“I like to move it” sang Reel 2 Real 20 years ago. (Yes. 20.) It’s such an awesome 90’s relic!

Anyway, I think we can both agree on that exercise is good for you.

Especially these health benefits should keep both you and me on the exercise train:

Physically, exercise lowers the risk of heart disease and stroke, lowers blood pressure,  reduces the risk of type 2 diabetes and obesity, reduces pain and osteoporosis, and to a certain extent even cancer. Mentally, it helps depression and anxiety, makes you sleep better, lowers tension, anger and relieves stress.

But then WHY is it often demotivating to do it?!

Some days the pure thought of getting into your shoes and even just going out for a walk is challenging to say the least.

While other days it feels like you’re flying in the same shoes that felt like bricks just the day before?!

Motivation is a funny thing sometimes. Here are a few tips on how to keep going, in case the health benefits just aren’t enough:

Activity: Find something you think is FUN to do! If you’re not having fun whilst doing it, you won’t keep doing it either. Fact.

So, what do you feel like doing, that can also be classified as exercise? Shake it out on a dance floor? Go find one! Run so fast you feel your legs are going to fall off? Get out of here now! Are you a water animal? Find that pool and go for a swim. Do you take pride in being able to lift heavy things? Maybe a gym is the right answer for you.

Purpose: If there’s someone else relying on you moving around, you’re much more likely to do it.

Team up with a friend who needs a kick in the butt too, or play with your kids, walk the neighbors dog, or rearrange your living room.

Track your process: Time yourself, keep track of how heavy you lifted last time or how far you swam. There are amazing apps out there for most of these, you just have to find one that suits you. My husband, for example, prefers Runkeeper, while I’m the happiest with the Nike+ app.

Music: A well-put-together playlist can work wonders for the old motivation. I love to put on my playlist called “Currently Awesome” and just GO. If you have Spotify, try an app like Tunigo to find some new inspiration for your uphill climbs.

Change up your routine: I recently got a little bored of my daily walks. I always went out about 2 hours after my lunch, mostly the same routes… So I thought to myself that as this is the only form of exercise I feel comfortable with right now (for several reasons), I have got to make it exciting again. Since about a week I go out in the mornings instead. And choose different routes every time. And it works! This little trick has made me all excited about it again.

So try it out, can you change the duration/sequence/intensity/company/timing of your exercise?

 

In the end, it doesn’t really matter what you do – as long as you have fun doing it!

So take King Julian’s (from Dreamwork’s Madagascar movies) advice and at least get up and shake it to this song! 

This week, you and I will go on a little bit of a time travel, back to last year and bring back a very valuable post. Enjoy!

 

It’s summer, it’s vacation time (hopefully) which means (again, hopefully) traveling. But staying healthy while in transit is not always easy.

You know exactly what it’s like – you get to the airport, need to eat and there is nothing that suits you and your healthy lifestyle.

*sigh* Que: deep breaths mixed with hunger frustration. Godfrickingdamnit.

Do you have to throw all your efforts away and give in to the powerful fast food calling?

In a word: o’course not.

Granted, it is a lot more difficult than just grabbing the first thing you see. And it may require planning ahead a bit more than before. But it’s definitely not impossible!

Here is my Ultimate Guide to Staying Healthy While Traveling:

 

Challenge #1 – At the airport

Every fast food joint seems to be screaming your name when you walk past. First off, well done for not giving in and walking away!

If this is not an option (we both know there are less equipped airports out there), go in and try your best to stay away from the super duper size extra meal with extra this and that.

Instead, choose the one thing on the menu that has the most vegetables. Nope, the vegetarian burger does not count. Is it a salad? Great! Ask if they can add on some grilled chicken or a burger (just the meat though!). Also ask if you can have the dressing on the side, or if they have olive oil instead. Ask for water to drink, air travel dehydrates you anyway, so it’s best to stock up already before.

While this isn’t your ideal meal, it’s so much better than scoffing down a burger with fries and a coke.

Your other option is to take a food with you. Choose snacks that are easy to transport and nutrient-dense so you don’t need much of it to fill you up.

