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This week may have turned me into a morning person! Or at least someone who is not adamantly opposed to waking up before 7:30am. I had a lot of early mornings this week with Pilates and other fun things, and it turns out that if you wake up earlier, you have more time in the day and, for me, can fall asleep easier at night. Who knew?

Pilates Review

This week, I pushed myself with most of my classes being morning level 1.5s. I can definitely tell that I’m getting stronger, even when I’m weak from The Sickness^TM. I’m also either looking fitter, or the flurry of physical activity has reduced my body dysmorphia. Either way, I’m feeling good, which is what really matters!

Tuesday: Reformer Flow 1 with Maesy

Tuesday’s class was a last minute addition as The Sickness^TM returned to me with full force on Monday, making me sleep through my three alarms and, ultimately, my reformer 1.5 class. I received a $15 penalty for that, but not to worry! The credit card on file is my mom’s! (She caught me, though, and I paid her back.)

I was happy to be in a regular level 1 class, as I was still recovering from my ailments. But, as Maesy let me know last week, she usually goes a little harder at the Pentagon City location, so I’d call it a 1.25. It was the exact level that I needed to get out of my own head and get a workout but not die. Honestly, I am writing this review on Wednesday, and I can’t really remember much of the class from less than 24 hours ago. I may have blacked out. A good sign? I’ll take it.

Wednesday: Reformer Flow 1.5 with Ashley

If Tuesday was a 1.25, Wednesday was a 1.75 at least. Maybe it had something to do with the fact that it was an 8:00am class. The night before, as I was setting my alarm for 7:00am, I was thinking about how, in high school, I would have 6:00am dance team practice before school and was wondering how I managed that when 7:00am seemed daunting. This thought process inevitably brought on dance-team-inspired nightmares, so I didn’t sleep well, seeing as I was fighting for my life on the dance floor in dreamland.

Regardless of my state of mind during the class (no one told me I had a solo in the middle of the group dance, how was I to know??), it was a tough workout. This was the first time I had Ashley as an instructor and I must apologize for the amount of times that I called her a bitch in my mind. I don’t really think she’s a bitch. In fact, I will be signing up for more of her classes because it was a great workout. My favorite move that we did was a plank on the reformer. I’ve seen videos of people doing it, and it looks so cool and kind of scary. I mean, look at this girl. That’s so cool! We weren’t doing anything that advanced, and our feet were not on the foot bar but on the little platform underneath, but still! That will be me one day!

Friday: Reformer Flow 1.5 with Emily

It was a cruel joke for God to make me contract The Sickness^TM the same week that I scheduled all morning classes, most of which were 1.5s. Yet again, I struggled to get out of bed and get to class on time. Not only did I make it, but I also made it in a fun, all-purple outfit: leggings, tank top, and grippy socks – all purple. So that made it a little more whimsical. The class itself was good but tough. I made it tougher on myself, though. I hadn’t had this instructor before, and I didn’t want to look like a little baby for our first impression. So, I grabbed 5-pound weights instead of 3, and when we were changing springs for arm work, she suggested one red spring if we wanted a rest day, one red and one blue if we were feeling normal, and two reds if we were feeling strong. I was not feeling strong, but I did not want to look weak, so I gritted my teeth through bicep and tricep curls on two reds.

I was also given the opportunity to challenge myself mentally during this class. In therapy, I’ve been working on anger, and just the day before this class, my therapist and I discovered two patterns that contribute to my anger. The first is that when I am overstimulated, mostly with sounds, my anger threshold goes down. So, something that would normally annoy me will make me rageful if there is also a lot of sounds happening at the same time. Another pattern is that most of my anger is brought on when I believe people aren’t doing something right or following “the rules”. These are probably a combination of being ADHD, OCD, and to top it all off – a Virgo.

Well, in this class, the microphone headset that the instructor wears seemed to be on the fritz, screeching randomly and giving a lot of feedback. So, overstimulation? Check. I was keeping it together pretty well, and class was wrapping up with feet in straps. Then I noticed the girl next to me was laying on her reformer, feet in straps, but also, phone in hand. GIRL! That’s against the rules! Then she decided that whatever was on the phone was more important than finishing the class because during what was supposed to be the relaxing, centering, wind down, she was clomping around, wiping her reformer down, packing up, and heading out. The nerve of that one!

