Current Mood(s)

Posted on June 13, 2016 by Alison @ Daily Moves and Grooves

It’s been a funky weekend.

My mood is currently a slurry of the following:

Upset, confused, uneasy, and heartbroken by the shootings (Christina Grimmie + mass shooting at Pulse) in Orlando this weekend.

Sometimes God allows terrible things to happen in your life and you don’t know why. But that doesn’t mean you should stop trusting Him.

— Christina Grimmie (@TheRealGrimmie) February 21, 2013

I’m having a hard time just typing this blog post, because I’m watching several videos, reading tweets/statuses/articles, and just grappling with the whole situation and with the state of the world. May God be merciful to all, and may He grant rest to the souls of those who died and console their loved ones.

Friends, keep loving more deeply every day. Reflect on your purpose in this world. I don’t mean to be preachy right now, but when it comes to life and death, it’s important to ask yourself: What if my life on earth ended today?

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Enraged, saddened, yet awe-inspired by the powerful letter the Stanford rape victim read aloud to her attacker.

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Unsure if cutting down on dairy is helping my tummy troubles. I’m currently drinking Lactaid milk (surprisingly, it’s exceptionally tasty milk) and avoiding Greek yogurt and cheese. I think I feel better with less Greek yogurt in particular (*tear*).

the day before my mom picked up some Lactaid // carbs+pb isn’t the same without a glass o’ milk

leftover green banana pancakes + banana cream sauce + glass o’ Lactaid (← doesn’t have the same ring to it)

overnight oats made without Greek yogurt but with extra Lactaid milk, chia seeds, and half a scoop of vanilla protein powder — not bad!

classic banana egg white oats (video tutorial coming soon!)

baked banana bread oatmeal for this week’s breakfasts

I’m also unsure because I’m weak. I had a tiny bit of ice cream Saturday night with our leftover apple strudel from the farmers’ market 🙂 And I had a few cheesy jalapeño Popcorners yesterday.

I didn’t keel over or anything though, so it’s all good.

Another likely culprit is definitely stress. I don’t notice my stress, but I think my body/mind has objectively been stressed these past few weeks.

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All that being said…

I’m ashamed and disappointed in myself. Honesty is the best policy. I feel ashamed that maybe my tummy troubles were actually coming from a few too many days of eating until I was stuffed, even if it was just a bunch of vegetables.

I have definitely not been binging by any means, but I do know that I sometimes stress eat and/or eat too quickly when I’m stressed. I was struck by the possibility that maybe my insides haven’t been cooperating because I just haven’t been too kind to them in regards to the volume I eat.

So I’ve been more aware of my stomach cues (without worrying about calories or anything), which (DUH) has been helping me feel more comfortable. I’m tempted to beat myself up about my recent eating habits, but I know that will just do me a disservice. Evaluate, learn, make the changes, and move on.

Somewhat off topic: Lunches these days have been all about eggs, which I find are easy on my stomach.

two egg omelet with greens and onions + cherry tomatoes + avocado toast

avocado toast with sunny egg and sriracha (among other things) for lunch on Saturday

delicious bowl of quinoa, roasted broccoli, sautéed greens, onions, cherry tomatoes, chorizo + sunny egg + sriracha added post-pic

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Thankful that my body can move and exercise. I always try to be, but I’ve had to especially remind myself to be thankful this weekend because of some recent body image issues that I’ll talk more about tomorrow.

Mom and I have been doing 7 minute workouts and Pilates together. So wonderful to move and groove with Madre.

Working at a rehabilitation hospital has also done wonders for my perspective on physical ability, movement, and health.

scene at lunch break

Saturday’s workout was a doozy! 4 rounds for time:

10 burpee tuck jumps
20 crazy Russian twists (10 each side, 15#)
30 side jump lunges
40 air squats with side leg lift
50 mountain climbers

HUSTLED on those last squats and mountain climbers when I saw that I could finish at 20 minutes

I did this yoga video yesterday, since everything was sore and my body had been craving good, organ-nourishing twists.

