Ulrika's motivation

Milestone

2012-01-13T21:31:00.001-06:00

Today I have reached a milestone. I was accepted, transferred and registered at a ACEND-approved dietetics program. I am so excited! For those who don't know, in order to become a Registered Dietitian, you have to graduate from a ACEND-approved Bachelor program in dietetics. Once you have completed this you have to apply for an internship. This is a highly competitive process. Only ca 50% get into an internship. Once you have completed an internship (about 1200 hours) you are eligible to sit for the Registered Dietitian exam. If you pass, you get your license. This is a long road, but I just made it over the first hurdle. I have about half the bachelor left to do before I graduate.

What is a Registered Dietitian? Click here!

Friday the 13th is not necessarily a bad day... ;-)

How is your plank going?

2012-01-12T21:42:00.000-06:00

So if you are doing the January challenge, how are you doing? Are you improving? Are you struggling in any area? Do you see any benefits?

My current record is 3 minutes and 12 minutes. There is a lot of mental will power in that time. On a general level, my mental mode is determining if I do around 2 minutes or more. If I am not motivated, too tired, or just don't feel like it, I have a very hard time pushing myself. On the other hand, when my motivation is high and I feel great mentally, I can squeeze out a lot of more time even if the muscles are shaking like crazy and everything hurts.

Do you have a trick when doing the plank that helps you?

2012 CHALLENGES!

2012-01-02T19:55:00.002-06:00

This is motivation to me. Are you in?

2012 CHALLENGES

Month	Exercise	Goal by end of month
January	A plank a day – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u_iG_DWLdN8 Do one plank exercise per day for as long as you can hold the position.	Jan 31 - Stand in plank position double the time you managed the first day.
February	Regular burpees - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KydSeXAzR60 1st day do 1 minute of burpees – then add 10 seconds each day.	Feb 29 - do 5 min 40 sec of burpees
March	Tornado raises - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bphhll8rsAs&feature=related Do the exercise with or without the rubber band for as long as you can. Measure your time the first day.	March 31 - Double the time you managed to do the first day.
April	Cardio push-ups - do the first exercise in this video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s02aJhakLJw 1st day do 30 seconds – then add 10 seconds each day	April 30 - Do 5 min and 20 sec of cardio push-ups.
May	Single legged bridge - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tJavnzBKylo&feature=relmfu Do the exercise with or without the rubberband. Start with 10 on each leg and add on 1 per leg per day.	May 31 - Do 40 per leg.
June	Super Abs - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fLAUkzbs734 Do the first exercise of this video with the twists. Do as many as you can each day. You can start with the feet on the ground, but be sure to advance the exercise and lift the feet up when you feel ready.	30 June – do 100 twists with the feet off the ground.
July	Knee kicks - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KWA1JRoY--Q&feature=endscreen&NR=1 Start with 10 on each leg and add on 1 per leg per day.	July 31 - do 40 knee kicks per leg.
August	Raised arm push-ups - Do the last exercise of this video where you stack your feet and raise one arm up - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s02aJhakLJw Do 5 per side per day and add on 1 per side per day.	31 Aug - Do 35 raised arm push-ups per side.
September	Forward Skaters Challenge - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NHjmRXIkOks&feature=relmfu Start with 20 for the first day. Add 4 per day. Always end the last one on each leg with a 10 second hold.	30 Sept - Do 136 forward skaters.
October	3-way jump squats - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S5L_2pvsvDU&feature=relmfu Do 5 for the first week. Then add 5 more every week starting with Monday. One squat is all the way out and all the way in with the feet.	29 - 31 Oct - Do 25 squats per day.
November	Toe to elbow touch - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VPtlHT8VUNI&feature=relmfu Start with 10 on each leg and add on 1 per leg per day.	30 Nov - Do 39 toe to elbow touch per leg.
December	Side burpees - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KydSeXAzR60&feature=relmfu Start with 5 per side and add on 1 per side per day	31 Dec - Do 35 side burpees per side.

It is done!

2011-12-20T09:07:00.001-06:00

So it is done! I had 3 goals this fall.

* The 5k at the Lakefront
* The 8k Turkey Day race
* The Ole Man River Half Marathon

After finishing both the 5k and the 8k I was feeling good. However, I did have a bit of ankle problem.

I wasn't sure if it was the RA acting up or something else. I rested and it got better, however it wasn't completely gone. My half-marathon training got all messed up and I decided that I would just go for it and that the time wouldn't matter and I would just walk, run, walk, run the whole race.

Well, close to the race day my foot felt better. But I had no expectations at all since I hadn't done a training run of more than 10k for the past 1½ months. I skipped the HR monitor and the watch (so my brain could relax).

And I went for it.... I ran and I felt great... I felt so great, that I managed to run all the way to 11.5 miles (18.5km). My breathing and my HR was still good at that point, but my leg muscles were very tired. I walked 3 times for about 50 yards and ran the rest.

When I came to the finish line I saw my time and I could barely believe it. 2 hours 36 min 6 sec! I almost cried. If I had been able to do my training properly I had hoped for a time close to 2 hours and 30 min, so this was freakin fantastic!!

I am sore in my legs now of course but not as bad as I thought it would be. Awesome!!

One down!

2011-10-17T09:00:00.000-05:00

So the first goal is reached! Saturday morning I ran the 5k race. My goal was to have a finish time of 32.30 or less. I finished with 32.22. Phu! The first part of the race I ran slower than I wanted, because my heart rate was going up too high. The second half I felt pretty good despite the heart rate issue so I increased the speed a lot.

One of my problems is that my heart rate goes up so high when I am running a race. Don't get me wrong, I don't compete to win, I compete against myself, but it doesn't matter. It is race time and my adrenaline gets going. I think it may be an old habit I have from my track and field days. I used to be a 100 meter sprinter. If you are a 100 m sprinter, you WANT that adrenaline when you are standing at the starting line. It will help you being as explosive as you need. However, if you are to run several kilometers, that adrenaline and high heart rate will only give you problems.

I used my breathing before this race start to try to control my heart rate. After the warm up jogging I had a heart rate over 140, and standing on the start line I used controlled slow breathing to get it down. Once the race started my heart rate was 120. Not exactly where I wanted it to be but good enough. It went up to 160 pretty fast though and that is why I ran so slow for the first half. This is something I need to keep practicing so I can run the half marathon in December without getting a heart attack :-)

Schedule

2011-10-02T07:06:00.001-05:00

So I started making a schedule to keep myself on the path to the half marathon. During Friday I was out doing speed work. I must say I still hate speed work. It feels great afterwards but it's like a torture session while it is going on. Half-mile repeats (800 meters). I walked in between, otherwise my heart rate doesn't come down enough. The goal is to be able to jog in between, and of course, to be faster.

Today I am up crazy early on a Sunday for the weekly long slow run. Can we say afternoon nap?

Goals

2011-09-28T21:28:00.000-05:00

So, I am still here. It just got a little busy. A new term has just started in school and my two classes now are Nutritional Biochemistry and Nutrition through life cycles. Two very exciting classes but they take a lot of time.

I am also exercising. Getting my running in, power walking and so on. I have set my goals for the rest of this year. I like goals because they keep me on track. As long as my RA and medication are cooperating with me, these are the races I am planning:

15 October - 5k race
24 November - 8k race
18 December - Half a marathon (21k)

My hope is that I can run the whole half marathon. I don't care so much about the speed, I just want to get around it. I know I can walk half a marathon without problems, but now I want to run it!

What are your goals for the rest of the year?

2011-09-12T13:00:00.000-05:00

"He who takes medicine and neglects to diet wastes the skill of his doctors."

~Chinese Proverb"

A little crazy

2011-08-28T17:34:00.001-05:00

It is Sunday and I got out of bed at 5.15 in the morning. I did that... all by free will. I am seriously wondering where this is going to end. The reason for getting up was to go for a really long power walk and beat the worst heat and sun.

I managed to get out of the house at 6.30am. I just had to have a little coffee and a sandwich first. The first 2 kilometers I spent stumbling upon my own feet and small things on the sidewalks. The connection between eyes, brain and muscles is not all that functioning that early for me. I had brought a small bottle of
Gatorade and a larger bottle of ice water. Do you know how gross Gatorade tastes in the morning?!

I had decided to walk up to the lake to see the sun rise and so I did. It was very beautiful, and you can actually get some inspiration up there during early mornings watching all the cyclists and runners along the water.

I came home 2 hours and 2 minutes later. I had then walked 13 kilometers (8 miles) and managed to get a blister. But I felt great!

And here is the proof that I actually was up for sunrise!

Long distance walking

2011-08-25T12:52:00.000-05:00

In February 2010 I was supposed to run my first half marathon. It was the Mardi Gras half marathon in New Orleans. A half marathon is 21kilometers long, or 13.1 miles. Since I got diagnosed with RA end of 2009, and I was still sore even though my medications made things a lot better, I decided to try to walk the event.

These were my results:

	5 Km	10 Km	10 Mi	11.9 Mi	ChipTime
	51:47	1:48:13	2:51:59	3:24:33	03:44:45

The last 5 kilometers were pretty painful (ok very painful) for my feet, but who gives up at that point!? Not me! I finished in 3 hours and 44 sec.

Now I am doing even better with my medications and I walk a lot as you know. It would be interesting to see how fast I could be with some training for an event like this.

I like setting up goals for my training as it boosts my motivation a lot. Sure, health is of course a big goal and a big motivator, but having a measurable goal like this adds to the whole experience.

Another thing I am thinking about for next year is to try a duathlon. A duathlon consists of running and biking. It has 3 parts to it. You first run, then bike, and then finish with another run. I think I could do this if I keep to short distance races and my RA stays quiet.

Do you have any current goals?

Power walks

2011-08-19T08:53:00.000-05:00

Since I have RA, I try to mix up my running with differenttypes of cardio workouts, so I will go a little easier on my joints. One of theseactivities is power walking. At first I wasn’t so excited about the walking asI saw it as “not as good as running”. However I have changed my mind aboutthis. It is all about what you do with it!

My power walks have slowly increased in length. In thebeginning they were about 4 k (2.5 miles). Now they are anywhere between 6 k(3.7 miles) to 12 k (7.5 miles).

The time is anything between 50 minutes to 2 hours dependingon the distance.

I always bring a bottle with either water or something withelectrolytes in it. If I am out for less than an hour, I am usually ok with only water. If Iam out longer I take something that has electrolytes in it with me. Since Ilive in New Orleans, we have a very hot and humid climate during the summer, Ialso always wear sunscreen, a thin white cap and sunglasses.

I use a Garmin 305 which has a built in GPS and that willtell me how far I go (and I can also see my exact route on a map afterwards). Ialso wear a HR strap and monitor my HR a few times during my walks.

The objectives with my walks are to better my cardiovascularstamina; to be able to walk faster and longer. I take long steps and I thinkabout my posture. I try to really feel the muscles I am using. I think aboutrelaxing my shoulders, keeping them low, and at the same time I use my armsback and forth to help me move forward. I think about keeping my back straightand not slope forward (work your core) and I try to control my breathing asmuch as possible.

My breathing is directly connected to my heart rate. If Imanage to breath “slow” and regularly, my heart rate doesn’t speed up too much.The benefit from this is that I feel better and can keep my speed up and notget too tired.

Sometimes I bring my iPod and listen to music on a lowvolume. I never listen on a high volume because I want to be able to hear carsand cyclists’ etc coming. I want to be safe out there. However, many times Idon’t bring it at all. The walk becomes a time for meditation. I have gotten toa point when I can keep my pace up pretty automatic and I can focus on trulyenjoying the walk, and focus my thoughts on positive and important things. Itis a time that is only for me and I get a lot of ideas during the walks.
I don’t always walk alone though. Walking together with friends or my husbandis fantastic. Time flies and you get quality time with each other at the sametime as you get a good workout.

What's in my food?

2011-08-12T08:21:00.000-05:00

If you are wondering what is in your food and you don't have a nutrition label in front of you, or you want to know more details, you can use the USDA database.

You can search for your food and see a complete breakdown of what is in it:

USDA National Nutrient Database for Standard Reference

http://www.nal.usda.gov/fnic/foodcomp/search/

A year without the soda

2011-08-09T09:31:00.004-05:00

It is about a year ago now since I completely stopped drinking any type of soda. No regular soda or diet soda.

