Coming Soon

Date: July 19, 2015

Author: astottler

Hello! I’m waiting at the airport in LA for my flight. I’m waiting until later to do my full recaps because I’m so incredibly tired right now that I simply couldn’t so them justice. I’ve been at the airport for a few hours because of my flight time/the time the conference ended and I just watched Netflix but I figured I might as well try to do a quick wrap up!

I had 2 sessions today, and just walked away with so much energy (well, inspirational energy, not physical energy). In 4 days, I did 6 cycling workshops, and 9 total workouts. On top of that, the mornings were early and the evenings were late thanks to time with new friends.

This conference was just such an amazing experience. I learned a lot and got a lot of great ideas for my spin classes. It was also awesome being with so many energetic people so passionate about fitness.

I’ve never been so excited to be a fitness instructor and have the opportunity to help people find health. I feel like my passion for health and fitness has been waning a bit lately because I’ve had so much else going on, but this was completely refreshing. I feel like I’ve found myself again. I truly believe fitness has made me who I am, and is a huge part of me. When it’s not a big focus in my life, I feel like I’m not myself.

I also forgot how much I love the gym atmosphere. Since coming to college, I don’t spend much time in gyms taking group fitness classes, and there really is a great energy there.

I can’t wait to take what I learned and apply it both to my own workouts and to my spin classes!

I promise a full recap soon with information I received at the sessions and workshops, but for now I need to 1. board the plane and 2. SLEEP.

What is Good Nutrition?

Date: March 5, 2015

Author: astottler

Categories: Uncategorized

I’ve spent the last 45 minutes googling, scanning twitter, and staring at the nutrition books on my shelves. I want to write more substantive posts, and I was looking for inspiration. (Sidenote-I’ve learned so many cool things about physiology and the body that I’d love to go into!)

I kept drawing a blank. I thought about the government’s idea of good nutrition versus twitter’s versus my own. What is good nutrition? That’s such a loaded phrase. I’ve read so many nutrition books over the years, I’ve watched detailed metabolism lectures, I’ve gotten advice from various people. I’ve tried everything, I’ve gotten different results, I’ve felt better or worse. I also admit that I tend to think ‘good nutrition’ can fix anything in respect to my own health, even though I know that that is not scientifically rational (although it can play a big role in a lot of things).

I’ve gathered so much knowledge and so many ideas. But I’ve never really drawn together a formal outline of what this means to me.

And honestly, as I’ve been sick these past few weeks, this is something I have to revisit. When I’m feeling gross, I have to wonder-what did I eat? Why is it having this effect?

It’s forcing me to slow down and THINK.

When talking about the definition of good nutrition, we first must consider the audience. Is it the general, highly overweight American population? Is it the marathon runner? The average healthy living blogger?

I’m going to say my beliefs are valid for anyone, but different for everyone. This may sound contradictory, but hear me out. Everyone is unique in what their bodies will need and run best on-this is insanely apparent to me as someone who used to eat yogurt every day and function amazingly on it and now can’t drink a glass of milk without getting sick.

That being said, I think there are some IMPORTANT overarching concepts that can be generalized to the human body as a whole.

So what do I consider “good nutrition”?

1. Lots of fresh fruit and veggies. I think the scientific reasons for this are well proven, and no one will argues that he or she doesn’t feel better when loading up on fresh produce.

2. Minimally processed food. I firmly believe that a lot of the processing done to food has lead to the obesity problems today. Our bodies evolved to process nutrients a certain way, and the rate at which food has changed is much faster than we physiologically can evolve to adapt. That being said, I really don’t think we can say that “eating like our ancestors” is better solely for the reason that they were “healthier.” I’m not sure there is sufficient proof of that, and even so, there are so many other differences in lifestyle that I don’t think the two are comparable. From a hormonal and physiological perspective however, I think minimally processed food is the way to go. THAT BEING SAID-I’m not sure how practical it is with the American lifestyle today to avoid processed food. It’s so ingrained in our culture and social life, but that’s a whole other discussion for another day. But in a vacuum, only looking at nutritional content, minimally processed food is the way to go.

3. Fueling pre- and post- workout. I don’t if it’s just in my old age or what, but if I don’t eat anything before Crossfit, or if I don’t refuel, I feel like I’m going to pass out! Fueling workouts before and after is so, so important! Carbs before, protein and carbs after-as soon as possible after! The difference I feel when I have plenty of post-workout food is incredible!

