Saturday ~ Rest & Tofu

I woke up this morning to the sound of rain...now all who know me, know I'm not a lover of running in the rain, or cold, I'm a girl from AFRICA!! ...

So any excuse to say...NOT going today ~

A rainy day would be the day I say no to running outdoors.

My hubby was very happy to hear I had decided not to run as we had a long chat last night about how I'm feeling lately.

Down in the dumps...stressed....and not myself.

I told him that I was not finding running as easy this last week.

He told me to REST...to take a few days off and then see what a difference it would make to my next run.

He also added that he knew I would not listen to him and would run.

( which is normally the case )

But at the moment with being diagnosed and then confirmed that I have MS I have to take it easy as I remember when I had my first MS symptoms a year ago this December I was over training and my brother was leaving me messages on Dailymile saying,

PLEASE REST, YOU ARE DOING TOO MUCH...I never listened

As the one year anniversary of my first relapse is around the corner I am telling myself that I have to listen and REST...

So today is my 2nd rest day in a row, something I have not done in the last 6 months.

Tomorrow I will join the ladies on our Sunday morning run...come rain or snow!!

But today I am RESTING ~ and feeling okay with my decision.

Quark is a product I have never seen in South Africa...when I first came to Germany I had no idea what QUARK was...and still not 100% sure as it can be used on bread and also eaten as a pudding....There are special ones for bread, like the Quark photo above and then there are flavored ones for pudding, those I love...

I think the best way to explain Quark

( any German reading this may correct me in the comment sections )

Its *like* Creme Cheese...

Quark is a type of fresh cheese, also known as tvorog, topfen, etc. It is made by warming soured milk until the desired degree of denaturation of milk proteins and then strained. Dictionaries usually translate it as curd cheese or cottage cheese, although most commercial varieties of cottage cheese are made with rennet, whereas traditional quark is not. It is soft, white and un-aged, similar to some types of fromage frais. It is distinct from ricotta because ricotta (Italian: recooked) is made from scalded whey. Quark usually has much lower fat content (about the same as yoghurt) than cream cheeses and has no salt added.

In Germany, quark is sold in small plastic tubs and usually comes in two different varieties, "Magerquark" (lean quark) and "Sahnequark" (cream quark) with added cream. While the former is often used for baking and as health food, e.g. as a breakfast spread, the latter also forms the basis of a large number of quark desserts. Much like yoghurts in most parts of the world, these treats mostly come with fruit flavouring ("Früchtequark", i.e. fruit quark), and are often also simply referred to as quark. As the large popularity of quark desserts is limited to mainly the German-speaking countries, confusion might arise when talking about quark with people unfamiliar with the German of Austrian cuisine.

I have never cooked Tofu....I bought some about two years ago and then when it expired threw it away unopened and uncooked ~ yesterday I decided to buy and try again...

Thinking of making Tofu with a salad for lunch instead of my usual sandwich...every other day.

See the expiry date is the 24th ~ the day before I leave for my 56 day holiday to Cape Town...I will have to be brave and cook it...can't be that hard, instructions say to fry in a little olive oil...any other suggestions from blogland?

Today while watching The Biggest Loser I heard Jillian say something so interesting

When you are dieting and training and gain weight...

THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS :~

You weigh more as you have gained muscle, that muscle weighs more than fat

She says trainers use this saying when they train their members

but not true!!!!

You gain weight as your eating is off or you not training enough...

That's that!!

WE have to stop making excuses when we gain weight.

Friday ~ My REST day

Today when I woke up I decided it would be my rest day for the week.

I have two runs planned for Saturday and Sunday morning...

Today I have done nothing but housework, blogging, washing, shopping and catching up on tv as all my photo editing is done for now.

I've been feeling a little low today, I have noticed that every year when the season change I feel this way....at the moment I'm not taking 5HTP, finished them about a month ago ~ am going to stock up again when in Cape Town...as they do help me through the depressing winter month.

Today I got to do the bulk of my shopping without hubby who gets back from France soon...

I loved it as I could shop at my favorite shop ~ which is not his favorite as the prices are a little bit more there than the shop he likes going to. What I like about this shop is the Organic range of foods...and free range eggs and chicken...saying that, I saw the price of an free range chicken, it was a biggish one....over 16 Euro's.. I looked and returned to the shelf...I might like to eat organic but not at that price!!

Thursday ~ one month without the scale

I've fallen off the wagon ~ well it feels like I have as I'm not tracking the whole day.

I start my day tracking but by the afternoon I'm no longer doing it...

I'm eating well as there is nothing in my house to snack on besides fruit and veg

As I'm an ALL or nothing person I feel as if I've fallen off the wagon, but know I haven't really, I'm just living with my new lifestyle and no longer dieting or being obsessed about my weight.

~ * ~ * ~

Its been a month now since I last weighed myself.

I decided to stop worrying about the number and just life the lifestyle I have embraced for the last two years...November it will be two years since I began this journey...and over time so much has changed with my eating habits as I've learned more about living a healthy lifestyle.

One of the best changed I made was to stop eating all diet products fill with Aspartame and other horrible poisons, and processed foods.

This morning I met two of my neighbors at 9am again for a walk/run session...we decided to only to a short * tour* as they call *route* of 5 km ( 3 miles ) and then come back to my house to do some toning.

I dressed up all snug this morning in my winter running gear, even had a head band on to keep my ears warm, gloves for my hands and a running jacket over my long top...it was 1 degree when we went out, FREEZING cold!!!