It wasn't because I drank a lot of soda before, I may have had 2-3 sodas per week earlier at the most, but I couldn't motivate to myself why I should drink them anymore.

They don't provide any nutritional value. Some of them may taste good, however, I would rather drink or eat something that both taste good AND gives me a great nutritional value, like orange juice.

There is a lot of sugar in both the regular soda and orange juice, so you still have to watch this and the calories. However, the orange juice I drink will provide you with a lot of vitamin C, B-vitamins, Folic Acid, Potassium, Magnesium and it is fortified with vitamin D and Calcium so I get a lot of that as well.

The coke gives me NO vitamins or minerals so the choice should be fairly easy.

The same reasoning goes for a diet soda. They don't provide any nutrients and on top of that you stuff your self with artificial sweeteners.

What is your decision?

Improvise!

2011-08-04T08:19:00.004-05:00

We have all heard that we should plan our exercise schedule to be able to stay on track, and reach our goals. This is many times a great idea. However, sometimes it could get boring, or you can feel a little trapped in the schedule. I have had this lately and I have actually ignored the schedule I made for quite a few weeks now.
Did I stop exercising? NO! In fact, I have almost exercised more than while I had the schedule, and I have felt great motivation.
So how did I do that? Why didn't I end up in the couch all the time? Every time a thought of doing some sort of exercise comes up, walking, running, or whatever you like to do, I have followed that thought. I have immediately changed clothes and gone out, or I have followed through the next morning if that's the idea that came to mind. I truly followed my instinct/idea/gut feeling.

What I also have done is to log all my activities. This helps me see my progress, and when I look at it I can feel proud of myself!

What is important and why?

2011-07-15T12:29:00.011-05:00

This post will be in Swedish due to different reasons. However, I will make an effort to translate this to English as well as I think it is a very important one.

Vad är viktigt och varför?

Allt vi gör, alla våra handlingar och även saker vi avstår, är ett val. Detta val gör vi själva.

Val kan göras med olika grunder. Så vad är en grund? Grunder kan vara att något är roligt, att något är tråkigt, att känna sig osäker, att vilja visa att man är duktig, att vara nyfiken, att vilja få beröm, att undvika att få uppmärksamhet och mycket mer.

En av grunderna är erfarenhet. Vi har alla en ryggsäck med erfarenheter, en del är bra, andra fantastiska och så finns det de som inte är så bra. Många val görs med grunden erfarenhet. Man vill återuppleva något roligt och bra eller man vill undvika något tråkigt eller hemskt som hänt tidigare.

Livet består av många delar. Man måste äta för att överleva, och då måste man välja vad man ska äta, när och hur mycket. De flesta behöver arbeta för att få pengar och då måste man välja vad man ska arbeta med, kanske skaffa sig en utbildning, prestera väl på jobbet och förhoppningsvis tycka att jobbet är roligt. Man kanske vill ha en familj och man behöver då välja en partner och besluta om vilka egenskaper man vill ha hos sin partner och vilka man kan kompromissa om. Det är en del av livets basala delar och beslut. Till det kommer tusentals mindre beslut. Beslut som görs i en handvändning, beslut som tas flera gånger om dagen och beslut som kan påverka hela ens framtid.

Tid är ofta en begränsande faktor när det gäller väljande. Vi har bara ett visst antal timmar på ett dygn och ett visst antal lediga timmar om vi arbetar. Vi har också bara ett visst antal år att leva och vi vet inte hur många de är. Däremot kan vi påverka hur många de är till viss mån genom att ta bra beslut inom vissa områden.
Detta gör det extremt viktigt att vi tar de beslut som är rätt för oss själva och det vi vill åstadkomma.

Vissa beslut vi tar påverkar vår omgivning och andra människor. Man kan välja att man vill leva tillsammans med någon, med grunden kärlek, och man kan välja vara vän med någon och göra saker för andra. Det är alla positiva val och brukar ge positiv respons tillbaka.

Det finns negativa val också, som att till exempel välja att jobba övertid så mycket så att man inte hinner laga bra mat och träna. Det valet ger i långa loppet en dålig hälsa. Det kan ge övervikt, vilket i sin tur ökar risken för hjärtsjukdommar och diabetes och ledproblem och kan korta ner livslängden avsevärt. Dessutom blir livskvalitén lägre de år som levs. Det indirekta valet i detta är att negligera sig själv.

Vår omgivning är ofta viktig för oss. Den är viktig på olika sätt, som t.ex att det finns människor man älskar och bryr sig om. Det är ofta lätt att prioritera andra. Genom att göra det får man ofta uppskattning och bekräftelse. Men har man inte en balans i sina prioriteringar, utan väljer att negligera sig själv till förmån för andra, så kommer det till slut bara sluta på ett sätt. Om man negligerar sig själv och sin hälsa, kommer man till slut inte kunna eller orka bry sig om andra. Det kan ta olika lång tid att komma dit, men förr eller senare så händer det.

När man flyger så blir man ombedd av personalen att först ta på sig egen syrgasmask och sen hjälpa andra. Det är ett bra exampel. Om du försöker hjälpa någon annan utan att kunna andas själv, kanske du bara kommer halvvägs och det slutar illa för båda två.

Ett annat exampel är stress.Överdriven stress är inte bra för kroppen. Under stress utsöndrar kroppen kortisol som har negativa effekter på hälsan. Små doser av stress där man fortfarande känner att man klarar av situationen kan vara positiva och ge en push. Men långvarig stress där man dessutom känner att man inte riktigt har kontroll på situationen är bara negativ.
Man kan jämföra det med olika former av löpning. Ta till exempel ett 100 meters sprintlopp och jämför det med ett maratonlopp. När man sprintar så får kroppen bara ca 25% av det syre som den behöver. Det gör att återhämtningen efter ett sprinterlopp tar lång tid och du kan höra en sprinter vara anfådd länge efter ett lopp. Däremot en maratonlöpare är inte lika anfådd och inte lika länge efter ett lopp. Att stressa är som att sprinta för kroppen och hjärnan.

Vi vill alla leva ett bra liv. Vi vill ha roligt, vi vill uppleva saker och vi vill åstadkomma saker. Vi vill ha utbyte med andra, vi vill få och vi vill ge från och till andra. Vad är det som krävs för att vi ska kunna göra och få uppleva allt detta? Vi måste finnas till, vi måste se till att vi har ork och energi till det och vi måste känna livsglädje. För att få detta måste vi ta hand om oss själva. Vi måste må bra först, för att vi ska kunna uppleva saker, utvecklas och även bry oss och ta hand om andra.

Utan dig själv blir det ingenting. Utan dig själv får du ingenting. Utan dig själv kan du inte ge något. Vad är det värt att kunna leva ett bra liv? Att ge sig själv tillräckligt med tid, uppmärksamhet, bra mat och fysisk träning. Kan du ge dig själv de förutsättningarna så du kan njuta av din omgivning och vi kan njuta av dig?

Är du viktig?

Ulrika Midner - 15 juli, 2011

Carbohydrates and low-carb diets - my view

2011-05-11T16:13:00.000-05:00

Carbohydrates (carbs) functions in the body

Carbs are the body’s main energy source. If carbs are available as glucose it will spend carbs first. Carbs contains 4 kcal / g. If there are not enough carbs in the body, the body will start to spend protein as energy. This is a negative effect as protein is used for building at repairing tissue and other things. To use protein as a energy source will put pressure on kidneys and liver and is not advisable. Fat is also spent as energy if we are engaged in physical activities. However, one body function can only function with glucose (carbs), and that is the brain.

Carbs also help the digestive system with fibers and it is important for your health to have a well functioning digestive system. Fruits and whole grains will help prevent colon cancer.

Carbs are also needed for the body to be able to use fats. If not enough carbs is there, the fats can not be fully burned and you end up with a stage of ketosis which is a negative state for the body.

Different types of carbohydrates

There are monosaccharides (glucose, simple sugar), disaccharides (double sugar) and polysaccharides (starches). For carbs to be able to be utilized they need to be broken down to glucose, simple sugar. However, sine there are barely any nutrients in simple sugar, you do not want to eat this as your main source of carbohydrates, but stick to disaccharides and polysaccharides.

What happens if we go on a low-carbohydrate diet?

Since the body needs energy it will take energy from what ever it can. If carbs are not there it will start to utilize protein as energy. This takes protein from its other important functions. Lack of carbs will also make the body process fat differently than normal. When doing so it will produce by-products that will accumulate in the blood. If you are pregnant and end up in this stage, your child may end up with brain damage and mental retardation.

You should strive for an even level of blood sugar (amount of glucose in the blood). It should be between 70 – 120 mg per 100 g blood. If you fall below 70 mg you will start feeling hungry. You can help your body with this by consuming carbs that break down slowly in the body so you avoid both dips and peaks in the blood sugar levels.

Too little carbs will result in loss of muscle tissue, it can damage the liver long term and too little fiber is linked to colon cancer. This tells me that a low-carb diet is not advisable for healthy people. A balanced diet over all is the best diet and if the goal is to lose weight, then you should make sure to spend more calories than you take in.

What is interesting is that right now there seems to be a peak in the HighFatLowCarb diet a weight loss diet. However, by eating unbalanced, how do you learn how to eat a well balanced diet both nutritional wise and calorie wise? It is clear that you can not eat a HFLC diet for a long time due to the effect on the body from the imbalance. At some point you will have to start eating more "normal" again, and what happens then? It is so much better to learn how to eat balanced both from a nutrient perspective and a calorie perspective, than mess with the balance and health of your body. If you go on an unbalanced diet and then go back to how you used to eat, you will most likely gain all the weight back as you did not learn how to eat balanced.

Eating balanced and monitoring calories in – calories out, can make you lose the weight, get healthy and keep for the rest of your life.

Different ways of getting exercise

2011-05-05T09:17:00.001-05:00

I have now realized that painting is exercise! We had a few rooms in the new house we wanted to paint so off we went. We painted the livingroom area together but when my husband went on a conference I had the brilliant idea of painting the master bedroom myself. I am very happy with the color and my body feels that it got run over by a truck today! LOL!

We'll see how the plan of mowing the lawn develops today!

Hectic

2011-04-21T09:09:00.000-05:00

It has been a little hectic. I had three classes and we were in the house buying process at the same time. I don't recommend this to anyone. The classes I had was a writing class for health professionals, a human biology class and a biology lab class. I discovered I really like biology! Last week we moved in to our own house! It is so exciting! A whole house that is ours and a whole lot to make a garden of, and we can do whatever we want. I love it!

Yesterday my next two classes started. One is a basic chemistry class and the other one is called Nutrition Planning & Management. I am excited about both classes even though the chemistry class scares me a little bit as well. But I am sure that I will learn a lot!

Because of all this going on I actually had an flare from my rheumatoid arthritis. So my exercise has been minimal for a few weeks and I have been really tired. I feel that it is slowly getting better though so I hope I can start doing some easy exercise during this weekend.

I hope everyone has a great easter egg hunt!

Is the diet really good for you?

2011-03-19T11:47:00.001-05:00

This post is to everyone who is considering adapting their food intake in a way that will make them lose weight.

I would like to ask you the following questions before you do this:

1. How did you end up being over weight? The easy answer is that you took in more calories than you spent; however what I am really asking is why did you decided to do this? When the clothes got tighter and the number on the scale increased, why did you still continue with the same food intake and the same amount of physical exercise? Because this is your choice, even if it was a passive choice. Only you can decide to change it. You may have to dig deep down in order to find out how you go there and it requires you to be very honest with yourself. If you can understand, accept and resolve this question, I think you have done half the work getting to where you want to be.

2. Do you have enough knowledge about how the body works and about nutrition, to make a decision to go on a specific diet? If you have done research regarding specific diets, do you know what a credible source is? Just because someone says a diet is good, not dangerous etc, doesn’t mean it is true. You also need to think about that we are all different and unique. A doctor who claims a specific diet is good for weight loss in a book or on a web site, has no specific knowledge about you and your health situation. You may have things going on in your body that makes this diet not appropriate and may cause problems.

In Sweden the LCHF diet is spreading rapidly among people I know. I will not say that this diet is right or wrong for somebody, but I will ask you to think about if the diet is right for you.

