Hello! Guess what- my headache is gone and I feel much better! Overall I’m adjusting to this diet, but I do have some THOUGHTS on green tea.
Let’s count the things I dislike about it: 1) the taste, 2) the aroma, 3) the color (it looks like a urine sample) and 4) the fact that you’re only supposed to heat the water to 175 degrees- I like my tea really hot.
But here’s a great reframe- my sister pointed out that I’m lucky I can have any caffeinated tea at all. What if I couldn’t??? That would be so, so sad. So I now refer to my green tea as a “hot cup of caffeine” and when you look at it that way, it’s pretty good.
I even brought along my gunpowder tea bags when I went to Barnes and Noble yesterday. I went to the cafe and said “I’ll pay for a grande tea, but I just want the hot water- no tea bags.” The guy gave it to me for free! I thought maybe they would charge for the cup. So I was able to sit in the Barnes and Noble cafe, sipping my hot cup of caffeine.
Hey- what’s that notebook?? Oh, that’s Kendra Adachi’s Summer Playbook! After I posted about making my own “poor man’s summer planner” Sarah texted me. She said she has all of the Achachi playbooks that she’s not going to use, and do I want them? YES I DO!
She was actually heading my way to shop at REI, so we met up! And I got to see her family! Soooo fun.
Which reminds me… as you probably know, Sarah has written a book, Best Laid Plans: A Simple System for Living a Life That You Love, and it’s available for pre-order (details in this post). I don’t really understand how it all works, but I know pre-orders REALLY help an author. So if you think you want to read the book, go ahead and order it asap! It’ll be out in December.
Anyway, here’s me filling out my summer playbook:
Recurring goals, hopes and dreams for the summer seem to be: sticking to this diet and feeling better, lifting weights consistently, working on my running speed, and doing LOTS OF READING. Coming up next:
Birchie and I are doing an “unofficial book club” with this book in June. I’m not going to be posting insightful questions or observations, or leading any discussions (I mean- I’m not Engie!) but we’re both going to read it and discuss as we go along. Let’s call it a “buddy read.” Anyone want to join us?
Lastly, I iced some of my gunpowder green tea and put it in a Starbucks cup, just to feel kind of festive:
SEE WHAT I MEAN ABOUT THE COLOR??? Okay, I’ll shut up now. My sincere apologies to those who like green tea.
Who has read Gone With The Wind?
Green tea- yay, or nay?
Top photo by freestocks on Unsplash
31 Responses
I’ve read Gone With the Wind so many times, I can totally join you guys without reading right now. Can I still play?
Yes, absolutely! I’ll check with Birchie and see if we want to start a group email or maybe text. Depends on how many people are interested.
I tried sending you a message through your contact form…text me if you got my number!
So nice to meet up with Sarah!
I don’t like green tea at all, I’d rather not have it than have it. But my husband drinks chinese green tea and the flavor is better actually so sometimes I drink it.
My husband actually likes green tea! I’m hoping I’ll get used to it?
Green tea smells like decaying grass left after the rain. Not a fan. My husband goes through phases where he will drink decaf green tea with loads of cream added, but then stops because even that has too much caffeine (???) and he can’t sleep.
Maybe put the iced tea in a solid cup so you can’t see its…… unfortunate color.
I’ve heard such good things about Gone with the Wind. My daughter read it in 8th grade, raved about it, and my husband picked it up and adored it. Maybe I’ll try it. The library has a summer reading program for adults, and this work probably take care of a couple of the categories.
Ha ha… that’s a good description of the green tea aroma. Figures this would be the one tea I can have.
I can’t believe I never read Gone With the Wind! IN my youth I read a lot of classics but somehow missed this one. I’m excited to read it now.
About ten years ago, I read that green tea in the morning was the healthy thing to do – so I made it my first hot drink of the day. YUK. I hated it.
But here’s the twist: after sticking with it, my body actually got used to it… and now I miss it if I skip a day!
Who would have thought the grassy stuff would grow on me?!
Okay Catrina, GOOD TO KNOW. I’m hoping it’ll grow on me too.
I don’t love most green tea, but a friend brought some back from Sri Lanka that is DELICIOUS. I bought a replacement box from Sri Lanka but that’s not really sustainable (and it took forever to get here).
I had to laugh that your comparing it to a urine sample. When you put it that way…haha.
I always order a tea, drink it, and then go back and have them refill my mug with hot water for free so it’s like I get two drinks for the price of one.
Hooray for getting to hang out with Sarah and I love your planner accessories. I haven’t really stopped to reflect on what I want “out of my summer” but hope to do that next week!
Well, your summer hasn’t started yet, so you have time (and your getaway will be ther perfect chance.) Maybe I need to start ordering my green tea from Sri Lanka, ha ha…
I agree that green tea tastes like grass – blech. I was going to say I’d prefer just hot water with lemon, but that wouldn’t have caffeine, and is even lemon juice off the list?
You have lovely handwriting!
Oh boy- I must have been having a good day. Sometimes my handwriting is VERY messy.
Lemon juice is definitely ON the list of things I can have! But I still want the caffeine- I’ll put up with the taste of green tea for that.
I’m not a fan of tea in general, but I have heard that green tea is the gateway to becoming a tea drinker. But I just haven’t been interested enough to try, ha.
So fun that you and Birchie are going to read Gone with the Wind in June! I do want to read that book someday but I am currently working through my own big tome, so I’ll sit out this round!
