Tuesday, December 13, 2011

The Quest

I'm starting a blog. I have the desire to outline my primal journey for the whole world to see. I feel as though I'm starting a little late - I've been eating primally for seven months now and I've also been training with kettlebells. However, I feel that it's important for others to know what I'm going through and what I already have gone through to get to where I am. Here's the story on me:

I'm Katie. I'm in my mid-20s, living in Northern California, earning my graduate degree. I just moved from Florida with Daniel, my husband of one year. For most of our lives, we both have been overweight - my husband more so than myself. At my heaviest, I was 211 lbs. at 5'6." The funny thing was that I got there by trying to lose weight - I ate high carb and was a victim of chronic cardio. I sought the help of a nutritionist, who prescribed a low carb, high protein, high fiber, low fat diet. When I was married a year ago, I weighed 172 lbs. I was lighter and thinner, but I was flabby and not necessarily healthy. I had problems with hypoglycemia and inflammation. Low carb definitely helped my hypoglycemia, but I would occasionally binge and it turned into a vicious cycle. 

It wasn't until April 2011 that I discovered The Primal Blueprint and kettlebell training. I discovered both around the same time; an alum at my old school was a kettlebell trainer and practitioner of the paleo diet. She posted a link to the Primal Blueprint one day. I purchased it and read it in less than two days. It changed my life forever.

My diet came first. I was completely primal for a month before I started training. I had lost a couple of pounds, but not much. However, with training, I observed my body change before my eyes. I had a scale and I noticed that even though I was obviously becoming leaner, I wasn't losing any weight. This caused some anxiety for me, so I threw out the scale, and wouldn't look at it again. This turned out to be a good move - I wouldn't have the option of tracking my progress with the scale, but with the mirror instead and how I felt.

My husband has been losing weight as well. Since being primal, he has gone from a 38 waist to a 36. I've been encouraging him to train, but he hasn't been completely interested. He loves primal eating and has stuck with it surprisingly well. Even when he goes out with friends, he eats primal whether I'm there or not. That right there is encouraging to me that this is a great lifestyle for us.

My quest is to continue to "primalize" our lives. I want to minimize certain aspects of our lives and maximize results. I hope to live on less, pay off my credit card debt, reduce how much I purchase, and maximize the use of what I do purchase. I'm getting my HKC kettlebell certification next month, so I hope to start my own business in personal training in addition to the job I have now. Hopefully, I'll have all of debt paid off by next year. Even better, I'll be able to enjoy life more without the pressure of debt. I may even be able to support a child. Who knows?