Suggestions include nuts, vegetable sticks, cheese cubes, avocado slices, fresh coconut slices, fruit bars, and hard-boiled eggs. Apples and bananas are usually easy to find (and make a great snack when paired with a packet of nut butter, available in most health stores) All things that are easy to eat without utensils.

You can also make homemade granola bars made with a little honey and filled with dried fruits and nuts, if you’re feeling creative.

 

Challenge #2: On the road

Wow, this one is certainly not easy.

Gas stations are among the most challenging places to stay healthy. You’re tired from sitting in the car for so long and really happy to get a leg stretcher.

At the same time, there is a cascade of unhealthy snacks and meals, all wanting to jump straight in your mouth.

Stop, take a second here. Are you sure you’re not just tired and bored to tears of watching kilometer after kilometer of concrete swish by you? If so, grab a bottle of water and go outside for a 5 minute walk.

If you really are hungry (as in, it’s your mealtime and you have to eat), consider your options first. What dish could you eat the most of? Leave the rest. Can they make you a special dish combined with things from a bunch of dishes? Very kind and open minded of them, and you’ll benefit greatly as well. If you’re at a gas station, choose protein-filled snacks, such as sunflower seeds, nuts, as well as fruit and nut bars, dark (85%) chocolate, or a banana.

Also: Investing in a small cooler will significantly reduce your chances of giving in to the drive-through cravings. You can fill it with your own favorites (perhaps some if them mentioned above?), including water bottles to keep hydrated.

 

In any on the go setting, a sandwich might be a suitable option. Don’t stop reading just yet. If you feel like making a  sandwich to take along, choose whole-grain bread (or do like i do: wrap it all up in a lettuce leaf or between larger bits of bell pepper to avoid grains.) Look for sandwich meats that are free of nitrates and preservatives, add some lettuce and sliced avocado (yummy, and a super healthy fat source, in comparison to mayonnaise, for example). Make sure you layer any condiments you might enjoy (pickles, mustard, tomatoes…) between the meat slices so the bread, or lettuce wrap, doesn’t get soggy.

 

Challenge #3: Restaurants

Eating well at restaurants can be tricky. But again, not impossible. (How do you think people with food allergies or other medical reasons do it?!)

Anyway, of course you want to indulge on vacation. And believe me, you should indulge.

But, remember that indulging at every meal will make it harder to get back into your healthy routine when you get back home. An idea is to choose one meal a day, or every two days, as a guilt free indulgence. Please, do skip the breadbasket so you’re not filling up on empty calories before the meal though!

Anything that is grilled, broiled, steamed, roasted, baked or poached is a great choice. Dare to ask for vegetables instead of whatever starchy side they have originally paired your food with. Or, order a salad with olive oil and fresh lemon juice and eat that before your starchy part of the meal.

 

Challenge #4: Hotel breakfasts

Holy guacamole, I do love me some hotel breakfast! It might just be the best thing in the world.

That doesn’t mean you need to be rolling out of there, fueled up on sugar, bad fats and feeling crappy (if only to get your money’s worth!)

Although hotel breakfasts tend to offer a lot of high sugar, high carb foods that aren’t necessarily associated with healthy eating (pancakes, French toast, waffles, processed cereals etc), there is one ingenious point.

Because it’s a buffet, you have the choice of what to eat. I know, it’s a fantastic opportunity to test your willpower, but try to choose more protein, such as eggs and add veggies to your omelet if you can, vegetables, nuts, fruit, yoghurt… To go for the cheese section is still better than to go for the sugar and starch.

And, most importantly, ENJOY having someone else make you breakfast for once.

For the serious health nuts (although self-proclaimed such, I don’t do this): you can pack your own individual oatmeal breakfasts in small plastic bags. Add rolled oats, cacao nibs, shredded coconut, dried cherries, and almonds. Pour the mixture into a bowl covered with water or coconut milk the night before, store it in the fridge and your breakfast will be waiting for you in the morning.

