So, LN managed to get a copy of the The The Gabriel Method: The Revolutionary DIET-FREE Way to Totally Transform Your Body for me while she was in Sydney. The author, Jon Gabriel, was supposed to have come to Malaysia a few months ago but didn't quite make it. I was curious about his book, but couldn't find it in Malaysian bookstores.

Anyway, got the book and found it a very interesting read. There's no mention of a diet anywhere! He talks about eating healthy; making your body crave healthy food instead of junk food, about eating food with 'life' in it i.e. raw/lightly cooked to retain nutrients, etc.

I found this very close to my beliefs about food (after having gone for the 10 day Fasting Program at Spa Samui and all) so after weeks of boiling everything into a soup (so I was craving soup!) I decided to go SALADS!

One of the things he said was that not everyone likes salad but in order to get more veges into your body, try turning everything into a salad. I decided to take on the challenge!

My staples for salad:
- Purple cabbage
- Carrots
- Yellow Peppers
- Cherry Tomatoes
- Japanese cucumbers

The above veges make for a lovely salad which has beautiful colours and I read somewhere that it's good to have many different colors in you food.

Occasionally I'll add some boiled eggs, potatoes. If i feel like some meat, depending on what I have at home, I may add bit of sausage or pepperoni, etc.

The other day, I added some chicken - marinated with whole grain mustard and grilled, before cutting in to smaller bit sizes and mixed in the salad.

Today, I decided to clear out my freezer because my fridge is playing up a little. Found a packet of dry mutton curry. At the same time, I was trying to finish up the salad ingredients. Then I thought to myself, why not have a mutton curry salad?

The results were yummy!! As it's a dry mutton curry, I heated it up, cut into smaller pieces and just mixed it through the salad and the little bit of gravy made of a nice salad dressing so I didn't have to add any other salad dressing to it anymore! Perhaps not the healthiest, but hey .. better than having mutton curry with banana leaf rice and everything else :)

In the The Gabriel Method, Jon also mentioned lasagna salad .. that, I've gotta try~~!

The boook is highly recommended, and it comes with a Visualization CD to listen to every night ...

For more information on Jon, go to http://www.jongabriel.com.au/
To order the book, you can buy through Amazon

*Pigs' feet: the new superfood*
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/3353631/Pigs-feet-the-new-superfood.html

As Britain 's spending on cosmetic surgery soars, Fiona MacDonald Smith suggests it's time that we chopped and changed our diet instead .

The latest anti-ageing food? Pigs' trotters. That's right, you heard it here first.
In New York , the most talked-about new opening of the past couple of months has been a Japanese restaurant called Hakata Tonton, where 33 out of the 39 dishes contain pigs' feet.

The reason for this, according to its owner, Himi Okajima, is that they are rich in collagen, the protein responsible for skin and muscle tone, more recognizable to beauty addicts in the form of face creams and fillers.

"Collagen helps your body retain moisture," says Okajima, who has introduced a chain of restaurants specializing in collagen cuisine in Japan . "Your hair and skin will look better, but it's not just for looking beautiful now. If you begin eating collagen in your thirties, you will look younger in your forties."

Maybe this sounds a little improbable ( "It's news to me," sniffs Lisa Miles of the British Nutrition Foundation. "I've certainly never heard of eating collagen." ) but Okajima believes he is on to something. Figures published last month show that British spending on cosmetic surgery is the highest in Europe , hitting nearly £500 million in 2006, four times more than in 2001.

Isn't there a cheaper solution? Couldn't eating the right foods, in the right way, be a simpler, and ultimately more long-term way to stay looking and feeling younger? "You are what you eat," says nutritional therapist Ian Marber, aka The Food Doctor.

"You can't turn the clock back but you can slow things down. Every cell replicates from RNA and DNA. In order to keep the DNA in good condition, you want to protect cells from harmful free radicals. And for this you need to eat fruit and vegetables, which contain vital anti-oxidants like vitamins A, C, E and zinc.

"It doesn't have to be expensive," he adds. "I know people go on about so-called 'superfoods' which have a greater concentration of anti-oxidants, but two apples a day will give you plenty of vitamins and fibre. You just need to ensure a varied diet."

