The biggest ‘fitness lie’ I told myself was “I am going to do that really high intensity session after work”.
When work is over and you get back home or wherever you are supposed to be, the last thing you want to think is HIIT. It happens sometimes though, mostly on my days off when I am rested and fresh. However, considering I end up working on my projects 7 days a week sometimes, it is a wrong assumption I would go exercise in the evening.
This is where the power of habits comes in place.
“Win the morning, Win the day” – something that can describe my morning habit. An energising morning session is something that gives me that fuel and productivity to perform well for the rest of the day.
I have to admit I was not always a morning person. It was a big big effort to get me out of bed. It sounds like a miracle for me now. It doesn’t matter if I had a big day/night before, my body clock and earned habit of ‘getting up for energy’ gets me out to start my day early.
Although, it’s important to make sure you’re getting enough sleep and staying hydrated. Experts suggest adults get between seven and nine hours of solid sleep in order for our brains to function at their full capacity. And no, that’s not lay in bed for two hours scrolling on Instagram before having a few hours of interrupted sleep. You can still go out for a party or events (due to a nature of my lifestyle, I do attend a lot of events) and still perform well next day but you need to balance it well. For example, I would not go for a really hard/high intensity session after long day followed by long night out, however, something like 6 kms outdoor jogging is something that helps my body to get back on track and detox itself.
The other part of my morning habit is consuming at least 500ml of water during or after a morning training session as long as it is before breakfast and coffee.
The appreciation of life, I guess, comes from a simple practical comparison of lifestyles.
Say, loving a social lifestyle full of events and meetings with people makes you appreciate quiet weekend day dedicated to just yourself: no people, no worries.
On the other hand, having too much down time drives you crazy: where’s buzz, people, energy?!
Regardless of the chosen style, it should make you happy and should have some value behind. Bringing the quality to your life is your personal choice:
People you allow in your life – are they negative, judgmental with limited self-development or positive who love to identify beauty in people and things around?
Food you eat – eating healthy and fresh is your own preference or you can simply chuck a couple of fried tasteless chips – whatever makes you happy. The only condition is the outcome you receive is based on your choice so don’t be surprised…
Lifestyle you choose – you may do some sport, kinda fun and active. You may prefer have “sofa life” with biggest effort you do is changing your Netflix channels.
Appreciate people and things around you xx
Look after yourself or “well, I got good genes” – good genes are a gift that is great to nourish. At the end of the day, for example, ageing quicker walking in the Australian sun every day or event worse – getting cancer from direct unprotected sun lights, genes are not responsible here. You are.
Travel and explore – travelling around is cool and expands your inner horizons. Sometimes you don’t have to physically travel – Australia is blessed to ‘collect the whole world’ in it; one of the best Australian experiences I had is meeting people from all over the world I am grateful to call my friends. What stops you to say hi to that smiley Chinese coming to the same coffee shop you come every morning?
Knowledge you get – we learn something new everyday when we want to learn and grow, just think about it…not sure though about “sofa life” people.
Challenges you go through…or don’t go through. When something stops you from going and doing something, just remember one day long long time ago, you couldn’t walk…
From now on I can act like a proper tourist as all the destinations moving forward are new to me. This does include Hiroshima.
Hiroshima is a different city compared to the previous ones due to its sad historical past and unique island Majiyama. We have divided the trip into to parts to take most out of our stay in Hiroshima.
In general, Hiroshima attracts many tourists from all over the world. We stayed in APA Hotel and every time I walked to an elevator, I could meet some foreigners. We started our trip by trying Okonomiyaki – traditional Hiroshima grilled pancake. It does contain a lot of various ingredients such as egg, seaweed, bacon, wheat noodles, cabbage, bean sprouts. You can choose some add-ons with fish and meats – this dish keeps you full for the rest of the day. When you are in Hiroshima, you MUST try this dish.
Highlight of DAY 1 – Okonomiyaki
Okonomiyaki used to be considered a special desert served at Buddhist ceremonies. Interesting to say but the dish was invented in beloved Osaka, however, was well adopted by Hiroshima after A-Atomic tragedy.I personally find Hiroshima style is a snacky way of making the dish – you grill all the ingredients and then lay one on another. Osaka’s way is to actually blend the ingredients and grill together – Okonomiyaki History .
The story behind Hiroshima’s “lazy” way of making Okonomiyaki can be the fact that after the Atomic bomb tragedy, survived people were starving and tried to filled themselves with whatever they could find around. People used the few ingredients they had—vegetables like cabbage and onions mixed with flour that came from the U.S. post-war rations—and whatever extra ingredients they could get their hands on to fill up their stomachs.
