A Spring Challenge: Day 4

Day 4 Agenda: 

1. Listen to your body. These first 3 days might be tough coming off of that carb addiction. I had found myself more hungry and '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!
2. Perform a MovNat workout.
3. Lastly, for Day 4, try to focus on standing up straight, walking/standing without shoes (or try bare minimalist shoes like the ones I'm wearing below!) and stay on your feet for most of the day. We are trying to increase our movement and avoid the american sedentary lifestyle. So, if you find yourself at a desk most of the day, find ways to stand often and take breaks. Remember to hold good posture and ensure your workspace is at a proper height for YOU. 

Side note regarding agenda item #1: Along with listening to our bodies, there will come a point when our bodies will be so great at properly storing and burning fat that we may not feel hungry for many hours! Later on we will practice random fasting from food to see how well our body is at fat burning:) You will be amazed!
Once, I was impressed to hear Mark Sisson describe in a podcast at just how well his body is at fat burning. Mark said he was able to eat a dinner in the evening time and would not feel hungry until the next day at 1pm, which is when he would indulge in a delicious primal meal. Amazing!

MovNat:

A month ago, my husband found something new to try for primal exercises:) we are loving it. This will be great for the parents out there with kids {especially if you are a stay-at-home parent!}
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!}

Go 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- sauté spinach in a pan with salt and have eggs/bacon on the side (this is what I made for my husband this morning); make a big spinach smoothie with berries or other fruit if you're in a hurry to go to work/school/or do errands.

Lunch- did you make pulled pork yesterday? use that shredded pork to top off your green salad and mix together guacamole to add on top!

Dinner- finish off that pulled pork (again with the pork?) with lettuce wraps and add sliced avocado, onion, and tomatoes; make Ginger Garlic Sesame Seed Chicken.

Ginger Garlic Sesame Seed Chicken

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

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 top of chicken thigh for 5-7min. Mix remaning ingredients in a small bowl. Flip chicken thighs and place mixture over top. Place pan with chicken thighs into oven and cook for 30min. Remove from oven. Scoop mixture from bottom of pan on top of chicken thighs. Let cool for 5min. Serve.

Snacks- make a veggie plate of your favorite veggies; throw salt on sliced tomatoes (my favorite!)

Document:

-how you increased your daily movement

-movnat experience

-what you did to improve your workspaces and avoid a sedentary lifestyle

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

Outstanding results from a former challenge participant!

I had a friend who did my last 21 day challenge and she had invited a friend of hers to participate as well. This friend had outstanding results! Take a look for yourself:

Hi Kailan's Paleo friend.  Kailan and I started the Paleo plan together on Monday January 6, 2014. Since that time I have lost about 12 pounds and have had the added bonus of my digestion greatly improving. I have had several bowel surgeries and my digestion has not been very good. Since stopping all carbs and sugar have not had any problems with diarrhea and I am very happy about that.  I plan to continue on for another two to three weeks and then start to slowly introduce complex carbohydrates on a limited basis.

Hope your program is doing well.

Debbie Crews

My only suggestion would be to stick with getting your carbs from meat/veggies and stick with the primal lifestyle. 

To be primal is to avoid all processed foods:) 

A Spring Challenge: Day 3

Day 3 Agenda:

1. Try new primal approved meals this week. Then on Day 7,  you will make your favorite new recipe for your family and/or friends to share. Take that opportunity to get them excited about eating clean, delicious foods and feeling healthy!
2. Focus on making and preparing all your primal meals from home. This will take planning (maybe even days of planning), but it will help you avoid the temptation of running to a local burger chain restaurant to satisfy hunger. From Day 3 forward, plan and prepare meals from home.
3. GO OUTSIDE! Grab some sunshine and soak in Vitamin D. If there happens to be no sun on Day 3, check the forecast and plan a sunny day to enjoy outside {if it's cold, bundle up!}. To be primal is to get an appropriate amount of sunlight. Yes, tan=healthy!

Meal/Snack Ideas:

Breakfast- french omelette with chives

French Omelette

• 4 eggs
• 1T fresh chives, diced thinly
• Salt
• Pepper
• 1T olive oil

Heat olive oil in pan on # 3 stove setting or low-medium heat. Ensure olive oil gets up the sides of pan. Beat eggs vigorously with all ingredients until batter has a smooth consistency. Pour in heated pan. Take spatula and gently scrape the middle of omelette from side to side in a plus sign design every few minutes. This will make little clumps throughout the omelette. Continue until omelette is still wet on top with many chunks and swirls of eggs and sides are easy to lift from pan. Loosen sides of omelette and fold in half. Cook for another minute and then serve on plate. Sprinkle more salt and pepper if desired.

