Monthly Archives: October 2013

Stress Eating

Date: October 16, 2013

Author: astottler

Hey guys! I’m taking a much needed study break to blog. Before I go into anything else, I have 2 pieces of exciting news.

1. My friends and I got a CSA box! This week features the world’s largest pomegranate, pears, and a mystery fruit. (Excuse the lazy photo-taken from my bed while blogging.)

2. Yay! After looking around at races and considering timing/etc. I decided on this one! It should be a ton of fun-the race goes across the Golden Gate bridge. Since I’m taking time off halfs for the winter, I figure this will be a good warm up for a summer race that I might try to PR.

Ok, back to my day and the topic of the day (since my day to day posts are getting a little repetitive, I’m trying to mix it up a little bit).

My day started off really awesome-ly. I woke up early for a gym workout-20 minutes working on hang cleans, 3×8 minute row, ab circuit. After a less than stellar lifting day, I stripped it down to the basics on my cleans and practiced just being in the correct position and getting the bar up. By the end, it was definitely smoother, and the bar was coming up faster.

To make the morning even sweeter, I went for coffee, and the barista now officially knows my order! Ohhh midterms week.

And on top of that, this was the world’s best cappuccino. I swear it was half milk foam. My first 3 sips? All milk foam. It wasn’t that it had MORE milk, it was that the ALL the milk was frothy so the espresso at the bottom was less milky. YUM.

I only managed one more food photo, and then let’s get down to business. I got mystery bread again. I was thinking of getting something else, but it looked so moist and delicious, and I was definitely right!

Stress Eating

I’m definitely a stress eater. Example A: having zero time before midterms started and then being unable to wait in a super long line for my race packet resulted in this purchase: oat bars.

One thing I have gotten a lot better about this year is not letting myself get stressed-a far cry from last year’s disaster (helloooo mono). I’m pretty good at not letting things get to be (like forgetting my sweatshirt at Crossfit), much more so than I have been in the past. However, with midterms in season, I’m starting to feel the pressure. I was really stressed on Monday-something I realized I haven’t really felt in a long time.

However, today the stress bug hit me. After getting some assignments back, I started worrying how I would possibly be smart enough to compete with the other students here in my classes (since everything is on a curve). It was silly because I didn’t necessarily do badly on the assignments, but I started questioning myself. After staring at my OChem homework with no idea what was going on, I stress ate. But here’s the thing. Stress eating doesn’t always have to be so bad. Here are some tips to avoid a stress-binge:

1. Before eating, take a walk, or meditate for 5 minutes. Try to bring down your stress levels before getting anywhere near food.

2. Choose healthy foods. If you eat crap, you will most likely feel like crap as well-that will only make your stress worse! On the same note-sugary junk foods will most likely make you crave more sugary junk foods, so you will tend to eat more of them.

3. Choose low calorie, high fiber foods. They fill you up and you can spend a lot of time chewing without killing your waistline.

4. Eat slowly. While stressed, many people have the tendency to shove foods down their throats. Try to fight this and give your stomach time to catch up.

5. Move on. Stress eating happens. If it does, let it go-it’s not worth stressing over!

So what did I eat?

Carrots with hummus and goat cheese.

(Old pic)

Dried fruit

Chocolate granola bar.

Was stress eating the best thing to do? No. But I chose foods that would fuel my body and not make me feel bad-and guess what? After my snack, I headed back to the library and cranked out my chem homework. Life goes on!

Now I’m not stressed at all.

Do you ever stress eat?

WIAW and My Quirk

Date: October 15, 2013

Author: astottler

Categories: Uncategorized

WHEW. This is going to be quite the week-3 midterms and 2 problem sets, followed by my half marathon on Sunday! And since midterm #1 is in the books, I get to take time to write a WIAW! And guess what? Today was the most noteworthy day of eats in…a very long time. How lucky! Thanks as always to Jenn!

I began the morning in the best way possible-with 8am Crossfit! The workout was a good one-max overhead squats (which I did way heavier than I was expecting! I could have done more but I couldn’t get the bar up there…), followed by 3 rounds of:

15 OH squats

18 push ups

21 wall balls

I had originally planned to run right after Crossfit and before class, but it was going to be tight so I rushed out. Unfortunately, I left my sweatshirt there. It’s been one of those weeks folks. The stress finally hit yesterday; and I left my water bottle in class yesterday which meant a)I had no water for a couple of classes which is tragic when you get thirsty every 20 min and b)I walked into a full class in session twice to try and get it.

