Friday, July 31, 2009

Live healthy

We live in an age of technology and office work, which means sitting in front of a computer and working out only our fingers. The lack of physical activity and the stress we face on a daily basis usually leads to unwanted weight. It's better to prevent than to treat the weight gains that can lead to severe heart diseases and an inaesthetic look, which lowers our self esteem. Ageing also has a great impact on the outside and inside of the body, and so, the best way to maintain it, is by providing the right resources of energy. Being healthy is a better way to looking good than buying expensive clothes and putting on a ton of make-up and other cosmetic products.

+ eggs; low fat diary; beans; oatmeal; olive oil; oranges; whole grains; strawberries; cinnamon; tangerines; ginger; grapefruit; bananas; apricots; almonds; watermelon; fish (salmon, tuna); apples; chicken; hot chili peppers; turkey; kiwi; lentils; spinach; olives; dark chocolate.

Also there is a list of things that should never be combined if you want to maintain your body slim and healthy:
- milk should always be drank alone..and preferably it should be skimmed milk;
- meat should never be eaten with bread, diary products, fruits or other fats...but with green vegetables;
- bread with butter;
- pasta with ham and any diary products;
- cheese with bread...in this case the amount of calcium absorbed by the body goes down;
- potatoes with bread...the golden rule of NEVER;
- in fruit salads, sweet fruits should never be combined with sour fruits...that's why I never liked it so much, people usually put banana and pineapple with orange and kiwi;
- no fruits immediately after a meal

It's important to drink between 1.5l and 2.5l of liquids/day...water, green tea and home made juices. They help rebuild cells and clean unwanted elements from your body. Also exercising is a key factor, the best way to keep in shape is of course running, but if there is no time for going to the gym or jogging, a long walk can also be a good option.

Now, traveling thought me that we are different...we have different routines, different national dishes and different eating schedules. We should enjoy the way we are and not try to change just to stick to the rules. The foods mentioned above should not become an ONLY in our diets, but an EXTRA, they can be used as the 4-6 snacks every person should eat/day. It's important not to skip meals, so these food options could also be an "on the go" meal. We should always make time for breakfast, waking up 15 minutes earlier is not such a pain, and try not to eat for dinner the amount of calories that should have been eaten through out the day. Starvation is not the answer, don't forget that humans are like animals, and when the human body is starving it thinks that it will never get food again and starts building resources, fat resources.

Ah yes...reduce alcohol and tobacco and sleep 8 hours/night (not more not less).

My favorite websites with info about ab and glute exercises:
http://www.lose-fat-belly.com/
http://exercise.about.com/od/butthipsthighs/tp/butt.htm

Tuesday, July 28, 2009

White Party

Spanish celebrities, cameras, a fancy club and lots of white...this was my yesterday night. I and Alex went to a white party in Madrid, close to our home. Some of his friends from Galicia were promoting some alcoholic drinks they are producing and had invitations to this pretty posh party. Of course I didn't know any of the "celebrities" there, most of them being TV celebrities, but it didn't matter because they didn't know me either :P

Monday, July 27, 2009

Galicia

My first exit from Madrid since I arrived was this weekend in Galicia. We left on Friday afternoon, after Alex picked me up from work. It took us almost 2 hours to get out of Madrid, because everybody is leaving on Friday. So, all in all the road took us 6 hours...it was awful.

First stop: Cortegada
Andre's home to be exact…a small Spanish village, where, just like in Romania, everybody knows everybody. The area has a beautiful landscape, it's surrounded by mountains and the houses in the village bear the mark of history. This weekend was the days of Galicia, so the village was wearing celebration clothes. This is a good time for family meetings and partying together. And so it was. On Friday after we arrived, we had dinner with his sisters and then we went out. The club/bar where we went was pretty good and the people wonderful to observe. I stayed mostly with Andre's younger sister...and I spoke Spanish :D...We...or at least I...didn't drink a lot, but we stayed up till 8 in the morning, so the next day I felt completely wasted. It was the day when I had to move to Alex...but only after eating a huge launch with Andre's family. I thought the food would never end...it was delicious, but way too much for me. I had to get back to my senses for my next city...and so I did...for a while.

Next stop: Verin

Verin~Alex's home. Still in Galicia, but this time in a city. The city reminded me a bit of Aarhus, in size and maybe the atmosphere of the Festival. There was a water fight festival and we had our huge water guns, which we forts tried on the streets of Madrid on Thursday evening. I went from leaving with 2 boys to leaving with 5...which definitely raised the fun level of the day. The festival was great and at the end I was completely wet and cold. I had so much fun that for a few hours I forgot about how tired I was. But the evening it all came back...and I didn't manage to stay up later than 4 a.m. I slept for 10 hours...from 4 am till half past 2 pm, with a small break when Alex’s brother came to sleep next to me. On Sunday I was fresh, while the others were zombies...but the road back home killed me...6 hours in the car again...
People definitely love colours in Spain...and so they like to colour their life and make it a tiny rainbow. They enjoy everything they do and when they have fun nothing else matters. I am truly jealous for not being raised with the same spirit, because I love the rhythm life has here...and I have to admit, even the Danes had different festival where people were out on the streets.

Sad news from home, as it was happening when I was in Denmark. Ana had an accident in Greece and she's been in the hospital for a while and she will have to be there a bit longer. These things cannot be predicted and unfortunately they happen. I had a dream of her on Saturday...so the news today really struck me. I hope she's going to be ok.