"The key is to remember we're omnivorous," agrees nutritionist Christian Lee, who is the national trainer for the Dr Nicholas Perricone cosmetics and nutrition empire. "Have you ever noticed how women age more rapidly than men?

That's because they don't eat enough protein. The days you don't eat protein are the days you age. The body can't store protein, but it needs it for cellular production and function. "

At each meal you should be able to hold up three fingers and say 'I've got a good source of protein (lean fish or poultry, nuts, seeds or tofu); an essential fatty acid ( Omega 3 or 6, so that's coldwater oily fish, flaxseeds, linseeds ) and a low glycaemic carbohydrate ( fruit, vegetables, and whole grains like quinoa, buckwheat and oatmeal )'. If you can say that, you're on the right road."

Perricone, a dermatologist, became America's most famous anti-ageing specialist with his "Three-Day Nutritional Face Lift", which extolled the virtues of eating wild Alaskan salmon twice a day, claiming its essential fatty acids would banish puffiness and tighten the skin. Uma Thurman, Heidi Klum and J-Lo are all fans.

In his new book Ageless Face, Ageless Mind, which has yet to reach the UK, Dr Perricone's team assert that up to 40 per cent of wrinkles are caused by dietary sugar. "When you eat high glycaemic carbohydrates like bread, cakes and pasta, they turn into sugar in the blood so fast that the pancreas can't respond with enough insulin and the blood becomes saturated with sugar," argues Christian Lee. "The sugar needs to go somewhere so it attaches itself to the cell membranes.

When it does this to collagen molecules in the skin, it causes the collagen to become stiff and immobile and that's the birth of the wrinkle. The bad news is that it doesn't end there - the sugar then pumps out free radicals, causing a double whammy of damage. The good news is you can prevent it - either by cutting out sugar or by taking a supplement of alpha lipoid acid, which is 400 times stronger than vitamin C and E combined."

So ditch the sugar, but don't forget the pigs' trotters.

FOODSTUFFS THAT KEEP YOU YOUNG
*Spinach* contains the pigment lutein, present in the retina, which helps maintain the health of the eye.

*Tomatoes* contain the anti-oxidant lycopene, which can protect the skin from UV damage from the sun.

*Purple or red berries* - such as blueberries, raspberries and strawberries - are full of anthocyanins which can help protect against diabetes, heart disease and cancer, and help maintain strong arteries.

*Oily fish*, such as fresh water salmon, herring, mackerel and sardines, and also flax seeds and linseeds, are the main source of omega-3 fatty acids, which can delay the ageing process of the skin.

*Water*: drinking more aids digestion and elimination; drinking too little can harm the complexion.

....AND SOME THAT AGE YOU
*Carbonated drinks* - along with tea, coffee, sugar, red meat and alcohol - can push the body's balance towards the acidic, meaning that alkaline minerals (such as calcium) are removed from bone stores to balance it, weakening the bones. Restricting them may help you keep stronger bones.

*Nightshade vegetables* - potatoes, tomatoes, chillies, aubergine and peppers - while often healthy in other respects, contain a chemical that studies suggest can activate pain and inflammation associated with arthritis. Avoiding these foods may help reduce it.

*Refined carbohydrates* - such as white bread, white rice, sugary cereals, pasta and noodles - contribute to the development of type II diabetes, which accelerates the ageing process and, if not controlled, can lead to a wide range of other health problems.

So, when my aunt moved out of her home of like 30 years into a small apartment, there was lots of stuff to clear. As I was moving to my new place, her Tupperware collection inadvertently found it's way to my place.

Amazingly, most of the tupperwares were brand new and even though they were probably from like about 20 years ago, it still looked good and relevant in my new kitchen. I've been using most of the tupperware to store all kinds of condiments. Also found the ice lolly moulds which I will try out one of these days.

Anyway, I was looking to get some more tupperware containers and then I realised, I don't know any tupperware salespeople. So, I turned to Google and found that you can now buy Tupperware over the net from this site Tupperware2u. What great idea! I could order and pay without leaving my home and they delivered it to my home.

From time to time, there's a promotion on and apart from Tupperware, you can also get the Beauticontrol stuff. They are also promoting other non-Tupperware products on it too.