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

Date: December 3, 2014

Author: astottler

7 things that haven’t changed in the past year.

After looking at a post from last year’s 12 Days of Christmas about things that have changed, I realized how much really has stayed the same in the past year. So, I thought it would be interesting to look at some of those things!

1. Running. I did 2 half marathons the prior year, and 2 this year. Additionally, my 5k/10k schedule for winter is likely going to be exactly the same as last year. What can I say-I get in a groove! And to be honest, I’m not sure I can do more halfs than this. I tried for 3 and ended up having to drop thanks to chronic injuries. Maybe if I spaced them better? I don’t know-I enjoy the shorter races too-it’s a different kind of training!

2. My workouts in general. I’m in a pretty good Crossfit+running+spin groove right now. Not much different than a year ago!

3. My friends. I feel like friend groups change a lot from Freshman to Sophomore year, but I feel like I’ve kept a lot of the same people in my life this year, which is great!

(This is my roommate and my Christmas card…or something…)

4. My love of cats. I honestly feel like my interests have changed a bit over the last year. Or, at least shifted. This has not changed.

5. My general demeanor. In my first year of blogging, I feel like I was all over the place. I think being at a new place and doing new things can change a lot. But I suppose it is just same old, same old over here! My writing style tends to reflect how I’m feeling and I think it’s a lot more sane and even now, as it was last year.

6. Apparently my love of persimmons. This is a silly one, but my roommate brought back a TON more persimmons as I believe I mentioned before. Guess which year is which?

On that note-my roommate also hasn’t changed!

7. My major. Thank goodness. I think I’ve been all over the place with what I want to ultimately do, but at least I’ve had a clear idea that I wanted to do Biology from Day 1, so whatever I do I’m on the right track and not behind!

In what way HAVEN’T you changed?

Reflections on My Freshman Year: Food and Fitness

Date: May 30, 2013

Author: astottler

Categories: Uncategorized

Hey guys! I had such a great time with the party that is WIAW yesterday! Now back to regularly scheduled programing.

Since I have less than a full week left of classes in my freshman year, and about a week and a half until moveout, I thought this would be a great opportunity to reflect on the healthy living journey that was Freshman year- the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly.

I guest posted for Avery a little while ago about tips for staying healthy in college. I came up with the list through some trial and error. And error. And error. I’m going to go through the journey that brought me where I am today, including future plans. Hopefully my experiences will help those of you making the transition soon!

I came into college planning on walking on to crew. I had always wanted to try it, and I am never one to pass up on a new and intense workout. I also came into college in phenomenal shape- probably the best shape I’ve been ever. Throughout high school, I loved nutrition and had my healthy eating figured out well enough. In addition, I had been training for a 10k all summer, which I completed the weekend before move in. Since most of my friends began college a month before me and softball ended around the same time, I had literally nothing to do for a month except workout to my little heart’s desire.

(Right before they left.)

I did my training runs, spin classes, weight lifting with a trainer, and agility training with a trainer. I worked out 2-3 hours a day, partly in preparation for crew, but partly because I loved these workouts, and knew I wouldn’t be able to do them when I got to college. No lie-the thing I was most sad about leaving was my gym and weight lifting trainer.

I spent the fall rowing crew. I loved it. I was with all walk-ons, and since I was in such great shape to start with, I was one of the fastest. I loved being on the water, despite the brutal 5:15 am wakeup call every morning. I was in great shape again, though I didn’t lift weights as much. However, I fell into the trap of a new eating situation. I ate like crap. I never gained the freshman 15 because I was working out a ton, but I wasn’t fueling my body that well and didn’t feel that great. I would have morning practice, and then go back and gorge on pancakes with syrup and muffins galore, and then leave with a stomachache and an energy crash. And, it was sleep deprivation at its finest. But I loved what I was doing (rowing, not eating crap), and it was a great way to meet people and maintain fitness.

I started having problems around the holidays-I absolutely love the holiday season, and am super into the holiday spirit and doing everything associated with that. This was the first time I really got homesick- I went home quite a bit around the holidays to do things like decorate the tree and make gingerbread. I think these emotions led me to eat as much holiday food as possible to try to fit in all that I had missed or was missing.

