June 5

I had a very rare day off, so I went on a slightly longer run (5 miles) with sprints. I was tired. Then I showered and ate a banana with soy yogurt, soy milk, oats, and yummy coconut granola. And then I ate more granola with generic brand smacks. And more soy milk. I was lazy for a while, then rode my bike into Hannover, walked around, wrote letters, shopped (ugh), and drank and Eiskaffee. shhhh it's not a dessert. But really there was basically no ice cream in there. I got 1 bite. And there wasn't even milk in the coffee. Plus Rachel and I decided we get one small treat a day. Which is all fine and dandy except then I was in the Kaufhof and even though I said I wouldn't, I couldn't resist the Lindt truffles. I had 3, but I didn't eat vegetables so it evens out right? I rode home and Florian was the only one in the kitchen. I'm bad at making awkward conversation, especially in German, and there weren't really any veggies in the fridge and I wasn't super hungry so I just went back to my room and ate an apple and chai powder mix I got today. Don't worry I drank it with water.  I ended up going into the backyard and doing some of the tough mudder bootcamp workout. It was hard! I also climbed a rope which was way harder than it should be (how on earth did I ever do this with no legs?!?). And now I'm going to bed too late again, surprise!

June 4

I woke up early but didn't do anything. I had 1/2 banana, peanut butter, yogurt and oats for breakfast, and then laid in my bed and watched a movie. I love kindergarten, I actually have free time again! The twins go till 12 now! Eventually I got out of bed and did a pretty intense yoga sesh, then ate leftovers from Friday. Rice, lettuce, tomatoes, mushrooms, beans, zucchini, guacamole, salsa/sour cream dip, and carrots. There was strawberry sauce with a dollop of yogurt for dessert, which was just cooked strawberries with a little sugar so it doesn't count under our "sweets" points. And soy yogurt.

Rachel and I went shopping so I could finally buy some delicious coconut müsli! And a whole bunch of other things that were actually on the list. I had a coffee with soy milk and a little more of the strawberry stuff, then played with the kids outside in the sun (sun!!!!). It turns out I can do a backflip on their tiny trampoline.

I bathed the girls while Rachel cut up veggies and mad another dip, and there were leftover rolls from the Hofladen so I had one of those with hummus and this yummy arugula pesto fresh cheese (kind of like cream cheese) and veggies. And I had to try a taste of the other cheeses too... and the stomach ache came. It wasn't as bad as usual though. I had a glass of apple juice after dinner, then went for a walk up Benther Berg and around. It's nice being out till 9pm and the sun hasn't even gone under the horizon yet! The weather was perfect walking weather too.

June 3

Every once in a while I get out of my compaining-about-German-food rut, and actually eat pretty healthily. I had toast with pb and 1/2 banana for breakfast, then ran to the playground and did some pull ups and monkey bars and stuff. I did 5! Which was a little surprising, since I haven't really been doing them. I was supposed to do yoga too, but the internet wasn't working...

Gritta made bakes potatoes with quark sauce for lunch, which wasn't really healthy or unhealthy but it wasn't a ton of food so I didn't get overly full. I also had a coffee with milk in the afternoon.

Rachel and I drove with the twins to take the other girls to ballet, then I walked with the twins to a playground. I split an apple with Greta, then Rachel picked up Henny and Johanna and met us there. We stayed there until every kid had cried at least once, then went back and cut up a bunch of veggies for dinner. I made another sour cream/yogurt dip and snuck veggies in there. The kids didn't eat this one, but whatever. And I had also bought hummus, so I had 2 pieces of bread with that instead of lots of cheese. We don't actually really have cheese, so it wasn't like I was tempted by some delicious looking camembert or whatever, but I can't help but notice when I don't eat dairy at night I don't get a stomach ache...

The past week wasn't great (surprise!) but I felt pretty good today! And I didn't eat any sweets, which seems to be rare these days.

