Blogmas Day 9: Fitness is Sweet Turns 4!

Date: December 9, 2016

Author: astottler

Guys. Can you believe it? This little blog of mine is now as old as a small child. I can’t believe so much time has passed, but I also feel like I was a totally different person when I started this blog.

For fun:

This blog gave me so much more than I ever could have asked or expected. I started it in hopes of meeting a community and documenting my passion for health and fitness, but I never expected how it would change me as a person. Writing in here and sharing my life nearly every day helped my communication and writing skills (because as a science major in college, I rarely had to write). But it also helped build confidence I didn’t know I needed. And for that, I’m grateful.

Then->Now

So, just for fun: what was the world like when Fitness is Sweet was born? (December 2012)

iCloud wasn’t a thing yet. I had to plug in my phone to upload pictures for my blog. Every time. I’m so spoiled now.

Everyone was preparing for the end of the world (December 21, 2012).

Gangnam Style has taken over the world.

Gas in the Bay Area is $3.50 a gallon, which is actually down from nearly $5.00 earlier in the year (gotta love CA).

Instagram was only just starting to become popular. Instagram fame was not yet a thing.

YOLO was the battle cry of young people about to do dumb things everywhere. Now, it’s mostly just used ironically.

Healthy Living Blogs were booming. I think this time was really the rise of them. In December 2012, everyone was still reading the “big bloggers” and over the next year, tons of smaller bloggers would start their own blogs. Since, I think HLBs have declined. The big ones are still there, but there are fewer smaller ones and they get read less. Now, people follow fitness instagrams or youtube channels. I think the current age is the age of youtube, neither of which were too trendy in 2012.

Peanut butter was a very trendy food. Everyone was obsessed with putting it on everything (me included….ignore that whole undiscovered nut allergy issue…). People still do this, but alternative nut butters have become much more “in.”

Crossfit was the trendy thing to do. Everyone in the healthy living world was doing it. Since then, many have abandoned it for other activities. That’s not to say it’s not still popular, but there are trendier things to do now. Boutique cycling studios were also gaining popularity (SoulCycle was starting to spread), and these studios were opening in big cities throughout the country.

Perhaps along with Crossfit, Paleo was the trendy diet to try. In addition, we were beginning the war on sugar: trying to cut sugar in everything and demonize it. Me included, and while I still think sugar is terrible for your health, I’ve taken a much more relaxed approach to my consumption of it these days.

And since I suppose some actual reflection on my part should probably occur on this day, here are some ways I was different when Fitness is Sweet was born:

I was a freshman in college. Now I’m a college grad applying to vet school. What…?

2. Then, I was a D1 college rower. And I thought that I had to be on a team to still be an athlete, and to keep my athlete identity. Now, I realize that I can do my own thing and still be an athlete. I had a major identity crisis was I quit rowing and but I finally feel like I’ve found myself again as I continue to grow and improve in the fitness realm.

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3. Then, I had never lived more than 25 minutes from home, mush less outside of California, and was still having a little trouble adjusting to college life, especially being away around the holidays (that year, I had to leave for winter training camp the day after Christmas). Now, I’ve lived in DC, Knoxville, and St. Louis. Living in other places was such an amazing experience, and not only did I make a life for myself in these places, but I really gained some perspective on what other people’s lives are like. I love learning the regional differences in culture and in how people grew up. I try to expand my perspective in as many ways as possible.

4. Then, I sort of thought I knew what I wanted to do with my life, but it was totally different than what I’m trying to do now. I knew I loved biology, but I thought I wanted to do some type of biochemical/nutritional research. Now, I’m interviewing for vet school, and have had a ton of veterinary and animal experiences since then. When I started this blog, I had never worked with animals. Now, I’ve worked with them in a ton of different settings.

5. Then, I was pretty high strung. I was high strung and stressed about school, I was high strung and stressed with how I ate and how I worked out. Now, I’m a relatively low-key person. Sure, exercise does help take the edge off so if I go too long without it I get antsy, but I’m generally not crazy worried about things. I’ve learned that most things are actually insignificant when you get some perspective. One cookie in the grand scheme of things doesn’t matter and is delicious. Stressing out over an interview probably isn’t going to make said interview go any better, so I might as well relax because I know I am prepared and am capable of doing just fine. One test isn’t going to make or break my career (well….except boards….) and if I put the work in beforehand, if I stay calm I’ll do well.

