Vitamin D and some Burpees...

I just finished reading The Vitamin D Cure by Dowd and Stafford. First of all, I'm so excited that I read an entire book and even learned something in the process. I was voted "Most Avid Reader" as a youngin' but when adulthood rolled around I had "better" things to do. Ugh. Bring on the books, baby!

I don't have the energy to re-cap the entire book but here are the highlights:

HOLY SHIT DUDE, TAKE YOUR VITAMIN D!

Supplements (at least 2500 IU if you're an AK peep!)
Diet (Cut cheese, grains and most dairy)
Exercise (Moderate Level Walks and Muscle Building Moves)
oh, an SUNSHINE!

Vitamin D is so incredibly vital to our health in ways I never knew. Correcting your levels can completely diminish aches and pains, fibromyalgia, depression, seasonal depression, fatigue, obesity, gout, and so much more! The book goes into great detail about your risks for low D based on your ethnicity, location and genes.



It was also personally awesome to read another health book that totally mirrors our new primal lifestyle. Yet again, the pro's are seeing the facts that grains and dairy are not only not necessary for us but they are detrimental to our health, vitality and longevity! Plus the workouts were right on par with the Primal way!

The new wallpaper on my phone. Motivation!

Speaking of workouts, I'm getting buff. Not super buff yet but I just had two kids back to back and my body looks better than it's ever looked before. That's pretty freakin' crazy and encouraging! I'm totally out of shape which just feels like a great starting point. My diet and exercise aren't perfect but I'm doing great 85% of the time and right now that works for me.

Just tried some Burpees for the first time. Ouch. If you don't know what that is then check out my favorite fitness chick on youtube bust some out.

Until next time...

21 Day Total Body Transformation...Hopefully

Eric and I have been transitioning into a totally Primal diet (hunter-gatherer foods) since the birth of our 2nd babe three months ago. Cutting out grains was surprisingly easy for both of us. He's one of those annoying people who can go on health kicks as a behavioral experiment or just for the hell of it and stay 100% dedicated. For years he's wanted to cut agricultural grains knowing that they were the introduction of a vast amount of health problems for our world. I have babies with allergies so I decided to cut common allergens while nursing in the hopes that my daughter doesn't have to go through to agony my son did by being allergic to everything I was ingesting. Wheat and Corn were cut so when we got into the Paleo Diet there were just a few more grains to exclude.

Last week we started the Primal Blueprint's 21 Day Total Body Transformation: A Complete, Step-by-Step Gene Reprogramming Action Plan. We feel awesome! We are 6 days in. Eric's lost 5 lbs, I've lost 2. But more importantly we're getting buff and the eating is energizing! I no longer have a food coma after any meals! 

Our Workouts:

Circuits of - Planks, Reverse Planks, Push ups (Chest touching the ground), and Pull Ups. 

Grok Ball & Sprinting - We throw a 10 lb medicine ball as far as we can, sprint to it, throw it again, sprint, and so forth until we our sweating bullets and cant lift our arms. 

Walking, Stretching and Playing!

Go Barefoot! Eric's Vibram Five Fingers and My NB Minimus.

Our Typical Day of Eating:

Breakfast: 3 Egg Omelet or Scramble with celery, onion, bell pepper, cucumber and bacon or turkey bacon.

Lunch: Big Ass Salad. Romaine, Spinach, Kale, veggies listed above plus avocado and chicken. Olive Oil out of our Misto w/ salt and pepper as dressing.

Snacks: Macadamia Nuts. Fruit Roll Ups we make with our new Dehydrator using berries from the yard. Homemade Sweet Potato Fries & Chia Seed Muffin (Blaze only since I'm trying to up my calorie and carb intake while I'm still nursing.).

Dinner: Meat and Veggies. Steak and asparagus is my favorite.

Dessert: Dark Chocolate. 85% (Yuck. Eric's into it but my taste buds aren't there yet.) Coconut milk ice cream. Fruit.

Beverages: Water, Coffee, Tea, Coconut Milk, Nut Milks, Hemp Milk and occasional Red Wine. I don't drink but Eric was on board for a lifestyle change that included dark chocolate and red wine. That seemed sustainable for the long haul. :)

Lyric helping us pick raspberries in the backyard.

