Why do I enjoy running?

Earlier, even this year, I honestly thought, that people who run are crazy. The only experience I had with running, were the high school PE lessons, when everyone had to run around the school like a mad man, and no one cared if you had asthma, or a sore knee, or you just hated running. So making the decision that I am going to start running was quite hard. And the first couple of times I went out were even harder. Dundee is a giant pile of hills, so you can rarely find a land for running, where you don't have to battle up the hill. This is I think the only reason, why I am still not able to run for a long period of time without walking, because every 10 minutes I reach a point, where I have to climb up again, and I am not strong enough yet to run up the hill. But I will get there.

Anyway, back to the topic. I think it took like 3-4 weeks, but after that I said to myself, ok, I like this. Not because of the feeling during running. I just started liking that like 3 weeks ago. My main motivator is the feeling I have after I finish. When I get home, sweating like a dog, trying to catch my breath, and then I look at my app, and see the kilometers I just ran, and I feel like wonder woman. And after my shower, when I drink my green tea, I have this healthy feeling, which I can't really explain, but I feel like my body is happy and is working as it should. 

And it is true what they say, that a lot of things will get easier and better, just because you work out. I feel generally happier, my mood is better than before. My skin is better, don't really have spots any more. It is great for digestion and the bowels as well. 

What I also like about running: the other runners. Everyone smiles at me. Such a great motivator, it is like a secret club, when you see the other, and you don't have to say a word, you just look at each other, and know what the other is thinking, and you just run away smiling.

This is might be a local thing, but it is not just the runners, who look and smile at you. I run next to a hospital, and a lot of the staff comes out to the park to have their lunch (and a cigarette, which I hate personally, but it is their choice). Everyone smiles, sometimes they even say hello, or well done. I remember, when my husband and I started running years ago back in Hungary, we always went late in the afternoon, night even, just to avoid as many people as we could, as it was quite common to hear "run fatty", or laughing when we passed. It is just a different environment here altogether, which I adore.

I know, that running is not for everyone, it can be quite hard on the joints, and some people just can't get breath during it, so I am not trying to force everyone into running. But if you are looking for a workout, running is free (well almost, you need proper shoes), and it might be something you will enjoy, so it does worth a try. :)

How to compliment someone who is losing weight

So since my weight loss became quite visible (-14 kilos so far), I get a lot of compliments, and it does feel good. But sometimes even if I don't show it, it surprises me what people say. I never say anything rude back, because they obviously are trying to be nice and compliment me, but if they just thought for a second, they would realise it is not really the nicest thing to say what they just did. Let me give you an example. This is what I heard the other day: 

Well done you, you have a shape now, look at your waist! 

Cheers, are you saying that 4 months ago I looked like a brick? Because it is not true at all, I always had a waist, I always had an hourglass figure, I am just getting smaller, but not any prettier. I know she was just trying to be nice, so I just sad a polite thank you, but honestly I felt a bit offended. 

If someone around you is losing weight, do compliment them, because it feels nice and it will boost their mood and determination. But make sure, you do NOT bash their previous body. Don't say oh, look, you are so gorgeous now! Look how pretty you became! 

Instead try to say: well done, you! You look healthy! You are losing weight, congrats, keep it up! Try to say something nice without implying, that they were ugly, fat and not pleasant to look at beforehand. There is the same person inside the different body. 

DIY Body scrub

When it comes to body scrubs, I always think twice before spending money. The reason is quite simple, I don't think an expensive scrub would do anything, that regular sugar can't. I do love to smell The Body Shop scrubs for example, I tried the raspberry one and it smelled divine, but I still think it is too expensive. 

Most of the time I am too lazy to DIY my own body products, but the body scrub is an exception. Here is how I make mine. 

Ingredients

1 cup of regular sugar 

3 tablespoons of coconut oil

3 tablespoons of olive oil

1 teaspoon of lemon juice

Method

There is no trick really, if you live in a cold climate like myself, melt your coconut oil before mixing it in to make it easier, but if it is melted already, you just mix everything together in a jar, and voilà, you have your own body scrub. Takes literally a minute. You can use brown sugar if you want to, but the thing we need here is the particles, and regular sugar is way cheaper than brown, so why waste money. 

I like this scrub, because sometimes store bought scrubs contain plastic exfoliating beads, and they don't dissolve in water, therefore they end up in the ocean, birds/fish eat it and they can die from it. Not nice. This only contains natural stuff, and makes your skin super soft. :)

A little trick I used on my wedding day: Shave first, then exfoliate with this body scrub, then shave again! This way you can cut the hairs closer to their roots, and the silky smooth feeling will lasts longer. 

The oils and the sugar can separate a bit, so make sure you stir it up with your fingers before using. :) 

The "Under 100 Club"

Speaking about weight is a dodgy thing. Most people gets offended when it is brought up. Even in medical situations, when I worked as a midwife trainee and asked women their weight, they felt attacked. But of course it was the most important to know, as if there was any emergency, you need to know the doses of the drugs for her. Anyway. 

I hated scales for a long period of time. They made me face the reality, and I didn't like it. I knew, it would show me a number that would have made me upset, so I just ignored it. Now since I started this lifestyle change, of course I own a scale, and use it regularly. Every time I step on it, I still have that feeling, that I need to get away from it, but it gets less and less intense every day.

Today was the first time, I had a genuine big smile on my face, looking at the screen of the scale. It said 99,5 kg. I can't tell you, when was the last time I was under a 100 kilos, but I am sure it was almost a decade ago. I felt so happy, I just can't even describe it. Gave me such a motivation boost, I just galloped to the kitchen to prepare my fruit bowl for lunch. I know it is still a lot (bare in mind, I am 1.75 meters tall), but I am under a 100! I reached an other milestone, and it just gave me a big boost to go harder and be more motivated.

