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WIAW and Relearning to Run

Happy Wednesday! I’m dead tired and I’m staying up to write this post, but I simply couldn’t miss WIAW. I just finished marathon Chem and Physics problem sets so let’s hope this post is at least kind of coherent. Thanks Jenn!

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This WIAW is a collection of a ton of random shots I took of my food. I think it pretty accurately describes my eating right now. #dormlife

Before I get into that, I wanted to talk about this morning’s workout. I took a 45 minute spin class, and then went our for  a 4 mile training run. I had some…technical difficulties. It’s never good when your shoes don’t finish in the same state they began.

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I got new inserts to in theory help with my foot problems. Do they help? Maybe? At least on shorter runs? My feet still stunk on my 12 miler. Well, there’s one little problem. Well, 2. A) I don’t own enough anti-blister socks so I need to save them for the longest runs and B) these inserts rub like crazy. After 2 miles, I couldn’t stand the intense burning on one foot, so I stopped and ran the rest of the way with the insert in my hand. The blister pain went away, but I had kind of a strange experience. I really concentrated on running correctly. I’ve done a ton of agility/sprinting training, so I know how to run. And my sprinting run is not at all like my distance run in terms of how I strike with my feet. I was being really careful to strike with my foot in a better position (just one foot…baby steps), and guess what? No foot pain. The motion was a lot different though, and my heel was burning like crazy by the end of the run. I think the only way to solve my foot issues is by relearning to run. After my race, I’m going to really work on it, which will involve a lot of barefoot running. 

Aaand onto the food from the past few days.

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An Asian pear with the morning view.

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Leftover salad and foccacia. The salad is from the Cheesecake Factory-my friend invited me to dinner there with her grandparents Sunday night. I actually really liked this salad! Perfect leftover.

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I was craving pumpkin (no surprise there) so I threw a bunch of things in the microwave in hopes of something similar to the amazing pumpkin microwave cake we made. It didn’t really come out at all like that, but it tasted just like pumpkin pie so I’m not complaining. 

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My newest obsession-apple chips. And yesterday/today I was pretty much out of food so it was apple chips for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. I kid. Sort of…

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A solid dining hall dinner post-Crossfit. The dill salmon was actually really good-normally dining hall salmon is pretty gross.

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You know I’m out of food when…I break into my freezer supply of quick bread. This is zucchini bread-a study snack. 

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Post workout drink with a side of college life-that mess on my desk is what I have to deal with constantly. There is zero space in my room, if you’re wondering why a lot of pictures are of me holding food, not on a table or desk. And FYI-it’s not a good habit to get into to just plop your food down on TOP of everything…laptop included…

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I was about to just grab a bar for breakfast, but I decided I should have something at least a little more real. The last of my cinnamon apple blueberry bread from who knows when in the freezer! Yum!

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It’s all about balance my friends. And by that-of course I mean the balance of chocolate and vanilla. Kidding. But I’ll talk about the actual balance I’m referring to at the end.

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Strange but good-harboiled egg and pesto. Add in some dried fruit, and you’ve got yourself a pre-workout snack.

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Pre-workout dates. Yum. 

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Since I was crazy low on food and I saw some posts about all the amazing pumpkin things at Trader Joe’s, I HAD TO GO NOW. Despite the crazy amount of work I had today. Study fuel…right??

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Dinner was some veggie soup from the freezer, plus some new purchases. Edamame crackers topped with pumpkin cream cheese!

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GUYS. This pumpkin cream cheese is BOMB. It’s not too sweet either-that surprised me! It’s not going to last until the weekend. There’s no way.

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I also got these because, I mean, come on, how cool is this? Honestly though, I wasn’t a fan. They were a bit dry and sweet for my taste. Better topped with pumpkin cream cheese. Sensing a theme here?

Today was also the night of our guac party. It was honestly a much needed brain break. Yesterday held hours of work, including late night work and an early morning.Image

And avocados make everything better, right?

