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elenajohansenauthor · 6 years

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What We Need to Survive Excerpt: Chapter 1

[post-apocalyptic/new adult romance]

Chapter 1 - Cigarette Lighters

August 23rd, 4:23 pm – Somewhere along US-36, Central Ohio

Paul kicked a rock out of his path, watching it bounce and skitter down the highway.

He saw no point in wasting breath on cursing the weather. One squall of rain caught him earlier in the day, forcing him into the cramped shelter of one of the abandoned cars dotting the road. But the boom of thunder in the distance worried him. He’d spent plenty of nights out in the open. Sleeping in the rain was miserable enough, but he imagined sleeping through a storm would be next to impossible.

He looked up, but thick forest on both sides of the highway hid all but the narrowest strip of sky. Blank, unbroken gray hovered above him. There was no way to judge how close the storm was, except for the unreliable system of counting Mississippis.

The closest building he remembered passing was at least half an hour behind him, maybe an hour. The closest town he’d left behind yesterday afternoon. Turning back might get him to shelter before the storm struck, if he hurried.

Or it might not. The road ahead curved away from him, and the trees could hide anything.

Paul kept moving forward, faster under the threat of rain.

Ten minutes later, he spied a gas station and picked up his pace even more.

As he got closer, the station didn’t seem promising. Most of the windows gaped empty, broken down to their frames, and the front door hung askew on a broken hinge. The first fallen leaves of the season littered the parking lot. Shards of glass from the broken windows and random bits of trash lay scattered among them.

The rain started as Paul reached the edge of the parking lot. He sprinted for the cover of the roof protecting the pumps.

Hard-won caution kept him from dashing the rest of the way inside. Instead he approached the building with slow, deliberate steps, holding up his empty hands. “Hello in there!” he called. “Anybody home?”

There was no answer, but Paul remained wary. When he was a few yards from the open door, he stopped and called again. “Is anyone there? I ain’t lookin’ for trouble, just a place to get out of the rain.”

A shuffling sound came from his right, and a movement that flickered in the corner of his eye. He turned toward it and saw a gun pointed in his direction. The gunman himself hid in the shadow of the empty window frame.

“Stay where you are!” the man shouted. His voice was deep and authoritative, the kind of voice that focused the attention of anyone who heard it. Paul didn’t doubt it belonged to a man willing to shoot him, if necessary.

“No trouble,” Paul repeated. “I was hopin’ this place was empty, ‘cause I’d rather be inside than out with a storm overhead. But if I ain’t welcome, I’ll move on.”

“Stay right there, and give me a minute!”

Paul did as the man ordered, watching the gun in the window, which didn’t move. He guessed the man was talking to someone inside, but he couldn’t hear anything. While he waited, the rain grew heavier, pinging on the corrugated metal of the roofing like the highest notes played on a huge steel drum.

“You got any weapons?” the deep-voiced man called out.

“Just the knife on my belt,” Paul answered. “No guns.”

“You can wait out the storm with us in here, then be on your way. Sound reasonable?”

Paul lowered his hands. “Yeah, that’s good.” The gun disappeared from the window, and the knot of tension in Paul’s chest loosened. He hadn’t believed he was going to get shot, but he was relieved to be right.

Unless they were going to rob him the minute he walked in the door. But it was too late to run now. If they meant to take his supplies, then the man with the gun could shoot him in the back when he fled.

Best to play along.

A man with dark brown skin and chin-length dreadlocks appeared in the doorway. He was shorter than Paul, but that didn’t mean he could be dismissed as a threat, since he was much more heavily muscled. His straight-backed posture and firm gaze shouted military to Paul. Or maybe cop. And he sported a holster on his belt. The man with the gun.

Unless there’s more than one of ‘em.

When Paul didn’t move, he flashed a grin, wide and startlingly white. “Come on in,” he said, beckoning with one hand. He stood aside to let Paul through.

The inside of the station wasn’t in any better shape than the outside. The metal shelving units were empty, all the chocolate bars and potato chips gone. Glass-fronted refrigerators lined the back wall, but those were empty, too. At the counter, the cash register lay on its side, the drawer popped loose. Paul guessed that had happened in the first few days, when looters thought money still meant something. It hadn’t taken long before that wasn’t true anymore. Dark patches stained the white linoleum floor. Paul hoped they weren’t blood. Though they probably were.

“I’m John,” the man said. His voice sounded almost friendly, and Paul lifted his hand in automatic reaction to meet John’s for a shake. He dropped it when he saw there was no hand offered.

“Paul.” He settled for giving John a nod instead.

John turned and headed for an open space beyond the counter. Paul meant to follow, but he stopped short at the sight of a girl crouched under the window. She was small, her thin limbs folded in on themselves to take up as little space as possible. Her black hair was oddly uneven in length, not quite reaching her shoulders. Paul guessed it was growing out from whatever shorter style she’d had, before. Her wide eyes watched him with silent tension, like a fawn ready to bolt to safety.

Paul hadn’t met many kids on the road, but most of them looked a lot like her. Frail and frightened, not ready to face what the world had become since the plague had ruined everything.

Before Paul could decide what to say to her—or even if he should say anything at all—she shot to her feet and followed John across the room. Her ill-fitting clothes didn’t completely hide the curves of her body, and the swing of her hips was shocking and compelling at the same time. She wasn’t a young girl at all. Her head wouldn’t even reach Paul’s shoulder, but she was a grown woman, right down to the angry toss of her hair.

But still frightened.

Paul let her have her distance from him. With any luck, the storm would pass before nightfall, leaving him time to move on and make camp somewhere else for the night. He’d shared makeshift shelter with strangers before, talked, and traded, but he never slept well. And it was no great leap to guess the woman didn’t want him there.

Though she had let him in, at least. That was why she’d been at the window, Paul guessed—John had checked with her before giving Paul permission.

Lightning flashed outside. Paul counted four-Mississippi before the thunder rolled over the building. After the next strike, he counted three.

If the light were better, he could pass the time scribbling in his notebook. A half-formed song had haunted his thoughts for days, and he’d welcome a chance to jot down the lyrics. But it would be a waste of ink and paper trying to write by lightning flashes.

If the company were better, he could talk and see about some trading. He was running lower than he liked on food, though he had enough to see him through the next day or two. The towns on this stretch of the highway all seemed to be one or two days apart, so he expected to hit another one tomorrow. He could spend a day searching houses for supplies.

Glancing around the interior of the station, he wondered if there was a rack of local road maps. So far, he’d been navigating by the ones posted on the walls at rest stations. But it was too dark to see much of anything, except a weak glow from the far corner. Someone had lit a candle. He heard low voices talking. John’s, he recognized. Another one, lighter and higher-pitched, he assumed was the woman’s. But there was a third, too, higher still and squeaky.

Another flash of lightning drew Paul’s attention back to the window. No need to introduce himself to the others if they were only company while the storm lasted. With nothing else to do, he cleared a space on the counter, sat on it, and watched the storm.

There was a light patter of footsteps. Paul turned just as someone reached out to touch his arm. “Hi.”

