Spring Break Recap

My spring break is winding down. For the most part it's been pretty uneventful yet somehow I was able to stay busy the whole time. I spent lots of time on Skype with the incoming Presidents I will be helping this year and lots of time reading policy codes and by- laws. Not the most exciting thing, but definitely helpful and very informative! I got to visit with a few good friends and sleep in every.single.day. It was divine!

In terms of eating, this week has been a little bumpy. I've found myself eating out a lot with friends and not paying as much attention to my body when it's clearly telling me it's full. For the most part, I have been making good choices but I always feel like my healthy eating train wrecks when I'm at home (home as in not at school). Something about the familiarity of being at home and not being as rigid with my choice making... definitely a mentality thing that I'll need to keep working on.

I've definitely been getting my exercise in, which has been really fun! Mostly cardio (I don't know if picking up kids and carrying babies around counts as "strength training" but that's as close as I got). In high school, I babysat, pet sat and house sat A LOT so I have lots of families that I like to visit when I'm back in town. It's been fun seeing all my little kiddos growing up and it's also been fun taking all the dogs out on hikes with me. I adore dogs, but we don't have one because my mom is allergic. This is the closest we'll get...

My gargantuan rabbit... We think he's part Flemish Giant, part Rex ;)

Overall, it's been a great week. Here are a couple pictures!

 My older brother and I at Tomatina :-)

                One of my best friends, Natalie!                                       Delicious pasta (got to bring some home!)

 Uphill run with T+C! It was 80 degrees out!

             

 My favorite dog in the whole wide world and his new partner in crime, 10 month old Cricket :)

That's all I have for now, hope you're all enjoying these last few days of March!

I'm Alive!!!

Holy Toledo!! It has been the craziest two weeks of my life...and by that I mean most ridiculously stressful, exhilarating, bonkers two weeks of my life ever. EVER! No joke... Anywho, now that I've brought it up, let me explain why! 

Don't forget... I gave up coffee for lent. Imagine the past 30 days of life.

So as I think I've mentioned before, my school is on the quarter system. Basically this means two things: Instead of our year being broken up into two semesters and having finals twice a year, our year is broken up into four parts and we have four rounds of finals per year... such a party! However, most of us only take three quarters of classes during the year and we take the summer off. Each quarter is ten weeks long so the pace of learning is definitely accelerated but for the most part I love it... except dead week. Dead week is supposed to be the week before finals where we have time to review and get questions answered before exams. Unfortunately dead week actually means spending every second of your spare time studying, writing papers, preparing presentations and wishing you had been more on top of things... at least for me ;)

And to make this round of finals just a tad more exciting, we also had our district convention for Circle K in sunny San Diego this past weekend (turn up the stress-o-meter!) For me, this convention was particularly important because I was running for one of the Lieutenant Governor positions andddd (drumroll pleaseeee), I WON!!! Woohoo! The process was very intimidating simply because it was so formal. I had to campaign, caucus and go before the House of Delegates before being elected. It was quite an ordeal but it was definitely a great experience. I am so proud of my division and I am beyond excited to be leading my gang of service loving college kids for the 2013-2014 year!

To sum it all up, I slept a total of 24 hours in 10 days, wrote 4 papers, started and finished a German presentation, worked on a monsters project, took a german test, continued with my usual babysitting schedule AND fulfilled all of my Circle K duties. And then I slept... a lot (but not until after finals). 

Can you imagine what I let slip during this crazy chaotic time? My gym time was seriously decreased... basically to the point of non-existence. However, I did continue to work on the intuitive eating challenge and that part went surprisingly well! I haven't weighed myself in a few months but I know I must be doing something right because I am finally down a pant size (and TWO dress sizes). I think this was because I wasn't stress eating during finals. I really, really tried listening to my body and for the most part I think I did a rockstar job! I usually don't give myself much credit for well, anything, but I think this deserves a reward. Sooo, I went shopping yesterday for some new (smaller!) clothes and I got my hair done! And now it's spring break so I get to hang out with my favorites babies, see my good friends, sleep lots and get pumped for next quarter! Cheers to spring break!!!

Back to the short hair (and the farthest from blonde I've ever been!)

