Challenged

Posted on September 22, 2016 by Alison @ Daily Moves and Grooves

I’m forgetting that the weather usually gets colder once fall hits.

I have to wear socks and sweaters in my dorm room, which currently seems like a foreign concept to me. Like, I can’t just be in athletic shorts and a t-shirt all the time now? I have to “keep warm”!?!?

That doesn’t mean I’m giving up cold overnight oats though.

strawberry banana peanut butter overnight oats overfloweth

Also, who knew strawberries were so good in Ireland!? I feel like I already talked about this. Deja vu.

Lunches have been looking mighty similar these days, but I don’t hate it. Eggs and veggies are always welcome in my belly.

As are cheese and carbs.

Lunchtime is a madhouse these days, because we often only have a one hour break to come back to the kitchen, prepare our meals, eat them, and then walk back to class. Plus all the cleaning and maneuvering around 10 other people doing the same exact thing. It sounds like I’m complaining, but I kinda love the rush of “we all have to eat! NOW!”

Food brings people together 🙂

I would say that the challenge of sharing a kitchen is nothing compared to the moral and mental challenge of my classes so far. It’s not that they are too academically difficult (yet), but all my courses (contemporary Irish society, ethics in healthcare, and healthcare practice and policy) have something to say about the Catholic Church and all the hot topics that surround it these days.

And I get it– just a mention of the Catholic Church stirs up a lot of hubbub.

Sure, I get uncomfortable in class being one of the two practicing Catholics here (especially because everyone knows that I’m a devout Catholic), but I’m loving every minute of it. Not because I want to get all defensive or play the victim, but because I need to be challenged in my beliefs. I want to know what others think of “people like me”. I need to dig deep into why I believe what I believe, and facing the (sometimes stinging) commentary of those who oppose my beliefs is one effective way of doing that.

(p.s. I’m not leaving the Church anytime soon.)

The best part? We all still get along and respect each other. And there have been a couple of very kind people who have shown their appreciation for my POVs, even if they don’t necessarily agree. This was especially comforting yesterday after I expressed my opinions in class, practically shaking with nervousness. (I’m not kidding, but I’m also not asking for pity.)

I might make a vlog expanding on all my thoughts later. My brain is exploding with thoughts and reflections all the time these days!

Anyway, let’s get back to food for some relief from this rather serious topic. Dinner this week has been pork chops with sautéed onions, potatoes with red pesto, and roasted broccoli. A delicious and satisfying meal. Yay for fats!

Moves and grooves have been short and sweet. Except on Monday when I did a 50 minute Fitness Blender HIIT workout. Tuesday was 35 minutes of yoga + a slow and easy 12 minute lunchtime workout, and yesterday was a 100 burpee workout! 🙂

that’s all the time it took! gotta leave time for stretching!

It’s nice to get in some kind of movement before I sit for 5-6 hours of class throughout the day. But sleeping is also a priority, which is why my workouts have been “squeezed in” so much lately. I’ve been waking up wanting to go back to sleep FOR.EV.ER. (whoa, that sounds more morbid than I intended).

I used so many parentheses in this post.

I hope you all have a fabulous Thursday! I will be playing Gaelic football and possibly some other Irish sports today for class. God help me.

So tell me:

Have you ever felt challenged in your beliefs in school?

What have you been eating for dinner this week?

Do you forget that the weather changes too?

What is your favorite quick workout?

Weekly Moves and Grooves XXVII + Recent Eats

Posted on April 26, 2015 by Alison @ Daily Moves and Grooves

Two more weeks until I’m not a college freshman anymore!

It’s humorous to think about how fast the year went, but I won’t go on about how sentimental it is to see time pass so quickly. Instead, I’ll keep this intro short and sweet and get to this week’s moves and grooves!

I’m also sharing some of my delicious recent eats that haven’t made it to the blog yet. I don’t know about you, but I just like looking at food pictures. My Pinterest, my Instagram, my Facebook, my blog— 95.78% food photos. It creeps me out when people say “food porn,” but I guess that’s accurate…? Pleasure in looking at food photos?

Guatever, I’ll just drop the issue. Enjoy!