“Hi,” Paul replied. The boy looked about nine or ten. His skin was almost the same deep brown shade as John’s. The glow of the candlelight behind him traced the edges of his short corkscrew curls, giving them a faint golden sheen.

“Do you want to trade with us before we eat dinner?” he asked, half-polite and half-shy. “Maybe we have something different, if you’re tired of what you got.”

“Sure.” Paul slid off the counter top and followed the boy over to the others.

John sat cross-legged with his back to one wall. “Aaron, I told you not to bother him.”

Aaron shrugged as he settled beside John. “I just wanted to see if he had any different food we could trade for. I’m tired of peanut butter crackers.”

In the corner, the woman sat with her knees drawn up before her. She flicked a glance at Paul but said nothing as he pulled off his pack and sat down several feet away.

“You might be in luck, then, Aaron,” Paul said. “I’ve got some granola bars. The s'mores kind, I think.”

Aaron gave him a big smile that was nearly identical to John’s. Paul didn’t want to leap to any conclusions based on the fact that they were both black, but they looked enough alike to be father and son. So far, they were acting like it.

Paul stole another glance at the woman as she stared into the candle flame, ignoring everything else. Her skin was a lighter golden brown, under the smudges of dirt. And despite the realization that she wasn’t a child, she didn’t look anywhere near old enough to be Aaron’s mother. So who was she, and how did she end up with them?

The sound of a zipper snapped his thoughts back into focus—Aaron had a battered red backpack on the floor in front of him. He reached in and pulled out two packets of crackers.

Paul rifled through his own supplies and turned up two granola bars in exchange. He was about to ask what else they might want, open-ended, to see if he could draw the woman out at all. Before he could, he heard wet, squelching footsteps from the front of the building. He leaped to his feet, whirling to face the newcomers. Three of them, two women and a man, all middle-aged, all splattered with rain.

“Easy, Paul.” John’s voice was firm. “They’re with us.”

“If we’d known the rain would start so soon,” the man said, “we could’ve just set these outside and let the storm fill them up.” He had a large metal water bottle in each hand. One he passed to John, the other he set on the floor beside him as he sat down. “So you made a new friend while we were gone?”

A soft snort came from the corner, but John answered them without acknowledging it. “Just sharing the roof until the storm passes.”

The man pulled off his baseball cap, ran a tanned hand through his salt-and-pepper hair, and smiled. “I don’t blame you for not wanting to get rained on.” He stuck out his other hand, which Paul shook briefly. “Mark.”

“Paul.”

“And this is my wife, Sarah,” he went on as one of the women sat down on his other side. The rain plastered her short blond hair to her forehead, but she smiled too and passed the extra bottle she carried to Aaron.

“Nice to meet you, Paul,” she said.

The final newcomer was still standing, looking down at Paul with a curious intensity. “Hello there.” Handsome, Paul mentally tacked on, because that was the exact tone she used. Since she was staring, he did too.

She was tall, or maybe she only seemed tall because she was lean and angular. Her hair was a riot of messy red curls in dire need of a wash, but she was pretty, in a faded, tired sort of way. Before the plague hit, she must have been beautiful. Before her eyes grew ringed with dark circles and her cheeks hollowed out from lack of food. “I’m Alison.”

Paul nodded. Alison tilted her head to the side for a moment, clearly waiting for more. When she didn’t get it, she strode past him. Behind him, which made his shoulder blades itch before he realized she was going to the small woman’s side.

Who still hadn’t given her name. Someone would, though. Paul could be patient.

Alison leaned against the wall and tapped it twice with the extra bottle in her hand. The sound reminded Paul of a food dish being set on the floor for a pet. Without looking, the woman reached her hand up, palm flat, and Alison set the bottle on it. Neither of them said a word.

When Alison sat down between her and Paul, closer to him than he would have liked, he had to resist the urge to pull away. No sense in being rude if he was only here until the storm let up.

“So, Paul,” Mark said with forced cheerfulness, “which way you headed?”

“East.”

Mark’s lips twisted behind his dark scruff of a beard, which hadn’t gone as white as his hair yet. “Damn, us too. I was hoping you were coming from there, so we could get an idea what the road ahead was like.”

Shaking his head, Paul said, “Sorry I can’t be more help.”

“Maybe you can,” Sarah said. “Do you have anything to trade?”

With an easy smile, Paul asked, “What d'you need?”

Sarah pursed her lips as she thought, and the cuteness of the expression took years off her face. “Extra socks?” she asked, hopeful enough that Paul knew she needed them, but resigned enough that she didn’t expect to get them.

Paul shook his head and turned to Mark. “Smokes.” Which earned him a light slap on the shoulder from his wife. “What, it’s been weeks now!” But Paul’s answer was another shake of his head.

John had Aaron seated in his lap and was finger-combing the boy’s hair. “I’m not holding my breath that you’ve got any natural-hair care products. I’m more likely to get struck by lightning. Inside.”

The dry, deadpan tone startled a laugh out of Paul. “I ain’t even got anything for myself right now,” he said, scratching at his dark blond hair. “I’m way overdue for a wash, and dunkin’ my head in a river ain’t the same. I’d shave it all off if electric razors were still a thing.”

Mark gestured at him. “You’ve got a knife.”

“I’d cut myself to ribbons. I think I’ll keep bein’ shaggy for now.”

Aaron, sensing his turn, piped up. “Any books? I’ve read the one I have about a dozen times by now.”

“Not much of a reader,” Paul answered. “What book you got?”

“Treasure Island,” Aaron said. “I like adventure stories.”

Alison snorted. “You’re living in one.”

John gave her a narrow-eyed look over Aaron’s head, but he didn’t say anything.

“Pain killers.”

The sharp and sudden request focused Paul’s attention on its source, the unnamed woman. Gone was the frightened doe of a girl—now her eyes were hard and flat. “Half a bottle of aspirin,” he offered. “What’ll you give me for it?”

“All I’ve got to spare is food. Cheese crackers, chocolate bars, take your pick. Or a can of Red Bull, if you’re afraid to sleep in here with us tonight and want to stay awake instead.”

“Nina …” John said with more than a hint of warning in his voice.

So she’s got a name after all.

“It’s thunderstorm season,” she said. “We’ve been lucky so far they haven’t been worse, but this one’s not going to pass over in an hour like you hope. We’re going to be here overnight.”

Alison hunched forward, elbows on her knees. “How do you know?”

“The weather here isn’t much different from where I grew up,” she answered with a slight shrug. “I lived with this every summer as a kid.” She turned back to Paul. “Anyway, does that work for you?”

Medicine of any kind was valuable, even the common stuff like aspirin. Food was never a bad trade, but he doubted she had enough to spare. “You hurt?” he asked, stalling.

“Cramps,” she answered shortly, and Paul suppressed a grin.

Any urge he’d felt to smile, though, disappeared when Alison spoke. “I’d think you’d be glad you’re having them.”

Paul found the bottle in his pack and rolled it across the floor toward Nina. It stopped at the toe of her boot, and she stared at it without speaking. “Don’t need any food,” Paul said, though it wasn’t strictly true. “I’ve got enough for myself for now. But since y'all were here first, I figure anything left in this place is yours, and I saw some lighters in the display on the counter. I’d be happy with a few of those. Seems like a good thing to have, and they might come in handy for trades down the line.”

