This is a drawing by a sweet two year old baby girl called Dia, who lives with her parents in Kuwait. Can you guess what this picture is?
Thursday, 26 January 2012
PENCIL ART BY TWO YEAR OLD
PICTURE FOR THE DAY - MR. CAT
Mr. Cat on a tree on a freezing winter afternoon. Mr. Cat is a resident at Salmiah Park. Not friendly with people. He minds his own business; always on the look out for leftover food by some people who never cease to litter the park, even though there are plenty of garbage bins. He does not like being photographed. I managed to take this photo when he was too lazy to jump off the tree. Maybe he was stiff due to the cold.
WEIGHT LOSS - WHAT AND WHERE DO YOU PLAN TO EAT THIS WEEKEND
As the weekend approaches, dear weight loss aspirants, where do you plan to eat?
1. At home
2. Invited for a buffet
3. There's a party and plenty of good food
4. Food court
5. Haven't decided
Whatever you have planned to do this weekend, when it comes to food...don't overindulge....go for salads. They won't let you down. They won't make you feel guilty. You don't have to worry about calories. Salads will fill you up. Go easy on the dressing (low cal dressing okay?). Salads won't make you put on weight. Choose to eat with care and have fun this weekend!
INTERESTING PICTURE - FEEDING FISH WITH MILK BOTTLE
Quite unconventional - yet amazing, to think of a fish being fed with a milk bottle! Thai visitor (Dusit Zoo, Bangkok), feeding fish with a milk bottle and the fish certainly seems to enjoy whatever it is being fed. Look at the other fish with it's mouth wide open with a 'Feed me too' sort of look.
Wednesday, 25 January 2012
INDIAN FESTIVAL AT LULU HYPERMARKET
Visit Lulu Hypermarket (Al Rai and Qurain outlets) to enjoy the Indian festival being held from today, Wednesday January 25 until January 31.
PICTURES FOR THE DAY - CALF
Calf away from its mother busy munching hay instead of milk. When I saw this calf, I wondered ...shouldn't a calf be with it's mother. When cows are used for their milk, are the calves denied what nature has actually meant for them?.
MAKING ONE WISH WITH A MAGIC LAMP
If you had a magic lamp, and you could make one wish that would come true, what would it be?
1. No more poverty in this world
2. Become a millionaire
3. Clean drinking water for everyone in the world
4. World peace
5. No more terrorism
6. And end to economy crisis
7. Literacy for every child
8. Happy family
9. Own a successful business
10. A green pollution free world
11. Disease free world
12. Never put on excess weight no matter what and how much you eat
13. Never be out of employment14. World tour
15. A profession you have always dreamed of (actor, pilot, politician, teacher, artist, astronaut, interior designer...whatever you have secretly yearned to be)
Tuesday, 24 January 2012
PICTURES FOR THE DAY - BREAD DOUGH SCULPTURES AT TAJ HOTEL
Beautiful bread dough sculptures of fish and alligator at the Coffee Shop, Vivanta - TAJ hotel, Trivandrum city. They have an artistic and talented chef who made various creations that were displayed at the Coffee shop.
WEIGHT LOSS - MISTAKES TO AVOID
There are lots of people out there who 'wish to lose weight', 'secretly dream of thinner self', 'plan to lose weight', 'struggle to lose weight', 'lose weight and put it right back'. But the desire to lose weight, be lean and healthy remains a far fetched dream. So what's going wrong? Have you tried to examine...explore all those things that you might be doing wrong that prevents you from losing excess weight?
Two emotions you will encounter and have to deal with is frustration and hopelessness. Frustration builds when you are trying to lose weight, or have lost some weight, and then you feel deprived. You are tempted to eat high calorie foods that you have been staying away from. This sabotages your attempts at weight loss and you find yourself unable to fight the temptation. Then hopelessness sets in, and you might end up telling yourself, 'Its difficult to lose weight', 'I can't seem to lose weight'. 'I will never lose weight'.
Firstly you have to tackle your emotions. Think of the number of times you have achieved near impossible tasks or put in relentless effort into accomplishing a goal. So the same way, you can lose weight if you put your mind into it. Well, the important thing is make a decision - that you will lose weight no matter what. Identify the weight loss sabotage signals and emotions that you haven't given importance to. What are they?
- Are you tempted to try out everything that's displayed in a buffet or at a party? - This imposes a huge and horrific strain on your digestive system, make it overwork. Plus you gain weight.
- When you go out, must you really eat at the food courts or stop at pastry shops or icecream outlets and savour your favourite items, only to add on more calories? These outlets are established to spurn money. They don't care about your health. They tempt you, make you eat rubbish and you put on weight.
