Neila's Log

[neilarey]

Hi, welcome to my little corner of the DAREBEE logs. I won’t be able to update it often, but I’ll drop in every now and then

I’m turning 40 tomorrow. Nearly 15 of those 40 years have been almost completely devoted to DAREBEE. It’s the best thing I’ve done in my life, and I’m very, very proud of it.

For anyone who followed my log in 2025: hi! 2025 was a breakthrough year for me. It was the hardest year of my life in terms of how much I asked from myself, but I don’t regret it. It all added up to a much happier, more confident me.

I’m still getting up at 5AM every day without an alarm. I get about 90 minutes all to myself every morning. I managed to maintain and improve it throughout 2025, but overall it’s still the same flow:

• protein shake
• gua sha + shower + skincare
• 7 minute Legs Workout + Mobility Matrix while using a red light therapy mask (9 minutes total)
• 5 minute crunches on Swiss ball
• Strength Training + massage gun during rest
• 2 minutes frestyle rebounder
• Perfect Start Workout
• 2 minutes of stomach vacuums
• gratitude practice
• 4-minute meditation with humming

The whole thing takes about 90 minutes. Then breakfast, and my day officially starts.

And then, breakfast! I’m still fine-tuning my nutrition, but my current base is working really well. I rotate three types of breakfasts right now, so I never have to wonder what to make in the morning.

Toward noon I usually have coffee with some 100% black chocolate, plus some kind of snacky snack later. Since I go to bed early (around 9PM), my late lunch is also my last meal of the day. It’s the only meal that’s somewhat “interesting” because I actually decide what I feel like having, but I do keep a few quick meals on rotation for days when I don’t feel like thinking, or I have too much admin stuff to get through.

Fridays are pizza days Ten years later, my sourdough starter is still alive and kicking. Right now I keep a batch of dough fermenting around the clock and just grab and refill it as I go. I make quick flatbreads with it, pizza bases, or shape it into burger buns

Apart from my early morning session, I also have a second, post-breakfast one with metcon workouts and/or walking (I work and walk on a treadmill in the mornings to get my steps in). On Mondays and Fridays I record workout how-tos for DAREBEE

My life is super regimented, but it keeps me sane. I’ve never been this calm and collected in my life

It’s winter in Greece right now, and it’s cold and humid outside. I’m longing for warmer weather… two more months


I’ll update this log whenever I have anything interesting to say.
I hope everyone is having a wonderful day! Long live the Hive!!

 

[Antheia & Colossus]

Long live the Queen Bee @neilarey!

Thank you very much for the Dareebee!

 

[GentleOx]

Happy early Birthday !

 

[Jaga]

Congrats on leveling up! Wishing you a wonderful birthday

 

[Miss_Dada]

Happy birthday @neilarey ! Enjoy your special day !

 

[graoumia]

Hi, welcome to my little corner of the DAREBEE logs. I won’t be able to update it often, but I’ll drop in every now and then

I’m turning 40 tomorrow. Nearly 15 of those 40 years have been almost completely devoted to DAREBEE. It’s the best thing I’ve done in my life, and I’m very, very proud of it.

I am so gratefull you did all this for Darebee, for all of us, you changed the life of many of us. Thank you so much. I will think of you tomorrow, enjoy this special day

 

[Fremen]

Happy Birthday

 

[Antheia & Colossus]

 

[Niki]

Have a very happy Birthday!

 

[TopNotch]

 

[MangoTux]

 

[graoumia]

Lovely Neila, i wish you a wonderful day

 

[lizita]

 

[HellYeah]

 

[Anek]

 

[Syrius]

Happy Birthday Neila!! I hope you have a wonderful birthday!!

 

[Laura Rainbow Dragon]

Happy Birthday, Neila!

x 40 seconds

I was going to try for burpees. But after yesterday, I'm just too tired to do them! So I went with a gift that's figuratively strong.

 

[Lady Celerity]

I loved my 40's and wish the same for you.

 

[neilarey]

Hi! Hi! Hi!

I just finished all of my admin tasks for the day, and I still have over an hour of walking on the treadmill left. It’s a good opportunity to check in! The first (and best) thing: SPRING IS COMING. I get so depressed when it’s grey outside all the time. And we’ve had rain every single day since January 1st. It literally stopped 2 days ago, and suddenly my mood picked up too. Coincidence? Absolutely not.

