Recent Eats

today was my first day of class of the year! i only had one class and it was a lab, so it wasn't too exciting. at least i didn't trip on some stairs and faceplant like i did last year, though. that was pretty embarassing.

since i don't have much to do for class yet, i'm still watching vampire diaries. i'm on season 4 episode 5, and have approximately 7 days to finish 17 episodes, since season 5 premieres next week. totally doable. right? right. anyway a bunch of my other favorite tv shows are coming back soon too. like nashville premiered last night and dang that episode was cray. my friends also decided it would be a good idea to watch the newest how i met your mother episode last night when we were painting our nails, and i was freaking out the whole time. i'm only on season 3 of himym so i'm currently trying to block out all information that i learned so that somehow i can still make it through 6 more seasons of the show. it's a legit problem, guys.

anyway. i'll stop ranting about my tv shows now (blame my roomie. she's the one that got me hooked on all of this!) and get on with the yummy eats. i really miss food from home again, anyone want to come cook me roasted brussels sprouts? but i've been eating pretty well regardless. i can't wait til our new healthy dining hall opens! THEY'RE GOING TO HAVE FRESHLY GROUND NUT BUTTER. that needed all caps. it really did though. how could you not freak out about that?!?! i go to the best school ever.

and i just went to look for these photos of my recent eats that i thought i had a million of and it turns out that i don't have a million. oh well. i promise i've been eating yummy things. like froyo and fluff ice and cheese and crackers.

hotel breakfast on move-in day = oatmeal. 

new favorite snacks thanks to seapoint farms! these babies are packed with protein and are super flavorful. they're perfect for carrying around with me or when i need something crunch and salty. my favorite flavor is the black edamame with sea salt. un. real. 

chicken kebab gyro at a really yummy mediterranean place in santa monica. whatever was in the creamy sauce was sooo good!

typical breakfast of egg scramble with ketchup. i miss my own eggs!

greek yogurt, frozen raspberries, honey, almond butter. and pumpkin spice coffee aka the best.

most of my recent lunches have been chicken salad sandwiches. i used to hate chicken salad but this one is really good. none of that weird grape or apple stuff going on here! 

chicken taco salad

and that's all i've got for ya, folks. i promise i've been eating lots more yummy food than this. better start remembering to take pictures!

favorite tv show to watch?

WIAW: Goals

happy wednesday y'all! hope you're having a good week. i've had another busy one around here, stay tuned for a post going up tomorrow about something crazy exciting that i signed up for & the huge progress i've made in crossfit recently!

but for now, here's what i've been eating lately + a little tangent at the end about my current goals.

pizza night out with the fam! 

i've been adding this to my coffee lately and absolutely loving it. it's delicious and pretty 'clean' for a coffee creamer, in my book. 

a warrior bowl from vitality bowls, a local place that makes acai bowls & smoothies. this one was an acai, bananas, blueberries, raspberries, flaxseed, broccoli, soy milk, & apple juice, topped with sliced banana, strawberries, granola, almonds, goji berries, and honey. sooo good!

homemade mushroom pizza by the madre. 

oats with defrosted berries and peanut butter

TJ's mexican salad at work for dinner

one of my go-to breakfasts: coconut flour pancakes with sunbutter and raw honey

a smoothie from vitality bowls after crossfit. this was acai, blueberry pomegranate juice, soy milk, blueberries, bananas, raspberries and whey protein

aaand another smoothie! this was called 'the hulk' and the girl that rung me up said that she was the one that came up with it. it was really good! i can't remember exactly what was in it (and it's not on the menu online) but i know there was spinach, spirulina, almond milk, whey protein, and a few different fruits. 

a new-to-me bar that i got at whole foods. i was starving on the way home from the PT office, and this did the trick of tiding me over til dinner. i wish i'd picked a different flavor though because i liked everything about this bar, except that the flavor wasn't super strong (which i should have expected since sunflower butter doesn't have a really strong taste). 

grilled cheeses on black california bread have been my thing lately! this one was spinach, bacon, havarti, and cheddar. i've been eating these so often the past few days (i had two today, haha) - all different variations every time. i think my favorite was chicken, cheddar, pepperjack, and avocado. SOOO good. 

yet another smoothie... now you guys know where all of the money from my tips goes, haha! this was the same smoothie as the pink one above, except i asked them to add spirulina. just as delicious with more nutrients!

one of my favorite dinners: burger and sweet potato fries. this burger was a mushroom & mozzarella turkey burger from whole foods. it was really good! 

my momma brought me whole foods salad bar for dinner at work when i didn't have time to make myself one before dashing out the door. she's the best mom in the world! & that vitaminwater zero is my all time favorite drink. 

lots of my peanut butter chocolate chip cookie dough bites! i love having them on top of plain greek yogurt with honey for breakfast and dessert. 