ANYWAY. Back to the food. Before Crossfit, I had half a protein bar and some dates. I’m absolutely obsessed with dried fruit right now. After Crossfit, I was kind of hungry, so I ended up nixing the run and eating and getting coffee-a good decision!

I love my cappuccinos!

Also consumed was this granola bar and tons of dried mango.

Somehow I managed to make myself almost late to my first class, despite having in theory extra time since I skipped the run. I was running around at the last minute, and I SWEAR we have a dorm elf taking my things. There are things I KNOW I have that I can’t find. Like plastic silverware. And my bigger, more salad friendly tupperwear. And random toiletries. It irritates me to no end! I think a deep cleaning (slash digging) is in order for this weekend. That or a major shopping trip!

ANYWAYS. Back to the embarrassing/sad part. Here’s my baby salad. Because I couldn’t find any bigger tupperwear, and I haven’t resorted to eating salads out of ziplock bags yet. YET.

It was a delicious salad though! Goat cheese has been missing from my life in a major way, so I finally went out and bought some. This features goat cheese, hummus, and an egg. The worst part? I only have 2 forks. And I’m out of plastic wear. And class was starting in 3 minutes. And I had no clean forks. I had to pack a dirty fork plus my cleaning supplies to clean the fork before eating at lunchtime. Yes folks, it is midterms week.

It may come as a shock to you guys, but I have a kind of random quirk. Pencils. In the past, I’ve tried to get my pencils like this-now, I was too lazy/never got a chance to start a new pencil. But given the amount of comments I was getting, I realized it was time.

Does anyone else use pencils down to the stubs? I used to try and use them until I literally couldn’t sharpen them anymore. Every pencil had a different grip. And I wish I was at home to show you guys a picture, but I have a box filled with all the stubs. This guy isn’t NEARLY as small as a lot of them!

Given I had a 2 hour midterm though, it was time.

Back to the food. Between classes, I had a craving for pumpkin bread so strong that I biked across campus and back to get some. That’s at least 2 miles!

It was the last piece, and it was the heel so it was kind of dry, but the flavor was there. This little escapade convinced me it’s time to bake my own. The recipe I have makes 2 loaves-I’m thinking one with raisins and one without-but I’m thinking of doing a cream cheese topping on part of it. Here’s my question: cream cheese and honey or cream cheese and maple syrup? Which flavor works better? I need your guys’s help!

And back to the food. I made a really awesome dinner-a throwback to one of my favorites from summer! Grilled Peach and Chicken salad.

This took some planning. I had to steal grilled chicken from the dining hall, and buy the other ingredients. The dorm version wasn’t as good as the original-store bought dressing and non-grilled peaches-but still WAY better than any of the dining hall food!

DEVOURED.

And then I decided to throw a few things together for granola bars. What I came up with was either a)a soft baked granola bar or b) thick baked oatmeal.

I was going to do regular granola bars, but then I added applesauce, which softened things up a ton. Here’s what I did:

melt 2 T sunflower seed butter and 2 T brown rice syrup in a bowl with 1/2 c applesauce. Add flavorings-vanilla extract and cinnamon, or your choice.

stir in the following:

2 packets of instant oatmeal (or 1.5 c oats)

2 T chia seeds

handful coconut flakes

1 egg

mix ins-I used chopped date and mango. You could use anything (I can’t eat nuts), but if you choose chocolate chips, make sure to stir them in last as the mixture is likely hot.

Microwave for about 2 minutes or until set and baked through.

These were really good! I liked the bites with date in them better than those with mango-and next time I’d be less lazy and do a better job chopping the dates and add more. I originally wanted to use raisins, but I didn’t have any. I think the dates really go well with the texture of this bar though. I might also have to try a pumpkin version of this!

That’s all I have for you today! I still have a problem set to do by Thursday, and there’s a morning workout on my schedule!

So You Want to Run a Half Marathon

Date: October 14, 2013

Author: astottler

Categories: Uncategorized

Hey guys! I wrote this for the little local fitness blog I run, and since I don’t have anything terribly important to say today, here it is!

While I may not be an expert at running half marathons, I know a lot about starting running a first half marathon, as I ran my first last summer. A half marathon is a great distance for runners looking to get a little more serious, but not able or willing to make the time commitment or endure the physical wear and tear of a full marathon. For new runners, I would highly recommend trying out a 5k (3.1 miles) or a 10k (6.2 miles) first to build an endurance base and actually decide if you actually LIKE running.

Here are some steps to start you on your half marathon journey.

