What I Eat Every Day: August 2025

Posted by Mira on August 2, 2025 in stories

I documented what I ate while traveling overseas (see my food logs: What I Ate in Japan as a Carnivore and What I Ate in Australia as a Carnivore). I got into the habit of tracking my meals, and surprisingly, it has given me a lot of insight into my diet and overall health. So I’ve decided to document what I eat every day—at least for August 2025. Alongside the food log, I’ll also track my workouts and body metrics to monitor progress. I’m curious to see what I’ll learn from this!

By the way, after returning home from my travels, I finally had access to a scale and discovered I had gained 5 pounds—while my husband lost 5! That was a bit shocking, even though it doesn’t really show on my face. It's hard to tell whether the gain is due to changes in body composition. I hope this tracking journey will help me figure that out too.

Contents

August 1, 2025

Food

  • Breakfast: none (fasted)
  • Lunch: 4 stripes of flanken style beef ribs, matcha latte
  • Dinner: 3.5 stripes of flanken style beef ribs, 1 pork patty, 1 slice of watermelon, 1 cup of yogurt with blackberries and blueberries

Body:

  • Weight: 130.2 lbs
  • VO2 Max: 37.1
  • Resting Heart Rate: 63 bpm
  • Observations:
    • a pimple on the right of my mouth ❌
    • knee pains ❌

Exercise:

Still jetlagged. I woke up around 3 a.m. and stayed in bed until 7 a.m. My home state is much hotter than Sydney, where I just came from. My hunger has subsided—based on Perplexity, hunger tends to increase when the weather is cold.

I found a pimple on the right side of my mouth, which I think is due to the food I had on the plane—not very clean. I believe it will go away soon with clean eating. I also had some joint pain, which I think is from lack of sleep and carrying a heavy backpack during transit.

I marinated flanken-style beef ribs with salt, white pepper, and cumin the night before, then roasted them in the oven (see recipe here). They became both my lunch and dinner. I really missed this cut—I couldn’t find it in Sydney or Japan.

August 1 marinated beef ribs I marinated the flanken-style beef ribs with salt, white pepper, and cumin the night before

August 1 cooked beef ribs Lunch & Dinner: Oven baked flanken-style beef ribs

I also rendered some lard from the pork belly I bought at H Mart. At first, it smelled a bit odd—not as pleasant as beef fat—but after it cooled down, the smell turned out great! I haven’t been able to find beef fat yet. The butcher at H-E-B said he’d save me some. We’ll see.

August 1 rendered lard The pork fats produced lard and some pork fat bites

I made Chinese buns (baozi) for my family, but they didn’t turn out as well as I hoped. The dough wasn’t very elastic—I definitely need more practice. I also had some pork patties for dinner.

August 2, 2025

Food

  • Breakfast: none (fasted)
  • Lunch: 3.5 stripes of flanken style beef ribs, 1 pork patty, matcha latte, some pork fat bites
  • Dinner: golden pompano fish, a slice of watermelon, some pork fat bites

Body:

  • Weight: 129.4 lbs 📉 ✅ (down — good)
  • Waist Circumference: 28 in ➡️
  • VO2 Max: 36.8 📉 ❌ (declined)
  • Resting Heart Rate: 61 bpm 📉 ✅ (lower is better)
  • Sleep: 9 hours 📈 ✅ (well rested)
  • Observations:
    • Pimple on the right side of my mouth disappeared ✅
    • Knee pains subsided — better than yesterday ✅

Exercise:

  • Steps: 10,600 ✅ (>10,000, good)
  • Cardio:
    • Dancing: 30 min
  • Strength: none (rest day)

I had an amazing sleep last night and woke up at 9 a.m. A great night’s rest feels like a deep repair for the whole body. I was also happy to wake up feeling refreshed and energized! Throughout the day, I maintained that energy, but I didn’t get as many steps in as I should have. I need to manage my time better moving forward.

I picked up the beef fat from the butcher at H-E-B—I can’t wait to render it at home. The fridge is now full of meat, which is a sight I absolutely love. :)

August 2 beef suet I got beef suet from H-E-B

August 2 full freezer Two days after I got back from overseas, the freezer was already full of meat!

August 2 Car Sticker I saw this car sticker on the way back from H-E-B. It was affirming! 🤣

For lunch, we had a lot of leftovers from yesterday. I had the same flanken-style beef ribs, a pork patty, and a matcha latte. The pork fat bites were delicious!

For dinner, I braised two golden pompano fish. Since we were eating fish, I did some research and found out that salmon still has a much higher omega-3 content than pompano—which explains the price of wild salmon.

August 2 Dinner Dinner: two golden pompano fish braised in soy sauce

August 3, 2025

Food

  • Breakfast: none (fasted)
  • Lunch: sweet & sour pork ribs, yellow pompano fish from leftovers, some pork fat bites
  • Snack: matcha latte, blueberries and blackberries
  • Dinner: tri tip steaks

Body:

  • Weight: 128.4 lbs 📉 ✅ (down — good)
  • VO2 Max: 36.5 📉 ❌ (declined)
  • Resting Heart Rate: 64 bpm 📈 ❌ (elevated)
  • Sleep: 3 hours 📉 ❌ (poor)
  • Observations:

Exercise:

For lunch, I made a traditional Chinese dish—sweet and sour pork ribs. I cooked the ribs with soy sauce, vinegar, honey, and ginger in the Instant Pot for 20 minutes, then quickly braised them to reduce the liquid.

August 3 sweet and sour pork ribs Sweet and sour pork ribs

I felt full after just a few ribs and ended up taking a very deep nap—right around nighttime in Sydney time. I had to force myself to wake up because I still want to adjust my schedule. To help me wake up, my husband made me a matcha latte.

August 3 matcha latte Matcha latte

I didn’t sleep well last night—woke up at 1 a.m. and couldn’t fall back asleep. I learned that jet lag can affect several health metrics, such as heart rate, cortisol levels, and sleep quality (which impacts muscle recovery). I need to remind myself not to push too hard.

While researching tri-tip recipes, I learned that tri-tips come from the bottom sirloin. I salted the steaks a few hours ahead, then sprinkled black pepper just before searing them in lard (I read that the timing of the pepper matters—adding it too early can ruin the flavor). I finished the steaks with butter and rosemary.

August 3 raw tri tips Raw tri tips, in room temperature, ready to be seasoned

August cooking tri tips with butter and rosemary Cooking tri tips, with butter and rosemary

August cooked tri tip steaks Tri tip steaks

The tri tip steaks turned out to be extremely tender and flavorful. The whole family loved it!

August 4, 2025

Food

  • Breakfast: none (fasted)
  • After Workout Snack: 1 banana and 1 apple
  • Lunch: 1 pork rib, tri tip steaks from leftovers, 1 avocado, 1 cup of matcha latte
  • Dinner: pan-seared perch

Body:

  • Weight: 128.4 lbs ✅ (same — okay)
  • Waist Circumference:
  • VO2 Max: 35.8 📉 ❌ (declined)
  • Resting Heart Rate: 67 bpm 📈 ❌ (elevated)
  • Sleep: 9 hours 📈 ✅ (well rested)
  • Observations:
    • Belly fat is getting smaller, compared to when I just got back from overseas ✅
    • Slight red skin, but no burn or much much photosensitiviy after walking in the sun ✅

Exercise (Lower Body Strength + Cardio):

I did some training planning with ChatGPT for the week so that my workouts can be more organized, systematic, and comprehensive—for both muscle recovery and weight loss. I also learned a few helpful things:

  1. Do strength training before cardio. This helps prevent poor form during lifts and ensures your body is more likely to tap into fat stores afterward. Strength training first depletes your glycogen stores, which can help minimize muscle loss during cardio.
  2. Eat carbs after your workout. This helps refill muscle glycogen, preventing fatigue and weakness the next day. It also supports muscle building, replenishes electrolytes, and lowers stress hormone levels.

