BUTTERBEAN AND CHORIZO HOTPOT 5 2 DIET

As I have mentioned, probably several times, I follow the 5:2 diet. I am a creature of habit however I do sometimes get a little bored of the endless soup, stir fries and salmon that I eat on "2" days and so I decided it was time to try something new. This is a recipe which I found in the Daily Mail and it took around 30 minutes.

Ingredients for 2 people:

30g chorizo, finely chopped
1 medium onion, peeled and finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, peeled and crushed
1 x 400g tin of chopped tomatoes
1 tbsp tomato puree
1 tsp smoked paprika
Pinch of sugar
Salt and pepper
Handful of coriander, roughly chopped, to serve

Heat a medium-sized pan and gently fry the chorizo to release its colour, oil and flavour. 

Add the onion and garlic and cook gently until they have softened (about 5 minutes).

Add the butter beans, tomatoes, tomato puree, paprika and sugar. Simmer for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Add 2 tablespoons of water or a little more, if the pan starts to look a little dry.

Finally serve between 2 bowls with some chopped coriander.

This comes to a total of 249 calories per portion - I weighed the two bowls so I made sure each portion was equal. As I was sharing it with my daughter, Arabella, she added some crusty bread and goats cheese to bulk out her portion. I really enjoyed it - it certainly did not feel like diet food and was really tasty and filling. Arabella was not so keen - too many onions  - but it wasnt the worst thing she had eaten apparently!!

Dont scrimp on the coriander, it really makes the dish. A great recipe for a "2" day.

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The Top 5 of the Very Best Diet Tips

Diet is something most people fear, along with such scary stuff similar going to the dentist. But diet plans are really not all that terrible and with this sampling of the very best diet tips, you will find that it could be relatively painless - not unlike a painless dentist.
One diet tip that should happen the top of the list of the very best diet tips is this:
Eat Less, Burn More.
Actually that is the weight loss program itself. If you programmed the calorie related aspects of your living around this tip, you will end up losing weight as effectively as you ever can on any diet program.
Create a vision board
The vision board is simply a real board where you put pics of things that you want to obtain. In this case, if you would like a strong, healthy and slim body discover a body that is exactly what you intend to have and post as many degrees of this on the board as probable. Be sure that you will consider it each day and visualize having that body. If you need to have got lower cholesterol numbers, get a photo of a lab result with the numbers you desire. Time and again, this has proven to be a very powerful and effective tool.
When eating, think small and recurrent.
A three meal a day program is old school as well as ineffective for effective and lasting weight loss. Eating 6 to 8 small meals a day keeps your blood sugar secure and your hunger pangs at clean.
Everything in moderation, do nothing extreme.
You could almost hear the sigh of relief from those reading this specific tip. But it really is genuine, because your body is so well-balanced and well-designed that it offers contingency plans that go into immediate action at the slightest hint associated with an emergency or imbalance. And this is just how it interprets a sudden caloric reduction which accompanies fad diets, thus explaining why they never do the job.
Think lifestyle change, not diet.
Some people think that we are already hard wired to react adversely towards word diet. While I dont know if this is true, it is an unassailable fact of which to most people, diet sounds short-lived. So think of what you will do as part of your weight loss or eat healthy program as a lifestyle change. That simple paradigm adjust can work wonders.

A lot of people are probably stunned at the simplicity of the ideas but make no mistake about that, the best diet tips are in truth the simplest. These five are the strongest and the very best diet suggestions around. In fact if you would likely only follow all five of these people, you would no longer need to keep anything else in mind since theyve already everything covered.

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Day 5 Week 1

Happy Friday!  I was so ecstatic to find that when I weighed myself this morning, I was down 7 pounds from where I started this week!  I realize that a lot of this could be water weight, but seeing progress like that is definitely the encouragement I needed over the weekend.  Here is my log for today:

Food log:

• Breakfast: 1 cup fresh pineapple, 1 banana, 1 apple
• Lunch: romaine lettuce salad with cannellini beans, chickpeas, broccoli, red onion, and a bit of Trader Joes Goddess dressing; 1 apple

• Dinner: Vrueban (vegan rueban), corn on the cob, baked fries
• Extras: 1 beer

Mmmm! Vegan Rueban!