Buy good running shoes. This is absolutely essential-it will make the runs much more pleasant and reduce the risk of injuries down the line. With so much running, it is quite easy for foot or knee pain to pop up-buying good running shoes is worth it.
Find a training plan. Depending on you starting running ability, go online and search for a beginner’s plan. There are a ton of great plans out there-I used Marathon Rookie.
Find a race. I would recommend as flat a race as possible for a first half. Figure out when you need to start training.
Look into ‘on the run’ fueling. 13.1 miles is a long time; most runners need to fuel during the race. I have used goo in the past, but some runners eat chews, granola bars, or fruity candy (like jelly beans or Swedish fish).
Map out your training schedule. Know what’s ahead; this will help you plan your runs around your life, and the runs will be more likely to happen if they are laid out in black and white.
Listen to your body. If something hurts, stop. If your legs are exhausted, maybe shorten your run. This doesn’t mean anytime you are tired you should stop-but if something is wrong, do not push it.

7. Just go for it! What do you have to lose?

Any tips to add?

Anticipation (T-7 days)

Date: October 13, 2013

Author: astottler

Categories: Uncategorized

Hello friends! I finally found an enjoyable way to do laundry-blog while it’s in the washer! And sheesh, apparently SUnday night is the best time to do it, every single washer was free!

Here’s some random food from yesterday. Since this is a food blog and all.

Pumpkin+honey+tons of spices, with sunflower seed butter and cottage cheese.

Dinner-teriyaki tilapia, grain mix, thai chicken, salad.

I had every intention of studying bio last night, but I got hijacked by/crashed a quidditch party. My sister is the captain of the team, and her boyfriend is Jewish and makes latkes. Which were delicious. Plus, they made homemade applesauce-AMAZING! My sister also made butterbeer, which is WAY too sweet for me, so I went for the less sweet ice cream with caramel sauce. WHich should give you an idea for the sweetness of the drink. And then-genius: applesauce, ice cream, caramel sauce. You all should go out and make applesauce and then try this. Needless to say I ate way to many latkes and ice cream, and my stomach has been hating me lately. I was worried it would be an issue on my run, but it was fine!

Guys. This is where I run. This is seriously the prettiest and most scenic place I can think of around here.

I wasn’t pushing the pace, but I felt really good.

So what do I do when my ultimate goal, pushing hard race pace turns into a comfortable run? I have no idea how fast I should go out next week now! This felt really good! The run featured rolling hills, with a decent sized hill around mile 4. I’ve done this run 3x: the first while training for my first half, and then early in my training for this half. The first time: I took the big hill at a 12/13:00 pace. Last time, I was proud to be around 11:00. Today, I did it sub-10. To be honest, I didn’t really feel the hills that much. I guess I was a little more out of breath. It’s amazing what hillwork/speedwork will do for you!

Also, I’m fairly certain of one thing. I’m going to be sobbing the first 3 miles. I get choked up just thinking about the race-I can’t explain it, it just makes me so happy. I’m unbelievably excited! My last race, I felt so lucky to even be physically able of running, so I’m not really sure what my excuse is this time!

I’ll probably be sobbing the last 3 miles as well…my feet starting killing around mile 4 of today’s run. That means what, only 9.1 miles of intense pain? Funnnn.

After my run, I went to get gas, which happened to be next to the grocery store, so I grabbed a quick lunch there: mango kombucha and a turkey sandwich.

Aaaand the aftermath. I’m a bread picker for sure.

And since I was right next to my favorite froyo place…I mean I couldn’t not get some!

They had toasted coconut, which is a new flavor! I got some of that alongside chocolate and my all time favorite, salted caramel pretzel.

I then went to the Stanford Nike store to pick up my race day packet…only to be greeted by an hour long line. I simply didn’t have the time today-3 midterms next week have to take priority. It means I have to fight the crowds at the expo, but that’s ok since I wanted to go to the expo anyway. I also learned that right next to the Nike store, a Soul Cycle is coming! I’ve been wanting to try that for forever, and here it is, an easy bike ride from my dorm. As an avid spinner, that makes me pretty freaking happy.

On the way out of the mall, I picked up some oatmeal cookie type things, which were delicious.

And after a night of homework, I had a random snacky dinner, which included a granola bar, figs, chicken, and this plate.

I swear, my stomach hates me. If I eat the wrong food, I get a stomachache. If I eat too much of the right food, I get a stomachache. If I eat the right food at the wrong time, it rebels. And given I did all three this past weekend…I think a week of clean eating is in order! I can’t afford to have stomach issues on race day!