Off to his other side, John and Mark traded a stunned look—Paul guessed they hadn’t noticed the lighters. Mark got up to retrieve them. “Let’s see …” he said, counting. “If we each keep one for ourselves, that leaves six for you. Sound good?”

“Sure,” Paul said. Mark brought them over to him, and out of the corner of his eye Paul watched Nina. She didn’t reach out to take the aspirin until the lighters were in his hands. Mark distributed the rest of them while Nina swallowed a few pills with a swig from her water bottle. She noticed Paul watching and nodded at him. He figured that was the closest she would come to thanking him, so he gave her a smile. Not the huge, dazzling grin that his mother had once told him would break hearts someday. Instead it was the small curve at the corners that his girlfriends, over the years, had all told him was sweet. He used the first one on women he wanted to impress—the second was usually reserved for the ones he was already close to. But the last thing he wanted to do was make Nina think he was attracted to her.

Even though he was. Illuminated by the candlelight, Paul could see she had beautiful eyes, big, vividly blue, and fringed with thick lashes. He had a pronounced weakness for women with gorgeous eyes.

But Paul could see Nina wasn’t like some of the other women he’d met on the road in the aftermath of the plague. The ones just as lonely as he was, who were willing to trust him for the length of one night before they parted ways in the morning. He never looked back, and neither did they. There hadn’t been many, and it had been weeks since the last time, so it was only natural he’d find himself falling in lust with someone.

Even if prying words out of that someone was a challenge.

Before the silence between them stretched on too long, Paul forced himself to look away. “Alison, you want anything?”

#writeblr #what we need to survive #what we need to survive excerpt #elenajohansenauthor #i wrote this #and published it

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boazpriestly · 6 years

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If Jack was 5 years old [pt. 1]

ao3

Jack sits in a chair at the police station in clothes just a size too big as he swings his legs from side to side because when he does that the chair moves, and it makes him smile. The older boy who found him -- Clark Barker, Jack quickly learned -- just watches him and pinches his eyebrows together; he doesn’t say anything. Clark’s mother, the Sheriff, crouches down in front of Jack and asks him questions that he doesn’t know the answers to.

He tells her his name is Jack because it’s true. Says that he’s looking for his father, but that his mother is dead. He looks at his feet when he tells her that; the words make his heart hurt, and moisture collect in his eyes. Something wet falls down his cheek and he quickly wipes it away. The Sheriff touches his knee, squeezing lightly and telling him that things were going to be okay. He smiles at her a little. She’s nice, like his mother and his father.

“I’m going to go get you some juice,” she says, reaching up wipe away more moisture from Jack’s eyes and then touch his hair. “Do you have a preference?”

“Preference?” Jack parrots with a tilt of his head.

“How about I surprise you.” She stands and tells Clark to keep an eye on Jack. He nods says he wants a soda as payment. She laughs and then leaves.

Jack resumes kicking his feet.

“You really don’t remember how you ended up naked in a forest?” Clark makes a face after he asks. Jack isn’t sure what the expression means, but he thinks it might not be good.

He shakes his head. “I’m hungry,” he says right as his stomach lets out a sound that startles him. He looks at Clark with wide eyes.

“Yeah, sounds like it,” Clark agrees. He stands and walks around the desk he was sitting at. He holds out his hand. “C’mon, I know where to get something to eat.”

Jack looks at Clark’s hand, then back up at his face. He doesn’t move.

Clark rolls his eyes and then bends down and picks Jack up, setting him on his hip. He comments on how light Jack is, says that he looks like he’s weigh a lot more. Jack wiggles a little, trying to feel his weight the way Clark can, but Clark just moves his arm under Jack’s butt and asks if Jack needs to pee.

“I don’t think so,” Jack says, though he doesn’t quite understand what Clark is asking him.

“Okay,” Clark says, putting Jack down on the floor, “well, if you do have to go, just tell me and I’ll take you to the bathroom. Okay?”

“Okay.”

Clark smiles at Jack and then claps his hands together and gestures around the room. “This is the glorious break room,” Clark announces in a funny voice that makes Jack laugh. “Anything you want can be found here because cops eat just about everything and they are terrible at hiding the snacks they don’t want the sheriff’s kid to eat.” He starts opening things he calls cabinets before opening the thing he calls the fridge, and calls Jack over. “There’s sandwiches, salads -- no one actually likes those -- pickles, hot dogs, leftover burrito bowls. See anything you like?”

Jack looks at everything in turn, taking in all the shiny silver, foggy plastic, and white boxes covering most of it. His stomach makes the noise again and Clark looks at it.

“Hmm, maybe leftovers aren’t going to do it.” Clark closes the fridge. He picks Jack up and sits him on the counter top. “Do you like granola bars?”

“I don’t know,” Jack says honestly.

“You’ve never had one before?”

“I don’t know,” Jack says again.

Clark reaches into one of the cabinets and pulls out a box. He sets it down next to Jack and tells him to dig in. When Jack just stares at the box, Clark laughs a little and says, “Oh yeah, I forgot, you’re like a newborn.” He sticks his hand in the box and pulls out a small rectangle wrapped in plastic. He tears open one of the sides and peels the plastic, revealing a smaller rectangle inside. “This is a chocolate chip granola bar,” he explains, “it’s one of the best things ever invented besides Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups and 3 Musketeers bars.” He puts the granola bar in Jack’s hand. “Eat it.”

Jack examines the granola bar for about three seconds and then put part of it into his mouth and bites down. His eyes go wide as the sweet flavors explode over his tongue. He looks at Clark and grins as wide as he can while still keeping his mouth closed; he doesn’t want any of the granola bar to fall out of his mouth.

“See, I knew you’d love it. Lemme see if we have anything else that’ll be life changing.”

For the next half an hour, Jack and Clark slip into a routine of Clark taking out different foods he thinks Jack will like and Jack trying all of it and telling Clark if it’s a winner or a bust (Clark’s words). Jack learns that he hates pickles, sour patch candies, and roast beef (much to Clark’s heartbreak) but loves peaches, donuts, and chocolate syrup straight from the bottle. Clark high-fives Jack as he downs nearly a quarter of the bottle in one go, and grins at Clark with a toothy, chocolate stained smile. They laugh together for a minute, and then Clark puts the syrup back in the fridge and gets a wet washcloth from the edge of the sink and starts wiping chocolate off of Jack’s face.

“Wanna try something even better than chocolate syrup?”

“What’s better than chocolate syrup?” Jack asks.

“Good answer.” Clark lifts Jack off the counter and places him on his hip again, carrying Jack over to big rectangle with a clear front that stood against the farthest wall in the room. Clark points to something that looks like one of the granola bars, but the plastic wrapped around it is silver with red words written on it. “You see that?”

“3 Musketeers?” Jack reads.

“Best candy in the entire world. Wanna try one?”

