Nutritionally Fit

May 6 #2: An assortment of bodyweight exercises

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It was a busy day, mostly on the computer, with a bit of time in the soggy garden. The grass still has many boggy sections, which reminded me of stomping across the Moors, which reminded me of this article about lovely gardens from The Guardian website. I’d like to go to Cerney House.

Even though the sun was shining and I should have gone for a run (even just to the tulips and back!), I decided to stay close to home and do 15 minutes of assorted exercises with my body weight.

Using video resources from various Instagram fitness accounts and the happy.challenges Instagram account, I mixed up mountain climbers, push-ups, squats and crunches with four sets of 15 repetitions each. Enough to get the blood flowing, for sure, but not enough for 15 minutes.

So I’m going to have to split my fitfor15in15 into two categories today – mentally fit with the book review and travelling light story (which took longer than seven minutes to write!) and physically fit with eight minutes of exercises. Cheating a bit? Perhaps!

I felt a bit cheated yesterday – two hours after eating a slice of very dense chocolate cake to finish off my lunch with Leonie, I felt quite ill. I think my body is trying to tell me to lay off the sugar! Which reminded me of this report from the Australian ABC.

Rocketing obesity is being blamed on poor diets laden with excess sugar and carbs, rather than a lack of exercise. Makes sense, although the opening line of the report made me feel dejected!

Fitfor15in15 is all about being fit in all its forms, with exercise playing the major part. Now I’m thinking I should forget shifting those pesky few kilos through exercise, and focus more attention on the role of healthier food.

Just writing it out makes me feel a bit silly, because it seems so obvious. Of course, moving everyday is beneficial for my overall health, like heart and bones, and I would never stop that. But is it time to totally cut out the crap from my diet? Could I live without chocolate cake and Berliners? Maybe, but would it be any fun? More food for thought.

Wishing you a wonderful day.

May 6: Catch-up photos and postponed nervousness

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The big news which distracted me from writing yesterday’s post is … I have a job interview. It was supposed to be this morning, via telephone, but it has been rescheduled for next Wednesday. I’m not going to say anything more about it for fear of jinxing myself. Please cross all fingers and toes.

As a catch-up for yesterday’s simple post, here are a few drab-looking photos.

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A glorious full moon from May 4

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We’ve had so much rain in Bern and surrounds that the Aare river is flooded and the walking paths on both sides have disappeared

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Looking towards the city from the Lorrainebrücke (bridge). The water is normally crystal clear

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Grey skies in Bern at Waisenhausplatz

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Markets in Waisenhausplatz

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Across the tram lines from the wares in Waisenhausplatz is Bärenplatz, home of the food markets

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Lovely fresh, unpackaged products

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Bring your own container! Zero Waste!

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At the top of Bärenplatz is the Bundeshaus (Federal Palace of Switzerland) where Parliament sits. Most people think the Swiss capital is Zürich

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Looking towards the Gurten (the small hill) from the viewing platform at the Bundeshaus

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The building in the distance with the spires is the Einstein Museum. He was a lecturer at the University of Bern in 1908

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There are several street chess boards in the city

Monday night was the final of the World Snooker Championship in Sheffield. I was lucky enough to be at the Crucible Theatre in 1995 for a night and day session – amazing to be there after watching it for so many years on television. It’s always sooo quiet! Congratulations to perennial underdog Stuart Bingham on his first world title! It was a fantastic final (against Shaun Murphy) and I’m glad Bingham won because he beat my favourite player Ronnie O’Sullivan in the quarter-final.

Yesterday was a very social day – lunch with Leonie and then drinks and dinner with Claudia (not my old German teacher Claudia, who I meet once a week, but Leo’s friend Dani’s girlfriend Claudia, who lives in Basel). In between the two catch-ups, I went to the library and finished this beautifully written, memorable book.

I was amazed to see the unusual pink and green tulip from our local tulip field in a recent post from Freda at livesimplysimplylive. I’ve never seen them before and then twice in three days! Freda’s grow in her garden. How wonderful! Must try and plant some too.

