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Living the good life, the healthy way

Sometimes you fins just those amazing people that can put it into words

Published 2014-10-08 13:49:30 i Living life, Mind and body,

This is what I read on Tumblr.com today. 
 
"When you treat you body right, with love, honour and respect - life begins to feel a little easier. Accepting yourself as you are, realizing that you are perfectly built to be YOU, is very important.
 
We all deserve to love ourselves. Noone should be made to feel guilty for the shape/size, whether it's big, small or triangle.
 
We are society, we have the power to influence minds and share self love. We are the people of society - choosing to love and accept yourself, and breaking free from feeling like you must conform to a society's expectation is the beginning of a journey. 
 
Self love isn't a contest and self love doesn't require you to change. Self love is being happy and content in your own skin, accepting your body and mind and showing yourself the love you deserve, treating yourself with respect."
 
 
 
 
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You can't live a positive life with a negative mind

Published 2014-04-30 15:51:34 i Inspiration, Living life, Mind and body, Mindfullness,

What do you have a body for, if not to embrace life? Keep moving, keep your body strong, keep your body well nourished with healthy foods. Enjoy the outdoors, enjoy cooking food from scratch and eat it together with loved ones. Enjoy growing plants, enjoy being creative, enjoy trying new things. There is no limit. Just because you can't do something now, it doesn't mean you won't be able to do it tomorrow.
 
Life is beautiful, take up as much space as you want, stay active, don't let anything hold you back from doing the things you want! Life is too short and too precious to be held back. Keep you eyes in the goal/target and stay focused. You can do it.
 
Savour the moment. Feel the warm sun on your face or the cold rain down your cheeks. Smell the newly cut grass, the seaweed, the trees. Smell the apple pie, the bonfire, the cool air. Smell the coffee, the freshly baked cinnamon rolls,  the christmas tree. Smell the earth warming up after winter, the first blossom and the first BBQs. Listen to the sounds around oyu. What can you hear?
 
Feel you body, feel the warmth, feel your heatbeat. It is beating for you. Think of your feet, how they can walk anywhere, take you places. Think of how the grass feels under you bare feet, how the sand feels between your toes. Think of your legs, your calf muscles, knees and thighs. Think of how they help you jump, run, swim, walk. Think of the touch of a loving hand on the inside of your thigh. How it tickles, how it smooches. It is soft and accepting. Your legs are beautiful.
 
Think of your stomach, how it is working for you every day, digesting your food and converting it to energy of life. How it is keeping your intestines in place. How your stomach helps you to sit up, lie down, laugh hard and deep and being able to bend your body. Think of your arms and hands. How they help you carry things, pick flowers, draw, write, cook, sew, take photos, build, repair, create, caress, hold...Think of you body, how it keeps you alive, how it loves you.
 
Think of how it feels to be embraced by someone you love. Feel their arms around you, keeping you safe, just as you keep them safe. You wouldn't want them to be harmed and they don't want you to be harmed. They love you, every inch of you. Every self-doubt, every thought of self-hate is harmful and destructive to your happiness. Your mind is your most powerful tool. How you feel and think begins in your mind. Make peace with yourself and focus on what makes you feel good. What you think you become.
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mindfullness, pepp,

something you might not know about me

Published 2013-11-29 14:53:56 i Mind and body,

I am a feminist. No, I do not hate men. No, I do not say that men can't be masculine and women can't be feminine. I'm a feminist when it comes to what roles men and women learn to take. What roles we teach our boys and girls they should have in this society. We deem ourselves to be democratic and developed, but we cannot stand the thought of a man wearing a skirt if he wishes (dear me, he might as well go and KILL someone with that skirt!), or a woman takes up too much media space, have certain opinions and doesn't shave her legs become ridiculed, called ugly, jealous and diminished in as many ways as possible. Because she steals some spotlight minutes away from the men?
 
Why is it, that in a modern country, where we supports the freedom of choice, find it almost impossible to go into a kids toystore and buy toys for KIDS? What do I mean? I mean that there are almost no toys for kids, because the toys are for girls or boys.
 
Oh, look! Girls learn from early start that fashion, petting, make-up, child-care and beautiful princesses are for girls only. Girls need to know how to be beautiful, dress well and look after pets and children. Girls learn that their value lies within these qualities. If you are not kind, tender, caring and beautiful, you're worthless!
But boys on the other hand, they play with fortresses (they need to learn to fight and protect!), tools (so they can be the handyman), cars and science. Boys are only worthy if they are tough, handy, strong, protective and curious.
 
Finally, some toys companies have taken a big step in the right direction, have realised what damage they are doing and have now started to change their shops and catalogs.
 
Despite hard critisism from various politicians around the world (a french female politician calling the catalog pervert for example), the toy company stand by their choice and that's amazing! It is not until we see these changes in society, until we and the big companies take a stand, we can make a change.
 