Lunch- throw that delicious leftover salmon atop your green salad with seasonings; slice large chunks of eggplant and top with tomato sauce, chopped tomatoes, seasonings, sprinkled with a hard fermented cheese and then bake!

Dinner- make pulled pork in your crockpot and serve with your favorite vegetables (pulled pork meat can be used for many other meals!)

Snacks- create a new smoothie using coconut milk or water; find a primal coconut drink with pulp (check those ingredients to stay away from sugar and other chemicals!)

A favorite primal drink of mine which my husband happened to surprise me with last night:)

Document:

-how you increased your daily movement

-new primal meal recipe(s) tried
-relaxation techniques tried
-energy level {POOR, AVERAGE, GREAT}
-satisfaction level with meals
-hunger level between meals
-struggles
-benefits

A Spring Challenge: Day 2

Day 2:

How are you feeling after Day 1? You might not feel very energetic and/or have a headache. This is normal after coming off of the american high carb/sugar diet or, as Mark Sisson refers to, SAD (Standard American Diet). During my challenges, almost everyone says it took them about 4 days to get over these side effects and then they started to feel "great" and "energetic"! So, hang in there!

Tomorrow's Agenda:

1. Continue daily movement today and throughout the rest of the challenge: park farther away from work, take the stairs instead of elevator, take a break every 30-60 min. from your desk job, or take your dog for a walk.
2. Complete a maximum repetitions workout. At the end of the challenge you will do this again to see how you have improved.
3. Eat primally {this is obvious, so I will not put this up on the agenda anymore...it's a given!}
4. Lastly, take a cognitive ability test HERE to compare with at the end of the challenge. I always feel so dumb when I eat sugar/grains and alert when I eat primally, so it will be interesting to compare! It takes about 45 min. 

Take about 5 minutes to find your maximum repetitions of:

• Pushups (Keep body in straight line, hands shoulder width apart, hands and toes on floor, touch chest to ground. To modify, keep knees on floor along with toes.)

• Sit-ups (Put a rolled up towel lengthways or pillow beneath buttocks and back. Put bottom of your feet together to make a diamond with your legs. When you lie back, reach back as far as you can with your hands and then crunch forward reaching as far as you can with your hands to your toes.)

• Pull-Ups or Chair Dips (Unlike the above picture, grip the pull-up bar with the top of your hands facing you, wide grip, pull your body up until your chip is above the bar. For chair dips, take a chair and sit just in front of it by gripping your hands on the edge of the chair. Your body will be in a sitting position just in front of the chair. Dip down as far as you can and then push yourself back up.)

• Plank Holds (Get into the pushup position, hold this position for as long as you can.)

• Squats (Stand shoulder width or a little wider if you have long legs. Keep your arms stretched out in front of you and lower yourself down by pushing your buttocks back, keeping your back flat, and keeping your knees behind your toes and going outward rather than inward. Go as low as you can, preferably below parallel.)

Meal/Snack Ideas:

Breakfast- egg frittata with peppers, onions, and spinach; stuffed squash blossoms; baked stuffed peppers with eggs and bison meat.

Lunch- leftover dinners; cubed avocados, sweet peppers, celery, onions, tomatoes tossed as a salad with lemon juice, olive oil and sea salt.

Dinner- baked salmon with lemon and seasonings of choice (if it's a big salmon, save half and keep frozen to use later for salmon patties); bison meat patties with cooked egg on top.

Snacks- coconut milk, banana, spinach, and berry smoothie.

Don't forget to 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

If you haven't done so already, take a 'before' picture and if you are really looking to lose weight, take body measurements/weigh yourself.

A Spring Primal 21 Day Challenge: Day 1

Day 1:

Tomorrow is the start of my 4th Primal 21 Day Challenge! Below is tomorrow's challenge Agenda...

Agenda:

1. Make your week a little easier by determining meals. You also might want to pack lunches the night before if you have busy days of work, school, or errands. Still haven't done your primal shopping? Check out my shopping guide/what to keep in stock HERE.
2. Determine different ways to increase daily movement and perform them at least 3 different times during your day.
3. Decide how you will relax before bed and do it. 

Meal/Snack Ideas:

Breakfast- omelet cooked in coconut/extra virgin olive oil with veggies; eggs with sauteed kale and bacon that is uncured and without nitrates/nitrites; sunny-side-up eggs atop a green salad.