I had a rough Monday start - but I honestly thought it’d be worse, so… a win? Because I allocated extra time to record the Foundation program, I ended up falling behind on WODs. As a result, today I had to record 7 workouts straight, and I had to do it before the sun comes out. Which means I had a very small margin for error, simply because I only had so much time to do everything, check, and re-do if necessary. It hurt. Like, A LOT. And I was frozen to death because it’s still winter outside. I record with open windows for natural light, so it’s basically the same as recording outside - while wearing a onesie. So yeah. It was ROUGH. We’ll render those later, but PHEW, the hard part is over

Since I knew I had all that recording ahead of me this morning, I only did pull-ups for my strength training for the day (in addition to my regular morning routine). Oh, and I recently started doing a 2-minute ball toss on top of everything else I’m already doing. I HIGHLY recommend everyone does it. I honestly didn’t think I would be THIS bad at it. You literally take a tennis ball and throw it against the wall. Catch it. Do it for 2 minutes. Spend most of that time looking for the ball all over the room OK, I am getting better, but it’s still pretty bad. The goal is, obviously, to drop it as few times as possible. Use both hands, one hand, switch to overhead grip, close one eye, stand on one leg - keep making things harder once you improve.

It’s great because it trains your brain and body to process fast visual info and react in real time: your eyes track the ball, your brain predicts the bounce, and your hands learn precise timing (and softer catching), which boosts hand-eye coordination, reaction speed, depth perception, and overall movement skill. It also builds quick, repeatable joint control through the wrists, elbows, shoulders, and scapula (each catch is a tiny deceleration rep), and when you add single-leg work, closed-eye moments, or hand/angle switches, it becomes full-body coordination, balance, proprioception, and “brain switching” between sides. On top of that, it’s a stealth focus and frustration-tolerance drill, because you’re practicing staying calm, adapting, and getting cleaner under a little chaos - which is exactly why it feels humbling at first and so rewarding once the drops start disappearing.

In other news - I am on a quest. I am on a quest to make the best sourdough pizza I possibly can

And it’s tricky because I am determined and stubborn, but also impatient. I usually have pizzas on Fridays, and I have the toppings perfected, but the crust is still super bread-y. I’m now trying to improve, so it’ll basically be pizza for lunch almost every day this week. I know it’s hard, but someone has to do it. I’ll be attempting it in about 2 hours or so. I just took it out of the fridge (cold fermentation). I have two more batches with various mixing methods I’m testing queued up. If anyone has experience in sourdough pizza making, please share!

I hope everyone is having a wonderful day! Long live the Hive!!

 

[AgileGrrl]

Pardon my french but... HOLY SHYTE!! You recorded 7 workouts straight?!? What a beast! And to know that you are now 40 just makes it even more impressive. You don't look 40 AT ALL (and I watch the exercise videos a lot to figure out how to do a good chunk of the exercises ). Crazy!

 

[neilarey]

@AgileGrrl thank you so much I appreciate the compliment

Perimenopause hit me hard around 36, I think. I turned into a different person. I had a short fuse - everything started to annoy me (loud noises, bright light, humans in general), I gained a lot of weight in the midsection in like a month, I couldn't sleep through the night, and I was super depressed overall. It took me 6 months to realize what was wrong but I did manage to fix literally every symptom eventually and get my life back on track (and more!). It takes a LOT of work but, on the bright side, - I don't need HRT yet so there is that.

My regimen is pretty much all of the advice you hear online right now: supplements, sleep, exercise (resistance training, HIIT, circuits and walking) and time-outs throughout the day to avoid burnout. I am THAT boring 40 year old with a lot of rules who goes to bed at 8PM but I am living my best life because of it right now so I don't mind. I am mentioning this since I read in your log that you are on your own menopausal journey - and I relate. I want everyone in the same boat to know that it's totally fixable - it just takes consistency and, yes, a lot of work. At 40 now I feel better than when I was 20. All the hard work - It's totally worth it!

SO - You go, girl

 

[Laura Rainbow Dragon]

In other news - I am on a quest. I am on a quest to make the best sourdough pizza I possibly can

And it’s tricky because I am determined and stubborn, but also impatient. I usually have pizzas on Fridays, and I have the toppings perfected, but the crust is still super bread-y. I’m now trying to improve, so it’ll basically be pizza for lunch almost every day this week.

I make whole wheat pizza dough. I have no experience with sourdough. But I 100% approve of your learning regimen!

 

[neilarey]

I make whole wheat pizza dough. I have no experience with sourdough. But I 100% approve of your learning regimen!

Do you kneed it yourself or do you use a machine? How long does it take to bake? I assume you are using an oven - and at what temprature?

