Hi people,
I've been away for a lil while but i'm back now. Just want to share a diet story with anyone who is interested in dieting. I went to italy summer 05 and i gained 8 kilos over the whole summer. when i came back to london my bf then was really glad, am a petite person and even with the 8 kilos i still looked alright just a bit too healthy, anywhos i never really worried about losing it cos everyone said i looked like a woman blablabla i had hips etc, but deep down inside of me i wasnt happy without realising it and it played a lot on my self confidence. anyways i went away this summer for three months and three weeks working and i was determined to loose the kilos and go back to my normal size. so played a lot of tennis went back to being a very active and sportive person, but the weight didnt bulge, i mean i was eating goood food that u dont get in london, but since i came back which is three weeks ago i went on a protein diet and i've lost 5 kilos, am really happy about it and i thought i'd share some tips and advice with anyone interested, i did it in a very healthy way,

Jalal tu dis que tu es fierement nigerian alors tu as appris ton francais ou? pas que les nigerians parlent pas francais mais c pas tres commun, tu es un ancien du lycee?

oh la la la la quelle joie, mais il faut avouer que le match etait pas aussi bien que le match bresil france,  bref on est en final c l'essentiel, vive la france, vive zizou, vive titi mon cheri j'ose dire vive Domenech

je sais c'est enorme la france comme en 98, c la fete ce soir
trop contente

Togo still has a chance!!!!! UP TOGO ALLEZ LES EPERVIERS!!!! KADER FOR PRESIDENT!!!!!!

You must admit the guys tried!!!!!! with all the problems we had
money
stupid football association
3 different coachs in a very short period
total chaos
and at the start of the game they sang the Korean anthem TWICE because they had a technical error and then sang the Togolese one!!!
a football match starts in the head those players were not mentally equipped for the game and they still tried. they gave africa hope for the first 60mins!!! the first yellow card was badly given to Jean paul abalo so he shouldnt have been sent off!!!
so UP TOGO

Togolese alllllll the wayyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy Up togo allez les eperviers!!!!!

the amount they asking for is completely justified!!!!!!!! 200000 dollars is 100 000 pounds it is not too much to ask considering they weren't even payed for the African cup of Nations participation!!! the players struggled to get to where they are today. a whole national team that dont have shoes and shin guards etc and the players have to pay for transportation to other african countries to play for the country!!!! The newspapers here revealed that the players are usually payed 800 pounds!!!!! even street cleaners earn more than that!!!Ivory Coast players got more than that and they each got a house built for them. the eagles didnt have to ask for that then!!! they were settled and football is a huge business now more than four years ago and those players can loose their life on the field or get paralysed from injury etc,

do y'all know how much fifa allocates for each country for the world cup? do y'all know how much the players are asking for is less than other countries do y'all know that the president of the togolese football association is the brother of the country's president and the son of the late president who ruled the country for over 40 years, pratically since the independence and do y'all know that they've been treating the country like their personal property? do y'all know that they pocketed half the money fifa gave them for the players do y'all know that the players haven't been paid fully for the african cup of nation Please look at the circumstances before insulting the players!!! it is time to expose this family that has been tormenting the country and threating Togo like a KINGDOM. the country is not a Monarchy!!!

Togo's coach Otto Pfister resigns four days before the first match!!! The players are threatening to boycott world cup!!! partly because they had the pay premium problem and many more management blunders!!!

no but on a more serious note Togo is goin to the world cup only to beat France then once we are eliminated from the first round France will finish the rest like they did in 1998 and kick some weird looking teeth out of the samba boys!!!!.
my choices
TOGO FRANCE ENGLAND

All u ppl cussing TOGO u will be surprised!!! our chief voodoo has already predicted we will beat france and korea!!! he also said we will win miss world cup 2006 didnt we win? so beware dont underestimate the power of juju ohhhhhhh

when u talk about free market i hope u mean commodity market or goods and services market, because a free labour market is not optimal in terms of the society's welfare!!!! free market and competition forces prices down and a free labour market means workers will not be paid according to what they contribute as value but in terms of the market price (wage)!!! there is nothing in the capitalism theory that attempts to compensate for real value contributed by each labourer. market autoregulation means u are paid as much as other labourers in your category irregardless of how much work u contribute. but still that is not the problem, the problem is people with very little skills and aptitude will be marginalized and will not be able to survive. now if u don't see a problem in that i don't know what else to say. am not even remotely an anti-capitalist or anti liberalist but i believe a bit of socialism will not do Nigeria any harm. i think a mixed economy is the key

this thread is still on Jeez!!! and still the same arguments!!! And the Americans still desperate to defend the US .

