58: How I Stay Fit and Healthy with Simple Daily Habits

58: How I Stay Fit and Healthy with Simple Daily Habits!

Michael Kummer: So in this episode, I want to share with you what I'm currently doing to stay fit and healthy. I only do CrossFit these days, about twice a week. I burn about 3000 calories a day, sometimes 4000. I do use cold, the cold plunge. I feel the grass on my skin. I feel the strength of the sun exposes much of my naked skin to the red lights.

One thing that I do now every day is take creatine. I also take our new collagen and colostrum every day simply because of their benefits for gut health and athletic performance. Now, I'm experimenting with a couple of natural plant-based supplements to raise testosterone levels.

Intro: You're listening to the Primal Shift Podcast. I'm your host Michael Kummer, and my goal is to help you achieve optimal health by bridging the gap between ancestral living and the demands of modern society. Get ready to unlock the transformative power of nature as the ultimate biohack, revolutionizing your health and reconnecting you with your primal self.

Sponsorship: I'd like to thank Peluva for sponsoring this week's episode. Peluva is the brand behind my favorite zero drop minimalist shoes with the distinctive five toe design that allows for correct dynamic movement of the foot when walking or running. The latter is impossible when toes are encased in a single box, even a white box.

I love my Peluvas because they give me the most authentic barefoot style experience but with sufficient cushioning to use them all day, even on hard surfaces. Peluvas are also incredibly stylish and I really like how they look. I've been using my peluvas during intense crossfit workouts, while walking their dog, and even during a recent 8 day trip to Disney World and they've been unbelievably comfortable.

They feel like walking barefoot on a putting grain. Now you can try a pair of peluvas with no risk by visiting peluva. com, that's P E L U V A dot com. Make sure to use code KUMMER for 15 percent off your first pair. And now back to the episode. Well it's been a while since we last talked about what my current wellness, fitness, and supplements regimen looks like.

So in this episode I want to share with you What I'm currently doing to stay fit and healthy, and some of the things that I no longer do, or at least not to the extent anymore, including CrossFit, which is interesting. So let's start with, with exercise. Um, the one thing that I do most, it's really the core of my exercise routine, as funny as it may sound.

is walking, uh, walking the dog more specifically. So I really, you know, make sure that at least once a day, sometimes twice, I go for a 45 minute walk. Um, I try to do it in the morning. First thing in the morning, actually, which has a couple of benefits. Um, if I don't do it right in the morning, then I go to the computer.

And so my day starts with, you know, reading emails, responding, and, you know, you, it basically sets the, uh, quite a hectic tone for the rest of the day. On the flip side, if it's, you know, while it's still dark, I head out with the dog, I go for a, um, for a walk, I can sort my thoughts, I can think about what I want to do in what order I want to do it, what the priorities are, et cetera.

It just. Makes everything run smoother for the rest of the day, I've noticed the second benefit of doing the morning work is while it's still dark, you know, usually it right now, as of this recording, it's summer, it's actually late July 15th. Um, so the sun rises relatively early and I get that early morning sunlight directly into my eyes.

And I really enjoy that as well, because that too has a dramatic positive impact on my circadian rhythm. On my mood and just how everything goes, you know, feeling that, that warmth of the morning sunlight, getting it into my eyes. It just, I don't know it for me, it releases, you know, endorphins. It makes me happy.

It makes you, it makes me excited. Um, and I really like that. And so I get basically a double win. I get the exercise. I get a triple win, really. I get the sun and I get the mental benefits of being able to just be out in nature and not think about stuff that, you know, stresses me out. So that's my core. Um, and every day, you know, I get about 15, 000 steps or so in, um, and that obviously includes the morning walk, but then all the walking that I do throughout the day.

You know, working with the animals, et cetera, feeding them and, and doing all of those things. Um, the second thing, somewhat related is manual labor, you know, and that is important because I only do CrossFit these days, about twice a week. There are weeks where I only go once and there are weeks where I don't go at all because I don't have time, you know, or at least I have other priorities.

So I don't make it to the gym, even though I absolutely love it. Doing CrossFit, meeting up with friends, you know, working out together with others. I really like that, but sometimes it's just not in the cards for me because of competing priorities. And so the manual labor aspect is very important because it kind of compensates for the lack of CrossFit workouts or really, it's really the other way around, you know, going CrossFit compensates for the lack of being active otherwise.

And so Usually I'm fairly active, you know, I have to lift feet bags, I have to, you know, shovel wood chips and dirt and do a lot of things that are at the end of the day, like a workout, not only for me, but also for the dog I've noticed, because my goal is to walk the dog 45 minutes twice a day. And have one to two play sessions throughout the day.