My pizza adventure continues I am getting a lot better at it. I made a million of little tweaks here and there but the "lift off" is still ROUGH. Basically, my dough is too high hydration to even shape properly never mind place and then slide off the peel. I am trying a new approach next week, something new and fairly foreign to me... I am going to be less ambitious I am lowering hydration from 80% to 70% and see if that helps without making the dough less fluffy and air-y.

I also ordered a dough mixer because my wrists won't take it anymore. I have zero experiences with mixers so I had to research this to death. Plus, they are all very expensive, waaaay out of what I can afford. After looking at them for like a week, I saw that most of the cost is due to a) brand name b) all the extras it can do / attachments. I just needed something that mixes dough - and only that. Ah, also it had to fit into my kitchen that only has like 3 cupboards (sorry pans, you had to go!). I eventually found something weird looking that was made in Italy and designed for, I think, pasta making. There are a couple of other unknown brands that make similar mixers but this was the only semi-legit. Anyway, I am now a proud owner of this:

It arrived yesterday - from Poland, of all places. The instructions were all in Italian but there isn't much to it. It has 4 buttons: timer, speed , + and -. Aaaaand. I LOVE IT. It's the best thing. It's small, easy to clean, and it mixes my small batch of dough BEAUTIFULLY.

I am so happy!!!!
I was very anxious about it since no one seems to sell models like this - or buy them. There are zero reviews out there so it was a gamble. Aaaaah, it worked out so well!!!! Yay!

I know it's silly to be this excited over pizza making but for me, quests like this make me very happy because it's a puzzle I get to solve. When I don't sleep or exercise, I work. That's all I do. So having subquests like this every now and then really cheers me up. Especially when I conquer the task, eventually. And I am SO close now to making the bestest plant-based sourdough pizza EVER - I can almost smell the victory SOON. And then I'll move on to something else...

Today I am making burgers (Sunday is a burger day) so... no pizza. A couple of years ago I was on a quest to make vegan homemade burger buns just like I am on a pizza quest now. It was a lot of fun back then, too!

 

[neilarey]

It's a beautiful sunny day here today! For anyone who doesn't know, I live in Greece, the mainland - in a small town on Peloponnese called Patra. I moved here almost 20 years ago because I could no longer afford to live in England and, since I had (extended) family here and I could live rent-free here for a bit, I gave it a shot. It was supposed to be temporarily but, well, I live here now and that's that (I have my own place now). It took me a long time to get used to the culture and to a different lifestyle in general but now I can't imagine living anywhere else. Are there any expats in the Hive? Where did you move and how is it working out?

I am taking it easy today training-wise - I am only doing yoga, tendon strength, abs and walking. No resistance training. I am recording tomorrow so I would like, for a change, not to be in pain when I do it. When you see me smile in the videos - I am, usually, in a lot of pain. Smiling during a hard workout is one of my favorite hacks. The act of smiling confuses your body into thinking: "Oh, it's not so bad if we are smiling". I also use the mantra "I am strong and this is easy" before I start any workout. I say it until I believe it


For breakfast, I had waffles with Ninja Creami protein ice-cream and I am going to have a black bean burger for lunch. Since it's a beautiful day out there I might even finish sorting out the garage. Right now, the labels on the boxes do not indicate what's in the boxes and it's driving me nuts. I am usually too tired to go down there and fix it but... maybe today is the day?

All and all, I am having a pretty good day and I hope - so are you Now, back to work!

See you next time, and read you later

 

[Laura Rainbow Dragon]

Do you kneed it yourself or do you use a machine? How long does it take to bake? I assume you are using an oven - and at what temprature?

I knead the dough myself. I use quick rise (active, dry) yeast, which gets mixed in with the dry ingredients. So:

2 cups whole wheat flour, 1 tablespoon quick rise yeast, 1 teaspoon salt - mix together.
Add 1 1/2 cups hot water & 1 tablespoon honey. Mix together (still using a spoon, at this point).
Gradually add an additional 1¼ - 1½ cups whole wheat flour. (I switch to kneading with my hands once the dough is firm enough to allow this.)
Knead for 10 minutes.
Roll dough ball around in bowl that has been greased with EV olive oil, cover bowl with towel, and place in oven to warm. (Yes, I have a full-sized oven. In the Booming Metropolis I would proof bread in the oven, warmed by just the oven light. But the oven I have here has a bread proofing setting.)
I leave the dough to rise while I'm prepping the pizza toppings. (I make elaborate pizzas. And this quantity of dough makes 4 x 12" thin crust pizzas. So chopping up all the toppings takes a while. At least an hour.)
Once the toppings are prepped, I shape the pizzas. Each one goes back in the oven to rise a bit while I'm working on the rest.
Then everything gets dressed.
I bake for 20-25 minutes at 425°F. I use pizza trays with holes in them. (The holes are very necessary in my case, because I put so many toppings on my pizzas, the crust would not cook properly without some underside exposure to hot air.)

