Wednesday Weigh-In : Week 38

Two steps forward, one step back. Didn't I just write about that last week?

That's exactly how my weight loss has been going for the past several months. It feels like I'm getting NOWHERE, but when I look at the overall trend, it's still going down. It's just very slow. I tend to move forward (losing weight) then stepping back (gaining back a small bit)... over and over. So, I'm making progress; it's just not as linear as it was in the past.

My diet hasn't been "perfect" like it was when I was losing 125 pounds a decade ago, though, either. I was meticulous about counting my calories (or Weight Watcher Points) and I lost weight every single week. I feel like I've gotten wiser since then and now I don't care so much about being "perfect". I have good days and bad days, good weeks and bad weeks, and the scale goes up and down as much as 5-6 pounds within a single week's time. (I'm not kidding!)

There were a couple of days this past week that I didn't weigh myself, but check out my weight for a week's timeframe the week before:

Wed: 152.4
Thu: 151.8
Fri: 152.2
Sat: 154
Sun: 157.2
Mon: 154.6
Tue: 153.6
Wed: 151.4

Isn't that crazy? I think it was Saturday when I made that tapenade, which has a lot of sodium, and that's probably why my weight jumped up so much. I know that I didn't binge or anything to cause the gain. As you can see, it dropped right back down over the next couple of days. Having recorded my weight for so many years, I can pretty much tell you before I step on the scale exactly what my weight will be based on what I ate the day before. I know how certain foods affect me.

This year, my Wednesday Weigh-Ins have gone like this: 

Jan 5: 157.6
Jan 12: 156.6
Jan 19: 153.6
Jan 26: 154.8
Feb 2: 152.4
Feb 9: 151.4

Down, down, up; down, down, and then today... it was up.

I was at 153.8, so that's up 2.4 pounds from last week. I don't think this was simply sodium--I definitely ate more than usual over the weekend. But it's usually easy to take off quickly if I don't continue to eat too much!

Two steps forward, one step back. Let's hope I can go two steps forward again! I was so close to being back in the 140s. I'm going to try to make this a great week.

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Here is today's random fact of the day:

Now THAT is scary! I wonder how many guilty people were set free?

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Transformation Tuesday #59

I was so sure that today was Wednesday, I started the intro to my Wednesday Weigh-In... then I realized that it's only Tuesday, haha! Which is good, because I didn't actually weigh in today.

Anyway, today is Transformation Tuesday, one of my favorite series of posts. (Although the number of posts are dwindling down each week--I only have one this week!--so please send me some. I would love to see whatever transformations you have.

This one isn't really a "transformation", but it's significant to me, so I felt it was worth mentioning. Today is my one-year anniversary of being alcohol-free. You may remember I gave it up for a year in 2019 as a bit of an experiment, but then as you know, 2020 was a big old shit show. I thought I'd be able to have a small glass of wine on occasion, and that lasted all of a week.

First it was wine, and then companies all started making those hard seltzers (which basically taste like flavored sparkling water) and those tasted SO good after a long day of working on the drywall in the garage. It got out of hand, and I knew I needed to quit. (I've never written much about it here because it's such a vulnerable topic.)

I planned to quit in January 2021, but didn't actually start until February 15 (which also happens to be my brother Brian's birthday). I wish I could say that my entire life is different now, that I see all the sunshine and rainbows that people seem to see at this point... but my anxiety is still is a big problem. (I had hoped that quitting drinking would relieve my anxiety.) I had also hoped I'd sleep better, but that hasn't changed either.

As far as positives, though, I am sure I've saved a lot of money. I haven't had a single hangover. I've shown my kids that adults don't have to be raging alcoholics to quit drinking; you can choose not to drink for any reason you want to.

It hasn't been easy. AT ALL. In December, especially, when I was so stressed out about the cats and worried about Duck, I wanted to drown my sorrows in wine. Instead, I just cried--a lot! Hahahaha. 

Anyway, it's been one year. I don't look much different in these pics (today I tried to replicate the first photo). Actually, I have no idea what that first photo is from or why I took it! I can see that it's in my garage. But I felt it important to at least acknowledge the milestone today.

But enough about me! A reader (who is also named Katie) sent this before and after photo, which is stunning...

