Achtung! Wonder Woman Gushing

Wow. What to do, what to say? How does one sum up a week of this? This course has been absolutely riveting from start to finish. The subject matter is obviously close to my heart, but what made the experience were the people. My amazingly quirky, sassy, intelligent, funny and compassionate fellow nutri-nerds. We're talking "massive collective girl/ boy crush" here. Ouch, I miss them already.

So what's next? A lot. I'll be wrapping up the nutrition course next week, hopefully passing with flying colours (given how much I've studied, I'd be mortified if I didn't...).

And once that's off my plate, I'm on to the next course. To become a PT. How's that for a challenge? The thought makes me grin and squirm at the same time. But the voice in my head that shouts "why the hell not?" is louder than ever. You may call me Wonder Woman, if you wish. I sure feel like it.

This Stockholm hottie wasn't copyrighted, so he'll have to illustrate just how badass I am 

Swirling around this are all the ideas and plans for how I want to use my new knowledge. And I will be letting them swirl for a while longer. Because I now know that things will eventually fall into place. I just need to have faith and patience. Two virtues that I never realised I had.

Start of Fidgety Week 2 (Nutrition Course Part II)

Wow, I can't believe how quickly this summer has gone by. I'm sitting on the train, once again headed towards that fair city of the North, aka Stockholm. The landscape has changed significantly in the last month, harvesting being in full swing across the country.

Grain leftovers? 

I've spent most of the last month getting up early to work out/walk/run, eat breakfast, study for 1-4 hours, break for lunch, go for a swim, pick (but mostly eat) a helluva lot of berries (me and lil T share this passion...), prep for dinner, eat dinner, go for a walk, go to bed. Repeat.

Studying on the beach can be problematic when it's windy...

The studying has gone well. Sure, I've read dozens of books and blogs on the subject of paleo-inspired/ low carb food in the last few years, but it's been for my own benefit only. This has meant skimming the more "sciency" bits to get to the conclusion at the end, ie "yeah, that's all nice, but what do I actually DO?"  Rereading some of my books this summer has meant that I understand more and more of the "why", not just the "what".

Here's to another week of even more moments of clarity. :-)

Quickie Kraut

We love sauerkraut this household, so we're constantly making more when we free up jars.

Today's batch was made with cabbage and some red beets to top up.

Pink food rocks

Check out our previous posts for more rough'n'ready recipes.

For this particular batch, I also used some whey from the raw milk that we bought a week ago. I'm looking forward to see if there is a difference in taste!

Schon Gegessen - Today's Lesson in German

Although I wouldn't say that I'm very fluent in German anymore, there are a few terms that I still use on a regular basis. There are just some words that need to be in German, for example "schon gegessen" to describe food that looks like it's already been half digested, ie "already eaten".

This morning's breakfast certainly fit the bill. The PB posse was polite as usual, but agreed that we have seen better-looking food before. My sister kindly offered another translation of the term: "vom", ie vomit. Lovely.

Lump of something eggy, served with decidedly sloppy leftover kraut salad from last night

In my defence it has to be said that I had to wip up something real fast out of leftovers, plus the below for our trip:

A lot prettier, but who knows what it'll taste of...

But let's face it, food doesn't always turn out Michelin-worthy. It's just that those "vom" dishes tend to stay off the blogs. ;-)

Proper Mayonnaise

Mayonnaise. Aka awesomeness in a jar. I know, I know, if you're a fat phobic, you've conditioned yourself to hate it. Or make do with mayo "light".

But once you've learned the neat little trick of reading and understanding the list of ingredients, you start reconsidering what Heinz et al so frivolously label mayonnaise. It should be called inflammation in a jar. Or perhaps allergy in a bottle? Citric acid. Stabilisers. Antioxidants. Anonymous vegetable oil (could be corn, could be soy, who knows?). Excuse my French, but all that is really random shite that has no business in your food. Apart from making the manufacturer a load of money and you less healthy.

