These Suffice

Don't need all the crystal ware and expensive antique stuff to deco my wall at home - these suffice! These babies make my day just by looking at the yummilicious and beautiful colourful covers. I know I'm weird :)

Look Better Naked

I am a fan of Women's Health Magazine and had recently came across an article on the book called 'Look Better Naked'. The book's created by the magazine's Editor-in-Chief and has been receiving good response all over the world. The book's all about you having a good 'nude attitude' and then believing and ultimately living a lifestyle that centres around you as a healthy and good looking person. You know how sometimes when you strip down in front of the mirror and find yourself crinching at your own reflection? "Ohhh, when is that bulge will ever disappear?" "Ooh, when did that flabby arms appear?" "Oooh, I now have cellulite?" Sounds familiar?

Don't think I'll buy the book but the article on cleansing's kinda interesting. You know how people are currently raving about detoxication. Notice the abundance of detox products sold in the pharmacies? Well, my favourite is the apple cider vinegar but I might try this 2-day cleanse plan one day. One fine day! Haha..Anyway, here's sharing it with you guys. Credit to Women's Health Magazine. You guys have your own detox recipes or plans?

The Cleanse Plan is to jump-start whatever weight loss plan you have, make you feel healthy, drop some water weight and never leave you deprived ;)

Breakfast : Light shake

• Blend 1 cup skim milk
• 1 cup berries
• 1 tsp peanut butter (or flaxseed oil)
• 1 cup of ice until frothy
• You may add cocoa powder (yeay!)

Snack

• 1 cup sliced cucumbers
• 1 cup green tea

Lunch

• Steamed or raw greens (romaine, spinach, mesclun mix, lettuce, bak choy, arugula etc)
• 4 oz lean protein (white meat, firm tofu, lean beef, fish)
• 2 tsp oil (olive, sunflower, walnut) - use oil with some herbs as vinaigrette to saute greens and protein source
  

Snack

• 10 asparagus, blanched (can dip in non-fat yogurt or swirl Dijon mustard for taste)
  
• 1 cup green tea

Dinner

• Steamed or raw greens
  
• 4 oz lean protein
• 2 tsp oil
  

Have fun detoxing peeps! ;)

Catch of The Day

Nahhh...didn't get myself a handbag yet but ended up with these books while shopping today. Will last me for a week or two. Anyone read any of these books yet? Bought The Last Symbol because yours truly is a really big fan of Dan Brown. Read all of his earlier books and I would say it was love at first read with Da Vinci Code. Bought Eat, Pray, Love after seeing the movie's trailer on YouTube and with Julia Roberts as the main star, I'm sold, baby! Soccernomics? Saw the review on South Africa's tv earlier and it would be fun to learn more about football from an economic angle. If you've read Freakonomics, bet you'll love this one. No, it's not gonna be boring ( I hope!) Flipped through to see how it's written, and yeah, it's gonna be easy to understand. Plus, it'll be good to throw some info from the book on the table the next time I'm in Mr Hubs and his friends' company ay? Perhaps I'll throw a question or two and see whether these soccer fans are true fans indeed huh? Do they know which country loves football the most? England? Nahh, it's Norway :) Oooh, Mr Hubs is so gonna be proud of me ;) Hahahaha..

When East Meets West

I was supposed to start IVF in June but it got postponed to this month as dear Doctor got called to Europe for a conference. And now that he’s back, Mr Hubs and I had a long heart-to-heart talk with him recently and we’re postponing it again,perhaps after Raya. This is mainly because the procedure’s gonna be demanding and will stretch into the fasting month. Call me selfish, but frankly speaking, I would like to spend my fasting month beramal ibadat sebanyak mungkin. Call me pessimistic, but with the knowledge I’ve gained about IVF procedure, I could imagine missing a whole lot of fasting days, missing Terawikhs etc. if I were to start now. If I could wait for 6 years, apalah sangat few months kan?

