Operation: Get Healthy

Well, I’ve officially had all of my classes! I am loving my schedule. It feels like I’m not spending as much time in class as last quarter, but that’s not true. And now that I am not rowing, I have sooo much time! It’s great. I feel so free. Last night I was able to get ahead on homework and hang out with friends. When a friend asked me if I wanted to go to an event with free gelato starting at 9, I could say YES! because I had time and didn’t have to get up at the crack of dawn. The event was actually pretty fun, even with a long gelato line. I “played” Twister with my friends. And by that, me and another friends were the “spinners.” And by that I mean “the manipulators of the twisted people.” Pshh who ACTUALLY spins the spinner when you can just shout out for people to do more ridiculous things? They don’t have to know. 😉

Afterwards, I worked on some reading, and went to bed when I wanted to, not because I had to (around 11). 

Workout bright and early this morning though!

Since spin doesn’t start until next week, I decided to work on some weight lifting. And what I mean by that is work on getting my lifts to where they were before I got sick. I really want to do some Crossfit type workouts on my own, but my lifts simply aren’t there yet. I did a squat series where I do 2 squats every 30 seconds, at a heavy weight. Normally I do 8 minutes, but today I did 6 since I haven’t squatted for over a month and I would like to be able to walk tomorrow. I also worked on cleans and snatches, as well as some upper body strength work. I finished with a 5 minute sequence on the stepper. I have never tried one before, so I chose a premade workout. I was surprised that it was actually a good workout! I worked up a nice little sweat in 5 minutes. I’ve decided that 7 am is the best time to go to the gym here. And by best, I mean least busy. I had a 9 am class today, which is the earliest class you can have here. Few people have them, and they are dreaded (not really for me though), so nobody was awake yet. There were empty bars the whole time I was there, so I didn’t feel bad spending a long time on my workout.

Post workout I broke out the yogurt!Topped with leftover banana and sunflower butter. Yummm. On an unrelated topic, I think our fridge here is less cold than my fridge at home…so I’m guessing things won’t stay fresh quite as long. Class ended at 10:15, and campus was still mostly asleep. Since I’m going to be super on top of things this quarter, I headed to the library to get going on some work, since I didn’t have class until 1. 

The best part about studying in the library is what is right outside the library. Coupa Cafe! It  is probably my favorite place to eat on campus, which is lucky since there are like 5 of them here. For some reason, I’ve only been like twice this year. I guess I’ll have to go to the library more!

I was drawn in by the description of the hot chocolate. Although it was a beautiful day out and I was wearing shorts, it was a little windy so a bit cold (relatively speaking, sorry East Coasters). Here’s the description: 

“abuela

a delicious silky rich hot chocolate drink made from 

grandma’s strict recipe blending aromatic and deep 

flavors of venezuelanbittersweet chocolate”

How could I pass that up?It was good! And not too sweet either. I decided to balance out the splurge by ordering a big ol’ green salad, with mustard vinaigrette. The salad was simple, but delicious.Coupa also has really awesome buckwheat crepes, but those are for another day. 

After lunch I stayed outside with my reading. What a nice day!Gahh I love my new schedule. 

When I got back to my dorm after class, I settled down for a quick snack. A mango plus a ThinkThin bar.Like this but German Chocolate.

Eating today didn’t exactly go as planned. It’s a little awkward because I have yoga at 5:55, smack in the middle of dinnertime. I ended up eating another snack after I awoke from a nap (another bad habit of mine…needing to eat whenever I wake up from a nap).

I sampled a few new granola bars. As in a broke off a small piece and shoved the rest in a ziplock bag (now I have a bunch of open granola bars…yippee). I always want to try new things RIGHT AWAY. I also enjoyed an apple with sunflower butter and yogurt (current count: 2).The apple overly dominated the sunflower seed butter, so I searched for an alternative.How cool is this? Trader Joe’s sells whole bags of these little guys, and I brought one with me and tried it on the apple. Delish!

I have yoga in about an hour. I had plans to run today but yet again, I’ve having trouble getting my butt running for some reason. My lack of motivation is specific to running though, interesting.

