Back to Day 1 - A butt-dragging success



Photo: Maggie Smith

 Yesterday, I did not want to be primal.  Well, I did and didn't.  I wanted to be primal, but I didn't want to live primally.

The first few days of getting back into a primal routine is always the hardest.  Your energy sucks, and you're craving your favourites.  When I got home from work, it took every ounce of my being not to open a bottle of red wine or shake myself a martini.  I'm going to admit that last week, I had a drink (or two…) every night.  Why?  I was in love with a bad routine, and I used the excuse of after-wedding slack. 

But yesterday, I made it through.  And I dragged my butt the whole day.  I ate veggies and eggs and bacon and beef and pork and nuts and more veggies.  What helped was that my sister had dinner ready on the stove (beef stew!) so my evening routine included an earlier-than-8pm workout.

Unfortunately, my workout sucked.  I just didn't want to do it.  I went downstairs to my gym and looked at my workout log (lifting): October 8th.  HOLY CRAP!  It had been a whole month and a half since I last lifted!  (Not that the date made me put any more into my workout since I still didn't wanna.) 

Here's what I did: 

• 10 minutes of sprints (5 x 20-30 seconds) on the elliptical
• 3x12 of squats at 30lbs on each dumbell (60lbs total)
• followed by 3x15 butt lifts (no weights). 

And then I quit.

I can't wait until my body is back to normal so I can actually enjoy a workout and do a lot more than I did.

But, at least it's a start.  Again.

Dumbells that Make my Butt Ache

In my effort to lift heavy things three times a week (as recommended by the Primal Blueprint), yesterday was a leg-day and I LOVE leg-day.  I think it's the girl in me that really wants a nice tush, and I also feel that I get more for my money if I work out my bigger muscle groups.

I'm really sore... and it's only the day after (I find that the soreness reaches its pique after two days).  I like the feeling of having put my body through a good workout, but I had to ask Grok to give me a butt massage this morning (dirty minds!).

In my gym, I have minimal equipment but does the trick for my routine.  I have my giant elliptical machine that has an incline and resistance option (I call her Ellie, and as the second machine I've owned I treated myself to a gym-quality product).  I have a flat-bench that raises to an incline, and it has that piece on the end that I can do my isolated bicep or hammer curls on.  I have a series of workout DVD's that entertain me and keep me moving depending on what my mood desires (think yoga, plyometrics or lifting).  In addition, I have a thigh-toner and two stretch bands that really help with my back work, a yoga mat, a giant workout ball and 10lb wraps. Last but certainly not leaqst, the best workout piece own is: My PowerBlock dumbells (note that other than the loose dumbells you'd get in a gym, I haven't bought or tried anything else).


PowerBlock.com

  I love these dumbells!  They look a little bulky but they don't really get in the way of any of the exercises or routines that I've been trying out.  They go up to 50lbs with the option of 2.5lb increments.  However (and this is a big HOWEVER), I'm a girl and not as strong as Grok.  So the only downside I find is the fact that there is a gap between 10lbs and 15lbs.  When I'm working on my curls, 10lb is too little and 15lb is too much until I get a little stronger.

I'm sure that in the future I'll want to grow my gym.  For now, all of this works great and I'm super happy.

Here was my workout, three sets of each:

 



Ambro


• Squats (12 reps of 35lbs each dumbell)
• Sumo squats (12 reps of one 45lb dumbell)
• Lunges (12 reps of 25lbs each dumbell, each leg)
• Stiff-legged deadlifts (12 reps of 25lbs each dumbell)
• Inner leg lifts (I used 10lb wraps)
• Bouncing calf raises on the edge of a step (20 reps of one 25lb dumbell, each side)

Happy training!

An indulgent day; an indulgent workout

There is nothing that starts Grokette's day off better than getting out of the shower, and being presented with a cup of fresh coffee (FYI - Starbucks' Anniversary blend that they are promoting right now is REALLY good), and a plate of perfectly prepared bacon and eggs.  Grok, I adore you.

However, I starved the rest of the day.  That's okay since the occasional short fast is physiologically acceptable.  I'm sure that the real Grokette didn't always have a victorious hunt.

I left work at lunch to accommodate a very long afternoon appointment.  By 3:30, I was on my way home and all I could think about was my next meal.  I dashed into the neighbourhood grocery store and grabbed a roasted chicken (not the cleanest, but you know...) and a few other things, and dashed out.  When I got home, I dove into that chicken.  No fork, no knife - I just ripped those wings and legs apart. 

It wasn't very graceful and I certainly wouldn't do this in front of company, but it surely was satisfying!  I then followed-up with a piece of 86% chocolate.

I've had family in town for the past couple weeks, so this evening included a farewell dinner at Red Lobster.  My order?  Half a pound of Canadian snow crab legs and some broiled scallops, with a garden salad with blue cheese dressing.  Oh, and I had a glass of red wine too (Fetzer's red zinfandel...I highly recommend!).

Do I feel guilty?  Not at all.  Aside from the fact that I didn't prepare this food myself (and therefore can't confirm that my food was prepared cleanly) this meal is as close to primal as I will get when eating out at a restaurant.  I'm stuffed, and will admit that I ate too much but that just means that I'll do an intermittent fast for the next 12 to 15 hours. 

I do feel guilty for not moving too much today.  As soon as I publish this post, I'm going to hit the weights, which I'm learning to love.  Chalene Extreme is an exercise program focused on building muscle by lifting weights at a VERY slow pace.  You're not doing set after set of exercises - you're focused on lifting a heavy amout of weight for up to a max of twelve reps, and that's it.  In the past, I did another program affiliated with the Beachbody company but the workouts were too intense and long to fit into my lifestyle long-term (and this definitely wasn't primal as it encouraged chronic cardio).  I find that Chalene Extreme is great for me because I don't have to follow the plan -- but I can use one of the program's many workouts for whatever I'm in the mood for... This makes it pretty easy to want to workout.

Everyone has a preferred workout regimen.  I'm curious: What's yours?