September - I'm alive! :)

Well, long long time since the last meaningful post.

Several news for an update, not more than that. :) Just to kinda scribble "I'm here, folks!" :)

-1-

First, I started looking into photos issue - they have miraculously all disappeared from Picasa albums. I am so pissed off. But this means all the links to the pics are broken with very rare exceptions. And I was thinking that once you actually upload them online, they stay there. In all honesty - the whole album just disappeared... And those pics I have actually posted from different albums there not related to the blog, they are still here.

Anyway, keeping it short. Once again, I will look into it in the next days. It means I need to get the old laptop up and running, the old hard drive as well, and then locate whatever was that I uploaded... Or unfortunately I might have to delete pics. But I will try to at least keep the "before and after" and results pics. :)

-2-

Second, I am still working out, though I left TA for some time. NOT because it was not working for me. But rather because clueless as I am in fitness, I decided to try something new. I have never been in the gym, have never actually worked out with a personal trainer. And the opportunity arrived and I decided to try it. So yes, folks, I am working out the hard-core way in the gym with a personal trainer. Doing all those things I thought I would not like to do. But it is OK. I feel stronger already, I feel great. And I will keep updating and letting you know how things are and a more detailed post on my schedule too. But as TA offers the flexibility of working out at home - any time and when you don't have the budget for the gym and trainer, I decided it won't run away from me. I can come back to it and will love it. For now though I am taking the opportunity to work out differently.

-3-

Third, and probably most important news: I FINALLY SUBMITTED MY PhD THESIS! This wonderful moment happened in mid-July 2013 and I am extremely happy. I will have my defense/viva on the 27th of September 2013 and then couple of weeks later I will be a Dr.! Only of philosophy (in sociology), but who cares :) This is big big BIG and I'm happy.

***

OK, there is MUCH much more, but I don't want to ramble, so leave it to the next time. Now that I finally have time, I'm back online! :)

Have a great weekend everyone!

Photos fiasco

Hey you guys, I have NO clue, what happened with photos - I can't see most of them. I guess the links have been broken and this is sooo annoying! I will try to go over my posts and fix the stuff - particularly for the results posts. But I can't promise to do it really soon. Sorry! I guess something happened with my Picasa, where I store the pics and then just link them here. SO annoying!!

PS Or can you guys see them? From like earlier posts on before and after pics?

Long time no see!

Gosh, I can't believe I was not here for so long...

I'm so so so sorry I was gone. For SO long! Wow! I know many of you still read my blog - and all the info here is for you to use, learn, and so on. :) Feel free. Thanks to all of you, who have written in the past months and who have lost me for a while! I appreciate all your support and insight!

I have TONS of updates, and I won't be able to fit it all in here. But to explain why I have been relatively absent in the past 3-4 months - well, surprise-surprise, it is all my PhD. I know, I have been bragging about it for it seems like half a year. And it seems that for a year by now I have been saying "Hold on, Liuba, it's just a little left!" Then suddenly my supervisor wants me to do a new study - in December! I was supposed to finish everything in December. The worst thing is I really wanted to do that study myself, so I did it. Sigh.

Anyway. I will be back and relatively soon. I am - YES! - planning to submit in May and am working really intensively now revising, revising, revising! After that I will be back. And I will have a few new things to share with you. 

First, I'm gonna add another part to this blog - on health and going natural, as this is what I am doing this year. This was one of my NY resolutions, and I am going to share my journey with you. It will be a mix of some diet and make-up tips and stories.

Second, I have stopped doing TA after Continuity level 6. I never started level 7, though I really love TA (this blog is the proof enough right?!). But I simply couldn't find the time and energy besides my PhD. I am doing some exercise 3 times a week, but it is really low-intensity stuff, like Tracey Mallet barre method (I will try to do a review sometime). Why? Don't get me wrong - I still love TA immensely, but I really like to do it systematically. And when I can't - I feel like it is not worth it in a way. I DO want to proceed from level to level, and if right now I don't have a chance to be consistent and do one level in two weeks, well I'd rather leave it till I can. This is only my thing, and some people don't mind being inconsistent. But I will get back to Continuity in May-June.

Third, I am planning to get a personal trainer on top of TA. Yes, I know, it is not recommended. But I want to learn about this stuff - so that I can understand my body better and know the differences between different workouts. Otherwise, how can I claim that what I'm doing IS the way forward? Huh? :)

So this will be the updates to this blog, check back in soon! I have already prepared some stuff on natural make-up, mineral make-up and make-up for acne-prone skin. So, stay tuned!