Okonomiyaki is best described by its translation. It literally means “whatever you want”(okonomi), “grilled (yaki). – お好み焼き .
Okonomiyaki can be made in front of your eyes – bar style sitting
Highlight of DAY 2 – Majiyama Island
We got up early morning to catch one of the earliest ferries to the Island and catch nice morning sunlight. Unfortunately, traditional Itsukushima Shrine gates were closed for renovation (upcoming Olympics Games 2020), however, we managed to get inside the Shrine that isn considered to be UNESCO World Heritage.
The Island is so picturesque that schoolchildren are sitting there on stone and paint what they see around
We started our Majiyama journey and got attacked by deer straight away. Deer are everywhere on the island – they are just a part of the nature there. They are wild but managed to merge well into human society. They do love stealing your food…or anything looking like food. You can pet them but be mindful that some of them can be aggressive (wild animals..).
Trying to pet a wild deer is not an easy job
Back to the Shrine – It was originally built 1423 years ago in 593CE by Saeki no Kuramoto. The place is unique for one more reason – the Itsukushima Shrine was built specifically at a location where the tides rise and fall. Back that time, the whole island wasn considered to be a god. it is said a location where the tides rise and fall was chosen specifically so the god or kami would not be damaged when they constructed the shrine. Take your time to explore the Shrine:
Start with at the Marodo Shrine – It has been designated as a national treasure;
Then The Main Shrine dedicated to the the three female deities have long been dutifully worshipped as they are the gods of the sea, transport, fortune, and the arts;
The O-Torii gate is best seen from inside the Shrine but was closed this time 😦 – you can also reach the gate on your feet.
We managed to watch the traditional Japanese wedding at the East corridor of Marono Shrine.
In Russia we say when you see a happy wedding, make a wish. I made a wish looking at that beautiful procession. There was something special and magical looking at that thousand years ceremonial tradition.
And to wishes, there was also a wish/lucky box that we all gave a try. There was no translation though so my task for the next few days to find a decent Japanese/English translator to find out my prophesy.
Then we went on a ropeway. After some elaboration the decision was made to take one-way ticket and explore the inner island beauty, nature and temples on out feet. Never regretted about this decision. Hence, supporting my FITNESS.
I will never stop saying to go out and explore the area on your two feet. We have discovered little temples and unique natural places that you will never see sitting in a ropeway or train. We have reached the tope of the Misen Point and walked all way down to the incredible Daisho-in Temple. The temple is not as popular as the Shrine, however, you shall walk pass countless statues on the left side of the temple garden – they are meant to give you some blessings and luck for future.
Getting to the Island by ferry only – you can take your car with you too
The Majiyama Island reminded me of Bruna Island in Tasmania. They both have mountains that gives you 360 view of the area and it was breathtaking. We had to walk all way up and then down the mountain but it definitely worth it. I have to admit that my calfs and legs were extremely sore next couple of days – warm spa, roller and morning jogging helped me to relief the soreness.
The first part of the trip was very traditional, spiritual and exploratory. We can back to grab a bowl of ramen each and head to the hotel super tired.
Highlight of DAY 3 – Atomic Bomb Dome and Hiroshima Peace Memorial
The second part of our trip was more thoughtful – that made you think of one human disaster happened last century.
I have met a fair few Japanese kids happily jumping to me asking a few English phrases and given little origami cranes in dedication to peace in the Hiroshima park. Then I have seen same kids in tears walking out of that museum. Some of them had hysteria from what they had seen inside. That place contained historical facts that couldn’t leave your eyes dry..
Hiroshima is the first city in the world that has been attacked by atomic bomb. This happened on 6th August 1945. The decision was made by the US to drop one atomic bomb in Hiroshima followed by another one in three days in Nagasaki. In the US army’s opinion, that was the best solution to stop the war in the Asia Pacific region and stop deaths..oh well, great decision to kill 140,000 innocent people in one go and destroy lives of next generations for many years ahead living in miserable conditions, developing leukaemia and cancer from radiation, suiciding themselves..
I couldn’t take photos inside the museum – there is no photo can describe what was seen inside. I took one and I deleted it right away – you cannot capture this. You need to see it with your own eyes, feel it and empathise. The place keeps stories of killed souls still screaming and begging stop the war around the world. You can feel moaning of those souls walking across the museum park begging to stop the pain. Believe me or not but the pictures of the past are duplicated in your mind when you walk pass the Atomic bomb Dome- you can see those burnt bodies, horrified faces of schoolboys and girls (the bomb was dropped 350 metres from a public school), and ruins of the beautiful city.
