WIAW and I’m a Weather Confused California Girl

Date: December 10, 2013

Author: astottler

Well, one final down, two to go! It’s definitely crunch time over here-which is why I’m OH so happy to take a break to celebrate What I Ate Wednesday. Thanks Jenn!

Before I get into it, thank you all so much for your kind comments on my blogiversary post! They melted my heart and brightened my day inside the dark library.

Also-if you haven’t there’s still plenty of time to enter my giveaway!

Since I have been doing 12 Days of Christmas, I haven’t gotten a chance to post a lot of my recent eats! Hint: there have been lots of persimmons. I think my record is 6 in one day? Although to be fair, two of them were babies.

Why I was motivated to take this picture, I have no idea.

It’s been cold here in California. Ok, everyone else, feel free to laugh. I’m a wimp and take my bundling up seriously. Why be cold when you can wear 6 layers?

This morning I went to morning Crossfit-the low was 26 I believe, and I thought for sure my car wouldn’t start, since it was in the 40s the night before and it didn’t sound good. Luckily though, it did, and I only had to worry about cleaning off copious amounts of ice from my windshield, and not trying to find someone to jump my car! I really need an ice scraper though-I was lucky to have a towel with me-otherwise it would have been my fingers (I’ve done that before..ouch).

Also, our Crossfit box is literally freezing. It was colder in than out, and it was below freezing out so…

And the worst part? The bars are like ICE. Yuck. Anyways, by the time I returned and got coffee, I found myself craving a dining hall breakfast (what? who am I?) and since this was the second day in a row I wanted that, I decided to go for it.

A whole wheat english muffin with one side butter and (some) jam, and the other cream cheese, egg, and spinach. With a side of unripe pineapple! I also had a whole wheat pancake with butter and jam.

Ok, the real reason I tend to avoid the dining hall is because they often have the most delicious blueberry muffins (one of my major weaknesses), and I know eating 5,000 muffins before a final probably isn’t the best idea…

My lunch was a turkey sandwich made open faced:

Plus an extremely delicious piece of mystery bread that it’s been way too long since I’ve had.

I got them at a little cafe and settled in to relax after a morning of studying before my final. I didn’t bring headphones, and didn’t want to strain my brain my reading anything, so I eavesdropped for about an hour. Totally normal, right?

After my exam, I decided to actually go to the dining hall! To be fair, I complain about how boring dining hall food is, but it’s also because I almost always go to the same dining hall-I don’t seem to get back from Crossfit/other workouts before all the other ones close. Example-yesterday I finished Crossfit and tried to catch the tail end of a different dining hall’s hours. They had no food left!

But I finally got what I wanted today, since my exam ended earlier:

A burrito bowl with salmon. I’ve been craving Mexican food so much since listening to a book on tape during my workout yesterday-they went to Mexico and were eating tacos (keep in mind, I was listening to this at 7am and wanted tacos…).

And you better believe that I’m going to get dessert if I just took a final!

Chocolate soft serve, chocolate chips, marshmallows, jam, and cereal. I was SO tempted to add peanut butter-I made a ton of chocolate/peanut buttery soft serve cups of deliciousness last year, but I refrained for the sake of my face and skin.

Ok, so what have you missed on the food front?

Persimmon and egg cup.

Snack plate-guacamole, cinnamon laughing cow, pear chips.

Broccoli and white cheddar laughing cow.

A Whole Foods Southwest salad that I added avocado to.

Teriyaki tofu, rice and quinoa mix, salad with goat cheese, hummus, and avocado.

Christmas on a plate. They opened up a Harry and David store at my local mall, so pears were a necessity. I had to pull myself away from eating really delicious persimmons to eat a really delicious pear. I know, poor me.

Mass amounts of broccoli for lunch because that’s clearly what all the cool people do.

Mushroom and barley soup, and a salad with goat cheese, hummus, and fig balsamic. I accidentally poured half the container of goat cheese on there.I wish I could say I was sorry…I love goat cheese!

And the grand finale…

Last night I wanted something sweet, so I went forward with a microwave pumpkin oatmeal cookie in mind. Except I kind of just turned it into straight oatmeal. I used pumpkin butter, and then since I didn’t have any normal almond milk open and I’m leaving in 3 days, I used almond nog. O.M.G. The flavor combination of eggnog and pumpkin was unreal. You all you to try your oatmeal like this. I also mixed in some egg white, pumpkin pie spice, vanilla, baking powder, and butter (it was kind of supposed to be a cookie at one point…but delicious addition!)

YUM.

And since I was talking about cold weather and bundling up…here’s a picture of me being a weather confused California girl.

