plants | Fitness is Sweet

Happy Earth Day! Did everyone realize it was Earth Day? I would have totally forgotten if it weren’t for several Earth Day Celebrations around campus. In honor of Mother Earth, let’s go through some Earth Day eats, shall we? As always, a huge THANKS to Jenn for hosting!

Also, you will have to excuse me for my mind is mush. I just spent 3 hours typing away on a paper, and I’ve spent about 6 hours total today alone on it. But it is done! Yay! And it was a super cool topic that I loved researching-the effect of exercise on recovery from drug addiction. If anyone is interested in this, let me know and I can talk more about it or provide links!

My morning started off with a KIND bar before spin. Normally I don’t eat before Spin, but I was starving so I went for it!

After spin?

While sure, the designs that have been decorating my milk foam lately are cute, nothing compares to the flavor of unadulterated milk foam.

Then, it was time for Operation Eat All the Eggs part 2. This morning, I mashed up a couple of eggs with a triangle of garlic and herb laughing cow, and served it with a mango.

Nothing too crazy to share from the middle of the day except this fun fruit snacks I received in my Easter basket. I regret not brining more than 2 back to school with me!

They made the perfect pre-workout fuel, when paired with an egg!

I had planned on going to Crossfit tonight, but because of the aforementioned paper due tonight at 11:59pm, I wanted something quicker. I randomly remembered the Nike Training Center app I downloaded a few months ago and never tried. I decided to try and advanced cardio workout, which used minimal equipment and included lots of jumps. I want to work on plyos/agility/sprints more so this was perfect. I really liked the workout-my quads were burning in a way they haven’t in a while from all the jumping! If anyone is interested, I did the Heartthrob. I have to say though, the practicality of using a app was not necessarily there. I don’t have my phone armband with me…so I was holding my phone with my headphones and instructions. And my headphones kept getting involved in my jumps. Plus, I would have loved more space. I think in the future, I’d skip the medicine ball (which I only used for like 1 movement) and take this workout outside, where I’d have more space and where I could blast it out loud without having to hold it or have headphones. And I think this would be absolutely amazing paired with some sprints (which I also really should work on). And now it sounds like I’m talking about fine wine…

The app talks to you while you workout, telling you how much time/what exercise/etc. But it also gives encouragement, which I found sort of funny because a very monotone, sort of computer sounding voice kept saying things like “Fight through the pain.” Seriously, I think my GPS has more animation! I will definitely be using it again though!

I didn’t realize the dining halls were doing anything special for Earth Day until I saw a Facebook post of some of the food they posted (yes, I am friends with my school’s dining hall on Facebook-that just about describes my life). I didn’t realize it was a huge event, but I ended up going with some friends anyway in the hopes of better than normal food.

This dinner experience literally made my life.

There were plants everywhere, and special booths set up giving out free food samples, fresh herbs and strawberries, and even seedlings!

And there were piles and piles of salads-salads as far as the eye could see. My favorite was the beet and goat cheese-the goat cheese was so soft and creamy! And I appreciated that none of the salads had nuts! Also a highlight was some delicious, actually cooked and seasoned cauliflower! Without a doubt the best meal at this dining hall ever.

Sadly, you can’t see in this picture, but I picked up a bunch of fresh mint (although it wilted pretty fast!) which I intend to throw in a smoothie later this week!

I also sampled a little whole wheat, mustard greens filled tart which was delicious.

While I was contemplating a fresh, local, organic ice cream sandwich, I somehow got pulled into the “Trash-ion Show” which was a contest to build the best outfit out of trash or discarded materials. I took the matter at hand very seriously, and spent a majority of the time fashioning an attractive and structurally sound hat out of leaves and a plastic basket. I thought our finished product was fantastic-we had a nice little matching ribbon thing going there!-and apparently the judges did as well-we won!

Besides the glory of victory, each member of my team received a super fancy trophy and an amazing gift basket!

The gift basket included all kinds of organic goodies like apple chips, pasta, almond milk, and Annie’s pretzel bunnies. I’m also pretty excited for the basket, not going to lie. Think of how many mangoes that thing can fit! Mango shopping clearly needs to happen soon.

To celebrate my victory, I split an ice cream sandwich with a friend.

