Friday Night Photos

I could have sworn I took all kinds of pictures this week, but going through my camera roll shows that I actually have very few, unfortunately. Noah and Eli were up north and Jerry had three of those days off work, so it was fun to spend time together--we didn't do anything special, but it was interesting to hang out in such a quiet house!

When I began working on Eli's room, the first thing I did was pull everything out of the closet. I wanted to clean the floors really well because I was sure they were loaded with dog hair (Joey spends most of his time in Eli's room). That led to finding a place for things that didn't belong and then--long story short--I rearranged his bedroom furniture, removing his desk (he never sat there--it only collected clutter) and putting a nightstand in there. Jerry helped me work on it the second day.

The kids got home today and when Eli walked into his room, I heard him say, "Holy crap!" I asked what he thought (and told him we have his desk in the garage if he wants it back) and he said he LOVES how it looks now. I wish I had before and after pictures, but I wasn't planning on this being that sort of project! 

Anyway, here are a few pictures that I did take this week...

My cousin Shannon saw a picture on Facebook of a baby wearing crocheted flip-flops and she asked me if I could make a couple of pairs of them for her friends' babies. There was a link to the pattern (I didn't want to have to design something myself because I get perfectionistic and stress about it!) so I said sure. I don't have a picture of them on the babies' feet, but they turned out cute and hopefully they fit!

A few hours after the boys left to go up north, Eli sent me a short video--they'd came upon a car that was on fire! They got there right when it happened (no police were there yet) so Noah pulled over and asked if anyone needed help. The driver managed to get out okay and said there was no one else in there. The police arrived and then Eli took the video as they were driving away. This is just a screenshot.

This may not look like much, but when I tell you how it happened, you might get the heebie jeebies like Jerry did, haha. I was shaving my legs in the shower and I was in a hurry--moving the razor really quickly--and I don't know how it happened, but the razor caught my nail. I felt it catch, but no instant pain, so I kept saying, "Oh no oh no oh no" while I was trying to see it in the shower. I just hoped it didn't cut through the nail.

Well, it had. It sliced into the nail and pulled down toward the edge, but didn't pull the nail off. After that, I was SO scared of getting it caught on something! I cut it as short as possible. When I was trying to pull my hair up, I felt my nail catch on my hair and it hurt like a mother. So I tried glueing it down with "liquid bandaid" (which is essentially superglue) and that helped a little. But the next day, it caught again. Eventually, that whole section of nail was pulled right off. So now I have a big chunk of missing fingernail. (This picture is right after it happened)

On Sunday, I went to my parents' house to bring my dad his pecan pie for Father's Day. Luke and Riley were over there so I hung out for a bit. Luke wanted to show me where he picked cherries (my parents have a cherry tree). He told me they were sour cherries but we could eat them. So we picked a few that looked ripe and then Riley wanted to pick some, too. They asked what we were going to do with the cherries and I said we could make a smoothie. So we looked around my parents' kitchen for things to throw into the blender--cherries, strawberries, milk, chocolate chips...

It was funny--I suggested we put a few chocolate chips in there, but when I looked in the drawer where I thought they'd be, all they had were butterscotch chips and white chocolate chips. When I told Luke, he said, "No, they aren't in that drawer. They're in the drawer underneath." And sure enough, they were! Haha, he knows my parents' kitchen better than I do now. The smoothie turned out to be delicious!

Speaking of blenders, this blender full of stuff is going to be the heritage recipe that I post tomorrow. It's called Blender Carrot Bread. And it turned out to be delicious!

On Wednesday, I (AGAIN) ran quite a bit more than I had to for the Couch to 5K plan because I forgot to turn off my GPS for the treadmill. (When the GPS is turned on while I run on the treadmill, the distance on my Garmin will always read "0.0" because the GPS location never moves.) Even though the Garmin shows the incorrect distance on a treadmill, it's not off by a huge number--so I still use it to set up my workouts. It was set to switch to walking mode after 0.5 miles.

Well, I'd run 0.6-ish miles and my Garmin still hadn't beeped to signal me to begin walking. I looked down and sure enough, I'd forgotten to turn off the GPS. (I did that last week and I swore it would never happen again.) I could have just skipped the first interval after resetting the Garmin, but I didn't want to do that. So, before starting over and running it again, I wrote myself a note and taped it to the treadmill--"TURN OFF GPS!!!" Now, I'm sure, it won't happen again.

