WEIGHT LOSS UPDATE

In a couple of days I would weigh myself. I have been keeping up to the promise I made to myself and strictly adhering to a low calorie diet, more of fruits and vegetables, a sufficient amount of carbohydrates, very less meat and chicken and absolutely no sweets, chocolates, pastries and icecreams. I also stay from packeted and packaged foods.  I am glad I don't miss all the sweets that I just devour!

I learnt how our attitude changes when we make a strong decision and do what it takes make the journey of weight loss a positive experience as we tread slowly towards our goal. The attitude that, 'I can't do without this, or I will diet tomorrow' is replaced with 'This is not good for me, this will sabotage my diet, I want to put in continued effort, that's the only way I can lose weight'. Attitude is everything.

The moment you change your attitude towards food and sedentary lifestyle, you get the desired motivation to get you going. Viewing your body as God's gift to give it the required nourishment in form of healthy food, in moderate amounts and exercise your body as you were never created to be sedentary, changes your life. It makes you a stronger person, unyielding to  temptations. It makes you discover a different part of you, a part you never knew existed. When you have control over one area of your life, you can have control over many other areas of your life.

I for one, don't particularly like to exercise, but I have made it a point to exercise and make it a joyful experience. When we exercise, good hormones are released into our body that gives us a feeling of well being and gives us a new found energy. I am able to fit better into my clothes and feel a lot lighter when I move about! I don't want to be trapped in an 'overweight' body. I am enjoying my journey of weightloss.

Those of you trying to lose weight like me...please don't give up...keep going. You know what to do. Its your body, its your great wish to lose weight. And you will!

Kuwait sandstorm 25/03/2011

Never seen such a massive sandstorm before in Kuwait. I thought of looking out of my balcony on Friday evening,  to check out the weather before going out (to see if its warm or cold), and I got such a shock. There was this gush of dust that naturally came in as soon as I opened the balcony. I shut the balcony door and looked through the glass  and for a few minutes, I wasn't sure what was happening, why was everything so dark outside, though its dusty and I realized, its this sandstorm that has caused zero visibility. For a moment I wondered if Kuwait was observing 'Earth Hour' one day in advance. LOL.

Thank God I wasn't out amidst the traffic. There  are some amazing videos of sandstorm posted by different people on Youtube, who actually got to record it as it approached engulfing the whole city. I seriously don't understand, how people who were out in the open manage to breathe before they found some shelter. How did people manage to navigate in their vehicles on the roads with zero visibility!

EARTH HOUR SATURDAY 26 MARCH 2011

Earth Hour is a global event organized by WWF (World Wide Fund for Nature, also known as World Wildlife Fund) and is held on the last Saturday of March annually, asking households and businesses to turn off their non-essential lights and other electrical appliances for one hour to raise awareness towards the need to take action on climate change. Earth Hour was conceived by WWF and The Sydney Morning Herald in 2007, when 2.2 million residents of Sydney participated by turning off all non-essential lights.  Following Sydney's lead, many other cities around the world adopted the event every year.  Earth Hour 2011 will take place on March 26, 2011 from 8:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m., at participants' respective local time. As a part of world wide committment, people in Kuwait too will be observing Earth Hour.

You can read more about it here

KUWAIT VOLUNTARY CENTER has organized “Earth Hour” celebration in The Kuwait Scientific Center  on March 26, 2011 from 4:30 - 9:30pm; EVENT SCHEDULE as below:-
- 4:30-7:00 – Arts & Craft (using Recycled items)
- 6:30-7:00 – Story Telling by Mr. Maki AlQallaf (Saving the Planet/Environment)
-7:40- 8:15 - Lecture in Arabic by Mr. Essa Ramadan on Global Warming
- 8:30-9:30 – Switching off lights
- 8:30- 9:30 - Musical Band (Bilingual)

This earth hour, go beyond the hour. How would you celebrate the Earth hour from 8.30pm to 9.30pm.?

WEDDING ANNIVERSARY

Why was I excited about today...is because....its my Wedding Anniversary. Can't believe how the years flew by and I am blessed to be married to this wonderful human being my husband who has enriched my life with his presence, love, care and support.

I am planning to cook his favourite food and look forward to spending our evening at some place interesting. Let's see what my DH would like to choose from Plan A, B and C for this evening! And...I can't help wondering, what is my DH going to get for me!!!!!! I love surprises...LOL....

WOULD YOU WEAR THESE?

I was quite amused at these footwear. Now how creative yet quite wierd can footwear get? Would I wear any of them? LOL - A big No!

EXCITED ABOUT TOMORROW

Each day is a gift and how we choose to live each day is a choice. Though I believe each day is a special day,   I am so excited about tomorrow! And there is a beautiful reason for that. Have to plan for something simple yet interesting for an important day tomorrow. I have a few ideas, but which one shall I choose.....

