WIAW-The Magic Number

Date: February 9, 2016

Author: astottler

And it’s almost Wednesday again. GUYS. I am halfway through my last year of college. (Well, undergrad. Plenty of schooling left for this girl.) How crazy is that? I’m trying to make each moment count, and I am actively trying to remember to enjoy myself each moment because there’s not much time left here! I’m trying to get away from watching the clock until X or Y is over, because then time is passing that I will never get back.

Well, that wasn’t where I was planning on going with that. Where I was planning on going with that was WIAW with Jenn (and friends).

WIAWbutton

Pre-Workout:

Cranberry-Orange bread from the freezer. Currently my favorite pre-workout bread, and also the only one I have in the freezer right now. I have my eye on this recipe though for possibly the next one, although I usually like to keep the pre-workout breads a bit lower sugar.

Workout:

UGH. We’ve been doing these yucky sprint intervals at Crossfit that I’m pretty sure are really good for me but they stink.

We started out with 5×3 power snatches. I did those at 55#, and then a set at 65#. I’m pretty sure that’s the heaviest I’ve gone overhead since my shoulder injury! The weight felt easy, but I’m still weak stabilizing at the top so I’m definitely not going to push the weight anytime soon.

WOD:

Every 3.5 minutes for 5 sets:

200m run

7 push press (I used 55#)

5 over bar burpees

7 push press

I actually really enjoyed the running portion, because I felt fairly fast compared to other people, especially by the end. In general, I’m definitely not the fastest but I’m pretty consistent! Every set was within 3 seconds of the others.

Breakfast:

I’ve been really loving my fruit compote with yogurt again lately. This week’s combo is a real winner: cherries+peaches. On top of full fat yogurt and a side of sun butter. In terms of yogurt, I basically just eat whatever my house/dorm buys. I much prefer Greek plain, but otherwise I could go either way full fat vs. fat free and tend to switch week to week.

Lunch #1:

Leftover sweet potato, pear, leek soup with GF croutons, and a side of roasted veggies, mainly sweet potatoes. I think those were leftover veggies from diner at the house last night, and I was able to snag the last bit!

Lunch #2:

A turkey sandwich on GF bread that was from lunch at the house (which I missed due to class) and a Honeybell. Honeybells are a cross between a tangerine and grapefruit, and I’ve been really enjoying them this past week!

I also had a few bites of other things—some snap pea crisps and granola, and a Ghiradelli raspberry dark chocolate square.

My gastroparesis has been better lately (knock on wood), but even when it’s not flaring, I have to be really careful about how much I eat at once or I’ll get a (moderate comparatively) stomachache. I think I’m finally honing on what this amount actually is, although the content of the food also has a big effect! After lunch #1 today, I actually felt really good. Like, normal. Perfect even. Lunch #2 ended up being a little too big (with the random bites). For the most part, I think the magic number is 400 calories. 400 calories and below for a meal, and I seem to be good (assuming I’m not in a bad flare). 400-500 is usually okay, but I don’t feel as good. Over 500 and I’ll have some problems. 600 or significantly above and I start risking a flare up.

Obviously, that’s not very much in one meal, hence why I have lunch #1 and lunch #2 (and the same for dinner). I honestly think I can get a lot healthier as I start to figure this out more, but it can be really difficult to stick to, especially when the food is especially delicious, or if I’m at restaurants. It’s going to take some practice, as well as remembering that I CAN eat everything, I just need to come back to it in a few hours. It’s also difficult if I get a lot of sugar/carb cravings, but the more I stick to what makes me feel good, the fewer I have (because my blood sugar is much more regular).

Workout:

Teaching spin! Lots of hills today, including a 4 song hill (I normally do 3 song hills). I also wrote tomorrow’s class this afternoon, which includes HIIT in place of a second hill. We’re going to do 5 rounds of 1 min max effort on/1 min recover.

Dinner #1:

BBQ chicken leg, red beans, rice, kale.

I also had some frozen mango and another Ghiradelli raspberry square.

This dinner comes back to the perfect number theory. Unfortunately, I was a little over the magic number and am feeling it a bit. But it’s all a learning process and I do think I’ll get there!

Dinner #2:

A new to me bar. Sesame products can be really hit or miss but this was good!

Do you eat 3 square meals or more snacks/mini meals?

Getting Back to It

Date: February 26, 2015

Author: astottler

Categories: Uncategorized

Hey guys! Here I am-back for a second straight day! I want to talk a little about getting back into health and healthy habits, but first, why don’t we take a look at the day?