As a conscientious consumer you obviously abandon the store-bought stuff and make your own. Because once you do that, you realise just how easy it is. And cheap.

And just because you can, you take it to another level and ditch the vegetable oils altogether (being all inflammatory and stuff) and make it with... ghee. (And before I forget, this recipe is based on the recipe from Ryskadockor). So here it goes:

1. Make ghee.

Grandma's hankies come in handy

2. Assemble a stilleben of eggs, melted ghee, apple cider vinegar, salt, pepper and stick blender

Kitchen art

3. Make a mess: mix 2-3 eggs, 2 tbsp of vinegar/lemon juice, salt & pepper, then slowly, slowly add the melted ghee (the equivalent of half a kilo of butter) until the mixture thickens.

Eat with spoon

4. And if you're feeling adventurous, add garlic and other spices. Enjoy!

Breaking Breakfast Boredom

I love breakfast. I don't crave it as much as I used to, courtesy of more even blood sugar levels, but it is still a lovely meal.

When switching from milk & cereal/ bread & orange juice, I initially struggled to come up with ideas that weren't eggs and bacon (and grated cheese). Yummy, but perhaps a bit boring after a while, especially after cutting out cheese & other dairy and cutting down on bacon. What to do?

The key to more inspiration was to stop thinking of breakfast as having to be something specific, more like any other meal of the day. Leftovers with eggs is the general motto, nowadays. With the odd paleo porridge thrown in. :-)

Herring with marinated vegetables, cold rice, eggs and sauerkraut

Fried eggs, liver pâté, cold sweet potatoes with ghee mayo and sauerkraut salad

Mince meat, eggs, sauerkraut and some cold rice with fermented salsa plus egg latte and weed smoothie

Paleo porridge with fresh blackberries

Confessions of a Sniffer

I've always had a habit of smelling people that cross my path. As long as I can remember, I would time my breath intake to coincide with the "tail wind" of the person walking or running past. Maybe everyone does this? Or maybe I'm just weird. I'm sure it's got some evolutional advantage, perhaps it's a way of quickly checking the status of the dude or dudette on the path ahead of you: friend or foe, angry, afraid or happy to see you.

Clearly angry, with a touch of passive-aggressive 

Anyhow, unfortunately for the sniffer in me, I tend to get a nostril full of chemical trail instead of a proper reading of the person's hormonal status. And it makes me recoil every time, wanting to rinse my sinuses.

So why do we want to mask the way we smell with something made in a lab? Why do our clothes, hair, armpits, skin need to smell so screamingly, unnaturally, goddamn FLOWERY all the time?

Because we're SUCKERS, my dear friends. Because we've been had, big time, by marketeers who want us to obsess about our bodies and bodily functions, making them heaps of money in the process. Perhaps something to think about next time you reach for that chemical laden "beauty" product...

The "Fika", The Holy Grail of Swedish Food Culture

Anyone who's hung out with Swedes extensively will have experienced the so-called "fika", the mid-morning and mid-afternoon break, traditionally involving a caffeinated drink and something sweet.

As one of my current lecturers on the nutrition course so aptly put it, the fika follows the blood sugar curve pretty accurately. If every main meal jacks up your blood sugar, you're bound to feel lethargic a few hours after the deed, needing a little something to pick you up and make your brain and body focused again. All a bit of a vicious circle, but not something you'd usually reflect upon. It's part of our culture.

However, when you stop playing violent roller coaster with your blood sugar, that fika is no longer a necessity. You rarely feel hungry between meals and if you do, you don't feel weak or the need to rip off someone's head (unless you've been fasting for 18 hours and pappa is standing between you and your heap of bacon, obviously).

That feeling of no longer needing or really appreciating the fika is a bit of a two-edged sword.

On the one hand, you're free. Free to continue what you're doing, free from fear of nearly fainting lest you not find a corner shop while on the move, free from the "need" to eat those sugary treats that tempt you everywhere.