For dinner, I pan-fried some perch in lard—quick and easy. Although the quality of the fish we bought from H-E-B in the U.S. wasn’t as good as what we got from the Sydney Fish Market. The raw fillets felt a bit rubbery.

August 4 perch Perch pan-fried in lard

August 5, 2025

Food

  • Breakfast: none (fasted)
  • After Workout Snack: 2 slices of watermelons
  • Lunch: braised pork bellies with wintermelon, 1 avocado, pork fat bites, matcha latte
  • Dinner: beef brisket

Body:

  • Weight: 128.0 lbs 📉 ✅ (down — good)
  • VO2 Max: 35.1 📉 ❌ (declined)
  • Resting Heart Rate: 69 bpm 📉 ❌ (elevated)
  • Sleep: 5 hours 📉 ❌ (poor)
  • Observations:
    • No weight gain after adding fruits (watermelon, bananas, apples) after workout ✅
    • No energy drop throughout the day ✅

Exercise (Upper Body Strength + Core):

I had a horrible sleep last night. The jetlag had been very difficult to adjust to. I fell asleep while watching TV with the kids around 8 p.m., got woken up around 9 p.m., and then couldn’t fall back asleep. For a while, I thought I’d be awake the entire night. Fortunately, I managed to fall back asleep before dawn and finally woke up at 9 a.m.

I'm trying to debug what went wrong. A few possible factors:

  • Taking a short nap right before bed
  • Looking at screens too late
  • Too much matcha latte in the afternoon

All of these could have contributed to the poor sleep. On top of that, my anxiety about not sleeping enough—and how that might affect muscle recovery—just made things worse.

Poor sleep also seems to be affecting my resting heart rate (elevated) and VO2 max (declined). This also made me have a bad mood in the morning.

I will try to correct these things to see whether it helps.

For lunch, I made braised pork bellies with wintermelon, for making a new tsukemen for my family. My family loved it! I had the sauce part of the tsukemen, which was very delicious.

August 5 braised pork bellies with wintermelon Pork bellies braised with wintermelon, for making a new tsukemen for my family

For dinner, I made beef brisket using instant pot.

August 5 beef brisket Beef brisket made using instant pot

August 6, 2025

Food

  • Breakfast: none (fasted)
  • After Workout Snack: none (rest day)
  • Lunch: beef brisket from leftovers, 2 eggs, 1 banana, 1 cup of yogurt with blueberries
  • Dinner: braised chicken wings

Body:

  • Weight: 128.4 lbs 📈 ❌ (slight weight gain)
  • Waist Circumference:
  • VO2 Max: 34.0 📉 ❌ (declined)
  • Resting Heart Rate: 67 bpm 📈 ❌ (elevated)
  • Sleep: 9 hours 📈 ✅ (well rested)
  • Observations:
    • No energy drop throughout the day ✅
    • Legs very sore, which is expected after the Monday workout ✅

Exercise:

  • Steps: 10,300 ✅ (>10,000, good)
  • Strength & Cardio: none (rest day)

I went to the hematologist today and found out that my platelet count dropped to 107k, down from 204k just two weeks ago (as I updated in my ITP recovery post). I was expecting a decrease since I had lowered my Doptelet dose, but a 100k drop was more than I anticipated. I’ll wait and see if it recovers after my jet lag subsides.

Today was a rest day for training. My lower body was pretty sore from Monday’s workout, while my upper body was a bit sore but not too bad. I guess it makes sense—I've been focusing mostly on upper body workouts for a while.

August 7, 2025

Food

  • Breakfast: none (fasted)
  • After Workout Snack: 2 slices of watermelon
  • Lunch: half spaghetti squash with raw cheddar cheese and 2 eggs
  • Dinner: 1 egg, Ossobuco Milanese, 1 slice of watermelon, 1oz of brie cheese

Body:

  • Weight: 129 lbs 📈 ❌ (slight weight gain)
  • Waist Circumference:
  • VO2 Max: 34.0 (maintained, but downtrend)
  • Resting Heart Rate: 69 bpm 📈 ❌ (elevated)
  • Sleep: 6 hours 📉 ❌ (poor)
  • Observations:

Exercise:

Sleep wasn't great last night, even after a good night's rest the day before—I’ve seen this pattern before. I woke up around 4 a.m. and couldn’t fall back asleep. That said, I can feel the jet lag gradually subsiding. My workout plan has been going really well. For the first time in a long time, I genuinely like and feel confident about my body shape. My shoulders are starting to take shape, and the fat around my abs is noticeably decreasing. The only challenge is finding time to get my steps in.

I think adding carbs immediately after workouts has helped with glycogen replenishment. So far this week, I haven’t experienced any energy crashes during the day.

Today was the first day of school for my kids, and I spent most of the day prepping food: my own lunch (spaghetti squash), family dinner (Ossobuco Milanese), tomorrow’s lunch for the kids (pork dumplings), and tomorrow’s dinner (salted salmon). Quite a productive day!

For lunch, I baked spaghetti squash for the first time—and it exceeded my expectations! I mixed in some raw cheddar cheese and two boiled eggs. Creamy and flavorful! Next time I’ll add even more cheese.

August 7 lunch Lunch: Spaghetti squash with raw cheddar cheese and boiled eggs

Dinner was another culinary adventure. I’ve been making beef shank regularly, and a high school friend recommended I try Ossobuco Milanese. I looked it up in a recipe book in Sydney and watched a few YouTube videos. Today, I finally gave it a go. The vegetables really helped cut through the richness of the meat, but the sauce tasted a bit bland to me—or maybe I’m just losing interest in vegetables altogether, haha. That said, the presentation turned out great!

August 7 Ossobuco Milanese in the instant pot Ossobuco Milanese in the instant pot

August 7 Ossobuco Milanese Dinner: Ossobuco Milanese

August 8, 2025

Food

  • Breakfast: none (fasted)
  • After Workout Snack: 1 slice of watermelon, and 1 banana
  • Lunch: half spaghetti squash with raw cheddar cheese and osso buco milanese from leftovers, 1 boiled egg and matcha latte
  • Dinner: salted salmon, 1 boiled egg, scrambled eggs, 1 oz of brie cheese, pork fat bites, yogurt with blueberries
  • Evening After Workout Snack: 3 slices of watermelon

Body:

  • Weight: 128.8 lbs 📉 ✅ (slight weight loss)
  • Waist Circumference:
  • VO2 Max: 33.9 📉 ❌ (declined)
  • Resting Heart Rate: 63 bpm 📉 ✅ (decreased - good)
  • Sleep: 8 hours 📈 ✅ (well rested)
  • Observations:
    • muscle soreness is getting better ✅
    • surprised myself with how energetic I felt playing tennis this evening, despite the heat ✅

Exercise:

I was worried I might have another restless night. Last night, I almost fell asleep while reading, but then I woke up when I heard the water flosser rattling. It made me alert again, and I was anxious I wouldn’t be able to sleep. But thank God—I fell back asleep.