By the time it was finally Christmas, I was in a food-induced misery because I felt so awful. And as we know, sugar messes with my emotions…a lot. By the time I got to training camp (a few days after Christmas), I had lost a lot of what was left of my healthy habits.I was only home for 10 days at Christmas before training camp in San Diego. This was where the walk-ons mixed in with varsity, Olympic athletes an all. I also found that while everyone else was getting faster, I was actually getting slower. I was in such great shape when I got to school that I really had no room for improvement. However, I returned from the trip stronger and more confident. Winter quarter was extremely difficult for me. I was spending 5 hours on crew, taking hard classes, and getting maybe 6 hours of sleep a night. In addition, I didn’t like varsity’s workouts as much, and felt I wasn’t getting as much out of them, despite the time commitment I was putting in. I also missed doing my own workouts, which I had had time and energy for in the fall. The only way I could go to a Spin class was if I woke up at 5, finished my erg early which was only kind of possible given when the gym opened, did the spin class, and then ran. I did that maybe once. My eating habits once again weren’t great- I feel like I never really “fixed” myself from the holidays. In addition, I finally discovered a likely nut allergy, and a major problem with crashes after eating certain types of carbs. Since I had zero time or energy, I was kind of isolated in my dorm. My classes were really hard for me, and I had no time to put in to them. I could barely stay awake in class. I was really struggling. After my first Ochem midterm, I seriously considered quitting, but I loved the team, working out hard, and the athlete status. And then I got sick. One afternoon, I felt sore all over. We had a freezing cold practice on the water, and I could not warm up from it. The next morning I had a 100 degree fever. I tried to do my morning erg, but it wasn’t happening. I made plans to make it up that weekend. Then, the next morning I was still sick. I was struggling to figure out when I’d make up all these missed workouts. Before I knew it, it had been a week, and my fever was up to 103, leading to a trip to the ER. Long story short, I had Mono. And strep throat. And a cold, which led to an ear and sinus infection. And stomach flu. All at once. It was awful. I had to go home. I couldn’t get out of bed for weeks. I have never been that sick. I had to drop Ochem and math, but given how much I was struggling, this probably saved my GPA. I barely finished my last 2 classes with some extensions and really difficult days. For 2 weeks, I could barely eat at all. First, it was the stomach flu. Then, it was the swollen organs that made my stomach the size of a pea. I must have dropped at least 10 pounds during this time, although a lot of it was muscle.

When I gained my appetite back (before I was better), I went a little crazy, indulging in all the I couldn’t eat in the previous weeks and all the food from home I had missed out on all year. Fro-yo was an everyday thing.

I regained my sweet tooth that I had lost while I was sick, and boy did I gain it. Losing and then gaining weight rapidly kind of messed up my eating habits further. Around this time, I made the difficult decision to not return to crew. Mono was a wakeup call: what I was trying to do was not healthy. And although I do miss it, I know I made the right decision.

Soon, I was able to work out again, and boy was it hard. When you can’t even sit up in bed for weeks, imagine how hard a sit up is. I started with yoga, and didn’t lift weights until later (due to organ swelling). I wish I could say I figured out my eating habits, but the illness really messed me up.

At the beginning of this quarter, I had such a great time- I could talk to friends until 1am, and it wouldn’t matter because there was no morning practice. Late night food parties? Sure, why not? Yeah, those habits caught up to me pretty quickly. When I finally eliminated sweets a few weeks ago, I felt way better. Now, I would say I am eating much healthier than before, but the lack of 5 hours of crew everyday is catching up to me a little bit. I never seem to have problems getting workouts in- I love them! But Id be lying if I said my eating habits are where I want them to be.

As you can see, this has definitely been a year of ups and downs. I am currently suffering from lack of a sport- softball consumed my life all through high school, and rowing replaced it until now. I always thought that a sport was what was holding me together-before I was cleared for crew, I was going insane. Now, I am going a little bat-shit crazy, haha. I really hope my little journey helped some of you. Going home for a long time when I was sick really helped me- buh bye homesickness! However, as you can see, I am not where I want to be. So what does that mean?

Instead of taking a ton of classes this summer, I want to take some time to myself. I am taking only 5 units because I don’t want to be burned out. I want to spend this summer finding my happy place with food and fitness, and I want to put some serious work into the ol’ blog. My class schedule is going to be much more intense in the fall, so I really want to figure myself out before then.

Despite the rough patches, I can honestly say I had an amazing freshman year.

What was your freshman year of college like? Did you struggle at all?