Tomorrow, I'm going to my brother Brian's house for a 4th of July get-together. He's going to put on an enormous fireworks show (he spent some time last year getting licensed/certified to use these particular fireworks; when Brian does something like this, he goes all out). Last year's show was amazing, and it's hard to believe it could be any better, but I'm sure it will. I'm really excited to go!

Have a great weekend!

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Oh! Thank you for the well-wishes for my dad. After all was said and done, we got really good news from his surgeon. Before his procedure, he was told that the blockages in his blood vessels were pretty bad but they wouldn't know just how bad until they "went in there" (he had a cardiac catheterization). The doctor said that he was pretty sure my dad was going to need bypass surgery. After the catheterization, his surgeon said that he was able to complete everything during the procedure--so he wouldn't need bypass surgery. Very good news! 

However, he said that my dad's LAD artery was almost completely blocked--which is pretty much the worst case scenario. If you've ever heard of a "widow-maker heart attack", well, it's caused when the LAD artery is blocked. The doctor said that if he'd waited much longer, he would have had a heart attack and it would have been fatal. So scary! I'm so glad that they were able to repair with angioplasty/stenting.

I always thought of my dad as being low-risk for a heart attack--he's never been overweight, doesn't drink or smoke, and gets plenty of exercise. His diet, on the other hand, could definitely use some work. Hopefully this scared him into making some changes!

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If I Won the Lottery... (a writing prompt)

I was sitting with my computer, asking Jerry, "What can I write about?" (Read in a whiny voice.) He said, "Why don't you write about how you ask me this question every single day and then you never take my suggestions anyway?" Hahaha, it's true!

I like that I've gotten in the habit of doing some theme posts each week--my running updates on Monday, Transformation Tuesday, weight loss stuff on Wednesday, Friday Night Photos, heritage recipe on Saturday. That leaves Thursday and Sunday for me to try to get a little creative--some days, though, I'm totally blank.

Jerry and I were recently talking about what we would do if we "won the lottery" (meaning, a huge sum of money--not a $10 scratch off). My idea was pretty unique (I've never heard anyone else say it before, anyways) so I thought I'd share it here as a writing prompt:

What would you do if money and resources were not an issue?

My big idea came about one day when I was telling my kids about how much better it was back when I was a kid and we didn't have the internet (you know, the stereotypical "get off my lawn!" old people talk). I MISS the days before the internet. Of course, having the internet has opened a HUGE world of possibilities in numerous ways--it's a very positive thing, for the most part--but for those of us that remember the pre-AOL days, there is something nostalgic about that time. Back then, we didn't miss the internet, because it didn't exist yet. Everything was so SIMPLE.

My mom said that I used to watch the radio--when the radio was on, I would pull up a chair and watch. Haha! We were easily entertained back then.

Anyway, this led to my telling my kids, "I wish you guys could live in the 80's for just a week--you'd appreciate everything you have now so much more!"

And this is where my idea was brainstormed. If I had infinite money and resources...

I would buy an island somewhere and section it off into different camps. Each camp would be dedicated to a period of history: 1100's, 1500's, 1800's, 1910's, 1920's, 1930's, etc. etc. The camps would be set up so that they are exactly like what you would have found in that time period.

This wouldn't operate like a museum, but a literal home-away-from-home *camp*. People would pay for a week or two weeks or whatever amount of time to go live in that time period. They would not be allowed to bring cell phones or anything at all--everything that they need would be provided, but only if it's something that was relevant in that particular time period.

So if I wanted to send my kids there for a week to live in the 1980's, for example...

They would have to show up with nothing. They would be given a wardrobe for the week (with 1980's clothing), a house that is identical to what a house looked like in the 80's, with all of the 80's decor, a landline phone complete with phone book and directory assistance, a radio, an 80's television set, a kitchen equipped to cook things that were popular in the 80's, etc.

Anyone remember these couches?

There would be several other people/families in different houses at the same time, so they could all really live as if they were neighbors in the 80's. If they want to take pictures to post on Facebook later, they can use a disposable camera and get their photos a week or two later, like we all did before cell phones ;) 

Fun, right?

Haha, maybe it sounds like torture to some people, but I would LOVE to do something like that! I'd love to do it for all different time periods. It would be a blast to invite a bunch of friends who are roughly the same age to go stay for a week at camp in their "childhood era".

Probably not what most people think of when planning on how to spend their lottery winnings... but this is honestly what I would love to do if it were possible!

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DietBet Weigh Out

It's already been over four weeks since I started the DietBet! The last day was on Monday and yesterday was when I had to "weigh out"--meaning submit my final weigh-in to see if I lost the required 4% of my body weight in order to win my money back.

Four weeks ago, I felt like a completely different person. I knew what I *wanted* (to feel good in my own skin again) but I just wasn't willing to do what it would take to get there. I'm not crazy about the idea of "DietBet" for several reasons, but I am really glad that I chose to do it when I did. I have no idea what it was that motivated me, but knowing that I had to weigh in for accountability seemed to be the push I needed to get started.

And that's all it was--a start. With most things I do, once I am able to get a streak going and I see some progress, I get very focused and determined. The hard part is actually getting to that point! If I hadn't been doing the DietBet, I'm sure that I wouldn't have lasted a day or two. I don't think I would have even attempted counting calories again.

Now that I've gotten a good start, I feel super determined to see this through. I even have some goals in mind! My 40th birthday is in January, and while I am totally dreading turning 40, it would be great to hit the big 4-0 feeling good about myself. So, I'd like to get my weight down under 140 (not to say that I wouldn't be content with 145 or something--I just want a number to aim for). And I'd like to be able to run three miles with a heart rate in my MAF zone (131-141 bpm).

Anyway, about the DietBet weigh out...

I'm kind of bummed that I didn't first weigh myself right when I got up in the morning without clothes (prior to my official weigh in, I mean--I'm not going to submit naked photos, haha). My first official weigh-in was rejected because I wasn't looking straight ahead (I was looking at my phone for a mirror-selfie) so I had to send a new one. And that was after I had eaten breakfast and drank a lot of water. For my weigh out yesterday, I tried to do the same circumstance--I weighed after breakfast and after I'd had water.

And I did it! I won my DietBet. I'm not sure how much money yet, because people are still weighing out, but I at least won my money back.

Those numbers don't really mean anything to me, though. When comparing my weight, I like to do it first thing in the morning before eating or drinking anything, and without clothes. Since I don't have the number from the morning I started my DietBet, I just looked at the previous day's weight. If I look at that weight as my starting weight and yesterday's as my ending weight, then I am down 14.6 pounds! (From May 23 to June 22.) I'm beyond thrilled with that.

To lose the weight, I literally just did the EXACT same thing I did before when I counted calories. And surprise, surprise, it worked ;) I ate whatever I wanted, I measured or weighed out my portions, and I counted the calories. I always aim for quality over quantity with my food--I'd prefer a small piece of a rich, homemade dessert than five 100-calorie packs of cookies any day. I don't have a calorie target set in stone, but I aimed for roughly 1600 per day--some days I ate a little more, some days I ate a little less, depending on my appetite. For exercise, I did the Couch to 5K (Weeks 1-4).

I feel really encouraged to keep going after seeing such great results. I don't know if there is a difference in how I look, and I honestly don't care right now. I just feel SO MUCH BETTER about myself. I feel more in control, which is the best feeling. I plan out things like dessert (like when I've baked desserts for the heritage recipes) and I just work it into my calories. I don't feel bad about eating it because I planned for it. Like this Drömtårta--yum!

Moving forward, I'm just continuing what I've been doing and I know I'll eventually reach my goals (even if it takes longer than I'd like). Since I've been seeing regular progress, I think I'm ready to start doing Wednesday Weigh-Ins again. It's been so long, I can't even remember the last time I did that! So, I may post one next week, if I'm feeling brave.

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No Transformation Tuesday :(

I only have two short Transformation Tuesday submissions in my inbox, so I'm going to save them for when I get at least one more--so please send me some transformations to post!

I'm going to take the night off of blogging so that I can work transforming the kids' bedrooms. I'm using the time while they're up north to clean the heck out of their rooms. I like to do a really good, deep cleaning at least once or twice a year, and I would always work on it while the boys were in school or staying at a friend's house or something. Because of COVID, they were doing school at home and were generally here all the time. So, it's been probably a year and a half since I thoroughly cleaned their rooms. They are very overdue!

Remember, please send me some transformations for next Tuesday! Just send a before photo and an after photo to me at katie (at) runsforcookies (dot) com. Include your name and a description of the transformation!

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Couch to 5K : Week 4 Recap

I have finished the infamous Week 4 of Couch to 5K! Week 4 is the point in the program where it really makes you question whether you can even finish or why in the heck you thought it was a good idea to start.

Rather than quit, my advice is to make up your own "Week 3.5" to make a smaller jump in the running intervals. Or repeat weeks until they are more comfortable.

I already wrote about my first workout of Week 4. I had been super nervous about it, but I did it! I was thrilled. And then I realized it wasn't the first time. (Here is that post, in case you missed it.)

My second workout was another face-in-palm moment...

I did it on the treadmill again, and I started my Garmin. When I'm on the treadmill, I use the Garmin for the timer because the timer on the treadmill is too fast. But my Garmin doesn't accurately track my mileage and pace, so I use the mileage shown on the treadmill. (I really wish there was an accurate way to use a Garmin on a treadmill! If you've been reading my blog from the beginning, you know that already, haha.)

I have my Garmin set to the workout, which is based on distance--so even though the Garmin reads, say, 0.25 miles, I actually ran a little farther than that because the calibration isn't accurate. 

The workouts this week were:

run 0.25 miles; walk 0.125 miles
run 0.5 miles; walk 0.25 miles
run 0.25 miles; walk 0.125 miles
run 0.5 miles

I was waiting for the beep of my Garmin to tell me it was time to walk. When I looked at the treadmill display, it said I'd run 0.28 miles; the Garmin should have beeped, but it read that I'd only gone 0.03 miles. Then I noticed that I'd forgotten to turn off the GPS!

I stopped the treadmill and debated what to do. I could count that as my first interval, but I didn't have the "proof" on my Garmin (and even though it doesn't matter to anyone but me, I wanted that on there!). Other option was to do it all over. That's what I chose to do.

I ran an extra 0.28-mile lap during Week 4! But I'll tell you what--I'll never forget to turn off the GPS again ;)

I'd planned to do my third workout last night at around 11:25 PM so that I could start the run in the springtime and continue until after summer officially started at 11:32 PM. Basically, I wanted my workout to start before 11:32 and end after 11:32.

It didn't work out that way. I was SO TIRED yesterday. I hadn't gotten more than 2-4 hours of sleep each night for a few days and it hit me hard yesterday. (Even when I'm very tired, I have a hard time sleeping. My mind never shuts off.)

At around 11:00, I just decided to take a shower, get ready for bed, and then at 11:30, I'd walk for 10 minutes at a super slow pace--that way, I could complete the solstice run on my checklist challenge. And I saved the Couch to 5K run for today.

I was tired enough last night that I managed to sleep for six hours (that's a great night for me!) and I felt so much better this morning. I decided to do my "lunchtime run" on the checklist challenge--which means to run between 12:00 and 2:00 PM. The run itself was uneventful.

My heart rate definitely did not have the same decreasing pattern as last week, unfortunately. I expected it to be higher overall, which it was, because I doubled the distance of the running intervals.

The goal is to get my heart rate to stay in Zone 2 as much as possible. Zone 2 is comfortable; it's the perfect heart rate for an "easy run". Running was much more enjoyable when I was able to run for miles and miles in Zone 2--so I am hoping to build my endurance back up to be able to run just 3 miles in Zone 2.

Interestingly, the accidental 0.28 miles I ran on Friday before my C25K workout gave me some good insight into my heart rate...

This segment contained NO walking. I was running at 5.0 mph on the treadmill. So, you can clearly see that my heart rate is in Zone 4 during all of my running segments. The lower zones are when I'm walking. So my first goal is to lower the amount of time spent in Zone 4. I know it'll get there if I'm patient and keep working on it!

Next Monday, my Week 5 Day 3 workout is a 2-mile run. Yikes!

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If you have a transformation to share for Transformation Tuesday tomorrow, please email it to me! Just send a before photo and an after photo, along with your name and a description of the transformation to me at: katie (at) runsforcookies (dot) com. Thanks!

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Empty Nest!

This week is going to feel SO strange. Noah and Eli left early this morning to go on a road trip up to the upper peninsula, to stay at my sister's property until Friday. Two of Noah's friends went along, so it was just the four of them making the 10-hour drive up there.

When Noah got his license last year, he asked if he could go up north with his friends in the summer of 2021. I said sure--honestly, I didn't think he'd ever bring it up again. So when he kept talking about it, and making real plans for it, I got pretty nervous that it was actually going to happen.

Noah will be 17 in a couple of weeks, and Eli is 15. Noah is a FANTASTIC driver--if he wasn't, I never would have agreed to let him drive up there. When his friends asked their parents if they could go, one of the "pro" arguments used was, "Noah's mom is really strict! We'll be fine!" Hahaha, I have NO idea what Noah has told them to make them think I'm super strict. Maybe because I didn't let Noah go to parties and stuff like that during the COVID-19 lockdown? I don't know--I always thought I was a "fun" mom! It was funny, though, when I heard how strict I am ;)

Noah's friends came over at 5:45 this morning so that they could hit the road by 6:00 or so. I planned on staying incredibly busy all day so that I wouldn't worry the whole time and keep refreshing the "Find Friends" app on my phone (where I can see Noah's location).

I was so relieved when I got a text from the kids saying they arrived safely at Jeanie's. They are going to spend the week fishing, sitting by the campfire, playing corn hole, riding four-wheelers, and just having a fun time with their "cool" aunt (and leaving their strict mom at home!).

Jerry was off of work today, so we had the day to ourselves--and it felt so weird! We decided to look through the cookbook and make some dinners this week that we don't normally make (because the kids don't like it).

I baked my dad a pecan pie, per Father's Day tradition (I bake him a pecan pie on Father's Day and on his birthday every year). When I brought it over there, I also brought an empty pie plate that I covered in plastic wrap--my dad has to have heart surgery on Wednesday, and I told him I baked a special pie that is sugar-free, salt-free, gluten-free, cholesterol-free, and carb-free. (Yes, it was a total dad joke, but appropriate for Father's Day!) Then I handed him the real pie.

In other news, today is the summer solstice! At 11:32 PM ET, it will officially change from spring to summer (in the northern hemisphere). And THAT means that it's time to start the Cookies' Summer Challenge!

If you haven't seen the post about it, it's not too late to start--you can find all the details here. The summer challenge is something I've been hosting since summer of 2016. There is a checklist for runners and/or walkers to complete between the summer solstice and the fall equinox in September. The list has 50 items on it to do while running or walking.

The challenge is just meant to make exercise a little more fun in the summer heat. Every year, I say that I'm going to complete the entire list, but I've never done it. This year, I make the same goal--I want to complete the list! And since I'm doing the Couch to 5K plan right now, I have no reason not to work on it.

Anyway, all of the information can be found on this post, including the checklist to download and the link to the Facebook group.

It's almost 10:00 PM right now, and I'm ready to start the summer challenge by literally running from spring into summer--I'll start my run before 11:32 and finish it after 11:32. I'm super tired, but I'm hoping I'll be able to sleep in tomorrow, due to the quiet house!

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HERITAGE RECIPE: Tender Crust Dinner Rolls (and Woman's World Beauty Tips from 1900!)

When I was looking for a recipe today, I realized that I still have some fresh yeast left over from Nan's Coffee Cake; the yeast was relatively expensive, so I wanted to use it before it expires. I didn't want to do another dessert recipe, so I chose to make Tender Crust Dinner Rolls.

This recipe was submitted to the Rockwood, Michigan Area Historical Society by Jeanette Herzog; it comes from her grandmother, Leona Skinner. I wasn't able to find anything online about either of them, unfortunately, except that Leona was born in 1898 and passed away in 1953. So, I'm guessing this recipe is from the early 1900's (perhaps older, if it was passed down to her).

As always, I am typing this out exactly as written, and I followed the directions without any modifications. Make sure you check my notes after the recipe if something is unclear. The printable recipe clarifies anything that I was unsure of.

Here is a printer-friendly version!

Ingredients:

3 T. butter
1/4 c. sugar
1/2 tsp. salt
1 cup milk, scalded
1 cake yeast
3-1/2 to 4 c. sifted flour
2 eggs

Directions:

Add butter, sugar, and salt to scalded milk; cool to lukewarm. Dissolve yeast in lukewarm milk mixture. Add 1 cup of flour and beat with rotary beater until well blended. Add egg and beat again until smooth. Mix in remaining flour, mixing thoroughly. Allow dough to rest, covered, on rolling board for about 5 minutes. Knead dough until smooth and elastic. Let rise, covered, in a warm place until double in bulk. Pinch and knead lightly. Divide into desired shapes. Cover with damp cloth and let rise until light. Bake in hot oven, 325 F, about 15 minutes or until nicely browned.

My Notes:

The ingredients are pretty simple. The yeast cake is fresh yeast--a small cake is 0.6 ounces and a large cake is 2.0 ounces. I had a large one, so I just used 0.6 ounces of it. (A small cake is for roughly 3-4 cups of flour.)

