Welcome to my Life...

A Blog geared toward sharing how I live Primally while still being a girly girl!

Monday, May 16, 2011

Monday Morning Workout--Back to the Basics!

Every Primal/Paleo cite I read has some sort of recommendation for a Workout of the Week (WOW), so my blog would not be complete without one! HELLO, Bree!

The goal of my weekly workouts will be to get people moving and most of them can be done right in your living room--barefoot or in these sweet Vibrams (see picture)

If you haven't done so already, download Mark Sisson's Primal Blueprint Fitness ebook. It's completely FREE and it will explain and demonstrate some basic movements to get you moving! I highly recommend it because it will explain why we don't really need a massive gym and crazy equipment to stay in shape. Our bodies were meant to move and function in the environment with ease. These basic movements are in line with what our bodies were meant to do and will help make your daily activities that much easier!

So, here's my Monday Morning Workout to get you moving!

1) Basic Plank--hold for 1 minute
2) 50 Squats--please read Mark's for the proper form because I am no trainer and I gotta keep it real.
3) 25 push-ups (BIG GIRL PUSHUPS)
4) 10 Overhead presses--modified to Level 4

Then REPEAT this!

This workout takes 25 minutes start-to-finish! Just try your best! If you need to modify, use Mark's PBF ebook to assist you and most of all, I hope you all have a great Monday!

Cheers to LIFE!--Bree

Saturday, May 14, 2011

You want to feed your kid WHAT?

I work with children. I’m a speech therapist by day and a Primal Enthusiast by evening. I love children. I love Primal living.
I enjoy most aspects of the daily career that I have chosen for myself. I get to help children learn to communicate and to become chatty little creatures. Awesome? Yes, I think so!
I feel a special connection to the kids I work with and I want to protect them and teach them just as if they were my own. So when I ran across an article today in the local newspaper I couldn’t help but think of how I wish I could meld my two worlds: Speech therapy and Primal living. This article really got me thinking.
You see, children don’t get to be in charge of much. From the moment they wake up choices are often made for them. Parents tell them when to bathe, when to brush their teeth, what to drink, what to eat, what to wear and when to go to bed and more! It’s what parents do, right? After all, as parents and teachers it’s our JOB to teach them HOW to do all these things, correct? If we don’t teach them, then who will?
During the daytime, I work in the homes of the rich. I also work in the homes of the poor. In both cases, children are treated the same--No real choices throughout the day even when it comes to food. Food is provided and kids chow it down.
You may be saying to yourself, "Maybe the parents can't afford to shop for meats, fresh veggies and fruit (what I refer to as REAL FOOD)?" I disagree.
It's not because parents cannot afford real food. In fact, some of the higher income homes I go into the parents bring home dinner in take-out containers and paper sacks more frequently than in the lower income homes. Healthy food choices and income don't seem to play much of a role in the choices that are provided. In some homes children’s choices go something like this, “Ralphie, would you like strawberries or yogurt.” In other homes choices go something like this, “Nate, would you like chicken nuggets or hamburger?” or my favorite, “McDonald’s or Taco Bell, Timmy?” What's available in the kitchens and homes of children is not directly correlated with income in many cases. I believe, it's all a matter of convenience.
But here's my real point: We could kill two birds with one stone. Why not provide REAL FOOD? Nutritious fruits, vegetables and meats that sustain our children throughout the day. These foods maintain blood sugars, regulate energy and promote healthy brain development and immunity. If you say you don't have the money I will say, "You are a crazy fool." You would find money if your child needed to go to the doctor for an ear infection, needed insulin to stabilize blood sugars or medication to control hyperactivity. If you can find money for these doctor visits and medications, then you can find the money to feed your kids real food. Afterall, it's their greatest line of defense and real food prevents 90% of these problems anyway!
Think of it like this: “Perhaps, Timmy would have only 1 meltdown per week if we fed him real, nutritious food—like vegetables that grow out of the ground?” or “Maybe he would follow directions or attend to therapy tasks more willingly if he didn’t just eat 42 M&M’s in 30 seconds and his brain could focus?” Hell, I’d be 10 seconds from looney too if I ate half the crap we feed our kids! Give me one ‘fruit’ snack and I will have a sugar crash in 20 minutes and fully demonstrate a temper tantrum for you-- complete with whining, crying and self-injurious behavior!
Just a thought here, but don’t our kids deserve more from us? Why is processed, sugary food even an option for them? Don’t they deserve for us to teach them to eat real food? How to grow food, love food, cook food and enjoy food?
Can't we make eating and feeding our family a learning opportunity? Think of all the verbs, nouns, adjectives and language that can be incorporated in preparing real food as a family! You can have wonderful conversations around food and around the dinner table. It is possible to meld these two worlds--Speech therapy and Primal living. Trust me.
Kids need us. They need us to make some better choices. We need to educate ourselves about eating real food and taking care of our bodies just as much as we educate ourselves about what preschool to send our child to, or whether to bring our child into this world in a hospital or through home birth? Don’t our kids deserve better than what we have? Or better than what we know? I think so and I'm willing to bet that you think so too.
Sorry for the very opinionated post today! I hope it at least made you think, laugh or rage with anger just like me.
Here are a couple of family friendly blogs about eating REAL FOOD:
Cheers to LIFE!--Bree