6. Then, I was still trying to find my place in college and find my group of friends. I was much quieter in groups. I always felt a little out of place (like pretty much everyone did but I didn’t realize it at the time) and I had major FOMO. But I found my people, and I found my confidence. Now, I can go anywhere and be place, chat the ear off a total stranger, and be just fine.

photo-12

7. Then, I was invincible. My body could do anything, take any abuse, and it never gave out on me. HAH. Shortly after starting this blog, I was get sicker than I’ve ever been in my life with mono (probably made worse because I was sleep deprived and way over trained). Then, I would later develop a chronic stomach illness, annihilate my shoulder, and break my foot. Oops. However, with the realization that I was not, in fact, invincible, came a lot of character building and a lesson in actually taking care of and respecting my body.

8. Then, I was taking spin classes and dreaming of being a spin teacher, but not really pursuing it. Now, I’ve been teaching spin for 2 years, and will teach 3 classes a week starting in January.

Here’s to 4 years, and hopefully more to come!

3 Years

Date: December 9, 2015

Author: astottler

Categories: Uncategorized

It’s so hard to imagine that it’s been 3 years since I started this little blog. I was a freshman in college, still trying to figure out college life. Now, I’m a senior. I can honestly say that I’m a completely different person now than I was when I started my blog. New struggles have arisen, but more have been resolved. This blogiversary is especially bittersweet solely due to the fact that I am a senior, and I will be graduating this year (well, fingers crossed-still plenty of time to fail a class!). Having a blog through some of the life shaping years has been a blessing. I love being able to peak into my freshman self’s mind on a day to day basis, although some of the things I find certainly make me cringe!

(Also-look how far iPhone technology has come!)

In the theme of my blogiversaries past, I’m going to go through the 12 things that have changed in the past year.

