Beware, it's quite spicy, especially if you cut the chili in half! (Spicy tea, isn't that great?)
I've been feeling really healthy the past few weeks. We have a subscription for organic vegetables from a farm some 30 km away, so I've been cooking especially healthy dishes recently. (FYI: Even if my roommate likes to pretend that a topless young farmer with a sixpack and a cute little calf delivers the box of veggies every week, I'm afraid that's not true. It's all very anonymous.) So far we got pumpkins, lettuce, shitake mushrooms, tons of carrots, fennel, sprouts and so on - what a blessing! I hardly ever eat pasta and bread anymore, even if I used to love it. It just doesn't feel that good anymore. Every now and then I bake a cake or indulge in self-made pizza. This, I love! Plus the wine and the friends that usually come with making pizza...
Also, I've been running a lot. Three to four times a week, for over a month now. Yesterday I reached a milestone: I was not only looking forward to going running in the evening - I almost couldn't wait! It feels so good to go out into the forest, with fog hanging in the trees or the sun shining brightly. I love to breathe in the cool air and shake off the cold that's crawling through my bones when I'm working at home by getting my body moving.
Isn't that beautiful? I wish I lived in a country with bigger forests, even more majestic and magical, with less people and more freedom.
What I love about running is that you can tell that you made progress each week. 110% every time. Suddenly you can run ten minutes without your lungs burning, and what tries to stops you isn't that you can't breathe but that your legs start to hurt. Running is so easy, just don't be too hard on yourself when you first start.
I also love my inspiration board on Pinterest. Whenever I know that tomorrow's going to be a running day and I really don't feel like it I browse through pictures of the forest and inspirational quotes.
I try not to take it too seriously, though. I don't run to get results but to feel fit. I run to clear my head, to get out of the house when I've been working from home all day. To think about things that trouble me. I usually don't listen to fast music because I have difficulties finding my pace and breathing rhythm, so I listen to an audiobook (at the moment, "The Casual Vacancy" by J. K. Rowling), to a podcast, or just to some slow, quiet music without a dominant rhythm.
I hope that I can keep the running up during the winter. It's getting colder now and soon it's going to be dark morning and evening so I'm not gonna run in the woods anymore. Fortunately, I've got some great friends living nearby that I can run with.
Aww, writing this I regret that today is a relax and recovery day for me! My advice to you:
