My Next Challenge

For those of you unaware, Mark Sisson of Mark's Daily Apple started a 21-day primal challenge. It started on the 16th, and I found out about it on the 19th. So, though I'm starting a bit late for the challenge, I'm going to do it for the next 21 days, starting tomorrow, September 23 (ending October 13). See the infographic and learn more at Mark’s Daily Apple.

Here's a summary of what this challenge entails, copied directly from Mark's Daily Apple:

• Eat real food.
• Avoid sugar, grains, unhealthy fats, beans/legumes.
• Align your carb intake with your weight goals and activity levels.
• Move frequently at a slow pace: Get between 2-5 hours per week of moderate aerobic exercise.
• Lift heavy things: Conduct 1-3 brief, intense sessions of full-body functional movements.
• Sprint: Go “all out” once a week.
• Get 8 hours of sleep every night.
• Get 15 minutes of direct sun exposure each day.
• Play! Find time to let go, disconnect, unwind and have fun each day.

Mark's Daily Apple is posting tips daily and is hosting various contests for awesome prizes, so go check it out.

What this challenge means for me is that I'm going to continue with Paleo as per usual, but I'm really going to try to get eight hours of sleep each night. It's hard to do, when there's so many things just a click away to keep us entertained into the late hours of the night. I was discussing my schedule with one of my co-workers on Friday and realized that when I take into account working (10), commuting (1.5-2.5), working out (1.5), eating (1.5), cooking (0.5-1.5), getting ready for work/bed (1.5), I don't have enough time for 8 hours of sleep. I'm left with 5.5-7.5 hours for sleep depending on how long it takes me to cook my meals and how long my commute takes (it's longer when I drive to crew practice). So, something had to give, and I'm not sure what it will be. Maybe I'll only be able to cook on certain days, or I'll have to revert back to only cooking on Sundays. And when will I fit in chores? Or trips to the grocery store? Yeah, I'm not sure. But I'll figure it out starting tomorrow.

An easy change that I'm going to make is to go outside during lunch every day. I take 30 minute lunch breaks, so I can spend half of that outside in the sun - that's manageable. And I'm going to try to go outside and play at least once during the weekend. I'll probably grab my soccer ball and head to the nearby park. At the very least, I'll get the chance to try to improve my soccer skills again.

What I'm going to have to work on is my carb intake. With the amount of fruit that I've been downing lately, I've definitely been going over the recommended grams of carbs per my physical activity level and weight-loss goals. So that'll be an adjustment. I'll continue using PaleoTrack.com to keep better tabs on that.

Anyways, wish me luck! And on that note, I need to hit the sheets now to get 8 hours of sleep before tomorrow morning's alarm. Good night!

21 DSD - Days 14-15 - Sunburn Relief

So, let's discuss the remainder of my Memorial Day weekend and returning to work. As I mentioned, I got super sunburned. The drive back home was misery. Most of my focus for the last couple days has been on sunburn relief. On the drive back home, we stopped at a Buc-ee's for snacks. Yeah, this is how Texans do gas stations...

I bought beef jerky. Yum! And then we stopped at a CVS located catty-corner to the Buc-ee's for me to pick up some Solarcaine spray. The aloe just wasn't enough. So I dashed into the store to get out of the sun, bought a can, and headed back outside (and into the shade) to spray myself down while my friends laughed at me from the car. It sustained me for the rest of the drive. But by the time I got dropped off at my apartment, I could barely move because my shoulders and legs were so sore and tight. I even took the elevator up to the third floor of the parking garage because I just couldn't use my arms to pick stuff up and definitely couldn't rest anything on my shoulder. I felt lazy, but it was utterly necessary.

Once I got into my apartment, I dumped everything on the floor, and dashed as quickly as I could, which was maybe closer to a waddle, to the bathroom. I carefully peeled my dress off and took a glorious, yet shiveringly cool, shower. After patting myself dry, I sprayed down with Solarcaine again, but then faced the dilemma of what to put on my sunburned forehead. Up until then, I had been applying coconut oil to my face for the sunburn, but it didn't seem to be helping much, besides keeping my skin moisturized. I then remembered reading an article a while back about how apple cider vinegar can be used for sunburn. I had some vinegar/water premixed and stored in an old shampoo bottle for use as a hair rinse in the shower, so I put some on a clean washcloth and held it against my forehead for a minute. And it seemed to draw out the heat, and felt better than the Solarcaine. I wrung out the washcloth, added fresh apple cider vinegar and water mixture, and reapplied in the following cycle: forehead, right quad, left quad, right shoulder, left shoulder, chest, and the back of the neck. Repeat again and again. I'm pretty sure I spent an hour doing that, before laying down on my couch and not moving. And I had to mix up more of the vinegar-water mixture. I finally dragged myself from my lethargy to head to the movie theater with my lake friends to see Star Trek: Into Darkness (it was awesome). After a stop to Walmart for more Solarcaine, I got home, dumped 1.5 cups of vinegar into the bath tub, and took a 40-minute cool bath. I used coconut oil as a moisturizer post-vinegar, and went to sleep happy. I seriously think that the vinegar was the better pain relief for the sunburn. The Solarcaine seems to make me feel itchy, sticky, and then dried out.

For Monday's holiday, my plans of hanging by the pool with friends got changed to sitting around my apartment, chatting, watching chick flicks, and drinking mimosas (or water if you're me). I started and ended the day with apple cider vinegar applications. And food? I was too sore and lazy to cook, so I ate beef jerky for breakfast, snacked on bell peppers that one of my friends brought over, and had bacon and eggs for dinner. It was a good, lazy day, that probably should have been spent cleaning, doing laundry, or cooking meals for the week. But what are giant Tupperware containers of frozen leftovers for, if not for lazy days?

Want to know what else apple cider vinegar is good for? Check out my post on Natural Beauty.