My career path. As in, I have one. This time last year I was just starting to figure out I wanted to go to veterinary school, but had yet to take any steps to get closer to that goal. Between then and now, I’ve worked at a veterinarian, taken animal physiology, gone to pre-vet conferences, gotten a better sense of what I need to do, and am actually considering what specialty I might want. And I’ve never once doubted that this was the right decision.
Gotten really sick and totally changed what I eat and how I view food. In February, I developed what I lovingly call a mysterious stomach condition. From February to May, it was very severe and majorly impacted my life. From May-August it was significantly reduced but would occasionally flare up pretty bad, with the climax flare right before school started leading to a last minute endoscopy. Since then, I completely cut out gluten and it actually helped a lot—there are times I still feel off but I haven’t really had any all out flares. As a result of all this though, when I choose food more often than not I don’t choose it for the nutritional value, I choose it for how I think it’ll make my stomach feel. Choosing crackers over brussels sprouts may not always be the most nutritionally sound, but if that’s what I think is going to make me feel the best, I’ll go with that. I’ve also been forced to be super in tune with my body. I have certain senses about specific foods and I trust my body that what I feel won’t make me feel good is not something I should eat. That being said, I definitely don’t always listen to these because this girl likes her desserts too! At the senior welcome during a flare up.
I have become head over heels obsessed with cows. I realize this is a little less serious of a change, but everyone who knows me knows this. I studied them quite a bit last winter and think they have the coolest physiology. Maybe it’s because of my interest in nutrition or my complicated stomach issues, but their 4 stomachs are the coolest thing ever to me. At this point I’m not sure if/what specialty I would potentially want to go into, but I would tend to say either large animals or gastroenterology.
I turned 21. I’ve officially passed all the big adult milestone birthdays! In all seriousness though, this is a big one. While I’m not a big drinker by any means, being legal allows me to socialize and network in important ways that I wouldn’t otherwise. For example, at the IDEA conference, had I not been 21 I would not have had to opportunity to meet and talk to as many people.
I got a puppy and watched her grow up. This may not exactly be a change for me directly per say, but as someone who wants to work with animals as a career, it was a really good experience to raise a (difficult) puppy. I learned a lot and got some insight into the behaviors and changes to expect in a dog’s maturation. What a baby—and those huge feet!
I suffered my first serious injury. At the beginning of September, I did something bad to my shoulder. It is quite likely I partially dislocated it. It was really bad for quite a while. I could’t do ANYTHING. It’s still not 100% but doesn’t hinder everyday life and I can do most of the things I want to in Crossfit. This was a frustrating, humbling experience, especially since I spent the summer getting really strong; I went from PRing almost all my lifts to not even being able to lift a 2 lbs dumbbell overhead. This forced me to take a step back and reevaluate how I approach fitness. Feeding goats post-injury with my little left chicken arm because it hurt to have my arm straight.
Sort of a result of 6, but I reevaluated my fitness and training. I came to the realization that if I continued to put the stress I was putting on my body, I wouldn’t be able to do all these things I love 20,30,40 years from now. With my exercise physiology project training for a 400m sprint, I realized I could train more efficiently. I needed to run with fewer footsteps, and I needed to stress my body less with weightlifting/Crossfit. I decided I didn’t need to run as many miles, especially if I focused on speed and quality. I limited myself to only 3x/week of Crossfit. I did more spinning (see 8). My body responded amazingly. I felt so much fitter. My times on everything were improving, and when I went to my home Crossfit, I felt so light on my feet. (The irony of this is I feel tired/heavy/sore right now because I didn’t listen to my own advice last week!) I busted out the Turkey Trot 10k 30s faster this year, without killing myself. I also started doing my everyday runs faster just these last couple of weeks, and I’m actually able to do them. Less fatigue makes it possible for me to choose to run faster, and apparently when I choose to run faster I can do it! Yesterday’s run. Definitely didn’t know I had this in me.
I took a bit of a step away from the blog world. This was somewhat intentional and somewhat not. Part of it is other things have become more important. Part of it is I’ve gotten less motivated. But honestly, a big part of it is I feel like I have nothing to say or add. Because of said health issues+the college lifestyle, nutrition has gotten less important to me and talking about it on here sometimes feels inauthentic. I still struggle each day to eat well, and still haven’t totally solved the ideal way to eat in college. Or in life. And sometimes food is the most frustrating thing in the world to me, because either I want it and can’t eat it, or I feel terrible and think it’s from food but it’s so complicated and I have no idea why. I’ve also gotten really lazy about commenting on other blogs. This is mainly just because I’ve switched to almost exclusively reading them on my phone though!
I started teaching spin classes regularly. During this time, I got my own classes at 2 different gyms (one of which I had to give up this quarter due to my school schedule). I’m now teaching 2x/week at my school gym, and it’s been absolutely incredible. The first day, I was so nervous despite the fact I had been teaching at a smaller gym for almost a year. It’s hard to imagine that those nerves will ever go away, but now I’m definitely in my element. I’ve had the pleasure of teaching completely full classes, and I have regulars. The most rewarding thing to be though is all the first time spinners that have come to my classes. A lot of people will be a bit tentative and nervous at first, but I see them come back week after week and the difference is stunning. Clearly I was comfortable enough to wear a turkey hat to class.
I came into my identity as a leader. I truly think that a leader is in my personality, but I wasn’t always confident enough to take charge. The development of this characteristic is incredibly important in what I hope is my future career. I think a lot of this confidence comes from teaching spin and commanding a class. I love encouraging people to work harder and get better. I also find myself taking charge in other aspects of my life. Even with my friends, I have no problem planning an event myself (or inviting myself over). This summer, I went to IDEA World Fitness conference. On my own. The conference was incredibly rewarding and I had no problem flying myself out there and taking advantage of the workshops, the workouts, and the people. Even with my job this summer when I definitely didn’t know all the ins and outs, I happily talked to clients and led new employees through the ropes. As seen at IDEA World.
I saw more of the world. This summer, I travelled a lot! I went to DC with family (and reaffirmed that this is where I want to spend the year after graduation), I went to downtown LA for the first time (I had been to other parts of LA and SoCal a lot thought), I went to Hawaii, and I went to New York City for the first time! New York was awesome just because going is a key life experience that I had never had. It was fun to see all the things I had heard about and seen many times in movies. Friends fountain
I started to really appreciate my school. My first couple of years were demoralizing as I struggled through my biology and chemistry prerequisites. I questioned everything. I didn’t have much time for fun. My junior year was much better, and since then I’ve enjoyed my academics a lot more. Because I’m a senior, everything is becoming more real for me and I’m struck with the awe of an admit. I’m finally realizing how truly amazing it is here and how lucky I am. I’m appreciating all my schools traditions and quirks, and I made the most of football season this year! It’s crazy to think that in a few months it will all be over, so I’m trying to embrace the little time I have left. PAC 12 CHAMPS!

