And this is what primal fitness looks like:

Since I already did a post about my food, this one is about my fitness. Here is a look at a week during my 30 Day Primal Challenge (which I LOVED).

Sunday – 1 hour walk

Monday – 45 min. walk, Indoor soccer game, 10 pull ups

Tuesday – 30 min. walk, kettlebell lifting (20-30 mins.), 10 pull ups

Wednesday – 30 min. walk, Recess class (1 hour of moving around, playing, body weight exercises, sprints), 10 pull ups

Thursday – 30 min. bike ride, kettlebell lifting, 10 pull ups

Friday – 20 min. bike ride

Saturday – 30 min. bike ride, soccer practice (1 hr. of kicking ball around, doing some drills), 10 pull ups

So really that’s not too strenuous. All my activities are enjoyable…especially the walking…especially in the nice Fall weather. I started doing pull ups everyday just because it’s an easy way to work on lat strength. I don’t do 10 in a row, just sets of 2 to 5 whenever I walk by my pull up bar. So those go quick and I do feel like they are getting easier. I will soon be able to do 10 in a row; then I will add weight to them and start over with 1 rep at a time.

The main thing I changed with my fitness is less intense kettlebell lifting sessions. Normally, I would lift 3 times a week and do less “slow” cardio, like the walking. I believe my body is responding well to less lifting though. I still lift hard and heavy, but just less frequently.

My 30 Day Primal Challenge is over; and I am still totally primal by choice. This is a fantastic way to live, to eat, to play. I feel like it’s a miracle of sorts. 2 years ago when I discovered kettlebells, I knew I had found the workout method that worked best for me and that I loved. Now, the primal diet is that for me in terms of eating. I not only feel fantastic, I look more lean since losing 5 pds and about 2% body fat. I am smaller than I have ever been as an adult, or teenager even. And I NEVER feel deprived. Eating primal in no way feels like a “diet”. There are no hunger pangs and wishes for cake and ice cream. You just stop craving the stuff you can’t have because your body is getting such delicious high quality foods. Complete satisfaction. It amazes me everyday.

Thanks for reading, and I encourage you to try going primal. Here is a great blog with reasons why it’s so good for you.

Being primal means eating GOOD. Hearty, balanced, nutritious, delicious meals. Here’s a look at some of the food I’ve been chomping on.

Breakfast! Bacon, fried eggs (fried in the bacon fat), tomatoes and spinach, spicy guacamole. This type of meal with sustain you for HOURS and HOURS. No hunger 2 hours later; which seems to be common with grain based breakfast foods.

I usually follow breakfast with a square or two of dark chocolate…goes great w/ my coffee (that I cream with full fat coconut milk and sprinkle with cinnamon). I prefer 90%, but it’s hard to find.  This is my favorite brand though! Chocolate bars aren’t exactly primal, but they are a sensible vice.

This is cod fish “breaded” in coconut flakes, coconut flour, flax seed and cooked in coconut oil. The taste is very tropical! The greens are baked kale…pretty much my favorite primal discovery. So easy to make and has the perfect crunch and salty-ness. Recipe here. I will tell you, they don’t keep well…so only make as much as you’re gonna eat at the time.

Snack time! I adore Bhakti Chai (a local Boulder-made product). It’s a spicy chai tea with hints of ginger. I buy the unsweetened variety to avoid added sugars and add unsweetened almond milk. I usually add some powder cocoa (just plain chocolate, no sweeteners) and then top it off with some coconut crystals (a reasonable sugar substitute). I love this drink so much I could live on it. And that’s my favorite mug back there. My mom used it when I was a kid and then tried to garage sale it at some point; that’s when it became mine.

Here are the supplements I’m currently taking. The most essential one is a high quality fish oil. Everyone should be taking fish oil. Read about the many benefits here.

Grass-fed organic beef that I bought on sale at Whole Foods a while back and froze, cooked with onions and that amazing hot sauce you see there. The orange blob is butternut squash that needs no additional spices or sauces b/c it’s delicious naturally. And then some mini bell peppers with some more hot sauce for dipping.

Snack!!!  I’m a snacker, what can I say. I adore organic baby carrots and they’re great plain or dipped in almost anything. Today I dipped them in my favorite primal sauce, Ali Baba’s Baba Gghanouj (another locally made product). It’s a eggplant based dip and it’s so freaking delicious. Creamy and garlic-y….yes please.

So that’s not necessarily a typical day; I collected photos over a few days and just threw some together for this post. My point is that you get to eat real, delicious food when you’re eating primal. Really not once so far have I been sad that I can’t eat a piece of bread or have some cereal or chips. No biggie. I LOVE MY PRIMAL LIFE! As you might imagine, I feel like  rock star eating this way. Full of energy but never an overly full gut. Next post will be about my primal fitness regimen!

1 – Check my phone less often. It’s become almost a compulsive habit to check my phone constantly. And that’s just not necessary. So when I have the urge to check my email or fb on the iphone, I am resisting…as long as I can at least. Baby steps.

2 – Read more. A goal on the 30 at 30 list was to read 1 book a month. But I read a grand total of  about 3 and 1/2 all year. Oops. Things are already different at 31. I’ve read 3 books!  I’m on a role. I feel a re-discovered love for reading. I’ve read The Hunger Games, Catching Fire and The Help. All very, very good. Apparently I enjoy reading fiction.

