Whole 30 day 5!

When I'm prepared, I'm successful.

I have a meal plan calendar and I did a big load of shopping and cooking on Monday and consequently have had 5 successful days on this new plan.
Breakfasts for me are the easiest. A combination of a 2-egg omelet and I've started frying up some veggies in butter before adding the egg. In this example its shredded carrot and pre-steamed broccoli. If I have a fresh tomato, I chop that up and throw it on top.
Snacks have ben fruit mostly: peaches, pears, and bananas.  


 Dinners I can make big enough to tupperware for school lunches on the subsequent days. Below is my version of Veggie Marinara- no pasta, I used potatoes as the base. The sauce is made of: chicken, broccoli, carrots, and eggplant in a tomato spaghetti sauce. And those purple sprouts?? Well, they were pretty :)

This was left-overs, but the left-side of the plate was my Indian yellow curry with chicken, carrots, eggplant, onion, and sweet potato, all on a bed of cauliflower "rice."

It makes me excited to come home and eat.
Another snack recommendation? Left-over baked sweet potato. Even eating it cold, it tastes delicious.

Whole 30- day 1.

I have a new goal. A one-month body cleanse and detox regime called the Whole-30. I need to post it here so I am accountable for my actions and I guess I will be looking for support when the cravings kick in.
Why, you ask?
1. Improved sleep
2. Clear skin
3. Mood elevator
4. Cooking more
5. Change my relationship to food
6. Eliminate sugar cravings
7. Increase energy

With the start of a new school year, it feels like a good time to establish healthy eating habits.

So, what can I eat???

1. Meats, chicken, fish (we shall see), seafood, pork, (any meats)
2. Vegetables (carrots, kabocha, spinach, eggplant, cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower...)
3. Root vegetables (potatoes, yams)
4. Fruit (grapefruit, pear, banana, apples...)
5. Nuts/Seeds (cashews, almonds...)
6. Fats (coconut oil, avocados, ghee, olive oil...)

And on the NO list???

• Sugar- juices, candies, 
• Carbohydrates- pasta, bread, rice
• Dairy- cheese, milk, yogurt, 
• Soy
• Legumes

So its definitely not vegetarian friendly. But the goal here is to see how I feel after 30 days, do I notice any changes? Then I can start to add back in certain food groups as necessary. 

There is lots of online support, one of my other friends is going through it right now as well and they all recommend being very prepared. So I've got tomorrow to plan out my meals and do the necessary grocery shopping. 

Today's breakfast: omelet: 

two eggs with carrots and ginger 

Lunch: (this was meant to be a snack, but my timing was bad). 

banana, almonds, cashews and jasmine tea 

Tonight's dinner: green salad.

Ingredients: ground chicken seasoned with olive oil and salt/pepper, butterhead lettuce, tomatoes, avocado, steamed broccoli, broccoli sprouts, cucumbers, dressed with olive oil and salt/pepper.

European Capital- Berlin

Lex and I had some sister-tourist time in Berlin. New and exciting for me, and with so much to see, there was plenty of new things to explore for her too. We totally wore ourselves out, walking almost 60km in the three days. There was just so much to see. So much history to listen and experience as well as the modern chaos. 

 I think we did a great job of combining a bit of all things Berlin- old, new, cultural, historical, gastronomical, vivid, bizarre, thoughtful and fun. We got audio guides at the museums, a very energetic tour guide took us around East Berlin, and overall we were able to navigate ourselves around with ease. 

Along Bernauer Strasse is where the longest section of the Wall is kept as a memorial. In the photo on the left, Lex is looking at the faces of victims who attempted to cross the wall while it was erected. The restrictions for passage became worse and worse, and soldiers guarding the wall were told to shoot on sight. 

Throughout our excursions we were constantly moving between West and East Berlin...

The Reichstag building is the seat of Parliamentary proceedings in the capital. We were able to climb in the glass dome and get a great panoramic view of the city- and identify all the landmarks we had seen.  

A seemingly popular hangout- beer garden and sausage stand under the train tracks! The line was long, and since nothing served there appealed to Lex, we moved on to Turkish falafels and humus- totally satisfying. But I had to get this shot- only in Germany...

 Another point right at the edge of East meets West- and here is the Berlin car- something of nostalgia for the past...

Love these city bears!

An hour outside of Berlin we visited Rococo palaces in the city of Potsdam. The French-style gardens, fountains, long tree-lined paths and 'orangerie' recreate the era and desperately made me want to don a hoop skirt and travel by carriage.

Not pictured- we made our own Ritter Sport at the factory (much like the Cup Noodle museum in Yokohama). Ours was: milk chocolate with cocoa nibs, dried raspberries and vanilla cookies.

Traveling in north Germany Kiel and Amrum

Clearly I'm not ready to start work yet! I took advantage of my ongoing time off, and traveled to northern Germany to visit Lex and Elmar. They were the best of hosts, had a room for me to stay in, took time out of their scheduled lives and we did local and overnight adventures, in addition to plenty of exercising and good eating. 

There is a local farmer's market just a few minutes walk from their apartment 2xs a week. We picked up fresh fruit, and bread and enjoyed your typical German breakfast spread! Of note: cheese, Nutella, and coffee- of course!

Having started training with Crossfit in Tokyo, I went ahead a found a box in Kiel too! I joined them for a work out on day 2 (after I arrived). As a box, they have only just begun...but the workout was intense none-the-less! After a quick warm-up... 60 jumping jacks, 50 lunges, 40  overhead presses, 30 sit-ups, 20 box jumps and 10 burpees, and a short weight lifting practice, we got to the main workout. 

For time: 90 wall-balls, 70 kettlebell snatches, 50 box-jumps, 30 toes-to-bar, 10 hand stand push-ups. I think my red face (in the photo) can attest to the difficulty of this workout! 

The following day, all three of us took bikes and rode right out the front door! Primarily on bike paths of different material- paved, cobblestone, wooded, sandy... we circumnavigated one of the large lakes just outside of Kiel. A good 50km through forests, small villages, along the lake-side and near some canals too. Whenever there was water opportunities- Lex and Elmar donned swimwear, and jumped in! I cautiously changed behind a tree, and tip-toed into the icy cold lake water. (So NOT the German style!)

The following day, we headed out to the beach along the North Sea, about 30 minutes from Kiel City-Center. The sand bar stretches out for a long ways, so the water here was very shallow. We enjoyed the long stretch of beach, lunch on an outdoor veranda overlooking the sea, and a few dips in the water. 

We did a camping overnight on the island of Amrum. Traveling by ferry, we arrived around 10:30 am, I rented a bicycle and we rode over to the camping platz. It was quite the crowded village of tents and campers. We found ourselves a small area of sand to set up the "it just barely fits" 3-person tent. 

 We enjoyed the beach atmosphere of this island too. Long stretches of desert-like sand, dunes and gentle waves (once we reached the water! About 1 km across the sand from where I'm standing)
We rode our bikes around the island, and with the sun staying up until after 9pm, it really doesn't get dark until well after 10pm.

Another natural treat was this Watt- an excursion during low tide across the mud flats. The most awesome sensation of squelching and squishing through the toes and well up to the mid-calf. The trek was tough-Lex and I were constantly worried about slipping, and each step required careful placement.

 Next post...off to Berlin