1 Day Until My Blogiversary!

Date: December 8, 2015

Author: astottler

Categories: Uncategorized

Once, again, we are approaching my Blogiversary. 3 years…how did 3 years pass so quickly? I know I haven’t been posting as much as I would like lately but it’s finals week so it is what it is! Today I thought I’d throw it back and repost my blogiversary post from 2 years ago in preparation. It’s interesting to see how much as changes even since then! Expect an ACTUAL blogiversary post on Wednesday though! For more 12 days of Christmas, check out the tab!

12 Things That Have Changed in the Last Year

Today is the last day of Christmas! You know what that means? It’s officially my blogiversary! Yay! I hope you guys have liked these last 12 days of posting. I certainly have had a ton of fun writing them. And forcing myself to be creative in the kitchen-it’s been way too long since I spent any time there!

I want to use this last day to reflect on the past year. I feel like so much has changed, but I think it’s all for the better. If you’re curious, here’s my first post. It’s not as embarrassing as I was expecting. My next few those? Yeesh. (Why would I name a post 1,2,3, Testing?) Also, can we take a minute to talk about how my writing voice has changed? For some reason last spring quarter I was so sarcastic. Not that I’m not now, but I feel like every word was dripping with it. Interesting….Also-check out this food picture from one of my first posts…work of art right there folks.

So without further ado-12 things that have changed in the past year.

1. I quit rowing. To put it quit frankly, I was drowning. Fall quarter, it was such an awesome experience. To this day I miss the girls on my team. Winter quarter we moved in with varsity, and I just didn’t love it anymore. Plus, the time commitment increased-it was about 5 hours a day. I had a tougher class schedule, and was rapidly falling behind. Plus, after being one of the fastest over the fall, I just wasn’t improving and couldn’t keep up. This all took a huge toll on me-but that’s not (directly) why I quit. I was determined to finish the year with my commitment, or at least the quarter. My body had other plans though and I got a really bad case of mono (which actually changed my life a lot for many different reasons). Long story short-2 ER visits, crazy high fevers for WEEKS (101 on Advil and Tylenol), inability to get out of bed for 2-3 weeks, and ALL of Friends. Like, all 10 seasons. It was really awful and I had to go home-fun fact, while I had mono, I also caught the stomach flu, strep throat, and a week later, a cold and cough that developed into an ear and sinus infection. I think it’s fair to say that’s by far the sickest I’ve been in my life. At that point, it would be nearly impossible to gain my strength back in time for racing season, plus I took it all as a sign that what I was trying to do was just not sustainable for me. When I got back to school, I had such an amazing time because I actually had time for a social life, not to mention time to study (I know a lot of collegiate athletes do fine, but it just wasn’t working for me for a sport that I didn’t absolutely love.)

2. I ran 2 half marathons! I have entirely the blog world to thank for this. Before discovering this amazing community, the only people I knew who ran half marathons were my spin teachers, and it seemed absolutely insane. After seeing so many bloggers do it, it didn’t seem so unattainable, and here I am now, a half marathoner! Heck, I even ran 16 miles once! One year ago me would have thought that was impossible.

