Monthly Archives: May 2013

Morning Blogging

Date: May 10, 2013

Author: astottler

So I’m blogging in the morning before class…this is weird. I don’t know how people blog before work or school. I’m always in such a hurry as it is. But today I don’t have class until 11 (midterm yayyy) and this morning is a rest day (although I might go for a bike ride later). But since I didn’t have time to post last night, this is perfect!

As usual, my day began with a 7am spin class. There are these two adorable ducks that have been hanging out near the gym. Which is nowhere near water…And Wednesday they were sleeping in the grass outside my dorm. I’ve been meaning to snap a photo of them but I didn’t get the chance, until I saw them snoozing on my way back from Spin. Too cute!I attempted to make my breakfast look pretty…I had been planning on using my real camera in my room when I am eating instead of my phone, but my roommate is still asleep when I am eating, so it is kind of dark. And it’s not really fair to wake up my roommate just to take a picture….For some reason, my iPhone takes better pictures in this awkward lighting…Who would have known?

My 9am class had a midterm, but it was not difficult. I was done in half an hour. Then, I went to the library to study for today’s midterm, since I knew I had a lot going on tonight. At the library:What is that, you may ask? It is a Coupa Coffee machine! You swipe a credit card and select your drink, and it makes it right in front of you! I had a Cappuccino. Milk foam (AKA the only reason I like this drink).Espresso.

The finished product!

I spent 4 hours in the library working yesterday…with a lunch break 🙂A salad from the actual Coupa. No salad machine! Although how awesome would that be?? This is what I got:

beverlyhills chopped salad

chopped mesclun greens, romaine, chicken, tomatoes, olives, asparagus, and avocado topped with gouda cheese and tossed in a dijonmustard vinaigrette

YUM. I also learned you apparently get wayyy more when you get it for there, and not to go. Look at the height on this thing!

After 4 hours of hard work, my brain was pretty fried. In Psych section, we talked about our week’s project. We had to pick a social norm, violate it, and get a picture of ourselves doing so. The best was a person who wore tons of makeup on one half of her face, and people thought she was actually insane. Mine was boring. I went to the dorm lounge and did my homework upside down. I thought it was weird, but no one so much as looked up. Apparently I do stuff like this normally? I have been caught doing yoga with my textbook before…Yesterday I got the best idea for what I should have done. I should have walked around with a camera to all my classes and taken a picture of everything. How perfect would that be for the blog??

After class, I had to do laundry. I had an event last night, and not too many clean clothes. Although it turns out I had everything clean that I needed….Oh well I needed towels. Unfortunately, since I was under some time pressure (had to make it to yoga), I only did a really small load that would dry in time. And I still have a ton of laundry…as in, I have very few clothes. As in, my workout clothes are dirty. Good thing I have so many!

Pre-yoga snack:

One thing I’ve noticed since I gave up desserts is things are starting to taste really sweet. Like this oatmeal-ish thing. Interesting…It’s been a week guys! And honestly I don’t miss desserts. I was thinking, “I’ve had no desserts in the 19th year of my life! Maybe I can do the whole year!” Somehow, I doubt THAT is going to happen!

Yoga was awesome, as usual. I can feel myself getting stronger again. After yoga, I headed to Spring Fair. Yesterday, all the dining halls put out their best efforts in a Fair, where we could get tickets and get all kinds of delicious things. Since the fair was in the plaza, all the dining halls were closed. Aaaaall of the bikes.I got Hawaiian food from the best dining hall on campus. To be honest, I was disappointed. It was kind of plain. Then I got a lettuce leaf (that sounds sooo filling) and a veggie empanada from a different place. The empanada was good, but not my favorite combo of flavors.

After the Fair, I ran back for a shower before heading out…to make challah! My school has a program called Challah for Hunger, which makes and sells Challah to students and the proceeds go to charity. My sorority is vaguely Jewish ( I’m not. Only like 3 people are…) so we get a chance to do some of the baking sometimes.