"I crocheted this blanket is for a friend who is expecting her fifth baby soon. I haven’t done one of these blankets in almost a year, because life is crazy and we moved twice. It was so fun to make one again. It took me a couple of weeks to combine two patterns and crochet the blanket."

- Katie

Katie, I am SUPER impressed! That is adorable, and as someone who used to do a lot of crocheting, I know just how much work went into that. What a special blanket! I'm sure your friend will love it. - Katie

Thank you so much, Katie, for sharing your transformation with us! And please, Friends, take some pictures of little things you transform somehow. To submit a transformation, just send a before photo and an after photo to me at: katie (at) runsforcookies (dot) com. Include your name and a description of your transformation. Hope to see some soon! :)

And here is today's random fact of the day. This one didn't interest me at all, unfortunately, haha.

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Plant-Based Diet

I didn't want to mention this sooner, because I wasn't sure how it was going to go or even exactly what I wanted to do. As you know, I've been dealing with chronic pain for for several years now and it got to the point where it was unbearable. I started seeing a rheumatologist, who has tested me for everything you can possibly imagine.

The symptoms sound very much like rheumatoid arthritis, but there isn't a specific test for that, so it's more of process of elimination and looking at other tests to make a diagnosis. For now, she gave me the diagnosis of "fibromyalgia"--I really don't like that, because so many doctors don't think it's a "real thing" and don't take it seriously. It's basically a way of saying that I have pain for unknown reasons.

And the pain is so hard to describe. It travels around my body--I mostly feel it in my hands, neck, shoulders, hips, and back. My lower body isn't affected as much, which is probably why I can still run. Pain killers (even narcotics) don't help much (not that doctors prescribe them anymore anyways!).

During my last couple of appointments with her, she mentioned that a vegan or plant-based diet has showed promising results with autoimmune conditions such as rheumatoid arthritis (and even fibromyalgia). I'm not at all opposed to being a vegetarian (I've never been a big fan of meat anyway) but I thought it might be helpful to try a full-on vegan diet at least to see if it helps my symptoms.

My main goal was to eat "normal" foods that I already eat and just modify them a bit to eliminate animal-based products. I didn't want to start eating tofu or tempeh or things like that. That's too big of a change and it's overwhelming to me. (Also, the times I've tried it, I haven't like it.) I want to keep my diet as "normal" as possible so it won't feel like such a big change for me.

This was a few weeks ago, and so far, I've found it pretty easy. I still eat the same breakfast and lunch; I switched my milk to almond milk, and chocolate chips to vegan chocolate chips (which I found taste nearly identical), so that takes care of both of those meals. For my snack in the evening, I usually have almonds and dried cherries (or lately, tapenade on plain Triscuits).

Cooking dinner is a little more complicated, because I don't want to force the family to eat this way. So I've been making some things separately. Like yesterday, I made chili. I cooked the ground turkey for the boys and set it aside. Then I made a big pot of vegan chili (my regular recipe, only adding an extra can of beans). I took out my portion, then put the ground turkey into the pot for the boys. In my portion, I added TVP (texturized vegetable protein, which resembles ground meat). It wasn't necessary, but I wanted to try it because it's been years since I used it.

Vegan Chili

Fun Fact: I don't remember where I got this info from and I can't find it anymore; but do you remember those rectangle pizzas from elementary school? Well, I remember reading that the "meat" on them was actually TVP! I could be mistaken because I can't find this info again, but I remember being really interested in that.

And the day before that, I made Sesame Chicken over rice. I cooked the chicken for the boys, then set it aside. I made just the sauce in another pan (which is vegan). And then I drained a can of chick peas for my portion. So, I made my bowl with rice, then the chick peas, and then topped with the sauce. 

Sesame Chick Peas with Rice

Then I dumped the rest of the sauce in with the chicken for the boys. I don't feel like I missed out on anything; the chili was SO good!

When we did pizza one night, we each made our own mini pizzas and I just chose to make mine with hummus and olive tapenade. It was SO GOOD and I didn't feel like I was "giving up" pizza.

Hummus and Tapenade Pizza on Whole Wheat Crust

I don't want to buy the vegan cheese and stuff like that (at least not now). Like I said, I just want to use my regular ingredients, to keep everything as "normal" as possible. I have a few vegan veggie burgers in the freezer in case I get in a pinch for dinner, but other than that (and the TVP and almond milk) I haven't had to buy anything "special".

