Since it opened in 1965, the Theatre of Beirut, in Ein el-Mreisseh, has been a cultural monument where its stage bore witness to decades of implemented artistic visions, its auditorium harbored riveting applauses and its seats were occupied by critical thinkers. This haven, like all theatres, provided its residing city with knowledge instead of education, art instead of trends, style instead of fashion, truth instead of lies and confrontation instead of compromise.

As is the case with most of our cultural heritage, the decision to close down the Theatre of Beirut has been made, and the Ministry of Culture has remained passive thus far, which can only translate to Beirut taking another step forward to becoming a concrete jungle; burying away more creativity, culture, art, and potential growth in a coffin of cement.

In an attempt to stop the transformation of this historic landmark into yet another shopping mall or a hideously unattractive replica of a post modern architecture building, activists have created Facebook groups in order to reach out to the city’s citizens to encourage their involvement and to join the demonstration against this insult towards our country’s culture. There will be a protest outside the Lebanese Ministry of Culture on Wednesday December 21, 2011 at 10:30 am in hopes that the Ministry will awaken from their self-induced coma and protect the few cultural and artistic areas still remaining in Lebanon.

Beirut was praised for being the Cultural Hub of the Middle East, and as we struggle through the 21st century the lack of appreciation towards the arts and culture are becoming more apparent, and all we can do is learn about Lebanon’s Golden Age from grandparents and history books. As the new generation of Lebanon’s future we must fight against this disregard for our heritage in order not to live a future based on nostalgia.

Please click on the link below to sign the petition addressed to the Lebanese Ministry of Culture to Save Beirut Theatre and share with all your friends;

http://www.change.org/petitions/the-lebanese-ministry-of-culture-save-beirut-theatre

Also join the Theatre of Beirut’s Facebook group by clicking on the link below;

https://www.facebook.com/groups/169667895059

Please find the links below to read other articles regarding this subject;

http://www.daralhayat.com/portalarticlendah/338380

http://news.beiruter.com/node/97689

Exhibition (Art)
Daily, until Dec 8, 11:00am -> 7:00pm
At Art Circle’s New Sub-Space
Hamra street, Horse Shoe bldg (Above Costa Café), First fl.

Using white boards similar to the ones that were used during The Great Depression in the United States of America throughout the 1920s and 30s, Laudi Abillama asked her subjects to write on them their feelings and opinions. The final body of work is limited edition silkscreen prints of her photographs, over a background of fine line drawings depicting daily human panoramas. The large human-like works overwhelm you by their straightforward statements, and as you try to read the sayings, you notice the delicately scribbled scenes that the artist has rendered in the back. The work looks simple, however it is a complex combination of photography, drawing, painting and finally silkscreen printing.

Born in 1986 in Surrey, England, Laudi Abilama spent most of her life in the United Kingdom where she received her BA in Arts and Media from the University College of Creative Arts. At the age of 20 she chose to move back to Lebanon, her home country, to be part of the rise of contemporary art in the region. She chooses to paint predominantly people; representing personalities that have at some point influenced or touched her. She exhibits in Beirut, London and Dubai, and her work is acquired internationally. She has participated in many collective shows, namely the Sursock Museum’s Salon d’Automne and at Sotheby’s as part of this year’s ‘Shubbak’ Festival in London.

By Brooke Anderson
The Daily Star

BEIRUT: Two years ago Nasri Atallah left his banking job in London for his native Lebanon, and decided to try his hand at blogging, writing a satirical post about Lebanese tourism clichés – such as skiing and swimming in the same day.

After that first post received a positive response and gained him a small following, he continued with regular monthly pieces, routinely criticizing Lebanese society, himself included, for its vanity, clichés and poseurs.

Two years on, his blog, “Our Man in Beirut,” has reached some 130,000 visitors, and with the encouragement of friends, a book of the same name will be available on bookshelves starting Sunday. It will feature highlights from his blog in which he often in pokes fun at Lebanese for their excess – be it overdressing, overspending, over-the-top glamorous Facebook profile pictures or overdone plastic surgery.

“I tend not to be nuanced in my writing,” Atallah acknowledges. “Some people think I’m too negative, or that I’m not doing anything [constructive] by nagging.”

In fact, it was perhaps that very negativity, expressed in witty blog posts, which struck a chord with young Lebanese, aware of the problems in their own society and eager for someone who could articulate them pithily.

