A New Year's Primal Challenge: Day 14

Day 14:

Tomorrow is Day 14! Two weeks down, one week to go:)

Agenda:

1. REST. No crazy workouts, just a lot of relaxation and spending time with those you love. Plan on taking a family stroll or take a nap on the couch!  Continue {obviously!} to eat primal approved foods and work on your relaxation techniques... this includes preparing for bed a couple of hours early by putting away digital media, dimming lights, etc. You might also want to make a list for the upcoming week to get yourself organized and prepared for your last week of the primal challenge:)

Meal/Snack Ideas:

Breakfast- stir fried veggies atop eggs.

Lunch- chicken salad wraps.

Dinner- salmon burgers.

Snacks- olives, grape tomatoes and fermented cheese of your choice.

Document:

-how you increased your daily movement

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

A New Year's Primal Challenge: Day 13

Day 13:

I hope the fast went well and that you are blown away by how long you can go without feeling hungry! If so, this means that YOU are becoming a great fat-burning human being.

Agenda:

1. Write down everything you eat throughout the day. Mark Sisson recommends using a great website called fitday.com to input your day's worth of information and the website will calculate your daily nutrition: protein, carbs, fat, and calories. This will give you a great idea of how much you are intaking in a day and what you will need to eat more or less of. If you are trying to lose weight, Mark recommends a daily carb intake of 50-100 grams/day.
2. Lastly, complete a push-up tabata workout. Remember, this is 8 sets of 20 seconds of work and 10 seconds of rest. Count your total repetitions. If you need to keep your knees on the ground that is fine, but be sure to maintain good posture: flat back, hands to the side of shoulders, and ensure your chest hits the ground first {if you cannot make it that low, then use a pillow beneath your chest.}

Meal/Snack Ideas:

Breakfast- zucchini egg bake with sausage {for the recipe go HERE}.

Lunch- chicken breast, sweet potato, and veggies!

Dinner- roast in the crockpot with veggies.

Snacks- bananas with a spread of almond butter and sprinkle of honey.

Document:

-how you increased your daily movement

-your fitday.com calculations

-total push-ups from tabata workout 

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

A New Year's Primal Challenge: Day 12

Day 12:

Agenda: 

1. Primal fast. Please don't forget to eat a nice dinner tonight {remember, do not over eat with the knowledge of Day 12's fast or carb overload}. So, tonight will be your last meal and then tomorrow go as long as possible without food until you get very hungry and then eat a very primalicious meal:)

Meal/Snack Ideas:

Breakfast- eggs with tomatoes and avocados.

Lunch- cobb salad.

Dinner- Turkey, baked sweet potatoes, and baked asparagus wrapped in bacon.

Snacks- parsnip fries.

Document:

-how you increased your daily movement

-total hours fasted 

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

A New Year's Primal Challenge: Day 11

Day 11:

Agenda:

1. Complete a favorite aerobic exercise and invite someone to do it with you. Do your exercise for 30-60 minutes and with a heart rate of about 50-75% of your maximum.
2. Limit the carbs you eat all day. This is to get us ready for the following day {Day 12} where we will practice intermittent fasting. After a normal primal dinner on Day 11 you will fast for as long as you can until you feel famished or energy depleted. Record how many hours you went without food.

Meal/Snack Ideas:

Breakfast- sausage patties with cooked vegetables and eggs.

Lunch- a month ago at my hemodialysis training we were provided lunch. I was very weary of this and brought healthy snacks as I was unsure how primal the food would be. But, surprisingly I have foraged well! Take a look below...

 I opted out of the pasta salad and grabbed grilled chicken with a heaping side of green salad.

We were served tacos, SO I made a taco salad complete with fresh salsa, guacamole, greek yogurt {for the sour cream} and beef! Ahhh....

Dinner- stir fry veggies {you know, the veggies that are sitting in your fridge and you're thinking, "man, I need to toss these soon!} and add meat on the side.

Snacks- kale chips (sprinkle sea salt and olive oil over small pieces of kale on a baking pan and pop in the oven at 350 until crispy).

