This afternoon, I flew in to attend the Idea World Fitness Conference, as part of the College Discovery program. To say I’m excited would be an understatement! I’ve never actually been to downtown LA before-just in the area. I will definitely do a nice full recap of this trip and the sessions! I am mainly going to spin sessions and Nutrition/Science lectures, but there are also other fun things here like the Urban Party tomorrow night (not really sure what that will be like) and the big Nutrition/Fitness Expo. My morning begins bright and early tomorrow for a 7am spin class by Schwinn. I’m taking quite a few Schwinn courses while I’m here, and since I’m certified in Spinning brand of indoor cycling, I’m very interested to see how the philosophies of the two organizations are similar and different!

My morning began with a simple breakfast of eggs and mango, plus half of a Luna bar.

\

My workout today was lots of Olympic lifting with my trainer. My snatches were not so good today, but the cleans are getting a lot better, and felt good! Plus, my hip is feeling WAY better. I’m going to still baby it a bit though and try to only squat in a controlled manner (like a back squat, not a burpee). My puppy came to pick my up from my workout since my car was in the shop, and she had her first walk outside since she is almost totally vaccinated!

Once home, I was super rushed to pack, eat, and shower. Lunch was leftovers. Chicken breast, carrots, and asparagus with goat cheese. Plus the other half of my Luna bar.

The trip here was short and uneventful-the taxi ride to my hotel was super expensive and long though because this is LA! I have actually had the worst experience with my hotel thus far in that I wasn’t happy with how they charged me originally, and then it took FOREVER to get checked in. I guess it’s kind of an apartment complex so there’s no lobby to check in at exactly. On the plus side, my room is actually super nice. It’s basically  a studio apartment with a full kitchen and everything. I’m less than a mile from the center where the event is held. I checked in today, and while where I’m staying is a good area and the expo is in a good area, Google maps routed me through a not so great area. Given I’m going to be by myself, I’m happy I found a much better (and more direct) route!

I was actually pretty lost trying to find the Convention Center. To make it worse, I walked through the area where the ESPY’s are going on! I finally got close enough to see people with IDEA bags walking away and was able to find it!

I stopped at a Carvery for dinner on the way back and got a salad with kale, avocado, and chicken. Perfect!

On the way back, I stopped at a grocery for some food and snacks. I’m not sure what the food situation will be like, and I’m worried about my stomach acting up, so I tried to really stock up. I’m hoping I’m not eating Luna bars for every meal! I found a salad for lunch tomorrow. I also tried soy nut butter for the first time. The verdict? I like it! It doesn’t seem as fatty as sunflower seed butter (which can be good or bad depending on what you’re looking for), and it definitely doesn’t taste like peanut butter, but it’s nice to mix it up!

It’s about 8pm here now, and since I have quite a big day tomorrow, I’m probably going to watch a little Netflix before calling it a night!

Have you ever been to a conference?

But first I have to set the mood. I’m old fashioned so I picked the winner out of a hat. A hat I specifically brought back from school for this purpose (don’t ask why I have a hat like this…), so as I wrote down all the entries, I blasted Christmas music. Tis the season!

I was going to bring the hat down by the tree for picture purposes, but then I ended up with something even better. I decided to take a picture with Charlie and the hat…and he decided he wanted to pick the giveaway winner!

And then for good measure, he decided to sit on the hat.

ANYWAYS-now that you’ve sat through enough cat pictures, here’s the winner!

Miranda, please email me your address at astottler @gmail.com!

Confession-when I decided to do this giveaway, I was kind of scared no one would enter…and I’d be forced to eat all the delicious food by myself. I guess there would be worse things! So thank you to everyone who entered!

(Random note-my Christmas playlist just got the the Spanish Christmas music. NOW it’s Christmastime!)

So what did I do today besides listen to Christmas music and choose a giveaway winner?

To be honest, not a whole lot. I went for a 3 mile hilly run…4 hours after I meant to do it. I guess I need to schedule better! I’m definitely in better running shape than over the summer when I did this-but I also haven’t done hills in a while so this kicked my butt. 

I also went to my home Crossfit this evening. I love it-it’s totally decked out for the holidays.

