Selamat Datang!

A warm welcome to the family blog of Hj Awg Omar and Hjh Aminah.

This is a place to capture all the memorable family moments to be shared with all the family members, wherever they are.

It is also a place to reminisce the good ole days :-)

All members of the family are welcome to contribute stories and pictures to this blog (just leave your email on the tagboard).


Candik MABBIM

Puda baharu sahaja beberapa hari yang lalu menerima senaskhah buku Candik MABBIM ehsan daripada Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka Brunei Darussalam. Objektif penerbitan buku ini dijelaskan oleh Penyusunnya seperti berikut:

"SETIAP JASA dan bakti yang dicurah walau sebesar dan sekecil manapun tetap dikenang dan dihargai, sementelah pula jasa dan bakti yang dicurah mempunyai kesan sejarah pada sesebuah institusi.

Penghargaan kepada mereka yang telah berjasa bukan sahaja diabadikan dalam bentuk material, bahkan yang lebih lestari diabadikan dalam sebuah buku. Buku Candik MABBIM: Meninta Sejarah ini mengetengahkan individu yang pernah berganding bahu dalam organisasi kerjasama kebahasaan serantau MABBIM, sama ada sebagai ketua, pakar bidang ilmu mahupun sebagai setiausaha. Penyajian maklumat dalam buku ini dibuat dalam bentuk biografi atau curriculum vitae (cv) serta catatan khidmat dan jasa bakti yang pernah dicurahkan sama ada dalam konteks Negara Brunei Darussalam mahupun di ketiga-tiga negara anggota MABBIM."

Puda amat terharu atas ketulusan pihak Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka merakamkan sumbangan yang tidak seberapa pun daripada insan kerdil seperti Puda ini dalam kegiatan-kegiatan kebahasaan yang pernah Puda ceburi bersama MABBIM suatu ketika dulu. Puda petik beberapa halaman daripada buku tersebut yang melakarkan keterlibatan Puda dalam MABBIM sehingga dianugerahkan dengan penghormatan sebagai Tokoh MABBIM dalam tahun 2008.






Salam hormat - Puda

The Success Secret - Six a Day

While everybody is drowned in the sea of World Cup 2010 mania, let me just plough my way in sharing with you the Big Secret for becoming a TBL Champion. Eat six times a day, (WHAT?? 6X!! Hamdi surely will laugh all the way to the kitchen now!!!!!), consuming a portion of protein and a portion of carbohydrates every two to three hours.

It's important to remember that by eating six times a day, it does not mean you're consuming twice as much food (faham tu Hamdi!) - it just means you're taking the three square meals you'd naturally consume and spreading them out throughout the day.

Of course, you may be accustomed to eating the typical three square meals a day. I used to feel that when I ate three meals a day, I'd feel bloated and miserable!

In truth, it's not the way we're wired, nor the way our prehistoric ancestors ate. They were frequent feeders, hunter gatherers who ate whatever they could whenever they could.

That should be your goal: to feed your body throughout the day, every two to three hours. (Nih, this is not a trick to lure you into losing the next phase of Juara TBL in the next six months - but this is the real SECRET to success!!) By eating frequently, you'll keep your food alarm quiet and your metabolism humming. It's easier for your digestive system to deal with a steady stream of nutrients than a sudden tidal wave ( as happens when you binge or stuff yourself with a feast). Listen to what a real CHAMPION has to say on this: "Since starting this program on Healthy Life Style, my knowledge of nutrition has changed completely. My grocery cart is now filled with good quality protein, complex carbs, fruits and veggies. I understand how important it is to feed your body six times a day with quality fuel and how it effects not only your body, but your mind as well."

Portion Control
We repeat: The way to become a JUARA is to eat six times a day. This means eating small, frequent portions of food.

Small portions mean an amount of food roughly equal to the size of your clinched fist or the palm of your hand. This method automatically customises the proper portion of food for you and your needs. Think about it: A 5'4", 135-pound woman has much smaller hands than that of a 6'1", 200-pound man.

Just as we urged you to forget about the scale and pay attention to the mirror when it comes to gauging the progress of your body transformation, so too, when it comes to food, we urge you to forget about calories and pay attention to portions.

