I love May :)

Beautiful beginning of the lovely month of May. The sun is shining outside and I am feeling optimistic and happy inside, although still a little dizzy ;) Exciting times ahead regarding food and diet issues. I was inspired by a story of a family that removed sugar from their diet for a whole year and thought that this is something I would like to do. Then a cousin of mine and friend on Facebook created Sugar-free May event, and so I figured I would begin with that. One month without sugar. Today is the first day! I am not doing 100% sugar-free. I will remove added refined sugar, which means no sweets at all and no cakes. No bread or buns with sugar. No yogurt or other dairy with sugar. Nor with artificial sweeteners. So no Coke Light! Serious stuff! But I am not removing all sauces and pesto and stuff like that which often has added sugar. Not now, anyway. And of course I am eating fruit. Lots of fruit! And I will allow myself to drink Herbalife sportdrinks (for my runs) and if I need extra energy for my longer runs (my half-marathon training is starting for real very soon) I will eat some energy bars or things like that. And my vegetarianism is going very well which is both surprising and fabulous at the same time.This is very exciting and I am feeling super optimistic and positive and energetic in the beginning of the fantastic month!

My running schedule has gone all over the place these last few weeks. My knee keeps acting up again and again, as well as travelling and inner ear problems causing me not being able or interested to go for many runs in April. Only about 5 runs in a whole month. Not good at all. Now I need to get going, although still quite slowly because of my knee. Will see a physical therapist soon if this will not get better. According to my half-marathon training plan, I need to start the “serious” training soon, within a couple of weeks. Still only three runs a week, two shorter ones plus the long one on Saturdays. I have also ordered a work-out DVD that will help me get more structure in my strength training. I am quite excited about all of this, and ready to get started. Have ambitious weight-loss plans as well, but we will see how that goes.

These months, I have been very busy working on the new me. I have been reading and listening to people like Brian Tracy, Robin Sharma and reading a lot of stuff regarding change and such things. I’m doing yoga and meditation, although the “stressed” me is not very good at meditation (not yet!). I am working on 10 goals for 2014, and am already on my way regarding few of them. I am really enjoying it, the process of getting to know myself better and looking at myself from different perspectives. And it is interesting to realise that different people see me in such different ways. And how differently I see myself in different situations. I am actually a very different person in private than I am at work, and very different from how I am in my academic life. That is the “me” I like the most, very confident and happy and certain that that is what I want to do with my life. Now I’m just working on transferring that confidence and certainty into all other aspects of my life. How exciting J

Have a great May everybody!
Namaste :)

Progress report from snowy Iceland :)

Happy Easter everybody. I hope you have enjoyed your Easter even half as much as I’ve enjoyed mine. I’ve been here in serious relaxation, sleeping, eating and running now for one week already with one more week to go. It was totally what I needed! I even think that the snow (yes, you read it right, SNOW!) that is here has helped me to stay relaxed. So fantastic.

My meat and fishless lifestyle is going very well. I haven’t been missing fish at all, which was very surprising, and the meat cravings are minimal. I thought it would be so very hard to spend Easter with my parents and my mum’s delicious cooking, but I managed very well. Had lots of support from my lovely sister and found delicious alternatives to my mum’s leg of lamb and smoked lamb etc. So, I’m one happy vegetarian.

I’ve decided not to run in the Sentrumsløpet, which is next weekend. My knee is not fully recovered and I don’t want to risk hurting it more. I need to start my half-marathon training in mid May and just have to keep my cool and take things slowly for a little while longer. I have been running quite a bit lately and can feel that my form is getting better and better so this stupid knee is very annoying. Oh, so very annoying! So as of today, my race plans for this season are the iForm race in mid May (10K), Women’s run in mid June (?K), Reykjavik marathon in mid August (21,1K), KK Mila in early September (10K) and Oslo marathon in mid September (21,1K). Let the games begin ... or something like that.

Chocolate greetings from snowy Isafjordur

Tiny steps ...