One of the reasons I wanted to take a vitamin in the mornings was to ensure I was getting at least vitamin B12--the only vitamin you must get from animal products--and I'd chosen a vegan multivitamin that focuses on the vitamins vegans tend to be deficient in. However, after looking at my food intake and checking out the vitamins there, I realized that I really don't need a multivitamin.

I definitely need B12, and I should take calcium, but between my fortified cereal and chia seeds (holy cow, chia seeds are full of everything good for you! Even a tablespoon a day, which is what I use) I'm getting enough of most things. So, I just ordered a vitamin that supplements the main vitamins/minerals I feel the need to supplement. I'm *really* hoping that it doesn't make me nauseous, like the multivitamin did, considering it doesn't have iron in it!

So far, all of this has been an easy transition. The hardest thing for me to give up is cheese; I used to eat vegetarian meals pretty frequently, but to get rid of the cheese is a little stifling. Regardless, I am willing to go all-in and give this a shot. The chronic pain over the last year or two has gotten to be so bad, and none of the arthritis medications I've tried were working, so I decided to give this a shot.

Since I was looking through the heritage recipes and there are VERY few that are vegan, I was tossing around the idea of trying out a new vegan recipe each week instead--maybe take one of my old recipes that I've made for a long time and making a few changes to remove animal products, then write about that (like the chili or the sesame chicken above). For these recipes, I'd be willing to try anything! Even tofu and nutritional yeast and jackfruit and all of that "weird" stuff ;)  (So, if you have a "must try" vegan recipe that you want me to try out on my blog, please email it to me and I might do that!)

So, I've been doing work-arounds like that for my meals. It's a little more work, but not bad at all. 

I am going to try to keep a food + pain journal to see if I notice any improvement over time with my pain levels. If this actually works, I will be so relieved!

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Here is today's random fact of the day:

After reading this, I realized I know nothing about St. Valentine. So I did a quick google search and landed on Historydaily.org. It's actually a really interesting read! Here is the gist:

Valentine was an ancient Roman Catholic Bishop who had a soft-spot for love. He was secretly marrying Christian couples, which got him in trouble with Emperor Claudius. A married man could not be drafted into military service, so Claudius wasn't happy about the secret marriage ceremonies (because he needed his army). He gave Valentine a choice: renounce your faith or be executed (by being beaten with clubs and beheaded). Valentine chose to be a martyr for his beliefs and was executed on February 14th (the year is unclear, but it was between 269 and 280 BC).

And here is the info on the above fact of the day:

Source: History Daily

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A Super Bowl Baby

I mentioned yesterday that I was going to write today more about experimenting with a plant-based diet, but I think I'm going to hold off until tomorrow. I didn't realize the Super Bowl is today. Not that I actually watch it! I have never, ever enjoyed football.

Ironically, my mom went into labor with me on Super Bowl Sunday--which happened to be in Detroit that year!--and my poor dad spent the day taking her to the birthing center, then home due to false later, then back to the birthing center for *real* labor.

See how clearly happy my dad was to be there instead of watching the game? ;)  (That's Jeanie and Brian, my brother and sister, with my parents; the birthing center allowed them to be in the birthing room.)

This went on all evening until I made an appearance at 2:00-ish AM following the game.

Occasionally after that, my birthday would fall on Super Bowl Sunday. I remember specifically that my "Sweet 16" birthday was that day. I wish I enjoyed football--social life during football season would be easier if I did!--but I don't understand the game and I'm just not a fan.

This was my 16th birthday. My mom isn't a football fan either, so she bought me a birthday cake and tried to make my birthday more special than the football game!

Anyway, I'm not going to be watching the game, but Jerry and both of the boys are home tonight (which is kind of rare these days). They are going to watch the game, so I thought I'd at least sit in the living room with them and play Best Fiends or read a book or something. Not really "quality time" with them, but I am DEFINITELY looking forward to the halftime show.

I don't usually watch it, but I've been excited to see it this year! Eminem, Snoop Dogg, and Dr. Dre?! Of course I would have picked Eminem if it was my choice (only because he's my favorite artist), but who could go better with him than Snoop Dogg and Dr. Dre? Mary J. Blige will be fun, too. I feel like I'm going to be a teenager for a few moments again :)  (I honestly do not know who Kendrick Lamar is, who is also performing, but he must be good to be up there with the other four, so we'll see.)