There is no absolute free market and it is pratically impossible to have one! Except for the stock market. but in terms of governing a country's market/economy no such thing as absolute free market.

I dont participate a lot on the sport forum but am a big gunner fan. and TOGO for the worldcup, when they are kicked out i will be supporting les champions du monde les bleus!!!

DONALD DUKE FOR PRESIDENCY!!!!

like someone said Capitalism is defo not what Naija needs!!!!

did someone mention Newyork is the world capital of fashion or smthg ludicrous like that debate the issue but dont say stuff like that is almost like blasphemy!!! So what is Milan? if NewYork is the world capital of fashion. pls y'all are taking the whole issue too far.
And i have been to both countries UK ALLL THE WAY!!!!

Very simply put the UK is the real thing and the US is a by product!!!  afterall the US was under the Queen a long time ago . No but seriously. i just laugh when i read the arguments about why the US is better and the UK not!!! first with education. the US education system is great but so is the uk's. Harvard the oldest institutions in the States was founded by someone who went to Cambridge. why do you think various US president's came to the UK to refine and polish their knowledge?
Ok health care the US is notoriously known for its poor healthcare. i mean come on its ranks 37th way behind the UK.
US: sense of fashion is almost as appalling as general knowledge and culture.
Another argument that just cracked me up: people from uk go to the us to buy products there (electronics did i read!!!) those products are not even made in the US!!! No but seriously both coutries are good in different ways. But i don't think i would want to live in the US good for holidaying and buying clothes etc but you can't beat the quality of Europe.

@ Xkape first i told u i am a capitalist!!! and that it is the ideology i love to hate and hate to love, First the north korean regime is not ideal because whatever ideology it is based on has been twisted to totalitarian regime, second point that i was trying to make is we embrace capitalism because it's the only one we're told is good and that is what is practiced the most, and history shows all the other ideologies are crap, but what if we tried to mix match the good of all of them
@ Seun like Zebudaya says capitalism provides opportunities but it exploits ppl!!!! and the other thing is the opportunities it creates are very limited in a way that the rich will always be rich and the poor struggling!!!! and other ideologies theoretically create opportunities too in an even way so that everyone profits from the big cake. Capitalism creates huge inequalities other ideologies don't!!! there is a class system that comes with capitalism that doesn't exist in other doctrines. with capitalism there is no social mobility: if u are from a poor home it is rather hard for you to move out of that social stratas. a kid from a poor home is very unlikely to go to a good school even if the US of A or the UK (If you live in Peckham u are surely goin to peckham academy) so your qualification will probably not stand out as much as someone who went to a posh school. your chances of getting a job will be lower and even if u did have excellent grades your social capital (the number of MD friends your parents have) is defo not as much as the rich kid so they'll probably get the job with average grades. my point is capitalism and liberalism creates disparities in a way that the state cannot intervene to help the poor. So you clearly do not see a problem when people want to flea to the states to have "opportunities" (i put quotation marks to that because with the qualification some of those people have they should be able to get decent jobs but nooo they usually get menial jobs)
I am not saying capitalism should be knocked off completely but maybe there are elements of other ideologies that might help narrow the inequalities. Capitalism is the reason why pharmaceutical companies sell drugs for HIV at non affordable prices! capitalism does not worry about wellbeing it worries about profits. In fact Adam Smiths advocates the importance of self-interest, because it will eventually lead to common good but what happens today is self-interest that he was talking about yesteryear is transformed into greed today!!! look no further than our governing bodies!!! maybe the other doctrines were twisted and were never given a chance but capitalism should evolve into smthg better than what it is. In france for example they practice a bit of socialism and trust me that's the reason why they have one of the best health care system in the world while the USA ranks 37th. In france there is tax on fortune so if you are stinkyly rich true inheritance or your own sweat you will be taxed and it is redistributed to the poor. this is an example of what i mean by capitalism should evolve!

