I Drowned My iPod…Again…

Date: January 15, 2015

Author: astottler

I hope you enjoyed yesterday’s little flashback! My mom texted me saying it really showed how tough things were for me then…my gosh yes. I get tired just reading that post! That was also about a month before my body eventually protested and I got super sick with mono.

I really do wish I did more descriptive type of posts though instead of random food dump! I think part of the reason I’m more reticent now is that I don’t psychoanalyze everything that I eat. My posts are therefore more sane.I swear, each year I get more sane. Or something. I was reading some posts from last spring-I was probably the most psycho then. And I ate so much! Mono really messed up my system and I had some crazy eating habits for a while…So anyways. My Thursday.

I have 9am class Tues/Thurs so I woke up nice and early to hit the track for a speed workout. It was really cold-I biked to the track and by the time I got there, my fingers were screaming. I’m such a California wimp. I was looking up weather in Minnesota-it said “feels like -32.” That is literally unfathomable to me. That’s basically absolute zero, right..? It’s so cold molecules have no energy…life is not sustainable…ok maybe not but that’s rough!

Anyways, I arrived at the track to find my iPod dripping wet and completely freaking out. Merp. I have a camelbak water bottle. I LOVE it, but when it gets a little old, it starts leaking pretty badly from the top. Yeah. I wasn’t 100% sure that was the problem initially because my iPod was acting like it was a tech issue, but by the afternoon I could the little water damage indicator was showing. I have a 6th generation nano-it’s perfect for exercise because it’s small and has a build in clip-but I don’t think I’m going to try and replace it with the same model. This is my 4th that I’ve killed-they told me this model was susceptible to water damage more than some others. I lost my first 2 to water damage due to sweat during exercise when I was doing my indoor rowing workouts for crew. And then this past summer I dropped it and the power button jammed. I think it may be time to move on!

The workout went pretty well-8x400m on the track. I wore a watch and tried to keep my pace at 8:00 which was harder than expected, although I’m going to partially blame the temperature. Either way, I have a lot of work to do before my race!

Post workout, I decided to stop in the dining hall for breakfast because I have very little food (as will be evidenced later).

I also had coffee. I have whole milk in my room, and instant coffee, which is a)surprisingly good (it’s Starbucks) and b)surprisingly effective. Better than dining hall coffee! I only needed a little boost, so I put half a packet into a cup of hot milk. Perfect!

I had initially planned on packing a lunch, but since I knew I’d miss dinner I decided to have something a little hardier at the dining hall.

Really delicious bleu cheese and pear flatbread. And then a Napa cabbage salad with miso dressing, curry roasted butternut squash, fried rice, and teriyaki salmon. It was a good one today, and I’m glad I made the decision to go to the dining hall!

I also had dessert-a small coconut lemon square and a couple of cubes of pound cake.

I thought about going back for another one, but after waiting a few minutes for things to settle, I decided not to get too crazy before teaching spin in the evening.

One thing about reading old posts? I remembered that naps are pretty cool. So I took one. I have this weird habit of waking up from naps in a complete daze. I think I dreamt my alarm went off…and then it did? Or maybe I fell back asleep while it was going off, only to wake up again immediately? I don’t know.

I also have a weird habit of waking up from naps and shoving food in my face. I can’t explain this one. I area a few pieces of dark chocolate-the last of the Christmas chocolate that I saved. With one notable exception:

I got these salted caramels from my spin teacher. Instead of going too crazy post-holidays and trying to cut out all sugar, I plan on having one of these every evening. It’s not the only dessert I’ll have, but knowing it will be there later keeps me from overindulging too much. I think when I run out I’m going to fill the box with something else and do the same thing!