I don't think it's absolutely necessary to scald the milk (from what I've read, the purpose of scalding the milk in these older recipes was to kill bacteria. However, heating the milk also serves the purpose of melting the butter and dissolving the yeast--so it's helpful either way.

I definitely needed the full 4 cups of flour. I was tempted to add more because the dough was still a little sticky. This picture is from after letting it rise for a while...

I rolled mine into balls about the size of an egg. I got 20 rolls out of the batch (they were a little small--I think next time, I'd do 16 rolls). I weighed the batch when I was done, and the batch weighed 950 grams total. So next time, I'll make them roughly 55-60 grams each.

Before rising:

Covered with a damp towel:

Just before going into the oven:

I baked them 15 minutes and they still looked a little pale, so I ended up baking them for a total of about 18 minutes and they were perfect. They probably could have gone another minute or two, but I didn't want to risk burning them--and I wanted them to be very soft.

Thoughts:

Holy cow, these are delicious! "Tender crust" is a great description--the rolls are super soft and fluffy. It's kind of like not having a crust at all--just the super soft, squishy part of warm bread. Yum!

I commented to Jerry that they would make perfect sandwich rolls or hamburger buns. You could just shape them into larger discs and bake a little longer. I'm going to try it soon.

This is a great recipe, and I'll definitely be making it again!

The heritage cookbook includes some fun tidbits including excerpts from the Woman's World book, printed in 1900. Since I don't have a story to go along with this recipe, I'll share these beauty tips :)

• To keep the face from wrinkles, lie down, if possible, once or twice daily in a darkened room; close the eyes and let the facial muscles rest.
• Preserve your temper if you wish to preserve a youthful expression.
• Sleep eight hours in twenty-four.
• Leave the top sash of your window open about an inch at night.
• Exercise in the open air as often as possible.; walking is the best possible exercise you could have.
• CaCao-butter applied at night and washed off in the morning will keep the skin soft and clean.
• Cream of lemon-juice rubbed in at night will remove all sun-burns.
• Shade a strong light so that it may fall on your work whilst your eyes may remain in the shadow.
• The bath not only serves to cleanse the body, it acts as a tonic.
• The best skin tonic you can have is a tepid bath, using Starlight Royal Toilet Soap.

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Friday Night Photos

Well, I wish I had more/better photos for today, but unfortunately, I have very slim pickin's on my camera roll for this week! But I do love Friday Night Photos, so here goes...

Little Duck makes me laugh so much--he's SO cute and funny! And I baby him terribly ;) But this was new for him--I was sitting on the couch reading a book and he stretched out as long as he could and slept like that for a good 30 minutes. I wanted to move, but I didn't dare. He is officially the largest cat in our house now.

I really want to do a post about "A Day in the Life of Little Duckling"--because he has a very interesting routine. Anyway, the cats always lounge on my bed in the evenings and I couldn't help laughing when I saw Duck like this. Jerry said he looks like a cartoon cat, hahaha...

When I saw the picture of Jerry disc golfing last week, I could have sworn I saw the same photo before. I looked through some old photos and found almost the exact same picture, only from 2009. I told him that aside from his weight, his form looks a little better ;)

I spent ALL MORNING and half of the afternoon like this in the garage. It was thundering and lightning, and I loved every second of it (I love thunderstorms). I'm glad I put the screens on the garage doors.

And what was I doing in the garage? Well, a whole lot of THIS. I finally updated my recipes page! It now has all of my recipes on there, including all of the heritage ones. I updated photos, too, because some of the photos on older recipes were really bad. Not that I'm much better at photography now, but at least I don't use the flash anymore! So, if you've never looked at my Recipes page, please do--I spent forever working on it ;)

The pain in my hands has been really bad in the mornings, especially if my hands are the slightest bit cold. A few days ago, I found myself wanting to knit some fingerless mitts to keep my hands warm while allowing my fingers to be free--but ironically, my hands hurt too much to be able to knit!

So, I decided to get creative with my sewing machine and serger and an old t-shirt. I LOVE how they turned out! I even got to try out a new stitch on my serger--the flatlock stitch. It's probably hard to see well in the photos, but the stitch goes across the base of my fingers. I took a bunch of pictures as I was making these because I think I may put together a pictorial.

