90 days challenge by Mark Lauren - Third week

Paradise Beach offers a great view on Düsseldorf's tv tower

It is day 23 of the challenge and I am quite happy with it. During the last days it somehow felt as if nothing was changing anymore and my lower belly seemed to stick out just as before... But:
I measured myself, just like on every other "evaluation"-day and I am still getting slimmer in the waist. This is a big aim for me, because I tend to have a more "straight" figure and adore people with hourglass shapes. My chest and waist measures are quite ok, it is just the waist - and the upper arms - I would love to reduce. I am really glad I measured myself, because it can be a great motivator to see the progress in the numbers, if you cannot really "feel" it. And on the scale not much has changed, but then again muscles are heavier than fat, so, that doesn't count anyway.

1st week:                                         2nd week:                                   3rd week:

Breast: 92 cm                                  Breast: 88 cm                            Breast: 90 cm
Waist:  75 cm                                  Waist:  72 cm                             Waist:   71 cm              
Hips:   93 cm                                   Hips:   93 cm                             Hips:     91 cm
right upper arm: 27 cm                    Arm:   26 cm                             Arm:     26 cm

I guess the breast measurements change within the cycle, so they have not much to do with the challenge. But my waist and hips have been reduced quite a lot within two weeks, which feels great! Yay!

Not pretty. Workouts arent't pretty I guess.

Eval is a training you do every week to measure which fitness level you have reached. There are three and till now I have only trained on level two, but today Eval told me that I am ready to start with trainings on level three. Knowing that tomorrow's workout is going to be "Tyrant" is a little bit intimidating, but I will try my very best. Uff

Next level, here I come. (I know, all those loose pieces of paper! Some people write all their results into notebooks. But that's how I am.)

Doing the workouts has always be the fun part of the challenge and I have do admit I didn't really pay much attention to the nutrition. This is definitely one of the reasons that my belly doesn't want to disappear. It has been incredibly hard for me to eat enough protein, as I have always been a carbohydrate-fat-junkie. But today, I really made an effort, I even bought Protein-muesli. My lunch was gyros, so only meat and for tonight I bought lentils for Indian lentil soup. According to my lifesum app I managed to reach my protein goal of more than 100 grams for the first time - like - ever! So proud! So, may the muscles come! (I just hope I will resist having something sweet for tonight. Mr Schön is away, to poker with his guy-friends and Lisek and me are home all alone.

The protein-muesli. Quite ok, but not as yummy as some other mueslis can be :)

The weather has been gorgeous today, warm and sunny. After a very busy conference yesterday, I took a day off and didn't do anything work-related, which was perfect. I took the dog out and we went to Paradise Beach, which really is a sandy beach just outside the harbour area of Düsseldorf. I can easily walk there from our flat, which is great on such a sunny day. (I have always wanted to write a post about all the things I love in Düsseldorf. The beach will definitely be part of it.) Lisek was hilarious. He got some sand into his eye I guess and he tried to get rid of all the sand in his face by rubbing - in the sand. (He would be successfull on grass, but, yes, with the rubbing in the sand the problem was, that the sand of course didn't come off.) And he loves the Rhinewater, walks in, and always dips his face in. I have never seen that in a dog. It is incredibly cute. I took a dog frisbee with me we have once gotten as a present. To make it short: It didn't pass the Lisek-test. Now it is a mrere ring of thick rope, which is also fine.

Roarrrrr

And now?

Isn't that pretty? Ten minutes from the city center. Düsseldorf, I love you!

Last weekend we spent some awesome days at the Niederrhein, a post about it with all the pictures I took will follow. Take care and think about doing the 90 days challenge, it is really great fun!

Beam me Up Scotty - One year of travelling with our camper van

Off we go...

It has been one year now since we bought our camper van we call Scotty. - You know why. (For a while we even thought of calling Lisek „Tchekhov“) The original plan was – and still is – to travel through Europe for half a year. Two friends of ours took off two weeks ago on a very similar journey. Before we bought the van I was a bit afraid that we might not use it so much and it would wear off some of it's novelty quickly. My grandmother thought we were crazy to buy a van like this. But all doubts have proven absolutely wrong. We love taking the van on trips over weekends. Only packing some clothes and off we go.

