Weight loss update

Hello there! How's your monday going so far?

So it has been a little while since I have updated my weight loss project. Well, it's actually going great. Slowly but steady. I'm still having my smoothie (almost) every morning, and I'm really considering buying a juicer (so that I can incorporate more greens into my morning drink).

A Shrek smoothie (personal photo)

I've been very active (sports-wise) and thus have incorporated more snacks into my day. What I'm loving right now are apples with peanut or almond butter :D

(personal photo)

As for my workout, I have been running 3-4 times a week, lifted weights and recently discovered Zumba fitness. I had been a little reluctant trying Zumba, because I'm always reluctant to fitness and diet trends, but I must said, I'm completely sucked in by the craze! It's honestly the closest I've come to exercise without knowing it! Seriously! If you love music and love to dance, it's definitely for you. It's also great to tone your abs and define your waist.

I've lost 17 pounds so far, and I look forward to loosing 20 more pounds :) Woohoo, getting real healthy  over here!

Have a great day :)

Getting myself some oooooom-ph

Hello you all! Hope you're having a great sunday! Mine has been a blast so far :)

I started the day by sleeping in (which I almost never do) and getting a healthy start of the day by blending myself a smoothie and cooking up some oatmeal with maple syrup, cinnamon and a shredded apple. Nothing better than oatmeal in winter time, yum!

In the spirit of healthyness, I then went to the gym and did 30 minutes on the treadmill, followed by an hour and a half of yoga. My legs felt like noodles afterwards, but it's all for the best, right?

I'm still keeping on track with my diet and fitness regime, and I'm so impressed with myself! But I'm also getting annoyed with the gym because it's January! Meaning that there are TONS of people now! Not that there is anything wrong with that, but I get a little antsy when I have to wait in line in order to get on a treadmill and torture myself.... hmmm. Oh well, I guess by mid-February this will all be over, eh?

Happy sunday :)

Mission weight loss

I thought I should give you a brief update on my weight loss and fitness mission. Since I need to loose a dress size to fit my bridal gown, I'm very motivated I have to admit! As I told you some time ago, I have started a new workout regime in order to tighten up and loose weight. I have been working out 3-5 times a week, trying to burn 500 calories in each session. I usually achieve this by:

Cardio: 
- treadmill: alternating 1 minute of walking with 1 minute of running for 30 minutes (burns 300 calories)
- rowing machine: 10 minutes at fast pace (burns 100 calories)
- crosstrainer: 10 minutes at level 4 (burns 100 calories)

Weight training:
The machines I use vary, but I train my arms especially, my back and my stomach. If there's time, I'll also do leg exercises. (Calories burned: ? I don't know!)

I must admit that I kind of got addicted to running on the treadmill.... It's really strange because I've ALWAYS disliked that.. for obvious reason: 1. it's boring as hell, 2. it's repetitive, and 3. It's sooo boring! But now.... I have no idea what happened to me! Now it's all about running faster and longer.... it's like a small competition going on between me and.. me! But hey I'm not complaining, it's great!

As I told you some time ago, I got addicted to starting my days with a fruit smoothie. And I still am!

Delicious! (source)

I also enjoy adding a hand full of spinach to the smoothie, which makes it even healthier! And now that we're in the middle of orange season, I squeeze a few oranges and add the juice, it's sooo nice!

On the diet front, I already live pretty healthily, with plenty of veggies. I am consciously trying to get more whole grains and legumes in my menus, and avoiding fatty dairy products.

So all in all: I have lost 6 pounds since the beginning of my workout and weight loss endeavors. I'm psyched and simply need to keep it up and it won't be any problem to fit in my gown on my wedding day :)

Any other dieting brides out there? Have you been successful in achieving your weight loss goals up to the big day?

Breath in, breath out....

I have actually been a very good girl when it comes to my workout regime! I have been running, bicycling, rowing and going to aerobics classes. Today, I felt that I needed to do something a little bit more relaxing, so I took a yoga class together with a good friend of mine.

Now I've been to yoga before, even in real yoga studios where it won't get any more intense than that. But today, man did I not know what was coming! Instead of having a 90 minute long relaxing workout, it was a 90 minute long toughen-up-and-power-through class! After the first 25 minutes, we really felt like leaving, but my friend and I agreed that it would probably be rude to leave in the middle of things.... oh and also, we were quite sure that the instructor would have chased us down the corridor and dragged us back to finish the class, so we decided to stay and work through the pain and the zillions of very awkward positions.

We were pretty wasted when we came out of there, but in the end, pretty darned proud of ourselves that we stayed! We celebrated with a chai-latte - ya know, since it's Christmas and all. But I probably won't go back to this particular yoga class any time soon! I mean I don't mind getting yelled at during my nasty boxing-combat classes (tae-bo), or screaming really bad words during my not-so-relaxing runs on the treadmill, but as far as yoga goes, I'll hang on to my more relaxing sun greetings' classes.

