WIAW—Sick Day

Date: January 4, 2017

Author: astottler

Happy WIAW! Thanks as always to Jenn for starting this linkup!

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Seeing as I started off the new year under the weather, I thought I would do a WIAW for sick day eats. These are from Monday, and thankfully I’m feeling much better now!

Also, I have to say…studying various bacterial skin infections (yay Microbiology) while sick is not fun. Do you realize how many horrible diseases start with “flu-like symptoms”?? I briefly convinced myself that I had necrotizing fasciitis (flesh eating bacteria)…and then remembered I didn’t have any giant skin wounds. Yay.

Breakfast:

I woke up feverish and needing something cold, so I broke out my Christmas present, a new Ninja blender, to make breakfast. The Ninja is awesome. I’m a fan. My family has a Vitamix, but it’s too big to actually make single person smoothie.

I figured my immune system could probably use some protein to make more cells, etc, so I made a protein smoothie with chocolate protein powder, cocoa powder, frozen banana, and milk. For carbs, I had a bowl of pumpkin spice cheerios. In November we stocked up on those, and this is box 1 of 3 remaining in the pantry.

Hydration:

I made sure to drink lots of fluids, and alternated between Smartwater and fruity sparkling water. This is Safeway brand Berry. Sipped while watching the Rose Parade (and later the Rose Bowl—what a game! As weird as it is to root for USC I gotta root for the PAC12).

Lunch:

This soup is magic when my stomach hurts (which it didn’t thankfully) so I figured I would try its magic properties on my cold. It’s sweet potato, pear, and leek soup with strong ginger, curry undertones. Plus avocado toast.

Snack:

I had some snap pea crisps (LOVE these) and then pulled a slice of orange cranberry bread out of the freezer.

Cat:

This one has enjoyed my downturn in health these past few days and has spent hours purring by my side. And “helping” me take notes for my Microbiology lectures.

Dinner:

Comfort food was necessary, so we made spaghetti squash mac n cheese, minus broccoli because we didn’t have any.

Plus some roasted heirloom carrots.

Dessert:

For some reason vanilla Halo Top has been hard to find lately, so I made do with the last of my oatmeal cookie, and crushed up some pumpkin gingerbread from the freezer.

Snack:

Apparently laying around the couch watching Gillmore Girls works up an appetite, as I was pretty darn hungry that evening and had a nighttime snack of crackers and blueberries.

What do you eat when you’re sick?

Cheers, 2017!

Date: January 1, 2017

Author: astottler

Categories: Uncategorized

Happy 2017! I have to say, I know in 2016, a lot of bad things happened, but it makes me sad how much the year has been trashed. But that’s a topic for another time.

I’m blogging from my bed. I didn’t plan to start 2017 sick, but here we are. I went to a 75 minute spin class this morning before I realized I was sick/started feeling bad. When I got back, I couldn’t believe how sore I was. Crossfit yesterday was hard, but it shouldn’t have been that bad. My fever isn’t crazy high, but after riding it out all day I finally gave in and took some tylenol so that my body and brain would stop hurting. So my 2017 has been mostly spent in bed.

Somewhat with this health fairy:

I’m making sure to get in lots of fluids and Vitamin C (although studies show that Vitamin C doesn’t actually help you recover faster. Can’t hurt though!)

I’m not the type of person who gets sleepy when I’m sick, just tired. But as part of my resting, I’m thinking through the immune process going on in my body right now, as ironically, I have a test on the immune system this week. But plenty of Netflix is happening too. While it’s never fun to be sick, I guess now is as good a time as any. Next weekend I start a crazy travel schedule, so I’m hoping I’m okay by then!

In less depressing news, let’s back up.

Thursday

Thursday morning was my last one on one time with Chloe. I took her on her normal short morning walk, and was struck by how beautiful this area is.

Afterwards, I went to a yoga class at the gym where I first started working out. It was the same teacher as I’ve gone to countless times in my youth (high school/college breaks) and it was so nice. I was definitely sore in some weird places though.

Mid-morning, I took Chloe for one final walk before my parents returned. She picked up a stick and was just the happiest dog in the world.

For lunch, I made a salad with leftover Christmas turkey, cranberry goat cheese, pear, and balsamic. On the side, I had some roasted sweet potatoes, carrots, and apricots that I picked up at the Whole Foods hot bar after yoga.