3 – Be Primal! I’ve finally come around to being interested in trying the “caveman” diet. For more info on this, check out marksdailyapple.com. It’s not just a diet, it’s a lifestyle change. And I love it.  Yesterday I started the 30 Day Primal Challenge.  It just makes so much sense. Here’s some short info about what I’ll be doing:

Feel free to try it yourself! It is definitely a healthy AND sustainable lifestyle. I will leave you with my most primal look:

It happened….my birthday (and yes, I dressed up like a Christmas gift).  I am no longer 30.  I haven’t decided what to do with this blog yet.  For now, I thought I should write a closing blog.

30 at 30 was a fun project.  Did I complete all 30 things on the list?  No.  But I am proud of the ones I did accomplish.  I would highly recommend making any kind of goal/bucket list …not necessarily a 30 at 30, but just for any reason or occasion.  Goal setting is very important and I don’t plan on stopping.  Will I be making a 31 at 31 list?  Ha.  NO.  I’m a little over the long list at the moment!  But I do have some goals for the next year.  Of course mostly having to do with kettlebells.  Shocked?  I doubt it.

peace and picnics,

Heather

All these depressing thoughts just rushed in the last few days.  In general, I love my life and am very happy with the unconventional way I’ve always chosen to live. But, like everyone, some times I just think my life sucks.  That’s reality.  That’s real.  And things have just plained sucked at times this year.

When that happens, you have to count your blessings.  Which I have SO many.  Another thing you can do is go accomplish one more thing on your list…one of the most challenging things on your list.  And so, I did….

#20: DO A PISTOL WITH A 35lb. BELL.

(Pictures from the actual RKC workshop)

I did get my RKC (Russian Kettlebell Instructor Certification) back at the end of April!  It was an amazing experience and you can read all about it on my new website:

morekettlebells.com

There are also videos and lots of pics!  Click on the “MY RKC EXPERIENCE” link.

Fascinating, huh? Anyway, in 17 days I’m headed to my big Russian Kettlebell Certification course in St. Paul, Minnesota.  I am super excited.  There are some things I need to be doing in the mean time to be extra prepared for the brutality of the weekend.  Here’s a list of what I will and won’t be doing during these couple weeks:

1- NO carbonation of any kind.  I’ve gotten kind of hooked on Zevia…it’s a diet soda made with stevia (available at my favorite store, Whole Foods)…which is a more natural sugar substitute.  Regardless, they’re still not good for me and I felt the effects of one today when I went to do sprints.  No bueno.

2- Adjust my sleep schedule.  Each of the three days at RKC starts at 8am.  I’m generally more of a 9-10am riser.  So ya know, this is gonna be somewhat difficult.

3- Early workouts.  I also will get in the routine of getting up and being ready to workout.  I’m more of a noon – 3pm worker outer. But last Saturday I went to Scott Stansky’s class at 8:30am and I actually felt great all day.  So this might not be too hard…I just have to make sure I’m doing it a few times a week.

4- Eat healthy, balanced, moderately portioned meals.  I’ve been doing pretty well with this.  I just want to keep it up.  Plus a lot of protein to fuel the muscles.

5- No alcohol!  This is not gonna be extremely easy; but I’m not expecting it to be super hard either.  I don’t drink all that much now a days anyway.  Although, I am drinking red wine right now even.  So this will be my last glass until May.  :)

6- Take classes a few times instead of just working out alone. I tend to push myself harder in this environment.

7- Read more kettlebell material; watch more kettlebell videos.  My trainer, Shari Wagner, RKC gave me great material to borrow.  The more I know about kettlebells  and proper technique and the “why’s” behind moves, the better prepared I’ll be for the weekend.  It’s not all about physical prep.

8- But physical prep is highly important, so I’d like to pass the snatch test twice more.

9- Visualize!  I think it’ll help for me to visualize myself hitting 100 snatches with ease….sort of like meditating.

10- Lots of high intensity intervals: SPRINTING.  Chad and I have been doing this lately and I want to keep it up.  Since the snatch test is equated to running up hill for 5 minutes straight; sprints are quite helpful for lung capacity work.  And he pushes me to go fast; because he’s so dang fast.

11- Get a massage or two from Nicole!

12- Meet with Josh Hillis, RKC 2 so he can give me the insider details.  He is helping out at an RKC workshop THIS weekend; so he’ll know what’s new this year and give me the scoop.

13- Thank Brian Copeland, RKC for teaching me how to use kettlebells in the first place.  I fell in love with these bells back in September 2009 in a small studio in Aurora, CO.  I absolutely value that experience and time there.

14- Chill about it.  It’s a big deal, yes.  But I am pretty prepared as is.  And if I went tomorrow, I’d be fine.  So while extra preparation is important right now, it’s not an ‘end all – be all’ kind of mindset I need have.  This is gonna be FUN!  This is the sport/hobby that I LOVE more than any other.  And I’m going to meet a ton of people who are ALSO kettlebell nerds like me.  It’s gonna be like summer camp!!!  And anyone who knew me between the ages of 8 and 18 knows that I LOVE SUMMER CAMP.