Becoming Healthy

I have been talking about being more healthy but never really told you how we are trying to achieve this. I will start by saying a few words about how we used to live back in Sweden (and a few months in Singapore). There was little exercise done at all; I want to say none of us ever went to the gym in Stockholm. The lunches were huge and in most cases not healthy at all. The dinners were homemade but also very large portions and very few vegetables. We ate a lot of rice, pasta and loads of meat. There were always one or more sodas in the fridge. We sat often in front of our PCs or the TV. Yet despite all this we remained in constant weight and felt good. Life was easy and comfortable. There was no reason to start thinking about the gym or calories.

Then we moved to Singapore and in less than six months we both gained five kilos! We had the same lifestyle as before and could not understand what happened. Still we are not sure. The Swedish lifestyle was not working in the tropics. There needed to be a change.

I want to say that this all started the day I decided to stop drinking Coca Cola. It has been an addiction in my life for so long and I have tried many times to stop. I did not decide it but one day I went without, and then the next. And it continued. Each day was an achievement. John helped me keep it in check and when I really wanted to have some he gave me a small bottle of Pepsi instead. It was a cheap trick but it worked. Last time I drank Coke was the seventh of October. It might not appear to be a long time, but remember I used to drink everyday, sometimes a day or two without at most.

After that it just continued. We started going to the gym more often. I bought new gym clothes. I bought new shoes. John bought new clothes and shoes. We bought two vacuum sealed bottles that keeps water cold the whole day (or a hot drink warm) and now drink the daily dosage daily. We downloaded an app called MyFitnessPal to help us count calories and therefore can keep track of our meals. We snack less on candy and buy more vegetables. This is a huge change in our life and nothing we have ever lived with.

And you know what?
We feel good!