Chugging Along

Date: February 25, 2013

Author: astottler

Not a lot to share with you guys today….I’m still sick. I keep getting better….but then my temperature climbs right back up. I feel like some sort of mutant…I am on like 4 different things right now to treat my symptoms (so I actually feel ok right now…while all 4 are working!). I’ve gotten some new symptoms, so I wanted to get some tests done yesterday to figure it all out. I was a little concerned it is mono, but the doctors really don’t think so. Either way, I finally convinced them to at least test me for that. But first, let me back up a little. The evening started by calling Urgent Care to see if they would be able to do these types of tests that night, and they said yes. After going in and waiting, and finally meeting with a nurse, they said they didn’t have the resources tonight to do it, so they sent me BACK to the ER. It was way more crowded this time, and I felt a lot worse (pounding headache mainly). I waited in the Pediatric waiting room because the wait was supposedly shorter. This was a very unpleasant experience. There were 2 kids SCREAMING (they were older brothers of some other kid who was sick) and there was one little boy who had just been throwing up all over himself/his dad who walked over and stole a little girl’s Cheetos right out of her hand. In summary, I was there for 4 or 5 hours (can’t even remember at this point), and basically had to beg for any type of test at all. Even worse, there was supposed to be a specialist to draw my blood but she never showed up, so finally a nurse just did it…let’s just say my arm is slightly mutilated….

I don’t have a ton of food pictures. My stomach has been feeling kind of off. I just had some scrambled eggs for dinner, but I didn’t want anything else because I couldn’t stop coughing.

I slept pretty late this morning, which was kind of a problem because it meant my fever did nothing but climb the longer I stayed in bed…and I couldn’t take anything before I ate, but I didn’t feel like getting up at all. I ended up with a cherry and mango smoothie. Lunch was saltines, plus apple juice and fizzy water (trying to rehydrate myself). Later on I had a breakfast burrito. Dinner has a picture though. Vegetable soup plus Gluten-free biscuits!I honestly haven’t done much at all today but lay in bed. I seriously don’t know how I am going to keep up with my schoolwork when I feel terrible most of the time. I can’t remember the last time I was this sick!

At least my kitties spent some time with me today! As it turned out, all I had to do was move the cat climber in my room next to the window….Silly cat!

Hope everyone had a great weekend!

Big Changes

Date: February 16, 2013

Author: astottler

Categories: Uncategorized

Let’s be honest. Most of yesterday’s post was me complaining about my poor eating habits. So last night, I decided to stop whining and do something. I wanted to do a complete overhaul of my diet. I wanted to start eating clean. When I visualized the places I wanted to make changes, and the ways I wanted to eat, I realized that what I was basically coming up with was a Paleo diet. For those of you that don’t know, the Paleo style of eating is based on the philosophy that our caveman ancestors were really healthy, and therefore we should eat like them. It is based on (more or less) lots of meat and veggies. The basic rules are no dairy, grains, sugar, or peanuts. I tried this once, a couple of years ago. I lasted 3 days. What got me was a Costco pack of fresh granola bars. Especially since I had a slight granola bar obsession at that time…

That is the Paleo diet as I am choosing to interpret it. Some are stricter, some less strict. When I tried it before, I did it hardcore, which also meant no salt, i.e. no flavor. So yeah. Not doing that. Before I get into this, let me just say I hate the word “diet.” I am not dieting. I am seeking a healthy lifestyle. And for the record, I don’t exactly buy the argument that we should eat this way because this is how cavemen eat. I think we have definitely made some improvements. However, I view this as a really healthy, whole food, nutrient dense way of living. My original plan was to try this for a week. So how was day 1?

I ate a banana before weights. Afterwards, I made a smoothie, and had a side of eggs and potatoes.

I went for half egg whites, and half whole eggs. My smoothie included banana, strawberry, watermelon (I don’t know what it is about these 3 fruits together that reminds me of cotton candy…), soymilk, blackberries, and some of my weird veggie mix chocolate protein powder.

(This is an old picture ignore the cocoa powder and peanut butter.)

This meal was….great. This is the first time in who know when that I didn’t finish my smoothie when I got full. I always seem to get super full and power through it, but today I just stopped and was done. No struggle.

