Archive for the ‘fitness’ Category
Image courtesy: ReutersTake a look at your shoe collection – some might beg for the dust to be shaken off, the faithful and over worn need repair, while others look like bridal shoes from a decade ago and demands to be booted away- right away! Finally, make some space for your new shoe babies that will keep you well heeled in 2010.
1. Patterned Shoes
If your New Year resolution is to feel grateful and happy whenever the blues creep in, then here’s something that’ll bring on the smiles and become conversation starters too. Patterned shoes like Indian mojris or these eye-popping-heart-melting beauties add a lot of fun to any outfit. Get your feet into them and that’s all you’ll need for company!
Image courtesy: Reuters2. Military and Hunting Boots
Grr…the winter is cold and dreary and you are on a combat mode to fight the chills. Bring out the big guns with military and hunting boots. You can’t escape the military trend – trench coats with military badges, military jackets, military green and khaki hues. So it’s time to clear the clutter in your shoe wardrobe because the army is going to check on you!
3. Kitten Heels and Ankle Straps
Remember the vertiginous, sadomasochist, multi-strapped heels that were fixation for celebs and models early last year? Well, you can be grateful that they are on their way out as classic and kitten heels have made their way in. If you are in hunt for the perfect pair of kitten heels check out Prada collection for fall winter 2010/11. Ankle strapped heels will keep it sexy in spring-summer 2011. Totally crushing on Louis Vuitton’s collection.
Image courtesy: Reuters4. Fringes and Scrumptious Jewels
Grecian straps are so last (or last to last) year so keep them away from the fashion police. Instead embrace fringed sandals and scrumptious jewels as shoe embellishments. You can never go wrong with metallic hints and depending how you wear it you can look either glamorous or edgy. Loafers are here to replace the cute ballerina. Believe it.
5. Repair and Revamp
This is a real treat for those shoes that can do with a little stitch-in-time. In this case, make it a disguise because we have to share this amazing DIY that’ll leave your shoes feeling new. All you need are a few old CDs cut into small geometric shapes and a pair of old shoes. Now stick the pieces on your shoe and voila! You’ll feel like you are walking on sunshine!
So which one are you planning to have?
More here
An interesting lab test about the effects of cola on your body.
Once you gulp down a bottle, see how the body makes insulin to counter the effects of the extra sugar intake.
The arguments by the Beverage Association stand little ground as a defense, considering alarming spread of obesity.
Video Link
We always hear "the rules" from the female side. Now here are the rules from the male side. These are our rules!
Please note... these are all numbered "1" ON PURPOSE!
1. Learn to work the toilet seat. You're a big girl. If it's up, put it down. We need it up, you need it down. You don't hear us complaining about you leaving it down.
1. Sunday = sports. It's like the full moon or the changing of the tides. Let it be.
1. Shopping is NOT a sport. And no, we are never going to think of it that way.
1. Crying is blackmail.
1. Ask for what you want. Let us be clear on this one: Subtle hints do not work! Strong hints do not work! Obvious hints do not work! Just say it!
1. Yes, and No are perfectly acceptable answers to almost every question.
1. Come to us with a problem only if you want help solving it. That's what we do. Sympathy is what your girlfriends are for.
1. A headache that lasts for 17 months is a problem. See a doctor.
1. Anything we said 6 months ago is inadmissible in an argument. In fact, all comments become null and void after 7 days.
1. If you won't dress like the Victoria's Secret girls, don't expect us to act like soap opera guys.
1. If you think you're fat, you probably are. Don't ask us.
1. If something we said can be interpreted two ways, and one of the ways makes you sad or angry, we meant the other one.
1. You can either ask us to do something or tell us how you want it done. Not both. If you already know best how to do it, just do it yourself.
1. Whenever possible, please say whatever you have to say during commercials.
1. Christopher Columbus did not need directions and neither do we.
1. ALL men see in only 16 colors, like Windows default settings. Peach, for example, is a fruit, not a color. Pumpkin is also a fruit. We have no idea what mauve is.
1. If it itches, it will be scratched. We do that.
1. If we ask what is wrong and you say "nothing," we will act like nothing's wrong. We know you are lying, but it is just not worth the hassle.
1. If you ask a question you don't want an answer to, expect an answer you don't want to hear.
1. When we have to go somewhere, absolutely anything you wear is fine. Really.
1. Don't ask us what we're thinking about unless you are prepared to discuss such topics as baseball, the shotgun formation, or monster trucks.
1. You have enough clothes.
1. You have too many shoes.
1. I am in shape. Round is a shape.
1. Thank you for reading this; Yes, I know, I have to sleep on the couch tonight, but did you know men really don't mind that, it's like camping.