On the Swedish web site kostdoktorn.se the LowCarbHighFat (LCHF) diet is promoted. It states: “Ät gärna: kött, fisk, ägg, ovanjordsgrönsaker och naturligt fett (som smör).” This means they suggest that good food would be meat, fish, egg, veggies grown above ground and natural fat (like butter). Do you know what your cholesterol level is? When is the last time you had that checked? If you don’t know what your level is, or you are high or borderline high in levels, do you think it is a good idea to eat a lot of meat and egg yolks? “Liver and other organ meats are high in cholesterol. Egg yolks are also high in cholesterol, but egg whites are cholesterol-free.” (MyPyramid.gov).

This is just an example that shows that you need to be knowledgeable both about your own health and body, and also about nutrition and physiology in general when deciding to adapt your diet. This applies to all type of diets or diet pills or any type of supplement. The LCHF example is just an example.

So what should you do? I suggest you see a well educated nutritionist or dietician, who has a higher degree in nutrition or dietetics and also discuss with your primary physician so you have complete information on your cholesterol levels, blood glucose levels, blood pressure and more before you decide what to fuel your body with to reach your goal.

Sources:

http://www.kostdoktorn.se/lagkolhydratkost-lchf

http://www.mypyramid.gov/pyramid/meat.html

Prioritizations

2011-03-19T10:40:00.000-05:00

Oh dear... You probably think I moved to some tropical island and is too busy to write on my blog laying on the beach instead! I wish that was true! :-)

These last two months have been somewhat crazy. I had a few great ideas and we all know that great ideas usually take up some time. If you then have a few of them it can become a little too much. The first great idea was to increase my school load. I have taken two classes at the same time previously, which has been working out great. This term I signed up for the follow-up class for "Writing for healthcare professionals" and "Human Biology". When I do that I see another class called "Biology Lab" which you can take in parallel with "Human Biology". The lab class is only 2 credits instead of the regular 5 which makes me think it is a lot less work and I should be just fine. I sign up for all three classes.

At the same time something else happens. My husband and I get the fantastic opportunity to buy a house. We have been renting so far and we are pretty tired of it. To own your own house would be great and give us a lot of freedom. On top of that it is truly a buyer's market right now both when it comes to house prices and interest rates. We start house shopping!
I had NO IDEA, that house shopping would take up so much of my brain activity! Wow! Suddenly I realize that the "Biology Lab" class is much more work than I thought and my brain is 75% occupied with purchasing a house. Holy smoke! Even the exercising fell down on the priority list to just 1-2 times per week.

Well, we have made good progress with the house buying and if the last steps go well we're soon done! I am so excited! A little more space in my brain is now available for school and I start to feel better. It is not that I'm doing really bad in the classes, but it's annoying when you know you can do better and it is just a focus problem. I try to think about what my husband tells me; There is nothing bad with a A- or a B+ to stay sane :-D

The running has been on a maintenance level. I've done my 5k runs, sometimes a little bit longer. My time hasn't improved obviously since I have not put in the training for it. Outside spring arrived with full force and the weather is fabulous! It is sunny, warm but not humid. I LOVE IT!

USDA released the new dietary guidelines today

2011-01-31T21:42:00.001-06:00

The USDA are reviewing the dietary guidelines in the US every 5th year.

The policy document can be found here in PDF-format:
http://www.cnpp.usda.gov/Publications/DietaryGuidelines/2010/PolicyDoc/PolicyDoc.pdf

The USDA website for dietary guidelines can be found here:
http://www.cnpp.usda.gov/DietaryGuidelines.htm

The policy brings up anything from macronutrient intake, vitamins, eating behavior patterns and much more. It is actually good education material and it promotes a well balanced diet with focus on nutrient-dense food.

The picture is borrowed from the above website.

Artificial sweeteners

2011-01-23T21:37:00.001-06:00

This post will actually be in both Swedish (scroll down) and English. This because I wrote it in Swedish first for another forum.

Since we these days so easily can get hold of food, and especially calori-dense food, this opens a large market for products that contains few or minimal amount of calories, but that are mimicing the flavor of for example sugar. Soda is a good example of this and artificial sweeteners is a huge industry for the soda companies.
The diet soda is of course better calori wise, than a regular soda, but how good are really artificial sweeteners? There is currently a lot of research regarding this and you can find studies that show that people who drink light sodas gain more weight and studies that show the opposite. Inconclusive.

But... is there any benefit to artifical sweeteners? Why would you choose to eat/drink this? Just the thought of what some studies have suggested should make the alarm bell go off. First of all, it doesn't bring any nutritional value at all. It doesn't benefit your health and nothing else in the soda will benefit your health either for that matter.
Look at the study in the link below. It is a lot to read but if you want to fokus on just one part, you can scroll down until you find "Table 2 - Toxic Potential of Artificial Sweeteners". If you can show these effects on animals, is this something you would like to feed your body? Diet sodas don't bring you any nutritional benefits, there seems to be serious health risks connected to eat/drink them, and you will only contribute to some people getting rich from this.
Study:
http://www.nursing.upenn.edu/gnp/Documents/whitehouse_the%20potential%20toxicity%20of%20artificial%20sweeteners.pdf

I och med att vi har så lätt att få tag i mat och framförallt kalori-rik mat så öppnar det en stor marknad för produkter som innehåller få eller minimalt med kalorier, men som ska simulera samma smak som socker t.ex.
Läsk är ett bra exempel på detta och artificiella sötningsmedel är en stor industri för läskföretagen.
Kalorimässigt är naturligtvis light-läsken bättre än en vanlig läsk för den innehåller minimalt med kalorier. Men hur bra är det artificiella sötningsmedlet? Det forskas just nu väldigt mycket kring detta och det finns just nu studier som påvisar både att människor som dricker mycket light-läsk går upp i vikt och att dom inte gör det. Det är alltså "inconclusive" än så länge. Ingen slutsats.

Men... vad är nyttan med artificiella sötningsmedel? Varför skulle du äta/dricka dom? Bara tanken på vad vissa studier har påvisat borde få alarmklockan att ringa. För det första så ger det ingen värdefull näring alls. Det tillför ingenting till din hälsa och inget annat i läsken heller.
Titta på studien i länken nedan. Det är mycket att läsa men vill du fokusera på en liten del så scrolla ner tills du hittar "Table 2 -Toxic Potential of Artificial Sweeteners". Om man kan påvisa detta på djur, är det något du skulle vilja tillföra din kropp?
Light-läsk tillför inget positiv näring, det verkar finnas hälsorisker i att äta/dricka artificiella sötningsmedel och du bidrar bara till att folk blir rika på detta.
Studie:
http://www.nursing.upenn.edu/gnp/Documents/whitehouse_the%20potential%20toxicity%20of%20artificial%20sweeteners.pdf

A!

2011-01-19T23:13:00.000-06:00

YAY! All assignments but one is graded for my Nutritional Analysis and Assessment course. But it doesn't matter, I already have an A! Happy!
Still waiting for the verdict in the other class, but that teacher is much slower with grading.

"I need to go on a diet"

2011-01-15T21:41:00.000-06:00

Have you ever thought about starting a specific diet to get to your goal weight? Do you know what a Registered Dietician would say about that diet?

Here is a list of several diets reviewed by Registered Dieticians, listing pros and cons:

http://www.eatright.org/Media/content.aspx?id=6442452235

The picture is borrowed from legaljuice.com

What is the nutritional content of your steak?

2011-01-15T21:23:00.000-06:00

Well, that is currently hard to know since there are no requirements for nutrition labels on meat, poultry and so on. However we will shortly have this!

http://www.federalregister.gov/articles/2010/12/29/2010-32485/nutrition-labeling-of-single-ingredient-products-and-ground-or-chopped-meat-and-poultry-products#table_of_contents

The goal

2011-01-15T19:17:00.000-06:00

I like setting up goals for myself. It motivates me and when I reach them I feel great (of course)!

The goal has to be SMART.

Sustainable
Measurable
Attainable
Reasonable
Timely

My goal is to run 5k under 30 min. I think I have found a race for it now too!

Great St. Charles Avenue Road Race (GP)

Half-Mile, 5K
Sunday, March 20, 2011, 8:00 AM
New Orleans, LA

What do our children eat?

2011-01-13T09:18:00.001-06:00

I just read this article in the local news: http://www.nola.com/education/index.ssf/2011/01/new_federal_guidelines_would_m.html

It tells about a new bill to serve healthier food in schools here in the US. Growing up in Sweden and going to school in the 80's I ate the school lunch that was served. The best thing we could then, meaning the most wanted thing by the kids, where Swedish pancakes. We got this maybe one time per semester. The rest of the time we got well balanced food and the kitchen staff and teachers were also present to make sure that we ate well. This has given a great base for us, especially if our parents were serving well balanced healthy food at home as well.

Looking at what some schools serve for lunch here in the US is very scary. French fries and cheese burgers!? Now, the person who decides the menu at a school, don't they have a nutritional education? I do know that money is also involved here, but there are things to do there as well. What is also scary is that so many people seems to accept this. Why are not ALL parents raging if their children are not served well balanced healthy food?! Is it because they don't eat it at home either? Is it because they don't know what food is healthy? Is it because they simply don't care? Is it because they have no clue what unhealthy food does to the body long term?

Parents give their kids the latest cell phones, cool brand clothes and a lot of toys. Would you give them good health and set healthy habits for their future so they can make the best of their lives as well?

Pick one for your kid:

So how does this speedwork work?

2011-01-12T19:20:00.003-06:00

(Click on the image to see it better)

So as you saw on the schedule for January I am doing speedwork on Wednesdays. Speedwork is

something that will help you run faster! Surprise! Above you see a graph with my speed and my heart rate.

The red line is my heart rate and the green one is my speed. There is a 400 meter track about 2 kilometers from where I live so I was jogging there to warm up. Did the speedwork and jogged 2k back home for cool down.

The speedwork consisted of 6 laps. Between each lap is a 30 sec break. The laps were supposed to be at a speed of 5k/min. What happened was that my first half of the laps were to fast and the last half was too slow. But it also means that I managed to average 5k/min :-) I just need to learn to feel the pace and keep it more even.

The warm up jog together with the cool down jog plus the laps all together was 7.32k. The actual running time was 43 min 56 seconds and I burned 519 calories.

As you can see my heart rate doesn't really want to go higher than 174. When it reaches that level it pretty much feels close to maximum.

I will sleep like a baby tonight!

I did it!

2011-01-08T22:05:00.000-06:00

I did my Saturday morning run! No, I did not feel like running in the morning but at least the weather was great, clear blue sky and nice temperature. Now the trick would be to go slow and not do an all out run like I typically do. To run every run like it's a race and always push yourself to the limit is not good. Your body will not improve and you will be more prone to injuries. Comfortable slow runs like this is called recovery runs.

I actually managed to keep a slower pace all the way and ended up with 5.3km in 39 minutes. It felt pretty comfortable and I was quite happy that by 9.30am I had done my exercise for the day and had a nice shower!

January schedule

2011-01-06T21:50:00.007-06:00

So, here it is. My training schedule for January 2011. (Click on it to read it better)

It is a mix of strength and cardio. Pump Up the Volume is a strength class with lighter weights but many repetitions in circuits. It is intense because there is not much rest in between.

If you are wondering about the Wednesdays... well... it is my husband's kind suggestion. I hate speed work. But on the other hand I have a goal saying I want to be able to run 5 km under 30 minutes. Right now my fastest time is 32 minutes. The way to do that is unfortunately... speed work. Or f*cking speed work as I'd like to call it (pardon my language).

Another thing I am doing is to do the Saturday run in the morning. I truly hate exercising in the mornings, however, 99% of all races start at around 7-8am so to get used to running in the morning I guess this is necessary. Please pray for me... lol!

What is your January focus exercise wise?

Running fast

2011-01-03T22:35:00.000-06:00

I used to be a 100 meter sprinter. Up until I was about 19-20 years old. Now I am running 5k races and have become a fan of longer distances. However, once a sprinter, always a sprinter in the heart.

Why are there no 100 meter races for 37 year olds!?

It is time

2011-01-02T13:01:00.000-06:00

After about five months of settling into a new every day life and some decisions it is time to continue this blog. Motivation is a central part of anything we all do, exercise, food, relationships and much more. I am continuing my Bachelor of Science in Nutrition Science and I have been able to work out normally since my RA medication is working well. I have stepped into a different type of business work-wise which also feels very good.

