Tuesday, February 4, 2014

Day Thirty

And so we've reached the conclusion of the 30 day autoimmune challenge. It hasn't been easy, I recall my friends attempting to convince me to partake of a delicious smelling giant chocolate chip cookie smothered in ice cream, but it's been interesting nonetheless.

Well, for starters, I had a pretty decent night's sleep last night. My fan was a little temperamental in the beginning, as I expected, but it could have been worse. I slept quite a long time as well, so I felt extremely refreshed. Once again got my 10 decline push-ups in for the day, and I think my attempt to make that a habit is progressing quite nicely at this point.

Since it's Tuesday I did my bodyweight exercises: two sets of 45 incline push-ups, 50 squats, and 1 minute and 30 seconds of planks each. Everything felt smooth today, so last week seems to have been somewhat of a deviation from the norm. Not sure what the issue was, but it wasn't in play today. So things look good going forward with that. Unfortunately, I still haven't figured out how to get sprints in during the Winter, especially an extremely cold and snowy Winter like we've had this year. To top it off, we're supposed to get several inches again tonight. I suppose I'll have to wait until the Spring before I can get back into the sprints regularly.

I had my usual hamburger and salad for breakfast today. I considered doing a fast since I wasn't particularly hungry, but I figured that was a bad idea on a day that I intended to do my workout as well, so I didn't. Had fish and veggies for dinner.

In terms of what I hoped would be addressed with the autoimmune challenge, dry skin and slight acne, it doesn't seem to have made much of a difference, unfortunately. So I suppose the conclusion to be drawn is that I don't have autoimmune issues, or leaky gut syndrome. I certainly wouldn't call it a waste, however, as I now know what isn't the issue, and it's not as if the issue is that terrible to begin with.

At any rate, I thank everybody for their encouragement, and for sticking with me this past month as I explored the world of autoimmunity. I'm going to go eat some eggs, bananas, and almonds now.

Monday, February 3, 2014

Day Twenty-Nine

So last night's sleep was easily in the top five sleeps of my life. I went to bed shortly after 10:30 PM and didn't wake up until 10 AM this morning. I got 11 hours and 22 minutes of sleep, with a sleep quality of 98%. Easily made up for the loss of sleep I got from my night out on Saturday, and the best part is that my fan behaved itself. I didn't have to do anything to make it quiet down at all. Now I suspect, however, that it will be a nightmare when I try to sleep later on.

At any rate, we've only got one day left in this challenge, so I'll see you for the end tomorrow night.

Sunday, February 2, 2014

Day Twenty-Eight

Well I went out last night like I said, and I am exhausted. Didn't get to sleep until around 4 or 5 in the morning, and woke up at 9. I was pretty good for most of the day, but around 4 PM I was nodding. Regardless, I didn't take a nap and I think I'll be knocked out cold pretty early tonight.

I had bacon for breakfast today, and ribs for dinner.

Not much to report as I took it easy today on account of the late night. See you tomorrow. We're nearing the finish line.

Saturday, February 1, 2014

Day Twenty-Seven

I feel like when I do inevitably find a new fan I'm going to take my current fan and smash it with a baseball bat. It's that infuriating sometimes. It would wait until I'm nearly asleep and then start clicking again. It did this 2 or 3 times last night. Anyways, I got 8 hours and 9 minutes of sleep, with a sleep quality of 93%.

I'm going out tonight, so it's likely that I won't be getting as much sleep as I normally do, but I'll give the full report on that tomorrow.

I had a hamburger and salad for breakfast, and a pork roast with onions and asparagus for dinner.

As far as stress goes, I suppose I'm getting pretty stressed out about my computer. It's been messed up for nearly half a year now, and it's only getting worse. Unfortunately, I can't afford to fix it or get it replaced currently. In case you haven't noticed from reading these blogs, I have a lot of free time on my hands, and the reason is because I'm unemployed and having a difficult time finding a job. This is, of course, its own source of stress in my life. As the Primal Blueprint also stresses (get it?) letting go of stress, I thought I'd mention it.