Princess Haya Bint Al Hussein has urged Middle Eastern governments to take more action to tackle the region’s unhealthy youth by pushing the importance of sport.
“We’ve seen throughout the region now incredible statistics that are going frighteningly on an upward curve every day of diabetes, of heart disease among our youth,” she told Dubai One TV’s ‘Dubai Tonight’ programme.
“The lifestyle that we should be promoting is now becoming as urgent as some of the things we prioritised before. Really sport is now a necessity. It’s a necessity to tackle non-communicable diseases, it’s a necessity to ensure the safety and security of our youth and their future.
“For that simple reason alone, it’s at the government level, through ministries of education, through ministries of health, that this now has to be accepted as a top of the agenda.”
Last week, her husband, Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, the UAE’s Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai, said the spread of diabetes among children in the country’s was “unacceptable”.
During an interview given to coincide with Dubai’s hosting of the SportAccord convention, he said the important role sport played in the future health of the nation was “one way to address those problems”.
“About 40 percent of our children have diabetes. That is unacceptable. Sports is one way to address those problems,” he said.
Now compare this with the comments of the Kuwaiti parliamentarians and mess that the Kuwait Olympic Committee is in; which all goes to say how sports (and especially among women) is treated in Kuwait, given the fact that over 60% of the population is considered as “OBESE” according to world standards.
An overseas holiday used to be thought of as a reward for a years hard work. Now, an European country has declared that tourism is a human right and pensioners, youths and those too poor to afford it should have their travel subsidized by the taxpayer.
Under the scheme, the pensioners could be given reduced price trips to other countries, while teenagers could be taken around to old industrial unused to experience the cultural diversity of Europe.
The idea was formulated by a government official of Italy, the EU said.
I think, going by the news reports over the years, the idea would have been taken from the Kuwait press reports.
Well here in Kuwait, a similar idea in is being reported in the local press for a long time now. The folks here are going abroad for an extended medical treatment. This is in-spite of the Kuwait medical industry boasting of the latest medical treatments being available locally.
Many reports have claimed that the idea of an abroad medical treatment is merely a guise to claim a state-sponsored holiday, given the fact that these trips are usually to a Western nation with great shopping and holidays locations.
I don’t know how much truth is there in these press reports, but state-sponsored abroad trips (for whatever reasons) is the brain child of some clever Kuwaiti minister, for sure. Of course, medical reasons are counted among human rights.
As far as human rights is concerned, on the other issues which are more serious, the HRW is keenly watching Kuwait and has also issued reports about its gross violation.
Well whatever be the reasons of travel, justified or not, the idea of state-sponsored foreign tourism, is the brain child of Kuwait. (Does it need to be patent protected?)
About two dozen women drew a crowd of onlookers when they shed their shirts and marched downtown in Maine’s largest city to promote what they call equal-opportunity public toplessness.
Organiser Ty MacDowell said the point of Saturday’s march in Portland was that a topless woman out in public shouldn’t attract any more attention than a man who walks around without a shirt.
By the end of the march, more than 500 people had amassed — a mix of marchers, young men snapping photos, oglers and people just out enjoying a sunny, warm day.
It’s not illegal for a woman to be topless in public in Maine. Jai Ho !
Where else is such a feast not illegal? Anybody knows?
Whats your opinion?
Have you ever slept at the airport?
The very idea scares the pee out of me. Some people do, though, and those people are crazy. For those of us who want the convenience of sleeping at the airport, without so much of the crazy, there’s these amazing things right here! “Sleep Box” they go by the name of, designed by Arch Group for those who need private time in strange, unfriendly places!
There’s a thousand instances where the ideal personal cubical could come in handy. Here’s one of them: the airport. In between flights, what do you do? Sit in some marginally comfortable seats. Lots of time in between flights, what do you do? Sleep box.
The box itself is 2mx1.4mx2.3m. The main bed is 2×0.6m, equipped with an automatic system which changes the linens (think Fifth Element.) The bed is a soft, flexible strip of polymer and pulp tissue.
Ventilation system, sound alerts, built-in LCD television, wireless internet access, power sockets, extra luggage space under lounges. Payment is made in time, anywhere from 15 minutes to several hours.
The rest I leave up to your imagination! Its a nice concept and needs to implemented at airport handling passengers with flight changeovers.
Found here
An increasing number of women are staying at home to receive the stork. In what is termed as do-it-yourself births, expecting mothers are delivering babies at home without medical help, according to a report. At times even without their husbands assistance.
