GM Diet - Day 1

So today was the first day of the GM Diet and Detox. I was allowed to eat as much fruit as I wanted, except bananas, the more melon the better and lots and lots of water - around 10 glasses if possible.

I made a large bowl of fruit salad, strawberries, sweet melon, raspberries, kiwi fruit, red grapes, apples and nectarines - yummy yummy. I've been drinking lots of water and minted green tea, which I love.

Today hasn't been that much of a hardship, although I did have a raging headache by mid afternoon, which I was assured by a close friend is perfectly normal and actually a good sign that your body is starting to detox. I also have to say that my digestive system feels very calm, which is definitely not always normal for me, as I suffer from a few digestive problems. It almost feels like my stomach saying 'thank you' for the goodies :-)

I started to feel a bit hungry in the evening, but just drank a bit more water and had some more tea, which seemed to do the trick, so I think I was more thirsty than actually hungry.

Tomorrow it's on to vegetable day.

The GM diet and detox

So after umming and ahhing for a while, the other half and I decide that we need to loose a few pounds and give our bodies a break from all the rubbish food we've been eating of late. A friend said she was going to do the GM (General Motors) diet and detox, which you do for seven days at a time. Having had a look at it, it seems perfectly do-able and I know of several other people who've had good results.

Now, anyone that knows me will tell you I am normally absolutely against diet fads, because in general they don't really work and are a short term fix, to what should be a long term lifestyle change. However, that's what I intend to use this for. Because it advocates eating healthily, so I figure I can use it as a good starting point.

You can find a few variations of the GM diet online, but they're basically advocating the same thing, lots and lots of fruit, vegetables, water, lean meat, low fat and low carbs.

The boy and I went and shopped for the whole seven days, so we're pretty much sorted, apart from a few fresh things that we'll need to buy on the day we need them.

So day one we're allowed to eat as much fruit (except bananas) as we want, nothing else during the day, just fruit and mostly melons if you can and drink lots and lots of water. I love fruit, so I've stocked up on my favourite of water melon, sweet melon, apples, kiwi fruits, tangerines, grapes and strawberries :-)

http://www.fitnesstipsforlife.com/gm-diet.html

Possibly the best massage in the world - ever!

First off, I have to say that massages are hit and miss for me. Very often on the few occasions I've had them, I either come away feeling like I've been pummeled and needed like dough, or more stressed than when I went in. I have to say that I am a fan of the Thai way of doing things and have always had pretty good experiences, but this was something else entirely.

A friend recommended the Thai Privilege Spa, so I thought I'd go and check it out. Set in a beautiful villa on Al Wasl road in Dubai, you walk in and are greeted by the wonderful aroma of massage oils and aromatherapy candles. Mixtures of lavender, basil, lemongrass, to name just a few, fill your senses. The whole place just screams 'relax' as soon as you walk in.

The staff are extremely friendly and helpful and you're brought a glass of water and cold lemongrass tea to drink whilst you fill out your details. I had originally booked a Sports massage to work out my tense muscles, but on seeing the issues I have with my back, the receptionist said this would be too hard on me and recommended the Aromatherapy option instead. I was brought a choice of oils - Lavender for relaxing or a Basil mixture for rejuvenation, I chose the latter.

I was asked to swap my flip flops for some slippers and taken off to have my feet washed - I have to say there's nothing nicer than someone scrubbing and washing your feet, it's one of those weird little luxuries. I was then taken off to the treatment room and readied for my massage to begin.

The therapist knew exactly the different pressures to use on the various parts of my body and for working the knots out of my tense muscles, the menthol in the oil giving my skin a nice tingling sensation as she went. I very nearly fell asleep and it's the first time, in a very long time, that someone has managed to massage those evil knots around my shoulder blades to loosen them up without me literally crying in pain. It's also one of the very few times, where a therapist has massaged the stomach area - always good for digestion and an often neglected area of the body. The massaging of the head area is always a good test to a good therapist. I went in with a tense, aching, cracking jaw, tight neck and a headache - came out feeling refreshed, loose and relaxed.

After the treatment, I was given a ginger tea (definitely one to clear the digestive system and the sinuses in one go), some lentil soup and water, plus a hot shoulder pack.

I can honestly say I haven't felt so relaxed and unwound in a long time. This is definitely going to a be a once a month treat for me.

The Thai Privilege Spa has outlets in Thailand, USA, China and Dubai. I would highly recommend finding one near you :-) www.thaiprivilegespa.com

Becoming a boat owner :-)

To be honest it was inevitable really that we'd end up getting a boat of our own. We wakeboard pretty much every weekend and when we sat down and worked out how much we were paying other people to tow us around for 15 minutes at a time, it seemed more economical to actually invest in a tow boat of our own.

There is so much to consider when you're thinking about actually purchasing your own boat. Firstly the cost of the boat, maintenance - yes they need servicing just like your car - the cost of parts when things go wrong, where to keep it? On a trailer outside the house? Wet berth? Dry berth?

Of course first you have to find your boat. We found ours on Dubizzle, for sale by a lovely British couple who just didn't have the time to use it. A Centurion T5 Air Warrior, two years old with only 41 hours on the clock. It's a direct drive boat and a good all round water sports boat that will keep skiers, boarders and skaters alike happy.