Jack nods and squirms in Clark’s arms. “I don’t have to pee,” he says before Clark can ask. Instead he leans forwards a bit, placing one hand on the glass and one just above the buttons on the machine. He eyes the candy as Clark adjusts his hold on Jack.

“We’ll have to wait until my mom get back, though. ‘Cause you need money to get stuff from the vending machine and I don’t have and change on me right now.” Clark says.

Jack sticks out his lip, frustrated. He doesn’t want to wait, he wants it now. Clark wants one too. There has to be a way to get one without waiting for money.

Suddenly the vending machine shutters and shakes under Jack’s hands. Clark lets out a quiet “Whoa”, and then two 3 Musketeers bars and three other kinds of candies fall from their coils and into the slot below.

“What the hell?” Clark mutters. He sets Jack on the floor and grabs the candies out of the machine. “I’ve never seen it do something like that before.” Clark sits down on the floor and Jack sits next to him, crossing his legs just like Clark does. Clark stares at the candies in his lap for a moment before shrugging and then tearing open one of the 3 Musketeers and passing it to Jack who bites into it almost immediately and agrees that it is definitely the best candy ever.

When they are done devouring the candies, Jack decides that he wants more. He stands and puts his hands on the vending machine again.

“I don’t think it’s gonna happen again, kid,” Clark says, clearing his lap of candy wrappers. “It was a freak accident. Probably a short in the --”

Jack’s hands feel warm as the machine shakes and shutters again and more candy falls from the coils. This time, Jack grabs all the candy -- mostly 3 Musketeers bars -- and drops them on the floor next to Clark. He sits down in the same spot he’d been sitting in before and tears open one of the candy bars the way he’d seen Clark do it.

Clark watches him with his mouth open for about as long as it takes for Jack to finish one 3 Musketeers and reach for another. He shakes his head, seemingly choosing not to care about how the candy was acquired, and grabs a candy bar too.

As they each reach for a third bar (they’ve started a contest to see who can eat the most in one sitting), Sheriff Barker walks into the room. Her voice sounds different than before as she asks them if they’re okay.

“Yeah,” Clark says after swallowing what was in his mouth. “Jack was just hungry. He really likes candy.”

Jack look back at Sheriff Barker and smiles around his mouthful. “I like nougat!” he exclaims.

Sheriff Barker gives Clark a look and Clark shrugs and holds up his hands.

“How did you get all of that anyways?” Sheriff Barker asks, gesturing to the candy.

“Show her what you did, Jack,” Clark says.

Jack stands and touches the vending machine for the third time. This time it’s easier to do what he did before. This time he just thinks about the candies he wants and only those ones fall out. He grabs them and holds them out triumphantly.

“Jack,” Sheriff Barker says, her voice taking a tone that makes Jack feel weird. “How did you do that?”

“I don’t know,” Jack says with a smile.

He means to walk back to Clark, to drop the candy where it goes and then continue their game. But he takes one step and pain erupts inside his head. The candy falls from his hands and Jack falls to his knees. He yells, grabbing at his ears, his hair. It feels so sharp and awful.

Clark is the first to get to Jack, but Sheriff Barker is the first voice he hears.

“Jack! Jack are you okay?”

The moisture is back in his eyes and falling down his cheeks; he doesn’t try to wipe it away.

Clark grabs Jack and pulls him onto his lap. He holds Jack’s face in his hands moving Jack’s head back and forth, checking him over and asking over and over what happened and if Jack is okay.

Jack doesn’t know. He couldn’t tell them what just happened even if he tried, all he knows is that it hurt. It hurt so bad.

He opens his mouth to say just that, but the pain shoots through his skull again and this time he screams. He yanks himself out of Clark’s hold and rolls off his lap. His eyes are shut tight as he stands and sets off for the door. He hurts so much, and it isn’t stopping.

Sheriff Barker reaches out Jack. Her fingers graze his arm and the contact is too much. And inferno erupts where her skin met his and Jack throws out his hand to tell her not to touch him again. The power that Jack used to get the candy shoots from his hands, but it’s stronger than before -- worse. Sheriff Barker flies back and slams into the glass of the vending machine, shattering it before falling to the floor. Clark shouts and goes to his mom.

A cold sinking feeling fills Jack’s stomach. He runs as best he can, but the pain messes up his vision and makes everything shake and tip to the side. His stomach feels bad, very bad.

“Jack?” Someone says. It isn’t Clark or Sheriff Barker, but Jack can tell it’s a man. Someone he’s seen before, met before. The man looks at him, and rage fills Jack’s insides. He doesn’t like this man. This man wants to hurt Jack.

The power comes back worse than ever before, and Jack tries to aim it at the man in front of him.

Then the pain shoots through him like nothing he has ever felt before, and everything goes black.

#my fic #What if Jack was actually a child?#I love Jack #but I every time I see him I can't help but feel like the writers missed a golden opportunity #by not making him a 5 year old boy #so I'm writing what they didn't

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emberosia · 7 years

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Meals on Wheels

Okay so I've made one repost about this earlier, but I need to get my full opinion, and a few facts, across completely. So buckle up, here we go. I'm getting emotional. I'm married, I have a nice house, a loving husband, two cats and I want kids in the future. I'm not what someone would call poor, and no one who looks at me would think I am, and I'm not really, but I used to be. My mother worked two jobs, all hours of the night and well into the early morning. My father, though he isn't anymore, used to do heavy drugs, and was not at all providing for us. He wasn't abusive, at least not physically, he just wasn't raising my younger sister and I. My mother left him, but for now, I'll talk about how I lived there while my mother and father were still together. My sister is two years younger than me, and I'm at the time, I was around the age of 8 or 9 so she was 6 or 7. That's very young, let me remind you. We had hardly any food, at all. We would be lucky to have eggs and bacon on a Saturday morning. Most days, off brand cereal was our breakfast, and we never complained. We would have lunch, which was a sandwich with cheap ham or turkey, and cheese. That's it. Peanut butter and Jelly were common. My sister would often complain about her stomach hurting because she was hungry, I had learned very quickly that food was something that we had to eat moderately. My mother wouldn't eat for days if it meant me and my sister could eat. The school year was wonderful for us, not because we liked to learn, but because we knew we would have food. As horrible as it was, but we were hungry, and anything was fine. Fast-forward to middle school years, where we lived with our mother and grandmother. My grandmother helped us out a lot, but she was very sick all the time and most of her money went toward her medical bills. She,even though she couldn't afford it, would take us to the aquarium or maybe to the park. She would often buy us a little mini bag of chips and if we had been good- a soda pop. Which was practically gold to my sister and I. Soda was expensive and we though we must have been rich. Every Friday, we would bring home a gym bag full of canned foods. And my mother would count them and constantly scribble on a worn out notebook every time one of the cans was used. She did that with most of the food in our house. We both knew by now, my sister an I, that my mother spent many night in her room, with papers spread out all over her scratched up and old desk, crying silently to herself because she just didn't know how she was going to buy our school supplies and pay bills, plus put food in the house. It didn't help that I was a sickly child and was constantly at the hospital. I decided I would do anything and everything around the house. To help her out, my sister, did it a different way. Making straight A's and bribing them home so that our mother would have a good pieces of paper to look at among the many bills. My sister and I would each pick out one thing from those gym bags, that we could save in our room and eat when we were feeling stressed or sad. I remember one time, we had gotten a can of spaghettio's and meatballs, they were my little sisters favorite. Though they we're rare. I always insisted that she never share them. They were her little treat for doing so well in school and she was always ecstatic to eat them while I munched on a granola bar. One day, my mother came home from work, tired and just a plain mess. She had bandages on her arm and me and my sister guessed she had burned herself, as she was a cook for the Military Base we live an hour away from. She had rummaged through the kitchen and sighed when we had no more bread left. My sister just looked down at her steaming bowl, as if it were a complex math problem. I stayed silent. She then, got up and grabbed our mothers hand and led her to the table. She made my mother sit down at my sisters spot. Which was one she never let anyone sit down at, and then she said something that I will never forget. "Ma, I know you work hard. Please eat. You never eat anything like this anymore." My mother had just stared at her for a moment before looked down at the bowl, she knew it was my sisters favorite. She smiled sadly and then I saw tears start pouring from her face. That was the first time my mother ever openly cried in front of either of us. Those meals aren't just to help children "get better at school." It's to help feed hungry children and to help broken parents at their wits end. Fuck you, for trying to take this away. My mother and sister are STILL a part of this program and I'll be dammed if I'm going to let all those other children who I know have it worse than me. No. Fuck that. It's evil and I don't know how some rich pompous in a fucking suit can just decide that a child living in a trailer that only gets one meal a day at school isn't worth the fucking time of day. Meals on wheels is a fucking life saver and I'll fight for it until I die.

