DAY 4: Thursday, September 17th

Do you need a little motivation? Watch this AMAZING video from various paleo/primal experts:

{Please excuse any language you hear in the two posted videos today!} 

DAY 4 AGENDA: 

1. Listen to your body. I am kind of reiterating what I said yesterday, but as you know, the first few days are tough coming off of that high carb diet. I always find myself to be hungrier and very 'snacky' during this time, so for day 4, don't restrict yourself to a breakfast/lunch/dinner schedule. Eat when you are hungry, listen to your body! But, eat primal;)Remember how I also mentioned that once you get good at being a fat burning body you will be able to go longer without food? That said, later on we will practice random fasting from food to see how well our body is at fat burning:) You will be amazed!
2. Perform a MovNat workout {see below}.
3. Focus on your posture 24/7. As a nurse, I had developed upper back/neck pain on my left side. It became more constant and painful which brought me to the chiropractor. After the pain left, I stopped going. I bet you can guess what happened... It came back! I thought, "There has to be a better way than spending money on a chiropractor for the rest of my life!" So, I invested in minimalist shoes (barefoot shoes/five finger shoes), I walked barefoot often, and I focused on my posture after reading 'Becoming a Supple Leopard' by Kelly Starrett. After doing this for a week, my back/neck pain was gone. GONE! You have to try this...

So, from now on during this challenge, focus on your posture ALL THE TIME...including sleep:

1. Feet straight and below lungs.
2. Squeeze your buttocks.
3. Tighten your tummy- take a deep breath and as you exhale tighten your abdomen and try to keep it that way.
4. Use torque by pushing the outsides of your feet in the ground. You want to almost feel like you're only walking on the outsides of those feet!
5. Chest slightly out and shoulders back. 
6. Head facing forward and neck in neutral position (over spine). 

MovNat:
Last year, my husband found something new to try for primal exercises:) This will be great for the parents out there with kids because the kids will love it! It's called MovNat. It looks silly {which is why the kids will love it}, there is pretty much no equipment required, and it is quick {which I'm sure YOU will love!}
Click here for a MovNat workout!

Here is a clip about MovNat which "is for everyone"! I also love this because it encompasses the primal lifestyle.

Meal/Snack Ideas:

Breakfast- thank you Susannah for sharing your pancake recipe! This recipe also helped satisfy her cravings for sweets...

Ingredients:

• 2 eggs
• 1/2 cup water
• 1 1/2 cups almond flour
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 tsp baking powder (don't use store bought due to corn starch and other bad ingredients, but you CAN make your own baking powder by mixing 1 part baking soda and 2 parts cream of tartar and then use quickly! So, for 1 tsp mix 1/4 tsp baking soda with 1/2 tsp of cream of tartar.)
• dark chocolate chips ~70% or higher
• cinnamon

Mix together and, well, you know how to make a pancake;)

Lunch- Sausage and Cabbage

This is my easy, go-to meal when I don't want to spend a lot of time in the kitchen AND I love it!

Ingredients:

• 1 head of cabbage, cut thinly
• 1/2 onion, sliced into rings
• 1-2 packages of kielbasa sausage, sliced ~1/2in thick pieces
• 3 Tbs water or stock
• salt/pepper
• butter/fat

Grease 9x11 baking dish with butter, fat or coconut oil. Put the cabbage and onions in the dish and mix with salt/pepper. Pour 3 Tbs of water or stock on top. Put a few dabs of butter or fat on top of cabbage. Add sausage on top. Cover with tin foil and put in oven at 350 degrees for 45min. Take tin foil off last 10-15min to brown some. Add more salt/pepper to taste and enjoy!

Dinner- Ginger Garlic Sesame Seed Chicken.

{I need to make this again and take a picture with my nice camera...this photo is awful, but the recipe is DELICIOUS!}

Ingredients:

• 4 chicken thighs, fat trimmed
• 1/4 cup coconut aminos
• 2 Tbs garlic, minced
• 1/2 small onion, thinly sliced
• 1 Tbs sesame seeds
• 1 Tbs coconut oil
• salt to taste
• pepper to taste

Set oven to 350 degrees. Heat large pan over medium heat with coconut oil. Trim extra fat off chicken thighs. Salt and pepper chicken as desired on both sides. Place in hot pan and cook the top of the chicken thigh for 5-7 min. Mix remaining ingredients in small bowl. Flip chicken thighs over and place mixture over top. Place pan with chicken thighs into oven and cook for 30 min. Remove from oven. Scoop mixture from bottom of pan to put over chicken thighs. Let cool for 5 min and serve. 

Dessert- twice baked sweet potatoes...you will die and go to heaven!

 Twice Baked Sweet Potatoes with Pecans - recipe here.

Jot down some notes!

-how you increased your daily movement

-movnat experience

-posture successes/weaknesses/what to work on

-relaxation techniques tried
-energy level {POOR, AVERAGE, GREAT}
-satisfaction level with meals
-hunger level between meals
-struggles
-benefits