Oxygen and OChem

Date: December 17, 2014

Author: astottler

Guys. Guess who’s FINALLY done with Organic Chemistry? THIS GIRL. It took me FOREVER for one reason or another (like getting mono and having to drop it 8 weeks into a 10 week quarter…) but I’m finally DONE!

In honor of that, I wanted to share this interesting article on oxygen/oxidation. It was written a professor whose nutrition class I took my freshman year. It discusses why eating charred food isn’t good and why you need to be careful with your storage of omega-3s (they go bad quickly). So check it out!

Food+Fitness

I made my valiant return to Crossfit at home last night. And was reminded why this is my favorite Crossfit. For some reason at my school Crossfit the WODs never involve barbell movements, and this one had all my favorites!

Skill/Strength was handstands (which I haven’t done since summer…oops) and bulgarian split squats.

WOD:

4 rounds of:

20 deadlifts(135/95)

15 front squats

10 hang cleans

5 shoulder to overhead

The prescribed weight was 95 but that was going to be pretty heavy for everything but the deadlifts so I went with 75# and it still kicked my butt! I finished in 17:45. And am already sore.

Dinner post workout was leftovers (teriyaki chicken) plus garlic roasted broccoli. Guys, I know I don’t do a ton of recipes, but this one is amazing. I could just eat pans and pans of it.

Followed by some caramel ice cream.

And this THIS morning, I went to one of my favorite spin classes that I haven’t been to since summer! It was good, and I got some ideas for my own classes. Which is good since I got the call to teach again tomorrow! Can’t wait!

I refueled with chocolate milk before later having toast with cheese and a tangerine.

So-any good workout song suggestions?

Fitness Assessment and Food

Date: December 17, 2014

Author: astottler

Categories: Uncategorized

First and foremost-check out my giveaway! Still a few days left to enter!

Second. Still playing a bit of catch up. Don’t worry, we’ll be all up to date soon!

So, when I rejoined my gym for break, they really pushed their fitness assessment, which was a 1 on 1 with a trainer (free!). I figured, why not? So I went in. We ended up mostly doing mobility stuff and going over what I should be doing. It made me realize how much I’ve been slacking off in that department lately! A couple of years ago, I went to yoga regularly and did all the rolling/active stretching before working out with my trainer, but MAN I need to get back into tat! This was a good reminder!

So-food. Friday night I went to my dad’s company Christmas party. Fun fact-I’ve been to more company Christmas parties than anyone else there, my dad and employees included.

But hey, when there is quality food involved, I’m not one to turn it down!

Course 1: salad.

Course 2: salmon. Lemon dill sauce, green beans, mashed potatoes. I don’t generally like salmon (like in the dining hall) and I think it’s because the only time I ever really have salmon is at really fancy restaurants where it is cooked 100% perfectly. And other salmon just seems so much less good. We NEVER have had salmon at home, so I guess I’m spoiled on the rare occasion I do go out and get it?

Dessert: chocolate pot de creme. Seriously, so good. My dad kept calling it “chocolate pudding” which drove me crazy because this is so much higher quality than that. But yes, I guess it is kind of like chocolate pudding…

Dinner from a couple of nights ago. Guys-call me crazy, but I don’t really like pizza. My mom’s veggie pizza was better, but I’m just not a pizza person, and if I do have it, I’m really particular. I like the thin crust style with a very particular flavor. I know, weird, right?

Yesterday morning I was supposed to shadow at my potential future profession, but it was a slow day so they told me to come back. Instead, I got coffee with my mom and then spent the rest of the morning doing Christmas shopping. I THINK I’m done but I feel like I’m forgetting something…anyways, I stopped at Trader Joe’s for this Southwest salad in the process!

And NOW we’re caught up!

Everything I Haven’t Blogged About

Date: December 16, 2014

Author: astottler

Categories: Uncategorized

Hey guys! With some busyness these past few days, I’ve definitely neglected to mention some things!

I think for this break, if I can stay up to date on blogging, I’m going to structure these posts as some type of tidbit to start-health, news, life, random, etc, and then go into meals and workouts. Sound ok?