For dinner, I made my family my spaghetti squash mac n cheese, plus some bread.

Friday

I went to Crossfit in the morning as per usual and worked on 20 rep deadlifts. I used 150# for my set of 20. After spending a little time on classwork, my family set up for the big football game. Stanford was playing North Carolina in the Sun Bowl! For the occasion, we had beer flights of the beer from our December beer of the month club.

The Black Forest was the unanimous winner.

Pup slept.

For lunch, we made guacamole with sweet potato nachos. We simply roasted sweet potato rounds and then topped them with spinach and cheese, and then broiled until the cheese was melted. Then, we sprinkled some green onions (from our CSA box) on top.

It was a close (and ugly) game, and despite several injuries, we managed to pull it out.

Saturday (NYE)

Naturally, I started my morning with a brutal Crossfit workout. Check it out:

40 Wallballs (20,14)
40 Hang Cleans (95,65)
40 Pulls Ups
40 Deadlift
40 Push Ups
40 Box Jump (24,20)
40 KBS (53,35)
40 TTB
40 Air Squats
40 Hang Snatches
40 Double Unders
40 Sit Ups
40 Burpees

It seems like pretty much every single Crossfit movement. We had a 30 minute time cap, and no one in my class finished. I just got through the hang snatches (I used 55#), and I think no one got past the double unders. It was a rough one!

I refueled post workout with another delicious turkey, pear, and goat cheese salad.

After lunch, we watched the Washington game. Then, I took Chloe out for a walk with an old friend from High School, who I haven’t seen since June. Chloe had already gotten a walk in beforehand, so she snoozed on the way there.

It was another beautiful day, and you could see clear to SF.

It was great to catch up, and Chloe got a nice long walk in, including meeting another Aussie. Despite being wiped out on the drive home, she managed to maintain a high energy level throughout the night.

For dinner, we made simple open faced turkey, havarti, and pear sandwiches with a side salad.

I had a couple of high school friends over, and my parents were excited for both an occasion and a sufficient amount of people to merit opening a jumbo bottle of champagne.

My friends and I snacked on some homemade guac, chips, and veggies while playing board games. #old

We turned on the TV just in time to watch the ball drop. And then it was 2017! I couldn’t imagine a better crew to ring in the new year with.

The funny part of the night came when we watched the post-midnight performances. Chloe LOVES having visitors and is always crazy when they’re here. But just after midnight, she put herself to bed. She walked right into her crate! Too funny. I guess she was tired after all!

I ended up staying up until 2. I feel sort of weird about 2017. My entire life, I thought, “2012 I graduate high school, 2016 I graduate college.” Those were the big numbered years my whole life. I never considered 2017. I truly feel like NOW I’m living in the future, and kind of drifting along without my bearings. But maybe that was the fever coming in.

Still, here’s to hoping it’s a great year. Cheers, 2017!

Easter+Everything

Date: April 7, 2015

Author: astottler

Categories: Uncategorized

Wow, things have been crazy here lately. I’m in a sorority, and this week is our big formal recruitment!

I think I owe you all some food pictures, especially with my fantastically limited diet. As for how that’s going-I’m not ready to start adding things back yet, and I’m feeling ok. I sometimes feel bad, but it’s pretty good and lately hasn’t been a problem. So I’m feeling PRETTY good.

So-the weekend! I worked on Friday afternoon instead of Saturday because I had a recruitment workshop. I had to pick up my employee key tag from the gym I’m going to start subbing at (which looks exactly like my membership key tag from when I was a member).

And the gym was right across from Whole Foods, so I grabbed dinner there.

Turkey meatloaf, quinoa salads, and normal salad. The real highlight though was raiding the dairy free/gluten free bakery area. I picked up this AMAZING brownie which I think was made with garbanzo beans?

Saturday’s meal schedule was really strange since I had my workshop, but I had a super early dinner of sushi-type of things, which I dipped in vinaigrette. Yeah…

Then, my sister and I got full body massages! I had never had one before, and it was so nice! Although the next day I felt a little bruised. Afterwards, we went out for Pho, because rice noodles are one of the few things I can eat!

Then, I went home for Easter! Yes, we are in our 20s and still do egg hunts.

Also-know what is gluten and dairy free? Jelly beans. YUM. I had so many! Because Easter is one of the times where candy mid-morning is 100% acceptable.