 

[Laura Rainbow Dragon]

It's a beautiful sunny day here today! For anyone who doesn't know, I live in Greece, the mainland - in a small town on Peloponnese called Patra. I moved here almost 20 years ago because I could no longer afford to live in England and, since I had (extended) family here and I could live rent-free here for a bit, I gave it a shot. It was supposed to be temporarily but, well, I live here now and that's that (I have my own place now). It took me a long time to get used to the culture and to a different lifestyle in general but now I can't imagine living anywhere else. Are there any expats in the Hive? Where did you move and how is it working out?

I am an immigrant too, from the UK to Canada. I immigrated the day before my 3rd birthday. So Canadian (more specifically: southern Ontario) culture is what I grew up with. (People here generally consider me to be "not a real immigrant" because I live in an anglophone area of Canada, and English is my native language. But southern Ontario culture is not the same as northern England culture. So I was getting one thing at home from my British parents, but a different culture out in the world at large.) Technically I have dual citizenship. But I am a Canadian at heart and would never want to leave here.

 

[neilarey]

Thanks! @Laura Rainbow Dragon what do you do with the other 3 pizzas? Freeze them? Asking for a friend I actually eat one pizza on my own so I make two usually.

Your process is pretty much what I used to do before sourdough. I struggled originally with the type of flour. We get many different kinds here in Europe. I like Zea (Triticum dicoccum) flour for its taste - and also since it's grown locally and I try to support local production these days (whenever I can). It has very weak gluten structure.... so I stopped using it for bread-type of baking. I still use it for pancakes and waffles, though.

I tend to cold ferment my dough because I can just leave it there for two-three days and use whenever I want/need. Having "ready to go" dough in the fridge has been life-changing

 

[Laura Rainbow Dragon]

what do you do with the other 3 pizzas? Freeze them?

Yes. (Well... some of them.) Cook. Cool. Slice. Freeze. Then I can just reheat however much I want for a meal in my little toaster oven.

 

[neilarey]

It's not 9AM yet and I am already spent

It's another beautiful day and I have a lot to be grateful for .... Yep, worked!

I am trying to complain less and focus on what's going well more these days. It is already making a difference. I feel mor ZEN. It might be that - or the drugs. I am on drugs half the time. They are natural drugs but they are still drugs. I add saffron to my shake, in the morning, and drink chamomile tea with a heavy dose of Valerian in it, before bed. Did I need all these commas?? I don't know. Let them stay.

Moving on... I have a busy day ahead of me but everything will fall into place, I am sure. I had a sun spot removed about 4 months ago and the scar still hurts. The internet said it was FINE. I am sure it is FINE. But I want an actual doctor say it is FINE. So I am getting it checked in about an hour. Because I have a doctor appointment in my schedule and on a Monday no less, everything else had to be moved around. I am walking earlier today since I try to hit 20,000 steps a day right now to balance out my overwise mostly sedentary lifestyle. I finished video recording at 7:30 AM so that's done and sent for rendering already. I do regret eating half a kilo of green beans with my burger yesterday since that was a lot of fiber. In retrospect, loading on that the day before filming was not so smart. I struggled a bit and had to reshoot a couple of workouts simply because I didn't transition well. Read: as graceful as a hippo on ice.

For lunch, I'll be making a broccoli gratin. Monday is a broccoli day. I actually love broccoli so I always look forward to it. A bit of a back story. When I was very, very young (read: school years, pre-university) all I ate was bread, butter and jam. I didn't drink water, at all. I drunk Coca Cola ~ 2lt a day. I didn't eat vegetables, mushrooms or anything else "weird". I don't know how I made it through my teens. Then one day I read a book on fasting and decided to give it a try (that was now...hmmm... 25 years ago? ish?) Anyway, it fascinated me so much I did a 7-day water fast while still attending uni classes. I am not going to go into all the details and results after that self experiment here now, the most interesting thing that happened was is this: the first thing I ate after not eating for a whole week was a broccoli soup (water + broccoli). I remember thinking that it was the best tasting thing I've ever had in my life. And since then I love broccoli. It's not that I didn't LIKE certain foods. I was never hungry enough until that point in my life to like them. Sure, I was hungry but not THAT hungry. It's a fun little memory I have. I used to do regular fasts throughout my life - not at the moment, though, I am focusing more on hormonal support these days but I do have a lot of respect for fasting in general. It can be lifechanging don at the right time in life.