Exercise log: Today I had to work late and didnt get time to exercise.  More energy to do things tomorrow!

How I feel:  Like I said above, seeing the difference on the scale this morning made me feel so encouraged.  I had a stressful day at work, and it just seemed like one thing after another went wrong.  On a normal day in the past, I would have let my stress translate into bad food choices.  I would think that since my day was so hard, I shouldnt have to cook.  Instead, today, I looked forward to nourishing my body with healthy food and to make my cooking time more of a relaxing meditation time for me.  

Since my mom is still on vacation with my sister-in-law, I went over to the house to make dinner for my dad and myself (Kevin came along with sausages of his to cook up).  My dad requested Vruebans, which is my version of a vegan rueban sandwich.  Find the recipe for the Vrueban here, and the accompanying Vegan 1000 Island dressing here.  

Tomorrow Kevin and I are going to help some friends move into their new place.  It should still be a lovely warm day, so Im sure we will break quite a sweat.  Im happy to help so I can get in some much needed arm muscle toning!  Im planning on packing a few snacks for tomorrow since we will be gone for most of the day and I dont want to be temped into eating anything that we might get to-go.  I may not be able to fit in my log tomorrow, but I hope you guys have a lovely Saturday!

What are your go to to-go snacks for when you have a busy day away from home?

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End of Week 4 the First day of Week 5

I hope everyone had a great weekend.  I did much better limiting my drinking than I have in weekends past.  Although this is technically my 6-week challenge, I have not stuck to it 100%... but you could have figured that out from looking at my logs.  I am just trying to focus on changing bad habits.  Since the start of the challenge I have not had any coffee, no SAD desserts, and have exercised more than I was before.  I think these are definitely good habits I can continue even when the challenge is done.  For the rest of the challenge, I hope to eliminate all processed breads and grains (except for Daves Killer Bread, which I eat only once or twice a week), to increase my bean/legume intake to 1 cup a day (now at 1/2-3/4 cup), and to add more cooked greens to my dinners.  Now on to my daily logs...

Saturday, Day 6 of Week 4
Food Log:

• Breakfast: 1 apple, 1 banana
• Lunch: veggie sandwich with hummus, guacamole, and spicy mango balsamic; 1 slice Greek artisan bread; whole grain chips and hummus; strawberries
• Dinner: salad with cashews and tahini dressing, bean burger on 1 slice of Daves Killer Bread

Exercise Log:  Walking along the beach

How I felt:  On Saturday, Kevin and I went with my parents to go boating on our favorite local lake.  I was a fun day, but at the end of the day I felt a bit dehydrated.  In the evening Kevin and I watched a couple of movies that we have been meaning to get to on Netflix.  Overall it was a good eating day, but perhaps with a bit too much processed bread/chip products.

Sunday, Day 7 of Week 4

Food Log: 

• Breakfast: 4 small plums
• Lunch: green salad with nuts, black beans, and homemade tahini dressing; 1 beer
• Dinner: tomato, onion, and shrimp bruschetta; Red Lobster Cheddar biscuits; 1 beer
• Extras: dessert of homemade vegan strawberry milkshake

Exercise Log: walking around the mall, shopping

How I felt:  We spent most of the day out and about with our couple friend on the North side of Spokane.  This included going to Flamin Joes (wing and burger place), where I ordered a plain garden salad and brought my own nuts, beans, and dressing to add to it.  I was a little ticked, because the menu said "mixed greens" for the salad, but when it came, it was clearly all iceberg lettuce.  Not to be a greens snob, but that is one of the least nutritional of all greens.  I wish it was more of a spinach or spring mix.  Bummer.  After hanging out with our friends for the afternoon, Kevin and I decided to stop in at Red Lobster to use up a gift card my work had given me.  I ended up getting a bruschetta covered with tomatoes, onions, and a little bit of shrimp.  I was happy to see so much tomato on the dish, but unfortunately, I filled up on Cheddar Biscuits (I know!  Its a huge No-No!), so I didnt eat too much of the appetizer I ordered.  Then, in the evening when we got home, I made myself a strawberry smoothie, while Kevin had angel food cake* with strawberries and whipped cream.  At least I didnt cave for that!  Overall, not the healthiest day of eating, but I tried my best and gave in to a little bit of temptation.

