This week a year ago I did some research on belly-fat and metabolic syndrome. The abbreviation LCHF turned up more and more often in the articles and I started to do research on that too. The Belly-Fat project 2013 was born, with LCHF-diet, Exercise and Vitamin D as ingredients. What has happened during the year:

LCHF
I have been on a liberal Low Carb High Fat (LCHF) diet where I kept  the amount of carbs in the ingredients under 5 %. Eating a absolute minimum of pre-processed food, pasta, rice, potatoes, cakes, pizza, hamburger etc. I admit I have cheated a few times. I have posted photos and comments on Facebook to share the journey, inspiration for some, nuisance for others,  and to show that it is possible to make food quite easy and tasty without starch, carbs and sugar.

I like to thank the chefs at our canteen for adjusting the servings and remove the carbs for me.

Followed Kostdoktorn.se, among other blogs and articles, regarding low carb food and have changed my view on what healthy food is. Here are some learnings:

• “fear” light products and sugar more than full fat products
• a calorie is NOT = a calorie, it depends where they come from and to count them is not necessary
• it’s NOT about calories in vs. calories out
• it’s NOT about eating less and run more – eat smarter
• sugar is toxic and addictive
• what really makes us fat and what we eat today was decided by 3 men back in the 70’s
• egg and bacon is healthy, taste great and you are allowed to eat as much you like 😀
• full fat cream instead of milk in the “latte” tastes great

Exercise
During the winter and spring I trained for the Göteborgsvarv (½ marathon) that took place 17 May. According the organizers, it was the hardest Göteborgsvarv ever with very warm and humid weather that included rain, thunder and lightning and hail. I completed with a time “a bit” from my goal (2 hours) and landed on 2.20. I am going for another attempt 2014…

2013 has been a year with lots of rollerskating, both on my “old school” side-by-side or the new name I learned, quads, and on the inlines I “had to” buy. Being a part of  Malmö City Skaters and like to join the different tours and to keep pace with the others, I got myself a pair of inlines in the end of May.

I was appointed tour leader for the Malmö City Skaters’ “Sunday stroll”, approx. 20 km trip in moderate speed along the bike paths in and around Malmö. I also joined as many Thursday tours as possible. These were a bit faster and sometimes also longer, often with Olle as tour leader –  many nice trips on good AQ, thanks for that (learned that there is an AQ-rating – Asphalt Quality…).

The club chairman, Gisle, started some lessons with technique practice. BIG success and it turned out to be a permanent Tuesday evening event on the Ribersborg  boardwalk, with guest instructors like Lasse and Madde. You guys thought me how to skate inlines in a correct way, VERY thankful for that.
We have continued the Tuesday training indoors, which is perfect for practicing turns, stop and to control the skates on small spaces.

Other rollerskating events during 2013:

• Ørestadsstafetten – 25 May. A team of 3 do as many laps as possible in 90 min. Gisle, Peter and I was competing for Malmö City Skaters. I was the only one on side-by-side (this was when I decided to buy a pair of inlines).
• Sweden 12H Roller – 17 August. 12 hours of interval rollerskating. Teams with 6 members that takes turns rolling the 1,8 km race track in Falkenberg. Fantastic team spirit and atmosphere where the “pros” and “amateurs” participate in the same competition.
• Copenhagen Inline Challenge – 1 September. My first marathon on inlines. 6 laps on a 7 km track on the roads around Ørestaden, Copenhagen. Started to rain 30 sec. after start and kept on until last lap…time 2:10
• Berlin Inline Marathon – 28 September. An absolutely magic and fantastic experience. 6.500 rollerskaters, several 100.000 spectators cheering and making lots of noise along the streets of Berlin, music at the start and the end… time 2:03
• Night Skate Malmö – approx 6 Friday evenings this summer we roll along the streets of Malmö with police escort. Among the many highlights I like to mention when the police men joined us on inlines and when they played music from the patrol car, incl. “Breaking the law“. Thanks to the Malmö police force for helping out with this event.
• Friday Night Skate – Every second Friday during the summer 600-1.500 rollerskaters join for taking over some of the streets of Copenhagen.

Vitamin D
We get vitamin D from when the sun hits the skin and very little from food. More and more research shows that lack of vitamin D can play a major part in different infectious diseases, winter/ spring depression, cancer, heart disease, autism, general pain, obesity etc… Read more on this quick lesson about vitamin D (in Swedish).

I am eating this:

As result of the Belly-fat project, I have lost approx. 13 kg, and most important, approx. 10 cm waist line. The “side effects” has been more energy, no sugar craving/chock (especially in the afternoon that I suffered from before), less inflammations like cold, allergy and skin issues, no stomach problems etc. I am going continue this journey…