After looking at today’s WODs-I was super tempted to go to my Crossfit at school (since I live pretty close) as well as my home Crossfit because both workouts looked awesome! But I am not crazy. Or stupid. Speaking of which-I’m at the point with my fitness where I think I can do pretty much anything. Which is great and definitely potentially stupid. Such as going to 2 Crossfits in one day-I’m definitely glad I didn’t because just the one killed me! Lots of front squats-my wrists are rubber. And my shoulders were burning just after the warm up! My running in Crossfit has definitely improved since the summer as well-I’ve gained so much fitness this past fall, and coming back has made that even more apparent!

Dinner was on my own since my parents were out at a cocktail party. I wanted something festive (think eggnog), but I also wanted to use all the kale I bought. Enter-kale eggnog protein smoothie!

If you’re curious, here’s what I threw in the blender:

1/4 c  light eggnog (my family always buys this kind because we’re not fans of the thickness of normal)

3/4 c unsweetened vanilla almond milk

1 scoop vanilla protein powder

3/4 frozen banana

a couple of large handfuls of kale

vanilla extract, cinnamon, nutmeg

ice

For dessert, I tried some of the candy my aunt sent us. Chocolate covered potato chips and chocolate, potato chip, and caramel candy.

All I have to say about chocolate covered potato chips is don’t ever try them-they are insanely delicious and addicting, and if you eat a million you most likely will feel like death. I enjoyed just 1 and a couple of baby pieces, but it still had my running to the fridge for veggies!

Have a great day everyone!

Let’s go back a few days, shall we? Wednesday was my last day of Health Psych, and I had a final. I had to do some last minute studying after spin, which meant no nap. So therefore, a cappuccino was a necessity. One bonus to making your own-you can add as much milk foam as you want

Every time I drive in to school, I’m amazed by how beautiful my campus is. Always perfectly sunny. 

My final went well, and I finished early enough to come home and relax before Crossfit. Given the title of the post, I thought I’d share this week’s WODs with you. 

Wednesday’s strength portion was back squats. At my box, we have quarters of the year-every quarter we work on different strength lifts. I think last quarter it was cleans and deadlifts-too bad because I would have loved that! This quarter it is snatches, back squats, and presses. Presses are hard for me-I’m bad at anything overhead, and I’m so used to push presses! I do love back squatting though. Anyways, here’s the WOD:

4 rounds:

5 Deadlifts

10 Toes to Bar

100 double unders

This workout doesn’t look bad, right? The deadlifts were on the heavy side but definitely doable (155 for me). The killer? Apparently if you can’t do double unders, the sub is 3-to-1 single unders. Which meant I did 1200 single unders….Ouch. The good news? My calf held up great! So hey, what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger, right?

Dinner was a good one. We made sloppy joes with turkey meat, and chopped in celery for some extra veggies. Served with a sweet potato with cheddar and coleslaw.

The highlight really though was “dessert.” My neighbor brought us a ton of fruit from his fruit trees the other day!

That’s a ton of apples! But I had an idea for them-never fear!

I saw a recipe for apple custard on Sugar Free Mom a while back and have been wanting to make it ever since. The recipe is super simple-and no sweetener- just apples!

I made a quick whipped cream-just heavy whipping cream whipped up, no sugar. Sadly, I had a slight mishap that ended with cream shooting all over the kitchen, so I never really got to the point of stiff peaks. But still good enough for me!

(Sidenote- don’t try whipping cream in too small a bowl so that little flecks spray out, and then try covering the bowl with saran wrap while you whip….)

I REALLY liked this. The touch of nutmeg reminded me of the holidays. I think this would be better if it was blended a little more, and maybe even with different apples. I’m thinking I can easily make a lazy college student version with apple sauce in the microwave! And the best part? It was a great snack the next day too! I highly recommend this recipe!

Thursday morning was a little crazy-kitten nursery and then straight to a meeting with my professor.  The good news is my little black kitten is doing infinitely better! He’s gained weight and is incredibly playful. Naturally I kind of hoarded him….and took tons of pictures. Black cats who are super energetic do not photograph well though. 

The only issue with my shift-we have a really small shift to start with, and somehow I ended up having to syringe feed an entire litter of kittens by myself. Kittens are surprisingly not receptive to having food shoved in their mouths…It was bad because I had to leave by a certain time, but all worked out in the end. 

