Lazy days

Didn't do shit today. Not sure whether I caught a cold or not... but I have a nice feeling in my legs after yesterday's 14 km walk. Should read some immuno because I still have "homework" to complete before I return to Debrecen and continue my lab training :) Something else is making me stressed for no reason but I can hardly pinpoint what that is...

Squares special

Ah-ha. If you did not know already, and want to know, or if you are just following my text like a poor little victim...

The infinite quest and my self honest analysis - Yes, me too, I want visible abs. But then, what is my effort...?

I work on my abs at the beginning or end of a workout, for about 10 minutes. Little, compared to how much time I spend on other muscle groups. As for food, I have never eaten any dietary supplements whatsoever and never been on a diet. I eat anything that I like whenever I want to... Thus, my fitness progress is rather slow, utterly natural. There are many opinions out there but I think this is what is truly sustainable... if you want to stay fit and live a long and healthy life... I don't think pushing extremely hard and consuming an excess (of for instance protein) is the long-term solution... but more about that another time...

If you think that I take a lot of selfies, you have no idea... but below is a nice consequence. In 2012 I worked out about 2 times a week, in June 2013 3 - 4 times a week, versus 5 - 6 in November 2014.

I swear, the last week of November was my fitness peak. An entire semester of 5 - 6 workouts a week, then suddenly three exams in three days and I immediately lost some fat. Everyone mentioned hey, you have abs, and I loved it but it didn't last long as I started to lose muscle tissue due to more exams. These times is my worst enemy because the stress makes me burn fat and muscles, and I don't have quite as much time for exercise. I always lose weight...

And today - after some at-home Muay Thai tonight. (exercising 3 - 4 times a week for the past two months)

Do I have any advice, yes, but honestly I don't know of a magic recipe. I know what I do to look like I do... I workout because I love myself and eat whatever I want for the same reason. I choose my type of exercise according to what I feel like for the moment.

Give yourself the time to buy real, fresh groceries and cook proper food at home, but don't feel sorry for ordering a pizza when you long for it or if you're simply too stressed to cook. Exercise as often as you wish, more if you want to improve, as long as it makes you happy. Don't regret gained or lost weight... the body is dynamic, as is your life... always do your best to take care of yourself and your self respect will be reflected by your body. If there's anything that you should avoid I think it is alcohol... once in a while is okay, but it's literally a poison and contains a lot of energy... there's a reason to why you can run a vehicle on alcohol. Personally I have noticed that I store fat almost immediately from consumption of alcohol...

My current "ab-routine", at home or at the gym: pick 5 - 10 exercises and execute in a row, no rest in-between. Perform each exercise for for instance 20 reps and move on to the next one. Stretch at the end.

I also do 4 - 5 sets of "toes to bar" at the gym, at least once a week.

Peas report

Spent the weekend in Eskilstuna and saw some of my dearest friends from high school. Matilda stayed over so we had a nice recap :) After that, killed my legs at the gym (apparently, got extremely sore from a small alteration to my regular workout) and brought Dennis with me to the countryside for a couple of days. Now... loneliness. I'm here with my father but I can feel the Dennis-is-far-away coming at me.

Also want to take a moment to mention that I hate the new labyrinth at supermarket ICA Flen. Yes, I know now that the exit is beyond the Taco section... walk ten meters and take a right turn... it's just that somehow, somehow... I always find my self doing a 360 at the dead end by the toilet paper...

***

My father and I went to Eskilstuna for gym yesterday, meanwhile weather decided to snow... the whole day! So today I woke up and felt like beautiful weather is the best part of being alive.

Världens godaste kanelbullar (DIY, duh)

There are many ways to do goda kanelbullar, but to make the very best kind, some secrets have to be revealed... I'm providing a few in this post, possibly to satisfy someone's craving for the perfect kanelbulle. In any case, at least enjoy the photos.