Today’s tidbit: the storm of the decade. People not from CA may have seen on the news that we’ve gotten blasted with rain these past few days. I wanted to set the record straight, as a Northern Californian.

1. We are in a drought. We are STILL in a drought. We needed that rain, and we’ve already had the most December rain in 50 years, but we need another 2-3 storms of this caliber to no longer be in a drought.

2. Yes, this storm may seem like “nothing” in comparison to crazy central US/East coast storms, but the fact of the matter is that it caused a great deal of damage, just because of the sheer amount of water that came down so quickly. The winds weren’t crazy and it wasn’t an INSANE downpour, but it was a constant amount of water being dumped. Lots and lots of things flooded. Some people up north lost their houses in mudslides. Highways in the Bay Area closed due to feet of water flooding the freeways (including near SF). I was done with exams before the storm hit, but some exams had to be moved because the buildings they were supposed to take place in flooded.

3. The night before the storm of the decade….I was out duct taping my windshield wiper back together. Awesome. Not sure if I mentioned this before, but it was broken such that the rubber wiper wouldn’t stay in place so the arm of the wiper scraped across the glass, which made a deafening shriek. Duct tape worked like a charm. The drive home in torrential rain? Not so fun though. I couldn’t see 10 feet ahead of me.

Now that we’ve got that squared away, what did I fail to mention?

I’ve been doing lots of getting in the Christmas spirit! 2 Christmas movies have already been watched. My Christmas sweater has been worm.

The day I went home, my mom, my sister, and I had lunch. I had a delicious bowl that included brown rice, butternut squash, carrots, brussels sprouts, and cauliflower puree. It was delicious.

Followed by my favorite ice cream ever, Tin Pot. This is chocolate.

Thursday night I actually taught spin. Due to torrential rain, it was a small class but a good one! I love how the gym is decked out for the holidays!

Lunch on Friday was open faced turkey sandwiches, with an apple slice on top. Just place them under broil until the cheese is bubbly-they’re delicious!

Friday I also made my first batch of holiday cookies. I used my recipe for healthy polka dot cookies. They actually are really healthy. It was nice to have something sweet on hand that didn’t leave me feeling gross and sluggish. They were even approved by my grandma!

This batch is extra dark because I used dark chocolate cocoa powder.

Another fun weekend event involved seeing my 3rd grade teacher perform in the community production of A Christmas Carol. He was Jacob Marley’s ghost, and did a great job! The whole production was fantastic and so well done. They put it on every year, and every year it sells out. It’s free, but you are asked to bring toys to donate.

That’s all for today-expect more catch up food pictures tomorrow!

What is your favorite holiday dessert?

Santa Run 2014

Date: December 15, 2014

Author: astottler

Categories: Uncategorized

Happy Monday! Is anyone else done with finals and on winter break yet? It’s an amazing feeling! It’s been a rainy week here in California, although I was lucky to get some sun for my 5k!

Yesterday, I did the Silicon Valley Santa Run, which is in its 3rd year. This is also my 3rd year doing it! It’s a fun race that raises money for Christmas in the Park in San Jose, which is a fun holiday setup they do every year.

This year.

Last year.

2 years ago.

It’s turned into a fun holiday tradition for my family. There are lots of kids running the race, and tons of people dress up as Santa!

I knew I wasn’t in the best speed shape, and an afternoon race (3pm start) was not ideal for eating, so I didn’t have too many expectations for myself. I wanted to stay in the 8:3xs and ended with a pace of 8:40, so I’ll take it. Th run flew by! 5ks seem so short!

At the finish line, we were greeted by “snow” plus milk and cookies.

We then explored Christmas in the Park.

To start-a chocolate tamale! It was really good-sort of like a corny less sweet brownie?

I got a coin in the mouth!

It was a really festive way to kick off the season!

For dinner post-race, we made a teriyaki chicken salad from Cooking Light, served with brown rice/quinoa.

The red comes from heirloom spinach!

For dessert, I made gingerbread bars. I think I found the recipe on Buzzfeed?

They were supposed to separate and be custard on the bottom, cake on top. It only sort of did that, but that was fine! They sort of had the texture of pumpkin pie.