Regards - Puda

The Wonder of Water

Like the planet you inhabit, your body consists mostly of water. Water makes up 70 percent of healthy muscle. It's the body's most essential nutrient. You can survive weeks without food; without water, you'll die in eight to ten days. It's the elixir of life.

Water delivers oxygen and nutrients to your cells and flushes away waste through urine and sweat. Without it, you can't digest and absorb food. It dissolves and activates the salts and minerals that generate electric current for your nerves and muscles. It cushions your organs, reduces friction in your joints, and regulates your body temperature.

Another benefit of water: It can help control your appetite. If the portions you're eating don't satisfy you, drink a cup of water before your first bite. Then drink another cup after your meal. You'll find this contributes to a sense of satiety, of being "full".

It takes about eight to 10 cups of water to replenish what you lose each day. This depends, on where you live, how hot it is, and how active you are. Your fluid needs might be double or triple that when you exercise strenuously for an hour or more in the heat.

The best source of water is water. Although you can meet your fluid needs with fruit juices and sports drinks, the advantage of water is that it contains no calories. Juices and sports drinks can be loaded with sugar, and surprisingly high in calories.

Many foods also provide water. Fruits and vegetables are 80 to 95 percent water. Meats are 50 percent water. Grains, such as oats and rice, as much as 35 percent water.

By far the worse source of water: soft drinks. Besides polluting your body with scads of empty calories, soft drinks will rot your teeth and leach minerals from your bones. Alarmingly, teenage girls who subsist on so-called "diet sodas" are showing signs of early osteoporosis.

If your water intake is low, you'll know it. All your body systems will be affected. You can feel sluggish and lose strength. Other symptoms of insufficient water intake can be: headaches, fatigue, poor concentration, constipation.

We can't overemphasise the importance of water. You need it constantly, drink it with meals, and between them. Drink it often and drink a lot. It's the official beverage of the TBL Championship.

Regards - Puda.

Your Friend, Fat


You're trying to lose fat, now we tell you to eat fat?

Yes. And here's why: Some fat is good for you. (By the way, I'm not talking about Unagiboy's fat here! Please note that I said some fat is good for you)

In fact, you need fat. For starters, your brain contains fat (yes, we're all fatheads). It's an integral part of your nervous system, your spinal cord and your cell membranes.

Fat keeps your skin and hair lustrous and radiant. It cushions your organs from shock, insulates you from the cold and stabilises your body temperature.

Fat serves as a storehouse for extra energy. It's also an important endocrine organ, just like your pancreas or pituitary gland. It plays a role in producing hormones, such as leptin, and helps regulate your appetite.

When consumed with dietary fat, your body can also increase the absorption of certain fat-soluble vitamins (A, D, E and K).

Your mouth and belly (liat saja parut si Hamdi atu!!) love fat. Fat adds to the richness and taste of food and makes you feel full sooner and longer.

Not all fat is good for you, for example: saturated fats and trans fats. Saturated fats are solid at room temperature and are found mainly in animal-based foods. Trans fats, which are made by adding hydrogen to vegetable oils, are found in a variety of processed foods (e.g., margarine and some commercially processed foods can be high in trans fats).

Both saturated fats and trans fats raise cholesterol, which can clog arteries and trigger a heart attack. When it comes to disease (heart disease, stroke, cancer, Alzheimer's), a mounting pile of evidence points to a single culprit: inflammation. And a major potential contributor to inflammation can be excess body fat and excessive saturated fat consumption. If you're obese and sedentary, you have much higher levels of inflammatory proteins in your blood than if you're lean and active. Inflammatory proteins are mischief-makers, saboteurs of your health and longevity.

Unsaturated fats (including monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats) are beneficial. Such fats are liquid at room temperature and are found in olive oil, canola oil, sesame oil and safflower oil.

Also beneficial are unsaturated essential fatty acids. They're called "essential" because your body can't make them. You get them only through what you eat. Omega-3 fatty acids are especially virtuous. They've been shown to help control inflammation and cardiovascular disease. Plenteous sources are clams, mussels and cold-water oily fish such as wild salmon, mackerel, anchovies and sardines.

