Healthy nuts every day.

I love nuts. They are an easy healthy snack, and nuts covered with chocolate are just too delicious. For obvious reasons, I am not allowed to eat the ones with chocolate at the moment, but I eat raw nuts on top of my oatmeal every morning and as an evening snack. I like to have a whole collection of different nuts in my kitchen, so I have some different variants to choose from. This is my top five favourite nuts, but I must say it is extremely hard to decide which I like better than the other.

1. Macadamia nuts. Macadamia nuts are the best! They are very expensive though, which is the reason why I am not really buying them that often. They are for special occasions.

2. Pecans. I have been eating these for the past couple of days, and I am not getting tired of them at all. I definitely need to buy more.

3. Pine nuts. These are especially good when they are roasted on the pan. Perfect for topping or in a salad.

4. Brazil nuts. These nuts are huge, but easy to chop into smaller pieces more appropriate for topping.

5. Cashews. These nuts have a kind of buttery taste, which is why I like them better roasted, as it gives them a soft crunch instead.

I use almonds quite often because they are cheaper than many of the nuts listed above.

These are my top five favourite nuts, but there are lots of other nuts to choose from if you don’t share the same taste as me, for example hazelnuts, peanuts, chestnuts, pistachios, and walnuts.

Morning oats with almonds and blueberries.

Skyr (Icelandic dairy product, similar to strained yogurt) with brazil nuts and blueberries.

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Vacation booked.

I AM SO HAPPY! I am going to Istanbul for my semester break in October. I have never been to Turkey before, but I have many friends of Turkish origin, born and raised in Denmark. I know a lot about the culture already, and I have been to several Turkish weddings before, which included dancing halay (folk dance) for hours. The Turkish people definitely knows how to celebrate. I am looking forward to experience the culture and discover Istanbul first-hand.

I borrowed the amazing picture above from the blog:

http://makingmagique.com/travel/postcards-from-istanbul/

The picture shows a view of Istanbul and the famous Bosphorus Strait, with Asia on one side and Europe on the other. It’s  a fantastic blog, and the way the girl writes and describes the places she visits is worth reading. I like to plan my trip by reading travel blogs and recommendations, because if the writers have a huge knowledge about the specific place, or are locals, they often recommend cool, and to tourists, unknown places worth visiting.

I am very interested in hearing about some less touristy must do/must see places, restaurant, markets etc. in Istanbul. If you know any good places, I would appreciate it, if you are willing to share them with me by commenting on this post.

Update + Jewellery.

Progress update from today’s coach meeting. Even though I ate a bit more food this week, I am still loosing weight and my body fat percentage is now down at 9,7 percent. This means that my coach will (again) add more food to my diet plan, which is perfectly fine with me.

After the meeting, I went to buy jewellery for the competition. This is what I found. I wouldn’t wear the bracelets in my every day life, but for the competition I need a lot of ‘bling’ to attract attenton.

Cravings.

When you have been following a strict diet plan for four weeks without any cheat meals you start to crave something else than what’s on your plan. So far, I haven’t found it very difficult to follow a diet plan because it has become a habit to eat healthy and weight all my food. BUT I am craving Indian food. Seriously Indian food!? I didn’t eat a lot of it before, except when I was on exchange in Vietnam last year, but now I want to eat it every day haha. I have self-discipline enough to keep it to looking at delicious Pinterest photos and scrolling through the recipes, but still, it’s strange. I would have imagined the craving for nutella, cake and candy would come first.

S’well bottles.

S’well is a brand that creates stylish durable water bottles, and it is the company’s mission to reduce the use of plastic bottles in the world. The bottles are made out of insulated stainless steel and keep drinks cold for 24 hours and hot for 12.

I like this brand, not only because I find the bottles fashionable, but because it is working towards bettering the environment and communities by helping charity partners. For example, the company donated money to the U.S. Fund for Unicef to help provide clean water to children around the world.

The company offers customized bottles for brands, corporations and events. For example, the company has had a success with creating custom bottles for a number of designers for their NYFW shows and backstage.

I think S’well is a sustainable, stylish and charitable choice for a water bottle, which can be used in many situations, also in the gym. On S’wells webpage http://www.swellbottle.com you can see pictures of the bottles posted by customers on Instagram. I made a collage with some of my favorite pictures.