3. I realized that I’m semi-allergic to nuts. Or at least have a sensitivity to them and they cause my face to break out like crazy (or the newest thing-now they’re causing itchy rashes.) The irony is I ate peanut butter (only like a tablespoon) for the first time in many months the other day and now my skin is rebelling…ANYWAYS-this is kind of a big deal because if you read my blog way back when this was started, the amount of peanut butter I was eating was insane.

4. I got spin certified! This was something I’ve been really wanting to do for a while, but if it wasn’t for the blog world, I wouldn’t have had the courage to actually do it! This would have been so much of a better point if I actually had a job teaching already, but I can’t even THINK about that until after finals.

5. My outlook on life has changed. Blogging has made me so much more thankful for everything in my life, and I appreciate the little things so much more. I’ve always loved the holidays, but I never celebrated fall in the same way (or ate so much pumpkin…) Last year around the holidays I felt really homesick, but not at all this year. Maybe it’s because I’m older and have more friends, but I think it’s also because through my blog I can still celebrate.

6. My weight. This is definitely not something I discuss a lot here on the blog, but it’s definitely a change. I avoided the dreaded Freshman 15 in the fall through rowing and being too busy to eat any free goodies, but the stress of winter quarter and stress eating, then dropping a lot of weight while I was sick and gorging to put it back on plus some-and going a little crazy in spring quarter (I’m not talking alcohol calories, I’m talking giant yogurt bowl calories and late night snacks with friends calories), I wasn’t in the best place with my eating habits or body going into the summer. I’ve figured so much out since then, and am slowly getting back to where I want to be, but it’s definitely a process. I still haven’t totally figured out college eating-especially with all the free food and stress dead week offers-but I’m definitely in a better place and know I’ll get there eventually.

7. My training (aka my workouts) have changed drastically as well. When I was rowing, that was pretty much all I was doing. We did team weights and some running/spinning, but it wasn’t the same as hitting the weight room hard on my own, or going to my favorite spin classes-unless I wanted to wake up at 5am and add a spin class to my 2 hour erg workout (which I did once..never again). In general, I have to be training for something. I used to always be training for softball, then for rowing. Now-I guess it’s for running. I trained for 2 halfs (yay!), started Crossfit, and am now attempting to gain some speed for 5ks. I’m actually really, really enjoying 5k training. Running fast (ish) is fun! Plus it makes my feet much, much happier. I definitely still crave the long runs though! The thing about 5ks…I think I actually have the potential to be decently fast. I think if my training and my NUTRITION (heh heh) was on point, I would actually be able to go out there and race pretty competitively (i’m talking local 5ks, not collegiate championships). And it helps I’m still in an age group with relatively few runners…But I just don’t see myself ever being remotely fast in long distances like halfs.

Last year’s Santa Run 5k

8. I started Crossfit! It really is so much fun. I’ve always loved weight lifting so this is right up my alley. I really miss the people at my home box…only a week until I’m back there!

9. I just feel like mentally I’m in a much better place than I was last year. I’m not a freshman desperately trying to make friends, and although I’ve had a pretty heavy workout this quarter, I feel like I have my life together pretty well-something that when I was rowing was definitely not the case. Now I’m the person getting homework done days before it’s due (this does not apply to all my classes though…)

10. My fitness level has changed. Although only this weekend’s 5k will tell the tale…I was in really good shape last fall while rowing, I did actually lose quite a bit of strength though because I wasn’t lifting hardly at all. Mono completely killed any fitness I had ever gained-after not being able to even sit up in bed for weeks, EVERYTHING made my abs sore. I never really regained any of my running shape until I started training for my half though-since then plus Crossfit, my endurance has skyrocketed! I PRed my second half by 3 minutes, despite the course being much hillier. I think I would actually be in decent rowing shape as well-since I can’t mentally force myself to do another 6k test, I did a 3k test, and was right where I wanted to be without totally killing myself.

11. I have so many blog friends now! Though I haven’t met hardly any in real life, they really do mean a lot to me, and every single comment really does brighten my day and bring a smile to my face. I also feel so lucky to not have gotten any of those negative commenters. I really do love each and every one of you! I seriously do get so much joy out of blogging. I love interacting with all of you and I love following along on your lives!