Intuitive Eating Challenge

I've seen multiple posts on this lately and I think it's something I'd really like to try. You might ask, what is intuitive eating. From my understanding, the idea of intuitive eating is really listening to our bodies and trying to get in tune with providing our bodies with what they really need. Instead of restricting ourselves, cutting out foods and going on crazy diets that are hard to maintain, we try to listen to our body and give it what it really needs. I have struggled with body image and food issues for as long as I can remember but I think intuitive eating is going to be a healthy challenge for me. Many eating issues stem from emotional and psychological problems which I've really been working hard on lately. I think that working on the emotional aspect of my eating struggles at the same time will be incredibly beneficial (and hopefully more effective in the long run).

So here's my plan for this intuitive eating:

Step 1: Ask myself, "What do I want to get out of this challenge?"

• Answer (in parts): I have been struggling with my weight for a long, long time. I've been stuck at around the same place for a few years and I cannot seem to move forward. I fixate so much on the number that I forget why I want to lose weight in the first place. Here's what I'd like to see:

1.  I am sick and tired of seeing myself as the fat girl. I have been working so hard to make healthy changes but I never forgive myself for slipping up and I rarely give myself credit for what I've already accomplished. I need to revise the way I view myself and remember to give myself a little love. Here's how I think of it: I would never treat a friend the way I treat myself, so my goal is to start caring about myself the way I care for others.
2. My relationship with food is incredibly abusive and I have realized that I don't use food to satiate hunger as we should. I use food to avoid things, to procrastinate, to fill holes etc. Instead of dealing with issues as they arise, my instinct is to suffocate feelings with food. I really want to work on listening to my body and respecting it's needs. 
3. I want to be able to live a healthy lifestyle. No calorie counting, no points calculating, no guilt. I want to fill my body with the things it craves and I want to stop feeling guilty when I mess up. Basically, I want to end the vicious cycle of dieting and simply eat yummy, healthy foods that my body craves. 

• To sum it up: Love myself, revise my mentality on eating, break up with the scale and slowly get rid of the diet mentality. 

Step 2: How do I plan to do this:

• No more scales. I have been so obsessed with the number on the scale and I think it's holding me back. Every single time I step on, I am never satisfied. Ever. I partook in an exercise this week where myself and a few others had a little one on one chat with the scale (it sounds silly, but it was SO empowering). After we cursed it, and verbally ripped it to shreds for having way too much power in our lives, we literally ripped it to shreds. We smashed it with a hammer, snapped all the pieces, tore up the numbers and broke it apart. It was incredible. So yes, No More Scale (I'm going to go as long as I can without weighing in). 
• Journal: I used to write in my journal pretty much everyday and I stopped doing that when things got busy. I really enjoy writing and I think it will be good to sit down at the end of every day and sum up my feelings, even if it's only in a few words. 
• Hold Myself Accountable: I'll definitely be posting updates here to let you know how things are going!
• Allow Myself to Make Mistakes: I am not perfect (despite my valiant efforts!) and I need to allow myself to make mistakes without constantly feeling guilty. 

So that's that with the intuitive eating challenge. I'm super tired but I'll post more about it later this weekend :)

Not Your Ordinary Bowl of Oats and Some Avocado Pasta

Woohoo, it's Saturday! I was supposed to be up in the snow today but we decided to stay home instead and I am seriously glad we did. I got to sleep until 11:30 (first time in ages). I did some room cleaning before heading out to the gym. I wasn't really feeling it today, so I just did 20 minutes on the treadmill and 20 minutes on the elliptical before calling it quits. Even that was tough and it's only half the time I usually spend in the gym. I guess we all need a day to recoup!

When I got back, there was a package waiting for me with the stuff I ordered from Old Navy (that store and my wallet... such a love hate relationship). I ordered a few new businessy pieces because our District Convention for Circle K is coming up and this girl right here will be speaking in front of her entire division as she presents her speech for Lieutenant Governor! Cross your fingers! Anyway, I ordered everything one size down from what I currently wear and I was stunned when everything fit... comfortably. Such a good feeling!!

