Eek

Date: June 21, 2013

Author: astottler

So as I was laying around reading blogs, it occurred to me that I should probably post something…I think I wrote yesterday’s post a little ahead of time so I feel like I’m out of my normal habits! Plus, this is the first day this week that I didn’t have to get up before 6:30 for one reason or another (workout, workout, babysitting, kitten nursery). Sooo yesterday I talked about my plan to try a week of Paleo to try and figure out my food sensitivities…I decided to start that today. (Hence part of the eek). But first. here’s one of my last non-Paleo eats:

Kefir, cereal, blueberries, sunflower seed butter. I think I want to try coconut milk yogurt, because I have a feeling I’m going to miss yogurt like crazy.

Vegetable soup and gluten free bread.

Lazy girl’s blueberry crisp: blueberries topped with a premade crisp topping-all you have to do is add butter, it is just oats, cinnamon, brown sugar, etc. Microwaved because I’m lazy, and topped with a little frozen yogurt because I like yogurt.

Let my outline for you guys what the next week will look like-I’m not going to be ridiculously strict-I have no problem eating beans and legumes because I have no issues with them. A touch of dairy here or there may happen. And I have no idea what I can eat before/during my long run that would qualify (help?).

Speaking of my long run…this Sunday is 8 miles. I may have run 8 miles once before. The stupid little Nike chip I got that goes in my shoes and works with my iPod is really off (and that was what I was training with last summer). My longest run last summer registered at over 8 miles, but I don’t exactly believe that. So eek. Other problem-I currently have a bloody blister. Not really sure what happened. My blister from last week was doing so well and not bothered me, but this morning, all of the sudden it is bleeding? Huh? I really hoping it feels a lot better…And I’m still not 100% sure WHERE I’ll be running…

Maybe here?

So if anyone has any tips…also I have no idea which shoes I want to wear, or how to keep my toe from hurting. Maybe you guys can help with this-I finally figured out why my toes hurt/go numb. When I run, Im landing on a nerve right at the base of my index toes. I can kind of tap on the spot and feel it, which explains why I feel like I’m hitting my funny bone in my toe when I run. Runners…?

One thing about half marathon training though-it has made me sooo glad I didn’t sign up for a full marathon. 6 miles is hard. Add 20 more miles? No thank you. I have so much respect for all those marathon runners! Given my feet are falling apart after my 6 mile run!

In other fun happenings, I played in a slowpitch game last night!

Mmmm not quite that serious…
It was fun though! I loved being back out there-although adjusting to the pitches was kind of rough…I was so early on everything when I was hitting! Add in the fact that it has been almost a year since I swung a bat (geez how crazy is that?)…I still did pretty well though! I got at least 2 hits! This also reminded me how much more sane I am when I am playing a sport. Why does my school not have club softball??
And tonight, guess what I’m doing?

Giant’s game! SO PUMPED!
Gee, I seriously need to organize these posts better. Come back tomorrow for my Dirty Thirty workout! I have my guinea pigs coming to help my try it out today 🙂
Runners-any tips??

Summer Shape Up Goals

Date: June 20, 2013

Author: astottler

Categories: Uncategorized

Hello friends! To start off the morning, here are some pictures of the adorable (and wacky) kittens I get to play with every Thursday morning.

Somehow one of the kittens managed to get in the wrong cage, which is an issue because these kittens aren’t 100% healthy, so that would spread disease really quickly. Each kitten has a card where its weight is recorded, and his cage number and been rewritten in. Luckily, I noticed this because that little guy was the troublemaker who jumped off the table last week! On another note, I’ve decided which litter or kittens I want to adopt. Because you can’t possibly separate them, right?

Sadly, I don’t think my parents would be too happy with one kitten, let alone 4. Having 6 cats would kind of make us crazy cat people. Well, crazier. In other cat antics, one kitten managed to tackle another kitten off the table. They were both going down, but I was able to catch one of them! Luckily, cats always land on 4 feet!

Ok, onto the topic of this post. Hanna and Haley posted about their Terrific 21 Plan, which is a set of overall goals, along with week to week goals. Miranda had a lot of success with something similar, her Operation Prom Dress. As you may recall, I started something similar with Miranda, but failed miserably. Whoops…

But this summer, I planned on re-figuring out my eating habits. I don’t want to spend too much time or energy figuring out HOW to be healthy and feel my best during the next school year-I want to get it all figured out this summer. I need to be able to focus on SCHOOL. So what better way than a Summer Shape Up? (I’m not sold on the name yet, so if you can think of anything better that starts with an “S”…) I love the idea of weekly goals; I think it makes it easier to achieve overall goals.

