecting our environment . I could take just a few pics. 

HAPPY EASTER

To everyone who is celebrating Easter, wishing you a Very Happy Easter!

I usually pack a healthy breakfast for my husband to take to work, so he starts his day with the right nourishment. Today there was a small surprise that awaited him when he opened his breakfast box.  I kept a small Chocolate Easter egg from Cadbury's along with his breakfast. He enjoyed the surprise! Though we both are chocolate lovers, we have been staying away from chocolates for a while now, especially me! 

I was at Sultan Center (Salmiah) again last evening and here are some pics of some of their Chocolate Easter Eggs.