I'm back!

Hello there everyone!

Wow.. I miss this blog! It has been 3 years since I last wrote on this blog. 3 years! That’s a long time.

Well, time does fly when you do something you love.

For almost 3 years, my life was my family especially my baby girl (who is not a baby anymore). Princess Rania is almost 3 years old. She will in fact be 3 in July.

I truly felt being a mother in its totality the past 2 years. My Princess Rania has really made me a better person that I never thought I could. She is my savior, my little angel. And I Enjoyed every single second. I did say I wanted to be a mother, and I am now. I couldn't be anymore happier and proud. (Rania when you are old enough to read this.. it is true; I am very very proud of you baby girl:).

You may remember that I once said that if I ever go back into any career, I would have to start from scratch. Well, that day is now. Today matter in fact.

Today, I am back. I am back better. I am back with a new commitment; to be the best I can be. And the best -this time- is to be balance. To be a good mom, a good wife, and –if you allow me- to be back in your lives as an entertainer.

When I was in Singapore, career was everything to me. Now my family is everything. Everything else is an additional blessing -including- whatever career I may or may not have in the future.

It starts today. Monday, February 8th 2010. TransTV, 6pm.

See you all there ya

Tiara –I’m back- Lestari

When destiny meets choice

Hi there ladies!

It has been over a year since I post anything on this blog. Well, today is a special day so I do need to post it here as well.

Let me take you back in time. In the very first posting on my main blog dated 27 September 2005, I said,"... being a model, for me is a temporary thing. I ultimately want to be a mother. I want the simple things like having a family and kids... lots of them."

I continued, "In life, sometimes you have to make a choice. I do not believe it is possible for me to be an international model and be a good mother at the same time....I will take this modeling career as far as it can get me, before I say 'I do' to man I love. When that day comes.. I will be the most loving wife any man can have. By choice... modeling will ceased being a priority in my life."

Well guys, one year ago today -April 1st 2006- I have made my choice and I said "I do" to man that is now my husband. I have found him. The one I can love and hate at the same time. The one that can make me laugh and cry with the same breath. The one that is going to be the father of my children. Most of all, I have found the man that is my imam. In short, I have found my destiny.

His name is Andy.

I have come full circle and there is certain irony to this whole process. I went away to a far away land to find existence within an industry just to find an existence in life and not career or any industry for that matter. The existence I was looking for was here all along. Not in career, but in life itself.

I have traveled the world and seeing it with a pair of hungry eyes. But I could not FEEL the world until I closed my eyes. I found the answer when I was actually not looking. It's a process.

So dear bloggers, everything I went through in life is now captured in a book called Tiara Lestari: Uncut Stories. I worked together with a writer named Windy. She is not just nice, but also very good in transforming my blog, thoughts and my writing into a book with a different style.

Today, the same day as my one year wedding anniversary, I am launching this book. For those who live in Jakarta, I would like to invite you to come to Brake Cafe, Citos, 3pm, today (Sunday, April 1st 2007)

This world is full of surprises. Including my decision to get married last year. In the process of writing this book with me, Windy asked Andy about his definition of marriage. Andy answered, "Marriage is when destiny meets choice."

When destiny meets choice. I could not agree more.

Tiara

Playboy in Indonesia?

I appeared on the cover of Playboy, Spain last August. I think everyone and mothers know about that if you live in Indonesia. Lets just get that fact out in the open. Now, I have this blog for a reason and one of them is to be a medium for my voice for matters that concern me most. This is one of those moments.

I have been asked by a large number of Indonesian media about two things:
1. How do you feel about Playboy being published in Indonesia?
2. How do you feel about potentially appearing as the first cover of Playboy Indonesia?

I respect Playboy as an internationally known publication. Everyone from legendary Marilyn Monroe to Pamela Anderson to Madonna to Cindy Crawford have benefited from their professional relationship with the magazine. I have made a personal decision as a model to also follow that route last year. This decision certainly wasn't popular in my own country. Heck, it was a huge disappointment for my parents too. I regret that part of it. For that, I am sorry.