Monday, Day 1 of Week 5

Food Log: 

• Breakfast: 1/2 cup blueberries, 1 apple, 1 peach
• Lunch: spinach salad with broccoli, red onion, cashews, black beans, and tahini dressing; tortilla chips
• Dinner: salad with leftover tomato bruschetta
• Extras: 2 beers in the evening

Exercise Log: Engine 2 workout in the morning (Morning!?  I know, I did it!)

How I felt:  Today I felt a bit bloated, probably from a bit of the saltier foods I ate the day before.  Overall, Im feeling optimistic to finish out these last two weeks strong, and probably continue with what I have been doing.  This morning I did a work out before I got ready for work.  Normally I am not a morning exercise person, but I actually kind of liked getting it out of the way.  I made sure not to let it be an excuse not to do well on the other aspects of my day.  Hopefully I can get in 3-4 more solid work outs in before the end of the week.

What time of the day to you try to exercise?  How does it make you feel for the remainder of the day?

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5 2 DIET THE FAST DIET

As I have mentioned in some previous blog posts I follow the 5:2 diet. This means that for 2 days of the week I just consume 500 calories (600 for a man) and then rest of the time I eat "normally"….by normally I mean around 2000 calories a day (2400 for men). When I originally started this diet, I didnt lose anything but that was because I thought you could literally eat what you want on the "normal" days and so was going food crazy - this is not the case, if you consume a lot more that your recommended amount, this diet wont have the correct effect.

The diet is based on intermittent fasting which not only helps you lose weight but also allows you to enjoy a wide range of health benefits such as improvements in your blood pressure, cholesterol levels and insulin sensitivity. 

The weight loss is slow, around a pound or two a week, however it is consistent. I have been doing it since January and it is the only diet I have ever stuck to properly…..and I have been dieting for nearly 25 years!!! 

Right - the days of 500/600 calories arent easy but actually they are not too bad. I keep myself going by thinking of what I can eat the next day….chocolate, chocolate and more chocolate! The funny thing is the next day you feel so good, you dont want to stuff yourself with sugar. I am having a "2" day today and I am dreaming of eating my Millionaire Shortbread for breakfast but I know I wont….I will probably have an apple.

The one thing that is hard on a "2" day is adding variety to your meal plan and also I dont want my daughter to know that I am cutting my calories so I try to eat as normal as possible. I eat a lot of soup, eggs, salads, fish, fruit and stir fry. Then I add potatoes or pasta or something to Arabella and Pascals meals. If you are happy to eat ready made food, supermarkets do a wide range of meals for 300 calories but I prefer to make everything as fresh as possible.

Here are some of my regular meals for a 500/600 calorie day:

1. 60g smoked salmon, 2 large eggs scrambled with a dash of skimmed milk, salt and pepper and a few chives. Fry Light (one calorie spray) is my secret weapon - it prevents me ever having to use oil. Total calories = 270 calories

2. 120g salmon fillet with 150g broccoli and 10ml soy sauce. I bake the salmon and broccoli in the oven at 180 C for 15 minutes and add a squeeze of lemon to the fish. Total calories = 288 calories.

3. 130g fresh tuna and 160g broccoli. We sprayed the tuna with some Fry Light and then put it on the barbecue for a couple of minutes each side and roasted the broccoli as before. Total calories = 239 calories.

4. 600g New Covent Garden wild mushroom soup. I eat the whole carton and it is very filling. Total calories = 162 calories.

