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My Yogurt Evolution

Hello! I finished my tasks for the night and thought this would be a fun and interesting post to write.

I typically eat yogurt for breakfast every morning. While I’ve gone through a few phases where this hasn’t been the case, for the most part of 6 years I have, but it definitely has evolved over the years. Shall we take a look?

High school: my first major yogurt eating began when I started going to the gym in the mornings, and then straight to school. The cups were nice and easy to pack, and I would often do the Fage yogurts with honey on the side, so I could add as much or as little as I liked. I love how the honey gets cold!

As I started getting more interested in nutrition/sugar, I amped up the nutrition, and added apples and walnuts to plain Greek yogurt instead.

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My friend caught me eating it in class!

Freshman in college: pre-mono. I didn’t eat yogurt that much, but a couple of times I mixed plain Greek yogurt with brown rice syrup and cocoa powder for a post-workout snack.

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Freshman post-mono: When I had mono, I took 1,002 antibiotics, so I was really trying to get more probiotics in my system, which is when I rediscovered yogurt. It quickly became an obsession. The best combo? Vanilla Greek yogurt+pumpkin bread+sunbutter. YUMM. I still think this is the best combo, I just never seem to have it anymore.

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Obsession level:

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Summer after freshman year: I went through a granola/cereal in yogurt phase. With flavored yogurts, like pineapple. Topped with fruit and sunbutter.

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Soph fall: not a ton of yogurt, but I did go through a major pumpkin obsession, so all the pumpkin products went into yogurt! A favorite was pumpkin butter+sunbutter+some type of quick bread.

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Soph winter: a very brief foray into overnight oats. Sometimes I got cravings for them, but I only like them with flavored yogurts!

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Soph winter: During my real foods project, I discovered the beauty of full fat yogurt. I topped it with no sugar sunbutter (which I sometimes, but rarely, crave in this specific context) and berries on the stove. One of the best discoveries over.

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Soph spring: I didn’t really have cooking facilities in a dorm, so berries like the above were not always available to me, so I adapted to the dining hall. Every morning I wanted pancakes, so I compromised by topping yogurt with dining hall fruit and a pancake.

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DC summer: For most of the summer, I wasn’t feeling the yogurt thanks to the heat, but by the end of the summer I discovered a delicious and healthier alternative to my quick bread in yogurt desire: heat banana and mash with cocoa powder. Put on plain yogurt, top with sun butter. SO good.

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Junior year: The dining hall had sunbutter! I made my whole breakfast work there. Plain Greek yogurt, sun butter, and fruit, often canned pears.

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Summer 2015: I did more of flavored yogurts without toppings. Partly because when I had to start work at 7am and eat breakfast really early, I wasn’t in the mood for much.

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Fall Senior:

2 choices: yogurt with just something sweet like jam, or pumpkin butter or yogurt with fruit+sunbutter (especially persimmons).

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Last month:

Plain Greek with jam (tropical or homemade berry)+sunbutter.

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This week:

Back to the berry compote and sun butter!

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So now I think I need to recreate basically all of these. YUM

What’s your favorite way to eat yogurt? I would love to find a new phase 🙂

 

 

Learning my Lesson

Today was another scorcher! I got my run out of the way first thing. It was my hilly 5 mile route, and I’ve been dreading this run all week. The hills have just not felt good lately-my legs feel dead! Well, as it turns out, it’s officially hot enough that I need to start carry water, even on these short-ish runs! Mid run, at the top of the hill, I was SO thirsty! I drank a ton of water when I returned, but with the heat and my morning run, I’ve been fighting dehydration all day.

Post run breakfast was the same old-plain greek yogurt with berries and sunflower seed butter. To be perfectly honest, I don’t want to switch it up, partly because it’s delicious and refreshing, but partly because I’m scared my berries will turn alcoholic before I can eat them, because the last batch did! So far so good though!

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I didn’t pack a lunch today because I wasn’t sure if I’d have time to eat it between classes. In the end, I did get a chance to stop by a cafe on campus for a chicken and pesto sandwich on whole wheat.

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My second morning class has air conditioning, but it’s always on SO high that even though I brought a sweater specifically for that class, I was still freezing my booty off! I have never been so happy to walk outside in nearly 100 degree heat-to thaw!

However, my afternoon class is most definitely not air conditioned. I spent 2 hours staring at a computer screen and melting my brain. Not fun. I then picked up LITERALLY the best, most amazing, refreshing, and cool thing in the world. An iced latte! (decaf)

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Crossfit today was pretty empty. I guess everyone got fed up with the what yesterday and decided not to show today! For the strength, we worked on power snatches and I FINALLY PRed by 5 pounds! The WOD was a tabata of pull ups, push press, sit ups, and dumb bell cleans. The push presses were probably the most difficult for me!