2 jackets. Scarf. Gloves. Shorts?

Let’s say that I regretted this decision when I left the library in the dark….brrr! It’s so much colder once the sun goes down. My friend wanted me to come over the other day at like 9pm…I wore 3 jackets, 2 pairs of pants, uggs, gloves, and a scarf that covered my whole face. I couldn’t move my arms. But I wasn’t cold!

I hope you all are having fabulous weeks! 3. More. Days.

What is your favorite seasonal flavor?

On the Twelfth Day of Christmas My True Love Gave to Me…

Date: December 8, 2013

Author: astottler

Categories: Uncategorized

12 Things That Have Changed in the Last Year

Today is the last day of Christmas! You know what that means? It’s officially my blogiversary! Yay! I hope you guys have liked these last 12 days of posting. (PS-if you haven’t entered yesterday’s GIVEAWAY there’s still time!) I certainly have had a ton of fun writing them. And forcing myself to be creative in the kitchen-it’s been way too long since I spent any time there!

I want to use this last day to reflect on the past year. I feel like so much has changed, but I think it’s all for the better. If you’re curious, here’s my first post. It’s not as embarrassing as I was expecting. My next few those? Yeesh. (Why would I name a post 1,2,3, Testing?) Also, can we take a minute to talk about how my writing voice has changed? For some reason last spring quarter I was so sarcastic. Not that I’m not now, but I feel like every word was dripping with it. Interesting….Also-check out this food picture from one of my first posts…work of art right there folks.

So without further ado-12 things that have changed in the past year.

1. I quit rowing. To put it quit frankly, I was drowning. Fall quarter, it was such an awesome experience. To this day I miss the girls on my team. Winter quarter we moved in with varsity, and I just didn’t love it anymore. Plus, the time commitment increased-it was about 5 hours a day. I had a tougher class schedule, and was rapidly falling behind. Plus, after being one of the fastest over the fall, I just wasn’t improving and couldn’t keep up. This all took a huge toll on me-but that’s not (directly) why I quit. I was determined to finish the year with my commitment, or at least the quarter. My body had other plans though and I got a really bad case of mono (which actually changed my life a lot for many different reasons). Long story short-2 ER visits, crazy high fevers for WEEKS (101 on Advil and Tylenol), inability to get out of bed for 2-3 weeks, and ALL of Friends. Like, all 10 seasons. It was really awful and I had to go home-fun fact, while I had mono, I also caught the stomach flu, strep throat, and a week later, a cold and cough that developed into an ear and sinus infection. I think it’s fair to say that’s by far the sickest I’ve been in my life. At that point, it would be nearly impossible to gain my strength back in time for racing season, plus I took it all as a sign that what I was trying to do was just not sustainable for me. When I got back to school, I had such an amazing time because I actually had time for a social life, not to mention time to study (I know a lot of collegiate athletes do fine, but it just wasn’t working for me for a sport that I didn’t absolutely love.)

2. I ran 2 half marathons! I have entirely the blog world to thank for this. Before discovering this amazing community, the only people I knew who ran half marathons were my spin teachers, and it seemed absolutely insane. After seeing so many bloggers do it, it didn’t seem so unattainable, and here I am now, a half marathoner! Heck, I even ran 16 miles once! One year ago me would have thought that was impossible.

3. I realized that I’m semi-allergic to nuts. Or at least have a sensitivity to them and they cause my face to break out like crazy (or the newest thing-now they’re causing itchy rashes.) The irony is I ate peanut butter (only like a tablespoon) for the first time in many months the other day and now my skin is rebelling…ANYWAYS-this is kind of a big deal because if you read my blog way back when this was started, the amount of peanut butter I was eating was insane.

4. I got spin certified! This was something I’ve been really wanting to do for a while, but if it wasn’t for the blog world, I wouldn’t have had the courage to actually do it! This would have been so much of a better point if I actually had a job teaching already, but I can’t even THINK about that until after finals.

5. My outlook on life has changed. Blogging has made me so much more thankful for everything in my life, and I appreciate the little things so much more. I’ve always loved the holidays, but I never celebrated fall in the same way (or ate so much pumpkin…) Last year around the holidays I felt really homesick, but not at all this year. Maybe it’s because I’m older and have more friends, but I think it’s also because through my blog I can still celebrate.

6. My weight. This is definitely not something I discuss a lot here on the blog, but it’s definitely a change. I avoided the dreaded Freshman 15 in the fall through rowing and being too busy to eat any free goodies, but the stress of winter quarter and stress eating, then dropping a lot of weight while I was sick and gorging to put it back on plus some-and going a little crazy in spring quarter (I’m not talking alcohol calories, I’m talking giant yogurt bowl calories and late night snacks with friends calories), I wasn’t in the best place with my eating habits or body going into the summer. I’ve figured so much out since then, and am slowly getting back to where I want to be, but it’s definitely a process. I still haven’t totally figured out college eating-especially with all the free food and stress dead week offers-but I’m definitely in a better place and know I’ll get there eventually.

