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Wednesday, May 30, 2012

Foodie Penpal for Mai 2012

Well my foodie Pen pal Parcel for March was a big surprise!
And of course I took pictures.

OK this is Picture #1, unopened, token fresh from the mail box. I cut it open and spilled to contents out on my couch

And this is what was inside. Loads of wheat free and Lactose free goodie!! Oh boy oh boy oh boy!!

And the cutest Card was in it too. I'm going to put this up somewhere and some how. Just don't know how yet.

And now to what was inside in detail.
I've read about the Kale Chip that is just the bomb now days and I always did want to try some but they didn't come to Germany yet. And here I was pondering 1) what is kale in German, and 2) how do you make them yourself and 3) would they even taste good? 
Well my foodie pen pal this month sent me a container of these kale chips called cheesie purple corn, and they are dehydrated, not fried. I tried one or two chips already because I just can't curb my curiosity, and I have to say I understand the loving of them! They are just wonderful!! I love the taste and the crunch. 

Then there is a bag of dries Chile Chipotles. Oh yeah!! Love the spices! And these kind of Chilies are hard to find here. I will use them in my next crock pot roast! Thank you for those Pen pal!!

Next up is Tea from the London Tea Company. Oh the Flavors that are here now! I just love tea and since I've cut down on coffee so much it is my favorite go to pick me up. I have 8 different flavors ahead of me and I will savor each and every one!

My Pen pal sent me the weirdest Chinese "Candy" I've ever seen. It's a dried plum with some strange flavoring. I have to admit I tried one and I'm not sure if I like it or not. It's a strange taste, very healthy, and chewy. Will try a second one in a day or two and come back on that one.

I also received three "naked" bars. The wrapping says it's a 100% dried fruit and/or nut bar. Dairy and wheat free. They sound wonderful and delish, and I'll save them for later. To be honest they sound like the perfect power snack for my next long run or hike, so I'll eat one then and write about it.

Last but not least my pen pal sent me a small packet of raw Honey and a bottle of Jasmine Essence. I've never used something like that in my baking before so I'm curious to try it. I'll use it in my next batch of spelt flour cookies.

All in all this was a wonderful Foodie Pen pal parcel. I enjoyed it so much. And I just have to say thank you 1 million times over!



Monday, May 28, 2012

Running and Water

I used to run on a regular basis. But ever since my first official 10K I haven't hit the dirt roads or the pavement to do so.
So as part of my new found fitness and nutrition goals I printed out the C25K and C210K training plans and I'm starting today after work!
I work until 6pm today, then come home and rest make dinner then off on the road. Day 1 of Week one is Walk for 2 minutes then run for 1 minute repeat 6 times. This is from the C210K beginners plan. If I find out I'm more out of shape than I thought then I'm going to follow the C25K plan until I get better, then return to the C210K one.
Sounds reasonable.

As for the body parts I know need work, as in stomach, upper arms, inner thighs I need a good weight lifting or body weight routine to perk those up. And although I love my boobs they could be perkier if you ask me.
Yes I realize I'm 33 but I've seen women older than me topless sunning and they had great boobs, so why can't I? All they need is some TLC and muscle mass behind them.
So I need a good complete body workout. Thanks to sparkpeople.com I can find a ton of them for free online, as videos or print outs.
(I can't use sparkpeople.com to track my food, I'd have to add to many German foods to do so, and that's where fddb.info kicks in.)
Tomorrow is grocery shopping day. After I get up tomorrow I'll be planning meals with my hubby and writing down all that we need for them. I have to remember to get the things for that flavored spa water I found on pinterest. I also thought up one of my own. Green Tea and Orange with Mint. I want to try that and if the watermelon isn't to expensive the watermelon and rosemary one. I'm also thinking I could use frozen berries instead of fresh ones. Just do the same as you would with the fresh ones, but I'd have to try that first. I think I still have some frozen berries too. Just need something to go with them. Lemons and Limes are always cheap, and fresh herbs are not that expensive until my garden gets up and growing. Now all I need are some big Weck Jars since we don't have mason jars.

Sunday, May 27, 2012

Spa Water

Oh I just found the best idea thanks to pinterest! Flavored Spa Water. So simple and easy too. Here is the link:

http://www.theyummylife.com/Flavored_Water

I want to make the rosemary and watermelon one on Tuesday. Monday is a Holiday here in Germany and the stores are all closed. I love my slightly fizzy water, and 0,19 cents for a 1,5 Liter bottle isn't bad but it does tend to get slightly boring drinking nothing but water all day. So the idea of these simple spa waters amaze and excite me. And I love watermelon, never thought to combine it with rosemary though.


