That was the proposed concept for “Cooking Down the Runway,” a one-week camp for girls ages 8-14 that
combined healthful cooking and fashions.

Throughout the week, the girls learned about healthy eating habits, skin care, fashion etiquette,
how to walk on a runway with good posture, creating fashion accessories and most important, how to develop
personal style.

The idea, Shaghaghi said, was to give girls an opportunity to learn more about themselves through food and
fashions while keeping it “green.”

Shaghaghi is a familiar face in Wyckoff and on the small screen — she’s been featured on Food Network’s “Chopped”
and competed in Rachael Ray’s “Hey, Can You Cook?” contest.

Barbacini has her own success story: her fashion modeling career spans 25 years and she has been
featured in advertisements for such designers as Ralph Lauren, Donna Karan and Vera Wang.

The cooking portion of the $295 camp offered participants tastes of healthful alternatives
to some of their favorite foods: ravioli made with whole wheat pasta and homemade sauce, roasted chicken and
tabbouleh and quinoa.

“It’s not always about makeup and fancy hair and clothes, but about what you put into your body, how you speak
and how you eat,” Shaghaghi said.

For the runway portion of the camp, Barbacini had the 28 girls who participated design fashion accessories
with recycled materials.

They made bangles from water bottle sleeves, soda tab jewelry, pasta belts and bottle cap rings.

Enrico’s Cigar Hideaway in Wyckoff donated cigar boxes that the girls decorated and turned into purses
or pencil cases.

They even used the containers and bags onions and oranges are packaged in as fashion accents.

On the last day of the camp, Friday, Aug. 27, the girls demonstrated their fashion savvy and kitchen
know-how.

As pop hits “Hollaback Girl” by Gwen Stefani and “California Gurls” by Katy Perry blasted into Club 176
on Wyckoff Avenue, the girls strutted, twisted, turned and walked the runway.

While the girls all wore black shirts with the camp’s logo, black leggings and aprons made from different
fabrics, each struck a pose with a distinguishing accessory.

The girls also rushed out trays of pesto pasta and sugar cookies they’d made for the guests to taste.

Tatiana, of Wyckoff, said she was glad Barbacini had taught them the correct way to walk down the runway,
while Ariana showed off her belt of recycled goods, to which she had added glitter, she said, to make it look “fabulous.”

With her pink-streaked hair and rhinestone-studded moccasins, Olivia, of Ramsey, exemplified Barbacini’s
philosophy that modeling is “just about being yourself and finding your own style.”

“I learned a lot,” Olivia said. “You can add things and mix and match them.”

The adults, too, said they could see a change in their children.

“It was a nice incorporation of environmentally friendly details, self-confidence and cooking skills,”
said Toni Chianetta of Washington Township.

Shaghaghi said that because of the “crazy response” the camp received, she hopes to run it again in the fall
and spring.

“I would hope that they took from it a greater sense of not only themselves, but also their surroundings,”
Shaghaghi said of the participants.

BY SANDY THORN CLARK

If your doctor recommended you lose just 10 pounds, would you? What if that doctor were Dr. Oz — the one dubbed “America’s doctor” by Oprah, “Dr. Does-It-All” by the New York Times, and “the hunk in blue scrubs”
by adoring female viewers?

Dr. Mehmet Oz has taken the pulse of America, and he’s on a mission of education and motivation to counteract
the nation’s No. 1 health epidemic — obesity — which can lead to diabetes, hypertension, stroke, heart disease,
even cancer.

“Losing 10 pounds is huge — it translates to success, higher self-esteem, wiser choices,” said Dr. Oz.

“Just move: Do any activity you want, but you have to move.”

He’s gambling his overweight “patients” — those who watch “The Dr. Oz Show,” his Emmy Award-winning TV show;
the ones who read “You Docs,” his syndicated column which appears in the Sun-Times and newspapers nationwide,
and his monthly column in O, the Oprah Magazine, and still others who listen to his Oprah Radio XM 156 program —
will join his campaign to each lose just 10 pounds.