Sunday: Reformer Flow 1.5 with Maesy

Maesy, I have one question for you: What did we ever do to you? This was by far the hardest class I have ever taken at Club Pilates. I was shaking, sweating buckets, grunting, and glaring at Maesy throughout this class. Today was going to be the day that I was going to ask someone to clarify how I get approved to join a level 2 class, but this was a reality check that I should probably stick with 1.5s for a while. The absolute hardest thing we did was during our lunges. We started by standing on the box with one leg on the reformer, then pushing the carriage back with that leg to form a lunge. Easy enough. But then we pulsed in the lunge. Then we held the lunge and using the leg on the reformer, pulled the carriage back in. And THEN this bitch made us drop our knee to touch the reformer and then come back up. Sorry, not a bitch, a lovely person who does terrible things to good people (me).

The amount of sweat coming off of me was slightly embarrassing. I was just telling Lisa yesterday that I typically don’t sweat in Pilates. Now, looking back on that conversation, I think I can hear God laughing. At one point, Maesy used my reformer to demonstrate how to properly do a Pilates push-up. After the class, I was berating talking to Maesy, and I told her that I was sweating much more than usual. She said it was because the building hadn’t turned on the A/C yet, but she had noticed the sweat when she borrowed my reformer. MORTIFYING.

Health Queen

I wrapped up my first week of diabetic coaching on Friday. I was really surprised at how much my blood sugars improved just by forcing myself to be more aware of them. The new insulin-to-carb ratio is working out great, so I can now put how many carbs I’m actually having into my insulin pump instead of subtracting 20-30 carbs. And I learned something new! Apparently, proteins and fats will also turn into carbs and raise my blood sugar, just at a slower rate than carbs. Who knew?! Not me, and apparently not my endocrinologists or diabetic educators through the hospital, because this is brand new information for me. But it makes sense. My coach and I went through my numbers and compared it with my journal of what I ate, and wouldn’t you know it? Whenever I had something high in fat or protein, my blood sugar shot up about 2 hours later.

This week, I’m excited to try out what my coach called “buffer dosing”. I will give my normal insulin for the carbs in my meal before I eat, then I’ll take 30% of the fats, plus 60% of the protein, and give insulin for those around an hour and a half after I eat. I’m already seeing major improvements; now, it’s just fine-tuning.

Another lesson that I learned this week was about changing my mindset. I’ve always thought of myself as a “bad diabetic” because my blood sugars weren’t great, or my A1C was high, or because the endocrinologists at GW (*hiss*) told me so. But something that I worked on this week was to not see my numbers as “bad” but as a learning opportunity. Instead of saying, “Oh, I messed up again. I suck at this,” I’ve learned to say, “Hmm, I wasn’t expecting that number, I wonder why that happened?” and try to figure out what needs adjusting so it doesn’t happen again. This has not only made my numbers better but also my mood, and I’m going to try to bring this mindset into every part of my life.

Baking it Megan

This week, I tried another protein-based dessert that I found on Instagram. These were a healthy dupe of a Cosmic Brownie. If I were tasting them blind, not knowing what they were supposed to be, I would not call them a Cosmic Brownie, but I could see some resemblance. Boyfriend Alex and Lisa both liked them, but I think because, in my mind, they were supposed to taste like Cosmic Brownies, I would give them a 7/10. This recipe did not fall flat (literally) like last week’s cookie that turned out to be a pancake. I’m still leaning towards pointing the finger at the baking soda, as this recipe turned out much better and did not contain baking soda. The jury is still out, though.

Again, not wanting to waste the physical labor of bringing out the KitchenAid on only one recipe, I decided to go for two this week. When Alex and I went to West Virginia for our anniversary getaway, we stopped at a farmer’s market on the way back. Well, actually, we drove an hour out of the way to go to this farmer’s market, because Capon Bridge’s website told me it was a “Must visit!” and I, a fool, believed them. The “market” was five vendors in a circle. Seeing as we had made the trip, I felt compelled to buy something, so I got a little pack of lavender sugar that came with a shortbread cookie recipe. After I made the shortbread dough, I rolled the balls in the lavender sugar and sprinkled some lavender on top for good measure. This was such a simple recipe but so good. Lisa even said they tasted store-bought so this recipe will be added to the Classics Collection.