i haven't taken too many photos of my food lately (this was a collection of the past week) mostly because i've become a creature of habit, and when i find something i like, i eat it a ton for about a week and then get tired of it. the past week i basically ate grilled cheese, smoothies, egg scrambles, grapes, protein bars, and frozen yogurt.

i am trying to work on squeezing in more fruits & vegetables since i haven't been eating a lot of those lately. i've probably eaten 4 salads since coming home from school (2 of them are in this post, haha) because i ate salads at school so often for so long that i am totally sick of them. i also hate prepping fruit! i've been getting my fruits and veggies in mostly in smoothie form because it's an easy way to get a lot of servings in and it isn't too hard to make. i also almost always have some form of green juice in the fridge (i like odwalla, naked juice, and trader joe's green juice - i just buy whatever is on sale because it's expensive). 

i know that food has a lot to do with performance and with the rate that i'm improving in crossfit i can't help but think that if i cleaned up my eats a little bit more, i could perform even better and improve even more. i'm setting small little goals for myself to help with this, one of which is to eat MORE veggies and the other is to get bowls of berries at work instead of bowls of froyo (i get a free one every shift i work, which means a lot of free yogurt). i like setting goals of adding healthy things in, or making healthy swaps, instead of just cutting things out, because that doesn't work for me. to each his/her own! 

what's the best thing you ate this week? 

current favorite healthy swap?

Catch Up {early weekend countdown}

It's been such a long time since i've gotten the chance to sit down and write a post, and i miss writing and chatting with you guys so much! It's been crazy around here with schoolwork, work, writing my Mojo posts, and fitting in some time to have fun. This quarter time is flying - i can't believe it's already 8th week.

I have so much to catch you up on and so many photos that I want to share, so I thought I'd do a weekend countdown post a little bit early so that I could organize everything. prepare yourselves, this is a long one!

6 recent WODs

PIN IT

we only did 10 minutes of chelsea and everyone in my class was dying. i can't imagine doing the full workout! i used a band on the pull-ups, 105# for the deadlifts, and a 35# kettlebell. my partner and i finished 7 rounds in the 12 minutes so we each ended up doing 70 deadlifts! i did this workout yesterday and my whole body is sore today. 

PIN IT

I got up to 85# on the power clean, and used 65# on the first round of push presses and then dropped to 55# when i realized i wasn't going to be able to keep my form with 65#. i also used a band on the pull-ups and made it through 3 rounds in the 10 minutes.

PIN IT

I alternated using a 40# ball with a 60# ball - when I used the 60# ball, I only did half a lap around the gym. My arms were so sore the next day! 

PIN IT

 I used a 16# ball for the wall balls, and my partner and i had 55# on our bar and 15# dumbells for the WOD. In the partner WOD, the first exercise determined  how long the person doing the second exercise would go (when the first person couldn't go any longer, you switched, and kept switching until the 5 minutes was up). 

PIN IT

 The handstands were so much fun to practice in this workout! It was harder by the end of the tabata because of all the blood rushing to your head, but it reminded me of the old days when I was always doing gymnastics as a kid. For the AMRAP, i used a 20" box, a 26# kettlebell, and I made it through 4 rounds plus 10 extra push-ups. I was dying on the push-ups by the end - I did a total of 58 push-ups by the time I was done with the workout, and my arms were trashed. 

PIN IT

 i've been doing this workout a lot when i run out of time during the day and want to work out at night on the track (when there aren't athletes practicing there). there are pull-up bars at my track, but if you're doing this in a gym or outside, you could substitute 10 burpees for the pull-ups or something similar.

5 recent eats

 

native foods cafe with one of my foodie friends! i got their tempeh burger (with avocado, carrots, onions, and some other stuff i think) and sweet potato fries. it was heaven. 

 

addicted. the bag was gone in like 2 days. 

 

greek yogurt bowl with frozen raspberries, dried bluberries, almond granola, and barney butter. 

 

jamba when i was stuck on campus without food one day. i got their berry oatmeal (soooo good! and sweet) and a light razzmatazz smoothie with soy protein. 

 

one of the newer items our cafe is offering (see my post below about it!): mediterranean nachos! basically pita chips with veg, hummus, and tzatziki. soo good.

4 latest posts on Daily Bruin Mojo

• Q&A: A UCLA Dietician's Take on International No Diet Week 
• Interesting Ways UCLA Students Stay Active at the John Wooden Center 
• A Review of the New Bruin Cafe Menu  
•  4 Running Routes Around UCLA

3 random life updates

- i had so much fun at wango tango 2013 with my friends a few weeks ago. it was a concert put on by KIIS-FM with a bunch of popular artists, like Maroon 5, Flo Rida, Jason DeRulo, Demi Lovato, Bruno Mars, and more! i had a blast and we had so much fun that some of us bought tickets to see Maroon 5 and Kelly Clarkson next fall. 