Anyway, if you're watching the game tonight, I hope you enjoy and that your team wins (I don't even know who is playing or where it's located, haha!). And if you're like me and not a football fan, I hope you find something enjoyable to do!

Here is today's random fact of the day:

I don't exactly have a "favorite" president, but Coolidge just shot up there from this little fact alone--a sense of humor is a must, and how fun is this little prank?!

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HERITAGE RECIPE : Old-Fashioned Pineapple Bars

While going through the heritage book to make something today, I was actually looking for something specific--something vegan. Yes, vegan! I'm not vegan, but I've recently started experimenting with a plant-based diet for a couple of reasons--I'll write about this tomorrow. For now, the reason I chose this was because 1) It sounded good, and 2) It doesn't contain any animal products.

This recipe was submitted to the Rockwood, Michigan Area Historical Society by Margaret Charlesworth. Margaret was born in 1924 and passed away at age 91 in 2016. She worked at the Rockwood Post Office until she married Robert in 1950 and became a "farm wife"--she cared for the cows, germinated seeds, and made sure Robert always knew the weather so he could predict how it would affect the crops. When they had children, she was a full-time homemaker and mother.

Margaret loved to sew and bake. She was actually known as "The Cookie Lady" in her town and was featured in the Monroe Evening News for her baking talent.

Her maiden name was Gay, and I knew I remembered writing about a couple (from a heritage recipe) who lived on a family farm with the last name Gay. After a search of my blog, I discovered that I shared a recipe for Devil's Food Cake from Betty Gay, who happened to be married to Margaret's brother, Samuel. So this recipe was submitted by Margaret, the sister-in-law of the woman who submitted the Devil's Food Cake recipe. (Like I said, Rockwood is a small town!)

I had high hopes for these pineapples bars, considering that they came from "The Cookie Lady!"

As always, I am writing this recipe here exactly as written in the cookbook; the "printer-friendly" version is rewritten by me to include any notes that may need to be in there for clarity. I always make these recipes exactly as they were submitted to the cookbook--no alterations or substitutions. Make sure you check my notes after the recipe.

Here is a printer-friendly version!

Old-Fashioned Pineapple Bars

Mix in Bowl:
1 c. flour
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. soda
1/2 c. brown sugar

Add:
1/2 c. Crisco
1 c. oatmeal
2/3 drained crushed pineapple
1 T. pineapple juice

Mix by hand until well blended. Spread in greased 7x11-inch pan. Bake at 350F for 25 minutes. Cool 20 minutes. Frost with 1 cup powdered sugar, 1 tablespoon of pineapple juice. Cut into squares.

My Notes:

The ingredients are very straight forward. Nothing to mention there.

I mixed the first four ingredients (by hand) in the bowl first, then added the rest. It was kind of hard to mix in (it was thick and and there were big clumps of Crisco). I kept mixing though until the clumps of Crisco were gone. I actually thought it resembled canned tuna fish! (The stringiness of the pineapple and the color of the oats made it look that way.

It was kind of hard to spread around the pan because it was very sticky. It felt like a very sticky cookie dough. You may want to oil your hands a bit first to keep it from sticking to your hands while you spread it around the bottom of the pan.

Don't forget to reserve the juice (a minimum of 2 Tbsp.) when you drain the pineapple! I wasn't really sure how well to drain the pineapple--with something like tuna, I squeeze it very hard to get as much liquid out as possible. With this, I didn't want to go overboard, but I didn't want it to be very watery, either, so I just lightly pressed on the pineapple in the strainer before measuring out 2/3 cup of the fruit for the recipe.

I baked it for exactly 25 minutes, as specified, and it looked great when it came out of the oven!

While it was in the oven, I made the frosting. I just added a tablespoon of the pineapple juice to the powdered sugar to make a glaze-like frosting. At first, I couldn't get all of the powdered sugar mixed in with such little liquid. I added about 1/2 tsp more and it worked. This is the texture it made--thicker than I thought (it wasn't pourable--it was thick and needed to be spread around)

I set the timer for 20 minutes when I pulled it out of the oven, and after 20 minutes, I spread the frosting all over it. It was actually the perfect amount of frosting/glaze!

I started to cut into it but it was really sticking to my knife, Then I realized I should probably wait until it was completely cool. So I set it into the fridge to allow it to cool quickly.