I Know Places (Like the Swiftie Bar)

Saturday evening, Alex told me he had a surprise for me. I was to wear something “Taylor” and be ready around 8:00. He took me to the Del Rey neighborhood of Alexandria, which is already fun enough in itself. Del Rey reminds me of Stars Hollow from Gilmore Girls – cute little shops and old-timey buildings. But the destination was a new pop-up cocktail bar that was themed around Taylor Swift and the Eras Tour. This location changes their bar theme for the holidays, pride, and this time, Taylor. Each album had its own area in the bar, and the drinks and food menu had names inspired by Taylor songs. We didn’t get food, but we did peruse the menu to admire the names. A few of my favorites included Cornelia Street Tacos and You Belong With Beef.

If I did not have my condition, I would have gone for That Lavender Haze – a cocktail of Empress 1908 gin, lavender honey simple syrup, lemonade, and lavender sprig. However, lucky for me, they had a mocktail menu as well. I went for a Karma Is The Guy On The Chiefs (lime juice, cherry simple syrup, and Sprite in a souvenir mirrorball cup) and The Best Day (Zero proof Proseco, grapefruit juice, mixed up with edible pink glitter in a champagne flute). Both were good, but I liked The Best Day better.

The vibe was nice, and it was fun to hang out for a bit amongst a gaggle of Swifties. I also love the idea of a bar that changes themes all the time. If this bar was always a Taylor Swift bar, the novelty might wear off, but because they will be changing it again, it kind of felt like we were a part of something. Years from now, our grandkids will ask us, “Where were you when the Taylor Swift pop-up bar opened in Del Rey?” and we’ll be able to say, “We were there, baby.” That probably won’t happen, but it was a cool experience.

Entertainment Weekly

Wednesday Date Night’s movie was Black Bag. The synopsis says, “When his beloved wife, Kathryn, is suspected of betraying the nation, intelligence agent George Woodhouse faces the ultimate test — loyalty to his marriage or his country.” But that was only the first part. Eventually, the couple works together to bring down the bad guy who set them both up. I really liked this movie, at least the parts that I could understand. As we were in the theater with no subtitles, I resigned myself to not understanding a single thing the drunk British man was saying, and luckily, I don’t think it was that pertinent to the overall storyline.

Yellowjackets went off this week! I think one of the reasons I love Yellowjackets so much is that I do not expect anything that happens. My jaw is on the floor at least once every episode, it seems. First, RIP Coach Scott – I really did not see his death coming, especially when the first half of the episode was filled with him begging for it – even resorting to making an obviously false confession to setting the cabin on fire. Which made me realize that we still don’t know who set that fire. It obviously wasn’t Coach Scott, so who was it? And are they rescued?! How are they going to explain that decapitated head to those poor, sweet hikers? I found it ironic that the same day that Shauna is deemed the new leader, they get found. Even the Wilderness was like, “Uh, if that’s what it’s come to, maybe y’all should go.”

Also, my half-baked theory of Dark Tai being in control seems to be true! Somehow, good Tai found herself a landline that could connect with other, unplugged landlines? And people want to say that there is no supernatural aspect of Yellowjackets. Regardless, Tai is obviously off the deep end. I have no clue what is going to happen next week, but I’d like to throw out some predictions for the hell of it. I think we will find out for sure that Dark Tai is in control; Callie accidentally releases the audio of the tape, or someone hears it who shouldn’t; We find out who actually set the fire, and it’s not one of the girls; There is another murder attempt on Shauna. We shall see!

