Day in the Life {Second Semester Junior} 

I’ve attempted to write a day in the life post for this semester maybe three times already.

I’ll start taking photos of everything and making mental notes about what I’m doing throughout the day, but then it hits about 7pm, and I give up, either because I realize I have too much work to do or because I forgot to take pictures after breakfast.

I kicked those two gross anatomy exams to the curb on Tuesday, and now I feel like I can do anything with my life.

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shoutout to Janice for being the best study buddy ’til the wee hours in the morning

Duty still calls, but I at least I have a little more time to type up this day in the life!

Wednesday

7:00 AM — Alarm goes off. I immediately know I’m going to need a nap later in the day.

7:08 AM — Roll out of bed, go to the bathroom, brush teeth.

7:15 AM — Crawl back into my bed to do some reading for my “Religion, Health and Medicine” class (the reason I had to wake up earlier than I usually would on a Wednesday).

7:30 AM — Roll back out bed to pray and eat breakfast. I continue reading while eating this zesty jar of overnight oats.

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1/2 c. oats, 1 tsp. chia seeds, 1/4 c. greek yogurt, 1/2 c. milk, half banana, 1/3 of a champagne mango(!), pinch of salt, lime zest ➔ topped with salted cashews in the morning

8:00 AM — Go back into my warm bed to finish reading. Eventually decide that lying in bed is not conducive to reading something analytically/staying awake, so I drag my butt to my desk.

8:50 AM — Cut it close to start getting ready for dance.

9:05 AM — Leave for dance class in Cambridge. It’s snowing and I’m not lovin’ it (but it’s not icy, which is the important part).

9:35 AM — Arrive slightly late to dance, but class usually starts a little late, so I’m right on time! (Unfortunately, life doesn’t often work that way.)

11:10 AM — Dance class ends (my last one of this semester! ☹️). It was a great one! Walk back to my apartment.

11:40 AM — Arrive back at the crib and eat loads of kettle corn and a random piece of chicken. Check my email.

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needed some umami

12:10 PM — Walk to my religion and medicine class.

12:20 PM — In class today, we discuss how social context cannot be separated from mental diseases such as depression and anxiety. Mental illnesses may have specific biochemical bases, but that does not mean that we should treat them one specific way cross-culturally (via antidepressants, for example). Rather, sociocultural factors hold a great weight in the presentation of mental illness, so they should be considered and incorporated when treating patients.

INTERESTING.

1:35 PM — Class ends and I walk back to the apartment for lunch! Part 1 is the last of this tasty massaged kale salad I made on Monday.

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red kale with olive oil, lime juice, honey, salt, pepper

Part 2 was the classic avocado egg toast with sriracha. ♥︎

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(Interruption for avocado appreciation photo)

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what a beauty

Part 3 was a clementine.

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do clementines come from Connecticut?

Part 5 was a couple handfuls of pita chips to fill the tank.

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I read some blogs as I ate.

2:40 PM — Oof, I indulged in a nice long lunch hour. Clean up and get to some studying.

3:50 PM — Remember when I woke up and knew I would need a nap? That hour had come. I nap like a rock for 35 minutes.

4:25 PM — Alarm goes off and I don’t want to move. Lay in bed for a while, checking messages and probably Facebook.

4:50 PM — Get myself together and rush to Mass at the Catholic Center.

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But stop to take this photo. It looks gorgeous out, and it was, but it was also FREAKING COLD. The wind hurt.

5:02 PM — Sneak into Mass a little bit late, but very happy I made it.

5:25 PM — Chat with a few people in the Catholic Center. Eat a banana, some cashews, and a few honey wheat pretzels (the BEST pretzels!).

5:35 PM — Leave to catch the T to Cambridge (again), this time for a workout with InnerCity Weightlifting! Start typing this post on my phone on the commute.

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Christina (@foodietunes, Fit U ambassador, dietetics major, personal trainer, overall wonderful human) organized the event with ICW. Read her super cool post about ICW here.