On the other hand, when your life doesn't revolve around your next blood sugar fix, joining in those fika breaks can feel a bit odd, to say the least. Kind of like hanging out in a bar while drinking tap water. A bit boring, empty even, as the focus of it has shifted from what you put into your mouth to... the actual act of socialising. Are perhaps food or drink a crutch when we socialise? Why does it feel odd to just sit there and make conversation without chewing on something?

Walking Home Alone

Walking home through the balmy summer night in Stockholm is hard to beat. You feel alive! You feel free!

But as a woman, you're also pretty likely to feel afraid. And perhaps a bit pissed off because you're constantly looking over your shoulder.

I love walking. It's meditative. And I really detest waiting for buses and trains if I know I can easily walk instead. But there is always that same conversation that goes through my head. What if this is the one time that someone decides to follow me and do me harm? Do men have that same conversation before going for a simple walk? Does fear of being assaulted make you stay put when you'd rather be out there breathing the night air? If you do decide to venture out there, do you do it  with a clenched fist full of keys, just in case someone decides to jump you?

End of Fidgety Week 1

The first week of the course is done and dusted! Result: my brain is fried and my tush is flat. After three months of standing, walking and running, the 8 hour sitting sessions were a bit of a pain in the, well, behind. It's been a lesson in fidgeting!

Other than that, it's been an absolute treat. Excellent lecturers, a riveting subject and lovely classmates. Who eat bacon and eggs. And like to go barefoot. :-)

My lunchbox is lower carb than yours

Among Fellow Nutri-Nerds

I'm now three days into my course and my brain is pretty tired. Talk about full on! 

Key take-away 1:

The body is an awesome thing. Wow. I am obviously only scratching at the surface, but this course makes me wish I had paid more attention in biology. Hot damn, I'll be caressing my right ribs tonight, thanking my liver for being the most awesome organ of the day. And no, alcohol has nothing to do with this new respect. 

The lovely in the corner didn't say much but had a rather expressive left eye

Key take-away 2:

I am usually the weirdest kid on the block. I run barefoot through big cities. I don't use shampoo. I put eggs in my coffee. But here, I'm not so sure. Some of these people run circles around my "obscure" reading list and name-drop people I've never heard of. Awesome! Plus they can even pronounce Tarahumara, the name of the Mexican "running" tribe in Born to Run, that also served as inspiration for the huarache sandals I wear. Funny how "my" little subculture suddenly feels mainstream, ha ha! 

My almost mainstream Jesus sandals 

Next Step

I'm on my way to Stockholm again, this time for another milestone in my new hippie life: the first part of the course in paleo/ low carb nutrition.

The hazy finish represents my usual motion sickness 

I booked the course as soon as I had decided to leave Pharma and go all hippie. I still remember the feeling of pressing enter and knowing that it signified the no turning back.

At the time, I didn't know how I wanted to use the course and I am still fairly open-minded about it. For a while I only saw it as a way to make the decision to leave London final, albeit something that would be useful to me and in line with my beliefs on health.

Half a year later, I have a feeling that this course will be the start of something pivotal in my life. The more distance I put between myself and Pharma, the more I realise that this is what I should be working with. I think I have finally found my calling.

Big words on a Thursday.

Lil T is One!

Our Lil T turned one in the week and it was time for her birthday party today. I was faced with the tough decisions about what to serve. I didn't want Lil T to miss out on birthday cake, but at the same time, I didn't want to serve her anything sugary. So, it was time for some experimenting.

Swedish birthday cake is usually a sponge cake with lots of cream and berries. I paleofied the concept by baking a paleo sponge cake where I substituted the maple syrup for mashed banana (No joke chocolate cake), then I layered with cherries, raspberries, blueberries and cream. It looked quite indulgent and you can't tell that there was no sugar involved!

I also wanted to try making a 'cake' purely out of fruit and lucky for us, Lil T's birthday is in the summer. I cracked open a watermelon and added some fruit layers. It wasn't too bad looking either!