After my workout, I headed to dinner at the dining hall. I’ve actually been digging the dining hall lately-today they had HUMMUS, which is rare and exciting. I filled up a bowl with salad, chicken, and plenty of hummus!

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For dessert, I had a cool cup of plain Greek yogurt with cereal and strawberries, as well as a small slice of lemon cake. I’ve been really into lemon lately, ever since I came across this recipe that I’m dying to make! I had a lemon luna bar earlier as well-so perfect for summer!

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And now, I’m sitting in my room sweating. Gotta love lack of air conditioning! Also-I only have 4 weeks until summer…what??

Do you have any exciting plans for the summer?

Snacks I’ve Been Loving Lately

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. 

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

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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.

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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.

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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!

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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.

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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.

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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!

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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!

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

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What are some of your favorite snacks?

The Day I Ate Nothing But Yogurt and Pumpkin

Hi friends! Can you believe tomorrow is Friday? It kind of snuck up on me this week! Tonight I still need to do a lab report and a prelab. Fun stuff. I skipped yoga in favor of homework for once…

WARNING: If you’re looking for a healthy lifestyle, today may not be the best example. But such is life. 

I actually slept 8 hours last night. I can’t even remember the last time! I had weird dreams though-driving to softball practice on a motorcycle??

I went to 8am Crossfit. The workout included lots of thrusters and push presses (a brutal combo), and more double unders. Thankfully, I didn’t have to do a million and two single unders-I just had to attempt doubles for one minute each round. Way easier on the calves! And I actually did string some double unders together too-something sort of clicked!

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Post-Crossfit.

I decided to go to the dining hall to restock on eggs.

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And might as well get breakfast while I’m there, right?? Plus, after seeing these vats of yogurt….Swoon.

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I also did something crazy…I drank decaf coffee! Who am I? Drinking coffee for a reason other than caffeine?? It was eh. (That’s what I get.)

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I decided to pack lunch today-it was time to attempt pumpkin yogurt! Sadly, my yogurt got a little beat up in my bag and ended up leaking all over my lunch bag…it could have been much worse!

Here are the ingredients:

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Plain yogurt, pumpkin pie filling, cinnamon. And yes, I did pack the entire cinnamon container-I’m just cool like that. 

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Yummmmm. So if we’re keeping a tally-yogurt #2 for the day.

After my Ochem section, I was mentally done. I’ve worked pretty hard this week, and my brain was feeling it. I decided to take a break and just watch an episode of How I Met Your Mother. SO good. Here are a few pre-football snacks:

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I mashed up a small avocado with my guac mix and BAM. Instant guac party of one. 

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Pumpkin pie filling and sunflower seed butter. Pumpkin pie filling obviously isn’t the most nutritionally sound food, but folks, I have a big can to finish and it’s delicious. Hence, the don’t do as I do. Also, multiply this by more as a later snack.

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Snap pea crisps and a pumpkin granola bar from Trader Joe’s. These are not my favorite, but interesting to try.

Then, it was off to my first flag football game of the year! It was really fun-we lost but I wasn’t expecting anything crazy. I got knocked down twice by the same guy and skinned my knee up a tiny bit. #battlescars Ok, technically I ran into him, and when a smaller mass and larger mass collide, guess who falls? Putting my Physics knowledge to use people! 

On the way back to my dorm, I saw my little friend from last year! DAY. MADE.

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He actually had a tag this year-his name is Finnegan, and he lives with the Resident Fellows in a dorm nearby. And he always seems to pop up around exam times…

I debated 1. going to yoga 2. going to the dining hall 3. eating in my dorm. I chose the dining hall. Nothing exceptional today-I got some type of fish which was pretty good. Image

They also had a baked potato bar today, which was fun. I got a small potato with all the fixings.

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Aaaand because I obviously didn’t have enough sugar in the form of pumpkin pie filling, this happened. 

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Soooo yeah. That’s that. The rest of the nigh is homework time for me!  Tomorrow morning, I’m hoping my calf is sufficiently recovered so I can get a solid run in. I’d like to get one more speed workout in-I’m hoping to get 3 miles in-.5 mile there, .5 mile back, and then 8×400 repeats. Cross your fingers!

Do you ever get into food ruts?

 

Sweater Weather

Hey guys! It’s currently 9pm, and I’m camped out in the lounge blogging because my roommate is sleeping. I’m not sure if she’s asleep for the night or just napping, but I thought I’d give her some peace and quiet. I’m currently trying to burn off a sugar high-and if you know me at all, this likely means I won’t be sleeping for the next 3 days. Me+sugar=bad combo.

But let’s start from the top, shall we?

