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Back in February I was listening to the Joe Rogan Experience podcast and he had Mark Sisson on who is a fitness author and blogger, and a former distance runner, triathlete and Ironman competitor (video of podcast above). During the show he started talking about the ketogenic diet and by the end of the show I think everyone who listened to the podcast wanted to try it out just because it sounded so absurd.

So this is how I understood ketogenics, basically your body right now uses carbs for energy, with ketogenics your body uses fat for energy which is a better fuel. To transform your body to burn fat instead of carbs it takes just 21 days. During these 21 days you need to completely phase out carbs from your diet (good ones and bad ones), so no grains like wheat and rice, no high carb veggies like sweet potato or corn and no more sugar. You’ll instead have to limit your carb intake to just 15g a day. Secondly your diet will have to consist of 75% fat and 25% protein. By fat they don’t mean just good fats like avocado but any fat like butter and fatty meats. So what happens is your body looks for carbs for energy, doesn’t find any carbs anymore so it starts looking for an alternative source of energy, and it then sees all this fat coming in so it starts burning the fat for fuel.

As of this post I’ve been on the keto diet for exactly 104 days (3 months and 2 weeks). Not only have I lost a lot of body fat but its the first diet where I’m really not craving any food I can’t have. Three months ago I went and had my body fat percentage measured using the BodPod and I ended up with a BF% of 24. It was really surprising and upsetting because it was the highest I had been in years. Fast forward to last week, I got my body fat measured again and I was now down to 17%. The only thing that changed was my diet. I was still going to the gym 3 times a week, I wasn’t doing extra cardio or anything of the sort, it’s just the food that I’ve been eating that has been different.

Now I know what you’re thinking, if I get on any strict diet I’ll lose weight and thats true but I’ll also most likely be just having grilled chicken with steamed veggies and hating my life while craving all this delicious food I can’t have. But if you look at what I have been eating the past three months its ridiculous, I love the food I’ve been eating. Foods I use to stay away from like kebabs, butter with my eggs, cheeses, ice cream etc.. are all now part of my keto diet. I now make delicious fat bombs which are high fat, no sugar and very low carb ice creams at home to help me keep my fat intake high. My chocolate chunk avocado ice cream is my favorite but I also make an incredible butter roasted pecan ice cream. In the past 3 months I only cheated three times, and all three times I cheated it wasn’t because I was craving certain foods but because I was with friends and we just ended up at Elevation or Shake Shack. In all the previous diets I had tried, I always had at least one cheat meal a week and now I don’t.

So not only have I lost fat because of ketogenics, but I’m also loving the food I’ve been eating.

One more thing I wanted to talk about before I ended this post is the Ketonix breathalyzer. When your body is burning fat for energy it goes into a state of ketosis. So to know if you’re in ketosis or not (ie if you’re eating properly) you need to measure it and there are three ways to do that. The most accurate way is with a blood prick test but it’s also the most expensive while the least accurate and cheapest way is with urine test trips. The third option is not as accurate as a blood test but much more accurate than a urine test and it’s using a ketone breathalyzer. It’s also the most affordable in the long run since you can test your breath as many times as you want without having to get refills or anything. I ordered mine from Ketonix (pictured above) for $150 and it really helped me in the beginning keep me on track. So if you’re looking to try keto then I’d recommend ordering one.

The ketogenics diet works. My friends keep asking me how long I’m going to do this for as if its a temporary thing but right now I don’t have an issue staying on this till whenever. I’m enjoying all the food I’m eating, I’m burning body fat without even trying and I feel good. I’m now aiming to get my body fat down to 12% within the next 3 months but I’m also going to be adding cardio two or three times a week. Now keep in mind, I’m not a dietician, so if you’re interested in trying keto watch or listen to the podcast I’ve posted on top and then read up on it.

A contact sent me this random bit of information, it seems you now need to get permission to tow stuff with your vehicle. Previously anyone could just connect their jetskis or boat and just tow them down the road but they recently started cracking down on this by applying some new stricter rules. For example if you want to tow a trailer, then the trailer now must have reflectors, turn signals and brake lights on it as well or else you’ll get fined.