InnerCity Weightlifting is a Boston organization that takes high-risk individuals – those who have been shot, done significant jail time, and/or grown up on a family income under $10k per year – and teaches them how to be personal trainers. They develop their students’ physical training skills as well as the social, academic, and networking support needed, which college students like us take for granted. In doing so, InnerCity Weightlifting makes a huge impact in the community they work with by decreasing street violence and creating a social change. In keeping their gym location a secret, they are able to provide a safe space for their students who have certain conflicts with others. – Christina for gofitu.com

How rad is that!? The trainers are ex-cons, which might seem sketchy, but it’s totally not. The guys who trained us are awesome dudes.

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6:32 PM — Arrive slightly late (theme of the day/my life), but they hadn’t started yet. Christina takes me to the fridge filled with Hint water and tells me to grab one. Don’t have to tell me twice!

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6:40 PM — We start with a dynamic warmup and then get into the workout. Our trainers took us through three circuits, three rounds each:

  • KB reverse lunges
  • pushups/negative pushups (← the negatives!!! holding at high plank, mid pushup, and chaturanga for 3-4 seconds each, repeat. HELLO.)
  • deadbugs (holding a resistance band on stretch, which made my arms shake, especially after the pushups)
  • KB deadlifts
  • single arm KB rows each arm
  • bear crawls (super slow, super controlled, with little sliders on our backs to prove our stability)
  • med ball slams
  • battle rope slams

The weighted parts were actually the easiest, because the weight and reps were relatively low, but all the bodyweight stuff was killer! Such a fun workout though!

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I wear those socks to dance to help with sliding on the floor, but I forgot to change into normal socks later, so this is what had to happen.

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thank you for this photo, Christina!

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7:30 PM — The workout ends, we learn more about ICW, they give us more Hint waters and KIND bars, and I walk back to the T station to head home. Type some more of this post.

8:15 PM — Arrive back home and cook up some veggies for dinner. I sauté some onions and lacinto kale (I have a lot of kale right now because it was on sale at Whole Foods) in mustard, maple syrup, salt and pepper (← fave way to cook kale!).

8:35 PM — I had the veggies alongside leftover quinoa and chicken thighs with this Stubb’s rub.

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During dinner I read a couple more blogs, check Facebook, upload the day’s photos, and keep typing this post.

9:15 PM — Decide that I want a sweet snack, so I have some Greek yogurt with cinnamon and raisins. Some of my friends are baby barfing at this right now (#hatersgonnahate on raisins).

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10:25 PM — Somehow still typing this post? Wash up dishes, shower (I reeeeek), and do some more studying.

12:00 AM — Pray and hit the hay!

Hope you all have a fantastic Thursday!

ALSO fun news — my dear friend Emily from Beauty in Christ graciously invited me to be on her awesome podcast last week, so that episode is up now on her blog! Click here to check it out. And just read Emily’s blog/listen to her podcast in general. She is a breath of the freshest air.

So tell me:

One thing you are proud to have accomplished this week!

One thing you did and one thing you ate yesterday.

How do you like to cook kale (if you like kale)?

Do you like to take naps?

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Consciously Avoiding Sugar Again?

It’s so pretty outside!!!

At least here in Boston. I hope it’s pretty outside for you too. It’s so pretty here, in fact, that I did some yoga-ish stuff out by the river yesterday. The crisp temperatures are perfect for keeping you cool when you start working up a sweat.

All while the leaves are starting to change and I am starting to realize that getting out of bed in the morning becomes exponentially more difficult.

I haven’t shared a full day of eats in a while, so let’s look at that for this wonderful What I Ate Wednesday!

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While we’re at it, I want to talk to you about sugar in my life lately. It’s present (that’s for SURE), and sometimes I feel like it’s present a little too much. I don’t hide the fact that I am head over heels for the dining hall desserts and that I have one basically every day.