What you need for one tray of kanelbullar (~15 bullar):

For the dough:
- 75 g butter (not margarine)
- 2,5 dl milk
- 25 g yeast
- 1 dl sugar
- a pinch of salt
- 8 - 10 dl wheat flour
Extra (recommended)
- 1/2 teaspoon ground kardamom
- tiny bit of lemon juice

For the filling:
Ground cinnamon
Sugar
Vanilla sugar or powdered sugar

Coating VERY IMPORTANT:
- 1/2 dl cream
- pearly sugar or powdered sugar

Procedure: Melt the butter and add the milk. The mixture has to be 37°C, same temperature as your finger. Add the yeast in small pieces and stir. Add the sugar and the salt, also the kardamom and lemon juice. Stir until everything is evently distributed. Add 8 dl of flour and more if needed, knead, add flour until the dough doesn't stick to your hand anymore. It should be moist but smooth and not sticky. Put a towel over it and let it ferment for 30 - 40 minutes. Set the oven to 225°C. Shape your buns. VERY IMPORTANT! Coat your buns evenly with cream, with a brush or a spoon. Add pearly sugar. Bake in the middle of the oven for 8 - 10 minutes, the buns are done when they are becoming brown. ADD ANOTHER COAT OF CREAM DIRECTLY AFTER TAKING THE BUNS OUT. Sprinkle with powdered sugar, if you did not add pearly sugar. Finito :)

How to make a visually appealing bun: Take all of the dough and tuck into a flat square. I chose the word "tuck" because Tyda.se suggested so. Sprinkle a generous layer of cinnamon on it. After that, a thin layer of sugar, and a tiny bit of vanilla sugar.

Fold your square in half and cut into stripes. I recommend using scissors, becuase I'm a fan of scissors like that...

Lastly, twist the stripes into DNA-fragment-like strands and roll into something. And there you go...

Dear Bakspecialisten Jessica, please know that I used your "kanelbullekaka" as base recipe to create my kanelbullar, many times.

Privet

There's a cat in the hood, we have named him Privet. He is ultra social and always hungry.

Meaning

Countryside = walking, at the countryside. Started with 7 km today, which indeed made my bum burn because Södermanland is a wavy landscape, in contrast to super-flat Debrecen!

In the evening completed with pushups, situps and some 20 minutes of thaiboxing exercises. Felt great! Tomorrow the plan is to come with my father to the gym... then stay in Eskilstuna over the night to take the train to Stockholm from there on Monday with my mom and aunt :)

I think I ate at least 1 kg of myself this exam period... Not too bad though, considering the amount of exams we had.

Heart!

Oooh tonight was so much fun! Me Bendy Eleni and Sonia had dinner at Csokonai, not a minute without laughter. We have all finished our exams and I'm travelling home in the morning... I'm just so happy. Afterwards switched up Eleni for some Leo and we had that... giga mojito at Belga haha.

I probably won't return to Csokonai however... I told them about my allergies, counted them, and we decided upon a dish that I could eat. But I only took two bites before I got allergic to something... yes the sauce has mustard, but very very small amounts. I see but I told you I can't eat mustard. Idiots. Anyways... I had cortisone with me so it went okay... now some happy photos :)

At last

Good morning!

The exam didn't go too well... I memorised about two drugs for each part of my topics but the teacher asked many more... so I got a 3... but it's okay considering I only focused on studying pharm for one week... plus the final exam is next semester...

So I'm happy, and travelling home on Friday :)))

Yes

This is what a signature hunt feels like. I didn't get a single signature... what a waste of time. Tomorrow is all about pharmacology! I do not feel nervous at this moment, but there's less than 24 hours until the exam, so it will come... hehe. Hopefully we can collect some signatures after the exam...

Phonie things

Excuse me but isn't this some... absolute high-def ultra pro picture resolution. I'm enjoying it very much myself... borrowing Dennis phone. Actually, I think I did not tell you... that I haven't had my iPhone for a couple of months. Long story short, it has passed away.

My current phone is the kind of phone that has four wallpapers, and I am free to choose according to my preference.

A rare beauty. I have greatly appreciated the time I've had with my little Samsung, being completely unable to kill time on it. I know what you are thinking, but I already changed the wallpaper... three times... so all those moments when you are waiting, say standing in line for coffee... Maria has not been on her phone. Instead, contemplating or appreciating something.

I can honestly claim that this phone made me a better human being. Seeing people kill time on their smartphone makes me depressed! Life is passing by and they are stuck in that screen...

Still, I can't help but being happy that a Samsung Galaxy Alpha is waiting for me, patiently, back home in Sweden.

Roses are.. on my bed

You know... there are a lot of things in life that are nice, but few are as nice as clean bed sheets. I studied all day today which feels like crap... and not that I want to make my fresh bed dirrty, but here I am... not going to sleep before I finish another topic.

Tomorrow I'm going to gym...

Aww isn't it sweet.

Misc

Waaaw. Here in Debrecen we need to get all subjects signed with our grades by each department, and I tell you, this is HARD work. Dennis and I managed to get two signatures today but it took over two hours of attentive investigation of the campus.