There are only two emotions you can see walking out of the museum – people are being quiet or crying.
Things like that make you clearly understand why one of the Global Goals of the United Nations is to make the world atomic bomb and weapons free.
If you are running low in time, forget about anything – The Dome is that one place you are in Hiroshima for.
Overall, if you have decent 2-3 days in the area, see the list of things worth to visit:
Atomic Bomb Dome
The Peace Memorial Museum
Hiroshima National Peace Memorial Hall for the atomic bomb victims
Children’s Peace Monument (dedicated in memory of Sadako Sasaki)
Hiroshima Castle and park nearby (I did exploring while running in the morning – nice, quiet and lack of tourist time of the day – 6:30am)
Okonomiyaki Food Court (Hiroshima Station area) – If you have time (I didn’t), visit the Wood Egg Okonomiyaki Museum
Time to get out of big cities and experience old fashioned Japanese culture merged into unique nature of the continent.
Kyoto is only 15 minutes away from Osaka (via Shinkansen) that makes easy to commute a day trip to the destination. Interesting fact that Kyoto used to be the capital of Japanese island Honsu. Therefore, it contains so many historical places, imperial palaces, temples. Due to invasion of Buddhist clergy into the Imperial government trying to influence on decisions of the Palace, the decision was made to move the capital to Edo in 19th century.
Edo was later called 東京, meaning “Eastern Capital” which pronounces Tokyo. We all know Tokyo.
Kyoto tried to be re-named as 西京, meaning “Western Capital”, however, came back to Kyoto giving the city that legacy of thousand-year capital (千年の都).
If you love hiking and exploring thousand year history, you should definitely go to Kyoto. There is one great FITNESS solution here that I have done in the past. As a part of that international crew that I joined fair few years ago, we went on a bike ride from Osaka to Kyoto. The distance between these two are 55,6km which makes your legs burned at the end of the day (this distance doesn’t include another 20-25 kms cruising around the city).
Kyoto is fairly big city but mostly famous for its cultural events and nature. Heading there on a bike, you will get obsessed with its nature in its fullest. Moreover, it will make your trip more accessible to reach different temples where you can sometimes enjoy kabuki theatre or some dancing festivals.
One of the most famous festivals in Kyoto in October is Jidai Matsur (“Festival of Ages”). Day when Japanese citizens come out of their houses and dress up as people of the past to acknowledge oldest people of the land and “touch” the thousand year old history of the area.
Jidai Matsuri is held every October 22nd (*Will be held on October 26th in 2019), as it was on this day in 794 AD that Emperor Kanmu made Kyoto Japan’s imperial capital, a status that would last for over 1,000 years, right through to 1869 when the capital was then moved to Tokyo. ＊Note: The 2019 procession is exceptionally scheduled on October 26 as October 22 falls on the day of the Enthronement Ceremony of the Emperor in Tokyo. If you know a lovely Japanese person, do not hesitate to say some nice words on the day to them in regards to their celebration. They will appreciate the fact that you know and respect their culture and heritage.
The Forest is located just 15-minute from the central station of Kyoto. You will meet a lot of locals there – this is their place to go hiking, enjoy and appreciate the nature around them. Do not forget to pack some bento boxes to share picnic with your friends.
Appreciation of beauty is another thing that I would like to highlight in this article. I have already mentioned it in my previous blog posts dedicated to Japan – great lesson to learn from Japanese:
They do see the beauty around them, in other people, in items around them. They are very united with the universe if it makes sense. How many times we walk pass a beautiful park and do not even stop next to a bunch of beautiful flowers or natural arrangements around? We are always in a rush – the modern life demands us to be like that and it is understandable.
Check out my previous post about mindfulness through appreciation of things around here .
This is why I love to visit Japan and “slow down” here. This is where you can re-unite with yourself, disappear in that Bamboo Forest to stay with your thoughts, discover new pathways and just let many things go that stuck in your soul like stones dragging you down. This is what Kyoto is about.
Forget about FASHION here – this place is not about parade show. It is the place to discover yourself and be as you are without all these current trends, instagram stories and showcasing fancy lifestyle – leave it all for the next destinations…
My second destination is already well-known to me and, if you read my blog notes before, majority of my previous articles were written here, based on Osaka knowledge.
So, it is clearly cheating from me to write a blog now. Doesn’t matter – I believe you can always discover something new if you really looking for it.
The reason why I called Osaka my personal choice is it is the place where you can experience everything you need in Japan if you really looking for it.