Make no mistake: Fat can make you fat. It contains more than twice the calories of protein or carbohydrates.

Most people accumulate excess body fat, however, not because they eat too much fat but because they eat too much, period. Excess protein and carbs will also wind up as fat.

As always, the energy equation rules: eat more calories than you burn and you'll gain weight; burn more calories than you eat and you'll lose weight. So simple, so immutable, so difficult to follow. Consume just 50 calories a day more than you burn - that's one Oreo cookie - and in a year you may be heavier by five pounds.

Insulin, the sugar trucker, is a major player. If you polish off a pile of flapjacks soaked in maple syrup, your insulin will soar and you won't be incinerating blubber. But if you jog along the beach in the morning before breakfast, when your insulin is low, your body will suck fuel from your fat reserves.

All of us have them, places where we deposit fat - bellies (this reminds me again of Hamdi's belly!), love handles, saddlebags. Your fat storage centres are filled with fat cells. When you eat too much, those cells begin to swell. If you keep overfeeding, your body will expand its storage capacity by making new fat cells and water gains.

If you go on a crash diet - shed 10 pounds in a month - most of that loss will come from shrinking your fat cells and water loss. But if you manage to maintain that loss, or if you lose fat slowly over six months to a year, your fat cells will decrease not only in size but also number.

Wow, I'm talking too much about fat already and we need to move on now. I will discuss next about our most essential nutrient, that is water. Let's leave it for the next posting. In the meantime, let's together do a HAMDI WAVE and keep ourselves healthy and fit...........

Salam hormat - Puda.

Carbs and Protein: So Happy Together

Previously, many of us were misled into believing that all carbs should be avoided.

We now know that your body works best with a balance of protein and carbohydrates. Carbohydrates not only provide instant energy. They also provide fiber, which helps hustle bad stuff out of your body. Your body makes better use of protein when it has a carbohydrate escort. Think of protein and carbs together as a nutritional dream team.

Protein is the purveyor of amino acids, the building blocks of cells, the bricks and mortar of muscle, the potion of repair and fertiliser of growth.

Because it takes longer to tap and harness its energy, eating protein does not lead to significant spikes in blood sugar levels. This reduces the likelihood of energy droops or brownouts and the wild mood swings that accompany them.

We'll talk about Fat next. Till then, salam hormat and keep healthy and fit always....................

Puda

The Low-Fat High-Carb Controversy

The body needs three types of macronutrients: protein, fat and carbohydrates. All three have their uses and all three are vital to health.

In recent years, as people have grown fatter, the food industry has responded by offering all manner of "fat-free" food. These products are indeed low fat. But they are also high in carbohydrates and high in calories. Many assumed that fat-free meant "all you can eat." They have paid for that mistake with swelling waistlines and rising rates of obesity, diabetes and heart disease.

The increase in diabetes is especially troubling. More people are developing the disease in middle age. More children are developing the disease younger.

Carbohydrates come in two forms: simple and complex. When carbohydrates are broken down, they yield the sugar glucose. Glucose does many wonderful things, but mainly it's your body's gasoline, its chief energy source. It also maintains tissue protein, metabolises fat and powers the central nervous system.

Insulin, a hormone made by the pancreas, provides a signal to assist in the uptake of glucose into cells. You could call it the sugar trucker. If you don't make enough insulin, or if your cells become insulin-resistant, glucose builds up in your blood. Eventually, this excess sugar can lead to diabetes, and unchecked diabetes can lead to nerve damage, blindness and amputated toes and fingers.

All carbs are not created equal. Some carbs, such as whole-grain bread and cereal, are called "complex" carbs. Because their molecular structure is more complicated, it takes your body longer to break them down and extract the glucose. This keeps your blood sugar level even.

On the other hand, a candy bar is full of refined sugar - a simple carb. Because that sugar is so easily accessible, it provides a quick burst of energy, a sugar spike. Your body, which endeavours to keep things on an even keel, responds by dispatching an insulin posse to corral the sugar and haul it away. This can lead to a sugar bust that plunges your energy to a level below what it was before you ate that breakfast bagel or drank that mid-afternoon smoothie.

