Perfect Abs Are Not the Key to Happiness—and This Woman’s Transformation Photos Are Proof

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Like so many women, fitness influencer Siobhan O’Hagan, 29, has seen her weight go up and down as she cycled between dieting and training. But instead of bemoaning the weight fluctuation, she decided to make a much more optimistic point about the dangers of thinking that having cut, toned abs is synonymous with being happy.

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“I’ve been so many different shapes and sizes and I can tell you – abs are not the key to happiness,” O'Hagan captioned a post she put on Instagram on Monday, along with four images of her midsection over the years. “It’s down to having an attitude to training and nutrition that allows you to enjoy your life while feeling your best.”

O’Hagan admitted that previously, she celebrated losing “loads” of weight, and at other moments, she felt great while training for a bikini competition. Her happiness was the same no matter how her abs looked—an important point in a world where rock-hard abs are a beauty standard most of us can't achieve. 

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She also calls out the first photo, taken before she began dieting and strength training. “I just wasn’t enjoying my life or my training or anything (I think you can tell by my face),” she wrote. "It takes a lot of hard work and will power to change your body dramatically and now I’ve done it [and] I’m like meh I’m happy up here.’”

Her more intuitive approach to living is aspirational, and she is totally fine with not being “shredded.” 

Cauliflower with Salsa Verde

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Step 1

Preheat oven to 450°F. On a baking sheet, drizzle cauliflower with 2 Tbsp. oil; sprinkle with 1/2 tsp. salt and toss to coat. Spread in a single layer. Roast, stirring once or twice, until golden brown and tender but not mushy, about 15 minutes. Taste a floret for doneness; larger florets may take slightly longer to cook.

Step 2

Make salsa verde: In a small bowl, stir parsley, chives, capers, mustard, lemon zest, pepper and remaining 1/4 tsp. salt until well mixed. Stir in remaining 4 Tbsp. oil and olives. (The salsa verde can be made up to 1 day in advance. Refrigerate, covered, until serving.)

Hot Mama! Blake Lively Lost the 61 Lbs. She Gained During Pregnancy: ‘Feeling Very Proud’

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Blake Lively’s stats: mom of two, owner of six-pack abs.

The actress, 30, showed off her newly-ripped body after 14 months of hard work with her trainer, Don Saladino, to lose the weight she gained during her last pregnancy.

“Turns out you can’t lose the 61 lbs. you gained during pregnancy by just scrolling through Instagram and wondering why you don’t look like all the bikini models,” Lively joked on Instagram. “Thanks @donsaladino for kickin my A double S into shape. 10 months to gain, 14 months to lose. Feeling very proud.”

Lively is mom to daughters James, 3, and Inez, 16 months, with husband Ryan Reynolds. After her pregnancy with James, she felt like her body was different, but she was okay with that.

“After I had a kid I thought, ‘Okay, this is what my body looks like. This is amazing — I earned this body,’ ” she said in 2016. “‘And it’s not as good as it was before I had a kid, but, oh well.’ ”

But then Lively quickly jumped into shooting The Shallows, and had to be in surfer shape within 10 months, which she said was a “nice advantage.”

“I’ve never been in that great a shape in my whole life,” she said. “So to do it after having a kid was actually really nice. Because you see your body after having a kid and it’s beautiful because you just gave birth, but it’s also ‘Oh my god, this is not what my body looks like.’ You feel like you’re never going to get your body back again.”

Lively also worked with Saladino ahead of The Shallows, and followed a strict gluten- and soy-free diet.

“I did no gluten and no soy,” she said. “Once you remove soy, you realize you’re eating no processed foods. So that’s basically what I did. No processed foods and then working out. [It] seems like, ‘Oh, that’s really easy to cut that out,’ but then you realize, there’s soy in everything. Like, everything you eat, there is soy in it. Even if it’s healthy, Whole Foods-organic stuff, there’s always soy in it.”

But luckily, Lively didn’t have to cut out everything delicious.

