Namaste

As I mentioned in a previous post, I started practicing yoga. I always wanted to try it, and there is a really promising studio on our street, which eventually I am going to try out, I just wanted to make sure at home, that I like it, I enjoy it, and I can benefit from it. I know it sounds silly, because literally millions of people practice yoga and they swear by it, but that doesn't necessary mean, that it is for me. Anyway, I was on a hunt for a good yoga youtuber. I tried out quite a few, but I always had the same problem with them. Way too fast for me, difficult poses, weird explanations. I wanted something understandable, I wanted someone who can explain stuff easily, but they don't take themselves too seriously. I never take myself seriously, and I like quirky people. 

I am happy to say, that I found the perfect yoga youtuber. :) Some of you, who are into yoga might already know her, because she is quite popular, I think. Let me introduce you to Adriene. 

The first practice I did with her was her 20 minutes beginners yoga. and I actually enjoyed it so much, that I was very sad, that it ended. I felt great, she explained everything just the way I needed it. And I love her way of thinking about yoga, she keeps emphasizing, that yoga is different for everyone, and just because her, or someone you saw practicing yoga before looks like this or that during a pose, it doesn't necessary mean, that you have to look the exact same. Our bodies are different, some of us have long legs, some have short arms, we won't look the same doing a similar pose. Do what feels nice, while trying to do it the way it should be. If it makes sense. I love this, and this is what I do during my practice. I started noticing a difference now, in my balance, and I am a wee bit more flexible. 

I find yoga a very good counter workout for running. Running is still a kind of meditation for me, as I run alone and I just completely focus on myself, but practicing yoga is a different kind of awareness. I like how I connect with the ground, how I literally feel my organs starting to work and do what they should do. I did a couple of her videos already, and I am going to keep exploring her channel, because I enjoy all of her videos so much. Now that the weather is getting more and more rainy, I am glad that I still can do something with my body, when the conditions are not good for running. I don't mind the cold or the wind on a run, but when it is pouring down, I just can't go out for a run. But then I am happy, because there is still yoga to do!

I actually enjoy it so much, that even tho today was a lovely day, and I went for an hour long run, I still did one of her practices later in the evening, just because I wanted to do yoga as well. I love it, that she makes me want to come back and practice some more and more. This is how I imagine a great trainer. Go, check her out! She is amazing.

Update with a photo :)

It has been 2 months since I last posted a comparing picture about my progress, so I decided to update you guys on this. If you follow me on instagram you might have seen it already, but anyway. :) I don't have a picture from the day I started changing my diet, so I am using a selfie from last year, which was taken literally a year ago yesterday. 

This is the picture from the 23rd of July

And this is yesterday, 30th of September

-15.1 kg so far. I would like to lose 25 more, at least. So I am almost halfway through, which feels kinda nice. :) The past couple of weeks I started doing 2 runs a week (almost 8 kilometers each time!), and 1 yoga. At home just now, just started to get the hang of it. I will tell you guys later who I found on youtube who is finally not expecting a full beginner to do the craziest shit on the first try. :D The weather treats me, I can still run outside, and don't even need to have warm gear on, but I am going to need to look into more warmer running clothes for the winter, so if you have any recommendations where to look for them, I would be more than happy.

My diet is still the same, lots of fruits and veggies, trying to eat the whole wheat version of everything, and no sugar. I have the occasional wee cake or a slice of pizza, but everyone needs to treat themselves every once in a while, right? I still write in my food journal daily, so I can check what my body likes or dislikes, how my weight reacts to the food I ate the previous day. It is almost full now, so there is an other reason to go to Paperchase again, yay!

I will try to post more I promise, I just lost the inspiration to write, but that didn't mean I stopped doing what I started, as you see it in the pictures. :)

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.