Spontaneous trips are somehow the best. When we only have the weekend we have to stay in our area, which made us appreciate how beautiful our county is. We have gone to see mountains, lakes, old volcanoes, meadows, rivers and intersting buildings, old ones, new ones; European bisons living in the „wild“ and some of the oldest and prettiest towns in our area we had no idea were so close by.

Beautiful town of Monschau

Just like teddybears fur

After we had decided to buy a van the decision to get a new dog was also as chances were that we would travel abroad less often with the van at hand. In which a dog might also help to get a better sense of security. Lisek is so welcoming of everybody that we cannot really feel safer, but people might think twice of robbing us if they can hear him barking inside the van. Lisek loves the trips we take with the car. As soon as the motor is running, he is lying down in between us and falling asleep. And we are off to another adventure. I cannot describe the feeling I have when we are on the road. We rarely plan ahead, most of the time we only knwo which are we want to visit and sometimes we checked out the parking lots fitting for our vehicle (although with a car as small as Scotty, we are allowed to park in most parking lots anyhow.)

This was taken at a lake in Netphen

We wander off, driving through beautiful landscapes, deciding to go where it looks prettiest. I can understand how this way of travelling might stress some people out. It can be fun to know where you are going to end up and looking forward to exactly this and that hotel, finca, etc. But to just live in the moment and do what you are feeling like is priceless. If you feel like having a nap, you stop and have a nap. If you feel like eating, you stop and cook something wonderful on your stove. By now I have even taken some showers in our van and it is lovely. To be so independent (we have solar energy, a fridge, so all we need from time to time is gas and new food.)

Along with the beautiful nature to see, the memorable aspects of our trips are the people we meet. I am not a big fan of the typical camper couple, I imagine them to be too conservative and square. People with a van however, I am usually quite happy to get to know. One day in the Sauerland – an area with beautiful mountains practically „around the corner“ from Düsseldorf, where some areas actually look more like pictures of Canada than Germany – I wanted to visit an ecological farm, which they had plenty of there, and who offer sometimes vacation for kids. I am technically not a kid anymore but I still love animals and pets, so we went to a nice looking farm on the top of a hill and just rang the farmer's doorbell. He was welcoming us and showed us a place we could park overnight – free of charge. The next day he even invited us on a tour of the farm and gave us two litres of the freshest milk. Mmh, really good :) (The whole experience is overshadowed by one of the worst hangovers of all times that made me travel back home with a bucket on my lap... ) check here for an impression of the Sauerland

view from our bed

The chef is busy in the kitchen

Next weekend we might go to visit the area where I grew up in, the Niederrhein. One thing is for sure, we will not find any mountains there. (When I was little we called the bridge over the autobahn we had to pass on the way to town „the mountain“, which might give you a good idea of how flat this area is. We have this saying that you can see today who is going to visit the day after tomorrow...

Nonetheless lakes and beautiful meadows and forests make up for the lack of mountains. I am looking forward to discover the area of my childhood in a whole new light. Here you can find more information.

All year Christmas shop in Monschau

First holiday with Lisek

Externsteine

Scotty at Night

90 days challenge by Mark Lauren - Second Week

Hey folks,

how have you been? The last week was my second week in the 90 days challenge. It doesn't sound like a long time but I already wonder, what I have done all the time without the workouts. I feel almost addicted to them, the rest days are kind of boring to me. On some of them I have done some Yoga to feel like I have done at leas something.

My Eval workout showed me that I am fit enough to train on Level two now, which made the upcoming workouts - fittingly called Tyrant and Hammer - all the more challenging. But I managed. The only problem occured with the last unit in Hammer, as my right thigh muscle cramped. Maybe I have to spend some more time with the warm-up in the future.

Today it is Eval time again and I will try to do the Eval level two. That will be fine I hope. During the first week the sore muscles were almost killing me, but that got better soon. I still feel my workouts the next day, but I am not so sore anymore that I cannot move. Already I can see changes on my body happen, especially on my arms, and - surprisingly - on my waist.

I measured again today and some things have already changed a bit:

The numbers last week and this week:

Breast: 92 cm - 90 cm
Waist: 75 cm - 72 cm
Hips: 92 cm - 92 cm
Right Upper Arm: 27 cm - 26 cm

I could definitely tell that my waist seems a bit more firm. But I guess 3 cm is a bit much, measuring is not very accurate here I guess. But I am definitely making progress and this motivates me.