#meals on wheels #starving children #hungry

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kidsviral-blog · 6 years

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31 Microwave Recipes That Are Borderline Genius

New Post has been published on https://kidsviral.info/31-microwave-recipes-that-are-borderline-genius/

31 Microwave Recipes That Are Borderline Genius

Well, this changes everything.

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Alice Mongkongllite / BuzzFeed

1. Microwave Risotto

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brit.co

So much easier than standing over a stove, “stirring constantly.” Check out THREE awesome recipes here.

2. Microwave Chocolate Chip Cookie

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number-2-pencil.com

Not only is this the fastest way to feed a homemade cookie craving, it’s also the only way to make homemade cookies without running the risk of eating a dozen in one sitting. Recipe here.

3. Bacon in the Microwave

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creeklinehouse.com

No more scrubbing bacon grease off of your favorite skillet. Instructions here.

4. Gluten-Free Microwave Enchiladas

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flippindelicious.com

You can also make these gluten-filled by using regular tortillas, if you’d prefer. Either way, the whole thing will take 10 minutes. Recipe here.

5. Chocolate Peanut Butter Mug Cake

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yammiesnoshery.com

The thing about mug cakes is that it’s really hard to share. Oops. Recipe here.

6. Two-Minute French Toast

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prettyprudent.com

Syrup to taste, as usual. Recipe here.

7. Vegan, Grain-Free Microwave English Muffin

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thebigmansworld.com

All about those nukes and crannies! Recipe here.

8. Microwave Peanut Brittle

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plainchicken.com

Recipe here.

9. Nutella Mug Cake

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livelovepasta.com

Only slightly more difficult than spooning Nutella straight from the jar to your mouth. Recipe here.

10. Microwave Egg White and Cheese Breakfast Sandwich

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foodiecrush.com

Those nuked innards would probably taste pretty great on a microwave English muffin, if you want to really go all in. Recipe here.

11. Roasted Garlic in the Microwave

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thekitchn.com

Because roasted garlic makes EVERY dish better, but sometimes you just don’t have the time or patience. Recipe here.

12. Microwave Granola

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realmomkitchen.com

Recipe here.

13. Microwave Lemon Bars

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momontimeout.com

Coming soon to a bake sale near you. Like, very near you. The nearest. Because you will bring them. Recipe here.

14. Sour Cream and Onion Microwave Veggie Chips

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bubblynaturecreations.com

Satisfy that snack craving ASAP. Recipe here.

15. Microwave-Baked Sweet Potato

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thegraciouspantry.com

Much faster than the hour (or more!) it takes to roast a sweet potato in the oven, with a very similar result. Recipe here.

16. Microwave Ropa Vieja

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foodnetwork.com

This classic beef dish is seriously impressive. Recipe here.

17. One-Minute Vegan Coffee Cake

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chocolatecoveredkatie.com

Fresher than anything you could pick up on your way to work. Recipe here.

18. Microwave Chicken and Dumplings

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foodnetwork.com

Comfort food, at its finest. Recipe here.

19. Microwave Scrambled Eggs

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wherethecookiesare.com

By taking the eggs out to stir every 45 seconds, you get eggs that are soft and delicious, not gummy and dense. Recipe here.

20. Microwave Mason Jar Pancakes

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themamasgirls.com

Bring a Mason jar of pancake batter to work in the morning, then nuke it in your office microwave for a big pancake breakfast! Recipe here.

21. Microwave Ratatouille

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foodnetwork.com

And, look how pretty! Recipe here.

22. Microwave Cinnamon Roll

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cookingclassy.com

Homemade cinnamon rolls are actually sort of a pain, since most call for yeast and thus require lots of waiting (ugh). This one comes together in a matter of minutes! Recipe here.

23. Microwave Macaroni and Cheese

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ellaclaireinspired.com

Easier than Easy Mac! Well, maybe not, but probably better. Recipe here.

24. Microwave Lemon-Horseradish Sole

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marthastewart.com

I won’t tell anybody how you did it. They certainly won’t guess. Recipe here.

25. Loaded Microwave-Baked Potato

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eatingonadime.com

Recipe here.

26. Microwave Monkey Bread

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theneighborhoodmoms.com

Recipe here.

27. Microwave Salmon en Papillote

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betterrecipes.com

Cooking fish en papillote (in parchment paper) in the oven is easy, but this brings things to a whole new level. Recipe here.

28. Microwave Chicken Penne Al Fresco

bigbearswife.com

The chicken in this recipe is pre-cooked, but the pasta gets cooked in the microwave in a delicious mix of broth and tomatoes, then the cheese and chicken get stirred in at the end. Recipe here.

29. Microwave-Baked Apples in a Bag

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salad-in-a-jar.com

Easy as pie. Much easier, actually. Recipe here.

30. Microwave “Fried” Rice

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kitchme.com

Recipe here.

31. Toasted Nuts in the Microwave

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unsophisticook.com

Toasting nuts in a skillet is pretty labor-intensive, and they never seem to brown evenly. And using an oven is risky, because if you let them go a minute too long, they’re burnt and bitter. The microwave is an easy, foolproof alternative. Instructions here.

