New Year's Eve Celebration foods

So I haven't been eating the healiest recently.  I'm actually looking forward to the holiday season coming to an end.  Only a few more days left and then I'm going to kick it in full gear again :).

I made some New Year's Eve celebration foods today.  I baked a choco chip cookie pie thing.  Tonight for dinner we made some Vietnamese summer rolls.  They're really yummy, fresh and healthy.  I was only able to eat three of them, and they were filled with a lot of veggies, so I was really happy about that. 

I'm really craving healthy foods, not that I haven't been eating healthy recently.  But they're normal healthy and not low GL healthy. 

The holidays are almost over

The holiday season is almost over.  Still have a couple of big celebrations left, then it'll be back to dieting.  I will return to low GL diet after New Year's day.  I look forward to getting back on track and losing weight again :)

Side Plank Victory!

Today I had a non-scale victory!  Yippie!!!  For the first time ever, when I was doing yoga today I did a full side plank on both sides.  I'm really proud of myself, I've come a long way compared to last year. 

I'm still here!

I haven't had time to really write, it's been pretty busy for me. Also I haven't been exactly on track with low GL, with all the festivities. But I am making good choices here and there, and not stuffing my face as much as I thought I would.

Yesterday was my Bday get together, it went really well. It wasn't low GL, but I am glad to say that I barely ate 1/4 of the Almond Jelly I made because I felt it was too sweet. Everyone else thought it tasted perfect, but it was too sweet for my liking.

Food Log (16 December 2011)

Today was weigh in day, but I'm going to skip it, since well somehow from yesterday and today I gained 2 lbs. Though I ate the healthy past couple of days compared to the rest of the week, but the weight went up. So I'm going to pass on this time. 2 lbs just from yesterday and today is just wrong. Just on Wednesday I was still on STS.

Breakfast: Oat porridge with raspberries, flax seeds, sunflower seeds, cinnamon, milk and agave syrup.

Lunch: Broccoli, cottage cheese and barley/oat/basmati rice mix.

Snack: 1 clementine

Dinner: Schnitzel salad.

Snack: 4 almond pocky sticks.

Exercise: Pushups, crunches, and 32 minutes of yoga.

Food Log (14 December 2011)

Okay these ginger biscuits are too yummy. Thankfully they're very thin.

Breakfast: Oat porridge with raspberries, flax seeds, sunflower seeds, cinnamon, milk and agave syrup.

Snack: some ginger biscuits (snaps).

Lunch: Pork, bamboo shoot, and bell pepper stir fry, with barley/oat/basmati rice mix.

Snack: 2 ginger biscuits (snap), half a glass of julmust.

Dinner: Hambuger with multigrain bread, lots of green lettuce and tomatoes.

Snack: 3 Ginger buiscuits (snaps).

Exercise: Pushups, crunches, and 32 minutes of yoga.

Adventures with Warrior III Yoga Pose

Last week Esther Ekhart posted a new yoga video on youtube on the Warrior III pose.  I never tried doing Warrior III before.  After watching the video, I decided to give it a shot.  The first time I tried it I almost fell forward to a face plant on my yoga mat, and that happened twice.  Luckly I caught myself both times. 

It made me look back to my first time doing yoga this past summer and how difficult some of the very basics poses were.  Sure a lot of yoga poses look easy, but if you've never done yoga before, you'll soon learn it's not as easy as it looks to hold a pose for 15 breaths.

For the past couple of days I've been trying to do the Warrior 3 pose.  It's a little bit of a wobbly 3 breaths for me.  I know it's a bit embarrassing to keep my wobbly version of the pose for 3 breaths, but it's a start and I can't improve if I never give it a shot and try.  I need a stronger core and balance to get this pose down.  But it's something I hope to work on and eventually be able to do.  Sort of like the plank pose, where it's getting a little easier everytime I do it now.

Everything's about babysteps and yoga has helped me embrace it.  That it's okay if you don't do it perfectly the first time or master it.  Keep working on it everyday and gradually you'll see or notice changes.  Hopefully in some months time I'll be able to have a non-wobbly Warrior 3 pose, and hold it for 30 seconds to a minute. 

Here's is the video link Yoga with Esther Ekhart, Yoga Pose: the Warrior 3 , enjoy!

Food Log (13 December 2011) & Pepparkakor

Ohhh how the holidays are here now. Today I went to my cousin-inlaw's for a lesson on how to make Swedish pepparkakor, aka: ginger biscuits (snaps). It was my first time ever making them, she was shocked that I've never done this before. They were very fun to make, and the outcome was very delicious. Though her cookies came out much prettier, while mine came out with arms, legs and heads being ripped or misshaped. I stuck to the mini cookie cutters with easier designs, such as a pig, heart, bell, tree, and a few goats. The woman and man designs were difficult for me.

I felt very much like a child today with trying to roll out the dough super thin and properly without ripping it everytime I rolled it out. But it was very fun, and hopefully it will be something I can do together with my kids oneday .

They sent me home with all the pepparkakor we made today. Now I'm trying to resist eating them all as they're so wonderfully delicious. They taste 1000x better than the store bought ones. Darn you holidays!

I ate lunch at her house today. She made some yummy Swedish style enchiladas. Very interesting and yummy.

Breakfast: Oat porridge with raspberries, flax seeds, sunflower seeds, cinnamon, milk and agave syrup.

Snack: a cup of tea and two mini ginger biscuits (snaps).

Lunch: 2 Swedish versions of tortilla chicken enchilada, with tomatoes and cucumber

Snack: a ginger biscuit (snap), half a glass of julmust.

Dinner: Pork, tomato salad, with oat/barley/basmati rice mix.

Snack: 3 Ginger buiscuits (snaps).

Food Log (12 December 2011)

Christmas is around the corner. There are so many things going on over here. I'm doing ok with all the going here and there. There are still many more get togethers to go to before Xmas. Food isn't the perfect choices, but I am still getting some low GL in there. So that's a good thing

Today is a strict low GL day. Feels pretty good

Breakfast: Oat porridge with raspberries, flax seeds, sunflower seeds, cinnamon, milk and agave syrup.

Lunch: 2 slices of rye bread, peanut butter and jam.