My only problem so gar is my nutrition. I have been better at eating more during the day, having breakfast and everything, but I didn't keep my hands away from the chocolate. (hello? again?) I am succeeding at eating more protein, which has been a challenge for me as I am a carb person through and through. I am managing though and getting used to it. Mark Lauren also tells us to drink only water, which is not such a big problem for me, as

So let's see what the next week brings me. So far I can totally recommend the challenge, it is a lot of fun and makes you feel like you accomplished something every day!

Sugar Fasting – Recap and 90 days challenge by Mark Lauren - First week

Thank God it was Easter last weekend! It wasn’t that bad, but the great the whole sugar-fasting started, the more difficult it was during the last days of the fastening. Initially, I was really proud how well I managed to stay away from candy of every kind. After a while I ate chocolate from time to time, but only with alternative sweeteners and very mindful.

Once I went to see my grandma. She had made a cake for just the two of us and I told her that I had eaten no sugar since Ash Wednesday, but that I would make an exception for her cake. I could not have lived with disappointing her that way. As it was in the end still my decision to eat those two pieces of apple pie, I could deal with it. There are more important things than diets. It was interesting, how my body reacted to the sweet stuff. At first I was really happy and content and then on the way back home I got lost on the way to find a gas station and when I was finally in the station I was so tempted by the candy bars lying there in front of me, it was peculiar. My blood sugar had dropped apparently and especially in the stressful situation of driving in an unfamiliar neighbourhood, my brain cried for sugar. Interesting. And it felt oddly liberating to finally see and feel very consciously what sugar can do to our brains.

Last weekend we had an absolutely lazy chocolate evening, Mr. Schön and me. I went to the Kiosk and bought a whole bunch of caramelly, nutty chocolate. It was gorgeous to finally eat them again. And I had some nasty ways afterwards. But you know what? I do not feel bad about it. It was a time when I needed some chocolate and it is ok. I know I can fast again, I know I can quit sugar if I want to and that is fine.

Sports have basically not happened this year so far. I am doing some Yoga, sometimes I switch on the Wii for some Zumba, but we have not been running often and apart from the above mentioned, taking the dog for a walk is the most exercise I get. Until now. I am not a big fan of fitness studios and I am lazy, so even though I love swimming, packing my stuff, driving to the pool, changing, swimming, changing again, drying my hair, etc. is just TOO MUCH effort. Workouts have to be as efficient and as homebased as possible. Running is great, because you do not need much equipment and can basically start at your own door. But – here kicks the laziness in again – I am a sunny weather runner. When it is gorgeous outside, I often get motivated to run. If it isn’t (like most of the time in Western Germany) I do not.

A trend that fits my priorities is the whole “Be your own gym” movement, which is weight training without any equipment, but your own body / home. Strolling through a bookstore (one of my favourite leisure time activities of all times), I found a whole bunch of books that introduce workouts only using your own body weight that you can basically do everywhere. And as I like a challenge, I got the 90 days challenge for women by Mark Lauren. (Find it here on amazon. I don’t like the design of the book much, but you know the saying…

In the book you find a lot of explanations why HIT-High Intensity Training – works best for muscle growth and which kind of nutrition helps with the challenge. Mark Lauren is rather critical of cardio training like running, but I think a combination of both should be what makes us super healthy. A typical week in the 90 days challenge consists of three (later four) workouts in different levels of intensity. (So far level 1 is my friend). Between the days of workout there are days of recovery, where you can find tips for your general health, nutrition, well-being, and so on. They are easy to read, informative and a nice change if your body hurts from the brutal work-outs. Lauren used to be a trainer in the US military and the workouts are not easy. But very efficient. Saturday, after I had done the second training session, I was barely able to walk. The muscle pain was really bad. Sore muscles of course always give you feedback on how something is changing in your body and I was surprised at how sore my body got from a few lunges and push-ups. No training so far has taken more than 20 minutes, which is great, because even the hardest training goes by fast in 20 minutes. Today is one day of recovery, but I can already feel how tempted I am to do at least a little bit… I want to take before-pictures and maybe even measure my belly, arms, etc. because I have the feeling that this training can have a lot of effect. And don’t get me wrong, I like my body and I don’t have a weight problem, I just feel that everything could be just a little more toned. Especially my arms, they consist of pudding mostly. But you know what? Even after just five days, I can not only feel but see the effects on my body. My arms have already gotten a bit of a bump. Can you believe it? I had thought I wouldn’t see any effects before two weeks or so. I only just managed to take the "before" pictures or rather "after one week" pictures, but trust me, they count as before. You see that there is a lot of work to be done. I also took my measurements, as weight does not really count if you build u muscles, My measurements in the first week of the 90 days challenge are: 
Breast: 92cm
Waist: 75 cm
Hips: 92 cm
Right upper arm: 27 cm

