Hello everyone! This week I will put up two posts, one about what happened to me last week- including my trip to Copenhagen, some running and diet things, however this one will be a bit more personal.
As some of you already know, my little baby brother (Zsombor - have fun pronouncing his name) will be visiting me (only 11 days to go!). This weekend I was at a house warming party with some polish girls, whom I am truly happy to call friends. At that party we had a conversation about how differently we feel about people visiting us, may it be from our home countries or not. I think it is so incredibly interesting to show these visitors our secret little lives, to show them the streets where we walk every day, the clubs where we go, and the shops we buy groceries and whatnot. People visiting us from our home countries, kinda feels like letting them into our little lives, something that they so far only could have a small glance from all the snapchat, Facebook and Instagram pictures. And honestly this is such a unique opportunity for anyone who lives abroad, to let others into your secret little life in another country. Needless to say, that I am incredibly happy to see my little brother face to face again, after 5 months. To top my enthusiasm, I have prepared a 1 week plan, of what we have to see together, as well as where we will be going to eat and party. Gosh that will be an awesomely busy week. But at the party we have also discussed, that while we are building our own professional and personal careers, we also tend to encounter some hardships along the way. Probably the hardest of all is the fact, that we are constantly away from family and friends living in Hungary (or wherever). And while it is also a blessing and truly a wonderful opportunity to live alone abroad, it also rips be from opportunities, such as being present and celebrating birthdays or any other occasions with my closer family (haven't done that in ~3 years). Funnily this has become so part of the whole celebration, that I am always in an awkward Skype way, greeting smiling people whom I have known for years and love them dearly, trying to put up a smile and greet everyone, it's so nice to have at least this opportunity of being part of the celebration. So times like this is really hard. Especially when passing milestones like my brother's graduation; turning 20, my father turning 50, the arrival of my cousin's second beautiful son. These are the times, when I truly feel miserable, since these events and celebrations are the ones, that really makes life worth living. But then again, the reality is, that it was my choice to move to Denmark, to create a better future for myself. You always get one and lose one right?
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Last week was a very interesting week for me in terms of my running progress. I have been feeling more and more tired during my runs, which has resulted in slower and slower progression than before. I was really not understanding the situation, that was causing my sluggish performance. Then I have realized, that the week before I was eating rugbrød (rye bread), which is a brown bread, meaning that the energy consumption and usage is longer than for white bread (what I was eating last week), therefore when I have a dinner at 9P.M. and go running at 11P.M. I was not as energized as before. I will have to change either the time of my runs, or just stick to rugbrød, either way one of them has to change. During the next week I will be adding two new workouts to my plan, in the mornings I will be doing some push-ups and some abs workout, I think it would have a better result on my running as well, since now I am focusing on more parts of my body, not just my legs. The masochist guinea-pigDuring last week I have also started having cold showers. Needless to say, it feels like sitting on a cactus for 3 minutes every morning and every afternoon. However after the shower I feel much more energized and I don't feel as cold as I usually feel (currently sitting on my bed without socks on and in a short, which is basically unheard of, if you know me). The only downside that I was having against the cold showers, is that it pulls my muscles together, leaving them small room to relax. I might just take a cold shower in the morning and go running around 9ish, after a breakfast and a cold shower, and in the afternoon take a warm shower after my push-ups and abs workout. Still have to decide, how I will be able to incorporate these new things in my life. My own timetableAs I was setting all these goals and plans, I have stared to feel, that I may not have enough time on my hands per week to execute all my set out goals, therefore I have made a weekly plan for myself to see what tasks when should be executed, as well as its an easier overview for myself as well. Under the text you can see my whole plan. If you have trouble sleeping (like I do sometimes) I recommend trying to turn off everything electronic around you and read for just 10-30 minutes before going to sleep. This will help you turn off your problem solving part of your brain, and put it into more of a standby mode (tip: don't read about business or sg complicated like that, personally I liked books about cooking or working-out, but probably fiction is also a good idea to read. The path to one's heart is through their stomach.As much I truly enjoy cooking with someone (preferably with a female companion, this whole thing can become a quite nice foreplay), I've found cooking more and more alone, which is a good thing to further perfect my cooking. (If you cook with someone please don't try making "something new" these attempts usually leave people with over or under-cooked meals that have also fucked-up seasoning) This week in Netto there was a quite good deal on salmons, therefore I have decided to try making a dish with salmon. I can tell you, that this was one of the best meals I have made in a long time. It was just perfect, the best part about it? The whole process was really easy to do, cheap and most importantly fast.
