Lack of Motivation and Cupcake Art

Date: April 19, 2014

Author: astottler

Hey guys! I’ve seriously been neglecting blogging lately. I’m sort of lacking blogging motivation: I feel like there hasn’t been that much to say, and I’ve been busy! But here I am back! I do have some new things to share-such as what continent I’ll be on this summer! Seriously-SO relived to finally have that all figured out.

Where to even start? How about Thursday. I woke up early for a run-I did 3 miles with a mile at tempo speed. It felt pretty good. I was going to do 4 miles but since I haven’t run much since my half, I wanted to keep it easy. I was sore after Tuesday’s 4 mile run! I don’t have any halts planned for a while, so right now I’m keeping it chill on the running front. Eventually, I’ll move back over to speed work, but I haven’t felt a lot of running motivation lately so I’m going to wait until I feel ready. I always feel a bit burned out after training for halfs!

Breakfast was a classic-plain Greek yogurt, sun butter, and berry compote. Such a good combo.

And then…I FINALLY decided/found out where I’ll be this summer! I have an internship in Washington DC-so if anyone is going to be there this summer (or in the area) let me know and we should hang out! In my Internship I’m going to be working on Child Nutrition things, and I literally could not imagine a job I would rather be doing. An added bonus? My friend is in DC this summer as well so we’re trying to find a place to live together! SO excited!

Thursday I also got my second sound wave treatment. It was MUCH more painful than the first-I think the guy found the tender spots a lithe bit better. Hopefully this all works!

This week has also sort of been the week of sugar for me-we’ve had a lot of informal recruitment events for my sorority, and my roommate has been doing a lot of baking for it. The events are basically us getting together and eating good food.

Check out these cupcakes! One of my other friends did the frosting-she busted out some amazing cupcake decorating skills out of nowhere! So beautiful! And the cupcakes were of course, delicious. Especially the vanilla, which was a surprise for me given I’m normally chocolate all the way!

I don’t have a lot to show for food pictures. Things have been pretty basic around here lately, so let’s talk a bit about workouts! Friday morning I did Spin on my own. I’ve been loving HIIT on the spin bike lately, so I did my HIIT class I wrote, and just subbed in a different playlist to mix it up! I had to modify and cut it a bit short though because I couldn’t really stand on the bike after the sound wave treatment. I’m not supposed to use my Achilles for 24 hours after the treatment, and this time it was definitely sore and inflamed afterwards. I ended up icing it Thursday night because it was sore and hot!

This morning, I went to Crossfit. It was hard. Which was great. We did Kelly, which I’ve done once before. I think it’s definitely one of the harder Crossfit workouts I’ve done, partly because it’s a long one.

Kelly:

5 rounds:

400m run

30 box jumps

30 wall balls

It just adds up super fast! 150 box jumps is a lot! I didn’t beat my previous time, unfortunately, but it was certainly a good one!

Tomorrow, I’m going home for Easter. We’re going out to a nice Brunch, and then doing an Easter egg hunt, as always. I love how some traditions never change! One year, we had a squirrel hijack our Easter egg hunt-he took a couple of plastic eggs high up into the trees and chewed holes in them!

That’s all I have for today! Have a fabulous Easter!

Back to Life (WIAW)

Date: April 15, 2014

Author: astottler

Categories: Uncategorized

WHEW. What an absolutely insane couple of days! My schedule was insane and I’m still running around a bit like a crazy person but it’s whatever. Since I haven’t posted food in forever, this will double as WIAW!

Things didn’t get too super crazy until Friday. Thursday I got sound wave treatment on my Achilles. It was kind of strange, kind of painful, and extremely short. I have to go back 2 more times. I think it helped? I’ve been on my feet ALL weekend which normally KILLS my achilles, and I have been able to walk so I’m taking that as a good sign! Here’s some Thursday food:

So, the dining hall has been stepping up breakfast lately. Bread pudding? Of course I’m going to try that! I’m kind of in love with the blueberry bread pudding. SO good. But really sweet for breakfast! Next time I might bring some back for later! They also had sticky buns.

Lunch-carrots and meatballs. With a side of finally declaring my major! Bio all the way!

I love the shirt, haha!

