There are a few things in life which should not be spectator sports. Giving birth is one of them. However, some people disagree with me.
Brooklyn performance artist Marni Kotak plans to give birth in her art gallery, and the public is invited to view the event. Want to know what she's thinking? Check out her interview with the Village Voice to find out.
Canadian Chiropractor, Dr. Nancy Salgueiro, will be live-casting her birth online. Care to learn more or even register to view it in real time? You can do so here.
While I personally cannot see why something as intimate and private as giving birth should be publicized for all the world to see, seeing a live birth is probably a good lesson for students studying L&D nursing, midwifery and OBGYN. Despite the potential learning opportunity which opening up one's birth can provide, I am going to continue giving birth in private. Something about me being in my most vulnerable time with everything on display does not entice me into having a world-wide audience.
Sunday, October 16, 2011
Tuesday, October 11, 2011
Really Unreal TV
The boom in so-called Reality TV shows has me worried. The vast majority of them fail to tickle my intelligence. Actually, I more often than not feel a few brain cells die when I check out a new one, just to see what it is about. Deciphering the beneficial Reality TV shows from the useless detritus usually takes time, so I've decided to pay my dues to mankind by assisting with weeding out the roses from the offal. The only issue is that I won't be able to get through too many in one post, so I shall look at them over a series of posts.
My favourite category of shows promote healthy lifestyle via healthy diet and sufficient exercise. This never bores me, as it's near impossible to hit perfection with this, and anything to keep the motivation going is a huge plus. Many of them focus on obesity, and helping those who feel as though they've gone too far to come back, do just that. This is wonderful way to show those who are morbidly and super morbidly obese that it is never too late.
Here are some which I've seen along with my thoughts on them. I won't be delving too much into the logistics of the shows, as that will make this post too long.
The Biggest Loser
There are so many verions of this, each country which does it tries to make it his own, however the basic premise is still the same. It's a game show where everyone weighs in once once a week to keep track of their percentage of body weight lost, and usually one person gets eliminated each week after the weigh in, until they are down to the final 3 or 4 contestants, and then the person with the largest percentage of weight loss wins. I like that this show (and all those below) take us back to the basic science of weight. Calories in < calories out = weight loss. Simple! Cut calories and increase activity = weight loss. We've seen some of the biggest people lose weight and get healthy on this show, which is fantastic! What I dislike is that it is a competition which has a lot of emphasis on the game. I don't like the weight advantages/penalties for winning/losing challenges, the food temptations, having to vote someone off and the strategy which has to go behind it, and the fact that so much emphasis is placed on losing large quantities of weight so quickly. In the real world, nobody can work out for 8 hours a day and have nothing else to do but work out. It doesn't demonstrate that a healthy lifestyle can be well balanced and integrated into everyone's regular lives. Also, the focus on the number on the scale doesn't take into account how much of the weight lost is fat, retained water or muscle mass. A lot of the large numbers we see is from water. Also, if we believe what we read and hear, some of the former contestants claim that they have gone to extremes to show large numbers lost on the scale, and some of those habits are not healthy (dehydrating, diuretics, etc.). I also dislike that so much time is wasted on watching emotional breakdowns and tantrums, and so little on showing which exercises contestants are doing and what they're eating. So while on a whole this show has a good motivational tone, it's not to be taken too seriously.
Heavy
This is an American show. Each episode features new obese folk who will try to lose weight over a longer period of time, without the pressure of being in a competition. I like this. The pace of the weight loss is more realistic than that on some of the other shows out there.
Embarassing Fat Bodies
This is a British show which focuses on some of the negative effects which obesity has on the body. In each episode, each doctor on a team of 3 usually meets, examins, refers and then follows up with a patient who has some obesity related body issue to resolve. A good reality check IMO.
Fat Families
A British show where an entire obese family is visited, observed, advised, and helped to lose weight. The motto is simple and true, 'Eat less and move more!'
Shedding for the Wedding
An American show, which as the name suggests is all about losing weight for your wedding. A number of couples get together, work out, weigh in each week, the 2 couples with the lowest percentages of weight loss then face an elimination challenge where the loser goes home. When they have only 3 couples left, then it's about which couple has the highest percentage of weight loss. The prize at the end is the winning couple's dream wedding. It's similar to The Biggest Loser in concept, but done differently. It is an okay show which provides motivation. The game play part of it seemed a tad bit more fair than The Biggest Loser.