Anyways, thanks for reading.

Friday, January 31, 2014

Day Twenty-Six

Another slow day. I had a hamburger and salad for breakfast, and a roast chicken for dinner.

I slept very well last night, and my fan didn't give me much trouble. Ended up with 9 hours and 5 minutes of sleep, and a sleep quality of 97%. All in all I felt pretty good.

Other than that nothing much happened today.

Thanks for reading.

Thursday, January 30, 2014

Day Twenty-Five

Five days and counting. It seems to me that the first half of this challenge went quicker than the second half. Maybe that's because I saw the finish line in the distance, but who knows?

Anyways, to business. I really can't stress enough how much I hate my fan. It started clicking again this morning and woke me up at around 7:40. I was able to shut it up and go back to sleep, but only for another hour before it started clicking again. Aside from that, however, I did get a better night's sleep in general than I have the past two nights. I got 8 hours and 35 minutes, with a sleep quality of 94%.

Hamburger and salad for breakfast, and a couple steaks and veggies for dinner.

My workout was much better today than it was on Tuesday, though my incline push-ups did seem to be harder than usual. No big deal, however. Two sets of 45 incline push-ups, 50 squats, and 1 minute and 30 seconds of planks each.

Other than that it was another fairly boring day. See you tomorrow.

Wednesday, January 29, 2014

Day Twenty-Four

I can't really say that anything at all happened today. Cold outside and lazy inside.

Another less than great night of sleep. Ended up with 9 hours and 22 minutes of sleep, with a sleep quality of 86%. Had a hamburger and salad for breakfast, and had the gyro lamb meat again for dinner. Told you to watch out for that. It's delicious.

Anyways, see you tomorrow.

Tuesday, January 28, 2014

Day Twenty-Three

Only one week until this experiment is over. It's going to be weird getting back into regular Primal fare, but I can't say I'm not looking forward to an omelette.

I had a terrible time sleeping last night. For starters, my stupid fan kept clicking. I couldn't get the damn thing to shut up. It would stop and then I'd be close to sleep and it would start up again. This happened like three times. I'd love to smash it to pieces, but then I wouldn't be able to sleep at all without a fan. Regardless, I got 7 hours and 34 minutes of sleep, with a sleep quality of 85%. I'm not sure I agree with that percentage, as I didn't sleep well at all even after the fan started behaving itself.

I don't know if it was a result of terrible sleeping, but my bodyweight workout didn't go as well as it has been the past few weeks. Planks were a bit harder today, and I just couldn't seem to get my squats right. I feel like I wasn't getting a full workout with those for some reason. Still, I did two sets of 45 incline push-ups, 50 squats, and 1 minute and 30 seconds of planks each. Hopefully I can pick it back up on Thursday.

Hamburger and salad for breakfast, and ham with veggies for dinner.

As today was below zero for much of it I didn't even consider going outside for anything, unfortunately. Spring really can't get here soon enough.

Thanks for reading.

Monday, January 27, 2014

Day Twenty-Two

Woke up today and did my ten decline push-ups. Ended up getting 9 hours and 15 minutes of sleep, with a sleep quality of 92%. Felt nice and awake all day today, so I'd say I did pretty good on the sleep front last night.

For breakfast I had a hamburger and salad, and for dinner I had beef stew.

The only real activity I did today was shoveling the driveway, and it was way too cold to spend any unnecessary time outside. Couple the fact that it's freezing with the roads still being covered with snow and I had no desire to do anything outside today. Another day spent inside reading.

Tomorrow should be a bit more exciting.

Day Twenty-One

I should be back on time for tonight's blog on today's exploits, but let me just take the time now to get you caught up on yesterday, day 21.

In terms of exercise it wasn't a very good day. I didn't do much of any moving around, unfortunately. I got in my ten decline push-ups but that's the extent of it. Unfortunately we're covered in snow here and that doesn't really lend itself to doing anything, so I spent most of the day inside reading.

