#Selfie -"Freeze the smile forever"

Click! Flash! Smile!

The world around you is changing, people around you are changing. Today an individual is becoming more and more independent with his daily affairs. Independent not in the form of anything major but when have you heard someone saying "Hey! Excuse me can you take a picture of us if you don't mind"? This phrase is gone with the wind and the word "#Selfie" has come into existence.

So what exactly is a Selfie?

A handheld photograph by a digital camera or a camera phone is something what is popularly known as a Selfie. The tribute of this gaining popular culture dates back to the year 1939, when Sir.Robert Cornelius took his first picture also known as a Selfie. I am sure Sir.Robert dint expect that years and years later this culture would have spread far and wide and recently we see the President Mr.Obama, celebrities like Rihanna, Shahrukh Khan all have been constantly posting their Selfies. The term Selfie gained its popularity in the year 2013, when the oxford dictionary announced it to be the "word of the year". As for me this word should be the "word of the century" as for recent study shows that 90% of the people post photos of themselves online.

Wellness through Nature

In life, trial and error is the only way to get perfect results. Such has been my struggle with all the things related to my physical appearance. From having a deviated nose to weight gain issues due to goiter to having the worst case of adolescence acne.  Suffice to say, my self esteem and confidence level was pretty low growing up.

Funny thing was, the solutions were right there in front of me all along. I just never realized it.

After I completed my college with the oiliest face in the whole batch and started working for an organization, carrying a lunch box was the most tedious of tasks. So, I and my colleague came up with a solution, we hooked up with a local vendor who used to sell sliced fruits and vegetables on a kiosk on wheels. 

Not only was it cheaper this way, it was hassle free as well.

Every day we would mix the cut vegetables in a glass of packaged yogurt, squeeze some lemon on top and have the most refreshing concoction of fruits and vegetables for lunch.

The results started showing soon enough. Our skins cleared out, hair became better, nails started to shine and our waists started pinching in.

Simple Ways to Be Beautiful !!

No matter how closely someone matches your ideal form of a physical perfection, you have to believe that it will eventually fade. What endures are the qualities, passions and habits we cherish & that’s what makes us beautiful !

Building Responsibility in Children

I believe that in every blog post I've written, some general commonalities have been repeated due to the nature of such things such as stressing the importance of being a role model for your child, assigning responsibilities and such. When I see parents lamenting about insolent children in public, I can't help but think that it can't be the fault of the children completely. After all, the values you instill in your child will live on in him after you are long gone. What more do you, as a parent really desire? I know what I want, a socially responsible and aware child who grows up to become independent and is able to make educated decisions in life. These are after all, vital survival skills that will help your child in the future. 

The fact that parents play a mighty role in this mission is a fact, but I'd like to share some of my views as to how I have been trying to work towards this goal. There will always be stumbles and hurdles, but with persistence you can make an immense impression.

SQUATS ARE A GIRL’S BEST FRIEND

If you are into exercising and workouts, you will be familiar with those miscreants called ‘The Squats’

They are by far the most misunderstood of exercises, yet the best ones for a woman’s body.

From a layman’s prospective, squats are the most boring and difficult exercises ever invented. But from a professional point of view, they truly are a girl’s best friend.

Those extra accumulated pounds around our love-handles are the hardest to fight, aren’t they?

Well, let me tell you my friend that this problem can be easily fixed and here I am giving you the perfect solution for it.

But, hold on a second. Before I introduce you all to the workings and benefits of squats, let me share with you a story:

‘Once upon a time, there was a chubby little girl whose parents enrolled her in Taekwondo at school. Initially, she was ecstatic at the idea of being a part of the cool crowd who strutted around the campus in their white PJ’s and overlapping jackets with the coolest looking belts knotted around their waists. 

The first day when she wore her uniform with her head held high, she felt like a completely different person. Every regular uniform gawked at her with admiration in their eyes as if congratulating her on the start of her beautiful journey.

Lifestyle That Makes You Lose Hair

Unexpectedly seeing a cluster of hair on your pillow or strands clogging up the shower drain can be terrifying. But hair loss is not just a from of aging, there are some bad habits that could be the cause. An average person loses between 50 and 100 hairs each day, according to the American Academy of Dermatology.

If you are suffering from bald patches or thinning of hair, read below to see if any of the cause is your behavior.