So he gets exercise, so to say, about four times a day, right? But sometimes, you know, again, timing wise, it doesn't work out, but I've noticed that on days where I do a lot of manual labor, like the other day I had to shovel, I had to get a bunch of wood chips from the front of the house. to where we have the chickens because you know in that area where there is a lot of dirt and stuff we keep adding wood chips to turn all of that into compost because if you mix the you know chicken manure with the wood chips you know and and Just wait long enough it all of that turns into compost and and nutrient rich topsoil So we shovel woodchips every so often and by just going back and forth I don't know how many times you know with woodchips the dog, you know runs with me, you know I take the tractor, you know to haul the woodchips back But I had to have to get them after load them and then unload them and all of that is manual labor but in between You know, I, I drive.

And so the dog runs with me, you know, next to the tractor, get super excited, runs around, wants to play, and he's wiped out after it and I'm wiped out. So we, you know, both get great exercise without having to go into, go to the gym or go for that walk or, you know, throw the ball or whatever. So it's, it's very much how it's supposed to be, but just being naturally active, you know, throughout the day, um, to compensate for the lack of, of CrossFit.

Obviously CrossFit is that important to me, especially the resistance training or resistance part of it, lifting weights, you know, um, I still like doing that separately and I've actually also started experimenting with, uh, with a different resistance training modality called X3 from Dr. Chekwish. I'm probably going to do a review down the line here, uh, but that's also based, you know, using resistance bands to kind of mimic resistance training while reducing the risk of injury.

that you might, you know, expose yourself to when you do a regular barbell training. So that's kind of my exercise routine. Walking, some CrossFit, manual labor, and some other form of resistance training. Um, and with that, you know, I burn about 3, 000 calories a day, sometimes 4, 000, especially in days where I do CrossFit.

Uh, and walk the dog and, you know, I stay in shape, you know, uh, my, my physical performance hasn't really gone down since I reduced my CrossFit, uh, regimen from five times a week to two times a week. So it seems to be working well and everything that I'm doing otherwise outside of the gym seems to well, more than compensate for the lack of, you know, former.

fitness. Um, from a wellness perspective, right now again, it's summer, so I don't use the sauna much. I use it more in winter. Um, right now, you know, all I have to do is go outside, move around a little bit, and I sweat like I am in a sauna. It's hot, it's humid, um, so I don't really need the sauna that much. I do use cold, the cold plunge, uh, quite a bit, and a lot, you know, for just cooling down.

You know, I, Don't necessarily count how long I'm in there. I don't make sure that I'm, you know, five minutes or whatever in the cold plunge. I just jump in and stay there for a while, do some breathing exercises and then get out. So that's just a natural kind of part for me, you know, to cool down when I'm especially after working in the yard or working with the animals.

It feels great to just jump into the plunge. One thing that I've noticed that it's again, a. Um, a double or triple win really is to go outside around lunchtime usually, sometimes I do it more than once, I take off my shirt, I take off my shoes, you know, and I sit in the grass. Under the sun, and I close my eyes, and I listen to what's going on around me, I listen to the chickens, I listen to the geese, I listen to, you know, the turkeys, and our guineas, I feel the grass on my skin, I feel the strength of the sun on my skin, and how the sweat, you know, uh, gets out of my pores, I smell, you know, what I can smell, it's just a, such a, it almost engages like, All the senses and at the same time it helps me be very present by focusing on how I feel, what I feel.

It's a meditation at the end of the day where I just sit in the sun for 10, 15, 20 minutes, however much time I have. And I engage my senses, I, I listen and feel what I can. And it puts me in a, in a different mental state. It's, again, it's like meditation. I get the benefits of the UV rays from the sun. So I, you know, I get my daily, you know, sun exposure, uh, without, you know, burning, obviously.

I, I feel, I get my grounding in at the same time. I get my meditation in. I get so many things by just sitting for 20 minutes on the lawn and listening to what's going on around me and feeling what's going on around me. It's so powerful yet so simple. It's, I would almost argue that's the most important part of my daily routine.

Is to do that, to spend those 10 to 20 minutes sitting on the lawn, listening and feeling. You know, if you've never done that, I highly encourage you to try it out. Uh, it's free. It doesn't cost you anything. You don't need no tools, no gadgets, nothing. All you have to do is take off your shoes, take off your shirt.

And sit in the, in a patch of grass or soil or whatever the case might be. Something that's, you know, a natural, um, flooring ideally, you know, you want, don't want to sit on concrete. Um, and that's absolutely, it's magical at the end of the day, you feel so much better when you're done. And you tick a lot of boxes by just doing that.

I also do a lot of red light therapy, typically in the morning, uh, when I then get into the office, I turn on my red light panel again, you know, take off my shirt, expose as much of my naked skin to the red light. It also helps me, my wife actually, what she does is she uses our, uh, MITRE red light pod. It's like a.