So along with the whole “how” to eat thing…here’s a little explanation (some longer-time readers will know what I am talking about). I developed some new food sensitivities/reactions to foods around the same time I started college, where everything I normally ate changed as well. Over the summer before I started college, my face started breaking out like crazy, out of nowhere. I FINALLY pinpointed nuts (especially peanuts) as the cause in like March…So a previous dietary staple had to be cut out (and my face definitely thanks me). My other sensitivity (maybe) is grains. I don’t know if it is a gluten thing or a carb thing, but there’s something off. My roommate last year had a gluten allergy, so she opened my eyes to the symptoms. I get what I like to call a “carbocrash.” After eating grains, I can’t keep my eyes open. It’s like getting hit by a brick wall (that made no sense…). …but then it passes. I’ve also noticed other things lately…so I want to figure that all out this summer. I am planning on getting allergy tested ASAP so I can get everything squared away!

Oats AND peanut butter :'(

So without further ado, here are my Summer Shape Up Goals!

1. Figure out my food sensitivities, and what to eat to feel my best.

2. Find a manageable workout routine- I’m definitely going to be working out more over the summer because I have more time, so I want to figure out a balance of activities for the fall.

3. Do at least 5 minutes of abs every day. Youtube is such a great resource-why haven’t I thought of this before. (Thanks Miranda!)

4. Be able to eat sweets in moderate quantities. I’m kind of all or nothing in this respect. I want to tame my reaction to sugar. When I have sweets, I have to have a LOT. This is half physical, and half mental. I do have kind of bad reactions to sugar, so figuring this out is a priority as well.

5. Fuel my body for energy. There’s nothing worse than a bad meal ruining a workout!

6. Lose the college weight. Yeah, yeah. This isn’t something I like blogging about, and I probably won’t talk much about, but it’s part of figuring out what to eat that is best for my body. Plus, running 13.1 miles extra heavy is not going to be terribly pleasant. I’m a little concerned that there is something else going on besides just calorie in/out balance though because all of the gain came after having mono, and it came on REALLY fast. And I was definitely eating healthier than before getting sick, and although I wasn’t rowing, I was still working out pretty hard. Yayy doctor’s appointment…

Right now, those are my overall goals. Basically, figure everything out. So, I didn’t exactly figure out what my specific plans for this week are…and what would be a good day for the week’s post? Maybe Sunday?

Here’s the deal. I am a big proponent of the idea that good nutrition can fix health woes. Feeling tired? Eating well will help. Getting sick a lot? Sugar weakens the immune system. Earthquake? Start eating better. Ok, maybe I’m a little TOO convinced that what we eat affects us in tons of less obvious ways. I have the tendency to blame anything that goes wrong in my life on sugar. (I’m kind of obsessed with sugar metabolism, and after college I want to do research in this field.)

Sugar seriously messes with my hormones and can make me super moody. But now I’m wondering what other foods affect me? I’ll be honest. I haven’t exactly felt like myself lately. I’m normally a super happy, optimistic and energetic person, but these past few months I’ve been feeling…kind of down. (Mono could be part of it). That is, until yesterday. The difference? I had eaten mostly Paleo that day, and the night before. And I. Felt. Awesome. I had a 6am wake-up, ran 5 miles, had no trouble stopping eating when I was full, and was more than ready for afternoon weights and a dog walk. I think the Paleo helped because of whatever weird grain thing is going on…But it was amazing! My mom suggested I try a week of Paleo to see how I feel, but before I try it strictly for a week, I want my vegetarian sister to be gone (it’s hard to find meals we would both be able to eat). So, I guess that is this week’s goal! I won’t try it strictly until maybe Sunday. So you’ll be seeing more meals like this for a while:

Good thing I recently fell in love with Turkey burgers!

Sorry for the lengthy post, I have a way of writing…and writing…and writing…

Who’s up for a fun summer challenge?

WIAW-Paleo Tropical Banana Bread

Date: June 18, 2013

Author: astottler

Categories: Uncategorized

Happy What I Ate Wednesday! Thanks Jenn for hosting!

I wasn’t exactly planning on posting my eats today due to some morning boredom/unphotographed snacks, but I promise the day picked up!