I’ll post again with some fitness stuff. This is really more of a catch-up from yesterday, where my exercise was walking around the city looking at the flooded river.

Wishing you a wonderful day.

May 4: The force was strong on Monday Runday

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Not only is it Monday Runday, it’s also Star Wars Day … May the 4th be with you.

The fourth, I mean force, was strong today on my 5km run. Apart from stopping to take the odd photo and having to walk 200m to get rid of a stitch (again!), I felt really good and was happy with my time. I think I’m so worried about being dehydrated and getting that weird pain in my ears, I overcompensate and drink too much water before I head out.

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At the beginning of the run, one of these tracks was a little creek

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Looking towards Sariswil

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These calves looked so cute, I had to stop for a photo

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So sweet – they ran over to say hello!

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Maybe I smelt good, but I doubt it

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In the end, they all lined up for their 15 minutes of fame

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Saw a man using a strange machine in the fields, and waved … and maybe ran a little harder! Such a dag

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Rape seed in full bloom

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I startled this heron (?) in the puddle and it flew off majestically

I had thought about taking a longer route, but then chickened out at the last minute. Probably a good thing, as it was really humid (no wind too) and I ended up having to shed top layers and run in my tank top – first time that’s ever happened in Switzerland!

As part of my cool-down, I walked back to the tulip field (I measured it as 550m from our house) but the ducks from yesterday were gone. I bought a bunch of solid hot pink flowers as consolation.

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Magnificent tulip with insects!

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The bunch from yesterday, downstairs

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The new bunch from today, upstairs

The tulips aren’t going to be around for much longer – I’m almost tempted to collect a bunch of beautiful white ones, with pointy tips, tomorrow!

This morning was rainy and pretty miserable, so while waiting for a break in the weather, I mended the split in the backside of my apple-green cotton trousers. Initially I thought my pants would only be good enough for garden work afterwards, but I think I did such a good job, and the thread matched so well, I can wear them out again. (Can’t believe (and am very thankful) a hotel sewing kit carried that colour!) Then again, I may have been without my glasses when looking in the mirror … And after taking this photo, I’m now having second thoughts. I’ll wear a long top. 🙂

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Maybe my mending effort wasn’t so invisible after all …

All this rain has made our next holiday plans a bit sketchy – from next weekend, we’re planning to walk the first third of the Swiss Camino, from Constance to Einsiedeln. It should take about five to six days of walking, and is only 93km long, but if it’s going to be too wet, maybe we’ll have to rethink our plans. We walked the second (middle) section from Einsiedeln to Thun in 2012 and hopefully we’ll complete the third and final stage from Thun to Geneva before too long.

  • Physically Fit: Monday Runday – 5km jumping across the muddy puddles
  • Mentally Fit: Walking to the tulip field again and talking to the calves
  • Nutritionally Fit: Sixth day of fasting (500 calories) on the 5:2 Diet (and start of the final week perhaps?)
  • Minimalism: Mending the green pants

Have you been out wandering in your neighbourhood recently? I’d love to hear about what you see when you go walking or running.

Wishing you a wonderful day.

April 27: Monday Runday … or Runday Monday?

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Mondays have been run days for the past few weeks, with mixed results, so I’ve decided to rename Monday as Runday Monday, or Monday Runday. Which one do you like best?

Either way, I’ll continue to run every Monday, mixing between 4km and 5km paths for now, and who knows, maybe I’ll be on track to meet my goal of 8km by the end of the year – if I can curb that head-splitting pain in my ears enough to actually run.

It’s cool and windy here today and I’m nervous about heading out (because of what happened last time in these conditions). I’ll wait until this afternoon, when I’m completely hydrated and feeling warmed up. Hopefully the wind will have died down a bit too.

So to keep you amused until I’ve exercised, here is a new series I’m starting (please excuse my immaturity) called

Funny German words as heard by a native English speaker

#1: der Dudelsack

The bagpipes. When I first heard it, my brain spelled it doodlesack, which takes on a whole different meaning. *crying right now* Try saying it loudly five times without smiling or laughing.