Later in the afternoon, I left for spin. I leave pretty early to beat rush hour traffic, and then do Physiology reading while I wait. While spin is kind of a long drive away, I really cherish this time. My car is a pretty fun car to drive (when it decides to cooperate and not give me engine problems), I can listen to music, of course teach spin, but also spend some quiet forced time with my textbook. Physiology is my favorite. I want to know everything about how every system in the body works, down to the molecular level, so I really don’t mind the fact that my textbook is 1200 pages long. It’s just so cool!

Teaching the class went well! I did a different style class then I normally do, just in that I did some different type of moves, like doing a minute long sprint split between standing and seated. It was my biggest class yet though!

When I got back, I wasn’t super hungry but knew I needed to refuel with my paltry supply of dorm room food. I tried to hit all the food groups, focusing on muscle recovery!

Fats-whole milk plus some sunflower seed butter (I have butterscotch, and it’s delicious!)

Vegetables- carrots in the microwave, tossed with olive oil, salt, pepper, and Greek seasoning

Protein- milk

Carbs-hot chocolate mix

Let’s just go with it, ok? I wanted to try some Starbucks caramel hot chocolate mix I had. Since chocolate milk is perfect for post-workout, I figured this was basically the same thing! I was pleasantly surprised-this was really good! I was expecting it to be super sweet but that was not the case.

While it may not have been the grandest of dinners, it seemed to do the job!

Also-fun fact, I’m going to Disneyland tomorrow with my dorm! I haven’t been since 8th grade so it should be fun!

How have your eating habits changed in the last 2 years? How has your mindset changed?

Tips for New Group Exercise Instructors

Date: November 9, 2014

Author: astottler

Categories: Uncategorized

Hey guys! I taught another spin class yesterday, and it was AWESOME. The members of the gym are the best. I can also definitely tell I’m improving my teaching style with each class, so I thought I might share some things I’ve learned.

1. Ask for feedback, and incorporate that feedback. Both from your boss and the students. Ever instructor should have their own style, but you need to be willing to work with the students and give them what THEY want, given they are the ones coming back time after time.

2. You don’t have to be talking the entire time. This is one I struggled with at first-I felt like I needed to constantly be saying something, and then I would feel like I had nothing left to say. A little time without your voice isn’t bad-a good playlist will work with you! Plus, given I’m doing the workout with them, I need time to breathe!

3. Microphones take some getting used to. And even with a mic you may still have to yell. It’s a content struggle for me between being heard through the mic and not adding too much extra bass when the mic picks up my breathing. What is working best for me right now is having the mic a ways away from my mouth, and then yelling.

4. Prepare! Be ready to put the work in, and it will show in your class. Right now, I think my classes take a minimum of 4 hours to prep for. I’m sure this is something I won’t need to spend as much time on in the future, but it’s worth it for me. It’s an hour to make the playlist, and then there’s practicing the playlist-I did it 3x by myself this time. And then more adjusting of the playlist after testing it out. I think it’s really worth it to know the songs well and know when to give the cues. Plus, it’s still a workout for me!

5. There will be nerves, but they will fade. Especially for that first class, put a smile on and put it all out there. You won’t always get nervous before classes once you have a few under your belt!

6. All the hard work, anxiety, and time is so, so worth it. Teaching group exercise is so incredibly rewarding. I got the best compliment after class, and it totally made my week. It’s awesome.

And onto the food.

Weekends tend to mean a lot of breakfast foods, which is fine.

Before teaching, I ate a banana with sunflower seed butter. Afterwards, I went to brunch back on campus.

A yogurt bowl, french toast, roasted carrots, and some random things that were meh.

A little bit later, I was hungry again so I had more carrots and pancakes.

Last night, I went downtown to get some new boots. While I was there, I stopped at Starbucks for dinner. I got a kale caesar salad, which I was impressed with. I loved the addition of sundried tomatoes for some extra flavor!

Plus an iced green tea on the side because it’s been so hot here!

Any tips for new GroupX instructors?