4. Avoid sugar. This is both a touchy subject and one I’m incredibly passionate about. Sugar metabolism is actually my favorite thing ever (although I’m a little rusty on it right now), and the effects are significant-especially the changes in hunger hormones! I truly believe that sugar plays a big role in obesity and is highly addictive. But again, I’m not sure how realistic it is to cut it out. But purely nutritionally speaking, it is doing some damage!

It’s interesting that all these years later, these are the things that have stuck with me. My view on nutritional has changed a lot over the years, and I’m sure it will continue to evolve.

I think my fundamental principles of nutrition are something to really keep in mind for me when blogging in the future. They were more present a year ago when I was taking a nutrition class, but in the middle of other things in my life, it’s really easy to just throw a post up with some pictures without really thinking about how they reflect my own principles. I think that it’s something that tends to get away from me, and part of holding on to these standards is that they help me maintain my passion for nutrition. Because I am no longer planning on having a career in nutrition, it is important for me that my blog stays true to itself and what I originally started it for.

What is “good nutrition” to you?

Authenticity

Date: November 5, 2014

Author: astottler

Categories: Uncategorized

First of all, fair warning that today’s post may be sort of word vomit (ugh I hate that word).

So, I feel like I haven’t been very real on the old blog lately. At this point I probably have a pretty different set of readers as I did 2 years ago, but if you read any of my old posts, the tone is pretty different. I don’t know exactly what it is. Maybe I’m burned out on blogging. I think a lot of it is I don’t really want to psychoanalyze my eating habits on the internet anymore, because when I go back and read those posts, I feel ridiculous. Maybe I’ve read too many blogs and feel like I’m just adding white noise to the world of blogs. I think healthy living blogs in general have changed a lot in the past 2 years.

(Baby HLBer Aurora)

I also think that somewhere along the way, I lost my passion. I became apathetic. And honestly, I feel sort of lost. I’m having a hard time finding inspiration for something I used to be so passionate about.

(Totally should not have been eating this, totally allergic to it. But baby HLBer Aurora didn’t exactly know this.)

College is a pretty big transition in life. I think I’ve become apathetic about a lot of things. To be honest, I also feel lost without a sport. Softball was my life in middle and high school, and rowing was my life freshman year of college. I honestly feel like food is my only extracurricular and source of fun.

I feel like another reason I’m losing my passion for fitness and nutrition is I feel like I don’t live up to it anymore, if that makes any sense. The more I lose it, the more unhealthy I get, which makes me lose the passion even more. When I read my old posts, it makes me happy yet sad because I feel like I’ve lost a lot of that.

(I don’t miss the freezing cold days on the water though.)

And since we’re being honest here, I guess I’ll talk about the one thing I never talk about but occasionally mention and complain about and then never change anything.

(One of the first food-y things I posted. That smoothie had WAYYY too much mint extract.)

Yeah, gaining weight in college is real. I feel like my eating habits have become apathetic (yeah, totally overusing that word in this post). I’ve gained weight, and I’m not comfortable with myself. To be honest, ever since that happened, I haven’t really felt like myself. And to be even more honest, I feel like living unhealthily is sort of wasting my college years. I feel like this has leaked into other areas of my life. And I really, really want to change, but it seems so impossible and far away.

And I feel emotional even writing this post because it saddens me how much I’ve changed since coming to college. I feel like I just care less about things in general, and that’s no way to live your life. I was going to do a whole post about how I feel like I lost my Type-A-ness and how that’s a bad thing but I guess that will come up here too. So I don’t know what this means for me. I’m not sure what to do. Maybe if I start being more authentic on here that will help reignite that spark, but I also don’t want to be ashamed or embarrassed by anything that the whole world can see. So that’s where I am right now.

(My gosh I love cats though.)

Trying Too Hard

Date: July 20, 2013

Author: astottler

Categories: Uncategorized

Hey guys! I’ve been meaning to post this since Wednesday, but I never got around to it/didn’t want to make a different post super long.

