* Pebbles & Sunshine *

Our unorthodox sleeping space

One of the more unorthodox changes we’ve made recently is sleeping on the floor. Voluntarily.

It’s been an interesting journey that brought us here: Just two years ago, I was nothing less than appalled at the idea of not having a bed. Today, I love our simple little setup on the floor and am hoping we can continue to do this for the rest of our lives. What happened, and how did we get here?

We started out with the usual full sized bed. Even then, it was a simpler setup than most: a used bed frame with a few two-by-fours for support and a decent mattress; no box springs or mattress pads or fancy headboards. We were quite happy with our bed. However, the fact that it was stationary posed a problem from the very beginning. Our apartment back then leaked sound like a seive, and we were always trying to block out footsteps from above or music from below. By the end of our year-and-a-half stay, we were dragging the mattress from one room to another in search for some peace and quiet. At this point, we began to wonder why we had a bed frame. After all, we didn’t use it half the time. So we dismantled it. Then, we wondered why we were using a traditional mattress. It was heavy and quite a chore to move — why not a lighter one? So a few weeks before the move, we swapped it out for an air mattress.

We arrived in L.A. with just the air mattress and no plans to acquire a bed. I was quite proud of our spirit of minimalism. After all, how many people sleep on just an air mattress on the floor? It was light, it was mobile, and it was easily dismantled. I thought this was the culmination of our bedding adventures. I didn’t anticipate life pushing us yet another step ahead: Our air mattress sprung a leak. We examined the thing worriedly. It was a small puncture that could be fixed easily with super glue; but we didn’t have any on hand. Besides, a patch is never as good as the original. In the meantime, there was nothing to do but to spread out a quilt and sleep on the floor for the night.

The next morning, we discussed our experience, which was surprisingly positive. The hardness of the floor was a refreshing change from the extreme softness of the air mattress. Besides, the floor setup was even easier and more mobile. In the daytime, we could just bundle up our quilt like a knapsack and toss it in the corner. I went and bought some superglue and Spencer patched up the air mattress, but we unanimously agreed to keep sleeping on the floor.

Our makeshift pillows

After a few days, we were both sold on the idea, and we haven’t looked back since. There were certainly challenges. Since, the floor has no give, certain points on the body bear most of the weight. With my curvier female figure, those points are my hips (lying on my side) and my tailbone (lying on my back). They were sore for over a week, and during that time it was quite a chore finding a comfortable position. However, everything I had read indicated that bones strengthen to accommodate the burdens placed on them, so I was confident they would adjust shortly — and they did. Another challenge was the pillow situation. Because our air mattress had a built in pillow ledge, we hadn’t brought any pillows with us. I wasn’t fond of the idea of buying more — pillows take up a lot of space and are useless for anything else, so they’re definitely not minimalistic. Spencer suggested sleeping on towels, and though I wasn’t crazy about the idea, I gave it a try. I can’t say I loved it at first, but I’ve adjusted quite thoroughly. We now use a rolled-up thermal blanket as a giant shared pillow, and it works great.

I was immediately curious about my newfound habit and googled it to see what I could find. Healthwise, I’ve heard that sleeping on hard surfaces is better for the bones; makes sense from the perspective that bones adjust to the load they must bear. I found some encouraging anecdotes, but no conclusive evidence. Not unexpectedly, I did find a lot of discussion of the Japanese lifestyle, which is often cited by lifestyle minimalists as a source of inspiration. Now, I’m a bit begrudging to take anything from Japanese culture :D (see * below for explanation), but I like the way they go about their furniture. Everything is very minimalistic and mobile. One day, it may not be practical to sleep right on the floor — for example, if you have hardwood floors, you may have a lot of unsavory dust blowing about — so a slightly raised futon may be the way to go.

(* My grandmother, who raised me, lost half of her family in the Japanese invasion of China. I grew up with a very real dislike of the Japanese, though I’ve since realized it’s an outdated prejudice and treat it with detached humor. Spencer teases me relentlessly about it.)

I sincerely hope we can keep sleeping on the floor for the rest of our life. I have to wonder, though, whether I’ll be able to get up when I’m eight-and-a-half months pregnant. :) It’ll be quite a sight.

So, want to try it? :) I don’t imagine I’ll get many takers, but if you’re at all intrigued, it’s really easy. Just find a spare quilt and spread it out on the carpet; grab your usual bedding, and you’re all set up. I think it’s easier for men than women because of their less curvy proportions — my husband didn’t feel the transition at all. (Then again, my husband is an unusually hardy man.)

If you have any thoughts or insights, I’d love to hear it!

My husband has long been a fan of minimalistic living. Once during our engagement, he described with great rapture his ideal bedroom, which had only a hammock and a computer.

At the time, I was exceedingly appalled. No bed? Crazy. I envisioned a cozy country home, full of the usual cozy clutter. Since I was the chief homemaker, my perspective unfortunately won out. Our house began filling up with junk: discards from our families, thrift store knick knacks, recycled books, you name it — if it was offered, we took it in. In no time at all, our three-room apartment was lined wall to wall with ugly, mismatched furniture. Our bookshelves overflowed. Our floors were perpetually covered with stuff, making vacuuming a herculean task. We had virtually no free space, and daily living was an exercise in suffocation.