Lunch- spinach salad with boiled eggs, tomatoes, olives and an extra virgin olive oil dressing with sea salt and freshly squeezed lemon juice; (if you made a roast, pulled pork or other meat for a Sunday dinner the day before) put leftover meat atop a green salad along with avocados; pan cooked chicken thighs with oven baked vegetables in extra virgin olive oil, sea salt and pepper along with a baked sweet potato.

Dinner- baked cabbage with sausage and onions; vegetable soup with a side of meat; Crock Pot Lemon Pepper Chicken with baked asparagus.

Snacks- celery or sliced apples with almond butter; avocado sprinkled with sea salt; boiled eggs; Sweet Potato Chips; clementines.

Increased Movement Ideas:
                       
Take a walk in the morning with your dog; take 30-60 min breaks from work to walk around, get a drink, etc; walk to the store; take your kids to the park; take a family stroll after dinner.
(Ensure this is happening at least 3x/day.) To BE primal is to MOVE a lot.

Relaxation Ideas:

Dim/turn off lights as the sun goes down; light candles; read a book; put on computer dimmers or download them to your computer (i.e. f.lux); turn off your TV/phone/tablet/computer at least a couple hours before bed; read to your children; spend time with family/friends.

Lastly, document!
-where you shopped for primal foods
-how you increased your daily movement during 3 different times in the day
-relaxation techniques tried
-energy level {POOR, AVERAGE, GREAT}
-satisfaction level with meals
-hunger level between meals
-struggles
-benefits

Re-Post: Why am I doing this challenge again?

Why am I doing this challenge again?

The purpose of this challenge is to change your body from a sugar burning body to a fat burning body!

In Mark Sisson's 'Primal Blueprint 21 Day Total Body Transformation' book he states that, "Even if some - or most - of your diet has been in the form of "complex" carbs, this excessive and unnecessary intake of carbs has reprogrammed your genes from an early age to make you more dependent on a regular supply of dietary carbohydrate. You are a "sugar burner" if you are trapped in this carbohydrate dependency. If you're like most people, this high intake of carbs over time has elevated your insulin levels throughout the day, and resulted in excess calories (from all foods, not just carbs) to be stored as body fat. Over the years, chronically high levels of glucose and insulin in your blood have altered your fat cells so that you can't easily burn this plentiful source of stored energy. If your body is accustomed to burning carbs as fuel instead of stored fat, your brain will crave your usual fuel source - carbs - more often. This leads to a vicious cycle of insidious weight gain over a lifetime, even if you exercise frequently." 

About a year ago, a Nurse Practitioner that I worked with told me {after I had said I believed it was unhealthy to eat grains}, "Briana, you NEED carbs". Our society thinks that we "NEED" carbs in order to function and they have set a dietary requirement for carbohydrates. I then explained to her that we can get carbs elsewhere, such as vegetables or meat. We have a fabulous body that can use protein and fat to pull out glucose to use when needed for our brains to function. This process is called gluconeogenesis, which is the synthesis of glucose from non-carbohyrates. So, no, we do not NEED to bombard our body with EXTRA glucose from grains, legumes, sugars, etc to burn for energy and to stay alert. Our body does this on its own using primal/healthy/simple foods.

2 days and counting...

Happy Saturday and preparation day! Yep, we have 2 days until the 21 day challenge starts!
This means we need to make sure our to do list is being checked off:

• First, have you read the to do list here? 
• Have you cleaned out your fridge and pantry of un-primal approved foods?
• Have you gone shopping for primal approved foods?
• Have you taken your before picture? 

Be sure to get these completed before Monday. If you don't have the time to go shopping until next week, then eat all the primal approved foods that you DO have until you get to the store: vegetables, eggs, meats, etc.

Did you catch MY shopping list in the to do list? Here is the staples we keep in our home:

• Nuts in bulk (quick snacks)
• Nut butters 
• Eggs (try to keep some hard boiled eggs on hand for snacks or to put on salads)
• Vegetables (best to eat within a week and be sure to store/freeze appropriately)
• Fruits (we keep apples around because they last longer and will dip in nut butters for a quick snack)
• Extra Virgin Olive Oil
• Coconut oil
• Coconut milk
• Meat, Fish, Fowl (keep stored in freezer and then in fridge a day or two before eating)
• Onions
• Sweet Potatoes

I did some shopping this past week to get prepared and I cannot wait for the farmers markets to start up in the next few months so I can get most of our shopping done there! So fresh. So delicious.