May 31

Oh man, I ate so much today! I took pictures of all my actual meals too, instead of writing it down. Except when I was snacking all afternoon and evening on the chips and dip and stuff I was preparing for the kids. And I definitely ate Philippa's chocolate pudding she never got around to. She won't notice, right? Rachel and I had to work tonight so we planned a taco/cocktail night and Max came over. We watched What Women Want on TV starting an hour in.

apple, yogurt, oats

potatoes, käse spätzle, carrots and peas, tomato sauce. plus more spätzle and veggies

pudding and vanilla sauce. I definitely had more than this. and with whipped cream...

coffee with soy milk. and vanilla sauce...

SNACKS. so many. guac and sour cream sauce

kids nachos and quessadillas that I ate some of the leftovers of

vegetarian taco salad and home strawberry daquiri! basically a smoothie with rum

May 30

Today, I feel like poop. My mornings always start out pretty good, except I went shopping to get supplies for our taco/cocktail night tomorrow night and got chocolate. But that was fine, I wanted it. Even lunch was okay, and then I did arms afterwards, but my afternoon starts and I just start to feel bad.  It's not even like I feel like I'm eating that much, I guess it just adds up. A bite here and there, or a little snack, and Sigrid made Rhubarb cake which was actually pretty good and I only had a tiny sliver. We cut up veggies again for dinner and made dip from quark and yogurt because Sigrid always brings the extras that are about to expire, even though they get donated and we can't eat them fast enough. So we try. I only had 2 tiny pieces of bread too, but somehow I just end up with a major stomach ache every night and feel super bloated. I hate it. I know I don't need all this food, and I generally don't get very hungry at night, but for me it's really hard when the food's just there. I started a food journal for today but I lost track after lunch and now I don't even know or really want to. I'm trying to take pictures of everything I eat so at least I'm more aware, and plan more ahead of time. I also decided that instead of no sweets except 1 day a week, I'm a kind of person who needs a treat a day, whatever that may me. So anyways. But tomorrow's Friday, and I have to work all night but Rachel and I planned a fun night. I felt so good after last weekend, when I didn't spend all day with the kids and in and out of the kitchen surrounded by food! 

May 28

I did not keep track of what I ate today. It was all over the place. But I did get my fruits and veggies and workouts in, so that counts for something! For once it wasn't raining and we could send the kids outside. I also proved I can still do a backhandspring.

May 27

11 posts, 111 views. That's pretty lucky I guess.

I felt great this morning and did arms, and upped my reps. And since I didn't run yesterday, I went today. I only did a little over 5 miles, but it was raining and muddy and I even fell down once. Good thing I was in the woods. Luckily Sigrid wasn't there till later, so Gritta was in charge of lunch. She roasted a bunch of veggies, and I made rice and reheated the noodle and made a new sauce out of Saturday's leftovers. I added carrots and half a pepper, plus some sour cream and yogurt. It was good, but I ended up eating a lot in the evening. It's easy to do since I don't really need much at night. Plus I ate chocolate and a little cake, so that's my one dessert day for the week. Okay I'm tired.

May 26

Today was about as Sunday as you can get. I had a long run planned, but it poured literally all day so I ended up not going outside. I ate a lot of food for breakfast, which wasn't surprising sing I hadn't eaten anything the night before. Plus Gritta finally went shopping, and I happened to be down there when the kids were having their morning snack of chocolate cereal. mixed in with oats and yogurt and stuff. So of course I ate some plain. But then I found the fruit that she had hidden since there's now an ant invasion and took as apple, banana, and the leftover salad to my room so I would make sure to get my fruit and veggie servings. I cleaned a lot of my room, distracted myself a lot, watched a couple movies, and went to bed really early. I just woke up and it's midnight, so maybe too early. Week 1 is done! Not as successful as I would have hoped, but not a complete failure either. Here's to Week 2!