Document:

-how you increased your daily movement

-aerobic exercise with a partner

-carbs cut out in preparation for intermittent fast

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

A New Year's Primal Challenge: Day 10

Day 10:

We are in the double digits! Stay focused on your end results and don't get discouraged if you're not seeing all benefits of the primal lifestyle just yet. If it is significant weight loss you're looking for, then focus on how your clothes are fitting now and celebrate the small achievements. All these small things will add up:)

I will also talk more about Mark Sisson's "80/20" concept when we get towards the end of the challenge for you to incorporate or you may want to continue to be strict {if that's what you want to call this challenge} for a while until you hit your goal weight.

Agenda:

1. Eat whenever and whatever you want! I mean it... Eat dinner for breakfast and breakfast for dinner. Dessert for an afternoon snack or vice versa. Eat whatever sounds good that falls in line with the primal food pyramid. Now while doing this, get rid of any guilty feelings from eating or other emotions tied to eating and just enjoy your food. For the remainder of this challenge, ENJOY {primal, of course} FOOD.
2. Complete a sprint session! Do about 5min of a light warm-up such as jumping jacks, high knees, or jog. Then, put on running shoes and decide on a number of sets to complete. For example, you could complete 5-8 sets of 10-30 seconds of sprinting with a recovery in between {rest for about 60 seconds or until your breathing is back to normal} doing any cardio activity: running, rowing, bicycling, stationary bike, etc.

The benefits of sprinting: slight increase in human growth hormone {HGH} and testosterone production, increase in muscle fiber growth, toned muscles, and metabolic advantages.

Meal/Snack Ideas:

Breakfast- a dinner favorite or leftovers from last night!

Lunch- cheesy omelet and spinach.

Dinner- a lunch favorite or breakfast again like... cutting the top off of bell peppers, take out the pit, put in an egg or two and stuff with bits of meat/bacon/etc. and pop in the oven to bake until cooked.

Snack- PRIMAL DESSERT!

Dessert- apples dipped in hazelnut butter.

{Please try to find one other than this brand due to the sugar content!}

Document:

-how you increased your daily movement

-how you did with cutting ties between food and emotions

-sprint workout

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

A New Year's Primal Challenge: Day 9

{I apologize! I thought this post went through yesterday, but apparently it did not.}
Day 9:

Agenda:

(1) Avoid eating foods that have a label! This might mean you will need to find fresher foods from co-ops or other whole food stores. This might give you the opportunity to learn how to make your own dressings, dried fruits, or nut butters!
(2) Avoid media! We spend so much time in front of computers, phones, our TV, etc. You may have to be in front of a computer all day at work, but if that is the case then limit the extra media you engage with. Set time limits for your media time twice a day. Focus on the most important things {email, news, etc.} and then close the device. Also, try to put on those screen dimmers/filters, such as f.lux, if not done so already to protect your eyes.

{This is from when my husband and I avoided labels by going apple picking;)}

Meal/Snack Ideas:

Breakfast- crack in egg in each half of a pitted avocado, sprinkle a favorite fermented cheese or pieces of bacon and bake in the oven until egg is cooked.

Lunch- fry/grill some ground beef or bison patties and add a fried egg on top with tomatoes or avocados. 

Dinner- make a ratatouille dish from online with fresh ingredients and fermented cheese. 

Snack- make your own primal trailmix!

Document:

-how you increased your daily movement

-how you did with avoiding food labels and media

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

A New Year's Primal Challenge: Day 8

Day 8:

Tomorrow we start WEEK TWO of the challenge!

Agenda:

1. Complete a very short, yet intense, tabata air squat workout. A tabata workout is usually 8 sets of a specified movement being performed for 20 seconds with 10 seconds of rest in between. It is an amazing workout that you can get done in just minutes! Below is a large group of people performing this tabata style workout, so feel free to do it along with them or you may do it on your own:) Count your total reps and document.

Meal/Snack Ideas:

Breakfast- mixed eggs, spinach, mushrooms, tomatoes poured in cupcake pan(s) and baked.

Lunch- find hot dogs/sausage that are antibiotic/nitrite/nitrate free and dab primal approved condiments on top {read those labels if not making your own condiment!} Add a side of greens.

Dinner- below is a big salad with homemade pickled radishes {never been a fan of radishes, but pickled are delicious!} along with baked chicken and remaining fried plantains.

Dessert- have you made/tried coconut milk ice-cream? Literally, just coconut milk and coconut pieces. Check your labels, or better yet, make your own!

Document:

-how you increased your daily movement

-tabata air squats total reps

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