- Do you eat when you are angry, sad or upset? (people do that subconsciously in order to calm themselves). There has never been a case where anyone in this world has lost weight by eating when emotionally down.
- Is food an outlet for your negative emotions or unfulfilled needs? Then it's a dangerous outlet that will offer no solution except help you add on more weight.
- Do you enjoy pampering yourself with food? That sort of pampering will keep you from losing weight forever.
- Do you have super sized meals and servings on your plate? Down size your portions and you will get used to it. You don't need to eat a huge quantity of food. You don't need all those excess calories - they get converted to fat that sticks to you, make you heavy and prevents you from living life to the fullest.
- Do you eat when you are bored or have nothing else to do? Try to find an alternative you could do, any hobby in your life you could pursue other than eating.
- Do you snack while watching t.v. or while surfing the net? Undo this awful habit. Watch t.v., surf the net, enjoy - but don't snack. If you are dying to snack have some salad, apple or orange.
- Do you feel bad to throw away left overs by your family and eat it all instead of throwing it away? After all, you took so much trouble to make the food? So what! Learn to throw left overs in the plate or if you ended up cooking more quantity than you require, give it away to a neighbour or friend.
- Do you secretly or openly dial home delivery and order all the junk food you enjoy? This self entertaining activity must stop. Save your money, get rid of calories.
- Are you unable to stay away from high calorie foods like french fries, burgers, pastries, sweets, cakes, fried chicken or other fried items? What is it that these foods can actually do for you other than give you a false sense of joy and excess weight.
- Do you feel out of control? Sometimes life can be hard, challenging; while you try to tackle situations, no matter what...try no to use food to pacify yourself.
- Are you unable to say 'No' when someone offers you a high calorie food item? Learn to say 'No'. You are not going to offend anyone. You are trying to lose weight, so its important to use this word very often when it comes to food.
- Do you eat the same food you cook for the rest of the family and then say, 'I can't lose weight because its difficult to cook separate meals for myself? Introduce healthier meals for them. You could consume more salads, grilled or baked items and stay away from desserts - even if it means extra work. If you want to lose weight, you have to be ready to change your lifestyle and food choices.
If its a yes to more than three questions, its danger sign that will be flashing red! You are turning your body into a garbage dump where all the right ingredients for disease is a recipe in the making.
Don't be in a great hurry to lose weight. It cannot happen overnight or in a few days or a month's time. Give yourself 6 months to a year. Now that you know what's sabotaging your weight loss attempts, its about time to do something crucial. Eliminate all the high calorie food items, eat healthy, eat lesser portions, have a healthy breakfast and lunch. You can absolutely stay away from temptations without any suffering, if you have understood what's important and what's good for you. Have a low calorie dinner or stick to fruits, soup or steamed veggies for dinner. Change your attitude and outlook on food. You will lose weight. Don't go on fad diets. Weigh yourself just once a week. Increase your activity - exercise along with your diet, to facilitate weight loss. There is no pill or magic potion or gadgets to make you lose weight fast. You have to watch what and how much you eat, make lifestyle changes and exercise. Believe me, I've tried it, been through it and achieved it. So can you.
- INTERESTING PHOTO - A HUGE INSECT CRAWLING ON THE FACE
A large jungle nymph stick crawling on the zookeeper's head down his face and he tries to remove it. (Whipsnade Zoo, Bedfordshire, England)
Monday, 23 January 2012
SUNDANCE FILM FESTIVAL 2012
SUNDANCE FILM FESTIVAL 2012 kicked off on January 19 in Utah and will conclude on January 29. A lot of wonderful films are being shown at the festival and here are some of the top movies that are being screened. The official awards ceremony to be held on January 28 will be hosted by Parker Posey. The festival is taking place in Park City, Salt Lake City, Ogden and Sundance, Utah.
2. West of Memphis
3. John dies in the end
4. Celeste and Jesse forever
5. V/H/S
6. Red Hook Summer
7. Liberal Arts
8. Save the date
9. The first time
10. This must be the place
11. Arbitrage
12. Shadow Dancer
13. Safety not Guaranteed
14. Bachelorette
15. Seaching for sugar man
MAN WITH TATOO AND TWO HEADS
Two heads are better than one; let me rephrase - two faces are better than one?
HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE YOUR DAUGHTER
Daughters are special. I came across this t-shirt that describes a daughter. Actually it's a children's t-shirt. How would you describe your daughter? Think of the wonderful things about her and make a list. You don't have to wait for an important occasion. Surprise her with her favourite dish or a small gift or flowers with this list and watch the smile or laughter on her face. She would be thrilled to know how loved and appreciated she is and how close you hold her in your heart.
FRESH TENDER COCONUT WATER AT LULU HYPERMARKET
Two days ago, I was at Lulu Hypermarket in Qurain and I was surprised to see tender (young) coconut all set for consumption. You just need to make a hole on the top, put in a long straw and enjoy the sweet tender coconut water which would be approximately 250 ml to 500 ml. Don't be surprised if its more. Tender coconut water is absolutely wonderful for health. Once you have the water, you could cut open a small portion of the outer shell from the top and scoop out the soft flesh with a spoon and have that as well. The water and fresh are low in calories but high in mineral content. I have blogged about tender coconut water and its benefits in an earlier post.
The liquid varies between clear and bit cloudy, its sweet, and contains B complex vitamins such as riboflavin, niacin, thiamin, pyridoxine, and folates; important minerals like calcium, iron, manganese, magnesium and zinc, electrolytes, bio active enzymes, amino acids, cytokine, and phyto-hormones. It replenishes hydration in the body and energizes you. If you visit Lulu, be sure to try out the tender coconut water.
PICTURES FOR THE DAY - SUNSET AT VIVANTA BY TAJ KOVALAM
The sunset at Kovalam beach in Trivandrum on a clear day, is aboslutely breathtaking at this time of the year. These pictures were taken by sea side restaurant at private beach of Vivanta by Taj, which is a must visit resort if you plan to make a visit to Kovalam. My camera ran out of battery, so these pictures were taken with my mobile. I really couldn't justice to the beauty of the sunset.
Sunday, 22 January 2012
PICTURES FOR THE DAY - ELEPHANT WITH FLOWERS AND BELL
These pictures were taken by my husband during our recent vacation in India
WEIGHT LOSS - WATCHING WHAT GOES INSIDE
For any weight loss aspirant (goes for myself too), it's important to watch ourselves...and put an invisible leash on our temptations to sip and snack. We are surrounded by tempting food all around us - in our refrigerators, kitchen cupboards, office canteens, food courts, road side fast food joints, restaurants and hotels. Say no to your urge to sip and snack; eat and drink healthy! You do want to lose weight right?
WOMEN - FRIENDSHIP AND SUPPORT
Closeness and understanding and an attitude of sister hood
among women can make women stronger, and bring out the best in each woman. Who can understand a woman better than
another woman? If a woman had a fulfilling relationship with her mother,
daughter, sister and women friends, life can be so enriching for both. If two
lady neighbours or friends cast away their inhibitions about one another, stop
thinking one is bigger, more intelligent, more rich, more attractive or sophisticated and
accomplished than the other and rather support each other emotionally and share
each other’s strengths, spend quality
time together, then, not only will the
relationship be wonderful, but it
nurtures the spirit and brings about great happiness.
There are times when I have felt, some women are afraid to come out of the fortress they have built around
themselves to enjoy a beautiful and fulfilling relationship with other
women and they struggle to put on a mask. Perhaps they are afraid to get
hurt or they are afraid of the responsibility of friendship or afraid of
committing emotionally. In some cases, social and financial status, race, culture and religion stand as a barrier that prevents people from truly enjoying companionship. No matter which part of the world we come from, we are all humans, ultimately sharing similar emotions.
A woman should have several or at least a few understanding,
supportive, loving women friends whom she can count on, who appreciates her as a person, feel happy for her joys, offer support during difficult times, give her a genuine compliment and shares fun time with her.
Some tips for building a joyful, genuine and long lasting friendship:
* Don't underestimate an emotionally or financially weaker person; she may have certain positive qualities or potential you were unaware of.
* Respect your friend's wishes or opinions if it differs from yours
* Don't pretend to be someone you are not.
* Don't give false hopes and promises to your friend.
* Don't pretend to be someone you are not.
* Don't give false hopes and promises to your friend.
* If you offer her advise and she doesn't accept it, you've done your part, don't feel bad; she has her own mind and will do what she considers best.
* Don't let religion, race or culture come in the way of friendship
* Don't let little disagreements spoil your friendship; talk it out and solve it
* Don't take advantage of your friend in any way. Don't take her for granted.
* Respect her privacy, respect her space.
* Never covet your friend's husband, fiance or boyfriend.
* Never gossip about your friend, ridicule her or share her woes or secrets with anyone.
* Be happy whenever anything nice happens for your friend, never entertain feelings of envy.
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