Dave and I are in a small trough of rest between my parents' visit to Prague and our upcoming trip to Venice—where we'll explore for...
Read MoreWhole30: Day 6 Recap
From August 1 through August 23, I’m documenting my Whole30, including the when, what, where, and how much of my sleep, activity, food, and mood. Read about why I’m doing the Whole30 right here. Not familiar with the Whole30? Learn all about it here and get extra help with the Whole30 Daily.
Whole30: Day 6
My butt is in my chair to get Living Paleo for Dummies finished by my deadline. My goal today was to knock out Chapter 16, and I did it! My reward for reaching that milestone was my walk around the lake with Kid Rock, the Clash, Jennifer Lopez, Pitbull, and Social Distortion. (How weird would that dinner party be?!)
Sleep
8 hours — 11:15 to 7:20-ish, plus an hour nap yesterday
Activity
Strength training: It was a hard, heavy day today! See my Strength Monday post for details. (Spoiler: I’m getting closer to a free handstand.)
Walk: This was so great! I walked 3 miles around the lake and just ’cause I felt like it, I did a handful of 20-second sprints along the way. It was fun, and I just felt like running, so I did. Also, while waiting to use the one restroom along the path, I did some walking lunges and two sets of pushups.
Meditation: 3-minute breathing exercise
Food
I’ve found my appetite is less ravenous, and I feel better if I eat in a 11-hour window — usually between 9:00 a.m. and 8:00 p.m. so I can stop eating about 2-3 hours before going to bed — and don’t snack between meals or before bed. Because I’m dealing with my thyroid experiment, I’m measuring and tracking my food right now. I aim for 40% fat, 30% protein, 30% carbs.
Breakfast, 9:30 a.m.
3.5 ounces chicken breast
1 cup chopped spinach
1 cup chopped collard greens
1/2 tablespoon coconut oil + Ras el Hanout
decaf Americano
Lunch, 2:30 p.m.
hash: 4 ounces lean lamb stew meat (roasted in crockpot w/ Ras el Hanout) + 1/2 cup sweet potatoes + 1/2 teaspoon coconut oil
1 cup steamed cauliflower + 1/2 teaspoon ghee + Turkish seasoning
1 cup blueberries
2 Brazil nuts (Selenium!)
Dinner, 8:00 p.m.
big ol’ salad: 4 ounces chopped chicken breast, 1/2 head iceberg lettuce, 1/2 giant cucumber, 1 medium bell pepper, 1/4 sweet onion, 1/2 cup roasted eggplant w/ 1 teaspoon olive oil, 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar, Italian seasoning blend, salt, pepper, and 1 tablespoon of homemade mayo plopped on top
3/4 cup jicama
2 giant strawberries
Mood
So good! The difference between this week and last couldn’t be more pronounced. It took only four hours today what I couldn’t do in four days last week. Thyroid hormones are powerful things, my friends. Holy sh*tsky! I’m on Day 7 of the T3 treatment, and my head is clear, energy is fairly high and fairly stable, and my mood is more buoyant than it’s been in months. Dave said I’m “bouncy.” YAY!
Photo of the Day
Pesto! Nothing makes me happier that I have a nose than fresh, homemade pesto. I made a batch on a writing break today with the recipe from Well Fed, but these are good, too.
How was your Day 6?
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Yay for fresh pesto! What do you put it on, now that pasta is a no-no? I just mixed up a fresh batch myself last week and I’m looking for ideas.
So many things!
– Steamed broccoli
– Steamed cauliflower
– Steamed green beans
– Zucchini noodles
– Steamed spinach
– Steamed zucchini or yellow squash slices
– Mixed into mayo for tuna or chicken salad
– A spoonful on top of grilled chicken
– Stirred into broth for soup with cooked chicken and veg
And eggs!
Mix into scrambled eggs, or into the yolks of deviled eggs. Make pesto coconut flour crepes. Cut a zucchini into spaghetti-sized noodles and eat like pasta with the pesto!
My favorite is to grill summer vegetables (zucc, eggplant, peppers), chop them up, mix in a crap load of pesto and eat as a salad – excellent at room temperature.
Yay!! So glad to read you had a happy, productive, bouncy day Mel! Congrats on finishing chapter 16!! My day 6 (which is actually day 36) was on target and inspirational. The only thing I’m *still* adjusting to is trying to go to sleep without my ritual glass of red wine. But last night, I conked out at 11ish and slept straight through until almost 8am!!
Thanks, Patty! We’ll see if the bounciness stays, but I’ve learned to appreciate the good days and take naps on the rest 🙂
Congrats on 36 days of awesome. Love that you got a great night’s sleep. Hugs!
I make this pesto at least once a week and put it on everything!!
Eggs, spaghetti squash, chicken, chicken sausage. It’s so good!