Like a sleeping bag almost, where you can get in and you get your, you know, 360 red light exposure. She swears by it, changes her day completely, her energy levels throughout the day, and how quickly she falls asleep at night. Um, I've mentioned already cold plunging. You also do cold showers. And anytime I take a shower, especially in summer, I try to make it cold.

You know, it feels good. And, um, yeah, there is so many benefits obviously to cold showers. From a supplements perspective. Um, not really has changed much over the last couple of months. One thing that I do now every day is to take creatine. Uh, creatine, I have a separate video on the benefits of, of creatine that should be out by the time you're listening to this or you're watching this.

It's one of the most studied. supplements on the market. It has so many benefits and so few downsides, if any at all, you know, the worst case scenario, you get loose tools if you overdo it, if you take too much of it, but other than that, it helps with your cognition. It helps with exercise performance. It just make sure your, your cells can produce more energy, both the cells in your brain, as well as in, in, in other parts of your body.

So creatine I take every day. 5 grams typically mix it into, uh, my, uh, either my post workout shake or the protein shake I consume with breakfast. I also take, uh, our new collagen and colostrum every day, simply because of the benefits for gut health, athletic performance, you know, skin, nails, joints. hair, all of those good things.

There are so many benefits to colostrum and to collagen. And so by getting both in one product, you know, it makes it very easy. Um, obviously I still consume the three straight beef organs, um, every day that we met, that we sell at MK Supplements. And I usually do a full serving of the beef organs. which, you know, has liver, um, heart, kidney, spleen, and pancreas in the ratios of the organ size in the animal.

So you get a lot of liver, less heart, etc, etc. Um, I combined it with the bone and marrow, even though I do consume quite a bit of dairy. So I get most likely all my calcium that I need. But, um, I don't consume a lot of fresh bone marrow, um, and so consuming the bone and marrow supplement makes a lot of sense.

And then I do have a serving that's two capsules in our case of the hardened spleen to get some of the extra nutrients that can help me with exercise performance and recovery. So those are the three that I take and then protein. I have a lot of protein powders, uh, for reviews, et cetera, for the blog.

And so we always have protein powders at home, and I typically, after breakfast, I make a shake. Uh, with raw milk and one or two servings of protein. So that means 20 to 40 grams of protein from the powder, uh, collagen and colostrum, creatine, um, I mix all of that and consume it just because protein is so important and you can, I mean, there is such a thing as maybe getting too much protein, but most of us don't reach that limit.

We under consume protein. And so I always try to. Get some extra. And if that raw milk combined with, you know, the protein powder and the collagen and colostrum, that might give me an additional 50, 60 grams of protein, which is significant, you know, to, and helps me really to reach my daily goals, especially on days when I work out, um, from there I've been, uh, right now I'm experimenting with a couple of natural plant based actually, supplements to raise testosterone levels, like tonkarali, um, and some others.

And I've been also experimenting with different sleep supplements from Momentus, uh, and from Sleep Remedy, and to really find out how they impact my sleep. And I've noticed with some of those supplements, especially if I stack them together, Um, I, I wake up less often throughout the night, you know, everyone wakes up, we all, you know, enter a light sleep phase and we might even briefly wake up and sometimes we remember, sometimes we don't, but specifically with some of those supplements stacked together, I noticed that I don't remember at all waking up, I might still, but I don't remember it, and so I feel like I have, I get a little bit more, um, um, I have either steep sleep, or light sleep, or at least I have less awake time, you know, throughout the night, and so, and less tosses and turns as measured by eight sleep as well as my Ultra human, um, ring that I wear right now is my fitness and recovery and sleep tracker.

So those are the things that I do right now. Nothing really crazy. Um, I try to keep it as simple as possible and try to do as many things that come as natural as possible, you know, the walking, be it in the sun, without relying too much on gadgets and on, on things that you need to buy and spend money for, you know, obviously there is the cold plunge, there are the saunas, there are the red light panels, etc.

that I leverage because I have them. But again, if you focus on being outside in nature, you know, walking barefoot, exposing yourself to sunlight, you know, the walking part, you know, manual labor, you know, outdoors, you know, All of those things, you can, you can do a lot of things without spending a dollar, you know, and that's really what I, you know, what I try to do myself and that's what I encourage you to focus on as well, saves you money and, you know, anything you can do to naturally that mimics how our ancestors would have done things, you know, being out in nature, being exposed to cold temperatures, to hot temperatures, to, you know, to natural soil, all of those things are definitely better than anything you can try to mitigate with gadgets, with supplements and with stuff you pay money for.

And with that, we're going to wrap it up. Hope I'll see you and hear you in the next episode.