I guess this new towing permission is an extension of those new safety regulations. According to my same contact, if your car has a tow hitch (pictured above) you might get fined even if you aren’t towing anything. Not sure how accurate this information is, but if your car has a tow hitch then you might want to double check on this.

Thanks Fahad

If the fact that Healthy Feast and Arabica opening in Shuwaikh wasn’t enough to convince you it’s the next up and coming area, I found out last week that Vol.1 is also opening in Shuwaikh.

There is a new complex that will be completed in a couple of months time called Mayar which is owned by Zaleej Real Estate Company, the same company that owns Lilly Center where Pick Yo and Caribou Coffee are located down the street. The complex will house different businesses ranging from coffee shops and restaurants to flower shops, electronics shops, fashion stores and health clubs. Some of the confirmed places opening up there are Vol.1, Urban Cafe, Brothers Burger, Melenzane, November Bakery, Aya Coco, Brown Boutique, Modish and Tiny Socks. If you work in the area and are hoping for a Vol.1 morning caffeine boost don’t get excited just yet since they’re hoping to open after summer in around October/November.

Here is the location of Mayyar Complex on [Google Maps]

We’re at the end of May and the weekend events are surprisingly still going strong. Check out the full list of events taking place this weekend below:

Thursday
Exhibition: What’s Your Location?
Japanese Modern Art Exhibition
Exhibition: Tensile Modulus By Omar Khouri
Exhibition: Manifestations of the Human Condition
ABBA Sing-Along
BeFit – Spinal Dance

Friday
Japanese Modern Art Exhibition
Exhibition: Manifestations of the Human Condition
ABBA Sing-Along
Yoga at the Park (Hatha Yoga)
Treasure of Talent Gala Concert

Saturday
Japanese Modern Art Exhibition
Exhibition: Manifestations of the Human Condition
Yoga with the 3
The Cardboard Character Workshop
Walks at the Park
Cross Cultural Diwaniya x WeOritu
Elevation Burger: Music & Burgers

If you’d like to share an event on the blog [Email Me]
For a full list of upcoming events click [Here]

Sometimes events get canceled or have details changed so double check info with organizers.

I was walking to any ATM machine down the street from my place in Salmiya when I noticed an army of at least 20-30 cleaners busy cleaning the street. I was thinking to myself damn thats impressive, they’re finally giving a damn about Salmiya. So I head over to the ATM and on my way back I notice the scene above. Turns out the only reason all these workers were in my neighborhood cleaning was because of a PR maneuver. Useless!

After a long break, Double Jump podcast is finally back. In this episode we discuss Doom, Uncharted 4, Overwatch, Pocket Jockey and a few other things. Since it’s been a long time let me re-introduce what Double Jump is. It’s a gaming podcast I co-created with Yaqoub Al- Hussaini who is one of the hosts of LuckyGG and we’re also joined by Abdullah Boushehri also from LuckyGG. The goal of Double Jump is to discuss games we’ve been playing, news that we find interesting and regional news that we feel our listeners would be interested in.

We’ll be recording episodes every other Tuesday and each episode will be around two hours in length. In between our group shows I’ll be recording a solo show on Mondays so there will be content coming out every week.

So hope you guys enjoy the show, feel free to give us some feedback and don’t forget to subscribe to our podcast.

iTunes | Android | Play in Browser | Download | RSS

Posted by Patrick

Restaurant group Arby’s is reportedly planning to open 25 locations in Kuwait and Saudi Arabia over the next seven years in its first international expansion since 2010.

The Middle East locations will be owned and operated by Johnny Rockets regional franchise owner Kharafi Global, Arby’s chief executive Paul Brown told Bloomberg. The first is expected to open in Kuwait this year. [Source]

A&W
Arby’s
Chick-fil-A
In-N-Out
Wendy’s

My wish list is getting shorter.

With more than 135 Merit Badges—from Archery and Art to Welding and Wilderness Survival—Scouting is the ultimate form of learning by doing. Boy Scouts explore their interests and improve their skills while working toward Scouting’s highest rank: Eagle. By first imagining, planning then doing their own service projects, Boy Scouts learn the value of hard work, and experience the thrill of seeing it pay off. Add in outdoor adventures, hiking and camping, and Scouting gives boys all the experience they need to become men.