Dance Your Ass Off
I honestly am not too sure how this one works, as I haven't even watched a full episode of it. All I get is that it's a bunch of overweight folks who love to dance being paired up with thin dancers, having to learn and perform new routines in front of an audience. It somehow combines calorie counting weight loss techniques with dancing. May well be interesting, but I don't like to see people dance, I rather get up and do it.
Supersize vs Superskinny
A British show which as the name suggests, takes one anorexic person with one morbidly obese person, pairs them up and has each prepare his own meals and feed them to the other person for a week. The idea is to get those who eat too little to eat more and vice versa. To be honest, I can't see the benefit in this show. I don't see it as teaching people to find the balance, I see it as trying to show people who are too extreme in one direction with their eating disorders to try to get the opposite eating disorder.
My favourite category of shows promote healthy lifestyle via healthy diet and sufficient exercise. This never bores me, as it's near impossible to hit perfection with this, and anything to keep the motivation going is a huge plus. Many of them focus on obesity, and helping those who feel as though they've gone too far to come back, do just that. This is wonderful way to show those who are morbidly and super morbidly obese that it is never too late.
Here are some which I've seen along with my thoughts on them. I won't be delving too much into the logistics of the shows, as that will make this post too long.
The Biggest Loser
There are so many verions of this, each country which does it tries to make it his own, however the basic premise is still the same. It's a game show where everyone weighs in once once a week to keep track of their percentage of body weight lost, and usually one person gets eliminated each week after the weigh in, until they are down to the final 3 or 4 contestants, and then the person with the largest percentage of weight loss wins. I like that this show (and all those below) take us back to the basic science of weight. Calories in < calories out = weight loss. Simple! Cut calories and increase activity = weight loss. We've seen some of the biggest people lose weight and get healthy on this show, which is fantastic! What I dislike is that it is a competition which has a lot of emphasis on the game. I don't like the weight advantages/penalties for winning/losing challenges, the food temptations, having to vote someone off and the strategy which has to go behind it, and the fact that so much emphasis is placed on losing large quantities of weight so quickly. In the real world, nobody can work out for 8 hours a day and have nothing else to do but work out. It doesn't demonstrate that a healthy lifestyle can be well balanced and integrated into everyone's regular lives. Also, the focus on the number on the scale doesn't take into account how much of the weight lost is fat, retained water or muscle mass. A lot of the large numbers we see is from water. Also, if we believe what we read and hear, some of the former contestants claim that they have gone to extremes to show large numbers lost on the scale, and some of those habits are not healthy (dehydrating, diuretics, etc.). I also dislike that so much time is wasted on watching emotional breakdowns and tantrums, and so little on showing which exercises contestants are doing and what they're eating. So while on a whole this show has a good motivational tone, it's not to be taken too seriously.
Heavy
This is an American show. Each episode features new obese folk who will try to lose weight over a longer period of time, without the pressure of being in a competition. I like this. The pace of the weight loss is more realistic than that on some of the other shows out there.
Embarassing Fat Bodies
This is a British show which focuses on some of the negative effects which obesity has on the body. In each episode, each doctor on a team of 3 usually meets, examins, refers and then follows up with a patient who has some obesity related body issue to resolve. A good reality check IMO.
Fat Families
A British show where an entire obese family is visited, observed, advised, and helped to lose weight. The motto is simple and true, 'Eat less and move more!'
Shedding for the Wedding
An American show, which as the name suggests is all about losing weight for your wedding. A number of couples get together, work out, weigh in each week, the 2 couples with the lowest percentages of weight loss then face an elimination challenge where the loser goes home. When they have only 3 couples left, then it's about which couple has the highest percentage of weight loss. The prize at the end is the winning couple's dream wedding. It's similar to The Biggest Loser in concept, but done differently. It is an okay show which provides motivation. The game play part of it seemed a tad bit more fair than The Biggest Loser.
Dance Your Ass Off
I honestly am not too sure how this one works, as I haven't even watched a full episode of it. All I get is that it's a bunch of overweight folks who love to dance being paired up with thin dancers, having to learn and perform new routines in front of an audience. It somehow combines calorie counting weight loss techniques with dancing. May well be interesting, but I don't like to see people dance, I rather get up and do it.
Supersize vs Superskinny
A British show which as the name suggests, takes one anorexic person with one morbidly obese person, pairs them up and has each prepare his own meals and feed them to the other person for a week. The idea is to get those who eat too little to eat more and vice versa. To be honest, I can't see the benefit in this show. I don't see it as teaching people to find the balance, I see it as trying to show people who are too extreme in one direction with their eating disorders to try to get the opposite eating disorder.