How to Motivate You Child into Becoming an Avid Learner

How many times have I had to remind my kids that they had tests and assignments and that they should not squander their time away on pointless things like sports, cartoons and games? Too many to recall I'm afraid and with little success I might add. And let's be real, to a child those are not pointless activities at all. In fact what kids learn in play hold no parallel to rote learning. This got me to thinking how I could bring about a revolution of sorts and have them pester me about helping them with their school work instead of it being the other way around.

It's a bumpy ride, but with enough persistence, I just about pulled it off and here's how:

Don't Waste Food!

It was a special occasion, a special day- It was my birthday! The clock struck 8, I was dressed in my best attire with perfect heels and a black versace sling bag went left and right on my arm as i walked passed the doorway to rush to my husband in the car horning.
Dining at the most fancy place in Dubai, I felt a wave of perfect contentment. My husband always does this part of his job right to make me feel special. My view to a fancy restaurant was quite different, I always thought not many people would want to spend so much for just a dinner but obviously "there ain't no limit in Dubai". The restaurant was neither serene nor quiet, it was a market place with a humungous spread. The slogan eat till you die would fit perfect for that scenario. My stomach screamed when I had just finished my starters and there I was looking at the whole buffet which had the main course and a huge section of desserts, it was as if I am at the starting point of a race and I have already given up before it has started but still looking at it with yearning eyes to win it. It was indeed a gastrointestinal explosion!
On the way back a thought lingered from the restaurant where is all this remaining food stocked up there going to go now? I am sure 50% of the food will be wasted but are restaurants taking any initiative to avoid wastage of food or is it going to be trashed in the garbage cans?
That night i ate like a monster, I felt a shiver when suddenly as I was thinking about the food wastage happening in the world. Is every night food which is in excess at the restaurant is being wasted or end up finding its way into a landfill?
One question to be remembered to ask each restaurant manager while your dining at is-

• What is happening to the remaining food?
• Is it thrown away?

Favorite Baby Essentials

As I was expecting my baby, I searched the web for newborn must haves and landed on many lists. So I decided to set up my own list of top baby products:

Boppy Pillow: This pillow is genius. I used to sleep on it when I was pregnant, helped me support my arms while nursing, served as a soft back support for my newborn and I’m still using it now to protect my 7-month-old baby while sitting from bumping his head to the floor. I bought mine from Baby Shop and customized a cover for it.

Breastfeeding friendly tops: If you decided to breastfeed, you’ll have to ditch most of your tops for convenience. Make sure to have a couple of (many) breastfeeding friendly tops.  H & M, Mamas and Papas and Destination Maternity have some great ones in various styles, models and colors.

Fitness, Food and Foolishness

Everyone has their own opinions and ideas about fitness. For most it’s either a way to quickly loose the extra accumulated pounds or a dream that they wish would come true. 

For me Fitness is Life.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m no skinny looking, gym going, dieting till I die kind of a person.

I am a Fitness trainer.

I was on the healthier side of life since the day I opened my eyes in this world. Belonging to a Pakistani family, it was common for kids my age to be stuffed with baby food by their mothers. To date, a lot of families have the same concept, if your child doesn’t have cheeks till the floor, then you are a major fail as a mother.

Little do they know, obesity at a young age is a major cause of many physical and psychological issues in adulthood.

Growing up I realized how people judged you on basis of weight and eating habits.

Pregnancy and child birth showed me how your life changes with the change in numbers on the weighing scale and my constant effort to stay fit made me fall in love with fitness itself.

What initially started off as a self corrective exercise regime; soon turned into a major hurricane and changed me for good, inside and out. Miraculously, all those hours of playing baseball and taekwondo during school days paid off years after and I decided to take up Fitness Training as a preferred profession.

My definition of fitness isn't to have 6 pack abs or 16 inch waist. If you are able to run around with your kids with ease, do the house chores without back ache or climb stairs without falling down, then you are definitely fit.

Always remember, real women have curves and real men don’t look twice towards sticks.

Fitness is a life style. A way of living, that needs to be adopted and accepted whole heartedly.  The worst you can do to your body is to spoil it with food then deprive it for days at end, only to revert back to old habits.

There is one simple rule you should always bear in mind:

'Bite only what you can chew'

Too much and you will lose interest quickly. Too little and you will most definitely feel de-motivated.