Finally, some updates. I moved to Prague! Wohoo! One of the most beautiful cities in the world! But right now - I am having a research stay in Trondheim, Norway (I know it is confusing, but forget about Norway, I'm thinking of myself as based in Prague already!). Trondheim VERY northern, but extremely pretty - any season. In the past months I also did a lot of travelling  we my BF (obviously besides packing up my stuff, selling furniture and leaving my beloved Bremen) - we travelled to Amsterdam, New York, Frankfurt, Heidelberg and Strasbourg. Lots of great memories, wonderful time, great food (YUM!). I am a food freak - I know that now. I LOVE FOOD! French food - delicious! Steak - WOW! We had some nice steak in NY almost every day, as well as had a great one at (not next to AT) the Grand Central at the Michael Jordan Steakhouse. It is quite pricey (like most things NY-style!), but very good and with a very fine view I have to say. :)

NYC skyline... Not just beautiful - breathtaking! I wish camera could really capture it!

Well I just couldn't NOT post this :)))) Funny. It is actually at the Madame Tussauds. 

Have a great rest of the weekend you guys, I will try to check in here more often. Keep your fingers crossed for me!

I am BAAAAACK! :)

C 1.1.6

Day: 2

Hey there! :) I am a little back. Not for long. I might disappear again for some time. Or may be not. Right now I can't really say. But I decided to write a little update.

I have been a very bad girl. After my last post I haven't much exercised. I basically had a month-long break from working out. It is not good, but I could not help it. And it is really hard now too.

First my sweetheart took me to Seuchelles for Christmas. It was a wonderful and great holiday. The beauty of that place is amazing, and only the story of sharks made me uneasy. The food was great and oh how I loved the fresh fish. We once went for a trip on a little yacht and the owner would catch fish right in front of us, and we would then eat it for lunch. A M A Z I N G! I have never had such good food. Generally though the Creole cuisine is pretty strange - lots of influences from Africa, India, a bit from France of course. But if you are a fan of seafood - it is for you. We had lobster for Christmas dinner, and it was my first lobster, I have to say I didn't much like it. All in all, you can imagine, I ate too much and didn't have time or opportunity to exercise - seriously if you have only 7 days in a pradise like this, you would not workout!

As you can see, I did add some weight, but not too much and I still fit everything. Back to workout damn it!

Next we flew back to Germany and I head out to Russia to visit my parents for the New Year's celebration. Stayed there for two weeks and in all festivities I again overate like crazy. Both me and my sister were nearly crying from all the yummy foods. But it was good to be back with the family - not too short, not too long, just enough. Obviously, when you don't have enough space, there is no way you can workout - even though I had my Continuity DVD's with me... But I simply never got around to doing it.

Well, after all the travels and going from +30C to -30C I got a flu or cold. And was sick for one more week. And so here I am - this was a fast-forward of my workout-empty life - on the 22 January 2013 (seriously???? when did THIS happen???), Tuesday, and I have restarted workout on 21 January.

I have decided to slowly go back into DC - started with 10 minutes yesterday and will try to get up to the full 30 in about 20 days: I will go by 5 minutes up every fifth workout till I reach 30 minutes again. I think the main thing is to take it easy. Also, if I don't feel like DC, I would do something else for the same time + 5 min.

MS. Instead of repeating anything (after all I was off exercise for a MONTH!), I decided to continue. This decision was made for several reasons. First I was feeling if I go back and start with for instance Continuity again, I would get completely stuck and be completely unmotivated. And for me right now it is really hard to keep the motivation up. Second, I didn't find the level 6 too hard, so I decided to give it a try and see if I can manage. Tracy says in that level that we have to come to ALL the reps in that level as soon as possible. BOY! I realised I sometimes didn't come to all the reps in the previous levels!!! Even by the end of them! So I decided to work really hard. And after 5th day add weights for the second half of each level.

So, level 6 is hard, but to be honest - not undoable. Really. Even after a month break I could do it. Yes, I was sore the next day and doing MS the today was a true torture, but I managed - both times. It is similar to the levels where there is no real standing abs and no weights in the arms section (from level 4). So in the end of the day, it is not horribly bad. The moves are good, and I have to say most of them even enjoyable. Except for one - which is done in plank position. And boy - it is HARD! I only manage to do like 10 out of 20 reps, so beware! :)

Well, I'll keep you posted how it goes, and I really hope to get going with it better than before.

Christmas is close!...

Well, it's  been a long long time since I logged in last and posted an update. Almost two months. Wow. Time flies.

I had a lot of things going on and now wanted to post about many different and perhaps not very related things. Because I am leaving tomorrow and most probably won't have access to Internet for nearly three weeks. Three more weeks is not so much compared to the 7 I have been absent from the blogosphere, but still. :)

TA. Well, I am still holding in. But barely. And it is not about the lack of motivation really. Simply my PhD is taking my life in its own hands and I really can't find enough time. But I did finish level 4 and 5. Now that I am away, I will try to keep active, but I'm afraid I won't be able to work out well and often. When I get back in mid-January, I will start on level 6 of Continuity. Slowly but right ahead.

I had a very sad November. My grandpa died and I couldn't go to the funeral. But at least I managed to say bye to him and see him in October. It took me a little back on my PhD and workouts as well. But I am happy to be travelling to see my family very soon.

I bought a new camera and enjoyed taking it everywhere with me. I took some nice pictures which are more like learning for me. I started out with learning photography from Photography Concentrate. Their "Extremely Essential Camera Skills" is really good and easy for the very beginners! It just gets you going from scratch!

