Does this attitude make my butt look fat?

OK, I'm back. I just want to scream when I hear that "stoking the metabolism, starvation-mode, eat-every-3-hours" rhetoric. There I said it. I refrain from making those SCREAMING comments on blogs because it is just too ingrained in people. But this is my blog, so I can do what I want. I would find a smiley with the tongue sticking out, but I am too lazy for that.

While I am bitching away here, I would like to say that I get very disappointed when I see recipes that start out with a mouth-watering picture and then I get to the ingredients and see Splenda or some other non-food.

Man I could go off, but I already sound pissy. But please, People, eat food. Not fake food, not mysterious microwave concotions involving whey protein powder, sugar-free maple syrup (what could possibly be in that?) fat-free anything...etc...

I say this because I want you to be healthy. I really do. Yeah, I harp on being in Austria and the differences between Americans, but take note. People in Europe generally eat better. Not less, better. There are less fat people and less cellulite. Splenda is not sold here. Maybe it is sour grapes...kidding.

You may think you are getting away with something saving calories with fake food but the chickens will come home to roost and you do not want a body filled up with toxic waste.

Eat Stop Eat and Intermittent Fasing

Kelly Olexa's post about intermittent fasting inspired me to come over here and post something.I am passionate about the fasting. I found Eat Stop Eat 2 years ago and it changed my life. I am no longer stressed about food. I could go on and on, but buy the book. It is worth it.

I have also used the Leangains intermittent fasting program and had great results with a training and nutrition program from Martin Berkhan.

What I will do is show what intermittent fasting accomplished.

I started out like this:
Not too horrible, but with too much bodyfat for my liking.


This is me today, 2 years later. It did not take 2 years to get here, but it is easy to stay here.



I am 45 years old and have been at this for what I consider my whole life. It does not get easier to stay lean. It gets harder, but the fasting has been the way to go for me. I am not selling anything or do I profit from writing this. I just want people to know that there is another way and it is worth a try.

What do I know?...oh don't answer that.

This has nothing to do with anything except it is beautiful and the view from the front of my house. And when I miss CA, I walk out and look at this.

But anyway, I've learned some things over my fitness journey and now at the age of 45 I finally get some credit. I always worked out. I was a serious gymnast (trained 4-6 hours, 6 days a week in the height of it), then moved on to kickboxing, weight training, dancing, teaching classes, personal training, you get it. So, I have logged the hours. But people will be people and some used to tell me things like:

1) oh yeah, you are young, of course you are in shape, just wait until you are 25, 30, 35, over 40...well each of those birthdays went by and now at 45 people have stopped saying it! Because I am just too damned old.
2) I would look like you if I worked out all day and had the time- I don't work out all day and I have the same time restraints as other people.
3) wait until you have kids- OK, I did that and I had them at age 37 and 40.
4) your lucky, your naturally skinny- this one kills me, because I am NOT naturally skinny and I hate being called skinny. I know it is some twisted compliment because it usually comes from women and they think it is a desired look. But I work to have the body I have.

So you see, people don't always want to give you proper credit, I believe the reason is that it would shoot down their million excuses of why they aren't doing it themselves. Because I am not particularly talented in weight lifting, time management or dieting. I have just made it a habit. The moral of the story is that you CAN be fit, you can create the habit and it is all about consistency. I just never stopped. Sometimes I was leaner or stronger, but I was always healthy and could kick someones ass, hence the kickboxing...lol.

Next I am going to single handedly dispel the myths of meal timing, protein consumption and clean eating. HA! Just kidding on that one. But I do have some insight into those hot topics.

I'm all for tradition, but...

Really, how do these say on?

Takin' it to the Streets

People here (Austria for sure and most of the European countries I have been to) do not wear fitness/workout/training/active wear out and about. I repeat, you will not see folks running around in their gym clothes. You might as well wear your bathrobe or pyjamas in public.

