So, it’s been a week on the Get Off Your Broom Fitness Challenge, and I can happily announce that I’m actually doing this. It’s been a weird week for me, with ovulation fatigue, cramps and whatnot, but I finally managed to get out for a few walks. It’s not much, I’ve walked about 10 km this week, but it’s a start.

What’s more important, though, is that I’m back on strictly paleo again (or lacto-paleo, to be exact). This summer I haven’t been doing my job to nurish my body, and while I haven’t actually gained weight during my starch binges, it has completely wreacked havoc on my well being and energy levels.

And I need those now, midterm exams are coming up, and I really need to get started on my Life Misson aswell. As Rose Cole, one of my heroines, says, you need to attune your body, as you simply can’t send a 1000 watts energy through a 30 watts bulb. It’ll short circuite. So I just can’t keep self sabotaging, this is about more than just having a beautiful body. I need it to function properly. I need it to do what I’m supposed to be doing in this lifetime.

I listened to an audio on my last walk, about pleasurable weightloss. Yeah, I still have 25 pounds to lose before I’m done, and I’d really like it to be pleasurable! I already knew this, but it was worth a reminder to get me started on my regime again. To sum up, what they were saying, is that your body is a female animal. If under threat, she will store up energy. If relaxed and happy, she will let go. I’ve found that to be true, and as we all know, the stress hormone cortisol will make you gain weight. So in essence: a strict, rigid regime you hate will never get those pounds off. A regime that gives you pleasure will.

For me, this means going back to lacto-paleo and stop messing with my digestion (nothing pleasurable about a gassy, bloated and constipated stomach!) and my energy levels (it’s really not that comfortable to be lying on the couch with a stiff and achy body either). So no more grains on this girl, from now on it’s going to be only meat, fish, eggs, vegetables, nuts, berries, fruit, and dairy, as unproccessed as possible. I really feel the difference after just one meal, the nutritients spread throughout my body, relaxes me, takes away the hunger (I really don’t get full on grains, it never satisfies my hunger so I usually end up over-eating) and gives me a great sense of pleasure.

It also means exersicing my body, as I was not meant for a life on the couch anyhow. Back to the analoge about the female animal, you know what happens if you take an animal out of its natural habitat and put it in a cage, right..? You need to set your body free. Really. For me, walking gives me that feeling of freedom. It gives me pleasure. And I’ve also taken up dancing, and I go every Thursday night.

Thirdly, it means listening to my body instead of ignoring it. It means going to bed when tired, eating when hungry, stop eating when full, going for a walk when restless… you get the picture. I think we spend wayyy to much time locked up in our heads, forgetting about our senses and our bodies, and the body’s signals get drowned out by everything else. It takes a bit of practice to start listening again, but it will be worth it in the end.

So there you have it, my first week on the callenge is over, and I’m really looking forward to the next one now!

photo credit: Amy L. Riddle