For breakfast I had bacon, and for dinner I went out with friends and ordered my usual salmon salad from the restaurant we went to. Unfortunately, they either changed the salmon salad, or they've got more than one and gave me the wrong one. The one I got was not as good as the one I usually get, and it also came with nuts on it. I believe they were pecans and since they blended in with the bacon I didn't realize until I started eating. So I inadvertently ate something that was not a part of the autoimmune protocol. I did say I wouldn't be perfect.

At any rate, I'll be back tonight with today's blog, so I'll see you then.

Sunday, January 26, 2014

Day Twenty

Well yesterday's blog is pretty late, and today's blog is going to be late as well. We'll get back on track tomorrow I think.

Two-thirds of the way through this challenge now and things are pretty much cruising right along. Biggest issue at the moment is probably sleep, but I don't see that as a huge issue. I get plenty of hours of sleep, I wake up naturally most of the time, and my sleep quality is generally good. I got 8 hours and 5 minutes of sleep, with a sleep quality of 83%. Luckily I woke up and my eyes were back to normal. I hate having my eyes dilated, because it's a whole day of suffering for two minutes of exam. It's irritating.

For breakfast I had a hamburger and salad, and for dinner salmon with veggies.

It was also snowing pretty heavily so I took the opportunity to shovel the driveway. Of course it was covered again in no time at all, but it was nice to get out there and move around a bit.

Anyways, I'll probably have the blog for today, day 21, up tomorrow morning at some point, so keep checking back.

Friday, January 24, 2014

Day Nineteen

Had to wake up early today to go to an eye doctor appointment. Got 8 hours and 51 minutes of sleep, with a pitiful sleep quality of 62%. Needless to say I was a bit tired today, so after having my eyes dilated I decided just to take a nap. Other than that I didn't really do much of anything today, as I spent most of the day hiding from the light.

Hamburger and salad for breakfast, and liver and onions for dinner.

Hopefully tomorrow is more interesting.

Thursday, January 23, 2014

Day Eighteen

Another ridiculously freezing day here in the heart of it all. Too cold to so much as consider going outside for anything, so I just spent the day inside keeping warm.

Got 8 hours and 28 minutes of sleep, with a sleep quality of 87%. I woke up on my own a bit earlier than normal today, and felt it too. I felt pretty tired and lazy today, but I did get in my 10 decline push-ups and my regular Thursday workout. No treadmill today though.

Did my bodyweight exercises today: two sets of 45 incline push-ups, 50 squats, and 1 minute and 30 seconds of planks each. It was a nice solid workout today, and I'm still feeling it hours later. Added to my already tired demeanor today I think I'll fall asleep quite nicely tonight.

Hamburger and big salad for breakfast, and pork chops with assorted veggies for dinner.

The winter is really starting to wear on me, and I look forward to the Spring so I can get outside and get some sun, walk, and sprint. After Christmas I've generally had my fill of Winter, and this year is no different.

Anyways, see you tomorrow.

Wednesday, January 22, 2014

Day Seventeen

Went to bed early last night like I suspected that I would, and ended up getting 9 hours and 48 minutes of sleep, with a sleep quality of 95%. Had a weird dream, but it felt pretty good nonetheless. I felt much more awake today. Tried to buy a new fan though, but nobody was selling them. I suppose since it's cold out they think that nobody wants to buy them, but I need a fan to be able to sleep and I'd like one that doesn't make so much noise.

Since I still had some of the Doctor Who audio adventure left to go I figured I'd do another mile on the treadmill today. I still prefer walking outside, but it was still way too cold. Reading Mark Sisson's post today made me want to get out and sprint, but, again, way too cold. I need to find a place to do my sprints in the winter, because doing them outside, especially in this crazy cold, is not really working out for me.

Hamburger and big salad for breakfast, and pork tenderloin with asparagus for dinner.