I am genuinely looking forward to that gratin today. We have a new recipe that uses tofu for the sauce (to be added to DAREBEETS) because it's much easier - and tastier, than the one we have now. You do need a blender for it, though. I now make it twice a week because it's so fast, easy and delish.

I feel too good mentally to track my weight or count my macros right now I' am letting my winter fat reserves come off naturally this year. I do watch how much I eat. And it's not easy for me since I love food and I tend to miss that 80% window of fullness. I noticed if I don't watch anything during lunch (I used to watch C-dramas during lunch) I am better at pacing myself. The slower I eat and the less distracted I am during meals = the better I feel and the less food I need to feel satisfied. I let my brain register the food - and - surprise! it actually does. I stopped reaching for that extra slice of bread... or pizza I prefer this than to obsess over WHAT I eat. I already have a relatively healthy menu but you can overeat healthy things easily, too. My kryptonite? Nuts and seeds. If I start, I just don't stop. A fat squirrel is my spirit animal!


...it's time for me to go see a woman about a scar! Read you later!
Have a wonderful Monday!

 

[graoumia]

I cannot imagine mixing an hippo and a fat squirrel. Give us some news for your scarf if you can. And thanks for sharing the broccoli anecdote

 

[neilarey]

I cannot imagine mixing an hippo and a fat squirrel. Give us some news for your scarf if you can. And thanks for sharing the broccoli anecdote

All is FINE It is supposed to be feel/look like this, apparently thank you for asking!

 

[neilarey]

Easy-ish day today! All I need to do today is work. Yay!!!

I replaced my chairs with a soft bench at my work station. I didn't think it was going to work.... but I freaking love it! I actually want to sit and work there again instead of the kitchen bar. I can spread out, it's nice and soft and it looks inviting, too. I am a big fan of "change your environment = change your life". Every detail in my home (since I live and work here and I am at home 99% of the time) is dialed in. I spent YEARS making sure every single item belongs here. It's my side obsession. Sure, there is some childhood trauma mixed in there of not having a permanent place to live... but whatever My home is my sanctuary. What was I saying? Ah, yes, I love my new bench. Getting it was a surreal experience. I got a notice from a courier that "they missed me" when I was at the doctor's yesterday. I was perplexed. I didn't expect anything. Couriers bring small parcels, like - from TEMU and what passes for Amazon here (we have skroutz.gr here instead). So, we went to see what it was. It was a bloody bench! An actual bench. They tried to deliver a bench. Oh my god, the poor person whoever dragged it here - and then had to drag it back! Who sends a bench by post????? Yesterday was overall weird. Did I say I love it? I really, really love it! It was a strange choice for a work table to be honest but somehow it works. I spent 6 months looking for a new chair (because mine was so uncomfortable) and ended up getting a bench instead. Unconventional? Yes. Do I care? I do not.

Behold! My bench:

Bonus: my dogs can sit next to me when I work!!!!

Today's breakfast was yummy as usual: oats +TVP with goji berries and kiwi fruit topped with tahini and walnuts. I also had a berry & carrot juice smoothie to go with it. It's my default breakfast on Tuesdays and Thursdays.

I am almost done with my walk and I am about to switch to more involved work tasks - I am switching from the treadmill to work station. I'll do that right after I wash my hair. Anyone else hates washing their hair? Agh. It literally takes 15 minutes from start to finish but I still find it sooooo tiresome. And I am trying to grow out my hair this year, too. The reason I know how long it takes is because I timed it. It's a life hack. If you dislike doing something and keep putting it off - time it. You'll realize that it doesn't take that long. And sure, I thought washing and drying my hair took 30 minutes. It takes 15. It's not so bad... but I still don't like it

Oh well... off I go!

Read you later!

 

[TopNotch]

Little comment here. But first - don't judge me until you try it! Once upon a time, I didn't wash my hair for about 6 months. I rinsed it, just stood under the shower and let it water run over it, but didn't actually wash it. It was an experiment, born because I too hated washing my hair. After a couple of horrible weeks, my hair became rather nice. The rinsing seemed to be pretty much all it needed. Of course, it was well brushed and combed daily, and tied back (in the days when it was long). It didn't smell, didn't look or feel greasy. But those first couple of weeks were a trial...