2011 will most certainly not be a boring year. I am confident that this year will be full of exciting moments and changes and I now look forward to it!

What motivates you right now?

New blog!

2010-08-01T22:52:00.001-05:00

http://nutrinia.blogspot.com/

Food is on the schedule!

2010-07-30T12:08:00.000-05:00

Food is on the schedule!

For several reasons. One is that it's lunch time and my stomach started to make noises.

The next reason is that I have enrolled in a Bachelor of Science in Nutrition Science program! I am very excited!

School starts on August 25 and I'm sure it will be a challenge but a fun one. I will continue writing here and you will probably see more food related articles in the future.

This is my lunch for today. It will give me most of the vitamins I need and fill me up well. This for a cost of about $8 (58 sek).

For snack this afternoon about 90 grams of peanuts and an apple.

I hope you have a great lunch too!

Hah!!!

2010-06-10T22:10:00.003-05:00

I'm SORE! Sore from a great strength training session at the gym. The first good one in 6 months!

That's it!

2010-06-08T21:16:00.003-05:00

Ok so I spent about five months doing this:

Reading about Reumathoid Arthritis
Cursing about Reumathoid Arthritis
Saying ouch, ahhh, sh*t, ouch, ouch
Running to Walgreens for refills
Trying all NSAID's there is
Eating a really scary drug I call my rat poison just because the progression of RA is more scary
Reading more about Reumathoid Arthritis
Thinking about what I can't do
Crying from anger about the fact that there is currently no cure for RA
Reading a lot more about Reumathoid Arthritis

ENOUGH!

I'm going to the gym, I'm going to move!

Thinking

2010-05-25T17:22:00.000-05:00

...about expanding this blog. Motivation affects many sides of our lives and not only exercise. Like the fact that I'm really motivated to take university courses right now and especially psychology. Maybe a Bachelor in psychology!? I'm also very motivated to paint right now and to practice different techniques and so on.

What are you motivated to do?

May is Arthritis Awareness Month

2010-05-02T00:11:00.000-05:00

You think arthritis and you think of an older person with wear and tear damage to their joints who is eating a lot of fish oil. I'd like to tell your that there are over 100 different types of arthritis and many of them has nothing to do with wear and tear!

WOW! I had no idea either until around end of 2009 / beginning of 2010. That's when my problems started and the Reumathologist was trying to find out what was wrong and told me this.

After several visits and tests he wrote Reumathoid Arthritis in my papers and treatment started. Since May is Arthritis Awareness Month I'd like to tell some about this specific type.

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is one of the more difficult of the autoimmune rheumatic diseases to control and can do the most damage to the joints. The condition generally starts between the ages of 20 and 50, although it can begin at any age.

Rheumatoid arthritis is an autoimmune disease that usually affects many joints, most commonly the small joints of the hands. Inflammation and thickening of the tissue that lines the joints, which is the result of an autoimmune attack on the tissue, causes pain and swelling and, if uncontrolled, may cause destruction of the bones and cartilage, deformity and, eventually, disability.

The severity of rheumatoid arthritis varies from person to person. In some cases, the disease may be mild, while in others it can be crippling. Its course is unpredictable. It can flare up suddenly, and just as quickly go into remission. Although emotional stress is not a direct cause of rheumatoid arthritis, it can hasten progression of the disease and make it worse.

So how would you know if you have this?

Diagnoses

The American College of Rheumatology has defined (1987) the following criteria for the classification of rheumatoid arthritis:

Morning stiffness of >1 hour most mornings for at least 6 weeks.
Arthritis and soft-tissue swelling of >3 of 14 joints/joint groups, present for at least 6 weeks
Arthritis of hand joints, present for at least 6 weeks
Symmetric arthritis, present for at least 6 weeks
Subcutaneous nodules in specific places
Positive Rheumatoid factor
Radiological changes suggestive of joint erosion
At least four criteria have to be met for classification as RA

Unfortunately RA doesn't only create joint inflammation but might create inflammation in other parts of your body as well such as eyes, lungs, heart and chest wall. This is why it is called a systemic disease.

People with RA is usually on continuous medication and the best you can get is a remission type of stage as there is currently no cure for RA.

The most common medications are NSAID's for pain and Disease Modifying Drugs (DMARD's) or biologics or TNF inhibitors.

Most of these drugs have an immuno suppressant effect and can potentially give a lot of side effects that needs to be monitored. To understand the root cause of RA and be able to treat that would be the ultimate solution but the research has not come close to that yet.

Having RA could be very different from day to day. You have good days and you have bad days and that is the nature of this disease. You can have a good period of several weeks and a bad period of negative weeks but you can also have a pretty good day and then get a few bad hours. This is also what makes it hard to live with this as you feel like you don't have enough control over your body.

There is a lot to say about RA but I think the most important thing is how you handle this mentally. You have to deal with pain and flares and possibly disability and it's how you manage this from a mental perspective that will decide a lot how your life will be.

I saw a girl with RA who had a really nice quote:

I might have RA but RA doesn't have me!,

Since...

2010-04-21T20:53:00.000-05:00

...I had a low yesterday I just decided to go to the gym today. 30 min om the eliptical (no impact), abs strength, lower back strength, yoga and stretch.

It was good and my brain feels good from this!

Hanging on

2010-04-20T22:18:00.000-05:00

I'm still here. Haning on. To my thoughts.

There are a lot of thoughts right now. I suddenly got a taste of this RA's tendency to do whatever it wants, be better one day, worse the next.

By worse I mean having aches and also having pain when moving. Swelling and stiffness in the fingers and toes.

It hasn't been as bad as a few months ago but on Sunday I got completly knocked out. RA is more than just joint pain and joint destruction. It is an auto immune systemic inflammatory disease and you can have other organs affected with the inflammation such as lungs, eyes and heart for example. Fatigue is also a big part of this which I got to feel on Sunday.

My husband did his first half Ironman ever and I am so PROUD of him! I was waiting for him at the finish line and once getting home I was the one sleeping in the couch completely wiped out, not him. Who did the half Ironman!?

With this I've had some motivation problems with the exercise. I know it's just temporary but it's annoying as I'm still learning this balance act of trying to do enough exercise but not to the extent that I trigger something.

Anyway, I did "sign up" for a challenge at work to get at least 20 hours of workout done in the office gym in the second quarter. That shouldn't be a problem and I'm glad I have this challenge right now.

Another thing that is great is that I signed up for a new university course! Another psychology course starting July 13th! YAY!

Otherwise I'm really hoping that volcano is taking a break so my awesome familly can make it over here on May 7th and we can have a great time together!

Life from the bright side

2010-04-11T21:19:00.000-05:00

It is easy to get stuck in negative thoughts no matter what the subject is. I think we all can agree on this.

It is what you do when you get negative thoughts that will count and that will set the outcome for you.

One of the set-backs in my life has been the RA diagnose as you know. However, I will not sit down and spend the rest of my life crying in a couch. I will do whatever I can to live a normal life and to stay positive.

Now, one way of handling this is to learn a lot about it. I have found a forum where there is a lot of great people with RA who you can ask for advise, share experiences and also laugh with. I found one wonderful thread where people actually crack jokes about having RA and I've spent a few hours laughing very hard about all this and it feels great.

The thread is called "You might have RA if..." and here are some examples:

... you've ever spent more then 20 minutes trying to figure out how to get out of a tub w/o using your arms or legs.

...you've had to teach your hubby how to put on a bra.

...you have two pairs of shoes in your wardrobe; a black pair of Teva flip-flops and a hot pink pair for special occasions.

...you realize the nausea from Methotrexate will help with you weigh lose.

...you try and convince your hubby that yes you do need 5 cats because they are such good heating pads.

...you go to the grocery store and you buy things according to how you would have to open them and if they have a zipper closure or if you have to squeeze it closed

...you sound like a giant box of Tic Tacs." from all the pills in your purse making noise when you walk.

...you buy boxes of hand warmers, meant for hunters and campers and you have never hunted a day in your life and the last time you camped you were 14 years old, just so you can go outside in the fall.

...you meet someone new who wants to shake your hand and you pray to God he's not going to try to impress you with his "firm grip" and if he does, you pray you don't cry out uncontrollably in pain. And if you're lucky enough to suppress the scream in agony that the spontaneous tears he generated in the corners of your eyes by his macho grip aren't too obvious.

My own contributions to this thread:

...when you hit your husband in the stomach with your knuckles and then cry out in pain and he looks back at you extremely over confident

...you park in the garage at work and then walk in a the speed of a snail towards the elevator which is full of people. Someone is nice and hold the door for you but you continue to walk in the speed of a snail (normally a person would speed up) but smiling at the same time knowing how this will contribute to every one's normal Monday morning mood.

...when half of the time your try to snap your fingers, there is no sound at all anymore.

This is not only funny but it also shows what people with different stages/severity of RA have to do and think about.

Learning

2010-03-27T22:40:00.001-05:00

I've learned several things today. During the yoga class I learned that I have a much better balance stading on one foot than on two. I know, it doesn't make much sense but in certain positions it seems to be like that.

I love the yoga though. It is giving me strength, balance, flexibility, relaxation and peace of mind.

After the yoga I went by a friend who had made a great lunch and we took a walk in the park. The weather was fantastic with sun, low humidity and perfect temperature.

I spent the evening at the Relay For Life event. It's a fundraising organized to support research to find a cure for cancer. It was a very nice event and my company takes part in it. I had mixed feelings as I knew it was going to be difficult for me since I lost my mum five months ago. I went anyway in order to support the event and also to help myself dealing with it instead of pushing it to some corner of my mind. You might wonder how someone can push something like that to a corner but when dealing with something becomes painful enough that is easy to do. However it will always come back and you will have to deal with it.

The relay also means walking around the track. The meaning of this is that cancer never sleeps. The sun disappeard and it was starting to get chilly. We walked around the track 4-5 laps and I had a great chilli.

When coming home and sitting down I realize that was enough for my body and maybe a little too much right now. My feet are aching and starting to get sore and my fingers are swelling up some and I have some aches here and there. I guess I learned where my limit was today.

What is important in your life?

2010-03-24T20:08:00.001-05:00

I have to be honest. I rarely get emotionally engaged in political issues but this time I discover that I have more feelings than ever around a political decision. As you can guess I'm talking about the American healthcare bill that passed yesterday.

This may very well be the longest post ever so I guess we'll see how many makes it through to the end. I will also be very straight forward with my personal opinions.

First of all I have to say I am amazed over a lot of the opinions I hear and not in a good way. I life in the south and there seems to be a majority of the people here who are agains the bill.

I come from Sweden so that is my experience and background of 33 years. I've lived in the US for almost 4 years. Currently Sweden is a democracy and you can also say a very modarate socialist country. This is how Sweden is governed and here you can read about the Swedish healthcare system.

I don't know all the details that are in the new American healthcare bill and I will not go into details around that. However, many of the comments you hear from people around here is that they certainly do not want to pay for other people's healthcare and that they don't need the goverment to run their lives. Here is where I get emotionally involved.

That people need the government should be no discussion at all. I'm not sure how people think that roads are created for example but there would be a lot of things that would be different and difficult unless we had a goverment.

Not wanting to pay for other people's healthcare feels like very short term thinking. Many people who says this are currently covered by great insurances and I have to say, if you have a great health insurance that the healthcare is absolutely great in this country!

However most often this great insurance is connected to the company you or your spouse is working for as companies with a lot of employees have an easier time to sign up for insurances where pre-existing conditions don't matter, the network of doctors to chose from is huge and so on.

To me this means that the so badly wanted freedom people talk about suddenly becomes limited. You are limited to working at a company with great insurance or being married to someone who works for a company with great insurance. What type of freedom is that?

So what if you loose your job? In Sweden, most companies have 3 months notice both for the employee and the employeer however in the US you can get fired on the day and with no explanation of why. When this happens you will most of the time only keep your health insurance benefits for up to 30 days if the company is generous. After this, you're on your own.

Ok so then you sign up for your spouses health insurance. However this one is not as great as the one you had. This one has a higher deductible that you have to pay and the network is very limited. You discover that the doctor you've been seeing for your chronic illness for the past 7 years is not covered and you have to find a new doctor for the only reason that you lost your job.