For my parents who I love very much, and for them alone, I have made another personal decision to not pursue that line of work anymore. Being on the cover of Playboy can be considered peak of any model's career. As they say, "Been there done that."

However, I was aware of one thing; I appeared in a country that does not consider Playboy and nudity as taboo. My appearance was never intended for consumption of Indonesia. How many Indonesians do you know read Playboy Spain? My pictures circulating on the internet happened without my being consulted. I do not have rights to those pictures. Not offending my countrymen was one of the criteria of my decision making process in appearing in Playboy Spain.

So now we are going to have Playboy Indonesia. It's hard to imagine a magazine with a very specific and uncompromising character published in a country where the same character is considered taboo. Why I ask? I am just a model, but when people ask my personal opinion about Playboy Indonesia, that would be my short answer. I mean really, what kind of content adjustment do they need to make so Playboy can be accepted by Indonesians? That is like asking TIME magazine to only do gossip or Hollywood celebrities news. Not gonna happen.

If you were to put gado-gado in McDonald, they would probably call it Mac-Gado-gado. Whatever content adjustment that is planned for Playboy Indonesia, it is still Playboy magazine. Period.

Should Indonesian Government stop Playboy from appearing? No. Especially if Playboy Indonesia already have legal documents to publish the mag. Should Indonesians who are unhappy with having Playboy in Indonesia voice their opinions? Absolutely. I am proud the fact that Indonesia, in many cases, can be considered more democratic that even the US. Heck, we angry using our voice instead of our fists. You don't like Playboy in Indonesia, speak with your wallet. Don't buy it.

So, should Playboy be in Indonesia? In my personal opinion, I do not believe they should until TIME magazine started to write about Hollywood celebrities only :)

How do I feel about potentially being on the first cover of Playboy Indonesia? Just like my pictures circulating on the Internet...not much I can do about it. I do not have rights of my old pictures, so they can request those pictures without my approval. If Playboy Indonesia ask me to be on the first cover, I will humbly decline such request.

There ya go...my personal opinion.

Tiara

PS: Teman-teman press Indonesia, untuk tambahan, bisa dilihat disini.

Burn fat from lebaran in 20 minutes!

Now Idul Fitri is over.. it's time to feel guilty of all the ketupat and the cakes you've eaten, right? Well, not if you do something about it! Let me suggest something proven to burn your fat more effectively. It is call interval cardio training. It works for me.

Look, I know you hate cardio. My friends and I always talked about how much we hate going to the gym knowing we would be doing something so boring for an hour. Lets face it, cardio is boring. Period.

I am such a fan of Bill Philips and his method of training and eating. He came up with a solution that actually save time and very effective, at least for me (and a few hundred thousand people). He called it 20 minute solution. In short, you will only need to do cardio for no more than 20 minutes each time (you still have to do it 3 times a week though). What's amazing about this 20 minutes solution, is that you will burn more fat in the process compared to doing one hour or -even worse- an hour and a half regular slow pace cardio.

Without going to much into the logic behind this method (because I am not Bill Phillips), let me just tell you what to do. If you want to know why, ask me, I will give you answers in great detail on "why" this 20 minute solution works. The simple "why" is that the 20 minute solution actually trick your body to use fat as the source of energy, instead of using carbohydrate (which is typically use by your body for energy source). So, it burns your fat more efficiently than if you train some other way, even at longer period (like an hour).

Here's the "how": Imagine the amount of energy it takes you to sit on your desk or at home. The level of energy you use is level 1. Now, imagine you are being chase by a crazy dog your neighbor own. You would run as fast as you can right? That level of energy is level 10. Or maximum. Now, I need you to imagine from level 1 to level 10, there is steady increase in energy use. So easy walking would be a level 5. Fast walking would be a level 6. Fast running would be a level 8. And so on. That's the key for this exercise.