For breakfast I whipped up my standard oatmeal and berries. My mom has been making oatmeal like this forever and it's really the only way I know. Basically, throw your desired amount of oats in a microwavable bowl, cover with water and heat on 50% power for 5 minutes uncovered. While the oats are in the microwave, rinse your favorite berries (mine are blueberries, raspberries and strawberries). When the oats are done, stir in a heaping spoonful of Greek Yogurt (I use the vanilla from Trader Joe's) and add your berries on top. Quick, easy and oh so good.

I hung around the house doing homework and just relaxing the rest of the afternoon and then decided I'd try a new recipe for dinner. I'm a Pinterest fiend so I spend a ton of time on their looking at recipes (and planning my perfect future...) and Avocado pasta has popped up more than a few times. I love avocado so I figured I'd try and whip some up. Here's how it went:

Avocado Sauce:
1 ripe avocado, cubed
1 clove of garlic
Handful of spinach
1/2 an orange, juiced (most people use lemon but I didn't have any on hand and the orange was surprisingly good!)
2 tbsp olive oil
Enough chicken broth to get it all moving (my blender sucks, so it took a lot of broth)

On the stove, prepare your favorite pasta (I used whole wheat angel hair) and when the pasta is done, pour the avocado sauce over the top with a little shredded parmesan. It was surprisingly creamy and super delish! I think it would also be good as a salad dressing, it's a pretty versatile sauce. I also pan seared some chicken and had a little broccoli on the side. Good day in the food department.

Despite my relaxing day, I'm exhausted. Just 30 more minutes until I'm done babysitting and I can head home and hit the hay. Good night everyone, hope you're all having a great weekend!

Marching Forward

Holy Batman, I can't believe it's already March! What the heck happened to February?! Let's do a quick recap (a little check-in based on my February goals)

1. The exercise routine: Definitely did not happen the way I envisioned it. My workouts were kind of all over the place and I was incredibly inconsistent. This goal will be continuing into March! 

2. Endurance: I would say I've done a pretty good job with that one. I have really been trying to push myself in the running department. I still need to work on distance but I ran my fastest mile this month (last time I ran this fast was probably like 6th grade... literally)

3. I blogged at least once a week, sometime twice! Yippee! I really love writing so I'm hoping to start posting more frequently.

4. The biking thing didn't happen this month, not even once. Our town has been plagued with some funky crime sprees so we've been a little uneasy about the whole exercising outdoors thing. Hopefully things get better soon and we'll be back on the move in the great outdoors!

5. Three New Recipes: Check! We had a couple new things this month. I made a really yummy baked chicken dish that was made with greek yogurt, I tried two healthy modifications of banana bread (both were very popular!) and I tried a new way of preparing my oatmeal (I will do a post on that tomorrow)

6. Giving up chocolate for a week: Ha Ha Ha. I don't know what I was thinking with that one, especially considering that I gave up coffee for lent. I was a catatonic, grumpy zombie for the first week, Lord knows what would have happened if I didn't have chocolate!

February was definitely not the best month. Everything was out of whack! In terms of food, I was really struggling with making good choices. Some days were great and I was totally on track. Other days, I completely missed the mark. I fell off the wagon and it ran right over me! I'm hoping to work on consistency in March. That being said, here are my goals:

1. No using the scale: I have been working on this one a lot. My relationship with the scale is incredibly abusive and I give that damn machine way too much power over my emotions. I am working on not defining myself by a number, so therefore the scale will be put away until April 1st (possibly longer, we'll see how it goes). I really want to focus on Non Scale Victories (NSVs).

2. Varying my workouts: I tend to stick to the machines I'm most accustomed to. The treadmill and the elliptical are my worst enemies best friends. We have a great pool on campus as well as a fully equipped fitness center. I would really like to use the pool more and hit up the gym for the spin bikes and weight machines.
3. New Sizes: I'm at the point where all my pants are too big again but I don't quite fit comfortably into the next size down. I'm hoping to finally fit into that smaller size by the end of the month!
4. PR: I'd love to PR my 5K time! The only official 5K I participated in was over 3 years ago and I was so out of shape and completely unprepared for the race. I'm definitely ready to give it another shot!

Anywhooo, that's that for this post. I will leave you with this picture of my Friday treat/ lunch, aka the best sandwich on earth. It's called the Roma and it's made by a cafe on campus. I have tried multiple times to recreate it to no avail. So freaking amazing!

And that beverage in the background is iced tea, no coffee for this girl :(