Hey guys, if you’re new to these posts, listen to this podcast episode to get the scoop on what changes I’m making in my life and you can start back at my first daily post here.
What a difference sleep makes! I went to bed at 9p last night, feeling rough. I was super exhausted, my throat hurt and I had a headache.
I chose not to set my alarm to allow my body whatever rest it needed. At 4:55a I woke up feeling refreshed & rested. I still have a sore throat but man am I ever grateful for a solid night of sleep!
You know how I went out to dinner last night? It was absolutely amazing. The purple cauliflower puree was incredible. I’m telling you – eating in a fat loss friendly way does NOT suck! It’s delicious!
A few of you have emailed or commented wanting me to share some productivity hacks so I’m thinking I’ll try to incorporate one or two of them in posts where they are relevant instead of trying to round them up in one blog.
One thing I do each night before bed is make a priority list for the morning. I choose 3-4 primary tasks and put them in a time slot for the following day. That way, when I wake up, I don’t waste any time or energy wondering what I should start with or what I need to do – I already know. After my morning routine, I get right to the item in the first time slot.
Today I have 4 primary tasks to get done before I head to the gym. This morning productivity allows me to be focused during my workout without worrying that I need to get back and finish work.
I’m feeling a bit sore after yesterday’s workout so I’m making sure to warm up my body a bit this morning, get the blood flowing and doing some foam rolling. Here’s what I did while watching the news:
- 20 body weight squats
- 2 minutes of spider man stretches
- 20 good mornings
- 10 minutes of fascia work with my foam roller & lacrosse ball
I’ll make sure to do something similar tonight after my workout.
Speaking of workouts – today is another GOAT day where we work on weaknesses. I’ll be working on double unders again. For the second weakness, I want to work on my grip. Holding my body weight can be hard for me, primarily because I haven’t trained my grip strength very much up to this point. To help with that, today I’ll be doing hanging knee raises & push-ups for my second GOAT. I’m incorporating the push-ups so that I keep working on body weight movements if I can’t hang from the bar for a full minute in each round.
The workout is formatted as an EMOM x 20 (every minute on the minute for 20 minutes) and you alternate your 2 weaknesses. Here’s what it looked like for me.
10 rounds
Minute 1: max double unders
Minute 2: max knee raises & push-ups
I am amazed at how quickly my double unders are improving after just 2 sessions of dedicated practice. It’s super exciting & motivating to see that kind of noticeable progress!
One last random note before we talk about food. I’ve shared on the podcast how one of the most powerful questions I ask myself is, “How can I make the rest of my day the best of my day?”
Sometimes I find myself tired or unmotivated and that question gets me focused on all I CAN do to feel better instead of staying stuck in a funk.
I’m asking myself at 3:30p today and here is my momentary answer to how I’ll make the rest of my day the best of my day:
- I’ll eliminate stress by doing 2 loads of laundry
- I’ll get my blood flowing and my muscles recovering by drinking some water and doing more stretching & foam rolling
- I’ll spend 30 more minutes answering emails to make tomorrow easier
- I’ll meditate for 10 minutes
I did all those things & took my car to the car wash.
On the food front:
I happily enjoyed my coffee all morning and around 9am I had a bacon & egg muffin from Paleo Power Meals. (If you try them, use the code ebprimal20 to save 20% on your first order!)
I’m more hungry than “usual” today. This is normal. I used to think I should eat the same way each day and I would see my hungrier days as something being “wrong”. I think what is “wrong” is to think our bodies should act and feel the same each day.
Think about it – some days you sleep better than others. Some days you are more active than others. Some days you might be under more stress or your immune system might be fighting harder than normal (I definitely think I’m fighting something right now). There are hormonal fluctuations and everything in between. Some days you might think it looks like I don’t eat much. That’s true. Other days I eat more. That’s also true.
Today I’m more hungry so I’m eating more. For those of you who are using how much I eat as an indicator of how much you should eat – please don’t.
How much someone eats depends on a million factors including:
- their body composition (fat, muscle, etc)
- their activity level
- their goals
- their metabolic efficiency
Anyways, I had a packet of Phat Fudge before the workout AND a couple tablespoons of coconut butter.
On the drive home from my workout I had some EPIC brand pork rinds.
After the workout I made a huge cabbage salad with eggs, bacon, avocado and a couple walnuts.
That really filled me up for quite a while. Since the first half of the day was very rich in fat (bacon, eggs, phat fudge, coconut butter, more bacon & eggs, avo & nuts), I’ll keep dinner clean, lean & light.
Ground turkey taco-less salad for dinner. Super simple: just lettuce, ground turkey & a little salsa.
A quick word about next week:
I’m gearing up for next week’s fast. These posts will be different since:
- I’ll be in North Carolina
- I won’t be working out
- I won’t be eating
Sounds like a fun week, right? I’ll keep posting though. I’m excited to see how I feel, how I manage hunger and what I learn about my body! I know I’ll be super excited to get back to my routine on March 20th!