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Happy that I get to spend quality time with my parents on the weekends. We went out for sushi on Saturday night after Mass, followed by an evening walk.

Mom and Pop’s sashimi for two

cutest soy sauce dish

my order: “Soho roll” (tuna, salmon, yellowtail, avocado, rice, roe, wrapped in soybean paper) + eel cucumber roll

Ain’t nothing like gooooooood sushi.

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Excited for friends and family in their adventures and endeavors. It’s so cool to see loved ones explore the world, learn, grow, and allow God to work through them.

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So there’s a lot happening in the head and the heart right now. A lot of it is growing pain, I think, which is encouraging and comforting. God is good, always.

I’m sorry if this post seems like a big, negative smash on your Monday, but that’s not my intent. This is just a reminder to myself and to all who read this that we need to support and uplift one another. Joy, beauty, heroism, and love exist, and it starts with you.

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So tell me:

What are your current moods?

Have you ever gone through periods of “meh” eating habits, even if you have a healthy mindset?

What are you thankful for today?

What is the best thing you did this weekend? Mass + dinner and walk with the parents ♥︎

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Weekend Confessions

Posted on June 6, 2016 by Alison @ Daily Moves and Grooves

weekend confessions

It’s been a while since I confessed to you all (because I don’t already bare my innermost thoughts to you on a weekly basis already).

So some confessions from the weekend:

Confession #1: I watched Me Before You with Daliza on Friday night, and I was crying my eyes out with all the other middle school girls in the theater. In my defense, I don’t think there was a dry eye in the room except for Daliza’s. She was laughing at the rest of us.

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Confession #2: I loved and hated the movie. Loved because it was a very sweet romance (I’m a sucker). Plus, British accents. Hated because I have some qualms about the ending.

Confession #3: After the movie, I went home for a really cute baking date at home with a British guy ❤

Cookie & Kate’s banana bread in muffin form

That guy would be Jamie Oliver. On Youtube. It was like a Skype cooking date, except we were cooking different things and he has no idea I exist.

fresh out of the oven with a big smear of cinnamon raisin peanut butter from Stowe + glass o’ milk!

Confession #4: Dad’s birthday was on Saturday, but he did more work and service than I (and many people) did that day. He’s a star.

Saturday’s breakfast: full fat Greek yogurt with cinnamon, nutmeg, chia seeds, banana, banana muffin, and almond butter

Confession #5: Mom and I bought so much {rather expensive} food at the farmers’ market on Saturday with the reasoning that “we are supporting the locals.”

I’m sorry, how many dollars?

foraging in my natural habitat

I love special nut butters, but there are very few times I am willing to drop $13 for a standard jar.

Confession #6: I totally snacked my way through lunch at the farmers’ market. I love how you never fail to get excessive amounts of carbs and cheese at farmers’ markets.

side confession: this fresh apple waffle was probably the best waffle I’ve EVER eaten — so doughy!

this apple strudel is legit

side confession: this tasted no different from chocolate cow milk, but that’s not a bad thing

Confession #7: I may never get tired of tacos.

one carne enchilada + one chicken taco

Pop chose a local Mexican restaurant for his birthday dinner, and Mom and I could not be more pleased with his decision 😉

he got a huge frozen margarita for his special day — atta boy

chicken and pork chilaquiles as an appetizer to share

Confession #8: I always forget how wonderful one-on-one walks are. Pop and I took a late night walk through our humid and dark neighborhood. Good convo with a great man.

