Tag Archives: school

Back in the Groove

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Happy Friday :) . I still have some posts that I’d like to write about my trip to Boston and the marathon (specifically my final thoughts on deferring and my Q&A with a Gatorade GSSI scientist) but first I thought I’d check in and give you all an update on what I’ve been up to since getting back from the trip.

Well, first school’s been incredibly busy. I arrived at home right at the start of exams and have already taken my first final (yesterday) and finished my thesis presentation and abstract (I present next Wednesday). Whew! Unfortunately, the good stuff just keeps on coming and I have an exam & three presentations next week (and my birthday) followed by three papers the following week. Craazy!

I’ve also been focusing on cleaning up my diet. I left Boston feeling lethargic and kind of gross, I mean I ate a lot of not so healthy foods. I totally don’t regret any of it but I want to go into finals and the summer feeling my best. In particular I’m focusing on how processed foods, sugar, gluten, and dairy products (milk & cheese) make me feel. I’ve decded to do my best not to eat them for the next week (except for Monday because I want to celebrate my birthday ;) ) and then start to add them in one by one to see which may be causing my stomach aches.

I’ve been starting my morning with a smoothie. Generally I use berries, almond milk, a banana, and maybe some ground flax.

Topped with gluten free oats. Did you know beer glasses can double as awesome smoothie glasses?

I also made a huge batch of roasted tofu, tricolor quinoa, green beans, and kale that I’ve been eating for lunches or dinners. I’ve been so busy with school, its nice to have pre-made food in the apartment.

I also made an awesome dinner last night. I roasted tempeh and brussels sprouts while cooking the last of an old bag of farro. I then layered them on a plate and spritzed everything lightly with Bragg’s Liquid Aminos.

It was so good! I may have to run out and buy more faro this weekend :)

I’ve been snacking on lots of fruit (apples, berries) as well as dried fruit (figs, dates). I know that the dried fruit has lots of sugar, but as far as I can tell, the ones I’ve been eating have no added sugars, so I’m okay with it.

My stomach is actually feeling a lot better eating this way. I miss yogurt and cottage cheese a lot but I really want to figure out what’s going on with my body and a week without some of my favorite foods is only a week.

I’ve also been running pretty consistently. I’ve devoted myself to rebase training and am focusing on increasing the number of days per week that I run. I’m starting at a low 20 miles per week (still more than I ran the past 6 weeks) and by increasing my mileage no more than 10% per week I’m hoping to reach 40 miles by the end of May. My main goal is to avoid injury so I’m not worried about time at all, just waking up my muscles and reacclimating to running. Luckily I have some shorter distance races and a triathlon (maybe 2) to keep my mind off of long distance racing for awhile.

I hope to increase my mileage to about 55 by the end of the summer and then start marathon training- woohoo!

And thats about it over here- what have you been up to this week? Do you have any exciting plans for the weekend?

 

I’m Back

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Sorry for disappearing for the past 2 days or so, I was working on a huge assignment that I really wanted to get done by today and I’ve spent every spare moment of the last 36 hours hyperfocusing on my project. The good news is I finished and turned it in this morning, the bad news is my sleep has definitely suffered the past two nights. Four hours just does not cut it! Anyway I’ll try to recap what you’ve missed.

Workouts
I did my best to workout despite my time-crunch because nothing helps manage my stress and keep me sane quite like a good sweat.

  • On Wednesday I went to the early hour long cycling class and then hit the pool for a mile swim. It’s always really hard for me to do sprints in the pool after spinning, but I find swimming for distance incredibly relaxing and refreshing.
  • Yesterday, I ellipticalled for 45 minutes. I was planning on going to a spinning class in the evening but decided that my time was best spent working on my assignment. I was bummed that I had to skip, but I definitely appreciate the extra hour of sleep today.
  • This morning I ellipticalled for 45 minutes and then cycled for 15. I wanted to do more but I needed some time to finish my project. Sacrifices!

Eats
My eats have been all over the place. When I’m stressed out or busy my appetite usually goes to one of two extremes, extreme snackiness or complete lack of hunger. Towards the beginning of the week I felt hungry and snacky all of the time but the last few days I haven’t had much of an appetite. Crazy right? I’ve done my best to eat “normal” meals though as both working out and school work demand fuel!

Thursday morning I didn’t take any pictures of breakfast or lunch because they were unexciting and sporadic. I just didn’t feel like I could stomach anything. Dinner last night however was epic.

I’ve been meaning to try Protein Bar for a loong time and I was sooooo excited when Ian offered to pick some up for dinner. I had the Green City vegan which was a wrap stuffed with marinated tofu, kale, pepitas, chickpeas, house-made creamy chia dressing, and super salad mix. I DEVOURED it.

We also split a BGT smoothie because I’ve been loving on the matcha green tea lately :)

Around 9 p.m. last night I took a study break and Ian and I made rice krispie treats reeses puff treats with cinnamon bun marshmallows. Mmmmmm

Knowing that I was probably not going to get a lot of sleep last night and that a big healthy breakfast in the morning would do me good, before I went to bed I whipped up some overnight oats with 1/2 cup oats, 1/2 cup milk, lemon chobani, chia seeds, poppyseeds, and 1/2 a banana. This morning I threw a couple of walnuts on top and dug in to my “lemon poppyseed overnight oats”.

