Monthly Archives: January 2015

Fancy Lunch

Date: January 19, 2015

Author: astottler

Hey guys! I’m just quickly popping in here before I drive down to LA. We were supposed to leave half an hour ago but we are still waiting…(As you can see by the time stamp, I didn’t finish this before leaving.)

I’m going to go through this morning pretty quickly!

Wake up. Eat Cranberry Banana Bread. Do this WOD:

AMRAP 15

5 DB Hang Power Clean (45/25)
10 Toes to Bar
15 Wall Ball

Rest 10 min

AMRAP 15

5 DB Ground to Overhead
10 Burpee
15 Sit Up

I thought the first 15 minute AMRAP was worse, but I also got more reps in the first so I don’t know! It was definitely a quad burner though!

Fridays I only have one class, so after class I went to the mall to replace my iPod. I met up with my mom for lunch there and we went to the Neiman Marcus cafe (it’s a high end mall).

We’d only been there once before but we certainly remembered the popovers that they serve!

With strawberry butter. So delicious!

For my main course, I got a turkey and roasted pear salad, which was delicious as well. I knew I wouldn’t get many vegetables over the weekend, so I wanted to fill up on them then!

Then, my mom and I split a flour less chocolate torte. It was amazing! The perfect amount of rich chocolatey-ness!

After lunch, I had a ton of applications and emails to do so we stopped in a cafe for Wifi and pastries. I got a chocolate chip brioche.

And I got a ton done! I’m excited about things to come!

I’ll leave you with that-Disneyland recap to come!

I Drowned My iPod…Again…

Date: January 15, 2015

Author: astottler

Categories: Uncategorized

I hope you enjoyed yesterday’s little flashback! My mom texted me saying it really showed how tough things were for me then…my gosh yes. I get tired just reading that post! That was also about a month before my body eventually protested and I got super sick with mono.

I really do wish I did more descriptive type of posts though instead of random food dump! I think part of the reason I’m more reticent now is that I don’t psychoanalyze everything that I eat. My posts are therefore more sane.I swear, each year I get more sane. Or something. I was reading some posts from last spring-I was probably the most psycho then. And I ate so much! Mono really messed up my system and I had some crazy eating habits for a while…So anyways. My Thursday.

I have 9am class Tues/Thurs so I woke up nice and early to hit the track for a speed workout. It was really cold-I biked to the track and by the time I got there, my fingers were screaming. I’m such a California wimp. I was looking up weather in Minnesota-it said “feels like -32.” That is literally unfathomable to me. That’s basically absolute zero, right..? It’s so cold molecules have no energy…life is not sustainable…ok maybe not but that’s rough!

Anyways, I arrived at the track to find my iPod dripping wet and completely freaking out. Merp. I have a camelbak water bottle. I LOVE it, but when it gets a little old, it starts leaking pretty badly from the top. Yeah. I wasn’t 100% sure that was the problem initially because my iPod was acting like it was a tech issue, but by the afternoon I could the little water damage indicator was showing. I have a 6th generation nano-it’s perfect for exercise because it’s small and has a build in clip-but I don’t think I’m going to try and replace it with the same model. This is my 4th that I’ve killed-they told me this model was susceptible to water damage more than some others. I lost my first 2 to water damage due to sweat during exercise when I was doing my indoor rowing workouts for crew. And then this past summer I dropped it and the power button jammed. I think it may be time to move on!

The workout went pretty well-8x400m on the track. I wore a watch and tried to keep my pace at 8:00 which was harder than expected, although I’m going to partially blame the temperature. Either way, I have a lot of work to do before my race!

Post workout, I decided to stop in the dining hall for breakfast because I have very little food (as will be evidenced later).

I also had coffee. I have whole milk in my room, and instant coffee, which is a)surprisingly good (it’s Starbucks) and b)surprisingly effective. Better than dining hall coffee! I only needed a little boost, so I put half a packet into a cup of hot milk. Perfect!