A lazy day

This morning when I got up, this is what I saw from my window:

Pretty darn grey, eh? 

Ya, and friggin' cold! Actually, they predicted snow later in the day! So after having walked our dog, let's call him Little Louis shall we, I sank into the sofa. Even Little Louis didn't feel like doing much:

Since I now am unemployed, I was pretty happy not having to get dressed and get out in that weather again. Instead, I prepared a nice smoothie (banana, frozen strawberries and blueberries), a hot cup of coffee and whole wheat Ciabatta bread with black olive tapenade (my new obsession!).

 

Doesn't it look nice and healthy?

Actually, this is part of my new, healthier lifestyle. A few months ago, I vowed to start every day with a big glass of water and a dairy-free smoothie. And surprisingly, I actually stuck with that ever since! Usually, my morning smoothie consists of:

1 banana

4-5 frozen strawberries

2 tablespoons of frozen blueberries

1 glass of water

In summer time, I used fresh berries and varied them a lot. I also LOVE mango in the smoothie! And mint! Although not at the same time.... or? I also like to add 1 tablespoon of almond butter to the smoothie, it gives it a creamier texture. A little bit of coconut milk is also delicious. Sometimes I blend in a peeled apple as well, or a handful of fresh baby spinach (yo, don't make that scrunchy face! It's really good.... well you don't actually taste the spinach when served this way!).

Another big decision that I took New Year's Eve last year, is to go vegetarian. I have also honored that commitment ever since! More power to me ;)  I feel great and haven't missed meat or poultry at all, quite surprisingly, but I admit that I have really missed fish and seafood, so I'll have that about 2-3 times a month, until I'm ready to phase it out completely. Also at some point, after learning about the life of milk cows, I also avoided all dairy, but I couldn't hold it on the long term. What I missed most? CHEESE! I. love. cheese. Since I'm originally Swiss, I guess it's in my genes! So I now allow myself a good, organic cheese once in a while, and I buy organic milk (which I only use in my coffee). Maybe one day I'll have the strength to completely give up milk and cheese....

Since the weather calls for a lazy day, I'm getting all cozy in the sofa, with Little Louis, and I'll surf for wedding dresses on the net. I probably should work out later.... we'll see how that goes with all that laziness.... 

I think we found our venue!

After having searched through the internet and all of our friends in the quest of the perfect venue, I think we finally found it: a tennis club! I do not have any pictures yet, but I'll post some later. The tennis club is located about 20 km north of Copenhagen. The club house is nicely isolated from the neighboring houses and is surrounded by tennis courts, pretty grass lawns and big old trees. I can really picture our outdoor ceremony on one of the lawns, our reception on the big wooden patio and a BBQ dinner in the cozy surroundings of the club house. Perfect location for a summer wedding! More on that coming soon.

Other than that, I am proud to tell you that I am still going strong with my workout regimen! I have done my cardio on the cross-trainer and my arm toning exercises :-) I have also done the Pilates stomach muscle series.. twice! I can now hardly laugh without getting sore, but hey, it's worth it, right?

Following up on my workout

So I just thought that I would pop by to tell the world (well, if the teeny-tiny audience that actually reads this post can account for the WHOLE world....), I actually exercised yesterday! Not today though.... but that's not the point, I worked out for a full 60 minutes yesterday. Congrats to me!

Please forgive me if I am boring you to tears with my workout & diet posts (because there will be many more to come!), but since it is a big part of my journey to my wedding day, it also takes up a huge space in my head right now. And it will probably stay that way until I'm firmly routed in my routine.... (great choice of words ;) So here's yesterday's workout:

Cardio:
30 minutes on the cross-trainer (equals 300 kcal burned, yeeesssssa)
Weights:
the 25-minutes arm workout from Kathy Kaehler's book (which she trained Jennifer Aniston with, so if that will give me Jennifer's arms, then hell I'll do the workout every day from now on! Let me just deny genetics for a little while, pleeeease! I mean look at her, sooo pretty)

(source)

....and that dress, wooaw! I really like it.... it could be a wedding dress, couldn't it??

Well, moving on. So, I didn't exactly plan a "rest" day today, but it sort of happened to become one, so here is my workout for tomorrow:

Cardio:
30 minutes on the cross-trainer
Weights:
The same arm workout (I told ya I was goin' to do that every freakin' day!)
Kim Kardashian's lower body workout (the dvd - and who doesn't want her bootylicious body ;)

For the upcoming week-end, I'll probably do some more cardio on both saturday and sunday (I might go to the gym this time, to run on the treadmill - which is like the most boring way of exercising ever!) and I'll throw in some Pilates, which I absolutely LOVE. I love the calming pace of the exercises and the its effectiveness; plus it is the only workout that has ever given me a flat and trimmed tummy before! But that's a few years back unfortunately, ahem! Jumpin' right back on the wagon!