After the hunt-we ended up not finding anywhere near all of them, although we found one with a giant hole far from where it started so maybe animals played a hand-we met up with my grandma and uncle for brunch at a fancy hotel.

I actually managed pretty well to avoid gluten/dairy/nuts.

I brought my own soy sauce in my purse that was gluten free. Cute. Sushi, smoked salmon, salad, chicken.

Corn taco with beans, guac, rice, and salsa. Plus more sushi and jasmine rice.

I also had some dessert. I had a few bites of gluten/dairy containing things, but I think it was ok, especially since I’m doing a full other week of total elimination. My favorite was peach crisp!

After brunch, we did some egg dying!

Which is what I will be eating for the next week straight. These are all for me:

In other news, I did my last major long run of half training yesterday. It was 9 miles, and it was a mix of great and really, really sucky. Saturday-Monday I was dealing with really bad allergies (that always occur the week of formal recruitment), so my lungs felt disgusting. My stomach was kind of off so I felt gross. And my new shoes are definitely not ready to be raced in. HOWEVER. My legs felt fantastic! They weren’t even tired, so I’m taking that as a good sign! That being said, I still have no expectations for race day. It will definitely depend on how I feel!

What did you do for Easter?

What’s New?

Date: March 27, 2015

Author: astottler

Categories: Uncategorized

Hello! First I’m going to cover our final day briefly and then talk about some life updates.

We started the morning with the continental breakfast again, and then I headed out to run. I technically had 6 miles on the schedule, but had trouble finding a trail so I decided to settle for 5. But then the trail ended earlier than expected and it ended up being 4.5. I’m realizing I’m not taking this training cycle or race too seriously so I’m ok with it. We found a bike path that went near the square and through vineyards.

Then, we went to Cornerstone Gardens for lunch.

Asian chicken salad with mango for me. For dessert, my family split a balsamic strawberry parfait and a strawberry torta, which was warm cake with strawberries baked in the center.

Then, we walked around the gardens a bit.

This picture shows a really cool display-a wishing tree. People write wishes on sparkly tape and tie it to the tree.

After the gardens, we returned home.

Ok-onto the life news. After being sick a fair amount last quarter, I thought I was better, or at least mostly so. However, I had another incident of the really sick feeling Monday night. I was planning on going to Crossfit, but halfway there I turned around and decided I wasn’t up to it, which I was extremely bummed about. If I had to guess, rich cake combined with my long run set it off. I spent the next few days feeling yucky on and off. It’s partly why I shorted my runs. It’s not a consistent sick feeling, but it’s kind of unpredictable. I feel pretty good right now, and I’m REALLY hoping I’ll be ok to do 15.5 tonight, but I really won’t know until tonight. After a rough evening Wednesday, I decided I should return to the doctor. He thinks it may be diet related, so I get to go on an elimination diet to try and identify a common trigger. The three things to cut out are dairy, gluten, and nuts, and I’ll add them back in a week at a time (minus nuts because of my allergy). As a result, things may look a little different around here for a while. I’ve been mostly avoiding dairy although definitely not completely lately, and I need to be more careful with nuts, including coconut which I have a mild allergy to but usually don’t avoid. So I’ll keep you guys updated on that and hope something works so that I can be back to 100% soon!

A foot update-today I visited my dad’s physical therapist so that he could check out my foot (plantar fasciitis). He thinks I shouldn’t run so much, and I’m considering cutting back for a while. I know I want to do the Giant’s Race in August, but I would consider doing the 10k instead of the half and focusing on other things instead-more on that in a second. He told me that my calf on my bad foot is pretty weak, and I walk badly on that foot-one of those things has caused the other so that’s something else I need to work on.

In terms of happier news, I will probably be focusing on spin a lot more in the coming months! I think I will be teaching more regularly at the gym I sub at, but in addition, I got hired at another place to sub! I’m extremely excited about this because it is the gym that I’ve always gone to, that I took my first spin class at, and that I learned to love fitness at. It’s a chain gym, and I always felt that if I was teaching there, I’ve met my spin teaching dream. Ahhh! Additionally, I still need continuing education units in the next year, so I see lots of workshops in my future!

What’s up with you?