Which is a weird note to end on. Here’s a cat picture.

Enjoy your Monday!

Do you have any random pains when you run? How do you deal with them? Do you prefer races, or just running solo? How sick are you of me talking about running? I promise things will change up a little more in a week!

I’m Flying Jack!

Date: October 12, 2013

Author: astottler

Categories: Uncategorized

Ok, confession: I’ve never actually seen the Titanic. Moving on…

Yesterday morning (Friday) I donned by neon shirt and headed out for an early morning run. I checked the weather report-47 degrees was the low…and the low was at the time of my run. Awesome. The temperatures are really starting to cool down here. Want to know something bizarre? Next week we have lows of 47 and highs of 80. While it does tend to get cold at night here, that much temperature difference is insane!

3 miles were on the schedule for Friday morning. I ran half a mile there, and half a mile back, so my workout was 8x400m repeats. I really like these-and yesterday I felt like I was flying. I don’t wear my Garmin for these, but I’m sure I was well under my goal pace. Something I like even more? 200 repeats. I’ll get to do a lot of those while I train to PR my 5k. SO pumped. I just felt really great out there Friday-I felt like I was flying on my 9 mile run last weekend as well-I feel like I’ve suddenly gotten a lot faster-perfect timing though! T minus 8 days until RACE DAY.

I’m liking my new post early morning workout coffee ritual.

It’s always cold in the morning, plus if I go straight from my workout, I beat all the on the way to work/class crowd. Perfect.

Walking back to my dorm, I saw this:

I wish I lived on the first floor. The cat is back! I called to it and it came running over to me.

Such a sweetie! He almost made me late to class, but so, so worth it.

And…um…he followed me in the door. Which was obviously a problem-it was a good thing my friend was there to kick him out because I definitely didn’t have the heart to do it!

I took zero food pictures from yesterday. But I did do things. And eat things. My dorm had a “homecoming” dance, so we all got dressed up and had fun. When I get the pictures back, I’ll show you guys! I also got ready and totally showered in 15 minutes flat. Because my friends wanted to leave and I was watching How I Met Your Mother….Priorities people! It was actually a lot of fun-everyone was expecting it to be super awkward, but it really wasn’t. It was great to connect with people from my dorm.

This morning I decided to go to Crossfit. 2 weeks ago I PRed my clean and jerk, but today I just couldn’t get it up. You can’t PR everyday, and you don’t always have good lifting days. I wasn’t committing on the jerks, and I kept missing the cleans. I’m pretty sure in the last 2 weeks I’ve developed some bad habits-it felt awesome 2 weeks ago, but then the following week, I started banging up my legs doing cleans.

Which is not right. I was having the same problem today, but no bruising. I could tell I just wasn’t getting in the right position. But it happens. I was frustrated, but looking forward to the WOD: 3 400m sprints with 2 minutes of rest, and then 1 minute of rest in between. I brought my running shoes for this. I was expecting to finish last because everyone else was guys, but it didn’t turn out that way at all. I beat everyone in my heat (we split into 2 heats, starting 10 seconds apart to avoid running into each other), and even passed a person or two from the heat before me. It. Felt. Awesome. I’m starting to really look forward to training for the 5k-I haven’t done much fast running lately, and I forgot how much I liked it! And passing people? Best thing ever.

On a sidenote, I REALLY need to do a timed mile, but I’ve been putting it off. My last one was 8:00, but that was pretty soon after mono and before any half training started. I would think I’d be somewhere around 7:30. I would LOVE to get down to under 7:00 like back in the day, buttt we’ll see about that.

After my workout, I made the world’s worst smoothie. I brought my little packet of chocolate protein powder and cocoa powder to the dining hall, and even waited in the super long blender line. I added blueberries, mango, and milk. And…..WAIT FOR IT-arugula. I wanted spinach but they only had an arugula spinach mix, so I figured, why not? WRONG. WRONGWRONGWRONG. Arugula is a lot more flavorful than spinach. So I had 2 giant glasses of chocolate arugula. It was awful.

I attempted to drink it alongside a biscuit and some chicken/guac. But then gave up and just got another biscuit. Shudder.

Hopefully you guys are having something at least a little more delicious! Tomorrow is my last “long” run before my race. I’m doing 6, even though my plan calls for 8. Last time I felt like my legs really benefitted from the extra rest. The body wants what the body wants! (Which, by the way, is NOT an arugula smoothie.)

Have a great Saturday!