Note: in taking these pictures I managed to coat myself and phone in flour and dough. Sacrifices, guys. LOTS of dough.All I was actually doing was braiding.

Aaaand done!

There was plain, chocolate chip, cinnamon raisin (I want to try this!), and banana. I know there was going to be Sun-dried Tomato and some other flavors as well, but I had to leave. I had to go to another sorority event. I didn’t actually decide to get any challah because I didn’t want to encourage myself to eat late at night, but that kind of backfired when I had yogurt after the mixer…

Ah well. It is Friday! Happy Birthday to my fabulous mother!

Any fun weekend plans?

I Gotta Run

Date: May 9, 2013

Author: astottler

Categories: Uncategorized

Hey guys! I swear one of these days I’m going to try a What I Ate Wednesday…but today is not the day. I’m going to go through some snapshots of my day instead.

I began my morning with a run. I had been planning on taking the morning off and going to quidditch conditioning again, but it was just going to be regular practice, and that’s not really my thing. Instead, I decided to get my butt running, a category I have seriously been lacking in lately. It was not fun. I keep wondering why running hurts so much now…and then I realize it is because I never do it. Oops. I did campus loop, which is 3.7 miles (according to my Garmin). I finished in a minute faster than last time, so I guess I’ll take it…Seeing my pace on my Garmin definitely does make me speed up though. Also, today it finally dawned on me that in less than 3 months I will be running for over 2 hours straight in my half marathon…so yeah. I am going to try to work running into my schedule more now so I’m somewhat prepared for my training to start. Training for training…heh.

After my run, I had my patented YOGURT in a jar. Pshh way better than oats. Not that I’ve actually tried oats yet….I should get on that. Also, I would like to note how proud I am for taking longer to use up my jar of sunflower seed butter.

(Sorry it’s sideways!)

Now here are some snapshots of my day:It’s been cold here lately! Well. Ok, that’s not exactly true. It’s been deceptively cold. Warmer in the morning (aka when I get dressed) and colder starting midmorning. So I was cold in my light sweater.

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My dining hall had Mexican food today! And Mexican food=GUAC=YAY. I forgot to put lettuce underneath, so I took the picture pre-lettuce.

The tragedy of the day: my cocoa powder decided to dump itself all over my floor again…at least it didn’t dump straight into my white clothes this time…
Have a great Wednesday!
How often do you run?

Hmmm Next Race?

Date: May 8, 2013

Author: astottler

Categories: Uncategorized

Hey guys! How was your day? I had a pretty low-key but still really good day.

As usual, I began my day by going to morning Spin. Then, I made breakfast. Ok, specifically, I made breakfast look nice and I made myself late for class. But it is a 9am so no one is on time anyways. So I had this genius idea that I should work on making my food more photographable as a way to slow down and be really mindful of what I am eating. My mom even brought me some fabric swaps to uses as background! So since a picture of a banana with a bite out of it and a jar of Sunflower butter isn’t very pretty, I did this:Not the neatest, but spreading sunflower seed butter on a banana is not the most graceful thing ever. Idea for when I have more time: put the sunflower butter in a plastic bag and squeeze it through a hole in the corner like frosting. Genius, right? We’ll see if that ever actually happens…

After my 9am, I studied for a bit before grabbing coffee with one of my friends from crew who I haven’t seen or talked to in so long! It was great to catch up and hear about the team. I ordered a yogurt parfait and a cappuccino. Because apparently I was super tired. And guess what? I actually have a favorite coffee drink. Which is saying something since I hate coffee in general. I love the milk foam in cappuccinos! Also, I really hate sugar in coffee, for some reason. That’s supposed to make it better for people who don’t like coffee, but that doesn’t do it for me.

I had all my workout clothes in my backpack which I carted around all day. However, I realized I forgot my iPod, which I really wanted, so I ran back to my dorm. Despite the coffee, I took a brief nap. Interesting…

After class, I headed to the gym for another rowing workout. It was nothing too intense. I ended up doing less than I was planning; my knee had been a little sore today and I didn’t want to push it. I was doing an ab circuit and thinking about how I really need to work speed and agility workouts into my life since I really miss them, when I decided, hey, why not do something now? I left mid-abs and biked to the field near my dorm and did some of the agility drills I used to do as part of softball conditioning. I think my joints (knees and ankles) have gotten a little weaker because I never do anything that involves changing direction, so I want of work more of that stuff in.