I used to be a boy scout when I was a kid and loved it which is why I’m posting this. Boy Scout Troop 938 that are based out of ASK (American School of Kuwait) sent me a flyer to share on the blog. They’re recruiting members aged between 11-18 years old to join their troop. Here is the flyer with more information and contact details [Flyer]

Beitomatic is a small start up that belongs to a good friend of mine and I figured I’d post about it since he’s currently running a cool offer. It’s a home automation business and right now they’re running an offer on a home starter kit thats composed of Control4 brand components. So if this is something that interests you, check out their website [Here]

On landing in Kuwait, immigration officials confiscated her documents, along with those of all the other women.

The moment the immigration officials saw that I had a domestic work visa, they took away my passport and I was taken to a room where dozens of other girls were locked up.

They spent the night without food, water or blankets amid the wintry temperatures. Though gravely uneasy, she tried to comfort herself with thoughts that things would be better in the morning.

I was released the following morning when a lady by the name Hanan who introduced herself as our employment agent came to pick us up.

A clickbait title and a story is one we’ve heard over and over, but one thing caught my interest in the article and it’s the paragraph above. Why are immigration officials confiscating the passports of domestic workers and then locking them up in rooms overnight without food and water? I find it disturbing because it gives the impressions that the local authorities condone this trade.

Here is a link to the article and full story [Link]

As the weather gets warmer expect the amount of events to decrease. This weekend things have already started slowing down with most of the events being indoor exhibitions although on Saturday Comic Con is taking place at AUK so that might be something fun to check out. Here are this weekends list of events:

Thursday
Exhibition: It’s a Mad World
Exhibition: What’s Your Location?
Japanese Modern Art Exhibition
Exhibition: F160 – Only Byrds Move The Skies
Exhibition: Tensile Modulus By Omar Khouri
Exhibition: Sadi
Befit – Luna Yoga
Al Hamra Music Night

Friday
Japanese Modern Art Exhibition
Exhibition: Sadi
Yago at the Park (Hatha Yoga)

Saturday
Japanese Modern Art Exhibition
Exhibition: Sadi
Yoga with the 3
Character Design Workshop with Thuraya Lynn
Comic Con
Nutrition Talks
Walks at the Park

If you’d like to share an event on the blog [Email Me]
For a full list of upcoming events click [Here]

Sometimes events get canceled or have details changed so double check info with organizers.

Three new projects have opened up at Al Shaheed Park so I figured I’d list them all under one post (Their names below will take you to their instagram accounts):

Fayrouzeyat
The fine dining Lebanese restaurant Fayrouzeyat now have a location at Al Shaheed Park.They’re open from 10AM to 10PM daily.

The Reading Room
The Reading Room is a gift shop and community work space brought to you by the creative ladies behind The Yard. They’re open daily from 9AM to 9PM except on Fridays when they’re open from 1PM to 8PM.

Photo by Inspired Edibles

Three & Barista
Finally, Three & Barista is a new coffee shop that will be opening next month. By the looks of their instagram they’ll also be serving food.

I’m a huge UFC fan so I was excited to find out that Claudio Silva, the head coach at the local training facility Combat Athletics will be fighting on the UFC 201 card this coming July. Claudio is currently on an 11 fight win streak with the last two wins taking place in the UFC. Due to a bit of bad luck last year (he broke both his feet), he had to take a break from fighting so that he could recover. Now that he’s healed up he’s heading back to the UFC and will be facing off against the tough Siyar Bahadurzada.

Claudio is currently in London until the end of the month before he heads to Miami for his 8 week fight camp with American Top Team. ATT is one of the top MMA camps that currently trains a bunch of popular fighters like current UFC Welterweight Champion Robbie Lawler as well as UFC fighters Hector Lombard, Junior Dos Santos and Glover Teixeira amongst a ton of others.

Now the cool part about all of this is that Claudio will be carrying the Kuwaiti flag with him at the weigh-ins and during his walkout to the cage on fight night. If he wins I’m assuming he’ll also have it on him during the winners announcement. Should be a great fight and I’m looking forward to seeing Claudio walkout with the Kuwaiti flag while Joe Rogan tries to guess which country it’s from. UFC 201 will be held on July 30th and I’ll be posting a reminder a day or two before. If you’d like to support Claudio you can do so by following him on instagram where he’ll be sharing pictures and videos from his fight camp @claudiohannibalsilva

Doom was one of those games that I wasn’t allowed to play when I was a kid but I did anyways. It was dark, atmospheric and kind of scary. The games were unique at that time and basically laid the foundation for future first person shooters. Since then Id software tried to recapture that magic with various other games like Doom 3 and RAGE but were never really were able to reach the heights of Doom I and II…until now.