First of all, looking at the city from gorgeous and unique architecture design of the Umeda Sky Garden, you will clearly see that the city is very modern and reminds you a bit of a Tokyo. When you walk down from the view point and start looking around the city centre, you realise how many international places around – another similarity with Tokyo. There is one huge difference, I would say one advantage over Tokyo, the Osaka city was not built crowded and touristic. The city obviously attracts millions of tourists a year, however, it is not trying to attract them with its touristic look like Tokyo does. This is what makes this place unique to me and my experience.
@Angela_alina
Throwing back to those long 7 years ago when I arrived to Osaka for a couple of months of summer holidays. That time I didn’t enter to Japanese school so was by myself and I needed to make some friends.
I went to Starbucks (yes, before Australia I thought it was really cool place to be lol) and found a brochure with international meet ups. My English was weak but good enough to understand what’s written there regarding type of events, dates, locations and other important details. I carried that brochure everywhere like my passport.
My International meet up journey started when I walked it to meet and greet at one Irish pub in Shinsaibashi. No-one checked my ID when I came to the bar and ordered Asahi. I sat down next to the international group – Canadian and American guys and one Japanese girl. They started talk to me. Found may first friends!
Interesting to say that Ai (that amazing Japanese girl is in Melbourne now doing her own business in massage and beauty industry). We managed to catch in Melbourne last year – amazing that we both ended up in Australia.
Those international friends took me on board and introduced me to meet up organisers. They took me to bike tours to Kobe and Kyoto. They got me to volunteer to international parties where I was given wristbands at the entrance. Then they were sneaking a VIP wristband to me so I could enter a party being 17 year old. Considering over age is 20 in Japan, I wouldn’t clearly experience incredible parties walking out the venue at sunrise time!
Anyways, the bottom line, Osaka was, is and will always be international hub in Japan but more inclusive than gigantic Tokyo. Going to Irish, English or international cafes pubs to find out where they meet up – I still believe that trip was my very best one because of that.
Japan is hosting three major events for the next 6 years: RWC, Olympic Games and Expo
Osaka is a bit cleaner – again, due to its size. It is easier to navigate around the city, the metro lines are more structured. Due to the fact that I have been there so many times, I can easily give you an overview of some of the areas to visit in Osaka. I went for a run the other morning and can say that outdoor walk/run is the best way to discover hidden shops and fascinating areas. Many beautiful stores are literally condensed in the city to fit more.
FASHION – I have already mentioned Shinsaibashi. This area of Osaka is famous for its shopping lines (“leave all your money in Shinsaibashi”), great dining and places for parties and night life.
Shinsaibashi never sleeps. You can shop there from 10-11:00am until late night. I could see how some people were buying new party dresses, got changed in them and went straight to night clubs and pubs to keep going.
Shinsaibashi has everything from Japanese local brands to world famous outlets; from modern styles to luxury brands. There is a big shopping mall in the heart of Shinsaibashi called Daimaru. Daimaru is like Bondi Junction Westfield – this is how good it is!
You will be surprised how many beautiful parks this country has!
Another thing to mention is better not to plan a day trip to Osaka if you plan to see some of the Osaka’s attractions. You need to spend the whole decent day to appreciate the fashion and go through stylish outlets in Shinsaibashi. If you are aiming for fashionista title, it is a big lie to say you will get enough fashion inspiration for a couple of hours in Shinsaibashi. You need at least one full day. Then head to an Irish pub at the end of the day to share your fashion knowledge with other Internationals. If you discuss it with Japanese, it might be even more different though as they have different vision in fashion.
FITNESS – Osaka has encouraged me to use the stairs over elevators or escalators. There are a lot of walks and transfers from one metro line to another. Go for stairs! Also, due to lesser crowds, it is much nicer and better to run outdoor in Osaka. My only recommendation is try to do it before 7:20am – 1) the sun goes up and it is super humid at this time of the year (summer is even worse); 2) people are start heading to work. You may notice that many people have to travel intercity so all the metros and shinkansens are packed from early mornings.
The Reverse waterfall located in the heart of Umeda (centre of Osaka)
Just given a small overview of the 1-day Osaka itinerary so you can cover “different aspects of Japan”.