Also got in my 10 decline push-ups this morning. I'm not sure the exact number of times you have to do something for it to be an ingrained habit, but it certainly feels like I'm getting there.

Thanks for reading.

Tuesday, January 21, 2014

Day Sixteen

I woke up pretty tired today, and pretty much felt like I needed a nap all day but never took one. Regardless, I got 8 hours and 41 minutes of sleep, with a sleep quality of 99%. Not sure I agree with that, but who can say for sure? Got in my 10 decline push-ups a little after I got up, even though I really didn't want to.

For breakfast I had a hamburger and big salad, and sausage with onions for dinner.

Today was workout day, but I also decided to get in some walking today as well as my usual exercises. Unfortunately it was way too cold to go for a walk outside, so I had to use the treadmill. I don't know why but I really hate treadmills. Luckily I just listened to some of this Doctor Who audio adventure while I got in a mile of walking. After that I got in my bodyweight exercises: Two sets of 45 incline push-ups, 50 squats, and 1 minute and 30 seconds of planks each. It was a bit harder getting myself in the mood to do the exercises today, but once I started doing them it was no problem.

Probably going to bed early tonight considering how tired I've been all day, but we'll see.

Thanks for reading.

Monday, January 20, 2014

Day Fifteen

Well, the halfway mark is here. It seems weird because it feels like this first half has gone quickly, but the end feels so far off.

Anyways, most of today was once again spent reading. However, I got 8 hours and 18 minutes worth of sleep, with a sleep quality of 86%. I really need to do something about this fan. Maybe tomorrow.

For breakfast I had two hamburgers, and for dinner a salad with chicken in it.

Tomorrow's a workout day so it should be more exciting.

Sunday, January 19, 2014

Day Fourteen

Nothing to report really.

Bacon for breakfast and roast beef with carrots and onions for dinner.

Spent the rest of the day reading.

Saturday, January 18, 2014

Day Thirteen

Another easy day for the most part. Did a little running around, in my car, but nothing to get excited about.

My sleep wasn't that great, but mostly on the basis of some strange dreams. I did wake up around 5:30 AM because my fan is really aggravating. It's an oscillating fan, but I just pull the tab up to keep it in one spot and the tab kind of vibrates and makes noise when you do that sometimes. I'd love to get rid of it, but haven't gotten around to it yet. At any rate, I got 7 hours and 50 minutes of sleep, with a sleep quality of 86%. Upon waking I got in my 10 decline push-ups.

Had bacon for breakfast, and gyro lamb meat for dinner. I know I just had that for dinner not long ago, but I love it. Don't be surprised if that one pops up a few more times while I'm doing this challenge.

Thanks for reading.

Friday, January 17, 2014

Day Twelve

Not much to report. Mostly just a lazy day.

My sleep was terrible for some reason. I kept waking up every few hours. I ended up getting 8 hours and 2 minutes of sleep, with a sleep quality of 71%. I'm surprised it wasn't lower given the amount of times I actually woke up.

I got in my ten decline push-ups, so that's still going well. Weighed in today at 173 pounds, so one pound more than last week. My weight generally stays around there, but has been as low as 168.

Had a hamburger and salad for breakfast, and ham with assorted veggies for dinner.

And that was the extent of my day. Not all that exciting, but I do enjoy a lazy day now and then.

Thursday, January 16, 2014

Day Eleven

I got 8 hours and 51 minutes of sleep, with a sleep quality of 87%. Waking up today was not easy, and it happened a bit earlier than usual. I woke up naturally, but it wasn't pleasant. I got in my 10 decline push-ups when I woke up, so my habit-forming seems to be moving right along.

Today was bodyweight exercise day #2, so I got that in. I expressed some concern over pain I was having in my right knee yesterday, but it wasn't an issue today. My workout was good and without incident. Two sets of 45 incline push-ups, 50 squats, and 1 minute and 30 seconds of planks each. My legs have been like jelly ever since, however. Nothing wrong with that though.