A couple of hours later, it cut MUCH more easily. I cut it into 12 squares.

At first, I wasn't sure how I felt about them. I thought they were a bit bland--I didn't get a pineapple flavor at all. The texture was pretty dry and somewhat crumbly. I only took one bite and just left it alone after that. However, a few hours later, I took another bite, this time at room temperature--and I really liked it that time. The flavor is very subtle-and definitely not too sweet--so if you're looking for a light dessert, this may be a good choice. The texture is kind of a cross between cake and oatmeal cookies.

My family reported the same thing when they ate them; they the bars weren't anything to rave about, but they were okay. I don't think I'd make them again. But for an unintentionally vegan recipe, I was surprised at how well they turned out!

If you're curious about the nutrition info: one square has 144 calories, 1 gram protein, 15.5 grams carbs, and 9 grams of fat.

I'm going to look through the book and see if there are any of her cookie recipes!

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Friday Night Photos

I'm probably going to be late getting this post up. Luke and Riley are staying the night and holy smokes, it's been non-stop busy since they got here. Luke will be FIVE next month--can you believe it's been five years since I became an aunt?!--and Riley turned three in August. Hanging out with a three- and five-year old is super fun (and totally exhausting).

Becky and Brian wanted a "date night", so I volunteered to keep the kids overnight at my house. I also wanted a chance to take Luke to buy flowers for Becky for Valentine's Day. Luke really wanted to buy her flowers, so I told him he could pick any flowers he wanted--that his mom is SO special and she deserves really pretty flowers.

It was funny; we went to the floral shop (which I knew was going to be expensive, but this was a special thing I wanted to do for both Becky and Luke) and Luke didn't really care for any of the floral arrangements they had there. They were all $100+, which I would have paid if he found one he really loved, but he said he wanted to go to the grocery store instead where he knew they had pretty flowers.

So, we went to the grocery store and he picked out two bouquets (purple and pink), a little balloon, and a vase. I didn't want to influence his decision in any way, so I just let him pick what he thought Becky would like. It was cute to see his choices!

Anyway, here are the flowers he picked...

Isn't that so sweet? The kids made Valentine's Day cards, too...

Since I had the Elmer's glue out, I decided to show them something I remember doing back in elementary school...

Anyone else remember rubbing Elmer's glue on your hand and letting it dry, then peeling it off like this? The kids were totally freaked out and didn't want to try it! Hahaha, they said it looks like it hurts.

Some other fun from today...

I played this game that Luke brought (called "Eye Found It!") and it was actually really fun! You know those games you have to suffer through when you're a parent (like Candyland) and you just play because it'll make your kids happy, but you'd rather be doing anything else? Yeah, this game isn't like that at all. I thought it was super fun. Becky said there are other versions of it, too, so I'm going to have to look that up when I'm not so exhausted.

I thought it was so cute the way Luke (Lucas) wrote his name on the chalkboard. I didn't even realize what he'd done until he pointed it out when he was done. I guess the clock hands got in his way, so he just improvised!

Jerry let the kids "steer" him by pulling on his ears. So if they wanted to turn right, they pulled on his right ear and left ear for turning left. They thought this was hilarious. And pulling both ears made him back up.

Then I told the kids to try to make Jerry laugh. They could do anything they wanted and he would try to sit stone-faced. They acted super silly and Jerry scared the bejeezus out of all of us when he suddenly burst out laughing SO HARD and loud. (Clearly doing it for their sake, but it was really funny. One of these days, I'll have to post a video of Jerry's "ridiculous laugh"--you can't help but laugh out loud with it.)

We ended the night how we always do... a movie night. Riley said this was her best sleepover ever. (She always says the cutest things that just warm your heart.)

Despite how it looks from the pictures, *I* actually do fun things with the kiddos, too! Jerry just never thinks to take a picture of a cute moment. (It's the same from when my kids were little--I wish I had more pics with them, but I was always the one taking the pictures!)

Other random photos from this week...

Jerry, Noah, and Eli all watch some Star Wars show once a week or so and I usually just go read in my bedroom. When I was walking in there, I stopped to take this picture because I love that they have this little tradition that they all really enjoy together.

I was eating some of my olive tapenade and Duck came up to me to check out what I was eating, like he always does. When he sniffed the tapenade, he went nuts! He grabbed onto my hand and was pulling it toward his mouth. I thought he'd be repulsed by it (it's mostly olives). I dabbed my finger into the tapenade and let him lick it and he was on a huge mission to get more. So I had to google it, and this is what I found...