The photos below are from yesterday, which was my 23rd birthday. Can't believe I'm already 23... anyways... Dennis and I got some signatures, went to gym and had lunch at Melange. I went to bed at 8 PM, woke up 3 AM, made egg-free raspberry muffins, and got back to sleep. What a nice birthday! Thank you for all the birthday wishes.

Wanted to go to Muay Thai tonight but I had to take care of some emailing, and now I have to use the rest of the evening to study pharmacology. My exam in pulmonology the other day went great. :)

Self evaluation, 2014

Read last year's evaluation here.

Exercise: Averaged 5 workouts per week. Really happy with this and I can see a difference to my physique. Did more cardio than last year, a lot of running especially during the warmer months, and started Muay Thai! I have learned some about body control and fight science... knew seriously nothing about kicking someone's ass before. By now I've already used my skills in my dreams... haha. Dennis asked me today to show him how I used to punch before, but I can't even remember how bad that was. My resting pulse was as low as 46 beats per minute this summer, compared to 60 last year.

June versus October, for instance:

Studies: Had a shaky final exam in pathology last semester and got a 2, which together with many 4's brought my grade average to 3,76, but I think this semester will be much better :) lately I'm quite happy with my performance academically. Also, a big thing to me is that I have started lab training at the department of Immunology, to be able to assist in research. I'm super happy about this opportunity. Also my supervisor is great.

Places visited: Huh? Barely! Went to Budapest three times, and to Tokaj once, but I think that is it!? I would really like to go to Thailand or Vietnam but as for now I can't see it happening hehe.

Romance: Where's the baby!? Love you Dennis.

Friendship: Socially I've been really happy. Got closer to many this year and a couple of new aquaintances turned out to become good friends. Haven't had a lot of contact with my friends in Sweden while being in Hungary, but from my side most of us are still best friends.

Parties: Never too many, had a lot of fun this year :D

Make up: Brown, beige. All about nudes, or simply nothing. Sometimes a coloured lipstick. Using Clinique, Lancome and MAC.

Fashion: One word: lazy. Wearing tight fitting clothes because they look good without effort. Foremost I never want to iron anything... This + spending time at the hospital = confused in general. Online shopping addict? It's not that bad, but I should save money and wear what I already own.

Bad habits: I'm so bad. I still touch my skin when I'm stressed! Going to look like 40 when I'm 30 if this doesn't stop immediately... Also I pluck my ends (hair) when I'm bored. But I think I got better at that because my hair has grown out pretty long.

Food/drinks: Hi, I'm a heavy milk consumer. I have been trying to cut down with a couple of liters per week and replace it with juice or water... juice has a lot of sugars on one hand, but at least it's lipid free... What more? I'm cooking a lot. Really a lot. I documented most of it and will make a collage for your appreciation ;P for now, today's salad:

Literature: Pfff! Didn't read a single novel, honestly. What the hell. At least I read a lot of scientific publications outside of the "standard" study material.

GOALS FOR THE NEAR FUTURE:
- Keep up my study discipline that I've had lately, and study more on an everyday basis, not only on weekends.
- Make my gym sessions more planned and effective, so that some of them can be replaced with cardio such as running, swimming or Muay Thai. There's nothing better that I can give to my body than regular cardiac training. I'm also ready to push harder at the gym.
- Consume more HDL lipids, and less diary products. Since I'm allergic to fish I have to be more strict with consuming vegetable oil, spoon wise... as you see my medical studies have been wiping the floor with me.
- Keep my fingers away from my skin!!
- I want to grow my hair another 10 - 15 cm longer :D
- Learn how to relax so that stress will not affect me as much, so that I can go to sleep at proper hours.
- Be more tidy and prevent the apartment from looking like a warzone from time to time.

Best days of 2014, summer with my family at the Swedish countryside:

White

I can't sleep so I'm studying for my exam in Pulmonology. Opened the window to get some air, and to my surprise everything is covered in snow! At last :D

Please feel free to enjoy my extraordinary balcony view of Debrecen:

NYE

Sometimes you meet your friend at a party and you are so happy to see your friend... this time I got to meet almost all of them in one single night, at one single place. Thank you to all of my friends who came to the party to celebrate my birthday :') every presence made the evening special to me.

I was so into the moment that I forgot to set aside some time for photos... These were taken at our house just before we left thanks to Vanessa's passion for food which spurred me to grab my camera.

We went downtown for the fireworks, followed by clubbing at LOFT. Me, Vanessa, Eleni and DENNIS!! I can barely believe it myself hihi.