“I was still able to have sugar and all of those things. It’s all in moderation. You just have a balance of protein, carbs, and vegetables. And it wasn’t the worst. Like, I was eating rice and sushi.”

Garden Route Resort Supervisor (knysna)

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Garden Route Resort Supervisor (Knysna)

 

You’re staying in Knysna; you’re hands on and a buzzy bee…

You got your 3 or 4+ yrs Resort Sup exp?

Then send your CV to me… We are looking for a Resort Sup to run the day-to-day management of the resort .

This is a great opportunity if hospitality is your passion

Duties

Guest Arrivals & Property maintenance

  • Receive / book guests
  • Ensure sound /   effective arrivals 
  • guests to be contacted a day before arrival
  • Facilitate property maintenance (suppliers and contractors)
  • Rental management
  • Maintain improvements within budget
  • Handling complaints

Act as 1st point of call for the Guest House.  

Qualifications, and Experience

Soft skills:
Highly organized and efficient individual
Independent worker

Pro-active and result driven Flexible

Banquet Manager

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To negotiate unique banqueting arrangements with clients, and

execute a unique buffet that exceeds guests’ expectations…

Provide impeccable customer service to all clients, regulars & new

Personalise wishes of each client and with each banquet

Duties:

Draft menus tailor-made for each client’s personal palate

Maintain top-class cuisine presentation & food plating stations

Decorate banquet hall uniquely

Adhere to budget for food , beverage and labour costs.

Achieve maximum profitability by controlling costs

Following purchasing and requisitioning procedures.

Regular quality controls on food quality

Work closely with the Chef & kitchen staff

Staff training and development

Must have:

Sound teamwork / cooperation abilities

Strong ability to build rapport with Clients

Thorough ability to maintain relations with management

Solid co-ordination and planning abilities

Prerequisites:

Must have qual / diploma in related field

Min of 8 yrs exp as Banquet Supervisor

Previous experience in similar role or minimum.

If you take pride in executing banquets to precision… apply

For quicker navigation, plz subject your CV: “Jozini Banquet Sup”

Sport24.co.za | Castres shock SA-laden Montpellier to win Top 14 title

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Paris – Faultless Argentinian flyhalf Benjamin Urdapilleta kicked 19 points to guide Castres to a convincing 29-13 victory over Montpellier in the Top 14 final on Saturday.

Castres sprang out to lead 19-6 at the break, Urdapilleta on target with four penalties before converting Julien Dumora’s try, Springbok Ruan Pienaar hitting two penalties for Montpellier, league table toppers at the end of regulation season.

Montpellier hit back with a deserved penalty try in the second period, Urdapilleta knocking over his fifth penalty before Steve Mafi crashed over for his team’s second try with five minutes to play.

Castres coach Christophe Urios had warned his side, which finished in the sixth and final playoff spot, were “laid back but ambitious” and so it proved against a star-studded Montpellier side for whom Pienaar and All Black flyhalf Aaron Cruden were unable to dictate the flow of play.

Pienaar missed a fourth-minute penalty, but Urdapilleta made no such mistake a couple of minutes later to open the scoring at a packed Stade de France.

Montpellier were eventually on target in the 12th minute, Bok centre Frans Steyn booting a three-pointer.

Urdapilleta, capped 10 times by Argentina, restored Castres’ lead with his second and third penalties in quick succession in a close first quarter of a physical match.

Steyn went wide with a penalty effort from his own half, but Montpellier – with 10 of the starting XV foreigners (6 South Africans, and one each from Australia, Fiji, Georgia and New Zealand) – were made to pay for a further indiscretion as the 32-year-old Urdapilleta booted his fourth penalty.

Pienaar pulled one back to make it 12-6, but Castres, with a heroic defence against a flat-footed Montpellier, delivered a hammer blow just before the break.

Boxed into their own 22-metre area, Montpellier botched the line-out with an untidy slapdown that went dead to gift Castres a 5m scrum.

Scrumhalf Rory Kockott consequently worked his forwards, Urdapilleta a decoy in the box for a possible drop-goal.