After today's workout, I did a very comprehensive stretch as in my weekly workout plan. It helped a lot with muscle soreness.

For lunch, I made the other half of the spaghetti squash with raw cheddar cheese, this time topped with leftover osso buco Milanese. I wish I had added more cheese and mixed it in better with the squash noodles for extra cheesiness, but it still tasted as great as yesterday.

August 8 lunch Lunch: Spaghetti squash with raw cheddar cheese and osso buco Milanese

My matcha set finally arrived! I made my first matcha latte with it, and the chasen really made the texture smoother compared to making it without one.

Dinner was salted salmon I had prepared yesterday.

August 8 salted salmon Dinner: salted salmon

After dinner, I played tennis with my son. The feeling of reaping the rewards of my gym training was so awesome! Even though it was 37°C outside, I felt energetic throughout the exercise. My heart rate reached 150 bpm, but I didn’t feel like I was pushing too hard. After the workout, I enjoyed three slices of watermelon—for hydration, electrolyte replenishment, and glycogen recovery. We’ll see how this affects my weight tomorrow.

August 9, 2025

Food

  • Breakfast: none (fasted)
  • After Workout Snack: a cup of matcha latte
  • Lunch: 5oz smoked beef brisket, 3/4 scotch egg
  • Dinner: slow cooked beef finger ribs

Body:

  • Weight: 129.6 lbs 📈 ❌ (slight weight gain)
  • Waist Circumference:
  • VO2 Max: 33.8 📉 ❌ (declined)
  • Resting Heart Rate: 64 bpm 📈 ❌ (elevated)
  • Sleep: 9 hours 📈 ✅ (well rested)
  • Observations:

Exercise:

Today was Saturday, my rest day from training. I did some indoor walking in the gym for 45 minutes. (Man, I miss my days in Japan and Australia—there was always so much to see while walking that I never got tired of it.)

I did see some weight gain after having 3 slices of watermelon last night. I need to be more mindful of the amount of carbs I consume after workouts.

As usual, we dined out on Saturday. We went to our favorite local BBQ restaurant and ordered beef brisket, pork ribs, and a Scotch egg (my first time trying it). The beef brisket was amazing—we usually ask for the fatty end, and it was so tender and full of smoky flavor. The Scotch egg was new to me: a boiled egg wrapped in a meatball and bacon. Delicious! But my favorite was still the brisket—so natural, so smoky, so perfect.

August 9 Scotch egg Lunch: scotch egg and pork ribs we ordered at the BBQ restaurant

August 9 beef brisket Lunch: beef brisket we ordered at the BBQ restaurant

I asked the owner what oil they used, and he paused, looking a bit puzzled (or maybe slightly offended). Then he explained that they do smoking, so no oil is used at all. Haha—hope I didn’t offend him, but it was nice to learn!

Since the morning, I’d been slow-cooking beef finger ribs in the Instant Pot. When they were finally done, the smell was incredible—the meat tender, smooth, and sticky in the best way. Slow cooking is funny that way: at the beginning, you doubt it because nothing seems to be happening, but by the end, it turns out perfectly.

August 9 slow cooked beef finger ribs Dinner: slow cooked beef finger ribs in the instant pot

Bonus—beef finger ribs were a great deal at the supermarket this week!

August 10, 2025

Food

  • Breakfast: none (fasted)
  • After Workout Snack: matcha latte
  • Lunch: 1 slice of watermelon, beef finger ribs from leftovers, agujas beef steak and 1 avocado
  • Dinner: 3 slices of flanken style beef ribs, half a slice of sourdough bread

Body:

  • Weight: 129.2 lbs 📉 ✅ (slight weight loss)
  • Waist Circumference:
  • VO2 Max: 33.8 (maintained, but downtrend)
  • Resting Heart Rate: 64 bpm (maintained)
  • Sleep: 9 hours 📈 ✅ (well rested)
  • Observations:
    • knee pain is bothering me today. If inactive for too long, it gets worse. ❌

Exercise:

  • Steps: 11,200 ✅ (>10,000, good)
  • Strength & Cardio: rest day (see my weekly workout plan), table tennis with my son (morning), tennis against the wall (afternoon)

It was a rest day today, so I didn’t plan any workouts—just play. In the morning, I played table tennis with my son, and in the afternoon, I hit tennis balls against the wall. I’m starting to enjoy tennis more and more. It demands both speed and agility, gets my heart rate up to 150 bpm without feeling like I’m pushing too hard, and helps me get my steps in.

For lunch, I pan-fried agujas beef steak in lard for the first time. I spotted this cut at H-E-B—it had nice marbling, so I wanted to give it a try. Later I learned agujas is actually cut from chuck roast! It cooked quickly since it’s quite thin.

August 10 agujas beef steak Lunch: Agujas beef steak with lard

We also stopped by Eataly today. A while back, I learned that all their sourdough bread is made with real starter and Italian flour, without any preservatives. We picked up a loaf to bring home.

August 10 sourdough bread Sourdough bread from Eataly

At dinner, I had my first slice of sourdough bread in a long time—it was okay, which makes me think my taste has changed. I also baked flanken-style beef ribs, which came out beautifully.

August 10 flanken style beef ribs Dinner: Oven baked flanken-style beef ribs

I still notice some photosensitivity. Today, after being in the sun a few times, I felt mild discomfort in my knees and hands. I read that the half-life of hydroxychloroquine is about six months, so hopefully this will fade over time. Here in Texas, the UV index is around 10 during the day, compared to about 4 at most in Sydney in July, so it makes sense that my body reacts more strongly here.

The good news is, I no longer fear the sun—now I treat it as a way to observe and test how my skin responds. I truly believe I will get better.

August 11, 2025

Food

  • Breakfast: none (fasted)
  • After Workout Snack: half & half homemade yogurt with blueberries
  • Lunch: 3 slices of flanken-style beef ribs from leftovers, 1 avocado, 1 cup of matcha latte, 1 slice of mozzarella cheese, 3 slices of sausage
  • Dinner: 3 boiled eggs, braised pork belly slices, 1 apple

Body:

  • Weight: 129.6 lbs 📉 ❌ (slight weight gain)
  • VO2 Max: 33.6 📉 ❌ (declined)
  • Resting Heart Rate: 63 bpm 📉 ✅ (decreased - good)
  • Sleep: 8 hours ✅ (well rested)
  • Observations:
    • knees were very tighet and sore before doing Just Dance. After warming up, it felt better.

Exercise:

  • Steps: 12,100 ✅ (>10,000, good)
  • Strength & Cardio: lower body strength training (see my weekly workout plan), doing Just Dance and playing basketball in the evening

Today's food was nothing new.

August 12, 2025

Food

  • Breakfast: none (fasted)
  • After Workout Snack: 1 banana
  • Lunch: half spaghetti squash, bolognese sauce, raw cheddar cheese, 1 cup of matcha latte
  • Dinner: braised beef shank and beef neck bone, some spaghetti squash

Body:

  • Weight: 129.6 lbs ✅ (maintained)
  • VO2 Max: 33.7 📈 ✅ (slight increase)
  • Resting Heart Rate: 63 bpm ✅ (maintained - good)
  • Sleep: 8 hours ✅ (well rested)
  • Observations:
    • still slight knee pain, likely from yesterday's workout and photosensitivity

Exercise:

  • Steps: 10,400 ✅ (>10,000, good)
  • Strength & Cardio: upper body strength training (see my weekly workout plan)

Too many blood draws have left my arm scarred—both physically and psychologically. I decided to skip tomorrow's test, as the last one still left a bruise. I’ll wait another two weeks before the next draw. Whenever the worry about my platelet count pops up, I need to refocus on what I can control: eating well and getting my body strong.