And honestly, they might have been the best overnight oats I’ve ever had :)

Miscellaneous
Our apartment has been so hot the past few days! Like over 80 degrees indoors. Unfortunately, because we live in Chicago, the building can turn off the heat but won’t turn on the AC until May. We also can’t open our windows very far because they’re not screened and we have a very curious furball. Needless to say, we’ve been keeping the light off, avoiding turning on the stove/oven, and sleeping on top of the covers at night. Ugh! Oh well, it could be worse… I mean it could be snowing right now.

What are your plans this weekend? I plan on checking out the green river tomorrow and partaking in the city’s shenanigans. Life is all about balance right ;)

#nerdproblems

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On Friday mornings I have a class at 9 am and then go to work right after. Last week my professor told us that she would be unable to make it to class this Friday but that she highly suggested that we all meet to discuss our papers due next week. The assignment involves exploring cancer registries and extracting data so it seemed like something that would be helpful to meet with classmates to discuss and work through.

Being the nerd that I am I decided to go even though my friends in the class weren’t planning on it. I mean I have to be at work later in the day, I might as well set aside some time to work on the project in the morning right?

I must have been the only one thinking this way though because none of my classmates showed up this morning. Boo :(

On the bright-side, I do have 3 hours to try and knock out this paper now!

Workout
I headed to the gym this morning for an easy 7 miler. I kept my pace a little under an 8 min/mile (I was sore today!) and got in a good sweat. The best thing is that I left the gym feeling better than when I got there, that is the most important thing right?

Breakfast
Breakfast featured one of my all-time favorite but recently forgotten yogurts, Lemon Chobani!

I love the flavor combination of lemon and berries so after tasting my berry scone yesterday, I decided that it would taste absolutely delicious crumbled in some Lemon Chobani.

I was right! Mmmm

In addition to water at the gym and coffee, I also downed this new-to-me coconut water before heading out the door. I really liked it!

Any big plans for Friday/ the weekend? Ian and I have a date night plan, I’m doing a long run on Sunday, and I fully intend on satisfying my insatiable bagel craving at some point :P

Alright, back to researching stomach cancer!

The Life of a Grad Student

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Thats the view from my school. Pretty cool right? I’ve never thought to take a picture before but today I looked out of the window and realized that it’s pretty awesome that I can see the Chicago skyline from my school.

Anyway, the only school/work-related item on my to-do list today was to meet with my advisor, but I still spent the entire day doing homework. Did I mention its only the third day of the semester. How is it so busy already?

I did manage to have some good eats today as well.

I stopped in a tiny grocery store near my apartment to pick up something for dinner and found this granola. As we’re out and I’ve been desperately missing my granola, I scooped it up.

I tried it mixed into an apple cinnamon Chobani. Yum-o!

I also took a break from homework to make Jenna’s tofu banh mi recipe for dinner.

We had to use french rolls instead of a baguette because the baguette we bought earlier in the week was already too crunchy. Boo! I hate it when that happens. We toasted the french rolls so they were crispy like a baguette but the bread to filling ratio was still too high.

Still, very very tasty!

And maybe a little messy ;)

I’m off to finish my laundry and homework, but I’m going to leave you with a cute picture of Sonic and Ian cuddling. See you tomorrow!

Peanut Butter and Jelly Oatmeal

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Good morning!

I just had a great breakfast, but more on that in a bit :)

Last night
Sorry for not posting last night but the last thing I wanted to do when I got home was sit in front of my computer. I’m hoping this changes soon- no computer = low productivity, but last night all I wanted to do was eat and lounge on the couch.

My class went well though, it seems like its going to be both interesting and useful.

Dinner was easy because I was super hungry and didn’t want to wait for anything to cook. This semester, Monday is definitely going to be a leftovers night! I warmed up the last of the pasta salad and bulked it up by throwing it on top of some fennel. It may seem like a weird combination but it worked!

I waited about 30 minutes and when I was still a little hungry, I mixed up some ricotta cheese, cranberry jam, sprinkle of cereal, and some cashews. I also had a teeny tiny apricot. I ate while reading a Travel magazine. I’m definitely lusting after a cruise :P

I think I managed to have cashews with every meal yesterday. I’m going to have to rein it in a bit ;)

Workout
This morning I woke up early to get a run in before work and school. When I first got outside it was pitch dark but after 2 miles or so it started to lighten up. I can’t wait until it starts getting light earlier! I kept today’s run simple and completed 5 miles in around 39 minutes.

Breakfast
On Tuesdays this semester I will have a little more time to make breakfast at home. I couldn’t remember the last time I had oatmeal, so I decided today was the day. I’m sure many others have made oatmeal similar to this, but here is how I did it.

Peanut Butter Sunflower Seed Butter and Jelly Oats
1/3 cup oatmeal
1/3 cup water
1/3 cup unsweetened almond milk
1/2 tsp chia seeds
1 tsp raisins
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 banana, sliced thinly
1/3 cup frozen berries
1 T sunflower seed butter

Mix oatmeal, water, almond milk, and chia seeds over medium heat until liquid starts to thicken. Stir in raisins and turn heat down to medium-low. After oatmeal starts to boil, whip in sliced banana and stir in vanilla and cinnamon.

Microwave berries for about 30 seconds until they are warm. Once oatmeal reaches desired consistency, pour into bowl and top with berries (and liquid) and sunflower seed butter.

I had mine with an adora disc and a cup of coffee with soy creamer.

What a perfect breakfast! I’m off to work and then class. Thankfully today is a shorter day and I should be home before 6.

Have a great morning!