I began the morning with a 6 am spin class. I was originally planning on going to spin tomorrow and not today, but I am babysitting early tomorrow, so today it was. Sadly, I did not go to bed early enough. I was planning on doing my half training run after spin, but I had Crossfit in the evening and didn’t want to die.

Breakfast was a yogurt bowl with vanilla Greek yogurt, pineapple, and a mix of gluten-free muesli and cereal.

FYI- Whole Foods brand vanilla Greek yogurt is really good!

Then it was time for a NAP. My day consisted of running errands, but that’s not what we are here for, right? So FOOD. I had a mid-morning snack of part of a chocolate Thinkthin bar. Lunch was at the cafe at my dad’s work. I had a teriyaki chicken wrap. <

One highlight of my afternoon was going shopping for new running shoes! I went to Fleet Feet, and they were super helpful. They measured my feet and then watched me run to determine which shoes would work best. No surprise-I favored Nikes. I did want something different for my feet though, so I ended up with these:

…and a new pair of Nikes, which are waaaay better than my old ones (no picture because I had to order them to get a prettier color). So….here’s my justification for getting 2 brand new pairs of running shoes. My biggest limiting factor for being able to run a half marathon is my feet. I’ve had problems with them for a long time, especially from living in softball cleats for years. When I played softball, the balls of my feet were perpetually bruised because my cleat would start poking up into my foot through the sole of the shoe. Plus, I have this weird problem where I lose circulation in my toes when I run more than 4ish miles. And, if I have 2 pairs of running shoes that I alternate, they’ll both last twice as long. If I only got one pair, I’d have to buy new shoes eventually anyways, so this is just like buying my next pair of running shoes early. I have yet to try my new shoes though!

I decided on a snack before Crossfit. I got some Quaker kettlecorn flavored rice cakes at the grocery to try. they were pretty good, but not the real deal! I also microwaved some blueberries with blueberry-crisp like topping, but they were very unphotogenic. I decided some protein was probably a good idea. I finally saw the Chobani flips at the grocery store today, so I wanted to try it! I got the Key Lime flavor. I was pleasantly surprised by the sugar content-I was expecting it to be much worse!

I really liked this! I just wish the yogurt had a bit more lime flavor and tang.

Crossfit was pretty good today. I can’t wait until I can start doing the real workouts. My did back squats today, but it is wayyyy lighter than what I ever do on my own! But working on my technique is probably good for me! Our WOD was 3 rounds for time of a 400m run, 21 lunges (each), and 12 pull ups (with a band). I finished in 15:05. Pull-ups are definitely a weak point for me!

For dinner, we made the best quiche…ever. It’s the Spinach Smoked Gouda Quiche from Cooking Light. I’ve made the version with the crust from scratch before (and it is awesome), but normally it is easier to just buy a crust. This time though, I wanted to try it as a crustless quiche. We greased the pan with olive oil, and then sprinkled panko crumbs, garlic powder, salt, and pepper to keep the quiche from sticking.

It came out well and didn’t stick at all! I want to take a crack at a microwave version of this. On the side was brussels sprouts and herbed carrots.

I’ve dabbled in Paleo eating in the past, but since I’ve started Crossfit, I’m considering giving it another try. I haven’t been feeling that great lately, and I think some clean eating would definitely help. And since I wanted something interesting to post for WIAW, this seemed like the perfect time to try a recipe I’ve been meaning to make for a long time.

I modified my favorite banana bread recipe-it is the Nancy Clark recipe, by eliminating the sugar (I reduce it a ton when I bake the regular bread-the bananas add a lot of sweetness), subbing in coconut flour for the regular flour, and using Coconut Almond milk instead of regular milk.

Since coconut flour dries things up a ton, I added pineapple juice as the liquid. The texture of anything with coconut flour is a little different, but I’m all about the flavor! Other bonus- this only uses one bowl!

Ingredients:

3 large ripe bananas

1 egg

1/3 cup coconut almond milk (or any type of milk)

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

2 tablespoons canola oil

1.5 cups coconut flour

1.5 cups pineapple juice

(Before baking)

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 350

2. Mash bananas in a small bowl.

3. Add all other ingredients and mix.

4. Transfer into a loaf pan. I recommend lining the pan with nonstick foil, or greasing the pan.

5. Flatten out the top of the loaf.

6. Bake for 45 minutes, or until golden and brown around the edges.

This recipe is not perfected-this was my first try, and I’m fairly new with coconut flour! Since there is no gluten, it is a bit crumbly. In the future, I also might add more pineapple juice, or maybe some crushed pineapple. And maybe more egg? The flavor is there though! Just don’t be expecting the texture of regular banana bread!