So, go to your gym. (Yes, that does take some effort I know:). After doing some light, but important, strecthing, pick any cardio machine you want. It can be a stationary bike, a stairmaster or -if you like to swim- go to the pool. Now make sure you have some type of stopwatch to monitor the time. Remember, only 20 minutes and you are done!

First two minute, do a level 5. Nice walk in the park. Shock your body on the third minute by going into a level 7 for one minute. Yes ladies, that is running. Minute four and five, back down again to a level 6. Walk again. Go hard again to a level 8 for one more minute after that. Again, your breathing should increase intensely by this time, back off again to a level 6 for another two minutes. Keep this cycle over and over between level 8 (one minute) and level 6 (two minutes). Now at some point, you can replace level 8 with level 9. That is one level lower than you being chased by a crazy dog! Once you twenty minutes is up.. do some light walking to cool down. Then you're done.

How do you know you burn enough fat and not cheat on the intensity. Simple: Right after you're done with your 20 minute solution, look at your stopwatch and count your pulse. How many beats per minute is it? If it is 80% from your maximum heart rate, you did your job of burning fat. What is 80% of maximum heart rate? The formula is: 220 minus (your age) times 80%. Whatever number you come up with must be the number of beats per minute after you're done with this exercise.

Okay ladies.. this stuff works for me. Try it. I am going to the gym now. I hope you will too!

Tiara

Dengan segala kerendahan hati dan tulus ikhlas saya ucapkan:

Selamat Hari Raya Idul Fitri
1 Syawal 1426 H

Taqabbalallahu Minna Waminkum
Minal Aidin Wal Faidzin
Mohon Maaf Lahir dan Batin Atas Segala Kekhilafan

Semoga amal ibadah kita di bulan Ramadhan ini diterima Allah SWT dan kita selalu berada dalam lindungan-Nya. Amien.

First dinner with my man and electricity

This is a posting based on suggestion from Farah. Thank you Ms. scarce daisy!

Well, this is a story about how I met my boyfriend. I was visiting a good friend of mine in the golf driving range one day. He's an old friend and I haven't seen him for a while. He was with a few friends (all boys:) so we end up having some drinks at the clubhouse. One of his friends is this guy who liked to talk. Friendly. But I didn't think anything of it. At all. He asked for my number and I gave it to him. I was surprise I did that due to the fact that at that time I was actually in a relationship with someone else.

For some reason I expected him to call me right away,but he didn't! That actually bothered me and till this day I still don't know why. Three days went by until he finally called me and asked me to go to dinner with him. I said yes. Right away.

This is where the weird part started to happened. He called me again in the afternoon to confirm the dinner while I was at starbucks having some coffee with a friend. I have no idea why.. but after that short phone call, I was a nervous wreck! I was physically shaking from thinking about this dinner I am about to have with this guy. It's nuts! First I don't really know him, and second, I actually have a boyfriend.

I rushed to my apartment, took a shower and my nerve got the best of me to a point I called him and asked if we can move back our dinner one hour from the original time. Hell I was even hoping he'd cancel because I was having this crazy experience I've never had before...being nervous before meeting I guy I hardly knew! Within that extra hour, I manage to change clothes five to six times. Walk around my apartment. Oh and I did my share of talking to myself. When I finally went to my car, I actually came back out to change clothes one more time! It's nuts.

I decided to wear something casual with the glimmer of hope of showing him that for me, it was only a simple dinner. No big deal. Yeah yeah yeah.. You got it. I was trying to act cool.

We've decided to meet at this great Thai Restaurant. As I walked into the restaurant, my heart beats so fast I felt like I was doing a 100 meters sprint in the Olympics. I felt like I had to stop every two step to catch my breath. As much as I was trying to act cool.. I couldn't really hide my emotional reaction I was having with this stupid dinner. At times, I actually felt dumb and not understanding what made me felt like this way.