Ingredients: 500 grams of salmon 1 whole lemon about 4-5 tbs olive oil fresh dill (I've bought a whole plant and ended up using the whole thing, so its safe to say, that the planted things you can buy in the supermarkets will enough) salt & pepper 2 pieces of aluminium foil 2-3 cloves of garlic 2-3 freshly chopped spring onions. Before you start making this meal a fair warning: Please don't try this if you want to have any khmm action that night. Although this meal will taste amazingly, the aftertaste of the garlic and onions will stay there even after 2-3 times washing your teeth and eating chewing gum. What you will need to do it, set the oven for 230 degrees Celsius with air circulation. Lay down 1 aluminium foil, and place the salmon on top. (It's a good idea to put some oil beneath the salmons or some none sticking spray, so it will be easier to remove them after cooking. For the mixture take out one relatively big bowl and put in the following things: the olive oil, the freshly chopped dill, and 1 very finely chopped spring onion, 2-3 cloves of pressed garlic cut the lemon in half (before cutting it, its a good idea to roll it once or twice, it will make the lemon give you more juice for some reason), and juice the lemon out of one half , while keeping the other one for later use. while juicing the lemon try not to leave any seeds in the bowl. add salt and pepper according to your taste Use a whisk or a spoon and mix the mixture. Then add it to your salmon, coating all pieces. Then cut the remaining half of the lemon into circles, and place them on top of the salmon. Take your other aluminium foil and place it on top of the salmon, and try creating a little "bag" while closing all the ends really tightly. Put it into the oven between 20-25 minutes. Before serving spinkle some freshly chopped spring onions on top. As for the sides I have made some rice the first time I've made the meal, but the day after I had an idea how to make the rice even better, so here you go a new random recipe for rice was born: 1 bag of instant rice that was already made. (Just read the instructions on the box, you can't really do anything bad.) Heat up 1 big pan, and add about 3-4 tbs of oil. Add the rice (without water or you might get burnt), and while continoulsy stirring it, add 1 tbs pepper, salt, paprika and other spices if you want. I went with some additional chili powder, so it will have some kick. When you notice, that the rice starts to get more stickier and really change colour (around 3-5 minutes) add about 1-3 tbs of soy sauce and let it sit for an additional 2 more minutes. (Not more than 2 otherwise you will burn it and it will taste like burnt rice, which is awful.) Unfortunately I didn't take a picture of this, but I assure you, it tasted amazingly. Before serving chop some spring onions very finely and mix it with the rice. Let me start off, by saying a huge thank you, for all of you, who wrote to me, to wish me luck, expressing their support over my cause. That was unbelievable, thanks to all of you. As you can see, I have also changed the font, hopefully this one will be easier to read, than the previous one. Also just a thank you for the whooping 200 page visits, it's crazy. Current relationship status: made food for two, ate both.As bad as it may sound, I have been investing a rather big portion of my time for food. Eating food, making food, reading about food - a great book to read is the 4-hour chef by Tim Ferris - and the more I read and watch YouTube videos about food, the more my perception is shifting from the food itself being only a source of energy, the constant need just to eat something, so I can function, to where I profoundly enjoy the creation and consumption of my food, as not just a way to take in calories, but to have an experience. Now that's something really cool. Now I am not saying, that I am making Michelin-star food, just simply trying to make better food and make the most enjoyment while at it. This week I have tried to make a "one pot" type of food, with some fresh veggies, chicken breast, milk, pasta and some spices. A really "fast food", that was actually healthy and well balanced. The whole creation of this food, with the preparation took around 30-40 minutes, but it was well worth it, since it tasted amazingly, and now I have some food, for the upcoming 4-5 days. I think it is a good note here, that if you are a college student (kinda like me), try food prep. It is an extremely efficient way to have warm food every day, with very little cost and time, if you divide it in the days. (I have spent around 70-90 Dkk and 30-40 minutes on this meal, which I can eat for 4-5 days. Going with the worst case scenario, this meal costs me 22.5 Dkk and 10 minutes per day. Now that does not sound bad, does it?) If you are interested of what I have made, here you go with the full recipe: "One pot Chicken Fajita" INGREDIENTS 3 tablespoons oil 3 chicken breasts, sliced 1 red bell pepper, sliced 1 green bell pepper, sliced 1 yellow bell pepper, sliced 1 onion, sliced 1 teaspoon salt 1 teaspoon pepper 1 tablespoon chili powder 1 tablespoon cumin 1 tablespoon garlic powder 5 cups milk 4 cups penne pasta (I have used a fusilli type of pasta) 1 cup pepper jack cheese, shredded INSTRUCTIONS 1. Heat oil in a large pot over high heat 2. Add chicken and cook until no pink is visible, then take the chicken out. 3. Add the bell peppers and onion, cooking until the onion is translucent. 