You go through the hazzle of finding a new doctor and you're about to refill your prescriptions for your illness. It comes back declined. This insurance doesn't cover this type of medication but it covers your old medication that you did try when diagnosed but that gave you so much stomach problems that you had to switch. You can now chose from paying $1500 per month for your medication and have no stomach issues or only $35 per month and have stomach issues (if you wonder where I get this scenario from it is from Rehumatoid Arthritis patients. I myself is diagnosed with this).

This is one reason for why the health insurance system as it has been so far is not good.

Dependent on your type of insurance you also have different amounts of deductible that you always have to pay yourself and it resets every year so if I meet the deductible in October and stay within the network and is fully coverend for the rest of the year I have to start from scratch and pay again on January 1st.

Something that is going on here in the US a lot more than in Sweden for example is charity and fundraising events. You can take a moment and ask why this is. The initial thought might be that this is a great thing (and it is!) and that people are helping each other and the ones who need help.

However why does this seem to be needed so badly and so much more than in Sweden? I'd say because of the healthcare system. People doesn't want to pay a little extra in taxes to the government so they can invest and have good healtcare available for very little cost, however they are very willing to cough up a lot of money to help out others while in church or at charity and fundraising events.

I think fundraising is a great thing, I have and I am participating in several. However I am wondering what the differences are between paying a little extra tax to improve the healthcare system for everyone or donate money specifically to one person who is sick and can't work and therefore can't keep the great health insurance and therefore can't pay their healthcare bill.

If people can't afford to go to the doctor they will only go when necessary. Meaning they will only go when they're really sick. If you go to the emergecy room here in the US they are required by law to treat you even though you can't pay the whole bill and go bankrupt.

If people could afford to go to the doctor they would go to their regular check-ups and many times be able to discover issues early in the process and avoid becoming seriously sick. Preventative care is much cheaper than treatments.

However surprisingly, I am happy to pay a little extra taxes (and I can afford it) to make sure you and your family get good healthcare and don't have to worry about it when you suddenly get diagnosed with something that might disable you later on in life.

Think about this for a little while...

Yoga!

2010-03-20T22:43:00.002-05:00

I have started Ashtanga yoga! It is very hard but I like it at lot. It is very physical and with a flow in the movements. The breathing is important and the focus and concentration. My body likes it. My mind likes it. It's a keeper!

Some things I have to adjust because of the RA but I can do most of it which is great.

Maybe I can do what she does on the picture one day! Wouldn't that be cool!

The studio is small but very nice. It is quiet and when you lay down on the wooden floor you can see the sky through a glass window in the ceiling.

So far after getting the RA diagnose and the medicin started working I know I can do the yoga with a modification here and there. I can do the eliptical machine for cardio. I can bike. I can do some strength training. That is very good considering I could barely move a little while ago.

When something hits you and makes it impossible for you to do something. Turn your head around look at what else there might be. I bet there are a lot of things you have never tried but if you would you would love it!

And don't say "I can't run". I say "I can't run right now".

Walking a half marathon!

2010-02-28T18:32:00.000-06:00

A half marathon is 13.1 miles or 21k.

The race was the New Orleans Mardi Gras Rock 'n' Roll half marathon.

As you know I was supposed to run this but I haven't been able to run since early December and I haven't been able to walk properly until 1½ week ago.

You might think I'm crazy to go off and walk a half marathon after that with the additional risk of making the RA worse again. I say: NEVER GIVE UP! Find a way around things that will work and keep moving.

I am proud of having accomplished this!

As you can see the start was done in waves and my group started 30 min after the first elite group. That is why you have a clock time and a chip time. My actual walking time is the chip time.

Inspiration

2010-02-19T22:32:00.003-06:00

It was one and a half week away from the Mardi Gras half marathon race I am signed up for. I haven't been able to run since early December because of all the joint and tendon inflammation and pain.

But at this follow-up visit with the doctor he had made up his mind. While it didn't look typical in the beginning it apparently looked typical for reumathoid arthritis (RA) now.

I kept the face straight at the doctor, asked all the questions I could remember at that point and then walked out with three different prescriptions, a follow-up appointment in a month and tears running down the cheeks.

I sat down in the car and hit the steering wheel while a tone of nasty words in a mix between Swedish and English came out. I was angry at this stupid auto-immune junk that has hit me, I was afraid of the medications I was prescribed and I felt like someone took away a big part of my future plans of continue with a ton of exercising and become a personal trainer.

This all sound very depressing and it has been I will admit to that. But when sitting in the car the next day a thought struck me. My mum was diagnosed with terminal cancer and also got paralyzed from the chest down because of the cancer spreading in her spine. The five months she had after the diagnosis she was completly dependent on other people and not once did she complain!

She smiled a lot, she had a great spirit and she always kept trying and she never gave up... ever! She always tried doing things herself and there isn't a single doctor or nurse that wasn't greatly impressed by her and who just loved her for her spirit and personality. Suddenly I felt extremely proud of my mum. I have said several times that I don't know how she managed this but thinking of this suddenly made me very inspired and motivated to not dig into negative thoughts but to find ways to get things to work.

The doctor is encouraging exercise but adapted to how the body is doing at the moment of course. If everything is under control there is nothing stopping me from even running! In all the thoughts about the disease I almost forgot he told me that. Yes there will probably be tough times, I will get angry and fed up with my body but I know what I want to achieve and I will not let go of the dream and the plan I have.

I admire a lot of people for things they do but I think my mum did one of the greatest things someone can ever do and it has left me with really good memories and inspiration.

Keeping the spirit up!

2010-01-27T21:17:00.002-06:00

So today's my birthday. I started it off by doing a follow-up visit at the rheumatologist in the morning. I wasn't allowed to take my NSAID yesterday and this morning as he wanted to see how I was then. This means a whole lot more pain than with the pills. I still have pain with the pills but at least it's less.

He is still not sure of what my joint and tendon problems is. He has four theories so far; osteoarthritis (less likely), rheumatoid arthritis, psoriatic arthritis or effects from a virus which would be the best option of all of them as that means this will go away. However, only time can tell if this is caused by a virus or not. Apparently these types of symptoms last for around 12-16 weeks and I'm about 10 weeks now. I have never before wished I had a virus but now I really do!

As for exercise I haven't done much more than a walk. However I was given another type of NSAID today to try and see if I can get rid of even more pain while we wait to see what is going on. If that one works fine I will go ahead and do more walks, swimming and I will try out the Pilates DVD I won from Sporty Spice !! I'm excited to try this and see how it is and how much I can do. I will keep you posted with my first Pilates sessions!

Anyhow I had a great day. I got so many nice greetings from all my fantastic friends, calls and people singing in the phone and my awesome tech support team at work had bought a cake and sang for me! It made me very happy and I had a great day. My husband took me to Phil's Grill, one of my favorite restaurants and what happens there? No 23 Pierre Thomas from our New Orleans Saints team comes in and grabs lunch! Cool!

What happens when you can't do what you had in mind?

2010-01-19T22:04:00.000-06:00

So the week before Christmas that little pain I had felt in my hand, my knee and my foot rapidly spread to the other hand, other knee and other foot.

I took some regular ibuprofen and it did make a difference but not very much. I had problems walking properly and the mornings were horrible. During the afternoon things got a little better and then it would start all over the next morning again starting from scratch.

I went to see my family for a week in Sweden and didn't do any exercise thinking it might get better with rest. No difference.

Came back to New Orleans, went to the doctor to do some lab tests and started swimming a little and indoor biking.

The tests came back showing I have an abnormal (positive) RF and abnormal CCP. This doesn't mean I have rheumatoid arthritis but my doctor immediately referred me to a rheumatologist.

He scratched his head a lot and took more tests. I was told today by his nurse that they came back normal however I don't know what that means until I've had my follow-up on the 27th.

Currently I am not allowed and I can not run. I haven't run for weeks because of this. I've done some swimming and biking however even though the NSAID's I'm on makes a big difference it has now planted itself in my hip and a little bit in my elbows. It seems I have a lot of pain in the tendons around the joints but it's hard to separate what is pain in the actual joint and in the tendon.

This means I don't know if I will be able to even walk the half marathon as it is right now. It is extremely frustrating but I'm trying to stay positive and not yet knowing what is going on gives me a little hope that it will be something not too bad. What ever it is I will have to manage it somehow and try to make the best out of it.

I think what I miss most right now is to not have been able to fully exhaust myself in an exercise for weeks. That is one of the things I truly enjoy and that makes me feel really good. It scares the living daylight out of me just thinking of the possibility that I wouldn't be able to do that anymore.

Avoid the drain

2009-12-10T23:12:00.000-06:00

When you are out running in New Orleans you will find these drain covers all over the place.

Since Louisiana constists mostly of swamp and can get a lot of heavy rain certain times of the year, drainage is very important.

I was out running last night and suddenly a number of these drain covers was in front of me.

When I was a kid and living in Sweden, there was this supersticious thing about drain covers with an A on them saying it gave you bad luck if you stepped on them. So all kids in my generation that I know of still avoids stepping on these even as grown ups.

Well, running here I found myself not wanting to step on these ones either and started to zig-zag around them. The fact that they have the word drain on them made me not wanting to step on one as I suddenly got the thought that they would drain my energy! Now I of course know that it's not true just as I know the A drain covers in Sweden don't give you bad luck but it's like the brain gets a hang-up and just commands the feet to move around.

Yesterday's run was 7.3k (4.5 miles) and it felt really good. I did really good negative splits almost the whole way.

How to get to 13.1 miles (21k)

2009-12-06T16:51:00.000-06:00

Well, the only way to get there is to train for it. Training for it means that you have to increase your training rounds every week. It is not recommended to extend more than 10% total distance per week due to injuries and overtraining.

Well, I have reached a point where my long runs (which is always on a weekend) are starting to get really long for me. A year ago I would have thought 6.2 miles (10k) was super long. Now my long runs has to be longer than that as on February 28th I'm doing the Mardi Gras Rock 'n' roll half marathon.

Last weekend run was about 9 miles. Today's run was 10 miles (16k).

The first 5k were for some reason horrible. I think my body hadn't really woken up yet. However at about 7-8k I got some extra energy for some reason. I stopped once at 5k to stretch and then slowed down at 12k to cross a street which you can see at this pace split graph.

At the bottom you see the kilometers and to the left you have the pace minutes per kilometer.
As you see I'm not the fastest person on earth but that's ok. Right now it's about completing the distance.

The red line you see across is my heart rate and the scale is to the right. When I stopped at 5k it dropped to a little above 150.

I try to run in different places as I don't want to get bored during long runs. Long runs are a mental struggle as when you starting to get tired, your legs start to hurt and so on it's very easy to give up mentally and quit.

This time I ran around City Park and then down and up a part of Esplanade Avenue. Esplanade is a lovely street with charming houses and a lot of restaurants and cafees and you always get a happy feeling there so I saved this for last.

When coming home I had to go up the little stair to the house. I'm guessing it's about 15 steps and I have never gotten up so slowly.

And after this I've been watching our awesome fotball team New Orleans Saints win their 12th win in a row (they have no losses so far) in a nail biting game!

GEAUX SAINTS!!

A run through history

2009-11-26T20:22:00.000-06:00

I haven't been able to update as much as I wanted lately. It's been a lot going on at work and I'm also in week 4 of the second part of the Anatomy & Physiology course. This week is about the respiratory system.

I've done two races though! In this post I will mention the first one. On Nov 15th I ran a race called A run through history. It takes place at the Metairie cemetery in New Orleans. For those of you who don't know the cemeteries are very special here.

Big tombs like this are very common family graves.

They are all very beautiful and may are very old. While running this race I didn't look very much straight ahead but more to the sides to see many of these beautiful tombs.

This race is one of a kind and I haven't seen any other races like this.

The race is only 5k and I just caught myself with writing the word "only" in front of 5k. It is nice to have come to the stage where I think 5k is not long. That wasn't the case 8 months ago! Last Saturday I went out for a longer run. It was slow but it was the distance that was important. I did 11k and felt great! If it wouldn't have been for the excessive raining in the end I would have kept going a little more. However my shoes were like sponges filled with water and I could hardly see anything due to the raining. In New Orleans rain is different than in Sweden!

Anyway, this is what the course was for the cemetery race. I ran with my Garmin 305 of course and this is the tracking from the satellites of my run.