When Doc dropped the bomb to us that IVF is our only chance to conceive, I’ve started reading about the procedure in my spare time. Bought the book Making Babies by Dr Sami David and Jill Blakeway, a reproductive endocrinologist and a Chinese medicine practitioner respectively. The book is all about the revolutionary approach of combining Eastern and Western medicine in assisting people to get pregnant. As much as possible, I’ve incorporated good practices recommended by the authors. Healthy eating, exercise, gulping supplements. But one thing I’ve been meaning to try and haven’t found time to do is acupuncture. After reading Celine Dion now pregnant (with twins!) with the combination of IVF and acupuncture, I am more than determined to try. Cewwah, nak ikut Celine Dion ;) I asked around, not realising that help was just within reach! Call it rezeki, I bumped into an acupressure practitioner who has helped to restore my uncle’s heart’s condition which was drastically failing few months back. Of course, with Allah’s blessing that is. From being confined in his room in IJN, uncle is now able to walk, drive and even travel overseas for his business now. And since the last 1 week, acupressure practitioner’s home is where I’ve been heading to during lunchtime with Mr Hubs. The practitioner, whom I call Sifu, was diagnosed with stage 4 liver cancer over 20 years ago and Doc told him that he had no hope. Even the top Sensei in town at that time told him to just wait for the Angel of Death to come. Not willing to give up, he studied how he was decapitated by such ailment, he studied cells, he studied human bodies and picked up acupressure. Within a year, he restored his health and is cancer-free since then.

Acupressure, a blend of acupuncture and pressure is an alternative to acupuncture i.e. the alternative to sticking your nerves with needles and using pressure instead. So, during treatment, Sifu puts physical pressure using thumb, elbow and rolling pen onto the acupoints (points on the body related to the organs, systems etc). The general idea of acupressure is to identify what’s the problem, be it the organ, the endocrine system, the nerves, the drainage system etc throughout your whole body. And true enuff, the reproductive organs and systems of mine memang ada masalah sikit, just as diagnosed by the doctor. How do I know if they’re problematic? I feel some sensation and sakit lah when pressure is put on the acupoints. The objective of this treatment for me is to reduce whatever swelling of the reproductive organ, unblock the blocked tube, smoothen the drainage system and generate healthier and new cells so everything functions as what they should be. And later, when I undergo IVF, everything is cleansed and hopefully success rate is increased and it’ll work the first time. InsyaAllah, Aminnnn…I see this as some sorta blessing in disguise for postponing the IVF procedure. If I were to start IVF now, I wouldn’t have tried acupressure and wouldn’t experience the alternative method to not only correct whatever problem I currently have, but to regenerate health overall kan?

And thanks to one of my dear blog reader, Sue, she’s also shared a link for all mothers-to-be..You guys may wanna check this out http://www.pregnancymiracle.com.

Have a fab weekend, gorgeous readers!

The Allure of the Birkin

They say "Dont judge a book by its cover". One thing I am a bit ashamed to admit is I DO judge books by their covers BUT this applies only when I am not familiar with the authors. So that's what happened when I purchased this book.

When I saw the word 'Birkin', I didn't even have to finish reading the back cover for the synopsis. You know, the bagaholic in me, salivates at any mention of any coveted bag. Well Michael Tonello, you had me at 'Birkin'! Haha. Wait! Michael who? Well, he's the author and the book is a true encounter of him going around the world in his pursuit of bringing home the Hermes Birkins. After discovering the 'formula' that makes the Hermes's waitlist obsolete, he practically lives on margins from selling the Birkins to the likes of socialites, celebrities and fashionistas around the world either through direct sale or e-bay. In this book, Tonello revealed that the waitlist of 2-3 years imposed by Hermes for someone to get her hands on a Birkin is an absolute myth! Plus, there were also few paragraphs on how Oprah and her buddy Gayle were denied entrance to the Hermes Faubourg flagship store in Paris because of their skin colours? What? Is this for real, Hermes?

Well, enuff said, I wouldn't want to be a spoiler. For those who are into fashion, travel, fun, love, this is definitely the 'It' book about the 'It' bag. Go on, grab a copy!

Losing My Virginity

Realised that I haven't been reading nowadays. I mean, apart from the strategic and management documents I go through each day at work, I have not been reading..ehmm, leisurely. So, made a point to drop by the book store quite recently. Oh my, there are just too many new books, especially on my favourite chic lit and thriller fiction shelves! While I was skimming through Sophie Kinsella's Twenties Girl, The Time Traveller's Wife, John Grisham's Associate, Sidney Sheldon's Mistress of The Game etc, my gaze fell upon the non-fiction shelf and saw one attention-grabbing autobiography of the famous adventurous English industrialist, Richard Branson. Titled Losing My Virginity, it speaks of how it all started for him. He's definitely a born entreprenuer, risk taker and surprisingly a family man. It is very interesting reading about how his parents supported him in everything he does and what more interesting is both parents especially the mother herself is someone adventurous too! Guess it runs in the blood for Richard. Overall the book is a very interesting read. It's like reading a novel but encapsulates a lot of business values and lessons. I find it candid and spontaneous too. Richard's sense of humour is wonderful too. I found myself giggling and laughing hysterically at times. Nevertheless, the book is inspiring!