I had initially planned on packing a lunch, but since I knew I’d miss dinner I decided to have something a little hardier at the dining hall.

Really delicious bleu cheese and pear flatbread. And then a Napa cabbage salad with miso dressing, curry roasted butternut squash, fried rice, and teriyaki salmon. It was a good one today, and I’m glad I made the decision to go to the dining hall!

I also had dessert-a small coconut lemon square and a couple of cubes of pound cake.

I thought about going back for another one, but after waiting a few minutes for things to settle, I decided not to get too crazy before teaching spin in the evening.

One thing about reading old posts? I remembered that naps are pretty cool. So I took one. I have this weird habit of waking up from naps in a complete daze. I think I dreamt my alarm went off…and then it did? Or maybe I fell back asleep while it was going off, only to wake up again immediately? I don’t know.

I also have a weird habit of waking up from naps and shoving food in my face. I can’t explain this one. I area a few pieces of dark chocolate-the last of the Christmas chocolate that I saved. With one notable exception:

I got these salted caramels from my spin teacher. Instead of going too crazy post-holidays and trying to cut out all sugar, I plan on having one of these every evening. It’s not the only dessert I’ll have, but knowing it will be there later keeps me from overindulging too much. I think when I run out I’m going to fill the box with something else and do the same thing!

Later in the afternoon, I left for spin. I leave pretty early to beat rush hour traffic, and then do Physiology reading while I wait. While spin is kind of a long drive away, I really cherish this time. My car is a pretty fun car to drive (when it decides to cooperate and not give me engine problems), I can listen to music, of course teach spin, but also spend some quiet forced time with my textbook. Physiology is my favorite. I want to know everything about how every system in the body works, down to the molecular level, so I really don’t mind the fact that my textbook is 1200 pages long. It’s just so cool!

Teaching the class went well! I did a different style class then I normally do, just in that I did some different type of moves, like doing a minute long sprint split between standing and seated. It was my biggest class yet though!

When I got back, I wasn’t super hungry but knew I needed to refuel with my paltry supply of dorm room food. I tried to hit all the food groups, focusing on muscle recovery!

Fats-whole milk plus some sunflower seed butter (I have butterscotch, and it’s delicious!)

Vegetables- carrots in the microwave, tossed with olive oil, salt, pepper, and Greek seasoning

Protein- milk

Carbs-hot chocolate mix

Let’s just go with it, ok? I wanted to try some Starbucks caramel hot chocolate mix I had. Since chocolate milk is perfect for post-workout, I figured this was basically the same thing! I was pleasantly surprised-this was really good! I was expecting it to be super sweet but that was not the case.

While it may not have been the grandest of dinners, it seemed to do the job!

Also-fun fact, I’m going to Disneyland tomorrow with my dorm! I haven’t been since 8th grade so it should be fun!

How have your eating habits changed in the last 2 years? How has your mindset changed?

This Day 2 Years Ago

Date: January 15, 2015

Author: astottler

Categories: Uncategorized

You know the cool thing about having a blog? Being able to see what life was like 2 years ago. I don’t want to say I don’t put effort into my posts now, but I feel like back then since I was blogging daily I was able to give a more in-depth picture of my life! So here’s a post from 2 years ago today-back when I was rowing!

Brrr! It was another freezing day here in sunny California! At 4:00 pm, there was still frost at the boathouse from this morning! That is absolutely unheard of here. Crazy! I guess I’ll dive right in to today’s eats!

Before my morning workout, I drank some milk and ate a piece of oat bread (thawed).

The recipe is from Haute Box, and can be found here. I found this recipe on stumbleupon and had been meaning to make it for the longest time. I always wondered what a non-sweet quick bread would be like. The answer? Delicious! Try this! It is soft and moist, yet it still maintains that great bread-y flavor like a normal loaf of bread.

Also, this morning I learned that the dining hall milk really isn’t all that good. It tastes really metal-y. The milk I brought from home was 1000x better. Who knew?