The plan is to measure again from time to time and take new pictures with the same outfit in the same position to see progress. As mentioned above, even after only one week, I can see the effect in my arms and a bit also on my belly.

It feels really great to actively form the shape of your body and I think Mark Lauren is right when he says that the 90 days challenge can also tone your mind and make you more focused and happier in general. It feels as if that effect is already on it’s way. Let’s see how it goes, I will keep you posted. 

Recent Reading, recent Knitting

Spring is on it's way...

Tomato Plants slowly emerging

As if having a job and doing a PhD wouldn’t give me enough to read, I have been reading like crazy during those last weeks. Maybe, because it has helped my dealing with my sugar addiction to read again and again why it is so bad for you and what you can do to eat healthily instead.

One book that was a good read, but definitely no life-changer for me like “Thrive” was “Pretty happy” by Kate Hudson. I have noticed her wellness / health-approaches through all the ads for her company “Fabletics” that was shown to me on facebook due to my interest in Yoga and wellness I guess. “Pretty happy” focuses around self-love and how to attain it. Sports and nutrition are – not surprisingly – two key elements of feeling great for her. Her nutrition is based on some ideas from Ayurveda, the idea of keeping the level of acids in your food low. I do not completely agree with her concept of nutrition, but she basically says what I hold true: eat mostly vegetables, reduce intake of meat and dairy and keep your fingers from processed food as often as possible. Most interesting for me and what I will definitely take out of the book for myself is her inspiration to put your thoughts / progress / ideas into a “drawing board” or in my case, a journal. I used to write into my journal a lot during my teenage years and it has always helped me a lot. Thanks to Kate Hudson I want to make journal writing more of a priority again. I have started to write into my journal again and there are so many topics I still want to cover. Like everything about our LeanIn Circle and the massive development we have seen there... So many thoughts! Journaling can really help you to cluster your thoughts and see connections where you haven't seen any before.

Catching Ball in Grafenberger Wald

The other book I recently bought is “The Stash Plan” by Laura Prepon and Elisabeth Troy. I have always liked Laura Prepon and admired her work. We have a quite similar body type I think which is why her story of finding a good way to eat to help her to feel awesome spoke to me. Her coach, Elisabeth Troy, a wellness coach, something quite unheard of in Germany I think, impressed me with her concept of integrating Traditional Chinese Medicine into our Western world and applying it to all kinds of clients. Some people might believe the ideas of Meridians as energy pathways inside the body to be humbug, but as I have been relieved from my weekly migraine attacks by acupuncture, I cannot not believe in the concepts of TCM. Troy believes the liver and goal bladder to be crucial to our health and it makes sense if you read about the liver’s task in your body. To make a long story short, I recommend you read the book or check out some of the interviews with Laura and Elisabeth on Youtube to get an idea of what the book is about. I have been making my own beef broth only yesterday and I can definitely say that at least one member of the household absolutely loves it, which is Lisek as he gets to eat leftover bones.

We had another LeanIn Circle meeting the other day and this time I had prepared a kind of workshop on attentive listening, which had been such an eye-opener during my mediation course that I just wanted to share this “gift” of listening. People might think it is easy, but if you are a very outgoing person, always used to share a lot about your life, it can be tricky. The “rules” for it are easy enough, (give the other person your full attention; do not interrupt, ask open questions to get a better understanding of their problem, and that’s it. Do not talk about yourself, just listen.) but it can be a challenge, I can tell. It gets easier after a while and last session’s conclusion was: you always have to “tune in” consciously. Do not get used to it and do not do it all the time, or you and your point of you will get lost, but use it as a tool to make others feel better and to relax a situation. I loved how the others reacted to our little exercise and how much all of them also took out of the workshop.

