Health & Happiness

Health & Happiness

I've changed the blog title to "A Quest For Health & Happiness" (the url remains the same, though) because I feel this blog shouldn't be about physical health and fitness only, but also about mental health and happiness.

As you know, I've been suffering from depression since childhood. This mental disorder is, unfortunately, part of who I am. 

When starting this blog not long ago, all I had in mind was losing weight, changing eating habits, and working out regularly. Since then I've come to realize this won't happen as long as I'm not changing my mindset completely. Getting fitter physically isn't enough, I have to work on my mental health, too.

So let's see how this will work out in the future. 

Favorite Foods Aren't Favorites Anymore

I don't know why, but since I've had the flu I stopped wanting to eat certain foods. I don't even crave some of my favorites anymore. Why is that? Does anybody know?

Suddenly, I keep thinking about pizza all the time. And I seem to always be thirsty. I used to go a whole day without drinking anything, but now I'm suddenly aware of thirst. That has never happened before! Weird. Why has that changed?

Bento Box

It has happened: The bento-fever has grabbed me, too! :)

Have you ever heard of bentos? Seen pictures of cute bento boxes filled with laughing food? Yes, I meant that: laughing food. Because it does laugh sometimes. 

Check out these cute sites to learn more about bentos:

• BentoLunch.net
• Bento Monsters
• Bento School Lunches
• Happy Little Bento

I own quite a few lunch boxes but none offers the possibilities my new bento box (photo above) comes with.  I love the three compartments which keep different kinds of food seperate. I'm looking forward to fixing myself my first lunch in this box. 

I think fixing bentos for myself will make it easier to make healthy choices about food. I've already made a list of things I need to get from the grocery store tonight. I wish I could go earlier but I'm still waiting for the guy who's supposed to get the internet up and running. I hate it when they tell you to be at home between 1 p.m. and 5 p.m. because somebody may or may not show up and help you.

I'm really worried about this whole changing-the-provider-thing...

This is a post of A Quest For Health & Fitness.

Eating Crap

What I hate about the Christmas season is that temptation lurks in every corner. I cannot withstand cookies, no way! Can you?

I find it pretty hard to be conscious about what I eat when D and I are leading our regular lifes. We eat out a lot and I always choose to eat something I like and not some boring salad. Whenever D is on duty somewhere else where he has to stay overnight, I find it easier to make healthier food choices because nobody tempts me with the suggestion of eating out.

Has anybody else experienced something like this?

There is still no regular internet connection in our home and I am still using my smartphone for short blog posts.

Thanks to all of you for your kind comments. I have not answered directly yet because using the phone for this kind of correspondence is so annoying. How do you manage to type fast on these things?

Cyber Monday

by Sal 

I indulged in Amazon's Cyber Monday yesterday and ordered a heart rate monitor (this one) which was 30% off. Can't wait for it to arrive at my doorstep! I hope it will be easy to use.

Do you use a heart rate monitor when working out? What are your experiences? Anything I have to keep in mind when using mine?

It has been raining most of the day and I can't get rid of that stupid migraine. I don't feel like doing anything, really. My doc advised me not to work out during migraine attacks because the pain, sickness, and dizzyness will most likely get worse when exercising (it's true, I found out the hard way).

I feel bad about having eaten crap for lunch (cheeseburger & chicken nuggets). I made better choices for dinner: pita bread filled with tzaziki sauce and cucumber slices (less than 300 kcals). Will have raspberries and low-fat yoghurt for dessert in a minute (less than 200 kcals).

Still, today's carb intake was way too much. My goal is staying below 175 g of carbs but I had 224 g today. Where did most of that come from? They hid in the 5 wholegrain cookies I had early in the morning (43 g) and in both the cheeseburger sandwich and the pita bread (33 g each). I consumed more carbs when drinking a glass of banana-cherry juice... 30 g. Argh. Will only drink water and tea tomorrow (and cappucino because I can't live without it).

Running Slowly & Eating Healthy

by Sal

My new running shirt (by Tchibo).

Running Slowly

It's getting chilly and I can hardly motivate myself to go outside for long. It starts getting dark earlier and earlier, too. Sundown is at ~5 p.m.

Fortunately, I'm a dog-owner, so I had yet another chance to go out and jog. I run very slowly so that both  Flo and I can manage without starting to feel uncomfortable and our (my) sides starting to hurt.

Flo takes it very well, and so, surprisingly, do I. At first, I wasn't sure about taking her running because she's already 10 years old. But after finding the Pooch To 5k website, I decided to take her with me and just see if she'd start running on her own or not. I'm glad she did. If she hadn't, I would just have walked. Naturally, she pauses more often than I do, but that's no problem. I just wait for her, running in place. We've jogged for 10 minutes on Monday and another 10 minutes today (Thursday). 

I have no idea if this kind of slow jogging helps me build endurance. It's probably better than not moving at all.

Any advice on how to run/walk/exercise with an older dog? 

Eating Healthy

Another day of making healthier food choices. I had whole wheat bread with low-fat edam cheese and 4 oat cookies for breakfast. For lunch, I committed another sin and had a warm brownie topped with ice cream. For dinner, I'll have another slice of whole wheat bread & cheese and a soup. Desser will be strawberries and low-fat yoghurt. I was drinking water or tea throughout the day, but I couldn't resist a small mug of cappucino for lunch.

Today's calory intake will probably be around 1,600 after I've had dinner.

Does that sound healthy enough? Do you think it's okay to commit small eating sins every other day?

I'm A Sinner

by Sal 

Here's my confession:

Yesterday, I had to pieces of delicious, awesome, yummy cake with whipped cream on top. I wish I could have another piece wouldn't have eaten it.

Afterwards, I knew I would never be able to limit my calories intake to 1,400. I consumed about 2,000 calories yesterday. The dog and I took an extra long walk to compensate a little for my sin.

Fortunately, the only person I need to forgive me for this "sin" is myself. And I do forgive my weaker, hungrier self - because the cake really was awesome. 

Still, I feel a little bad about me giving in to temptation. I tried to eat healthy today. I had (in no particular order):

• two slices of whole-wheat bread, 
• two slices of edamer cheese, 
• four oat cookies,
• strawberries,
• low-fat yoghurt,
• oatmeal,
• a tiny, tiny piece of dark chocolate (70 calories),
• one chai latte (67 calories),
• water

This adds up to about 1,400-1,500 calories. I think that's okay, don't you? I also briskly walked for an additional half hour. 

Are you "sinning" sometimes? Do you allow yourself to give in to some cravings? What do you do to resist?