Primal Tuesday

So, primal stuff is still going ok. Robyn and I did a basic movement assessment thingy and discovered that we can both do some push-ups, some squats, and a pretty good plank hold. And apparently we're both lacking in ability to do pull-ups and dive bombers...I think it's a tricep/arm strength thing maybe? Anyway.

I've decided that 2 hrs of dance practice plus my trip to/from work with an extra walk or something thrown in here or there pretty much makes my goal of 'moving frequently at a slow pace' 3-5 hrs a week.

Then I have 2 days of 'lift heavy things' doing basic body-weight movements. I think a lot of them will help with pole too, so it makes me want to get good at them.

And last I have 1 day of sprinting. Apparently that means 6 x 50 meter jog/runs to warm up with a bit of a rest in between each, and then 6 x 50 meter sprints at full or almost full effort (8-15 seconds) with rest in between each (long enough to catch my breath fully), and then a cool down and stretch period after.

As for the primal food, I'm still having a giant salad for lunch, and I'm snacking on better things. The last couple days I've been craving sugar and bread and last night and today haven't been perfect, but in general I'm doing pretty good.

Feline Friday - late

So my feline friday is a day late. I was at Miss Pole Dance Alberta yesterday, so I have excuses.

So in the last week, the kitties have gone from hissing at each other on sight to mostly being ok together. I noticed on Tuesday that their 'hissing distance' had moved from them hissing from about a foot away to half a foot. After a week and a half of switching territory and food bowls and slowly seeing how they react with the other cat in their space, they finally seemed to be getting to being ok with each other. Their first night inside together was thursday, and they still hiss at each other occasionally as they work out whose territory is where, but they seem to have accepted each other.

Basically, if one has a problem with where the other is, they will hiss, the other cat will back off and everything will be fine. They were even sharing the couch earlier today. New kitty is stinky though, in the litter box. I'm looking into reasons for it - a lot of websites cite food as a likely culprit.

Tribal Tuesday, Second Edition

So, here we are again. A full week of Primal...stuff. It has been fun eating my Big Ass Salad, and in fact, I've eaten a couple of the best salads I've had in a long time.

I've also had a couple of issues - weekends are my weakness. Especially ones where Jon is home. It is difficult feeding myself and then feeding him something entirely different. Especially when the man likes bacon. but it has to be with toast. Or at least something bread-y and not egg related (someone doesn't like eggs).
And then there was helping with bar-tending a wedding. And the free sugar-laden drinks that came with it. *sigh* I, apparently, am weak.

But I don't look at it too badly. Every step I take, I prove to myself that the Primal stuff makes me feel great. On days where I do it all the way I have more energy, I sleep better, I feel better. Then when I eat something like white bread, or stuff with a lot of sugar first I get really really thirsty, and then I get tired. So overall, I really do have a reason to want to continue on this way. And maybe I'm not perfect at it, but the more I do it the more I want to do it.

Robyn and I are looking at the exercising thing lately too. We have no trouble moving slowly, resting or playing for 3-5 hrs on 4 days of the week. We seem to keep getting distracted when we decide to go do our 'lift heavy things' self-assessment though. Last night we got distracted by TV. Tonight we got distracted by cleaning and playing guitar. I think tomorrow we're going as soon as I get home. Either that or I'm setting an alarm to remind us.

Oh, and just a quick life-update. Robyn and I are trading lessons. I'm teaching her pole for an hour on Fridays and she's teaching me guitar for an hour on Sundays. And apparently I have to practice 30 minutes every other day so I actually learn stuff. I'll have to come up with some kind of practice for her so we're even. *evil sister-grin*

Feline Friday

So, as I mentioned in an earlier post, I acquired a new kitty on Sunday night, and over the last 5 days I've been slowly acclimating them to each other.

They started on Sunday night, with the new kitty living on the balcony to start out with. Their first meeting was paws up against the glass of the sliding door, with both cats hissing at each other for a half a minute before they backed off.

Then ensued lots of petting one and then petting the other while they sniffed my hands, smelling the other cat. The new cat seems unperturbed by this, while Elizabeth looks at me with mild disgust and betrayal (well, that's what it seems like to me, anyway) but allows herself to be petted. I also fed them where they can see each other on Monday - they both decided to eat facing away, but there was a lot of glancing over shoulders at the other while they ate.

On Tuesday I fed them where they could see each other again, and then switched them. Elizabeth seemed ok on the balcony at first, but then she got a good sniff of the crate the new cat is living in. At which point she ran away from it hissing, and meowed insistently at the door to be let back in. I managed to entice her halfway back to the crate by putting down a trail of treats and then completely ignoring her requests to come back in. The new cat seemed fine exploring inside the house.

Wednesday morning, I wake up and discover the cats looking at each other through the glass door, Elizabeth meowing questioningly through the glass. When I crack the door so they can smell each other, they hiss again though.
Repeat the switch again. Elizabeth gets to the crate this time, but then wants back in.

Thursday, repeat the switch again. This time, I simply put a few treats in front of the crate and a few just inside it, set Elizabeth down in front and opened my book. She seems fine, and eats the outer treats, sniffs around the balcony a bunch, and then cautiously eats the treats inside the crate. Happy with this success, I also thought it was time they started getting used to each other in the same space. So I pick the new cat up, and let Elizabeth in.