Next to reading, writing, workshops I have also done some knitting. One of my favourite presents of my 30s birthday was definitely the burgundy red supersoft Merino yarn that some friends gave me for it. Up till now I did not dare to make anything from it, as it no project seemed special enough. And you know what I am doing with it? A plain beanie. Dah! I could have started much earlier. 

Don't you just love that colour?

But to have still some of the great looking yarn for more special projects I ordered some online, so that I do not have the feeling to “waste” all of this special yarn. I am crazy, I know.

To follow the pattern more easily, I adjust Washi tape to the part I am currently knitting.

I also started some stockings in a Norwegian pattern, but I just found out that I do not have enough of the same yarn to finish them. I love the pattern though, so I started the pattern anew and took more of the beautiful red merino wool. The pattern takes me some time to knit it, which is why I have only started, but I am looking forward to owning two beautiful warm knee high socks I made myself. 

The first attempt, I didn't figure  I had not enough of the orange yarn to finish at first. Plus, the pattern is not very well distinguishable,,,

So, I went back to the beuatiful red yarn. The pattern comes out much better.

International Women's Day

A woman is like a tea bag

 – you can’t tell how strong she is until you put her into hot water ~ Eleanor Roosevelt

A little while ago – it has been over a year now – a good friend of mine founded the “Lean in” Circle Düsseldorf. I have written about “Lean In”, it is a book by Sheryl Sandberg, COO of facebook, in which she describes the pitfalls for women in the workplace and the reasons women often don’t make it to top positions in companies. Instead of only blaming the patriarchic system of our society, Sheryl shows that a lot of reasons for the way the world is what it is today lie in our behavior as women. And it is true. I have read the book and I don’t know how many times I nodded and thought “True, this is exactly what I do.” By reflecting, I slowly realized how often I turn myself into the inferior at the workplace. 

Furthermore I have always been someone who preferred to work with men instead of women. Why is that? I used to have a horrible female boss, but have gotten along fine with all the male bosses in my life, which led me to the conclusion that I didn’t want to have a woman as a boss again. Utter stupidity. Plus, I now understand my former boss much better and regret how I used to judge her.

Women in the workplace (or wherever, even on the streets) judge each other. All the time. I am no exception. Either I feel superior – by the way I talk / dress / even about the stuff I shop at the grocery store compared to other women – or I feel insecure by the way the other women talk / dress / buy great stuff  - and then I feel an even bigger distance between us. “Lean In” opened my eyes here. If we do not work together as women and appreciate one another, how will we ever change society and make it more equal? It shook me to the core and made me see a lot of conflicts and insecurity around me in a different light.

While I was at university I had the feeling that there was no gender gap that would concern me. Naïve as I was I saw the female professors, leading our department, being just as powerful as the men, never thinking about the fact that, e.g. all of the secretaries were women. Once I was out in the business world, I started to feel that something was not right. Men, even my superiors in the jobs, could make sexist comments and it seemed to be tolerated by everyone. It felt very much 1960s to me. Disillusioning. 

I am deeply grateful for the change my friend Amanda brought into my life and actually the life of all of the women who have joined the Düsseldorf Circle. We meet on a pretty regular basis and the appreciating atmosphere, the sharing and the feel of support for each other can be uplifting and make me feel quite powerful. It feels like this could be the beginning of something new and important and although I am often tired when I go to the events in the evening, I always take so much out of them that it is worth the effort every single time.

We are covering topics from as broad as happiness to as narrow as attentive listening. It’s all in there. And all of the women attending have their own special skills, ready to share them and to learn from one another. It feels a little bit magical. Even if this sounds weird to you, you should go and try to join a Circle in your city and who knows, maybe you will have the same amazing experience. Maybe you won’t. And you know what? This would still be ok.

And it is awesome that it is ok…

Listen to Sheryl Sandberg in her owns words here 

Check out Emma Watson’s approach to the topic. Such an amazing woman! 

Knitting is a great way to keep you busy while craving chocolate...

You can never have enough puppy pictures...