One of his most popular entries was “Nation Blanding: Hedonism and the Underselling of Beirut,” a criticism of the CNN video report made by Richard Quest on Lebanon’s rooftop bars, and an indictment of Lebanon’s promotion of its hedonistic nightlife.

“I’m sorry but I have yet to see a genuine example of someone loving life when I go out in Lebanon,” he writes in the Sept. 5 post. “We go to clubs with 3,000 people, but hang out with the 20 we already know. We all look inward at our table. People stare into their BlackBerrys and iPhones trying to figure out if something more exciting is happening elsewhere, because they’re under the impression that they are in no way contributing to the complete lack of an atmosphere here, and it’s everyone else’s fault.”

He concludes: “Not caring about tomorrow isn’t something to be proud of… I’m sorry, but I don’t want that to be the brand my country brandishes to the world.”

In his other most popular post, “Sex, but no sex,” published June 16, Atallah criticizes the hypocrisy of the culture in Lebanon producing ultrasexualised images of women while frowning upon casual or even pre-marital sex.

“Much like the oversexualized women in Arab pop videos, Lebanese women are expected to be alluring and seductive, yet remain virginal,” he writes. “Men then go on to embrace this concept of the ‘Western Whore’ and consider anyone remotely blonde that they meet ripe for the taking. Like unevolved cavemen, they whistle and gawk and grope. It’s an embarrassing sight.”

Atallah adds, “Even if they had someone they’d have nowhere to do it, with 30-year-old men still living in their childhood rooms, surrounded by high school memorabilia and a maid that makes their bed before they head off to act like adults for the day.”

Even while ranting about very commonplace issues in everyday life in Lebanon, Atallah’s voice is unique. He recalls one instance when he was at a café, complaining to friends, when a fellow customer turned to him and asked, “Are you that blogger?”

But he notes that not all of his observations on the peculiarity of Lebanon are negative, and has noted the generosity of spirit of the Lebanese. He recalls one time when he went to the local pharmacy when sick. The pharmacist told him he should have stayed home, and he would have delivered the medicine had he known he was sick, an offer he’s sure he wouldn’t have gotten had he stayed in London.

Never feeling quite at home in Lebanon or the U.K., through his blog Atallah found that he had the luxury of being an insider as well as an outside observer.

In fact, he says he often feels that he has more in common with so called “third culture kids,” those brought up by expatriate parents abroad.

He says that his next book, which he intends to be fiction, will explore the theme of third culture kids.

The blog that started it all, which has served as a springboard for his writing career, has been featured in Commerce du Levant and Time Out magazines, and has even become part of the reading list for a class in the international affairs program at the New School in New York.

Starting Sunday, readers can find them all in one place, when they will become available at bookshops following a launch at 6 p.m., at Secteur 75 bar in Mar Mikhael.

By Wassim Mroueh
The Daily Star

55th Arab Book Fair

BEIRUT: With this year’s Arab Spring on the minds of so many people in this region, the 55th edition of the Beirut International Arab Book Fair, which opens Friday, is of special significance. The region’s political ferment is the subject of many of the event’s featured works, and a major topic of seminars and discussions scheduled for the exhibition.

While many new releases address the recent history of Syria and touch on the outbreak of the ongoing uprising against the regime of Syria’s President Bashar Assad, Lebanese journalist Ghadi Francis will share with readers the confusion that befell her shortly after entering Syria to cover events there.

“My Pen and Pain: One Hundred Days in Syria,” by Saqi Books, depicts Francis’ conflict of her questioning her convictions and ideas and her confusion regarding whom to support, the opposition or pro-regime groups.

Francis tours several Syrian districts, including centers of opposition, and visits religious figures. Her journey ends with arrest by Syrian authorities, deportation back to Lebanon and the Syrian state’s refusal of her request for re-entry.

Among An-Nahar Publishing House’s new books is “The Modern History of Syria,” by Kamal Dib, which narrates the history of Lebanon’s neighbor from the French Mandate era, between the First and Second World Wars, and until the summer of 2011.

The fair will host a seminar on Dec. 6 to discuss the book.

In his book “The Syrian Baath, a Brief History,” published by Saqi Books, political analyst and writer Hazem Saghieh sheds light on aspects of the Baath Party’s history in Syria, starting in 1963 and carrying the story forward to the outbreak of the uprising in the flashpoint Syrian city of Deraa.

