April 16: Skipping, a nice surprise and day two of fasting on the 5:2 Diet

While outside this afternoon, putting seed into the bird feeder, I heard the sound of alphorns from a neighbouring village wafting on the breeze. I love the sound of those horns – it’s so melodic and calming. Swissrose, are you often surprised by such sweet sounds too?

To make the most of it, I abandoned my plans to do yoga and grabbed my skipping rope for 15 minutes. Luckily, the constant (and sometimes sporadic!) thwack on the concrete terrace didn’t drown out their songs. A huge falcon was circling over the forest as well, so right now, after listening, exercising and nature spotting, I feel very relaxed.

A day with no plans meant a day of fasting. After the success of the first fast day on Monday, where I almost gave myself lockjaw eating a massive salad, I knew today was going to be more than achievable. So here’s how I broke down the 500 calories allowed on the 5:2 Diet:

  • Breakfast: 100g natural yoghurt with 5g goji berries – 64 and 16 calories
  • Lunch: 63g boiled egg – 102 calories
  • Snack: 104g kiwi fruit – 63 calories
  • Dinner: Stir fry thingy: 54g carrot – 22 calories, 214g zucchini – 36 calories, 50g bacon – 157 calories, tspn olive oil – 40 calories
  • Grand total: 500 calories exactly

By not having Monday’s glass of milk with protein powder, there was room to make a more appealing dinner. But I’ve promised I won’t waffle on too much about the 5:2 Diet, so here endeth my talk of food.

It’s been a day spent on the computer. I wrote another book review, sent a job application and sorted out my iPad’s detachable keyboard, so I now know what the function, alt and command keys actually do. And no, I didn’t find the exclamation mark. (Oh no, I hear you say!) I did find an upside down exclamation mark and a lot of Greek-looking symbols so I think this keyboard isn’t set up for English typing! Not to worry! (Can you tell I’m using my normal computer?! … !!!)

For giggles, I also looked at my stats for posts on fitfor15in15. By far the most popular story I’ve written is “The KonMari Method, with gusto!” Published on February 2, the story has been read every day without fail, and as of this afternoon, it’s been viewed 478 times. I have no idea how readers are being led to it, but I’m guessing most traffic comes from searching the internet for information about decluttering expert Marie Kondo and her KonMari Method (read my review of her book here).

Living with less is a very popular topic, which has been gaining momentum for years. And this month it cracked the bastion of buy buy buy consumerism – Vogue Magazine. I originally read the story of Prerna and Parag Gupta on LifeEdited.com and went to the Vogue website to read the whole story, here. All these kinds of stories make my eyes widen and my pulse race. I love hearing about people who’ve packed it all up and in, so to speak, to downsize, de-stress and hit the road.

Sometimes I wish I’d sold or given away all my things in Australia. They’re all currently stored in mum’s unit block, and I pay for the privilege of keeping memories. Every time I visit, I check to see it hasn’t flooded or isn’t infested with cockroaches and occasionally search for something I think I’ll need (like a trench coat, which I didn’t wear once this winter). I know, in the future, I’m going to wonder why I kept this stuff. I’m beginning to wonder about it now.

  • Physically Fit: Skipping for 15 minutes
  • Mentally Fit: Sorting out my iPad keyboard; applying for a job in Zurich; alphorns and the falcon
  • Nutritionally Fit: Fasting on the 5:2 Diet, 500 calories
  • Minimalism: Reading about Prerna and Parag Gupta; thinking about storage woes

Wishing you a wonderful day.

April 14: 15-minute workout with Tabata

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Two days ago this tree was just in bud, and now look at it! It was humming with bees

This is a new workout I’ve found which involves Tabata. What on earth is Tabata? It’s a version of HIIT (high-intensity interval training) and you can read more if you’re interested here and here.

Jessica Smith, whose workouts I have done previously here, here and here, put this 15-minute routine together for the shape.com website. I did it tonight before bed, which was probably a bit silly because now I’m a bit sweaty. I couldn’t do the plank/push-up thing on my feet – had to drop to my knees. And I still can’t really get my knees up to horizontal when jogging.

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In December, I planted some bulbs and they’re starting to blossom. It’s a mixed collection of tulips and unknowns (to me!)

Doing fitfor15in15 has made me much more interested in my health. By looking for new routines for you and me, I occasionally stumble on some other interesting stuff too. Such as this:

Taiwanese research conducted over a 12-year period on more than 400,000 people found 15 minutes of exercise a day increased life expectancy by three years. Published in The Lancet in August 2011, Dr Chi-Pang Wen, lead author of the study, said, “The 30-minute a day for five or more days a week has been the golden rule for the last 15 years, but now we found even half that amount could be very beneficial. As we all feel, finding a slot of 15 minutes is much easier than finding a 30-minute slot in most days of the week.”

I hear you brother! (Sorry, we finished watching “The Killing” Season 2 (American version) tonight and the character Stephen Holder says brother, or bruvva, all the time. He’s in my head.) More people than I can possibly imagine are putting in their 15 minutes a day. In cases like this, it feels good to be part of a pack.

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The tulips in the self-pick garden plot are starting to sprout!

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This pink beauty was the best of the first blooms I saw

Yesterday’s dinner on the 5:2 Diet was huge – a massive salad in a bowl I would normally use for four people. I actually got bored of chewing – couldn’t finish it all! Without dressing it was a bit dry, but I plowed through as much as possible, before the whole thing just became a bit tedious. Leo finished his in record time. Maybe I didn’t have the energy to bother?! No, seriously, I felt fine and the first day of the 500 calorie plan was a success.

Today, I met my friend Leonie in the city on her lunch break and what did I order? A salad! The 5:2 Diet research did say people tend to eat healthier on the five days when you can eat whatever you want. I’m part of the pack again. But I did have fettuccine carbonara for dinner … and a chocolate rabbit ear for dessert. 🙂

If you’re thinking about doing the 5:2 Diet, this could also be a good resource for counting calories in food. Have a poke around the New Health Guide website. And there’s always Google, mentioned yesterday. But don’t worry, there’s no chance of this happening to me!

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This yellow tree is in bloom in the big farmhouse garden

In an attempt to make me even more accountable, I’ve decided to add a new section at the bottom of every post. It will highlight things from the four main themes of fitfor15in15 that have happened that day.

  • Physically Fit: 15-minute workout
  • Mentally Fit: finished a book and finished season 2 of “The Killing”
  • Nutritionally Fit: Muesli, salad, pasta, chocolate, tea
  • Minimalism: bought a Diva Cup, at last, to cut down on waste. I hope it works/I like it
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I’m trying to minimise what I throw away as a contribution to this

Wishing you a wonderful day.