May 24 and 35

Friday I finally got to skype with Hannah for the first time after we graduated, and then I did a hill workout. I ate a huge breakfast for some reason, and Sigrid had make this gross looking soup for lunch with chunks of meat clearly floating around, that I had seen cooking the day before with basically an animal carcass in it. So Rachel and I decided to make a salad. I did blend some of the soup for the kids though, because otherwise they wouldn't have eaten it. And I made zucchini bread because I've been craving it. Even Sigrid tried it and didn't have anything bad to say. But when she saw it on the counter, she decided she had to make cake with Magnus. And then I was in the kitchen, and she asked me if I had eaten the soup. I said no, because there was meat in it. She replied that it was just what had fallen off while cooking, and that she hadn't put any in on purpose. And then I tried to explain for the 500th time that just because the meat gets in there accidentally, it's not vegetarian. And even if you can't see meat, if it's made with it, it's not vegetarian. And she just interrupted me and said "it's fine! it's fine! it's fine!". So I just left the room. Her cooking's gross anyways.

In the evening we went out with out tough mudder team for the first time, and Rachel and I had 2 mojitos that were basically rum. Then we ended up at Dublin Inn where karaoke is, and decided we could have a cider and then be done. But our friend was working and brought us 2 for 1. And then I sang, and this guy was trying to hit on me for a friend, but I let him buy me a drink and then I just ended up ignoring them. But I really did not need that beer. Finally we could go home.

Saturday waking up was a little rough. We got to breakfast and Sigrid was there...ugh. She wanted to make lunch but luckily we were planning on going to a nearby city for a big flea market Gritta's mom was helping with. I went upstairs with the twins to get them dressed, and they were right with me. Then, all of a sudden, Magnus comes running in like he does when he wants to annoy me and the twins. Unfortunately, the twins love to slam doors. We get upset with them and are trying to get them to stop, especially after Philippa's finger. But Greta slammed the door in Magnus' face, and the handle hit his eye. He was screaming like it was the end of the world, but he's often extremely dramatic and I was thinking he would just need an ice pack or something. And then I saw blood. Luckily the parents had come running upstairs and called an ambulance. He was lucky, and everything will be fine, but it was really scary. Philippa knew exactly what was going on and even recognized the doctor that came, and Greta was upset all day because she knew it was somehow her fault. So we stayed home with the girls all morning, and decided to make ourselves lunch before Sigrid could. We made another salad with a yummy mint basil yogurt dressing, and then pasta with sauce. I cooked onions, bell pepper, zucchini and tomatoes, then added spices, herbs, tomato past and a little water and blended it up. I'm trying to get more veggies in those kids, because lately all we've been eating is meat, potatoes, oil and lots and lots of salt. I barely added any salt. Henny had told us she likes pasta with zucchini so we added a little grated zucchini and some corn at the end just so they at least knew they were eating veggies and it still tasted good. And I have to say, I ate a lot of food, but I felt so much better than I usually do after lunch. Usually I'm sluggish and heavy and tired, and really thirsty. But after eating this, even though I was exhausted, it wasn't from the food at all. I was full, but it was a good full and I didn't feel super weighed down. It makes me wonder what Sigrid puts in the food. Obviously oil and salt. And she sneaks meat and broth into my food, I know it.

I stayed in my bed all afternoon and kind of took a nap, and then I finally made myself get up and do yoga. I did one of the advanced classes, and it was certainly more than a little stretching! I never really got hungry and didn't want to have to get dressed to go downstairs, so I didn't eat after that.But I kind of ate all morning, so I just basically ate all my meals early.

May 22

Whelp, I've been slacking. I would say it's because I'm busy with working all day every day and interviews and such, but I've been slacking on eating well too. I felt so good after I got back from Portugal, but now I'm back to blah. I have been pretty good about working out, but eating is a disaster.

Rachel and I decided to do this 8 week challenge. You basically get points for eating healthy, working out, avoiding unhealthy things, and weight loss. The first 2 days I didn't do so great, but today I got all the points! I've substituted drinking water for not eating off the twins' plates though, because I hate throwing food away and it's so easy to do. But it just all adds up, I don't need it, and it's kinda gross. I'm sure they've slobbered on everything they've ever touched.