Plastic Fantastic

I'm notoriously freaked out by plastic nowadays, especially when it comes to food. I don't care what packaging producers say about the quality of their plastic, I try to avoid it as much as possible so it doesn't leak into our food and mess with our hormones. Hence, our fridge looks a bit like a recycling bin:

I think we need a bigger fridge...

The second thing that motivates me to avoid plastic is the environmental factor, of course. We consumers just don't question plastic much, do we? It's everywhere. Not many people think twice about that plastic lid on takeaway coffee. Or the plastic bag around (often organic) fruit and veg. Or the plastic tubs in which processed food comes in, including most icecream and sodas and ready meals and so on and so forth. Yeah, some of it can be recycled to make, uhm, fleece (that leaks little plastic particles into our water, but that's a different story) and what, building material? But a lot, and I mean tons of it, ends up here:

I couldn't resist and read the ingredient list. Gag. Why do I do it? 

My high school friend Meyer taught me a lesson a long time ago. I was gushing over the in-store recycling facilities at the local Aldi, when he cooly remarked something along the lines of "well, how about we didn't have to buy all that packaging in the first place?"  That stuck with me and has made me think twice before buying something with unnecessary packaging. 

End of rant! :-)

Outdoor Gym

We've got some awesome entrepreneurs out here in the sticks. Two local teenage girls decided to organize an outdoor gym, I'm impressed! Check out the HUGE tractor tire in the background. Can't wait to attack that one. 

Now I just need to figure out what to do...

Unfortunately, we've had some less productive "entrepreneurship" in the woods lately, with half of the woods being fenced off by a pissed off builder. After a fair few angry articles and interviews in the media as well as some local vigilante action, the builder has at least taken down the gates. This leaves some rather lonely looking ladders. Perhaps they can be incorporated into some kind of obstacle course? Wouldn't want them to go to waste, they are awfully sturdy.

So very wheelchair friendly

Eating With Danes

I always thought that I'd end up in Denmark if I moved back to Scandiland, but life throws you a few surprises along the way, ey? The good thing about South Sweden is that Copenhagen is pretty much around the corner, so when my London-based girlfriend Mette happened to be around, I got myself on a train and a bus and a train (those strikes are a bugger) to see her and and another London girl, Marie.

Copenhagen is a bit of a hipster food Mecca, so I was expecting great things. I wasn't disappointed! Our first food stop (yes, I ate myself through CPH) was the aptly named Palæo (forgive the Danes their spelling, they just need to feel a bit special, in a small brother kind of way). A grain-free meat fest was promised and pretty much delivered on, including bullet proof coffee (coffee with butter, oh yeah). The only caveat was the service that was, well, hapless in a prehistoric kind of way. Given the cuteness overload of the staff, however, they were promptly forgiven. 

Next up was 42Raw, a raw veganite heaven and funnily enough right next door to a second Palæo café. Nothing is heated above 42 degrees and hence retains many of the enzymes and nutrients that would otherwise be lost in the cooking process. Because we were already full, we headed straight for the cakes... 

Although a fairly sweet affair (assuming mostly from dried fruit and bananas), the cake didn't do too much to my blood sugar. Aces!

I needed the energy for the little house party at Marie's house later. The usual kitchen utensils were brought out after a few glasses of wine (organic, bien sûr, one doesn't do hangovers anymore) and the singing started. Is it just my Danish posse that has this particular fetish for air guitars and pretend microphones?!