Dinner was great. No I am lying. We hardly ate our food. We talked. Talked. And Talked. And oh my God... the wholetime I was thinking to myself there is no logic for me to be this nervous and at the same time I felt guilty because of my current relationship. But I cannot stop this emotional outpouring I was experiencing.. this is not a felling I've ever experienced before. Let alone with a guy I just met.

Have you ever met a man that you just "know" that there is so something special about him? Like the way he talks to you? Or the sound of his voice? So when you're just there.. listening intently to him.. to his voice..and suddenly, everything just so clear to you. Suddenly everything that is important to you is sitting right there in front of you? And nothing else matter? Close your eyes and remember how that felt?

Well girls..that's how I felt that night. And nothing can stop that feeling.

I came home that night feeling tired. Worst of all, I can't stop thinking about him and actually did not sleep at all that night. I couldn't keep him out of my mind. What a night. And we just had dinner.. that's it.

Tiara

How to love yourself?

Two days ago I received an email from a new friend (lets call her YP) . She just visited my blog for the first time and have an important question for me. "How to make a woman love herself?".

She continued, "I feel so insecure...perhaps because my mum keeps pointing out my lacks. And I know, I shouldn't listen to her, just like my brother (and dad, and aunts, and boyfriend) asked me to...I don't feel I'm pretty. I'm quite tall, at least for Indonesian woman, but don't feel proud of it. I haven't succeed on looking at the best(s) of me (if I have one)".

YP, I don't have all the answers. I do know this, I personally must have a purpose in life to feel relevant. When I feel relevant, I like myself much better.

What is your purpose in life YP? It doesn't have to be big, but it has to be YOUR purpose. I remember the days where nothing is working for me. I wake up in the morning and just that.. wake up. Nothing else. I feel irrelevant in this world. How do one love herself when she feels irrelevant? Slowly my life change for the better. I found my purpose. I hold on to it. I commit. And I feel good about myself.

One more thing. I noticed in your email that you mentioned a boyfriend. Do you love him? Does he love you? If the answer is yes, it should help. Relationship is not like the movies.It is hard. You have to work on it. Making a relationship better is just one more thing to add in your list of "purposes". If a man stand in front of you with an eyes that said "I love you", he may know something that you don't about yourself. If another person can love you that much, isn't it easier to love yourself?

I don't know all the answers. But I hope you will find your purpose YP. We are here waiting for you to let us know someday!

Any suggestion for YP girls?

Tiara

PS: A special message to YP; sometimes the sexiest thing a woman can wear is a pair of pants! Especially if you are as tall as you say you are. I too wear pants more than I wear skirts. Start shopping girl. :) Second, try longer hair that covers part of your face for a balance look.

Ngobrol di telpon yuk

Hi sisters!

Sorry, this one is only for those who live in Indonesia :(

Kamu-kamu yang pingin ngobrol dan bagi-bagi cerita dengan aku, sekarang bisa! Telpon aku disini. Mau tips kecantikan? kebugaran? atau mau ngerumpi aja? Bisa semuanya!

Aku tunggu disini!

Tiara

Bare my soul(mate)

We all agree that a soulmate is someone who was MEANT for you and MEANT to be with you.

Soulmate for me is a bestfriend above all else, someone who motivates you, makes you laugh easily, someone who listen patienly to what I have to say, someone who I can say anything to, someone who let me be a "monster" but will forgive me quickly when I apologize. Essentially, someone who will stand by you. We think alike, share the same interests and has common value. He makes a dramatic impact in my life(and I don't even rely it sometimes). He makes me to be a better person. He connects with me in a way that I can't explain... you know, we know what each other are thinking by just looking and smiling at each other. He always seem to always finish my sentences.