Cycling between high and lows, sugar spikes and sugar busts, can become addictive. High-carb diets can stimulate the appetite and may not satisfy. It's why people who consume a lot of simple carbs are always hungry, always eating. And the consequences of that are on display when we cannot even see the weighing scale as our tummies are getting in the way! (Excuse me for using Jester's expression!). Once we started making the correct carb choices, for example, choosing complex carbs such as whole-wheat bread, sweet potatoes and brown rice instead of simple carbs like white bread, potatoes, white rice and anything with refined sugar, we were well on our way to creating the bodies which everybody aspire to have as JUARA of TBL!!!!

Sampai jumpa lagi di keluaran akan datang dan kita akan membicarakan mengenai Carbs and Protein: So Happy Together.

Salam hormat - Puda


The Lies of Dieting

A common misconception many people have , is that the way to lose fat is to stop eating.

We know that the more active you are physically the more food you need - high quality, nutritious food.

Look at our bodies. We grew that muscle not by starving it but by feeding it, copiously, regularly.

When you stop eating, your body fights back. It assumes a food shortage or famine has hit. It reacts by going into conservation mode. It lowers the thermostat on your metabolic furnace. It begins scavenging fuel not only from the fat cells but from anything else that's available, including your muscles. You begin cannibalising the very thing you wish to perfect. Meanwhile, every cell in your body clamors: Feed me! When you are crash dieting, it does not make you a happier person, but instead more miserable and unhealthy.

Crash diets don't work because half the pounds you lose came from muscle. "Over the years, I tried every fad diet," recalls a typical person who's on a fad diet. "I lost weight, but as soon as I went off the diet, I gained back the weight plus a few pounds more." The reason: With less muscle, your body is a less efficient fat-burning machine. This is the root cause of yo-yo dieting.

Salam hormat - Puda

Eat Like a Champion

Jika ingin menjadi seorang Juara TBL, setentunya gaya hidup kita juga perlu mirip kepada gaya hidup seorang JUARA. Dan salah satu aspek gaya kehidupan seorang JUARA adalah dengan mengawasi diet makanannya. Apa yang dimaksudkan dengan "makan seperti seorang Juara" itu? Ikuti rencana berikutnya........

In life, there are two things you can control.
  • How much you use and move your body
  • What and how much you put in your mouth
Which brings us to food.

If exercise is the spark, food is the fuel. It's not only the source of your body's energy but the raw material from which your organs, bones and muscles are made. Quite literally, you are what you eat.

Among other things, your body is a chemical processing plant. And everything you eat - from murtabak to a kari kambing - is broken down into chemical substances. Some of those chemicals can improve your health, some can destroy it.

Your body is your most precious possession. It's the physical manifestation of who you are. So why would you not nourish your body with the best food? The closer you get to eating something in the form it came to the planet the better. The more it is processed, the more it is robbed of its nutritional value!

Salam hormat - Puda

(Next issue......The Lies of Dieting)

Secebis coretan pengalaman seorang Peserta "TBL".......

Fasa pertama pertandingan Juara Kurang Berat Badan (The Biggest Loser - Family Edition) bagi enam bulan pertama 2010 telah berakhir pada hari Ahad lepas, 13 Jun, 2010 sempena "Hari Keluarga Omar-Aminah 2010". Pemenang-pemenangnya telah pun diumumkan dan diucapkan setinggi-tinggi tahniah kepada Jester (Hj Mazrul Adini) kerana menjuarai pertandingan ini dan sekalung tahniah kepada Mazriyani atas pencapaian sebagai Naib Juara keseluruhan dan seterusnya merangkul gelaran Juara Wanita dalam pertandingan TBL ini.

Pertandingan tidak berakhir setakat ini sahaja kerana ungkayah menurunkan berat badan dan kandungan lemak badan adalah dihasratkan untuk menjadi gaya hidup sepanjang hayat. "Ke arah Gaya Hidup Yang Sihat" - demikian cogan kata atau tema yang kita pilih bagi meraikan Hari Keluarga pada tahun ini. Pertandingan TBL akan kita teruskan lagi bagi fasa seterusnya dan kita akan melihat hasilnya dalam jangka waktu enam bulan ke hadapan. Insya Allah pada bulan Disember 2010 kita akan menyaksikan keputusan siapa pula yang akan memenangi kejuaraan TBL ini!