This morning we walked into town and stopped at Bodega for breakfast. Given the grain-heavy brunch options, I went straight for the herring. It cracked me up how most of the lunch menu was so traditionally Danish... funny how cool gets redefined. Anyway, the herring was love at first bite. :-)

Monday Fish

Sometimes I don't plan ahead and I need to make dinner from whatever random things are left in the fridge and freezer. Today was such a day and the result was pretty amazing! This is what I used:

350g frozen pollock, cut into cubes (no need to defrost, but it is easier to cut if it has been out for 30 minutes)
1/2 onion
1 sweet potato
1/2 kohlrabi
2 garlic cloves
3 chunks frozen chopped spinach
2 tbsp tomato purée
100g creamed coconut, dissolved in hot water
1 lime
Dried thyme
Dried oregano
Salt
Cayenne pepper

Fry chopped onion in fat of choice (I used coconut oil), then add thyme, oregano, pepper and chopped garlic. Then throw in diced sweet potato and kohlrabi, stir once in a while. Pour in creamed coconut, lime juice, tomato purée and spinach after a few minutes. Stir and cover with a lid. When the vegetables are almost done, place the cubed fish on top, replace the lid and let cook for a few minutes until fish is done. Stir and serve. Easy!

Confetti Sauerkraut

The rest of the clan is flying in from a London today. I can't wait to see little T again, now with a "complete" set of teeth. Complete in the sense that grandma fears that she'll start gnawing on the coffee table and the like, ha ha. Just like her mama and auntie used to do with our parents' bed's headboard. I can still feel the satisfaction of sharpening my teeth on it.

Anyhow, trying to keep busy I've made a new batch of sauerkraut. More like sauer vegetable confetti, I know, but the principle is the same. I just got a bit lazy and blitzed what I found in the cellar (cabbage, carrot and beetroot), added a few tablespoons of sea salt, mashed it up further with a spoon & my hands and stuffed it into jars.

Fermented party trick

The only problem with this stuff is that it doesn't last very long. The longer it ferments, the better, but as it starts fermenting pretty quickly and hence starts tasting bloody awesome in just a few days, it is difficult to keep your spoon out of the jar. (And if you still need convincing of why you should eat this stuff, read Marky Mark's article on fermented foods...)

Kettlebells

Our crossfit friends Sevan and Darren recently introduced me to Russian Kettlebells. Essentially, they look like large cast iron cannon balls with a handle on top.

8kg and 12kg Kettlebells

What sets the kettlebell apart from the trusty dumbbell is that they are far more versatile and take up a small amount of space, which is great if you are working out from home. I have subsequently learnt that they have been around far longer (300 years) than the standard dumbbells seen in most gyms.  

One thing I first noticed about the kettlebell, is how it feels slightly heavier and a bit more awkward to hold than a dumbbell. This is down to its centre of mass being extended farther out from your body, so making it harder to handle and manoeuvre. This ensures that when you do lifts or swings you have to concentrate more on your form to keep the kettlebell stable, thus improving your technique.

I am still learning new routines, but so far I have been able to target all the main muscle groups and core.  One of my favourites is called the Kettlebell Get-Up. It works the entire body and begins with you laid out on the floor and standing up with a kettlebell raised in the air. It's not as easy as it sounds.

At the moment, we only have an 8kg and 12kg kettlebell, but as we become more confident in the routines and stronger we will be adding to our collection.

For more information, have a look at the really informative blog by Ben Greenfield.

http://www.bengreenfieldfitness.com/2014/04/more-endurance-in-less-time/

Breaking Fast (Practicing What I Preach)

Right-ee-o, so sometimes I don't really practice what I preach. I've mentioned that prolonged fasting is perhaps not a great habit for the ladies but I still go ahead and do it myself. Fail.

Fine, the theory behind it is great, that it will give the body time to heal and clean up a few inflammations, but women are different hormonal creatures compared to men, so will react differently. In this case, pappa was just fine in dealing with any lingering hunger pangs, whereas the two ladies involved developed some pretty severe grumpiness (am surprised pappa still has a head on his shoulders). Like PMS for a week. Without the resolution.

So that part of the experiment ended this morning. The family is going back to having breakfast 10-15 hours post-dinner, with the window reflecting what feels natural to the women in the family.

The rest of the experiment is still on though! The middle finger is feeling rather sprightly at the moment, so maybe it is doing some good, after all.

