Whole30: Self-Care Edition 10/24/12

From October 2 through at least October 31, I’m documenting my Whole30 and autoimmune protocol, including the when, what, where, and how much of my sleep, activity, food, and mood. Although I follow the Whole30 guidelines 90% of the time anyway, I’m going all-in for the next 30 (or maybe 60) days to give my body a chance to stabilize after enduring adrenal burnout and a thyroid medication experiment.

As Melissa and Dallas of Whole9Life are good at reminding us, context matters, so if you’re not familiar with my checkered past, you might want to read these previous posts:

• A Healing Experiment: to deal with adrenal and thyroid issues
• The Thyroid Experiment and Update on the Experiment
• Weight & Body Image Stuff: I Love My Body and Why is Thinner Better?
• N=1: or why self-experimentation is a pain in the butt but the only option

Not familiar with the Whole30? Learn all about it here and get extra help with the Whole30 Daily.

Not interested in the Whole30? Don’t sweat it! I’ll be posting other stuff like recipes, workouts, and other adventures, too.

Whole30: Day 22 (Tuesday, October 23)

Sleep
8 hours

Activity
8:00 a.m. STRENGTH TRAINING! The new craptastic was open for business. YAY! You can read all about my workout of deadlifts and overhead presses right here. Again I say, YAY!

6:00 p.m. Kundalini yoga. We were working on the thyroid, which meant plenty of gentle movements to open up our chests/necks/shoulders and lots of deep breathing. It was an hour of meditation, and it was the perfect follow-up to the ass-kicking I gave myself at the gym in the morning.

Food
I’ve found my appetite is less ravenous, and I feel better if I eat in a 12-hour window — usually between 10:00 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 on a mission to lose weight/body fat, I’m measuring and tracking my food right now; all quantities are cooked unless otherwise specified. I’m also following the autoimmune protocol. I train in the morning, so breakfast is right after my workout.

Breakfast, 10:30 a.m.
4 ounces pan-sautéed chicken breast w/ garlic
1/2 cup sweet potatoes
1 cup broccoli
1/2 tablespoon coconut oil
1 cup Golden Cauliflower Soup

Lunch, 3:30 p.m.
4 ounces braised beef short ribs
salad: lettuce, 1/2 large cucumber, 1/2 cup snap peas, scallions + lemon juice + 1/2 tablespoon EVOO
1 cup broccoli w/ 1/2 tablespoon EVOO, garlic

Dinner, 8:00 p.m.
4 ounces orange chicken (new Well Fed 2 recipe)
cauliflower rice stir-fried with onion and snap peas, garlic, coconut oil
pink grapefruit

Mood
So good! I had a sunny outlook and tons of energy all day long (until I watched The Daily Show and got bummed out by how lame the news media can be).