Start with the Umeda Sky Garden. This place is open at 9:30am. Normally, nothing is open in Japan till 10-11:00am – they are not morning people at all (what a shame!). It will also give you nice natural morning light to overlook the whole city and start the day right. If you are into history, there is the illustrated museum inside the Sky Garden;
Head to the Osaka Castle – this is one of my favourite castles in Japan (still consider Akita has better ones but anyways). I love it because there are a lot of small gardens and temples around the castle to explore. When you get to the Castle, head up to the 8th Floor and start exploring from top to the bottom;
Head to Dotonbori river area taking Namba station 16th exit. It is very nice and beautiful there. You can also take the tour of the river cruising around crabs and octopuses on surrounded buildings;
After the river, time for get decent lunch – sushi is the go for me (Japanese Diet by Angie). There is an amazing sushi restaurant with English menu with freshest raw fish. You don’t need even worry to order anything, the plates are passing through you with whatever you like! The restaurant is located on that big crab street opposite direction to Dotonbori gates on the Starbucks side (right).
Also, try their popular Takoyaki that are everywhere on that street. They are very filling and made with true Japanese traditions;
Then jump to Shinsaibashi shops and get lost there!
End of at a nice Irish pub to relax as you might burn your legs after Shinsaibashi walks. Get some refreshments (I would still suggest NOT to order food in pubs and eat before – all these fish and chips and burgers you can eat everywhere; real Japanese food only made by Japanese).
Osaka is all about experience and taste Japanese culture
I guess I can do some decent summary of Tokyo based on last 2 days. It is a bit of a cheating from me to write for the first time about the country where I have been about 9 times already, however, considering I have never had an idea to write up a blog before, would be nice to write what I got out from this particular trip.
I tried to look at the trip with fresh eyes – taking just minor knowledge I picked from my Japanese trips in the past.
Currently in the speed train called Shinkansen – travelling between destinations within the country is best by Shinkansen. With the speed up to 234 km/h you can easily get from Tokyo to Kyoto crossing 456.43 km within few hours.
Shinkansen can be at a speed maximum 320 km/h. TIP: pre-book rail pass for the duration of your trip – it will save up a lot of time, energy and money.
Anyways, Tokyo – what can I say?
To start with, it is a well-known international capital. If you have never been in Japan, the cultural differences can slightly shock you so better to start with Tokyo. There are some international places where you can meet a lot of Germans, English, Irish, Canadians, Russians, etc. International pubs are everywhere in inner Tokyo. We went to the English pub called ‘The Mermaid” to watch a rugby game – felt like somewhere in Europe.
Get ready to struggle with Tokyo metro. It is complicated to start with as they have a lot of lines and separated train links. Spend some time at a station to figure out the algorithm and it will be easy going forward.
The best areas to your “touristic” journey would be Ginza (considered to be one of the most luxury shopping areas in the world), Shibuya, Tokyo station – they are designed for internationals – you will find a lot of places with English explanations there. That was our destinations for the day 1.
Walking in style with @Balenciaga – Japanese have some special appreciation to this brand
Arriving at 6:15am, we had to wait a little bit and the shuttle delivered us straight to the Hotel in the amazing DisneyLand. Sheraton provided with an amazing service. I have to mention the fantastic Japanese hospitality below.
We all humans and we all can make mistakes. Japanese people are pretty accurate but also humans (as much as they implemented thousands of robots!). The check in didn’t happen until 3:00pm so we had to leave the bags at lobby and we were promised they would be taken to our rooms as a part of the service. Great – heading to Tokyo Station to explore the area.
When we got back, we realised the bags were unattended for the whole day. The service staff had some miscommunication. They were extremely apologetic and offered Marriott Bonvoy members benefits i.e. VIP lounge access, complimentary breakfasts, extended check outs and many others. The service was exceptional after that.
The best thing about Tokyo is the fact that it contains a little bit of everything. If you want some Japanese culture touch, go to Asakusa. Asakusa (浅草) is a district in Taitō, Tokyo, Japan, famous for the Sensō-ji, a Buddhist temple dedicated to the bodhisattva Kannon. There are several other temples in Asakusa, as well as various festivals, such as the Sanja Matsuri. You can also experience Nakamise shopping street there – something similar to Manly or Bondi markets. Many stalls will offer you handmade Japanese souvenirs and treats. Walking all way down the street, you will get to the tea shop where you can watch Japanese special brewing technique and taste some real stuff 🙂
Nakamise shopping street
As to temples, since you are there, you must go to Asakusa’s main attraction is Sensoji, a very popular Buddhist temple, built in the 7th century. The temple is approached via the Nakamise, a shopping street that has been providing temple visitors with a variety of traditional, local snacks and tourist souvenirs for centuries.Pretty much all temples we visited are free of charge.
Being first time in Japan, you will be amazed by their accuracy. If your train is at 12:58pm, it will come and leave strictly at 12:58pm – no early or late. If there is a delay, it will be communicated to you at their earliest convenience.