 

[neilarey]

Hehe @TopNotch - if I could get away with it, I totally would! As is, I only wash my hair twice a week (Tuesdays and Fridays). I use hair oil daily right now to prevent breakage - since I am trying to grow my hair longer, so it does show after 2-3 days and it really, REALLY needs washing. I guess if you tie it back... that helps. Alas, I also have my hair down most of the time (apart from when I am filming) to also prevent breakage.

Sigh... First world problems, honestly

 

[Laura Rainbow Dragon]

My idea of washing my hair is: I have a bath, and I submerge my head in the bath water. Then I massage my scalp with my fingers while my head is under water. Voilà! My hair is washed! (Same deal with showers: I'd just stand with my head under the running water and massage my scalp. But since moving to my current apartment I've been enjoying the ability to have baths, since I didn't have access to one for several years in the Booming Metropolis.)

I do not use soap on my hair except when I bleach and dye it. (It's necessary to ensure all of the bleach gets thoroughly washed out.) Usually this is twice/year (when I can afford it), but at the moment I'm boycotting American products so haven't coloured my hair since last spring. If one does not put product in one's hair (or otherwise expose one's hair to a lot of gunk--say by doing a mud run or some such), soap is 100% unnecessary. (Ditto for washing one's body, for that matter. I use soap on my hands, because hands touch germy things and then touch faces and food. I sometimes use soap on my feet, because I go barefoot a lot. But that's it.)

Re: hair breakage: I minimize this by squeezing dry my hair. (I wrap a towel around my hair and I squeeze--rather than rub--to soak up the moisture.) I don't blow dry my hair. I also do not brush or comb it while it is wet. Not blow drying my hair means I'm limited to only washing it right before bed during the winter months. (It is far too cold here to be outside with wet hair in the winter.) But I rarely wash my hair during the winter anyhow. (It's always tucked inside my hat when I'm outside in the winter. So it doesn't get exposed to road dust or pollen like it does in the summer. And my scalp doesn't overproduce oil because keeping it free from soap means it doesn't need to.) During the summer months I do wash dust and especially pollen out of my hair semi-regularly. But having wet hair in the summer is a non issue. (On especially hot days I submerge my head solely for the cooling effect of having wet hair for several hours afterward.)

Many of our modern beliefs in the need for various products are the result of decades of those products being marketed at us.

 

[TopNotch]

I was blessed with robust Viking hair. It blunts scissors.We are encouraged to use far more products that we need, with the result that we end up needing them! But first world or not, a problem is still a problem. Your hair, @neilarey always looks fine to me.

 

[neilarey]

Success! I've done it!!!

I now know how to make the BEST plant-based sourdough pizza with 2-day cold fermentation! I have the entire process dialed in. My dough mixer has been instrumental in this - it develops perfect gluten structure for a fluffy and bubbly dough. And it only takes about 5 minutes of mixing on low setting. I even managed to finally get it to slide off the peel and ditch parchment paper completely. The 70% hydration was essentially the key. That and the dough mixer

I’ve made 3 perfect pizzas in a row so far, so I hereby proclaim this quest complete!


...The rest of my week was the usual grind. Training, eating, work - repeat 3 times and that's my day in a nutshell. The weather is getting warmer (at least during the day) so I now make Ninja Creami every day for dinner. It's just oat milk + vegan vanilla protein powder but it really hits the spot.

Hm, I just realized that, technically, I eat pizza and ice-cream every day right now I only have two pizza slices and the ice-cream is just a frozen protein shake... buuuut.... t-e-c-h-n-i-c-a-l-l-y....

Training wise, this week is about the same. The only change, I switched a couple of resistance training days with tricep dips. I failed to record the 7-Minute Legs Workout on Monday simply because my legs just wouldn't cooperate after the first 2 minutes. Seeing how the next week's workouts are no piece of cake either, I decided to pace myself. Hopefully, tomorrow I can do better.

Today was weird. I had to go in and out all day so I ended up breaking my walk into 4 parts. As a result, I felt like I was walking ALL DAY. There is a reason I do everything in one go - so I can concentrate on one thing and one thing only! Well... TWO THINGS MAX.

Fingers crossed, tomorrow's easier
Somewhere, out there, there is a little potato that believes in me.


I hope everyone's else week is good as well! Read you later

 

[PetiteSheWolf]

bravo for conquering the pizza!