For breakfast I had my typical hamburger and big salad, and for dinner I had two steaks and assorted veggies.

In mostly unrelated news, I cleaned out all the CD's in my closet and put them in a box for storage elsewhere. Considering it's 2014 I figured it's time to move on. I wouldn't really call this exercise or anything like that, but I mentioned it because I'm happy about it. So it counts.

See you tomorrow.

Wednesday, January 15, 2014

Day Ten

It's hard to believe that I'm already one-third of the way through this 30 day challenge, but that's exactly what today marks. I suppose some reflection is in order now that I'm 10 days into this thing.

The biggest positive for me so far has been the degree to which I've been able to get back into working out. I've explained that I hadn't worked out in a few weeks before I began this challenge, but I don't think I've explained how difficult my workouts had become even before I took those few weeks off. It was a constant battle to force myself into doing the workouts in the first place, and even more so to get both sets in. There were weeks where I'd only workout one day a week, and that day I may only have been able to force myself into doing a single set of exercises. So to get back into it and to enjoy it is definitely a good thing.

Perhaps the hardest part so far has been my need to snack. I don't know how my body got hooked on the snacking over the relatively short period that constituted the holidays, but it did. Let that be a lesson, I suppose, that even going slightly off the wagon for a short period of time can have very negative, long lasting effects. Regardless, it hasn't been too bad since I've had my beef jerky available to take care of those urges.

I did great on the sleep front last night, getting to bed shortly after 11 PM. I got 10 hours and 17 minutes of sleep, with a sleep quality of 96%. Nothing to complain about there. And I got in my 10 decline push-ups for the day when I woke up, so I've got a pretty good start on forming this new habit. I'm going to continue to keep it up.

For breakfast I had my usual bun-less hamburger and big salad, with supplements consisting of 1000 UI's of Vitamin D, magnesium, and omega 3. Dinner consisted of chicken with broccoli and mushrooms.

One thing I did notice today, after talking about how great it is to get back into working out, was that my right knee started bothering me again. This is the same knee that was bothering me and gave me the excuse to stop working out for those few weeks in the first place. I'm not sure exactly what the problem is considering it didn't bother me at all yesterday after working out. I'm going to see how it feels tomorrow, but I fully expect to do my bodyweight workout regardless.

Thanks for reading, and I hope you'll stick with me for the next 20 days.

Tuesday, January 14, 2014

Day Nine

I woke up today and finally remembered to do my 10 decline push-ups. Wasn't something that I necessarily wanted to do first thing in the morning, but I think this will be a good habit. Didn't get to bed as early as I would have liked, but not too bad either. Ended up getting 9 hours and 14 minutes of sleep, with a sleep quality of 91%. Had no trouble getting up, and felt good throughout the day.

Since it's Tuesday that means I do my first body weight workout of the week, so I got that in. Two sets of 45 incline push-ups, 50 squats, and 1 minute and 30 seconds of planks each. The exercises felt really good today. It's actually been a while since doing this workout felt that natural and smooth, so I'm thinking maybe I actually did need a bit of a long break just so that I could get back into it properly. Regardless, it feels good getting back on track.

Had a hamburger and big salad for breakfast, and beef stew for dinner.

I feel like I should be getting more walking in, or some other low level movement, but I don't think it's going to happen tonight. I'm getting to bed early tonight.

Thanks for reading.

Monday, January 13, 2014

Day Eight

Finally made up for my horrible sleep habits of the last few days. I went to bed last night at roughly 11:40 PM, an improvement over 1:30 AM, and got 10 hours and 12 minutes of sleep. The sleep quality was at 92%. I plan to build off of this and get to bed earlier from here on out.

I felt so good today after my 10 hours of sleep, and the temperature was around 48, that I decided to go for a walk early in the afternoon. Nothing serious, just went around a few blocks, but it was nice to get some fresh air and see the daylight.