Super simple dinner-chicken caesar salad and a warm, buttery roll. Sometimes the simplest things are the best. This was followed by a treat thought-the dining hall had a big fat of HOT brownie!

Umm YUM. Friday morning I did a weight lifting work out that didn’t use my achilles so it could rest after the treatment. I did front squats, good mornings, back squats, and RDLs, and then finished with abs.

Breakfast was actually in the dining hall! I tried a weird mixture of steel cut oats, cottage cheese, golden raisins, and later banana, and really wasn’t feeling it. Also pictured is blueberry bread pudding. 🙂

Hey, you can’t win them all! So, the craziness REALLY got underway. Friday I met with a girl in my sorority for dinner….at 3:45….to talk about her experience abroad in Chile. We had to meet to start prepping everything at 4:30. Last weekend was formal recruitment for my sorority. The way my school handles this is that every girl has to go to these little “parties” with every chapter. So Friday we were there 4:30-12:30, and I didn’t get in bed until 3. My entire Saturday consisted of sleeping ish in, Crossfit, a quick trip to Whole Foods, a nap, and then returning for night 2 of recruitment. I went to Whole Foods for one reason: it’s the absolute best time of year.

MANGO SEASON. When they start going on sale is when they really start being great. I bought 8 mangoes. Which I will admit is a far cry from the 29 I had last year… I also picked up a quick lunch. Brunch? Dinner?

A green smoothie and a blueberry muffin. My meal schedule was so weird. I had very few actual meals. Saturday, we were there from 5pm-2am, when we were physically kicked out of the building. Sunday, unless you count the pb&j (ish) tortilla at 2, my dinner consisted of animal crackers. So there’s that. I was really dreading rush, I must admit, but it ended up being pretty fun. I met and talked to some pretty cool people, and had a shockingly good time performing a ridiculous dance for all our potential new members. There is a video, but I’m pretty sure the Internet does not need to see that. I also developed some bizarre allergy thing on Friday, AKA right as all this craziness started. I must be allergic to something that was blooming, because it’s a lot better now. However, my weird allergy thing plus talking to people for 7 hours a night, plus screaming and singing insanely, my voice has been GONE since Saturday. By the end of the night, I could barely make a sound. The last girl I talked to was legitimately concerned for me! The craziness continued after rush for me-I got out at midnight on Sunday night, and had the pleasure of going home to write and prepare an oral presentation for the next day, as well as write a Spanish paper. Monday was filled with class and meetings, and a bid day party for our new members. We didn’t get as many as we would have liked, especially given all the time and energy we put into the process, but it is what it is.

Me plus my giraffe, and a baby giraffe for a new member. The craziness continued through this morning. We hosted a breakfast for new members…in my dorm room at 7am. So my room needed to be clean, and I needed to be awake. I didn’t get a chance for a workout at all yesterday, and the day before all I had time for was 20 minutes of HIIT on the Spin bike! Craziness!

Breakfast was matzah eggs and fruit, since it’s Passover and we’re a historically Jewish sorority. And before class, I made sure to grab coffee. I actually went with my sister! My real sister who despite the fact that she goes to the same school as me, you never see her pop up on here because I never see her!

Big sis and little sis coffee. I will never understand how she can handle so much more caffeine than I can! Ok-WHEW. We’re almost caught up. On the workout front, I decided to run TO Crossfit today. It’s just over 2 miles each way, so it made for a good first run post-half marathon. It was definitely more difficult on the way back though! And LASTLY (I promise, I know this has been a marathon post), dinner tonight: a beautiful avocado atop sweet potato, turkey meatball, and salsa.

And now, I’m off to get a start on the million and one things I need to do today!

Catch me up on your lives-what’s new?

iPhoto Dump #2

Date: April 14, 2014

Author: astottler

Categories: Uncategorized

Hey guys! Things have been absolutely crazy on my end for the last few days and aren’t let tin yup for a while! I’m running around like a crazy person and don’t even know what continent I’m going to be on this summer! I promise for a full, normal post tomorrow but for now, here’s a picture from now, plus a million old ones to get to know me a little better! I promise I’ll respond to comments soon as well!

I’ve done one of these before, and thought it would be fun to do another one! So here we go!