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breakfast // dorm oats: rolled oats with vanilla protein powder, banana, cinnamon, and pb

I don’t eat dessert because I feel like I “deserve” it or because I feel like I need to prove that I’m not afraid of dessert. At this point in my journey, I eat dessert because it’s delicious.

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lunch // roast beef, pepper jack, lettuce, tomato, roasted veggie, honey mustard sandwich on whole wheat + pear

Needless to say, I’ve noticed that my dessert intake has been rather indulgent in the past few weeks. I should make it clear that I am not guilty in regards to the calories/sugar/fat from the desserts. Rather, I am aware that I’ve been eating a lot of sugar, and I dunno…as a health-professional-to-be, I feel inclined to do something about that.

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snack #1 // cinnamon rice cake from a stash of communal snacks in the Catholic Center

I somewhat consciously try to avoid processed sugars throughout the day when I’m walking, dancing, learning and such. However, I still do eat quite a bit of sugar overall throughout the day (often in the form of bananas…)

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snack #2 // banana with peanut butter

I try to keep my sugar sources pretty wholesome for the most part. That being said, I don’t obsess over it. I mean, some of the sauces that the dining hall uses for their savory dishes probably have just as much sugar a cupcake, but it’s guatever.

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dinner // Creole chicken (like a sweet BBQ sauce) with rice + side salad

With all this in mind—my higher consumption of desserts lately and my fairly high consumption of sugar (from wholesome sources or otherwise) throughout the day itself— I decided to take a break from all desserts for five days last week. I challenged myself to not eat dessert from Monday-Friday (I kinda cheated on Friday during retreat…so Monday-Thursday).

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dessert (last night, not last week) // carrot cake a la mode

It was obviously challenging some nights, but I didn’t feel like I was depriving myself. I know that during my recovery, it was dangerous to deny myself sweets because there was a good possibility I was avoiding sweets because of calories. But these days, I have NO FREAKING CLUE how many calories I’m eating every day, so I’m just eating what feels right for my body. Some days that includes dessert and others it doesn’t.

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post-dessert // some pineapple at a night event

Instead of eating dessert all last week, I still ate some cottage cheese with granola and more banana (I know, I know). Arguably, I was consuming just as much sugar in eating a concoction like that as I would be in eating dessert.

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post-dessert part two // a couple fried plantains with honey

So I guess, in my mind, my dessert fast last week was to lower my sugar intake, but in reality, my dessert fast was more about challenging my self control. The wonderful thing about all this is that I feel comfortable challenging my self control in regards to food again. I’m not worried that I will start having disordered intentions in avoiding certain foods.

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late night snack // spoonful of pb

I feel one step closer to that elusive 100% recovery, if that’s possible.

To clarify, the eats I just showed you were from yesterday, so I wasn’t on a dessert fast. I only did the dessert fast last week. 🙂

*DISCLAIMER: It has taken me a long time to get to this point at which I feel comfortable and healthy avoiding certain foods for a short amount of time. If you have a history of an eating disorder, please be honest with yourself in making these decisions.

Hope your day is sweeter than my three-part dessert last night!

So tell me:

Have you ever fasted from dessert for an extended period of time? 

Do you prefer sweet foods over savory foods? I do indeed. If that wasn’t obvious.

Does anyone else eat bananas like insanity?

What did you eat yesterday?

WIAW: Super Snacky

Wednesday! It’s like the halftime show of the week. So get a little crazy, do a little dance, move around, and…WIAW! Yes, I just made WIAW into a verb.

Do you ever have those days where all your meals consist of small snacks? Sort of like a full day sampler? That’s how my day was on Friday. I was also just really hungry at some points of the day, so I kept reaching for more things to nibble on. I like little bits of everything anyway, so it was quite a delicious and diverse day of eats!

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Check out Jenn’s blog to see her and other bloggers WIAW too!

Breakfast

Friday was a snow day for us here in NY, so I slumbered until about 10 am and woke up hungry and ready for some waffles!