#2: Wankdorf Stadium

Where Bern’s top-tier football team plays its home games. Try saying that loudly once without smirking. Visitors see the signs and ask, “Is that real?” But the best part? The name of Bern’s football team. 🙂 Oh you’re going to love this … Young Boys. Young Boys play at Wankdorf. Nearly four years here and that never gets old. 🙂

Ok, enough college humour, how did the run go? Well, I wish it took me as little time as it did to tell those gags!

Inspired by yesterday’s London Marathon, and the efforts of my friend Ellie (read her hilarious training routine here. She did it in four hours and 23 minutes! Go Ellie!) I thought I’d tackle the 5km circuit (yes, how big of me – she runs 42km, I do five).

This circuit has no Big Ben views or wandering tourists, but a short steep incline after 700m, then it’s relatively flat for the second kilometre, with a slight decline during the third, then a slight incline on the fourth, then a slight decline on the fifth. And guess what … I got a stitch at the bottom of the third, and top of the fifth (sounds like a baseball game) … right after the declines. So I had to walk for about 500m total, to get rid of that bitchy stitchy. Here are some tips for pesky stitches.

It seems my cardio fitness is really suffering at the moment – too much yoga and not enough prolonged sweating, perhaps? Maybe I need more Jillian Michaels when the weather’s crappy, and running more than once a week when the weather’s good? Hmmm … On a positive note (there’s always a positive), I didn’t get the pain in my ears. The wind was warmer than expected, so I think that made a big difference.

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Who cares really, but here’s today’s run!

I walked the first minute or so as a warm up, then jogged, shuffled and walked my way through the rest. Tick, but not a big one. Huni, Liliane’s friend, was in her garden again, but I didn’t stop this time. She shouted out “Hop! Hop!” (which means Go! Go! in Swiss German) as I waved on my way past.

  • Physically Fit: 4.5km run, 500m walk
  • Mentally Fit: Listening to more of Cary Elwes book about The Princess Bride movie
  • Nutritionally Fit: Fifth day of fasting on the 5:2 Diet – 500 calories. Breakfast smoothie 280 calories (37g raspberries – 20 calories; 300ml coconut water – 72 calories; 80g strawberries – 26 calories; 182g banana – 162 calories (whoa, I had no idea the banana would be so much until it was already in!). Dinner 220 calories – mixed salad with tuna, sniff of olive oil
  • Minimalism: I went through my t-shirts to see if any could be turfed, but kept them all

So, another Runday Monday, or Monday Runday, is done and dusted. It’s time to get serious about cardio fitness. Despite Ellie saying she’d never do it again, maybe, just maybe, I’ll run a marathon one day too.

Wishing you a wonderful day.

April 26: Strolling in the neighbourhood

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Like a couple of old wanderers, Leo and I walked around the neighbourhood this afternoon for more than an hour. I have to admit it was at a very relaxed pace.

(Writing ‘walking in the neighbourhood’ reminds me of this Sesame Street classic. And can you believe? People think kale is something new and funky but here it is mentioned in … what … the mid 1970s?! Love Bob too.)

Back to the walk … We went to the tulip field, up the hill to visit the cows at my favourite farmhouse, said hello to what felt like half the village during peak hour in the forest, then along the horse trail, past fields of Urdinkel, into the neighbouring village, patted the little horses and up through the fields to home.

All in all, a very nice way to spend the afternoon before the rains came. Tonight we chowed down on Leo’s lasagne and started a new TV series called Bloodline. This is much more to my liking than Braquo. I am a major Kyle Chandler fan, which helps.

  • Physically Fit: A leisurely wander
  • Mentally Fit: A leisurely wander; saying hello to all the animals
  • Nutritionally Fit: Last of the chocolate cake and too much lasagne
  • Minimalism: A leisurely wander. It really does tick all boxes other than food.

Here are some photos from the walk.

Wishing you a wonderful day.

April 23: Tough ab workout and flexibility

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For today’s exercise, I thought I’d search for something different from somewhere different, but I knew it had to be stomach-centric. When I plank, I’m gobsmacked at the pudding that hangs from that area! When the fitness instructors plank, their bellies stay flat and taught. How is it so?! I can’t even ‘blame’ having kids on this excess! So that’s a new goal for the end of fitfor15in15 – to plank without the pudding.