4. Add the chicken back to the pot with salt, pepper, chili powder, cumin, and garlic powder, stirring until evenly coated. 5. Add the milk and the penne, stirring constantly to prevent any pasta from sticking. 6. Cook for about 8-10 minutes until pasta is cooked and the milk has reduced to a thick sauce that coats the pasta. 7. Add the cheese and mix until melted. It tasted amazing and have filled me up every time! A definite success in my book. 物极必反 - Wu ji bi fan - Too much of a good thing is a bad thing.As I was desperately looking for guides preparing me for the Aarhus halvmaraton, I have been the unconventional truth: the abundance of information about running. Just too much information, that got me incredibly confused and frustrated: for the most part it was because they were not consistent. Some guides were saying I should just focus on running short distances, while others were suggesting, that I should focus more on increasing my run; and I have not even mentioned the diet. As the spur of the moment, I have said "f*ck this" and just turned YouTube on.
Well as a funny coincidence the home page Tim Ferris was offered as a suggestion; more precisely an overview of his book, the 4-hour body. (If you don't know Tim Ferris, he is basically an amazingly inspiring entrepreneur, have three New York Times bestseller books, (4-hour workweek, 4-hour body and 4-hour chef) incredibly successful in the Silicon Valley; so basically and all around badass) I have previously read parts of the 4-hour chef (mainly about the Sexy Time Steak; and other kitchen conundrums to impress the 'weaker' sex) and I was incredibly stunned, how well he is able to write about seemingly difficult things, as well as mixing personal experience with professional advice. I highly encourage you to check his books out! But as I was saying, watching that video, explaining the contents of the book, got me hooked, and I found myself reading about 200 pages in 2 hours, consuming 1/3 of the book, and being shocked by all the new information I have gathered. Basically saying, I will be changing my workout and morning routine, that still needs to be worked on, however I am quite positive, that this will have a huge positive effect on my workout and hopefully on my routine. Moreover I will have to buy some new accessories for my running, such as a proper shoe, since the past few runs my left pointy toe (the one next to the big one) started to have a blister, but filled with blood (probably not a good sign of a shoe); as well as a case for my iPhone that can be placed on my arms and lastly I will be trying out some new vitamins, that I will add to my current vitamins (I take 1000mg of Vitamin C and 2000 Ne Vitamin D3 everyday.) I will be going now (I will try to run 5 kilometers under 30 minutes - the next the will be the under 24 minutes, as suggested by the book). For some reason I have found it quite compelling, so I will be using the workouts described in the book as well as the training methods and diets. So see you guys next week, and thank you for reading! The hardest thing when trying to get rid of a bad habit and creating a better one in my opinion is breaking the routine. In my case I had a lot of those routines - waking up and smoking my first cigarette of the day; getting drunk in Kunstahl every Wednesday at 8 pm and the total resent for working out. As I was faced with the huge goals that I have set in front of myself I knew, that I will not be able to just stop from one second to another, but planting seeds of new habits would help me overcome these problems. My week so far looks as the following: I am learning Danish from Tuesday til Thursday, around 9 hours a week. I run 4 times a week. I allocate three days for reading before I go to sleep. (currently reading about a book called: "This is my god" by Herman Wouk - as a person who does not believe in God, or any higher power I find it fascinating to see the world through a different eyes, and to understand a different religion) I am writing Youtube video ideas and concepts at least one hour every day, into my book, including how to achieve them. Currently planning a trip to the Netherlands, depending on my current economy in the following months, for a few days. Run Forrest run!I have been in a great physical condition in my whole life, thanks to my parents constant push, may it be about swimming, water-polo or jiu jitsu. As I have started my new life in Denmark, my motivation (and need) for working-out has slowly disappeared and stayed like this until now. I will be as honest as possibly can with you dear reader, so when I say, that the first two weeks of running was horrible. The past one and half year of smoking really did it's work and I was out of breath, all my muscles were aching and I was feeling awful. But after a 30 minute of trying not to die, I have actually felt