For lunch, my husband made his amazing bolognese sauce. In the past, I had to skip it because of the pasta, but this time I baked half a spaghetti squash and topped it with the sauce. Omg—finally, I could enjoy it! My husband really makes the best sauce.

August 12 lunch Lunch: Spaghetti squash with bolognese sauce

I found that spaghetti squash makes me feel full quite quickly.

For dinner, I made a carnivore version of Ossobuco Milanese (see the recipe here and YouTube video here)—meaning no veggies, just salt. I also added some beef neck bone from H-E-B (only $5 a pack!). To my surprise, the neck bone turned out incredibly flavorful and full of collagen. Such a hidden gem!

August 12 dinner Dinner: Braised beef shank with beef neck bone

August 13, 2025

Food

  • Breakfast: none (fasted)
  • After Workout Snack:
  • Lunch: half & half yogurt with blueberries, strawberries, and walnuts, 1 cup of matcha latte, bolognese pasta with 3 boiled eggs and raw cheddar cheese
  • Dinner: beef shanks from leftovers, sweet and sour pork ribs, 1 banana

Body:

  • Weight: 129.6 lbs ✅ (maintained)
  • VO2 Max: 34.1 📈 ✅ (increased!!!!)
  • Resting Heart Rate: 64 bpm 📉 ❌ (elevated slightly)
  • Sleep: 8 hours ✅ (well rested)
  • Observations:
    • still having knee pain, but it's not as bad as yesterday

Exercise:

  • Steps: 16,400 ✅ (>10,000, good)
  • Strength & Cardio: rest day (see my weekly workout plan), fast walking in the morning, tennis against the wall in the evening

Today was a rest day from training. My knees still feel very sore when I sit—no sign of improvement yet. The heating sensation around them is a little better than yesterday, but it’s still there.

On the bright side, I finally see my VO₂ max stop dropping and even start creeping upward. I’m curious whether this will break the downtrend—maybe my body just performs worse while recovering from jet lag. Very interesting!

For lunch, I had three boiled eggs topped with the bolognese sauce my husband made yesterday, plus some raw cheddar cheese. I just love, love, love his sauce—honestly, it’s been one of my favorites since we got married. Bolognese and eggs are a perfect match!

August 13 lunch Lunch: Bolognese pasta with 3 boiled eggs and raw cheddar cheese

For dinner, I made sweet and sour pork ribs(糖醋排骨)—one of my kids’ favorites. I only had two pieces since they contain sugar. We still had plenty of other meat left over, so I helped finish off the braised beef shanks from yesterday.

August 13 dinner Dinner: Sweet and sour pork ribs that I made for my kids

August 14, 2025

Food

  • Breakfast: none (fasted)
  • After Workout Snack: cherries, strawberries, and walnuts with homemade yogurt
  • Lunch: sweet & sour pork ribs from leftovers, spaghetti squash with mozzarella cheese and pork belly, 1 cup of matcha latte
  • Dinner: salted salmon, 1 avocado, some cherries

Body:

  • Weight: 130.2 lbs 📈 ❌ (slight weight gain)
  • VO2 Max: 34.1 📈 ✅ (maintained, and uptrend)
  • Resting Heart Rate: 66 bpm 📈 ❌ (elevated slightly)
  • Sleep: 8 hours ✅ (well rested)
  • Observations:
    • still having knee pain, worried about overtraining

Exercise:

After my workout, to replenish glycogen, I had some yogurt with blueberries and walnuts—my favorite combo.

August 14 yogurt After workout snack: yogurt with blueberries and walnuts

For dinner, I made my family's favorite salted salmon—and even filmed a YouTube Short! I want us to start having fish at least twice a week.

August 14 salmon prep Prep for dinner: salted salmon

August 14 salmon Dinner: Salted salmon

My husband's latte art skills are really improving, aren’t they?

August 14 matcha latte Lunch: Matcha latte with my husband's latte art

August 15, 2025

Food

  • Breakfast: none (fasted)
  • After Workout Snack: none (fasted)
  • Lunch: homemade yogurt with strawberries, blueberries, and walnuts, 1 cup of matcha latte, beef bone broth with some Japanese seaweed and 3 boiled eggs
  • Dinner: braised beef ribs with instant pot, an avocado
  • Fasting Hours: 18 hours

Body:

  • Weight: 129.8 lbs 📉 ✅ (slight weight loss)
  • VO2 Max: 34.1 📈 ✅ (maintained, and uptrend)
  • Resting Heart Rate: 64 bpm 📉 ✅ (decreased)
  • Sleep: 8 hours ✅ (well rested)
  • Observations:
    • still having knee pain, but improved from yesterday
    • despite the weight gain lately, my body composition looks not bad

Exercise:

  • Steps: 14,400 ✅ (>10,000, good)
  • Strength & Cardio: see my weekly workout plan
  • Workout Performance: Energized and strong

There were moments when I worried about the bruise on my arm from the blood draw. I had to remind myself that worrying wouldn’t do any good—let the body heal itself, trust the process, and stay focused!

There’s a guy at the gym I’ve never spoken to, but his T-shirt has motivated me many times, especially when I was sick and feeling down. It says, “Don’t let the hard days win.” 💪💪💪

My weight has been hovering around 130 lbs over the past few weeks, but my belly fat isn’t getting any thinner. Meanwhile, my husband is having trouble gaining weight—haha. I’ve been adding carbs after workouts to replenish glycogen, which shortens my fasting period. I wonder if that’s why he’s losing weight (since he skips breakfast) while I’m gaining weight (because I eat after workouts).

I’m going to test this. Next week, I’ll delay eating carbs until lunch to extend my fasting period. I’ll monitor both my weight, my belly fat, and my workout performance.

For lunch, I had three boiled eggs in beef bone broth with some Japanese seaweed. Very simple, but super nutritious!

August 15 lunch Lunch: 3 boiled eggs in beef bone broth with some Japanese seaweed

For dinner, I made braised beef ribs in the Instant Pot. I just seasoned them with salt, white pepper, and a little water—that’s it. They turned out so good, and we finished every bite!

August 15 dinner Dinner: Braised beef ribs with instant pot

August 16, 2025

Food

  • Breakfast: none (fasted)
  • After Workout Snack: none (fasted)
  • Lunch: 1 boiled egg, 1 avocado, 4 toriyaki (chicken thigh, chicken heart, pork belly, chicken gizzard), cherries
  • Dinner: flanken style beef ribs with salt, white pepper and beef tallow, stir-fried eggs and tomatoes
  • Fasting Hours: 17 hours

Body:

  • Weight: 130.2 lbs 📈 ❌ (slight weight gain)
  • VO2 Max: 34.0 📉 ❌ (declined)
  • Resting Heart Rate: 60 bpm 📉 ✅ (decreased)
  • Sleep: 8 hours ✅ (well rested)
  • Observations:
    • still having knee pain, especially when sitting down

Exercise:

  • Steps: 13,400 ✅ (10,000+ steps, good)
  • Strength & Cardio: rest day
  • Workout Performance: After a 1-hour morning walk, I felt hungry and weak. Later in the evening, I started feeling sluggish midway through playing table tennis.