But suddenly Kockott moved the ball wide, centre Thomas Combezou straightened before feeding Dumora, who feigned a pass to scythe past a leaden-footed Fulgence Ouedraogo for a try, Urdapilleta hitting the extras.

Montpellier, undoubtedly fired up by a rocket of a half-time talk from coach Vern Cotter – who lost three Top 14 finals with Clermont, took the game by the scruff of the necks at the start of the second period.

Castres held out as long as they could before first lock Loic Jacquet was yellow carded and then a penalty try was awarded as Montpellier took advantage of their numerical advantage in the subsequent scrum.

Remarkably, Castres then went on to retain possession through a long sequence of plays, running down the remainder of the 10 minutes Jacquet was in the sin bin. It ended with a high tackle on winger David Smith, Urdapilleta kicking his fifth penalty.

The misfiring Pienaar put another penalty wide after a charge by Alexandre Dumoulin, spurning another chance to go for the corner.

That backfired, however, as Castres masterfully worked the lineout maul into touch.

Moving back upfield, Castres’ Tongan replacement Mafi crashed over from close range to drive the nail into Cotter’s hopes, Urdapilleta tellingly having the final word with a successful conversion to cap an outstanding individual performance.

Sport24.co.za | Rassie’s Bok reign off to horror start in Washington

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Cape Town – Rassie Erasmus’ reign as Springbok coach got off to the worst possible start against Wales in Washington DC on Saturday.

In what can only be described as a forgettable Test, blighted by atrocious kicking and fundamental errors from both sides in front of a disappointing crowd in wet conditions, the Springboks lost 22-20 in a scoreline that flattered the losers.

The first 40 minutes were arguably the worst produced by a Springbok side in recent times as they went into the break 14-3 down, with those fans watching live on TV no doubt ruing the fact they’d stayed up for the 23:00 kick-off.

In fact it was only the introduction of fresh legs off the bench – and a yellow card to Wales centre Owen Watkin – midway through the second stanza – that the Boks fought their way into the match.

Wales, who also fielded a virtually unrecognisable 23-man team, managed to score three tries through fullback Hallam Amos, scrumhalf Tomos Williams and replacement hooker Ryan Elias. Flyhalf Gareth Anscombe added two conversions and a penalty, but missed three other kicks to keep the Boks in with a sniff.

The Boks, who fielded seven debutants in their starting XV and another six on the bench, replied with two tries by wings Travis Ismaiel and Makazole Mapimpi, the former of which was a fortuitous intercept.

Flyhalf Elton Jantjies, who was poor in every aspect of his play, apart from kicking at poles, landed both conversions and a penalty. His replacement, Robert du Preez, added a penalty as well, but was at fault for Wales’ match-winning try having two consecutive kicks charged down, the second of which led to the crucial five-pointer.

The victory was Wales’ third consecutive over the Boks who must now regroup for the first of three Tests against England at Ellis Park in Johannesburg on Saturday, June 9.

Scorers:

Wales

Tries: Amos, Williams, Elias

Conversions: Anscombe (2)

Penalty: Anscombe

Springboks

Tries: Ismaiel, Mapimpi

Conversions: Jantjies (2)

Penalty: Jantjies

Teams:

South Africa

15 Curwin Bosch, 14 Travis Ismaiel, 13 Jesse Kriel, 12 Andre Esterhuizen, 11 Makazole Mapimpi, 10 Elton Jantjies, 9 Ivan van Zyl, 8 Dan du Preez, 7 Oupa Mohoje, 6 Kwagga Smith, 5 Pieter-Steph du Toit (captain), 4 Jason Jenkins, 3 Wilco Louw, 2 Chiliboy Ralepelle, 1 Ox Nche

Substitutes: 16 Akker van der Merwe, 17 Steven Kitshoff, 18 Thomas du Toit, 19 Marvin Orie, 20 Sikhumbuzo Notshe, 21 Embrose Papier, 22 Robert du Preez, 23 Warrick Gelant

