a peek inside the fishbowl

This thread is the best. #officepolitics ! https://t.co/BeWfgw3diA

— andrea tomkins (@missfish) March 30, 2018

• Millennials Are Driving The Worldwide Shift Away From Meat, forbes.com
• Are you ready? This is all the data Facebook and Google have on you, theguardian.com
• I Tried to Befriend Nikolas Cruz. He Still Killed My Friends, nytimes.com
• Why I’m suing over my dream internship, theguardian.com
• The guns debate is a culture war. And young people will win it, theguardian.com
• American Adults Just Keep Getting Fatter, nytimes.com

On the nightstand: The Weight of Ink

Day 29! Day 29!

You’ll have to imagine me jumping up and down SHOUTING THIS FROM THE ROOFTOPS.

I am feeling pretty good. If you look at what I’ve eaten this month I think you’ll see that I’ve been doing ok from a dietary perspective (aside from all of that bacon, of course. Sigh.)

As I mentioned in an earlier post, I have lost some weight. At this point, I’m not sure how much, but I wanted to mention that I haven’t made any drastic changes to my exercise routine during this time. Speaking of which, some of you might remember the seven-minute workout I mentioned in this post. Well, I did it for a few weeks, got sick, and then totally forgot about it. But these past few weeks I’ve fine-tuned something I’ve been calling my Lazy Gal’s Guide to Fitness. It includes these things:

• A brisk 30-minute walk on the treadmill six days a week while I watch something indulgent on Netflix. (This 30 minutes includes some easy inclines and five minutes of punching the air with hand weights.) I’ve actually been doing this for a long time now. Right after that, I do…
• 10 modified push-ups
• plus a one minute plank
• some gentle stretching.
• Today, I think I’ll start adding ten triceps dips into the mix. They’re easy to do.

Basically, I chose the parts of the seven-minute work out that really worked for me and brought them back to my morning routine. I’m glad I did, because there are actually abs (!) underneath that muffin top and I think this is helping.

The other thing I do:

• Move mindfully and with gusto.

Pushing a grocery cart across the parking lot, hoisting bins into the car, walking home with shopping bags, carrying laundry up the stairs, bending down and reaching for stuff around the house… I focus on my muscles and work them a bit harder. I think to myself: I can add a ten percent lift, stretch, lunge or hoist because I can. That’s the glory of it: Using our muscles because we are healthy and have muscles to use. Hallelujah!

I have one more post coming up about Whole 30 and then I think I’m done! It which will be about our experience overall, mixed in with a few other observations (remember, Mark did this with me!)  as well as some thoughts as I ponder life after Whole 30. This will be the post in which I also reveal a few key figures, so stay tuned. ;)

So, in the interests of full and honest reporting on my Whole 30 (DAY 27 yo!), I need to tell you that I had a crappy day on Sunday. Suddenly, I found myself with a major case of food fatigue: I was tired of thinking about it, talking about it, writing about it. I was tired of menu planning, shopping, and food prep. I was even tired of eating. But, I soldiered on and didn’t give in to the siren call of treats. Instead of watching the Junos with a big bowl of popcorn, I had tinned peaches (packed in juice, FYI). I was a little grumpy about it at first, but as soon as I dug into those peaches my outlook did a 180. Those peaches were SA-Weet! It was like eating a bowl of candy.

Anyway, all this to say, I was feeling a bit deprived so to combat my inner grouch I unwrapped a bar of soap I’ve been hoarding. I’m not sure exactly WHY I was saving it, but there you go. Maybe I was saving it for a rainy day? Well, that time was NOW:

This, my fishies, is a real treat.

It’s Dr. Bonner’s Peppermint soap. It was actually the wrapping that caught my eye at first. The bright blue sturdy paper that wraps this brick of soap, as well as the package design, has an old-timey feel that I liked so gave it a sniff and I bought it.

Later, upon closer inspection, I realized there were a few interesting things written on the packaging:

In all we do, let us be generous, fair & loving to Spaceship Earth and all its inhabitants. For we’re All-One or None! All-One!

It’s an intriguing message, isn’t it? (If you’re curious, learn more about Dr. Bronner’s on their website. It’s worth a read. It seems like a really interesting and progressive company.)

I’ve been using this soap every day for the past few days. It has a great lather and smells amazing. AMAZING. In fact, I now use my time in the shower to practice deep breathing techniques in order to maximize the intake of minty freshness. (I am not even kidding.) It’s such a treat. It does a body good!

Not only does it smell great, but it is made with organic oils that are certified fair trade. (FYI: View the full list of ingredients right here. This page also includes some remarkable information regarding where and how they are sourced. Read the bit about the olive oil, for example.)

So as it turns out, this soap is good for me, and good for others too. I think that’s really cool.

I am a new fan. Can you tell? Dr. Bronner’s Peppermint soap is a really great way to start my day and I just love it. I honestly don’t think I’ll buy any other soap from now on.