Monthly Archives: May 2014

The Best, Ugliest Green Smoothie Ever

Today was another warm one here on the West Coast! For most of the day, the heat really didn’t bother me. But now…

Let’s start from the top. I’m being a good person and going to yoga again! I went again this morning after spin (spin is necessary prior to morning yoga or else I’m insanely stiff). I can already feel myself loosening up, thank goodness! My hips were super tight, so we focused on those today. I was the only one in the class-surprise, surprise, 8am fitness classes aren’t super popular with college students. It is really nice to have the personal attention! I want to go to that class as much as possible-I think it’s really going to help my tendonitis.

I was glad I snacked on a granola bar (KIND great grains) before my workout because I was pretty hungry by the end!

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For breakfast, I finished up the last of my berries with plain greek yogurt and sunflower seed butter, plus a mango and another granola bar on the side.

I only had one class today, but I had a busy afternoon! Lunch was a quick one-scrambled eggs with manchego and a sour grapefruit!

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After lunch, I ran out to embark on the first of many errands. Stop 1-a party store for a tutu for Bay to Breakers on Sunday! I also got some fun socks and face paint! I’m ready! (minus the whole distance running thing. Ehh race clothing is clearly more important.)

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From there, I went straight to the allergist. At my last appointment, they tested for food allergies. This time, they tested environmental allergies. The verdict? Welp, I’m allergic to basically everything. Severe to pretty much all the trees and pollen they tested for, as well as pretty severe for dogs, somewhat for cats, and super strong for dust mites. Sooo there’s that. There’s not a lot I can do about it for now, but most of the time I don’t have terrible reactions to things and it’s ok. But let’s just say they had to give me allergy medication after doing the dest because my skin was reacting so severely!

After the appointment, I raced back to school for softball practice. There wasn’t a huge turnout, but I got to play catch and shake out my arm, which was nice. We ended in time for me to rush to the earlier Crossfit for a strength day (no WOD). One of the movements we did was weighted planks-doing a plank with a weight plate on your back. I absolutely love this. I used to do them with my trainer way back then, and I loved them so much I did them on my own a lot. Well, my core strength is about half of what it once was! Hah!

I ended up missing dining because there was a special dinner thing going on that ended earlier, so I went to Whole Foods. I’m trying to be more frugal, and I walked out of Whole Foods carrying all my groceries in one hand!

Somewhere between finishing Crossfit and eating dinner, I got pretty dehydrated. I didn’t go back to my room at all in the 8 hours or so I was gone, so I ran out of water at the end of my workout. I figured it wasn’t a huge deal, but by the time I was walking around Whole Foods, I was deliriously thirsty so I grabbed everything as fast as possible! I got a green smoothie-technically. They were out of mango, so I substituted blueberries, turning my smoothie a lovely shade of brown. I seriously could not have cared less how it looked. Or how it tasted for that matter-as long as it was cold and liquid, it was the best thing in the world. I CHUGGED that smoothie!

On the side, I has cornbread and tortilla soup.

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Other eats from the evening: a date with unsweetened chocolate, and some of my beloved goat Brie.

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I’m still feeling sort of tired/thirsty/out of it-it’s so hard to cool down! I’ve been chugging water all evening, so hopefully I’ll perk up!

What’s your favorite cheese?

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?

WIAW-Yoga FINALLY

Happy Wednesday! I finally actually have time for a WIAW post, AND I actually took pictures! Thanks Jenn for hosting!

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I am proud to announce, I’m FINALLY out of my food rut. Which equals being out of my blogging rut-phew! Do you ever read blogs that inspire you to eat better? I recently discovered The Oatmeal Artist-the oatmeal is so creative, all I want to do is eat oatmeal, and eat make oatmeal creations of my favorite desserts! I really want to try the banana-mango. I love that idea! To be perfectly honest-I’ve never made baked oatmeal, and I’ve never made stove top oatmeal…I’ve always had instant either with instant hot water, or the microwave! Or overnight oats, of course. So I think that may need to happen!

Ok, on to the ACTUAL food (and exercise).

So…I haven’t been to yoga in FOREVER. Last week, it occurred to me that there is a yoga class after spin in the morning…and I always have an extra hour after spin in the morning before class…so it really made no sense NOT to go! Plus, after softball last night after not so much as picking up a ball since last summer, I was a bit sore!

