Kettlebells and Juice
I have a new kettlebell!
I've been wanting to go up a size for a while and last weekend a girls-only bridal shower saw to it that I was in the big city with some quality fitness equipment shopping time on my hands.
My first kettlebell (pictured above, at left), I bought online from Dragon Door - along with some other instructional materials. The new one happens to be manufactured by Troy. Now, if you look at the two objects in the picture above, they probably look pretty similar. Not so! The handle geometry feels a little different, the flat part where they write the number is done differently (my wrists care about the difference), the coating is very different (the Troy one is a bit slicker), and the girth of the handle on the new kettlebell is noticeably slimmer.
This probably sounds like minor stuff, but kettlebells are expensive and you spend a lot of one-on-one time with them. They grow on you. However, as near as I can tell, Troy makes a fine kettlebell and we'll be okay. My only real gripe is that the new one measures its weight in pounds. I was raised Russian (by Pavel) and I wanted 20 kg (44.1 lbs). Not because it was lighter, but for very important "rightness" reasons. I think I'll be okay.
Also, I've been experimenting with juicing.
Not the fun kind of juicing where I get all gigantic and abusive. This is the hippy kind where I start talking about plant energy and stop showering.
A couple Christmases ago, my parents gave me a Jack Lalanne power juicer. Back then, I quickly learned that its critical flaw was that it took forever to clean and I shelved it.
Two years later (present day), I had just Netflix insta-watched Fat, Sick, and Nearly Dead and I wanted to try going a few days living on nothing but fruits and non-grain vegetables. It didn't last two meals. Honestly, I just felt too weird.
Some parts were really good though. Eating an entire head of lettuce and some other fresh veggies seemed to give me super human energy. If you live in the Midwest, you know that lately a giant has been trying to burn us with a magnifying glass. It makes doing outside stuff in the afternoon... effortful. That is, unless I'm fueled by salad! Running on leaves, I was unstoppable! (seriously, the difference in energy was noticeable)
So I figured, "Hey, if I try to eat this stuff, I'll go crazy. But! I can juice the weeds and eat some other stuff for normalcy and I'll win." And I was right. I really liked the juice. The downer is, it takes FOR. FREAKING. EVER.
I've gotten pretty good at all the chopping and the cleaning, but the whole process still takes me 20 minutes. Which might not sound bad, but this is for one glass of juice. A dude's got stuff to do! I can't even stockpile the juice because I'm told that if I don't drink it immediately, all the enzymes will get sad and not make me invincible anymore.
I haven't given up yet. Juicing is a really great way for me to get my kale and my celery - which, let's face it, I'm otherwise just not going to eat. Ever. I'm thinking if I fill the sink with soapy water while I'm juicing, I could bring the time down under 15 minutes...
The new one is on the right. I feel it should look larger.
I've been wanting to go up a size for a while and last weekend a girls-only bridal shower saw to it that I was in the big city with some quality fitness equipment shopping time on my hands.
My first kettlebell (pictured above, at left), I bought online from Dragon Door - along with some other instructional materials. The new one happens to be manufactured by Troy. Now, if you look at the two objects in the picture above, they probably look pretty similar. Not so! The handle geometry feels a little different, the flat part where they write the number is done differently (my wrists care about the difference), the coating is very different (the Troy one is a bit slicker), and the girth of the handle on the new kettlebell is noticeably slimmer.
This probably sounds like minor stuff, but kettlebells are expensive and you spend a lot of one-on-one time with them. They grow on you. However, as near as I can tell, Troy makes a fine kettlebell and we'll be okay. My only real gripe is that the new one measures its weight in pounds. I was raised Russian (by Pavel) and I wanted 20 kg (44.1 lbs). Not because it was lighter, but for very important "rightness" reasons. I think I'll be okay.
Also, I've been experimenting with juicing.
There lies a hunk of ginger the size of my thumb.
Not the fun kind of juicing where I get all gigantic and abusive. This is the hippy kind where I start talking about plant energy and stop showering.
A couple Christmases ago, my parents gave me a Jack Lalanne power juicer. Back then, I quickly learned that its critical flaw was that it took forever to clean and I shelved it.
Two years later (present day), I had just Netflix insta-watched Fat, Sick, and Nearly Dead and I wanted to try going a few days living on nothing but fruits and non-grain vegetables. It didn't last two meals. Honestly, I just felt too weird.
Some parts were really good though. Eating an entire head of lettuce and some other fresh veggies seemed to give me super human energy. If you live in the Midwest, you know that lately a giant has been trying to burn us with a magnifying glass. It makes doing outside stuff in the afternoon... effortful. That is, unless I'm fueled by salad! Running on leaves, I was unstoppable! (seriously, the difference in energy was noticeable)
So I figured, "Hey, if I try to eat this stuff, I'll go crazy. But! I can juice the weeds and eat some other stuff for normalcy and I'll win." And I was right. I really liked the juice. The downer is, it takes FOR. FREAKING. EVER.
I've gotten pretty good at all the chopping and the cleaning, but the whole process still takes me 20 minutes. Which might not sound bad, but this is for one glass of juice. A dude's got stuff to do! I can't even stockpile the juice because I'm told that if I don't drink it immediately, all the enzymes will get sad and not make me invincible anymore.
I haven't given up yet. Juicing is a really great way for me to get my kale and my celery - which, let's face it, I'm otherwise just not going to eat. Ever. I'm thinking if I fill the sink with soapy water while I'm juicing, I could bring the time down under 15 minutes...
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