shit i bought and liked no. 35: the spectrum of januaries
Shitters! We’ve made it out of the obligatory “Happy New Year!” email intro period, which means I can finally make my 2021 debut in your inbox. MISSED YOU ALL!
This week’s rec feels very “January,” but I wanted to take a lil temp check before we get started juuuuust so we’re on the same page here. I feel like there’s a spectrum of approaches people take to this month and I’m not entirely sure where all of you fall on it. Are you doing your thing as usual, unbothered? Are you mainlining celery juice and intentions? Are you hitting those Apple Watch move goals every day come hell or high water or coup?
I like to imagine that wherever you’re at, if you’re in a discerning group like this one, you’ve got your head on straight, but sometimes a reminder is helpful: Our hellworld likes to ensure that you feel inadequate about any/everything you’re doing basically always. Before I make any rec that is remotely in the health/fitness department, you should know that I am firmly on team do what you want to do. Move how you like to move, not how your fitness tracker says burns the most calories. Eat what makes you feel satisfied and good, not just stuff on a list you found online. Do your thing, especially if your thing is not the same as my thing. In that case, you should tell me about your thing because maybe I’d be into it too, in which case it should be our thing. That’s the whole point of this thing (newsletter). I hope this makes it clear that these recs (like all of mine) are just shit I like, and if it’s not for you, I have ARCHIVES that would love to make your acquaintance
Last fall, my roommate blessed our apartment with a Peloton. She loves it, it makes her happy, and I have so many friends and coworkers who feel the same way (and are finding their payment plans to be fairly reasonable). I spin from time to time when I’m in the mood, but it’s not really for me right now. However, I did get some very comfortable spin shoes that I can HIGHLY recommend (I went ½ a size up from my normal shoes based on their size chart and got them in white bc duh). I’ve also since discovered that hiding the leaderboard/tweaking the sound so that music is louder than the instructor makes the rides better for me.
My real hidden gems are on the yoga/meditation portion of the Peloton app, which you can get for $12.99 a month if you don’t have their bike or treadmill (it’s got strength workouts, guided runs, yoga/pilates, meditation—the works). I’ve already found two of the best yoga teachers I’ve ever tried IN MY LIFE, and of course now all I can think about is Hilaria Baldwin and how she was apparently a great yoga teacher before she came back from a vacation and traded in her memory of cucumbers for a fake accent/Alec.
Back to Peloton. Chelsea Jackson Roberts is a GEM of a human being and I have left every single one of her classes feeling HAPPY. Anna Greenberg’s classes are fiiiire and always have a challenge and a great playlist. I love them so much that I was inspired to sign up for a teacher training myself! Catch me on Peloton VR in 202…..9? In all seriousness, highly recommend giving them both a shot. Especially if you’re new to yoga—can’t imagine better people to start with!
The actual “shit” portion of this newsletter was supposed to be about the yoga mat I’ve been using for all of these classes, but I feel like I’m doing a much better job selling Peloton. Earlier last year, when it became apparent that we’d be working out at home for a while, I upgraded to an alo Warrior Mat and I feel like I found my forever mat.
My biggest complaint about my old mat was that it didn’t have enough cushion for my knees on the hardwood floor, which made a lot of movements in yoga/HIIT/strength classes really uncomfortable. It also slid around/scrunched up a lot, which is incredibly annoying. This one is THICK, but it’s not cushy in a way that you sink into, which can happen with a lot of cheap thicker mats and really fuck with your balance. It’s big enough that you don’t end up halfway off of it during your workout, and has some weight to it so it stays in place while you move. It’s also sweat-wicking, antimicrobial, and nontoxic/PVC free, which is perfect because these things can become little cesspools of your own filth/chemicals otherwise.
I got black because most of my workout clothes are in fun colors, but the rose quartz is beautiful, the white and dove grey are cool as hell, and tbh the olive and the navy look nice too—it would be tough to go wrong.
If you found a streaming workout in quar that you love, tell me about it! These things cost the same as half a single boutique fitness class for a full month of access, usually with generous free trial periods, and they’re really fucking cool little businesses. Maybe I’ll make a list of your faves and if you want new ones to try, you can find them there? How’s that sound?
As always, I love hearing from you, so shoot me a reply if you have thoughts. And if someone forwarded you this email, a) that’s cool of them! And b) you can sign up to get this straight to your inbox every now and then riiiiiight here: shitiboughtandliked.com. Maybe 2021 is the year I master basic web design.
Xoxo,
Priyanka