2 Recipes!

Date: September 16, 2014

Author: astottler

Categories: Uncategorized

Hey guys! Since my Internet has been down lately, I’m getting ahead on catching up (?) and sitting at Starbucks right now. Not sure if I really need caffeine right now but it is what it is. This morning I went to 7am Crossfit and it DEMOLISHED me. I ate when I got home, but I was feeling sort of light headed so I got a pumpkin muffin to go with my (plain) latte.

The aforementioned killer workout? First we found 1 rep max of squats. I was stupid and didn’t bring my lifting shoes (which add about 20 lbs to my 1 rep max) so I was about 15 pounds of my max, but at least I lifted a tiny bit more without lifting shoes than I have before, so I’ll take it! The WOD though. Whew.

10 rounds:

15 wall balls (20/14)

3 cleans (135/95)

I did this Rx with 14 lb wall balls and 95 for the cleans. Sadly, the cleans were actually the resting portion of this workout. The wall balls killed me, and I was sucking air immediately. Wall balls really get your heart pumping! I don’t always eat before morning workouts-not usually before morning runs or spin, but I was glad I ate a little something before this class or I would have actually passed out. WHEW.

In terms of food lately, I have a couple of recipes to share! The first was one of the veggie salads from the culinary bootcamp I went to for work in DC.

This dish is the first time I’ve ever actually enjoyed eating beets. And I could eat it by the plateful. I even had some for breakfast this morning.

Gingered Root Veggie Salad

Ingredients:

.25 oz fresh ginger (1/2 tablespoon)

4.75 oz carrots

4.5 oz beets

4.5 oz parsnips

1.5 T honey

1.25 T lemon juice

1 T tarragon

1/8 T salt

Peel ginger, carrots, beets, and parsnips. Shred them in either a food process or a grater (I used a grater). Mix up the remaining ingredients in a small pour, and then toss everything together.

We had this with turkey burgers and roasted sweet potatoes. While I’m certainly not Paleo, I had a Paleo phase about a year ago, and discovered that I actually prefer turkey burgers in a lettuce leaf, rather than a bun!

Recipe #2 is another fall dish. I was craving pumpkin, and just happened to find a jar of Trader Joe’s Pumpkin Butter in the pantry from last year so I decided to experiment a bit. I’ve perfected banana custard (I still need to post that recipe), so why not pumpkin? This fall dish is light and fluffy, and the flavor is a bit subtle. This is healthy enough to eat for breakfast, and is packed with protein. If you want more pumpkin, feel free to add more pumpkin butter or add some cinnamon/pumpkin pie spice.

Pumpkin Spice Custard

Ingredients:

2 cups fat free milk

1 cup egg whites

1/4 cup cornstarch

1 T butter

1 t vanilla extract

4 T pumpkin butter

1. Heat milk until boiling. Meanwhile, in a medium size bowl mix together cornstarch and egg whites.

2. Once the milk is boiling, add it to the bowl (and not the pot it was in). Add milk slowly, stirring the mixture constantly. If possible, pour the milk on edge of the bowl to avoid cooking the egg on contact (i have yet to mess this up so don’t worry!).

3. After stirring the milk and egg mixture in the bowl, return to the pot and cook on medium high, stirring constantly,

4. Cook until the mixture thickens to a custard texture.

5. Once off the heat, stir in butter, pumpkin butter, and vanilla.

What pumpkin items have you enjoyed so far this fall?

WIAW-24 Hours

Date: September 3, 2014

Author: astottler

Categories: Uncategorized

Happy Wednesday! I wasn’t planning on participating in WIAW but here we are!

I’m currently sitting at Starbucks blogging. Aaaand it’s 7am. Gotta love those 5:45am spin classes! I got my gym membership back for a month so I can go to my favorite classes. When I went to sign up, they gave my mom a free week guest pass and personal training session to try and get her to try it out. I’m currently putting pressure on here to go but she’s intimidated! So if anyone has some advice for first time gym goers, we’re all ears!