Confession #9: I indulged in more sweets on Pop’s birthday than on my own birthday. The farmers’ market lured Madre and I into buying many baked goods, sooooo, like, you gotta eat some while they’re fresh, right?

a slice of apple strudel a la mode + a piece of this gluten/dairy/grain/everything-free blueberry scone

Confession # 10: I play eenie-meenie-miney-mo (sp?) for a lot of my trivial life decisions. Example: yesterday’s breakfast was a toss-up between three of Amanda’s recipes: oatmeal cookie dough smoothie, banana oat french toast bake, and chunky monkey pancakes.

banana oat french toast bake won – topped with cinnamon raisin pb + glass o’ milk

Confession #11: I put Greek yogurt on my beef yesterday.

LISTEN. It’s like sour cream if it’s full fat Greek yogurt (I’m saying this mostly to defend myself from my non-blogger friends, who think that even peanut butter with yogurt is weird).

also had a hunk of a huge cheese biscuit…from the farmers’ market

Confession #12: The workout I did on Saturday left me quiiiiiite sore on Sunday. It was:

5 rounds of 10 Bulgarian split squats each leg + 3 wall walks. Then…

3 rounds (30 sec work, 10 sec rest):

burpees
alternating split lunges with 10# DB
toe touch + split sit-up
push-up with knee tap
high knees
heel tap burpees

I’m sorry. Half of those exercises probably mean NOTHING to you, because they are not conventional exercises that have real names.

Confession #13: When I did this 60 minute vinyasa yoga with Leigha Butler yesterday, I spent about 25% of the time staring at her doing poses beyond my anatomical capacity.

Confession #14: When I went on a walk with Madre yesterday, I was walking at maybe 2 mph because my butt was so sore.

a slow incline that felt like a mountain – but look at how mystical this is!

Confession #15: We secretly live near a rainforest.

…that happens to have evergreens

Confession #16: I decided to watch home videos with mom last night because all I wanted were warm fuzzies.

Confession #17: Dinner last night was pita bread and veggies with hummus, these baked zucchini, and desserts…from the farmers’ market.

Hope you all have a fantastic week! Support local businesses 🙂

So tell me:

What is your experience with farmers’ markets? Do you get giddy like I do? Do you give in to buying more expensive things than you normally would to #SupportLocal?

Do you ever play eenie-meenie-miney-mo to make life decisions?

Two fun things you did this weekend!

What do you think of Me Before You if you read/saw it?

Five Minute Friday #12: Fear of Failure

Posted on April 15, 2016 by Alison @ Daily Moves and Grooves

I woke up in the middle of the night doing sit-ups, I KID YOU NOT.

I think I was dreaming about doing the sit-up test in high school phys ed, and as I was waking up in my hazy state, I felt the need to continue cranking out the reps. Hahaha ew.

I’ve also been going to sleep and waking up pretty early this week — bed at 10:30 ish and wake up at 6:45 naturally. Oh what glory! The early sunrise and blue skies for the second half of this week have been making me so happy.

Other things making me happy this week:

big breakfasts: two eggs scrambled with veggies + whole wheat french toast with almond butter and banana + glass o’ milk

impromptu d-hall dinner with the roomie (and her provocative captions…we sleep in our own beds FYI)

visiting chefs in the d-hall! calamari salad + chicken with veggies and polenta

ice cream with sprinkles + mini cannoli

last exercise phys lab with the coolest lab group

My first article on Fit University! It’s basically the story of my journey to fitness and health ➔ “There Was a Time When the Healthy Living Community Was Bad For Me.”

The last thing making me happy(ish) this week: Asking God to be humble me and getting exactly that. Yeesh, ask and you shall receive, am I right??

That last point kinda leads me to this week’s Five Minute Friday, which is about fear of FAILURE. I way cheated this week and made the vlog almost 7 minutes, mostly because my brain is a wee bit slow and I can’t form words quickly enough.

link to the video!

Three day weekend up ahead for us at BU for Marathon Monday/Patriots’ Day! Yeeeeeya. Hope you all have a fun weekend!

So tell me:

Are you afraid of failure? How do you deal with it?

Have you ever woken up doing something really weird?

What’s making you happy right now?

Know anyone running the Boston Marathon!?