5. 280g mixed mushroom stir fry with a packet of Slim Pasta spaghetti and 15ml soy sauce. The Slim Pasta is from Whole Foods or Holland and Barrett - it is a poor substitute for noodles or spaghetti but it is only 40 calories so does come in useful! Once again I used Fry Light for my wok. Total Calories = 210 calories.

6. I love a salad - here I have added 75g of roasted garlic and parsley prawns, 70g of lambs lettuce & rocket, 5 cherry tomatoes, 20g reduced fat feta cheese and 30ml of pizza express house dressing. Total calories = 266 calories.

7. A ham omelette made with 2 medium eggs and a few slices of wafer thin ham and of course….Fry Light. Plus some cucumber on the side. Total calories = 195 calories.

I always save my meal for the evening so I can eat with my family. For the rest of the day I will have a coffee with skimmed milk when I wake up (12 calories) and then I will snack on fruit such as a pink lady apple (47 calories), a nectarine (43 calories), a plum (25 calories). I also adore the miso soup sachets which are only 18 calories and every night I have a chocolate highlights drink which is just 40 calories….my treat! Celery and cucumber are good to eat as well as they are low cal and I drink a lot of water and herbal tea. 

I will add more meals as I go on - I havent weighed myself for a while so I cant tell you exactly how successful this diet has actually been but my clothes are fitting better and I feel good. It is strange but I even look forward to my "2" days as I have a tendency to over eat at times and it keeps me on the straight and narrow. 

Right now back to dreaming of sugar!!

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5 Powerful And Free Weight Loss Tips

Ive gathered 5 more powerful free weight loss tips for you. Once again When ive whittled the forest of guidelines down to the handful that bunch the most punch. I struggled having my weight for years. I want you have fun with the same success I do and thiss why I share all that with you.
Here are 5 great weight loss tips just for you:
1. Start gently with your exercise. Make stairs instead of the elevator. Walk 15 minutes a day. Do small things that improve your activity level. And if youre obese and/or havent been active at all, decidedly check with your doctor before outset any exercise program.
2. Stay busy. Boredom leads to gluttony. Whenever you find yourself idly pondering food, remind yourself there are other things to do besides eat. Think of things which can be done that use your hands like acting the piano, painting, working a puzzle (e.g., jigsaw, crossword, or even Sudoku), tie fishing flies, clean out and about a closet, or work on some needlepoint embroidery. I think you get the concept.
3. Rally your support system. Your friends can either hurt you or allow you to when it comes to weight loss. Explain to them what youre trying to do and why youre doing it. Tell them what you need from them. Let them know which any free weight loss tips they can offer will even be considered.
4. Consider your goal carefully. Perhaps, you need to make an intermediate goal. After wholly, a 5-10% weight loss can have significant health benefits. When you accomplish that goal you can seek to lose more. This weight loss tip will help you in the long run . . . one step at a time.

5. Keep track to avoid gaining that back. Dont scoff at this or any of the free weight loss tips! This is touted as one of many "secrets" to long-period weight management. In other words, once youve lost it this weight loss tip helps keep it off completely.

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Days 5 of Metamorphosis or how things can go wrong

So, a bumpy ride on days 5 and 6. Day 5 was good till I went out with friends - then everything started to go all the wrong way. 

Day 5 was a big day in many respects. I definitely did something right in my workout, as I was feeling an amazing feeling of burning - not the usual one, but somehow different, deeper and more pleasant. So, the MS went great (though I still have problems with the pace, and oh so many other things, but I am going through it). I counted how many reps Tracy does - about 40 each exercise on each leg. I managed to bring 1st and 2nd to 40 reps on Day 5, and to about 25-30 the 3rd and 4th exercises. Which I think is good. 