He completes me in way that when we are both together we are so much stronger as whole than when we are alone. And when we are away from each other I feel like a part of me is missing. We are comfortable together in silence. He would gladly put me and my needs ahead of his own. He has a deep desire to provide me with all that I am missing from my life.

Does the long description above enough for you guys? There is one man in my life that fit the above description. Is he my soulmate? Probably you would say yes. But let me point something to you.. I am not with him now. I have called one person a soulmate in my life and that is him. Yet, we're not together anymore. Whatever happened between us, he always hold a special place in my heart and I thank him. From the bottom of my soul, I thank him for the love he gave me and the friendship we had (have).

Let me ask you again. Is he my soulmate? Or do I need to define a "soulmate" better?

Tiara

What do you want to discuss? .

Hi girls,

I want this blog to be a place for us women to be able to discuss anything. So if you have any idea for discussion or maybe issues that makes you sleepless... go ahead and let me know via comments below or you can also email me (if it is more of a private nature:) at Tiaralestar@yahoo.com

I'll be waiting :)

Big kiss,
Tiara

Eat MORE to lose fat (Believe me)

Hi Girlfriends!

Welcome to Tiara for Women Only.

Just us here, so feel free to comments. No men allowed.

Girls, lets get this one out of the way. The worst thing you can do if you are trying to lose fat is NOT EATING. Starving yourself will do more harm than good in the long run. You actually need to eat more if you are trying to lose fat. Believe me when I say this is not a gimmick. It works for me! Try this after Ramadan is over, and I do mean try it with conviction for a month. If you do it right.. you will not be hungry and you will lose fat! In three months your old clothes won't fit.

Here's the logic behind this fact (not a theory): You see girls.. our body has been created with such efficiency that would put any fortune 500 companies to shame. It is so efficient that the body only burns energy it NEEDS to burn. Energy equals the food we take. So if more energy is being fed into our bodies (i.e. you eat more food than you need), the rest of the energy fed into our body will be stored as FAT. If, on the other hand you only eat what your body need at that time, the body will burn the energy and there won't be extra energy for fat storage area.

So how do we make sure we eat just enough food for our body. Well, stop eating three times a day. Start eating six times a day! Because by eating smaller portion six times a day, instead the three big meals a day, you will give your body only enough energy to burn and not store extra energy as fat. That is the simple reason.

From the point you wake up, your body burn energy all day long. Heck, you burn energy when you are sitting down in your office. Let alone when you actually doing things useful like running and working out :)

I'll make the formula simple and this is not my idea. I kind of stole it from a real expert named Bill Phillips (click here for his site). First, you must eat a balance meal, which essentially half carbohydrate and half protein. Now, make a fist with your hand. You see the size of your fist? Use that as the guide of how much you eat in a single meal. You have to eat one "fist size" of protein and one "fist size" of carb for a single meal. Try to make your meal as "dry" and don't use too much sauce of any kind (no kecap ibu-ibu:). If you can, do not use much oil at all except olive oil. Do this six times a day.

Now the beauty of this meal plan is that you need to have a "cheat day". This is a day when you can eat anything you want only for one day a week. Make sure you do this. Your brain needs it. If you don't do a cheat day, at some point you will start eating bad stuff again and the next thing you know... there goes the diet plan. But once a week.. you chow down! Six days a week, keep it strict, don't miss a meal and please... please no oily food. One teaspoon of oil has 14 grams of fat girls. It is the evil of any diet plan.

One more thing.. drink a lot of water. And I do mean a lot, up to 8 glasses a day. The first week, you may find yourself going to the bathroom a lot. It is ok.

Should you work out with this diet? Yes. It will greatly help if you workout, at least three times a week. However, you will still see result even if you don't work out (as long as you are strictly eating the way I said).

So, make a plan to change yourself for the better. Commit. Stay committed. Have a cheat day once a week. And wear that tight dress you always wanted to wear and surprise your husband or boyfriend!

Good luck.

Tiara