Last Week // Stand, don’t Sit

BJURSTA wall-mounted table | $39 at Ikea
LACK wall shelf | $6.99

This is not a proper standing desk, by any means, but it’s my hack for now. Until I can afford something better, and/or decide if I like it or not! There are actually a lot of hacks out there if you search standing desk hack on google, which is how I found this idea, because adjustable standing desks are really expensive. Leo has been using a standing desk he made out of Ikea LACK coffee tables, etc., for almost a year and he loves it.

I switched to standing for a couple of reasons, but the main one is that my knees have really been bothering me lately. I know I’ve been pushing myself too hard (trying to take class #500 at Pure Barre by 12/31 – this Wednesday will be number 450), and this summer when I was running, I was not wearing shoes that were supportive enough for me, but felt it only too late, the damage was done. Now, I walk briskly every day and do Pure Barre nearly every day and my body is feeling it. I’ll slow down after I reach 500, but in the mean time, I thought if I reduced the amount of time I spend sitting and then getting up, my knees would feel a little better.

I’m taking glucosamine, and have better shoes for walking now, but I’m hoping standing more will help (at least I’ll live longer) alleviate some of my pain. It’ll also be much better for my posture, I’m sure…

I’m only day one into standing while working, so I can’t really give a thorough opinion yet, but I can tell that things will be different. Before, I would just sit and get lost in whatever it was that I was doing, and not want to get up. Now, I’m up already, so there’s no reason to not actually MOVE more also. I won’t be able to eat lunch at my desk anymore, or do my nails while I’m working, which will probably also be a good thing; a break is nice every once in a while, shifting focus, even for just 15 minutes during lunch is great for stimulating creativity.

Oh, and quitting coffee is going well; I guess I’m about two weeks in? I honestly can’t say I miss it a lot, which is very strange for me to say, given how fully I thought my coffee habit defined me. I also can’t tell a very big difference in how I feel on a daily basis, not an overwhelming positive one anyway, so I’m not sure why I’m doing this. I’ve decided to stick with it through my birthday (November 2) at least, and then re-evaluate. But my gut tells me that if I don’t miss it, I shouldn’t hurry to incorporate coffee back into my routine just yet…

What I bought

I received the Everlane loafers from Everlane to review, and ordered a white scoop-neck tee and another white ryan tank (with credit), but that’s it for clothing; I haven’t shopped in forever (well, a week at least, but it seems like forever ;)).

I did buy something MAJOR: a new computer. My 15″ MacBook Pro is on it’s last legs – as we speak, it’s struggling to do what I want it to do, sounding like it’s going to take off and fly away…I ordered a MacBook Air (13″ this time) that should arrive by Friday. Not only will it have more RAM to do what I do on a daily basis, but it should be easier for traveling and being more “mobile.” My computer now is so heavy, and the battery lasts about 10 minutes, so I don’t take it anywhere, ever.

What I Got rid of

I actually got rid of quite a few things I’d been holding on to for fall/winter that I decided I wasn’t going to use. And I’ve put even more into a big plastic box to hide away for another spring purge. I’m still trying to decide if I’m ready to get rid of my Rag & Bone Harrow booties or not…

What I Read

In case you missed this one from my last Minimal Closet post, this article on the 4 Common shopping fallacies and how to Avoid them by Into Mind is really brilliant.

Debbie’s September Useful Links is so FULL of good articles and information (not just because I’m mentioned twice…Thanks Debbie!) I haven’t made it through all of them yet.

This article, How Madewell bought and sold my family’s history, is incredibly interesting, but probably won’t lead where you thought it would…

Do you do the things you love? This NYT article on NOT doing the things you love (lest you turn them into habits and they become routine & boring) is fascinating. I actually practice this with regard to reading fiction and eating sugar (only on the weekends!), but I might be well-served applying it to other things I “love” as well. Food for thought…

What I Ate

It’s pumpkin season!! Do you get as excited about pumpkin everything as I do? In previous years, I’ve made pumpkin chocolate chip cookies, pumpkin muffins, pumpkin bread…you name it, if it had pumpkin in it, I made it. This year, I’m trying to avoid sugar, gluten & dairy as much as possible, so most baked goods are out of the question, but I did eat some AMAZING overnight oats with pumpkin for breakfast all week.

My recipe:
1/2 cup organic old fashioned oats
1T chia seeds
3/4 unsweetened almond milk
TONS of cinnamon
pinch of salt
2T pumpkin puree (not pie filling!!)
Sometimes I add a little coconut oil with MCT

I mix all of that together and let it sit in the fridge either overnight or for a few hours to soften up the oats and soak the chia seeds. Then, when I’m ready to eat I add some walnuts or whatever nuts I have and the teenist bit of maple syrup if I need it sweeter. So good! You could also just add pumpkin to regular cooked oats, or quinoa, if you want a hot breakfast. I’ve found the key to EVERYTHING here is the cinnamon; it makes it so I don’t need to add sugar.

I did also make this banana bread from the Clean blog since I had a HUGE bunch of bananas starting to go brown. It was okay. The coconut nectar is REALLY strange, and gave it an odd flavor. I did find the combo gluten free flour/almond meal to be nice though. I’m going to make it again, because I still have bananas left to use, but I think I’ll sub some of the coconut nectar for a mixture of honey and applesauce; I really just didn’t like the flavor of the coconut nectar.

How was your week last week? What are you looking forward to this week?