Today, I woke up early and did a sprint workout in the freezing windy rain. I came back, did an arms circuit, and then went down to breakfast. The girls are all home, so only Magnus had to be up early and I could get up a little later. It was pretty nasty weather, and the kids were terrible today. We painted, bathed them, made a salad to go with the pancakes at lunch, and then it had finally stopped raining. I took the twins for a walk while Rachel picked up Magnus. Sigrid, who's been here forever and used to be the housekeeper, is filling in until the new girl starts working. She's old and loads the kids up on sweets and goes behind our backs and makes super salty and oily foods. We made sure to make the dressing before she got there because even her salad dressings are salty! Pancakes are yummy though, with homemade applesauce and cooked blueberries.

We tried to make all the kids nap, but it was kind of a fail. They all cried and complained but finally some of them slept. In the afternoon we just chased after them and told them to stop being horrible, and were able to go outside for a while. I cut up veggies and Rachel and I ended eating a lot of them. Then we came inside and fed the kids and tried to get them to bed early. I just had the veggies and some apple slices with a couple wedges of camembert, along with (fake vegetarian alert) some wurst from the hofladen. I don't even like it that much I just can't stop. Then after we put them to bed I had a little piece of the giant wasa knäckerbrots with peanut butter and honey.

Back on Track

I was really bad about eating the few days before the half marathon, but luckily I felt ok the day of. Anyways, I did it! And I was happy with my time.
The next day I flew to Portugal and had the time of my life! I met awesome people, saw awesome things, and ate like a normal person. I didn't lose that much weight, well maybe from a week ago but not 2, but I felt really good the whole time. It was a completely stress free week. Just what I needed. If I had had more than 5€ the day I left I might just have stayed...

Anyways, I feel great feeling great and I want to keep it that way! I think the main thing I need to watch out for is afternoon snacking. And desserts. It's easy to get carried away! It's finally turning from sprig to summer here and I'm so excited. Never have I wanted summer more. The sun in Portugal did me good and I felt like myself again! Let's hope the next 2 1/2 months are fantastic!

Um

The last couple of days have not been the greatest, foodwise. I've been feeling not really like myself and had the kind of stomach ache where you think eating a lot might help, but really it just makes you feel bloated. But anyways, I didn't record what I ate. I guess I'll just put it down to carbo-loading? I really need to make sure to eat healthy in the next 48 hours though so I have good energy going through my body for the race. I decided not to drink coffee today or tomorrow, so I can get the caffeine out of my system and then maybe hopefully it'll be more effective before the race. I need to plan more of my trip to portugal, write a packing list and start packing, and finish cleaning my room. I feel like I have so much free time now that I'm tapering! (not really though...)

April 30

I did conditioning in the morning again, because I don't want to do anything that will make me sore after, like, today. I had a piece of bread with nutella on half with banana, and honey and banana on the other half. I also went on a slow 6 mile run that felt hard. It was the last real run before Sunday! Sigrid, an old woman who's been around forever and used to be the housekeeper, is apparently coming back sometimes. She's... interesting. She smokes all the time and spoils the kids except Henny. And generally just makes things more difficult. But I guess that means I have to clean up the kitchen slightly less often. She cooked rice and chicken in curry sauce, and was nice enough to make separate sauce for me. With cream and butter, of course. Plus a salad with grilled asparagus. That was salty. Rachel had warned me about that - she said it took a while to get used to it. I'm just glad there was salad! Every other time she's cooked it's been some form of salty greasy potatoes and meat.

I had a couple milk coffees in the afternoon, plus a tea. And Johanna wanted to make banana bread, so I made some with 1/2 whole grain spelt flour and 1/2 normal. Plus apple sauce since I only had 2 instead of 4 bananas. I think if I make it again though I'll putt in less butter - especially with the apple sauce. But is was still good. I like whole grain banana bread! It was definitely different than last time, but hot out of the oven it was delicious. I was only a little hungry for dinner, and had a small piece of seedy bread with quark and a leftover hard boiled egg, plus an apple I shared with Greta and some veggies Rachel cut up. We had lots of coffee because we were going to Tanz in den Mai! I'll write about that on my other blog, but I drank a couple beers and a fanta there, and we got back pretty late.

April 29

Well. Yesterday I ate way too much, and of stuff I probably shouldn't have. I did a great all over conditioning work out in the morning, but then I put off running till the evening, and had a good 8 mile run. Except the stomach cramps from eating, even though I waited almost 4 hours before going. I did get quite a bit of vacuuming done though.