For dinner, my roommate and I went to the nearby dining hall that we have not gone to all quarter. SO MANY VEGETABLES. It was awesome. Brown rice, tilapia, and tons of veggies. Plus some fruit and later a small slice of gourmet looking pizza. While there, we ran into one of my friends from my dorm who I haven’t talked to in a while. We had a great time; I can’t remember the last time I laughed that much! And hey, nothing wrong with dinner taking an hour and a half right??

That’s about all that happened today. And now, the title of the post: next race??

I’m running the Giant’s Half Marathon in the beginning of August (it’s in SF and finishes at the ballpark on the field). I hadn’t thought much of anything beyond that. BUT THEN. I got an email from a girl in my sorority about the Nike Women’s marathon in SF in October. I had thought about signing up for the half, but since it’s a draw even after you sign up, I figured, ehh. But I was informed in said email that as a college student, I could get a special code when I registered that would not only give me a discount, but guarantee me entry in the race. How awesome is that? And the race is basically in my backyard, which is incredible given people travel to do this race.

So, what do you guys think??

Yosemite Recap

Date: May 7, 2013

Author: astottler

Categories: Uncategorized

Hey guys! REALLY long time, no post, eh? I had the most amazing weekend! I would have loved to do a recap yesterday, but well, as it turns out, when you take pictures with your camera, having the cable that connects it to the computer is kind of essential if you want to post your pictures on your blog….oops. But all is well now! My mom brought it up today since she has a class here Monday nights. She also brought an entire case of Harry and David fruit! If you’ve never heard of Harry and David, you’re seriously missing out.

ANYWAYS. We left on Friday for Yosemite. At 3:30 pm. Hmmm rush hour much? It took an extra 2 hours, and we got in around 10. Here’s a sunset photo, which is currently my phone background:We settled out stuff in our fancy camping tents (and by this I mean this was luxury camping) and went out to stargaze. It’s amazing what you can see without light pollution. I took a star picture, but….it’s just black, so I’ll spare you guys that picture.

I woke up before most and ventured outside, only to be struck by this view:Whoa, I was not expecting that! Here’s a shot of the base camp:After a quick breakfast, we headed out for a hike. I’m so good at selfies. Me and half of my rooommate…oops. The animals were all super tame, and would come right up to you! A squirrel walked right up to my friend while she was sitting down. No fear!One of the first views of Yosemite. Then began the climb. Hiking is no joke! I never realized what an intense workout it is, given this is my first real hike. See how far away that waterfall is?Getting closer…and thus began the mist zone. We got absolutely drenched! I had to put my camera away because it was so wet, but I kept pulling it back out because the view was just too breathtaking to miss!The view from the top of the waterfall. We conquered it! Here we broke for lunch. This whole trip I was worried I would have limited access to veggies. I packed my turkey sandwich sans bread and threw the mix in a ziplock bag. I’ll take it!

Vernal Falls: conquered. Next up-Nevado Falls.

It was around this time I started to get a very strong and strange headache. NOT FUN for hiking. It was strange because it was in the base of my neck/back of my head. SO definitely not a dehydration headache…This is also around the point I ran out of water…#rookiehikermistake

Getting closer!CONQUERED. We were at some serious elevation here! We covered A LOT of height. It was a TAD bright at the top!View from the top! At the top we lay out on some rocks and soaked up the sun. After lying down and finding someone with Advil, we began our descent. At this point, no one had water. We had maybe a cup between all 10 of us. Oops. My group headed down. Another group decided to continue on for 9 more miles….with basically no water. Yeah. That was not happening for me. Bye waterfall!

Thankfully, we took a different route down and didn’t have to get drenched by Vernal Falls again. I had not been looking forward to going down a steep and slippery rock trail.