-my parents are coming this weekend! i'm so excited to see them and eat some yummy food and sleep in a hotel bed. and i'm bringing them to the church i've been going to on sunday which i am really looking forward to.
-i'm seeing imagine dragons in concert next week - STOKED! can you tell i have a problem with spending all my money on concerts?

2 Bible verses
"Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows." James 1:17
"Lord, you establish peace for us; all that we have accomplished you have done for us" Isaiah 26

1 inspiring video to watch: 
i cried when i saw this video. it's so inspiring and was a beautiful reminder of how precious life is and how often i take everything for granted - my healthy body, my brain, and so much more.  
 

Recent Eats & Workouts.

my life lately = class + study + work + eat + sweat + sleep.

needless to say i'm so happy it's the weekend! even though all i'll be doing for the rest of the weekend is working and studying, it's a nice break from going to class.

i thought i'd stop in and share some recent eats (since i missed WIAW), and all of the awesome workouts i did the past week!

the friday special sushi bowl - sticky rice with carrots, cucumber, edamame, shrimp w/ spicy mayo, and AVOCADO! this bowl was so good - i wish it was offered on more days than friday!

obligatory friday froyo. peach & tart flavors with lots of strawberries, cheesecake bites, walnuts, almonds, pink & white cookies, and graham cracker crumbs.

tortilla with crunchy almond butter, banana, chia seeds, and honey

plain greek yogurt with TJ's blueberry muesli, a little honey, and frozen berries

lots of sweet potatoes with nut butter & honey! i bought a couple of sweet potatoes at trader joes last week - best decision ever :-) and they're really really cheap, too!

my favorite shrimp & corn chowder

whole wheat turkey sandwich with lettuce, tomato, and dijonaise. 

another bowl of plain greek yogurt with muesli, frozen berries, and honey

an oatmeal bowl - i made it with a packet of maple TJ's oatmeal, milk, and chia seeds and then topped it with almond butter, banana slices, shredded coconut, & a few crushed up coconut cookie thins (from TJ's, best things ever!)  

workouts this week:

sunday: 6 mile run (longest distance i've run in who knows how long!)
monday: 20 minutes of elliptical, 1 round of kaila's workout, 1 mile treadmill run, stretches
tuesday: 2 mile treadmill run + 10 mins elliptical
wednesday: 30 minutes elliptical intervals (i was a sweaty mess by the end!) + abs in between classes
thursday: 3.4 mile run before class
friday: IFT WOD that looked like this:

warm up: 4 laps of farmers' carry around the gym with a 26# kettlebell
WOD:
complete each exercise for one minute before moving onto the next. rest for one minute in between rounds.
-slam balls
-KB thrusters
-double unders
-push-ups

i used a 16# slam ball and a 26# kettlebell for the thrusters. by the end of the workout i was DEAD. but super proud of myself because i did my first double under!! and managed to get four in a row in the last round!

all in all it was a great week for workouts considering that most days i didn't have much time to squeeze one in (but was always glad that i did!). today i'm SUPER sore in my legs from yesterday's workout so it's definitely a rest day. i might take tomorrow off, too, or do a yoga video on hulu or something.

oh & a random outfit pic before i go - it was raining a little bit this week but it was still warm so i went with leggings, a tank, a scarf, and boots!

and i'll leave you with this:

tell me: best thing you've eaten / best workout you've done this past week!

hearts will be glowing when loved ones are near.

praying for connecticut <3

***********************************************

 i'm finally home and i'm so, so thankful for my family and friends.

i've been enjoying my time at home so much. lots of TV watching, baking, dance partying, trips to the gym with my momma, running, and spending time with my family.

my brown sugar cookies

yesterday we went into the city - one of our christmas traditions!

i started the day off with some delicious caramelized pumpkin pancakes (with barney butter of course) and a kickboxing class at the gym.

kickboxing was followed my a green monster (AHH! my first one in months!) and a shower

and then we were on our way!

 

we dance party on BART. #normal

my city!

visited the kitties in the macy's windows <3

chipotle for lunch! i got a burrito bowl with brown rice, steak, black beans, corn salsa, and guacccc.

macy's!

we're kinda crazy. (:

 in front of the big christmas tree!

i love this picture! one of my mottos: life is better when you're laughing. 

and of the course the night ended with froyo on the couch and a movie with the fam!

today i had a yummy breakfast (1 egg and 2 egg whites with spinach, & a whole wheat bagel - half with butter and half with almond butter), went for a run with a good friend, and zumba'd with mom. 

my mom and i also made a ton of chocolate pretzels to give as gifts and i baked these amazing magic cookie bars (with dark, semisweet, & white chocolate chips, and almonds). 

we dance partied while the bars were baking! i love my mom so much. 

and now i'm off to enjoy some pizza and decorate the christmas tree with my family :)