I thought that was really interesting! I know a LOT about cats, but that's new to me. The sources I read said that it's safe for them to eat olives (just a couple per week, and unsalted plain green olives are best).

Speaking of Duck... this was a really difficult and awkward photo to try to take, but this is how he sleeps from about 2:30 AM to the time I get up (anywhere from 4:00 to 6:00). He lies on my pillow and drapes himself across my face. It seems like it would be totally uncomfortable, but his purring while pressed up to my ear like that is the most soothing feeling. I love it.

I thought it was funny that Duck chose to sit right on top of my computer so I grabbed my phone to take a picture. The picture makes me crack up--he looks like a total emo cat! Jerry said it looks like a "please adopt me" shelter photo--a "before" picture, looking all depressed.

And finally, the random fact of the day...

I am totally guilty of this! Even in my blog posts I'll do it sometimes (I have to try REALLY hard not to put winky faces everywhere in my posts). I really think there needs to be a "sarcasm" font to really convey that you're being sarcastic! Because I am a shy introvert, people tend to think that I'm a very serious person; but I'm not at all. It's especially hard while blogging to show the "usual" side of me because sarcasm just can't be written!

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Tiny Pockets

I think I am going to skip writing a "real" post today. I spent the day cleaning the garage; I'm trying to get my "wood shop" stuff into a smaller area so it's not taking up (literally) two-thirds of the garage. I've been trying to reorganize everything to condense things down, and I'm not even close to being done! 

However, tonight I just want to relax and read a book and (hopefully) fall asleep early. Luke and Riley are coming over tomorrow and will spend the night--so I'm going to need all the energy I can get! ;)

Here is today's random fact:

 This is so interesting! I always thought those tiny pockets weren't really meant to be functional--just decorative.

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Wednesday Weigh-In : Week 37

First, just so we're clear, I am fully aware that I look like a sloppy mess in this photo! And that I look like I belong in a 90s workout video or something, haha.

That said, I feel about as bad as I look right now. I've been feeling like garbage all day--super nauseous and absolutely zero energy. (And no, I am absolutely not pregnant. If I ever mention nausea, someone always asks!)

I'm almost positive that it's because I took a multivitamin this morning. I've always had a stomach like a rock, but when it comes to multivitamins, my stomach just revolts. I was able to take children's Flintstones vitamins for a while, but only half at a time. And never without food! It's interesting--I have taken so many medications over the years for one thing or another and I never get nauseous. But a simple vitamin makes me feel incredibly sick.

With Jerry and I doing the six-month DietBet and starting training for the relay, we mentioned some health changes we wanted to make and one of them was to start taking a multivitamin every day. I took one this morning with breakfast, and about an hour later I felt super nauseous. I knew that I should have cut the vitamin in half! But it had been a while since I tried a "grown-up vitamin" and I guess I just hoped that I'd handle it like, well, a grown-up.

Not the case. I ended up lying on the couch all day in my sweats, wishing my body would just make me throw up so I'd feel better. Tomorrow, I'm going to try either cutting the vitamin in half and taking half with breakfast and half with dinner, or I'll take it shortly before bed (with a snack) so that if I get nauseous, at least it'll be while I'm sleeping.

Anyways, on to this week's Wednesday Weigh-In...

I was at 151.4 this morning, which is down a pound from last week (a total of 45.6 pounds in 37 weeks). It's slow-going now, but I'm getting there one small step at a time. (It's more like two steps forward, one step back when you look at my weigh-ins, haha.) I'm so close to the 140s--maybe next Wednesday.

I had a really good week overall, though! I feel like I'm eating healthier than I have in a very long time; by focusing on getting in the recommended amount of fiber every day, I've been choosing foods that are just naturally healthy (oats, beans, whole grains, fruit, seeds, nuts, etc.)  Since I started with the fiber, I've noticed that I hardly ever have cravings for sweets anymore (once in a while I do, but nothing like before).

I know I sound like a broken record, but I really need to work on drinking more water! I used to drink a gallon a day (or more) without a problem, but lately I struggle to even get in a quart. I know that it's because of the weather (it's always harder in winter) but I should make a conscious effort every day to drink more water--especially since I'm eating more fiber now.