Saturday is our family eat-out day. We went to the Japanese supermarket Mitsuwa, which has a food court. As usual, I brought my eggs and avocado, but my husband bought me some yakitori—chicken thigh, chicken heart, pork belly, and chicken gizzard. They were a bit dry, but it’s still a great way to get some organ meat.

We were reminiscing about how we used to look down on this food court for not having many vegetables in their dishes. Now we appreciate it for having so much meat!

August 16 lunch Lunch: 4 toriyaki (chicken thigh, chicken heart, pork belly, chicken gizzard)

For dinner, I baked flanken-style beef ribs with salt, white pepper, and beef tallow. I also stir-fried some eggs and tomatoes (西红柿炒鸡蛋).

August 16 dinner Dinner: Flanken style beef ribs with salt, white pepper and beef tallow.

After dinner, I played table tennis with my son. Midway through, I started feeling sluggish—something I haven’t experienced in a long time. The last time was in Sydney. I wonder if this is related to not having carbs after my morning walk. I did eat quite a few cherries in the afternoon, though. I was tempted to have more fruit after playing, but I resisted. I plan to do the same tomorrow morning to see if this feeling persists.

August 17, 2025

Food

  • Breakfast: none (fasted)
  • After Workout Snack: none (fasted)
  • Lunch: 2 slices of watermelon, pork bone soup and 1 boiled egg
  • Dinner: 1 banana, 1 slice of flanken-style beef ribs with salt, 1 egg, 1 tablespoon of butter, 2 pork ribs, and 1 cup of matcha latte
  • Fasting Hours: 18.5 hours

Body:

  • Weight: 130.4 lbs 📉 ❌ (slight weight gain)
  • VO2 Max: 33.9 📉 ❌ (slightly declined)
  • Resting Heart Rate: 62 bpm 📈 ❌ (slightly increased)
  • Sleep: 8 hours ✅ (well rested)
  • Observations:
    • I did some warm up for the morning run, then the knee pain was a lot better

Exercise:

  • Steps: 13,900 ✅ (>10,000, good)
  • Strength & Cardio: rest day, morning run
  • Workout Performance: feeling energized at morning run

This morning, I went for an easy run around the neighborhood. Surprisingly, once I warmed up, my knee pain eased up—even while running. I used to assume running would make it worse, but it seems the opposite might be true. I wonder the knee pains are most like stiffness, not pain.

For lunch, I started with 2 slices of watermelon for glycogen replenishment, followed by pork bone soup and a boiled egg. Pork bone soup is still one of my all-time favorites.

August 17 lunch Lunch: Pork bone soup

In the afternoon, we stopped by Eataly again to grab more sourdough bread and their house-made sausages. My family can’t get enough of their sourdough, and the sausages have been perfect for my kids’ breakfast.

August 17 sausages at Eataly Sausages at Eataly

I’m still dealing with hair loss. It is not as bad as when I was in Sydney, but it’s still concerning. From what I’ve read, it could mean my body doesn’t have enough energy and is prioritizing vital functions over hair growth. But it’s puzzling—I’m gaining weight and still losing hair.

For dinner, I had some easy dinner, most from leftovers.

August 18, 2025

Food

  • Breakfast: none (fasted)
  • After Workout Snack: none (fasted)
  • Lunch: 1 slice of watermelon, 1 cup of homemade yogurt with berries, 2 boiled eggs, a pork sausage from Eataly
  • Dinner: braised beef ribs, 1 tablespoon of butter, whole milk homemade yogurt with walnuts
  • Fasting Hours: 18 hours

Body:

  • Weight: 130.4 lbs (maintained)
  • VO2 Max: 33.9 (maintained)
  • Resting Heart Rate: 62 bpm (maintained)
  • Sleep: 8 hours ✅ (well rested)
  • Observations:
    • Stiffness in my knee

Exercise:

  • Steps: 15,000 (>10,000, good ✅)
  • Strength & Cardio: lower body strength training (see my weekly workout plan)
  • Workout Performance: Energized and strong

For lunch, I finally treated myself to a whole sausage from Eataly, paired with two eggs.

August 18 lunch Lunch: a whole sausage from Eataly, paired with two eggs

For dinner, I made braised beef ribs—comfort food at its best.

Today I didn’t want to stress over how much I ate. My focus was simply on keeping a good fasting window and eating in a way that felt both relaxed and satisfying.

August 18 dinner Dinner: braised beef ribs

August 19, 2025

Food

  • Breakfast: none (fasted)
  • After Workout Snack: none (fasted)
  • Lunch: 2 slices of watermelon, 1 slice of bacon, pork bone broth
  • Dinner: 1 boiled egg, homemade yogurt with walnuts and coconut flakes, braised golden pompano (fish), some beef ribs from leftovers and 1 cup of flat white coffee
  • Fasting Hours: 18.5 hours

Body:

  • Weight: 129.4 lbs 📉 ✅ (lost 1 lb in a day!)
  • VO2 Max: 33.6 📉 ❌ (declined)
  • Resting Heart Rate: 63 bpm 📈 ❌ (increased)
  • Sleep: 8 hours ✅ (well rested)
  • Observations:

Exercise:

  • Steps: 13,500 ✅ (10,000+ steps, good)
  • Strength & Cardio: upper body strength training (see my weekly workout plan)
  • Workout Performance: Energized and strong

This morning I was shocked to see I’d dropped a pound overnight. Maybe it’s just water weight—or maybe easing up on my fitness goals (and even eating more yesterday) actually helped.

For lunch, I backfilled glycogen with two slices of watermelon, then had a slice of bacon and some pork bone broth. The broth was my favorite—I was hoping it might help with my knee recovery.

For dinner, I started with yogurt, then we had braised golden pompano and some leftover beef ribs.

I’ve noticed that front-loading my meals with a little bit of carbs, like watermelon or yogurt, helps me feel fuller and more satisfied.

August 20, 2025

Food

  • Breakfast: none (fasted)
  • After Workout Snack: none (fasted)
  • Lunch: a slice of watermelon, 2 boiled eggs with bolognese sauce, a cup of matcha latte
  • Dinner: a cup of homemade yogurt with walnuts and coconut flakes, braised beef necks and beef shanks
  • Fasting Hours: 18 hours

Body:

  • Weight: 129.0 lbs 📉 ✅ (continued to lose weight)
  • VO2 Max: 33.6 (maintained, but downtrend)
  • Resting Heart Rate: 63 bpm (maintained)
  • Sleep: 8 hours ✅ (woke up a few times, but went back to sleep)
  • Observations:

Exercise:

  • Steps: 17,400 ✅ (10,000+ steps, good)
  • Strength & Cardio: rest day with stretching yoga and light walking (see my weekly workout plan)
  • Workout Performance: Rested

Last night, as I was going to sleep, I suddenly felt nauseous. I wondered if it was from drinking cold water right after my evening walk in the heat. I eventually drifted off still feeling uneasy, woke up a few times, and even got up once to pee. By morning, I felt fine again.

To my surprise, my weight was down again today. Even though I’ve been intentionally trying not to stress about training, diet, or the scale, things seem to be shifting on their own.

During my walk, I noticed how stiff my lower legs felt. I tried consciously relaxing them with each step, not locking my knees — and it actually helped with the stiffness!

Today was a rest day, so I kept it light with some stretching yoga and an easy walk. After reading TB12, I realized rest isn’t just physical — I need to let my mind rest too, instead of constantly pushing my body even on off-days.