7. My training (aka my workouts) have changed drastically as well. When I was rowing, that was pretty much all I was doing. We did team weights and some running/spinning, but it wasn’t the same as hitting the weight room hard on my own, or going to my favorite spin classes-unless I wanted to wake up at 5am and add a spin class to my 2 hour erg workout (which I did once..never again). In general, I have to be training for something. I used to always be training for softball, then for rowing. Now-I guess it’s for running. I trained for 2 halfs (yay!), started Crossfit, and am now attempting to gain some speed for 5ks. I’m actually really, really enjoying 5k training. Running fast (ish) is fun! Plus it makes my feet much, much happier. I definitely still crave the long runs though! The thing about 5ks…I think I actually have the potential to be decently fast. I think if my training and my NUTRITION (heh heh) was on point, I would actually be able to go out there and race pretty competitively (i’m talking local 5ks, not collegiate championships). And it helps I’m still in an age group with relatively few runners…But I just don’t see myself ever being remotely fast in long distances like halfs.

Last year’s Santa Run 5k

8. I started Crossfit! It really is so much fun. I’ve always loved weight lifting so this is right up my alley. I really miss the people at my home box…only a week until I’m back there!

9. I just feel like mentally I’m in a much better place than I was last year. I’m not a freshman desperately trying to make friends, and although I’ve had a pretty heavy workout this quarter, I feel like I have my life together pretty well-something that when I was rowing was definitely not the case. Now I’m the person getting homework done days before it’s due (this does not apply to all my classes though…)

10. My fitness level has changed. Although only this weekend’s 5k will tell the tale…I was in really good shape last fall while rowing, I did actually lose quite a bit of strength though because I wasn’t lifting hardly at all. Mono completely killed any fitness I had ever gained-after not being able to even sit up in bed for weeks, EVERYTHING made my abs sore. I never really regained any of my running shape until I started training for my half though-since then plus Crossfit, my endurance has skyrocketed! I PRed my second half by 3 minutes, despite the course being much hillier. I think I would actually be in decent rowing shape as well-since I can’t mentally force myself to do another 6k test, I did a 3k test, and was right where I wanted to be without totally killing myself.

11. I have so many blog friends now! Though I haven’t met hardly any in real life, they really do mean a lot to me, and every single comment really does brighten my day and bring a smile to my face. I also feel so lucky to not have gotten any of those negative commenters. I really do love each and every one of you! I seriously do get so much joy out of blogging. I love interacting with all of you and I love following along on your lives!

#bloggerproblems

12. I am so much more confident than I was a year ago. I’m another year mature, sure. I drive myself around places and live as an independent adult. But I also feel like spewing my thoughts to a bunch of strangers on a daily basis has also helped this. Reading inspirational stories from so many beautiful and strong women has helped this. I’m confident in who I am as a person-sure my body isn’t 100% where I want it to be, but that doesn’t bother me-I know I’m getting stronger and will get there eventually, and for the most part I don’t stress about it. I think about how far I have come in the last year. I’m so much stronger than I was a year ago, physically and mentally. The experiences of the last year have shaped who I am today, and I couldn’t be happier, whether they were good or bad (like Mono-it stunk but made me stronger in the long run). And I couldn’t be more grateful to have you guys by my side. Here’s to next year!

One Year Ago

Now

On the 11th Day of Christmas My True Love Gave to Me… (GIVEAWAY)

Date: December 8, 2013

Author: astottler

Categories: Uncategorized

11 of My Favorite Things…For YOU!

This was supposed to be the Grand Finale of 12 Days, but my 11th day fell through and I have something else for the last day, so here it is!

And it will arrive looking something like this:

NOTE: I am not affiliated with any of these companies-I just wanted to do something fun for you guys for my blogiversary!

Note #2-I realized that most of these are chocolate-related…oh well? Hey, it’s non-perishiable and travels well, what can I say?

1. Sunflower seed butter. Because I’m obsessed.

2. Dried mango. This should be a no brainer.

3. Guacamole mix-I love having this on hand-it’s basically just spices that you add to avocado for instant guac. Perfect for an easy snack!

4. Crunchamame-green onion and chive.

5. Green and Black 85% chocolate. I love dark chocolate, and this is by far my favorite. The texture is so much smoother than other brands!