pretty good. As for the first time I ran it was about 2 kilometers, and I have stopped twice. I don't know the exact date, but about a month later I can run 5 kilometers without stopping and constantly making my time better (at the start of the week I ran 5 km in 35 minutes, now it was under 31:30). As you can see, I am progressing quite well, which I am really happy for. For the first 3 kilometers the running goes quite smoothly, then I have to push myself, but it gets easier every time. To keep track of my end goal (June 11.) I have set out a monthly and weekly running plan, which goes like this: Every new week I will increase the running amount by 1 kilometers, and since there are 17 weeks to go until June 11, this plan is perfect for a slow but steady preparing. Currently I am in week 1 with 5 kilometers, and hopefully at the end of the week 17 I will be running 22 kilometers. When looking at the weekly run, I have set the following days as "run days": Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. The "rest days" are the ones left out. As I have found out, it is really important to have these rest days, I don't want to overwhelm my body and threaten the progress. På vej til dansk trin for trin. (On the way of danish step by step)I have also started learning at lærdansk, where I got into the module 3 (B1) classes. Our teacher Sonja is one of the best teacher I have ever had. She is funny, interesting and really knows how to motivate people. All in all I am really fond of her, I am feeling quite lucky and happy that I am in the group with her. The classes are held 3 times a week, from 12:00-14:45, so it is safe to say, that it is a quite intensive course, that I am taking. Each lesson is very well constructed, I have not yet found myself in the situation of counting the time, when will the class end, nor had a huge boredom bearing over me. My classmates are as diverse, as one could ask for. We have people from all over the world, creating an amazing atmosphere. The first few classes were quite demanding, but after a while I got the hang of it, and I am able to participate more and more with the classes, and completing the homework with less and less google translate. As a last word of goodbye for the week, I am super excited, my little baby brother will be visiting me between the 25th of March and 1st of April, which means I have the huge opportunity to show him my amazing and beloved city of smiles! Take care, and have a nice time of the day, when you are reading this. Taki - the smilecityboy
It was 23:34 on a particularly cold Saturday night. I just ran for 30 minutes, after at least 2 years of religiously not working out and avoiding any and all physical activities at all cost. My legs were hurting, I was panting; desperately trying to catch my breath. My mouth tasted like blood. And I thought to myself - 'How did I get from partying 3-4 days a week, smoking a pack every second day, and not caring about anything besides self-destruction to this?' My story starts out as me being drunk and smoking in front of my previous place. As I was smoking my cigarette, enjoying the taste of menthol slowly going down to my lungs, and with every puff feeding myself with nicotine, I asked myself a question: Am I really that happy as how things are going? Is this something that I enjoy doing, or should I try and pursue something else? And as I was thinking about my previous days, months and years, I have realized that I got into this negative circle of self-destructive lifestyle. The problem with everything I do, I tend to overdo things. Partying and drinking is fine when you do it once a week - I did it usually the better half of a week. And when you are hangover more times when you are not in a week, that is usually a sign of big problems. The other thing was the smoking. As all addiction in everyone's life, it starts out as a quite habit, that quickly turns into a very expensive addiction. For me cigarettes were always there, to try it out and smoke when I was drunk. Then I have started to smoke once a night, when I was going to sleep. Then I started to smoke more and more when I was drinking. One thing followed another, soon I was the kinda person, who smoked 5-10 cigarettes a day. And as it was going on, I have convinced myself, that it is okay, Hell, even most of my friends were smoking. And even when I was trying to quit, I always just started again. As I was contemplating about these things, I have decided, that it is the time for change. So I have thrown my cigarette away, went inside my room and started to write a list, that I would (and will) achieve in 2017. (Although I really despise people who say the 'new year - new me bullshit' I am probably one of those people right now) Here is the list, that I have written to myself at around 5 am, being completely drunk:
As you guys can see, these 12 points are easily achievable and are following a MAAT system (Measurable; Achiavable; Ambitios and Timed). With this, I can ensure to have a strong grasp on the points, and how close/far I am from achieving them. |
AuthorThe not so average life of a 21 year old Hungarian in Denmark. ArchivesCategories |