Dr. Oz’s “Just 10″ campaign, complete with wristbands for participants, will launch Monday and define
the second season of “The Dr. Oz Show,” shown at 3 p.m. and 4 p.m. weekdays on WFLD-Channel 32.

(The new episode is at 4 p.m.)

“If we can get you to focus on [losing] just 10 pounds, if we can educate you, motivate you, get you moving
. . . get you eating better . . . we can show you that can do anything you want, achieve whatever you need
to lose — whether it be 140 or 14 pounds,” reasons the 50-year-old doc.

The phone interview was conducted while he was being driven from his Manhattan TV studio to the airport to
catch a flight for the recent wedding of his eldest daughter, Daphne (author of The Dorm Room Diet).

“Losing 10 pounds is huge — it translates to success, higher self-esteem, wiser choices,” explains Dr. Oz
whose Yellow Brick Road path to better eating and a healthier lifestyle includes:

• “Just move — do any activity you want, but you have to move.”

• “Cut out white foods — white rice, white pasta, white sugar — and start making smart decisions about
what you eat.”

• “Don’t stress eat. Be aware of what you’re eating and why you’re eating . . . eating doesn’t solve that
problem you’re facing.”

• “Find a support system. It’s easier if a whole family does this.”

Dr. Oz is known for his purple surgical gloves and forthright answers to embarrassing medical questions
during 55 appearances over five years on “Oprah.”

He’s the expert on bowel movements who told us our stool should be an S shape and make a swoosh rather than a
“plop, plop, plop” sound when it hits water. Lean Dr. Oz gained a following by walking the talk of a healthy lifestyle. Of course, his thick dark hair, intense eyes, angular chin and on-camera charm didn’t hurt.

There’s reason the 6-foot-1-inch former college football player continues to tip the scales at 178 pounds
(he weighs daily to make sure): His every-morning 10-minute mat workout combines yoga, push-ups and sit-ups.

His breakfast consists of steel cut oatmeal with flaxseed oil, blueberries and walnuts.

Lunch — his biggest meal of the day — could be low-fat yogurt with blueberries, vegetable juices,
spinach, raw almonds and walnuts, peaches (”I could eat a dozen a day”), melons, carrots, soup, a veggie
burger, yams, melons or leftovers (transported in plastic containers, baggies or Thermoses from his
Cliffside Park, N.J., home).

He prefers a classic Mediterranean diet high in fiber and light in animal protein, rarely drinks alcohol,
never drinks coffee and never eats past 8 p.m.

And, yes, there’s more. Dr. Oz and Lisa, his wife of 25 years and author of Us: Transforming Ourselves
and the Relationships that Matter Most, enjoy weekend yoga together, and he plays 3-on-3 or 4-on-4
basketball with male buddies once or twice weekly.

Does the author of six New York Times bestsellers (You: The Owner’s Manual, You: The Smart Patient, You:
On a Diet, You: Staying Young, You: Being Beautiful and Healing from the Heart), born in Cleveland to
Turkish parents and speaking English, Turkish, French and Spanish, have any vices?

“My biggest weakness is chocolate covered nuts,” confesses the father of four.

Dr. Oz, who still performs heart valve surgeries on Thursdays (”Surgery grounds me — it balances the
celebrity side of my life”) at New York-Presbyterian Hospital, where he directs the Cardiovascular
Institute and Complementary Medicine Program, says he’s generally able to handle the stress of his workdays,
which begin at 5:45 a.m. and often end between 8 and 9 p.m.

Exceptions? “TV doesn’t stress me; operating on a bleeding heart is stress.

And I get stressed when I fight with Lisa [because] she’s my strength and my core,” he explains.

To manage stress, Dr. Oz relies on his social network (”otherwise, I have a feeling of free-falling”),
connects with his children, eats nourishing foods, exercises and is prompt.

“At our staff meetings, the rule is if you’re not five minutes early, you’re late.

I don’t want to waste their time, and I don’t want them to waste my time.”

