A muffin in a fitness post? Damn right! I think that it suits and reflects my personal approach during the fifth month of working out. It ‘s perfectly fine to relax sometimes and treat yourself – as long as you don't confuse treating yourself with a daily activity/routine. Than you're not treating yourself, are you? You see, the first two months of my lifestyle change I really struggled and I have banned myself from anything remotely indugle-worthy. I think that it was a smart decision (although perhaps a bit sudden and harsh) as that time served for making myself understand that certain restrictions are there for my own sake and that there must be boundaries of some sort. Self-discipline and self-control. That's what I've learnt during my first two months and believe me that it's no walk in the park but I feel like I'm more stable and determined as a person for going through that phase. It was like I was purging myself from negative and unhealthy choices in order to make space for new, better data to be inserted. After that critical period, I had slowly introduced treats as a reward for my hard work. A chocolate bar. A piece of pita with spinach. One scoop of ice-cream. One muffin. I was rewarding myself with my biggest cravings but avoiding crossing the line – I never have thrown a ton of chocolates in my face nor have I purchased a family pack of ice-cream. It's all about enjoying good things in small doses. I also like to get creative with my desserts – not everything needs to be chocolate. I love my watermelon with some pineapple fruit yoghurt, raspberries, pineapple with strawberries or plain bowl of them with some stevia. I was surprised that, after eating pasta after a five month pause, I really didn't have any craving for it afterwards. I have literally called it quits with pizza. For more than five months, I did not have a single slice. Nor do I have the desire to. It's interesting how body stops craving certain things. I will always have a soft spot for sweets and there's nothing more comforting to me than a piece of spinach pita (zeljanica). I really cannot get enough of pita. Why am I writing so much about food? This is no template to follow but, in my case, regaining my health and my looks was all about ditching junk food and reintroducing normal, healthy and unprocessed food as much as possible. And not having enormous meals but breaking them down – portion wise and in frequency. I have at least five meals a day – that's what boggles most people minds. I still eat a ton of food. I'm still teased by how much I can eat but – I eat chicken with roasted potatoes and some salad or tuna/mackerel/sardines with rice, Greek yoghurt and I have some fruit prepared for a dessert. It was very helpful to scale down my portions – I found that half of what I used to eat as a meal fills me up and keeps me going. I really feel bad about not posting about food so far but I really don't have the time. Hopefully, when the holiday season passes I shall muster up a few posts on this subject. There are numerous benefits of updating what I eat – my nails grow like crazy and they are much firmer, my hair has also grown a lot while looking shiny, my skin bounces back quickly after I pick on it. Not to mention the way a person feels after all the changes kick in – much lighter, with much more strength and endurance. All it took for me was letting of junk food, processed food, upping hydration levels, being consistent with my workout regime. No starvation, no suffering, no distorted image of myself used as a motivation. I am still myself and that's how I'd like to remain – I'm a just more healthier, more fit version of myself. Five months and 7kg after I've made my decision in Januray and I'm the happiest I've been in a long while. I think that is quite an accomplishment, if I may say so myself.