Snack: Cottage cheese with pumpkin seeds, and 2 clementines.

Dinner: Chinese pork, bell pepper, bamboo shoots stir fry, with oat/barley/basmati rice mix.

Snack: 2 pieces of dark chocolate.

Exercise: Pushups, crunches, and 32 minutes of yoga.

Sasaki Asahi's Champagne Gold Eyes Tutorial

I've been a huge fan of Manwoman films for a long time now.  She has really great and easy to follow makeup tutorials on youtube.  During the summer she won Youtube's Next Up, and after that I didn't see any new videos from her.  About a month and a half ago I found out that she's making new videos under a new youtube name Sasakiasahi.
I really enjoy her makeup tutorials, they're easy to follow and with many fun ideas.  She's also really pretty too, I can only dream of having such flawless skin as she does, also to look that great before and after makeup.

Here's her new make up tutorial for the holiday season Classic Party Makeup Champagne Gold Eyes - Sasaki Asahi .  I love the shimmery colours, they're warm and has the feeling of celebrating elegantly.

Come on September (SoA)

My guy got me hooked to watching the Sons of Anarchy last year.  I know a lot of people here in Sweden watch SoA, and it has become quite popular.  It's a really good series, and I have to say that this last season ended completely different from what I thought it was going to.  I don't want to say anything else about the show, as I don't want to be spoil the show for people who haven't seen it yet. 

Too bad the seasons are so short, now we have to wait until next September for the new season to start.   

Christmas Challenge Update 9!

STS this week >_<

Cranberry Christmas Challenge 2011
(2 weeks to go!)

lose 13lbs (5.2/13)

Twenty Third Weekly Weight Update!

I didn't have the greatest of foods last weekend with going to a birthday party etc, but the weight did go down everday after that.  I even made it to weigh in weight on Wednesday.  But then Thursday morning came and the scale went up again.  I ate low GL those days too, but it went up. 

Wasn't sure what to expect for weigh in, I was terrified I was going to have a gain this morning.  Luckly I didn't have a gain, but I also didn't have any loss :(  So this week's weigh in was a STS.  I'm not too thrilled but I'm not upset either.  I'd much rather take a STS than a gain anyday.

I've come to the conclusion that dieting through the holidays and winter time isn't the easiest task.  I need to be realistic and either don't eat a single winter/holiday food, or don't go out at all and be completely anti-social to avoid the parties etc.  Or I can simply say to myself be happy that you either lose a pound or two during the holidays or make it out alive with STS and no gain. 


Here's the 23rd weekly weight update:


STS (Stay the same weight)  

Total amount since started: -21 lbs (-9.55kg)

Food Log (8 December 2011)

Not feeling that hungry tonight, and wasn't really in the mood to cook dinner. Though I know I had to eat something so I wouldn't end up starving myself. Looked in the fridge and thought hmmm, fried eggs with soy sauce is always yummy. Tonight's dinner is breakfast. Can't really complain since it was yummy.

Breakfast: Oat porridge with raspberries, flax seeds, sunflower seeds, cinnamon, agave syrup and soy milk.

Snack: 1 piece of dark chocolate

Lunch: 2 slices of rye bread with a little bit of last night's leftover eggplant, ham and bacon tomato sauce.

Snack: 1 clementine and some Göteborgs kalvkorv.

Dinner: 2 fried eggs, a tomato, and a slice of rye bread.

Exercise: Pushups, crunches, and 30 minutes of yoga.

Multilingual....ummm, wait what was that word again!?!

I've lived away from Japan too long, I totally had a brainfart.  I was on the phone talking to a friend and  I couldn't remember the word dinner (yuuhan) in Japanese.  Simple everyday words that I know, but just sometimes I can't think of the word. 

This doesn't only happen with my Japanese, but I get brainfarts in English now too.  It's even more embarrassing when it happens in English, since I still use English on a daily basis.  Though the type of English I use here versus what I used back home is completely different.

I really have to watch myself from using a mix of Japanese, English and Swedish, since that seems to be what my brain thinks in these days.  I blame Sweden for my language brainfarts >_<   Any other multilingual people out there having the same problem???

Food Log (7 December 2011)

Food today was pretty good, yippie! I also did yoga so it's a double yippie day! 

Breakfast: Oat porridge with raspberries, flax seeds, sunflower seeds, cinnamon, agave syrup and soy milk.

Lunch: 2 slices of rye bread with a little bit of last night's leftover eggplant, ham and bacon tomato sauce. 

Snack: 2 clementines and some Göteborgs kalvkorv.

Dinner: Cooked Ham with pineapples, Halländsk grönkål (Hallandic green kale), and a slice of rye bread. 

Exercise: Pushups, crunches, and 34 minutes of yoga.

Good for eyelashes!?!

Ok, so this post has nothing to do with dieting, losing weight or yoga.  Today I was talking to my mom on the phone and she mentioned she'd seen a video on youtube about using petroleum jelly or olive oil on your eyelashes to help them grow.  The reason why she mentioned it to me was because she noticed last time she saw me that I lost a remarkable amount of eyelashes compared to just a couple of years ago.  I used to always have really full and thick eyelashes.  My Japanese grandmother used to think I wore falsies all the time.   

Sure I'm getting older, and the eyelashes aren't growing as fast as they used to and I noticed a few spots that are thin.  Last year I tried out Max Factor's Masterpiece High Definition Masacara Waterproof Black and it was really horrible.  It just didn't work well with my eyelashes, it felt like I was putting on black thick goo with an awfully designed rubber spiked so called brush.  It would straighten out my curled lashes and when I washed it off (even with eye makeup oil), it'd yank out lashes.  So I ended up with a few bald spots.  Thankfully my eyelashes are in better shape now, but it's never quite recovered.

The only reason why I bought that mascara was because I ran out of Shu Uemura's Basic Black Mascara, my ultimate favorite.  So I had to run to the local place here that sells mascara, and the sales lady recommended that Max Factor one for my type of eyelashes.  Shu Uemura stopped making Basic Black Mascara, and now they made a new Ultimate Natural Mascara to replace it.  I'm still using the last tube of Basic Black so I don't know how the new Ultimate Natural will be yet. 