For lunch, my husband made his famous bolognese sauce. I skipped the spaghetti squash this time and paired it with boiled eggs instead — they tasted even better, and it’s more nutritious too. I’m so happy to have his sauce in the house… though I admit I’m a little jealous the kids love it way more than my cooking!

August 20 lunch Lunch: 2 boiled eggs with bolognese sauce

For dinner, I made braised beef necks and beef shanks. The necks are mostly for me — I love the collagen, flavor, and how they stay moist. The shanks, on the other hand, are starting to feel a bit dry. I think I have enough of braised meat. Time for some steaks!

August 20 dinner Dinner: prepping for braised beef necks and beef shanks

August 20 dinner Dinner: braised beef necks

August 21, 2025

Food

  • Breakfast: none (fasted)
  • After Workout Snack: none (fasted)
  • Lunch: pork bone soup, 2 boiled eggs, 1 cup of flat white coffee, 1 avocado
  • Dinner: a homemade yogurt with walnuts and raspberries, steak, bolognese sauce, and 3 tablespoons of butter
  • Fasting Hours: 17.5 hours

Body:

  • Weight: 129.6 lbs 📈 ❌ (slight weight gain)
  • VO2 Max: 33.4 📉 ❌ (decreased)
  • Resting Heart Rate: 63 bpm (maintained)
  • Sleep: 8 hours ✅ (well rested)
  • Observations:

Exercise:

  • Steps: 10,600 ✅ (10,000+ steps, good)
  • Strength & Cardio: Lower Body Stretch Routine (see my weekly workout plan)
  • Workout Performance: Energized and strong

Yesterday was a very refreshing rest day, thanks to the mind-body connection that I learned from TB12. During today's workout, I felt my body full of energy and strength to push.

I bought a lot chuck steaks from H-E-B, sicne they are on sale. I will start to eat steaks more than braised meat.

for lunch, I had my favorite pork bone soup, hope it helps with my knee recovery.

For dinner, I made steaks!

August 22, 2025

Food

  • Breakfast: none (fasted)
  • After Workout Snack: none (fasted)
  • Lunch: 1 peach, 7oz beef chuck, 2 boiled eggs, 1 cup of matcha latte, 3 tablespoons of butter
  • Dinner: 1 cup of yogurt with walnuts and raspberries, salted salmon, 3 eggs
  • Fasting Hours: 17 hours

Body:

  • Weight: 129.2 lbs 📉 ✅ (lost a bit)
  • VO2 Max: 33.6 📈 ✅ (increased a bit, despite not much activity)
  • Resting Heart Rate: 63 bpm (maintained)
  • Sleep: 8 hours, but shallow sleep (but woke up a few times, shallow sleep, possibly due to playing tennis in the evening)
  • Observations:
    • with going hard on workout, my knees felt better today

Exercise:

  • Steps: 12,000 ✅ (10,000+ steps, good)
  • Strength & Cardio: Upper Body Strength Training (see my weekly workout plan)
  • Workout Performance: Okay strength, but not as strong as I expected, due to lack of sleep.

I had a bad night’s sleep for the first time in a while. I played tennis until 8 p.m. yesterday, fell asleep at first, but then woke up wide awake and tossed around forever before finally drifting off. Lesson learned: no late-night workouts!

The more I read TB12, the more it makes sense — you don’t need to push heavy weights and overload your body. Training should support your daily life. For me, that means protecting my knees. Heavy lifting might be making things worse, so I’m rethinking my workout plan.

For lunch, I was thrilled to be back to steak. Steak and butter really are the perfect pair — so satisfying. I also learned how to pick good cuts: look for marbled fat, not silver skin (which I used to confuse with marbling!). Knowing the difference makes eating steak even better.

August 22 lunch Lunch: 7oz beef chuck, 2 boiled eggs, 3 tablespoons of butter

For dinner, I had salted salmon and 3 boiled eggs.

August 22 jujube buns I also made jujube buns for my husband and kids. I had one bite to make sure they were good. They smelled great!

August 23, 2025

Food

  • Breakfast: latte
  • After Workout Snack: no workout during travel day
  • Lunch: Avocado, prosciutto, 2 beef cubes, 1 sweet spare ribs
  • Dinner: All You Can Eat Korean BBQ
  • Fasting Hours: 13 hours

Body:

  • Weight: (didn't measure)
  • VO2 Max: 33.7 📈 ✅ (maintained)
  • Resting Heart Rate: 58 bpm 📉 ✅ (lowered)
  • Sleep: 6 hours (short sleep, had to catch up the flight)
  • Observations:

Exercise:

  • Steps: 15,900 ✅ (10,000+ steps, good)
  • Strength & Cardio: no workout
  • Workout Performance: Rested

Today was a travel day: we all got up at 3:30 AM and drove to the airport.

We spent some time in one of our favorite airport lounges early in the morning, but I had zero temptation to eat their food. I’m used to skipping breakfast now, and I’m no longer attached to carbs. I just had a cup of latte.

My knees were still a little sore. I’ve eaten almost no wheat lately, so that’s probably not the cause. Could it be dairy? I need to review what I’ve been eating. If I go several days in Sydney without joint pain, I should check whether I had flat whites on those days. Maybe I should try cutting out dairy for a week and then compare.

For lunch, I hesitated to eat most of the food provided, so I mainly had an avocado. I really wish I’d brought my boiled eggs — important lesson learned: never underestimate how useful eggs can be!

For dinner, we went to a Korean BBQ restaurant. I was so hungry that I probably overate, and my stomach didn’t feel great afterward. I waited for my “satisfied” signal, but I didn’t feel full until I stood up. The all-you-can-eat format and sugar-laden marinated meats were to blame. I’ll avoid all-you-can-eat restaurants in the future if possible.

August 24, 2025

Food

  • Breakfast: none (fasted)
  • After Workout Snack: none (fasted)
  • Lunch: Spicy Beef Offal Slices (夫妻肺片), laksa soup
  • Dinner: Spicy Beef Offal Slices (夫妻肺片)
  • Supper: 2 steamed eggs, 1 banana, 1 cup of homemade yogurt with berries
  • Fasting Hours: 18 hours

Body:

  • Weight: (didn't measure)
  • VO2 Max: 33.7 📈 ✅ (maintained)
  • Resting Heart Rate: 61 bpm 📉 ✅ (maintained in the range)
  • Sleep: 10 hours ✅ (well rested)
  • Observations:
    • still some leg stiffness

Exercise:

  • Steps: 14,600 ✅ (10,000+ steps, good)
  • Strength & Cardio: elliptical for 15 mins, TB12 resistance band exercises
  • Workout Performance: Energized and strong

We stayed overnight in Michigan. Even though the hotel room was small, I actually slept really well. The hotel had a 24-hour gym with all the equipment — pretty cool! They even had every type of resistance band, so I tried out some of the TB12 exercises.

Sydney taught us one thing: you can’t just drink any coffee—if you’re going to drink it, drink the best. In the morning, we found the highest-rated place on campus - Vertex Coffee Roasters. However, unfortunately, it was not as good as the coffee we make at home. For my latte, the milk overpowered the taste of the coffee.

August 24 latte Latte at Vertex Coffee Roasters

August 24 cortado Cortado at Vertex Coffee Roasters

For lunch, we went to a Chinese restaurant on the University of Michigan campus. I had spicy beef offal slices, which also ended up being part of my dinner.

August 24 lunch Lunch: Spicy beef offal slices

In the evening, we flew back home. The lounge food was terrible — no meat, just carbs and veggies — so I ate the leftover beef offal slices. Moments like this make me wish I’d packed my trusty boiled eggs, so I wouldn’t get so hungry and overeat later.