I am a feminist because being "a girl" is an insult. Because being a woman means I will have less salary than man male collegue. Because men can walk away from raping a women without consequences, since she was wearing "too short a skirt" or she was "drunk".
 
When will society stop blaming the victim of a crime that was committed by someone else? When will we teach our boys that women are NOT their property, NOT there for their desire. Why do we teach girls to be careful to go out in the streets? Why do we teach girls self-defense? It is just like saying "men are animals, men can't control themselves, and they will get away with it too, so you better be careful". Instead we should teach both boys and girls that NOONE is to be touched without consent. Each  girl, boy, woman, man and everyone in between have the right to their own bodies. We owe noone nothing. No matter what I choose to wear, I never "ask for it".
 
But yeah, I guess it makes sense that a woman wearing a short skirt thought to herself "I want to get raped tonight, so I will wear this". No. Just no. Anyone can wear anything they want - for whatever reasons they have - they are not asking to be sexually harassed or raped. Never.
 
But you know, boys will be boys, and you should cover up or you will have to put up with it. Boys will be boys and it is their right to touch you wherever they want, whenever they want even if you say no. Boys will be boys, and how dare you say no to them, because they oughta learn that they own the world and you are just a sexual object.
 
This argument is just another way for patriarchy to remain power. Blame the victim.
 
We are all so carfully molded into stereotypes, made to believe that the world needs "its' balance" (what balance? the one where women get abused and dimished while men get glorified and praised?), tought to fulfill our roles as men and women, that we become blind to what really matters.
 
I do not want my children to grow up having to change who they are so they can fit into the expected gender roles. I don't want my daughter to grow up thinking she has to be pretty (and dumb) to be socially worthy. I do not want my son to believe he'll be "a girl/pussy" if he likes animals, cooking or caring. That he is worthless unless he is brutal and tough.
 
I do not want my children to grow up in a world where they will be socially punished (bullying, harassment) if they don't fit into their expected roles. Because that is exactly what is happening. Why do you think a woman wears a short skirt? Because all he life she has been tought, over and over again, that she will be more attractive, worthy and praised if she does. If she chooses to wear "non-sexy" clothes and no make-up she will most likely be questioned why and encouraged to at least "make an effort". We all get socially punished if we do not fit in. Most people want to fit in. So we adapt. We reshape ourselves. We model ourselves into men and women.
 
Again, I do not think that all women should stop wearing make-up, dresses skirts. Or that all men should stop lifting weights, loving mechanics etc. I DO think we need to open our perspectives, open our eyes. We need the right to choose. We need the right to have equal expectations. I expect you to start acting like a decent human being, and treat people as HUMANS, thinking creatures with a great heart and a great brain.
 
 
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Listen to your body

Published 2013-01-22 22:13:00 i Mind and body, Wellness and health,

Since eating more healthy everyday and cutting down on sugar and increasing vegetables and fruit and "clean food" in general, I must say I can tell a big difference in my general well being. I have definately become better at listening to my body and the cues it sends me. As soon as I eat more than approxiamtely 100 grams of refined sugar I can feel the head ache creeping up on me. It's really strange to think that either I was numb to this before, or I just felt it all the time and didn't pay attention to it. If I have spent an evening drinking a couple of drinks and eating crisps or sweets I will have a pretty noticable food "hangover". My stomach will be bloated, my head will feel slightly messy. Even if I only had a couple of glasses of wine.
 
I'm not saying that I will stop having these things, but it's interesting how much more alert your body becomes when it's fed the right sort of foods. It will instantly tell you when it's not getting the food it wants.
 
Furthermore it's then interesting to think about what sorts of everyday "pains" we constantly feel that may be cause by our diet, or something in our environment. As I've mentioned before, being too "acidic" can for example cause lots of problems, that could be solved rather easily. Different sorts of intolerances can be shown as more than diffuculty to breathe or rashes. It can show as sniffy noses, sensitivy to infections, stomach aches, bloatedness, joint aches etc etc. I have for example wondered why my nose is, and have always been, very sniffy. Even when I don't have a cold. It's probably cause by some sort of intolerance, but I'm not sure what. Perhaps dairy products (yes, sniffy nose is one of the symptons!). 
 
Anyway, it's something worth giving a little thought. Our bodies are smarter than our minds, most of the time!
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The best gift you can give yourself

Published 2012-12-22 22:46:25 i Mind and body, Mindfullness,

 
If you are not already, please let this Christmas be a starting point to try and accept and love yourself. You are a child of this universe, you belong here and you have the right to be here. You have the right to be happy, proud, curious, and loved. If a negative thought about yourself creeps into your mind, just let it pass, don't let it settle. End the negative thought with a strong "BUT" and a positive thought about yourself. You are so much more than the flaws that only you can see. And in the end, noone is perfect. Noone. Not even celebrities or supemodels. Stop comparing yourself to retouched images in magazines. You are beautiful the way you are.
 