Well, I'm happy with how it's going! Hoping I have another good week :)

Here is the random fact of the day:

I know it's always easy to say this in retrospect, but I can't even imagine anyone other than Tom Hanks playing Forrest Gump! Forrest Gump is my favorite movie of all time and Tom Hanks is my favorite actor of all time--they just naturally go together. I can't picture John Travolta playing Forrest at all--I'm glad it worked out the way it did.

Speaking of Forrest Gump, @carlostherunner (on Instagram) jazzed up my race photo for me (several years ago now) after he learned how much I love Forrest Gump. He makes a lot of fun photoshopped pics like this--isn't it awesome?

(I didn't notice until just now the RUN FORREST RUN signs in the background! How did I never see that before?)

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Transformation Tuesday #58

Happy Transformation Tuesday! I still can't keep my days straight; today feels like Monday for some reason. All week, I was hoping to come up with *something* fun to transform, but my carpal tunnel syndrome flared up big time after a couple of days of woodworking in the garage. And I have nothing to show for it yet! I had to give my hands a break, but hopefully I'll be able to work on it this week.

Anyway, I do have a couple of readers' transformations to share! Here goes...

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I bought a house in December 2021 and inherited 1970s wallpaper border. After living with it for a month, it was growing on me but I was still unsure of the theme I was going with in the kitchen. I finally decided Pioneer Woman/Mason jars and a teal blue which didn't match the border at all! So I decided to add blue to the border by free hand painting some of the flowers, so now its "in" for at least one more decade.

- Jennifer

Jennifer, I am SO impressed with your painting skills! And what a clever idea--I never would have thought to add the teal in there to the existing wallpaper. It looks fantastic and goes with your wall color perfectly!  - Katie

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This is the tile by my front door. When we bought our house a year and a half ago I painted all the walls and baseboards, but wasn't sure what to do with this floor. I looked into replacing the tile, but it was more than my budget allowed. So I left it. Then I found paint made for painting floors and I figured it wouldn't hurt to try. I love the way it turned out! If anyone has any thoughts on what color I should paint my front door, I'd love to hear them! That and the overhead light are the next things for this area. 

- Missy 

Missy, this looks amazing! I really love the effect of it being one solid color as opposed to the usual tiles and grout. What an awesome updated look. As far as your front door color... do you have an accent color in the room surrounding it? I see you have some red decor on the table, so if you like bold colors, I think red would look great! (Not everyone loves bright color choices, but I happen to love them, haha.)  - Katie

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Thanks so much for sharing your transformations! Once again, it's amazing what a little bit of paint can do. If anyone has a transformation (of anything at all!) to share, please email a before photo and an after photo to me at: katie (at) runsforcookies (dot) com. Include your name and a description of your transformation. I look forward to seeing what you come up with! :)

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What I've Been Eating, Reading, Watching, and Listening To...

I haven't done one of these posts in a while, and I wasn't sure if I'd even be able to come up with much to put on this list! I usually mention things like books I'm reading or good food I've eaten on my Friday Night Photos posts (which are basically a recap of my week). After yesterday's post, though, I decided to see what I could come up with for one of these lists I used to do...

What I've Been Eating...

For weeks now, I've been eating the same things for breakfast and lunch every single day. I go through phases sometimes where I'll latch onto a particular food or meal and I will eat it day after day for months or (even over a year!).

Right now, breakfast is Grape Nuts cereal with frozen blueberries and almond milk. I started eating this because I was looking for high-fiber foods that I knew I liked already. I hadn't had Grape Nuts in a long time and I had some frozen blueberries in my freezer. I don't thaw out the blueberries first; when mixing in the milk, the milk turns purple and kind of slushy. I know it sounds gross, but it's so good--I think it works well with the Grape Nuts because they don't get soggy. I like the Wyman's brand of wild blueberries because they're very small--they have more flavor that way and they thaw out in the milk faster.

In the mornings, I also prep my lunch: Cold Almond Joy Oatmeal. I wrote about this recently and you can find the recipe on this post. But it's basically oats, milk, cocoa powder, chia seeds, maple syrup, chocolate chips, coconut, almond extract and coconut extract. I put it all in a mason jar and shake it up, then put it in the fridge and lunch is ready when I am. I usually have a piece of fruit (I've been into pears lately) with it as well.