Fast forward two years. Spencer has just accepted a job offer in Los Angeles, and we are faced with the daunting task of moving all of our junk to a new home 1,800 miles away. If I had to put my finger on a “wake-up call moment,” that would be it. Staring at my house, I was so exceedingly appalled that all I could think to myself was, “I’m never letting this happen again.” From then on, I was a convert.

I dove into my new creed with a vengeance. With the gigantic move coming in less than a month, it was not only desirable but essential that I pare down our extensive collection of useless junk. I easily threw away three quarters of what we owned. In the end, we were able to move everything in just our modestly-sized Ford Taurus. Not bad for a former clutter-aholic!

Now that we’re in L.A., I’m committed to maintaining our minimalistic lifestyle. I’m looking forward to sharing my journey, solutions, and challenges with you and to hear your fresh perspective.

It’s been about a month since I started my diet, so it’s time for an update!

I still feel great! I have virtually no headaches anymore. My endurance has also improved dramatically. On a good day now, I can walk all over L.A. without feeling much more than muscle soreness; in the past, I would have been positively ill after more than a mile. Even on a bad day, I can manage a 2-1/2  hour grocery trip, a few hours labor in the kitchen, and a trip through L.A. traffic to my husband’s office, all without much fatigue. In the past, that would have been an extraordinarily good day!

My hunger endurance is also higher. I used to crash hard as soon as I was hungry. Now I can tolerate hunger for several hours if necessary, although I try very hard not to do that — it’s important to eat when you’re hungry so that your body doesn’t kick into starvation mode. I feel like I eat less overall, though it’s hard to tell because I eat five or six small meals instead of three big ones. It does take noticeably less to fill me up. Often, a cheese stick and a big spoonful of peanut butter will keep me running for a couple hours.

I’ve passed my first menstrual cycle on the diet. My menstrual has been an on and off health problem so I was particularly interested to see how the diet would affect it. It went by very reasonably. There was very little PMS beforehand, something my husband appreciated immensely. :) As usual, I was tired on the first few days and had some stomach discomfort. I don’t remember having cramps. All in all, good and without warning signs.

And finally, the weight-loss part. Am I skinnier? The short answer is Yes. The harder part of the question is, How much? I don’t own a scale so I have no clue how many pounds I’m losing. Size-wise, I’ve lost about an inch off of my waist. However, tape measures can be inaccurate; depending on how snug you pull it, you can gain or lose a half inch instantly. So honestly, I don’t know how much skinnier I am.

Psychologically, I’m loving the diet. The food is tasty and filling. And the more I go without carbs, the less I crave them. They don’t even sound that good anymore, and that’s coming from a former noodle-fanatic.

I often get impatient and feel like I’m not losing weight at all. When I’m in a more objective mood, it’s clear that I’m visually trimmer. Judging from my belly, I’d say I’ve pushed back a year of weight gain, which isn’t much, but it’s something. Considering it’s only been one month, I would say I’ve made good progress.

Here’s another delicious low-carb recipe.

I love Alfredo ridiculously much. For something like two years, all I ever ordered in restaurants was Fettucine Alfredo. If I’d known it was this easy to make, I’d not have bothered with the expense.

The original is from 500 Low-Carb Recipes. I’ve doubled it and adjusted the proportions so that there’s pretty much no measuring involved — to the best of my knowledge, all of these ingredients are sold in these exact quantities. It can’t get easier than that.

By the way, I’m a big believer in ballpark estimates. That’s why I tweaked this recipe in the first place. So don’t worry your head over exact measurements. It’ll probably be fine. If not, adjust the other ingredients a little and learn from it for next time. You can bet I’ll be doing the same thing.

1 (4 ounce) stick of butter
4 cloves garlic, minced
32 ounces frozen broccoli cuts, thawed
32 ounces frozen cooked shrimp, thawed and cut into bite size pieces if necessary
1/2 teaspoon guar or xanthan gums
1 pint heavy cream
6 ounces Parmesan cheese

In a heavy skillet, sautee the garlic in the butter. Mix in the broccoli and shrimp and heat through. Meanwhile, whisk the guar or xanthan into the heavy cream; you might want to use a blender. Stir the cream plus guar and Parmesan cheese into the skillet. Bring to a simmer. Serve.

By the way, guar and xanthan are both powder thickeners that are used instead of cornstarch. They lump up very easily; thus the blender, which is actually the procedure the original recipe prescribes. Honestly, I don’t think I’d ever bother to pull out the blender just for that little task. I’d probably just sprinkle it finely (maybe with a salt shaker) and stir really well with a whisk. I speak in the future tense because I didn’t have any on hand when I made this recipe. It came out fine: a little on the runny side, which might bother some people, but perfectly delicious. So if you want to dispose of the thickener completely, feel free.

One last note: The first time I made this recipe I only had jumbo shrimp, which I detailed and chopped up. It took some time, but oh were they succulent! The second time, I bought small shrimp. While it saved me some work, I didn’t like the result as much. They’re not as meaty and flavorful, even a bit limp. So take away what you’d like from that.