Dalam kita sama-sama merenung sejenak akan pencapaian kita setakat ini dalam usaha menurunkan berat badan dan mengurangkan kandungan lemak badan, ada jua baiknya kita mengongsikan pengalaman yang telah dilalui oleh peserta-peserta TBL sepanjang perjalanan yang mereka lalui sejak enam bulan yang lalu. Sebagai salah seorang peserta tersebut, izinkanlah Puda terlebih dahulu membuat coretan pertama di ruangan ini dan diharap peserta-peserta yang lain akan turut menceritakan kisah masing-masing di keluaran yang akan datang, Insya Allah.

Puda sebenarnya secara bersungguh-sungguh sudah memulakan ungkayah untuk menurunkan berat badan sejak 24 April 2009 ketika berat badan Puda waktu itu di paras 92.3 kg. Ini pernah Puda ceritakan dalam ruangan blog ini pada keluaran 10, 16 dan 31hb. Mei, 2009. Berat badan Puda secara konsisten telah berkurangan sehingga mencapai paras paling rendah iaitu 80.0 kg pada 23 September 2009. Sepanjang lima bulan tersebut, Puda telah mengamalkan gaya hidup sihat yang bersandarkan kepada keseimbangan diet makanan dan kegiatan fizikal seperti melakukan larian atau jalan pantas (brisk walking) di Pusat Peranginan Tasik Lama dan sebagainya.

Sejurus ketibaan bulan Syawal 1430 di minggu ketiga bulan September 2009, disiplin kawalan makanan Puda sudah mulai longgar dan kegiatan senaman dan fizikal yang lainnya juga sudah mula berkurang. Keghairahan menjamu selera di Hari Raya dan di hari-hari berikutnya dan ditambah lagi dengan kelembaban untuk bersenam dan melakukan kegiatan fizikal telah membawa padah! Berat badan Puda mula bertambah naik dan sehingga waktu "weighing-in" menandakan bermulanya pertandingan TBL pada awal Januari 2010 ini, berat badan Puda berada di paras 89.0 kg!!

Pertandingan TBL ini memberikan peluang kepada Puda untuk memulihkan semangat dan berusaha mendisiplinkan diri bagi mengurangkan semula berat badan Puda ke tahap yang lebih rendah lagi. Sejak bulan Januari lalu, Puda sudah memulakan kegiatan bersenam dan melakukan kegiatan fizikal seperti berjalan kaki dan "jogging" di sepanjang Jalan Jerudong dan juga menjadi ahli kepada Jerudong Park Medical Centre Gymnasium. Kesemua kegiatan fizikal ini membolehkan Puda mengawal berat badan agar ianya tidak bertambah dan sekurang-kurangnya berada di paras yang konsisten.

Puda rasa cabaran yang paling besar adalah bagaimana kita boleh mengawal nafsu makan kita agar kita hanya makan makanan yang seimbang. Di dalam dua atau tiga bulan pertama sejak pelancaran pertanding TBL ini, displin mengawal diet makanan belumlah Puda laksanakan. Bersandarkan kepada kegiatan fizikal sahaja tidak menghasilkan keputusan yang memuaskan. Berat badan Puda hanya turun sekedar 1 atau 2 kilo sahaja dalam jarak masa 3 atau 4 bulan tersebut.

Pada bulan Mei yang lalu, Puda membuat keputusan untuk memberikan perhatian yang serius terhadap diet permakanan Puda. Maka Puda pun mula mengamalkan "Rapid Start Diet" yang disyorkan oleh Dr. Phil Mcgraw yang mana selama dua minggu Puda berpantang makan nasi, roti (bread), sup, lemak dan mempastikan setiap 'meal' yang Puda makan mengandungi jumlah (portion) protein dan karbohidrat yang memadai dan berpatutan. Memperbanyakkan makan sayur dan salad adalah suatu kemestian. Untuk menjadikan tabiat makan seperti ini sebagai gaya hidup seharian setentunya begitu sukar dan amat mencabar. Lebih-lebih lagi hampir setiap minggu kita akan menerima jemputan kenduri kahwin dan lain-lain kenduri makan yang saban minggu kita hadapi di Brunei ini!!

