| MY WIFE THINKS I'M CRAZY BUT IT WORKS
In December, for My21DayX my family and I attempted 21 days of a 100% Primal lifestyle. That meant a low carb, high fat diet and no grains along with a few other healthy lifestyle changes. It was mostly easy, as I’ve been living this way for about 2 years (with some exceptions here and there).
Here’s what I learned:
I get asked a lot about the best way to get a workout in with limited time and without having to spend money on a gym membership. There are a lot of great exercises you can do at home in a short period of time but I think the pull-up is one of the best.
The pull-up is one of the best things you can do to develop functional strength. If you can pull yourself up from a hanging position, you can probably climb anything (important during a zombie apocalypse.) “The pullup targets more muscles than any other upper-body exercise,” says MMA strength coach Chad Waterbury, M.S.
“Grok serves as our primal exemplar, a figurative model for evolutionarily tried and true lifestyle behaviors: diet, exercise, sleep, stress, etc.” – Mark Sisson, Author
I had been sitting at my desk staring at my computer for a while and decided to do a little stretching. I dropped down in a squatting position (the Grok Squat or Indigenous People’s Stretch) and stayed there for a minute. While I was squatting, Uncle Butt, my much older yet well respected cube neighbor at work who prefers to keep his professional name anonymous as he is avoiding fame :-), peeked in and said “What are you doing?!” As I maintained my most perfect Grok squat stretch, I went on to explain…
On December 1st, I’m kicking off My21DayX (Experiments in Lifestyle Modification) by going 100% Primal…and the family is going with me!
Mark Sisson, author of The Primal Blueprint, defines it best:
The Basics
1. Eat real food.
2. Avoid sugar, grains, unhealthy fats, beans/legumes.
3. Align your carb intake with your weight goals and activity levels.
4. Move frequently at a slow pace: Get between 2-5 hours per week of moderate aerobic exercise.
5. Lift heavy things: Conduct 1-3 brief, intense sessions of full-body functional movements.
6. Sprint: Go “all out” once a week.
7. Get 8 hours of sleep every night.
8. Get 15 minutes of direct sun exposure each day.
9. Play! Find time to let go, disconnect, unwind and have fun each day.