My morning workout was weights. I am starting to like this version of weights a little more. I just need to try and make the most out of my workout. I haven’t really been that sore from these workouts. I want to try to lift a little bit on my own just for my own enjoyment and sanity (Sore? Yes please!) but it is super difficult to find the time. There are certain hours that the gym is completely busy, and I have no hope of getting on a bar. Last quarter my classes started later than most, so I could go when everyone was in class. This quarter, not so much. I guess I just need to try and find a new less busy time. I wonder if I will be sore tomorrow from today. We had 3×50 squats with a bar. I wasn’t sore after 2×40 last time so we shall see. If I’m not, I definitely need to add some weight.

After weights, they provide us with protein shakes (if we want them). People always grab them, so today I decided to try one, with the full intention of drinking a few sips and throwing it away (I had bigger and better plans for my post workout recovery drink!).

My evaluation? It was…weird. Very unnatural. It only had 4g of sugar, yet it was very sweet. Which means fake sugar. And fake sugar almost always has a weird taste. So I tossed it. Yes, I know, very wasteful. I have interesting views on protein shakes. In theory, I like the idea of a homemade (the store bought ones are weird in my opinion) protein shake because it makes me feel like an athlete. On the other hand, I’ve learned from various nutrition experts that we really don’t need that much more protein after a workout, so I usually just drink milk, eat yogurt, or eat my normal meal. However, I am dying to try my new chocolate protein powder. It was literally the only kind I could find without Stevia, just because I really don’t like the flavor of Stevia. It’s not whey protein though, I think it’s hemp and flax. Plus it has added greens for antioxidants or something but I doubt that whatever dried and ground up vegetable will really help me that much. My plans for it? Milk+protein powder+frozen banana+peanut butter. I have a banana I need to freeze too. I’m thinking maybe this Thursday after our hard erg workout.

ANYWAY, back to my day. Normally after weights we have a timed run (roughly 4 miles). It was cancelled today. I planned on doing it anyway, but it was freezing this morning (actually, it was 31) and that is just too cold for me, so I decided to compromise and go on an easy 2 miler. My legs were so numb! My timed runs are going to be so much faster when it warms up! So what was my recovery drink of choice?

Homemade hot chocolate! This is the perfect post workout recovery drink. What’s in it?

Post-Workout Recovery Drink (Chocolate)

Fill a mug with about a cup of milk, and stir in 2 spoonfuls of unsweetened cocoa powder. Microwave on high for 1 minute. Stir well, until cocoa is blended. If not hot enough, microwave for additional time to reach your desired temperature. Then, stir in a spoonful of brown rice syrup, or other glucose source (corn syrup, dextrose). Add honey to taste.

This is definitely not sweet. I added a dash of honey to give it a little sweetness, but not very much. This drink is very basic and easy to make, and contains protein and glucose (see why this is important here) to refuel your body. This doubles as chocolate milk. I used to make a big saucepan of it, and then just refrigerate it to drink on other days. However, today was freezing, and I wanted something hot!

I also snacked on some pistachios.

As I got ready for the day, my exercise high wore off and I realized how tired I was. I didn’t think I’d be able to make it through an OChem lecture without a little help….But here’s the thing. I am definitely not a coffee drinker. I really don’t like it. Call me crazy. It’s certainly an acquired taste, and after a full quarter of 5:45 am practices every morning, I adjusted well enough to it. But it’s been a while. Some people sip their coffee. I prefer the chugging method.

As you may notice, the portion size is pretty small. I dumped an entire pack of instant coffee into a small amount of heated unsweetened vanilla almond milk. I figure if I don’t like it anyway, might as well make it go down faster. It also doesn’t take a lot of coffee to wake me up since I hardly ever drink it. Normally I would only have half a cup at most, but the instant coffee isn’t very strong. Some may suggest, oh, why don’t you add sweetener to you coffee? You’d probably like it better. Well, you, I almost certainly would like it better. But I still won’t like it, so why waste the sugar? Ok, enough on my coffee tangent. It got the job done.