Insanity - The Asylum
This American show is work out videos, however it is for elite athletes. If you're not already a pro, then you shouldn't try this. To me, it's to take those who are already there, over the edge. It's not for fatties trying to move for the first time.
This American show is work out videos, however it is for elite athletes. If you're not already a pro, then you shouldn't try this. To me, it's to take those who are already there, over the edge. It's not for fatties trying to move for the first time.
My First Blog Award
Thank you very much to Aisha from In the Eyes Of A Foreigner for giving me the Liebster Blog Award. I am flattered.
The Life of Aaliyah
The Liebster Blog Award is given to bloggers who have less than 200 followers.
The rules are simple:
- Show your thanks to the blogger who gave you the award by linking back to them.
- Reveal your top 5 picks for the award and let them know by leaving a comment on their blog.
- Post the award on your blog.
- Bask in the love from the most supportive people on the blogsphere - other bloggers.
- And, best of all - have fun and spread the karma.
Now to re-award it, I award the following blogs:
Fashion Forward
Would you wear this?
Or how about this fine number on the right?
If this style is something which you would wear, would the material matter?
Would it bother you if that dress was made from 3000 yak's nipples?
Click here to the source of the above photos to read more about it and see even more photos.
Tuesday, October 4, 2011
Horizon Fitness Treo T101 Treadmill Review
Horizon Fitness which manufactures treadmills is a brand owned by Johnson Health Tech, and they have been manufacturing home fitness equipment for over 25 years. Among other things, their treadmills are reputed for low noise levels, good shock absorption, low prices and unbeatable warranties.
The T101 treadmill is 165 cm long, 66 cm wide, 127 cm tall, weighs only 49 kg, and is black & grey in colour. The surface of the belt is 120 x 40 cm.
In addition to being one of the lightest treadmills which I have ever come across, it has 2 wheels at the back of its folded frame, which make it easy to move around as needed.
The interface is clean and simple. The LCD screen offers information regarding speed, distance, time, heart rate and calories burned. The detachable red key is attached to the security string, and automatically stops the treadmill if pulled off, which is useful in the event of an emergency. There are 12 programmes to select from and 2 bottle holders.
There is an on/off switch at the base of the frame to the front of the treadmill. I find this handy as it saves me having to unplug it when not in use (although Horizon does recommend that it still be unplugged when not in use).
Once the key has been put in place, one has the option to switch the treadmill on either from the front interface, or using the controls on the left hand rail.
The speed can be adjusted from 1 to 16 km/h, either on the front interface or the right hand rail.
There are 3 manual incline positions, ranging from 0 to 6%.
Maximum user weight is 110 kg (242 lbs).
Price varies, but it is a low budget treadmill. I've seen it for 449€, and even as low as 249,99€ on a website which claims that it is on sale with a 75% discount.
My overall impression of this treadmill is that it is a good piece of home fitness equipment for those who are not too overweight and want to walk or run on a flat surface. The 12 programmes offer a variety of cardiovascular workouts. However, it has some limitations which make it not so great for those whose main focus is weight loss, in my opinion. It is not possible to enter personal data (height, weight and gender), therefore the displayed calories burned seem to be preset and may more likely than not be far from accurate for most users. Monitoring of the heartrate requires one to continusously hold on to the hand rails. This is inconvenient as it impedes proper form while speed walking, jogging or running, and intermittent holding on does not give immediate accurate readings. There is also no automatic incline, which limits the types of workouts which one can do. The manual 3 position incline is really only 2 positions, as one of them is a 0% incline, and those 2 are not steep enough to be noticable (to me). There are no handle bars on the front of the treadmill to hold onto, which I find a bit odd. Lastly, the maximum user weight seems a bit small to me. 110 kg / 242 lbs is well under some people's starting weight when beginning an excercise regime. On the flipside, it does come with a lifetime warranty, so that shows that it is of good quality and can withstand the test of time if the manufacturer's user guidelines are followed. I find this to be a good treadmill for a treadmill newbie or one who has no interest in tracking calories burned or shedding lots of weight. I would not recommend it for anyone who wants to spend hours running, is heavier or prefers a steep or even moderate incline.
