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Weekend went quickly and now we are already in Tuesday night. I went to school this weekend and done lots of studying in the evenings. We also had some family visiting on Sunday. 

I just placed an order on Planet Organic, I ordered chocolate Sun Warrior Protein and Tahini. I also ordered more pregnancy oil from Viridian.

And the greatest news is that I finally got my appointment! Bad news is that is only in March, I guess there is lot of people waiting to get their treatments from NHS.

I still have so much studying to do because I am preparing for the exams so unfortunately I don't have as much time as I wished to write here in my blog. And read other blogs! But after February things should get bit easier...

 On the way to school, Original Chai tea, and lunch from Planet Organic.

 Shoppings from Planet Organic, green tea, protein snack and reusable tea cup.

On Sunday I cooked lunch and because everyone wanted different things I decided to make brown pasta and brown rice and for kids their pasta. Bolognese sauce and also had chicken in the oven ,and why not, it was a Sunday treat :)

Where has the week gone?

Its been a while since I last posted! Where has this week gone?

It definitely has been a busy week, I have been so concentrated on my school, so much that there hasn't been time to do anything else.

I managed to do my gym program on Tuesday and I am planning to go tomorrow too. I have started to look for a heart rate monitor which would be really beneficial for me to use at the gym.

I also called the hospital and now waiting for a letter that confirms my appointment. A bit of a dreadful appointment as this time I will be given a diagnose which will be unexplained infertility and that means that we can now move forward with the treatments. I have a feeling that during this year 2013 I will be pregnant!

I went shopping to Food for Though shop and found some really good things! But now I need to finish my school things for the night and get back to blogging tomorrow!

Ps Has any one tried free yoga online? Is it as good as going to classes? I found this but haven't tried it yet. My Yoga Online

Snowed in!

This weekend has been all about snow, exercise and studying!

On Friday I left work earlier because it started snowing and we know what that means in this country - everything stops. It was a lazy Friday afternoon at home, I went for a long walk with my dogs and watched some movies. I really enjoyed it, just having the whole afternoon doing what ever I wanted to.

No matter  what I tried, I just couldn't make this photo look like it was sunny :)

On Saturday I had Eat Natural gluten free toasted muesli with buckwheat for breakfast with Almond milk. This muesli is really addictive, I could eat it for lunch and dinner too, its too good!

Then for lunch I had chicken thai curry

I also went to the gym this weekend and I did my program as well got some nice flowers to bring some spring feeling to this this snowed in weekend!

I have done about 8 hours studying both days this weekend and it makes me snack a lot! I had a bit of an overdose of liquorish (love it) and nice toasts with humus and olives. 

Little thing for the Sunday night, what 10 things that separates happy people from unhappy people;

1. Wide social network - happy people have a wide social network, made up of family members, neighbours and friends. Strong friendships fight depression.

2. Living according to one's own values - Happy people build a life for themselves, which is build of their own values, strengths, and life style.

3. Gratitude - Gratitude is good. Happy people are concentrating what in life is good and focus on that. Gratitude to helps to cope with stressful and traumatic situations.

4.Optimism - Happy people are optimists. They reject the pessimism in three different ways. First of all, they use their energy and time for the things that they can affect. Secondly, they know that unpleasant things don't last forever, and things will be better in the long term. Third, they see the whole situation and not just concentrate on the one thing that is maybe not so good.

5.Helping - Happy people help others and volunteer. Kind deeds will help not only others but also ourselves.

6. Money does not mean everything - Happy people do not put too much emphasis on the money. They have a healthy relationship to consumption. Goods does not bring happiness, but excess supply can even produce the unhappiness.

7. Healthy Coping Strategies - We all experience stressful and unpleasant situations, but what is crucial is how we will survive. Happy people are questioning what they can learn from the difficulties.

8. Taking care of your health - Happy people take care of it. It does not necessarily mean physical activity. They smile, take part in things and do the things what ever they decide to do.

9.Spiritual Growth - Religious people are, studies suggest, healthier, happier and cope better than others with traumatic experiences. 

10.Life has a clear direction - The happiest people have the values ​​they care about and the goals that they strive towards.

Tell me what makes you happy?