Time is precious to Dr. Oz. While his impatience dictates that he climbs six flights of stairs rather than
wait for a hospital elevator, he’s devoting time — valuable time, starting Monday — encouraging his faithful, overweight “patients” to lose “Just 10.”

This is called self-embedding behavior, and some teens do it as a way of coping with tough times.

A new study in the journal Radiology found that 11 patients aged 14 to 18 engaged in this behavior out of
600 patients who had received treatment for removing foreign objects embedded in soft tissue.

There were a total of 76 foreign objects among the 11 patients.

They had embedded objects in their arms, ankles, feet, hands or neck; some had objects in multiple body parts.

Doctors successfully removed 68 of the foreign objects with a technique called image-guided
foreign body removal. With ultrasound, researchers detected objects that X-rays could not,
and performed small incisions to remove the objects leaving little or no scarring.

One 18-year-old in this study had embedded 35 objects in his body over a period of two years, including staples, the tooth from a comb and a fork tine.

About 13 to 23 percent of adolescents report a history of non-suicidal self-injury, but the real number
could be much higher because the shame and guilt associated with these acts lead to under-reporting,
the study said.

Self-embedding is a less common form of self-injury than cutting, said Joseph Garbely, chief medical
officer at Friends Hospital in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, who was not involved in the study.

Teens who engage in self-mutilating behaviors tend to have low self esteem and problems dealing with
their feelings, he said.

Some come from abusive households. Others are doing it to rebel, or to imitate peers, or to regulate difficult emotions.

Generally, the purpose of self-embedding and other forms of self injury is to take away unpleasant feelings,
he said.

When engaging in this behavior, the body releases chemicals called endorphins that, at least temporarily,
regulate painful emotions.

Most teens will stop these behaviors on their own, Garbely said.

If the behavior persists, however, it may be an indication of a serious mental illness such as borderline
personality disorder, bipolar disorder, or post-traumatic stress disorder.

Self-embedding is generally not a suicidal act, but a person can develop skin infections or worse:

Bone infections or deep muscle infections. Objects may also travel inside the body and get near vital organs,
study author Dr. William Shiels told Time. Getting these objects removed early is important.

Parents who notice this behavior in their children should not react with disgust or incredible concern,
Garbely said.

If there is no immediate health risk, they should not take their kids to the emergency room; instead,
they should seek the assistance of a mental health professional, he said.

Family therapy is often effective, as issues of abuse, neglect, or fighting among parents could be prompting
the teen to self-mutilate.

If the teenager is not willing to see a therapist, the parent should find a mental health professional
who has experience dealing with self-injury issues to get further advice for individual situations,
Garbely said.

Tonight on this special edition of SEQ Radio, Dawn The Self Esteem Queen comes to you with an urgent message about fake friendships, unauthentic people, and the reasons why it’s so important to rid yourself of TOXIC people by any means necessary. WARNING: This show is NOT for the faint of heart. The SEQ comes with TRUTH BOLDLY, and those who aren’t ready to look within to make

In order to achieve a goal, children must believe that they have the talents to realise their ambitions.

More important than achievement, self esteem is also crucial to children’s happiness.

Only when they are comfortable with themselves and believe that their abilities have worth while,
will children truly feel fulfilled.

Unfortunately, self esteem can often be in short supply throughout childhood and the teenage years.

At some time, nearly every child or teen will suffer from low self esteem.

While this is normally a transitory experience, low self esteem can also be a plague that feels like it will
never go away.

Promoting self esteem among children and teens is thus of the utmost importance to ensure that they
will feel talented, happy and loved.

Spotting Self Esteem issues in Children and Teens

Children and teenagers with low self esteem will display a variety of traits, including:

• Being easily influenced by advertising or others.

• Avoiding new challenges for fear of failure.

• Becoming frustrated easily by setbacks.

• Blaming others when activities are unsuccessful.

• Disbelieving that (s)he has any talents or special abilities.

• Feeling unloved.