Wow finally ATM is the next step after mobile fones!!! can't say i didnt see it coming but geez it was about time even small Togo that most Nigerians refer to as a village and not a country had ATM five (or more) years ago. of course it was only a few at strategic points

@ omogenaija. the BC pills are very effective and safe (at least to my knowledge). but it works differently for everyone. For example i get migraines when i use them and i was advised to go for the patch or injection which i object to. You have to consult your gyneacologist before you take them. they will best advice you for what is suitable for you. also what you might be adminstered might be different depending on age size and other factors (are you forgetful or not etc) so you defo need to speak to a qualified doctor/specialist.

I was just responding to Zahymaka's latest post on the new forms of contraception that will take away menstruation altogether, I was about to start ranting on and on about capitalism.

It is fascinating how since our very young age the virtues of capitalism has been instilled in us and we've been brainwashed to accept it has the best ideology. i just think about my Jr high and high school days, my history, economics, philosophy teachers used to present other doctrines, specifically Marxism, socialism, collectivism,anarchism as the "bad" ideologies.

The lessons were taught in a way that even if they didn't literally say those were the bad doctrines, you just come to a conclusion on your own. for example when we talked about Marxism it was really briefly and even though i can't remember my lessons vividly, i know that Karl Marx was extreme in his ideas, i know that it contributed to Hitler's twisted crave for power. when we talked about collectivism, we talked about Staline (the devil himself) and his personality cult etc till today when i think collectivism or socialism for that matter i think Gulag i think Bolshevik and all those people that suffer. so clearly those ideologies are horrible,

and the only other ideology that teachers spend the whole year on (actually year in year out on) is capitalism, the race for profit and more profit!!! No one never pointed out to me the virtues of Marxism or the rest, clearly if not taken to the extreme one can actually see sense in those doctrines, Look at China and their mixed economy of capitalism and socialism, it is working for them big time, in terms of profit and GDP (that's why everyone is courting and flirting with the president). I'm very bad with staying on the same train of thoughts so before i turn this into a never ending rant let me get to the point (s)

I love capitalism because its the only doctrine or ideology that i know.

I have been forced to accept it.

I have been told profit is good endlessly.

In fact i am a true capitalist ( arguably not by choice) with a conscience

for me it is the ideology that i love to hate and hate to love.

why? because thanks to it i strive to go over and beyond in my endeavors so that tomorrow i can enjoy the profits!!! i love to hate it because it's the reason for the disparities in Nigeria and many more countries. i once heard a kid (not older than 13) from a very wealthy home say i don't want Nigeria to change because it wont be the same anymore, that is capitalism at its worse!!!!!!

But i want u to share your views on capitalism. when did u first meet? are you in love with it? do you want to break up or do you think you'll ever break up? Even if we break up can we avoid it? Thanks to globalization, capitalism's yansh is bein exposed!!!! like Marx said capitalism will eventually kill itself!!!! so the million dollar question do you think capitalism is here to stay?

Fellow nairalanders have said it all about side effects etc, I personally know ppl who have gone for the three months injection, or the thingy they insert into your arm etc and who had problems when they decided it was time to concieve, the major side effect is that it takes a long while for your body to be tuned back to normal so after u stop the contraception it can take up to five years or more to be able to concieve!!!! That's one reason why i personally would not venture into those form of contraception. The pills are very effective, they've been in existence for longer, you still get your period even though it artificially helps u control your hormones. but even the pills dont agree with everyone, like someone said its economical, but then again everything is economical, innovation to paraphrase schumpeter is the driving force of capitalism, so there u go capitalism at his best!!!! srry me digressing from the main topic,

looool. i dunno if thats the right word in english i constantly translate words directly from french but what i meant is when u have traditionally male occupations or career having more female, i think its the right term, in brief when an occupation looses its value presitige or whatever then it pays less and that's when they start employing women, or if more women are employed the pay level decreases,

again me loool at my 2 cents your example about the bad service you recieved in the restaurant illustrates perfectly what i mean by cultural differences, i will say it NIGERIANS LIKE TO SHOUT!!!!! and are constantly on the offensive, so when you went to eat and waited to be serve it is not part of the nigerian manner and attitude ( subsets of culture) whereas shouting and fighting people is the way of life in Nigeria, it is the norm(another subset of culture), the waiter there thinks it is natural for customers to come in and yell spoon food bill or whatever because afterall "they are only the waiter", this attitude probably stems from the fact that most ppl in Nigeria treat people badly because they are paying them so they feel they are the oga or superior (you dont believe me just think about how the nouveau riche treats their housegirls) but that is just another debate altogether