Pain is temporally, quitting lasts forever

Says on my spinning class's wall. I just got back home from the class, spinning is good exercise don't have to jump around but still get proper good sweaty exercise. One thing that I am really missing is a heart rate monitor, it would be good to use when exercising to see what my limits are.

Last night I did my program at the gym, it only took me about 45 minutes so it is something that I could do at lunch breaks on weekdays. I have a plan to do the second day of my program tomorrow, but lets see!

I booked a nutritional therapist appointment, its is in couple of weeks and I cant wait to finally find out about my nutrition and learn more about nutrition I should have when trying for a baby and having this stupid   unexplained infertility.

I also booked a horse riding lesson! yes a horse riding lesson! I love horses (and animals in general) but I haven't been riding a horse for ages, cant wait that either! So many happy things ahead including this, birthday parties, spa treatment and dinners with friends.

Tonight's dinner was a mess where I layered sliced aubergines, mince, tomato sauce and home made cheese sauce and baked in the oven for about 30 minutes. I used oregano, thyme, pepper, vegetable stock and chillies to flavour the mince. I couldn't get a good photo of it, but the taste was delicious!

Second change for the house plants

I finally got my self organised and bought a new flower pots and moved my suffering plants to their new homes. I guess they deserved to have a second change,

Before

After

After work I went to do my weekly grocery shopping in Tesco. It took my ages to do my shopping because I am a bit bored with their pricing and how they sometimes try to make people to buy so called offers that are not actually offers. There  I was calculating with my phone kilo prices per product and even kitchen paper price per roll... I don't know if I save much doing so but I don't like pay extra for no reason!

By the time I got back home I was starving and cooked a chicken leak pie for dinner. I usually use eggs and milk but I forgot to buy the eggs so I had improvise and I did white sauce type of mixture using rye flour. 

For the base I used, 2 dl flour, 1,5 dl rye flour, water and oil. I stir fried the chicken with spices and leeks and then for the sauce I mixed rye flour in the melted hot butter and then poured milk and whisked  until it thickened. Mixed chicken and sauce together and poured over pre-baked base. Simple!

I have to say that this wasn't the best pie I've done, its better with egg and milk mixture but this wasn't too bad either. 

It's quite hard now that it's dark when you go to work and it's dark when you leave work, I really feel that I need some sun urgently!

Weekend shopping

I found a health clinic that has complementary nutrition treatments and I have emailed them to book my first consultation. I'm really looking forward to that and I think there is a lot in my diet that is not maybe right for me or right in my situation.

This morning I went to a Yoga class and after the class I had bean salad with halloum cheese.

  

Bean salad with Halloum cheese

I went to look in the local health shops to see what sort of pre-conception vitamins and minerals they have. Here is what I found from Revital and Boots. 

From Revital I got Chia Seeds and Viridian pregnancy Omega Oil and pre-conception fertility pills for women.

Chia Seeds

Chia is gluten free, sugar free, trans-fat free, non GMO and pesticide free. It is high in dietary fibre, making it great for digestion and healing digestion issues, uniquely beneficial seed high in Omega 3 fatty acids, antioxidants and phytonutrients.

Viridian 

Viridian sells a health care products, which you can buy  from a health shops or online. I was recommended to use these by a friend. Their products are clean, free from anything artificial and they are against animal testing. They also give a charity donation with every purchase and you can recycle their bottles by bringing them back to the shop you bought it from and you get 25p.

Pregnancy Oil

It's 100% active ingredients. It's vegan, free from gluten, wheat, lactose and no added sugar, salt yeast, preservatives or artificial colouring. Non-irradiated. 

I need to take this oil three teaspoonful daily with food. This is easy as this highly nutritious oil can be added to smoothies, used as salad dressing, in soups and drizzled over vegetables, pasta, rice, potatoes etc...or just taken off the spoon. I've been adding this to my morning green smoothies as I didn't really liked the taste of it. 

Pre-conception fertility for women

This formulation is specifically designed to provide the essential and appropriate nutrients to support a woman of reproductive age. Ideally, take at least 90 days ahead of planned conception. 

I also got more Clearblue ovulation tests. They have changed the pack and it now comes with a pregancy test! My fist thought was that where do I need that? I just feels so far away that I would actually get pregnant...

I did got something non-pregnancy related, naked style heat defender. I wash my hair daily and blow dry them every morning, so its good to have a proper protection for them.  Naked products are silicone-free and 97% natural. 

