The Experiment Chronicles 06: 20 Pages, Food Adventures, and 7 Minute Workouts

In which I unlock trying new foods, study methods, and workouts.

Welcome, welcome to The Experiment Chronicles! This column is all about me trying out new-to-me things in three different categories (work, play, rest) and reporting back to you lovely people.

This time around, I’ll fill you in on a new study method, deliberately seeking out new foods, and testing out a KISS (Keep It Simple, Stupid) workout routine.

Work: 20 Pages of Textbook Reading 

Set-Up

I’m one of those people that likes to read a textbook chapter in one go. It just seems excruciating to break it down into tiny bits, then drag it out over a week instead of getting it grand-slam-done. 

However, variety is the spice of life! Time to see if the whole breaking down reading assignments thing would actually work for me. Of course, this method would be tailored for my insanity.

So, while I would read 20 textbook pages every day, it wouldn’t have to be 20 pages of the same textbook. This is meant to prevent all banging-head-on-wall-because-bored tendencies.

Results

…I hate to admit it (curse you, past self), but this method actually worked quite well. I prefer it to unquantifiable measures of time. 

What? Unquantifiable measures of time? Yes. I find that when I’m tracking time instead of real milestones (like pages), I end up turning into an Impostinator. 

This happens whenever I try to hit time goals in relation to textbook readings:

• I seem busy, but I’m spending a lot of time not actually making any real progress. 
• I’ll reread things over and over and rewrite notes over and over.
• I don’t actually end up retaining anything because I haven’t made my way into the essential practice-the-information stage.

Surprisingly, this method of tracking pages instead of time also appeased my inner Rebel.

I have a habit tendency of wanting freedom and fewer external/internal expectations. This method let me put less emphasis on time expectations. 

I can go as fast or slow as I want as long as I hit the page count goal. I can finish 20 pages in 10 minutes or 6 hours, and I don’t feel judged by myself or anybody else.

Play: 4 Food Adventures

Set-Up

I like to try out new foods. It’s just a fun little adventure you can do at pretty much any price. I legit have a list of foods I want to try out that I’ve never ate before. 

Part of the fun is that food adventures come with new location and relationship experiences, and it adds to your repertoire of places you can eat at or cuisines you want to cook.

Results

I only managed to take two pictures of the new foods/drinks I tried out. Clearly, I should never go into food blogging. 

I tried for the first time: 

• Ethiopian food 
• Lychee drink
• Fried Oreos
• Macarons

The Ethiopian food was quite good. I went to an Ethiopian café that Yelp called an “unpretentious Ethiopian restaurant.” 

I had Tej, which is a honey wine, and mango juice. I went with another person, so we ordered a platter of food. There was doro wat (chicken), kye sega wat (beef), alicha sega wat (beef), and more.

A wat is an Ethiopian stew/curry. We ate with our hands by ripping off pieces of injera (sourdough flatbread with a spongy texture) and scooping up the wat. 

I like the injera despite being warned by people I know who have tried Ethiopian food that it’s really vinegar-y and sour. 

I love Asian grocery stores. They’re filled with colorful, inexpensive products and so! many! snacks. I love that I can still find snacks I ate as a kid in these grocery stores. 

One snack I’ve never tried—despite wanting it with grabby-hands as a kid—was Yeo’s Lychee Drink. It looked so delicious and colorful. 

Verdict? It is indeed delicious. It tastes a lot like the actual lychee fruit. Quite the refreshing beverage. (Although, I love lychee more because fresh fruit is just awesome.)

I’ve never had fried Oreos before. I always went straight for funnel cake at carnivals/fairs/festivals. However, no more! It was time for me to experience the wonders of fried Oreos. 

I went to a carnival-themed restaurant. The BBQ was acceptable, but the fried Oreos? I understand the hype now. So good. So unhealthy, but so good. 

I also bought tiramisu and green tea-flavored macarons as a birthday present for somebody. I wanted to do something other than the typical birthday cake, and said birthday person loves French food. Also, I’ve never had macarons before, so that was my ulterior motive. 

It was so delicate and light-tasting. Such a counterbalance to my fried Oreo adventure. 

When it comes to dessert, I’ll definitely be eating more macarons in the future.

Rest: 7 Minute Workouts

Set-Up

Have you heard of the app Seven? This post by the Minimal Student, detailing what she learned from 365 days of doing the 7 minute workout, inspired me to pick up the app and try it out for myself.

It involves: 

• Jumping jacks
• Wall sits
• Push-ups
• Crunches
• Step-ups
• Squats
• Tricep dips
• Planks
• Running in place
• Lunges
• Push-ups with rotation
• Side planks

The only equipment necessary is a chair. 

Results

I did the 7 minute workout for one month. While I know working out for 7 minutes wouldn’t have any real tangible impact on my health, I could still feel myself getting stronger. I doubled my rep count in each 30 second interval after just a month.

It also inspired me, like the Minimal Student, to take more actions for my health throughout the day. 

Also, the coupon rewards and possibility of unlocking new routines (remember, I like variety and gamification) inspired me to stay consistent. And remember, consistency is key when it comes to making exercise a habit.

What have you been experimenting with?

Is there a study method you used to scoff at that turned out to be really effective for you? What new foods have you tried? What inspires you to be more healthy? Comment down below.

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