A Day in the Life Winter 2015

Date: March 4, 2015

Author: astottler

Categories: Uncategorized

Hey guys! I’ve been wanting to do a day in the life post for a few weeks now, but things were so crazy it just wasn’t going to happen because I couldn’t think straight, much less keep track of not thinking straight! Here’s Wednesday-I have the most class on Wednesday than any other day.

7am: Wake up. Before my alarm! I went to bed plenty of early the night before. Prepare to run. Realize I’m feeling a little sick-not bad, just noticeable, and curse at my body for a little bit. Know that running will likely help.

Eat 2 dates pre-run.

Break out my bright pants. I often wear these for morning runs because the odds I am going to not be seen by a car in these is 0.

Realize I have to get my key off my key chain which is currently duct taped shut. My key ring likes to eject keys and last week that got me locked out. Angrily rip off duct tape.

Today’s route is a hill run that I haven’t run yet this year! 5 miles, 3 off the road so I load up my audiobook-it turns out it actually did remember my place!

7:45: Out the door for a run. The hill wasn’t as bad as I was expecting (I’ve run this 1000x) but I don’t feel bad about walking when it gets super steep. Plus, the view is too bad!

(Note that this is an old picture because I won’t lug around my phone, it’s much greener now!)

8:45: Return to my dorm. My stomach feels better but not 100%, and I know breakfast could make or break how I’m feeling. Since it’s really hard for me to tell what aggrevates things, I’m trying really hard to eat intuitively and listen to what I feel might be good. I felt like a few sips of kombucha might help.

I don’t think I’ve tried this flavor before, and it’s good! Then-breakfast time!

Cheesy eggs look good, but cheese might be a problem for my stomach so I settle for regular eggs and some spinach from the cheesy eggs. Plus an apple and sun butter.

I try to eat sloooowwwwllyy-if I eat the right amount of food and don’t get too full, I should be ok! I didn’t end up finishing this.

9:10: Start packing my lunch and packing up for backpack. If I do this before I shower, I’m much more likely to make it out on time. The lunch plan was a salad with hummus, goat cheese, and hardboiled eggs, but I switch it up because I didn’t wake up feeling 100%. Hummus sandwich!

9:20: Shower+get ready. I hop out of the shower at 9:40 and am running late yet again!

9:53: leave for class.

Don’t mind all the views from my beautiful campus. Oh, and it’s 70 and sunny today.

10-10:50: Physics lecture.

11-12:15: Physics section. You may see this view on my blog a lot. It’s because between lecture, lab, office hours, and section, I basically live at the Physics building.

12:15: Realize I should show you what I’m wearing! Bathroom selfies only will occur on day in the life posts.

I also manage to snag my selfie of the day for #365daysofselfies. Not my best effort, but not terrible either.

12:20: Lunchtime! Head over to my typical lunch/homework spot near the Physics building.

Lunch is definitely messy. I think to myself how glad I am that I don’t typically run into people I know in this area! It’s a hummus sandwich with lettuce and hardboiled egg.

12:40: Begin typing this post. Get slightly annoyed by how long my pictures are taking to upload-it ruins my blogging mojo!

1:08 Go to my token class in the quad. Did I mention my school is pretty?

The quad is also beautiful at night. I walked around here at night last week and it was breathtaking.

1:15 Physiology section. Endocrine+reproduction.

2:05: Snack+working on Chem homework.

3:15-4:30: Comparative Physiology of Mammals. Today’s class is low key-we learn about the professor’s work with elephants! It’s nice to have a little break in intensity-the past two weeks I had a presentation and a midterm in that class!

4:45: Watch Netflix because class let out early and I’m a college student.

Then I spend some time doing reading and sending emails while waiting for dinner. I’m starving so I eat a single date because I don’t want to ruin my appetite!

6:30 I meet up with 2 friends for dinner downtown. We end up at a local diner, and are STARVING. I get a salad with chicken and a side of cornbread. Hit. The. Spot.

8:30: Return to dorm to check Chem homework. I have a chocolate craving so I whip up a banana, coconut oil, cocoa powder, and a touch of maple syrup.

It was delicious but ugh-chocolate is still bad for my stomach. Noted.

8:45-10: Talk about life and our passion for science with a friend. These informal dorm conversations are seriously one of the best parts about college!

Now: Thinking about what work I can do and when I should go to bed…I have no intentions of being up late though!