Another note on the Paleo way of eating: in the book I read (2 years ago), it was The Paleo Diet for Athletes, and didn’t allow potatoes except for right after exercise. And since breakfast usually has potatoes, and I always have morning workouts, I’m good!

So here’s the big question. How did I feel? To be honest, after my first class this morning, I had completely changed my view on life and everything I’ve ever put into my mouth. I have never been so awake and alert in a 10am class in my life. For as long as I can remember, I always struggle to stay awake around this time. This year, I always attributed this to sleep deprivation. But here’s the thing. I didn’t get any more sleep last night. I got just over 6 hours. But I felt AMAZING. I could tell I was still tired, but I was clear-headed, as opposed to my usual foggy-head, struggling to keep my eyes open. I’ve always suspected that something was going on with my crash, because even on days (like Wednesday) where I got plenty of sleep, I still felt this way.

This means one of two things (or a number of others that I’m totally unaware of.)

1. I’ve been majorly spiking and then crashing my blood sugar.

2. Possible gluten intolerance? My roommate is gluten intolerant and talks about when she ate gluten she would be foggy-headed. Check.

Honestly, I have no idea why this worked. But I definitely want to stick with it. This seriously changed my life. I don’t want this to be a week long thing to clean up my diet. I want this to be a lifestyle. Also, think about how many more nutrients come from these Paleo-friendly foods? Let’s be honest; bread doesn’t do a ton for you, and it digests fairly quickly, especially in comparison to beans. I’ll be honest. These changes are not easy, and I’m definitely not perfect (more on that in a bit…) This is going to be one of the hardest things mentally that I will ever do, maybe in my life. Yes, harder mentally than a 6k test. But I truly believe that this will make a huge difference in my life and my body. To be honest, I have some pressure to clean myself up. I have another 6k in a month, and I need to get myself together and PR. And fun fact, I find it easier to push myself on the erg when I’m used to eating well and resisting junk.

By the way, I’m not sure I’m exactly buying theory 1, because by the time i got out of class at lunchtime, I was hungry enough to eat a buffalo, but I didn’t feel tired or groggy. So here’s Paleo meal #2!

Before lunch, I found myself craving real food. Vegetables, beans, meat. And I had an odd craving for watermelon. Who knew?

After lunch was when things started to get difficult. Of course I wanted a sweet treat, so I grabbed a banana with peanut and almond butter, which did the trick. Yes, I know that peanuts aren’t actually Paleo-friendly, but it’s a transition period! And yes, I definitely shouldn’t be eating them….

After browsing some Paleo blogs (gotta love the Internet), I realized there was a softball game going on, and one of the visiting teams had a girl who I played with on it, so I rushed to the field to catch the end of the game. I honestly was not prepared for the realization of how much I missed it. It was a little hard to watch, and I couldn’t help but wish I was out there. Softball is so much more my sport than rowing will ever be (sorry crew).

Unfortunately, I came back to my dorm craving sweet carbs (this seems to be a thing with me…) Enter banana number 4. To be fair, they were very small bananas! Well, actually I made some guacamole and ate that with celery first, then moved to the banana, which I heated up with cocoa powder, and ate with almond butter (Paleo friendly!). I guess it wasn’t exactly sweets I was craving as much as the texture of bread, This was a major issue for me the first time I tried Paleo as well. I then mixed up some cocoa powder, coconut oil, a little honey, and coconut for a delicious treat. My skin is going to hate me. It’s actually bad, I’ve made several banana mixtures that I’ve eaten with nut butter and coconut, and thought “How many things that Aurora is allergic to can I fit into this tiny cup?” I later had a giant Fugi apple with peanut butter (gosh this stuff is so good) and whipped up a little more coconut mix. Unfortunately, this was right before Spin, but it didn’t haunt me too much. One thing I did notice though. I hate snacks, because they usually give me a stomach ache (but I eat them anyways). No stomach ache this time, just fullness. Awesome!

After Spin, I headed out to dinner, even though I wasn’t terribly. hungry. I figured some veggies could do me good!

Baked tilapia, whipped sweet potatoes (SO GOOD), and roasted veggies.

I’m not going to lie, I had a major Paleo hiccup post dinner. But I’m not going to go into that, so I can move on and focus on tomorrow!