My morning started with a spoonful of butterscotch sunflower seed butter. Yes, that exists.

I then proceeded to lock myself out as I was leaving for my track workout. I keep my keys on a lanyard, and it has this fantastic habit of ejecting keys, so as the building door closed behind me, I realized my key had fallen off. Whoops!

My track workout was 10x400m. Guys, I have gotten SO much faster in the past month or so. I was killing my paces-my goal was 8:00 pace, and I was always under it. I was probably averaging a 7:45 for the first 5, and I picked it up for the very last one with tired legs for a 7:30 pace. I’m feeling optimistic about my race coming up! I also think I’m going to do a timed mile next week-it’s time!

Post workout, I went to the dining hall with the best pancakes.

Is it weird that egg whites feel like kind of a treat? They’re so fluffy compared to the normal eggs I eat! I also went back for another pancake.

Once back at my dorm, I had to wait a little bit for someone to let me in. It wasn’t too bad, but I was still running late. I pride myself highly in my ability to go from athletic to socially acceptable in a short amount of time though!

(I haven’t mentioned this in a while, but I’m crazily getting near the end of my year of selfies-where did the time go??)

Class was class. We’re doing the endocrine system in Physiology which I like! I think Physiology is the coolest thing, and I’m excited I’m going into that field! I just want to know everything about everything.

Lunch was at the dining hall, and it was one I was pretty excited for. My favorite cabbage salad was on the menu, along with arugula, pear, and bleu cheese pizza.

I had a little nonfat mango froyo for dessert.

My afternoon was spent doing laundry and catching up on things. I broke in the late afternoon to hit up the gym for some spin. It’s been far too long since I’ve been on a bike, so I did a 45 minute ride on my own with about 20 minutes of HIIT intervals in the middle. Those are killer!

Since I had a snacky afternoon, I wasn’t super hungry for dinner so I went with a basic yogurt bowl with raisins, cereal, and sun butter.

I haven’t had one of these in far too long, and it definitely hit the spot!

So…getting back into healthy eating, healthy habits, healthy living. One cool thing about having a blog is that you get to look back on old pictures and posts and see what you were eating a year or two ago, and what exercise you did, what your life was like. I’m not going to go on a rant about how I’ve been eating terribly and need to hop back on the bandwagon and be super strict and eat super healthy, because that’s not true. I’m not eating terribly, and I’m not skipping a ton of workouts. But there is always room for improvement-old posts offer inspiration. For example, I’m reminded by all the healthy dorm room snacks I used to make and haven’t thought of in a while. I would really like to get back into the less-sugar laden dessert alternatives I used to enjoy-right now all I’ve been having are sugary dining hall desserts or dark chocolate (which can cause other issues with the caffeine and my sensitivities to that right now). After this race, I also might kick it up a little with the workouts while my weekly mileage isn’t too crazy. On that note, here are a few old pictures of ideas and snacks I’ve loved:

Whole grain cereal with chocolate milk and peanut butter (the nut butter is no longer an option though for me!).

Chocolate Greek yogurt- yogurt, cocoa powder, and brown rice syrup. Perfect for post workout recovery!

Apple microwaved with cinnamon.

Microwave eggs with cheese, pesto, and avocado (although I’m allergic to most pestos now…)

Yogurt bowl-the best ever is made with vanilla Greek yogurt, pumpkin bread, and sun butter.

What are some of your go-to healthy desserts/snacks?

Snacks I’ve Been Loving Lately

Date: April 10, 2014

Author: astottler

Categories: Uncategorized

Happy Friday! Disclaimer: I’m in the middle of a paper which has to be orally presented on Monday+ like 20 hours of rush stuff before then+getting my passport+obsessing over Latin American culture, things have been busy in these parts and I won’t really get to posting until after this weekend! Here’s a post I wrote last summer (please ignore the summer references-but know that right now we ARE getting 80 degree weather so it kind of works). Here are some go to snacks. One thing I will add though is my latest obsession: roasted carrots+mango. The best thing in the world.

1. Fruit. This is such an easy one, and I especially love it during the hot summer because it just seems so refreshing!

2. Veggies and guac. I snacked on this quite a bit during the school year. If you buy a pouch of the guacamole spices, it’s as easy as mashing up half an avocado and dipping.

3. Part of a bar. During the school year, before a workout I’d grab half of a Thinkthin bar. Right now, I’m sampling my wide selection of quest bars. I’m finding I enjoy them in small pieces because for me they start tasting funny by the end of the bar, and they’re pretty dense which can be hard on my stomach. Eating a bite or two of a bar here and there may be obnoxious if you live with people who would actually like to eat a WHOLE said bar, but the Quest bars are mine so no shame.

