The Sunday Post is a chance to recap the past week, talk about next week, tell you what I’m reading, and share news. It’s hosted by The Caffeinated Book Reviewer, Readerbuzz, and Book Date.
The Sunday Post
On The Blog Recently
- Best January - June Books For Teens & Tweens
- What Is Literary Fiction? + Book Recommendations!
- I'm In Love With A Sentient Object
- Best Books By Black Authors
- My Favorite Historical Fiction Books Ever
In My Reading Life
I've got nothing. I don't think I've finished a book in three weeks. I'm not in a reading slump because I want to be reading. I just fall asleep every time I try. I seem to be chronically exhausted.
In The Rest Of My Life
What's going on? A lot, actually.
People have been asking about my park ranger job and if I've been fired. I haven't been fired. I know it's confusing, but I work for the state government and not the national government. If King Donald and President Elon value state's rights as much as they claim, they won't touch my job.
However, the national park rangers are irritated. Firing a bunch of people does not make the work disappear. Work just gets redistributed to the remaining employees. That means extra responsibilities or extra-large slices of park to patrol. The most obvious problem with this arrangement is slower emergency response times. It could also mean fewer educational programs, reduced hours at visitors' centers, and longer lines at entrance gates and boat ramps. Then there's bathrooms, trash, and the billion things that visitors break on a daily basis. It takes a whole team to keep up with those.
I guess the moral of the story is to be patient. If you're visiting a park this summer, be kind to the staff. They're multitasking as fast as they can.
What else? I'm still doing the 75 Hard Challenge. I'm on day 42. For 75 days, I'm giving up junk food, exercising 90 minutes a day, and drinking a US gallon of water a day.
Sticking to the diet has become more difficult as the challenge goes on. Probably because "junk food" doesn't have a definition. This was my original plan for the "no junk food" diet:
- I can eat all the fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, and spices.
- I can eat all the meats, as long as they're not fried.
- Whole grains only.
- I can eat Greek yogurt.
- No foods with added sugar.
I may have failed the challenge because I adjusted the diet a bit. I tried to switch from sweetened Greek yogurt to plain. I can't do it. Plain Greek yogurt tastes like licking a construction site. That's not food! Putting berries in it doesn't help. Then it's construction site + berries. I switched back to sweetened yogurt because I don't want to give up all yogurt. I put yogurt in so much stuff! I need it.
I've also been putting butter or cheese on my vegetables because I don't know if butter and cheese are junk food. They probably are.
So . . . I'm still doing the challenge, but I failed?
What else? It was my mom's birthday and Brooklyn's birthday. I did not eat any cake or party food. Baby Brooklyn turned six. My mom would murder me if I told you how old she turned.
Here's a photo of Brooklyn chasing prairie dogs on our walk last weekend. If I have to exercise for 90 minutes, then so does Brooklyn. (And so do the prairie dogs, apparently.)
Someday I'll Read A Book Again
I don't think I could manage unsweetened yogurt by itself. I like to blend it with cottage cheese and use it as a savory spread on whole wheat toast or a topping that replaces sour cream on things like potatoes or chili.
ReplyDeleteI eat yogurt every morning. When my friend took a look at it, she said, That's not breakfast---that's dessert. I don't care.
ReplyDeleteI don't know what to say about the layoffs. I am sad and I feel helpless and hopeless.
I think you are exactly right, plain greek yogurt does taste like construction, cement with a hint of drywall. I think you are doing amazing with the flipping hard challenge, especially in this environment!
ReplyDeletePlain greek yogurt is a staple in my diet. Try it with blueberries (frozen and defrosted not fresh) as they sweeten it naturally. I feel very badly for the federal workers having to deal with all this. Have a great week.
ReplyDeleteFirst of all, I commend you on doing that diet. It's hard, so pat yourself on the back. Second, I switched to plain lowfat Skyr. I think it's less tart than Greek and is about the same numbers-wise. I throw some cinnamon, a few almonds, and some blueberries, and it is very good.
ReplyDeleteI buy plain, whole milk, Greek yogurt but I put a ton of honey in it with my berries. Not sure if honey counts as junk food.
ReplyDeleteI also like the plain yogurt with peanut butter and nuts mixed in. But again...is that junk food? Dunno!
I'm glad your job is with a State Park and not a Federal one. I hope some of the fired Federal rangers can get jobs with you guys at the State Parks until the lunatic is out of office and they can go back to their old jobs, if they still want to.
You are not failing, yogurt, even sweetened is not dessert, and if you are exercising, no matter what you eat, you are winning. My husband works for the government, everything is hard, chaotic and a big fat mess.
ReplyDeleteI am glad you kept your job AJ because I immediately thought of you when I heard the news!
ReplyDeleteI'm so glad to hear you didn't lose your job. My heart goes out to all the federal workers and what they are dealing with right now. Good luck with your diet. Plain Greek yogurt is awful. I like to get the Lite & Fit Greek Yogurt in cake flavors like tiramisu. Probably considered junk food, but it's only 80 calories and only 2 points on Weight Watchers :) I hope you have a great week!
ReplyDeleteI'm glad your job is not threatened currently. What you say is true and it's a tragedy. I don't think you failed. I wouldn't even try that diet. I like plain yogurt though. Butter and cheese are not junk food!
ReplyDeleteI hope you enjoyed the birthday celebrations anyway. I think Brooklyn is not a baby anymore - shocking.
Anne - Books of My Heart This is my Sunday Post
Each blogger has a personal view of the ongoing disaster … adding up to a disaster of unimaginable proportions affecting every facet of our lives. I’m glad your job doesn’t depend on the destabilized part of the government and I hope that states will be able to push back and mitigate some of the damage. What a horror show!
ReplyDeleteI was wondering about your job. I'm happy you're not laid off, but that isn't so great when you have to pick up the slack thanks to the idiots in government. What a total nightmare. Not sure how this can go on for 4 years. Butter and cheese are not junk food. I'd use honey to sweeten my yogurt. It's natural and not processed. Still not sold on drinking a gallon of water a day. You need electrolytes. Hope you find a story to love!
ReplyDeleteI eat vanilla low fat yogurt and put blueberries or strawberries in it. So good!
ReplyDeleteI didn't know you were a park ranger. It's really sad what's going on right now. Hope you pick up a book soon!
ReplyDeleteI haven't seen Smokey the Bear in AGES. I feel like he was everywhere when I was in school. I feel you on being chronically exhausted. I just posted for the first time in over a week, and finally finished a book that I started two weeks ago and should have only taken a day or two to read.
ReplyDelete