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.

I am feeling stronger in my legs and upper back since increasing my workouts.  My upper back takes a beating with my job and I need to keep it strong.  Snatches and bent over rows make a huge difference.  I did a snatch and swing workout that helped bring my shoulders back. 

I did well eating raw until tonight.  I had quinoa pasta with broccoli.  I usually eat until I am stuffed but since eating raw I didn’t have as much of an appetite. This week I ate raw ravioli, pad thai, corn chowder, broccoli soup, and lots of salads.  You can see the recipes on www.AlissaCohen.com.  I am amazed at how good vegetables can be.  Tomorrow I will have tomato, cucumber, red pepper and avocado salad for breakfast and grated raw butternut squash with curry seasoning for lunch.  I am actually having fun with raw food. 

I am putting on a seminar in Tacoma, WA with one of the speakers from the movie The Secret, Bob Doyle (www.WealthBeyondReason.com).  I also have Mark Edgar Stephens (www.MarkEdgarStephens.com)  coming who is amazing.  These two people want to empower people and make good changes in the world.  I always feel better just being in their presence.  For those of you who are interested call 206.365.0400 or go to http://www.discoveru.org/Class.aspx?ClassID=2554 

Eating raw is so forgiving.  If I haven’t eaten enough during the day and I come home famished I can eat all I want and not worry about putting the pounds back on.  There is no way I can eat enough cucumbers to equal the amount of calories in a steak.  I am making sure I am getting a wide variety of vegies, all colors of the rainbow.  I supplement with nuts to get more protein.  If my day is extremely busy and I am beginning to fade I will us a scoop of Jay Robb protein powder and a scoop of greens.  I realize this isn’t raw but sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do.

My kettlebell training is going great.  I have been doing more swings with the 24kg.  I alternate between two handed, one handed and alternating.   Last nights routine was 500 swings with the 24 kg, jump rope 500 times, clean with the 20 kg 8 times and high pull with 20 kg 8 times.  I did the cleans and high pulls four times.  It was a short work out but I had minimal rest period.  I love that endorphin rush.  My class last night did swing-catch-squat x 10, snatch-lunge x 5, figure 8- 5 each direction, and clean-press x 5.  They did this routine 4 times. 

 I have about 20-30 minutes each night for my routine.  I work long hours between my chiropractic practice and teaching kettlebells so my workouts need to be quick and effective.

I went to the June 2007 RKC certification 15 lbs heavier than the last certification.  I could give you all of my sob stories on why I gained weight, but ultimately it doesn’t matter.  The fact is that I was not in the shape I needed to be.  I met Tracy Reifkind at the April 2007 RKC and was inspired by her story.  She lost over 100 pounds by changing her diet and exercising with kettlebells.  When I got home I checked out her blog.  No wonder she lost weight.  She is exercising her butt off.  I was so impressed.  I was disgusted with myself that I had become lazy.  Since returning from RKC I bumped up the intensity of my workouts and changed my diet.  I am happy to say I have lost 7 of my 15 pounds.  Kettlebells will remain my exercise of choice because there is nothing out there that gives me the all over workout for strength and cardio.  I have radically changed my diet.  I have gone all raw.  Lots of raw vegetables and some nuts and fruits.  I am feeling better than I have in months.  I have lots of energy and I am losing weight.  I don’t know how long I will do this but it feels right for now. 

There will always be things going on in life that will come before taking care of yourself.  I hate how I feel when I don’t workout and now that I am feeling so much better I will make sure I get my workouts in.  I don’t get done with patients until 6:10-6:15.  As soon as I get done with work now I change and get my rearend into the gym.  Some nights I only get 20 minutes in but it is more than nothing.  I used to linger after work until I had to teach class at 6:45 but now I hustle to get changed so I can get more time in.  It is just changing priorities.  I work 50-55 hours per week and can find time to work out.  I am motivated to get back into my smaller clothes and feel good. Don’t let excuses make you fat.