FASHION – amazed with the contract. Walking in Ginza and Shibuya, you are walking through posh shopping stores and centers. However, Japanese people are dressing up very modest and reserved. I expected more dressed up people including tourists on the streets – I felt how people were sometimes looking at me because of my “dressing up attire”. Realising that I didn’t use much of the make up – didn’t help – I was still in the centre of attention. I remember when I came to Japan first time and was a teenager, Japanese loved to take pictures of me. I believe they would do it now again but considering I am adult now (lol), they might be hesitant to ask. In general, being a white European with, ideally, blond hair will make you a celebrity there.
I started to capture my adventure in my Instagram stories and was happy to realise I was re-posted by Fashion World Tokyo – feeling I have just gotten unofficial reward of being fashionista in the country of sunrises!
Due to the fact that Japan doesn’t have much of the land, they build the whole new world underground. I would suggest, get out of the stations and take some time to walk on streets from station to station – this is where you will see the country at its fullest and can find interesting places to see and visit. Also, you will be able to experience fascinating architecture contract – huge modern skyscraper will stand behind oldest 6th century temple – it is breathtaking experience if you appreciate excellence and beauty around yourself.
FITNESS – On the last last day before check out (extended!), I went for a run and managed to run around the whole DisneyLand – incredible destination to do outdoor cardio. I had to head back around 7:40ish am due to humid heat and Japanese starring at the white European running around. Considering Japanese are running in very enclosed clothing, I was not SO dressed (wearing shorts and sports bra) so it could be embarrassing for them. Oh well, had to head back 🙂
Outdoor running (especially in the morning) is a great way to explore the area next to you. We haven’t gotten to the actual DisneyLand or DisneySea (age problems 🙂 ) but I appreciated the beauty around just exploring the area on my two feet.
At the end of the trip there will be some time to spend last day in Tokyo and I am aiming for Legendary Kill Bill cafe , Kawasaki suburb to pick up goodies for my Ninja Baby back home and Rainbow bridge.
I am after easy and enjoable diets as I believe in a few things that I follow.
1) Life is too short – enjoy it! Food is an essitial part of it;
2) I used to limit myself with food – felt horrible, got sick often. You need a proper nutrition in life;
3) Anti-social behaviour – when you are on diet, you are trying to avoid going out with friends as they all eat what you have restricted yourslef.
There are more reasons – just a few in the top of my mind.
Since I had started my Japanese trip yesterday (yes, I am here again!), I would like to share my Japanese Diet that I had already unintentionally followed already. When I weight myself after Japan trip(s) for around 10 days, I am normally 2-3 kgs lighter and this all without much effort.
I am here for 14 days tis time so the result should be even better.
Sashimi is your best friend with this diet
THREE MAIN INGREDIENTS TO INCLUDE:
Sushi (or preferably sashimi)
Green Tea (heaps – 2 litres a day is great)
Greens
FEW MINOR WARNINGS:
If you are a female, be careful eat TOO MUCH fish IF you are 1) pregnant or 2) about to get pregnant 0r 3) breastfeeding. Many sorts of fish contains mercury that can damage brain development of a baby. Not my words – check this dietitian out – Leslie Beck;
Avoid too much soy sauce. It goes together with sushi/sushimi – true story. But the less you can have it, the better for you. One of my next healthy article to be is about consumption salt over sugar (still in production). Long story short here, avoid sodium that is overpacked in soy sauce. From weight perspective, sodium will hold your body weight; from health prospective, it increases your blood pressure. If you have had some, follow up with green tea as it reduces sodium greatly;
Fish is great, but mix it up with other Japanese proteins – tofu is yummy, Japanese BBQ worth a million.
Raw fish gives you a lot of required nutrition for protein intake. Having rice in your diet, will give you enough carb energy boost without any saturated fats. Strive for brown rice though, it is healthier, more nutritious and clearly has a lower glycemic index. Finally, greens, go for special Japanese greens that has A LOT OF good items for your metabolic rate – seaweed salad, edamine beans. And sip green tea everywhere. That’s about it !
Of course, you need to try amazing dishes such as tempura, okonominoyaki, udon, ramen, etc. while you are in Japan. The dining here is outstanding and you definitely didn’t try this in any European restaurants that serves Japanese food. Moreover, they have much lesser preservatives that stops your metabolism. Treat yourself with it.
The whole idea of the diet is to eat clean, stay active (don’t be a boring tourist – get out of bus and explore on your feet) and consume solid amount of green tea that is everywhere in Japan (see my previous blog article about coffee and tea in Japan).