Thanks to the Internet, ask and you generally shall receive. I liked the name of this – Get Fit Fast Ab Workout – 15 minutes of pain – and ignoring the physique of the totally ripped bloke without a shirt, thought I was up for it.

Ahh, no … nowhere near up for it. Apart from it feeling a bit militarised, with the host, Adam Harper, barking at his buddies, “Don’t you give up on me!” *cringe* it would be a brilliant workout for someone who has the fitness levels of, say, Adam Harper and his buddies.

Wowsers it was tough. I couldn’t do any of the exercises properly, or for the entire duration, apart from the side plank hip lower one. I’ve learnt some new exercises though and will try adding them into any homemade routines. The last one, touching your ankles through bent, spread legs, may become a regular. (I really had to giggle at the end of the show, when the host plugs his company’s t-shirts. If they’re so good, shouldn’t he be wearing one?!)

A lot of the raised-leg exercises hurt my lower back, so I did them with bent knees. I realise this made them much easier, but I’m not an advocate of pushing through the pain, yo. Especially when it’s yo back, yo. Overall, I’m not proud of my efforts in that workout, but it’s something to do again and refer back to, in order to keep improving. It’s motivation to plank without the pudding! Plank without the pudding! (A new mantra?!)

One thing I am proud of today is the realisation I’m becoming more flexible. Yesterday and this morning, I was able to touch my nose to my knees for the first time, albeit briefly, but that is a massive improvement from January. Sure it can be contributed to four months of moving, but I also think yoga is making a big difference. I’ve done two yoga classes, here and here, in the past week and I really think my hips are loosening up, which means I can bend further forward. Morning stretches, as part of my morning routine, will have also played a role.

Have you been doing something regularly and noticing an improvement? It’s such a nice boost, isn’t it?! Please, tell me about your successes.

  • Physically Fit: Get Fit Fast Ab Workout
  • Mentally Fit: Sitting in the sun for 10 minutes
  • Nutritionally Fit: Fourth day of fasting on the 5:2 Diet – 500 calories
  • Minimalism: Nothing today – other than minimal calorie intake 🙂

Wishing you a wonderful day. Here are some photos from my walk home yesterday evening after meeting Iva.

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The long way home

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The sun was a huge ball and created a wonderful sunset glow

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The sun sets on another day in Tulip Military School

April 22: Yoga and gardening

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Looks just as good today!

Outstanding weather again. Two loads of washing are drying quick smart on the line, and I’ve spent a few hours in the garden, taking some plants (with permission!) from Liliane’s perennial garden to add to mine. Her flower beds are cramped for space, they’re all thriving so well. Fingers crossed mine handle the transfer. Not feeling confident though, as I don’t think I took enough roots.

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White and purple-flowered perennials add a bit of colour to my garden, which flowers in summer, not spring

The neighbour Ahlem was outside with her children, aged three and two, so we played for a while. They watched me gardening and apart from standing on a few plants they were fun. Neither of them speak much but I had a chat with the daughter for quite a while. She’s a real chatterbox but neither her mum nor I knew what she was saying! Gobbeldy gook! And for the first time, the son, who is very shy, came over for a cuddle. He calls me Ani. So sweet. They go back to Tunisia next week for five months – will be strange without them around.

Exercise today was Dagmar’s yoga, which I mentioned on April 17. You can find the direct YouTube link here. As predicted, it was really soothing, and still a great workout. I didn’t have time to lie still at the end, so next time I’m prepared to be totally relaxed afterwards! Right now I feel relaxed but stressed about the time. Needless to say, I didn’t even attempt the headstand, and just did some wide leg stretches instead. My balance is still pretty horrid.

Right, now I’m off to the city to meet Iva for a German gasbag. Hope I don’t miss the bus!

  • Physically Fit: Yoga and gardening
  • Mentally Fit: Sunshine and gardening; meeting Iva this afternoon
  • Nutritionally Fit: More smoothies and salmon for lunch; no doubt a few beers to come
  • Minimalism: Taking plants from Liliane’s thriving flower bed to add some colour to mine – no charge!