As I said before, today’s meals didn’t exactly go as planned. I was majorly lacking greens today, but I don’t have any. I really need to grab some spinach from the dining hall to have on hand. I had originally wanted to do some kind of scramble in the microwave for an early dinner, but no spinach kind of killed that idea. I actually am running tomorrow though, as my morning workout. I think in general I am more likely to complete a morning workout. 

Wondering about the title of this post? Miranda is hosting a link up called “Operation: Prom Dress,” where she uses her upcoming prom as motivation to get back into healthy habits. Although I don’t have any specific events coming up, I thought I’d join in on the fun. Over the holidays (yes I mean Christmas holidays), I lost sight of my healthy habits. Add to the last quarter, which was a very difficult one, and I need a revamp. 

I know I don’t usually talk about weight on this blog, and it’s not a topic I’m in love with and want to spend a lot of attention on here, I’m not where I need to be to be healthy for me. 

My weight has been kind of crazy this past month. When I was sick, I could hardly eat anything for 2 weeks, and I could see myself losing muscle and flab, but I was still really heavy due to all the swelling of my organs (yayy mono). After taking an anti-inflammatory, I lost 10 lbs overnight in fluids. Then when I could finally eat again, I went kind of crazy eating all the foods I missed out on while I was sick, and foods I could only eat at home. Add to that Easter…and I’m not where I should be, especially given all the muscle loss. Plus this cycle did not exactly include healthy eating habits…

So given my recent illness which I am still sort of recovering from and my stray away from healthy habits, I am starting “Operation: Get Healthy.”

Goals:

1. Get into healthy habits again. This week is especially important because my new quarter schedule is the perfect opportunity to totally change around my routine and habits.

2. Clear up my skin. Yes, I love my peanut butter. But after being unable to eat it while I was sick, I am even more sensitive to it. A few peanut butter eggs set me off (and how much peanut butter is ACTUALLY in those??).

3. Get back in shape. My endurance flat out stinks. I swear, I only took 3 weeks off! Sheesh! I want to play soccer this quarter, and let’s be honest, that’s a lot of running. I’m definitely not there yet. I also want to do some Crossfit type workouts, so I need to get my lifting to where it needs to be. I want to be able to run 3 miles in 24 minutes again.

4. Get to a healthy place with my body. No numbers, but when I get there I have plans to get a new pair of shoes. 🙂

5. FInd my zen. I talked about this some last week, but I really want to be calmer and view the world differently. I want to experience everything! I also surround food with a lot of stress, and I really want to get rid of that. I think that is key to a healthier me. I know I’ll have less stress this quarter with more time, and I want to take advantage of everything. I want to really enjoy my classes (I basically have 4 science classes. SCORE).

Nutrition Plan:

1. Avoid sugar and grains. Everyone has their own nutrition philosophy. I personally don’t believe in eliminating grains. HOWEVER: whenever I eat grains I seriously crash my blood sugar, causing me to basically fall asleep. And sugar. Well we’ve talked about this before. It kills. I am a sugar addict. And I have terrible reactions to it.

2. Avoid snacking/late night snacking. I know having lots of small meals works for some people, but I always feel better when I stick to square meals, plus maybe some fruit. I certainly don’t recommend this to everyone, but it’s what works for me. 

3. Avoid nuts. For my face’s sake. 

4. Try not to be influenced by what everyone else is eating. This is a huge problem for me. When I see someone else eating something, I want it!

5. Listen to my body about what it wants. This is pretty self explanatory. 

Exercise Plan:

1. As many yoga classes as humanly possible. Gotta find my zen!

2. Lift about 3 times a week. Hopefully soon I can start doing Crossfit type workouts. 

3. Spin as much as is fun for me. Spin is so fun for me, so I’ll go when my schedule allows it. I want to be a spin teacher!

4. Run 3x a week, including long runs, speed  work, and agility (for soccer).

5. Try new fitness classes. The yoga pass I bought includes random other classes like Pilates and Zumba.

6. Incorporate high cardio circuit type training.

Well, there’s the plan! Hold me to it! I’ll let you know how it all is going!