Children and teenagers with a high level of self esteem and strong feelings of self worth will
also display stereotypical traits, such as:

• Welcoming new challenges.

• Tolerating frustration.

• Taking responsibility for unsuccessful ventures.

• Recognising and sharing his/her talents and special abilities.

• Feeling loved, and loving others in return.

Promoting Self Esteem Among Children and Teens

Promoting self esteem among children and teenagers is an incredibly important, and very easy, habit for
parents to fall into.

Staying positive and being generous with praise are two of the most important steps any adult can take to help
promote a youngster’s self esteem.

• Be loving with your child, giving hugs and kisses regardless of achievements.

• Help your child set realistic, attainable goals.

• Praise your child for the effort, not for the outcome.

• Avoid criticising your child’s performance at a given task, and instead praise his/her enthusiasm
or imagination.

• Encourage your child to engage in activities due to interest, not ability.

• Do not tolerate self criticism from your child. Help him/her focus on positive points.

• Lead by example. Do not criticise yourself in front of your children.

• Foster a caring environment at home by dispelling sibling rivalry.

While many children develop self esteem as they grow, for some children self esteem must be nurtured
and tended.

Parents are at the front line of promoting children’s self esteem, and while often their opinion is enough to
make even the littlest chest swell with pride, some children may require more intense therapy.

If needed, finding a family or child counsellor in your area may be the difference between a happy, healthy
child and a depressed, downtrodden child.

If you are worried about your child’s self esteem then don’t delay, begin your journey to a better
life today!

The classes, taught by some of New Jersey’s finest theater professionals, begin the week of Sept.
13 at the Becton Theater, 960 River Road in Teaneck, on the Fairleigh Dickinson campus.

The Garage Theatre Group provides theatrical learning experiences that develop leadership, emphasize
responsibility, and foster teamwork in a supportive and respectful environment.

The classes’ unique family atmosphere helps students develop a strong sense of self-esteem.

“Theater opens up a new world for people,” says Michael Bias, artistic director of the Garage.

“Our classes — for children and adults alike — help people to express themselves and find their own creativity.”

Five courses are being offered this year. Each course runs for 10 sessions:

Acting 1 for ages 6-9 uses interactive theatre games and dramatic story telling so children can learn
to express themselves both verbally and non-verbally.

By showing rather than telling, the class encourages personal and creative freedom.

Taught by Michael Haber, graduate of the Garage Theatre Group and The University of Delaware,
Tuesdays from 4 to 5:15 p.m.

Acting 2 for ages 10-13 begins with sensory work and moves on through basic acting techniques.

Students are taught to physicalize rather than vocalize their thoughts and emotions through theater games,
role playing and improvisation. During the course of the year, students work on problem solving in scenes
and improvisations. Taught by Michael Bias, Wednesdays from 4 to 5:30 p.m.

Acting 3 for ages 13 -18 joins basic and advanced acting techniques through relaxation exercises, sensory work,
sense memory technique, character development, monologues and scene study.

The class promotes an exchange of ideas and a forum for communication. Taught by Bias, Wednesday evenings from
7 to 10 p.m.

Adult Acting and Scene Study for adults will be held on Monday evenings from 7 to 10 p.m.

This workshop is an advanced class in technique and scene study. Sensory work, character development, monologues
and scene work will be emphasized by Bias.

New Theatre Dance offered for the first time this season by the Garage Youth Conservatory, Theatre Dance
is a 90-minute class that covers everything from Bob Fosse to Agnes DeMille to Susan Stroman.

The course aims to strengthen the dancer’s agility and ability to follow directions while building a team.

The program works towards a final presentation which will feature the special abilities of the participants.

Taught by Marilyn Cervino, actor, dancer, choreographer and teacher with 30 years experience, Thursdays from
5:30 to 7 p.m.

The Garage also offers individual acting coaching and voice lessons.

All classes require a registration fee to cover insurance costs.

This fee will reserve a spot in class and entitles the student to participate in all activities including classes, productions and trips. Since all classes have limited enrollment, early registration is suggested.