I don’t have a picture of yesterday’s breakfast, but we’ll do a 24 hour period of WIAW, so here is today’s. A cappuccino-I thought a 5am wakeup merited a full-caff (although I may be feeling it a bit already!).

Plus a spinach and feta wrap.

Lunch yesterday was at Calafia Cafe. I had a delicious rock cod tostada.

And since it was basically next door, we stopped in to Tin Pot, my favorite ice cream place. Ever. I’ve tried some of the famous places in San Francisco (Bi-Rite and Smitten), and while they are deliciously amazing, this is still my favorite. I had Tcho Chocolate and it was fantastic as always. It’s amazingly creamy and just perfect in every way. Plus they put melted chocolate in the bottom of the cones so they don’t drip.

As a pre-Crossfit snack, I had cheese and crackers. This is a recycled picture but the same thing. I got this amazing Blueberry Goat Chèvre. Amazing.

You can find it at Trader Joe’s. Do it.

Crossfit last night was good. Today will be my last day of Crossfit before my race-I’m cutting myself off! We worked on handstands and split squats. Then, the WOD was the following:

10 minute AMRAP:

7 Overhead Squats (75#)

14 toes to bar

21 burpees

Dinner was cheesy polenta with mushrooms. It included creamy polenta topped with fontina and broiled. Then, sautéed mushrooms were added on top. Delicious. It’s from the Cookign Light app! On the side, we had a salad of arugula, mixed greens, and mint leaves, topped with aged white balsamic and lemon scented olive oil. So fresh.

For dessert, I had a leftover chocolate muffin with ricotta orange filling.

A perfect way to end the day!

What did you eat today?

Aloha!

Date: September 1, 2013

Author: astottler

Categories: Uncategorized

Aloha from Maui! I wanted to pop in really quickly today-I have a few minutes before my 6 mile training run!

Yesterday was a looong day thanks to a 4:30am wakeup and a 3 hour time change. Our flight left at 7am, so we were at the airport at 6.

Starbucks for breakfast-I actually didn’t want any caffeine since I wanted to sleep on the 5 hour flight as much as possible. A chocolate smoothie did the trick-plus it is one of the less sweet options at Starbucks.

As expected the flight felt long. And the plane was FREEZING-and I was wearing pants and a sweatshirt. Sleeping didn’t happen much, but what are you gonna do? And get this-you had to PAY to even watch a movie. Whattttt. So I did not do that!

Upon landing, our first stop was a local swap meet (crafts plus farmer’s market). We had a couple of hours before my sister’s boyfriend’s flight landed so this was perfect. I loved looking at all the exotic fruits. And look at the size of those avocados!

I’ve never seen non-CA avocados! I can’t wait to try them! Another highlight was freshly pressed green juice. Soooo good.

The perfect start to a tropical vacation!

Once we picked up my sister’s boyfriend, we headed out for some traditional Hawaiian food for lunch-one of my dad’s all time favorite things.

My mom and I split a giant papaya seed salad and teriyaki chicken.

We then visited our hotel and shopped around at a very touristy but awesome Hawaiian store-Hilo Hattie. Fact: my dad owns 10000 Hawaiian shirts.

Want to know what’s sad? When my family has come to Hawaii in the past, it’s usually in the winter or spring. It’s HOT in the summer. And….my weather at home is nicer. Like a lot nicer. Not hot or humid-it’s been in the 90s here and humid, and THIS California girl is drowning in her own sweat. #spoiledCAgirlproblems

This evening, we attended a Luau. More pictures on that for another post! My Internet is slow so uploading takes a little while, and I only have about 3 minutes until I have to run. It was tons of fun-and I was SO ready for bed at 9pm. What’s weird is that my ankle swelled up kind of a lot yesterday-and I don’t usually swell much. It’s the one I sprained a couple of months ago that is still kind of stiff. I guess a lot of being on my feet plus flying contributed to that…weird.

Hope you all are having a fabulous long weekend!