NIP Uncovered
I am an advocate of EBF (exclusive breastfeeding) and many other attachment parenting practices, however, I have noticed a trend amongst women which I find disturbing. I have absolutely no problem with women NIP (nursing in public). I agree that having an EBF baby should not be a prisson sentence which leaves a mother confined to her home, or makes her have to run to the bathroom to feed her child when out in public. However, why is it that having a baby automatically makes it okay for women to expose their breasts in public? Why are nursing covers so offensive to some women? Why can't you feed your baby without flashing the world? Feed your baby anytime, anywhere, yes, by all means, but why not do so modestly? I see women pull an entire breast out and leave it dangling in the air before preparing the baby to latch, or long after the baby has finished. Why? Even if you need to see what's happening to help your baby to latch on, why not cover up the exposed parts while the bub is suckling?
I firmly believe that there is a time and place for everything, and that includes where and when to expose your boobs. Say what you like, the FACT is that women's breasts serve TWO purposes. Yes, one of them is to provide nourishment for infants, but the other IS SEXUAL. Argue all you like, seeing exposed (.)(.) can sexually arouse men (and perhaps some lesbian women), and it will make some heterosexual women as well as those who prefer not to see the private body parts of others feel very uncomfortable.
If you would not ordinarily walk around topless in front of your father, brothers, grandfathers, nephews, male cousins, in-laws, friends' husbands, co-workers, and complete strangers, then I don't think that it is approriate to expose your breasts in front of them just because you need to feed your baby, when you can clearly do so before the aforementioned people in a discreet manner.
I am not suggesting that any woman has to go to the extreme and not breastfeed at all, or not breastfeed in public, or lock herself away in a bathroom to feed her child, nursing a baby can be done anywhere, anytime, without anyone passing by noticing. Call me old fashioned, but that's just the way I feel!
I firmly believe that there is a time and place for everything, and that includes where and when to expose your boobs. Say what you like, the FACT is that women's breasts serve TWO purposes. Yes, one of them is to provide nourishment for infants, but the other IS SEXUAL. Argue all you like, seeing exposed (.)(.) can sexually arouse men (and perhaps some lesbian women), and it will make some heterosexual women as well as those who prefer not to see the private body parts of others feel very uncomfortable.
If you would not ordinarily walk around topless in front of your father, brothers, grandfathers, nephews, male cousins, in-laws, friends' husbands, co-workers, and complete strangers, then I don't think that it is approriate to expose your breasts in front of them just because you need to feed your baby, when you can clearly do so before the aforementioned people in a discreet manner.
I am not suggesting that any woman has to go to the extreme and not breastfeed at all, or not breastfeed in public, or lock herself away in a bathroom to feed her child, nursing a baby can be done anywhere, anytime, without anyone passing by noticing. Call me old fashioned, but that's just the way I feel!
Repetitive Redundancy
3 year old: 'Mummy, the water is wet on the floor.'
Mother: 'Can water be dry?'
Mother: 'Can water be dry?'
Saturday, October 1, 2011
Play by Givenchy (For Women)
There are 2 versions of this, Play Eau de Parfum and Play Eau de Parfum Intense. I am reviewing the former.
I have seen this described as 'a woody, fruity floral aromatic fragrance' 'which represents freedom, modernity and sensuality' and 'radiates smiles and freedom, leaving a delicate musky imprint on the skin.'
It was launched in 2010 and is still in production. The perfumers are Emilie Copperman, Lucas Sieuzac, and Françoise Donche. The bottle was designed by Serge Mansau.
Top notes: Pink Peppercorns, White Peach, Bergamot, Sweet Pea
Middle notes: Amyris Wood, Tiare Flower, Magnolia Leaf, Magnolia Flower
Base notes: Sandalwood, Musk
Like it's male counterpart, it is a modern fragrance which is clean in a floral way. It is also aimed at a youth market, however I think that it can work for a woman in her 30's as a day time fragrance. I find it to be a bit too juvenile for an older, more mature woman. I would not give it to my mother.
For me, this fragrance is just okay. It does not smell bad, but it does not have any wow factor in my nose. I actually find that it has a bit of a plasticy smell to it. I see it as another attempt at a modern fragrance, but I do not feel as though it stands out high above the rest. I much prefer its male counterpart, and would only wear this if my other half wears the For Him version.
Retail price varies greatly, anywhere from 35€ to upwards of 100€ depending on the size. It's available in 30 ml, 50 ml, 70 ml and 100 ml. Perhaps more, but I am not sure.
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