Anyways, I'm thinking of trying the jelly on the eyelashes thing, to see if it helps out a bit.  I get really dry skin out here, have issues with eczema when I'm here in Sweden.  But as soon as I go home to Japan it goes away within a week.  So I'm constantly using this super heavy duty Swedish cream called Idomin salva on my dry skin spots, I guess I can just rub them on my eyelashes too.

I'll have to do an update later on to see if I notice my eyelashes are growing better or not.

Food Log (6 December 2011)

Today goes in the book for 80/20 kind of day. I made some dorayaki with my cousin inlaw today, and had a small one. Dorayaki - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

We had about 2 inches of snow overnight. I had to do my penguin walking to not slip in fall. I don't know how the Swedes walk around on the snow and ice as if no big deal. I should buy spikes for my shoes .

Breakfast: Oat porridge with raspberries, flax seeds, sunflower seeds, cinnamon, agave syrup and soy milk.

Snack: Dorayaki (Japanese sweet pancake redbeans)

Lunch: 2 slices of rye bread with a little bit of last night's leftover pork and zucchini.

Snack: 1 clementine and 1 piece of shortbread.

Dinner: Eggplant, ham and bacon tomato sauce with spelt pasta.

Exercise: Pushups and crunches.

Food Log (5 December 2011)

It snowed over night and it felt really winter like today. Cold air and slippery walkways. It's time to start walking like a penguin.

I was at my OH's nephew's bday party, and got two compliments from both his sisters. Do have to admit it felt really nice that they noticed it. It's almost hard for me to imagine that I was much heavier 5 months ago. Hopefully in another 5 months I'll reach goal weight

Breakfast: Oat porridge with raspberries, flax seeds, sunflower seeds, cinnamon, agave syrup and soy milk.

Lunch: 1 slice of rye bread with peanut butter and jam.

Snack: A peeled apple with cottage cheese and pumpkin seeds.

Snack: 1 piece of shortbread.

Dinner: Pork with zucchini and mushrooms, and quinoa.

Exercise: Pushups, crunches, and 30 minutes of yoga.

Food Log (3 December 2011)

Having a food weekend, but a much better one. Having some low GLs with some naughties.

Yesterday's food was Schnitzel salad for brunch, and hot dogs with multigrain fiber buns. Lots of snacks here and there some low GL and some weren't.

Today was ok meal wise, but had a bunch of none low GL snacks. Though it's my food weekend so I'm ok with it

Brunch: Hungarian Goulash with half a slice of rye bread.

Dinner: Hungarian Goulash with half a slice of rye bread.

Christmas Challenge Update 8!

Ok so I'm far from my goal, but at least this time I have a minus so it adds to the total goal weight

Cranberry Christmas Challenge 2011
(3 weeks to go!)

 

lose 13lbs (5.2/13)

Twenty Second Weekly Update!

So I have to say that I'm really happy today.  I didn't expect a loss at all this week.  Why???  The past weekend I was naughty and ate alot of high GL foods, and didn't even keep track of it.  Though I have been working out and being good with my food the rest of the week and it seemed to pay off a bit :) 

Low GL is so forgiving and so kind.  I haven't been losing as much as I want to, but I know I haven't been following low GL too well recently.  Naughty holiday foods, and of course the get together with friends and family doesn't help either.  Oh well, I just really look forward to the holiday season being over.  Not that I don't like the holidays, the foods are so wonderful.  Though they aren't wonderful when you're trying to lose weight.  I can understand why so many people begin their diet after New Year's day, and not diet during the holidays.  I'll be happy if I can lose some more weight during the holidays or not gain any weight.

Right now I'm at really strange size, I'm not big enough for my fat clothes and not thin enough for my normal to skinny close.  I'm sorta in between clothes sizes atm.  I also feel that I'm not fat but I'm not normal size yet.  Some days I feel I'm huge and some days I feel normal size.  I am glad to say that when I see myself in the mirror now I recognize myself :)

I'm thinking of posting pictures of my progress so far...  maybe a before fat picture, a fat picture and a now picture.  

Here's the 22nd weekly weight update:


-0.8 lbs (-.36kg)  

Total amount since started: -21 lbs (-9.55kg)

Food Log (30 November 2011)

Today was a pretty good day. I was planning to make Hungarian goulash for dinner, but I had a surprise visit from a friend of mine whom I haven't seen for a while. Also she is leaving again this weekend so it was really nice of her to stop by. I didn't start cooking dinner at the time I wanted to because I knew she'd leave if I started cooking. So it was frozen burgers tonight for dinner. Luckly I had the nice healthy bread for it.

Breakfast: Oat porridge with strawberries, flax seeds, sunflower seeds, cinnamon and milk.

Snack: 1 piece of dark chocolate, and a persimmon.

Lunch: Shoga yaki (Japanese ginger pork), aurbergine and onion miso soup, barley/oat/basmati rice/ medium grain rice mix.

Snack: Almond jelly, and a clementine.

Dinner: Hambuger with wholegrain bread and lots of green lettuce and tomatoes.

Exercise: Pushups, crunches, and 30 minutes of yoga.

Food Log (29 November 2011)

It's not dinner time for me, but I already know what I will be eating . Leftovers!!! I love it .

Foodwise, it's been a really good day. I made some Almond jelly last night for today. I made it for my cousin-inlaw as she's interested in Japanese culture and foods. I had a small one with her.

Breakfast: Oat porridge with strawberries, flax seeds, sunflower seeds, cinnamon and milk.

Lunch: Shoga yaki (Japanese ginger pork), cabbage salad with sesame dressing, aurbergine and onion miso soup, barley/oat/basmati rice/ medium grain rice mix.

Snack: Annin dofu (Almond jelly).

Snack: one small clementine, and cottage cheese with pumpkin seeds.

Dinner: Shoga yaki (Japanese ginger pork), cabbage salad with sesame dressing, aurbergine and onion miso soup, barley/oat/basmati rice/ medium grain rice mix.

Exercise: Pushups, crunches, and 30 minutes of yoga.

Food Log (28 November 2011)

Today was a much better day. I'm not as hungry now either, thank goodness. Too bad there isn't an off button for totm cravings.

Breakfast: Oat porridge with raspberries, flax seeds, sunflower seeds, cinnamon and milk.