You’re Jamaican Me Crazy

Date: May 12, 2013

Author: astottler

Categories: Uncategorized

You know what is crazy? I only have a month left of school. That means that my freshman year of college is almost over! How did that happen??

This morning I was doing some blog reflections. I’ve noticed my writing style has changed considerably. I get the impression that it is choppier now that it was before. And a LOT more sarcastic. Am I getting TOO comfortable on the Internet? Haha. But I also get the impression that although my writing seems a bit rushed, it definitely has more energy and is overall more positive. The things sleep will do for you! It was also interesting to reflect on my food choices, especially given I’ve recently given up sweets. When I was doing crew, I ate sooo much! It’s crazy! It did make me nostalgic for crew as well. But hey, life happens. I do feel healthier now though that I am not consuming quite so much sugar. Another thing: I read some of the first posts from when I was getting sick. It’s kind of pitiful; 2 days into being sick, I wrote, “I think I’m finally getting better!” Sorry sweetie, but it’s going to be another month before you ACTUALLY get better. Hah. I had nooo clue what I was in for.

But ANYWAYS. My takeaway from this is that I want to improve my writing style. I want to be more descriptive, and I suppose in some ways more formal. I think I was beginning to write a little too much like I would write a text message. Also, I realized how many typos I have, and for that I am so incredibly sorry. I have so much trouble catching my own typos!

But let’s get back to life, shall we? My Psych midterm was pretty easy (I hope) so that was one midterm down. My super important midterm is OChem this Wednesday. After my exam, it was lunchtime! Friday was one of those days where I ate a ton, but was never super full.I started with a Southwest salad. Every time I am at the cafeteria there, I see this amazing looking pizza, but I can never rationalize getting a slice. Yesterday was no different, until I decided to just go for it, since I wasn’t full from my salad. It was described as Margarita pizza, but it wasn’t really like any Margarita pizza I’ve had before! Deep dish Margarita?This was delicious. There were globs of fresh mozzarella under the tomatoes, and the pesto complimented everything perfectly. SO worth it.

After class, I decided to go on a bike ride. I found a bike loop online that a lot of bike riders take around here. It’s not a bike trail, just 3 roads connected. It was a 15 mile bike ride. (My trusty sidekick that sometimes decides to try and kill me.)

I wasn’t too happy with the gears on my bike. The chains have fallen off a few times, and given my highly limited knowledge of bikes, I most likely did not put them back on in the correct place, so I only really had 2 gears to work with. I stopped to adjust them, and I think it helped. I really liked/really hated this ride. It took me a really long time to complete; apparently I’m the world’s slowest biker. Ah well. I’ve ridden most of the first leg of this loop before. The first leg is uphill for a long time, although for the most part it isn’t too steep. But definitely enough to feel the burn! This bike ride is interesting; I start on campus and see tons of people leaving work. Then, as I get farther out, the world transforms. I begin to see horses and ranches, and little town stores. On the second leg of the loop, I saw Vineyards and all of the sudden there were horses on the road next to me. It was as if I had traveled to a different time period. After some downhill, and more climbing, I was finally at the top. I didn’t realize I was at the top at first; I first noticed I had a feeling of unexplained happiness. There was nothing higher than I was! I was pretty tired at this point. I went down a hill, only to turn a corner and find a super steep looking hill waiting for me. I actually said “Oh shit” out loud before. I don’t normally say things like that to myself, that loud. It didn’t turn out to be as bad as I was expecting, since there was a pretty big downhill going in, and I had a ton of momentum carry me to the top.

All in all, a great ride.

As I mentioned before, friday was my Mom’s birthday. I love these pictures:

What an angel!

My mom sent me this caption: “They’re just lollipops to Lilly.”

I don’t know what it is, but my kitties love chewing flowers. Last year I had a big birthday bouquet of roses. We woke up the next morning to find the downstairs completely covered in rose petals. Oh cats.

For her birthday, we went out to a Jamaican restaurant called Coconuts.

Guac and Plantain chips? Um YES.

In case you are wondering why there are so many plates, it is because the restaurant was family-style. They weren’t all for me; I wasn’t THAT much of a bottomless pit!

The food was really good, but had this spice that took a little while to hit you. So by the end of the meal, all the spiciness had built up and my tongue was on fire! I’m kind of a wimp in that regard.

We all had a great time. I think I’ll hold off on the other things I want to share because this post is already pretty long!