I will be back here for some overview of my first Japanese destination – Tokyo shortly xx
Being fitness and healthy lifestyle advocate and ambassador helps me to discover amazing things that support my fitness journey. I have already shared the importance of water consumption in my blog. I have been sent a fantastic gift from one German company called John Hancock – Smart Drinking Flask. My everyday item that I take with me in my hand bag – this magical water bottle.
The button of the bottle cup mainly contains a natural ore called Alps. It is a rare mineral that can react instantaneously when exposed to water and has strong activity, which can help promote blood circulation accelerating metabolism.
Secondly, it might electrolyze water into H + and OH-, OH- Can combine with water molecules to form negative ions, which have strong reducibility. It can help reduce free radicals, weakening alkaline fluids providing an anti-oxidant effect.
Thirdly, it might help water turn into smaller molecular groups allegedly from 5-6. This small molecular group is a good carrier of nutrients with stronger penetration and 30% higher solubility than normal water. It can help dissolve fat, metabolize bowel stool and toxic or harmful substances.
Finally, Alps ore contain Mg ions that can be absorbed by the human body. Magnesium ions can activate more than 300 enzymes to participate in metabolism, and can be widely involved in the digestion of proteins, carbohydrates and fats.
It was a bit of a risk to combine two different industries and expect a good result.
Fashion – the word associated with runways, glamour, style trends.
Fitness – Health, gym, marathons.
They are different so how can I really pitch them to be together? I can explain:
Attitude
Coming back to my previous topic about motivation – who are you training for? For yourself? To impress someone else? If you set up the right and healthy attitude, you train to look good for yourself. You want to look healthy, fit, skinnier or toned – all depends on your personal goals. Now, let’s take Fashion. If you are interested in Fashion, you probably have or aim to have a good sense of style and after important Fashion trends. You pay an extra attention to what you wear when you come out. You are getting ready before an important business meeting. What do you need Fashion for? Same thing again – for yourself? Impress someone at one event? Wear someone glamourous for horse races at Randwick?
You start with the right attitude. You understand that things you build in life starts from you. If you have ever had an experience to move to another continent when you are a teenager that doesn’t know what she wants, you might come to realisation that you have to build self base before you can build something else in life. I cannot build my life looking at someone’s one – I need to look at what I do. I cannot get impressed by someone’s achievements only – I need to set up something for myself each month to feel I am moving.
When you go to the gym, you may notice more and more people are “dressing up” to the gym. Not literally. But trying to wear right sports gear, good active lifestyle brands, etc. Many fitness blogs suggest to wear “cool” gym wear to boost motivation to exercise more. I can definitely see the link between those two. You start with the attitude. You want to see yourself successful, fit, healthy and stylish. It is not a secret that you might be toned and skinny and look quite sexy but if you wear a dress that look like a bag for potatoes on you, your toned body disappears. And, of course, you can buy the most expensive suit from the best Italian designer – it probably looked so gorgeous on the runway – but it looks ugly on you because your body is poisoned with junk food, lack of movement and first signs of ageing. I like to see and promote more on my page fashion in fitness.
It is not only wear something trendy at the gym but wear Fashion and Fitness within you..
I got to the stage to share one of those iconic diets that has blown up minds of my friends and family.
It doesn’t sound like it is legit but trust me – whatever I place in this blog, I have personally tested before sharing.
Red, red wine…
It can be white too as long as it is a dry wine.
All depends on your preferences but, yes, it is the wine diet!
I got the raw idea of this diet when I had explored it. I would also like to share some other tricks that I missed out when I firstly found this diet.
Identified benefits and results
First of all, a quick cheat sheet about DRY wine:
It has low to zero carbs according to laboratory research in Washington (sounds good, hey!)
It has zero fat BUT it still contains enough calories to be able to put on weight
It drops your blood sugar level
Your body uses different technique to digest wine
Red wine has resveratrol, a plant polyphenol chemical that turn body white fat (“bad/obese fat”) into brown fat that is a healthier option of body’s immune and protective system and easier to be burned
Wine has fewer calories than beer or heavy spirits
One bottle of dry wine can contain 570-750 calories – depending on the alcohol percentage
Red wine has more vitamins and minerals than white wine.
Red wine in moderation is good for your heart as it increases HDL cholesterol (“good cholesterol”) and decreases LDL (“bad one”)
The Wine diet can be considered as a separate dieting stream or be trailed as a part of the Mediterranean diet. As you might know the Mediterranean diet is based on the idea of consuming a lot of plant-based food together with some amount of dry wine.
I have seen positive results of the wine diet for around 3 weeks allowing me to loose 1.5 kg in the first week, 1.1 kg in the second week and 1 kg in my third week. So, the verdict – the diet is working!!!