Tuesday, May 22, 2012

Day one/Week one with my own Food diary

Today is the first day in the first week that I'm using my self planned and drawn Food Diary.
I love it so far.
I took my Measurements
I weighed myself using the complete settings on my scale. As in Weight, Fat, Muscle and Water.
I noted my sleep and quality
My Water and Tea that I drank already.
And the Vitamins I take as a precaution.
Right at the beginning I wrote down the obstacles I'm facing this week. As in me still being sick with my bad cold and the Birthday Coffee and Cake I probably have to go to. It is after all a beloved relative. Miss a lot of those when I usually work so it would be better to go.
And I wrote down what I can do about it. Like eat only one piece of cake, watch the portions, stay in the lower calorie range, and drink only one or two glasses of Juice etc.

The best thing about a self drawn up food diary is if you don't want to track something anymore you don't have to. You can track something else for it instead.
Unfortunately I didn't find a bigger notebook to my liking so I'm making due with a small note booklet that is only 16 pages. Here in Germany we have the greatest checkered paper it makes writing and drawing things up easy. I'm using a size DIN A5 Lined 5 booklet. I want to buy a bigger and fatter notebook on Saturday that has something like 80 to 100 Pages of paper in it, and is also a size DIN A5. It is the perfect purse size and it's not to small that you can't write in it. This time I'll ignore the cover for I think I want to glue on of my motivational pictures to the front of it. Or maybe I'm lucky and I'll find one with what I call eye cancer as a cover. (Eye cancer is a term I use for something that is so colorful it kind of hurts the eyes a little.)
When I go to making up the inside pages I have to remember not to use the black roll ball Pens I have. They smear and you can see the lines threw to the other side. Doesn't look good what so ever. The orange pens I have are much better for that.

So now i'm off to find a quote for the day.

Monday, May 21, 2012

Having ideas and seeing the truth

I was in Lohfelden for 9 Days and 8 nights for the job and I found out a interesting truth about myself.

I'm a attention seeker. I missed my Hubby calling me beautiful and sexy and his dream babe every day. I missed the way he can't take his eyes off my booty, or his hands. I craved his attention and didn't get it during that time. I didn't feel whole at all.
I am a vain woman. But it's all OK as long as it's from my Hubby only that I want this kind of attention from.

I was looking for a new food journal. As much as I love the one I have from Lean Mode it is a trouble to carry around since it is so freaking big! And cause I'm not carrying it around with me every where I go I forget to track all my food. For by the time I get home I've forgotten a few things.
The Journals and diaries I've seen so for are only mildly satisfactory for me. It seems if I want to track all the things I want to track I need a total of 3 diaries. Two too many!!
So I came up with the idea of making my own. Size German DIN A5. (Pocketbook size BTW) All I need is the right sized notebook, a ruler, pencil and my list of what all I want to track. And it's a long list!
This is what I'd like to track on a daily basis:
-Food:
   Amount, calories, fat, fiber is it healthy or not as in Junkfood sweets etc
-Water
-Coffee
-Tea
    Green or other and amount
-Cardio:
   what kind, how long, Heart rate, Distance
- Strength:
   Kilos used and reps, what exercise
-Mood:
   Before and after eating/meals
- Energy Levels
   Before/after Meals
-Supplements
   What, how much and sometimes why (as in caought cold Vit. C)
-Daily Totals


And I want room in it for different things like:
-Recipies I love/want to try
-room for diary entries and notes
-it should be easy to write in (spiral binding)
-I want a space not only for day and date but also what shift I have then
-Weekly goal/page previews
- Weekly review page with what can I do better
- Monthly measurement tracking
-weekly weigh ins
-Weightloss grid to see how i'm doing
-Place for motivational quotes that I like
- place for a symbol when the week was so good it should be/could be redone again


That is a lot to ask for in a food journal. But over the years I came to see that there is a lot more to losing weight than just the number of calories. The soul is also a big factor and so is sleep! I personaly need at least 7 hours to be able to resist all temtations.

So tomorrow i'm going to buy me a DIN A5 notebook and start my own journal.

Does anyone want to take a look at it when i'm done so that they can make one themselves too? I'll gladly scan it and show it off in the next post or two.