Remember, moderation is the key here.

Our modern lifestyle has made us lazy. Cars have thrown walking habits out the window. Our kids prefer to play games on tablets rather than physically getting tired.

The other day I took my kids out to the park so they could get fresh air and exercise.  My 6 year old, not being used to hot weather got upset because he was sweating.

Though it did make me laugh at his innocence, it also proved to be an eye opener. Spoiling our kids with technology may seem like the best show of love for now, but in the long run we will regret making then physically incapable of facing challenges of youth and age.

My advice is that in order to have a successful fitness regime, you must first analyze your life style and then devise a routine that suits you the best without it turning into a burden in the long run.

We often discuss how our mothers and grandmothers were able to not only produce a dozen kids, but also perform physically challenging tasks with ease. Don’t we all blame our lack of physical strength on artificial and unhealthy foods these days?

In my opinion, this fault finding and blame game is completely unnecessary.  There are always two choices in any situation and one of them is always right.

What we choose to do to our health is in our own hands. The best way to stay fit is to have consistency in your daily life style and a promise to do it not because of what people will say, but because it makes you happy.

In this age of social media we come across various diet plans on a daily basis. Some based on so called chemical (crash) diets while others suggest concoctions of fruits and vegetables.

A very popular line comes to mind here

 ‘Use but don’t abuse’

It’s true that food plays a major role in our well being but when healthy nutrition is replaced with extremely unbalanced diets, the results are most certainly nothing but dangerous.

Wrinkles - An Aging Issue

My friend when fixing herself up in front of the mirror suddenly gave a stunned look and turned around to confirm if I can notice those lines near her lips. She looked at the mirror again trying to conceal them - " Oh no I'm getting old, I've got WRINKLES ! " , she cried.

For women who care about their looks, aging can sometimes be depressing because it in fact makes you look old. When wrinkles start to appear, the best approach to combat it, is to prevent them from progressing and look younger and better.

Helping Your Child to Manage Anger

It's not only adults that have anger management issues. I've seen my own kids burst out in anger to match the worst of my temper tantrums, and that's saying something, me being a tad hot blooded. This can lead to a host of mixed emotions, none of which are pleasant.

When your child looks you in the eye with defiance and then throws a fit, an immediate thought of retaliation crosses the mind quite naturally, but we all know that doesn't end well don't we?

So how do you manage things in the heat of the moment? What's the right approach? Well in all honesty, there is no one magic formula. But a couple of time proven tips could lead to more a calmer resolution in a more quicker time frame and possibly, with some luck, a more cooler temperament for both of you.

Not perfect by a long shot, nor will I ever be, but I do like to think that I am now somewhat better than I was ten fifteen years ago when I had newly dipped my feet into the perilous waters of parenthood.

In Children........

Surviving Airplane Rides

Given that we are all expats here in the UAE, we ought to visit our hometowns regularly. So that means traveling with babies and infants on long, tiring and annoying rides. In order to make our flight as smooth and stress-free as possible here’s a checklist that I came up with -based on my experience in travelling alone with a baby- of what to pack and do:

What to do:

My baby enjoying the view.

Book the front seat: Try to book a seat in the first row, just behind the business section. Why? More leg room and flexibility in moving around the plane. On FlyDubai the booking costed 100 Dhs but it was worth the pay!

If your baby is still a newborn, a bassinet would help. I personally tried the one on Emirates Airlines, and my baby slept for like one hour in it.

Go Comfy: It’s not a wedding okay, so no need for the high heels and classy clothes. Just go in comfy sneakers or sandals -whatever you feel comfy in- a sweater and sports pants maybe.

Relax: It’s important to stay relaxed the whole time. It’s not easy for the baby to go through the intense change of pressure in the plane; he will cry while landing and takeoff most probably and even during the flight!

9 Great Teaching Tips- From the Classroom into your Home

Those of us who have taught in schools, especially to young children who are in their formative and curious years, will probably have picked up little nifty tricks of the trade that no doubt help out when it comes to teaching their own. In this post, I will outline nine tips that I have picked up and that can easily be incorporated into your study time routine with your kids. These can be molded into your own personal styles.

These will be particularly handy when you have new concepts to teach your child, granted they are taught at school, but in my experience, parents still play an important role in reinforcing or further clearing up concepts taught at school.