I’m starting to rethink my career choice. The current plan is to do nutritional research. Which still sounds really appealing. But at the same time, I love animals, and I love working with these kittens. So maybe a vet? I’m doing animal behavior research this summer which does connect. I would never want to do surgery though! I couldn’t handle that. 

Thursday I was planning to do a mile run and then Crossfit. I don’t want to shock my calf when I start training again next week. However, the calf soreness starting coming in in force (yayy 1200 jump ropes…). My whole body just was not feeling anything at all, so I took a rest day. I don’t plan rest days into my schedule, and this is why. It’s easier for me to just judge when my body needs a break, and give it a day then. 

Dinner was turkey burgers, with an idea stolen from Audrey. Stuffing a burger with laughing cow! We had turkey burgers filled with a triangle of garlic and herb laughing cow. This was good, but would have been better if our grill hadn’t died. We have to make the burgers in the oven, and that combined with unseasoned meat led to really bland burgers. On the side was green beans and sweet potato wedges. 

On Friday, I had lunch plans with my best friends from high school. I decided to at least try to look somewhat cute, so I wore a dress. And since I was proud of myself for making an effort, I look a selfie with horrible lighting. 

I need a haircut really badly! I didn’t even realize how long my hair has gotten!

We went to lunch at a formerly Malaysian-turned-Chinese restaurant. We’ve been there a few times before before it was a Chinese place, and they still have many of the same menu items. We ordered Pad Thai, Curry Chicken, and Mango Chicken.

Everything was delicious, although I hope my face doesn’t rebel from the peanuts in the Pad Thai!

It was really great to talk with these friends. I haven’t seen them in so long! We still keep in constant contact though, so it was as if nothing had changed. 

Later that evening, I was back at Crossfit for a brutal WOD. It was:

3 rounds:

20 burpees

20 front squats

20 box jumps

The worst part? They made us go really heavy on the front squats. I had to break mine up into 5s, and it was still a strain. This workout was weird for me-it’s not like my legs were burning, I just couldn’t physically lift more than 5 in a row. I guess that’s the point…Plus I think I was suffering from my lack of naps in the last week- I depend on those!

Dinner was really ugly-not a whole lot of color. I made a kale and chocolate smoothie. Since I have a Vitamix now, kale can be blended much smoother, so I’m fine adding it to a smoothie now. Since I was worried about the bitterness of the kale, I added some frozen mango as well. Although, thanks to Jessie for her recommendation on how much xantham gum to use-it turned out great!

After complaining about how small our glasses are, I decided I should probably just use a bowl. On the side were carrots and laughing cow, plus some lentil crisps. It was a very dirt toned meal.

The lentil snaps are the same brand as snap pea crisps. When I bought them, I didn’t even realize they were lentils-I thought they were just a different flavor of snap peas! I loved the flavor though-it was definitely something different.

Aaaand that brings us all the way back to today’s WOD. AKA the reason why I’m having trouble typing. And why raising my arms is a joke right now.

For the strength, I worked on cleans. I didn’t miss any of the strength days, and Saturday is usually a make-up day. I really haven’t’ worked on them from the ground in a long time, just from the hang. My stupid gym at school doesn’t have bumpers, so it’s not really an option. I was a little off balance today, but still felt good.

The WOD:

5 rounds:

10 thrusters

10 push ups

This was arm suicide. My legs? They felt fine. My arms were DYING. At least this was a quick workout. My wrists are destroyed though, between all the front squats yesterday, and then the thrusters today. And since we “finished too quickly,” we had to do 100 sit ups afterwards. 

Sorry for the crazy long post- I’m finally catching up on Fringe with my family and it’s super addictive! And now I’m off to lunch!

What are your plans for the weekend? How do you plan rest days? 

Anyway, I left yoga feeling awesome. I wanted to run into Whole Foods (just because it is across the street) because we had no greens at home, and I’ve been dying for a green tea smoothie. Plus, I wanted powdered green tea. I wasn’t really sure that existed, but hey, I found it! Any guess what? I got the best parking spot in the world. Like in all my years going to this store I’ve never gotten such a good spot. I picked up more mangos. I think our current count is up to 10. What did I say? I’m obsessed. Normally I bring reusable bags to grocery shop and I donate the bag deduction. I forgot mine in the car today and was feeling a bit guilty, so when the cashier asked if I wanted to donate a dollar to the cause, I decided to go for it. He then told me that I was the first person all day! That kind of makes me sad, yet selfishly happy that I did something good. 