On the way out, there was a table giving out baby plants. And you know I’m not one to pass up on that! I think this guy is a little baby Oregano, but I’m not sure!

He has found a new, probably temporary home with my big old plumeria!

Aaaand now I’m off to an early night’s sleep. Well, relatively at least!

How did you celebrate Earth Day?

Happy Wednesday! As we all know, that means it’s time for the fabulous party hosted by Jenn.

This is my first WIAW from college. First, let me just state that I hate the furniture in my room this year. It’s dark and small and immovable. So basically it’s impossible to stay organized. So I’m blogging from my headboard-less bed next to a giant pile of books that travels from my desk chair to my bed regularly because my desk and shelves are full. Such is life.

But let’s get on to the day of eats. Today was an example of both how college life doesn’t have to be unhealthy, and how it can be unhealthy.

I started my morning with a few dates pre-run. I had a 4 mile run scheduled today, and decided to do speedwork. I ran a mile of warm up and cool down(half a mile to the track, half a mile on the track). I then did 400 repeats for 2 miles. I haven’t really done these before, but they seemed perfect given all my recent foot issues. Having rest time was crucial for my foot and it actually felt really good. I liked these, but I think I prefer the 200 distance way more.

Post run, it was breakfast time. I think this here is an example of how hard I tried to make dorm food look pretty/interesting. Plus, you all can admire my new dorm pet (aka my plant).

I am well stocked on fruit right now since I only just got here, and it’s a lifesaver. Unripe melon gets old fast.

I had one class this morning before eating some food I packed. The original plan was a salad with a hardboiled egg, but there wasn’t much left in the dining hall last night, and I was at a loss for dressing.

Plus the lettuce looked kind of old, so I tossed it in favor of some of the veggies from my fridge.

After my Physics lab, I headed to one of my favorite places to eat on campus for some mystery bread. This stuff is so good-oh how I missed it!

So why, you ask, is this one of my favorite places on campus? They have the most amazing selection of quick breads and baked goods. I pretty much always stick to the same thing since I love it, but I’m sure something pumpkin will have to happen soon.

(This is only a fraction of what they have.)

Today was a pretty snacky day. Besides what’s shown, I also had a Thinkthin bar, dried mango, multiple types of cake….more on that in a minute.

I went back to Crossfit tonight. I did like it better-that could be because the WOD had rowing, and any WOD with rowing has my heart. It was rowing+thrusters+pull ups. Hopefully in time this new box will feel like home, but it’s just not the same as my old one.

Dinner tonight was a little different-I passed on the gross looking salad this time and went for other random veggies instead.

Grilled chicken, a taste of mashed potatoes, some type of Greekish salad, and citrus beets. Not going to lie, my expectations were way too high for those beets. But hey, dining hall food isn’t really supposed to have flavor, right?

I was all set to type up this post when I got a call from my sister. She and her boyfriend are training for a marathon, and they had just finished their 18 mile run….miles away from their apartment. Being the nice person that I am, I picked them up in my tiny car. (I usually say my car seats 2, or 2+3 others with no legs.)

Despite the little detour in my night, I did score some groceries.

While tonight I haven’t accomplished as much as I might have liked, I finish class at 12 tomorrow and have allll day to spend in the library.

I feel like it is definitely possible to eat well in college, but it does take some discipline. Today I started to fall back into old habits a little bit. I guess one thing to consider is that it is okay to indulge occasionally, but you need to pick and choose, and other delicious things may come up later in the night (like pumpkin cake-not passing that one up). One big thing for me this year is I’ve avoided the dining hall for breakfasts, and I’ve packed lunches. As for breakfast-it’s just too hard for me to pass up pancakes and muffins everyday, and I know they make me feel awful. I’d rather keep food in my room and start the day off on the right food. As for lunches-last year I got in the habit of buying, but the serving size was almost always too large, and I felt bad throwing stuff away. Plus, it’s easier to pack something cleaner.

So that’s that-my first few days back! I promise to try and keep my pictures interesting, even if that means buying a lot more plants. Or a puppy.

Have a great Wednesday, and eat something good for me!

How did you/do you stay healthy in college? How do I keep my room organized when there is zero space?

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