 

[aku-chan]

That does look like a very tasty pizza!

 

[Anek]

Excellent looking pizza!

 

[Lady Celerity]

Pizza!!!!
Are you going to share the recipe on Darebeets?

 

[AgileGrrl]

Looks way yummier than my attempts at pizza, which usually involves a tortilla with some bbq sauce, cheese, chicken, spices, more cheese on top and then cooked in an air fryer. But this little piggie likes quick meals and it hits the spot when I am not feeling lazy. Lazy is when I steam a bunch of veggies and just be happy with that only.

 

[neilarey]

Pizza!!!!
Are you going to share the recipe on Darebeets?

... possibly it would have to go into GUIDES, though, since there are too many nuances. Plus, sourdough is a tricky beast and very few have a starter (or can be bothered with one). I had mine for over 10 years and I kept it alive all of this time in the fridge. His name is Capricorn The Second - the first one didn't make it Having a recipe stashed at DAREBEETS is a good idea if for nothing else but to have it saved safely. I am leaning towards adding it, personally

Looks way yummier than my attempts at pizza, which usually involves a tortilla with some bbq sauce, cheese, chicken, spices, more cheese on top and then cooked in an air fryer. But this little piggie likes quick meals and it hits the spot when I am not feeling lazy. Lazy is when I steam a bunch of veggies and just be happy with that only.

Nothing wrong with that! I love cooking shortcuts (I survive on cooking shortcuts!). I also love tortillas I used to have them in all the time because they make such a convenient snack. I don't have any right now but it's only because I have sourdough fermenting in the fridge right now most days and I need to use it up. Steamed veggies? Yum. I roast mine in the oven myself since I have cooked veggies for lunch every day and I like easy clean up - I use a lot of parchment paper and just throw it out once everything is cooked. I have multiple bags of frozen broccoli in the freezer and that gives me almost instant meals. I don't need to wash or even slice anything, I just empty the bag on the line tray, roast for 15 minutes, add sauce and voila!

 

[neilarey]

... I am on the rooooaaaad again [ singing, badly ] I mean, I am on the treadmill again. This is my little hamster life. I walk - it turns. I have a magnetic curved treadmill, it moves when I move, no electricity involved. It's great, actually, and it can take a lot of use unlike regular models. The belt planks broke twice last year and all I had to do is just swap them with the new ones. I love my treadmill I think I told the story of how I got to have a treadmill, in the past... soooo, I'll make it short: it was a reward. I used to run, a lot. I don't anymore, I only walk now. In my former life, though, I did a lot of running. And I always wanted a treadmill because of that. The thing is, I didn't want it to be one of these situations: I emptied my savings to get this expensive thing and now I don't use this expensive thing. So, I made a deal with myself. If I ran every single day, EVERY DAY, for ONE YEAR, rain or shine - no excuses, then I could get a treadmill.

Long story, short - I did it. And it was no easy thing! I once ran with a sprained ankle. Then towards the end, COVID hit and we were all under a lockdown. In the early days, when it wasn't clear what we could and couldn't do, I ended up running up and down MY BALCONY. It used to take me about a hour to do my regular run BUT I DID IT. 365 days. No missed days, NOT ONE.

I love my treadmill I bloody earned it.

Back to today. OMG It's Friday already. I finished recording hours ago and thank god, this time I did record the 7-Minute Legs Workout. I managed to finish all of the recording just in time for the sun to come out. I had a 30 minute slot today from 7am to 7:30am. Once the sun is out, that's it - I can no longer record because the shadows created wreck the set. We don't have any special equipment and our video studio fell through two years ago, so I am just using natural light and my mobile phone to film all of our how-tos.

I was so tired yesterday that I went to bed at 8PM then this morning, I woke up at 4AM. I had all the time in the world to prep things, make breakfast, work out and film. It's Friday, so today I am officially making a pizza with all the toppings and for breakfast I had cream tofu scramble, cucumber avocado salad and tomato juice (it's my standard Friday breakfast).

I don't have much else planned today except more admin stuff and editing. After lunch (PIZZA!) I'll probably take the rest of the day off to chill with my family

Sending you good vibes and best wishes for the day!
Read you later

 

[Laura Rainbow Dragon]

... possibly it would have to go into GUIDES, though, since there are too many nuances. Plus, sourdough is a tricky beast and very few have a starter (or can be bothered with one). I had mine for over 10 years and I kept it alive all of this time in the fridge. His name is Capricorn The Second - the first one didn't make it Having a recipe stashed at DAREBEETS is a good idea if for nothing else but to have it saved safely. I am leaning towards adding it, personally

LOVE the DAREBEETS Guides! (Well, I love everything about DAREBEETS. You explain the stuff that needs to be explained but don't include any of the pointless crap that so many recipe sites are plagued with. This gets a big from me!)

