Where has my motivation gone???

I taught my two aerobic/workout classes on Tuesday and Wednesday now for the rest of the week I have to find the motivation, desire within to train...thats the hardest part for me right now as I cant face the gym....I know why, cause its so stuffy and I end up being annoyed and not enjoying myself as I struggle to breath with the windows and doors all being closed as that's the way the older generation like to train....so not for me.....I now wish I had a treadmill at home as do think I would run more often if I had one...Hubby says I have to chose...a gym membership or treadmill and right now am still in the middle of my two year contract and cant get out of the membership.

I'm waiting for the fire of passion to fill me again...the passion to train.

Whenever I make baked veggies I pour 1 Tsp of this olive oil over the veggies and bake it in the oven...Hubby has been complaining that his stomach is playing up after veggie bake and he feels there is too much oil over the veggies ( 1 Tsp over a huge baking tray??? ) anyway, last might I made veggie bake again and left out the olive oil and he turned to me and said * These veggies taste much better * ~ so now am wondering if everyone adds or leaves the oil when baking veggies???

In Germany you can't find Instant oats...they make oats, but not the instant type like you can get in other parts of the world.

The only place I can buy Instant oats in in Cologne at The British Shop where they import the Instant oats from the United Kingdom..... my friend Sarah often posts me the Instant oats from the American Base shop in her part of Germany as well.

I wanted to start making Oats for breakfast from this week but have so much Plain and Greek yogurt that I have to use that up first before it expires. I do look forward to Oats for breakfast again after weeks and weeks of muesli.

I got a reply from Oxygen magazine to say that I can expect my first issue, the month of March addition around the 16th FEB.....which is today, have looked in the letter box but nothing arrived today....I hope it arrives as a friend of mine posted me photography magazines from the UK and its been more than a month and a half and nothing has arrived as yet.

Greek and a parcel

I have read all your comments regarding the Total Fage Greek yogurt that I managed to find last Friday...Will look for the o% version next time or see if I can speak to the store manager to hear if they have it or getting it in.

I bought 6 tubs of this yogurt and eat 100g's at breakfast so a tub will last me for two days...

I ate this Greek yogurt with my muesli this morning, wow, wow, wow, plain yogurt does not come close to the taste of this Greek yogurt.

I have two big tubs of plain yogurt left which I will use with my GREEN shake that I am making daily....cause now that I have tasted my breakfast with Greek yogurt, how am I going to go back to plain again!!!

I've checked the ingredients of the Greek I have and see its very different to the one's a lot of you are eating...for example per 100g the Protein is only 6.8g's compared to what the rest of you are getting...20g's

I have been online to see what is available.

I think this GREEK is new to Germany.

PROTEIN & DIET

FAGE Total As a Part of Your Healthy Diet.

FAGE Total makes a great addition to any healthy eating plan because of its high concentration of all-natural protein, raw ingredients, low calorie count and unique versatility.

It’s packed with powerful protein.

FAGE Total’s unique straining process yields luxuriously thick yogurt, but also something else extraordinary: a high concentration of all-natural protein. Protein is a powerful, muscle-building nutrient that helps deliver steady and sustained energy throughout your day. So with up to 20g of protein in each individual cup. FAGE Total can help you through your day.

It’s all natural.

Healthy food starts by being all natural. FAGE Total uses only raw, 100% natural whole milk and cream supplied from rBGH-free* cows. This means you get all the calcium-rich benefits of real dairy ingredients, with nothing artificial.

It’s low-calorie — but filling.

FAGE Total is inherently low-calorie. Because we don’t use any artificial sweeteners, there are no extra “sugary” calories to keep track of. And in several cases, FAGE Total has fewer calories than other common dietary snacks and proves more filling:

Today my doorbell rang.

I ran down the 3 flights of stairs to the front door.

A parcel from my blogger friend Sarah from the USA but now living in Germany

I will share more about this parcel on my other blog tomorrow but wanted to show the food planner she sent me.

It's fantastic.

I'm going to use it from March...and cant wait.

Thank you so much Sarah...you know me well girlfriend!!!

