Let The Countdown Begin

I think someone needs to splash some cold water in my face, and say, “Hello, Hillary…you do have a blog, ya know!” Sorry. I certainly have not been maintaining my blogging efforts the past few days. What can I say, the Nutrition Nut has been on the run. I feel as though I spend way too much of my time connected to the World Wide Web, and it is so refreshing to put away my camera, ignore the Internet, and live a life of normalcy – not capturing every move I make – like I did a mere five months ago.

I had a lovely and busy day yesterday away from the web. I slept in [I don’t have class ’til 12:30pm on Thursdays], made a creamy bowl of banana oats, and enjoyed having the house to myself for the morning. Sunshine was seeping through my windows, I had Grooveshark Popular playing, and before I knew it, I was shaking and twisting all around my room. Heck, I probably got a better workout than any 30-minute exercise DVD could give me ; )

After an afternoon of classes, I jetted over to the gym to squeeze in a workout before having to get ready to see Colbie! My roommate snatched the last bike for the 5:00pm spin class, so I was left to pedal alone.

• 45-minute spin [16.2 mi.] — a little slow?
• 1.5-mile run — I was cruising!

We rushed home to  scarf down a few bites of food and pretty up before heading back to campus for the concert. Although a small and casual concert, Colbie Caillat was 100% uh-mazing!

Isn’t she just gorgeous?

She sang all my favorite songs flawlessly. Her tour stopped in my hometown today, so my mom and her girlfriends are going to the show tonight. Speaking of home, I am really ready to go home for a week. One week from today, and that’s where I’ll be. Let the countdown to Spring Break begin!

Finally…today: I had a repeat of Tuesday’s delicious oat combo for breakfast before sitting through my final two lectures for the week.

Surprise surprise I went the gym this afternoon — it’s becoming my 2nd home, no? Every Friday I tell myself I am going to go to yoga, but then talk myself out of it. Well, today I made it happen! My body is a tad sore from this week’s previous workouts, so I figured I could use an hour of quality stretching and strengthening. I don’t know why I don’t talk myself into going to yoga more often. I left completely at peace; it was a blissful hour of exercise and wonderful way to end the week.

***

I ate a quick lunch before heading out to run errands, and consequently it missed the camera’s eye. My grocery bag was extra light today since I like to leave my fridge clean and empty upon leaving town.

I did buy a bag of my favorite chips and dug into them while my dinner was taking a turn in the oven.

Love these!

Tonight’s meal featured the last quarter of my free butternut squash. I told my professor that the squash was used to its full potential : )

Butternut Squash + Brown Sugar, Cinnamon & Real Butter

Organic Baby Spinach, Red Onion, Pepitas & Sweet ‘n’ Tangy Balsamic

Since dinner was so healthy and all, I thought a little Friday treat was in order. Insert Starbucks ice cream and gooey Trader Joe’s Chocolate Chippers – mmm! I don’t know what’s with me and boxed food lately – bad bad bad – but it was rather nice to be able to enjoy warm cookies right after dinner without making havoc in the kitchen.

You know I couldn’t resist a miniature Starbucks carton of ice cream. There’s just no way : )

Alright, friends…now that you have a rough outline of my life since Wednesday, I’m going to go catch up on what ya’ll have been up to.

Namaste,

~ Hillary

5 & [Barely] Alive

Ahhhhhh [sigh]. Week 5 is officially over and I made it out alive…just barely! I had one long week with a huge Hump Day. For some reason, I feel smothered with exams this semester. I have 6 exams in a 4-week span, not including an equal amount of quizzes – gahhh. Can Spring Break come any sooner?

I woke up feeling exhausted this morning and dreaded the thought of O. Chem + Geography with my 80-year-old monotone professor. I somehow managed to get through my classes, although I am pretty sure I looked like sleep-walking zombie. The last thing I wanted to do was exercise, but I usually meet my roommate at the gym Friday afternoons – and since she was my ride home – I mustered up my hidden energy for a “workout”. I think it’s really interesting how one day your body can haul a** and the next it can’t move faster than a banana slug. Weird, isn’t it?