Priority is given to returning students.

Visit www.garagetheatre.org or call 201-569-7710.

What are your views?

Hundred Facebook users’ profiles were analyzed against their real-world personalities.

After having 50 male and 50 female student participants answer questions about their demographics,
Facebook activity, self-esteem and narcissism, Mehdizadeh rated each student’s page for self-promotional content, assessing the “About Me” section, their profile photo, the first 20 pictures in the “View Photos of Me” section, the notes, and the status updates of each student, rating each page based on extent it self-promotes the user.

The results showed that students with comparatively lower self-esteem scores and higher narcissism scores not
only spent spent more time on Facebook, but also tended to “self-promote” more than the students with
higher self-esteem scores and lower narcissism scores.

Facebook “self promotion” is described by ShockMD.com as “any descriptive or visual information that
appeared to attempt to persuade others about one’s own positive qualities.

For instance posting ‘My Celebrity Look-alikes’. Use of picture enhancement etc.”

The study concludes, a person’s Facebook profile does not necessarily provide an accurate representation
of the person creating the page.

A user who constantly updates his or her status, obsessively uploads new photos and excessively posts
or comments on others’ walls, for instance, may be exhibiting narcissistic tendencies and battling
issues of low self-esteem–or as All Facebook puts it, “those “cool” Facebook friends you have who keep
spamming your news feed with constant information about themselves and how awesome they are may not be
too awesome after all.” Source

I had always suspected that but never had any proof.

I have a Facebook account which I hardly use, I have a LinkedIn account which I also hardly use.

I don’t have have a Twitter account because I just think it is idiotic however my blog does have a
Twitter account, which is really an automated feed to generate traffic but all it has got the blog
is endless spam.

Does that mean I have a high self-esteem?

Regret, in any form, nags at our consciousness continually reminding us we’re unworthy or incapable
of achieving greatness or even mediocrity.

Be it a relationship, job, school, or whatever, the regret of something we’ve either failed at
accomplishing or even started, binds us to the past and keeps us in the dark unable to see the
possibilities available to us.

Consumed by self-regret, we sink into a morass of self-pity and low self-esteem.

Even the possibilities available to us in the present moment are overshadowed by our past regrets.

Even though it sucks—a lot!—its familiarity keeps us bound to a cycle seemingly impossible to break.

“The secret attraction behind self-pity—why it’s so hard to set down—is that the part of us that feels
like nothing makes the part of us that points out this nothingness feel quite special!”
-Guy Finley (The Courage to Be Free)

We can look at two sources for the dilemma of being stuck in self-pity and feeling sorry for ourselves:
lack of choice and fear.

Lack of Choice & Fear

Lack of choice is an illusion masked by fear. Remove the fear, and we realize we have more choices
than we could imagine. Just think of the possibilities (choices) if fear was not present!

It’s fear that keeps us from realizing we do have choices.

The illusion of fear is most often based on past experiences; experiences that we regret and fear going
through again.

Once we realize the power of this fear, that it is holding us captive, we can bring light to it
by revealing its truth: it’s part of our past, not our present.

“There lives nothing real in our past—regardless of how disappointing or painful it may have been—that can
grab us and make us its captive, any more than dark shadows have the power to keep us from walking into the light.”
-Guy Finley (The Courage to Be Free)

When dealing with self pity (feeling sorry for yourself), think about these 10 key lessons from Guy Finley:

The only thing feeling sorry for yourself changes about your life is that it makes it worse.
No matter how you look at it, you involve yourself with whatever you resist.

Being wrapped up in self-pity completely spoils any chance of being able to see new possibilities as they appear. Besides, no one likes sour milk!

The only thing that grows from cultivating any dark seed of sorrow is more bitter fruit.

Feeling sorry for those who want you to feel sorry for them is like giving an alcoholic a gift certificate
to a liquor store.

Your thoughts can no more tell you what is true about your possibilities than a set of streamside
boulders can know the nature of the waters that rush by them.

