Although fair warning, I am typing this with one hand because cat.

In 2014 I:

Started teaching weight lifting to the Stanford quidditch team.

Went to Tahoe and had a beautiful frozen run.

Started “The Project” and learned how great I felt cutting out processed foods.

Won a 5k.

Participated in the Crossfit Open.

Went to Monterey with my family.

FINALLY went self hosted and gave my blog a facelift.

Found out decisively that I’m allergic to nuts and need to cut them out entirely.

Ran the hilliest half ever (Rock n Roll SF)

Reflected on how I’m calming down in my old age.

Celebrated my Birthday.

Ran Bay-to-Breakers for the first time!

I started #365daysofselfies

I moved to DC for an internship for the summer.

I saw my cousins for the first time in YEARS.

I ran the Giant Race half marathon.

I did my first Crossfit competition.

The Giants won the world series! And I went to the parade.

I had a Halloween party with dry ice.

I taught my first real spin class.

I celebrated Christmas with the family.

I figured out what I want to do with my life. This is a big one, and something I’ve been stressing about for a while. I promise you guys a post on this soon because it’s likely going to affect my blogging a bit!

Overall, 2014 was a pretty great year. For some reason I had a negative impression, but really, it was solid. 2013 was a mess-between killing myself with rowing and schoolwork, mono, and the hardest quarter of my life in the fall, I really can’t complain about 2014!

Have a fantastic New Year and stay safe!

My morning started bright and early. I quickly gobbled up my raspberry goat yogurt overnight oats, before heading to the gym to train quidditch.

The weight lifting went well-some people had to come early because they had to leave early, and the barbells were full when we started lifting, so I had to improvise a bit-everything worked out in the end! I also taught them correct rowing form, as they requested a rowing component for this workout. For those curious, here’s the workout I took them through.

Warm Up: Dynamic Stretching and Leg Swings

4 sets of 6 push presses

3 rounds:

6 bent over row

6 kneeling press

12 lunge jumps

20 calf raises 3 ways (toes forward, toes in , toes out)

1 min plank

Then-conditioning:

1 partner rows 500m while the other does oblique crunches-2 times through so everyone rows 500m two times

They shouldn’t be as sore as last week’s leg focused workout, but everyone was feeling by the end!
The best part? We finished just in time for me to grab a cappuccino before running to class. Which is probably why I felt so good all day!

Lunch was a mish-mash of things. I’m well stocked on veggies right now…and that’s about it. I didn’t make it to the dining hall the night before to steal things for lunch, so I was caught without any protein. In the end, I decided to try out my new blender bottle, and a packet of vanilla chai protein drink mixed with almond milk.

Also on the menu were blueberries, asparagus with Italian herbs, and butternut squash with cinnamon and a touch of honey. I have to say-this meal was a little lack luster because the butternut squash wasn’t quite seasoned enough, and asparagus is hard to eat out of a bag. Without a knife. With tough ends. And…i really didn’t like the protein drink. At all. When will I learn? It was kind of bland and the predominant taste that came across for me was fake sugar. I only made it through about a third of it! But I was SO full from all the veggies, so I guess it evened out!

I had class until 5 today, which meant I had to go to Crossfit later-at 6:30. For a pre-workout snack I enjoyed a Square bar, as well as a small tangerine from our CSA box and a handful of garlic roasted pumpkin seeds.

Crossfit was deceptively difficult. For strength, we worked on heavy snatches. The WOD was a 16 minute timed workout-3 rounds of 10 overhead squats and 150 jump ropes, followed by a ladder of 25m shuttle run and 1,2,3,4… burpees. It was a leg burner!

By the time I finally made it back to the dining hall, a lot of the food was gone. Since I was running kind of low on protein, I wanted to make that a main part of my meal. Guess what they didn’t have? Literally the only protein source was a couple of leftover hard boiled eggs, so I added one to my salad.

Salad, cabbage, polenta with mushrooms, and roasted potatoes with ketchup. 

And I guess this counts as protein?

I’m feeling pretty good about this quarter. I have a couple of classes that I need to work my butt off for, but I also have Human Nutrition, which is basically the best thing ever. You know a huge difference from last quarter? I actually have friends in all my classes now. In the past I felt like I was always doing my own thing, but now I pretty much have someone to sit with and chat with in all my classes-yay for new friends! 

It’s difficult to explain, but I feel like I’m finally coming into myself this quarter. (Of course that’s easy to say in week 2…) I’ve tried new things that I thought I’d love, without giving it a second thought that they were new or I wouldn’t know people (Mariachi and weight lifting.) I also finally feel like a leader. Teaching weight lifting to quidditch has made it apparent how knowledgable I really am. And practicing for spin like crazy makes me feel like I really can lead a class. I’m at the point in my life where I feel like I can inspire people, I can make changes is people’s lives, and I can make a difference in the world. I feel like I can do anything! One thing I signed up for on a whim that I’m SUPER excited about is the Bay Area Childhood Obesity Conference. It’s really cool-there are speakers, as well as break out groups where the participants get to discuss things. 

In addition, I’m starting to think about what to eat during the project. For breakfast, I’m thinking high quality yogurt with homemade sunflower seed butter, and homemade mixed berry compote? (No added sugar of course-just berries!) Or maybe overnight oats with a higher quality grain than instant oatmeal? Like quinoa? Or is that weird? 

One of the biggest question marks right now is dinners-should I try to cook them myself? Make do with dining hall fare, but being very careful? Lots of planning to do!

Do you have any good whole food recipes that are quick and easy? Please link them up!