Do I actually want to be healthy?

found on Pinterest. source is this tumblr *

I've been asking myself this question a lot lately and I still haven't found an answer.

Last year about halfway into my diet (no wheat, no sugar) I thought "Hey, I'm NEVER gonna go back to eating "normal", I feel so much healthier, so much fitter!"

And then after 8 weeks all in all I was about 8 kilos lighter. It took me about two weeks to be back on my normal diet again. I gained all the weight I had lost. GREAT. Not. I have no idea why I couldn't just go on. Why I couldn't quit cookies and coke and toast and chocolate and...

The whole process got me thinking, you now? Do I want to be thinner? Because being thinner would certainly mean being healthier. At least for me. I'm not saying everyone who's thin is healthy or whatever but it would be such a relief for my joints, my organs, my back. Do I value myself? Do I value my HEALTH more than my laziness? Am I up for some work if that work will make me feel better and probably live longer?

Ever since the tender age of 7 years I was forbidden to do sports by real doctors. They couldn't have had my best interest in mind. Certainly not. Maybe they did what was the normal thing to do with a child suffering from periostitis in 1994. I don't know but their actions were not exactly a great foundation for my adult life and my relationship with sports.
Which is non-existent. And unhealthy.

Sometimes having a dog can be really exhausting when you're working 9-5 and the occasional concert night but most of the time I'm SO glad I have Hamlet. He's the best excuse for me to go for walks for at least half an hour a day (depending on how many of his walks I'm responsible for that day). That's a start, isn't it?

I desperately want to change my attitude towards sports. I do! I ordered running shoes which unfortunately were too narrow for me so I'll go to a shop in Munich to buy myself some fancy shoes.
I talked to friends who already do running. I read Haruki Murakami's book What I talk about when I talk about running. I made a playlist full of powerful songs that make me wanna move.
But as it says in the picture above (added to my health & beauty board on Pinterest) I still haven't managed to take the most important and yet the hardest step of all. The first one of my first running experience ever.

The horribly humiliating laps we were doing back in school are definitely NOT counting here.

Ah yeah, so I hope I'll be able to start running as soon as the snow has melted. I'll also be doing the Vegan for Fit 30 Day Challenge started by German (Vegan) chef Attila Hildman.
My first day will be February 1st (or if I feel like it January 28th). Will keep you posted :)


*please tell me if it's your pic and you want me to take it down or whatever

Satchel or not Satchel, that's the question!

This post is about bags.
Honestly, how hard can it be to find a proper bag that won't break after a couple of weeks' use?!

So far I've had them all:
- the cheap-ass H&M bag whose handle broke after 3 months
-the designer knock-off - Mulberry's Alexa in blue - broke after about 1.5 years
-a fjällräven bagpack - ouch, hurts my back after a while
-thrift store finds, broke after a while, too

Right now I've narrowed it down to two different brands: JoTotes and The Cambridge Satchel Company

Here are a couple of my favourites:

photo via shootbags.com

JoTotes Georgia Herringbone

120€

photo via cambridgesatchel.co.uk

Cambridge Satchel/ Batchel in navy blue

£98.00/ £113.00

photo via cambridgesatchel.co.uk

Cambridge Batchel Fluoro Yellow
£135.00

How amazing is the last one? I might drop by their Covent Garden shop when I'm in London this spring.  *drool* 

What do you think? Would you go for a more subtle colour or pattern like the navy blue or herringbone? Or do you prefer something different, something fun like a bold yellow, red or green one to spice up boring outfits?

dawdling away

Guys, how can it be mid-January already? 

I'm trying to pull myself together and start working on my tax return. It's gonna be a bit more complicated than last year (I'm making a bit of extra money through a website I made and will be maintaining this year) and eurgh, I JUST.DON'T.WANT.TO.GET.STARTED. If I was a superhero I'd be called Procrastination Girl.

On the plus side this means I finally:

-got around organising my finances and budget

-bought a new winter coat in blue-graphite at our local Jack Wolfskin shop yesterday, it was marked down 25% and and pretty and warm oh, and it's 3 in 1, you can wear it as a winter coat or wear both, the coat and the lining (a fleece coat) separately 

-got myself a couple of new apps for my iPad mini e.g. MoneyControl (a great way to keep track of your expenses) and Instant (a polaroid maker for the iPad) and Skoobe (an online library for e-books)

Here's some cuteness to make up for this unbelievably pointless post: 

We've been lying around on the couch a lot lately ;)

I love this dog <3

Doga

The trick to money is having some

Money making is not a serious business. It is a game that you play. 