Had a hamburger and salad for breakfast, and roast pork with onions and asparagus for dinner.

Tomorrow is my workout day, but I need to try to remember to get in my 10 decline push-ups when I wake up. I really want to make that a daily habit, and so far I'm failing miserably. I just keep forgetting.

I'll let you know how it goes.

Sunday, January 12, 2014

Day Seven

Another crap day in terms of sleep. It would seem 1:30 is my new bedtime if the past few days have been any indication. Got 8 hours and 17 minutes of sleep, with a sleep quality of 93%. Sleep quality aside, I was tired all day and had the hardest time getting up this morning. Spent most of the day in bed watching television. I would normally do sprints on a Sunday night, but tonight I'm going to bed early.

Had bacon for breakfast and a roast chicken for dinner.

That was my day. Not that great.

Saturday, January 11, 2014

Day Six

Another late night. This is becoming a bit of a bad habit. Got 8 hour and 9 minutes of sleep, with a sleep quality rating of 90%. Found waking up, or at least getting up, difficult to do this morning, though I haven't really been all that tired throughout the day.

For breakfast, or lunch, a friend and I went out, and I got a shrimp and spinach salad that was delicious. For dinner I had some chicken. I've also started craving snacks. As I said when I started out, I had been a bit too lenient over the holidays in terms of what I ate. I didn't go overboard I don't think, but it did ingrain some bad habits. So now my body wants to snack. So to head this off I picked up some soy free beef jerky to munch on whenever the mood strikes me. I would normally just turn to almonds for a snack, but since I'm doing the autoimmune protocol nuts are off the table.

Not really much else to report on today, as nothing has really happened and I haven't done much.

See you tomorrow.

Day Five

So I'm quite late in posting this one, but I'll be back on my regular schedule tonight.

Well I didn't quite get to bed as early as I'd hoped, or even close to as early as I'd hoped. I tried to go to bed, but a comment I read on the internet stuck with me and while I was laying there an entire response for my political blog wrote itself in my head. I couldn't sleep until I'd typed it out so I had to get up and do that. I only got 7 hours and 48 minutes, with a sad sleep quality of 70%.

Regardless, I did get to go on the walk that I wanted to do, and it wasn't too bad. I was completely bundled up so there was no question of me getting too cold. It did start snowing pretty heavily a few hours later, but it was clear when I went.

My first weigh in was 172 pounds, and at 6'2" I think it's pretty clear that I'm not doing this on the basis that I need to lose any weight.

Breakfast was a hamburger, and dinner consisted of chili.

Thursday, January 9, 2014

Day Four

Today was workout day, so, despite still feeling it a bit from Tuesday, I sucked it up and got along with it. My knee seems to be better, so that's no longer an excuse for skipping. Two sets of 50 squats, 45 incline push-ups, and 1 minute and 30 seconds of planks each. Despite still being slightly sore from Tuesday, today's workout was much easier than Tuesday overall. I had no urge to stop after finishing the first set, and I had no trouble finishing any of the exercises themselves. So a few weeks off and one workout to get back into the groove seems pretty good to me. That tells me I'm at a pretty good level of fitness that I can get back into it that quickly.

I got less sleep for the day than I've been getting, but still felt fine throughout the day with only 8 hours and 18 minutes worth. Sleep Cycle says my sleep quality was at 88%, which I would definitely agree it's lower than it had been the past few days. I woke up on my own, but it wasn't without some regret that I couldn't just roll over and continue sleeping. I didn't get to bed until after 1 AM last night, and I think that's a mistake. I'm definitely going to make getting to bed earlier a priority tonight.

Breakfast was a hamburger and not quite so big salad since I ran out of lettuce, and dinner was a roast chicken with assorted veggies.

It's currently 29 degrees outside, and snowing a bit with snow on the ground and on the roads, but I have the urge to go for a walk tonight so I think I'm going to make that happen. I definitely need to get more low level movement, i.e. walking, in, and since the urge is there I'm not going to ignore it.