and also customer service and service quality are quite different things!!! i beg to defer the fact that you had a "buy one get one free" type of thing is not an example of customer service, it is just a mktg stunt, basically by doing that you are lowering cost for your customers, instead of them buying 5 bottles at say 50 naira they are getting it for 40, like businesses ppl want to maximise their profit the only different is for customers profit can be translated as the value of the product, so by providing lower price u are beating competition and to some extent building a relationship,

a my2cents,

you obviously didnt read properly or understood what i meant by cultural differences, as i stated before u are biased about what customer service is and should be because of your geographical location and the norms in the states!!!! to you excellent customer service is the fake smile and the goodbye and the lot, to someone else it is smthg else and to some it is nothing, americans are very demanding and they complain about service quality a lot and companies are very much keen to offer them this "right service" (from their perspective) mainly because one it keeps them satisfied and loyal and obviously according to Riechheld and co it increases the bottom line, but also because the american society is extremely litiguous, one bad move and the customer is suing your derriere!!! Japanese are even more demanding, i don't have statistical report to back this but intuitively i can say that the average nigerian does not even see the essence of customer service and it is not a perogative for company managers, To finish up, the essence of customer servicing is, like i previously mentioned, to boost service quality and customer satisfaction which should theoretically lead to increase profitability BUT the key here is satisfaction, Does excellent customer service lalways and systematically lead to an increase in customer satisfaction in every country, in the same way? My answer like i previously gave examples is NO. There is no point in spending any kind of resources be it capital human or emotional if it is not valued, demanded. Should every Nigerian manager spend resources ( time and capital we all know time is money) on training their staff to servicing customer the way it is done in the states, if it is not going to increase the bottom line? The only reason this would work is because Nigerians aspire a lot to the American culture and anything american is cool etc so if they have a customer service like that recieved in the states then they have the illusion of living the american dream, Nuff said am getting passionately and emotionally involved and my despise to some extent to the american dream will start surfacing

What  do you think about the feminization of a profession? Some researchers advocate that bad pay results in feminization of an occupation/profession and feminization reduces pay, so is it a chauvinist male pig vision to think that when a profession employs more women it reduces in value or "professional status"? or is it a reality

after a lot of good reviews from friends i read the book at least half way before i got really fed up as in i couldnt keep reading it. mainly because of the terrible writing style of the author, i mean i understand he is not a writer but come on how did that even get to a publishing house, it is soooooo badly written, but everyone keeps arguing its a great book maybe because it is an easy read, or my very critical views with regards to the way books are written, or my plain ol' arrogance, lol. Some of the tips are very very obvious especially if u are a business minded person or if u studied the field in a pratical way as opposed to a scholar way,

Customer service and service quality is cultural to some extent so u can't have the same service u have in the states in Nigeria or elsewhere, For example the way customers respond to service quality is different in the States to the way they react in the UK. A research by culture in business guru Hofstede proves that the british do not show emotions in regards to service quality, they have that "stiff upper lip". so basically it is of no use to try to delight them, because they won't give u feedback, like i was really surprised and a bit irritated by the fake smile and welcoming of american waiters at restaurants in the states. Here in the UK they serve u and get on with whatever they are doing. And a lot of my friends who live in the states just constantly complain about the service they recieve in the UK. In central and East Europe as well people are shocked that MNCs like McD ask their employees to smile at customers even if they are not personally happy, because it is considered hypocrite, My point is because you are used to the service in the states and that very demanding and critical nature of Americans in terms of customer service, your judgement on service quality in nigeria is biased to some extent. I'm not condoning terrible service that you sometimes come across in Nigeria, I think you are right when you say they are not always welcoming and the customer is not placed at the core of service provision, i have witnessed situations where you enter a service and the receptionist is like " yes what do you want? can i help you?" in a very patronising and sometimes rude tone like why are you coming to disturb my peace, and a number of times where they are actually talking or the fone or with colleagues. But there again the interpersonal service u sometimes get is great in that the person providing you the service knows your preferences and know your name etc, they don't see you as a customer u are a client with a life, name and family. they ask you how now? how are the kids ? and give u special treatment,