Hallo ihr Lieben, 

irgendwo habe ich mal gelesen, dass die Leute, die am meisten über Geld reden und sich am meisten mit Geld beschäftigen, die sind, die wenig davon haben. Und genau deshalb war ich so fasziniert vom Titel dieses Buchs von Stuart Wilde*. 
Zu meinem Leidwesen beschäftige ich mich nämlich sehr viel mit Geld. Es ist nicht so, dass ich zu wenig davon hätte, ich kann eigentlich ziemlich sorgenfrei leben. Ich habe einen unbefristeten Arbeitsvertrag, eine hübsche Wohnung, deren halbe Miete ziemlich erschwinglich ist, wir haben genug zu essen, Kleidung, ein Auto... Und doch plagen mich ständig Existenzängste, die primär aus dem (inzwischen wirklich kleinen) Schuldenhäufchen resultieren, das von meinen Eskapaden an der Universität noch übrig geblieben ist. 

Was, wenn ich morgen meinen Job verliere (SEHR unrealistisch), was, wenn auf einmal eine riesige Rechnung ins Haus flattert (woher?) oder sonst irgendwas völlig furchtbares passiert? DANN werde ich nicht genug Geld haben für...für...ja, für was eigentlich? 

In seinem Buch "The trick to money is having some" stellt Stuart Wilde eines klar: Man braucht Geld. Punkt. 
Soweit eine seltsame Aussage für einen spirituellen Menschen. Die meisten, möchte man meinen, leben quasi ohne Geld, nur von Luft und göttlicher Kraft, aber nicht Wilde. Wilde ist realistisch. Geld, so sagt er, bedeutet Freiheit. Genügend Geld bedeutet, die Freiheit zu haben, sein Leben zu leben und daraus resultiert ein anderer Umgang, vor allem mit Geld an sich. (Hat jetzt noch jemand einen Ohrwurm von Geld, Geld, Geld...) 

Am interessantesten fand ich folgendes: Unsummen werden täglich, stündlich, ja minütlich verschoben. Das meiste davon drahtlos, es schwirrt also durch die Luft. Durch uns durch. Wir müssen nur (metaphorisch) zugreifen und ein Teil dieses Geldes kann unseres sein.

Das heißt, dadurch, dass wir akzeptieren, dass wir eigentlich genug Geld haben und es gleichzeitig überall ist, wird es uns finden, weil wir anders darauf zu gehen. (Finden übrigens nicht nur im eigentlichen Sinn des Wortes, natürlich muss für Geld auch größtenteils ein Gegenwert erbracht werden). 

Leider bin ich noch nicht sonderlich weit, aber ich habe einige monetäre Projekte für die nächste Zeit:

>Projekt365: Die Idee kam mir durch ein Spendenplakat, das ich in Wien gesehen habe "Unterstützen Sie ein Kind. Nur 1€ pro Tag kann helfen." Hatte leider nicht den erwarteten Effekt auf mich, aber hey: wenn man nur 1€ pro Tag spart, kommt man auf 365€ im Jahr. Eigentlich schon ein stolzes Sümmchen.

>SaltAway: Pinterest kann so viel Spaß machen, vor allem, wenn es einen inspiriert, zu sparen. Das hier ist der Pin in Question. Wann auch immer man eine 5€-Note besitzt, spart man sie, anstatt sie auszugeben. Ich habe dafür ein altes Gurkenglas genommen und ich freue mich, dass es immer voller wird. 

>Save your pennies: Hier war mein Freund die treibende Kraft. Kennt ihr das, wenn man Geld abhebt und eigentlich NICHTS kauft und trotzdem nichts mehr im Geldbeutel hat? Genau. Wir verpulvern Unsummen durch das Ausgeben von Münzen. Schluss damit. Zusätzlich zu den 7€, die ich wöchentlich spare (und die ich monatlich in mein Gurkenglas geben werde), landet alles Kleingeld, das ich habe, ebenfalls im Glas. Mein selbstgesetztes Tageslimit an Münzen, die ich ausgebe (n darf) sind 3€.   