After getting home, I made some quick steamed eggs to warm my stomach, plus yogurt and a banana. Finally back — home sweet home! Time to get back to basics.

August 25, 2025

Food

  • Breakfast: none (fasted)
  • After Workout Snack: none (fasted)
  • Lunch: a banana, beef shanks with tomatoes, 1 cup of flat white coffee
  • Dinner: lamb shanks and lamb legs from Australia, tomato sauce, homemade yogurt with berries and walnuts, 2 tablespoons of butter
  • Fasting Hours: 16 hours

Body:

  • Weight: 130.4 lbs 📈 ❌ (slight weight gain)
  • VO2 Max: 33.4 📉 ❌ (declined)
  • Resting Heart Rate: 61 bpm 📉 ✅ (maintained)
  • Sleep: 8 hours ✅ (well rested)
  • Observations:
    • knee stiffness
    • sudden tiredness after dinner
    • 3 little bumps on my face (possible from unclean eating while I was away)

Exercise:

  • Steps: 13,900 ✅ (10,000+ steps, good)
  • Strength & Cardio: lower body strength training (see my weekly workout plan)
  • Workout Performance: Energized and strong

I'm so happy to be back to the basics! No dining out, no random ingredients—just meat, eggs, and a bit of fruit. Even coffee tastes better at home.

For lunch, I diced up some tomatoes and simmered them with last week's leftover beef shanks. Simple, comforting, and exactly what I needed.

August 25 lunch *Lunch: Beef shanks with tomatoes

For dinner, I slow-cooked Australian lamb shanks and legs with tomato sauce. I found a great store called Wild Fork that sells all kinds of meats—including Australian lamb. After visiting Australia, I’ve come to enjoy lamb so much more.

August 25 lamb shanks Prepping for lamb shanks and lamb legs from Australia

August 25 dinner Dinner: Lamb shanks and lamb legs from Australia, with some cumin and chili powder on the side

August 26, 2025

Food

  • Breakfast: none (fasted)
  • After Workout Snack: none (fasted)
  • Lunch: a banana, 2 tablespoons of butter, chuck steak, a cup of matcha latte, a cup of flat white coffee
  • Dinner: an apple, pork spare ribs, 3 tablespoons of butter, 3 steamed eggs
  • Fasting Hours: 18 hours

Body:

  • Weight: 128.8 lbs 📉 ✅ (sudden weight loss)
  • VO2 Max: 33.4 📉 ❌ (declined)
  • Resting Heart Rate: 63 bpm 📉 ✅ (maintained, low 60s)
  • Sleep: 8.5 hours ✅ (well rested)
  • Observations:
    • knee stiffness
    • not as energetic as normal days (possible menstrual symptoms)

Exercise:

  • Steps: 11,100 ✅ (10,000+ steps, good)
  • Strength & Cardio: upper body strength training (see my weekly workout plan)
  • Workout Performance: a bit tired

For lunch, I treated myself to a chuck steak with butter. I realized that when I’m at home, I should lean more on butter than avocado—since butter provides vitamin D and omega-3s.

For dinner, I made pork spare ribs with green beans and vermicelli, a hearty Chinese classic. I skipped the green beans and vermicelli and had the spare ribs with butter and steamed eggs instead. By the end, I was pretty stuffed.

After reading TB12, I’ve been more diligent than ever about drinking water—for hydration and detox.

Overall, today wasn’t a high-energy day. I’m about 3-5 days before my menstrual cycle, so the tiredness might just be from hormone changes. But I can’t help worrying sometimes, because fatigue could also come from low platelets. For me, things that tend to trigger tiredness include:

  1. Menstrual cycle
  2. Low platelets
  3. Low electrolytes
  4. Not enough sleep
  5. Not eating enough

I also came across an Instagram post about how menstruation affects women’s weight—but it didn’t really match my own experience, since I’ve been seeing sudden weight loss during the luteal phase.

August 26 menstruation weight loss How menstrual cycle affects weight

August 27, 2025

Food

  • Breakfast: none (fasted)
  • After Workout Snack: none (fasted)
  • Lunch: a banana, a bit of lamb shank from leftovers, chuck steak, 3 tablespoons of butter, a cup of matcha latte
  • Dinner: 1 banana, 4 steamed eggs, one patty from beef pancakes (牛肉馅饼), homemade yogurt with berries and walnuts, 3 tablespoons of butter
  • Fasting Hours: 18.5 hours

Body:

  • Weight: 127.2 lbs 📉 ✅ (sudden weight loss)
  • VO2 Max: 33.4 (same)
  • Resting Heart Rate: 65 bpm 📈 ❌ (increased)
  • Sleep: 7.5 hours (had too much caffeine yesterday, so not quiet well rested)
  • Observations:
    • Knee stiffness often happen when walking. If I start to jog, the stiffness goes way.

Exercise:

  • Steps: 20,100 ✅ (10,000+ steps, good)
  • Strength & Cardio: rest day
  • Workout Performance: a little tired

I was surprised to find that i dropped another 1.6 lbs in the past 2 days. it is kind of a shock to me. as I did not eat less or exercise more. I also drank a lot of water in the past 2 days, as I knew how important it is for hydration and detox acorrding to TB12. This weight loss is very weird. Body is a wonderful and mysterious thing. Not sure it is related to menstral cycle or not. I will continue to monitor it.

I felt stiffness on my legs again while walking. then I switched to jogging, despite not comfortable at the beginning, once I warmed uo, the stiffness went away, even when walking. This is a major breakthrough for me!

For lunch, I made another steak for myself, as my body craved it more than other things (I also had bacon ready, but did not cook it)

August 27 lunch Lunch: Steak with butter

For dinner, I made beef pancakes (牛肉馅饼) for the family. I had a little extra filling, so I fried one patty on its own and thought it tasted way too salty—but interestingly, the family didn’t think the pancakes were salty at all. Looks like the wrapper really absorbs some of the seasoning during cooking. Nice little learning moment!

I’m not sure why, but I felt extremely hungry around dinner. When I checked my food log, I definitely ate more than usual—most likely related to my menstrual cycle.

I’ve also noticed an uptrend in my resting heart rate. Not sure if my body’s fighting off something—my husband and daughter have both been sick lately—but so far I just feel tired (which I’d assumed was PMS). I’ll keep monitoring it.

August 28, 2025

Food

  • Breakfast: none (fasted)
  • After Workout Snack: none (fasted)
  • Lunch: a banana, pork bone broth, 3 steamed eggs, a cup of flat white
  • Dinner: 1 banana, 2 fried eggs, 1 slice of bacon, a few beef ribs with potatoes
  • Fasting Hours: 17 hours

Body:

  • Weight: 127.2 lbs (same)
  • VO2 Max: 33.4 (maintained)
  • Resting Heart Rate: 62 bpm 📉 ✅ (maintained)
  • Sleep: 8 hours ✅ (well rested)
  • Observations:

Exercise:

  • Steps: 12,000 ✅ (>10,000, good)
  • Strength & Cardio: Glutes + Conditioning (see my weekly workout plan)
  • Workout Performance: okay, a bit tired

For lunch, I heated up my favorite pork bone broth. I never got tired of it. For steamed eggs, I redcued the cooking time to 6 minutes, and I started to see some wet yolk, and I will continue to experiment to see some running yolk.