“Walking on one Foot” is a collection of essays by Syrian dissident Yassin al-Hajj Saleh about the upheaval in his country, which will be available at the stands of Al-Adab Publishing House.

Works and authors from Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, United Arab Emirates, Oman, Iraq, Palestine and Egypt will participate in this edition of the Beirut Book Fair, which is being organized by the Arab Cultural Club. Some 180 Lebanese publishers, and dozens more from the rest of the Arab world, are scheduled to participate.

While it is the leading Arabic-language book fair in the country, there are also plenty of English- and French-language titles to be found at the event, with shops like Malik’s books and Antoine Library tending to these markets.

Several works at the fair take up the question of Egypt’s Spring. Egyptian author Ahmad Shiti’s “Hundred Steps towards the Revolution: Diaries of Tahrir Square” informs readers of developments during the daily protests which rocked Cairo’s Tahrir Square starting Jan. 25, and brought down President Hosni Mubarak. The book is published by Al-Adab.

Al-Adab is also releasing “A Woman Staring at Sun,” by Egyptian author Nawal Saadawi, which is comprised of the author’s discussions with Tahrir Square protesters.

The disappointment felt by Egyptian youth at the corruption and chaos in which Egypt was mired in the years before the uprising is depicted by Egyptian Author Hamza Qanawi in his book “Memoirs of an Egyptian Youth.”

The Arab Spring will also be the subject of a number of lectures scheduled for the exhibition. “The Arab Spring from Tyranny to Democracy,” on Dec. 7, will see the participation of Hasbaya MP Ali Fayyad, Tunisian sociologist Taher Labib and Lebanese author and one-time political activist Karim Mroueh.

Egyptian university professor and political activist Hasan Nafaa will deliver on Dec. 8 the lecture, “The Egyptian Experience, its Horizons and Possibilities,” which also promises to take up Egypt’s uprising.

Scheduled for Dec. 11, the discussion session “The Ideal Formula for Post-Revolution Societies: Islamist or Secular?” will involve another panel of participants in. Dec. 13 will see a seminar entitled “The Arab Spring and Factors of Change.”

Naturally the book fair will also feature books that have nothing to do with the Arab Spring.

Abdel-Rahman Halloush’s “Al-Shaykh and the Physician: Osama Bin Laden and Ayman al-Zawahri,” for instance, touches on the lives of figures inspired by Salafist clerics.

Mohammad Sammak, Father George Msouh and university professor Saud Mawla will take part in a seminar entitled: “How do we abolish political sectarianism?”

Fiction works also have a niche at the fair. Lebanese author May Mnassa’s “Sewing machine” tells the story of the protagonist’s regret at having sold the sewing machine that was her late mom’s only means to earn living, her efforts to retrieve it and the problems she encounters during her search.

Another fiction work to look out for is Hanan al-Shaykh’s novel “Shahrazad and the Owner of the House,” published by Al-Adab, a novel inspired by “One Thousand and One Nights.”

Beirut’s Arab Book Fair will also host a full slate of lectures and seminars on a wide range of topics, book signings, even a puppet theater show.

The Beirut Book Fair opens Friday afternoon at the Beirut International Entertainment and Leisure Center. The event continues until Dec. 15; the venue is open 10 a.m. to 10 p.m.

By Mirella Hodeib
The Daily Star

BEIRUT: Hanan al-Shaykh detests epithets and prejudice. Labels like “Muslim,” “Arab,” “Lebanese-born” and “feminist” are a source of annoyance to the acclaimed novelist, who perceives them to be a form of concealed discrimination.

“In the West they need to label you to understand what you do,” Shaykh told The Daily Star. “I tell [Westerners] that all those tags have become a real burden to me. I also tell them not to pigeonhole everybody. This is racism.”

Shaykh, who has lived in London for the past three decades and whose works have been translated to several languages including English, French and German, argued that Western critics ought to focus on her writing rather than on her background or persona.

“I always tell them to look at me as a writer,” Shaykh said, “to focus on my style of writing, my themes, my writing techniques.”

The novelist is currently in Beirut for the signing of the French translation of her novel “The Locust and the Bird: My Mother’s Story,” whose English translation was released in 2009, at Beirut’s Francophone book fair.

Shaykh explained that in this book in particular, she meant to eliminate some of the misconceptions the Western world might have about Arab or Muslim women.