Yesterday it has been three weeks of no sugar. I am holding up quite well, although I have experienced some craving those few last days. I often suffer from PMS and this time it hit me especially bad. I am proud that I didn’t give in though. I just ate a lot. And I mean a lot! But not the sugar that my body was craving. Usually I have no self discipline whatsoever on those days, I basically run to the supermarket and put everything into my shopping cart that is loaded with sugar, chocolate and caramel. I managed to stay away from the stuff this time, but it was hard. Saturday morning I did not only have the worst kind of cramping, but felt really sick and could not eat at first. It was worse than usually, but maybe I had some kind of infection at the same time.

Yesterday, while at the supermarket, I was tempted by the “industrial sugar free” isle and took home with me those two babies. They cost a whopping 3.50€ per piece, but I wanted to give myself a treat, so I did. The chocolate is sweetened by coconut-blossoms, so not really sugar-free, but at least no processed sugar. I ate a little piece of the coconut flavoured one and it was MAGICAL! The good thing was though, I was satisfied after the little piece and did not need more of it.

Ombar you get it in German drugstore dm. Yummie!

I have noticed several things about my brain and mind while being without the usual candy-dose: they are working much better! I am less tired, less moody and my memory is much better. Furthermore, I am motivated to move, to run, to do Yoga, to take the dog on a long walk. (Ok, I won’t deny, the awesome spring weather those last days has helped big time, too.) In one movie I have seen they tested the effect of sugar on the brain. The hippocampus, responsible for memory function and personality has been proved to be damaged by too much sugar intake. I used to be forgetful all the time, I forgot things that I had said and done, events that should have had a huge impact on my memory. My memory loss proved to be so profound that Mr. Schön was sometimes really worried (and also annoyed) about living with someone having the memory of a goldfish. Maybe it is just wishful thinking and knowing about the effect on the brain, but I have the feeling that my memory has gotten much better and I am more able to focus on one thing at a time. (By the way, Mr Schön got infected with the idea of sugar-fasting, but he has decided to indulge on weekends. I am proud to say that so far I have not been tempted, even when he was sitting next to me, enjoying chocolate.) A nice side effect, I have lost a pound per week since I started sugar fasting, without ever going hungry. To further motivate me, I read all I can about sugar and nutrition. This new German book is a lot about the body chemistry while digesting. Very interesting, but not always so easy to understand for a laywoman. 

Knitting is a great way to keep yourself busy in front of the tv if normally you were snacking. I don’t know about you, but I am terrible with all my projects, I almost never finish them at once, so you can find a lot of UFOs in our flat, Unfinished Objects. Elephant socks almost finished for our neighbor, a big shawl, a half-finished cardigan… Finally I took up the work on one cropped cardigan again that I have knitted ages ago. The back seemed to be way to broad, so I got frustrated and let it rot in a corner of my knitting basket. A few weeks ago I found it again and a friend suggested to knit a collar on it, tightening it. I did that yesterday on my way to work and hey, it doesn’t look too bad. The colour is a really beautiful deep red, and the fabric is surprisingly soft, so it would have been a pity not to finish it. On the way back I started with the missing sleeve, the last part of it and by tomorrow it is going to be finished. I like the style of Bernadette in the Big Bang Theory and wanted to have a small cardigan to put over dresses. Voilà! My next project (new project, ahem…) is going to be a Miette. (http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/miette) I have always wanted to make one, but so far was too lazy to follow the English instructions. A friend of mine, she is Australian, has bravely started to knit a German pattern, as though it is really hard for her, all the abbreviations of the German knitting terms, so I feel like an idiot, shying away from an easy English pattern. Miette it is. Then I will have one more nice cardigan to wear on my dresses.

My cousin’s wife wrote to me yesterday, that they badly need a new hat for their son, as he loves the hat I made him so much, he refuses to wear anything else. By now the old one is pretty drawn already, plus too small, so I started with a new one yesterday. I had written the pattern myself, it is not complicated at all, but apparently, little Lukas likes it a lot, so I also tried to find matching colours, hoping he will like his new hat just like the old one. I also started a new one, in different colours, so maybe they can wash one while he is wearing the other one, but kids know what they want and maybe he does not fancy the new orange/yellow one, which I admit looks a bit crazy.  It is, of course, a big compliment that he loves my knitting so much J

A copy of the hat that Lukas loves so much

Will he like the bright orange? I don't know... 

The pattern is really easy. It came to me after talking with Mr. Schön about how digital "code" consists of only 0s and 1s. 

Two friends of mine on a stroll last Sunday

Lisek of the leafs