Friday, May 13, 2011

We all get a little lazy sometimes

I have to confess something. It’s terrible, but then again, most confessions are just that—Terrible. I’ve been eating Primally since January 1, 2011. I’ve had no trouble fitting in my jeans recently and that’s a great feeling, but I’ve been terribly lazy. L-A-Z-Y…
Pre-Primal Bree would be at the gym 5 to 6 days a week doing a mix of cardio and strength training. I was a self-described, “gym rat,” and I was totally ok with that. Now that I’ve got my eating under control, I’ve noticed that my trips to the gym are few and far between. In the past month I took a 2 week hiatus from the gym and worked out approximately 5 times total. Hmmm…what caused this change in me? This is not the Bree that I know…
Don’t get me wrong, I’ve been working my booty off in many other ways…I’ve been working on designing a better blog, researching and learning everything I can about blogging and web design. I’ve been designing new AAC tools for my clients to use with the iPad. I’ve been working on new goals for my clients. I’ve been shopping and cooking almost every meal at home. I’ve been spending time with friends and family. I’ve been really focused on getting enough sleep. But all this time, I’ve been neglecting my dearest friend, gym. Crap.
It’s not that I couldn’t go to the gym. I DO have the time. I DO have the desire, but I also have the desire to do the 20 other things that I mentioned above. Herein lays/lies the dilemma. I’m not perfect and dang it, I wish I was! So it’s time to put the gym back into the routine.
Tomorrow is gonna start off with a hike. Who is with me?? Any takers??
Cheers to Life!--Bree

Wednesday, May 11, 2011

Lunch Hodgepodge!

About once a week I run into this- "I'mnotsurewhatIwanttoeat" problem and I look into the refrigerator that is usually packed with a random chicken breast, some half chopped onion, bacon, sausage or something of the like. So, in an effort not to waste a penny, I have started cooking a weekly 'hodgepodge' of things from the refrigerator. Here is this week's hodgepodge recipe just in case you have the desire to toss a few things in a pan and get cookin' like I do!

1 random lonely organic chicken breast

2 chicken sausage links

1/2 a yellow onion

1 sweet potato

1 tsp garlic

1/2 tsp cumin

1/4 tsp turmeric

6 tsp coconut oil

Sea Salt/pepper/garlic powder to taste

Here's a tip: You have to cook the sweet potato in one pan while you cook the meat in another pan.

So I begin by sticking the chicken sausage in a pan on medium heat and letting it brown up on the sides. While that is cooking, I chop up the sweet potato into chunks and toss it in a separate pan with 3 tsp coconut oil. I season the sweet potato chunks with sea salt, pepper and about 1/2 tsp of garlic powder (you can use the real deal, but I was in a bit of a hurry so I used garlic powder instead--no biggie). Chop up the chicken breast here too!

Then, I go back to the sausage links, take them out of the pan and slice them into bite-sized pieces. I toss a little coconut oil into the pan with the diced up chicken breast (I also diced the chicken breast while the sausage was cooking. While the chicken is cooking I toss in half a yellow onion that has been chopped up recklessly (no need for precision when you are making a hodgepodge). While these items are cooking I toss in the turmeric, cumin, black pepper and sea salt and add back in the sausage. I also had some chicken broth in the fridge leftover from a couple of days ago so I tossed in about 1/4 cup of that and let everything finish cooking along with the sweet potatoes from the other pan.

TADA!!!! Lunch was ready. This took me 30 minutes from start to finish--super easy! Don't be scared of all the randomness in your refrigerator! It could be something fantastic in a matter of minutes!

Let me know what you throw in a pan sometimes! Perhaps it turns out to be my new favorite recipe?!

Cheers to Life!--Bree

Wednesday, May 4, 2011

I cook...from a book...

I love to cook! It is like one of the most relaxing, fun, exciting things that I do daily...This week I had a bunch of leftovers to eat up so I spent the first part of the week eating those up and then went to the blogs to make some yummy food for tonight.

One of my favorite blogs, Everyday Paleo, was featuring a new recipe today--Curried Meatballs. I loved these meatballs. I made them using only 1 lb of grass-fed hamburger and then I took some chicken italian sausage that I bought at Trader Joes and inserted 3 sausages into the mix. In order to do this you take the casing off of the sausage and then just mix it in as you would the hamburger. I cooked the meatballs just like Sarah recommended and I even made the sauce! Super Yummy!

Here is a photo of the aftermath! They were sooo good!

I had already planned in my head that I wanted to make some cookies using the new coconut flour that I bought at Whole Foods. So I searched and searched until I found one that I thought would be perfect! Coconut Banana Cookies! I actually went with this one because I had all the ingredients! So good too! I could eat all of them--like right now!


These are how mine turned out but if you want to take a peek at the recipe here is the Paleo Website that I used: http://cavemanstrong.com/2010/12/coconut-banana-cookies/

I'm going on month 5 of Paleo/Primal and I'm really starting to just do it like clockwork. I do have the occasional cheat here and there...but I'm pretty much on track and lovin' it! I'm learning to cook and I'm learning to listen to my body. I could not be happier with my health at this moment!

Cheers to Life!--Bree