primal cavewife

• Blend everything in a blender!

This post will be about my last 3 weeks of intermittent fasting, kettlebell swings and squats.

I have been doing 200 squats about 2-3 times a week for a while now... Probably over 6 months? I would do 4 sets of 50 and that would be my workout for the day. I used to be a competitive swimmer but I haven't been in a pool in 7 years since I moved to Australia. Since then, I have only gone running a handful of times and the gym a couple times. I wouldn't call that regular exercise since I have exercised probably about 10 times in the last 7 years.

I have started doing squats for 6 months, 2-3 times a week, and lately for the past month, kettlebell swings with a 15kg kettlebell. I have read many positive things about kettlebell swings and being the lazy person that I am with a busy schedule (read work and chores), it is the ideal exercise. For about 2-3 times a week I would do 4 sets of 15 kettlebell swings and 50 squats. It doesn't take much time and I'm done.

The first time I did kettlebell swings, it hurt my back and my legs almost died having to do my squats afterwards. I recovered after a few days. The second week I did them, it didn't hurt at all. My boyfriend attributes that to the paleo diet. Who knows, maybe it helps.

On top of all that, I have been fasting for almost 3 weeks now. I would fast during weekdays because it is easier when I am at work and we are not together cooking breakfast or out doing stuff. Dinner on Sunday would be my last meal and then on Monday I hold off eating until 1:00pm and would have plain tea or water throughout the morning. So basically I have about 6-7 hour gap during the day where I eat lunch, dinner and whatever else.

This is my 3rd and last week of intermittent fasting and it is coming to an end as it is already Thursday. I weighed myself at the end of last week and found that I have gained just under a kilo. While I have gained weight, I haven't really 'gained weight' in the sense that I got fatter. If anything, I have gotten smaller and have been able to zip up one of my jackets, that I've always had trouble zipping up, easily. I have lost weight in fat and have gained muscle weight. Remember, muscle weighs more than fat. That means, 1kg of muscle is smaller than 1kg of fat - a 60kg muscly person would be smaller and slimmer than a 60kg fatty person.

My intermittent fasting journey is coming to an end again - or I may consider doing it another week. Who knows. But I have definitely seen a change in my body and while I currently weigh the heaviest I ever had, I am definitely not dressing a size bigger - in fact, I may even be a size smaller than I was. Give intermittent fasting a go and let me know how you went.

• Grind the hazelnuts in a food processor. I didn't grind them too much as I prefer them to be chunky.
• In a saucepan, combine the cacao powder, stevia, egg yolks, coconut cream, vanilla extract, vanilla bean paste, medjool dates and ground hazelnuts. Bring the mix to boil and simmer for 5 minutes.
• Let it cool down before blending the mix in a blender. I made a mistake of placing all the ground hazelnuts in the pot so my chunky hazelnuts were mostly gone by the time they came out of the blender.
• Place it in your ice cream machine as per the manufacturer's instruction.

• Wash the vegetables and chop up the capsicum. Place the vegetables in a bowl and sprinkle the capsicum on top.
• In a saucepan, boil the eggs for about 5 minutes in boiling water. Once cooked, cool them in a bowl of cold water.
• In a frying pan, grease it with coconut oil and fry the bacon on medium-high heat.
• Once the bacon pieces are crispy, put the them on top of the vegetables and drizzle the bacon fat on top like you would a dressing.
• Shell the eggs and slice them and place them in the salad bowl.
• Salt and pepper to taste. Add from herbs if you want.
   

• Cut the mushroom up in smaller pieces and together with the herbs, put it through the food processor until they become tiny bits.
• Mix them in with the mince, egg, almond meal and salt and pepper.
• Take a little portion, press a little dent in the middle and place the cubed cheese in it and roll the meat mix around it to form a ball.
• Bake the meatballs at 180C for 15 minutes.

• In a food processor, pulse the carrots and greens until they become tiny little bits.
• Mix all the ingredients together and then form little balls with your hands.
• Bake them in the oven at 180C for 15 minutes.

I have recently run out of eyecream and decided to make a blend of my own. I have read that coconut oil is very good for the skin and decided to mix myself a batch of coconut oil and vitamin E.

Week 1:
My first week using coconut oil on my face. It is nice, not too oily once it is rubbed in and absorbed. My morning routine is my normal routine:

• Wash my face with store-bought face wash (pHisohex) and pat it dry
• Apply store-bought toner and then normal store-bought face cream.

My night routine is the one I've changed because coconut oil leaves a thin film of oil and make up and oil do not go well together:

• Remove my make up with store-bought make up remover (I use Neutrogena, I think it's the best. It removes all make up including eye make up and does not leave my face oily)
• Wash my face with store-bought face wash (pHisohex) and pat my face dry.
• Apply my coconut oil mix and rub it in gently in circular motion.

Result after Week 1:
My skin did not show much change. I have stopped using all kinds of scrubs, blackhead nose peels and even my clarisonic just to see the results. My nose still has blackheads and my fine wrinkles are still there though I am really not the most observant person in the world.

Week 2:
I read somewhere that the combination of steaming your face and applying coconut oil can help eliminate blackheads so I decided to go for it since I don't seem to be seeing any changes to my skin.
My morning routine:

• Wash my face with store-bought face wash (pHisohex) and pat my face dry.
• Apply store-bought toner and store-bought face cream.

My night routine:
Since I don't like wasting my time sitting around waiting for time to pass while my face is being steamed, I decided to do most of my routine in the shower.

• Remove make up with store-bought make up remover (Neutrogena)
• Get in the shower, apply shampoo, rinse hair, apply conditioner and wash my face with store-bought face wash (pHisohex)
• Pat my face and hands dry. Apply my coconut oil mix to my face and eyes and gently rub it in in circular motion focusing on the chin and nose area where blackheads tend to grow for about 1-2 minutes.
• Rinse conditioner, apply shower gel, rinse body and get out of the shower.

Result after Week 2:
Like Week 1, I did not use anything at all to treat my blackheads - not clarisonic, not scrubs and not blackhead nose peels. But wow I definitely noticed the difference this week, even for a poor observer like myself. My nose was so smooth, as if I did the nose peel on it and it has been 3 weeks since I started using coconut oil, and 2 weeks since I started this new shower routine. My nose is still so smooth and I cannot stop touching it. My boyfriend has looked at my nose last night and confirmed that the blackheads are going away. This is definitely one of the most effective ways of getting rid of blackheads and I am loving it.

You can continue to rub the coconut oil in a couple more times in the shower but I am lazy and this way is effective anyway. I just step out of the shower and leave the oil on my face as cream without applying or removing anything.

Please note that I am not a doctor so please consult your doctor before trying and you should always test prior to use in case you are allergic to coconut oil.

Say hello to our little rocket plant...

and our baby rosemary plant!

One of our broccoli plants is finally growing a little broccoli head! It's probably taking such a long time because they are not getting enough space. Oh well they will get there... just a matter of time.

• Half the avocado, pit it and sprinkle salt on both halves.
• Beat the egg and pour it in both halves where the pit was.
• Add a bit more salt, pepper, herbs and cheese and chilli on top if you want!
• Bake in the oven at 220C for 16-18 minutes.