These are some photos I took at my University (Jacobs University Bremen) when it was beautifully snowy for the first time this winter!

Now I read a lot of tips and advice, and really hope I can apply them in practice now on my trip.... We are heading out in a couple - yes - minutes!!!! Have to order a taxi and go! I will be crossing the equator for the first time in my life and will spend a wonderful week with my sweetheart in Seychelles! Can't wait! Christmas with the sand, palms, fruits, sea and lots and lots of sun!

To whoever celebrates what: 

Merry Christmas everyone! Happy New Year! Happy Hanukkah!

Continuity 1.1 Level 4... Oh Boy...

Level C1.1.4

Day 4

So folks, I started level 4! I was really tired and bored with level 3, as again I had to redo it at certain point. Sigh... Now that's done, and I was SOOOO happy to move on to level 4. I still get really excited about MS changes - they are new and unexpected. I know a lot of people like to preview the new levels, but I don't. I actually like to turn it on an be surprised. :) It means of course that MS does not take 30 minutes, but well over 40 at first - as I pause and rewind and do the exercise again. But it is so great - the anticipation of something new and you don't know what to expect!

My verdict so far: I loved level 4! It is weird and strange, but I still loved it! But beware: it is different!!! It is surprising and strange.

First, I think there is a little weird thing going on with reps (I am not sure if it was supposed to be that way or not...). Basically all exercises are repeated - and it looks like it is simply repeated by copy-pasting the video... 

Second, there are no arms with weights or standing abs. That was a shocker. So basically you do the sequence of moves for the arms without weights, and then they are repeated a second time. Weird. And then a shocker: after arms, you go directly to the mat for abs. And to be honest, I liked this little change - whether it was indeed planned or not... You would think that arm exercises without weights would be easy-peasy... Nope! I still can't even contemplate doing them with wrist weights: my arms are falling off as it is. The abs - well I have to be honest, all the exercises are doable and don't seem hard at all, but by the end your abs really hurt. For me this change is somehow "Back to simplicity"... It is great!

Third, the leg moves are doable! Wow! I actually can repeat most of the reps from the start and after day 5 will be putting ankle weights. And I like them - they are truly enjoyable. Lots of moves, during which you feel stretching all along your body. There are many of the exercises - about 8, and some of them I feel very very very well on my inner-thigh! Goody!!!! 

WARNING: Level 4 definitely has some video-making problems. So left leg lifts miss 3 exercises!!! Not one, not just a different angle, but whole 3 exercises! And nice ones too - from the very beginning. Hence, the video seems to be really short (total of 27 min), but if you do all the leg moves on the right and left, it becomes about 30 min workout. What I do - I simply rewind the video back to the start of right leg moves and mirror then for my left leg. By now I am almost able to do them on my own.

So, that is level 4. I have in generally not been eating extremely healthy. Me and my bf really want to go on diet - together to lose some of those kilos (I didn't really gain anything...), but I definitely lost some of my tight and cool abs (as I can't really workout more often than 4-5 times a week these days...)

But I think I'm still keeping it up reasonably well....

I also found a cool way to sparkle the DC a little and make it a little more fun: little skirts for dancing and tennis! They are so cute - I love them!!!! :)

Kimberly Snyder's diet...

OK folks. I wanted to share with you a diet I found and will try. It is the "Beauty Detox Solution" by Kimberly Snyder (KS). I bumpted into it by accident and thought to give it a try. I don't have the above book, but KS has a pretty neat blog, so I will try to follow the main principles of this diet and then see if I would want to buy the book for more info.

All in all, it is actually very similar to TA diet, but KS tries to explain it a little bit more. There are some surprising guidelines, which I have never heard before. So, the main principles:

1. Eat light to heavy - meaning start the day with light food and go heavier towards the evening. Animal protein and starches should be left to the evening... This is actually funny, as there is a common belief that it is useful to have a big breakfast and light dinner - so the other way around... Crazy. But I'm gonna try it.
2. Don't mix animal protein and starches, animal protein should be mixed only with veggies.
3. Eat fruits separately from anything else and at least 30 min before or after other foods.
4. Exclude wheat and diary
5. No liquids during the meal (that I don't really understand and don't really agree with....)
6. Start ANY meal with greens - some light veggies or salad. It is like include a small starter for any meal...
7. Start the day with the "Glowing Green Smoothie". This is actually very similar to the Power Juice by TA, but it adds the fiber of fruits and veg. I already tried it today and I have to say - I liked it! It was not disgusting or anything like that, in fact it is really light, fresh and yummy! Great start of the day! The recipe is in the link. It contains water, spinach, lettuce, celery, apples, pears, bananas, lemon juice. Other than that parsley and cilantro could be added, but I liked it as it was. Fruits add a little sweetness, and the lettuce and spinach add the freshness - really good! From the recipe I actually got TONS of smoothie, and had 2 full glasses. Yum! And it really IS green!!!! :)