Being Careful With So Much Free Time + Recent Eats

Posted on January 6, 2016 by Alison @ Daily Moves and Grooves

Remember Facebook/AIM/Twitter statuses like this?

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Translation: “Someone hit me up, I’m bored as !@#$.”

For the record, I never posted statuses like this, mostly because “af” was a little too rebellious for me. I did post photos like this though…

ONLY five years ago!?

…which are 100x worse in my opinion. This is NETC, the Italian class “pet”. I’m in physical pain looking at this/thinking about the fact that I posted this on Facebook.

Anyway, I’ve been trying not to fall into that “bored af” mode. I’m keeping busy by meeting up with friends, catching up on blog stuff, chores, errands, exercise, and reading. My planner is really helping me stay accountable for daily tasks.

That being said, I’d be lying if I said I’m not looking for things to do sometimes. Living in this age, when I’m looking for things to do, I almost robotically turn to social media. It pains me to say that I don’t turn to a good book or calling a friend or doing something else productive, but it’s true. I open up Facebook or Instagram.

Katherine from The Peanut Butter Lover just posted an incredible reflection on how subconscious scrolling is the norm these days. I am most definitely in that camp, and as hard as I strive to be more present (said everyone, always), I can’t help but fall into the trap of the hypnotic newsfeed, especially when I’m not as busy like I am during school.

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Besides the problem of not being present, I have to be careful with how much time I spend looking at fitness accounts on Instagram. I’ve recently found myself watching minutes, half-hours, whole hours browsing various fitness accounts.

Please let me be clear. I only enjoy following fitness accounts that are uplifting, genuinely inspiring, and balanced (for example, @kaisafit, @shaunaharrison, and @fitphotographermom). When I’m spending time on such accounts, I’m not comparing my body to theirs or thinking about how I can burn more calories. If I was, I would certainly express that (honesty is the best policy on Moves and Grooves after all). I’m more so thinking things like, “How can I get to where they are? What exercises do I have to do to achieve that? Should I do that today even though I’m sore? I want to be that strong too.”

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Even though my mind is in a much healthier place when I’m looking at social media these days, I still need to be wary of the comparison trap. I have come a long way throughout recovery, and the major lesson I’ve learned is that I don’t need to be her. I know this, but I need to remind myself of it often.

I do believe that I can find fitness inspiration without disordered thinking, but I just have to be careful not to become so immersed in it. I have an obsessive personality, so I need to use my extra free time prudently while I’m on break.

Now that we’ve had a nice heart to heart (or, my heart to yours…), let’s look at some of the good eats from this week!

A classic: toast, pb, banana, cinnamon + glass o’ milk

spaghetti squash, tomato basil sauce, and grilled Italian chicken (carbs were had before and after :))

new favorite: Kylie’s simple paleo pancake with peanut butter, Greek yogurt, cinnamon + glass o’ milk

I met up with my dear friend Fiona (from college) on Monday. We went to the outlet mall, ate some Shake Shack, and had our own heart to heart conversations. She’s studying abroad this coming semester, so I’m gonna miss her like crazy!

“Concrete” at Shake Shack. I got vanilla frozen custard with strawberry puree and “crispy crunchies”.

chicken, avocado, mixed greens, colby jack cheese, and sriracha sandwich to go

good ol’ overnight oats topped with granola

avocado, egg, cheese, sriracha sandwich + salad with homemade honey mustard dressing

clementines are off the CHAIN right now

strawberries ‘n’ cream protein smoothie

this was so good: quinoa, honey balsamic chicken, and roasted broccoli

dried figs with Greek yogurt!!! bringing back the good stuff

Additionally, I’ve been eating leftover cookies that overfloweth in our refrigerator and caramel popcorn that my aunt gave us. It’s a hard life, eh?

my aunt’s delicious oatmeal fruit cookie mini muffins

Hope you all have a great day! I mean it.