The herring is in there somewhere

The Lowdown on Tweak Week

As mentioned in my previous posts, I've decided to tweak my diet to see if it has any effect on what I suspect may be the start of osteoarthritis. Although a week is by no means a long enough time to tell if I can delay onset of full-blown osteoarthritis in a decade or so, I have already noticed a few interesting things.

My fingers feel better, but still feel a bit swollen in the morning. I use my hands for various gardening tasks that I am not entirely used to yet, so the lingering stiffness could be a result of that.

Food-wise, I have been completely compliant with one exception. For pappa's birthday, I made chocolate mousse with cream and dark chocolate (and eggs and orange peel, if you must know, and it was absolutely divine). I probably had the equivalent of 50 ml of cream and 20 g of chocolate, so not a huge amount. But I woke up with a slightly painful middle finger the next morning. Who knows, I might have been busy sleep-walking and giving the neighbours the finger, but my guess goes with the dairy. I am steering clear until my cousin's wedding in two weeks to do another experiment (assuming that cream is served, that is!).

Fasting for 16-18 hours, ie between an early dinner and a late breakfast/ early lunch feels ok, energy-wise. Going for walks, sprinting, working out and gardening before breakfast went well, although the heavier exercises were perhaps a bit slower than usual. Also, there were some issues with crankiness before brunch was served up, so perhaps 15 is the sweet spot. Or maybe maybe it's a matter of getting used to.

I have lost a bit of weight, around a kilo. Obviously, eating twice or at most three times a day will do that to you. Especially since my sweet/ snacking tooth disappeared with the dairy fairy. However, I still weigh more than I've ever weighed in my life, just 6 kg less than pappa (ah, the awesomeness of working out less and still adding muscle...).

I have a funny taste in my mouth, but I guess that is the usual early sign of ketosis.

I had some skin blemishes that disappeared within the first two days.

My belly is happy. Enough said.

So overall I'd say it's well worth prolonging the experiment to see how things develop. Luckily, both my parents are extremely indulgent, happily joining in the intermittent fasting and phasing out all non-organic meats and vegetables. I'm impressed with their patience. :-)

Cheek to Cheek

We finally made it to Lindegrens yesterday and stocked up on proper meat to last us for a few weeks. Among the slightly more weird and wonderful cuts was pig's cheek. Given Lindegrens organic/ grass-fed profile, the meat is pretty expensive, but this cut was on the affordable side. Happy days!

As per David Lindegren's suggestion, I went for a slow-cooked, rolled up cheek. I spread an herb/lemon/sundried tomato concoction evenly on both and rolled them up as tightly as I could.

The cheeks looked like this after 3 hours at 100 degrees, followed by 45 minutes of 175 to brown them.

They tasted great, but were a bit on the fatty side, meaning that one unlucky person got a huge amount of fat and not too much meat. I figure I'll try some ox cheek next time around to avoid the fat overload, especially since pork fat tends to have an unfavourable omega 3 & 6 balance.

Nature Calling

Happy feet, freed from their shoe prison

Week 3 in the office and I keep longingly looking out the window at the lush green trees across the road. I feel a deep desire to be outside with some fresh grass under my feet. I recently read about “earthing” or “grounding” on some paleo forums and dismissed it as a fad, but now I am not so sure. I think I need to listen to my inner voice calling for some time touching green stuff to counterbalance all the time spent in an office. I go outside each lunchtime and I have started walking around barefoot in the garden on my evening inspection. It remains to be seen if this has any noticeable effect on my health or my sleep, but I am sure it will have an effect on my mood.

Tweak Week

The first day of anti-osteoarthritis week (or month or year, we'll see) went well.

I started off my day with an 8 am run, workout and walk. I haven't really done much training since I left Höö, so I figured it was time to get going again. Yikes. Five rounds of box jumps (thank you officer M), pull-up negatives, overhead squats (log included) and sit-ups left me pretty tired but satisfied.