I have been trying to eat healthy this weekend, in the mornings I've had green smoothie, this morning with spinach, pink grapefruit, banana, frozen berries, maca-powder and chia seeds. 

For lunch, last night I had delicious rye bread from Sweden with salmon and salad. I love this...

This weekend has gone quickly! I guess I will be spending the rest of the lovely Sunday afternoon indoors and finishing my assignment. 

I would love to hear about your fertility tips? 

Finally arrived: Weekend and The Gym Program

I am so happy that weekend is finally here! Last night I went to the cinema to see the impossible with a friend. It was a good movie but left me feeling quite sad and down.

This morning started with a different note, I went to the body pump class first thing this morning and it was great. Feeling good after the class! 

Actually body pump wasn't the first thing I did. When you are trying to conceive, at one point you start doing these ovulation tests, peeing on a stick. This morning it was negative, but I am not worried as my ovulation happens every month, I am just trying to spot the right day. My periods are like clockwork, every month same cycle. That is what makes this unexplained infertility so frustrating. 

Probably the most annoying thing what people, who mean good say is "just relax, it will happen", "maybe you should not think about it too much", "chill out" or "maybe it is just timing" (!!!). I don't know what to say to them, I mean if you have been trying for a baby for about three years, this means 36 times I have been disappointed, angry and sad when my periods started, I have purchased and used hundreds of ovulation sticks and in my case 1 pregnancy test (it was negative). So it is pretty hard not to stress and not to think about it too much!!! 

Luckily, according to NHS rules, after 3 years of trying and because I have unexplained infertility we are entitled to have IFV treatment. I am hoping that the process would start this summer. Meanwhile, I am trying to find natural ways to help increase fertility. Next step is to go see the nutritional therapist. 

Anyway, I also got my gym program done. I am going to go the the gym twice a week and I got the program for both days. Its good that both days are a little bit different, so I don't get bored too easily. 

Here is how day 1 of 2 looks like,

And this is the 2 of 2 

All I need to do now is to start training! 

Waist-Hip Ratio

Another day behind and I feel like I have been running around all day! I have been busy at work and after work. I have lots of studying to do as well and a big assignment that I will have start doing in the evenings.

This evening I went to the gym to meet a personal trainer who is going to make me my own gym program that I'm going to follow for the next 4 - 6 weeks. He also made me do a fitness test and we measured my waist-hip ratio. Test went okay, I had to do 500 metre rowing as fast I can. It took me 2 minutes and 5 seconds.

My ratio measurements were perfect! I was in the excellent category with my 0.74 result.

Interesting facts about the ratio,

A Waist-Hip Ratio of 0.7 for women and 0.9 for men has been shown to correlate strongly with general health and fertility. Women within the 0.7 range have optimal levels of estrogen and are less susceptible to major diseases such as diabetes, cardiovascular disorders and ovarian cancers. Women with high WHR (0.80 or higher) have significantly lower pregnancy rates than women with lower WHRs (0.70–0.79), independent of their BMIs. 

Source

You can calculate yours from this link Waist-Hip Ratio calculator

DYI stomach acid test and fitness planning

Today has been really hectic day at work and I didn't even had time to prepare my green smoothie this morning. I was rushing out of the bed and out of the door as quickly as I could. When I got to work I had some fruits and gluten free porridge for breakfast with one cup of black tea.

I learnt last weekend that it is better to eat fruits first to empty stomach, fruits spend only about 30 minutes in the tummy and then they come out, when for example Christmas dinner can spend there about 6 hours. Otherwise if you eat your fruits last the will be just "queueing" to get in the tummy and digestive system can not work properly. Try if you don't believe and your digestive system thanks you :)

Another one that I was going to test soon is to see how acid my stomach is with this home test, I just need to get baking soda from the shop.

DYI Sodium Bicarbonate Stomach Acid Test
Do this test when you have an empty stomach.
Mix 1/4 teaspoon of baking soda in an 8-ounce glass of water (that's baking soda-sodium bicarbonate, not baking powder)
Drink it, noting the time on your watch or a clock.
Measure how much time passes before you burp.
If you haven't burped in five minutes, you can stop timing.
A person with a normal level of stomach acid will burp within two minutes.
If you haven't burped after five minutes have passed, you are seriously low in stomach acid.

