While in Oman I tried keeping to this diet, or trying to eat light throughout this whole trip. I just made sure that whatever I ate that was really good I would walk it off, and I took the opportunities to enjoy the fish and all forms of crustaceans. To say that the food at The Chedi hotel in Muscat is exquisite is a huge understatement. The service itself was top notch, probably one of the best service I have had in a while, they were all very helpful and accommodating on all forms but the food was just something else.

Breakfast in the morning was a large selection not including what you could order from the kitchen. I had fresh cheeses and turkey, labnah and breads, all kinds of juices. Then came the scramble eggs, they turned the food into an art form and it tasted so good I wanted more. The lunch was amazing, I can’t remember the last time I had lobster and since having it there I kept asking for it. The meal was amazing and the each dish was better then the other. Their Tiger Prawns were huge, bigger then normal and everything just tasted so fresh. I’m going to have to visit their again just for the food and this time not on business so I can enjoy it and relax while their instead of running back to the hotel and eating then heading back out again.

Over the last week I have gotten ridiculous urges to eat things, and items I don’t usually care about. I have been wanting cake, a lot of cake, triple chocolate layer cake from Candies in Shuweikh. Or the cake tube with the ice cream inside of it, I would overdose on that cake, eat at least 1/4 of that tube and pass out on the couch while watching some tv.

These strange urges have been popping up often, when we went to the cinema the smell of popcorn got me hungry for popcorn. But luckily I know that the popcorn at KNCC tastes bad so I just avoided that, then there was the YanYan, the breadsticks with the chocolate dip, that looked really good but I resisted. Then there was the Krispy Kream just outside of the cinema in 360 which smelt so good, I could eat a dozen glazed doughnuts like they were chips. At Meat Co I had a mixed salad and 300g Rib Eye steak, it was perfect, except I wanted to eat more riblets and a little bit more food but I managed to stick to what I ordered which was just enough. All these cravings have been popping up but I have managed to resist the best of them. Surprisingly with this change in portions and diet, the best mushroom soup and salad I have had yet is in Ninos Avenues.

This is turning into a weekly ritual, a bite to eat at the French restaurant then a walk across the large hall over to Pinkberry. There was a small line as usual, they just aren’t effecient about the process of putting orders together and the toppings. They introduced chocolate as the new flavor at Pinkberry this week, we tried a sample and it tasted off, not as good as Pomegranate and Original.

I had my usual small original on Friday as the treat of the week and it was perfect. Nice and cold, a fresh taste for the day, just the right amount of sweetness. Both the pomegranate and original yoghurt ice cream tastes good, the perfect start to the afternoon then I headed out to the barder for the perfect shave.

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Knowing that I was on a diet and I would take one break day, I knew it would be the day I would eat a Fatburger burger. I walked 1 km around the mall to get the Fatburger shop, knowing that I was in for a very good burger. There was a decent line as usual, just a few people deciding what they want with their burgers.

I ordered one Double Fatburger with cheese, no pickles, no tomato, another Regular Fatburger with the same items, and regular fries. I wanted to have coke but decided on water only, at least I would stick to one thing. That Double Fatburger disappeared from my hands with a few bites, it tasted so fresh and easy to eat that I wanted to eat the next and all the fries. It looking like a scene from the Cookie Monster, my hands and face were smeared with mustard and ketchup, I couldn’t give a damn how messy it got but I loved the taste and being full again. After cleaning up we went to the movie and we were very relaxed and full. The surprising part for me was that I felt like I was going to explode, as if I ate too much, it seems my stomach has shrunk and I wasn’t aware that this has happened from cutting back on food, previously I would be able to eat that without a second thought and maybe a third burger as well, next time I will just have that Double Fatburger with fries and that’s it.

Its just one of those times when walking around Avenues I had the craving for Pinkberry. It was early afternoon on Friday and there were just a few people in line, not the ridiculous lines of later in the evening. So again I decided that its ok to have some on one day, not to mess up my eating habits and at least satisfy myself a bit. Such a simple concept of yogurt ice cream with a mix of toppings, I just wanted my original small, just that amount is very satisfying.