Snack: 1 piece of dark chocolate.

Lunch: 1 slice of rye bread with peanut butter and jam.

Snack: a cup of rooibos and two small clementines.

Dinner: Shoga yaki (Japanese ginger pork), cabbage salad with sesame dressing, aurbergine and onion miso soup, barley/oat/basmati rice/ medium grain rice mix.

Exercise: Pushups, crunches, and 30 minutes of yoga.

Food Log (25 November 2011)

Woke up late today, so we ate brunch instead of breakfast or lunch. I wasn't really hungry all day and while we were out we picked up pizzas. Thankfully the pizzas here are super thin crust, and it also comes with cabbage salad. I turned down McDonald's so I think I made the better choice while eating out. Okay that's sort of a lie, since I did grab a limited time Toberlone McFlurry. Pretty strange that I don't crave McDs or french fries anymore. OH ordered a Kebab pizza with french fries on top. It's a very common type of pizza here in Sweden. I took a small piece of kebab and fry from his, and the kebab part was really good, the fry part was bleh to me. I'm so glad I got rid of my french fries or potato addiction .

Today was a really off day on low GL. Though not too stressed since it's a Friday, and totm.

Brunch: Japanese style stuffed bell peppers, seaweed and barley/oat/basmati rice/medium grain rice mix.

Snack: 2 choco digestives.

Snack: Some of Allévo bar.

Dinner: 1/2 thin crust Hawaiian pizza and cabbage salad.

Snack: Toberlone McFlurry, and popcorn.

Christmas Challenge Update 7!

Boo it's a plus for me this week. Oh well, totm what can I expect, but at least it was a not so big plus. 

Ok, so I'm failing miserably with my Xmas challenge.  It's not easy dieting up here in these nordic winter months during the holidays.  But I'm trying and putting in effort, so I think it counts for something:)  I don't think I'm going to reach goal. But I am hoping to get close to it as possible :)

Cranberry Christmas Challenge 2011

(4 weeks to go!)

lose 13lbs (4.4/13)

Twenty First Weekly Weight Update!

Sadly to say that this week I expected a not so good week.  I've seen the scale jump up and down all week long.  It's amazing how water rentention for totm can really affect the scale.  Also can't deny the fact that I have been eating some naughty things from my cravings.  But I've kept them in really good control.  The naughty things I ate weren't so different everyday, and my food portions weren't different than normal.  Every morning I stepped on the scale it'd give me one day a +2 lbs (O.O), then next day down 1.5 lbs, next day up another pound, and so on and so forth. 

So I was expecting the worst this week on weigh in day.  The thing I kept thinking was "Oh dear it's going to be at least a 2 lbs weight gain."  I knew from the other week that no matter what the scale tells me I shouldn't starve myself and go hungry.  OH kept telling me to avoid the scale this week, but the scale addict in me has to weigh myself everyday.

This morning when I walked up to that dreaded scale of mine on weigh in, I expected to see 160-161 lbs on that scale.  To my surprise, it read 158.6 lbs.  Yes it is a plus, but it's a much smaller plus than what the scale was showing on some days this week, like yesterday it was 160 lbs.  I'll take the small plus over a huge plus anyday.  Oddly I'm actually pleased with my weigh in this week now.  


Here's the 21st weekly weight update:


+.6 lbs (+.27kg)   totm


Total amount since started: -20.2 lbs (-9.18kg)

Food Log (24 November 2011)

Not looking forward to weigh in tomorrow morning. The scale has been going up and down all week long, with crazy ups and downs. But totm is coming and feel like a water buffalo. As OH says during these times of the month I should really just ignore the scale.

I've been really trying to keep the cravings in check this time. But oh well, and not that I've been a prefect low GL angel lately. So we'll see what the scale says in the morning.

Breakfast: Oat porridge with strawberries, flaxseeds, sunflower seeds, cinnamon, agave syrup and soy milk.

Snack: 1 choco digestive.

Lunch: 1 slice of rye bread with peanut butter and jam.

Snack: 1 piece of dark chocolate. Cottage cheese with pumpkin seeds, and a peeled apple. 1 choco digestive.

Dinner: Japanese style stuffed bell peppers, seaweed and onion miso soup, cabbage salad with sesame seed dressing, and barley/oat/basmati rice/sun rice mix.

Food Log (23 November 2011)

Had a pretty good day food wise. Also the fact that I didn't have to cook is always a major plus

Breakfast: Oat porridge with strawberries, flaxseeds, sunflower seeds, cinnamon, agave syrup and milk.

Snack: 1 choco digestive.

Lunch: Pork tonkatsu, seaweed and onion miso soup, cabbage salad with sesame seed dressing, and barley/oat/basmati rice/sun rice mix.

Snack: 1 piece of dark chocolate. Cottage cheese with pumpkin seeds, and a peeled apple.

Dinner: Pork tonkatsu, seaweed and onion miso soup, cabbage salad with sesame seed dressing, and barley/oat/basmati rice/sun rice mix.

Exercise: Pushups, crunches, and 30 minutes of yoga.

Food Log (22 November 2011)

I'm exhausted today. It's been a really busy day from early this morning until just now. The bed sounds so nice now.

OH has been begging to eat Tonkatsu (Japanese pork cutlets) for some days now. Finally had all the ingredients to make them today. It wasn't low GL but they're so delicious. The only bad thing about living out here is that I have to make everything completely from scratch so it takes hours. But it comes out really yummy.

Breakfast: Oat porridge with strawberries, flaxseeds, sunflower seeds, cinnamon, agave syrup and milk.

Snack: Japanese green tea, and 1 choco digestive.

Lunch: 1 piece of rye bread with peanut butter and jam.

Snack: 1 piece of dark chocolate. Cottage cheese with pumpkin seeds.

Dinner: Pork tonkatsu, seaweed and onion miso soup, cabbage salad with sesame seed dressing, and barley/oat/basmati rice/sun rice mix.

Food Log (21 November 2011)

I almost didn't do yoga today, but I decided that I needed to burn off those crisps I had this morning. The rest of the food was good today, so complaints from this end today .

Breakfast: Oat porridge with strawberries, flaxseeds, sunflower seeds, cinnamon, agave syrup and milk.