Börja den här julen med att vara snäll mot dig själv. Du har all rätt att vara lycklig, nyfiken, få kärlek och vara stolt! Låt inte negativa tankar slå rot, avsluta dem med ett bestämt "MEN" och en positiv tanke. Alltid. Ingen är perfekt och det är detta som gör oss till unika, fantastiska individer av detta universom. Älska dig själv.
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Friday

Published 2012-11-23 13:56:45 i Living life, Mind and body,

Good day! Friday! Only a week until Chris' parents come over for a visit! Can't wait! But before that I have a weekend with some nice time with Chris, with friends and also some studying. Next week will be packed with intense studying, I want most of it finished by Friday next week. Phew! We can do this! :-)
 
Was feeling rather unhappy this morning, but I have turned my thoughts around and I'm trying to find strength in the fact that whatever will be will be. I can only do my best, and I will!
 
Today I am going to the gym for a dancing class, then I'm popping to the shop to buy some fruit, berries and nice munchies for a date night in with my lovely fiancé. I've been so caught up in working and studying, I really feel like we need to spend some "us" time and just take care of each other. I hope you all are looking forward to a nice Friday evening and weekend too!
 
Var på dåligt humör i morse, men har vänt runt tankarna lite och känner mig ganska glad. Ska på dans senare och sedan blir det myskväll med killen. När man har så mycket att göra är det viktigt att stanna upp ibland och ägna tid åt varandra. Hoppas ni också ser fram emot en trevlig kväll och helg!
 
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Being introvert

Published 2012-11-09 14:04:07 i Mind and body,

I think I'm seriously obsessed with breakfasts. I absolutely love breakfast! I could probably eat just breakfast food for every meal of the day and be perfectly happy, haha!
 
I am at work at the moment thinking about things in my life that I wish perhaps would be better, easier or different. Thinking about myself and my relationship with other people and I think I've come to realise I'm a very introvert person.
 
Not in the sense that I shy away from meeting new people, or hide myself in a corner, but I am very careful of other people's time. I never want to disturb or in other ways interrupt someone in what they're doing. I never say anything unless I actually have anything to say (especially with new people), and if I do try small talk it always turns out awkward, I'm just not good at it.
 
I like company, but I like my company to respect my integrity and pride. If someone demands my attention or demands me to make decisions I will often react with annoyance or shyness. I like letting others make decisions and I like to spend my attention on whatever I want. If I want to give you attention, I will.
 
I think the fact that I am like this has made me lose some friends over the course of time. I don't think people always understand how introverts work. We are not being rude, we just like being quiet and listen to/watch other people in action. We like to mind our own business and only steal someone elses attention when absolutely necessary.
 
Unfortunately, our society only asks for extrovert people. People who are loud, visible and talkative. There's nothing wrong with being extrovert, it's great. But being introvert is also great. We are all different, and being quiet and careful does not mean you don't have opinions or character. It just means you are introvert. That's all.
 
Full stop. :-)
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Eating out

Published 2012-10-26 17:50:06 i Mind and body, Nutrition, Wellness and health,

Eating at a restaurant can be tricky when trying to be healthy. Normally restaurants don't take into account the healthyness of the dishes they serve, since it is flavour that sells, and the easy way to get flavour is to add LOTS of fats and sugars. Also, unless you eat at a fine dining restaurant, the servings are normally much larger than they would be if you cooked at home. 1 serving of a dish at a restaurant is not seldom twice, or tripple the amount of calories than the home cooked version.
 
The good thing is though, that you can cut down on the extra calories easily.
  • With a salad, ask for the dressing on the side. Normally salads at restaurants include cheese, and this will be enough fat for your meal. If possible, choose a vinegrette dressing, rather than a creamy one.
  • Ask for a baked potato, boiled potatoes or extra vegetables instead of chips. Chips contain transfats which are very harmful to your body, also it is quite disgusting to think of your food being deep fried in oil you have no idea what they contain...
  • Eat slowly, and finish when you are full. Don't continue eating just because there is still food on your plate (This is probably one of the hardest things to do if you are a food lover like me!)
  • Ask for grilled meats instead of fried.
  • Don't add ketchup or other extra sauces to your dish - these can very quickly add up your calories!
Only a few tips from me. No surprises maybe, but things that may be good to keep in mind. Also:
 
Good choices!
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On exercise and TGIF

Published 2012-10-19 17:59:14 i Living life, Mind and body,

Exercise...I have almost an uncomfortable feeling today that I should go out for a run, because I haven't all week. This uncomfortable feeling makes me suspicious. It has been a very busy and stressful week, I haven't slept very well, I have been upset about the dissertation, I have been working. A run could help med relax.....or it could bring on the stress. Cycling home from work I felt my typical "stress" tension around my ribcage, and I must convince myself that the very best for my body is to relax. I have been cycling today, and will cycle more later. I have done housework and I have deserved to focus on relaxing.
 