Happy Valentine's ~ No cooking

Happy Valentine's EVERYONE

Have taken the day off today...

So no training for me

But am watching what I eat as off to dinner with my hubby later this evening.

Guess what I found on Friday while out grocery shopping

GREEK YOGURT.

Have not tried it yet as want to finish the other yogurt I have in my fridge.

See lots more calories per 100ml for Greek compared to plain...but sugar wise a better choice.

Weekly results

I didn't get to train on Friday or Saturday

Friday, I did my grocery shopping and was wanting to go for a run, but never did as I hate running once I've done my hair and make up for the day.

Saturday my hubby and I went to Frankfurt for the day, so besides lots of walking, which actually counts for nothing as your HR doesn't go up...I didn't train once again...

Two days in a row.....makes me feel a little on the cranky side to be honest.

I love adding the GERMAN foods photo's I eat to my blog as I think its always interesting to see what foods are available in other countries...I love seeing the foods the American's have as the variety always seems so much more than here in Germany or South Africa where I come from.

As you can see the foods I eat are all BIO, which means Organic and most are the brand ALNATURA which is the organic brand at one of our supermarkets...buying that brand I know I can rely on them to have no added sugar, sweetener or bad fats to the products....I always double check the ingredients before I buy anything, and this brand I am always more than satisfied with.

Today Hubby and I went to the gym for our usual Sunday workout....I head straight to the treadmill every Sunday while hubby does his cardio on the bike and elliptical. We usually train for an hour each Sunday.

Today I did 7.64 km in 55 mins.

I walked for 5 mins, ran for 30, then did 3 sets of walk for one min, run for 4, last few minutes I walked to cool down, then it was time to get out of there.

When I got home I make myself a GREEN shake of spinach leaves, 1 orange, 100g plain yogurt, a stick of celery and ice...

My weeks training was as follows.

Monday ~ Ran for 7.57kl outdoors

Tuesday ~ Taught Aerobic Dance Class

Wednesday ~ Taught boot camp class

Thursday ~ Ran 5kl outdoors

Friday and Saturday were my off days

Sunday ~ Ran 7.64 on the Treadmill

Did total of 20 kl this week

Burned Total of 3094 calories

Did 5 Workouts.

Did 900 sit ups this week

Am now two weeks away from my weigh in day and not feeling as if I have lost anything...

Eat Sweets????

I've been spending a lot of time reading up about different eating plans online and going through my eating plan books, to see what the common denominator is amongst them....

So far MOST say SUGAR IS THE NO 1 ENEMY

I found a book called THE X DIET which I bough about 10 years ago, this book was written by a registered dietitian in South Africa, so to me this had to be a good eating plan.

When you look at this book you can see I've read if from cover to cover as it has lots of stains on the pages as well...

What this plan was all about was....FAT...keeping that as low as possible in your plan

I read this from the book

EAT SWEETIES!

AS A GENERAL RULE, SEE-THROUGH SWEETS (AND MARSHMALLOWS ) DO NOT CONTAIN FAT, AND YOU MAY EAT THEM FREELY ON THE X DIET!

KEEP A SUPPLY OF JELLY BABIES, WINE GUMS, MARSHMALLOWS AND BOILED SWEETS ON HAD FOR QUICK ENERGY BOOSTS.

BEWARE OF CARAMELS AND TOFFEES AS THESE OFTEN CONTAIN HIDDEN FATS.

Now trust me while I did this plan, this gave me a free passage to eat sweets and I did.

I filled a Tupperware container with sweets and my hands would often be dipping into the bowl as this was fat free!!

Lets remember that fat free is ASPARTAME FILLED...

I was very excited when I went to teach the group of ladies I teach on a Tuesday evening that they have decided to have another 10 sessions with me once this 10 are finished, and then again another 10 from September before I leave to Cape Town on my Christmas holiday with my family.

Last night I taught 4 ladies from my street, we meet every Wednesday evening, gave them a hard workout, but did feel very alone before and afterwards as they were speaking German to each other at a very fast pace and I had no idea what they were saying. As I'm not hearing the German language being spoken from one Wednesday to the next I'm finding it really hard to feel part of this group.