Snack: A handful of crisps.

Lunch: 1 piece of rye bread with peanut butter and jam.

Snack: 1 piece of dark chocolate. A peeled apple and yogurt with pumpkin seeds and agave syrup.

Dinner: Pork, bell pepper and mushroom in tomato sauce with wholegrain spelt and durum pasta.

Exercise: Pushups, crunches and 30 minutes of yoga.

Food Log (20 November 2011)

Overall I had a much better GL day. We dinner a little early tonight, so I did end up having a snack. I made homemade hot cocoa, this time I made less, and only added a little bit of agave syrup. OH baked some berries with walnuts and dark chocolate. I ate a little of that with a small amount of ice cream. So even though I had dessert they were low-medium GL and not sugary.

Breakfast: Oat porridge with strawberries, flaxseeds, sunflower seeds, cinnamon, agave syrup and milk.

Snack: 1 piece of dark chocolate.

Lunch: Borscht soup from the freezer, with 1 slice of rye bread with butter.

Snack: 1 piece of dark chocolate.

Dinner: Pork, bell pepper and mushroom in tomato sauce with wholegrain spelt and durum pasta.

Snack: ½ a mug of homemade hot cocoa with a little agave syrup. Baked blackberries, raspberries and walnuts in dark chocolate with two small spoonful of ice cream.

Exercise: Pushups, crunches and 30 minutes of yoga.

Food Log (19 November 2011)

Today we went out shopping in the city. I needed a new lapwarmer thing, as my old beanbag one burned in the microwave the other day. I noticed it was starting to smell like burned popcorn, and the other day it really burned. The poor beanbag thing was used to death by me, I loved it as it kept me warm and kept the pain away.

We weren't able to find a beanbag warmer thing, but I did get a small electrical heating pad . The heating pad works wonderfully, but I did grow attached to that lil beanbag warmer thing.

While we were in town, I was able to convince OH to let me get some new Christmas decorations . I picked up some cute gnome candle holders, and OH found some led light stars. It's one week early here to put up Xmas decorations in the house, but I did put up the candle holders I bought today . While we were out we stopped by MAX to eat. OH ordered the same thing as me, I think it's really cute that he's trying to eat the healthier choices.

Breakfast: Oatmeal pancakes with an apple.

Snack: Handful of crisps.

Lunch: MAX delifresh chicken burger, one falafel, and very iced down cola. Only drank half after like two hours.

Snack: 2 falafels.

Dinner: Pork chilli from the freezer.

Food Log (18 November 2011)

Talk about enjoying my Friday food weekend, maybe a little too much. But it's ok because I'm not feeling guilty about it. OH made breakfast this morning, so I wasn't too picky on what was cooked up for me. For lunch OH picked up a schnitzel salad on the way home for me.

Then tonight OH asked his friend to bring sushi with him. His friend lives near our favorite sushi place . It's been at least over 3 months since we last had sushi, so we've been talking about maybe getting sushi oneday soon. I guess today was that oneday soon.

I did make myself some homemade hot cocoa. I used agave syrup to make the cocoa sweet. I added 4 pieces of mini marshmellows to my hot cocoa, and it became way too sweet for me. I had to water it down a lot with milk, in order to drink it. Was only able to drink about half the mug, and that was with taking a sip here or there for awhile. The rest of it went down the drain as I was just not into it anymore. Very weird how doing low GL has made me not really enjoy my hot cocoa. Maybe next time I will only make 1/4 a mug worth, I think that will be more than plenty for me. Also if I use marshmellows I won't add any agave syrup to sweeten the cocoa. Very strange because before low GL, I used to have a pile of mini marshmellows on top of my hot cocoa, and it never tasted too sweet.

Felt a bit wornout and sluggish today, but it's because totm will be visiting me. I took a multivitamin just to make sure I wasn't going to get dizzy later on. Didn't really feel like doing yoga or pretty much anything else besides lay on the couch today. Though I did make myself do my exercise. I told myself "Sure you don't want to do it today, but you have to. Give it a shot and get it done with. Or else your bum's going to return to it's preyoga size." Thankfully I did do my exercise, but during my exercise I felt really wornout, stiff and during the middle of yoga I got dizzy. Thankfully I did exercise because it'll help burn today's naughties away


Breakfast: 2 slices of (wholewheat, seeds extra fiber) toast, 2 slices of bacon, a fried egg, and half a kaki.

Snack: 1 piece of dark chocolate, and a handful of crisps.

Lunch: Schnitzel salad with half a slice of rye bread with butter.

Dinner: 8 pieces of sushi.

Snack: about a ½ a mug of hot cocoa with 4 pieces of mini marshmellows, handful of crisps, and 3 pieces of sushi.

Exercise: Pushups, crunches, and 30 minutes of yoga.

Christmas Challenge Update 6!

8 lbs left for the goal. At this rate I'm going to be realistic, and just be happy to get close enough to the goal as much as possible

Cranberry Christmas Challenge 2011
(5 weeks to go!)

 lose 13lbs (5/13)

Twentieth Weekly Weight Update!

Last week I learned a very important lesson.  I knew better but the old myth about you only loose weight if you starve yourself sort of messed me up with my overcompensating.  Also you hear it from friends and family that you'll only loose weight if you starve yourself, which is total BS when it comes to low GL foods.  Yes we consume less calories but we aren't hungry, and shouldn't go hungry because then your body's blood sugar level is unstable which causes you to not loose weight.  Not only did starving myself not work last week, it gave me a gain.  So talk about totally undoing what I've been working hard to do which is loose weight.  Also it makes me want to kick myself in the rear end for being so hungry just for a gain.  What a total waste of a week it was for me last week.  I've learned something very important from low GL and yoga, and that is to keep looking forward and focus on the positive things.  So bye bye last week, hello this week and next week (^.^).     

With low GL foods, I don't have to starve myself to loose weight.  If there's a day or two that I eat really high GL foods, the next day I should just keep on truckin' like all the normal low GL days.  There's also the lovely 80/20 rule which actually works.  If 80% of the time you eat low GL and well, then there's 20% you can have a little fun with.  The whole thing about low GL; nothing is banned or evil, it's all about moderation.    