6. Blackberry chia squeeze-fruit and chia seeds.

7. Square bar-chocolate coconut. I recently discovered these, and they’re delicious! It’s hard finding bars that aren’t full of nuts, and these fit the bill.

8. ThinkThin Divine bars. Chocolate coconut. What more could you ask?

9. See’s chocolate Santa. See’s is one of my favorite chocolates. I realize that not everyone has these in different places in the country, which is part of why I included it.

10. See’s chocolate toffee bar-this is straight out of my childhood. We used to sell See’s bars for band, and this was my favorite!

11. Peanut butter oat bar. This brand is AMAZING. The peanut butter is my favorite (which I tried before I knew I had a peanut sensitivity), but the other flavors are just as addictive.

So how do you win this??

Simply comment below with one of your favorite things!

For additional entries (each is one entry):

Follow me on Twitter (@fitnessissweet) and leave a comment saying you have done so.

Tweet about the giveaway (something like this- “I’m entering @fitnessissweet ‘s 12 days of Christmas giveaway!) with a link, and then comment saying you have done so.

Instragram this picture and let me know you have done so 🙂

Since this is 12 days of Christmas, let’s give you all 12 days for this! The winner will be randomly chosen on the night of December 12! Good luck!

(Sadly, this is only open to US and Canada residents)

Good luck!

On the Tenth Day of Christmas My True Love Gave to Me…

Date: December 6, 2013

Author: astottler

Categories: Uncategorized

The 10 best things I ate in the last year.

This post is proving to be one of the hardest, and one of my most favorites, simply because it’s so hard to choose! After much soul searching, this is what I came up with! (In no particular order)

1. Wildberry frozen yogurt. Specifically the salted caramel pretzel flavor…AMAZING. I got this an embarrassing number of times while I had mono because my throat hurt something fierce, I could barely eat, and it was on the way back home from school.

2. Yogurt bowls-specifically with vanilla greek yogurt, pumpkin bread, and sunflower seed butter. This combo is amazing. I ate a crazy amount of this last spring. Try it and thank me later.

3. Boston Cream Pie. Made 100% from scratch. For those who don’t know, Boston Cream Pie is sponge cake, custard, and chocolate glaze. I made this once before for my mom as a surprise, but this time around it was a spring break activity that we did together.

4. Tina‘s recipe for Cheesy Brussels Sprouts. They’re super simple and delicious, and a great go-to anytime. But maybe I just really love Brussels Sprouts.

5. Homemade iced chai. After having an amazing iced chai at Philz Coffee, I decided to try my hand at it. The trick? Brew it with a mint leaf, for some extra refreshing power. Plus, I’m totally in love with my Chai tea.

6. Blueberry crisp. This one is a no-brainer. It’s one of my favorite desserts ever, and pretty much only happens when blueberries hit that brief but golden period of perfect ripeness in the summer. The recipe we use is pretty healthy-not a ton of sugar! And not a ton is needed with amazing blueberries! Bonus-no nuts 🙂

7. Blueberry bread. Yes, the kind from a mix with added blueberries. I absolutely LOVE this. And I think it probably helped the cause that this was made right after my first ever 12 mile run. I may have been ravenous and I may have eaten most of the loaf in one day. No shame. #runnerproblems

8. Smitten ice cream. Smitten is a little place in San Francisco that makes Nitrogen ice cream. It. Is. Amazing. I ordered the salted caramel, but I loved even more the chocolate. It was by far, hands down the best ice cream I’ve ever eaten. Ever. Insanely smooth-the nitrogen freezing process won’t create ice crystals-, rich, decadent, chocolate-y with almost a hint of sea salt. OMG. The best part? A Smitten is coming INSIDE my closest Whole Foods at school! SO. PUMPED.

9. These brussels sprouts from my latest trip to Napa. No words. Possibly the #1 best thing I ate all year (yes, I realize how weird it makes me seem if the best thing I ate all year was brussels sprouts-but they were amazing!)

10. Butternut squash soup with cream fraiche and citrus cranberry relish. This was too perfect. Even though I missed out on amazing butternut squash soup in Napa this year, this was just as good. I had this at least 5 times as leftovers.

On the Ninth Day of Christmas My True Love Gave to Me…

Date: December 5, 2013

Author: astottler

Categories: Uncategorized

9 kittens!

As a lot of you may know, I volunteered in the kitten nursery at the local humane society over the summer. It was a seriously amazing experience, and I do think it influenced me a lot. That being said, of course I have a ton of kitten photos. I think it is fitting that 12 days of Christmas is exposing my (not so) inner cat lady, between this and yesterday’s post!

So without further ado…9 kittens!