So, this picture above is basically my life at the moment! I’m the type of person that like to make plans and organise my time so I know exactly what I’m going to be doing and when I will do it. That is how I live my life, basically, without it being totally OCD and knowing that plans are made to be changed. February started very well for me. I was running and building muscles and losing weight and all the good things you hope for during a training period were happening. Happy times! Then, life happened. And colds. Endless colds. I’m trying to listen to the experts that say that one should take it easy when one is suffering from colds and other health issues, as it can prevent injury and over-training. So that is what I’ve been doing. But it seems that as I get rid of one cold, I get another. And I also had my recurring inner ear problem annoying me as well as some pain in my right knee. Taking it easy was therefore a must.

I have still managed to go for a couple of runs in the last few weeks. I’ve found a fantastic new route that can grow as I start running longer distances and the scenery is fantastic. 

But mostly I walk. And I love it. I totally love walking. Almost as much as running. And I’m working on my knee by strengthening all the muscles in my legs. Now all I can do is cross my fingers and toes that with better weather (and hopefully sun!) I will be getting better and will be able to sail full steam ahead with my training. I have a month and a half until my first 10K run of the season, and I would love so much to run a sub-60 minute 10K.  I’m trying not to put too much pressure on myself regarding time, trying simply to concentrate on it being a fun race, the way it is supposed to. I have another 10K race in mid May, and giving that the April race goes well, I may try to improve my time in that race. But  let’s not get ahead of ourselves! At the moment, I just hope that I’ll be able to get back on track soon.

I have been having serious meat cravings in the last few weeks. With a seriously stressful period in mid and late February, all I could think of some days was to get a juicy BigMac! Yes, a very delicious and juicy BigMac! Of course, I didn’t give in and am still meatless. And now I’m preparing myself, both psychologically and practically, on being fish-less as well from April 1^st. It will be interesting. Especially as I seem to be having a serious sushi-eating mania these weeks. I have found some delicious recipes with chick peas, black beans, quinoa and other good protein sources, so I’m sure this will all be fine. My dilemma at the moment is about what I will do at Easter. I’m going home. HOME! And it would be lovely just to sit back and enjoy my mum’s cooking and all the delicious Icelandic food. But, I can also see myself sitting down at breakfast on January 1^st 2015 and enjoying my first meat meal in one year. It would be such a fantastic experience. I still don’t know what I will do. Let me think about it.

Peace out :)

Little steps ...

I have many different projects going on this week. One of them is finding a good strength training plan. I was doing a great 30 day strength challenge, but stopped after day 21. I was having some pain in my back, I think mostly because of the plank exercise. When you are supposed to do 3 minute plank and can barely do 1 minute, you end up doing it incorrectly and your back suffers. And I no longer saw the point of doing over 200 squats. Sorry, that is just silly. So, I’ve been reading through all my sport magazines and my running books and googling and youtubing. Finally, a friend introduced me to the 7 minute workout. Fantastic idea. I will give it a try, it can even be found as an app. Here is a link to it on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ECxYJcnvyMw. I will keep track of my progress and revise if necessary, but I really like the way it is set up as it’s easy to follow.

So, now my weekly training plan is ready.

Monday: Walk + strength

Tuesday: Run (intervals/hills)

Wednesday: Rest (short walk + strength)

Thursday: Run (intervals/pyramid)

Friday: Walk + strength

Saturday: Run (long run)

Sunday: Rest (short/slow walk)

Looks good, right?

And yeah, I almost forgot. I’ve now officially signed up for the Reykjavik marathon, half marathon distance, on the 23th August 2014. Paid for it and all, so now there is no backing out but just full speed ahead with training. It will be so much fun, I’m sure.