As you can see from my food logs, that this week I've had crisps and chocolate covered wheatpuffs almost daily.  Sure I ate them, yes they were good and I don't feel guilty at all, but I ate them in moderation.  Instead of having say 4 handfuls or something, I only had 1 handful.  It's enough to enjoy the taste and texture and get it out my system.  The cold weather brings out the bear in me, I've decided to not resist the cravings that winter brings.  Instead I will work with it, and give myself a pat on the back for not pigging out on all the winter fattening yummies.  One handful or slice is much better than the good ol' eat what you want.  A sip or three sips of Julmust (almost like a Christmas rootbeer), is much better than a whole glass of it.

This week I didn't starve myself.  For example:  Last night I wasn't able to eat all my food on my dinner plate.  I was full and didn't want to eat anymore.  I didn't go to bed starving either.  I did get a little hungry and took a piece of dark chocolate last night.  But the great news was the results of the scale this morning. 


Here's the 20th weekly weight update:


-1.4 lbs (-.636kg)


Total amount since started: -20.8 lbs (-9.45kg)

Food Log (17 November 2011)

I planned to do 45 minutes of yoga today, but while I was exercising, I noticed that my stamina was on the low end today. I don't know why some days it feels like I can run a marathon, and some days it's harder. I stuck to the usual 30 mintues and felt wornout.

Today was leftover day, gotta love them I can't complain about leftovers since it was yummy, and it meant I didn't have to cook today. Two High GL snacks today, though I did keep them to a minimal. These cold days are really trying days. At least with low GL and the 80/20 rule I don't feel bad about it at all. Also with the exercise, and taking the dog out and playing with the dog in the cold burns some calories.

Breakfast: Oat porridge with strawberries, flax seeds, sunflower seeds, cinnamon, agave syrup and soy milk.

Snack: 1 piece of dark chocolate and a handful of crisps.

Lunch: Chicken, eggplant, bellpepper, bamboo shoots stir fry, with oat/barley/basmati rice mix.

Snack: 1 piece of dark chocolate, a peeled apple, and turkish yogurt with agave syrup and pumpkin seeds.

Dinner: Chicken, eggplant, bellpepper, bamboo shoots stir fry, with oat/barley/basmati rice mix.

Snack: Half a handful of chocolate covered wheatpuffs.

Exercise: Pushups, crunches, and 30 minutes of yoga.

Food Log (16 November 2011)

I've been trying to be really good today. I would say it was pretty good. I was a little bit naughty with the peanut rings.

It became really cold yesterday and today way up here in Sweden. This morning it was -5°C, then this late noon it was about 2°C. Now it's back down to -2°C. It's a bit chilly out >_< I was thinking about going for a walk, but saw that there was still frost in the shades and on the cars. In the end I decided it was too cold >_<.

I did do a little bit more with yoga today to make up for not going on a walk. I also noticed that my arms have gotten much stronger when doing the plank and side plank poses. I'm not wobbling around like a top anymore

Dinner came out really yummy, I love stir fries

Breakfast: Oat porridge with raspberries, flax seeds, sunflower seeds, cinnamon, agave syrup and soy milk.

Snack: Handful of peanut rings.

Lunch: 1 slice of rye bread with peanut butter and jam.

Snack: 1 dl of soy milk and 1 piece of dark chocolate.

Snack: A peeled apple, and Turkish yogurt with agave syrup and pumpkin seeds.

Dinner: Chicken, eggplant, bellpepper, bamboo shoots stir fry, with oat/barley/basmati rice mix.

Exercise: Pushups, crunches, and 45 minutes of yoga.

Food Log (15 November 2011)

I really wish it was warm weather again. It seemed so much easier dieting then, and the foods are less tempting. The cold weather makes me miss drinking a mug of hot cocoa



Breakfast: Oat porridge with strawberries, flaxseeds, and sunflower seeds, cinnamon, raw honey and soy milk.

Lunch: Last night's leftover korv stroganoff and barley/oat/basmati rice mix.

Snack: A peeled apple, yogurt with agave syrup and pumpkin seeds.

Snack: 2 pieces of dark chocolate. A handful of peanut rings.

Dinner: Last night's leftover korv stroganoff and barley/oat/basmati rice mix.

Food Log (14 November 2011)

I forgot to do my food log yesterday but it wasn't that interesting it was the usual oat porridge for breakfast, and then for lunch and dinner I had a BLT sandwich on wholewheat fiber bread. Not the lowest GL food, but I was really craving toast and bacon. So what better food than a BLT which combines them both

Today was a much better day GL wise. Though I do have to admit that these cold and dark days are bringing out the bear in me. During winters especially here in Sweden I just want to sleep, eat, sleep and eat. I'm trying to fight as much as possible. I am having a few too many nibbles of naughty things throughout the day.

Today I nibbled on some crisps, chocolate covered wheatpuffs, had two chocolate covered cashews, and three sips of Oak aged julmust. It's a really special julmust, and not easy to find. Three sips is really good I think.

Breakfast: Oat porridge with blackberries, raspberries, flaxseeds, sunflower seeds, cinnamon, raw honey and soy milk.

Snack: 1 piece of dark chocolate, and a handful of crisps.

Lunch: Chilli from the freezer.

Snack: A peeled apple, turkish yogurt with a lil bit of raw honey and pumpkin seeds.

Dinner: Korvstroganoff with aubergines and oat/barley/basmati rice/sesame seeds mix.

Dessert: The stuff I mentioned above.

Exercise: Pushups, crunches and 30 minutes of yoga.

Food Log (12 November 2011)

Yesterday was pretty good. We went to a dinner and show thing with OH's work. The food was really good, and the entertainment was nice. I was lucky that this year's food was much better in quality and choice. They had potato au gratin, I took some but made sure to fill up on the green salad. I had a half plate of salad, it looked pretty crazy compared to everyone else's plate. But I wanted to make sure I filled up on greens and not potatoes.

I also had dessert, but didn't feel too bad about it since it was a small cup, and I didn't eat all the whipped cream on it. Plus this morning the scale went down. So I can't complain, I've been eating and losing weight since Friday . 80/20 rule is working, and not feeling guilty.