Muffince u postu o fitnessu? Haha, da apsolutno! Mislim da sama ideja muffina odlicno preslikava moj stav tokom petog mjeseca vjezbanja i sveukupnih promjena koje sam nacinila u nacinu zivota, sve sa ciljem da budem zdravija i sretnija osoba. Mislim da je sasvim uredu ponekada pocastiti se – sve dok cascenje zaista ostane povremeni cin a ne svakodnevna praksa (jer to onda vise nije cascenje, zar ne?). Prva dva mjeseca uvodjenja promjena u nacinu prehrane i uvodjenja redovne fizicke aktivnosti su bila dosta, dosta teska posto sam naprosto sebi uvela zabranu na sve cime sam se ranije “castila” a sto je dovelo do povecanja obima struka (a samim time do nedostatka daha pri zustrijem hodu itd.). Mislim da je to bila jako pametna odluka (iako mozda na prvi pogled ostra i nagla) posto je taj pocetni period “odvikavanja” od nezdravih navika posluzio da naucim kako odredjene restrikcije jesu dobre za mene i da jednostavno covjek treba nauciti da ima granicu u svemu. Samodisciplina i samokontrola. Bila sam posvecena ucenju tih pojmova i mozete pretpostaviti da nije bilo lagano “prezivjeti” ta prva dva mjeseca no stvarno vjerujem da sam dosta stabilnija, odlucnija osoba zahvaljujuci pocetnim odricanjima. Nakon tog kriticnog perioda tokom kojeg nije bilo popustanja, polako sam pocela uvoditi male “nagrade” za postignuti uspjeh kojima sam se povremeno pocastila. Jedna cokoladica. Jedan zvrk zeljanice. Jedna kugla sladoleda. Jedan muffin. Hranu ciji okus bih najvise pozeljela bih sebi dozvolila ali u malim kolicinama, nikada ne prelazeci granicu. I uvidjela sam da su male kolicine sasvim dovoljne da zasitim zelju za njima. Nema vise pretrpavanja velikim pakovanjem cokolade niti kupovine porodicnog pakovanja sladoleda. Ako se to unese u kucu, ja znam da ce biti pojedeno. Pocela sam da kolicinski smanjujem unos i da uzivam u svakom zalogaju. Pocela sam biti i kreativnija kada su u pitanju dezerti koji ne moraju nuzno biti zapakovana cokoladica iz supermarketa. Lubenica sa malo vocnog jogurta od ananasa, maline, ananas sa jagodama ili same jagode sa malo stevie. Iznenadila sam se vlastitoj reakciji nakon sto sam pojela porciju tjestenine nakon petomjesecne pauze. To vise nije bilo to (a ranije sam bila ovisna o njoj). Za pizzom uopste i nemam zelju te nakon pet mjeseci ne planiram da je konzumiram. Uvijek cu imati slabost na slatkise i dobru pitu (pogotovo zeljanicu). Zasto toliko pisem o hrani? Ovo nije neki sablon za bilo koga ali, u mom slucaju, kljucni korak u povratku zdravom zivotu i boljoj liniji su bile promjene spram hrane. Jednostavno sam izbacila iz upotrebe junk food i zamijenila ga svjezim namirnicama i sto cescom konzumacijom nepreradjene hrane. Takodjer vise nemam obilne obroke – sve sam podijelila u vise manjih obroka tokom dana. Jedem barem pet obroka dnevno – to je ono sto najvise zbunjuje ljude. Kada kazu: “Pa ti jedes Selma!”. Naravno da jedem, nikada i nije bila rijec o izgladnjivanju. Stavise, cesto me i dalje kolege zezaju da stalno nesto zvacem kada god me pogledaju. Tacno ali sada jedem piletinu sa pecenim krompirom i salatom, tunjevinu/skusu/sardine sa rizom dok u torbi uvijek imam barem banane kao uzinu/dezert. Jako je korisno bilo kolicinski smanjiti obroke – primjetila sam da sporiji tempo zvakanja otkrije da je polovica onoga koliko sam ranije jela sasvim dovoljna da moje tijelo moze funkcionisati a bez pada energije. Osjecam krivicu sto nisam pisala o hrani i receptima, kako sam namjeravala, ali posao me stvarno prisvojio. Nadu polazem u to da, nakon sezone godisnjih odmora, i zasluzene pauze uspijem da se organizujem i napravim vise na ovom planu. Visestruke su koristi od promjene ishrane koje se ne odrazavaju samo na liniji – nokti mi brze rastu i cvrsci su, kosa mi je takodjer lijepo narasla bez vecih ostecenja i koza mi se brze oporavlja ako sam je dirala. Da ne spominjemo koliko se covjek osjeca drugacije – poletan je, ima vise energije, elana i izdrzljiviji je. Sve sto mi je bilo potrebno je napraviti par logicnih poteza koji vode ka povratku normalnoj prehrani, nisam izmislila nista revolucionarno niti sam otkrila neko cudesno rjesenje. Nema izgladnjivanja, nema neke pretjerane patnje niti sam se vodila nekim izopacenim “uzorima” na svom putu ka cilju. Ja sam jos uvijek ja – samo sam sada bolja, zdravija verzija sebe. Nakon pet mjeseci i 7kg manje, zaista se osjecam sjajno i mnogo sam zadovoljnije, sretnije ljudsko bice. Mislim da je to vise nego fantastican uspjeh.