After spin, I headed over to yoga. As I brought myself into the first down dog of the day, I had that feeling. You know-the revelation of “I’ve been SO stupid.” The entire back of my legs was SO tight, from my hamstring all the way down to my achilles. Then I remembered how I have the tendency to get sort of injured whenever I’m running and I neglect yoga, which is why I think my Achilles tendonitis has flared up so badly lately. I left the class feeling fantastic (and apparently all my yoga muscles have withered away…whoops). When I woke up this morning, my Achilles was so painful I could barely walk and I was expecting it to be “one of those days.” After yoga, it was pretty fine. You better believe I’m going back on Thursday!

And since this is, after all, What I ATE Wednesday, let’s get on with the food!

Breakfast was a current favorite-Whole milk Greek yogurt with berry compote and sunflower seed butter, plus a mango on the side. I have to say, I may be a sort of convert to Whole Milk yogurt. It’s just SO creamy!

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Lunch was packed, thanks to my freezer! I thawed out the grilled chicken with mashed butter-sage sweet potatoes last night, and then added some of my precious roasted carrots this morning. It always amazes me how well chicken freezes!

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For dessert, I had some dates with unsweetened chocolate (more than just this picture). I credit dates for helping get me out of my food rut. Why have I waited so long to restock them?

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Today, it was quite hot out.

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I actually didn’t feel the heat TOO much, which I’m taking as a good sign given I’ll be battling the heat and humidity of Washington DC all summer! Anyways, to cool off, I had a raspberry chia kombucha.

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And the last of my roasted carrots. It’s always a sad, sad day when I finish them off!

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Crossfit today was a bit rough. We worked on cleans as the strength, and then the WOD was the following:

3 rounds:

30 overhead walking lunges

30 wall balls

30 push ups

So, yeah-my shoulders are done.

For dinner, I made a giant salad with all kinds of fun things-carrot/raisin salad, zucchini, chicken, sunflower seeds. I also has a veggie soufflĂ© on the side-I couldn’t find any smaller plates or bowls so I just threw it on top. Classy, as always.

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Not necessarily the prettiest, but it got the job done! For dessert, I had some cereal on top of plain Greek yogurt. I ate the top of the yogurt and brought the rest back to my dorm for tomorrow’s breakfast.

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Food rut=obliterated! Happy Wednesday!

What’s the best thing you’ve eaten this week?

Mother’s Day Fun and Fun-Fun

I know I’m a day late on the whole Mother’s Day recap-but of course thanks to my amazing mother for being, well, amazing!

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On Mother’s Day, I didn’t actually see my mom until dinner. I did have a super fun morning though! My home Crossfit has been organizing Sunday runs, and when they go to one of my favorite places to run, I really can’t pass it up. I’ve never been to this trail before, but it was awesome. It’s paved, with beautiful views. It’s also long enough for me-6 miles each way! And it would be impossible to make a wrong turn

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It was also really fun to run with people-something I hardly ever do! We chatted the whole time, and I probably went a bit faster than I would have otherwise, although it was still a comfortable pace. I did 5 miles.10284716_462812553865650_6337966109339438857_o

I haven’t done much (read: any) distance running, and I’m doing Bay to Breakers next weekend, which is 7-8 miles. Bay to Breakers is going to be crazy. If you aren’t familiar with this race…well, I’ll take lots of pictures. Although I doubt they will all be appropriate for the Internet…To give you a sense-the race packet instructions for the bib said “Place bib on your shirt. If you are not wearing a shirt, place it on the from of your shorts.” Yeahhh.

After my run, I returned to campus for brunch, in the form of a veggie panini, eggs, and fruit. The panini was a bit plain/sparsely filled, so I ended up putting the eggs inside and eating it as a breakfast sandwich-so good!

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I spent the afternoon doing things not worth mentioning-although I did order new Crossfit shoes, which I’m excited about! The soles of my old ones are getting pretty bare!

That evening, I drove to my hometown (that’s 3 trips this weekend, if you’re keeping track) for dinner at a nice restaurant. Being the total foodie that I am, and totally failing blogger, I of course have food pictures, but no people pictures, or any of the picture frames (with pictures) I gave my mom. Typical.

For my meal, I had red snapper over garlic mashed potatoes and spinach. I realized that although I’ve had this dish many times in the past, I’ve never actually had it at the restaurant-we’ve done take out from there mostly recently! I also had a side of brussels sprouts.

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It was a fun night!