 

To summarize this long post, here are 3 main points:

1. Fill up on protein to cut down on the temptation of fast food.

2. Do your best, but don’t feel guilty if you don’t succeed all the time. It’s near to impossible.

3, Sometimes you need to prepare in advance to keep at your healthy lifestyle. But remember its totally worth it. Do you remember how you felt when you were still eating all that crap?

 

It’s also important to allow yourself a splurge every now and then. And: don’t isolate yourself from being with friends and family because you fear there won’t be healthy options. There is usually something on every menu that you can make into a healthy meal. Just see above! 🙂

Unexpected numbers can come at you in any shape or form.

A speeding ticket you definitely didn’t expect. The bill for your groceries (wait, what the heck did I just buy…? Gold?). Your phone bill after a month of especially exciting news, that clearly everybody needed to know (and sometimes Facebook just doesn’t cut it). The amount of (really annoying) red little numbers on the screen of your iPhone.

Or these sneaky numbers can be health related. Your weight. Your blood pressure. The amount of carbs in a chocolate bar.  Or, your blood glucose reading.

What they all have in common is that split second of freezing. The world stops spinning for just a fraction of time, and your hopes, ideas, and yes, even self esteem just plunges to way below sea level. 

I’m sure you know what I’m talking about, and I’m certain you’ve experienced it, too.

I recently had one of these come and slap me across my very unexpecting face. Naturally, this happened at my doctors office.

A few days ago, I went for my bi-yearly diabetes check up with my endocrinologist.

Finger pricks were done, blood pressure, weight and circumference were recorded and I landed back in the waiting room for a few minutes.

The visit started really well, I didn’t have to wait long (yay, always a bonus!), and my doctor seemed to be in a good mood.

In short, all was well and good. Until she gave me the result of my HbA1c test.

It had increased, not decreased. There was a higher number staring back at me from her bleary computer screen than I’ve seen in more than 1,5 years.

*GULP* 

“But… all that effort… I’ve done everything imaginable to tame this.” I almost stuttered, feeling those darn tears burning inside my eyelids. Why the eff was this happening? Surely she must know, she’s a doctor, right? … were two of the thoughts that immediately hit me.

“Hanna. It’s nothing that you’re doing wrong, you’re handling your diabetes really well” she replied (and I almost fainted for the opposite reason, because I’ve NEVER heard that before!)

“It’s not your diet, it’s not your exercise, it’s not the sleep, it’s not the stress,” she continued, “it must be something else.”

Ah, so she’s basically as clueless as I am myself. Well, that’s a relief. Kind of.

“We’ll put a continuous glucose meter sensor on you for a week and see if there are any unknown peaks in your blood sugar. And we’ll check your thyroid again, along with a full blood panel. How’s Monday to start wearing the sensor?”

“Ehm, yeah, I guess…” is all I could say at this point.

She followed me to the laboratory, where my favourite nurse (thank god) already waited for me with a needle, ready for a blood test.

Throughout this, I kept feeling those effing tears burn, making the nurse think I’d suddenly developed a paralysing fear of drawing blood for tests. After reassuring her she’s awesome and the best one I’ve ever known for taking my blood, I just switched off into thought mode.

What’s going on? How can I have missed such high blood glucose spikes that would make SUCH a difference? I mean, I know there were 2 instances I had no control, but seriously? What else can I do? Is there anything else i CAN do? What’s wrong with me? I give and I give and I give this disease attention, energy and sacrifices on a daily basis – why can’t it just play along?

My ego clearly wasn’t ok with this result.

I mumbled thank you to the nurse, and headed out the door. I walked 3 km downhill  to my house, crying, being angry, annoyed and frustrated all at the same time. Cursing my own body for being so shit. For not working properly, and for putting my life at risk.

The rest of the day I cancelled everything I had planned and watched tv. That’s how numbing this was for me. (Although Season 2 of Orange Is The New Black is absolutely brilliantly awesome.) What can I do? What else can I remove/add/do in my life that would help me out of this crap?