The last photo is of me and my five grandchildren....taken in November while on holiday to Cape Town...I went home to be at the birth of my 5th grandchild, who I'm holding...she's my little Nunu that one!!!

My son has three children...My Princess, Super Dude, and Beautiful boy ( blogger names for them)

My daughter has two.....Clever boy and Nunu....

I'm really blessed but wish I was able to spend more time with them as they in Cape Town and me in Germany!!!

I'm all dressed and ready to do a run today...but so chilly outside...

Have no idea if I will get out today....lets see.

FEB going well...

Yesterday I went for a much needed haircut and hi lights...so here I am with my new Spring style, perfect for me as I find my hair is always such a mess after I've had a workout!!

This style is the old me....the me that used to teach for a living...back in the days.

I went out for an outdoor run yesterday as the sun was shining, the sky was blue and the temp was 4 degrees,....Yes, still chilly but lovely to get outdoors instead of being in the stinky gym where I struggle with my breathing.

I did battle up the hills as have been training since January on the treadmill and only using incline of 2....so when it came to the hills I had to walk. It took me an hour to complete 7.45km as I walked the hills, ran the flats and downhills in a pace I felt comfortable at, which at the moment is slower than my pace towards the end of last year...but thats okay...while running I thought to myself that I have so much to be grateful for. I was diagnosed with MS a year ago and I have no symptoms and that here I am running and fit...It could have been such a different situation for me had I allowed it to get me down...but NO, I picked myself up and told myself I can beat this....so running is a huge victory for me.
This is my plain yogurt I eat with my muesli daily....( going to change things up soon )

Its from an organic range at a certain shop in Germany, very low in sugar which is something I am trying to cut back on with making good food choices ~ not always easy, but am doing a lot better now with the kinds of foods I was eating a year ago. No Greek plain yogurt have I found as yet, so far only ( and bought ) was Greek yogurt with honey and nuts...( high in sugar ) which is not good, but will finish it, then not buy again, saying that, it does taste good!!

This evening am going to teach my Tuesday night group of ladies, they have 10 sessions with me and tonight is our 4th class together ~ am wondering if we going to continue for another 10 after these 10 session, or else thats the end of my teaching career and I will be very sad...but will accept and move on...life is all about moving on!!

Now off to make Butter Chicken for dinner.....

P.S I did do 200 sit ups this morning while watching The Biggest Loser UK...

First Week of FEB report back

I did mention briefly the other day that I FEAR the scale at the moment.

I dislike being in this space, a space that comes from getting out of the habit of weighing in at least 4x a week and a very long holiday with a slight loss of control eating wise and no training for 6 weeks.

I know if I climb on the scale and its up I am going to feel worse than I am right now...

So one of the reason's I'm staying off as I'm really struggling with feelings of depression, lack of motivation etc, that I'm trying to avoid all things that will make this period harder, the scale is one of them...

I stand in front of the mirror ( naked ) and take a good look at myself and honestly, I like what I see...I ask myself WHY I AM FEARING THE SCALE cause I look good and have not gained the amount of weight ( if any ) that would depress me.

I feel fantastic in my clothing....nothing is tighter.

The size small jacket my hubby bought and was sure it would be too small just by holding it up in the shop, fits me perfectly!!!

So I have decided to give my eating plan, and training ( but struggling here ) my all for the month of February and then on the 1st March I'm going to weigh myself and report my weight here for everyone to see and by doing this I will break the fear of the scale that currently has taken over me.

This is my first FEAR of the scale and wondering if anyone else has had a similar experience.

I have not been very good this week in the training department

Here is the report back for the week.

Monday ~ Taught a class

Tuesday ~ Taught a class

Wednesday ~ was my official off day

Thursday ~ Indoor cycle for 18,5 km

Friday and Saturday ~ Lazy and de-motivated, no other words.

Sunday ~ Treadmill run for 6.48 km

Did 3 sessions of 300 sit ups

Did 25 km this week

Burned 1652 calories

I intentions are to improve in all area's this coming week.

Plain Lazy ~ That's ME!

Two days have past without me training...

Now those who know me well will know this is not like me at all.