According to recent figures by the National Center for Health Statistics, the number of unassisted home births in the US jumped by nearly 10% between 2004 and 2006, climbing from 7,607 unassisted births to 8,347 births. About 60% of the nearly 25,000 home births logged in 2006 were attended by midwives, a figure that experts expect will also rise. Unassisted as in no doctor or midwife present.
Ruth Wiley, an obstetrician and gynecologist at Texas Health Fort Worth, says shes seeing an increase in women choosing a do-it-yourself birth at home.
Jennifer Margulis of Ashland, Oregon, thinks birth should be a private party no doctors or midwives invited. So when her daughter Leone Francesca was born at home last month, only Margulis and her husband, James, were in attendance . My husband and I were the only ones there when she was conceived, MSNBC news portal quoted Jennifer as saying. I thought we should be the only ones there when she was born.
Margulis is part of a very small but growing number of women who are choosing to deliver their babies at home without the help of health professionals. Some choose to have a husband or family member help, while others opt to deliver of their babies completely on their own.
While do-it-yourself deliveries are still uncommon, many doctors and midwives consider them dangerous . Risks can range from hemorrhage in the mother to problems with the babys oxygen supply.
If you think having a medium popcorn and soft drink while watching a movie won’t add much to your weight, then it’s time to get a reality check, suggests a new study.
The study by the Center for Science and Public Interest (CSPI) found that consuming popcorn and a drink means taking in three days worth of an adult’s recommended allowance of fat.
The researchers said that a medium popcorn and drink had 1,160 calories.
Even sharing a small portion of cinema popcorn between two would mean each person consumes a day’s worth of saturated fat.
“It’s hard enough for Americans to maintain a healthy weight even when limiting their eating to breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Who realises that they might be taking in a meal’s worth of calories during a movie? The healthiest snack to buy at the movies is no snack at all,” the Telegraph quoted Jayne Hurley, a CSPI senior nutritionist, as saying.
The study also found that a bag of Reese’s Pieces sold at US cinemas contained 1,160 calories and 35 grams of saturated fat, the equivalent of eating a 16-ounce T-bone steak and a buttered baked potato.
The study has been published in Nutrition Action Healthletter.
Chi Kung, pronounced chee gung, literally means energy work . Chi Kung is about cultivating an expanded awareness. It helps your mind gain control over the movement of the life force. It is the practice of learning how to concentrate, circulate and focus chi . It is considered to be the granddaddy of many internal and mindful arts, including Tai Chi. Many have at least heard of Tai Chi but not Chi Kung, which is an older form of exercise. Taoist Chi Kung, believed to be the progenitor of all the different forms of Chi Kung and Tai Chi, was created by meditation adepts 3,000 years ago. It was created through deep insight about how the bodys energy flows. Through inner awareness, they gained an understanding of energy channels, points, and the intricate relationship between internal energy systems of the body and its tissues. Feng Shui – literally wind-water – takes chi into account as it explores how the energies of the earth, sun, sky, landscape, colour , and time affect people, animals , and possible events. This promotes harmony and helps overcome, or at times prevent, natural and manmade disasters . Chi Kung incorporates many ancient Chinese techniques for escalating the flow of life-energy in a series of dynamic postures or forms that flow from one into the other.
The practice includes standing meditations, self-massage from standing or seated positions , and breathing exercises. Although physical movements may be utilised, Chi Kung practice can also be still.
In Chi Kung, there are three basics: smooth, even, silent breathing, total utilisation of effort but without creating internal strain, and performing soft, fluid, circular movements with a sense of ease and comfort.
Its peaceful and chi-stimulating nature complements any Tai Chi practice. The effects you experience from the practice of Chi Kung are very different from those of Tai Chi, but both are interconnected. Some say that Tai Chi itself is a complex form of Chi Kung. However, others believe that they are distinct mindful arts. From improved physical health to greater mental clarity and spiritual awakening , increased life-energy can be felt in a wide variety of ways. Regular practice of these exercises will lead to a body and mind that are functionally younger, so that life becomes a joy. The best way to cultivate chi for health is to put the mind inside the body and make it conscious of the way the chi naturally flows and then change your internal environment to maximise that flow. For example, while practising either Tai Chi or Chi Kung, become conscious of the gross and subtle movements of energy and also blockages if there are any. Then, let go, and the softness and relaxation frees up the energy hose. Whether providing robust physical health, emotional well-being or peace of mind, Chi Kung enriches your life in surprising ways. The result You feel healthier and happier. To help us endure the strain of living up to a number of commitments , the need for something revitalising such as Chi Kung exercises is felt today even more acutely than before.
This probably, explains why the Chinese are ahead than Kuwaitis in terms of productivity. Well, does any enterpreneur in Kuwait want to start Chi Kung classes?