Lunch was a salad with cheese, strawberries, and apple, a cold brussels sprout and tomato salad (so good!), a few carrots, teriyaki chicken, plus a bean and grain mixture. I tried to hit all my main food groups: cooked veggies (more available nutrients), raw veggies (slows digestion), protein, slow digesting carbs (the beans), and healthy fat (olive oil in the salad dressing). I’m trying to be better about this! I also had a few pieces of fruit.

After an afternoon of classes, I ate and apple and then headed out to the water to enjoy a freezing practice. Seriously. I had 4 layers on my arms, plus insulated spandex pants. The problem was, as my body started warming up, the temperature kept dropping. I had so many layers on I could barely move! Finally towards the end I dropped my outer jacket, but still! I hope it warms up soon! These have definitely been multiple jacket days.

For dinner, I brought my leftover half avocado to the dining hall and added it on top of this salad:

Greens, tomato, olives, mushrooms, and italian dressing. I also had a little of the prepared salad, which was spinach and onions in a sweet-ish dressing. The dining hall is pretty dependable in always having decent grilled chicken, but the line takes forever, and it was just too long today for me to deal with, so I topped my salad with Thai barbecue chicken. It’s fattier, but definitely faster! I also had a piece of a breadstick because they looked amazing, and polenta. Dessert? Half a whole wheat english muffin.

This no sugar challenge hasn’t actually been all that hard for me. I’ve gone off sugar a few times before, and now this is by far the easiest it has been. Normally the cravings are terrible for the first 3 or 4 days, and here I am on day 3! Partly, I’m not at home where there is a ridiculous amount of sweets, but I think this blog definitely has helped! When I know sweets aren’t even an option, I don’t really think about eating them. WHen people offer me sweets, I just say no without thinking twice. I am confident I can finish out this challenge! Who’s with me?

I really need to go to bed early tonight. I am seriously dreading tomorrow morning. And it really is my fault. I have to leave at 5:45 to do my morning erg (it’s an on my own erg) because I want to finish it in time to make a 7 am spin class. This is really one of the only times I can go to spin in the week, so I want to make it. The problem? We also have a 30 minute run (SO COLD. But still better than the treadmill…), so I get to get my butt out of bed super early, then erg, spin, and run. Yayy. Hopefully you guys can get a good night’s sleep for me!

How do you feel about morning workouts?

WIAW and Sunshine

Date: January 13, 2015

Author: astottler

Categories: Uncategorized

Happy Wednesday! I’m going to link up to WIAW today because I have lots of unshared food pictures!

Before we get into that-on the fitness front, I’ve sort of switched around my schedule. In the past, I tended to run in the mornings versus do Crossfit in the evenings. The problem with that is when I do Crossfit in the evenings, it’s really difficult to make it back in time for dinner before the dining hall closes! Plus my evening motivation to make it to Crossfit is too low! That being said, I’m officially in 5k training mode with (hopefully) lots of speed work coming up!

In terms of actual workouts, I went to one last spin class at the gym from home (it’s halfway between home and school so it’s not outrageous to go once) before my membership ended. Of course, it was fantastic.

Monday morning we tested our 1 rep back back squats for a final time during the squat cycle we’ve been doing. Mine was sort of meh, sort of improved. I improved 5# from my 1 rep max at the beginning of the cycle, but I was still 10 lbs below my all time 1 rep max (205#). It was meh because 195# felt easy, but I kept missing 200#. Back squats are frustrating because the second you give in, you’re not making the lift!

After back squats I had the pleasure of doing and AMRAP of I believe it was Crossfit Open 14.4 last year? The Open workout at the time was probably the worst Crossfit workout I’ve done. 21-18-15-12-9-6-3 thrusters and over the bar burpees. Thank goodness, we did a 12 minute AMRAP, which meant I didn’t make it all the way down the ladder! But now my squatting muscles are scorched.