First, I needed something in my belly while I prepared the waffles:

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Greek yogurt with banana, honey, and cinnamon

Then ’twas time for the star of the meal— Shortstacks Sweet Potato waffles (that we got a while ago through Groupon…of course)! We tried the vegan version of the batter, which uses almond milk and oil, and they turned out super tasty and fluffy. The sweet potato flavor was also unique and lovely. I just might try to make homemade sweet potato pancakes one day!

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Left in the iron until crispy on the outside and still soft on the inside. Drizzle o’ maple syrup is obligatory.

And for some more healthy fats:

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A handful or so of roasted, salted peanuts

Lunch

Appetizer:

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Some carrots and hummus. Can’t go wrong.

Main:

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Lentil soup from New Year’s with Crunchmaster crackers for…well, crunch!

Dessert:

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Clementine

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Graham crackers

Dinner

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Salad with sesame Mahi Mahi

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Side of avocado toast with sea salt and freshly cracked black peppa

Eaten at my quasi-vanity/desk in my room since Ben and his buds were downstairs. Youtube bakers and chefs were my dining companions.

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Dessert

I’ve been having these little cute cups of frozen Greek yogurt from Healthy Choice as a sweet end to my nights. They’re the perfect size and very tasty! Also, I love the little messages on top:

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Dark Fudge Swirl flavor. Although I’m not a huge chocolate ice cream fan, this doesn’t have enough chocolate to deter me from eating it. It’s just a nice subtle swirl of goodness.

I was up pretty late since I woke up so late, so I sorta had a second dessert…

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I had all but two of the leftover monkey bread pieces from…last year technically. Don’t worry, they were still perfectly good! I added some Greek yogurt after I took this picture to make my snack a little more filling. And I just like Greek yogurt with everything.

And that concludes my day of super snacky eats! Sometimes, I’m in the mood for more cohesive, put-together meals. Yet other times like last Friday, I just want my food totally a la carte.

Have a great Wednesday!

So tell me:

Do you ever have days where your meals are just a bunch of snacks?

What are some of your favorite snacks?

Favorite way to satisfy your sweet tooth (semi-regularly)?

WIAW: Meatless Monday

The turkey that’s literally chillin’ in our fridge has been my reminder that Thanksgiving is allllllmost here. Actually, I’ve been looking forward to going grocery shopping (one of my favorite things to do) for the past two weeks, and that’s just what I’ll be doing with my mom today! I have a nice long list since I’m in charge of making the starchy sides like cornbread, mashed potatoes, and stuffing. YUS.

Alright, I’m done talking about Thanksgiving…until tomorrow.

Looking back a couple of days, I participated in the first #Elf4Health challenge— Meatless Monday! Not eating meat is pretty easy for me since I love fish (which I don’t really consider meat meat), eggs, and beans. So Monday was a delicious day of eats, and what better way to recap my eats than with Jenn’s WIAW party?!

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Breakfast

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Toast with cherry butter toffee peanut butter, sunflower seed butter, and sliced bananas + glass o’ milk

Snack

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The usual {recycled photo}

Lunch

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Smoked salmon, cream cheese, spinach sandwich + an un-pictured clementine

Snacks

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Kashi Berry Lemonade granola bar— it actually tastes like lemonade!

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FROZEN GRAPES. After seeing a bunch of people try this, I had to. And it’s so worth it even in this frigid weather. Nature’s popsicle!

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Greek yogurt and banana slices {recycled photo}

Dinner

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Avocado toast (on bread from The Kneaded Bread— SO good) + hard-boiled eggs + lots of green beans that ya can’t see here

For the record, the hard-boiled eggs are brown because my mom puts them in teriyaki sauce.

Dessert

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A spoonful o’ white chocolate coconut peanut butter. Yum.

Day 1 of #Elf4Health was a success! Speaking of which, I am loving exchanging emails with my buddy, Emily! It makes the challenge even more fun because you always have someone supporting you and talking about their own challenge experiences along the way. You can still join for round 2 of Elf4Health here! And you DO NOT have to be a blogger (friends from school/dance…?? :D)

That’s all for now, folks. Today is another half day of school and then it is turkey break! Happy Wednesday!