I have more excitement to share with you guys today. I played softball! And IT WAS AWESOME. And I again have meaning in my life. I haven’t actually touched a ball since the end of summer season, but at this point in my life it’s instinct. I only got a couple of hits, and my timing is still a bit off at the plate (instinct is fast pitch and this is slow pitch!), but it was just fabulous. Another thing that surprised me was how strong I was. I was not expecting to feel like that. I mean, I was in the worst shape of my life at the beginning of last summer (thanks mono), but it was incredible! Even more shocking, I felt very quick and fast. I had so much energy and was just bouncing around. It was great. I need to study super hard for my Bio midterm next Monday because the test is 7-9 and the game is at 8:50…clearly, priorities! Now, I’m super motivated to find a softball league this summer in DC. Plus, it’s a great way to meet people.

I have to say, I’m so happy with everything right now. I have just had a great couple of days-seeing family, Crossfit friends, running with people, SOFTBALL…so much love!

Do you like running solo or with people?

Weekend Part 1: Fancy Mexican Food and Breakfast

Happy Monday! (Happy Monday? Is that even a thing?) I’m actually going to discuss my weekend in 2 parts because I’m a bad blogger and haven’t posted.

Friday morning started out with a track workout. I did 10x400m, which is a classic that I haven’t done in a while. Then-breakfast! I had a yogurt bowl with plain Greek yogurt, berry compote (frozen berries boiled down), and sunflower seed butter. For my birthday, I received a shipment of my favorite kind of sunflower seed butter, MaraNatha, which I cannot find anywhere! So that has made my little yogurt bowls all the more enjoyable!

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After class on Friday I headed to Whole Foods to pick up some things for the weekend. Guys. I found the holy grail of all cheeses. GOAT Brie. As soon as I saw it, I knew it had to be mine. And it was FABULOUS. My friends and I keep talking about how we need to have a cheese tasting party, and this may have to be my contribution!

Also at Whole Foods, I picked up lunch of Greek salad with chicken and a blueberry muffin.

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That evening was a highlight for me. We had a dinner for my hall in my dorm, and we went to a fancy Mexican place, Reposado. We started with huac (what’s new?) and I think it was the best I’ve ever had. It was insanely creamy, and not too citrusy. I think there must have been cheese in there. YUM.

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For my meal, I went with Tortilla soup and a side of sweet, creamy corn. Both were excellent. I would definitely recommend this place!

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And of course dessert was a must. I had warm banana upside down cake, served with sea salt caramel ice cream. I have to say, the ice cream definitely stole the show here! SO good.

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After dinner, I rushed back to campus to begin a wild Friday night.

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My school put on an event where they subsidized Build a Bear knock offs, so my friends and I signed up to do it. I’m clearly quite the party animal!

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I then stayed up much later than I should have given my wake up call the next morning. Healthy living tip: sleep. Sleep is important and you all should do it.

Saturday was my mom’s birthday, so my sister and I drove up to surprise her with breakfast. I was in charge of fruit, while my sister made lattes with her fancy raw, local, organic milk, as well as lemon truffle latkes. My sister has a Jewish boyfriend, so she has learned a thing or two about latke making!

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We hung around a while, and I may or may not have taken advantage of the opportunity of an oven and roasted up some carrots. Since my slicing capabilities are not the best, I decided to try baby carrots and see how they turned out. The verdict? Maybe not quite as good but still much better than nothing!

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The rest of my day was spent with my rear end planted firmly to my chair, working on a paper due at midnight. Yes, on a Saturday.

Dinner was some chicken, butternut squash, and vegetable soup, along with cheese and crackers.

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However, after a long day of writing and reading intense neuroscience journal articles, I was able to apply some of my newly learned knowledge in one of my friend and my typical late night sugar rants. I love connecting knowledge and applying it elsewhere! The sum of it was that we’re all addicted to sugar, and a lot of the problem isn’t the dopaminergic pathways, but the glutamatergic pathways. Yayy big words! Basically that means that the reason the addiction sustains is not that we feel so much pleasure from the sweet stuff, but that the addiction is caused by environmental cues triggering the urge for sugar. This is believed the main pathway for relapse and the later stages of addiction, according to the research I did for my paper. This is interesting because I’ve experienced this some when I’ve tried to avoid sugar for a while-certain cues definitely set me off! I guess to overcome addiction it helps to understand it!

And there’s part 1 of my weekend! I’ll be back with a Mother’s Day recap tomorrow, but for now-sleep+homework!

What did you do for Mother’s Day?