Q: “When do you sleep?” A: “That’s classified.”
I was way too excited about these ingredients at 1AM while making this video…
But in all seriousness, like many of you I have a pretty full tilt, nearly 24/hr day. As a friend of mine out west is now really discovering, exercise is a privilege. He injured himself and is having to take time off. Already we’re seeing on facebook that it’s driving him bonkers. Exercise is something we GET to do, not just something we “have” to do. Yes, on one hand it should be like brushing our teeth, something we just do, and do for our health with no question. But unlike the act of brushing teeth, exercise and physical activities can bring their own joy, challenge, and enjoyment. For some, like a client today, it supports her sport of running. She knows that by training for strength she’ll get more enjoyment, and fewer potential injuries while pursuing more miles and faster times. Not to mention the long term benefits of bone density, and useful daily strength.
I use exercise as a fun activity, a reason to get outside, sometimes it’s even a social activity with a friend or two. It’s also a big destroyer of stress. There’s nothing like a set of battling rope throws to near exhaustion, heavy kettlebell swings, or a dozen powerful tire flips to adjust an attitude. If I’m having to solve a lot of problems or doing a lot of very mental work, I need a heavy duty physical reset like that to keep my brain humming along at top speed. Destroys a bad mood like magic too. To be my best for heavy duty thinking, I also need heavy duty activity AND heavy duty nutrition!
Since it’s Monday, you’ve probably got enough to think about so here are some examples of two out of three! My version of the famous Whole Foods Detox Salad and an all-out workout from this weekend.
Here’s a video about the salad, but be warned, it’s realtime… if you just want the recipe, I’ll list the ingredients below the video. I love to enjoy this salad as a heaping helping alongside a grassfed ribeye steak or a big piece of roasted chicken. It’s also really good as a filler inside collard wraps along with hummus, avocado, etc.
My not-so-sweet take on Whole Foods’ Detox Salad:
- 1 broccoli crown
- 2/3 small head of cauliflower
- 2 medium carrots
- 1/2 bunch parsley
- Juice of 1 large lemon
- 1/4-1/3 cup zante currants
- 1/2 cup sunflower seeds
- 1tbsp kelp granules
- Salt and pepper to taste
Welcome to my humble kitchen, if I can make this with nearly zero countertop space, then you can do it, no problem. Given my dedication to caffeinated hot beverages, I barely have room for a cutting board, but I make it work, and so can you!
Slight variation posted February 2021!
That being said, here’s the all out workout from the weekend. I also started and ended it with 95% of max sets of strict pull ups before and after.
Joint mobility warm up, then three sets of I go, You go sets of one-rep-less-than-failure pull ups (a friend bravely agreed to play along, and she ended up setting some PRs! WOOHOO! If you’re doing this alone, you can just take an extended water break, take a short walk out and back etc.)
Next we unloaded all our fun toys from the car: one 50ft battling rope, one 24kg kettlebell, one 28kg kettlebell (which I thought was the other 24kg… oops, but this led to my friend’s PR so I am happy about this mistake), one 18kg kettlebell, one 16kg kettlebell.
We used a corner of the park that has a great set of parallel bars at dip bar height and they’re fabulous for “Aussie pull-ups” aka “bodyweight rows”.
We went for six rounds of the following (staggered so one of us would be near the pile of phones, keys, and sunglasses):
- 20 battling rope basic throws “up-downs”
- Approx 80 yards total farmers’ walk (switch hands mid way) with 24kg and 28kg
- 20 two hand kettlebell swings (any kettlebell)
- 10 Aussie pull-ups
- 10 strict push-ups (feet together! pause at the lockout!)
- 10 goblet squats (any kettlebell)
After that we refueled at Grounding Roots with ginger-turmeric-pepper shots and a bottle each of their beet/greens/green apple juice. I went for extra credit and ate the cooked chicken breast I’d brought in lew of a protein bar… because apparently I’m a little animal. HAHA.
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