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Read more: http://www.buzzfeed.com/christinebyrne/nuke-your-food

#easy recipes #foods you can nuke #Microwave #microwave cake #microwave recipes #mug cake #mug recipes #recipe list #weeknight recipes

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tebbyclinic11 · 6 years

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Trader Joe’s Newest Products in 2018, Reviewed

New Post has been published on http://kitchengadgetsreviews.com/trader-joes-newest-products-in-2018-reviewed/

Trader Joe’s Newest Products in 2018, Reviewed

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Trader Joe’s has it all figured out. The new products, they just keep coming. We’re on a hare-brained mission to try every new product at TJ’s in 2018. Trying. A noble pursuit, a “good use of time,” “what is this, an ad?”, call it what you will. New this week—Valentines gummies, coconut clusters of fun, pretty good chicken sausage, and more.

Organic Oven Roasted Turkey Breast, $4.99These floppy shingles of roasted turkey are a lunch meat staple, though I’ve never tried to bind two pieces of paper with them. Instead, I roll them with sliced Swiss cheese and dip them in mustard like the grown adult person with an expired license I am. A subtle, roasted flavor elevates the turkey from its natural state of taste (soggy meat Kleenex) to a whisper of Thanksgiving leftovers. Good product. Reliable sandwich material. Real meat. Gluten-free. Protein. Precisely circular. Not salami.

Gummy Xs & Os, $2.99In time for Valentine’s Day, we have a big bag of gummies. The ”natural flavors” flavor reminds me of rosé–supposedly grapefruit, strawberry, and mixed berry—but they all blend together to me in the way you’re pretty sure gummy bears are different flavors for different colors but are they, really?? All I know is that the Xs taste better than Os. The big downside–sorry, gummy enthusiasts—is that the texture is too soft. Like that moment you’re making out with your Valentine and finally come to terms with the fact that he’s a body pillow named Ted. Gummies need a little bit of chew, some struggle, a reminder that it’s not gonna be easy all the time. A nice metaphor for love if you ask me.

Electric Buzz Coffee Cups, $5.49I drink coffee the old-fashioned way—by pouring off-boiling water into a filter directly in my mouth—so I enlisted a guest reviewer for these TJ branded K-cups that are supposedly EXTRA CAFFEINATED! “It’s no special cup of mud,” texted my friend Keith, a man who puts plastic cups in a machine expecting roasted bean juice to come out. BA’s Alex Delany described these coffee pods like he does beer, ridiculously: “It tastes like someone walked across your tongue with brand new dad sneakers on. Rubber soles.” Did he really need to offend all of dadkind like that? Probably yes.

Organic Sweet Italian Chicken Sausage, $5.99Like many chicken sausages, it tastes like chicken sausage. Throw in some garlic powder and basil particles and poof, Italian. Out of the package, they have a slimy smooth, bouncy hot dog texture because the casing has been removed. I don’t get how this works, but I‘ll try anything once. A sweet, kind cashier with a striking resemblance to my Uncle Manny (RIP) said he loves to make sausage and peppers with them, so that’s what I did. I mean, we’re practically family. The sausages are smaller side, more the size of Ball Park Franks, and crisp up in the pan as intended. Two people in my household ate the entire package of five links, dipping each bite in mustard and trying to find something more meaningful to say about something as mundane as chicken sausage. Notes of peppercorn tingle the tastebuds. Solidly Not Bad.

Coconut Sesame Seed Clusters, $1.99These are little shards that aren’t quite granola and yet aren’t anything else. Purgatory snacks! They’re crunchy pieces of toasted coconut covered in sesame seeds, sealed together with coconut sugar and tapioca syrup. Okay so they’re candy. Serving suggestions include: casually eating out of a hollowed coconut shell, on ice cream, but more likely, by the handful until you read the nutrition facts and realize the bag is empty but hey, at least they’re gluten-free? If this isn’t impulse purchase material, I don’t know what is.

Previously

The Week of January 22

Churro Bites, $2.49The only thing these churro bites share in common with hot-off-the-oil churros is a coating of cinnamon sugar. Other than that, these crunchy nuggets are their own category of cookie-chip. They have a near-velvet outer texture, the combination of shiny hardened butter and sandy sugar, like when you dropped a doughnut hole at the beach but ate it anyway, because seagulls. (Because you’re a monster). Sort of like giant Corn Pops, rolled cinnamon sugar. I won’t even begin to describe what they visually resemble (😺 💩). The cashier at TJ’s looked at the nutritional details and then slowly raised her eyes to mine. Me: “These are not good for you.” Her: “Then why are you buying two?”

Gluten Free Oat Cranberry Flaxseed Cookies, $2.99As a general life principle, you should never trust a cookie with more than three names. These gluten-free-oat-cranberry-flaxseed-cookies seem to think that they can trick us into believing they’re some kind of health food but we know, ohhhh we KNOW. These are cookies. With plenty of butter and sugar. Because of that, I have some great news: They taste like cookies! Like a very good grocery store oatmeal raisin cookie, with a surprisingly soft and chewy texture (I see you, molasses and rice flour.) They crumble a little, but then again who doesn’t in this current political climate? Still not sure what a flaxseed is, but I’m already starting to see definition in my abs.

Thai Green Curry Simmer Sauce, $1.99This so-called simmer sauce is the pale minty green of my grandmother’s bathroom walls, with much more flavor (and a lot less lead!). Even though a simple green curry is easy to make, at this price, it costs the same as just the can of coconut milk, and there’s Kaffir lime peel in here. It’s fragrant with lemongrass and ginger, and super creamy, a little sweet—overall, delicious. You cook some protein or veg, add the sauce, serve over noodles/rice. What does this sauce have in common with a certain presidential marriage? There’s absolutely no heat. BYO-chile if you need to spice it up.

Tahini, Pepita & Apricot Slaw Kit, $3.99Inside one plastic bag you get four more little plastic bags! It’s like a Russian nesting salad of environmental doom. Or something. The slaw is a combination of veggies from the aisle-land of misfit produce. Spiky broccoli stems. Faded carrots the color of construction cones abandoned by the highway. The curly split ends from a kale haircut. Cabbage. Unfortunately the dressing, a sweet honey tahini (try this one!), which is pretty good, can’t mask the musty taste of the veg. The pepita and apricot sprinkles are a nice idea, but like hoping the 14 throw pillows on your couch hide all of the cat hair, they can only do so much.

Previously

The Week of January 8

Photo by Chelsie Craig

Frosted Sugar Cookies, $2.99Trader Joe’s imitation of Lofthouse’s iconic packaged cookies is the best thing they’ve brought to the new year. The freakishly smooth, delightfully underbaked sugar cookie is topped with frosting and randomly distributed purple-pink sprinkles. Whoever was in charge of sprinkles appears to have sneezed them out, some gather along the edges, holding on for dear frosting life.

But they really did it. It’s mythic, and it dissolves into dust the second it touches your saliva. The minute you bite into it, you forget it was ever there. And it’s everything you’ve missed since the last time you had one, stoned at 10 p.m. in Kroger with your middle school friends who’ve all had babies on Facebook by now. It’s a cookie that will send you back in time, in memory, in a sugar-induced nostalgia nap.

Photo by Chelsie Craig

Cocoa Almond Cashew Beverage, $2.29Who doesn’t love a beverage? AKA the FDA-approved term for milks that aren’t milk. Remember milk? Pause to pour out some beverage in the memory of milk. Those days are over.