Sitting with the new cat in my lap, Elizabeth sits under the coffee table. New cat doesn't like laps, so she slowly squirms her way down to the floor. I hold her still, just in case the two cats decide to fight. New cat hisses a little, but her ears don't go back. Elizabeth watches, hissing back a little too, but neither approaches or seems likely to attack the other.

Next morning, I do the opposite. Elizabeth outside is more frightened than the new cat inside - she huddles on my lap, meowing at me, and hissing once. New cat is laying in the sun and ignoring her. So I put Elizabeth down. She huddles in place to start out with, but new cat ignores her still and eventually she starts sniffing around the food bowls. Robyn comes out and I figure it's enough for the morning. Right now they're switched again.

Their progress at tolerating each other seems good, and they watch each other through the door frequently now. I'm hoping they'll be able to sniff each other face to face without hissing or fighting soon. And after that, hopefully they'll be friends :) I'm very optimistic - they're getting used to each other fairly quickly.

Tribal Tuesday Begins

As I mentioned in my last post, I've started a month-long experiment with 'Primal Living'. Basically, I was eating a lot of junk food and this seemed like a good way to eat better. Here's the details.

Foods - lots of veggies, enough protein for cell repair, fruits, nuts/seeds, good fats, limited dairy, no sugar or processed /chemical stuff, mostly limited grains, and limited alcohol too.

Basically breakfast is eggs with veggies, yogurt with fruit and nuts, protein shake, or leftovers. Lunch is a giant salad with homemade dressing, and some sort of protein source (this is the biggest meal of the day), and dinner is a small serving of protein and some veggies, with fruit for dessert (and maybe a glass of wine - for the antioxidants of course, lol).

I also mentioned exercise too. This is extremely flexible but breaks down into 3 basic things that our 'ancestor grok' did. Move around a lot at a slow pace, lift heavy things, and occasionally run fast to get dinner or escape being dinner.

It gets broken down into 4 days a week to either rest, play, or move around, for a total of 3-5 (or more) hours. Could be evenly spread between the 4 days, or done all on one day. This would include walking, hiking, biking, working on a pole routine, swimming, playing sports, or doing other fun things (makes me want to go play on kids' playground equipment)

Then there's two days of lifting heavy things (10-30 mins each day), which is basically muscle building - could be moving furniture around, actually lifting weights, or even my pole dancing would count (I lift my body, and that's heavy enough, right?). There's also 5 basic movements that grok could likely do, and not all of us can. The 5 are: pushup, pullup, overhead press, squat and plank. I'm pretty sure I can't quite do a pull-up - I don't spend much time climbing things other than my pole, lol. And that uses my legs to help.

And last but not least, is a day of 'sprinting' (20-25 mins, once every 7-10 days). This could be actual sprinting, skip rope, climbing stairs, dancing, or playing fast-paced sports.

So this week Robyn and I are focusing on the food part of this. So far it's pretty yummy. I've decided to take a daily picture of my 'Big Ass Salad' and at the end of the month see how varied a daily salad can be. Primal exercise starts next week. And I'm still doing my pole dance conditioning and stretching DVD 3 times a week. Speaking of which, I should go stretch.

See you Friday for the update on the kitties!

Cats go Primal?

So, now I finally have something to blog about again. Sorry for the lack of posts lately, but summer called, and I really didn't have much of interest to post about anyway. And now I do!

So, first of all, I recently (as in a few hours ago) acquired a new kitty. Her name is Athena and I rescued her from being sent to the SPCA. She was rescued first by a friend of mine, who found homes for her 7 kittens. Unfortunately, they had a harder time finding a home for her, poor girl. She's only a year and a half old, and she's had two litters of kittens in the last nine months, and her body definitely shows it - she's far too skinny. But for all that, she's a really sweet and affectionate cat.

To introduce her slowly to my cat, she's staying on the balcony for now (it's still warm out, even overnight) and so far their reactions are promising - They've been looking at each other through the sliding door, and the one time they looked at the same time, Athena only hissed for about 30 seconds before she backed away, and Elizabeth didn't hiss at all. I'm hoping they'll be used to each other and sharing space within 2-3 weeks. I'll keep you posted on how I'm getting them used to each other and their response (or lack of it). So far, other than the looking through the window, I've been petting one and then going to the other and petting them, letting them smell the other cat on me first. Elizabeth isn't happy, but she doesn't seem too put out either.

The second thing I have to blog about is my new health thingy. I've been reading about something called 'Primal Living' - basically eating and exercising in a way that works with our evolutionary strengths (basically the sorts of things the majority of our ancestors (all the way back to 'Grok', our first human, cave-man type) have eaten. Lots of forage for fresh veggies and fruits and nuts and seeds and stuff. And a good amount of protein and fats. I've been eating lots of junk lately and starting to feel a bit unhealthy, so fresh veggies sound delicious just now. And since I'm trying out eating like 'Grok', I figured I'd try exercising like Grok too. And my sister is going to join me. I think it'll be fun.
(for more info on Primal Living, visit www.marksdailyapple.com)

So I'm planning on updating twice a week at minimum - Tribal Tuesday and Feline Friday perhaps? Setting a specific day will probably help keep me posting ;)
So see you Tuesday!