This is where the fun began. Because after this, we all went straight to the garden to start a two hour session of digging. Let's just say things went pretty slowly, given that the sun was cranking up the heat by 9 and we were starting to get hungry... There was some whining (no names divulged, but it wasn't me) before we finally sat down for brunch at 11:30. Given that I've pledged to give up non-organic meat (no bacon for a while... oh the hardship), I went for a slightly odd breakfast option of salad, eggs and herring. Oh, and mamma's green smoothie made of weeds. :-)

Swedish Midsummer come early

Instead of the usual breakfast chaser of "egg latte" and nut & seed crackers with butter, I had two cups of egg latte with some additional coconut oil to set me up for more garden work.

Heaven in a mug

After the initial slo mo moments this morning, the rest of the day in the garden felt like any other day, i.e. pretty energetic. The bikini weather may contributed to it...

By the time 5 pm rolled around, we were all starting to feel a bit peckish, so we cobbled together some dinner. Given my self-imposed meat restriction, I had to dig through the pantry to find some more fish, this time tuna.

Tuna salad, crudités and Jerusalem artichokes (with a LOT of ghee and coconut oil added) 

Dinner was finished by 6 pm and given that we've got a few things to do before brunch tomorrow, we're probably looking at an 18 hour fast. I've said it before, more extreme fasting is probably not that great for women, so I will definitely not want to make that too much of a habit. Also, the point of  this particular exercise is not to lose weight (or get cranky), so I will want to limit it to 16 hours on most days.

Progress report to follow!

Tweak Tweak

Yup, time to make another tweak to the way I eat. As some of you will know, the resistant starch experiment is well underway. A few tablespoons of potato starch, the odd cold or grated raw potato, a bit of green banana, bigger helpings of raw cabbage/ beet root/ carrot, etc, etc. Sleep quality has been extremely good some weeks, then a bit intermittent. It seems like my belly needs a bit of time to adjust though, with unusual smells (euphemism of the day) and less regular bowel movements (there, I said it), but energy levels seem to have improved, so I will keep it up.

Anyhow, I am now considering making further tweaks as I think I am starting to develop what a number of my female relatives suffer from: osteoarthritis. The joints in my fingers have been a bit stiff and slightly painful a few mornings in a row. I have found myself shying away from shaking hands too firmly (oh how I hate limp handshakes...). I noticed my left hand feeling a bit weak while tying my shoe laces after a long cold walk. Sure, I have been using my hands A LOT more (milking is an interesting movement for office hands), but this development still worries me. Hence I've decided to make a few tweaks to how I eat to reduce inflammation and boost cell repair for my joints in particular:

• Fasting between early dinner and lunch the next day (should make 17-18 hours of fasting)
• Increased intake of organic vegetables and collagen-rich bone broth
• Focus on grass fed meats & ghee as well as organic eggs and fatty fish for protein (or go without...)
• Strict avoidance of nuts/ seeds/ seed oils, all dairy (apart from ghee), alcohol, grains and sugar
• Continue taking extra vitamin D and fish oil, add in a bit of turmeric
• Focus on other sources than potatoes for resistant starch

I know these are a lot of tweaks at the same time, but I figure I should throw everything I've got at it. Then I can always reintroduce some things at a later date to check if there is one particular trigger.

Laters!

First Reflections on Returning to Work

I haven't written any blog posts lately, as I have been focused on mentally and practically preparing myself to return to work. Now that I have been back at work for two weeks I want to share some initial observations:

1. There is a dress code in our office, which for example states that open-toe sandals are not allowed.  I have now noticed is that there is also an unwritten rule: you must wear at least one piece of clothing that is either black or grey (for men, a dark blue suit is also acceptable). I had completely forgot how dark and gloomy officewear is, although a look in my closet would have told me so. In order to cheer myself up, I add at least one bit of colour to my outfit every day. The easiest way is definitely by wearing my bright orange flats. They make me smile when I walk around the grey office.