“This is the story of a woman who assumed her choices in life and defied family, society and values by leaving her husband to marry her lover in the 1950s,” said the writer, who veered back and forth from English to Arabic every time the conversation took a heated turn.

“It’s not very accurate that all Arab and Muslim women are oppressed and silenced; my mother and other women led battles from early on.”

Shaykh admits, however, that listening to the story of Kamila, her mother, and the writing process afterward were both “painful” experiences as she was confronted with her grief and untold secrets from the past.

The novelist said the book made her aware of how much she resembled her mother and all the traits she inherited from her.

Shaykh confided that while her feeling of being an abandoned child did not disappear completely, if she were in the same situation Kamila found herself in some 50 years ago, she would have made a similar decision.

“I don’t want to claim I was cured or liberated after I wrote the book,” she added. “Let’s say I understood my mother and myself more.”

Shaykh also refuses to categorize such novels as “The Locust and the Bird” and her celebrated “The Story of Zahra” (1994) as belonging to “Shiite” or “South Lebanon” literature.

“Tackling the conditions of Shiite or southern women was never my purpose,” she said. “It just happens that this is my background.” Zahra’s attempts to escape the brutality of her own family, she added, and those of the war was not unique to Shiite girls.

Shaykh highlighted that Lebanon’s 1975-90 Civil War was a turning point and a major inspiration for her writing. “After all, the war is my raison d’etre,” she said, “Why am I living in London? Because I [wanted] to escape war in my country.

“Instead of thinking, ‘What am I going to wear today,’ ‘Is it going to rain,’ or ‘Is it not going to rain,’ you start asking yourself questions like ‘Am I going to live or am I going to die,’ ‘Am I going to drop dead this second,’ or ‘am I going to celebrate life?’” Shaykh added.

“All these questions made me write ‘The Story of Zahra.”

Even now, nearly 22 years after the war ended, Shaykh says she cannot recognize her Beirut, and allueds that the Civil War in Lebanon is ongoing but has taken other forms. She said that she chose to express Civil War mania and talk about her departure to London in “Beirut Blues” (1992).

“It’s not my Beirut anymore,” Shaykh said. “It has been divided up and I don’t think I belong to any side.”

A Lebanese writer who has never written any of her novels in Beirut, Shaykh believes place plays a pivotal role in the shape of her novels and dictates many of the book’s characteristics.

“I think place plays a major role my writing because it dictates the characters as people differ from one place to the other,” she said. “Like in London, for example, it’s a cold society [while] in a way the East is warmer.”

Shaykh attributes her talent in shaping attractive and genuine characters to her abilities as an observer. “I was a nosy child … you cannot be a writer if you are not aware of the things and people around you.”

Shaykh said two of the characters in her novel “Only in London” (2001) – the Moroccan prostitute Amira and the Lebanese drag queen Samir – are real people living in London. “I have never met Amira,” she continued, “but we have mutual acquaintances and Samir has become a good friend and wants me to write his story at some point.”

The author said that the writing process for her has evolved and matured over the years.

“When I first started I was more interested with words and sentences and big ideas,” she said. “But it’s the people and the places that have grown to be more important to me.”

Shaykh said that the tonal shift in her work from sinister moods – such as those that resonate throughout “The Story of Zahra” – to the lighter more sarcastic tone of “Only in Lebanon,” came about as a result of her evolution as a writer. She said that Western culture taught her sarcasm and that fun can be poked at even the most dramatic situations.

“In our culture you can never mix tragedy with humor,” said Shaykh, “It’s either this or that. As of recently I feel that I am placing less restrictions against using humor in my books.”

Shaykh attributes her sensuality and sarcasm to her mom. “She’s very funny,” she said. “Whenever somebody tells me my writings make them laugh she immediately comes to my mind.”

Shaykh said she has been enjoying her experiments writing for the theater.

After her dark comedies “Dark Afternoon Tea” (1995) and “Paper Husband” (1997), Shaykh teamed up with director Tim Supple for an adaptation of “One Thousand and One Nights,” which is set to tour this winter with stops in cities such as Sydney and Hong Kong.

Shaykh’s passion for writing novels has not taken a back seat to the stage. At present, she has several writing projects in development at once.

“I am working on short stories and a novel,” Shaykh said, “All I can say now is that [the novel] is based in the south of France.”