Will post what the excitment is all about tomorrow!

VARIETY OF CHEESE

The other day when I went to Avenues, I stopped by 'DEAN and DELUCA' and noticed they had 'cheese with apricot'. There were these very tiny samples kept for tasting  with toothpicks and I had this tiny sample, and I must admit, its absolutely divine! '


Cheese with Apricot - tastes absolutely divine



Dean and Deluca' have a huge variety of cheese which is any cheese lover's delight. Here are some pictures from their cheese counter. A must visit if you wish to buy cheese!

Cheese is one my favourite food and I could have cheese anytime of the day! Ever since I am on a diet, what I have now is cheese which is labelled 'low fat' and preferably low in salt as well. Now a days, I  have the Feta low fat cheese twice or thrice a week for breakfast. Sometimes I do have the other cheese like Edam, Gouda, Emmantel or Gruyere but in absolute moderation in place of the Feta. I don't know if I can live without cheese. Glad they have the low fat ones!

TRANSPARENT BUTTERFLY

Butterly with 'see through wings'. Amazing isn't it?

Transparent Butterfly or Glasswing Butterfly (Greta Oto) is a brush-footed butterfly where its wings are transparent. The tissue between the veins of its wings looks like glass. They are found in the range which extends throughout Central America into Mexico.

WEIGHT LOSS PROGRESS

Weight Loss Statistics:

25.02.2011 - 76 kg

04.03.2011 - 74 kg

12.03.2011 – 72 kg

21.03.2011 – 71 kg !

Total Loss : 5 kg  in 25 days

I was hoping to have lost 2 kg over a period of 9 days, but I managed to lose 1 kg. I would attribute it to the fact that I wasn’t exercising. The first 3 kgs are easy to lose when you go on a diet, you tend to rid your body of all the water retention and some fat. Afterwards, one has to just continue  a low calorie diet supported by regular exercise so that you expend energy from the stored fat in your body.

Exercise is what I wasn’t doing until two days ago. I started off with stretch exercises and  went  for my walk today. I walked for an hour and felt glad that I finally got out and exercised. The weather is beautiful, get into your walking shoes and enjoy walking for health!

TODAY'S INTENT 'TO BRING POSITIVE ENERGY INTO MY COMMUNICATIONS'

Last night I came across this beautiful 'intent' quote that I thought of sharing on my blog. Communication - its such a vital part of our daily life and how we communicate with our family, friends, or colleagues and bosses at work affects our well being. I was toying around with 'Paint' software to give this 'intent' an artistic touch. I know it looks like child's work. LOL! However, the intent is powerful!

HEY LITTLE SPARTA 'The Mean Kitty Song'

I realy enjoyed this song. Hope you do too!

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY

It's Mother's Day in Kuwait on Sunday 21st March.

There is this beautiful display and flower arrangement of a huge heart made of flowers and right beneath, surrounding the heart, are placed lots of flowers like lilies and roses with 'Happy Mother's Day' or 'I love you Mum' written on heart shaped cards. This beautiful flower arrangment is a testimony of love and appreciation for all the mothers. Do visit the Avenues Mall to see the Mother's Day flower arrangement.

Both my children live far away in two different countries, yet there is no distance...for they are always in my heart and I am in theirs.

I remember my mother's prayers and they have always followed me.  They have clung to me all my life.  ~Abraham Lincoln

WISHING ALL THE MOTHERS A VERY HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!

NO ONE IS MEANT TO BE FAT OR UNHAPPY

I read this motivational saying sometime back which I had saved in my 'Weight Loss Folder'.

"No one is meant to be fat or unhappy. I am still fat, yes, but its not my destiny. I will get this weight off!"

Wow...what a positive affirmation, isn't it?  I feel there is no need to feel  unhappy especially when you have made up your mind to lose weight and you are working on it.  I am grateful to God for helping me stick to my weight loss journey. In the end I know it will be worth the effort.

Today I went to the Avenues Mall and spend time walking and window shopping.  I passed by Pink Berry and I remembered the homework I'd done, checking out their frozen yoghurt calories on the internet the other day. Different flavours and sizes and topping would give you different calorie ranges, but they are all within acceptable norms for a person on a diet. If you are on a weight loss plan, and you happen to be out at the mall and you feel hungry during lunch time, you can have a medium cup of frozen yoghurt with a variety of fruit topping.   It is quite filling and a meal in itself containing proteins, carbohydrates and vitamins you need.  And if you are really, I mean really hungry, you can have a small 'LOW CALORIE' green salad from one of the restaurants later on. Ultimately, be aware of roughly how much calories you consume in a day.  Does it sound wierd, having frozen yoghurt, followed by a salad. Well you can do it the other way around too!



The goodness of yoghurt and fruits

I learnt something today. You feel in control and powerful when you refuse to give in to any temptation and eat what's healthy for you, what your body truly needs.