I'll report back at the end of the 21 days. At that time we'll be continuing this Primal Living but this is just a nice hardcore jump start. Maybe by the end of 3 weeks I'll have stopped my small sugar binges every few days. *sigh* Still it's progress. Now when I eat sugar I get shaky and dizzy so clearly my body is rejecting shitty foods and the insulin spikes they produce. Yeah baby!

Check out the Primal Blueprint and the 21 Day Total Body Transformation Guide! Living Primally is the cure to our ills. It all makes so much sense and our health has already improved as a result of tossing out the "conventional wisdom" of our food pyramid that's led to all time high obesity rates. Go Primal! 

My First Time Using a Recipe vs. A Microwave

Cooking, cleaning, and caring never came easy to me. I decided at young age that I was going to be rich and famous so I would of course have a cook, maid, chauffeur, masseuse, etc. That's still the plan but in the meantime I think I'd like a more serene living space. And it might be okay if I'm able to feed my children...

I've been having a great time keeping up with Paleo, Fitness, and Healthy Lifestyle Blogs. This week I tried out two recipes. That's two more than I've ever attempted before. 

Both recipes are Grain, Dairy and Sugar Free.

First I made Coconut Flour "Oatmeal" from Katie Did's blog. (She is an awesome Paleo Eater, Crossfit Monster and Sweet Photographer.)

The only variation I made was to add ground flax seed and honey as a topping and I omitted the peaches. I've been having the toughest time avoiding sugar but this was a sweet treat and I even felt like I was eating carbs again. I don't miss them but it was a nice texture. 

That was so much fun that I decided to try something a bit more ambitious. Protein Thin Mint Cookies from the awesome sisters of Purely Twins. I used Variation #5 No Carob. I struggled with this creation a bit. I decided to buy new measuring cups because I rely heavily on them! The cookies didn't turn out that great since I kept screwing with the amounts of ingredients. Instead of throwing in the towel I got creative and turned the runny mint chocolate soup into balls by adding Crunchy Flax Cereal, Flax Seed and Shredded Coconut. Voila! Delicious!

Making treats in the kitchen turned out to be a fun, calming, enlightening experience for me! For the first time I was able to hear both my husband and mom say, "Wow Blaze, that actually tastes good!" Maybe one day I'll be so good that they'll take out the "actually"... 

Do you enjoy cooking? Where do you find your favorite recipes?

Juicy Double! ...serving of veggies...

Old Blaze: The only thing nastier than vegetables is vegetable juice. No thanks.
New Blaze: These juiced veggies are giving me a serious rush, man!

I'm not on a health kick. I'm truly changing my dietary habits for the better. This week my man and I decided to make a pact to juice veggies every day for a week and see how we felt. It's been 4 days and I haven't felt this good in years! I have endless reserves of energy. My vision is more clear. My brain is calm. That alone is a huge change. We definitely aren't stopping at a week. My body's never been happier with me!

Benefits of Juicing Vegetables:

1. You absorb all the nutrients from the vegetables. Including all the enzymes. Raw food rocks!
2. Juicing pre-digests the veggies so you can easily assimilate and absorb the good stuff.
3. You're able to consume a wider variety and larger quantity of veggies.
4. It's great for weight loss since the amazing nutrients immediately satisfy your appestat (the part of the brain that controls appetite) so you feel full for a freakishly long time.

Tips:

-The darker and leafier the better! Kale & Spinach are our go-to's!
-Drink it immediately after juicing. That's when you'll get the most out of it.
-If you get a tummy ache after drinking a bunch, (I did the first day) drink a big glass of water right away. It solved the problem and I've found not having it on an empty stomach helps too.
-As you're juicing taste the different individual vegetable juices. In the pictures below we're taking shots of yellow pepper and red pepper. And since my drinking days are behind me I felt like I was really partying! Ha!

Veggies in the last batch we juiced: (We split the juice 50/50)

2 Peppers, 1 large Cucumber, 2 cups Kale, 2 hearts of Romaine Lettuce, 3 cups Carrots. Then at the end it's always good to add 1/4-1/2 a Lemon and a chunk of Raw Ginger! Awesome.

What are your favorite veggies to juice?