Last week, I told you all that I was starting The Hunting Party by Lucy Foley and that I have both loved and hated her books in the past. I’d say this was neither love nor hate – I’d give it a solid 3 stars, right smack in the middle. The story was good. I related a lot to the characters, actually, and it made me think about the friendships in my own life. The twist was also well hidden until the author wanted it revealed, which I love. My problem with it was how quickly it ended. And not in a “I didn’t want to stop reading it” way but in a “Wait, where’s the rest of the book?” way. It was like a big build-up of who is the murderer, then the reveal, then “and she got four years in prison, the end.” Huh?! And that last bit was in the epilogue! Lucy, girl, we gotta work on the dismount.

Since I finished The Hunting Party so quickly (I wrapped it up on Tuesday night), I decided to use these extra few days to get started on the first nonfiction of Entertainment Weekly: Mindhunter by John Douglas. Also… the first male author of Entertainment Weekly?? Ew! Girls only! But I’ll let it slide. This time. Mindhunter has been on my TBR for a while, and I was reminded of it when listening to an episode of the podcast True Crime Obsessed. They actually weren’t talking about John Douglas or Mindhunter; they were talking about Dr. Ann Burgess, the researcher and psychiatric nurse who helped the Mindhunter team in establishing the FBI’s Behavioral Science Unit. I want to read Dr. Burgess’s book eventually, but I already have Mindhunter, so I read this as a little appetizer.

I ended up finishing it Saturday morning. I use a reading tracker app called Bookly, which has a feature that times your reading and lets you know how many pages you average per hour. With fiction books, I am around 70 pages an hour, but as I discovered, nonfiction has a lot less dialogue and a lot more dense paragraphs per page, so I averaged a measly 40 pages an hour on this one. But I was determined that this week would be the week where I would finish two books, so I pushed through, finishing the 375 pages in about nine hours.

It was helpful that the topic was super interesting – I loved learning about how FBI profilers work and seeing it applied to cases I knew about. It was also helpful that John Douglas’ writing was very casual and funny at times. It was a little tough to read the gruesome, graphic details of murders for basically nine hours straight, but I liked the way that he wrote about them. It didn’t feel like he was telling the details to shock, but to inform. I definitely had a few murder nightmares and have decided that my future children will be surgically attached to my hip to avoid any kidnapping situation, but I really liked the book!

Rant of The Week

This is me lodging an official complaint to all bars, restaurants, or any establishment that serves mocktails that cost anywhere close to $15. Actually, before I lodge my complaint, I’d like to ask: Why? Let’s just do a little cost break-down. Sorry to the Taylor Swift bar, but I will be picking on you. One of the mocktails I had was made with lime juice, cherry simple syrup, and Sprite and cost $16. It did come in a souvenir mirrorball cup, however, Alex found what appears to be the exact cups from a drop shipper, and it looks like each cup costs $0.80 if bought in bulk.

I asked ChatGPT to break down the cost of the ingredients in the mocktail to see what it would have cost the bar to make one drink:

• 1 oz. bottled lime juice: $0.09
• 1 oz. cherry simple syrup: $0.38
• 4 oz. Sprite: $0.14
• Souvenir cup: $0.80

That means that my $16 drink cost the bar $1.41 to make. That’s a $14.59 markup or 1030.5%! Of course, these establishments need to have a markup to cover things like overhead, service, and profit. HOWEVER, I asked ChatGPT to do the same price breakdown on an alcoholic drink that came in the same souvenir cup that was made with Tito’s, lime juice, simple syrup, and ginger beer. This drink was listed as $18 and cost $3.37 to make. That’s a $12.63 markup or 374.5%.

Just to be thorough (and petty), I checked the entire alcoholic cocktail menu to see if any of the alcoholic drinks were marked up as steeply as the nonalcoholic. The average markup for alcoholic drinks was 293.2%. I also checked the price breakdown of the mocktails to make sure I hadn’t just happened to get the most overpriced one. Turns out I did, however the average markup for the nonalcoholic mocktails was $430.7%.

So, in conclusion, WHY? I want to say, forget the $16 juice; just give me a Diet Coke. But sometimes, I would like to go out and get a fancy drink in a fancy cup and feel fancy. I don’t think that’s too much to ask.

In’s and Out’s

In:

Protein Diet Coke

ChatGPT

Being a morning person

Out:

Mocktails

Not using your turning signal

Mocktails (again)

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I hope you have a wonderful week, and I’ll see you back here on Sunday!