Today, I did a good arms circuit before breakfast, but then I ate too much again. I was fine at breakfast but then I was cleaning up, and had an extra bread when I made the twins something, and then I saw those really good chocolate sandwich cookies were opened (you know the ones...) and wanted to have one before I had to share with the twins. And the kids had leftover hot chocolate, and Hanns had made Gritta coffee with soy milk and she didn't want it, so I mixed it with the chocolate. I saved that for after the run but still. I had cramps again and could barely finish 4 miles. My legs felt a little tired too. I really need to get back on track with eating.
We had pancakes with cinnamon and sugar and homemade applesauce and grilled veggies for lunch, and even though I only ate one pancake, I ended up finishing the twins' when they were tired and went to bed, and then eating a little more when I fed them a snack, and then eating another one in the afternoon. I had a coffee with soy (and a little regular) milk and cinnamon sugar, which is yummay. And an apple. And another cookie. And apple juice. I wasn't really planning on eating dinner, but they had set a place and there was actually fresh bread. I had a seed bread and then a really small normal bread, with rum nut cheese and the normal fresh cream cheese. Oh, plus honey in my tea.

Rachel and I are planning on going to the room in the basement and seeing if it'll work as our training room! I ate too much. Help.

April 27

So, I didn't keep track of what I ate Friday. But I did a fartlek - warm up, then 5 minutes fastish, 3 minutes slow, then 4, 3, 2, 1, minutes, always faster, ending in basically a sprint, with 3 minutes slow in between. It was really warm and sunny! I was sweating so much. But it started raining again in the afternoon.
That night I went with Max and Rachel and met Meagan at Fire Bar for a cocktail, then made our way to Dublin Inn for karaoke. I did end up singing Where is the Love with Rachel towards the end of the night, after I had basically lost my voice because I was so thirsty and had been yelling along to everyone's songs all night. Rachel and I like to talk like the twins when we're out in public and for some reason no one finds it as amusing as us...

Saturday, I didn't have to work till 12, but I was awake at 6:30 for some reason and couldn't sleep. I watched some tv, cleaned my room a bit, and then went for a run around Benther Berg, the little "mountain" next to my house. My GPS some how quit working after 2 miles, but it was still timing and I know it's about 5.1ish miles. It took me 46 minutes. I did some pre run yoga before it and I felt really good, so I think it helped. It was drizzling and cold the whole time. I drank some delicious cappuccino fsoy milk from Rossman (it's so good!) and tea and laid in my bed till I had to work. Sometimes I just can't make it down to family breakfast. I wasn't in the mood for noodles, and a lot of times on Saturdays they just have a light lunch because the parents are busy and then they'll eat their hot meal later, but the mom was already cooking. They did have some yummy chili noodles that they got as a gift like 2 years ago. Gritta ate some and needed milk and everything. Germans are such wimps about spicy things. Rachel and I just kind of hung out in the kitchen while the girls played and the twins slept. Magnu was gone which makes things much easier. The twins got up and then we took them all outside for a little excursion. Luckily it had stopped raining and wasn't so freezing. We made Henny and Johanna ride bikes so they'd get tired, and took the twins in the stroller. In the end we all survived the way back. Gritta was just coming back from the Hofladen too so we ate the cake she had made the day before when they had visitors and I made another coffee and then held two stinky babies on my lap while we watched pole vault and gymnastics videos until Carolyn was ready to talk.
We took the twins up and kind of half got the girls ready for bed. I was trying to watch the Beloit Relays online too. The parents had planned to go out and have us babysit, but changed their mind, so they had a friend over and just ate in front of the fire. I had a leftover rosinnen brötchen from breakfast with butter and honey and jam, and an apple with this really good cranberry goat cheese. Then I watched more track meet and fell asleep right before the record winner vaulted.