It looks really funny doesn't it?

I didn't make the 30 min this time either but ran 32.31. It's alright considering it was morning. Race started at 9am.

The thing is that I really need to get my body to think that it's great to run in the mornings as I believe that the Mardi Gras half marathon starts somewhere around 7am!!! HELP!!

Run To Help!

2009-11-23T20:21:00.000-06:00

Please join me in my first fund raising event!

http://mch.mardigras.llsevent.org/pledge/index.cfm?mid=RUNTOHELP

I hope my first half marathon will be a great event and a great way of helping others!

The running continues

2009-11-03T22:25:00.001-06:00

I spent three weeks in Sweden as my mum passed away. It took a lot of energy and I am more tired mentally than I've been in a very very long time.

I've used the running as a part of the therapy in all this so I ran in Sweden as well. However it was between +2 to +6 degrees C and very very gray. Cold!! And it was hilly! Where my dad lives it's all rolling hills.

Living in New Orleans, hills is not what I'm used to. It's flat as a pancake here and many times I'm actually below sea level. So this presented a big challenge and it was good training. Here is an example:

After 20 minutes of running, that is not what you want! LOL!

I'm back in New Orleans and after working late I went out for a run. It was dark so I had to prep myself with some reflective gear, people drive like mad here.

Since I'm so tired I didn't think I would do super well, just a regular run. I was aiming for 5k. However, i was flying over the streets and suddenly the idea of doing 5k in 30 min popped up. That's somewhat of a mini-goal that I would like to reach even though I'm training for a half marathon and not for that right now.

Here are my splits for tonight. Pretty good for being me I would say!

But... I was aiming for 5k right? And the table here stops at 4.58k!? Yes that's correct. I didn't do 5k. I had a really weird experience. I was doing great, my step were long and soft and everything felt really good.

....until 4.58k. I stopped on an inch and actually started gagging. I managed not to throw up but it was very close! Now the weird thing is that I still felt great. My body felt like it could run a lot more, my breathing was fine... but there was no way I could finish the 5k without throwing up.

This has never happened to me before no matter how hard I've trained. However I've never tried to run 5k in a speed like this either. I guess I had a new experience. A really weird one.

I'm still here

2009-10-20T12:45:00.000-05:00

I haven't disappeared! However my mum passed away after a short time of sickness. I went to Sweden immediately of course and I'm still here.

I'm running and the running is interesting as it's kind of cold here and a lot of hills. Not really what I'm used to. Really good training though!

I will go back to New Orleans on the 27th and there will be more updates after that. I will also write a little more about the running in Sweden and show some graphs!

Take care!

First speed work session

2009-10-04T20:50:00.000-05:00

Today was my first speed work session according to my half marathon training. Eric and I went to a track close by and even though it had been raining the whole day and the track was a little messy on some parts it went fine.

Eric helped me with the right pace and I tried to breathe right and keep my posture and stride length. I did much better than we both thought so that was good news.

Here are some stats:

I kept within the running section for almost all the laps which is really good. Here is where I should be.

One lap is 400 meters.
Every lap needs to be 5 seconds faster than the previous one.

I managed to be pretty good on that even though I have a hard time knowing my pace etc. This will help that though.

The red line is my heart rate. It behaved really well! Also, the temperature was pretty nice tonight which always helps. Not too hot.

Below are some more numbers:

The boot camp feeling

2009-10-03T21:09:00.002-05:00

This is the view from our conference room on the 24th floor at my work.

It's taken during spring time when the heat starts to come and you get this beautiful view.

The bridge is Causeway bridge which is either the longest or second longest bridge in the world. It runs across a lake, believe it or not.

There are levees between the buildings and the lake to protect from flooding when the water in the lake rises. These levees can be very useful for exercising.

Today is Saturday and Saturday means boot camp. 1½ hour of intense exercising. Today we were only 5 people and we started with real intense upper body strength. A lot of repetitions and basically no breaks. Talk about lactate! We hit shoulders, biceps, triceps, back, chest and abs.

Once that was done we went outside and hit the levee. Power walking up and down base to base then jog a short round is one lap. Back up and down, jog and two laps. After 6 laps we were all breathing HARD and continued to side steps and karaoke twists.

When this session is done you're HUNGRY! So we all stretched, took a shower and went to eat.

Many people say the words "you're crazy" to me when I say that I spend my Saturdays starting with this. I think I'm the most sane person ever! I invest in myself. I invest in a healthy life, a strong body and a sense of accomplishment.

From boot camp my body develops. It gets stronger, more coordinated, my heart gets stronger and it gives me a whole range of health benefits. The fact that I'm also spending a lot of energy and calories makes it possible for me to sometimes eat things I like but that might not be on the healthy list. Things very high in fat for example. As long as my energy balance is good and I spend the energy/calories I take in I will not gain weight. I will write a separate entry about energy balance as I think there are many people that makes something so simple very complicated.

The feeling in my body after a boot camp session is of course first of all tiredness. But my body is also full of endorphins. Endorphins creates a fantastic feeling in your body. I will also have a great feeling of accomplishing. I completed a boot camp session. I did things I might not have thought I could do. When my abs were burning like crazy and our great trainer shouted "6 MORE GREAT REPS" it may have felt impossible and like I wanted to just quit. But I didn't. I did 6 more reps and I felt good about it!

Exercising is not easy. You will sweat, your muscles will burn and you will be out of breath. A day or two afterwards you might be sore as well. But your muscles are growing, you fat is burning, your heart is getting healthier. I think this is worth sweat, muscle burn and being out of breath for a little while.

YOU CAN DO IT!!

Sweat

2009-09-29T22:45:00.003-05:00

We all know our bodies sweat in order to not overheat and keep ourselves cool. It is a natural thing and when working out it is unavoidable.

If you add living in New Orleans, Louisiana you will be extra familiar with extensive sweating during half the year. In July and August you don't even have to make an effort to sweat. You take a shower in the morning, dress fresh and nicely and walk 10 meter to your car and take a seat behind the wheel.

After 3 minutes you feel the first sweat drops appearing on your back and by the time you get to work they have made their way down your back. That's the combination of heat and humidity for you.

Now, try exercising in this environment. You feel ok energy wise but you're still struggling tremendously due to the fact that your heart rate goes up by pure heat.

When coming back home after a run outside you keep sweating for a good time. When throwing off your socks on the floor and maybe your t-shirt a funny thing happens in our family.

Our cat Da Vinci has this very odd (according to me) attraction to not so nice smells!

He will go straight to your sweaty socks or t-shirt and smell it and then lay down on it and rub himself into it as much as he can... I have no idea where this obsession with our sweat comes from. Hopefully it's normal somehow.

The second thing he goes completely nuts about is Windex. If you clean the glass table or leave the towel you cleaned with he'll go mental. I think he honestly gets high on Windex.

He's funny our cat but we love him..

A different kind of duathlon training

2009-09-28T21:23:00.003-05:00

Today I tried something new again. I like trying new things!

After work I went directly to the gym and did some weight lifting. Arms, shoulders, chest and back. Not too much and not too heavy but some at least.

After that I gave my training bag to my dear husband, put on my Garmin watch and went outside to run home! A different type of duathlon training, right!?

It was a little harder than usual to run after already spending energy at the gym but I kept a pretty even pace and managed to go a little faster in the end. My average pace wasn't super good but as you can see it was also sunny and +31.1 Celsius! I can tell you that running in this humid heat in the south is a different game than the dry colder air back in Sweden!

Well, if I wanna do a decent first half marathon ever in end of February I better run! I will be interesting when I will start doing the longer runs on the weekend that goes over 10k which is the longest I've ever run so far.

Half marathon training - off we go!!!

2009-09-22T22:40:00.003-05:00

As you might know, in a weak moment, I signed up for the Mardi Gras Rock 'n' Roll half marathon.

It takes place here in New Orleans on February 28th 2010.

A half marathon is 13.1 miles or 21 kilometers.

This is crazy long for a former sprinter!!!

Anyway, I said I will do it, I signed up and from now I have 23 weeks to train. I've started a program to try to keep some sort of control over my training and progress etc.

Today I did a short 3k run and tried to speed it up. I finished in 19min 36 sec.

I managed to keep my splits negative meaning I ran faster and faster.

This is how I'm supposed to do most of my runs from now on. The longer ones my be hard but as much as possible at least.

Alabama Coastal Triathlon - my first relay race!

2009-09-22T22:11:00.002-05:00

I haven't really written much about it but this weekend we were heading out to the Alabama coast to take part of a triathlon starting and ending right at the beach.

My husband Eric was duing the full triathlon (Olympic distance) and I was part of a relay team.
The team consisted of Eric swimming, Markus (a co-worker and friend) biking and me running. Yes this means Eric was doing the individual and the relay at the same time :-)

He did an awesome swim and great biking and crashed at the running just as the other 90% of the people.

Markus did a great bike ride as well, even a little faster than predicted so that was great. My run was somewhat horrible. My time was around where I expected, it was a 6 mile run and I spent 1 hour and 19 minutes trying to finish it. The heat was horrible! It killed most of the people on the run and made life hard while biking.

The event itself was great! Very well organized and the Hangout place at the beach was perfect for this event.

After the race Eric and I went back to the hotel, took a shower and then went back to the Hangout, had some food and then laid down listening to the live music they had.

Life is good!!

Grade and running

2009-09-15T20:52:00.002-05:00

YAY!!! The A- in Anatomy & Physiology I turned out to be an actual A!!! Happy happy!! I didn't understand how they rounded half points etc but this works for me!

Yesterday I ran 5.68k in a very slow pace. It was nice to run around the new neighborhood and there were actually quite a few runners out. It's so nice here in the south where people say hi to each other and waves!

Boot camp time

2009-09-13T18:20:00.002-05:00

Yesterday was boot camp time again. This time we did circuit type of training first with both strength exercises but mostly cardio exercises.
After that we brought dumbbells in to the pool area and did circuits with swimming and strength exercises. After that my body was dead!

I got my score from the Anatomy & Physiology part I course and I got an A-!!! I'm so proud as I didn't think I was going to make the A grade on this course. But that really feels good.

On Saturday it's time for my first triathlon relay race where I'm doing the running part. Due to several things ongoing my training hasn't been all that good but I'll get around at least. The running part is 10 k (6.2 miles) and I'll make it, just not with the best time ever probably hehe.

After this race my half marathon training is starting. I've signed up for the Mardi Gras Rock 'n' Roll half marathon in February (help!!) so I need to get really serious about the training now!

Running with the lizards

2009-09-09T20:48:00.002-05:00

After two weeks in Sweden I'm back in hot and humid New Orleans.

The running in Sweden didn't become as much as I'd hope as my mum got even more sick and spent two weeks in a hospital and I was there every day of course.

I also finished Anatomy & Physiology 1! YEY! Waiting for the final results. I will start the second part on October 20th so I get a small break in between.

I went out for a quick short 3k run today just to get some speed in the legs after all the time zone changes. I'm still jet lagged and becomes tired early and wakes up before 6am. But I'm sure it will be gone by end of the week.

I guess it's lizzard season here in New Orleans. During the run there were so many baby lizzards trying to escape me on the sidewalks.

Run again!

2009-08-19T20:10:00.002-05:00

Today was the second run! I managed to go further today and it felt fine. It was only the last 800 meters I started to feel tired and I'm pretty sure it's may brain that's playing me because I'm getting close to the end.

Distance: 5.66 km
Time: 39min 12 sec
Av. HR: 159 (not bad)
Calories: 426
Pace per km: 6.56
Outdoor temp: 31 C

Fun fun fun!

First run in the new neighbourhood

2009-08-18T22:20:00.002-05:00

Finally! I got around after the move, super busy times at work, a ton of studying etc to do the first run in our new area.

A short one but it felt great! I could have run either faster than I did or longer than I did but I wanted to get a little soft start. I went for 3k.

Now I know it feels ok.

What I've also done is to sign up for a relay triathlon! It is Olympic distance and I'm doing the running part which means I will run 10k again! I'm excited!

Eric will do the whole triathlon as an individual but is also part of our relay team and he will do the swimming part for us. Then a co-worker of mine will go for the 40k of biking and I will finish with the 10k of running. I think we'll have a ton of fun!