Speaking of DAREBEETS Guides, I was checking out the one for Non-Dairy Cream Cheese recently and saw that it is for a savoury spread. Have you tried a similar thing for non-savoury recipes? I love me some carrot cake. But for me, the icing on the cake is literally the icing on the cake: I so want that lemony cream cheese! Trouble is, cream cheese + lemon juice needs a scary amount of icing sugar added to it to make it work as a cake frosting. And I don't want all that sugar. I am on a mission to find something I can spread on carrot cake that will have a strong, tart lemon flavour, but not be too sweet.

 

[neilarey]

And I don't want all that sugar. I am on a mission to find something I can spread on carrot cake that will have a strong, tart lemon flavour, but not be too sweet.

Have you tried allulose? It's not available everywhere yet so you would have to hunt for it but it is pretty good as a sugar replacement 1:1. I've been using it for over 6 months and it's been great. It's almost as sweet as sugar, looks like sugar and it can be ground into powdered sugar, too. There are some limitations - like, you can't eat a lot of it in one go but it's just fine in small amounts - in coffee or shake, or a slice of cake for example.

 

[Laura Rainbow Dragon]

Have you tried allulose? It's not available everywhere yet so you would have to hunt for it but it is pretty good as a sugar replacement 1:1. I've been using it for over 6 months and it's been great. It's almost as sweet as sugar, looks like sugar and it can be ground into powdered sugar, too. There are some limitations - like, you can't eat a lot of it in one go but it's just fine in small amounts - in coffee or shake, or a slice of cake for example.

I have not seen that product, no. When I search for it, I get hits for sweeteners containing stevia and erythritol. A quick web search suggests it's not been approved for use in food in Canada.

One of the stevia & erythritol powdered sweeteners I found also contains corn starch.
Which made me do a . Because I don't want the sweetness of sugar (or anything even close to it). I want something that is only a teeny tiny bit sweet but that will behave structurally like icing sugar. Something pretty much exactly like--wait for it...--corn starch! (Which is relatively inexpensive here, and available everywhere, and which I have on hand all the time.) I am going to try this! Thank you for the idea!

 

[AgileGrrl]

... I am on the rooooaaaad again [ singing, badly ] I mean, I am on the treadmill again. This is my little hamster life. I walk - it turns. I have a magnetic curved treadmill, it moves when I move, no electricity involved. It's great, actually, and it can take a lot of use unlike regular models.

Do you mind telling me which one you have? I had one of those expensive electric treadmills that I did use until it broke down . It was too expensive to fix, so I bought a walking pad that isn't nearly long enough. I'm looking for something more suitable and have been looking at slatmills, which sound similar to yours, but I've only been finding ones made for dogs so far, nothing for us bipeds.

 

[neilarey]

Do you mind telling me which one you have? I had one of those expensive electric treadmills that I did use until it broke down.

YES! Regular treadmills are way too expensive to fix and they are not cheap to begin with! Hence, why I chose a manual one Mine was made in Greece - and I don't think they ship anywhere else Mine was made by Viking Warrior... but.... I am pretty sure they just copied AssaultRunner Pro it looks exactly the same!

Fun fact. My gym is hit by the sun a lot, in summer it become a free sauna in here. The first year the sun hit the little panel in front of the treadmill so badly it burned it out. It just died. Well, it's a manual treadmill... I disconnected the panel and threw it out.! The treadmill still works just fine! I do time on it anyway. I set a timer for 2 hours and walk until the time is up. For tracking I have my fit band I place on my ankle when I walk.

Even now it's so sunny in here, I can't see my laptop screen unless I roll the treadmill way back. Here:

 

[neilarey]

A quick web search suggests it's not been approved for use in food in Canada.

yep, it's not approved in Europe yet either. I am doing this at my own risk so keep that it mind!
This is the one I buy: https://ca.iherb.com/pr/pyure-organic-allulose-sweetener-9-oz-255-g/135980 There are also lots of non-organic options. I use very little so it lasts me a long time. I add a tablespoon to my morning protein shake. It also works in tomato-based sauces to balance out the acidity. I tried it in sweets, too, and it even worked in powdered form (I used a coffee grinder for this) when I made Stollen Bites for Christmas.