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Speaking on study snacks…apple chips+pumpkin cream cheese? YUM. If that doesn’t say fall, what does? Are you sensing WHY this cream cheese won’t be around much longer?

And onto the whole balance thing…I feel like my eating habits are starting to slip. Mostly I’m just not feeling as great. Late nights are not helping when I have a snack because I’m up late working. I’m making a 30 day challenge for myself-only eat pumpkin. Not literally-only eat sweets if they involve pumpkin. That way, I won’t eat something that will make me feel bad unless it’s seasonal and really worth it. That’s a balance I can live with. And hopefully some sleep, coffee, and fresh groceries can get me right back on track. 

Favorite pumpkin product so far?

 

Who’s up for a challenge?

Hey guys! Today was pretty low key. My guacamole party last night was awesome! I wish I had more pictures but my phone was hooked up to my speakers! A lot people had who recently joined frats or sororities were gone, so pretty much everyone else in my dorm came to my room to hang out.

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Sorry for the terrible picture! I even got to talk to a pro-fro. That’s what we call prospective frosh (freshman). And if they’re committed here, they become fasho-fro (for sure frosh). We like our abbreviations here! Next weekend is admit weekend, and I get my very own pro-fro. It’s crazy that my freshman year is coming to an end. I feel like I was just at admit weekend!

This morning I started my day off right; mango and yogurt!Image

My morning was pretty low key. I have yet to do a workout today, but I ate an early dinner so I can do something later tonight. Lunch involved avocado, yay!

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Mexican salad, with tons of guac! 3/4 of a waffle were also involved (because I seriously fail at making half waffles).

After lunch, I participated in a Psych study, which involved virtual reality. Very cool! I have to participate in 7 hours of Psych studies for my Psych class. Yay for being a guinea pig.

Today was an absolutely gorgeous day, and my sorority had a picnic to try and recruit new members. There was lots of delicious food, and we hung at in the fountain for a while (I swear that’s a normal thing to do here) to stay cool. I however had a few too many chocolate covered pretzels, and returned with a racing heart. Which transitions perfectly into the title of this post. Anyone interested in a challenge?

It’s that time of year. New year’s resolutions are long gone. The weather is getting nicer. If you’re like me and are constantly around sweets, maybe you’re also like me and have started giving in to them a tad too much. So who’s up for some Spring Cleaning? How about a no sweets challenge? Finish the month off right and join me in abstaining from sweets for the rest of this month. “Sweets” is kind of a loose term, so interpret it however works best and is most practical for you. For me, it means to avoid desserts, baked goods, muffins, waffles, etc. Anything too sweet. My yogurt is going to be as sweet as it gets. If you want to join in, just comment below and I’ll post tomorrow with everyone’s links! It’ll be fun, I promise! And I can offer some tips throughout the challenge. The most beneficial part of this challenge is it forces you to reflect on what you are really eating. And for me personally, it is an opportunity to get back into the healthier habits that I never seemed to be able to find after Spring Break.

On a similar note about healthy habits, I am currently trying to retrain myself to have a different routine upon entering my room. I completely cleaned up my room, so the environment is different. I am trying to train myself to chew gum upon returning, rather than snacking. Don’t you just love doing science experiments on yourself?

After the picnic, I wanted a light dinner so I went with another meal of yogurt. Image

I got this new Yoplait greek yogurt, and was surprised it only had 7 grams of sugar. Yet I had a vague feeling at the back of my mind that there was a reason I had never gotten it before. Sure enough, I realized it had Sucralose (artificial sweetener). Blech. I ate it anyway, since I don’t have that much yogurt, but it kind of stunk. I wish food labels had to advertise that they have artificial sweetener.

My night hopefully holds a workout. Maybe a bike ride before it gets dark, or some kind of gym thing if it’s later. I want to do my 6 mile run tomorrow morning. Have a great weekend!

Will you join my in my Spring Cleaning No Sweets Challenge? Comment below!