In the evening I was invited to a friends house for her wonderful risotto and girl-talk :) But I brought my own food (some sweet potato corn and carrot-parsnip), and tried only a little spoon of risotto. But after two glasses of wine, the girls managed to convince me to come to a party with them. Oh well, thats where things went a little out of hand. We had some beers in a bar, and then went to a club. So I was home only by 4 am or so. I had like 4 beers, and danced for like 3 hours. So, no, drink is not good, but at least I danced. Surprise surprise: I woke up the next morning with a horrible hangover and one kilo less of me (my scales actually showed 54.0!!!). All that dancing paid off, but then the drink also let my body know that it was not the best night fir it. Argh!

So in the end day 6 was a rest day. Now it will be Saturdays then - I just was not able to move today. :( I feel guilty, but really there is not much I can do. So, I am working out on Sundays now.

What is worse, I had one more dinner - today! And then I actually had some Chinese dumplings and maaan were they good!!! But oh well I think in terms of weight I now fell to about where I started. But oh well, I had a good day and it would have been really impolite not to eat there (friend of mine is leaving Bremen, and went for all the trouble cooking for all of us...)

So, off to a greater tomorrow. Will get some sound sleep now, so that I can start well and fresh tomorrow. I think I can, I think I can, I think I can!!!

This is the cartoon from my childhood, that I loved - about "I think I can" - the part I am referring to starts around 1:10 :)

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5 Dieting Tips For Increased Weight Loss

No matter how simple your diet is; it isnt easy. Dieting takes work and willpower. There are, however some going on a diet tips that you can follow which can help you increase the amount of weight you can lose without really doing the job any harder.
5 Tips to Help You on The Dieting Plan
1. Build muscle - Muscle burns more unhealthy calories, even when resting, than fat. Thus, the more muscle you have, the greater you can eat without gaining weight.
Too often, dieters avoid strength training in favor of cardiovascular routines that burn fat. And, while burning fat is important, your cardiovascular exercise should be along with some strength training to help anyone build that all important muscle. Not only will it be easier to lose weight, but it will also be much better to keep the weight off.
2. Eat several small meals - Eating 5 or 6 small meals in a day is more effective for sacrificing weight than eating three larger meals.
By eating several times a day, youre keeping your metabolism revved up more than if you eat more infrequently. Planning those meals ahead and getting food available is another one of the greatest dieting tips. Its easy to overeat or eat the wrong things because you didnt keep the right things offered.
3. Work out at a high intensity - When you do your cardiovascular exercise, aim for the top intensity your body will allow. Substantial intensity workouts burn far more unhealthy calories.
For example, did you know that you could burn more calories in ten moments of running than in 30 minutes of walking?
If youre not up to high intensity workouts just yet, another good a diet tip is to work out at a low intensity, but for longer. You can get nearly the same results with prolonged low intensity workouts, particularly if they willre performed first thing in your morning before breakfast. Aim for an hour of slow or moderate paced going for walks.
4. Drink water - When your body is dehydrated, your metabolism slows down, stalling your weight loss efforts. Another of the great going on a diet tips is to drink eight glasses of water a day. This helps ensure that you remain hydrated so your metabolism can office efficiently.

5. Eat slowly - Take the time to take pleasure from every bite, and dont eat while youre doing other things. This is one of the dieting tips that is really important, because when you feel deprived, anyone tend to fall off the beach wagon.

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Day 3 Week 5

Ah, today was a long day....

Food log: 

• Breakfast: steamed spinach, cashews, nutritional yeast, spicy balsamic vinegar
• Lunch: spinach salad with carrots, celery, red onion, broccoli, and cannellini beans with tahini dressing
• Dinner: Happy Herbivore enchilada casserole, watermelon
• Extras: 3 beers (dinner and trivia)