Well, that’s all for tonight! A few thoughts-I want to add some workouts to my blog. I mostly blog about food, but in reality I’m a bigger fan of working out. I want a go-to workout that I can do anywhere, without equipment, that really kicks my butt! I’ve been brainstorming. Hint: think Dirty Thirty. I’m recruiting some friends to test it out on this Friday, so be on the lookout for that!

Have you ever baked with coconut flour? Tips??

The Great Microwave Scare and Something New

Date: May 23, 2013

Author: astottler

Categories: Uncategorized

Hello everyone! I am loving reading everybody’s posts about BLEND. I am determined to go next year, even if it means doing a ton of random Psych studies for the money! Experiments with my brain? BRING IT ON.

So last night after I posted, I was sitting on my bed attempting to do homework. I had a lot on my mind, and could not sit still. I decided, gym at 9 pm? Why not? Ok, now looking back on it, this doesn’t really seem too late, but I’m definitely an early morning workout kind of girl. But honestly, nothing sounded better than spinning my heart out. I hoped on a bike, shuffled my Now That’s What I Call Music 45 album, and just had such a great time. It was on shuffle, but all the songs came up perfectly for my profile. I was there for about 45 minutes.

While this was something I really needed, I regretted my decision just a tad when my alarm went off at 7 to go lift weights….but I’m glad I got up! I did this tried and true workout:While I love it, I think it is time to start upping the weight on those squats.

And being the good blogger that I am, I ate semi-more interesting things today, and photographed a majority of them!Plain Greek yogurt, frozen blackberries, and granola with added raisins. It was a different type of granola at the dining hall, and I’m not a fan. It was too sweet. Granted, the other type probably has too much sugar for me as well, but whatever. For lunch, I bought a super expensive salad in an effort to begin to use up my outrageous amount of meal plan dollars. I had half for lunch, with the plan of having the other half for dinner. (That didn’t happen, as you shall see.)

I had plans to run with my friend after class, but she was feeling sick and I wanted a nap. And a mango. In lieu of running today, we made new plans to run tomorrow evening. That’s my fruit knife, which I love. I seriously only use it for fruit though, not that I’m complaining!

My snack ended up being larger than planned, and included some bites of my now-soggy salad, banana bread, and another mango (the above mango is tiny, but you can’t tell from the picture). Oh, and some yogurt!Frozen banana bread. Since the school year is ending, I’m trying to eat up my freezer!

Enter microwave woes. For some reason, our microwave wasn’t working, so I went downstairs to use the dorm one-which, by the way, is super janky. And kind of gross. But it got the job done!

When my roommate got back, we looked a bit closer into the microwave problem. It appeared that the plug it was attached to was dead, because when we connected my lamp to it, it would not turn on. After further investigation, we finally discovered the root of the problem. The whole octopus the fridge and microwave were connected to was unplugged. Yayyy smart college students. I’m just glad we realized this when we did! The fridge is fullll.

I also received my housing assignment for next year! I’m actually super happy with where we are, although it is technically not considered very good housing. We got a pretty good draw number, but we had a huge draw group (8 people). (Oh, and the housing is a draw- you rank your top choices and they draw numbers.) But the dorm we are in is solid- centrally located, pretty close to 2 decent dining halls, and most importantly, very close to the gym. Because when I’m biking to the gym to go to a Spin class, and I don’t want the extra few hundred feet. You know.

I decided to make dinner in my dorm, since we had a now fully functioning microwave. I ran into the dining hall for spinach, and left with a slice of cinnamon raisin toast as well. This stuff is seriously so good! And then I whipped up some guac from the avocados from my big, and a packet of guacamole mix. I the cooked egg whites in the microwave with a ton of spinach, and topped the eggs with guacamole. Have I ever told you guys I like avocados? No?

“Dessert” was more freezer cleaning- frozen blueberries and a Paleo Pumpkin sort-of-bread creation, x2 (because it’s half a slice!).Whooo check out the ice crystals on those blueberries!

Well, that’s about all I have for you guys. I’m currently realizing that my abs are sore….Being the weirdo that I am, I really love that feeling! So if you guys have any great sore abs workouts, send them my way!

