Primal Blueprint 30 Day Challenge - Day 9

Rounding up the end of day nine of the 30 Day Primal Blueprint Challenge; I am feeling pretty accomplished today!

Currently, I'm sitting at home and drinking a protein shake.  I just finished up a nice workout at the gym and I feel great.  My workout included:

1. Treadmill Warmup - 4 minutes
2. Bench Presses - 25 x 90lbs (plus bar and 1lbs x 2 holders)
3. Planks - 4 x 30 seconds
4. Kettlebell Swings - 16lbs x 2 minutes
5. Lateral Pulls - 25 x 180lbs
6. Double Bell Squats - 25 x 90lbs

This is my second workout of the week, the first being almost identical to this.  As you can see, I'm not going to the gym every other day or every three days like I used to.  However, I am much more active at home than I used to be and my diet has changed slightly.  

Oh, and my weight?  Here's the answer to that:

Current Weight: 341.6 lbs

Weight Lost Since Last Time: 4.4 lbs

Total Weight Lost: 59.1 lbs

Primal Blueprint 30 Day Challenge - End of Week 1

It's the end of the first week!  How did everyone do?

I have been doing decently with it.  I've struggled a couple of times, but I've been doing the best that I've done in a long time on my exercise!  My biggest battle is going to be getting control of my eating habits.

Meal Time! Enchilada on Flaxseed Tortilla

Following a Primal Blueprint/Paleo/Low-Carb lifestyle is great, but sometimes you miss your old friends like bread, chips, corn, and tortilla shells.  I mean, what is a sandwich without bread and what is a taco salad without the tortilla shell?

Some friends of mine pointed out the fact that if I was really hurting for my grainy friends, that I could always look to alternative sources of them like flaxseed, coconut, and almonds to name a few.  When my sister announced that enchiladas were on the docket for dinner, I started to panic a little.  You see, enchilada filling is delicious and it fits in with Primal Blueprint eating, but it's just not the same without the tortilla wrapper.  

I decided that I needed that wrapper, but I wasn't going to settle for anything less than PB standards.  This set me out for my local grocery store.  There, I picked up a couple of bags of milled flaxseed and some baking powder.  I soon returned home and looked to the Internet for the next step.  I was lucky to find this site with a recipe for flaxseed tortillas and bread.

I followed the recipe for the most part, and it turned out decently.  My few critiques are as follows: 

• The flaxseed needs to be ground down even further until it is closer to a powdery consistency.  Left as is will be fine, but if the person eating the tortilla has issues with texture, then this may not be for them.
• The seasoning for the tortilla needs a lot of work.  It was very salty tasting.
• The final product had very little in common with the flour tortillas that come to mind.  It was very thick and brittle, and very similar to a cookie in hardness.  This one definitely wasn't made to wrap around anything.

All of that said, the final product was very filling.

As far as the enchilada filling, it was a very simple recipe.  We used meat from a rotisserie chicken bought at the store, a small 8oz. tub of the Philadelphia Cream Cheese - Santa Fe Blend, and a can of crushed tomato. Mix that together with a half cup of shredded cheddar cheese and put it in (on) your tortilla shell.  Throw some more shredded cheese on top with some enchilada sauce (not in the picture above) and bake at 375 degrees Fahrenheit until the cheese is melted on top!

I hope you guys enjoy this simple recipe.  Leave a comment if you have any suggestions on how to make this better!

Primal Blueprint 30 Day Challenge - Day 5

We're five days into the challenge.  How is everyone doing so far?

I'm finally done working at my old job, so my days spent eating on the road are officially over.  I have had a couple of days of light exercise, including an early morning jog and light strength training yesterday morning.  The weather outside here in Kentucky is close to perfect for getting outside and enjoying the weather.

As far as my diet goes, I've not been behaving the best that I could have.  But one can only eat the same kind of salad so many times in a row before harming themselves starts to look like a viable option.  There might have been a candy bar, a soda, and a piece of pizza.  

The great thing about Primal Blueprint lifestyle is that it's forgiving.  I don't beat myself up for getting off track, I just work harder at getting back on track!

Primal Blueprint 30 Day Challenge

Since my wife passed away, I've not been taking care of myself as well as I should have been.  I started eating crap foods again, I stopped exercising as much, and I started smoking again.  There; it's all laid out on the table now.

I've known for a long time that I couldn't let myself go for long like this, or I would find myself right back in the same situation I was in last October.  I refuse to go back to that size and be an absolutely miserable human being.  It's the last thing I need.

A couple of weeks ago, the idea hit me that I needed to go "hardcore" back into my diet and exercise routine for at least a month and get myself back on track.  Low and behold, Mark Sisson just happened to start up his yearly Primal Blueprint Health Challenge on August the 4th.  I may be a little late to the party, but it's never to late to get yourself healthy.

Starting today, September the 1st of 2011, I am going on the Primal Blueprint 30 Day Challenge.  I'm going to Grock out with my socks out.  I'll be following the exercise routine he provides and the diet as well.  No breads, no pastas, no sugars, no refined, processed, "just like" foods.  

Just like with the No Sweets? No Sweat! Challenge, I'll be posting here regularly with updates about my progress.  I hope that anybody who still reads my blog will jump in with me.  If not, why not just commit to doing something healthier than your used to for the next 30 days?  It can be anything from eating healthier foods, adding (more) exercise to you daily life, or cutting out something that is unhealthy for you.

I'll start with what I've got for the day:  

Current Weight: 346 lbs

Let's get this started!