Thanks for reading.

Wednesday, January 8, 2014

Day Three

Not much to report today. Mostly just a little sore from getting back into my exercise routine yesterday, and feeling lazy. Spent most of the day reading and watching a documentary on Netflix. I know the Primal Blueprint stresses movement and activity, especially at low levels, but I think some days you just need to be lazy.

I got nine hours and six minutes of sleep, with a sleep quality of 100% according to Sleep Cycle. I had my regular breakfast of a hamburger and big salad, and I got Greek for dinner, going with gyro lamb meat and a skewer of shrimp. None of their regular sides fit in with the autoimmune protocol so I opted for the shrimp. I figure the more sea food the better.

Again only water to drink today. If you're sensing a theme you'd be right on the money, as I don't really drink much else other than water at this point. I occasionally have "shotgun coffee" in the mornings, black coffee with a tablespoon of grass-fed Kerrygold butter blended into it, but since I'm doing the autoimmune protocol I'll be avoiding that for the duration. I may have just black coffee some mornings, but it will be very rare I think.

When I first started the Primal Blueprint I had very little difficulty giving up things like pop, fast food, and even the bread I used to love with my dinner. Pop and fast food were especially easy, as I rather disliked them before going primal, despite the regularity with which I ingested them. The hardest thing to give up for me was orange juice, followed by donuts. I would have orange juice with anything and everything, and could easily go through a pitcher a day. To give up my beloved orange juice and find myself strictly drinking water throughout the day was the hardest part for me, and I'm glad that I've been able to stick to it. The orange juice cravings are completely gone these days, but it was very difficult in the beginning.

Anyway, those are my updates for the day, thanks for reading everybody, and thanks for your support.

Tuesday, January 7, 2014

Day Two

The deep freeze continued today, so I spent all day in the house mostly reading. However, today was my workout day, so I got back into that after several weeks of skipping it. I do bodyweight exercises on Tuesdays and Thursdays. So today I did two sets of 45 incline push-ups, two sets of 50 squats, and two sets of planks at 1 minute and 30 seconds each.

In terms of sleep, Sleep Cycle reports that I got nine hours and 30 minutes of sleep, and the quality of that sleep was once again at 94%. I felt pretty lazy today, even drifting off while reading at one point, so I'm not sure how much I agree with Sleep Cycle on that 94%. Of course, I was laying in bed at the time, and had already finished my workout, so it's possible that those two factors attributed to my nodding off more than actually having been sleep deprived in any sense. Nine and a half hours is a good amount of sleep for anybody, so I don't see why I should have been tired, especially considering I woke up on my own.

For breakfast I had my usual hamburger without a bun and big salad, and for dinner I had a turkey loaf. Drinks today consisted only of water.

All in all I had a pretty good day considering the terrible weather. Got a nice workout in, and got to finish a book, Out of the Silent Planet by C. S. Lewis, so I'm feeling pretty good about it.

Monday, January 6, 2014

Day One

And so ends the first day of my primal challenge.

My exercise lately has been almost nonexistent, as my right knee has been bothering me for a few weeks, so when the urge to sprint hit me early this morning, about 1 in the morning, I ran with it, if you'll pardon the terrible, embarrassing pun. Fortunately for me the so-called "polar vortex" had not yet hit, so the temperature was still in the mid-30's when I decided to run. Unfortunately it happened to be raining at the time.


I did one warm up run up-hill, and two sets of sprints on flat road wearing my minimalist K-Swiss Blade running shoes. They're not quite as minimalist as Vibram FiveFingers, which I wear doing body weight exercises, but I don't think my form is good enough yet and I think I'd probably hurt myself if I wore those to sprint. I would have done more than two sets but my ears felt like they were about to fall off so I packed it in. The unflattering photo was taken as soon as I got home.