#bloggerproblems

12. I am so much more confident than I was a year ago. I’m another year mature, sure. I drive myself around places and live as an independent adult. But I also feel like spewing my thoughts to a bunch of strangers on a daily basis has also helped this. Reading inspirational stories from so many beautiful and strong women has helped this. I’m confident in who I am as a person-sure my body isn’t 100% where I want it to be, but that doesn’t bother me-I know I’m getting stronger and will get there eventually, and for the most part I don’t stress about it. I think about how far I have come in the last year. I’m so much stronger than I was a year ago, physically and mentally. The experiences of the last year have shaped who I am today, and I couldn’t be happier, whether they were good or bad (like Mono-it stunk but made me stronger in the long run). And I couldn’t be more grateful to have you guys by my side. Here’s to next year!

One Year Ago

Now

Study Break

Date: December 3, 2015

Author: astottler

Categories: Uncategorized

It’s dead week. I can’t believe tomorrow is the last day of fall quarter classes! My last fall quarter here. Gulp. I’m currently sitting under a blanket of exercise physiology class notes, but I met my studying goal for the day so here I am!

What is it about exams that make us want to eat ALL THE THINGS? I’m not even stressed! (—yet. I have nothing due until next week so the good old strew response driven productivity has not kicked in yet.) I’m doing my very best to not eat ALL THE JUNK and at least shove food into my mouth that wan’t cause too much damage-leftovers of actual food, granola bars, banana with carob chips.

So what’s been up lately? How’s this for college life: I stayed up late crafting a colorful flat faceless human, and we currently have a cricket under a cup duct taped to our floor.

I had to make an anthology for my Native American Literature class, so I made a physical representation of a human made up of stories. I lovely refer to him as my flat faceless human.

On the workout front, I’ve done some running, some spin, some Crossfit. I taught my last couple of spin classes until the next session starts up in January!

I also went to a spin class at a nearby studio. It was fun—it’s always nice to go to a class other than my own! This was the view post-class:

To start the week, I had a couple of chilly runs.

One 4 miler, one track workout—6x400m. Since my official training for my class is over, I’m trying to slowly increase the number of repeats I do to get in 5k speed shape.

Breakfasts:

I am firmly on the yogurt bandwagon. Lately, I’ve been putting jam in it. I usually eat breakfast immediately post-workout, so I want the quick carbs!

Yogurt with sun butter and raspberry jam, plus some leftover roasted sweet potatoes.

Yogurt with persimmon and sun butter.

Lunch:

I packed a lunch because I didn’t have time to go back to the house. This was leftover quinoa with butternut squash and dijon roasted brussels sprouts. We have temporary chef right now who is fantastic! I actually miss packing lunches—I feel like I end up with a better amount/mix of food so I generally feel better throughout the day!

Chicken, wild rice salad, fruit. Plus tomato basil bisque with cheddar cheese. If you don’t eat tomato soup with cheddar, you’re doing it wrong. This was perfect for a rainy day!

Snack:

This was a snack before spin-a persimmon and a Luna bar. I also had a couple of tortilla chips with leftover guacamole.

Dinner:

Chicken piccata, salad, and veggie chili over greens. I think I could have used some more meat though because I found myself snacking the rest of the evening!

Oh-one last note. My blogiversary is coming up! As you may or may not have noticed or cared, I’m not doing 12 days of Christmas this year. While it has been super fun to do, at this point my blogging isn’t as regular as it once was and therefore it doesn’t merit the time that goes into putting that together! I will still likely celebrate my blogiversary though 🙂 Can you believe it’s almost been 3 years??

On the Twelfth Day of Christmas My True Love Gave to Me…

Date: December 9, 2014

Author: astottler

Categories: Uncategorized

12 things that have changed in the past year.

Here’s last year’s post.

Yayy! We’ve reached the 12th day of Christmas, and it’s officially my blogiversary! And this is one of my favorite posts to right because I think it is really interesting what has changed in a year. It’s absolutely crazy to me that I now have TWO YEARS of my life documented on the Internet. Thank you all so much for reading and commenting-your comments never fail to make my day! Stick around to the end of the post for a little something fun. So, let’s dive in!