I have changed a little bit how I exercise. I used to do many classes per week but in time it gets very boring. Last night I went to body pump class. I only have couple of weeks left of my membership and I going to do classes until the end of January.

Tomorrow I have my fitness test and I am making training plan with personal trainer. I am trying to go the gym couple of times per week, in the mornings probably and then go for a run once a week. I also really love hot yoga and its effects so I need to go to hot yoga once a week at least. Even though it is quite expensive but its worth every penny. I always feel so relaxed and happy after I have done some yoga, especially hot yoga.

I would like to have more muscles in my body and get fitter. I am not overweight at all but I would like to my body be lean and something that is nice to look at from the mirror.

I have to keep in mind that too much exercise and losing too much weight can lower fertility so I have to do it slowly and not to be too hard on my self.

Something like this, please! 




For dinner tonight I am going to make salmon in the oven with mashed sweet potato, my favourite!

Fertility foods

I have been reading many pages of how to boost fertility naturally and about the foods that are suppose to be so called "fertility foods" Here is few of them I found from one of the web pages,

Linseeds -  they contain phyto oestregens which help balance oestrogen levels in our body.  Nowadays because of xenoestrogens in plastics and pesticides the oestrogen levels in our food and water are much higher plus years of taking contraceptive pills our oestrogen levels can be out of balance making it harder to conceive.  Try adding a dessert spoon full of ground linseeds to your breakfast or lunch each day.

Pumpkin seeds - Zinc is an essential nutrient in fertility for both men and women.  A deficiency can effect chromosomes and reduce fertility.  It improves the sperm health and count.  Zinc is also found in seafood such as prawns.

Salmon - Essential fats or EFAs are essential for hormonal balance and sperm health.  EFAs are also found in nuts, seeds and other oily fish.  Ensure you have these in your diet everyday.  You may know them as Omega 6 and Omega 3 fats.

Red Peppers - Antioxidants found in most red, orange and yellow fruits and vegetables provide a protective action on toxins in our body called free radicals that can damage cells and cause infertility and birth defects.  They are also found in avocados and brazil nuts.

Brown rice - Fibre is not just important for preventing constipation but is also important in balancing hormones.  Fibre found in grains and vegetables helps reduce excess oestrogen levels in the body by pulling them out with your stools and preventing them being reabsorbed into the body.

Of course there is many other ones too and many ways to increase fertility natural way. I guess the basic principle is to avoid anything unhealthy and try to eat organic food. It is really interesting to learn more about this and I will try to make more of these types of posts in the future.

There is also many good books about this topic, one of them I just purchased on kindle is Naturally knocked up by Donielle Baker. On her weg pages she shares free downloads and recipes and for subscribers for example a fertility food list and a sugar detox challenge book. I have to definitely read that!

Today I have been drinking my green smoothies maybe too much. This morning I had one with   ,spinach, grapefruit, mixed berries, maca, banana. After Body Pump class, for dinner I had one with green salad, spinach, orange, cranberries, apple and half a banana. The other half of the banana went on the top of my peanut butter on gluten free toast that I also had for my dinner :)

Morning drink with green tea and lemon. 

Dinner drink with pb toast and banana on the top. The colour of my drink is not very appetising but it tasted ok.

Digesting Ombar Superfood Chocolate

How to get through an intensive digestive system study...the answer is ombar superfood chocolate!

Their chocolate uses unroasted (raw) fine quality organic Ecuadorian cocoa. The roasting process in normal chocolate destroys heat-sensitive polyphenois. It's also made of low-glycemic organic coconut sugar - wont spike blood sugar levels as unrefined nutritionally complex. Berries in the chocolate I had, acai & blueberry, have been dried at low temperatures and then powdered. They even add probiotics to some of their bars to help look after our tums!




And those probiotics and other digestive things is what I have been learning about this weekend, a quite deep review of how the human digestive system works and how big part the gut has on our immune system and other things. On the other hand the more you know, the more paranoid and suspicious you become of what you can eat and the affect of the food you put in your mouth has.

I came to a couple of conclusions and I am going to to try a gluten free diet for four weeks and see if it has any affect to me.It's crazy that humans were not designed to digest gluten. First though I need to do a little bit more study about a gluten free diet and find some recipes and start planning my lunches in advance.