And before I knew it, we were at the bottom again. In total, we hiked 6 miles. But that included a lot of height. It was SO awesome. All of my best friends from school were there, and it was just a great time. I definitely want to take more trips like this. WHy have I not done this before???

Just a few shots of my wonderful friends:

After the hike, we made use of the showers at the base camp. Much needed. I made the mistake of using the handicapped shower….so the faucet was at waist level. Smart.

Then, being the college students we are, we headed to the lodge for cell service, cell phone charging, and wifi. Well, really poor wifi. And poor service…

I did manage to get some veggies in with dinner, which was pizza. Not much else exciting. Sunday we headed home. That morning my headache returned, so I bought some Tylenol at the store there. My headache was back this morning for most of the morning. It’s really bizarre. My current theory is I am having sugar withdrawal symptoms. I’m cutting out desserts, so I may actually be cutting out more sugar than I realized…Does anyone know anything about withdrawal headaches? Like where in the head they are? It’s odd. Eh.

This morning I was back in the weight room for this workout:The rugby team was lifting next to me. I started with deadlifts, and they were actually doing them as well. I lifted more than all of them. WINNING. I wasn’t able to get on the pull-up machine, and I can’t do full pull-ups, so I substituted the pull down thingy. My arms are already feeling it.

Now much excitement in today’s eats. But I did try out this new tea thing from Teavanna that I got for my Birthday! It’s awesome! You just pour your tea leaves in and let it brew.Then place it on top of your mug, and the tea flows in!And wa-la! Tea!

On that note, hope your weekend was as awesome as mine!

Do you like hiking? Where’s your favorite place to hike?

[Guest Post] Cancer and Fitness: Working it Out

Date: May 4, 2013

Author: astottler

Categories: Uncategorized

Hey guys! While I am in Yosemite, Melanie is going to take over! She reached out to me about the possibility of doing a guest post, and I jumped at the idea! So many people worldwide suffer from cancer, and anything that can help alleviate the suffering is worth paying attention to! It also speaks to the amazing benefits of exercise. Enjoy!

By Melanie Bowen

If you are a cancer patient, being as fit as possible is ideal. This is true even if
you feel you lack the energy to begin. In fact, exercise is particularly helpful for
cancer patients experiencing fatigue because it increases energy levels.

One common misconception about fitness is that exercise is not an option for
cancer patients. Doctors often still recommend that their patients do nothing but
get plenty of rest. This attitude has become deeply ingrained in the thinking
of most people. The reality is that exercise is very beneficial, even for cancer
patients. By following this outdated advice, those getting treatment for cancers
such as breast, colon and even rare forms of mesothelioma may be missing out
on some valuable benefits.

Where do I start?

It is imperative to gauge your current level of physical fitness. This also takes
into account where you stand in your cancer treatment. Talk to a physical
therapist at your hospital about your ideas. They are usually great at evaluating
your current physical condition and recommending something appropriate. You
should take an approach of moderate exercise because exercising too vigorously
can actually be counterproductive. Moderation ensures you get the benefits of
exercise without injuring yourself or hindering your recovery.

What are the benefits?

One benefit of exercise is that healthy body weight helps lower your risk of
developing infections, secondary cancers, and diabetes. You have all you can
handle right now with cancer. The last thing you need is to acquire an infection
because your immune system was weak from being sedentary.

Another great benefit of increased fitness is that you tend to be in a better
mood. This is because exercise increases brain chemicals called endorphins
that make you feel good. In turn, this will provide added motivation to continue
exercising. You will want to have that feeling again. Another great thing is that
this is a natural high — there is no risk of addiction as with prescription drugs and
narcotics.

Probably the biggest obstacle for most cancer patients sticking with exercise
is motivation. When you are sick, exercise is even harder to start than with a
healthy person. One way to motivate yourself is by listening to your favorite
music while exercising. Another is to find a friend or family member to exercise

with you. Whatever the case, be persistent and you will reap the many benefits of
exercise.