I am so impressed with people who can blog every day.  My intent is to blog every other day but as you can tell, it doesn’t get done.  I took a self-defense class this past Friday with Tim Larkin (Target Focus Training) - http://www.targetfocustraining.com  Every woman should take this class.  I didn’t realize what I needed to do to protect myself.  I knew I would not be able to physically fight off an attacker so I had no idea of what I had to do.  Tim makes the class easy giving you target areas that will put someone down.  I HIGHLY recommend his class.

I have kicked up my kettlebell training.  I have been working out at lunch three times per week then will do more swings at the end of the day.  Today I did swings and snatches for 45 minutes.

I had to change my diet.  I was eating all raw for three weeks, which was just what my body needed at that time, but my energy started to lag.  I have been doing the Jay Robb Fat Burning Diet which alternates high protein one day and high carb the next day(still lots of raw vegies).  For this moment in time my body is responding well.  I never know what I will be doing three weeks from now as I just pay attention to what my body is asking for. My main goal with my diet is to keep my energy high.  I have a busy chiropractic practice and I need to keep my ketttlebell training up. 

I am still riding high from this weekend seminar.  I came home last night and my husband said he has the next seminar scheduled.  It is tentatively scheduled for March 30, 2008.  I wanted to have the seminar in Olympia but because we will be working with Discover U in Seattle he chose Tacoma again.  The topic of this seminar will be Relationships and the Law of Attraction.  Stay tuned.  

I wasn’t able to work out Monday night so I did the same routine my students did tonight.  I started warming up with two handed swings, 80 with the 20kg and 80 with the 24kg.  I then did four sets of the following:  5 each side of swing-clean-snatch, 5 each side clean-squat-press, 20 alternating swings, and 10 swing-catch-squats.  I then finished with 200 swings varying between two handed, one handed and alternating. 

I didn’t do very well with my eating today.  I went way to long without eating anything.  I had a bowl of vegies (cucumber, red bell pepper and avocado) for breakfast then nothing until after my workout, which was 7:15 pm.  I had a protein drink mixed with a green drink about 15 minutes after my workout.  When I got home I had a bowl of cabbage, shredded carrots, shredded beets and sunflower seeds.  I also had two small raw “ravioli”  I need to be more proactive on the days where I don’t take a lunch.  Luckily I didn’t have any nuts at work or I would have eaten them all.  Nuts are just too fattening.

My husband and I put on an empowerment seminar in Tacoma, Washington this past weekend.  It was amazing.  The speakers, Mark Edgar Stephens and Bob Doyle, were phenomenal.  I have been coaching with Mark for three years and I was blown away by how good he was.  The main message was you have the power to choose your life, all aspects of your life.  You need to find your passion and follow it.  Many of the people there didn’t know what their passion was and how to find.  Mark’s suggestion was to ask yourself throughout the day “What is my passion?” and listen to the little voice inside that will give you the answer.   I get so excited when I think of the possibility of everyone living their passion.  The world would be an amazing place.   Bob talked about the law of attraction and how science has proved that when you vibrate at a higher level you will attract what you are focusing on.  I see this in my life on a daily basis.  The patients I having coming into my practice are exactly what I have visualized.  You can get more information on both of the speakers at WealthBeyondReason.com and MarkEdgarStephens.com.

I also lost four pounds this week.  I love eating raw.  I need to control the amount of nuts I eat, which I know will weight on me.  I need to lose 6 more pounds then I can take kettlebell pictures.  I have written a book and the last part I need to do is get the pictures in.  There was no way I was going to take pictures with me being 15+ pounds heavier.

Mark came to the kettlebell gym Sunday morning before we took him to the airport.  We did a great workout.  We had two bells at one end of the parking lot and one at the other end.  We did alternating presses then farmer walked to the single bell.  We then did 40 two handed swings.  Then walked back and did high pulls. For the entire routine we walked back and forth alternating swings at one end with cleans, snatches, bent over rows, and single presses.  He was impressed at how he could feel his entire body working.  That is the power of kettlebells. 

I went for a walk today, 5 miles, in a head wind.  I needed to get outside and be with nature.  I spend the majority of my life in a temperature controlled environment and I realize that being outside is necessary for health.  That is something I want to do more of on a regular basis.  Living in the state of Washington can make it difficult to get outside.  Well, maybe just for me as I am a fair weathered person.  You will not see me walking in the rain.  I will be teaching my kettlebell class outside on the dry days. 

I walked five miles yet there people who cannot walk from the parking lot to the grocery store.  I am not talking about those with a neurologic/orthopedic condition or the very elderly.  I am talking about your every day American.  How is it that we as a society became so out of shape?  I believe computers have made us fat and lazy. Not lazy in work but lazy in taking care of our bodies.  Are you aware that if you do not exercise you will lose 14% of your muscle mass between the ages of 40 and 50? 14%!!!  That is huge.  It is time to make a change.  Park one stall over from your normal parking spot.  Do squats at your desk.  Make sure you get your butt way back like you are trying to sit on an outhouse toilet.  Great analogy isn’t it?  Do something, anything.

I made raw cookies today.  Coconut, dates and almonds.  Put them in a food processor and blend then put in a dehydrator for two hours.  Yummy.  Raw food is tasting so much better than cooked.  Alissa Cohen’s raw food cookbook has made being raw so easy. 

I have severe allergies.  My allergist says that I am allergic to everything under the sun.  I can control my reactions by staying away from foods that cause bad reactions.  I have been raw all week except for two nights.  Interesting enough the first night I had quinoa pasta with broccoli.  I started sneezing and had severe congestion.  Bad enough that I couldn’t sleep well that night.  I didn’t connect food to my allergic response.  The next night I had rice pasta and broccoli.  Again I had a sever reaction.  I think eating raw has cleaned out my system and I am more sensitive to cooked food.  I have a feeling that I will be raw for a while so my body can heal…then I can slowly introduce cooked foods.  It will be interesting to see what happens. 

I have been working out twice per day with kettlebells.  I hadn’t been able to get enough of a workout after work so I started doing a short workout during my lunch.  My workout Friday included lots of swings with the 24kg and clean and presses with the 12kg and 16kg.  At this point in my workouts I’m not structured in what I do…I just make sure that I get a great workout.  At some point I will do what I do with my class and develop a workout beforehand.  I’m already feeling a lot stronger since increasing my workout in the last week.