On October 15, 2011 H&M the international design-driven clothing retailer opened its 7th store in Lebanon. The store is located in Kaslik.

Over 1900 square meters guarantee that all H&M lovers will get a chance to fully enjoy Kaslik’s fashion paradise .The new H&M store will carry a wide range of fashion for ladies, men and kids. With its fashion concept H&M offers a spectrum of styles with an aim for everyone to find their own individual style and satisfy distinct and specific tastes – from evening wear, business and sports attire to casual wear.

“H&M looks forward to bringing style conscious shoppers in Lebanon the inspiration to make their own personal fashion statement” says Ann-Sofie Johansson, Head of Design. “We hope that we can offer our customers added value through fashion and quality at the best price.”

For women, this season’s autumn collection is influenced by the 70’s.The styles are essential with longer lengths and wide trousers paired with blouses and comfortable knits along with leather accessories and quirky hats to complete the look, while men’s fashion for autumn continues its focus on simplistic style and function.

H&M currently has 55 stores in the Middle East: 19 in KSA, 13 in UAE, 7 in Kuwait, 7 in Lebanon, 3 in Bahrain, 3 in Egypt, 2 in Qatar 1 in Oman and coming soon in Morocco and Jordan.

For further information visit: www.hm.com

From : The Daily Star
By: Emma Gatten

BEIRUT: A submarine cable which will give Internet service providers the capacity they need to supply high-speed Internet services, including 3G, was put into action Monday, after months of waiting. “The tap was closed, and now it’s open,” Antoine Boustany, an adviser to Telecoms Minister Nicolas Sehnawi said Tuesday.

In a statement released by the Telecommunications Ministry Tuesday, Sehnawi confirmed that people could expect “important developments” in the sector that “will coincide with the liberalization of the international capacities known as IMEWE and Cadmos.”

The statement added that Sehnawi would present a draft bill to the Cabinet in the coming three weeks that would reduce the prices of Internet services in the country.

The ministry contacted ISPs Monday morning to inform them that capacity they had requested several months ago from the India-Middle East-Western Europe submarine cable would now be available, Habib Torbey, the head of the Lebanese Telecom Association and president of GlobalCom Data Services, which groups all of the country’s private ISPs, told The Daily Star Tuesday. Torbey said IDM, the ISP owned by GDS, had noticed the increase in capacity Monday afternoon.

“This will really change the Internet landscape in Lebanon,” Torbey said.

The 13,000 kilometer IMEWE cable runs between India and France and has a potential capacity of 3.84 Terabits per second. It has been operational since 2009, but its implementation in Lebanon has been repeatedly delayed. Its intended launch date of Dec. 13, 2010, was postponed by the IMEWE consortium, which controls the supply, because of a dispute between the Telecoms Ministry, then headed by Charbel Nahhas, and OGERO, the semi-autonomous company responsible for administering telecoms in the country.

According to Boustany, access to the IMEWE cable was made possible after the previous minister, Charbel Nahhas, wrote to the consortium to inform them the ministry had sole authority over the country’s Internet supply.

In January the ministry announced plans to bring relatively high-speed 3G technology into the market via cellular companies Alfa and MTC within seven months, and Nahhas has said the network, which will require significantly more capacity, will utilize the IMEWE cable.

The cable will also mean ISPs are able, in the long run, to provide faster speeds to users. Imad Tarabay, CEO of ISP Cedarcom welcomed the move, in particular the Telecoms Ministry’s announcement that lower pricing would be introduced.

Unlike government-owned Alfa and MTC, ISPs currently pay some $3,000 for a line which costs the government $100 to supply, and Tarabay said that this is prohibitive to ISPs being able to provide affordable fast Internet to users.

“At the moment it’s as if they were inviting you to buy property in Downtown [Beirut],” he said. “There’s a lot of land, but nobody can afford it.”

The ministry did not specify in its statement by how much prices would be reduced, but Tarabay nonetheless said the decision was “a very good step.”

Activists campaigning for a faster Internet speeds also greeted the news with cheer Tuesday. Mark Daou, one of the co-founders of advocacy group Fast Lebanon said he welcomed the move “100 percent,” although he said the most immediate impact would be on 3G services which would be “guaranteed” by the increased capacity.

Samer Karam, the founder of Flip the Switch, which has been campaigning for the IMEWE cable to be put in use, said the move had been “a year in the making.”