Sunday, May 6, 2012

Dieting on the road

Tomorrow I'm going to be at a different location for my job for 10 days. I'll be living in a hotel with no kitchen access. Although they do offer breakfast I will not use it for the typical breakfasts offered in hotels are a wheat and milk paradise. I'd rather take care of myself in that time.
So what should I take "on the road" with me?
Well I'm taking a loaf of spelt and rye bread with me. Not my self baked one but a bought and pre sliced loaf.
Apples, and a salad for the first day.
graved lachs
hard boiled eggs
Green and Rooibos tea
I bought a chicken and rice TV dinner. Looked at the labels and made sure no Lactose and not to much sugar.
Water
Soy Milk
My Spelt cookies if I don't eat them all today
Dark chocolate with whole nuts in them. (always consider the sweet tooth)


Luckily I can heat up something at work to eat so I won't have to go to a fast food joint for a warm meal. There are mostly Burger Kings, McDonald's and Subways around the places I work. My home place has a McD's right in front of it.
A lot of grocery stores have TV dinners I can eat without any problems. I can get salad cups and soups for lunch. I could even get fresh sushi in some stores. I've been on the road before and never went hungry. I even lost weigh. The place I'm helping out is the size of two soccer fields. So I'll be doing a lot of walking on those 9 days. Plus I'm planning on taking my traveling workout stuff. Maybe get in a workout before bed.

Biggest minus point with being on the road is my hubby will be at home. No hubby for 10 days. *cry*

Wheat free and Milk free

It's hard to live a wheat free and Milk Product free life. There is wheat and milk in a lot of things! I have to read labels very carefully. If I eat things with to much Lactose in them I get awful tummy aches. If I eat things with wheat I gain 2 kilos in a few hours, feel bloated and have stomach acid problems and just feel sleepy and unfocused. Not very good. I want and need to be awake and alert when working and at home I want to be, for I don't want my hubby to feel left out or ignored just because I'm tired all the time.
But luckily I don't have to give up my occasional slice of bread, for I've found a Spelt bread baking mix. It's mostly grained spelt and just 6% Rye. I've made one and tried it and it tastes very good, and has no bad affects on me. Big plus! And at a cost of 79 cents for a kilo pack a very good deal since I can get two loaves of bread out of it at 750 g each.
On the down side I've tried some minus L Milk (lactose free) and it still gives me a bloated feeling. Although I have to admit it doesn't give me tummy aches or gas. But the taste is weird and I have to admit I like soy milk Lattes better. It was worth the try but I'd rather give out the 10 to 20 cents more and have something I really like then save them and make do with something.

I still have a occasional cup of coffee or Latte. And I'm happy about it. I really love my coffee and now I love it more since it's not a every day thing anymore. There are more days I drink none at all than days where I do.


Oh and I've just found out that one of my major seasonal problems are almost non existent. I have no hay fever problems so far. And by this time last year I was sneezing my nose off and my eyes were constantly itching. I've read the Type 0 have a over active immune system but I never realized that eating like this would actually cure hay fever.

I still screw up on occasion though. Cookies = wheat. I think that's why my weight hasn't gone down at all yet. But I do feel so much better! I get out of bed easier. And my energy is way up. I get things done better and quicker. I stay calmer. Oh and a really good thing is I stay full for longer and when I do start to get hungry I don't turn into a bitch if I have to wait a while for it's just not the right situation to eat yet. Happens mostly at the job I don't have breaks and eat when I can.

But for my inner cookie monster I'm still experimenting with self made spelt flour cookies. I tried to make lemon sugar cookies last night and they don't taste like lemon at all. But you can taste the vanilla. Guess I have to either use the lemon sugar I can buy from the baking section or use more lemon juice and peel.

Wednesday, May 2, 2012

Laziness and being accounhtable

Ever since I ran my first 10 K I have been lazy!! Not only in exercise but also in nutrition! I haven't counted calories, have only half hearted kept my food diary, only ate 20% of the time good and healthy and all in all haven't done a thing to reach any of my goals.
But that is going to end today!
It is getting warm and summer is almost here. And I remembered my promise to myself that this year I want to wear my pink animal print bikini to the pool.
So I'm sucking it up and getting down to business. Losing weight is a lot of work.
First I printed out a goal tracking sheet from whenigrownupcoach.com. Then I figured out at what weight I would love to weigh in at, subtracted that from my current weight and divided it up into equal amounts.
So as of now I'm concentrating on 5 kilos at a time for 5 weeks.

That makes goal #1 to weigh in at 109 kg by the 6th of June 2012.

So do able. And good that I have a date to reach it by. It keeps me on track. And I'm hoping to find some support here too. For all my girlfriends are at a healthy weight already and don't need to lose any at all. So I can't really go to them for advice on how to keep cravings at bay etc.
And my Mom in Law is no support, for she is jealous when I lose faster and keep it off, when she's slow and yoyoing up and down all the time.

So to keep myself going I will post on a weekly basis how I've been doing and if I'm at the rate I hope to be. I did the research, 5 Kilos in 5 Weeks is a positive and good goal.