4. Laughing Cow with carrots. This is the perfect mix of protein and produce. It’s just what I need to make it through the afternoon!

5. Yogurt. Specifically, stand-alone yogurt. For a snack, I prefer something that is satisfying as is. For example, vanilla yogurt wouldn’t be a good snack for me because I’d need granola and sunflower seed butter. Coconut yogurt is perfect for this.

6. Coffee with milk. Sometimes you do need a little pick me up, especially in the morning. If you’re like me and like the milk to coffee ration more on the milk side, this is perfect. The milk has protein and some carbohydrates. And yes, I’ve used this as a post-workout recovery drink. No shame.

7. Leftovers. Many times, snacks are seriously lacking in nutritional value. Leftovers are the perfect mini-meal, and they often include easy to grab veggies. The other day I grabbed some leftover sweet potato wedges for a snack-more delicious and nutritious than chips!

8. This smoothie. I do best when my snacks are on the light side, especially if it’s right before a workout. This smoothie really hits the spot because it’s super refreshing, tasty, and sneaks in some veggies.

1 cup dark chocolate almond milk

handful of spinach

half of a frozen banana

large handful of ice

pinch of xantham gum

Blend and enjoy!

9. Dark chocolate. Sometimes all you want is something sweet. This will fulfill that while offering antioxidants and a small caffeine boost.

What are some of your favorite snacks?

Phantoms and Quick Snacks

Date: September 26, 2013

Author: astottler

Categories: Uncategorized

One more day until the weekend! Woohoo! It’s a long day for me-early morning run/workout then class 9-5, then flag football practice.

Crossfit this morning ended up being particularly brutal. The posted workout was one I had done before in about 8 minutes. When I arrived, I was greeted by this marathon WOD.

I was DONE after this one!

There are a few topics I want to address today.

1. Phantoms

2. Dorm Snack Tips

So let’s start with the phantoms. I was visited by an old friend today-a phantom- in the form of a phantom pain. Fitting, right? My calf has felt kind of off since yesterday’s spin workout. I felt a tiny twinge then, and it’s felt kind of weird all day. I can’t exactly find the pain, but something is off, but it’s in the same as my calf injury I suffered before my last half. Which naturally freaked me out. I didn’t feel any pain running in Crossfit. I’ve felt a tiny bit of SOMETHING here or there on random steps. I was scheduled to run a hilly 6 miles today, as well as go to flag football practice. Well, I decided to do the smart thing and scrap those both. It’s not worth the risk. There’s another important lesson here-I used to always go to practice for my sports team no matter what, sick, injured, dying, etc. If I made a commitment, I HAD to stick to it. That attitude almost convinced me to go to practice. But I had to think about it-in the long run my half is way more important for me, and I have to do what’s best for my body, even if it means saying no.

So today, I’ve rolled out a ton; my calves, arches, and achilles are all tight and sore, so I hope I’m nipping this thing in the bud and it’s just tightness. I did the best thing possible too by making it to a yoga class. My legs and calves feel 1000x better now. Taking care of yourself is so important! I think I’m feeling up for a run tomorrow, although I won’t be doing the hill sprints I had planned, just an easy run.

And now-dorm snacking tips! Two of today’s snacks are some of my go-to fast, healthy, and dormable eats. The first is guacamole. I buy guacamole mix, which is usually just a blend of spices. Then, simply make as much as you want. I used half an avocado-the perfect amount for one serving. Then, just add the mix to taste, reseal the rest, and BOOM. Instant guacamole.

I love eating this with veggies. Today, I dipped snap peas and carrots because that’s what I have stocked in my fridge.

Now-dorm snack #2. Make quick bread and freeze it. It seriously stays fresh forever. I had pumpkin bread all spring, and the bread I found in my freezer today moved home from college with me in May, and back with me now. It’s a great healthy snack, and will curb those incessant muffin cravings (I CAN’T be the only one?). It’s also great if you don’t want to eat a whole loaf at once.

And if you’re me, you’ll probably break pieces off before it’s finished heating up. Confession: most of my bread pictures look like this.

And on one last note-my parents had to move to a hotel for a few weeks while they fix up the house, and they moved the kitties today. Isn’t this the saddest thing you’ve ever seen?

Poor thing.

Can you ever sense an injury coming on? What are your go-to snacks?