Catch up, Inspiration and Motivation.

It takes me a long time to write and I am currently very busy studying for an osteopathy course which is why I don't post here much. So this is going to be a short post just to jot down some thoughts and explain what I'm up to at the moment.

I am really loving Mark Sisson's website, Mark's Daily Apple at the moment. It's full of useful information and inspiring articles that really help me to keep motivated and stay on track. His plan is really the one that I am aiming towards, and it's called The Primal Blueprint. He breaks down the plan into simple manageable goals and I have never found it to be overwhelming.

If I can keep this picture in my mind,

hopefully I will make better choices.

It is my Dad's 70th birthday today and he's having a party. Recently I have managed to be incredibly good at saying no to wheat and sugar. As an example of this new found will power, I went for a meal the other night at a pizza and pasta restaurant and ordered the most Paleo-friendly items on the menu (grilled prawns and a Chef's salad - asking for both without the bread ingredients). I found that I wasn't jealous of anyone's pasta, I didn't feel resentful that I couldn't have any of the pizzas AND I didn't feel the need to dig a spoon into anyone's dessert at the end of the meal. This is a massive step forward for me. However, it's one thing to sit through a meal that lasts a couple of hours where other people are ordering starchy foods, but today is going to be a four hour long buffet marathon where I will be confronted with pasta, potatoes, beans (yes, legumes aren't Paleo), bread, cakes and desserts and I will have to summon the will power to leave them all alone. Luckily, I read this article last night about the effects of carb binging, and they are not pleasant at all.

I am trying to stick to being Paleo most of the time. I think I achieve a 90/10 ratio and I'm happy with this. I drink wine, I eat chocolate (at least 70%, if not 85% dark chocolate), I drink coffee, I eat a little dairy. I don't think that being Paleo has to be all or nothing and is an evolving and growing work in progress. I am slowly encorporating the following rules of being Primal into my life:

1. Eat lots of animals, insects and plants
2. Move around a lot at a slow pace
3. Lift heavy things
4. Run really fast every once in a while
5. Get lots of sleep
6. Play
7. Get some sunlight every day
8. Avoid trauma
9. Avoid poisonous things
10. Use your mind

I've got number 1 in the bag. Although insects are rarely part of my diet (I did eat an omelette which had a filling of bees' eggs when I was in Thailand), I make sure I eat a lot of meat and veggies. A good 8-10oz rare rump steak with a massive bowl of lettuce, avocado, fennel, red onion, mushrooms, tomatoes and cucumber with olive oil and a squeeze of fresh lemon or lime is one of my favourite meals.

Number 2 is a little tricky when you work in an office 9-5, BUT I try to make sure that I get a couple of 5 minute breaks during my day to go for a walk around the building a couple of times. This also means that I get out in the daylight. If it's sunny, I will spend my entire lunch break outside and go for a long walk to soak up some vitamin D. I also supplement.


I have started to lift heavy things by encorporating a short strength training routine into my weekly routine. Mark has his own youtube page which has some excellent videos about exercise (I'm talking about press-ups, chin-ups, squats, the plank, overhead press). I am mostly on the level 1 exercises, but we've all got to start somewhere. By the end of the year I hope to have moved up a level for most of them.


I have yet to encorporate running really fast into my life, but I will, someday. Running isn't very appealing to me most of the time, but sprinting? Sure, why not? Likewise, I don't really play much and I would like to find something like a weekly dance class to help with this.

I am a master of sleep. I aim for 8 hours a day but I prefer 9. What I would like to improve is coinciding my sleep with the cycle of the sun. I aim to go to bed no later than 3 hours after sunset, but this doesn't alway happen. I have found that I wake up with the sun, although I am unable to break the old habit of just staying in bed until I absolutely have to get out of it!

I don't put myself in unecessary danger. Or any danger at all, for that matter. Trauma is not something that I do. Poisonous things on the other hand are a little more difficult to eradicate. I do smoke, occasionally, and normally only when I am socialising. One 50g packet of tobacco that I brought back from Thailand back in December lasted until the other week when the remainder of the tobacco was just too dry to use and I had to throw it away. I drink alcohol too. Sometimes a little too much. Other toxins I try to avoid. Wheat and sugar are toxins for me, and I'm doing well to avoid those at the moment. I avoid processed foods, E-numbers, harsh chemicals (I use 'Earth-friendly' laundry, bathroom and cleaning products).

As I've mentioned before, I am studying osteopathic sciences in preparation for undertaking a 5 year Masters degree to become an osteopath. My first degree was in mathematics. I read books about science, I watch documentaries about the world and the universe. I am in my element when I am using my mind.

When I make a cup of tea at work, I take the opportunity to stretch. Luckily, no one has walked in to the staff room and caught me in the awkward position with my knee resting on the seat of a chair and my foot hanging over the back, trying to rebalance my hip flexors and extensors. Here is a video of the "couch stretch" as told by Kelly Starrett. I found this link through yet another informative article on MDA called 16 Tips for Desk Jockeys: What to Do About Sitting All Day.


This was going to be a short post. I guess I got carried away!

P.S. If you sign up to receive the MDA newsletter, you get the Primal Blueprint Fitness ebook and the introduction to his book, The Primal Blueprint for absolutely free.