Sunday

Rest

Monday

outdoor leg workout

I forget the exact exercises I did, but it was a total of 30 rounds of 30 seconds work: 10 seconds rest, so it took exactly 20 minutes. All I remember is that there were a lot of jumps and plyometrics that left me sore the next day!

Tuesday

100 burpee challenge

In 7:40. It was tough this week!

Wednesday

outdoor circuit workout

My goodness, I am digging the outdoors these days. It’s still pretty chilly here in Boston despite it almost being May, but that makes for the perfect temperature when you’re working up a sweat!

I did 7 rounds of:

10 alternating pistol squats
10 pushups
10 bench jumps
10 mountain climbers (each leg)
10 squat jumps
10 bench toe taps (each foot)
10 reverse crunch leg lifts
10 burpees
10 spiderman planks (each side)
10 tuck jumps

This took about 35 minutes, and I was pooped at the end.

Thursday

Rest

Friday

dynamic warmup + leg workout

It had been a while since I had gone to the gym since the nice weather just calls for moving and grooving outdoors. But I was feelin’ the gym on Friday!

To warmup, I did 3 rounds of:

5 burpees
5 pushups to side plank right
5 pushups to side plank left
15 KB swings
20 air squats

Then the leg workout:

5×8 Bulgarian split squats (35#) // 16 jump lunges between each set
1×8, 2×6, 2×5 hamstring curls (100#) // 20 squat jumps between each set
1×8, 4×5 trap bar deadlifts (135#) // 8 box jumps between each set
3×20 hamstring ball curls // 30 side jump lunges between each set

I walked much more slowly than normal on Saturday.

Saturday

Active rest

______________________________________________

And now onto the recent eats! Disclaimer: the epic amount of salads I’ve been eating is due to the fact that I discovered $185 of dining points left on my account that I must use before the end of the semester. Thus, I have been buying salads at my favorite salad bar ever, which are pricey, so they’ll use up the cash quickly. I’ve also been inviting my brother to eat with me very often 🙂

scrambled eggs + English muffin with peanut butter and banana + glass o’ milk

two eggs with veggies + English muffin with butter and jam + apple

two eggs with veggies + French toast with peanut butter and banana + glass o’ milk

scrambled eggs + plain yogurt with fruit + whole wheat blueberry pancake with butter, cinnamon and banana

baby kale salad with cranberries, pepitas, and some kind of dressing + half a sandwich (roast beef, roasted veggies, dijon mustard, cheese on whole grain ciabatta) + apple

salad with chicken, goat cheese, spiced pecans, roasted apples, roasted butternut squash, and some kind of dressing (it was good!)

salad with tomatoes, cucumbers, beets, peas, carrots, chicken, and sundried tomato blue cheese dressing (it was made out of yogurt or something…interesting!)

salad with beets, carrots, tomatoes, corn, steak, and corn bread!!!

salad with balsamic + turkey, tomato, lettuce, cheddar, honey mustard sandwich on wheat

salad with tuna, feta, and honey dijon dressing + mushroom barley

salad with beets, tomatoes, peas, artichokes, chickpeas, carrots, pasta salad, chicken, and garlic bread (as in, roasted garlic baked inside the bread!)

pizza + teddy grahams at Women’s Group

mashed potatoes with turkey chili and broccoli // the weirdest combo ever served in the dining hall, but it was good!

a Torta de Aceite that my roommate brought home for me // it’s a tender, flaky, sweet and slightly savory flatbread with anise— so good!

biscuit with honey and butter

Insomnia chocolate chip cookie that my next door neighbor so kindly gave me

vanilla and cookies ‘n’ cream ice cream at a Women’s Group sleepover on Friday!

Now I’m hungry.

Hope you all have a superb Sunday!

So tell me:

Did you do fun things outside this week?

What is the best carb you ate this week? Mine is a tie between the roasted garlic bread and the biscuit with honey butter.

Weekly Moves and Grooves XXV {When School Gets Crazy}

Posted on April 12, 2015 by Alison @ Daily Moves and Grooves

This weather has me OFF THE WALLS right now.

In a good way! I’ll gush about it more tomorrow, but today I’m coming at you with a recap of weekly moves and grooves from the past two weeks since I skipped last Sunday for Easter!

I’ve gone to the gym three times in the past two weeks just due to a hectic schedule. But I always feel better when I exercise, so I fit it in when I can!