How I Gave Up Desserts

Date: May 17, 2013

Author: astottler

Categories: Uncategorized

Hey guys! I’m not going to go into today’s eats much today…maybe tomorrow. Plus today included a ton of snacking (which is always a bad sign for me). I woke up this morning for Spin, but barely. I seriously wanted to crawl back into bed. But I went. And I’m glad I did. And it was raining! What the heck? This is California, darn it! On another note, my bike is causing me great annoyance, which is a problem considering campus is HUGE and I definitely need to bike everywhere. First, my brakes started jamming. The front brake will brake just fine, but when I stop pressing on the brake, it won’t go off. Awesome. So I have to reach down to the wheel and pull the little spring-type things apart manually.

(That thing.)

The good news? Upon further examination, I think this problem can be solved with a few pieces of well placed duct tape. Please tell me I’m not the only one who used to think duct tape was tape with pictures of ducks on it?

Also noteworthy: I tried Overnight Oats for the first time! I actually broke into them last night for a snack. I didn’t expect them to be so thick! Also, a note to first timer OOers, remember before you taste your first bite that the oats contain an entire container of rather tart yogurt.

I just had it with some sunflower seed butter. I had the other half today with some thawed blueberries and sunflower seed butter. I just opened a new crunchy sunflower seed butter, and it’s my new favorite!

Overall, I’m not a HUGE fan of overnight oats, but I would probably make them again. I’m thinking they have some serious staying power!

This afternoon was spent snacking (GAH I blame you again nap!) and looking into becoming a Spin instructor. The general requirements for group fitness at my local gym require a group fitness certification as well as 1 year of experience….but I have no experience, so I’m going to look into tons of other things.

And now onto the topic of this post. Some of you may recall that the night before my birthday, I declared I’d give up desserts for the rest of the school year. Now, it’s been almost 2 weeks! (My record is 3 weeks, for anyone that cares.) And to be honest? I don’t miss desserts at all. To be fair, I am still having some sweet things, but these healthier alternatives are still cutting my sugar intake and keeping me sane. In my previous sugar challenges, these are items I probably would have done without. But those have all failed. So this time, I decided to take a more low-key approach and allow some things. Like this deliciousness:

And I’ve had some granola with chocolate chips. And who needs oreos when you could have this beautiful combo? (Flax snacks with the sesame seed butter.)

Ok, I admit, this one kind of pushes the boundaries, as both items are sweet. But they’re almost gone. 😉

Another thing I noticed, a few days in to my challenge: a lot of things just tasted sweet. I had my yogurt+sunflower seed butter+pumpkin bread combo, and it wasn’t as enjoyable as it had been before. The point is, my taste buds have adapted and I don’t miss everything all that much. Ok, I know I’m painting this up to be all daisies and sunshine; there have been some very difficult things to pass up. Like in Yosemite when all my friends were eating Oreos and M&Ms. Or on my Mom’s birthday when the table ordered a ton of specialty desserts. But I’m glad I did choose to pass up. In the long run, I know this is better for me, and I’ve reached the point where it is mostly smooth sailing. That being said, maybe a few less ThinkThin Divine bars wouldn’t hurt. (Yeah. I had 3 today. But now they’re gone so that’s that.)

The point is, once your taste buds readjust, there is no turning back! I love healthier alternatives. Last quarter I had many bananas mashed with cocoa powder.There’s seriously one picture every day from the beginning of last quarter. (Try this one guys! I haven’t had it lately because my bananas haven’t stuck around long enough and because it was awesome with peanut butter. Which makes my face blow up. Just microwave a banana, and mash it up with cocoa powder!)

There are tons of healthy alternatives out there (and I will most likely spend my summer finding them). I’m still deciding what I want to do when my so-called “challenge” is over. I think I might continue. I wish I was one of those people who could have a bite of chocolate and be good to go. I’m definitely an all or nothing personality type. And eating sweets is a VERY slippery slope for me. Although you guys don’t see it on the blog, previous to teh challenge I was eating a ton of sugar. It just doesn’t usually stick around long enough to be photographed!

On another note, I’m considering trying Paleo again now that my yogurt phase has more or less come to an end. Every time I’ve tried Paleo for a few days, I’ve loved how I’ve felt. ANd to be honest, yogurt was a BIG reason why I didn’t want to try it again. Plus I’ve been feeling so-so with my food choices as of late. Thoughts?

Would you ever or have you ever given up desserts? What was it like?