August 28 last flat white My husband made me a flat white at lunch, which was the last flat white made by our first espresso machine. We just upgraded to a new one with more features

For dinner, I made some beef ribs with potatos. I seasoned my new cast iron skillet today and fried some bacon with it so far so good. however, when I went to sleep, my stomach started to feel some bloating, not sure it is the pan, the potatoes or the cold water.

August 28 bacon Fried bacon with cast iron skillet

August 29, 2025

Food

  • Breakfast: none (fasted)
  • After Workout Snack: none (fasted)
  • Lunch: A banana, homemade yogurt with walnuts and berries, chuck steak, 2 tablespoons of butter
  • Dinner: 3 slices of bacon, wild caught sockeye salmon
  • Fasting Hours: 17 hours

Body:

  • Weight: 128.2 lbs (sudden weight gain)
  • VO2 Max: 33.6 (same)
  • Resting Heart Rate: 62 bpm (maintained)
  • Sleep: 8 hours ✅ (had to wake up early, so a little anxious before the alarm)
  • Observations:
    • Knee stiffness got a lot better for some reason

Exercise:

  • Steps: 13,900 ✅ (10,000+ steps, good)
  • Strength & Cardio: Full Body Strength + Core + Metabolic Finisher (see my weekly workout plan)
  • Workout Performance: A little tired

For lunch, I was craving steak and butter again, so I made another one. :D

For dinner, I cut up the salted salmon I prepared yesterday and fried it with some bacon. The whole family loved it.

Today I finally started reading Fast Like a Girl, and I’m really glad I did. The book explains many of the symptoms I’ve been experiencing, like hair thinning and spotting at the beginning of my menstrual cycle. I originally thought I was lacking certain nutrients, but the book explains that during the last days of the menstrual cycle, if I fast for too long, it puts the body under stress. This increases cortisol levels, which can lower progesterone production — leading to hair thinning and spotting. That’s an important clue. It’s worth testing whether adjusting my fasting helps with these issues.

Now that I’m at the end of my menstrual cycle, I’ll stop fasting and keep my exercise light until the next cycle starts to see whether this makes a difference.

August 30, 2025

Food

  • Breakfast: a boilded egg, potatoes, a cup of flat white
  • After Workout Snack: a yellow peach
  • Lunch: beef brisket from Linke's
  • Dinner: chuck steaks, 2 steamed eggs, a cup of homemade yogurt with berries
  • Fasting Hours: 13.5 hours

Body:

  • Weight: 128.4 lbs (maintained)
  • VO2 Max: 33.5 (same)
  • Resting Heart Rate: 60 bpm (maintained)
  • Sleep: 8 hours ✅ (well rested)
  • Observations:
    • Knee stiffness got better for some reason (is it the cooling weather?)

Exercise:

  • Steps: 18,900 ✅ (10,000+ steps, good)
  • Strength & Cardio: rest day
  • Workout Performance: rest day

This is my first day stopping fasting, following the book Fast Like a Girl. The goal is to reduce cortisol levels and see whether it helps with hair thinning and spotting. I’ll also be watching to see how this affects my next menstrual cycle and my weight.

In the morning, I had a boiled egg and some leftover potatoes.

August 30 breakfast Breakfast: boiled egg, leftover potatoes

I reduced the cooking time of the steamed eggs to 5 minutes, and I started to see some running yolk, and I will continue to experiment to see some running yolk.

August 30 steamed eggs Steamed eggs with running yolk

August 31, 2025

Food

  • Breakfast: a boilded egg, a cup of matcha latte
  • After Workout Snack: none (fasted)
  • Lunch: a cup of yogurt with berries, 4 eggs over ground pork (my mom's recipe), some stirred tomato eggs, a small cup of coffee
  • Dinner: Baked pork baby back ribs, homemade yogurt with coconut flakes
  • Fasting Hours: 13 hours

Body:

  • Weight: 128.2 lbs (maintained)
  • VO2 Max: 33.7 (a little increased)
  • Resting Heart Rate: 62 bpm (maintained)
  • Sleep: 8 hours ✅ (well rested)
  • Observations:
    • Knee stiffness got better for some reason (is it the cooling weather?)

Exercise:

  • Steps: 11,500 ✅ (10,000+ steps, good)
  • Strength & Cardio: rest day, yoga, walking
  • Workout Performance: rest day

I got my mom’s recipe for eggs over ground pork yesterday. She used to make it for me when I was little — and told me her father made it for her the same way. It’s so simple and amazingly delicious!

Today I made five eggs with seasoned pork. I can’t believe I managed to finish it all, but it was just that good!

August 31 steamed eggs over ground pork pot Steamed eggs over ground pork with seasoned pork in a pot

August 31 steamed eggs over ground pork Steamed eggs over ground pork with seasoned pork

August 31 steamed eggs over ground pork inside I took a peek at the yolk, it is still runny after 20 minutes of steaming

For dinner, I made baked pork baby back ribs. The recipe I followed said they’d be done in 40 minutes, but they were far from cooked. I had to finish them in the Instant Pot for 15 minutes to make them tender. I also wish I had marinated them longer.

August 31 baked pork baby back ribs Baked pork baby back ribs with instant pot and oven

Takeaways

That's a wrap for August 2025! From recording all my meals and workouts, I've learned a lot about my body and what works for me. Here are my takeaways:

Body

  1. Knee stiffness, not pain – It improves after warming up.
  2. Cardio late at night disrupts sleep – Best to schedule earlier in the day.
  3. Jogging helps reduce stiffness – Light movement seems beneficial.
  4. Hydration matters – Drinking enough water eases joint stiffness (thanks to the book The TB12 Method)
  5. Avoid prolonged fasting at the end of the menstrual cycle – It may trigger hair thinning and spotting (thanks to the book Fast Like a Girl).
  6. Sunny weather might worsen stiffness – Could be related to photosensitivity, either autoimmune in nature or from past medication that hasn’t fully cleared.
  7. Heat may lower VO₂ max – High temperatures seem to impact performance.

Diet

  1. Carbs after workouts aid muscle recovery – They don’t necessarily lead to weight gain if balanced.
  2. Portion control still matters – Too many post-workout carbs can cause weight gain.
  3. Intentional carbs before meals help – Foods like watermelon or yogurt keep me fuller and more satisfied.
  4. Avoid all-you-can-eat restaurants – Easy to overeat, and food quality is often poor.
  5. Always carry boiled eggs when traveling – A simple, reliable protein source.
  6. At home, favor butter over avocado – Butter provides added benefits like vitamin D and omega-3s.

Workouts

Workout planning scientifically is important.

  1. Do strength training before cardio.
  2. Eat carbs after your workout.
  3. Plan upper body and lower body workouts on alternate days.
  4. Let your body rest.
  5. Do a comprehensive stretch after your workout.
  6. Workout is for supporting daily life, not for bulking up.
  7. Don't push heavy weights and overload your body.

Template

Food

  • Breakfast:
  • After Workout Snack:
  • Lunch:
  • Dinner:
  • Fasting Hours:

Body:

  • Weight:
  • VO2 Max:
  • Resting Heart Rate:
  • Sleep:
  • Observations:

Exercise:

  • Steps:
  • Strength & Cardio:
  • Workout Performance:

About Me

Mira

Mira

Hi, I’m Mira (美良), the owner of this food blog Meat and Meals!

I'm a carnivore 🥩, and healing my autoimmune diseases with meat. I'm sharing my honest journey with you. I hope you can find hope and healing here.

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