#59: I Begrudgingly Admit the Internet May Have Been Right
A few things that have made my life a little better
Dear friends,
It’s not a huge secret that I can sometimes be a little too online. I’ve seen the “Amazon products you didn’t know you needed” and “how to combat cortisol face” videos. I’m calling BS on all of it. You will NEVER catch me shopping the links on anyone’s Amazon storefront, but I am human and have a saved folder full of cooking, beauty, and lifestyle videos. Since school started, I’ve been looking for ways to regain control of my time and create routines, since it always seems to be escaping me. I probably need to let go of the myth that I can do it all and start saying no to things. We can unpack that at a later date. There are a few things people talk about online that I decided to try out and I admit they may have been right about them.
Meal Prepping
While I’ll probably never be the girl who does the full “Sunday reset” of her apartment (I don’t have enough quarters to be washing my couch cushion covers every week, I’m sorry), I have recently adopted meal prepping. I’ve been doing breakfast and lunch focusing on things that I can take to work with me. My go-to dishes have been a bacon, egg, cheese, and tater tot breakfast casserole (adapted from this recipe because I don’t have a muffin tin) and what the internet calls dense bean salad. This week I chopped up a bunch of things that reminded me of an Italian sub (salami, cheese, artichoke hearts, fresh basil, bell peppers (I like them more than the roasted version), peperoncinis, green olives, and red onion) tossed them with a can of white beans and a can of garbanzo beans and then added red wine vinegar, olive oil, Italian seasoning, and salt. It turned out quite well if I do say so myself. It’s been incredible to wake up, get ready for work and then just toss a few Tupperware containers and a can of sparkling water in my lunch box and call it a day. I’m fed and don’t have to think about it. It requires preparation on the weekend, but it’s been VERY worth it to spend the few hours on Sunday cooking so that I have meals throughout the week. I see why people online are so enthusiastic about it.
African Exfoliating Net
There are people online making some shocking hygiene confessions, however there are several more people recommending the African Exfoliating Net. I wasn’t sure at first but when a friend told me she had tried it and loved it I was sold. My skin has never felt softer or cleaner in my life. I use a dial antibacterial bar soap with my net sponge and then slather myself in lotion and body oil when I get out of the shower. It dries so quickly in my shower and is machine washable so I can keep it clean. I’ve used loofahs before, but they get weird and moldy so fast. I first started this routine when I was immobile and couldn’t shower as often as I normally do because I was reliant on others to help me (which I’m VERY grateful for). It helped me feel cleaner for longer between showers and has served me well ever since.
Walking
A lot of the conversation I see online about walking feels a little icky. I think there are people who have very disordered relationships with walking (going on 3 or 4 walks a day so they hit 20-30K steps), however there are many people who talk about walking in rational and normal ways, and they have a point. Walking is by no means a new concept or idea, but it has been critical in my ankle recovery and has been very helpful in building back my muscles and increasing my mobility. I’ve worked my way up to three miles in one go and my ankle is feeling the most normal it’s felt since the accident. It’s nice to get outside and be in green spaces. It’s especially nice to be outside now that I don’t immediately start sweating when I leave the house. A few walks I like in DC are the loop around the Tidal Basin, the Klingle Trail in Rock Creek Park (see video), the walk down Connecticut avenue from Cleveland Park to Dupont Circle, the walk from Dupont Circle to Roosevelt Island, and just walking around the neighborhood.
I’m still very skeptical about most content I see on the internet and could write an entire book about the things that make me mad, but I have to give credit where credit is due, and these three things have been positives in my life lately.
As always, have a slice for me 🍕 and enjoy this song my sister played in the car this summer that’s been stuck in my head ever since.