Pig slippers. Fall leaves. Enough said. This was a day after I bashed my knee open because I wiped out on a run. The funny thing? I was running to meet my family for brunch, and my mom took a picture of me running up with blood running down my knee, before she even realized I had blood running down my knee. I decided to spare you all that picture.

Pig slippers are always acceptable attire, right?

My sister was known as the cookie girl in high school. I was her trusty sidekick, the cookie eating girl.

Why yes Charlie, I DID get a violin case just for you to sit in.

This used to be milk. Thanks dad.

What can I say? Whiteboards help me think!

This is a cake. My sister made it. Isn’t it amazing??

Avocado birthing.

I swear I didn’t search for this!

Have a great day!

Snacks I’ve Been Loving Lately

Date: April 10, 2014

Author: astottler

Categories: Uncategorized

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.

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

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.

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.

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!

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.

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.

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!

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!

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

What are some of your favorite snacks?

What’s New?

Date: April 9, 2014

Author: astottler

Categories: Uncategorized

Hey guys! This is sort of a crazy week for me but I wanted to talk about a few things I’m doing right now!

The reason for the crazy week? I’m in a sorority and this is rush week. The way we do rush is sort of crazy. For example, Friday night is from 4:30-12:30…Another example of how it is crazy-starting a paper at 12:30 AFTER rush last night…oy.

I’m just going to go in list form to give this some sort of rough structure!

1: I’m writing a huge quarter long research paper on exercise addiction. I’m really excited about this! It’s a little more complicated than that, but this is the most blog relevant part!

2. I had my first cappuccino of the quarter the other day, and it was fabulous. I have to be super careful about caffeine because I’m worried I’ll give myself heart issues (family history+heart racing last quarter) so I laid off completely and now I’m fine if I keep it to a small cappuccino or a baby cup, only when I really need it!

3. I cannot get enough of these new KIND bars!

4. Food. So, I’ve been doing this thing sort of. I’m semi-roughly following a meal plan, which I actually love because I’ve found some new things that are healthy and delicious. Which is why you may have seen some different things as of late. I’m looking at the Blogilates 12 week meal plan, but I’m really just taking some of the delicious sounding food and recipes and incorporating them into something that works for me. For some reason though, I’m really not feeling this week’s breakfast, which is essentially overnight oats. Here’s what’s crazy-the recipe calls for Greek yogurt and oats to sit over night, but no liquid! That’s craziness! So I definitely added almond milk. Not sure why I’m not feeling it-I liked over night oats in the past, but maybe that was because it was with fruity yogurt. In contrast, I LOVED last week’s egg cups and quinoa, which surprised me because I thought it was going to be a blah breakfast.

Other things: chicken meatballs+roasted carrots. As I study addictions, the more I’m convinced I have a carrot addiction. It’s a problem.

Another fun find from the meal plan? Turkey wraps with tomato and basil laughing cow+turkey+spinach+red pepper. I have the ingredients in my room and it makes a fabulous light dinner.

5. Crossfit today was rough. I actually tore my hand in the last round of pull ups, which is something I’ve never done before. It was weird though because I was not expecting to tear my hand in that place…here’s the workout:

100 wall balls

100 pull ups

100 dumb bell snatches

100 push ups

6. My achilles magically feels good right now, despite having difficulties walking after standing up in rush events last night. The probable reason? I have a doctor’s appointment tomorrow! I’m getting some type of treatment on it that is supposed to magically make it better. I’ll believe it when I see it. Maybe all I need to do is go to the doctor for it to be better-that’s what happened last time!

7. Here’s something crazy-I’m seriously considering studying abroad this summer. I was planning on doing it next spring, but there seem to be some spots left in the summer program and I don’t have anything that meaningful planned for the summer, plus it would give me more time for my major classes during the school year. Two downsides: it’s winter there…and my Spanish ability…this is my first quarter of Spanish in college. Granted, I took 4 years of Spanish in high school, including AP, but it’s still coming back to me. And all the classes are taught in Spanish. So I’d need to mega cram my Spanish before then. I already told my roommate that we’re going to have a Spanish only rule for our dorm room.

Want to know one of the firs things I looked up when I started considering this? Crossfit boxes in the area. How cool would that be? I think it would be a great way to meet locals and insert myself into life there.

That’s all I have for today!

Did you study abroad? Where? How did you like it?