Overall, I’m viewing today as a transition day. I ended up eating quite a bit overall, but sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do to get used to something new. I need my crutches! My goal for tomorrow is to offer my skin some mercy and avoid coconut and other nuts. I think it’s doable; I’ve got some awesome meals to look forward to, which always helps! And guess what else I get to do?

I get to visit this guy! That’s right, I’m going home over the long weekend! I have a feeling that more appetizing foods/more fruits than just bananas will make my whole Paleo transition a little easier. Have a great weekend everyone! Happy eating!

Sweet Day

Date: February 1, 2013

Author: astottler

Categories: Uncategorized

Hey everyone! Sorry I didn’t post yesterday. I thought that my no sugar recap had some ideas that should be shared, so I left it up an extra day in the hopes that more people would see it. Well, this leads ironically to my next topic…I ended my no sugar challenge. I had some cake yesterday, and more stuff today. I want to get back to eating healthy, but no challenge. Just to clarify my comments on not wanting sugary foods yesterday, I want to be clear that I like sugar. I have a huge sweet tooth, so I’m inevitably going to eat sweets. What I don’t like is all the hidden sugar. If I’m going to eat something bad for me, I want to at least enjoy it!

Ok, back to more normal posting. Today started out well. Why? 2 words: PR and gear. We had our tough erg this morning. It has 4 different pieces, each different distances, and each all out. I went slower on the first 2 (slower than last time), and PRed on the second 2, including a 5k, for an overall PR. It felt really good! I was a little discouraged by the first 2 pieces, but during the 3rd, I decided I was GOING to PR. To be fair, this is only the second time I’ve done it. But still.

And second: GEAR! It’s a really big deal for athletes to have gear. Today I got a t-shirt for the Director’s Cup, and Nike running shorts with my school’s name! SO EXCITED. Plus, the weather was absolutely beautiful! Onto my eats! I’ll just post a few shots from yesterday to catch up.

Just a few comments: my smoothie definitely didn’t hold me over like my French Toast Microwave Bakes normally do, so I was starving after class and ended up having a huge snack. Plus, have I mentioned that whenever I nap, I wake up with a huge urge to eat? And then I start shoving food i my mouth in a half asleep, dazed state. So yeahh. I’m pretty sure that huge snack set me up for worse eating later, and ultimately the cake that broke the camel’s back. If you haven’t noticed, I have a weakness for chocolate cake…Another note: those banana chews are so weird! I don’t know what to think of them. They only have 1 ingredient, bananas. I ate them with that super smooth almond butter. Maybe I’ve been eating them because I ran out of bananas…the dining halls haven’t had bananas lately, which is actually pretty frustrating….

Ok, on to today! 2 granola balls before my workout. After:

Protein smoothie! This wasn’t a great one. No bananas 🙁 I made my typical berry smoothie with blackberries and watermelon, which would have been good until I added vanilla protein powder, which was just weird. So to fix that I added cocoa powder. Not bad, but not great. And then, since I deserved it, this:

3/4 of a whole wheat waffle (I tried to make half. Ehh go figure). Plus thawed frozen blueberries, peanut butter, and butter on top. Yum! Although I must admit, the whole wheat batter isn’t as good as the regular. It occurred to me the other day that I could whip up my own batter and bring it to the dining hall. But that might be a little odd, even for me. That brings me to the next point: BIG NEWS! The dining hall may be getting more natural peanut butter! I saw them scooping it into the container today, and it was a different type! It was even the kind that had to be stirred! I tried to read the label, but the lady was looking at me strangely. But it only had 1g of sugar, so it’s likely that there is no added sugar.

Class and then lunch. Yeahh lunch was where my sugar challenge really went downhill…

But first! Salad with a black bean burger, carrots, and brown rice pilaf. Nothing wrong with that. Buttt then I had some other things. Unpictured. Cinnamon raisin toast with smart balance to start. That was delicious but the dining halls have started stocking a different brand of cinnamon raisin bread, which I don’t like as much. Then a scone…and some small cookie bars.

After class, my sweet tooth was still raging so I ate a Chocolate Mint Thinkthin bar, and brought back the good ol’ mug brownie.

Practice today I was on land because we had an odd number of people. I actually don’t mint being on land. It gives me some freedom in my workout. And let’s be honest, rowing at steady state for over an hour on the water can get a bit…repetitive. Instead, I Spun, did some abs, and worked on some erging technique, which was much needed. I did a lot of legs only work because I know I’ll gain a lot of speed when I start using my legs again. I think I made some good progress!