Friday:

• 20 minutes: Treadmill [5 minutes each @ 3.6, 3.8, 4.0, 4.2mph]
• 15  minutes: Run [indoor track]
• 10 minutes: Stair Master

After eating my 2nd piece of PB & honey toast, I couldn’t stand it any longer and set out in the stormy weather on a quest for groceries. Three stuffed reusable bags later…mission accomplished! With a restocked kitchen and [homemade] iced coffee + dark chocolate in my system, I felt so much better.

I made up for my lack of produce during the day with a colorful salad for dinner:

Crispy, Crunchy Organic Romaine, Avocado, Carrot, Cucumber, Red Onion, Yellow Bell Pepper & TJ’s Parmesan Ranch

…it reminded me of home : )

Think there might be some fro-yo/ice cream in the near future with the roomies.

Happy Weekend!

~ Hillary

Blogger Blues

Hey. Sorry for the lack of commitment to my blog lately. The groceries get slim at the end of the week and I tend to lose my motivation to capture my repetitive eats. A bowl of cereal can only be so exciting, ya know? The “spring” sunshine this week was totally a tease. It’s back to grey weather here, with a chance of rain. School is getting more difficult each and every week, and the stress levels are rising. Clearly, I’m having one of those funky Fridays. Reading through my daily blogroll today, I got the sense that stress is in the air. It seems as though a lot of us bloggers have had a rough week. I guess I’ve got the blogger blues =/

On a more positive note…I am really glad I’m feeling better physically and have been able to exercise the past 3 days! I went to the gym last night and did the most random workout. Switching up your routine is the key because I was sweaty, beet red, and woke up with sore muscles this morning – success!

Run – 1 mile

Arms:

• 2 x 10 tricep dips
• 2 x 10 lat pulldowns @ 40 lbs.
• 2 x 10 seated rows @ 40 lbs.
• 4 x 10 bicep curls @ 10 lbs.
• 2 x 10 overhead presses @ 10 lbs.

Run – 1/2 mile

Cardio Burst:

• 100 jumping jacks
• 2 x 10 push-ups
• 40 squats
• 8 x 10 “block knee-chest raises”

Run – 1/2 mile

Abs:

• 3 x 20 stability ball crunches
• 10 stability ball “plank knee-to-chest rollers”
• 10 side crunches each side

[repeat 2 + 3]

• 20 side dips each side @ 10 lbs.

Stretch!

After class today, I met my roommate at the gym for another workout session:

• 1.5 miles – Run
• 30 minutes – Butts ‘n’ Gutts class
• 15 minutes – Spin …on the coolest spin bike ever! I’m not kidding, I am in love. I was able to hook up my iPod and view my playlists, etc. on the huge screen. There is a TV option, of course, and it has a personal fan. It’s quite the machine!

Speaking of exercise, when I was talking to my mom on the phone last night, she mentioned the Foggy Bottom Milk Run, a local race near my hometown. It just so happens that it is conveniently during Spring Break this year. I don’t think I’ve done the race since 2006, so I was stoked. I went online and signed myself right up, making the early registration date by 1 day! I’ve only run the 4.1-mile distance before, but I decided to go all out and register for the 10-miler — why not? Guess I better start running…

***

I had pizza for dinner tonight. For most college students that means calling up Pizza Hut to deliver an extra-large meaty combo (with a side of bread sticks – ick), but for the Nutrition Nut it means:

wheat crust – $1.29 @ TJ’s

pesto

tomatoes

red onion

broccolini

chevre

…and a chiffonade of fresh basil

Overall: The dough took longer to cook…therefore turning the chiffonade of fresh basil into crispy basil…and it lacked in the flavor department, but I enjoyed making it – that counts as something, right? FYI, I took 38 pictures of my dang pizza and wasn’t pleased with any of them. Ugh, picture perfectionist. This is the best I can do tonight, folks.