Speaking of painful hands, I bought some new "skinny" water bottles. My favorite water bottle (made by Bubba) was painful to hold because it was wide. So I looked for some skinny ones and ended up buying these on Amazon (affiliate link). I chose the blue color because it looked like it may match my kitchen. I was a little stunned when I took them out of the box, because the color match is IDENTICAL. You can see the cupboard below--look at the shade of blue!

Anyway, I really like the new water bottles. They are much more comfortable. And I love using the stainless steel straw! (They have multi-color packs of bottles, but every one of them has a pink bottle in it--and I really don't want a pink one.)

(By the way, I had my follow-up appointment with the rheumatologist on Wednesday. She gave me a tentative diagnosis, but wants to do a couple more tests--including an x-ray of my hands. She also prescribed a medication for rheumatoid arthritis and depending on how my body reacts to that, it should give her more info. I'll write more when I find out more.)

Have a great weekend!

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The Infamous Week 4 Workout (and a Cringe-Worthy Mistake)

I did it!

I was planning to wait until Monday to post about my Couch to 5K progress, like I usually do, but as you know, Week 4 was a big deal for me. I finished Week 3 on Monday and yesterday was my first workout for Week 4.

I know I've explained this several times, but just in case someone is new here, here's a quick backstory:

I had attempted to do the original Couch to 5K plan several times (maybe not several--maybe 3-4?) back in 2007-2008-ish. I hadn't yet lost the weight (I didn't start losing weight until 2009). I would do okay with C25K until I got to Week 4. Week 4 is a HUGE jump from Week 3--the running intervals in Week 3 are 1/8 and 1/4 mile long. Then in Week 4, they are 1/4 and 1/2 mile. When you're a beginner runner, that's really tough!

Each of my attempts ended during the first 1/2-mile interval in the Week 4 workout. I just couldn't do it--and I got discouraged and quit.

When I was losing weight, I was thinking about trying it again... but I found that I was dreading each and every interval. I really don't like run/walk intervals--I'd rather get all the running out of the way at the beginning. So, that led to my creating my own plan (you can find that here). I was able to bump my distance up to 5K pretty quickly!

From there, I went on to do 10K's, half-marathons, and even three full marathons.

BUT.

I never finished the damn Couch to 5K plan! And it's been in the back of my mind for all these years. Now that I'm back to losing this weight I've gained and focusing more on my health, I want to get back to running again. I've tried lots of other exercises over the years, but I like running the best.

And since I'm a true beginner again, I decided that it's a good time to attempt the Couch to 5K plan. Again.

It's been very humbling, to say the least. Running for a couple of minutes at a time is much harder than I expected! But that's what happens when you quit running for three years (other than 12 weeks of half-marathon training in 2018 and some three-milers here and there).

I'm slow, but I'm totally okay with that. Someday, if I want to get faster, I know how to do that. But my ultimate goal is to be able to run three miles at an easy pace 4-5 days a week--just for fitness.

Anyway, I was really nervous about yesterday's workout! The start of the infamous Week 4. This is the workout:

run 0.25 miles
walk 0.125 miles
run 0.5 miles
walk 0.25 miles
run 0.25 miles
walk 0.125 miles
run 0.5 miles

[For those that asked, I don't use an app--I just printed out the plan and keep track the old-fashioned way. There is something I really enjoy about crossing off each run! The plan is no longer available where it used to be (Coolrunning.com) and I can't find the whole plan written out as it used to be. I typed it out in a spreadsheet--you can get it here if you'd like.]

I decided to do it on the treadmill so I could control my pace--I wanted to set the speed at 5.0 mph for the running intervals and 3.3 mph for the walking. To keep my mind occupied, I actually read my library book! I increased the font size on my Kindle to enormous (believe it or not, that was only at about 75% of the largest font) and I put it in the tablet holder on my treadmill. Then I got to work.

Last week, the 0.25 mile intervals were really tough--and I had to do those again yesterday, PLUS two 0.5 mile intervals. Lowering the speed to 5.0 mph (I did 5.5 mph last week) was a big help. I concentrated on my book the best I could and hoped I could make it.

And I did it! I got through all four running intervals. I was very sweaty when I was done, but I was THRILLED that I completed the workout! I'm officially the furthest I've ever made it in this plan--and I am determined to finish it :)

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Ohmygosh. You guys.

I was just getting ready to post this when I thought it would be fun to look up my first Couch to 5K workouts (from 2007). As I was looking at them, I realized there were more than I expected--if I only did Weeks 1-3, that would be 9 workouts total (10 if you count the attempt at Week 4, Day 1).