I sometimes find it hard to allow myself to relax, and I know that I need to get better at this before I push myself too far. At the same time, I don't need to let go of exercising. Being active is good, but there is no need to strive for more than I can handle at the time being.
 
 
And it is after all FRIDAY! Going to see my lovely, beautiful friend Maria and spend the evening cooking dinner watching a film or two, and talk about everything between heaven and earth. Looking forward to a very nice evening :-)
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The winter season of the society

Published 2012-10-09 22:08:00 i Mind and body,

It's been a long, but very interesting and rewarding day, with lots of inspiration for thoughts about young people  today, what are their thoughts about the future, what are the conditions they are brought up in, what predicaments do they find themselves in, how do they deal with the decisions they are expected to make and the expectations we have on them to perform and have good grades in school.
 
Today's reality is very different from the one children grew up in 50 years ago. Trends are changing faster, technology is developing faster and the labour market is much more dynamic. People born in late 80's and the 90's have grown up in a short-term world. Nothing is safe, nothing is secure, and their biggest fear is to end up getting nowhere. They fear being worse off than their parents. Because they are born "on top", there is no other way but down....thinking of the world like that is pretty discerning. It made me realise that making a decision at the age of 15 that could have an impact on your life, or could not, is pretty difficult. You donät know what to do with the decision. You don't know what will happen. There is no safety. It's a cold world, but we can keep each other warm with showing each other respect, love and sensitivity.
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Treat or over-eat?

Published 2012-10-06 23:07:53 i Mind and body,

Today has not been a good day food wise. Been offered too many lovely cakes and temptation has a way of taking over. The problem is, no matter how good the cakes taste, I feel put in imbalance. I start to feel guilty and feel bad, I feel unhappy and almost frustrated with myself for not being able to say "no thanks". At the same time my mind can have a go at my guilt, saying "you are allowed a treat".
 
The question is though, how much is a treat, and how to know when enough is enough? By the first, second, third, fourth or even fifth cake? By the first, second, third or fourth glass of wine? I have a problem of not knowing when to stop once I've started. I have become much better at this, but from time to time I fall into the pit of binging, and it really doesn't make me happy.
 
Because, why should a second or third serving make me happier than just the one? I need to start listening to my body, knowing when I am satisfied and I have had my treat of sweet or savory flavour and that's enough. A second or third serving won't give me more pleasure, just feelings of guilt, frustration and anger with myself.
 
Eating healthy, and choosing the better options makes me feel happy, proud and satisfied, because I know I do myself a favour, both physically (giving my body the right fuel) and mentally (boosting my self-confidence). To decide beforehand what or how much treats you are going to have on a certain day is one trick to over-come the binging, or, at a party, choose one sort of treat and stick to it, instead of eating of all sorts. I have found these tricks useful, but of course everyone is different and have to work out their on ways of dealing with the "binge-monster".
 
I don't believe in ever refusing yourself treats, and I believe in balance. But binging and over eating is unnecessary and something that only harms the body and mind.
 
 
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On motivation - making a change

Published 2012-09-29 17:48:14 i Inspiration, Mind and body, Wellness and health,

We have all gone through, or, are going through periods in our lives when we want to change something about ourselves. Whether it be quit smoking, stop biting our nails, shop less clothes, lose weight, exercise more, be less shy, etc. etc. The list can grow long.
 
If you find yourself wanting a change, but it just doesn't seem to happen, it is easy to say "I can't do it/ it doesn't work for me/ I've tried everything". If that is the case, then I say:
  • you CAN do it
  • it DOES work for you
  • you HAVEN'T tried everything

Making a real change in your life means taking a step into the unknown. Taking this step makes a lot of people scared. They fear they will fail, they fear the change will be too hard. Finding the courage and determination is what stops most peope from changing their habits.

Because habits are what make us feel safe, no matter if the habits are destructive or constructive. To break a destructive habit, means you have to review your perception of what bringsyou comfort, benefits and happiness. You need to recognize that there is a problem, reflect on it and think of what advantages (and disadvantages) making a change would do to your life. Without these "realisations", as I would call it, I'm afraid you won't be able to go further than "wanting to change".

The will to change has to come from within yourself, noone else can make the change for you. If you find this inner motivation, you are already one big step towards the life you want.

I have just finished my functional training workout, and confirmed that working out in the late afternoon/evening is the best time for me. I have a lot more energy and power and can make much moe effort in my exercise. About to jump in the shower, then it's getting close to preparing dinner...

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