I’ve also been focusing a lot this last week on food. Doing research on the internet, googling and youtubing everything and more and have found that a plant-based diet, like the one I’m working on, is very interesting and probably the best decision I could have made. It doesn’t mean that I think it is for everybody, but it looks like it will work for me. Not only for health reasons, but also for ethical and environmental reasons. This last couple of weeks I’ve been having some meat cravings, but my data collection on the benefits of plant-based diet and casting out processed food for good has kept me on the right track. In case any of you are interested to look into plant-based diet, here is a link to a video with the author of the book The China Study. Basically, it states that we are what we eat. There are, of course, some critics of the book and I’m not here making any claims that it is 100% correct, but it seems to make sense to me.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xzrWGOKK3E8

I’ve also been watching some video from this ultra fitness guy, and a vegan. All the claims that you don’t get enough protein from plant-based diet sure don’t seem to fit him. His name is Rich Roll, you can check him out if you want, on YouTube. So far though, I’m far away from veganism but excited about the journey and the experience. I’ve started to fair a little better with my chocolate habit, it is on the right track. And now I also really have to face my coke light habit, again! I have found out that those two habits go hand in hand. They complement each other, the pleasure of eating chocolate without the coke, and drinking the coke without the chocolate, is not the same as consuming the two together. I think I’m almost there, something is stirring in my brain and I’m confident that before long there will be no more chocolate and coke light for me :)

Have a great week everybody, and remember: Be the change you want to see in the world!

Summing up January

I started February off with a great (although slow) 5,5 km run around my neighbourhood, following it with day 19 of my 30 day strength training challenge. That one included 160 squats and 70 sit-ups, among other things. I have to admit that it is getting more and more difficult, although it is also great to feel that I’m getting stronger and stronger every day. I can also feel the improvements in my runs, very tiny improvements but they are there. What I feel mostly is that I’m not as tired afterwards as I was in the beginning. I’m still very slow but I’m sure speed will come with persistence.

In January, I had three challenges to overcome, or goals to reach. The strength challenge is ongoing. Number two was getting into a routine of running/walking no less than 3 days a week. I’ve gone way over that goal and seem to be running/walking 5-6 days a week now. Which is making me feel fantastic. The last goal was to document all my kilometres on Endomondo and share it on Facebook. This I have also succeeded to do. And I think I will simply just keep it up. I walked/ran 85 kilometers in February, can you imagine that. So fantastic, I'm over the moon with pride of myself. Good job, Bryndis!

After the 30 day strength challenge, I’m looking into a strength training program specially designed for runners, and plan to put that into action immediately after the challenge is over. I also had other goals in January, that are not directly connected to my half marathon training, and I’ve reached all of them. I’m working hard on creating the future I want for myself, and on the kind of person I want to be. That includes becoming more confident and not being afraid to follow my own path even if that may be difficult or not what other people might do. And I’m definitely on my way with that goal. My vegetarianism goal is also going strong, and I simply don’t miss meat at all. There are so many good vegetarian recipes out there, and of course as I’m still eating fish I suppose I’m not feeling the true effects of vegetarianism yet. These are, however, things I look forward to dealing with and I think I am more than ready. At least I fell wonderful knowing that I’m not contributing to the horrible conditions factory chickens have to live in!

Obviously, as now we are in February, I need to find more goals and challenges for myself. In spite of all my exercise in January, my weight and measurements have not changed one bit since January 1^st. I suppose that has something to do with my sweet tooth! Because, as much as I’m concentrating on eating well, I also eat bad. And not just sometimes. I am completely and totally addicted to chocolate. So! One of my goals and challenges for February is to only eat chocolate (and any other sweets) on Saturdays. Putting my self-discipline into overdrive and seriously challenging myself. One has to think big to achieve big! I’m sure this will be successful and I look forward to logging in my success at the end of this month! Another goal I will be working towards is writing down my goals everyday as well as planning my day in advance. This advice I got from Brian Tracy, who I’m now hooked on. I got myself a spiral notebook and started off this morning by writing down 10 goals for this year, as well as writing down what I will be doing today. Fantastic.

I hope you are all having a good day and are striving towards something meaningful in your lives. Remember, the number one enemy to achieving anything is the comfort zone so I challenge all of you to step outside of it and reach for the stars. That is what I’m doing!

Now, I've gotta run ;) Gonna have a great day with some great ladies.