Update about my running: I reached week 9 with my app, so I am finishing the training this week. Now I run for 30 minutes (still need a 50 meters walk in the middle - gonna write an other post about it, because it annoys me), and I reached 5 kilometres, going for almost 6 now. :) I am also thinking about starting yoga, there is a studio on our street, so it is quite convenient. It is so nice that I actually want to do these things, not just forcing myself into them. Change is really an amazing thing. 

Spinach in a smoothie?!

So when I got into smoothies I researched a lot about recipes, what can I put in it, etc. I heard from youtubers before, that they put greens in their smoothies, but never really crossed my mind to try it. But then I saw a bag of baby spinach in the shop the other day, and I felt like I need to make a smoothie with it. This is my first attempt, but won't be my last. :)

Ingredients

one handful of strawberries

one handful of pineapple pieces

one handful of spinach leaves 

fresh apple juice

The spinach leaves make the smoothie quite creamy and rich, I love it. You can hardly tell by the taste, that there is something "weird" in it, so it is definitely a way to put some green leaves into a picky child who wouldn't eat it otherwise. The colour of the smoothie is a wee bit greener, but nothing major, so this is a good trick. 

The other benefit of this smoothie is, that you get extra fibres, so it makes you full for a longer period of time. And of course you get the benefits of the spinach. :) I will definitely try more greens in my smoothies in the near future. 

Whole wheat apple pie

I live in the country of savoury pies, but to be honest, pies will always be sweet to me. I tried a lot of different fillings, but I always go back to the basics: apple. This is my recipe, it is made from whole wheat flour only, and just a wee drop of brown sugar, so it is perfect, if you want to bake something impressive, but still want to stick to your diet. 

Ingredients

Dough:

500 g whole wheat flour

250 g butter or baking margarine

pinch of salt

ice cold water

Filling:

1 kg of apples

2 tablespoons of cinnamon

1 tablespoon of brown sugar

3 tablespoons of oats

Method

Cut your butter/margarine up to small cubes. We need it cold and hard, so this way it is going to be easier to crumble it together with the flour. Mix the salt in with the flour, then add the butter cubes, and work them together, till you can only see crumbles of the butter. Then add the water, small amounts at a time. Try to be as quick as possible, so the butter won't melt from the heat of your palms. Once it is done, throw the dough in the fridge, while you are preparing your apples. 

Peal the apples, then cut them up. I like to leave them quite chunky, the more rustic the better the pie. :) Sprinkle them with the cinnamon and the brown sugar, and put them aside. Preheat your oven to 180 degrees (Celsius). Make two balls from your pie dough. Roll one of them flat, measure it to your pie dish (I use this from IKEA). It has to be bigger than your dish, so your filling won't come out of it. Once it is big enough, roll the dough on your rolling pin, then put it in your pie dish. The dough breaks easily, but this way you have your best chances. :) Sprinkle your oats at the base of your pie, it will absorb all the yummy apple juice that comes out during baking. Then add your apples. For the top layer of dough you can just roll an other sheet of dough, and put it over the fruits. Just make sure you poke some holes in the dough with a fork, so the steam can come out. Or you can do what I did. It takes longer, but it is sooo pretty it worth the time. Just cut 1 cm thick strips from your dough, then start putting them on your pie, and weave them together. 

When you are finished, go around your pie and cut the excess dough off, then push the bottom and the top layer together with a fork. To make sure the outer edge of your pie won't burn, protect it with a strip of tinfoil like this. Now it is time for baking. Halfway through (when you can see the top getting a bit brown), take your tinfoil off. The pie should be in the oven for 25-30 minutes. 

After removing from the oven, let it cool down, because it can easily fall apart when you cut in it while still hot. Try to be patient, I know it smells like heaven. :) 

Let me know if you try this recipe out, I would love to see photos as well! 

You look great! What is your secret?

I changed my lifestyle 3 months ago now, so of course people started noticing the difference. I am going to be honest with you, it feels quite nice when people notice and compliment. What is funny, when they start asking about my secret. Everyone in the world wants magic. Not the Harry Potter type (of course I want that as well tho!), but the Jabberwocky type. Which will revolutionize the way we do business weighloss. (Let me know in the comments below if you understood the reference. Virtual high five.) Everything seems easier, when there is a secret ingredient you never heard of. That is why you never managed before, because you didn't try the thing. Wether if it is losing weight, or starting your own business, or moving to a different country, there has to be a secret. There has to be something, which makes it easier, and since you don't have that secret, it is not your fault that you never managed before. There has to be a pill, a prayer, a ritual or something. 

(source)

 Well I am sorry to say, there is no spoon secret. If you want to change, and you want your results to last, you just have to work for it. You just have to start eating right, start walking, running, cycling, and believing in yourself. There are some pills and powders and stuff that might work for a short period of time, and can make you feel that you still can eat a large pizza from Dominos and lose weight at the same time, but trust me, they are not good for you. Eating right and working out is good for you. And you will see it in the long run, that it was the right choice. When you eat right and don't make your system do crazy things, your body will transform at its own pace, and it is less likely that you end up with loose skin all over, and you won't look sick during the process. Sometimes, when people do silly things to lose weight (either taking pills or just starving themselves for a couple of weeks), you can see dark circles under their eyes, they don't look healthy at all. I don't feel or look sick. I am comfident even without make up. 

You know what? I might have a secret. My secret is me. And you have yours as well. You just have to find it. It is there, I am sure. Just look for it.