Just from breakfast and lunch, I get at least 21 grams of fiber! The recommended daily allowance is 25 grams, so it's easy to get in the RDI after having that for breakfast and lunch.

What I've Been Reading...

The last I wrote about books was that I had just started a book called 'Rock Paper Scissors' by Alice Feeney. I finished that one and gave it 4 stars. It kept me guessing all the way until the end. Not so much as a "big reveal" but little tidbits here and there throughout the book. You're constantly trying to piece all of those little things together to figure out what it means.

After that, I read 'The Wrong Family' by Tarryn Fisher and gave that 4 stars as well. It was very different from the publisher's description, in my opinion. If you like psychological thrillers in general, definitely give this one a try. The publisher's description doesn't do it justice; it was much deeper than described and didn't follow the usual "formula" for the genre.

I'm currently reading 'Such a Quiet Place' by Megan Miranda. I've been struggling with this one to the point where I finally decided I'd give it one more chance and if I couldn't get into it, I'd just quit reading and move on to something else. Thankfully, it got much more interesting shortly after that, so now I am excited to finish it. I'll write more about it when I'm done with it.

What I've Been Watching...

Lately, I've been watching the whole series of House again (I just started Season Two). It's been so long since the show ended (10 years!) and I'm not sure what made me think of watching it again, but I started from the beginning last month. I've actually been reading more than watching anything, though--I've already finished five books this year! That's a LOT for me.

I did binge watch a show on Netflix, though. It's called 'The Woman in the House Across the Street from the Girl in the Window'. Yes, that's the title. When I first started watching it, I had the feeling I'd seen it before. And I knew I'd read a book that I figured it was based off of ('The Woman in the Window'). So I was kind of confused.

Then it hit me that it was a parody of all the relatively recent popular psychological thriller books--'The Woman in the Window', 'The Girl on the Train', 'The Couple Next Door', etc. It's like there is a formula to those books, and you just change around the characters and situations.

Once I realized that it was a parody, I thought it was a hilarious idea. It wasn't a laugh-out-loud kind of parody; it actually was a really interesting show! But you could definitely pick up on all the clichés for the psychological thriller genre, which was fun.

What I've Been Listening To...

When I work in the garage, my tools are loud and I'm constantly putting on hearing protection. It's too difficult to listen to podcasts like I used to when I was doing the insulation and drywall in 2020. So when I'm in the garage, I listen to my 90's music (it never changes).

However, I've been listening to podcasts when I clean or put away laundry (or when I was driving to and from the vet so many times in December!). I've actually not been listening to my usual true crime podcasts; it's not that I've lost interest, but they're usually long episodes and I like picking shorter ones when I'm squeezing them in here and there. Here are the ones I've been into...

The VeryWell Mind Podcast - I've only listened to a few episodes of this, but so far I really like it! The first one I listened to was about overcoming insomnia (which is something I've battled my entire life). It was very different and refreshing from the usual advice you hear about sleep. (That was Episode 140, if you're wondering.) The episodes are anywhere from 10 to 40 minutes and they are basically about bettering yourself.

Stuff You Should Know - I've been listening to this podcast for years, but it's still a favorite. This is my go-to for a light-hearted, interesting, wholesome, funny, engaging listen. I've learned so many cool things over the years about the most random topics (I most recently listened to an entire hour about "Rock Paper Scissors" (the hand gesture game, not the book I mentioned!). I adore the hosts, who have great chemistry together. I usually listen to this podcast while I'm driving. The episodes are longish, at about an hour, but even if I can only listen to half of one, I really enjoy it.

For Those We Lost - I don't know how I came across this one day, but it has people telling their stories of loved ones that have passed away due to COVID. The host talks with people who have lost a spouse or child or parent, etc., to the virus. It was very eye-opening to hear from real people who have gone through something so tragic.

Beautiful/Anonymous - This is another podcast I've been listening to for years. I listen to this one almost every night when I can't sleep. The host's voice is SO soothing and the show just has a mellow and relaxing feel to it. Basically, people call into the show hoping to get on the phone with Chris (the host), who will then have a one-hour conversation with them. He knows nothing about who he'll be chatting with, but he's a great conversationalist and the talk isn't awkward at all. People have fascinating lives and I love hearing their stories.

And that's about it! If you feel like sharing, tell me what YOU'VE been eating, reading, watching, and/or listening to :)

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