Duration of the diet: MUST NOT exceed 3 weeks
Results: 3.6 kg down
Feeling: no craving, starving feeling (if you follow the instructions below)
Enjoying my favourite races with a refreshing glass of Pinot Gris
However, before explaining the algorithm of the diet, I would like to continue with some downsides of the diet. I am not a nutritionist or a school teacher so I am not going to tell simple things about alcohol effect on your body. Any side effects described below are purely related to the wine diet.
Side Effect to consider
The progression has stopped after 3 weeks due to some side effects of the diet that were not revealed before.
Any dry wine significantly drops your blood sugar level – therefore, you might end up at the kebab or pizza shop after a good night out drinking wine. You feel much hungrier when there is a presence of alcohol in your blood. Your craving is increased to maximum – if you are a person with low self-control, this diet is not the right for you.
Moreover, as said above, your body uses different technique to digest wine. This is where many people who has described this diet before put the full stop. What does this technique include? How to make this technique work for you, not against you?
Our body functioning is a very smart system. When it is attacked, it will use all its effort to fight with an “enemy”. Alcohol toxin is an enemy for any body. Therefore, your body will stop ANY digesting activity and stops what it has just been doing to prioritise “work on alcohol toxins”. Which means when you have eaten simple carbohydrates or saturated fats before wine, it will turn them into your white body fat, no matter if you haven’t eaten much before and your body needs that “energy”. When you have eaten similar crap after wine consumption because your food craving was high, it will also turn into same fat storage. This is how you can gain weight from the wine diet.
HOWEVER, if you eat enough “absorbing” and lean food, it will assist your body to work on toxins and leave the positive results from wine consumption.
In addition to it, I love my strength trainings that are aimed to reduce my body fat and gain some muscle weight instead. Same procedure here – your muscles stop developing when you have alcohol toxin in your blood as your body needs some time to fight with the new “enemy”.
Avoid rewarding yourself with a glass of wine after a good strength or HIIT training. Try to pick your High intensity trainings when you are not planning to go out for a fair few hours after that (your body recovers muscles differently depending on a number of factors i.e. age, gender, metabolic rate, etc.)
We got to this stage – Wine Diet 1:1
If you are still reading this and believe it can work for you, here below what I did to have positive results of my wine diet. Please note that the results will gradually decreased and bring your more negative effects than positive so I would not recommend to keep the diet longer than 3 weeks.
You MUST include a lot of green leafy food and good fats in every day of your diet! Some partition of protein should be included in any main meal of the day.
PART I – Morning
As I am a morning person, I would typically end of at the gym or run in the morning. Hence, I would it breakfast rich in good carbs, vitamins and minerals. My typical breakfast would be Cocao Oat Bowl that I have described before here
The breakfast meal would include some fruits and fresh fat free yogurt. In that case, my morning tea would include 10-20 gram of peanut butter to fulfil some good fats in my body (Cocoa Oat Bowl is originally almost fat free). If I am after more “proteiny” breakfast option, I would go for egg whites omelette with a plenty of spinach or rocket. My morning tea would include a piece of fruit.
PART II – Afternoon
Feel it up with protein – a good piece of grilled chicken, salmon or a sirloin beef steak. I am always a bit flexible with lunch option as long as it has a plenty (up to 30 gram or more) of protein and green leaves – Italian 4 leaves mix is perfect for it. Include some vitamin enriched vegetables such as pumpkin, tomatoes, sweet potato, etc. I love to include 20-30 grams of cheese or 50 grams of avocado to fulfil good fat.
Afternoon tea – something simple, raw, non-carbohydrate food. It can be a piece of cheese or a protein bar. The most important here is to keep it one-stream i.e. good fat or protein, no carbs. It MUST be more filling than morning tea snack.
PART III – Dinner time
Here we go! Time to crack a bottle of nice Pinot Noir (or different dry wine depending on your personal preference). Instructions:
Have a one-stream food with it so the alcohol toxin doesn’t hit you and your health. Options:
Cheese – blue vein, mild cheeses, just as it is, no crackers or carb food
Low fat ricotta or cottage cheese with celery and carrot sticks
A piece of chicken, ideally, no more than ¼ chicken
And now you can enjoy your 2-2.5 glasses of wine. After one glass you may notice that your appetite has decreased, however, it is still important to consume some one-stream food (as above) to avoid bad influence of alcohol on your body and future craving feeling.
Happy Dieting 🙂
***As said, this is the guideline for a healthy option of the wine diet only, no alcohol promotion and irresponsible drinking can be associated with the article.
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