I already do and give and sacrifice so much for this, things that, if I’m honest, I probably wouldn’t take as seriously if it wasn’t because of my disease(s). I meditate, exercise, recently begun exploring EFT tapping, I work with my attitude, emotions and anything else that can kick me out of my routine daily, I drink tons of water, I eat healthily and according to how I’ve figured out my body does best (and (almost) never have cheat meals), I take my medication and supplements on time, I don’t stress very often, I do the things I love, the things that make me happy (like my job!), I have a routine and keep to it, I make sure I spend enough time on my own so that I don’t take on too much… I’m seriously depleted of things that I could be doing more to accommodate the diabetes in my body.  It feels like I give everything I have, but I just can’t win. And that feels like crap.

The following day I realised what it was: nothing. I can do absolutely nothing else than I already am to improve this. All I can do is to keep going. Just like I have before. This may seem daunting to you, but for me it was part of healing from the shock and coming back.

How you react to an unexpected number is completely up to you, you always have a choice. But you need to have the courage to brush yourself off and try again, after the initial shock has passed. Sometimes it isn’t even your fault at all – you can do everything completely right and still get an unexpected number.  Especially when it comes to an autoimmune condition. But it’s so essential not to give up, even though it very well may seem a lot easier at the time, and to stand up and tell this number to go shove it, because that’s all it’ll ever be – a number on a paper. You can improve, you can and will do better, but that number is still going to be the same. Whether it’s your weight, telephone bill or your HbA1c result.

 

 

Well. Have I got something super exciting for you today?!

I thought that I usually yap on about scientific research, what to go for in terms of food, or even complain in my blog posts. And it’s always. So. Much. Text.

Today I’m doing the opposite. Only pictures (well, almost only).

To get to know me better, and to get an idea of who I am behind this screen: WELCOME to a day in the life of me!

My first consultation every single morning is with my blood sugar meter (and insulin pump), which I call Doris, both to make it more “fun” and personalised. After the first test, I consult her many times during the day, meaning about 8-10 finger pricks a day. (Which I won’t let take over the story today. This is the only Doris pic you’ll get.)

My morning is usually kicked off when my husband runs out the door. That’s when I get up and have my glass of lemon water. If there’s one healthy habit you should do, it’s this one! It cleans your liver, it helps your metabolism… Sorry, promised very little text!

After that I take my daily supplements: in red, we have Krill oil, which is the purest form of Omega 3 fatty acids (DHA and EPA). Big yellow one is a vitamin B complex. The two light yellow ones are Vitamin D3. Big white one is Magnesium, middle white one is Zinc and little white one is blood pressure medicine.

Most days right now I do a form of intermittent fasting, where I fast for 16 hours and eat my two meals within 8 hours. This has proven to help blood sugar management, metabolism and hunger, for example. So no breakfast for me! (Unless my blood sugar is low and I need it, of course.)

 

Moving on! Then I go out for my daily walk, which is anything from a quick power burst of 30 minutes, to a longer (but slightly slower) 2 hour walk. It depends on what else I have going on that day. I love the color of my shoes, it makes me happy eery time I look down on them when I get a little tired while I’m out. I carry all my stuff (test kit, glucose tabs for emergencies, tissues, keys, phone…) in the polka dotted fanny pack. Don’t judge – it’s the best solution I’ve found so far! And I don’t carry it on my front, I usually carry it across my back.

After getting back, I either work by the computer, or work in the kitchen. This day was a kitchen morning. I made some home made mayonnaise….

…and tested a (for me) new, low carb bread mix from Sweden. 1 g of carbs per slice! (I love that it’s part of my job to try these things out so that I know what to recommend to you!)

With the mayonnaise, the bread and some prawns, I made a sugar-, grain-, gluten- and milk free version of the swedish classic Toast Skagen for lunch. It was so good, it might just become a new Summer favourite!  (if you want the recipe I used, leave a comment below!)

This is where the magic happens! The GrainBrain magic that is. This is where I have a majority of my meetings, where I write the majority of the content I post… You get the point: this is where I work. (I love my light and airy office (that’s a balcony you see to the right) and my Voluspa Crisp Champagne candle, it smells so darn good.)

This is what I’ve got behind me in my office, so every time I get up from my chair, I’m reminded of these beautiful things. As well as my freaky plant.