Has any anyone ever experienced a yoga high? It’s a bit different than a runner’s high. I guess it is more like intensely feeling things. Driving home from a good yoga class and looking at the world, I really FEEL. I saw a woman power walking, getting some good exercise in and I was just so HAPPY for her. It’s interesting. I’m vowing to go to more yoga classes, and really get the most out of them. I’m so sorry the post was this long without any pictures! After yoga I made that green tea smoothie I’ve been dying to make. It took some shuffling of ingredients to come out, and I’ll post a recipe when I’ve experimented a little more. First of all, I blended the heck out of this, so it ended up being fluffy. I added some greens (baby kale and mixed greens; I thought I was buying all baby kale. Whoops), and I really wanted to blend them up. Into the blender went a frozen banana, coconut milk, a handful of greens, a spoon of powdered green tea, about half-3/4 a scoop of vanilla protein powder, a few ice cubes, and a touch of honey. Oh, and I tried my new ingredient, xantham gum! I’ve been dying to try this! I wasn’t really sure how much to add. I kept having to add more to get any thickness. I may have added a bit much, but not too bad! The end result? The smoothie had good flavor, but for some reason it just wasn’t very cold. In the future, it definitely needs more ice cubes. But not a bad first attempt. The flavor was pretty good as well. I also had a side salad of mixed greens and ginger dressing.

After lunch, my mom and I went to Ardenwood. It is a historic farm just across the bay. They have all kinds of animals, and grow many different crops. A few years ago I went there on Halloween to get a pumpkin.(I couldn’t find a pumpkin picture but at least this is from the same day. Sidenote: I’m not too creative with my Halloween costumes. I wore this 4 years and was a diffrent baseball player this year. What can I say, as a softball player, I’m so much more comfortable in softball pants in than other costumes!)

I went there a lot when I was little too. My parents got married there. Well, we went there today because word on the block was that there were 20 newborn lambs. The farm is such a peaceful place, so what better way to start my new life?

After seeing a few other animals, we found some baby lambs. The first ones were born February 21.We then got to see some newborns that were born 2 hours earlier. TWO HOURS. I’m so glad we went when we did! They were still a bit bloody (I know it’s gross but it’s a fact of life). They were so cute! Standing on their wobbly legs, exploring their first steps.After the lambs, we watched some adorable little pigs snoggle in the ground with their noses. They reminded me so much of my dog with their sniffing snouts in the ground and their eating of grass and mud (such a well behaved dog I have).Most of the animals were really tame and friendly, and would walk right up to us. There were peacocks walking around that would let you get almost close enough to pet them.While we were visiting with the pigs, a cow in the pen next to the pigs started calling to us, so we walked over to her. She came right up to us to be petted.She was such a sweetie, despite her attempts (successful attempts) to lick my jacket with her big purpley tongue! She also reminded me of my dog, with the way she nuzzled us to pet her. And this shot. Or this one.See the resemblance?Heehee. 

There were chickens walking around everywhere as well. I looked at the animals differently after my animal behavior class last quarter. They are so interesting! I’m taking a class this quarter about animals in medical research, and I’m so glad I decided to do it. Plus, another announcement: I’m planning on volunteering at the kitten nursery in the humane society this summer!

Everything was so peaceful. After Ardenwood, I stopped at the track for an easy 2 miles. I’m still really sore, so I wanted to loosen up some and just re-accustom my body to running again, so I wasn’t running too hard. I timed myself though for a baseline, and I’ve gotten wayyyy slower! But then again, I was just jogging. I negative split my second mile by 1:15, so I definitely could have been going harder! I’m fine with this though. No dinner post yet, that will come tomorrow. Turkey burgers are on the menu again for tonight! And I’m making plans with my high school friends for tomorrow, yay!

Overall, I could not have had a better day to start living my life, and really experiencing things. Peaceful yoga and a quiet farm, plus seeing new life. I can’t wait!

What is your favorite farm animal?