I woke up bright (well, dark) and early for a morning gym workout. The workout was 10 minutes working on snatches, followed by a WOD of 21-15-9-9-15 deadlifts and squat jumps. The workout originally called for burpees, but that would have taken me much more time than I had. The bar was SO ROUGH. My poor hands were getting torn up so badly! I looked around-and there’s only one bar out of like 8 like that at the gym, but they were all full. I then did 5 rounds of 250m row/7 rdls, and finished with some abs. This workout was nothing too crazy-just something to get my blood flowing!

When I walked out of the gym, I was greeted by this:

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The weather is starting cool down a little too-it’s sunny but with fall skies and a little bit of bite in the air. I had a long day ahead of me, and it was chilly, so on the way back to the gym, I stopped for a cappuccino.

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BEST. THING. EVER. So worth the extra trip-and I went before getting ready instead of on my way to class, so there was no line. 

I seriously love this weather-Sweater Weather! Do you guys know the song Sweater Weather? I think that’s going to be stuck in my head any time I wear a sweater. What I wore today was basically the epitome of fall-boots, a sweater, and a scarf. 

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I’ve been feeling so put together lately in terms of my outfits (ok, technically I’m still wearing leggings…), and I really do think it makes a difference on my outlook of the world. Here’s a sunny selfie of yesterday’s scarf. 

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Yes, I live in California. Yes, 70 degrees is considered cold. 

Today was just such a productive day, and I feel so much better about my classes. I love Mondays and Wednesdays because I have all afternoon to hole up in a library or cafe and just accomplish things. I actually am not minding problem sets-minus Physics. I don’t mind spending hours working things out-as long as I eventually get it. I’ve said it before, but this is really something I was missing last year.

After class, I tried this new to me yogurt.

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I saw it on Beth‘s blog a while ago, and have not been able to find it anywhere! Needless to say, I was super excited.

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It was delicious! I ended up throwing a couple of dates I had packed for snack on top, and those really complemented the flavors perfectly. Next time, I would throw chopped dates on top.

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Here’s a shot of the cafe. Kind of a basement, but cozy and quiet. Several study snacks happened as well.

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Like my placemat? I really need to stop eating ON my school things.

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Pumpkin bread. Because we know I’m obsessed.

After finished most of my work, I headed back to my room for a run. Since it was in danger of getting dark, I threw on the only long sleeve neon shirt I had. Is it too soon? I don’t think so.

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So I set out for 4 miles-I was really in the mood to run. The weather was perfect, I was feeling great…until like .2 miles in when my calf reminded me that I did 600 jump ropes yesterday…and doing that many after not jumping rope in a month will make me sore. I immediately turned back-with my history of calf issues, I was NOT going to push anything this close to the race. So not worth it. I switched gears and went to dinner instead-not a bad alternative!

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A really delicious turkey burger, salad, polenta, and fruit. I love turkey burgers. I should seriously just get 2 turkey burgers and veggies and call it a day-and not mess around with the other suspect items.

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Paella-it tasted really fishy, so not really my cup of tea. Oh well, can’t win them all. 

Then, tonight I had a sorority recruitment event-cookie decorating. Hence the sugar high. It’s the worst kind too-store bought cookies and store bought icing=my body hates me. Eh, live and learn. Here’s my first creation. Not my best work.

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And now let’s talk running. Let’s talk races. Let’s talk about the future. I (obviously) have my next half in ELEVEN DAYS. I am SO incredibly excited-and I feel strangely prepared. It helps I’m not injured (knock on wood) right before the race…But being the overeager person that I am, I’m starting to think about what comes next. Life after half marathon training? Huh? First off-I know if I’m not training for a race I’ll never run. It just won’t occur to me. I’m doing a 10k Turkey Trot in November (obviously), and then I’m doing a Santa Run in mid December. This one is a 5k, and I’m racing it to PR. To be fair, I’ve only done one 5k (last year’s Santa Run). And I hadn’t run in a long time-I was in really good shape from rowing, but there wasn’t a ton of running happening. After my half, I’ll be focusing a ton on running fast. I obviously want to PR, but I THINK if I work hard between now and then, I can break 24:00. We shall see.

So…then what? I want to do the Giant’s race….in August. Maybe the Nike women’s again if I like it. But before then? There’s an abyss! BUT. BUT. I think I found a race-and I’m this close to signing up. Rock n Roll San Francisco on April 6. It should be a fun one-it goes across the Golden Gate bridge! I think it would be a good warm up for the Giant’s race, which is a much flatter course and therefore a better one to run hard for a PR. The timing is pretty good too. So…thoughts? GAHH I’m so excited about everything right now! 

It’s almost race day!

What’s the best race you’ve done? Suggestions? Favorite part of fall?