Breakfast: Oat porridge with blackberries, flax seeds, sunflower seeds, cinnamon, raw honey and soy milk.

Snack: 1 shortbread finger. ½ a kaki.

Lunch: Entrecote steak, capri salad and potato crisscuts.

Dinner: Quarter of rye bread with skagenröra (mayonaise, shrimp, dill, and other things), lots of green salad, potato au gratin, and pepper roasted pork with mushroom sauce.

Dessert: Whipped cream with thin slice cake and chocolate mousse cup.

Exercise: Pushups, crunches, and 30 minutes of yoga.


(EDIT): I almost forgot. Last night I actually felt pretty for the first time in a very long time. I know it sounds like I'm really full of myself, but it was the first time since I gained weight that I actually felt pretty. I didn't feel like a beached whale in a crowd. I was on the bigger end of normal size, but at least I didn't have a lot of rolls and jelly belly like I used to.

Food Log (11 November 2011)

This morning was a blah morning. I felt down about the weight gain, but I also was upset with myself for overcompensating. All day I was so hungry, I guess because since Monday I've been pretty hungry at nights, and last night especially I was super hungry by the time I went to bed. Really not good to do.

It was a really beautiful day out today, so I went for a walk. Gotta love my walks

Breakfast: Oat porridge with blackberries, flax seeds, sunflower seeds, cinnamon, raw honey and soy milk.

Snack: 2 shortbread fingers.

Snack: ½ a kaki, 1 clementine.

Lunch: Chilli from the freezer.

Snack: Popcorn.

Dinner: Entrecote steak, with fresh asparagus and quinoa.

Snack: 1 piece of dark chocolate.

Exercise: 29 minutes long walk.

Christmas Challenge Update 5!

Noooooo, I went backwards on the challenge! With only 6 weeks left to go I'm starting to feel a little like I won't make the weight goal

Cranberry Christmas Challenge 2011
(6 weeks to go!)

 lose 13lbs (3.6/13)

Nineteenth Weekly Weight Update!

This week's weigh in didn't go as I planned it.  I plan for at least 1-2 lbs weightloss a week.  I blame it on the baklava I ate Sunday, though my OH says ít wasn't.  He says that I most likely starved myself the rest of the week trying to overcompensate for eating the baklava.  He's most likely right.  I've been going to bed way too hungry trying to be very careful at dinner times.  I was hoping in doing so I'd lose the 1 lb I gained from the weekend baklava, cola and other sins.  But instead I lost .4 lbs and it stayed that way all week until today. 

It was very annoying to not see the scale budge at all when I was so hungry going to bed and when I woke up.  Looks like I learned my lesson.  Don't try to overcompensate so much just because I ate something really naughty.  Just go back to eating normal low GL portions the next day.  I guess in the end I really did feel guilty for eating baklava and drinking a cola. 
 

Here's the 19th weekly weight update:


+.4 lbs (+.18kg)


Total amount since started: -19.4 lbs (-8.82kg)

Food Log (10 November 2011)

The sun was actually shining this short afternoon So I went on my walk, with my new favorite clothing, the ear warmer thing.

I made more Mexican shrimp cocktails tonight, so I can use the last of the avocados. All the avocados are finally used up and my OH is very happy. He loves Mexican shrimp cocktail. They're really yummy, and really healthy too.

Tomorrow is weigh in day, and I have to say I'm a bit nervous. The scale hasn't been my friend all week, and I've been watching portion sizes and everything. It was me being greedy with the baklava on Sunday probably.

Breakfast: Oat porridge with blackberries, flax seeds, sunflower seeds, cinnamon, raw honey and soy milk.

Lunch: Chilli from the freezer.

Snack: 1 piece of dark chocolate. Cottage cheese with walnuts and a peeled apple.

Dinner: Mexican shrimp cocktail with 2 knäckebröd.

Exercise: 27 minutes long walk, pushups, crunches, and 30 minutes of yoga.

Food Log (9 November 2011)

This week has been cold, I decided to go on my walk today even in 6°C. The ear warmer thing works really well. My ears didn't get cold, and I didn't get a headache .

I have a bunch of avocados to use, so I made Mexican shrimp cocktails for dinner. They're really yummy and lots of veggies, tomatoes, onion, avocado, cucumber, jalapenos, lime juice, tomato juice, and koriander. I think I ate too much, but not sure if it's a bad thing, since it's majority veggies.

Breakfast: Oat porridge with blackberries, flax seeds, sunflower seeds, cinnamon, raw honey and soy milk.

Snack: 1 kaki and 1 piece of dark chocolate.

Lunch: Chilli from the freezer.

Snack: 1 clementine.

Dinner: Mexican shrimp cocktail with two normal crackers and 1 knäckebröd.

Exercise: 26 minutes walk, pushups, crunches, and 30 minutes of yoga.

Food Log (8 November 2011)

Had a pretty busy day, but I managed to do yoga finally. I couldn't go another day without doing yoga. I felt really sluggish, but after I did yoga, I felt alive again

Breakfast: Oat porridge with raspberries, flax seeds, sunflower seeds, cinnamon, raw honey and soy milk.

Lunch: Chicken, brussel sprouts, and barley/oat/basmati rice pilaf.

Snack: 1 piece of dark chocolate and 1 kaki.

Snack: A peeled apple and a couple of walnut pieces.

Dinner: Chicken, brussel sprouts, and barley/oat/basmati rice pilaf.

Snack: 1 piece of dark chocolate.

Exercise: Pushups, cruches, and 30 minutes of yoga.

Food Log (7 November 2011)

I decided to experiment and try making pilaf out of basmati rice, barley and oats mix. It turned out really good

Breakfast: Oat porridge with raspberries, sunflower seeds, flax seeds, cinnamon, raw honey and soymilk.

Snack: 1 kaki.

Lunch: 1 slice of rye bread with peanut butter and jam.

Snack: Cottage cheese with pumpkin seeds, and a peeled apple.

Dinner: Chicken, brussel sprouts, and barley/oat/basmati rice pilaf.

Food Log (6 November 2011)

I wrote a huge post last night, but right before I was about to post it, I guess my hand must have touched the touchpad on the laptop. So boom it goes over to an ad website .