Feeling sorry for yourself is a slow-acting poison. First it corrupts, then it consumes your heart, choking it
with dark and useless emotions.

You cannot separate the reasons you have for feeling sorry for yourself from the sorry way you feel.

The heart watered by tears of self-pity soon turns to stone; it is incapable of compassion.

When you agree to live with sad regrets, you ensure they’ll still be with you tomorrow.

Those are all interesting right? But they’re still just words on this web page—how do we put these
things into practice?

The answer is one step at a time—you can climb mountains one step at a time.

The first step of change is usually the hardest.

Just remember that most things worth doing are not hard, they’re just uncomfortable.

There is a difference!

Moving out of self-pity and low self-esteem takes small actions that create a sense of love for self over time.

One of my favorite quotes and philosophies of all time is from breakthrough specialist Francine Ward

(who has an amazing story by the way!):

“You get self-esteem by doing Esteemable Acts”;
the operative word is “DOING””

Everyone probably gets tired of hearing me talk about action and DOING things.

But honestly, there really is no other way.

You cannot think your way into good living; you must live your way into good thinking.

And that especially applies to self-pity and low self-esteem.

Here is a short simple list of things you can do to bring light to your pity party:

Do something kind for someone… anonymously (need ideas?)

Clean your house

Exercise

Volunteer at a local mission

Make a decision to think positive thoughts about yourself today

Take donuts to your co-workers

When you notice negative thoughts, stop and remind yourself you have a choice
Send a card instead of an email

Plant some flowers

Make your bed

So get out there and do something!

Do not let a low self esteem ruin your life.

The way you think about yourself determines how you interact with others.

What are some examples of low esteem aspects in your mind that you need improvement on?

1. Nothing you do seems to go right…
2. You believe that most people do not like you.
3. You believe that you are not attractive.
4. You choose something and it turns out to be the worst one.
5. You are afraid to converse with others for fear that what you say might not make sense.
6. You feel swallowed up in a whirlpool of frustration.

What’s wrong with you? Your thoughts, actually.

Foundation for Goal Achieving…

Stop thinking that the world is closing in on you. Get determined to achieve what you desire.

Stop blaming other people for your misfortunes. The world is not your problem, you are your own problem.

From this moment on, begin the process of self esteem improvement.

Think the right way and be determined to win, and win you will.

Just remember that success never comes easily and that is why determination is its counterpart.

Goal Achieving Step…

Oftentimes, one gets to the brink of success and with just a little disappointment or setback, they lose heart
and give up too easily and too soon.

A surefire candidate to low self esteem improvement. Who knows what great things might have been achieved if
only they had persevered.

Without a high self esteem, your life could be rather boring.

Change your thinking and begin to see yourself on top of the world.

Make a very special effort to be what you really want to be.

You have to seriously decide either to remain in a miserable state of low self esteem, or acquire self esteem improvement and develop a high self esteem with good character and self image.

The origin of low self esteem…

A low self esteem could begin way back in childhood when children are made to believe that they are worthless.

Their self confidence is eroded and they succumb to the idea that they can never achieve success in anything
that they do.

They were picked on, laughed at, pushed around, called ugly names, and treated with disdain.

No wonder they grew up to be full of resentment.

If that was your experience, it is time you cut yourself loose from that mindset and do self esteem improvement.

Start reading about the life of successful persons and you will soon discover that many of them had such
low self esteem that they could not even complete an elementary education.

Attitude Adjustment…

Many decided to override their low self esteem and improve their attitude, whatever it took.

They became some of the greatest men and women that ever lived.

Low self esteem has never helped anyone else and it sure will not help you.

It can only drive you into depression, anger, grudge, fear and all the other evils that it generates.

Re-program your thinking and control your state of mind. You must believe that you are worth much more
than you think or you will remain at the foot of the ladder and never make an attempt to climb it.

Do not waste your life away with feelings of inadequacies. Instead, think of ways to go about self esteem
improvement. Success is yours, just reach out and grasp it.

Digg deeper….