Countdown.

Ten months ago, I sent an application to become a part of Denmark’s best fitness team, Team Fisker Performance. Back then in October/November 2014, the New Comers Competition 2015 seemed so far away, but now ten months has become less than 30 days. The time has passed so fast, and 30 days will probably become one day just as quick.

With the new focus, I started working out every second day for the first month, while I was still on exchange in Vietnam. When I got back to Denmark in December, I started working out five times a week, which I have done ever since. The last couple of months also combined with some cardio. The gym has been my second home and I don’t even want to count the amount of hours I have spent in there. I like working out and use my time in the gym, and that’s what matters. I am a spontaneous person but an amazing planner too, which results in the fact that I have never missed a single workout session.

It is important to reflect upon the things you do in life, and I have been thinking much about my fitness journey lately. Just by now, I find the experience has given me a lot. I have learned important things and strengthened some of my personal skills.

Workout: When I started in November, I was new to the whole idea of doing strength training by myself. I was more the type who was attending the different classes offered by the gym, such as cross fit, HIT and other strength and dance classes. I also enjoyed outdoor running.

The past ten months has given me knowledge about how to work out, and how to do the different exercises with the right technique. Now, I finally know the name of many exercises (I found this difficult in the beginning), and which muscle groups they are targeting. I can use this knowledge and self-confidence later on when I continue to work out without a coach. Now I would feel like I actually know what I am doing with the dumbbells.

Amazing people and experiences: As I am on a fitness team, I have met so many inspiring people. The coaches have learned me so much, and my teammates are a group of cool dedicated people. Every one of them has worked hard in the gym and has improved throughout this year. I have gained an insight into the fitness world, and gotten many new experiences related to this.

Cooking: I improved my cooking skills with 100%. Before, cooking was just something I needed to get over as quick as possible so that I could eat. Now, I enjoy cooking. All this amazing food you are able to make yourself in the kitchen – It is like an amazing new world for me, and I like it! When I am not on my diet anymore, I am going to cook so much delicious food, especially dishes from India, Italy and Mexico. My all-time favourite kitchens. My friends can definitely expect some dinner invitations later this year.

Nutrition: I know a lot about food now. I know what to eat in order to get more energy and built muscles, and I know what to eat to loose fat. I have seen the importance of a healthy diet on my own body, and I am fascinated about how you can transform your body by eating differently.

Extremely good habits: By following a workout and meal plan, I have become extremely good at planning my life to make it as easy as possible for myself. I am food prepping one-two days ahead, and every evening I am preparing my breakfast so it’s ready to cook in the morning. This way it makes it easier to follow my meal plan and it results in less stress.

Self-discipline and will power: I have improved my self-discipline and will power. For example, I don’t touch the Nutella I have in my kitchen, and people can eat candy, cake etc. in front of me without me caring much. I have been to many parties and social arrangements without eating unhealthy or drinking alcohol, always bringing my own food and drinks. Sometimes it was hard to say no, but it was necessary to do so.

No matter how the competition will turn out, the process itself has taught so many things that I can take with me further in my life.

Progress update.

I met up with my coach yesterday. It had been two weeks since last time, and we needed to do another measurement to check that everything is going in the right direction. My body fat percentage went from 10,7 to 10,1 in two weeks, which is good. What’s even better is the fact that I got a new diet plan with a little more food (carbs), starting from today. The food is highly needed now that the summer break is over, and uni has started again.

Black with a shoe twist.

Saturday.

Hello mornings spent in bed, long time no see! A morning without the sound of an alarm had been needed for some time now, and I was surprised I didn’t sleep longer than until 9 am. I enjoyed my morning oats with some sparkling water before I went to the gym. I was full of new energy and today’s workout was amazing.

Weekend is here.

Yesterday, I was exhausted when I finally made it home from work. It was one of the few days where I just didn’t feel like working out at all. In the end, I went to the gym and made it though the entire workout, and when got home, I felt more energetic than when I left. It happens all the time that I become super active after a workout.

Today was different. I spent the same amout of hours at work but I was looking forward to my 40 minutes powerwalk in the nature, and I had a good walk in lovely surroundings. The weather was great too.

Now I will write good night and close my eyes. Have a nice weekend!