Adding up: week 1

Monday: 2 points (water + workout)
Tuesday: 5 points
Wednesday: 4 points (no exercise)
Thursday: 5 points
Friday: 4 points (couldn't stick to the no eating after 7, my boyfriend wasn't at home and that led to a little loneliness-eating)
Saturday: 3 points (no exercise and I had some sugar, as I ate a little chocolate)
Sunday: 3 points (had dinner at my sister and her fiancé and they didn't have dinner ready until after 7, also they served baclava for dessert and that contains lots of sugar, but I couldn't refuse eating it since they bought it especially).

26 out of 35 points in total.

Conclusion: I had a mixed week. Some really good days and some days that could do with some improvement. Overall I am satisfied though: I never managed to have such a healthy week before. And can I just say how good I feel? I know that it's probably psychological, but still I find it unbelievable how much self-respect I've gained just by sticking to a plan. I was always unable to hold on to my plans of eating healthy for more than a day. So yes, I am proud of myself.

Work-Out

I was finally able to start on my running yesterdat. I had been wanting to start since christmas, but the snow made it too dangerous. I only ran (on and of, my schedule says I have to do 3 min of running and 2 min of walking, etc.) for 25 minutes, but I couldn't do more. I am however planning on going running at least 3 times a week, which means it should get better within a few weeks.

Today I have ballet for 1,5 hours, so that'll count as a good workout as well.

Current favourite lunch-time salad recipe..

My current favourite lunch-salad recipe comes from the book Skinny Bitch. The book really isn't all that great and I can't stand the foul language used, but I fell in love with this salad recipe. I changed some things around, but obviously all credit goes to Rory Freedman and Ki Barnouin. I know it doesn't look great on my picture, but believe me, that's because I'm no good at taking pictures.
Basically what I do is this: I take spinach, carrot, almonds, red onion, alfalfa, garlic and a little bit of sesame seed oil put it all in one bowl and voilá. The official recipe adds tofu and leaves out the alfalfa, but I don't like tofu in a salad and I love alfalfa, plus it's supposed to be good for you. In this particular picture I used lamb's lettuce instead of spinach (they didn't have it in store today). Somehow I'm always pretty full up after this salad, but sometimes I eat a slice of bread on the side.

What is your favourite lunch recipe?

Hello Lunch!

I changed my lunchplan into a salad of cucumber, tomato and carrots with a little balsamic vinegar and lime oil and some sesame seeds, combined with a whole grain roll.

Fitness Challenge: first days

My first day didn't go all that well. I ate two white rolls instead of wholegrain and I ate after 7. Also, I didn't go wholy without sugar, at I ate a biscuit. My eating after 7 had to do with the fact that I had ballet class from 7 to 8.30 pm, which means I cannot eat dinner beforehand and have to eat a salad afterwards. Ballet class meant that I did get my 30 minute workout (make that 90). Also, I drank enough water. So that'd make only 2 points :/.

Yesterday was much better though. I actually kept all of the rules. I took my time doing my grocery shopping. Did any of you notice that buying healthy food takes up a lot more of your budget? Nevertheless, buying lots of fruit and vegetables always makes me more motivated to eat healthy. I am trying to eat more vegetables than bread for lunch, because I've found out that it helps to keep the hunger at bay and I rather like vegetables.

Today I started out with freshly pressed orange juice and blueberries for breakfast. I'm having leftover vegetables with rice for lunch with a cucumber and tomato salad. I'm looking forward to that. Not sure if I'll be able to do a 30 minute workout today, but I'll be sure to walk and cycle to university, as I do each day, so it'll be at least 20 minutes.

Fitness Challenge: start

I'm participating in the Fitness Challenge, which means I'm keeping scores on my eating habits for 6 weeks. I have been trying to eat healthier ever since the start of this year (and before that obviously), but have been unable to keep it up. I'm hopinh this will help me out. My goals are to eat healthy, which basically means no candy/chocolate binge-eating for me. Also I want to put an early stop to the fat accumulating on my legs and hips before I'll lose my overall shape.

These are the rules:

There will be a point system...it is on your honor!
It is possible to reach 5 points a day...

1 for NO sugar
1 for 3 servings of RAW fruits or veggies
1 for 30 minutes of continual working out
1 for no eating after 7pm
1 for drinking 8-8oz of water (must be water...nothing else)

The drinking water won't be all that hard for me, although I don't see why green-tea/herbal-tea that is caffeine free won't count. And I love eating vegetables or fruit, but I might fail those some days because it's just so much easier not to eat them. As for the no sugar: that's nearly impossible, since there might be stuff that has some sugar in it naturally (let alone that fruit has a lot of natural sugars). I'm going to try to work out 30 minutes a day. Not eating after 7 pm will be hard for me as well, as both me and my boyfriend work until 6 pm, which means it's hard to have dinner ready before 7.

I'm also adding my own challenges: I am a vegetarian, so obviously I'll eat no meat. (This is also why no sugar is harder for me: I don't eat meat or cheese, so what's left to eat on your sandwich in the morning, except tomatoes and cucumber? I'll eat marmalade that's light on sugar sometimes). Also, I am planning on eating only whole-grain stuff, i.e. no 'white' pasta, rice, or bread. But only brown rice, whole-grain bread, etc.