Drink more water. Yuck! Here’s how I’m doing it.

Posted on April 26, 2018 by Bo

“Research” says that it takes 21 days to form a new habit. I’ve seen this stat somewhere so when my nutritionist recommended that I drink 1.5l to 2l of water per day, 3 weeks flashed through my head. If I could keep it up for 3 weeks, I’d be okay, right? Eeek!

I’m a big tea drinker. I can drink up to x6 cups of tea a day, easily. To give that up in favour of water was tough! I was dreading it! But I’ve survived. It’s 3 weeks later and I think I’ve cracked it!

Here’s how:

I bought myself a spoily water bottle. Instead of using those skanky freebie plastic water bottles you get at the road races, I wanted this to feel different and not feel like I was carrying around my water bottle from the gym.
My personal trainer suggested that I use the dead time driving to work and back to get through one litre – 500mls on the drive into the office and 500mls driving back home. Then to ensure that I fill up again during the morning and again after lunch.
Add a little sparkle! The good old SodaStream has been a life saver. Most of the time, I am drinking sparkling water which feels oh so fancy. People actually spend money on this stuff!
Every now and then, I drop in some flavour bursts. My boss told me to look out for sugarfree flavour drops. What a gem! I don’t mind the plain water during the day but every so often, just having that extra flavour makes a big difference.
Lemon, oranges and even apples. I have added some cut up fruit to the water and been amazed at the subtle flavor it adds.

The difference drinking water has made to my body is incredible. The “research” and all those articles in health magazines was spot on. And yes, it only took 21 days. It’s a good habit to have too. 💪🏼

Any water drinking tips of your own you’d like to share?

That time of year again

Posted on April 5, 2018 by Bo

The change in season is never more evident than when we return home from our Easter holiday. The yearly trek down to Cape Town to run the Two Oceans is the first time I’m packing in warmer jackets and closed shoes, knowing that evenings are a lot cooler. And by the time we fly home, everything is suddenly duller. There’s a fresh chill in the air, the sun sets earlier and unless you head out for your afternoon run before 17:30, you can forget about finishing in the light.

Wine and pizza pairing at the Brenaissance Wine Farm on the day we landed. I was already feeling chilly & whipped out my puffer.

We did manage to soak up a few rays down in Cape Town. Truth be told, we must be getting older because we preferred to lie around at the pool at the hotel instead of heading down to Clifton 4th beach.

Calm & relaxing. Only realized that my toenails are painted blue by pure coincidence – Thank you Monika & Lemonade.

KK gets terrible cabin fever and so we decided one morning to hike up the mountain. It wasn’t as easy as we thought. The fires had destroyed a lot of the vegetation and so the path wasn’t visible. It turned into quite a serious hike, right up KK’s alley! But the views from the top were amazing!

I was left with mixed feelings about Cape Town’s drought situation. There’s definitely awareness of it up in Jo’burg and we packed in wet wipes, expecting the worst. But I didn’t get a sense of the seriousness whilst down in Cape Town. The hotel only had a few signs around, but no clear instructions on what I was expected to do with the water in the bucket after I had showered.

The concierge claimed it wasn’t an issue and would only hit Cape Town in 2019. The toilets at the V&A Waterfront had a small sticker above the loo saying, “This toilet uses grey water.” So does that mean I flush after my wee or not?

The great thing about holidays in Cape Town are definitely the late sunsets! It was 19:00 and the sun was just setting over the ocean. It was refreshing to stop and take it in. We also scored with no wind this year! The wind and I are not big friends and that nasty South Easter can upset my entire day.

cape town sunsets

I must confess that I did have two chocolate croissants, one after the other, at breakfast on our last morning in Cape Town. It was glorious! I had been very good the entire weekend – no wine, lots of protein, zero Easter eggs (liar) and a salad here & there for lunch. But coming back to Jo’burg, I have a new mindset & have reset my goals:

Running: I will be relooking my running goals. I’m already eyeing RAC 10km in May. But for now, I am hoping for more runs, less mileage. Going for regular 4km runs after work (before that Winter sun sets) instead of thinking that I need to run 10s and 21s all the time. That will come, but not for now.
Weight: Call it “the 40s midlife crisis” or blame it on my running injury ~~excuses~~, but something has gone seriously wrong in my head & I have lost control over food. Sounds quite dramatic, I know! I’ve been to see another dietician. I’ll save it for another blog post, but while eating Pronutro and rice cakes works amazingly for some, it didn’t for me. So I found someone who is Banting / LCHF / Keto / Plant based pro. My gut feel is that this way of eating suits me. It’s worked before. It’s my head I need to fix first.

There’s another long weekend coming up at the end of April and then we have that long stretch into Winter. Chilly, dark morning runs. Battling the traffic to get home from work early enough to run. The streets lined with an array of beautiful hues of brown and orange leaves that crunch under your feet. I’m ready for you Winter.

Feeding an Otter athlete

Posted on November 6, 2016 by Bo

With so many running goals in his sights, KK has upped his training. Having successfully completed his first ever Otter trail run, his running calendar includes events such as Kaapsehoop (ticked off his list), 94.7 cycle challenge and Ultra Trail Cape Town (UTCT) with a couple of Westcliff stairs and Kingskloof training sessions thrown in.

He loved Otter! Compared to road running, Otter gave him a challenge he’s never encountered before. With Comrades, you just run and if you’re mentally strong enough, shut out the rest of the world and make sure you jog along to the end. But with Retto (Otter run backwards) this year, the course did not allow for any sections where your mind clutches out. In fact, trail running is a whole other beast!

14 000 steps awaited KK, including water slides into the Bloukrans River, river crossings, runs on beaches, crossing boulders, making his way through forests, balancing off edges of cliffs…

But with the increase in training has come an increase in appetite. He eats. He eats a lot!

Each evening when I pack his lunchbox for work, I try match it to his training schedule. I know for example that a 4am session running the Westcliff stairs means he’ll be starving for the rest of the day. KK has been complaining that he doesn’t have enough food in the day. So in my search for new and exciting ideas, I found this recipe:

Sweet potato bacon cakes! A great lunchbox filler perfect for KK!

Sweet potato

Full recipe at: http://paleoleap.com/sweet-potato-bacon-cakes/

It’s a hectic downhill rush to the end of the year. Not too many races ahead but still a lot of training. Hope this fills KK’s belly and gives him the energy he needs.

As for me, just knowing there’s a mandatory rest period pencilled in his training schedule is enough to look forward to!

Happy training runners!

Ps: Oh and Otter 2017. Already entered. KK wastes no time!

Eat here

Posted on July 24, 2015 by Bo

Lately, KK and I have been trying some new and exciting restaurants in Jo’burg. We started to get really tired of the same old restaurants every weekend so we started to make a real effort to try new ones. When you start to look, you find that Jozi is packed with trendy places!

Craft – Parkhurst

We decided to give Craft a go after hearing so many rave reviews. They don’t take bookings, but as I was told when I phoned, ‘If I arrive before 7pm, I was sure to get a table’. We did. And boy, after 7pm, the place was packed with many people putting their names down on a waiting list. Brilliant selection of Craft beers, loads to choose from, including many banting options such as cauliflower rice and ‘less-bread burger’ which is what I had. Tables are squeezed a little too tight, but come Summer when they are able to open the stacker doors, the place will be a winner!

Knead – Michaelangelo Towers, Sandton

Breakfasts are difficult for me. Due to the fact that I follow a low-carb high fat way of eating, I don’t eat bread, or jam, or flapjacks or scones or any other divine invention made with lashings of syrup and sugar. So when we found Knead, I was overjoyed to find that they had LCHF options on the menu. And I’m not just talking about scrambled eggs but a breakfast pizza on low-carb base. It was divine! The service is excellent and the whole place feels clean, fresh and inviting.