My fave thing about the Whole30 are the “superpowers”.
I’m on Day 14 and going strong. 11 more days til I attend my first Whole9 seminar!!
I LOVE the polka dot spatula!
I really like that spatula, too. Makes me happy every time I use it.
Hurray for the good mood! I hope the T3 treatment continues to go well for you. So encouraging!!!
I wanna pick your brain Melissa…I am starting my nursing clinicals in a few short weeks and will be effectively swamped with school and life. I want to preserve my paleo lifestyle as much as possible in the process. I have two kids too. Do you have any few ingredient recipes that are quick or could be thrown into a crockpot. Any help would be a lifesaver!
1. Make stuff you can easily double, like chili and stew. You can either freeze half or just keep it around to eat over and over during the week.
http://www.theclothesmakethegirl.com/2009/02/22/my-favorite-chili-recipe/
http://www.theclothesmakethegirl.com/2010/02/02/greek-beef-stew/
http://www.theclothesmakethegirl.com/2010/07/13/paleo-rogan-josh/
2. You can roast a bunch of chicken at once in the oven. I made 3 lbs. of chicken thighs this weekend. Cover a huge baking sheet wiht foil, line up a bunch of boneless, skinless chicken thighs and sprinkle with salt, pepper,and garlic powder. Bake for 30 minutes at 400. You can use them in chicken salad, cold on green salad, hot with veggies on the side.
3. Make pork carnitas in the crockpot instead of the stovetop using this recipe:
http://www.theclothesmakethegirl.com/2011/04/29/stovetop-pork-carnitas/
Did you see my post about how I battened down the hatches this week. There are good ideas in there for batch cooking.
http://www.theclothesmakethegirl.com/2012/08/06/hatches-battened/
Hey Melissa! I am new to the Whole30 program as well as your blog and just want to tell you how fabulous you are and this blog. I was wondering if it were okay I used your Daily recap format for my blog (just started one for my friends and family to follow me on my half marathon training adventure)?
Oh, you’re so sweet. I’m glad you’re enjoying my blog — and yes, totally. Feel free to imitate my format. Have fun!
Day 6-Ugh. Pizza for lunch,zucchini bread dessert, coinciding with start of hormone poisoning. Grr. So, is today Day 1 or Day 7???????????? I just did a Whole 30 w/o a single fail food. Just not happening. Oh, and some Dots were eaten and regretted. I did walk. Mood-let’s not go there.
Oh, man! We’ve all had days that just kind of implode like that. Really sorry to hear it. Just drink lots of water and eat clean today — banish yesterday from your mind.
I just came to your website the other day from PaleOMG,and made Greek beef stew and mashed cauliflower for dinner last night. HUGE hit, especially the cauliflower. I’ve tried to do it before, without any direction, and made the mistake of actually trying to mash it, instead of puree it. The addition of the coconut milk is a stroke of genius! Currently creating my (very long) list of your recipes that I want to make in the coming days and weeks! Thank you.
That’s an awesome story… yay! So glad you enjoyed the mashed cauliflower. I have to admit, I wasn’t much of a fan until I figured out the coconut milk trick.
Be sure to download the free sample of Well Fed right here –> http://www.theclothesmakethegirl.com/well-fed-ebook-sampler/
Yes, the next time I have my home computer up and running, I’m planning on downloading the sample, and will be buying the full book soon. I LOVE cookbooks (former pastry chef), and the pages I’ve seen from yours are so beautiful! And, I love that you are donating money from the online sales to help kids learn how to make good food for themselves. Your blog is my new favorite way to waste time at work! 🙂
Awesome! Well Fed is really pretty — my husband did the photos, and I was blown away by his talent. You’ll love it!
Glad you’re enjoying my blog. I love to help people waste time at work 😉
That’s exactly how I felt too- bouncy! Full of energy, happy, smiley! You should have seen me playing with my kids at the end of the day! Dancing like a rockstar! What a difference from a week ago. Thanks for the pesto recipe! I have now figured out dinner plans.
Also, made your chocolate chili last night. Everyone loved it, including my kids. So delish. I couldn’t wait for lunch today to devour some more.
xox
Mayo…….Pesto Mayo is yummy on burgers!
Great that your new thyroid approach is working, look forward to hearing even more about it.
i’m interested in what the ‘ T3 treatment,’ you mention above is – i have under active thyroid, my meds have come down twice in 4 months when I started fructose free diet – now also 90% grain free and lots of coconut oil. but still finding I am not focused and not clear headed… have lots of projects to do and can’t get motivated…. think it’s pre-menopause also
Hi! Here’s the recap of my latest thyroid experiment, plus links to back story, if you’re interested.
http://www.theclothesmakethegirl.com/2012/07/29/thyroid-update/
Good luck to you!