I’ll be thinking twice before I down my next burger… either that, or I might do a couple of starjumps beforehand to burn off extra calories.

I know a couple of friends who could do with some advice *cough* Arn *cough* Jon *cough* but, hey, what male couldn’t?

Practically speaking, the guidelines of the fast encouraged eating lots of fresh vegetables, legumes and fruit, and to abstain from the following:

• Meat
• Fried foods
• Caffeine, carbonated beverages
• Refined sugar and sugar substitutes
• Foods containing additives or preservatives
• High fat products, e.g. margarine and shortening
• White flour and products containing it

Spiritual benefits aside, I’ve noticed a marked improvement in my well being and health.  In fact, I’ve managed to drop 5 kg in these three weeks to my ideal weight, which was extremely encouraging given that I had been unsuccessfully trying to do so over the past 12 months just through exercise alone. 

I must say that it took some getting used to though, especially because you had to think before including anything in your diet.  All the usual indulgences I used to have were now off limits - coffee, chips, fried chicken and fast food, coke, sweets, chocolate and rich desserts.  It was fun being creative in meal preparation - vegetarian omelettes, salad wraps, vegetable soups and chickpea dips were all the craze.  My wife even prepared a 4 course vegetarian candlelit dinner for Valentine’s day, and I tell you, food never tasted so good!

I was never hungry either - I could eat as much as my stomach wanted to, just none of the bad stuff!  It dawned on me that what my body needed wasn’t another fandangle diet, or weight loss shakes or more hours at the gym to burn off all the excess calories.  All that was required was simply to eat healthy!  All the unnecessary things I described previously that were part of my diet were simply a result of our modern convenience-driven, quick-fix, consumer-based lifestyle. 

The twenty-one days are up now, but the results speak for themselves. I don’t think I’m giving up meat altogether for the long run, but I will definitely be incorporating the principles learnt, - to eat healthy, eat fresh and no junk!  If you’ve embarked on a similar diet or journey, I would definitely like to compare notes and experiences - let me know how you went!

I can definitely see how sitting next to a crying baby for 12 hours straight might be an extremely stressful experience for some, especially when you are unable move or do anything about it. Worse still if one is trying to sleep, or at least preserve some semblance of peace on the flight.

The other side of the coin is always the cry for more understanding - that we should be more accommodating of fellow passengers.  I’m sure it’s just as tough on the parents as it is for everyone else, and they are just as helpless to alleviate the situation as anyone else.

So what is the solution to this dilemma?  Complimentary noise canceling earphones for all?  A separate area for passengers traveling with babies?  For myself, I would certainly think long and hard before taking my own child on a long haul flight, bus journey, or similar.  If traveling, I would make preparations and try as much as I could to ensure that fellow passengers were inconvenienced as little as possible.  If the airlines were to offer a separate area for babies then I would definitely take up the offer. 

I definitely think though that banning babies completely from flights is not the answer - after all, if we start banning every little thing that causes us inconvenience, where do we draw the line?  What about people who talk to much, or hyper-active kids that won’t settle down, or larger sized people that take up too much elbow room?  What do you think?

For Valentine’s Day, I treated my wife to a stay in a 5 star hotel, and it was a treat!  The buffet breakfast was absolutely divine, and she said that it was the best night’s sleep that she has had in a few months. 

I was thinking though, all these little things contribute to a great experience, but the best thing about staying in a hotel is that it makes you feel special!  From the way everyone refers to you by name, to going out of their way to make sure you have everything you - it’s an amazing feeling to know that on the other end of the phone is someone waiting to answer your beck and call 24 hours a day.  Well, we don’t enjoy these pleasures often, but once in a while, it’s nice being treated like an important dignitary, even for a day.

So I got back to my desk all excited, typed it up carefully and then sent the SMS off… and they said:

";-O ur unique code xxxxxxxxx has already been entered. Each unique code equals one entry. Pls buy another specially marked promo bottle, 2 enter."

Ripped off!! I can’t believe it! I don’t know whether someone took a lucky guess and stole my code, or whether they looked through the bottle at the supermarket… or perhaps there’s a hacker ring that’s cracking codes or something like that. Maybe the whole thing’s a scam?

Either way, I’m pretty disappointed… *sniff*… *sigh* back to my Nano-less world.