I have had this thought of cutting back on Soda for a while now and shrinking my portions a bit. I realized that I now drink coke on a consistent basis, just telling myself that I just feel like it right now. First step of getting healthier was cutting back on all forms of soda, so when I stopped soda completely I got a headache for a few days, its the sugar levels adjusting, it was annoying but now after 10 days I dropped about 1 kilo without doing anything but stopping soda. So now the other steps is cutting back on portions which I have partially started but I really need to get into it. I have gone for a few kilo walks the few weeks but not consistently enough. Its a start and I feel good about it, but I need to keep it up, I’m not having dinner this week except for fruits, its good that I love tangerines and lots of them. Hopefully I will manage to get into a healthy system, those starving diets work to drop weight but never to keep it off for me so I’m trying to figure out what fits at this moment. And the gym will come in soon, its in the works but I need to get over a few hurdles first.

I tried Pinkberry a few months ago and I remembered that it was good and I haven’t gone back there since. This past weekend we went for breakfast and after that we passed by Pinkberry for desert, I was pleasently surprised. It was damn good and I was really hungry for something sweet. They have two flavors that I tried, Pomegranate and Original, I went for the combination of both and it tasted damn good. They have some fruit and candy toppings but I just wanted it plain, didn’t feel like any toppings. People had some odd combinations but they seemed to like it. Later in the day we took the kids to the new Fantasy World in Avenues which was fun, and I thought to take them to Pinkberry for a little desert before heading home. When we went down stairs the line was at least 20 meters long so we decided to go else where. The food and quality is fantastic, the only problem they have is the system and how slow they are, they don’t seem systematic and really need to make these combinations faster even if people want to try. But it seems that people like them so much they are willing to wait and stand in this long lines.

I kept hearing from my cousin and a few others about Fatburger so I decided to try it out while in Dubai. Its located in Dubai Mall on the basement floor towards the end, its a ridiculously long walk to it but really worth it. When I walked up the staff had an American trainer and it turns out this is the first time it opens outside the Middle East. There menu is simple but you get a lot of items to add or remove from the burger, there was a guy from the states telling the people working there how to cook and how to talk to people.

I ordered one Fatburger Double and Chilli Cheese Fries while my friend ordered a regular Fatburger. It looked good, it look fresh and at the end it tasted as good as it looks. It wasn’t oily or heavy at all, after I was done with the burger I felt that it wasn’t enough, I was done with it quickly, so I ordered another one to satisfy my hunger. That was a damn good burger, it tasted fresh, and it didn’t feel heavy at all once you are done with the meal.

Every once in a while I feel like a hearty meal, its more on the often side, and the other day I felt like Muchboos Laham just before traveling. I have this reasoning that I prefer to get on a plane with a full stomach then eating airplane food even if it might be good. Came back from work early around 5 pm to have a meal before heading to the airport. I love the smell of muchboos rice just as it leaves the kitchen, its this filling smell thats make just want to taste the rice on its own. As usual I ate more then I should have but I felt good about it and laid back to watch an episode or two of anime before heading out.

This was the second time I go to PF Changs and I was planning to order a few dishes I had in mind. Last time I didn’t really have a chance since it was a quick bite. To be honest I wasn’t a big fan of PF Changs from the states, its more like Americanized Chinese Food and in the states you can find some really good Chinese restaurants. But it was a change and worth trying out, I walked it to get a table since it’s first come first serve basis. I keep hearing mixed opinions about the place, either people really like it or really don’t like it, so I curious to give it a full try.

I was there a bit early so I went through the menu asking questions and deciding what I wanted right off the bat while waiting for everyone to arrive. Didn’t take too long and so we ordered the Chicken Lettuce Wrap, Dynamite Shrimp, Spring Rolls, Calamari for starters and Lo Mein, VIP Duck, Monogolian Beef, and Sweet and Sour Chicken for main course. It was a wide selection of items, I was impressed with the appetizers so I had high expectations for the main course but that turned out to be a little to high. Most of everything was a little on the bland side, it felt like something was missing. Overall the place is nice, the service is good, but the food isn’t the best, its ok. The appetizers were good but the main course was lacking, the only real good dish was the Mongolian Beef, the rest of it wasn’t that great. I wouldn’t probably plan for a night to eat there, but if I’m in the mall in the first place I wouldn’t mind eating there.