The only goal is to finish the race. We don't care about the time, just having fun and finish. I think it will be a really fun experience and it is a motivator!

It is also something new, something I've never done before which is always great to try!

The anatomy and physiology class is a ton of work but it is fun. I've just started week 5 and there are 7 weeks in this first part. So far I'm doing ok which feels good.

Boot camp time is here again!

2009-08-07T21:16:00.003-05:00

The boot camp we used to go to took a break. A long break. But tomorrow it's back again!

More Saturdays of hard physical work and the great feeling of accomplishment and worked through muscles!

I look forward to it a lot even though I know I will struggle. This time I'm weaker on the strength side than before but I have better endurance. It will be interesting to see how I handle boot camp from that perspective.

We're settling in after moving to a new place so I haven't done too much training lately. I did a strength session on Wednesday and my biceps are still sore.

Next week I'm planning to start seriously with the running in order to get ready for the 10k for the Alabama coastal triathlon relay (I'm excited!) and for the Mardi Gras half marathon coming up in February.

The half marathon still feels very distant (both in time and distance LOL) but I know I'd better start!

I have also started the Anatomy and Physiology course that lasts 7 weeks which is very interesting!

The plan is also to start doing the shorter runs in the morning. Anyone knowing me knows I'm NOT a morning person... geez... not sure how this will work but I will sure try!

Wish me luck!!

Busy week

2009-07-26T21:42:00.002-05:00

It's been a crazy busy week! Work has been extremely busy and my new course started at the university. This time it's time for Anatomy & Physiology I. We're starting from scratch so to speak with a ton of chemistry. Unfortunately this is not my favorite subject but I'll get through it.

We'll soon move on to tissue, muscles, bones, the endocrine system etc. It is very interesting but it's a lot to do!

I haven't forgot about training though. That's one of my stress relieving activities. I have managed to do 3 runs and today I went swimming. Not bad for this stressful week!

I mostly practise breast strokes and getting the head under the water.

first part I for some reason struggled with breathing through my nose under water. Once that started working I realized I didn't have time to get enough air when above water because I was swimming too deep. I realized I was swimming too deep because my breast strokes were too big. Yeah and so on... LOL!

But in the end I got some ok laps with good breathing, correct technique etc. It was just very slow swimming. But I'm still in practice mode so...

We're also packing at the same time as we're moving on Saturday. There is a lot going on now and I really would like this move to be over with. That would make things feel much better.

Nutrition and strength

2009-07-19T21:06:00.002-05:00

Today my husband and I went to the gym. He wants to increase his strength to perform better in triathlons and has asked me for a strength program.

We spent about 1½ hour torturing our abs, back and arms. Since he basically never gets sore and I get sore just by looking at a dumbbell I know what tomorrow will feel like, haha!

Anyhow, it was great to get a good strength workout!

I also finished my nutrition class at the university last week. I got the grade finally on Friday and got an A!!! I'm really happy about that!

It has been a lot of stress lately in my life. Both at work and with mum being ill and finishing the class. Eventually all became a little too much and I woke up with a complete stiff and sore neck that lasted for days.
I went to see my massage therapist and she was utterly impressed (in a bad way) of how brick hard my neck was. That massage was nothing but painful but in the end I could move the neck much more than before. She is really great! I will have a follow-up on Tuesday.

Working out is a great way of relieving stress. The fact that I couldn't really work out with my fire ant bitten feet combined with all the stress at work and home got me to this point. Now it's time to fix it with exercising and massage.

Tuesday is also the start for the next course... Anatomy and physiology!!

Run and Chase!

2009-07-12T21:26:00.004-05:00

So yesterday evening we celebrated our anniversary. It was really on June 3rd but I was in Sweden at that time. We went to a restaurant and had a really nice dinner. We took the car there and then left it there and walked home.

So what does that mean and what does that have to do with running?

Well, you need to go and pick up the car! We do have two cars but that's no fun. My husband has a much more creative idea of what fun could be. As you can see in the picture he is a runner!

So the Run and Chase exercise is created!

This means that the slower person (me) gets a head start running from home to the car. The first person that gets to the car can take the car home. What happens to the other person? Well you just gotta keep on running back home again!

The route decided only 2,84k long. Temperature was hot and humid. I got a 5 minute head start. It might sound like a lot but my husband is in much better shape than me from a cardio perspective.

I started running and decided not to look back at all. I of course used my new gadget the Garmin Forerunner 305 so I could keep track of distance, pace and heart rate.

When I have about 200 meters left to the car I hear a voice shouting behind me: "You better ruuuun"

Oh sh*t!!! I started half sprinting the best I could with no oxygen at all left and a heart rate up to 180. I won but it was close. I got to go in the car and my husband got to use his legs to go all the way back again.

First winner of the Run and Chase: ME!!!!

Distance: 2,84k
Time: 18 min 33 sec
Average HR: 170 (really high)
Max HR: 180 (really high)
Average speed: 9,5 km/hour
Calories: 210

Fire ant feet and new gadgets

2009-07-11T10:44:00.002-05:00

It's been too quiet here. I have been crazy busy at work and it's the last week of my nutrition course at the university so I have a lot to do.

Also I have only done some strength training and not any running. Why is that? Well, a while ago my husband did a training triathlon here in New Orleans on a Saturday morning. I wanted to watch and were going to be the supporting wife with camera. I got up at 6.15 and we headed for the lake where the swimming and transition area were.

Everybody got ready and jumped into the lake and I was standing in the grass in my shorts and flip flops taking pictures. After a while my feet started to hurt like crazy. I look down and approximately 78 fire ants is crawling all over my feet and flip flips and is biting me. I started to jump around, kick my flip flops off and moving away out on the road while trying to brush away all the ants. I counted the bites to about 27 on my feet and two on my knee. I have never experienced fire ants before and I never want to again. They are NASTY!

After five minutes it looks like my feet got chicken pox and they are burning. My treatment since then has been to clean them out with hand sanitizer (works on feet as well) and putting on a cooling, drying gel every morning and evening. It seems to work. The blisters are drying out slowly and now it look better. But I have had to be really careful with my feet as the blisters can get infected so I have not been running.

However two days ago I got my new gadget in the mail! Yey!! My Garmin Forerunner 305 arrived and I am so happy! I have tried my husbands a few times and it's so great as I have hard time knowing what pace I'm running and this is a big help. It also tracks with gps exactly where I am and I can just upload everything including route, HR, pace etc really easy. I plan to go on a run this weekend to try my own gadget out!

3.9 mile horrible run

2009-07-01T20:40:00.002-05:00

The running was horrible. I had to walk 3 times and my pulse were constantly around 168.

It wasn't any fun at all but I at least got a lot of steps for the step contest we have at work.

I realize the heat is doing a lot of damage but the only thing I can do is continue. If I have to walk I walk but I should do the whole route as planned.

NEVER GIVE UP!!!

How to get the head under the water

2009-06-30T21:24:00.004-05:00

I don't like to have my head under water. Why? I have absolutely no idea!

But if you want to try to do a triathlon sooner or later you pretty much need to get over that issue.

So I've bought a swimsuit, goggles and a swim cap.

I got into a pool with my husband as instructor with the goal to try to overcome this and swim a little bit under water for a start.

The first thing we did was just to go under water standing still and breath out slowly through the nose. My biggest hesitation was right here.

But after some hesitation I just thought, "we can either stand here for an hour while I'm panicking over this or I can just do it and get it over with".

After a few attempts it was sort of ok and we started working on breast strokes with head under water. I can't freestyle so we went with something I can for a start.

It actually came around faster than I thought and even if I was uncomfortable I was excited about the fast progress which made it a little fun. I look forward to practice this more and eventually learn freestyle swimming and in the end go with outdoor swimming.

A funny note is though that I have never really used goggles either. Trying to both swim correctly, breath out under water and keep my eyes open at the same time just became too much almost. Haha.. I usually say I'm pretty coordinated but this one was not easy!

After about 1½ hour in the pool I made decent breast strokes under water. Awesome!!!

Hitting the heat wall

2009-06-28T11:37:00.002-05:00

It's really too warm to improve in speed or anything like that right now. At least if you're running outdoors. So I've turned to maintenance training when it's like this.

Even maintenance training will hit you really hard. Yesterday we were going to watch my friend and trainers bodybuilding competition so I couldn't wait with the run until the sun was low.

The first 15 minutes were fine. I took a route where I could get as much shadow as possible. Then... kaboom... my pace dropped like crazy! At least I didn't walk but wow I was running slow!

Run bike run!

2009-06-22T22:32:00.002-05:00

Saturday I managed to go out for a run after 7pm when the sun was lower. I ran 5,7k (3.5 miles). It's really heavy running in this heat and in the end my HR was up to 171 and it usually only goes up that high if I'm trying to sprint for a finish.

Sunday I tried the mountain bike! Yey! We biked in the heat for 10k (6.2 miles) and that was about what my butt could take without biking shorts hehe. The biking shorts should soon be ordered and in the mail though.

Today I decided to run indoors. I decided to get my body an easy run with cool air condition and a dreadmill. I ran 6,4k (4 miles) in 40 minutes which was ok. I felt really good the whole run and I wasn't completely exhausted in the end.

Other than a lot of exercising my spare time is consumed by the nutrition course I'm taking at a university right now. It is really interesting and even though I know a lot there is more to learn!

Tomorrow is resting and then there will be some strength training further down the week.

Outdoor training challenge

2009-06-20T10:16:00.004-05:00

Living in Louisiana makes training challenges very different from living in Sweden.

In Sweden the winters are dark, cold, wet and sometimes slippery and usually makes you not want to exercise outside.

In Louisiana winters are perfect for outdoor exercising, however the summers can be a true challenge. Right now we actually have a heat advisory and it's only June! Usually August is the hottest month.

This is 10am today and as you can see the temperature is up to 88.6F/31.4C. The heat index however is up to 101F/38C. The heat index shows how hot it really feels when you're outside.

It doesn't look any better the closest days either. I'm starting to wonder what to do with my planned runs and bike rides. Running on a treadmill is not the same as running outside so that would be my last alternative. Maybe I should just jump into the lake.

What have I done?!

2009-06-19T15:39:00.002-05:00

I've registered for: http://runrocknroll.competitor.com/mardigras/

I have never run longer than 10k (6.2 miles) in my entire life.

But as my husband says, I got almost 8 months to train. I just can't believe I did this!

Updates!!

2009-05-25T14:36:00.002-05:00

Ok it has been quiet here for a while. My mum has become seriously ill and that has taken a lot of energy and I haven't had the urge to write. I have travelled to Sweden to be with my parents now.

I haven't stopped exercising as that is the best therapy there is. Without exercising I couldn't handle this situation.

Friday I was actually running a race. It was the day before I left for Sweden and my husband and I were running the Greek Fest 5k race and my brother was walking the 5k.

We all did great and I finished between 30 and 31 minutes.

Today my dad and I took a powerwalk outside. About 3.4k in 33 min. Pretty good speed! After that I did some strength exercises with my resistance bands I brought. Great therapy!

So now you will see some maps from workout rounds in Sweden for a while!

Humid running

2009-05-14T19:02:00.002-05:00

Today my brother and I went to Audubon park again. It had been raining and I don't even dare to think about what the humidity level was. I was breathing both air and water!

But I managed to get around ok anyway.

Distance: 5,8k

Time: 38.27.06

Average HR: 162

Peak HR: 180 (wow)

Min HR: 116

Calories: 641

Running to get tired

2009-05-11T22:03:00.002-05:00

Today I was running to get tired. I wanted to spend a lot of energy so I would get tired and sleep well.

My brother and I went to the park. He did 3 inner laps on inlines with no stopping. That is great! Good work my brother!!!

I was going to run and I did 2 outer laps. My legs got tired but the breathing was fine.

Distance: 6,4 km

Time: 46.36.63

Average HR: 160

Peak HR: 178 (I sprinted in the end)

Min HR: 117

Total calories: 761

Walking in the sun

2009-05-10T18:01:00.002-05:00

My brother is here visiting me from Sweden and we decided to go for a walk today. We took a 30 min lunch break in the middle of the walk but it was nice to get the legs moving.

The distance was 9,3km (5.7 miles).

Sometimes all you have to do is to get a nice long walk and some good talk.