Obligatory black trousers, paired with orange flats

2. Office workers eat a lot of junk food. People snack all the time and there are cakes everywhere. So far there has not been a day when there hasn’t been some cake lurking nearby. I am determined not to get (back) into bad habits, so I bring in a packed lunch and have coffee with cream if I fancy anything in between meals. 

Today’s excellent lunch was a tin of tuna in olive oil, a hardboiled egg, chard from our garden, sauerkraut, tomato and a bit of chopped up chorizo. So filling! But I have a slight suspicion that it may have smelled a bit. Hehe.

3. Chronic cardio, as coined by Mark Sisson, is alive and kicking in London. A few people in my team manage to squeeze in two gym sessions a day several times a week. I have a feeling that point 2 may be hindering progress somewhat. I hold my tongue about these observations and do the 'nod and smile' thing, as I don't want the discussion about food and exercise at the moment. I still need to work on my arguments against 'everything in moderation'. 

One Last WWOOF

Today is my last day at Höö. It's been intense! My body is clearly in need of a few days rest, but my head has definitely had three weeks off. Hard labour and fits of tired giggles are a great remedy for that last bit of office-itis. To be honest, I DO miss my London friends, but I don't miss any other part of my old life at all. Funny, who knew I'd feel so happy clearing out manure in a barn?

Unable to contain my excitement ahead of barn duty

Thrift (Or How I Gagged Over Rotten Goose Eggs)

One of the ultra aggressive geese laid a few too many eggs (like 20 extra...), so we got a whole bucket full of them to eat.

Mother goose got carried away

The only caveat was that they've been lying around for a while. This meant spending half an hour sorting the stinky ones from the fresh ones. More than once I felt the gag reflex kicking in, aargh, when yet another egg cracked to reveal ready-made scrambled egg. But I persevered and made it through the stinky mess to create pretty decent scrambled eggs with cheese and salad for the gang:

As thrifty as I'd like to be, I have to admit it'll be a while before I do this again. And someone else gets to empty the bucket of discarded egg shells on the manure heap, please. I'd like to take a looooong hot shower now. 

Reverse Ageing

I swear I'm reverse ageing - mentally... Hanging out with boys and animals (interchangeable?!) really brings out the child in me. And in my fellow farmhands:

Writing the shopping list quickly turned into...

A spontaneous dance to Happy, including an air guitar solo by Krille

There are fortunately no pictures or audio files of me belting out the middle son's version of Gangnam Style ("Hey sexy laaaaaaater") in a rainy potato field. Mamma and pappa might not want me back then.

Having My Portrait Made

K2 is a bit of a creative soul, so when the mistress of the big house asked him to make a scarecrow, he threw himself into the project. Creative counsel was kindly provided by the middle son:

Five years old and already too cool for school

The end result was truly scary, a mix of Templar knight, mighty carrot and killer bee. 

That is not hair on top. It is a golden helmet. 

Apparently I was the model for it. 

Bouncing Off the Hills

I wasn't going to do it, but then the fresh pack of organic coffee appeared on the steps, as if planted there by the caffeine fairy, so I made some. First coffee for two weeks, with fresh cream from Doris. (I was naughty and took most of the upper part of the milk, ie the cream... Heh, heh.)

Mine on the left, K2's on the left 

Me and the new wwoofer, Kristoffer (K #2), sat on the porch and talked about my favourite thing in the world (apart from my niece): clean eating. Poor thing. He couldn't get the lady to shut up, could he? Anyhow, by the end of it, he claimed to be a convert. It lasted until dinner time, when K1 and K2 shared a loaf of bread made by the mistress of the big house (I'm the mistress of the small house, no doubt). Oh well, they'll come around. I've promised them six-packs. 

The great thing about our coffee break was the insane boost I got from it. I actually started trotting around and ended up spontaneously sprinting up a hill. Great reason to pick up my coffee habit again.  Good thing only the cows could see me.