My salad for lunch

Enchilada Casserole

Topped with vegan nacho cheese, guacamole, and salsa

Exercise log: yoga in the morning

How I felt:  Today I felt just exhausted.... Let me tell you why: before Kevin and I got married last September, I went on the pill a few months before to get used to it and had been on it up until I started this six week challenge a few weeks ago.  I went off the pill for several reasons, the most important reason being that I had extreme fatigue and migraines from it.  So, today started my first "time of the month" since going off of the pill.  It has been hell!  I havent had this heavy of flow or this bad of back pains since I can remember. :( Its as if I wasnt having a full period since I had been on the pill, and my body is taking its wrath on me because of it.  I hope as I continue with my Nutritarian lifestyle and rebalance my hormones, that it gets better.  My eating for the day went very well.  I forced myself to eat steamed greens for breakfast (maybe it will grow on me), then had a large lovely salad for lunch. After work I went over to my parents for dinner.  My mom made a dish from Happy Herbivore, one of her favorite cookbooks, for the first time: Enchilada casserole.  It. Was. Delicious!  I had to stop myself at one serving, but I could definitely have eaten more.  On top of it I put the nacho cheese recipe from the book, some homemade guacamole, and salsa. Yum!

What is your favorite Nutritarian-friendly cook book?

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Day 2 Week 5

Here is a quick (and unformatted) daily log.... This work week will be a long one!

Food Log:

Breakfast: 1 apple, 4 small plums

Lunch: romaine lettuce topped with Mexican black beans, pretzels on the side, 1 peach

Dinner: steamed collard greens with mango balsamic vinegar, 1 peach

Extras: 2 beers at our weekly friend meet up

Exercise log: we were planning on going on a hike in the afternoon, but instead went on a wild goose chase to figure out why my husbands laptop wasnt working... Waking up tomorrow for some at home Pilates and yoga... Very early tomorrow.

How I felt:  Today went by so quickly. It seems to be such a busy week at work, and in the evening it was just as busy running around for computer errands (grr!) and meeting up with friends.  I was inspired for dinner tonight by a post earlier this week on Healthy Girls Kitchen about how Chef AJ eats steamed greens for breakfast in the morning, so I decided to give it a try for dinner.  It was plenty filling and tasted great with this new spicy mango balsamic vinegar I got a week or so ago. I think I might give greens for breakfast a shot tomorrow morning after my work out.  Also, Kevin and my Chive shirts came in the mail yesterday! Any fellow Chivers that read?  I was pretty happy to see that the shirt I ordered fit perfectly... Hopefully it will be a bit oversized as I keep moving forward with improving my Nutritarian lifestyle. :)

Have you ever eaten greens in the morning besides in green smoothies?

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Full Circle 5

Since we have been traveling quite a bit over the last month, I have put my Full Circle box on hold, which is a really nice feature of this service.  I was in desperate need of some produce, so along with my seven items, I ordered three extra.

Clockwise the left:
red chard (Full Circle, Carnation, WA),
red plums (Red Raven Organic, Selma, CA)
red leaf lettuce (bonus item),
collard greens (Full Circle, Carnation, WA),
green cabbage (Riverdog Farm, Guinda, CA),
aprium (Tinys Organic, East Wenatchee, WA),
Congo Confection Collection (Theo Chocolate Company, Seattle, WA),
donut peaches (Nicholas Family Farms, Orange Grove, CA),
 rainbow carrots (Lakeside Organic Gardens, Watsonville, CA),
White Sweet Corn (Double D Farms, Visalia, CA)

So far, I have had a salad with the red leaf lettuce; used the cabbage, collard greens, and rainbow carrots in a microsalad, and just this morning enjoyed a plum, a donut peach, and some aprium fruits.  My big treat this time was the little box of 4 assorted gourmet chocolates.  Im saving each one of them for a special night, perhaps while enjoying some red wine.

I was happy to find on my way home from work on Wednesday that a farmers market close to my house is now open on Wednesdays for the summer.  I stopped in and picked up some fresh Rainier and Bing cherries for $4 a pound, as well as some sugar snap peas for $3.50 a pound.  This farmers market is perfectly within biking distance, so I plan to drive home from work, then bike over to the market.  Ill finally get to carry some produce in my bike basket like I have been dreaming about since I got it!

How many farmers markets are close to you?  Do you find that their prices are reasonable?