This incredibly silky not-milk is chocolaty and sweet, with a vaguely nutty aftertaste, like a burp after too many bar peanuts. The creamy texture, thanks to the beautiful food science that is locust bean gum and other emulsifiers, ends on a near slimy note, reminiscent of the inside of the cardboard chocolate milk carton. It would be nice in a banana smoothie, heated as faux cocoa, mixed into iced coffee, or given as a bribe to children who have never known the cult of cow.

Photo by Chelsie Craig

Italian Marinara Sauce with Barolo Wine, $3.49Have you ever spooned straight marinara sauce into your mouth? It’s acidic and sweet, smooth save for the little toenails of tomato skin here and there. The saltiness left my chapped lips burning and tingling, like I’d exfoliated them with French fries. The addition of Barolo seems to say, “I know wines other than red,” while the black-and-gold Deco packaging suggests a Gatsby-themed party at the Olive Garden. It tasted like pretty good pizza sauce. Sign me up.

Organic Fruit and Seed Granola, $3.69These little clusters of organic seeds, held together by plasticky tasting tapioca syrup, are nuggets of health. I think. No pesky oats here, just seed bombs that I imagine are only slightly larger than what well-fed pigeons expel. The sharp and crunchy texture is appealing to parents who bring healthy snacks to the movies. They’re also the perfect snack for mindful eaters, as you will mindfully spend every bite doing tongue yoga to get chia seeds out of your molar fillings from the 90s. There are surprise bites of sweetened dried cranberries that will make you exclaim, “SUGAR, for MEEEE?” Somehow you will eat the whole bag.

Stay tuned for more, next week.

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willowbg-consumption · 6 years

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Day 6: January 21st, 2018

For some reason whenever I write the date I always want to put 2016. That was 2 years ago. I don’t know what’s wrong with me, but at least I can correct myself.

The first thing I did today after waking up is spend 45 minutes on Tumblr. I found it really hard to get out of bed and get moving today, despite it being noon. My depression is getting pretty bad, so it’s good that I have an appointment with my psychiatrist soon. This media consumption would be culture because it’s something I do for fun, and mostly has things of pop culture on it.

I did manage to get out of bed today and get food. The first thing I ate was a peanut butter cookie that was expired that I had gotten from work. It was okay. Nothing super special, but it was able to satisfy my hunger. I also went to Sencha Tea Bar because my roommate wanted to go, and I thought I probably should get out of the house. I ended up getting a large iced black tea with cherry flavoring which cost $6, and I’m still drinking it now. It’s alright to treat yourself to some good tea every once and a while. I also had the Goldfish crackers I bought from work the other day for “lunch”. I have too many containers of Goldfish in my possession. SOS. For “dinner”, I had a chocolate chip granola bar that I bought in like October at target. I also had some Fisher’s honey roasted peanuts that I bought in the beginning of the school year and my (probably) expired Tostitos tortilla chips. So my food and beverage consumption didn’t stop there. I also had some BOP AKA Banana Orange Pineapple juice AKA the best juice ever straight out of the carton because I didn’t want to have to wash a cup.....and maybe I also had some Mike and Ikes (I did). I have really bad eating habits apparently. My food consumption would be labelled as economy because I spent money on a drink, but the rest of the food I ate was all from my food closet. (That sounds really weird, but I really do have a food closet).

A large portion of my day was spent on homework. I have a reading presentation for Design and Discontents, which I have been working on here and there. I read the readings on Friday, so now it’s just a matter of taking that information and putting it into slide format, as well as writing notecards on it. Also, I have to do 20 Business card sketches for my Text and Image class. I’ve done about 11, but I’ve been having problems coming up with new ideas. I’m sure I’ll finish them eventually. Future Willow here, saying that I have gotten all of the sketches done, but now I need to do the information sheets for ten of the designs. I’m going to save that for another day, though. For this homework consumption, I would classify it as society, since it’s part of getting a good education (which is expected by society), but also design, since a large portion of it was sketching.

While doing homework I’ve been listening to music through Spotify on my computer. I’ve kind of been jumping through lots of different genres (mostly pop, rap, and EDM), but I think I’ve settled on listening to Logic (rap) and Timeflies (rap/EDM) for now. When I was walking to my fraternity meeting I listened to my EDM playlist and I listened to the same playlist on the walk back. I really like walking to places because the weather is not bad and it allows me to listen to more music. My music, as always, would be classified as culture, as it’s something I do that makes me happy and my music taste makes me unique 😊.

I’ve had to spend a lot of money today on big things, and it’s kind of scary to me. I had to pay $100 for dues for the Fraternity that I’m apart of (APX). That part is not so scary. I also had to pay rent for my apartment, which is another $800. That’s a little scary, but I pay it every month, so it’s not so bad. What is really scary to me is spending over $1,000 to pay hospital bills. Long story short I had issues with one of my medications in November and my now ex boyfriend called to have a wellness check on me, which ended up putting me in the hospital overnight. I don’t even know how one night in the hospital (It wasn’t even 12 hours that I spent there) ended up costing me over $1,000 with insurance. It’s actually kind of messed up, but I have no choice but to pay it. This money spending, is obviously economy, as it has to do with spending money. That’s pretty much half of what an economy is.

For television, I watched the web-series Good Mythical Morning. I had missed their Thursday and Friday episode, so I caught up on that. I also used my cable streaming app on my computer to watch America’s Next Top Model. It’s honestly really trashy. I think the only reason I watch it is because I used to watch it when I was little and obsessed with reality TV. (I was a really strange child). Looking back on my consumption habits for TV, I do watch a lot of really bad reality television. I need to find something good on TV to watch that isn’t reality TV ASAP. Like, what am I doing with my life with watching all of this bad reality TV? I also watched more reality tv, but this time it was 2 episodes of the show Catfish. Like before, this TV consumption would be culture because it’s something I (unfortunately) enjoy watching.

#Day 6 #Consumption

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katiezstorey93 · 6 years

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Healthy Diet and Fitness Q&A — Inspiralized

When considering today’s subject for my show, there were many questions I received and I felt bad by answering a not answering more.

Consequently, the current article is more of a “Q&A” in which I am answering a whole lot of your submitted questions!

You will see your question here and if you don’t, leave your query and I’ll be answering them. Or, you can your questions so if this proves popular, that I have them can save them for future Q&A collection!

What I Ate Today, April 11, 2017

Breakfast

Made a smoothie jar in a cup! I woke up craving a jar but also wanted to drink a smoothie, so I simply put my granola together with some chia seeds. It was the consistency that is ideal! The smoothie includes kale, peanut butter, blueberries, banana, almond milk, ice cream, and hydration powder.

Snack

Consistently eating a bag of nuts! Same raw blend (pecans, almonds, walnuts, cashews) with raisins.

Lunch

It was such a beautiful day out, I wanted to get outdoors, so I moved to this little “New Cafe” that’s within my building (I understand, a grocery shop, a cafe, a restaurant and also a coffeeshop, I am spoiled!) And got. Kale, hummus, roasted red peppers, avocado, tomato, onion, etc.. Fresh and yummy!