Of course I do. But since I am always going to be auslander (foreigner) I get more leeway in the eccentric department.

Which reminds me, I need to get more workout clothes and they only have the standard Adidas and Nike stuff here. I am going to order from the States. Who makes cool stuff? I am out of the loop these days living the Heidi life up here in the mountains.

Can I Offer You a Beer?

I'm getting tired of pictures of myself so after this one, I will take a break, promise.

My friend emailed me yesterday and asked if I could get her some lederhosen for Halloween. Now I love lederhosen as much as the next person, but they still are more popular on men than women. Frankly I don't have enough time to shop around or find them on ebay in time for Halloween, which includes mailing them to London. The Austrian post is notoriously slow. The trains are never late but the mail...good grief, Glacier speed, people. Oh yeah did I mention they run about 250-300 euros in the shoppes? That is about 400 bucks for a Halloween costume.

But I did have this little number. Behold the dirndl. It is a traditional Austrian dress, also seen in parts of Germany. Think Munich and Oktoberfest. You MAY think this is a costume, but it certainly is not over here. People dress like this on a regular basis. Kind of like how the rest of the world thinks of cowboy gear. I mean we don't look twice at cowboy boots, jeans, cowboy hats and western belts...to everyone else we might as well be dressed as an Indian or a clown. Touche.

I am going to send it off to London tomorrow and because my friend is a righteous babe who happens to work for a cool clothing design and wholesale studio, she is sending a load of cool clothes. Score.

I have to mention I am wearing white fishnets under that dress. My legs and arms are not that mismatched.

Doughnuts and Abs

Here's a funny one:

I teach English to kids. My kids like to join in and it helps because they speak fluent English. Right now we are making picture dictionaries. So for each letter we draw 3 things. We get to "D" and I am sitting next to Nicole, my almost 8 year old daughter. I say, "how about doughnut?" (yeah, yeah, my mind is in the gutter). She says, "what's a doughnut?" She DOESN'T EVEN KNOW! I am thinking on one hand, she is missing some very American stuff here. They do have doughnuts in Austria, but with their passion for pastry, they are not exactly flying off the shelves. On the other hand, I am thinking GOOD, she doesn't know what the deep-fried crap is.

It is kind of snowing. Yup, that's right, it is feeling very winter 'round here. I like winter. Sweaters, boots, SNOWBOARDING, holidays, family, fires, food and COOKIES. As much as I TRY to avoid it I usually put on 5 pounds and then I work my booty off in January to lose it for the summer. It's OK. I usually think it is worth the cookies and yummy food. But last January the thyroid went whack and I dislocated my shoulder and I seriously suffered trying to lose that fat. And I know 5lbs sounds like chump change, but I like to stay lean and when you are losing that last bit, it is tough. Now I am in a good place and I am not so willing to travel down that road again. So I am treading lightly.

SO, one of our cars is in the shop so we are working with one vehicle this week. My son has a Dr.'s appointment this morning and my hubby is driving him there. I wanted to go and coincide it with a stop at the sporting goods store to get some Adidas tights. (he didn't know THAT part)Well something happened and our wires got crossed. He called to pick me up, I was in the shower and thought he was just going to pick me up. Well he didn't when I didn't answer the phone. So I took some pictures because I was in my cute-going-to-the-city outfit. I don't wear this around the village because I would break my neck on the dirt roads in high heeled boots and people would think I am uppidy to get so dressed up to pick up my kids from school. So here they are. I am back in my workout clothes. I teach 2 classes back to back tonight. Can you say circuit anyone? That way I get to blow my whistle and "supervise."

PS. I saw some of the new Beachbody program, Insanity and you betcha those ladies will be doing some of that tonight. It is seriously hard.

PSS. I have to say I am pretty pleased about the abs shot. YES, they need more work and less fat, but considering that I have been basically vegetarian and no protein powder, for a couple of months, I am jazzed.