We walked up the first part of the route as its a very steep hill...and then once at the top we started to jog on the downhills and flats. I felt okay...didn't run at a fast pace ~ I noticed when I felt tired or found it hard to breath I would look at my HR monitor and see that my HR was still low, yet in my chest I was finding it hard, yet it was not effecting my HR???

I imagined the way I was puffing and panting while running that my HR would be sky high...NOT!

When we got back home they came to my house for a toning session.

I started with push ups...* They found them hard *

Then...lots of forward lunges...backward lunges, side lunges

Abdominals and then a nice deep long stretch.

Walked/Ran 5.2 km in 38 mins

Total workout 1 hr 11 mins

Burned 712 calories

HR 112 - 140

40% fat

I bought the rolls in the photo's at the Health Shop yesterday.

Tastes very different to the rolls one buys from the bakery.

I prefer the Health shop rolls to be honest.

Wednesday Training done!

I'm still not feeling myself.... I only seen to realize this when I run...

I feel good, have no cough or running nose....but while running I feel my energy is not as good as it usually is and also my breathing ~ I really struggle up the hills.

~Even with walking~

Makes me feel like a beginner all over again.

I've cut back from running daily....I now run every second day instead, hoping this will help me recover quicker.

I find it * hard * to be the one struggling in the group right now :)

This morning two neighbors and I met at 9am...for a 7.6km run ( 4,7 miles )

It was a cold 4 degrees outside...I am not used to running in such cold weather and found with my chest and the cold I really struggled.

I hate struggling....I hate struggling!!

Time 56 mins as walked most of the steep hills

HR ~ 127 - 149

Burned 730 calories

30% fat

Tuesday, Demo Class

My neighbor wanted me to run a 10 km ( 6 miles ) with her this morning, but after running a 5.3 km ( 3 miles ) last night and struggling the last 800 meters I decided to give today a break from running. I knew I had a class to teach in the evening so would be getting a workout.

I spent most of today sitting on my butt doing photo editing...

Then in the afternoon a client came around for a Xmas photo shoot and showed me the photo's she wants put into the calendars she has ordered for Xmas gifts.

I saw the sun was shining outside but when I stepped out the front door all I felt was icy cold. It was 0 degrees at 8am today...was glad I chose not to run as I do find breathing in the cold so much harder as well.

This evening at 7.30pm in a town about 40 mins away I had to present a DEMO class.

Now I have to tell you that all communication has been between my hubby and the lady who has organized these classes as I cant speak German. Going there today I felt like a spare part...I didn't even know the ladies name that I had to speak to...thankfully she knew I was the teacher as I was a face she didn't know ~ about 35 ladies came for the class...I introduced myself as no one else did...and told them my German was not good, but as hand signals are international they would be able to following me by watching my hands...and I can count to 8 in German!!! LOL ~ One only needs to count to eight when you teach...as music is in 8's!

I pushed them and tried to be a little different to the usual German teacher...I made them clap hands, shake their bootee...and relax while working out and they got a good workout, this group is so unfit so going to be a nice challenge for me.

They paid me for the lesson and said they would like me to do a course of 10 lessons in January...I said yes...but inside I'm thinking of the MS medication I start and wondering if I will have side effects that would effect my lessons....I have asked around and have been told that for the first 3 month on medication one's energy is low....will see ~ but for now am committed to doing it with that group next year..

I taught for one hour

Burned 567 calories

45% fat

HR 110 - 136

My eating has been all over the place today due to me being busy and not watching the time between my meals....and I didn't drink water!!

Monday started well

I love this Flaxseed bread thats available at the one shop called Rewe...down the road.

Can't find it anywhere else.

Do you find this bread where you live??

If you do leave me a comment and then remember to say where you living ~

I am wondering if this is a German bread, thats why I am asking.

My training for last week is as follows

Trained 6 out of 7 days...took Sunday off...first rest day in months.

Burned 3577 calories

Ran 26 km ( 16 miles )

One PT session

Aerobic class was cancelled due to me being in hospital

Today I ran with my two neighbors.

5.30 km ( 3.29 miles ) in 38 mins.

The first hill of 1.8 km ( 1 mile ) we ran and walked to warm up..

Burned 470 calories

HR 129 - 153

Found the last section VERY tough, my breathing I struggled with and had to slow my pace right down....besides that section I felt good, better than my Saturday run.

Sunday...REST day

Today I decided as I was not feeling my fit/healthy self..woke with a sore throat, I decided I would not go run with my group of ladies...this was really hard for me, but I knew it was the right thing to do...so today I have taken off totally from all training...wow...and I do feel guilty!!!

I am so proud of my son who only started running 3 months ago...

He is 31 years old, was a smoker and gave it up when he started running...

Today he did The Gun Run in Cape Town

21 km's ( 13 miles )

In 2 hours and 13 mins.

He was hoping for 2 hours and 30 mins as has been sick for two weeks and could not train.

I AM SO SO PROUD OF MY BOY.

My baby girl...she is turning 24 the end of October

She started running 4 months ago...

And today ran her first race, not even I have run a race...

She did 10 km ( 6 miles )

In 1 hr and 17 mins

She said she was so nerves to start off that her HR was way way too high.

I am still SO VERY PROUD OF HER.

Now she tells me the next 10 km run will be on the 31 October and she has written me in for that one...so that will be my first ever race and I will be doing it with my baby girl...I want to ask my son to run it with me as well.

I am so excited...and nervous.