Should the move lead to faster and cheaper Internet, it will have “a big impact on the local knowledge economy,” said Karam, as those Lebanese companies which rely on the Internet are put on a more competitive footing.

Every year, many movies are subject to censorship by Lebanese authorities. Because of this practice of the Lebanese authorities, The Beirut International Film Festival is organizing a festival of banned films, where 5 films will be showing.

The festival will start on June 22nd and end on June 26th. During this festival, movies that were banned by the Lebanese authorities will be projected. The administration of the BIFF have specified that the general security with the support of the Ministry of Interior have allowed the projection of the 5 films that have been banned in 2009 and 2010. Two of the five films will be showing at Planete Abraj movies theaters between 8:00 PM and 10:00 PM every night during festival days.

Among the films that will be projected , “Chou Sar?” for Lebanese Director Degaulle Eid. The director received the Jury’s Special award at the BIFF 2010, but was not shown to the public because the censorship. The jury of the festival considered that the film used the best cinematographic approach for a horrible personal story to become a part of the collective history of Lebanon.

On December 9, 1980, DeGaulle Eid’s parents, youngest sister and eleven other members of his family were gunned down in Edbel, Northern Lebanon. After quitting Lebanon for France 18 years ago, Eid now lives with his own family in Corsica. Since leaving Lebanon, Eid has remained traumatized by the massacre. Finally, he travels back to his homeland, where a 1993 amnesty agreement means that perpetrators of civil war-era atrocities are immune from retribution. Discovering his former neighbors, who participated in his family’s slaying are still living in the area, Eid is faced with a hideous reality.

Green Days (Ruzhaye Sabz) by Iranian director Hana Makhmalbaf. in 2010 the Lebanese authorities ordered the postponing of the projection of the movie because it coincided with the visit of president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to Lebanon.

The fictional documentary tells the story of a young girl, Aya, who goes to meet the protestants that participated in the manifestations that took place in Iran after the controversial reelection of M. Ahmadinejad en June 2009.

Italian Director Paolo Benvenutti will also be present at the festival with his films Gostanza Da Libbiano and Confortorio. In Gostanza Da Libbiano, where the events take place at the end of the 16th century at San Martino in Tuscany, Lucia Poli is Gostanza Da Libbiano, an old peasant who has always been practicing the art of healing. But her practices are strange which alerts the cleric authorities. She is arrested and charged with witchcraft. Where as Confortorio talks about the story of two young Jews sentenced to death for theft and who will be forced to convert to Catholicism.

Also showing, Le Chant Des Mariees a film by director Karin Albou who won the “Aleph” award for middle east best film during the 9th BIFF in spite the decision of the Lebanese authorities to ban the projection of the movie and to censor it.   The vents of the movie take place in 1942 Tunisia.

Nour and Mariam , 16 years, are childhood friends.  They share the same home in a p0or neighborhood where Jews and Muslims live in harmony.    Each desires living the others life, While Nour regrets not going to school like her friend, Myriam is dreaming about love.  She envies the engagement of her friend Nour with her cousin Khaled, a prince charming who embodies the fantasies of the young girls.

I have always been living the diet dilemma. I go on a diet for a period of time, get to my ideal weight and then loose track, gain weight and go back to point zero. It’s a vicious circle! It is not realistic to always avoid food that make you gain weight and the reason is hat they taste so good and we will always feel weak.  For this reason diets that are deprived of tasty foods are bound to fail on the long run.  However, this does not mean that there is no solution. It’s normal to feel weak and slip but what is necessary is to get back on track and go back to eating healthy well balanced meals.

Experts may give you many advices to loose weight and would be telling you things such as:

1.Stop snacking, snacking is mostly caused by boredom and not hunger. You should fill up your refrigerator with veggies, and cucumbers.  Drink plenty of water because water gives the sensation of being full and helps loose weight.  But bare in mind that after a week of eating carrots and cucumbers the simple sight of these vegetables would become revolting to you.  Therefore, the trick is to be creative and diversify the types of healthy foods to snack on.  For example, every week purchase a different kind of vegetable or fruit for snacking.  Give yourself some time to think about what to purchase and organize a different shopping list every week.  Remember, boredom is key to failure.

2. You’re being generous with your portion sizes. You might be eating the right foods but just too much of them. Experts say that protein (meat, fish, chicken, soya products) should be the size of your palm. A serving of salad and vegetables should be as much as two cupped hands. A portion of cheese needs to be the size of a matchbox.