So tell me: Do you do Meatless Mondays? What are some of your favorite vegetarian proteins? Do you like grocery shopping?

WIAW: Eats on a Day Off of School

Good morning!

First of all, I must say that the blogging community’s support never ceases to rock my socks off. I don’t get dozens of comments on my posts yet, but any and every comment on my posts is appreciated from the depths of my heart. Yesterday, your honest, loving, and encouraging comments were just what I needed as I start this journey of getting my health on track. Thank you so very much. 🙂

Moving on to the meat of today’s post… It’s WIAW! I’m not the only one that loves saying wee-aww, right? Jenn must have known that the acronym would be super fun to say every week 😉

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I was fortunate enough to have a day off of school for Veterans’ Day (which also happened to be my brother’s birthday), so I got to enjoy my meals after sleeping in. I ended up eating breakfast at 10AM and lunch at 3PM, with snacks in between of course. Then in the evening, my family celebrated Ben’s birthday at a restaurant called 42 where we feasted on some fabulous dishes. Let’s take a look, shall we? (This week, I’m actually following the rules and posting what I ate on a single day! Also, I’m going to try using large pictures so you guys can see them better. Does that work for you all? More food-in-your-face action.)

Breakfast

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Greek yogurt (in a mug!) with sliced banana, peanut butter balls, and pepita sun seed butter.

Snacks

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Before what was probably my last intense workout: honeycrisp apple and pear slices. This x2.

I also had a Corazonas blueberry oatmeal bar at the gym of which I didn’t snap a picture.

Lunch

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More amazing leftover BBQ Pumpkin Turkey meatballs with more BBQ sauce, random pickled beets, and spinach. Whole grain avocado toast on the side. (It was only 3PM and this picture makes it looks like it was nighttime!)

Snack

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Two, three, or ten palmfuls of these Crunch-a-mame dried edamame beans. Addicted.

Dinner

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Selfies in the elevator on our way up to the 42nd floor of the hotel (hence, the restaurant’s name— “42”).

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42 is participating in something called Restaurant Week where several restaurants provide a great deal on a special menu with their finest recent culinary creations. For only $29 per person, we got an appetizer, entree, and dessert. Usually just an entree at 42 are over $30!

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My mom ordered the tapas board (which was an additional cost) for us to share as well. It had marinated olives, blistered peppers, Iberian cheeses, quince marmalade, shrimp empanadas, beef croquettes, and porchetta. My favorites were the cheeses, shrimp empanada, and marmalade!

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My appetizer: Beet and pear salad with yuzu yogurt sauce (delicious!), and fennel.

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My entree: Portuguese BBQ Salmon with homemade chips and collard greens. Can we take a moment to look at the sheer SIZE of that piece o’ fish?! It was cooked absolutely perfectly— medium rare. Just how I like it. My family members also raved about it.

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My dessert: Panna cotta with sticky toffee carrot cake. This was good, but nothing outstanding.

Other highlights of the table:

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Left: Ben’s PFC (Portuguese Fried Chicken)— WOW. Right: Dad’s fish and chips— super flavorful and a little modern.

Mom’s pork tenderloin was eh. Her dessert though…

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Left: Mom’s Pumpkin and Cardamom Fritters with Maple Syrup— So fluffy and delightful! Right: Ben’s Funny Bone Bar, a chocolate and peanut butter cake-mousse type thing with a slight crispy crunch to it. Like a fancy Reese’s. How could you go wrong?

We were so stuffed. It was a wonderful dinner and we are excited to see what else 42 will offer after Restaurant Week. We’ve been there a few times before, but they recently changed the concept of the restaurant from upscale, gourmet food to more accessible, casual tapas. The food still has a classy, gourmet twist though!

Happy Wednesday!

So tell me: What is the best thing you’ve eaten at a restaurant lately? Any good eats in general?