1. I’m teaching spin now! Last year it was a big deal for me to be certified, but I never was too ambitious with applying anywhere. I finally took the leap, and am so, so glad I did. It’s so incredibly rewarding.

2. I actually have a more clear picture of what I want to do with my life that I’m happy with, and I’m laying out plans to get there. This one has been a constant struggle for the past 2+ years, so this is a major change. I don’t want to talk specifically about what it is yet because I have changed my mind a lot in the past, but I will say I’ve mentioned it here a while ago before.

3. I eat fewer “products.” Granted, this is partially because there are about 2 protein bars out there with nuts, so those are mostly out the window, but when I was thinking about last year’s giveaway post, I couldn’t even begin to think of my favorite items! This isn’t particularly bad or good, it’s just different.

4. I figured out how to eat ideally for my body. And then learned why it wasn’t sustainable. After avoiding processed foods completely for two weeks, I felt amazing. But it wasn’t necessarily practical for where I am now, and the backlash was pretty bad. I basically went crazy on sugar afterwards and basically undid any positive health changes.

5. I discovered roasted vegetables. Why I never really explored them before is beyond me. Roasted carrots are life. My roommate happened to be randomly roasting them one day and it changed my life.

6. I lived like a “real person” for the first time. I jetted off to DC this summer and worked a 9-5. I lived in the city for the first time. And loved every minute.

7. I’ve gotten more perspective. I’ve become friends with people who help me grow as a person. I’ve lived in a different place, and I traveled around the East Coast a bit and saw the world from different perspectives. I became a much more open person in college, but I think more than ever in the past year.

8. I firmly stopped believing in nutrition trends and fad diets. While I know they can be effective for some people, I felt like in the past I was either looking for a quick fix, or would believe anything. More often than not, when I see a headline I just roll my eyes now. I trust myself and my nutrition knowledge and research more than some over dramatized headline.

9. My interests have shifted. Don’t get me wrong, I still love nutrition and metabolism, but I guess I feel there isn’t that much there left to know, that much deeper to dig. I know there’s still so much we don’t know in this field, but maybe I’m a little burned out. I feel disillusioned or something. Blog content won’t change-don’t worry-but I don’t see that as necessarily being my life direction. Which, honestly, I see as even more of a reason to keep my blog up and going. If that’s not my career, I need it to be my hobby.

10. I HARDCORE avoid nuts now. After finally confirming my suspicions with an allergy test, I’ve been pretty good at avoiding them. And I know quite cleared when I screwed up. Did you know that a lot of Thai food is cooked in peanut oil? Yeah.

11. I broke my addiction to coffee. Or something. I definitely had it this morning…But I drink it significantly less. Partly it’s because I don’t live near close coffee and partly it’s because I actually get a decent amount of sleep, but after getting sort of caffeine dependent this summer and then getting over caffeinated to the point it was scary, I really try not to make it a habit. After that one incident, I had to go through a caffeine detox which was not fun. Versus last fall when I had a crazy school load and drank it about every day.

12. I’ve met some crazy awesome people in the past year! Whether through the Internet/my blog, or in real life. Seriously! It has been a great year! So I think it’s time I share a little something with you all.

What’s the one product I still eat very regularly?

Sunflower seed butter! I’ve gone on and on about how I love the amazing flavors from the Farmer’s Market, so to show my thanks, I will be giving away 2 jars to on lucky person.

The flavors are Cinnamon Brown Sugar Sunflower seed butter (amazing) and Chocolate Chip Cookie Almond butter (which I haven’t tried for obvious reasons but sounds amazing!).

So, here’s how it will work. There are 3 ways to enter.

1. Comment on this post with your favorite nut/seed butter or something that changed for you this past year.

2. Instagram the following picture and tag me! fitnessissweet

3. Tweet about it and include the following picture, and tag me! @fitnessissweet. Alternatively, you can retweet my tweet about the giveaway.

Each person can enter each way once (so up to 3x). I will chose a winner 12 days from now, at 5pm on the 21st of December!

Good luck!