Swimming and running

2009-05-07T23:49:00.004-05:00

It is the last week when my parents are here and I've been busy with a lot of things. However I managed to squeeze in two more sessions.

Yesterday i went swimming. I was in the water for a total of 40 minutes and I did mostly breast strokes and a lot of high knees back and forth. I don't know exactly how long the pool is so I don't know the distance but it was a relaxed but good workout.

Today my mum got a massage so I took the opportunity to run at the gym at the same time. It has been crazy warm today so I stayed indoors and did 5k on the treadmill.

I hope to get some biking done also as soon as the bike is done at the shop.

Now you might think that I decided to to the sprint triathlon but I haven't. I still haven't decided on anything. I'm not sure why I find it so hard to decide but it just is. I have time though...

Addicted to running

2009-05-05T22:53:00.003-05:00

I did a short run today. It was late, I started 9.15pm. My parents and my brother are here visiting from Sweden and we're having a lot of fun and I don't run as often as I should.

However, I realize that I've become addicted. After not running for almost a week I have a hard time falling asleep. My brain is tired but my body is restless. My legs want to run!

I also realized that my brain wants the longer runs. I'm starting to understand the meditative part of running.

Distance: 3,2k

Time: 20.09.57

Average HR: 157

Peak HR: 170

Min HR: 107

Calories: 319

It was very humid outside and I think I must have spent a ton of sweat on only 20 min...

Dua / Tri / Half / ?

2009-04-29T16:28:00.002-05:00

The long term goal is still up for decision. A few weeks I’ve been thinking about if I should do a sprint triathlon or a half marathon.

Due to the fact that I’m easily bored the sprint triathlon has had and advantage for a while. Then I started to look at how my training would probably look.

I have understood that training each type twice per week would be some sort of minimum. That means 6 days per week unless I do two sessions on the same day.
Something like this:

Monday: Bike - short
Tuesday: Swim - long
Wednesday: Run - short
Thursday: Swim - short
Friday: Rest
Saturday: Bike - long
Sunday: Run - long

Now that looks horrible to me! Not from the standpoint that it’s only 1 rest day, but where can I fit in my strength training!? I don’t want to give that up completely and I don’t see how I would get a life if I’m trying to squeeze in two strength sessions per week.

Hm… starting to think about the half marathon again. There is no way that I want to look like a marathon runner. Yes, part of my training is that I want to not only feel good but also look good. So the question is, can a person with a decent amount of muscles still run a half marathon? I think so. However, will I get bored? The risk feels pretty big.

So what else is there for me to be able to challenge myself with endurance and also keep muscles and the strength training? Maybe duathlons would be my thing. Bike and run. I could probably do a decent amount of biking and running and still squeeze in my strength training.

Or what else is there out there that is fun to do? What am I missing?!

Run April 26 2009

2009-04-26T21:31:00.002-05:00

Today we've had a long walk downtown the whole day and I could feel that in my legs.

However the run was quite good but it's getting really warm!!

Distance: 4,2km

Time: 26.44.30

Average HR: 155 (low... I should try to run faster!)

Max HR: 171

Min HR: 103

Calories: 414

Run April 22

2009-04-22T21:01:00.003-05:00

Today I decided to try to run about 5k and ended up with 4,9k. It was a much better run that I had expected as I hadn't eaten super well for lunch etc.

I can feel that it's starting to get warm. Even if I didn't started the run until 7pm it was still warm. I'd better get used to it. I did a good sprint in the end of the run so I'm thinking I could probably have run a little faster.

Distance: 4,9k

Time: 31.55.22

Average HR: 161

Peak HR: 177 (sprint finish)

Min HR: 104

Calories: 526

Left foot, right foot, left foot, right foot, repeat...

2009-04-19T20:46:00.002-05:00

So where is Nashville?! I'm supposed to turn up on Nashville... hm... by the time I crossed Upperline I got tired and confused. I just had to have missed Nashville. Ah well, I continued and long and behold I find Napoleon. I definately missed Nashville!!!

Well, what can you do? Just keep on going, put one foot in front of the other.

My legs got really tired but I made it. Almost 5 miles (almost 8km).

Things that happened along the way:

Found a new café on the corner of Lowerline and Freret
Stepped on some kind of rope with one foot and got stuck in the rope with the other foot almost went down.
Jumped 2 feet as a dog behind a fence that I didn't see decided to do his best to scare me off.
Got support from a guy on a bike that biked next to me for 25 yards cheering for me to keep going.

The best of all though must be that I'm supposed to pass Nashville on the way back in the loop on Fontainebleau... however... I never saw it there either!!! ROTFL!!!

Distance: 4.9 miles (7,9 km)

Time: 54 min 11 sec

Average HR: 158 (low!!)

Max HR: 171

Calories: 649

Gym and run

2009-04-15T20:33:00.002-05:00

Yesterday I went to the gym and did back, shoulders and some abs and chest. I'm still weak after such a long break due to the shoulder surgery and that messes with my motivation at the gym. But I know I have to go through it. But it's depressing to go from being able to do 49 push-ups in a row to struggle with 15... but I'll get there.

Today I went for a run. The runs are more motivating now as I've gotten over that hurdle of not getting enough oxygene.

Today's numbers:

Distance: 3,9 km (2,4 miles)

Time: 23.07.26

Average HR: 162

Max HR: 178

Min HR: 114

Calories: 402

Do have an outline of the races for the rest of the year. However I've started to think about a more long term goal for next year. I'm not sure what it will be yet but my thoughts are taking strange directions...

The Race! Crescent City Classic 2009!

2009-04-11T17:45:00.002-05:00

I got up at 6am to be able to wake up properly as I'm not a morning person.

I had my usual breakfast plus some orange juice.

We got away pretty good at the start as we didn't wait for the walkers (we came rather late anyway so we didn't make it all the way back before the race started). That was good because then we didn't have too many walkers in front of us and could run without too many problems. It was a really busy race!

I felt great and when the sign for 3 miles came up my thought was actually "oh already?". That is a good sign!

After three quarters of the race I had the not so great feeling of a need to pee, LOL!!! But I was determined to get to the finish without having to stop.

My breathing was fine and I had a lot of energy. Surprisingly what happened at the last mile was that my legs got tired! So, with all that I finished the last mile kind of slow but I still ran.

Being a former 100 meter sprinter I'm very proud of having done a 10k (6,2 miles) run and with the fact that I ran all the way!

My finish time was not great but I'm mostly proud of that I ran all the way and felt so good all the way until the last mile.

Distance: 10k (6.2 miles)

Time: 1,07,46

Average HR: 168

Peak HR: 178

Min HR: 122

Calories: 1199

10k here I come!!

2009-04-10T22:15:00.003-05:00

Here we go!! Tomorrow is my first long distance race ever! I will do my best and the most important thing is that I finish the race.

I'm excited!!

Last run before race

2009-04-08T22:31:00.002-05:00

So today was my last run before the race on Saturday. I was running indoors on a treadmill at lunch time due to my schedule. It wasn't a very good run but at least I ran.

I think it will be a great experience with the race, all the people and the post-race party. I just want to make it as fast as a can on that day.

Today's run was:

Distance: 2 miles (3,2 km)
Time: 21.07.96
Average HR: 162
Peak HR: 172
Min HR: 131 (after warm-up)
Calories: 352

5 days left and a short run

2009-04-06T20:12:00.002-05:00

Since the race is on Saturday I have planned a short run today Monday and a short run on Wednesday.

Distance: 3,1k

Time: 19.49.67

Average HR: 150

Peak HR: 160

Min HR: 89

Calories : 290

10.18 miles walk and watching great athletes

2009-04-05T18:28:00.004-05:00

Today was the Ochsner Ironman 70.3 triathlon here in New Orleans. About 3000 people was going to swim 1.2 miles, bike 56 miles and run 13.1 miles. This is what Eric is planning on doing next year.

It was great weather but pretty warm and humid. We decided to walk downtown to the finish to watch all these great people finish such a great race.

The walk downtown:

Distance: 4.30 miles (6,9km)

Time: 1 hour 18 min

The walk from downtown:
Distance: 5.88 miles (9,5km)
Time: 2 hours 3 min

Running in the morning

2009-04-04T11:30:00.002-05:00

Since the race is really early in the morning and I'm not a morning person I know I should try to do much more morning runs. But hey...

Today I got up at 7.40 and had a cup of coffee and a bowl of milk and cereal and cinnamon.

After that I tried to get my mind set to do the last longer run before the race (the race is in exactly a week).

My lungs were fine all the way, I think I've gotten over that hurdle now for the distances I'm running. My stomach were a small problem after 3 quarters of the run and I had to walk for 2 minutes. In the end my legs just got really tired. However I have found the way to run now I believe. Before I used my calves to much but now they are more relaxed and I use my quads, hamstrings and glutes to move forward. It feels pretty comfortable.

Distance: 7,67km (4.76 miles)

Time: 52.11.27

Average HR: 164

Peak HR: 175

Min HR: 117

Calories: 888

Short run 2 April 2009

2009-04-02T19:18:00.002-05:00

Today I had a short run in mind. But I was going to try to pick up some speed.

Distance: 2,7km (1,7 miles)

Time: 16.43.22

Average HR: 162

Peak HR: 178

Min HR: 107

Calories: 279

7 awesome kilometers

2009-03-31T20:42:00.003-05:00

YES!!! This is the way it's supposed to feel! I almost liked it! LOL!

I could breath. I had energy. I found my pace. I had a set mind.

I did the 7k without walking at all and I'm very proud of that. For some reason it feels better if I can do a run without walking 1 or 2 times.

I must have lost liters of fluid as it was kind of humid outside and the sweat was basically flowing after the first 5 minutes and for the rest of the run.

Distance: 4.4 miles (7k)

Time: 48.12.28

Average HR: 160 (wow)

Peak HR: 175 (I did manage to half sprint the last 150 meters home)

Min HR: 112

Calories: 788

In the end of this run I started to almost feel like a runner and not like someone trying to become one.

At the gym

2009-03-30T19:35:00.002-05:00

Today was gym day. It's fantastic how the warm-up feels completly awesome and like I could run 1 hour without a problemn... only that I'm supposed to lift weights today. Is that some sort of "thing" going on? Ah well... let's just hope it will show up again on a day when I'm supposed to run.

Here is today's training. The weights are off as I don' know how many pounds there are in the machines but...

Run 29 March 2009

2009-03-29T10:36:00.002-05:00

The goal today was a shorter run but faster. I don't know about faster but it wasn't super slow at least. The head wind was no fun at all and it was one of these "suffering-runs" again.

Distance: 3,3 km

Time: 19.12.85

Peak HR: 172

Av HR: 157

Min HR: 120

Calories: 304

Walking intervalls

2009-03-26T21:10:00.002-05:00

Since it is really windy and rainy outside I decided to go to the gym. But I wasn't up for weight lifting for some reason.

I ended up improvising and did fast walking intervalls on the treadmill. To make it harder I put the incline to 9,5 on every other intervall. It may not look too bad but it is harder than you think.

Walking intervalls on treadmill.

10 min regular fast walk 4,2 speed

10 min fast walk 9,5 incline, 3,5 speed

10 min regular fast walk 4,2 speed

10 min fast walk 9,5 incline, 3,5 speed

10 min regular fast walk 4,2 speed

Total 50 min

Stretch

Running up and down but no hills!

2009-03-24T20:09:00.002-05:00

It is fascinating and very frustrating how the running goes up and down. I'm not talking about hills because Louisiana is flat as a pancake!

Some runs are fabulous like the 10k a week ago. Then there are the runs as today when it feels so heavy right from start. I am probably running too fast as it actually gets better half way but it's just so annoying. This type of training requires so much patience from me and that is something I'm not very good at.

The statistics for today:

Distance: 5,6 km (3,5 miles)

Time: 34.13.21

Average HR: 164

Peak HR: 174

Min HR: 110

Total calories: 582

Yesterday's workout

2009-03-23T21:44:00.004-05:00

I did run yesterday so this post is a little late.

A few people from my work met in the park yesterday and ran, ate strawberries and had fun.

I did 2 laps around the park:

Distance: 2 x 3,1 km

Time: 36.18

Average HR: 171

Peak HR: 179

Min HR: 121 (after warm-up)

Total calories: 661

It was pretty warm and it got to me. Also my calves for some reason didn't want to work with me and they are pretty stiff today.