Any diet that keeps you hungry is bound for failure! I can never imagine myself measuring my salad portion. Salad is the dieter’s treat. It’s the only food that can be eaten without all these feelings of guilt. When I’m going on a diet I can never have enough of it, and I usually go for more than two cupped hands servings. And I still loose weight!  So this I have to disagree a bit with this advice.

3. You’re actually thirsty not hungry. Many of us mistake hunger for being thirsty, so whenever you think you want more food have a drink first, then see how you feel.  The problem is that at times water just doesn’t do. Even if one is just feeling thirsty. Soft drinks are so popular because they quench thirst and give a refreshing feeling especially in hot summer days. The problem is that either they are full of sugar or full of sweeteners. In my opinion both are bad. Even if nothing beats plane water, many times I opt for sparkling water that both makes me feel more refreshed and gives me a better feeling of fullness.

4. You’re eating late at night. If you’re juggling a job and a family it’s hard to eat at regular times. But eating late at night means that whatever you eat isn’t given a chance to be burnt off, so it turns to fat. Sit down to eat with your family or eat something before everyone else has their dinner. I have a job, I have two children and take afternoon classes. I do understand how hard it is to eat at regular times. The hardest is when I arrive home after work, starving! I open the fridge or the freezer and if I see that ice cream in there you can guess what will happen. So i figured that I should never leave the office hungry. Always have a good lunch no matter what. If you can’t leave for a lunch break and have a decent lunch then you should always pack some lunch before you leave the house. You can either prepare a light and healthy lunch box at night or if you have enough time early in the morning while having your coffee. So this brings us back to point one. Always stack your fridge but not just with carrots and tomatoes, but with whole grain bread, some dried fruits, nuts, fresh fruits, fresh vegetables, etc … Use your imagination or get some ideas from books or on-line about how to pack a healthy well balanced meal.

5. You’re eating the kids’ leftovers. No-one likes waste but finishing off everyone else’s dinner will give you a waist you don’t like! Instead of throwing food away make a bit less than usual.

6. It’s your age. After the age of 35 our metabolism slows down and our hormones change which results in fat accumulating in different places such as around our middle and hips, thighs and bum. Recent research has shown that low-fat dairy products and soya can help to beat weight gain after the age of 35. It is also important to mention the importance of physical exercise. After the age of 35 exercising is a must, not just for weight loss but for the maintaining a good health! So go for regular walks after dinner to burn the calories but also to do your body as well as your soul some good.

7. You’re doing it alone. Having a friend to motivate you and share those times when you’re feeling down can make all the difference. Join a club or ask a friend if she’ll be your diet buddy.

8. Staying motivated is key. If you haven’t set yourself a realistic goal then you’ll easily feel down when you don’t reach it and give up. Start off with a small goal, even just a pound, and you’ll soon feel more able to stick to your diet.

9. You’re not eating enough. Your body thinks you’re starving it so it holds on to fat to survive. Then when you start eating again it’s so confused that it keeps hold of any fat that you eat, and then you put on more weight than you lost originally. Stick to a balanced diet and lose weight.

10. Stress is making you fat. There are two ways stress can make you fat: you eat more when you’re worried about something. And when you’re stressed your body makes more of a hormone that actually stores fat. There’s nothing like gentle exercise to help beat the blues and burn calories. That’s one advice I can’t argue with. It’s completely true. I can only add one thing to it. Nothing beats stress like Yoga.

Margherita (Ghita) Abi-Hanna was born in Kuwait in 1979 where she spent the first ten years of her life. In 1990, her family moved back to Lebanon. She continued her high school education at the Lycée Franco-Libanais and then completed her studies at the American University of Beirut, obtaining a Bachelor in Graphic Design with distinction in 2002.

After graduating, she worked as a senior graphic designer with local design and communication agency “Mind the gap” for almost three years, following which she decided to branch out and start her own career as a freelance designer. In 2009, she moved to Italy to attend a one-year master program in accessories design at Domus Academy in Milan.

Currently relocated in Lebanon, Ghita is in the process of launching her own line of leather accessories and jewelry. Her self-named brand “Margherita” consists of bold designs, for the most part carefully hand-crafted by Lebanese artisans using predominantly natural materials. Her debut collection has been selected for the next season of Starch and will be displayed in the boutique in Saifi as of October 2010.