Aaahhh, fridge was empty, so I had to go and fill it up again. When I go shopping, I focus almost exclusively on getting fresh vegetables, meat and fish. A full fridge is a happy fridge!

Once I’m done with work for the day and my husband’s back from work, we make some dinner. And by we, I mean him. For example, our (his) famous Bolognese sauce with zucchini noodles. And some parmesan cheese to bring up the fat content.

After dinner, my husband and I always try to do something together. Like go to a concert, for example. Last night we saw Icelandic Àsgeir here in Zürich. I don’t often become enchanted by someones voice, but last night I couldn’t help it. Awesome voice, cool-ass beats. A winner in my books!

On our way home we had to wait for the train, which, of course, resulted in a goofball-train-station-selfie!

My night cap every night are these friendly fellas. I take my probiotic supplement in the evening, so that my body can use them to rebuild my intestines without interruptions during the night (when most of our regenerative processes are at play!)

After that tasty treat, it’s time to say night-night and sweet dreams! I try to get ca 8 hours of sleep a night, which works sometimes, and other times not quite as successfully…

 

What does your day look like? Do you have a routine you follow religiously, or are you more of a touch-and-go kind of person? I’d love to know! Please tell me in the comments below.

Ah, the years spent trying to find the perfect face cream.

Either they all have too much of this and not enough of that. Or the other way around.

Or they just plain old have too many chemicals in them. That’s how it was for me.

I tried everything from drugstore brands, over pharmacy brands, all the way to organic ones.

And they all gave me some kind of reaction. Not enough moisture, not enough fat, or too much of both. Some felt like a plastic wrap around my face, some I could have just used water, leaving my skin dry like sandpaper. Crazy zits, or a full-blown break out.

But not even once have I found a commercial face cream that does what I want it to: moisturize my face and leave it break out free.

It was actually only quite recently that I was formally diagnosed with rosacea, which is (yet another) auto-immune disease. One more for the list! But I suspect I’ve had it most of my life, to a lesser extent, of course.

To make a long story short, I (of course) left the dermatologists office with a shopping bag full of creams and chemical potions worth more than a small african country’s entire annual GDP. Which I did use for about a month – 6 weeks.

The funny thing is, NOTHING happened. Nothing got better in my face, and the rosacea got worse rather than better during this time. So I went back to the doctors after a couple of weeks, and left again with the advice to try for a little longer.

After six weeks there still was no improvement at all. So I stopped wasting my time using expensive chemical products that didn’t help anyway.

My next question was, of course, what should I use instead? Having tried pretty much every face cream under the sun (don’t get me started on sunscreen!), what was I going to try next with the likelihood of it being yet another flop?

I started researching this extensively. Read pages upon pages of medical research, peer-reviewed articles, blatant advertisements and countless threads on various online forums.

It wasn’t until I hit a blog post by a girl who had similar problems to myself that I found what was to become my thus far most successful face cream yet – coconut oil.

Yes, after having tried face creams that were too fatty, I have joined the chorus on coconut oil as face cream. 

I even use it to “wash” off my make up in the evenings, it removes waterproof mascara like no other. And my skin doesn’t get fat, oily and more prone to breakouts as one might think, rather the opposite.

My skin has another glow to it, it’s incredibly soft, my eye lashes are longer (yay for proper nutrition!) and my rosacea is easier to handle. While it isn’t completely gone, it’s much, much better than with the chemical storm I put it through earlier this year.

I’ve now turned to completely natural skin care, with coconut oil being my no. 1 weapon. I get mine from the cooking section at my health food store. And, as a peeling/skin mask, I use baking soda with a few drops of water, which works better for me than anything else I’ve tried.

By doing this, you know what the biggest bonus is for me, apart from soft skin? All the money I’ve saved. The tub of coconut oil I have in my bathroom now I bought in January (I think), and it’s about half full still. For CHF 10 (USD 11.22  or EUR 8.18). Pretty crazy, right?

Over all, coconut oil is truly an amazing product, both inside and outside the kitchen. And it’s done an amazing job for my skin.

 

Do you have any skin care tips? I’d love to know what you use!