oops I forgot the apple

April 25

My alarm went off and I was tired but I had to pee so I got up but then I was just on the inter webs and didn't workout. But it was a rest day for running. I had to clean up the whole kitchen because Rachel drove to school and there's no housekeeper at the moment, and then I came and wrote and read some blogz and watched TV and then did a yoga/pilates quick workout thing that was supposed to be for your bootay but I'm not sure. We'll see tomorrow. The twins came home and I fed them and was hungry too, so I had a snack. But then that means I'm never hungry for lunch.
It was spargel though, so of course it was yummy! Typical Deutsch, boiled skinned potatoes (they're always scared of the skin for some reason), had boiled eggs, big white spargel, hollandaise sauce, and schinken and melted butter that I did not eat. Yummy, but heavy and way too many animal products.
I cleaned up and sat through the torturous hour it took for the kids to eat, then cleaned up. Rachel made a coffee and it looked so good, so I made one too. A milchkaffee. But with mostly soy milk. The soy milk here is kinda grainy and tastes a little weird in stuff, but with a lot in coffee it's okay.

Then we took Henny and the twins on bikes to drop off Henny at a friend's, and rode weiter to Gehrden for ice cream. I got a joghurt mango bencher, which was good but mango's not in season. Oh man, giant German ice cream bechers. The twins started to misbehave a little, but we made it out mostly alive and took them to the playground. They have bars and uphill monkey bars there which are good for tough mudder training! I go up the monkey bars and then down skipping one in between. I tried to do some pull-ups, and a chin up pullover and I couldn't do it. I don't even want to know what a kip would feel like. Time to get back some callouses on my hands! I came back with them, got them to bed, and then ate half an apple and a little cheese. I really did well avoiding milk products today... hello stomach ache. I had my interview and I think it went okay, and this would be a cool one, but it's in Walla Walla and not Seattle. ah well.

eatz: (in reality it was probably way more calories but I have to guess a lot! I think it just helps to write it down to help me actually realize when and what I'm eating)

April 24

I did some arm workouts in the morning, of the pushup variety, then after breakfast I did a tempo run with a 1.3 mile warm up, 1 mile fastish, 3 minutes slow, 1m fastish, 3 min slow, 800m faster, 3 min slow, 800m faster, slow all the way back. My garmin died in the middle so I'm not exactly sure how fast it was, but it was 6.2 miles. I felt really slow and it was more effort than usual.

This is what I ate:

I ended up cooking lunch because Gritta didn't come home, so I made fried rice which I'd never made before. Chicken and rice was on the menu but I'm not about to cook meat, even though I'm technically still a fake vegetarian. In the afternoon, Marina, the housekeeper and amazing human being that is super pregnant, came over, and I made cupcakes. Gritta had made some over the weekend and tried to make frosting, but put lemon juice instead of lemon peel in, so of course it turned all runny. So I had a mixture of butter, powdered sugar, frischkäse, and lemon juice to work with. I added some spelt flour, which was a little too much so then some soy milk, then egg yolks. I whipped up the eggwhites and folded them in, and in some of them I mixed in a few leftover thawed raspberries from dessert last week. They didn't stay pink when they baked like I'd hoped, but they still tasted good. And Rachel had a craving for coffee, but there was no milk, so she went to the hofladen and got us 2 vanilla milks. They're soooo good, especially with coffee, but really not that good for you. I had a whole one. I still ate some of the twins' leftover oatmeal/cereal mixture thing, and one of Henny's many chocolates (I need to stop that, but she just has so many), but I was good about not eating dinner when I was still full. After the kids were in bed, we sat out in the back and drank wine and talked for a while. We stayed up too late and it got cold, but it was nice.

Goals for tomorrow:

-don't eat from the twins

-don't eat lots of snacks in the afternoon

Operation get rid of Speckbauch

If you've talked to me at all in the last 8 months, you've probably heard me complain about the 10 or so lbs I've gained since coming here. I've been pretty good about staying active, but my eating habits haven't been the best. There's just always so many snacks and cakes and bread and cheese and dairy products!

Well, last week Johanna told me I have a Speckbauch. I do not want a Speckbauch. So I've decided to stop complaining and do something about it. This will also be a way for me to keep track of my training for Tough Mudder on July 12th. So here goes!