I'm struggling with motivation right now

I'm forever having this internal argument with myself but still not getting off my butt and sweating.

I'm such an ALL or NOTHING kind of gal that not doing anything for two days makes me feel like a failure.

Tomorrow will get to the gym as hubby is going so easier for me to get dressed and get going.

I know its winter and the cold that is causing me to feel like this...

so being kind to myself even thought I don't like this * lazy * me.

Eating wise I'm on track.

As you know I'm watching my sugar intake so stopped doing the WW program as the fruit is free so full of sugar...for the month of FEB I'm counting calories while eating clean and keeping my sugar low. I'm allowing myself 2 fruits a day, and fruits with lower sugar. ( No banana or grapes for me at this time )

Once I have finished my muesli I'm going to change my breakfast to an egg on toast with 20g grated cheese and mushrooms and every 2nd day will have oatmeal with flaxseed and Tsp peanut butter.

I'm giving up bread from Monday to Thursdays ~ a change I've made and am coping as I love my sandwich for lunch time.

I've included a GREEN shake into my diet every 2nd day so far and really enjoying it very much.

I am thinking of increasing it to a Green shake a day....today I added a few celery to the shake and one kiwi instead of two oranges while still keeping the main ingredient to Spinach as very high in iron. Iron is something I need for my system right now as was diagnosed with anemia a month and a half ago and since have take iron tablets daily.

This week I have had a few *BAD* foods....

Thursday we took a visitor from South Africa out for dinner and I had a glass of RED semi sweet wine.

Friday night we had the visitor over for dinner so I had a Beer mix drink and a mini magnum ice cream.

So far that was my * BAD * foods for the week.

3 more weeks till I weigh in....

Ready for changes

I'm feeling very motivated since Monday ~ am on top of my game as far as food is concerned, but when it comes to training I'm just not motivated...

I do the self talk all day.....and when I look half the day has gone and I haven't done anything.

Yesterday was my off day, but today once again the battle is on.

My intention is to finish this entry and set up my indoor bike, cycle while watching Oprah's recorded on the PVR.

My intentions!!

Today I was shocked....For breakfast I made Instant Quaker oatmeal with 200ml 1, 5% milk

Added 1 Tsp of flaxseed and 1 Tsp organic peanut butter..

Wow the calories added up to over 500 for that 40g serving and the sugar in the milk was 10g

10g's of sugar in 200ml 1.5% milk!!!!

As we should only eat 15% sugar a day I had most of my sugar in my breakfast.

Later I made a Green shake with spinach, 1 orange, 4 strawberries, 100g plain yogurt and ice

Orange has 10.6g of sugar and strawberries 5.1g

So there goes my 15g's ~ I'm way way over and have not had late afternoon snack, which is an apple 11.8g of sugar.

I also noticed that the coffee I drink...three cups a day

has 4.8g of sugar per cup....x 3 thats really a lot of sugar and I'm no longer adding honey or organic sugar to my coffee...

While in Cape Town I was put on a month of no ( low low ) sugar and saw how the weight fell off ~ then when I returned home I had guests for a month. I ate whatever was going, sugar was in the back of my mind, but not something I worried about I had decided I was going to allow myself to have a good time and eat whatever was going, of course within limits, as with my new lifestyle never again will I lose sight of good and BAD foods...Never did I eat a takeaway while the rest did for example, but I did eat ice cream with the rest of them........and a few chips, pizza and a few glasses of wine...:)

I have spent days reading up about the effects of sugar on the body, no longer can I ignore the truth about how bad it is for our body. I'm re-reading the book called FROM BELLY FAT TO BELLY FLAT by C.W Randolph,M.D.

I was sent this book about 3 years ago from a friend who now lives in the USA, I had complained about how I had developed a tummy, a real old ladies tummy. So she sent me this to read...I opened the book and closed it again as I didn't understand it at all.....My eating plan was so far from the one the book recommended that I know now I was far from ready to understand, but after two years of growing in this area I am now ready to make the changes,....

I saw on Twitter that The Doctors Show had this author on their show yesterday...did any of my USA readers watch this show???

Sugar!!!