Then of course you have to do all the ownership transfers, de-registration, re-registration, which now the NTA now insist you pay 7,000 Dhs to have a GPS transponder put on the boat (the fee is refundable if and when you sell the boat on). As is usual in the UAE, it was much easier to just pay someone else to do all the running around and get the job done :-)

We decided to dry berth the boat and just tractor it in and out the water at a local marine club. One obvious factor to consider is, who's going to drive the boat? It's not law in the UAE at this time for boat drivers to hold a license, but this is going to change very shortly and it's something that is well worth doing anyway. So the other-half and I went off and did the RYA powerboat 2 course. It'sa easy enough and only takes two days to complete. We're not doing a bad job of driving so far, although towing people takes alot of getting used to.

You forget when you just rock up for tows, the amount of maintenance that needs to be done, such as flushing the engine through every time the boat comes out the water, washing everything down to get rid of the salt to stop equipment and parts corroding. But so far so good and it's great to be able to just go out whenever we want - although we'll see what happens when something major breaks, as happens with all boats lol

I want my baby back, baby back ribs

Friday night was to be a gathering of the crazy gang, we were all heading to the Music Room in the Majestic hotel for a U2 tribute night and thought it would be nice to meet up for some dinner and drinks beforehand - where to go, where to go? Seeing as we all pretty much had a craving for BBQ pork ribs or steak, there was really only one option - Billy Blues in Rydges Plaza.

Now this is a place I used to go to years ago. Rydges Plaza has a great choice of eateries - The Four Seasons for Chinese, Il Rustico for Italian, Cactus Cantina if you like your Tex-Mex and Aussie Legends bar for good pub grub, to name but a few.

Billy Blues didn't disappoint and was just as I remembered it as an intimate bar and eatery with a pool table and a relaxed atmosphere. That night they had a fantastic 5 drinks for 100 Dhs offer on, which you can't really complain about.

Now let's get down to the food. Their menu is pretty good with things like Creole Shrimps, Pasta and the usual suspects, but the highlight is definitely their burgers, steaks and ribs. I opted for the half portion of BBQ baby back ribs, as did several others on the table, whereas some of the boys went for the steak option and a couple of others choosing the burgers.

The service is pretty efficient and the staff are all pleasant enough and you don't have to wait too long for your food, although they do say allow 25 minutes for the steaks if you want it well done. My other halves Porter House steak was the biggest thing I've seen in ages. The ribs were exactly as I remember them, with the meat so tender it literally falls off the bone and melts in your mouth - mmmm mmmmm. My only slight objection, was a little too much BBQ sauce and it's pretty sweet and tastes very fruity. A half portion is more than enough for one person and at 65 Dhs with fries and coleslaw on the side, very reasonably priced - in fact everything was really.

They also do 2 for 1 rib and steak nights during the week, so if you want to tickle your taste buds for a good price, in a place with a nice relaxed diner type atmosphere, this is the place for you :-)

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Another consultation for Toby - my special needs puppy

I've been looking at all sorts of ways to help little - or not so little now - Toby. Today Dr Ruben at the Vet Hospital sedated him, just to see how much movement there actually is in his joints and where the problem lies.

When I picked the little fella up, tail wagging and wanting to zoom about as always, Dr Ruben said that he was only able to move the joints about 20% and that there is almost complete atrophy of the muscles in his back legs, basically rendering them useless. However, the joints can be moved and we have been told to carry on with the physiotherapy, hydrotherapy and other ways to help him live as much a normal life as possible.

Dr Ruben advised that so long as he only gets to medium size and not too heavy then he will be quite happy. But, if he gets too big and too heavy, then he's going to have real problems in later life.

I have to say at this point, although he is my little tripod pup and hops about on his legs, he does scoot around pretty well. He does however, get a bit frustrated at not being able to walk up and down stairs, or jump up (that for me is a godsend lol)!


He displays all the normal puppy behaviour and is obviously teething as he's biting and wanting to chew everything in sight! I'm happy that he appears happy and isn't in any disomfort and I'll do my best to make sure he has as normal doggy life as possible :-)

Are we living to work, instead of working to live?

There seem to have been many articles on the stresses and strains of working life recently, where people are literally going bananas because they're working 10,12,14 hour days, 6 days a week, having no life or family time and the pressure is getting too much.

I have no idea why so many employers can't grasp the basic fact that happy employees are productive employees. Yet here, everyone seems to want their pound of flesh and to work people to the point of burn out. It seems many are taking lower salaries and working themselves to the bone - and for what?

Yes we all have our financial commitments, but I'm a firm believer in the philosophy that if you're not happy doing what you're doing, then stop doing it, or find an alternative. What's the point of running yourself into the ground and being miserable? Having your family torn apart because you never see them?

There absolutely has to be a good balance between your working life and your personal life. If you're not getting a good quality of life, well then quite frankly what's the point in the first place? Are we robots? No, we are not.

I see so many people with little to keep them happy in life. We all need to take a little time here and there to chill out, relax, put the stresses and strains behind us and re-evaluate what it is that we want out of life.

Toby's x-rays

So we finally got Toby's x-rays done and the results are pretty shocking to say the least. Nothing is where it should be in his back legs and this is obviously not due to a frontline overdose, it's clearly a birth defect and possible trauma.

So the next question is what do I do now? I'll continue with physiotherapy, hydrotherapy and the other holistic treatments, but I have also emailed his x-rays to every orthopedic surgeon that I can find in the UAE, in the hope that someone might be able to suggest a relevant surgical treatment. Sometimes however, things are better left as they are in case of making them worse.

For now though, Toby is a very happy little pup, who is enjoying life and a sheer pleasure to have around :-)