So tell me:

What do you find yourself doing if you have too much free time?

Did you post embarrassing things on social media in your younger days?

Are you still eating leftover holiday treats? “New Year, new you” is not a thing here.

Have you tried any delicious recipes recently? I’m thinking that honey balsamic chicken and roasted broccoli will be regular recipes for us!

Day in the Life of a Third Semester Sophomore

Posted on September 25, 2015 by Alison @ Daily Moves and Grooves

What am I? First semester sophomore? Third semester sophomore (since this is my third semester of college)?

I do know one thing I am: frazzled. School is starting to pick up with exams and such, but so are activities. It’s such a blessing to be busy doing things that I love, but hellllloooo, long days.

Now that it’s been almost a month since I started classes, I thought it this would be a good time to share a day in the life again. I managed to document my whole day on Wednesday, which was one of my more packed (but fun!) days.

7:05 AM— First alarm goes off. Check emails on phone.

7:15 AM— Roll out of bed and go to the bathroom.

7:25 AM— Pray.

7:35 AM— Change and try to look presentable for the day.

8:00 AM— Walk to my favorite dining hall for breakfast in the gorgeous weather. Praaaaaaaise.

8:15 AM— Nosh on eggs, French toast with peanut butter and banana, and a glass o’ milk while studying a bit.

9:00 AM— Move outdoors to study in the [again] GORGEOUS weather.

10:00 AM— Head over to the admissions office to get ready to give a campus tour!

courtesy of the admissions office // also, this was taken a couple weeks ago, but this is the essence

11:45 AM— Finish up touring [in the gorgeous weather] and talking to a family from the tour. Walk back to my room to change into athletic clothes because: a) sweating in my jeans; b) dance later; c) living in anything other than stretchy, comfy clothes is overrated. Pick up a special package on the way home.

11:55 AM— Get back to my dorm room, open up the package {from the awesome folks at PJ’s Organics!}. Rip off my jeans like they’re ~~going~~ completely out of style and change into yoga capris and a t-shirt.

the joy of free pits and aeration

12:10 PM— Meet my friends (badass, Division I soccer playas) for lunch at the dining hall.

12:45 PM— We all walk to human physiology lecture (favorite class this semester).

1:50 PM— Get out of class and head to the Catholic Center to do some studying. Eat a banana sometime there. Talk with people because they’re really cool and fun and I like them. Ugh, so distracting.

3:10 PM— Walk to the gym for my modern dance class. ‘Twas an amazing and challenging class, leaving me feeling spent.

5:00 PM— Dance class ends. RUN [literally] back to the Catholic Center for a 5:00 meeting.

5:10 PM— Inhale a granola bar before walking into the meeting a sweaty, smelly mess.

5:50 PM— Meeting ends. Eat a peach that I snagged from the dining hall earlier.

6:00 PM— Go to another meeting. My lovely friend brings snacks (thank the Lord).

this x50 (not a hyperbole)

7:45 PM— Go to dinner with my friend. Salad, pork with mango salsa, oatmeal raisin cookie a la mode, and a bite of my friend’s chocolate fondue, because the dining hall had FONDUE!!!

8:30 PM— Walk back to my dorm. Showerrrrrr.

9:00 PM— Sit down to do work. Get semi-distracted talking to Rachel. Try to do more work. Give my roommate a massage. Mentally give up. Get ready for bed sometime in there. Pray.

12:35 AM— Hit. that. hay.

Phew. I was aware that I was eating kind-of-a-lot-of sugar, but heck, my body needed it.

Happy Friday, everyone! Hope you have a fun weekend 🙂

So tell me:

Is it jean weather yet for you?

Are your days short, average, or long recently?

What do you like to dip in fondue?

What are you doing this weekend? Today: class and catching up on work. Tomorrow: touring, jazz fest, celebrating a friend’s birthday, and a movie night! Sunday: choir, Mass, studying, laundry, and dinner with family friends.