Today is our anniversary, but last night we decided to go out and celebrate it as we'd be able to take our time at the restaurant. If we went tonight we'd have to rush into to town to eat and rush back home. We went to our favorite Greek restaurant.

I didn't have a low GL friendly meal, but like my OH said our anniversary is only 1 day out of the year and I should enjoy it. So I did, I didn't feel guilty at all. I did have a cola because usually the city water tastes horrible. I was shocked at how little I was able to eat last night, it was my first time eating there in a very long time. My OH and I both realized we don't care much for potatoes at all now, they aren't as tastey as they used to be. Before I'd eat a lot more potatoes with my meal.

Breakfast: Oat porridge with strawberries, flax seeds, sunflower seeds, cinnamon, raw honey and soy milk.

Snack: 2 shortbread fingers.

Lunch: Leftover entrecote steak, mixed veggies and barley/oat/basmati rice mix.

Dinner: Grilled chicken souvlaki, mixed veggies, 5 potato wedges, tzatziki, cola and baklava.

Food Log (5 November 2011)

We slept in late today, so we ate brunch instead of having breakfast and lunch later. The weather was really nice out today, 12°C sunny and no wind. I took advantage of the nice weather and went for a walk. OH decided that it was so nice so we should try walking past the farms and explore into the forest to see if we get back into town. We always see people walking from that direction and discovered a trail where many people were jogging. It was really nice, the walk took us about 70 minutes.

I ate a couple of naughty things today, but I still kept it in check. But I think I did enough walking today to burn off almost anything. Earlier this week one of the stores had a British sale, and had things like cheddar, shortbread, salt and vinegar crisps etc. I absolutely love shortbread fingers, and my OH ate some, so I took two.

Brunch: Leftover Ketchup soysauce and garlic pork, chinese style spicy eggplant, and bastmati rice/oat/barley mix.

Snack: 2 pieces of dark chocolate.

Snack: 1 kaki (Japanese persimmon), a handful of salt and vinegar crisps.

Dinner: Entrecôte steak with bellpepper, carrots and onion, and barley/oat/basmati rice mix.

Snack: A couple of crackers with cheddar, and 2 shortbread fingers.

Exercise: 70 minutes really long walk.

Food Log (4 November 2011)

Today wasn't the best day for my food, but I tried to do as best as I could. OH brought home lunch today, and I was only able to eat half. I ate mostly the salad part of the lunch.

We went shopping in the city today, and did some bit of running around. There was a lot of traffic today. We bought some more paint, paintbrushes etc. I also got myself an ear wrap thing for my walks, so now I won't have any more frozen painful ears When we were done with everything, we still had to drive by the inlaws. I noticed that by the time we'd get home it'd be really late and it'd be a really long time since I last ate. So my OH stopped by Burger King since it was on the way. He forgot to order me water, so I was stuck with the cola, I only drank half, and luckly it had ice in it. I did eat a few french fries and onion rings. But I realized that I no longer find fast food so wonderfully yummy anymore. I ate it just because I was so hungry. I didn't even care about the french fries. Before me would have cleared the french fries, instead I let it all go to waste.

Breakfast: Oat porridge with raspberries, flaxseeds, sunflower seeds, cinnamon, raw honey and soy milk.

Lunch: Half a salad burger (it's actually a pita bread stuffed with salad veggies, ham, shrimp and chicken).

Snack: 1/4 of Allévo bar.

Dinner: Burger King Angus burger with grain bread, 4 onion rings, 5 pieces of french fries, and half a cola.

Snack: Handful of red grapes.

Christmas Challenge Update 4!

Only 7 weeks left until Christmas!!! It's getting so close now, but it still feels a long ways weightwise for me >_<

But if I loose 1.29 lbs a week, I will still be able to reach the goal. Or if I have a couple of rough weeks, that's 1.8 lbs a week in 5 weeks.

Cranberry Christmas Challenge 2011
(7 weeks to go!)

Lose 13lbs (4/13)

Eighteenth Weekly Weight Update!

Welcome to my new weigh in day!  My weigh in days have been moved to Fridays from now on.  So I can have my food weekends on actual weekends now.  Sure I can not have a food weekend at all, but then again if I didn't allow myself to eat some things that I want to, I'd end up breaking the diet for good.  So I use the 80/20 rule on the weekends.
I'd love to lose all the weight really fast and be skinny again by like tomorrow.  But then again this isn't a race, this is about my health and a change of lifestyle.  What's the point of losing all the weight tomorrow or next month, if as soon as I eat normal food I gain 5 lbs back immediately.  Also I don't want to be just skinny, I want to be fit and healthy skinny.

I'm sure most probably think I should have lost more weight this time around since I had an extra 3 days added to the weigh in week.  Though I did have a double food weekend this time, which didn't help.  But I still did manage a weightloss, so it does give me comfort knowing that it will be easy to maintain the weightloss with low GL foods in the futre.     


Here's the 18th weekly weight update:


-1.0 lbs (-.45kg)


Total amount since started: -19.8 lbs (-9kg)

Food Log (3 November 2011)

Yippie no rain today! Though we did have our usual gray sky. It was chilly today at 7°C with a breeze, and boy talk about a difference from 10°C. My ears felt like they were going to freeze off, and started to hurt midway through the walk. I ended up having a headache for 40 minutes after my walk because my ears were so cold. Needless to say I didn't get to do my yoga until later on since I had a headache. I think I'm going to need to invest in some earmuffs or something.

My OH made a request for dinner tonight, so I gladly made it for him. It's my great grandmother's recipe and it's always a hit. I love making it as it reminds me of her, and it's really yummy

Tomorrow will be my first time on my new weigh in date. Let's see how that goes in the morning

Breakfast: Oat porridge with strawberries, flax seeds, sunflower seeds, cinnamon, raw honey and soy milk.

Snack: 1 piece of dark chocolate.

Lunch: Pasta and ham casserole, and a clementine.

Snack: Cottage cheese with pumpkin seeds, and a peeled apple.

Snack: 1 dl of soy milk.

Dinner: Ketchup soysauce and garlic pork, chinese style spicy eggplant, and bastmati rice/oat/barley mix.

Exercise: 27 minutes long walk, pushups, crunches, and 30 minutes of yoga.