Ann Marie McQueen
A healthy meal delivery service that provides fresh, tasty, varied dishes loaded with flavour has been long overdue in the capital.
I’ve tried several companies in Abu Dhabi before and never been very happy with their offerings. Those ventures were more of an effort to stay healthy during busy times in my life than to lose weight, but I’ve always come away from the month-long forays feeling very tired of the food, which was similar tasting, rarely delicious and sometimes inedible.
Recently I was sick and unable to work out for almost a month, and because I failed to cut back on calories to accommodate, I gained a couple of unwelcome kilograms.
So when the Dubai delivery service Right Bite launched in the capital and offered me a consultation with the dietician Hala Abu Taha and seven days of meals, I jumped at the opportunity. The consultation was as painless as weighing yourself in front of a stranger when you’ve gained a few can be. “You don’t show it,” Abu Taha said, kindly. And I really got the impression that she knew what she was talking about, another departure from my consultation with other services.
She advised me to buy a pedometer and aim for 10,000 steps per day, do 45 minutes of interval cardio training that week and drink lots of water. I was also not to allow myself to get hungry – all on 1,200 calories a day.
I was terrified to be cutting my caloric intake down so drastically from what had probably been several thousand calories per day. The truth is, with all that exercise I did end up eating something extra – a few dates, a handful of nuts, a banana or a protein shake – almost every day. There may have been a baba ganoush and pitta bread incident and a small Lindt dark chocolate and mint bar in there, too.
But I was mostly able to keep to the diet, making sure to space my meals out so I didn’t get too hungry – and a week later I had lost a kilogram, which felt like an amazing jump-start.
I was delighted with the food on offer. It always arrived promptly at 8am at my apartment door in a cooler bag. And I was never disappointed when I opened it (unlike the other services I have tried, where mild depression set in when I flipped open the top). Standouts were the spiced tofu, white bean and tomato breakfast puff, oatcakes with honey and ricotta, gingered beef noodles, Italian fish fillet and risotto, and pumpkin, lentil and green beans tagine.
If I had any criticism, it would be that the diet featured much less in the way of vegetables than I am used to eating – several meals were just protein and potatoes – and I was left craving what I often really want, which is a big, healthy salad. And although I chose yogurt as a snack each day, it turned out to be the low-fat, fruity kind, which is actually quite high in sugar.
The bottom line is that while I don’t really believe in diets, I do believe in kick-starts – and Right Bite gave me mine for 2014.
Right Bite is slightly more expensive than other meal services on offer in the capital, but the quality of food makes the price more than worth it. I will definitely order this service next time I get super-busy. However, considering I lost a safe and reasonable amount of weight while augmenting the 1,200-calorie-a-day plan, the only thing I’d change is opting for more food.
• Right Bite is offering starter packages (including consultation) for Dh3,170 for 24 days, in addition to a variety of other combinations. Visit www.right-bite.com or call 04 338 8763 for more information
[ amcqueen@thenational.ae ]
Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
The Killer
Director: David Fincher
Stars: Michael Fassbender, Tilda Swinton, Charles Parnell
Rating: 4/5
TWISTERS
Director:+Lee+Isaac+Chung
Starring:+Glen+Powell,+Daisy+Edgar-Jones,+Anthony+Ramos
Rating:+2.5/5
COMPANY PROFILE
Company: Mascotte Health
Started: 2023
Based: Miami, US
Founder: Bora Hamamcioglu
Sector: Online veterinary service provider
Investment stage: $1.2 million raised in seed funding
Various Artists
Habibi Funk: An Eclectic Selection Of Music From The Arab World (Habibi Funk)
Imperial Island: A History of Empire in Modern Britain
Author: Charlotte Lydia Riley
Publisher: Bodley Head
Pages: 384
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Haltia.ai
Started: 2023
Co-founders: Arto Bendiken and Talal Thabet
Based: Dubai, UAE
Industry: AI
Number of employees: 41
Funding: About $1.7 million
Investors: Self, family and friends
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Xpanceo
Started: 2018
Founders: Roman Axelrod, Valentyn Volkov
Based: Dubai, UAE
Industry: Smart contact lenses, augmented/virtual reality
Funding: $40 million
Investor: Opportunity Venture (Asia)
Getting there
Etihad Airways flies daily to the Maldives from Abu Dhabi. The journey takes four hours and return fares start from Dh3,995. Opt for the 3am flight and you’ll land at 6am, giving you the entire day to adjust to island time.
Round trip speedboat transfers to the resort are bookable via Anantara and cost $265 per person.
Dengue fever symptoms
High fever (40°C/104°F)
Severe headache
Pain behind the eyes
Muscle and joint pains
Nausea
Vomiting
Swollen glands
Rash
In Praise of Zayed
A thousand grains of Sand whirl in the sky
To mark the journey of one passer-by
If then a Cavalcade disturbs the scene,
Shall such grains sing before they start to fly?
What man of Honour, and to Honour bred
Will fear to go wherever Truth has led?
For though a Thousand urge him to retreat
He'll laugh, until such counsellors have fled.
Stands always One, defiant and alone
Against the Many, when all Hope has flown.
Then comes the Test; and only then the time
Of reckoning what each can call his own.
History will not forget: that one small Seed
Sufficed to tip the Scales in time of need.
More than a debt, the Emirates owe to Zayed
Their very Souls, from outside influence freed.
No praise from Roderic can increase his Fame.
Steadfastness was the Essence of his name.
The changing years grow Gardens in the Sand
And build new Roads to Sand which stays the same.
But Hearts are not rebuilt, nor Seed resown.
What was, remains, essentially Alone.
Until the Golden Messenger, all-wise,
Calls out: "Come now, my Friend!" - and All is known
- Roderic Fenwick Owen
Electric scooters: some rules to remember
- Riders must be 14-years-old or over
- Wear a protective helmet
- Park the electric scooter in designated parking lots (if any)
- Do not leave electric scooter in locations that obstruct traffic or pedestrians
- Solo riders only, no passengers allowed
- Do not drive outside designated lanes