Wales

15 Hallam Amos, 14 Tom Prydie, 13 George North, 12 Owen Watkin, 11 Steff Evans, 10 Gareth Anscombe, 9 Tomos Williams, 8 Ross Moriarty, 7 Ellis Jenkins (captain), 6 Seb Davies, 5 Cory Hill, 4 Bradley Davies, 3 Dillon Lewis, 2 Elliot Dee, 1 Nicky Smith

Substitutes: 16 Ryan Elias, 17 Wyn Jones, 18 Rhodri Jones, 19 Adam Beard, 20 Aaron Wainwright, 21 Aled Davies, 22 Rhys Patchell, 23 Hadleigh Parkes

News24.com | Zuma still dividing the SACP

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Former president Jacob Zuma may have departed from the national stage, but he continues to cause ructions in the SA Communist Party (SACP).

One of the party leaders, Themba Mthembu, landed in hot water for inviting Zuma to a government event. City Press has learnt that Mthembu, the ANC KwaZulu-Natal secretary and agriculture MEC, had to account to the SACP central committee – the highest decision-making structure between congresses – on how he invited Zuma to the legislature for his budget speech, a move which the party feels has “embarrassed and undermined it”.

The matter was also raised at the party’s politburo meeting on Monday.

Party boss Blade Nzimande is under pressure to act on Mthembu or risk being seen as applying kid gloves to the KZN leader, who is seen as one of his “strong men”.

The presence of Zuma at Mthembu’s budget speech led to claims that Mthembu was conniving with the Zuma faction and that ahead of the Nasrec conference last year he had nailed his colours to that faction, which supported Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma (NDZ).

“It has always been known that Mthembu worked, albeit clandestinely before ANC Nasrec conference, with NDZ caucuses and that he continued to have warm relations with them in the province as both the MEC for agriculture and as an alliance provincial leader. The recent special invitation of former president Zuma to his budget policy speech event was the last straw for the party; it embarrassed it,” said an insider.

Another said Mthembu was doing this “to save his government career”.

“He has calculated that the [Sihle] Zikalala faction will win the conference and the general elections are next year, so he wants to be reconsidered for the MEC post. Most of us in the party, including the Cyril Ramaphosa side, have been left wondering about his overt betrayal for narrow deployment accommodation.”

However, Mthembu has rubbished suggestions of being a Zuma lackey. He further denied being desperate to remain in government, saying his deployment was discussed and approved by headquarters.

Mthembu insisted he did not personally invite Zuma, saying that the invite from his office was meant for the former first lady Sizakele MaKhumalo Zuma. When the confirmation came back with Zuma’s name, he then directed that the legislature be informed as that had become a protocol issue.

“So on the day of the budget speech again it was confirmed and I wouldn’t have stopped it. I think what is at play here is a build-up to the provincial congress.

“What I want to emphasise is that the party in KZN is an integral component of the party nationally, and we subscribe 100% to the national positions of the party.

“It is unfortunate now that this matter of the department has since been linked to the party. I strongly believe that it is done deliberately. We are aware who is doing it,” asserted Mthembu, who wouldn’t be drawn into mentioning names.

“We are even aware of the lie that I was advised against inviting the former president. That is a clear demonstration that someone is cooking something.”

Mthembu insisted that the allegations against him were intended to unsettle him ahead of the provincial congress where another contender could be fielded to unseat him, ending his 16-year tenure. The congress is expected to sit in three weeks’ time.

SACP deputy secretary Solly Mapaila confirmed the matter was expected to be discussed at the two-day meeting, where the party will also adopt a document on how it wants the ANC alliance to be reconfigured so that all partners have an equal say on key policy and deployment decisions.

He described the invitation extended to Zuma as a serious miscalculation.

“Comrade Mthembu is here. The provincial executive committee in KZN had a meeting last week, so we expect him to say something to the central committee and obviously we will discuss that.