First, I want to start out by saying I’m kind of uncomfortable talking about my dietary guidelines. I can’t exactly explain it. Maybe I feel really vulnerable. Mostly I feel kind of silly. I feel like I have a lot of “WOW I just figured out this amazing style of eating and it’s going to be awesome and I’m going to do it and it’s going to solve all my problems, abolish world hunger, and bring world peace…” Also, I’m not sure if you’ve noticed, but I can’t stick to anything. At least in terms of my eating habits. I’ve had a few no-sugar challenges that were successful, but I never completed them. I only really stick to my weekly goals for a few days. Remember Operation: Get Healthy? Yeah, that fizzled out. What I’m saying is, I feel stupid for having all these failed a-ha moments, only to restart on something new. I’m a food and fitness blogger, aren’t I supposed to have everything together?

Well, now I’m done. I’m done trying to fit other’s eating habits into my own life. I seem to love giving myself food restrictions-Paleo, no sugar, gluten free. I guess in some ways it just makes things easier. And maybe it’s an excuse to eat as much as I want- I’m Paleo, so if I eat 3 tons of wild buffalo I’ll be healthy, right?

I never had these types of restrictions in the past, and I was a lot healthier. I guess when you’re looking for a quick fix, it’s easier to say “Ok, I just won’t eat this and everything will work out.” I’ll be 100% honest. College destroyed my eating habits. Rowing didn’t exactly help, because I was burning so much I could literally eat anything and not gain weight (never mind the fact that I felt awful).

I finally got my blood work back. It seems unlikely that I have a gluten sensitivity, so it’s likely I’m suffering more from portion control than anything else. (Also-my allergy test came up negative for nut allergies, but I was expecting that. Given nuts just give me SUPER bad acne, it didn’t exactly seem like an allergy thing. Maybe it’s something hormonal-I’m still going to avoid them.)

It’s likely that I just crash my blood sugar my eating too many carbs. I’ll do another post on this soon-I just want to refresh myself on the science of it and look over my old nutrition notes first. In short, everyone has a different point at which a certain amount of carbs will crash their blood sugar, mine might be low.

So instead trying some food group restrictive eating pattern that leaves me desperately craving pancakes (I swear my love for pancakes only came about in the past year), I’m just going to eat food. I’m not going to avoid gluten, I’m not going to be Paleo. I’m still going to try a Whole30 for a week when school starts (just because I’m curious and I won’t immediately get in the habit of eating pancakes every day). Lately, I’ve just been working on incorporating lower amounts of carbohydrates into my diet.

When I try a particular, restrictive style of eating, I end up either going crazy with the foods I can eat, or completely giving up and gorging on what I’ve missed. The problem with this is somehow that style of eating and kind of fizzled out my passion for nutrition. Now, I’m trying to eat more like I did in high school, and already this past week my passion for nutrition is returning. I haven’t cut out food groups. But I’m eating more moderately in terms of portions as well. And I feel awesome. I find myself craving healthier foods. I feel like I’m eating more like I have in the past, and that makes me happy. The only food I might ever consider cutting out is sugar, in the form of a no-sugar challenge. However, I see no need to do that now. I’m not struggling with my sugar intake. I find myself wanting a square of super dark chocolate as my sweet, and I’m ok with that.

I love nutrition-it’s something I want to spend my life working on. It’s part of why I started this blog. Yet I haven’t talked nearly enough about it as I would like. I intend on doing some more research-I love the metabolism aspect of everything, and how our bodies process food. Plus, I really should have found some papers for one of my professors on sugar….I want to spend some time doing some research on my own. Maybe I’ll come up with a new style of eating-who knows. But it won’t prevent me from eating my pancakes.

My first topic to figure out is how many carbs I should eat (i.e. how many pancakes I should eat) to fuel my workouts but not crash. I don’t want to talk too much about my fitness goals right now, but I’ll give you a hint-I need to be able to do an actual pull-up.

Just to summarize, I feel silly trying out all these new styles of eating, only to ultimately fail. I feel like as a health and fitness blogger, I should have my life more together, but in reality I really don’t, and for now that’s ok with me. Saying no to pancakes is not an eating style that is going to work for me in the long run, but maybe I can succeed by eating one pancake instead of five. To be, healthy eating is all about balance. So, no more broad proclamations of my new greatest thing. The new theme here is moderation, and eating to fuel my athletic performance. After all, sports are how I got interested in nutrition. I don’t need to try so hard. I just need to put my passion into use.

How do you feel about “diets”? Do you avoid any foods? What works for you?