Dinner was rushed, but it was what is currently my favorite meal!

Liquid egg whites with spinach, cheese (cheddar this time), pesto, and avocado. Bonus: I learned I can microwave egg on a plate! Anything to save dishes. After a rushed dinner, I headed out to my mom’s nutrition class. My mom is taking a couple of adult classes on campus, and she has the same professor I had last quarter for my nutrition class. I thought a brush up on my nutrition wouldn’t hurt. It was fun, but I liked how he taught my class better.

When I returned to my dorm, I decided to make brownies. Why? I decided I was better off making brownies with my open bag of mix and sharing them with my dorm (and eating some of course) than if I had an open bag, and therefore unlimited access to mug brownies. While the brownies were in the oven, my dorm decided to have a s’mores night. Soo needless to say I’m a little sugared out! I really should go to sleep soon because I have a morning workout, but I don’t want to be farther behind on this blog, plus I need to burn off a little of this sugar first.

Needless to say they were well enjoyed! I don’t care what anyone says. being popular in college is easy. Just bake something! As you can see above, some people obviously like the middle! I personally like a little of both the middle and the edge. Most things I don’t like the edge of though.

Ok, I really need to rest up for tomorrow. I’ve been having some nutrition thoughts lately though, so I think tomorrow might be a good time to talk about that!

Tomorrow is Zero Sugar Day!

Date: January 29, 2013

Author: astottler

Categories: Uncategorized

Today flew by! I have a pretty busy week ahead of me with school, so as I said before, I made a meal plan for the week so I have one less thing to think about, and it worked out great today! I feel way better with a day of healthy eating under my belt!

Before weights, I ate a piece of oatmeal bread. Apparently, we’re not doing endurance weights anymore, which means each exercise has a more normal amount of reps. No more 4x50s! The only problem is that I don’t feel like I got a great workout in. I definitely need to go heavier in some of the exercises. I’ve done a lot of squatting, and I think this is one area where I’m actually better than most of my team. I stuck with their weights, and my reps were super easy. I was a little scared to go up too much weight on the first day of these exercises, and I don’t want to mess up with the conversion from kilograms to pounds again…And I really don’t want to drop a bar. As much as I hate failing a lift, it was never as bad when I was with my trainer the last few years. Whenever I’m lifting on my own, I never go as heavy because I don’t want to drop the bar. It’s so embarrassing! It’s super loud and of course EVERYONE looks. Next week I’ll definitely go heavier though! Although we don’t technically have to do a run afterwards anymore, I might add that in again next week. I didn’t today because this week I’m just in survival mode. After weights, I took a glorious half hour nap.

And guess what? On the way back I saw a black and white cat! It always makes my day when I see him.

For breakfast, I deviated from my plan a little bit. I had planned on drinking my Chocolate Post Workout Recovery Drink, but I wasn’t feeling it. What I really wanted was a smoothie! I think I’m still having fruit and vegetable withdraws from last weekend!

Into the blender went frozen strawberries, 3/4 of a huge banana, a piece of watermelon, plain yogurt, and soymilk. This was a good one! The taste reminded my of cotton candy, but in a good way! It was delicious! Putting watermelon in smoothies is awesome. You should all try it!

Class was uneventful. Lunch was good!

A pre-made salad with oil and vinegar dressing, plus a cold mixture of brussels sprouts and tomatoes, and a black bean burger with a little ketchup. The black bean burger was really good! I ended up ditching the ketchup and eating the burger as a topper for my salad. The black bean burgers are always available at the grill, and I don’t know why I never tried one before! It’s a great option if none of the other protein sources seem good/healthy. I also had some fruit.

During my writing class today, I was struck with inspiration for what my research paper should be on: artificial versus natural sugar. I’m so pumped! I absolutely love learning about sugar. It’s a strange passion of mine…I’ll keep you updated on anything cool I discover! This brings me in to my next topic: I’m back on the no sugar challenge! ANy even better? Tomorrow is my absolutely zero added sugar day! I’ll post what I eat, and what I might normally eat that doesn’t qualify. The idea is to raise awareness for all the sugar added to the foods we eat, especially the foods you wouldn’t think about! I can’t wait for tomorrow’s post!