“What we should say is that we have disassociated ourselves with former president Zuma as the SACP because first he divided the alliance, then divided the ANC itself, divided our country and worked with people who stole the independence of our country,” he said.

eNCA | Erdogan says Uber ‘finished’ in Turkey

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ISTANBUL – Uber faces being banned in Turkey after President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said the ride-hailing app was “finished” on Saturday following an intense lobbying campaign from Istanbul taxi drivers.

Erdogan’s comments, in a late-night speech Friday in Istanbul, came after the government agreed to new rules that are expected to severely complicate Uber’s operations in Turkey.

Drivers of Istanbul’s yellow taxis have over the last months waged an intense campaign to have Uber banned, saying the company is eating into their business without having a proper legal basis for work.

“This thing emerged called Uber or Muber or whatever,” said Erdogan. “But this issue is now finished. It’s over now.”

“Our Prime Minister (Binali Yildirim) made the announcement. We have our system of taxis,” he added.

Yildirim’s government last month issued a directive sharply hiking fines and threatened blacklisting for companies whose vehicles illegally work as taxis.

The official taxi drivers association said at the time the measure would be a major threat to Uber, if it was properly enforced by the traffic police.

Erdogan said that while Uber may be popular in some European countries, Turkey was different.

“Why did it (Uber) emerge? Because it was in Europe. But what is Europe to me? We will take the decision ourselves.”

His comments come three weeks ahead of keenly contested presidential and parliamentary elections. Many Istanbul taxi drivers — though not all — are strong Erdogan supporters and the main taxi associations back him.

Pirate carrier

After Erdogan spoke, dozens of taxi drivers rallied to support him outside of his private residence in the Uskudar district of Istanbul, the Dogan news agency said.

Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu backed up Erdogan’s comments, describing Uber as a “unauthorised carrier, in other words a pirate carrier“.

“Turkey is a state of law. We don’t need to say sorry for this. It (Uber) has not been given the authorisation to carry out taxi services,” he was quoted by the state-run Anadolu news agency as saying.

The 17,400 official yellow taxis in Istanbul are a pillar of the city’s often patchy transport system, but critics say that poor service and overcharging opened up an opportunity for Uber.

However the taxi drivers slam Uber as “pirates” who are swallowing their incomes in an already tight market. 

Uber drivers have been physically attacked and even fired at, but taxi drivers reject being involved in a harassment campaign.

Uber said this week it is committed to working in Turkey “to the end” and has insisted it is operating within the law. 

It has expanded rapidly in Turkey and according to Turkish press reports there are more than 10,000 Uber vehicles in Istanbul.

The company did not comment on the situation on Saturday.

The tension in Turkey is one of a number of headaches for Uber and its new chief executive Dara Khosrowshahi, who took over last August after founder Travis Kalanick was ousted following a series of scandals.

It has lost its license in London, although it is still operating there pending appeal, while its self-driving car programme in the United States suffered a blow with a deadly accident.

AFP

eNCA | Sanco welcomes decreased farm murders, but urges authorities not to be complacent

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JOHANNESBURG – The South African National Civic Organisation (Sanco) has welcomed statistics released by AgriSA this week “confirming that farm murders have decreased to their lowest level in more than 20 years”, but urged authorities not to be complacent.

“The rural safety plan must be effective for violent crimes to be eradicated. The participation of all role-players in our farming communities is critical for the successful implementation of a proactive strategy to prevent farm attacks,” Sanco spokesman Jabu Mahlangu said on Saturday.

Promoting a culture of human rights and ending exploitation and abusive treatment of workers would contribute towards improving safety in farming communities. “Mutual trust and co-operation are key to peaceful and harmonious co-existence,” he said.

The review of the national crime prevention strategy would ensure that resources were allocated where they were needed most. “Partnerships with communities must be strengthened and dysfunctional crime prevention structures revived to tackle violent crimes that are terrorising our communities,” Mahlangu said.

According to a report released by AgriSA on Thursday, farm murders are at their lowest in over 20 years. Farm attacks in 2017/18 reportedly totalled 561 and associated murders 47. 

African News Agency