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Foods in weeks what is it 6 and 6 5

So I finally have time to talk a little about food... Yes, I am not using "diet" on purpose right now, as...  well I wasnt so good following Tracys diet in the past 2 weeks. All the roller-coaster of life started in the end of Week 5. Which was already past 30-day-diet-trial-period I set for myself from the start. I have to say, I almost arrived at my desired weight, so now I am concentrating more on keeping it and not gaining more. Though I would still not mind to lose another 1-2 kilos. But... well, I had some things going on, so it was pretty hard to stick to the diet to the T. 

In the end of week 5 (Nutrient Boost...) my sweetheart was visiting from Prague - and hey I just cant resist going for a nice dinner out with him (or two! :D) So we again went to the wonderful Le Gril place on the Weser river bank (definitely recommended to anyone visiting Bremen!!!) - I tried to stick to the grill and salad, and nothing more, and as before Le Gril didnt disappoint us - it was yummy-amazing! :)

With a little bit of dry Martini... romantic atmosphere... great company... What else do you need?!

Beef steak and some salad

Breakfasts - I decided to stick to a sort of Body Reset Weeks breakfasts: with eggs and fruits. A little variation of this - with some cheese and tomato on the side... And sweetheart loved it too - wonderful huh? I find it really great when the loved ones support you and you may not change only your own life, but get into more healthier habits the people around you. Everyone can do without breads, but fruits and veggies are vital. Here we go...

Poached eggs, cheese, tomatoes, pineapple. Some green tea with mint as well - but not on the picture. Great start of the day!

The next day we dined in a nice traditional restaurant situated directly in the Bremen Town Hall!!! Just for a side remark - Town Hall is THE building in Bremen, originally built in 1410 (YES, Bremen is THAT old - and even older!!!).  A huge basement-located restaurant, the wine was AMAZING! Ratskeller (in German the name of those basement places in Town Halls - directly can be translated as something like "council basement or cellar") have traditionally stored lots of different wines, and the one in Bremen apparently have  had one of the biggest collections!  German wine is not that bad, people! Thats a great discovery! Since that  time I already brought a visitor there for some wine and cheese. Very nice! 

Great red wine... 

Cant say that the food offered a lot of healthy choices though. Well, its traditional German and North-German-Bremish cuisine, so a lot of dishes with something fried and deep-fried (which is a definite and absolute no-go for me - anywhere I go, and was long before TA). The menu is though very tradition and impressive, quite a few vegetarian dishes and cheeses, and they offer their suggestions of wines for all dishes - which I think is a great help :)! But - oh well - I did take something not so healthy, but it was pretty good, and nothing fried (phew!).

Some backed meat with celery-potato mash and some backed carrots and parsnip. Not that bad, but - I know, I know - not very "diet-ish"... :)

In week 6 I did relatively well. Did the normal Body Reset Week with eggs for breakfast, some chicken or tuna for dinner, lots of fruit and veg, one protein bar a day, and topped it up with more fruit and a little bit of nuts if I was hungry. As I was busy with driving school and other things, couldnt start the TA week 7 properly (will try to do so next week - we will see how it goes), so this week I am somewhat repeating week 6, with adding a little more food and nutrients. Also, have some cheese, but still sticking to lots of fresh fruit and veg. My breakfast for example one day:

Some Edam cheese, olives, tomato and rucola. Yum!!!

So I call the current week "Week 6.5" - as I am still trying to eat little and somewhat follow the week 6 diet, but add some changes. The most important point: keep it healthy! I love the feeling of lightness and energy I get from all the fruits I eat. I am seriously starting to think of getting a juicer finally to get some power juices going! May be this month.

OK, talking about all this food made me pretty hungry. So Im gonna go do the MS and have a dinner. Have a great day everyone, and keep it healthy! Remember to listen to your own body, and dont forget - your well-being is most important, so if you really really want a chocolate, have some (dont torture yourself!). And simply kick it up a notch in the DC! :)

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