Needless to say that after sprinting at 1 in the morning I didn't get to bed until quite late. According to my Sleep Cycle app on my iPhone I went to bed at 1:58 AM, and I can tell you it didn't take long for me to fall asleep either, and woke up at 9:49 AM for a total of seven hours and 50 minutes in bed. Maybe not as much sleep as I generally like to get, but I did wake up on my own and felt fine. Sleep Cycle says that my sleep quality was at 94%, and I wouldn't dispute that assertion.

I had breakfast around 11 AM, consisting of two hamburgers, without the buns, and a big salad. I took my usual 1000 UI vitamin D supplement along with magnesium and omega-3. I then cranked out 10 decline push-ups. I'm trying to create a habit whereby I will wake up and do 10 decline push-ups every morning, but I keep forgetting. So I figured I'd do them late today rather than not at all. I'm going to try to remember tomorrow. Though I think I'll trade my bed for the couch, as my bed is too high to do them properly.

Unfortunately, most of the day outside has hovered around 0 degrees, so I didn't expect to get much other activity throughout the rest of the day. So rather than sit around I decided to go out and shovel the little snow that had accumulated on the driveway. Probably not my best idea as my beard began to freeze pretty quickly, and I was glad that there wasn't that much snow.

I ate dinner at my regular time of around 5 PM, which most people think is early, but I rarely if ever eat more than two meals a day so it works for me. I had roast with carrots and onions. The only drinks I had today consisted of water.

Thanks for reading today.

Sunday, January 5, 2014

Introductory Remarks

My name is Kevin McKenzie and I've decided to do a 30 day challenge in following the Primal Blueprint starting tomorrow, January 6, 2014. I have also decided to chronicle this journey as I go along because I think it will help keep me motivated.

Now, here are a few things about me. I'm 25 years old, I live in Ohio, and graduated from Kent State University in May 2013 with a B.A. in Political Science. My political blog can be found at http://www.mereliberty.net, but there will be no discussion of politics here.

I have been following the Primal Blueprint since February 2012. I became interested when many people in the libertarian movement began discussing primal / paleo and how it changed their lives. I didn't jump on the bandwagon, however, until I saw the physical transformation of prominent libertarian Lew Rockwell and professional wrestler Chris Jericho. Jericho had been out of action for a little over a year at this point, and when he returned he was in phenomenal shape. He looked better than he had looked in years, and he attributed it to following a paleo lifestyle. That was enough for me to take the plunge. I started on the 16th of February at 213 pounds, and by July of 2012 I was 40 pounds lighter at 173.

So why would somebody who has been following the Primal Blueprint for nearly two years need or want to do a 30 day challenge? Well, I've been a bit too lenient with diet and exercise for the past few months, and feel like I need to do something to get me back on track. Furthermore, I'd like to incorporate Robb Wolf's Autoimmune Protocol to see if that leads to any further improvements in my life. Let me just take this moment to say that the Primal Blueprint / paleo lifestyle has dramatically increased my quality of life, and has more than likely saved me from a lot of suffering down the road. I'm hoping the autoimmune protocol can make even more improvements. So with that being said I'll be eliminating even more foods from my diet than is typical for somebody who is primal / paleo. I'll be eliminating eggs, completely eliminating dairy, nuts, fruits, and potatoes for an entire month.

In regards to dairy, I have issues with dairy in the first place, so there wasn't that much in my diet to begin with but for this month there will be absolutely none.

So what will be featured on this blog? Well, everyday I will update you on what I ate, how I exercised, statistics on my sleeping using the Sleep Cycle app on my iPhone 5, and every Friday I'll do a weigh-in. I'll also discuss how I feel, my energy levels, my skin (I get pimples that I'm hoping will be addressed by the autoimmune protocol), any missteps or problems that occur (I don't expect to be anywhere near perfect, but I am going to try), and anything else that I think is relevant.

I expect I'll be blogging at night and give a recap of what happened that day. I hope you'll stick with me on this challenge and hopefully leave your comments of support and suggestions for how I can do better. Thanks for reading.