I also need to make my fasting plan if I am going to do it.

And what I was also thinking of doing is to book an appointment to see a nutritional therapist. Unexplained infertility could be cured by changing my diet and taking supplements, maybe I am lacking something important that I just don't know.

On Wednesday I am going to have a fitness test and fitness plan that I can follow at the gym. My plan is to go to the gym maybe 2-3 times a week, go for run once a week and hot yoga once a week. That way I won't get bored too soon and it makes it easier to follow the plan.

After I got home from school, I went to get some gluten free bread.  For dinner I had baked beans on (gluten free) toast with salad. And a spoonful of peanut butter...

P.s I actually had two bars of chocolate, other one was cranberry & mandarin :)

Running around in London

Always when I am in London I feel like I need to run around like a headless chicken. I just can't walk slowly, not to mention stand on the escalators! I have to run on them too, up and down, take couple of running steps to catch the tube even though the next one is coming in two minutes.

This morning I was rushing to school, the College of Naturopathic Medicine, where I am studying to become a Nutritional Therapist. My course will take 3 years in total. It has been really interesting so far and I am enjoying it. This must be my first time I actually like what I am studying and also the first time I am studying something that I am interested in! What could be more interesting and useful than knowing how your body works, how to keep it healthy, how to prevent illnesses and how I can improve not only my health but also my family's health and well being.

Funny enough I have learned about stress and how it can harm you. I guess I have to take my London rush as being my daily exercise ;)

Once again I had lunch in Planet Organic. They have delicious lunches, soups, stir fry and lots of other fresh cooked food. They also have other organic products like foods and beauty things and cosmetics.

I also had some snacks and green tea with peppermint.

I loved how quite and empty Oxford Street is before the shops open and how crazy it gets in the evenings, especially now that sale is on! I didn't have time to stay shopping as I wanted to get home as soon as possible.

Back to London tomorrow! 

Could I be so lucky?

The idea of starting to write a blog occurred to me after I'd read so many healthy living blogs. There is one special blog, Keeping Healthy Getting Stylish. This blog has been such an inspiration to me, and definitely have to read Laura's post daily!

Today she has launched Get Fit, Feel Epic competition Its like she knew my fitness plan! She's giving away a FitBit Activity tracker and a set of mini scales from MoneySuperMarket! Could I be so lucky?

FitBit Activity tracker is something that I would really need and it would be super useful tracking my progress to a healthier and fitter life! Fingers crossed!

This morning I had my green smoothie with blueberries, and hmmmm it was good!

• Kale
• Blueberries
• Banana
• Greipfuit
• Almond Milk
• Water
• Stevia
• Maca Powder

For lunch I had The Food Doctor couscous & lentil wholesome pot

And for dinner I made Salmon with mashed sweet potato and broccoli. Salad on the side with cucumber, olives and lentil bean shoots!

I got couple of gift cards from Santa so I did some shopping at lunch break, I got my self this jacket and a bag from Next. I been looking for a long time for a jacket like this and finally I found one that fits  perfectly! And the bag, love it, its so big that I can finally fit everything and I can use it for my school stuff too. 

Lemon Ginger Tea and healthy shopping

This morning I started my day with a green smoothie again, using the same ingredients as I've done all week and I think is getting just a little bit boring by now, I need to make up a new mix and tomorrow morning I will blend in some berries. Frozen berries are much cheaper option than their fresh friends and they last for long time in the freezer, also they will make the smoothie icy.

I did some healthy grocery shopping today, berries, organic products, lots of fruits and nked raw bars, yummy. I bought some Lemon Ginger Tea because I feel like I have a cold coming and that tea usually helps and makes me feel better. Also got my favourite, Sweet Chai tea...

I used to have a couple of cups coffee every morning but I have been without coffee almost two months now. I decided to stop drinking it for two reason, firstly I started getting this awkward feeling when my heart was beating so fast it felt like it was coming out of my chest and that, if something felt really uncomfortable and secondly not drinking coffee is suppose to increase my fertility. I still drink black tea which has caffeine and tannin, but not as much as in coffee. Also I have started to enjoy herbal teas and especially green tea with lemon.

I really hope this cold doesn't get any worse as I have the exam coming and fitness test next week. 

Cant wait to get back to my normal exercise routine!