There was some hesitation from fans when the new Doom was announced since the market was oversaturated with first person shooters and it would take something special for the new Doom to make a dent. The development history of the game was troublesome, Id Software had completed a Doom game, didn’t like what they had created and then restarted the development process from the beginning. So there were a lot of questions that needed answering, would the new developers be able to design levels as good as John Romero and co.? Would the new developers be able to create the same fast-paced action that were present in those original games? Would they try to create a more immersive narrative even though those older games didn’t really rely on one? Even then, would a first person shooter with a reliance on gameplay over narrative even succeed nowadays when narrative seems important to the consumer and the players?

I was able to get my hands on Doom a few days before its official release and even though the multiplayer beta was disappointing, I was really looking forward to the single player campaign. As the games release date got closer, it was revealed that no review copies were sent out to any of the major websites so many people were expecting the worst. I wasn’t sure what I was expecting when I put the game in, I hoped for the best though. Thankfully what I got was nothing short of incredible. The game has incredible visuals and art direction, the environments look great, the monsters look extremely detailed and the animation is top notch. The music and the sound design are also fantastic and suit the game perfectly. Another aspect of the game that adds to its value is it doesn’t take itself too seriously. The developers built a ridiculous and amusing lore surrounding Doom-guy. They took this generic guy and turned him into this legendary warrior that demons fear. He has a personality even though he doesn’t say a word, it’s all in his actions. The game plays fast, it’s brutal and the music accompanying the action is memorable. The way the game starts is brilliant and probably one of the most memorable introduction to any game I’ve played.

The developers were successful at modernizing Doom in a couple of ways. First off is you can now upgrade your weapons, thankfully it’s not convoluted. Each weapon has two upgrade paths and the manner in which they’re presented is simple and straight forward. Your armor can be upgraded as well and like your weapons, the process is simple. You can also upgrade the amount of health, armor and ammo you can carry. You’ll also come across demonic runes that present a challenge and if you complete the challenge you’ll unlock a rune that you can equip that will also help you out in some way.

Other ways the developers were able to modernize Doom is the games level design. The original Doom games had complex level designs that were maze like and contained plenty of secrets to discover. The developers were able to take that feel and successfully modernize it. Levels have a lot of verticality to them and you’ll be jumping around quite a bit. It sort of feels like a Metroidvania kind of game in some ways. You’ll get lost in the levels the same way players did in the original game. The levels have secrets and even when you know where they’re located, some secrets are still tricky and challenging to get to.

The game also features two other modes besides the single player campaign mode which are multiplayer and Snapmap modes. Multiplayer is self-explanatory and I haven’t really touched it since release because I’ve been spending all my time playing through the campaign while the Snapmap mode is where all the user-created content will be. Snapmap lets you create and share your own levels and challenges. I’m actually impressed by how much content Doom has to offer.

Its been a while since I’ve enjoyed a first person shooter as much as I’ve enjoyed Doom. It might just be the best single player first person shooter I’ve played. It’s memorable, it’s fun and it’s very violent. I highly recommend it to anyone looking for a fast-paced action game that doesn’t take itself very seriously. I’m relieved it turned out this good since I chose to play Doom before Uncharted 4. I don’t like giving out perfect scores (I’ve only given 5 games perfect scores), but Doom deserves it.

Score: ★★★★★

Post by Patrick

These are the last photos I have from the KOC archive and they’re of the Ahmadi Drive-In Theater before it opened. In the photos the drive-in construction had been completed and looks like they were installing the AC system and setting up the projectors.

If you want to see how the theater looks like today, I passed by back in 2012 and took some photos. You can check that post [Here]. Not sure what the state of the theater is today, there were rumblings that it was going to get demolished to build a new mall. I know it sounds like I’m joking but I’m not, thats actually what I had heard.

To check out all the photos I’ve shared so far from the KOC archive, click [Here]