Yes, it’s a LONG book so you’d have to have some time cleared on your reading schedule. And… WHO said green tea is the gateway to becoming a tea drinker??? NO! if there’s a gateway, I would say it’s Earl Grey.
Yay for a SHU meetup! Also yay for being able to take her excess planner stash off her hands.
I always knew that I didn’t like green tea but never had the words to say why…yep, I think you covered it. Let’s see what happens from here – will it grow on you like it did for Catrina, or will you send it packing once you’re done with the eating program. Time will tell!
I’m excited to start GWTW. I remember back when you read 11/22/63 that there was discussion about how it’s better to read the big heavy books on Kindle so that you don’t have to hold them. Well, simply because I own a physical copy I will be reading the physical copy. Here’s the aching forearms and sore wrists to come.
Yep- I’ll also have the aching forearms and sore wrists. Bring it on!
I’m going to predict that I’ll get used to the green tea, but as soon as I can I’ll switch back to black because… Early Grey is just so delicious.
I haven’t read GWTW in over a decade, but it is such a fascinating book! I have too many books on my roster to join you, although I WANT to. Hmm. Maybe I WILL join! I don’t know, I’m waffling all over the place.
I don’t like green tea. I don’t even really like black tea! But omg imagine a world without caffeine. I’m just staring at my coffee cup right now, wondering what I would do without it. Let’s not go there. It’s not a pretty picture.
Preorders are so, so important to authors – it is a real signal to publishers to print those books! How exciting for Sarah, and so fun that you had a meetup!
Nicole, when the time comes let us know and we will all preorder your book as well! And… we’ll let you jump into the book club at any time if you want. Lastly… caffeine- very, very important.
I don’t mind iced green tea, but the color isn’t great! I actually rarely drink hot tea (and never hot coffee) because even when it’s cold outside, it makes me feel overheated. So if I have tea, it’s pretty much always iced!
That’s funny, I’m the opposite. No matter how hot it is, I want a hot drink in the morning. Otherwise it makes my insides too cold. But I like iced tea later in the day.
that is my all time favorite book though I haven’t read it in years. I’m enjoy Dream Count now.
I hate green tea. I can drink some other flavored ones (like cinnamon or chocolate). Coffee is my jam.
Glad to hear the diet is going ok. How long until it’s over?
I’m excited to read GWTW- I read the first couple pages and can tell I’m going to like it.
Sigh. I don’t have a specific end date for this diet- just however long it takes. I would say usually the most restrictive phase takes a few months, but I’ll be traveling in July and don’t see how I can keep it up 100% then… so I’m just playing it by ear. But definitely I’ll be on it till mid-July.
I’m a HARD PASS on green tea. I am not a big tea drinker so there are very few kinds that I actually like. I tend to prefer things that have a little fruit flavor in them, like a hibiscus tea or something along those lines. I did drink herbal teas last week when I was in DC in the afternoon because I WAS SO COLD. I didn’t want/need more caffeine but I needed something to warm me up from the inside (they had cold, rainy weather). My issue with getting tea is that the water is way too hot! It takes so long to cool down to a drinkable temp (for me). And by the time it cooled down, we were off to our next meeting… but at least I got a few sips in! I should ask them to do half or 2/3 hot water and the rest tap water or something to make it more drinkable for me.
How fun that you got to meet up with SHU! I pre-ordered her book yesterday from my favorite indie bookstore which is The Bookshelf in Thomasville, GA. That is my go to place for ordering books. The owner is like a real life Kathleen Kelly a la You’ve Got Mail.
I read Gone With the Wind a long time ago – I was probably in HS! I did not remember loving it, though, but maybe I was too young to appreciate it.
That’s funny because here I am complaining that the water for green tea (it’s not supposed to be boiling) isn’t hot ENOUGH for me. What you could do when you’re in that situation again- ask them to add a couple ice cubes. That should get it down to a drinkable temperature quickly.
I’ll bet SHU is getting a lot of preorders! I ordered it last week on her birthday.
So glad you’re adjusting to the diet and your headache is gone, Jenny. And it makes sense that the B&N barista gave your cup of hot water for free!
I LOVE green tea! I drink it with lots of lemon in the morning and it’s such a fresh start to my morning. (My mom would say if your pee was that color, you need to hydrate more. Haha)
Oh really… lemon? Maybe I should try that! And yes… it looks like a urine sample from a very dehydrated person.
Yay for a bloggy friend encounter!
I enjoy green tea, both by itself (hot only though) and mixed with lemonade. Yum. The color is unpleasant though, I’ll give you that!
I tried to read Gone with the Wind some years ago (in my twenties???) and it bored me to tears. I wonder if I would have more patience for it now that I am older and wiser? Probably I will wait to see what you and Birchie think of it before seriously considering trying it again.
Okay, we will let you know! It seems like something that might be boring when you’re younger, but interesting now.
You guys are giving me ideas! I’ll try some lemon in my tea.
I like green tea, its definitely not my favourite (Earl Grey with milk is), but I like it when I feel like something different. I so suspect its an acquired taste and will grow on you!
Yay that you met up with SHU and are enjoying some summer planning in that cute book. I want to order Sarah’s book but it hasn’t showed up on the Australian websites yet (only the e-book), so I’ll keep my eyes out for when its available (I looked at pre-ordering from the US but it would be very expensive that way).
Ah, Early Grey… I love it so much (sob.)
It seems like Sarah’s book will be something you will LOVE!