Wishing you a wonderful day.

April 21: A lovely surprise

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Thank you, Karie!

Don’t you just love surprises?!

Karie, who lives in Singapore, sent me a postcard which arrived today! It’s put an extra spring in my step – so much so that I’ve decided to walk home from the city this afternoon. It takes about three hours, I think, and I’ll stop at an animal shelter directly on the path to see if I can register as a volunteer.

Yesterday, on my fasting day, I had a coconut water, fresh strawberry and raspberry smoothie. It was so delicious, I made another one today with quinoa rice milk, banana, strawberries and raspberries, and some vanilla protein powder. Loving these smoothie breakfasts!

The yellow tulip from the end of yesterday’s post is in full bloom today. I hope it lasts in the wind! Thinking of everyone in coastal New South Wales and Sydney who’ve been battered by that crazy weather, which has killed three people, cut power, brought down trees and eroded the beaches. Mother nature at her worst. Such a shock.

I’ll write more this afternoon when I’m home from the walk.

Wishing you a wonderful day.

April 20: 5km run, walk, run, shuffle, walk, run … argh!

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The first tulips of the season from the self-pick farm. The stems were quite short but I wanted some colour

Today was a beautiful day and the wind was cool and strong – not enough to stop me going for a run. Well, that’s what I thought as I was leaving the house!

After last Monday’s effort, where I felt I could run my best time on the 4km track, I started off on the 5km loop and within 800m had an ice-cream headache. Mine comes inside my ears and it feels like both ear drums will explode. The wind was cool and fierce and before I knew it, I had to walk. That’s the first time I’ve ever had to walk this year. Couldn’t even manage a shuffle in some parts. I’ve been told it could be because I’m dehydrated but I thought I had that covered today. 😦

While it was disappointing, and slow, it was still good to be outdoors, taking in all this:

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Leaving our property and heading into the woods

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I stopped running about here. Windy!

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Nice view of the Alps

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Soon this will all be yellow rape seed

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Clouds and sunshine … and wind!

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Even walked most of the downhill

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Empty animal houses on the homeward stretch

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The cows were back in the sunshine at my favourite property

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The Alps and cows again

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A study in cow

I spent a lot of time on the computer today, listening to the Tibetan bells and ocean sounds, setting up a Google+ account for fitfor15in15. I wonder if it will be worth the trouble?! My friend Kate from The Outdoor Diaries helped out. Thanks Kate!

  • Physically Fit: 5km walk/run
  • Mentally Fit: Setting up Google+ for the blog. It still needs a lot of work and I need to learn more!
  • Nutritionally Fit: Third fasting day on the 5:2 Diet – 500 calories
  • Minimalism: Avoiding the Icebreaker website. I love their gear!

Wishing you a wonderful day.

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I didn’t plant this tulip in my garden! The wind must have brought it here

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Same goes for these two!

April 19: Walking around the Schwarzsee

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No, no, not the Black Sea, the Black Lake! The Schwarzsee is about an hour’s drive south of Bern and today was my first visit there. Very pretty, still some snow up high and a crazy dragon.

We followed the Witches Walk (Häxewääg) around the lake for about 90 minutes, stopping to take lots of photos. Unfortunately most of the ones with the snow-capped mountains were taken into the sun, so they didn’t turn out so well on my phone, sorry.

But it was wonderful to be outdoors after binge-watching “The Killing” for too many hours yesterday. We only binge-watched the start of season four for a few hours tonight. 🙂 Enough to make me forget I hadn’t written the blog today!

Here’s a little tour of the Schwarzsee:

  • Physically Fit: 90-minute walk around the Schwarzsee
  • Mentally Fit: Being outdoors; planning our next holiday; watching more of “The Killing”(!)
  • Nutritionally Fit: Coconut water & fresh fruit smoothie; steak and three veg!
  • Minimalism: Making a mushroom, shallot and bacon steak sauce off the top of my head, from scratch, no recipe required. Not really a great minimalism example, but something I’m proud of!

Wishing you a wonderful day.