Snack

I ate lunch so I simply had a nut blend to hold me until my Spanish lesson — and a apple!

Dinner

I created the Chicken Cacciatore in the Inspiralize Everything cookbook but utilized spiralized potatoes rather than rutabaga and additional brussels sprouts. Finest dinner!

Dessert

A few mango and Green grapes slices! These are loved by me from .

Healthy Diet & Fitness Q&A

Just how can your work outs differ when you were more so on the weight loss travel versus today where you are not trying to eliminate weight? — Meghan, through email

I did more workouts. I worked out for one hour, because I wanted to fit it all in — cardio and toning and did cardio. Unless I am in a workout class like yoga it’s rare I do a workout. 45 minutes is all that I need to maintain toning and keep my weight loss (and I certainly do 30 minute workouts too today!) . It’s not necessary to do 1-hour workouts to lose weight, I am simply comparing then to today. Back then, I wanted to reevaluate the weight loss, so that I was focused on calorie burn. My goals aren’t calorie burn.

When I was trying to eliminate weight, I did cardio 6 days per week. It was either running or spinning. I’d try to do at least 30 minutes of cardio on these days. I’d do 45 minute twist rides, A few days. It’s wonderful for cardio (some of my spin courses burned off 600+ calories!)) , but it is vital to also do toning. When I was toning, I’d concentrate on “programs” that laid it all out for me, so that I could plan my work outs. For example, I would do Tone It Up Exercises 3 days per week (along with this cardio). I’d do BBG workouts 3 days, A few weeks. These programs take all of the guess work out for you and the concentrated toning is useful whenever you have goals of weight loss.

My priority is slowed 100%. I am at a weight where I am happy, and today I just need to turn any pudge. Having more of an hourglass form, I am not the body type that builds muscle easily (say, by way of instance, in contrast to an ‘athletic build’ or someone having a more straight up and down frame.) My workouts today are lighter compared to the cardio (although I always default back to cardio if my weight changes a couple pounds following a very long weekend), say 2o to 30 minutes of running or spinning and I finish using 15-20 minutes of toning workout. There are also certain days that I do no aerobic exercise, full toning workouts. I don’t always do cardio. I’ll do even a BBG workout for 28 minutes or a 30 or 45 minute Nike Training Club program workout. That is my entire workout for the day.

I am just as consistent today that is still . Consistency is critical when toning!

I wonder when I am seeing or making your recipes in case you watch calorie/fat ingestion at all? I know that you workout like crazy so you burn quickly. I guess my questions is how do you have some guidelines for overall balance of your day? Thank you Ali! — through Instagram

Nope! I don’t count calories. For a single summer (actually, two months of summer) I began counting calories a bit and it gave me a very poor outlook on eating, so I stopped it immediately after and I’ve never counted calories since. I concentrate more on eating real meals and percentage controlling. However, I do understand that my body needs 1,200-1,400 calories per day to keep my active lifestyle, so that I make certain you eat at LEAST which (and on a day when I am running around or possess an additional intense workout), I might have an additional snack or two. I do count the calories, so I simply understand what these parts seem like, in comparison to the foods I am eating. You can see my “What I Ate Today” for an example of that. If I needed to run the numbers for now, I’d say I ate approximately 1,600-1,800 calories (but I am also pregnant and adding 300+ calories per day over my regular ingestion per my doctor’s instruction.)

If you concentrate on very nourishing your body with real whole foods (and also a 100 calorie Yoplait does not count), then you won’t have to go caught up in your calories. Your body will let you know what it needs to operate. If you are ever light feeling particularly starving or headed, you probably ought to consume more — and probably more protein. Take a week if you are hungry in between and in which you simply eat 3 meals each day, have a bite that will nourish you, not something just like a bag of chips. From this exercise, you’ll realize what your body ought to have on a daily basis to operate. And you won’t even understand the calories! You shouldn’t feel.

If you have some tips on discovering inspiration I would be quite interested. — through blog

Amazing question! My response: YOURSELF. Promise yourself that for 5 days/week for a complete month, you’ll have a selfie of yourself. After one to two weeks, then you’ll begin to see a shift in your body (slimmer(maybe a few pounds less), and that is going to function as your inspiration. There is no surprise that Kayla Itsines of all BBG built such an empire — viewing our own advancement is all we need for inspiration! I’ve done this with @Getinspiralized and I started looking forward to studying my photographs, to observe the incremental adjustments during the week and comparing myself into old photographs.

Advice on ways to craft a workout program for the week and also the way to figure out what weight training moves or HIIT goes to do daily would be greatly appreciated!! — Joanna, through blog

In case you don’t have any idea how to begin building a workout program, I strongly urge Tone Up It or Kayla Itsines’ Beach Body Guide (aka BBG.) They bought have simple to follow along and understand workout manuals (with images). When I started out, these are. I loved Tone Up It particularly, because they had a whole lot of videos (I bought their collection, it was good to have — and that I did the work outs, they are really rough!) Most of them need little to no equipment (ie totally free weights or nothing), so it is ideal for those that just wish to workout in your living space.

After performing these workouts for months (I used them for the first 6 months of my match journey), I was able to custom build my own workouts, based on my one of a kind needs/goals. But at first, these are so valuable and the two of them (TIU and BBG) possess printables! And the two have an incredible community of girls working towards their selves!

Sometimes when I am too lazy to come up with my regular, I deliver it into the gym and print a workout !

You mentioned the late night snacking, and I am totally with you on this. Any advice regarding how to handle these late night munchies? — Jamie, through blog

First off, it is okay to have a snack before dinner and a bit of dessert . Isn’t a chunk of Oreos as long as your bite is not a bag of your dessert and chips. It’s okay while you’re waiting to finish from the oven, to have a cup of java, and it is perfectly fine to have a couple squares of chocolate after dinner.

What’s not acceptable is eating a bit of almond butter whilst watching The Bachelor (or is that just me?!) Or eating an entire chocolate bar after dinner.

This will always be a struggle for me, but what I’ve found helps is what I call “taking a mental step back.” When I am going to get something that’s beyond the reasonable quantity of meals (ie a reasonable bite), I tell myself to “have a mental break” and that I move fill a glass of water or produce tea using steamed almond milk and then tell myself, “If I am still craving this in 10 minutes, I’ll have it.” What ends up happening is that I wait the 10 minutes and that I either forget about the bite, the urge goes off, or so the tea/water satisfies that craving.

Just do to do your best to allow it to be healthy, if you just need to consume something — I adore grapes, berries with yogurt, or even any dried mango slices. Having an arsenal of healthful “munchies” makes it harder to overdo it — it is much easier/more enjoyable to plow through a bag of Pepperidge Farms’ Milanos as it is to get mango slices, you understand? So keep the temptation out of the house!

And if all else fails, try that “mental break.” Most of the moment, we’re just not being careful. The mind is really a force, so use it! In the end, a healthy lifestyle is a mindset.

I’d love to hear from you in case you’ve got a question to ask! For a collection!

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resultsfitnessbyram · 6 years