Five simple things (January 19)

Hello.

I've been reading a lot of random blogs this week and blogger's resolutions for the year. I see a lot of them posting about wanting to change their eating habits and some sort of diet they're trying now-Whole 30, 21 Day Fix, The Raw Food Diet, Weight Watcher's, Paleo Diet, etc. The list goes on. Some of these bloggers have tried these diets in the past and are trying them again, or using the new year as a chance to start a different diet. The problem with these diets is that none of them offer lasting changes. In my experience, the only "diet" that you need is to eat less calories than you burn. Meaning, don't eat over your daily caloric intake and burning off your daily calories each day. It's the one and only approach that has and will work long term.

There isn't any plan, diet, pill, or magic that is going to help you keep pounds in check other than your plan to eat less than you burn. That's the magic solution and overall it will be a lasting approach to weight loss. Here's the key points to this plan: Eating less processed foods (most processed foods come in some sort of box), make more food at home (you can whip up a quick meal in a matter of moments), snack on fruits, vegetables, nuts, grains (honestly, it's the only snacks you should be popping into your mouth), keep processed sugar to a minimum (I hate to say it, but it's true). Treats are just that, treats. If you're eating them daily, or more than once, or twice a week, they aren't a treat. These are the key points we've been following in our house and have had great success. Of course, we are an active family, so weight gain isn't so much an issue with us, but keeping and staying active will not only help you shed extra pounds, but it will help you keep sickness at bay. I believe the two weeks we were under the weather could have been worse had we not been active in our lifestyle and helped out immune system.

Now that our house is on the mend and we are all feeling at least 90% (silly cough) we are already planning our weekend. We have a lot of road trips we've spent the last two weeks planning out. I am really excited to share these trips with you and hopefully, these road trips posts will influence you in wanting to visit Oregon, or plan a road trip yourself.

Here are five simple things that made my week.

1. This lantern.

There is an amazing antique store here in Lebanon, Oregon, and I love browsing their many rooms full of great vintage goods. On a recent trip there looking for a typewriter for The Bean I spotted this vintage lantern. It was hanging over the checkout counter and I scooped it up. I think it looks lovely hanging in our little vestibule.

2. This vacuum.

We test drove several vacuum cleaners this week and agreed on the Miele C1. Such a great vacuum and with our "almost" carpet-free home, it works wonderful on bare floors.

3. First aid.

We've been on a hunt for awhile for a metal, first aid box and finally found one. I'd like to say that we found it at the same antique store, but we didn't. This one we picked up on one of our road trips this past year. It will eventually hang in our kitchen where it is easily accessible.

4. Homemade vanilla.

This week another vanilla bean was added to the homemade vanilla vodka-making it a total of three. We'll check it in month and see where we are. See that jar with the red lid? Picked that jar up at our local co-op to place the first vanilla bean in and I've been using it ever since for v-beans. The smell in that jar is heavenly!

5. Swedish dishcloths.