Tuesday’s Crossfit workout was lighter. I went to the 6am class since I have 9am class on Tuesdays. We did hang power cleans for strength and kettle bell snatches, wall balls, and 400m runs for the WOD. Then, after spending hours in the library, I went for a 3 mile tempo run (5k training!). I have a ways to go…but I kept my tempo pace pretty closely. It’s a good start! Ok-food time!

I went to a yoga class last Thursday and went to Eric’s deli-cafe afterwards for dinner with my parents to discuss pre-vet stuff. I had half a turkey and avocado sandwich, and a house salad.

My mom got me a couple of these protein boxes. They’re pretty similar to the ones at Starbucks, but sun butter instead of peanut butter! Good and easy. I had 2 meals of this on Friday. We don’t have to mention the fact that I didn’t have a single vegetable…

Saturday morning, I had to drive a ways to get gas. Long story short, my car is SUPER picky with the gas it will take and the check engine light was on and the engine was shuddering so I topped it off with “better” gas. Anyways, Whole Foods was close so I stopped in for brunch. Maple french toast casserole and chilaquiles were the highlights here!

Mexican dinner at the dining hall! But more importantly-GUAC! I made myself a salad.

Salad I picked up from Whole Foods.

Dining hall dinner-BBQ chicken on salad, and cheese and broccoli mini-casserole.

Dining hall breakfast-eggs and roasted veggies! I LOVE when they have those!

Cappuccino because I woke up before 5:30am and I’m a college student. However, I’ve gotten a lot of coffee lately and I’ve been generally over caffeinated so there’s that. I get to my 9am and announce to my friend that I got coffee. Her response? “I can tell.”

Lunch courtesy of my freezer. Balsamic roasted brussels sprouts, grilled chicken, and mashed sweet potatoes.

My favorite morning glory bread from a little cafe on campus.

A greek salad with chicken, roasted carrots, and sweet potato fries. This is pretty much my ideal dining hall dinner right here.

And lastly? The weather here lately has been insane. Sometimes I forget how lucky I am to be here.

What is your ideal meal?

Making a Spin Class

Date: January 11, 2015

Author: astottler

Categories: Uncategorized

Hey guys! I need to write a spin class tonight, so I thought this would be a good time to do a post on it!

Just a disclaimer-I’m just one of many spin teachers. Everyone has a different style and method, this is just what my process looks like!

1. AUDIENCE. This is super, incredibly essential. Who are you giving the class too? Will they like nothing but Top 40? Will they like country music? Rock? What age group? What is the fitness level? It’s great for you to enjoy your own class, but the students need to enjoy it as well!

2. (Hopefully) go to another instructor’s class for inspiration. This is so helpful, especially since I’m a less experienced instructor! You get a sense of what works and what doesn’t, and song ideas are SUPER helpful!

3. Decide on a profile. I usually come up with a general profile before finding specific songs, and then I try to fill in the songs. This can change too!

4. Find songs. This is the hard part. I can spend hours surfing on iTunes looking for the perfect song. I recently discovered that if you search any song name + “workout” you can usually find a workout mix, which may be perfect if the song isn’t upbeat enough for the class. Generally I search for something with a good beat. I have some go-to songs, but I try to mix it up as much as possible!

5. Decide on the specifics for each part. This is the choreography. More experienced instructors probably don’t need to do this, but I would highly recommend it when you start out! This means when to do jumps, when to do sprints, what you do on the hill, etc.

6. Make sure your songs and profile flow well. Do you want your hill to go from a sprint to a crawl in terms of music? This can definitely work, but you don’t want surprises while you’re teaching, and not every combination works.

7. If you don’t practice the playlist before you teach, at the very least, you need to listen to it. Every second of every song. It’s amazing how many songs don’t sound inappropriate until you imagine blasting them from speakers in class. So check first! Most gyms also don’t allow swearing so watch out for that!

8. If you can, PRACTICE! I often make adjustments to my choreography based on how things feel when I’m on a bike. I’ve also made some pretty bad playlists that I tried prior to teaching them, and was able to make a few simple swaps so they were much better!

That’s just my process-it takes a while to make each playlist, but it’s totally worth it!