You can forget about everything I wrote in this post. It turns out that I actually DID complete Week 4... and Week 5, Week 6, and Week 7!

How totally embarrassing to have come up with this whole story about never having gotten further than Week 3--but also hilarious. All this time, I was so sure that I never made it past Week 3. But here it is--the first workout of Week 4, completed November 5, 2007:

I went back through the download of my old blog (it's no longer online) to see if I wrote about it, and I did--here is what I wrote after Week 4, Day 1:

"Okay, yesterday's C25K... UGH! I started Week 4, and was a little stunned by the huge jump between Weeks 3 and 4.

Week 3 was:

Walk 5 minutes (warm-up)

Run 0.11 miles

Walk 0.11 miles

Run 0.25 miles

Walk 0.25 miles

... and repeat one time. The longest part was the run of 0.25 miles, which was difficult for me, but I managed.

THEN, moving along to Week 4:

Walk 5 minutes (warm-up)

Run 0.25 miles

Walk 0.13 miles

Run 0.5 miles <-------(wha-wha-what???!!!!) 

Walk 0.25 miles

Run 0.25 miles

Walk 0.13 miles

Run 0.5 miles <------(jeez mother!)

To jump from not-even-a-quarter-mile to 1/2 mile in one stretch like that was reeeeally hard. Not to mention that it was so windy I almost drove my car off the road on the way home from working at the doctor's office, AND it was raining, AND I was on Day 1 of my period, AND I hadn't eaten lunch. Complain much? But I fucking did it!!!"

This is so funny (and totally cringe-worthy!). Reading my old posts is embarrassing--which is why I took that blog down when I started this one in 2011. However, going through it just now after realizing that I actually DID get pretty far into Couch to 5K (I'd started Week 8, Day 1 and quit during that) is interesting.

I thought it would be fun to share quotes from my old blog about my runs in the past when I post about them in the present. 

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Three Weeks In

It's been over three weeks now since I started participating in a DietBet. I had no idea at the time that it was going to be just the push I needed to get my diet back on track.

I kind of dislike the phrase "back on track"--it implies that I was doing something temporary and now I'm getting back to doing that again. The changes I had made before, when I lost all the weight and then the couple of times I had to "get back on track" and lose some that I'd gained back, were changes I'd made with a lifetime goal in mind. I made sure I only made changes I was willing to live with forever. (I just re-read that post I linked, and wow--it is helpful even to me, and I am the one that wrote it! Haha)

And that's still true. Somewhere along the way, though, I developed some bad habits and the good habits fell to the wayside--which is how I gained back a big chunk of weight. When I say "back on track", I am just talking about getting back to the good habits that helped me lose the weight and keep it off (for the most part) for so long.

The past three weeks have been great as far as changing my habits. The biggest one, obviously, is counting my calories. I REALLY didn't want to have to do that, but after a single day of it, I realized it's not so bad. When counting calories, there is no question about whether I'm eating a "normal" amount. It also helps me get used to smaller portions and to only eat the things I really want. I don't want to waste my calories on something that I think is just so-so tasting; I want to use my calories on foods that matter!

I've also fallen in love with fruit again. I've always loved fruit, but I haven't been eating nearly as much of it over the past few years. Since starting the DietBet, I've been eating a LOT of fruit--mainly grapes and watermelon. I tend to eat fruit for breakfast, then fruit and cheese for lunch, and then a good, filling dinner. I like to save a lot of my calories for dinner--that way, I can cook with "real" ingredients (not trying to skimp on calories) and feel full enough through the evening so that I don't want to snack all night.

Yesterday's dinner, for example, was 750 calories. It sounds like a lot, but it wasn't an enormous amount of food. I made pork, mushroom, and carrot bibimbap (I used the recipe from the Hello, Fresh kit that I'd tried a while ago). It was SO delicious!

I took pretty much all of the mushrooms--can you believe that I'm the only one in my family that likes mushrooms?!

My final weigh-in for the initial DietBet is next Tuesday, and as long as I keep doing what I'm doing, I'm definitely going to win my money back. I'm glad I am signed up for the six-month one because hopefully that will keep me going until my habits become very strong again.

Now, I'm off to attempt Couch to 5K - Week 4. I'm nervous! But I'm going to reduce the treadmill speed quite a bit and hopefully I'll make it through. :)

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