Inzwischen machen auch schon meine Eltern und Arbeitskollegen mit. Und alle sind begeistert :)

Habt ihr ein Sparschwein? Befüllt ihr es regelmäßig und was macht ihr mit dem Ersparten? Gönnt ihr euch was? :)

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euer aquarienfisch :)




*Ich muss gestehen, dass ich bis vor Kurzem nicht so wirklich offen gegenüber Stuart Wilde war. Der gute Mann, Jahrgang 1946, ist Autor diverser Selbsthilfebücher (eines Blogs, Essays...), die, gelinde gesagt, teilweise ziemlich abgespaced sind, aber irgendwie ähnelt er dem berühmten Autounfall. Man will eigentlich gar nicht hinsehen, aber man kann gar nicht anders. 
Irgendwas hat dieser Mann und man will herausfinden, was genau das ist. 

2013 resolutions - Keep calm and carry on running

Okay, maybe not 2013 of them, let's make it six, shall we? Six is one short of my most favourite number (how deep haha, having 7 as your lucky number but what can I say?) and idk it just seems right to go for six ;)

#1: Relax more

Or rather: Don't let the stress get at me. I'm working 9 to 5 and we have about one concert every month so after the concert is always before the concert. There's so much to do and the evening itself tends to be really stressful. I haven't counted but I guess I was sick at least 5 times last year. It's always the same, the stress lowers my defences and then it's usually a cold or some kind of stomach bug that knocks me out for a couple of days.
I don't want that anymore! It sucks! So EVERYBODY just CALM DOWN! Yes, body I am talking to you.

#2: Start running

One of my ways to be more relaxed is to try and run. Tbh, I was never good at sports. Seven-year-old me always had sore feet. A doctor then diagnosed periostitis first in one foot, then the other.
Nowadays I'm not sure sure he was right because it wasn't actually my bones that hurt but my joints. However, he told my mum I was too ill to participate in PE. In retrospective I don't think I've been allowed to do more than 50 PE lessons in my entire time at school. Of course I wasn't good at sports. Running hurt, jumping hurt and when you hurt you are likely to just stop and stay still rather than go on and keep everything nice and flexible.
Anyway, I was absolutely convinced of the fact that I COULD NOT do sports. Then I started yoga and I was actually good at it. I started riding my bike (a lot one summer) and, gosh, I was quite good at it, too!
Ah well, I'm babbling. I want to be able to run a mile every day for 30 days in a row. There you go.

#3: Be excited

I used to be such an enthusiastic person but I seem to have lost this ability. I want to get excited, I want to freak out over a new episode of my favourite TV show (Doctor Who *coughs*), I want to (and actually am) thrilled to bits about my trip to see #4

#4: TRAVEL!

Lately, I haven't been away much and when I was, it wasn't a good experience for me. My boyfriend and I went to Vienna about three times in the past 1.5 years. Our visits are always packed with appointments, his family lives there so obviously they all want to meet us and we them but it's far from relaxing. When we went to Hungary it was really hot, had no plan and once we got there my leg was hurting from all the driving and we found out we were staying in the middle of nowhere.
So this year I'm going to London for 5 days. YOWZAH! I'm leaving on the 5th and return on 10 March. I wanna go shopping (Camden Market and Portobello Road, Cath Kidston, Selfridges, Primark *guilty pleasure*), see the Tower of London AND take the Harry Potter studio tour with one of my best friend and his family.
In late summer I'd love to go to Sweden or Latvia with my boyfriend. And maybe to Austria for a couple of days.

#5: Appreciate what I have

nuff said.

#6: Lose weight

I know, everybody wants that but I actually should. Especially if I want to start running, I have to make sure not to make it too hard for my body.

#7: Spend time with Hamlet

I've become very lazy this winter. We're going for short walks, not to the park for an hour or two like we used to in summer. We're cuddling quite a lot but apart from that I feel I'm not giving him the attention he deserves. Right now we're learning a new trick "Bark/ Speak". It's not really working yet but we're getting there. He's a very "communicative" dog so I guess we should be alright in a couple of weeks ;)