The Quick & Messy: January 23

What I’m Eating: Keto! Why? Because I have absolutely no shame about being a New Year’s cliche, I started a month of keto at the beginning of January (spoiler alert: I’m not a fan). I even bought a custom keto meal plan so everything is planned out for me (spoiler alert: the meal plan is crap). ⏩Yes, I am aware the keto is consistently ranked among the worst diets for healthy eating. That’s for two reasons: 1) It often relies on high saturated fat foods like butter and red meat (I intentionally selected a plan that is fish and poultry only, but it is dairy-heavy for sure) and 2) It’s difficult to follow and not sustainable. But that’s okay, I’m not looking to do this forever, just for a kickstart. ⏩ Yes, I’m aware that moderation and balance is a much healthier approach to just about everything in life. And if that works for you, give yourself a high five. But have you met me? Moderation definitely isn’t my strong point and I crave rules and structure. I actually kind of love having a plan to follow! ⏩Yes, I’m aware that I already look great and am a strong, badass mother fucker. But my pants weren’t fitting and my new year’s resolution was not to buy new clothes, so…. Kidding, kind of. Honestly, I work my butt off to stay strong and active and I was really curious to see what my body does if I change my diet to match that commitment. Anyways, so far I like the food just fine and I’m rarely hungry. But I hate measuring everything and am super skeptical of a diet that requires you to measure your fucking brussels sprouts and limits you to tiny portions of vegetables. I did lose 5 lbs in the first week, but I’ve been oscillating around the same point since then. I can now sit down comfortably in my favorite jeans, so that’s good. But my workouts have been total shit. I’ve been running 10 minute miles, which is unheard of for me, and I legit thought my spin bike was broken because I was so gassed the other day. Ketogenic convert? I think not. In fact (spoiler alert!), you may be hearing about a swing in the opposite direction coming soon. Stay tuned!

What I’m reading: A lot of memoirs (coincidence!) and a lot about New Orleans (non-coincidence!) Currently I’m simultaneously reading Notes from a Young Black Chef, which I got after we saw Kwame Onwuachi as part of a chef panel at Sixth & I, and Yellow House, which is one of four books my book club is reading in the lead up to our April trip. That’s right, our book club is taking another literary-themed vacation, and I couldn’t be more excited! Also on our list: The Awakening; Interview with a Vampire; and Nine Lives: Death and Life in New Orleans.

Where I’m working out: Everywhere! We were given another free month on Class Pass, so we’ve been trying lots of new things. A couple highlights so far:

What else I’ve been up to: Thrifting! So I mentioned that my new years resolution was not to buy any new clothes… but that doesn’t mean I can’t buy used clothes! I have developed a serious thrifting hobby (addiction? what’s the difference?) I’ve been scoring amazzzzzzing clothes hauls at Goodwill (yeah, I’m not talking about those pre-curated thrift stores where things are already marked up). I keep some of them and sell others on Poshmark, etc. In doing so, I 100% fund my own wardrobe while keeping it fresh and fun, make money, and don’t cause anything to be manufactured unnecessarily. WIN WIN WIN.

What I’m excited about: Japan! Out bucket list trip is upon us! We bought cheap tickets to Japan last May and finally got around to planning our trip. We booked 14 nights of hotels, Airbnbs, ryokans, shobukus and experiences in Tokyo, Kyoto, Osaka, Hiroshima, Koyasan and Kinosaki. We’re broke and super excited.

Johanna