Practice on the water today was rough. It was super windy, so the water was pretty wild. I hate days like this! I ended up being in a stable boat though, so it wasn’t terrible. All our practices on the water have had the same format lately: 4×15 minutes. Ok, one for crew tidbit for the day:

Some of you may or may not be familiar with the concept of lightweight rowing versus openweight rowing. Lightweight rowers are smaller, and they have their own team and race against other small rowers. There is a maximum weight limit for lightweight rowers. Openweight rowers are bigger, and can be any size. Many openweight rowers are tall; it is common to have rowers over 6 feet. Right now, I am openweight, but I’m a very small openweight. I’m the shortest person on my team (and I’m almost 5’7″ on a good day). The issue with this is that realistically speaking, I won’t exactly be able to pull as well as some of my bigger and taller teammates. I’m that awkward size: I would be on the taller side for lightweight, and small for openweight. After the fall, when the other walk-ons and I split in to weight classes, I considered dropping to lightweight, but my coach ultimately decided she didn’t want me to have to worry about that yet, because I’m still fairly new to rowing. I was talking to another teammate today about this. We’re similar sizes, although she’s about an inch taller. For this year, I will stay openweight, but next year, I won’t be able to race in a freshman boat, so my chances of getting boated aren’t great. It would make a ton of sense for my to try and drop next year, but I have a year to figure it out! Just thought I’d fill you guys in on the inside scoop of rowing and what may be going on with me in the next year!

Dinner today was…frustrating. The actual meal was fine, but I had to stand in a pretty long line for chicken. This wouldn’t be that bad; I can stand to wait for my food. The thing is, I’m waiting for other people to get burgers grilled up for them. The chicken breast is already cooked, just sitting in a bin…so close yet so far! Nonetheless, I enjoyed a nutritious meal.

I has some greens topped with a hot chickpea mixture, plus chicken breast (ok, and some ketchup), and some sauteed swiss chard. It’s so nice to get my veggies in again!

Back in my room, it was time for something sweet.

I just opened this peanut butter. I know, I know, I had said I would wait to open peanut butter so I could give other nut butters some love, but, well…At least it’s a different kind! I haven’t had crunchy peanut butter in a while, and this is currently my favorite crunchy variety. And, as it turns out, it’s amazing on a banana!

Sorry this post was kind of all over! I need to start brainstorming some ways to keep my posts interesting, even on boring days! Tomorrow is zero sugar day! Anyone want to join me??

Have you ever had an embarrassing gym experience?

Ski Trip Today!

Date: January 25, 2013

Author: astottler

Categories: Uncategorized

Hey everyone! I’m leaving for my ski trip today, so since it’s unlikely I’ll have internet, there probably won’t be a lot in the way of posting this weekend!

This morning before weights I ate a piece of oatmeal bread.

Weights today didn’t wipe me out as much as last week. I think it’s partly because it was a shorter week, and partly because I couldn’t go as hard on my longer ergs because I couldn’t breathe…ohh allergies. Breakfast after weights was a good one! To all of you out there who love oats in a jar (oatmeal poured into a nearly empty peanut butter/nut butter jar), boy do I have a gem for you.

Smoothie in a jar! I love topping my smoothies with peanut butter, so this worked out perfectly! Although I did feel a bit odd eating a smoothie out of a peanut butter jar at the dining hall…

My smoothie included a banana, milk, plain yogurt, and frozen blackberries, raspberries, and peaches. On the side?

Half a waffle, topped with butter and heated up frozen blueberries! Yum!

After breakfast, I actually had time to shower! I waited outside an empty shower for a good 5 minutes…whoops. I planned on packing this morning, but I just laid out a few things. I technically should be packing right now seeing as I leave in an hour. I have no idea how to fit all my snow clothes into my duffel bag so this should be interesting!

Lunch was very eh. I was expecting better. But I ate while keeping in mind that this may be my last vegetables in 3 days…

There was some yellow curry tofu that tasted like nothing…some greens, some black beans (which at least were good), some type of slaw, and peanuts and egg. Today was certainly lacking. Dessert was a bowl with granola, berries, milk, and peanut butter, plus a ThinkThin bar.

Have a great weekend everyone! Wish me luck in my quest for veggies!

Do you like skiing?<