I just took out my frustrations on the chocolate chip bag. I must ban chocolate chips from kitchen – seriously.

***

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, DAD!

Love,

Hillary

A Winning Wednesday

Well, friends…another glorious day has come and gone. Here’s what I was up to on this stellar Wednesday:

chem exam

geography

exercise + lunch

nutrition quiz

shower + dinner

blog!

I checked off everything =]

It’s such a relief to have my 1st O. Chem exam behind me. Besides waking up late and almost missing the bus/missing my exam, it wasn’t a total nightmare. After class #2, I was able to come home for the afternoon since my regular 2:00pm wasn’t meeting. I was thrilled for many reasons: 1) It was absolutely gorgeous outside – 70* status, 2) I was feeling well enough to exercise, and 3) I wasn’t stuck at school from 9:00-5:00! So…I dropped my books, slipped on my shorts and headed out into the blue skies. I hadn’t exercised at all since last Tuesday (when I did an Allie–inspired 60-minute elliptical workout); my body was craving physical activity. I ran for 35 minutes at a comfortable heart rate of 155. My legs were thankful =]

***

For lunch, I refueled with light ‘n’ cheery eats to go along with the bright weather outside:

I enjoyed this sunny photo shoot.

1 Piece of Whole Wheat Toast + Hummus, Sliced Cucumber, Red Onion & Baby Lettuces

2% Greek + Kiwi and Blueberries

***

Before heading back to school for my final class, I made myself an iced latte. As tempting as it was to stop at Starbucks, I’m sticking to the challenge…plus, I’ve got Starbucks at home anyway.

Iced Coffee + Skim Milk + Agave — mmm!

I ate half of a granola bar, too. It was a Tropical Treat alright — so yummy, Mom! This one wins =]

***

I made breakfast for dinner tonight with my leftover roasted taters and a couple of scrambled eggs. Seldom do I eat eggs (as a dish), but top ’em with avocado, salsa and chevre, and I can work with it. Anyway…since dessert is 100x better than dinner, let us fast forward…

Celebratory [chemistry exam #1 is over] baking was in order. Chocolate Chippers, anyone?

I made a mini batch by halving the recipe on the back of the Guittard chocolate chip bag:

1 cup + 2 T whole wheat flour

1/2 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. salt

1/2 cup real butter

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/4 cup granulated sugar

1 egg

1 tsp. pure vanilla

1/2 cup chopped walnuts

1 cup Guittard chocolate chips

1…2…3 chocolate chippers + a jam jar of skim milk = a perfect way to end this wonderful Wednesday.

Good night!

I Spy Springtime!

The weather forecast did not disappoint today. It was a beautiful day in the neighborhood! I woke up before my alarm from sunshine pouring through my windows – a pleasant surprise in the middle of February.

My Organic Chemistry lab did not last the full 3 hours today, so I was excited to have the rest of the afternoon to play outside. It was ideal weather for a run, but I thought the smarter thing to do was to give my body one more day of rest. I hope to be back in motion manana!

Since exercise wasn’t an option, I had to come up with another activity to procrastinate studying for my O. Chem exam that involved soaking up some of nature’s best Vitamin D. Easy enough: give Little Blue a bubble bath!

All sparkle ‘n’ shine!

***

I worked up quite the appetite washing my little blue rig. I knew exactly what would curb my hunger…a recipe I came across in my PB&Co Cookbook last night while trying to read myself to sleep. It’s a refreshing & simple snack for a “Spring” day.

…plus, it’s got a protein punch:

1 cup soy milk

1 banana

2 T PB&Co Bee’s Knees

1 T Honey

Ice

***

Dinner

Salad a la: organic baby lettuces, avocado, red onion & balsamic — thrilling.

Roasted Potatoes a la: olive oil, garlic, salt & pepper + a dollop of “Daisy” (2% Greek)

I’d love to stay, but I must not procrastinate any longer. Did I mention I have my 1st O. Chem exam TOMORROW!

Wish me luck (I’ll need it!),

~ Hillary