Selepas dua minggu, Puda sudah boleh memakan nasi tetapi hanya daripada beras berwarna coklat atau perang (brown rice) dan memakan roti (bread) wholemeal. Jumlah protein dan karbohidrat dalam makanan juga masih dikawal pada portion yang disyorkan. Diet makanan seperti ini diteruskan lagi sehingga berat badan Puda mencapai paras yang dihajatkan iaitu 79.0 kg pada peringkat pertama ini. Setakat ini berat badan Puda berada di paras 83.8 kg - iaitu Puda telah menghilangkan lebih 5 kilogram dalam masa enam bulan!

Apakah yang Awda rasakan setelah berat badan Awda turun dan dapat dikawal? Puda setentunya merasa lebih sihat, tidak sesak nafas dan sentiasa merasa lega apabila berat badan Puda lebih ringan daripada yang sebelumnya. Dahulu Puda akan tercungap-cungap jika berlari anak selama tidak lebih dari dua atau tiga minit. Sekarang syukur Alhamdulillah, Puda berupaya berlari perlahan tanpa henti-henti sehingga 15 hingga 20 minit lamanya di atas 'treadmill' dan Insya Allah jangka masa ini akan Puda tambah lagi secara beransur-ansur sehingga mencapai 30 atau 45 minit nanti. Yang paling penting juga buat Puda adalah paras tekanan darah yang terkawal dan kandungan kolesterol berada di paras yang tidak berisiko tinggi.

Pada peringkat kedua nanti Puda merancang untuk menurunkan lagi berat badan Puda dan sasaran (target) Puda kali ini ialah penurunan sebanyak 10 kilo. Kita saksikanlah nanti sama ada sasaran ini dapat dicapai atau sebaliknya..................

Salam hormat - Puda

Update - Family Day

Salam untok Keluarga semua,

Macamana dengan persediaan semua? Adakah semua bersedia pada Ahad,13hb Jun 2010 ini atau ada yang putus asa? Bagi mereka yang membuat persediaan, tahniah atas usaha gigih dan yang putus asa, jangan sedih, maseh ada waktu lagi..Mungkin hadiah biggest loser akan ditambah bagi membangkitkan semula semangat untuk menang. Oleh yang demikian usaha dan usaha terus. Masa bukan penghalang tetap usaha gigih menjadi penentu untuk kejayaan.(Kata-kata semangat dari Pengerusi..Aiseyman...bolehlah jadi pakar motivasi sekajap).

Nampaknya hasil kutipan sudah meningkat dan menunjukkan keberkesanan Bendahari kita yang tidak segan-segan menagih melalui media-media terkini dan juga sanggup menebalkan muka dikhalayak ramai. Tahniah diucapkan kepada Bendahari kita.(Usul-usul nya akan ditetapkan jawatan ini berterusan kepada beliau,,Jangan Mare...ya....)

Sekali lagi diperingatkan kepada ahli-ahli komiti yang lain supaya akan memberi "update" dan berkordinasi dengan komiti yang berkaitan supaya rancangan akan dapat diungkayahkan dengan teratur dengan jayanya.

Program juga sudah disediakan oleh Dyg Rusydina.Tahniah juga kepada beliau. Awu baik jua alum keraja, ada masa dan waktu terluang untuk menyediakan kalau inda, habis rojak rancangan Family Day tahun ani. Puda diminta untuk memberi kata-kata aluan serta ucapan yang bernas (inda kira, kata nasihat, perangsang, pantun dan sebagainya) yang difikirkan sesuai.

Serangkap Pantun dari Pengerusi,

Kalau ada sumur diladang
Mari semua menumpang mandi
Kalau ada idea dan nasihat perangsang
Mari dibuat dilaman blog ini

Sekian untuk semua dan Salam Hormat

Happening dates