Monthly Archives: December 2011

New Years Resolutions

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I see it all the time (on facebook, texting, tweeting, whatever)-people making New Year’s Resolutions (at least 5 or 6 different goals no less) hoping to maintain them.  The gym becomes more crowded for a while, some people lose the weight and some people get lost in the mix of things.  Some people’s disorders run rampant and they promise they will stick to them harder than ever.   Some people place resolutions on fitness, others work related, younger-school related.  Whatever you do there is a strong judgment of following your New Year’s Resolutions weather you like it or not.

For me personally, looking a year out is hard to justify where the heck my life will be.  I can’t make a resolution that I’ll run a sub 19 in a 5k this year because who knows how much control I’ll have on that.   Injuries, changing of mind, not racing any 5ks, all play large rolls…I don’t want to make a work related goal because I don’t know where I’ll be working.  Oh and food related-I can’t even stick to a meal plan for a day.  I have honestly read a few blogs that make me a little bit uncomfortable with all the New Year’s Goals but I’m not going to bridge that topic today.

Today I’m have made two New Years Resolutions.  I think it makes it pretty manageable.

1.       To be able to touch my toes by 2013.   (I can touch maybe my knee caps right now).

2.       To continue to live the dream.

Happy New Year’s my friends!

Question for you: What are your New Years Resolutions?  Do you set and follow through? 

Personal Daily Food Journal

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This is from Last Wednesday so I guess it qualifies.   And FYI props to you foodies that do this everyday.  It was painfully difficult for me for one day. 

I don’t know all the tricks of the trade of the WIAW posts.  I like to read them but I don’t participate that often.  Mainly because my food intake is super boring right now.  I eat pancakes.  I eat a sandwich.  I eat whatever is going on at my house.  I am not a good foodie and I’m okay with that.  I’m hoping to find a man that will understand that I am not chef Hollie.  If you don’t want pancakes or something cooked in the microwave-I can’t help you.  I also hate getting into that comparing who eats what and how much they burn and food advice from your great aunt twice removed because she is an expert.

But I also get the question of what do I eat-all the time.  How many calories I have…ect ect…I thought I would do this once and show you a day in the life of me.  When I’m being lazy at home.  So maybe I’ll do day in life part two in school.

Without further ado-let’s go time travel back to Wednesday.

I woke up at 7:25am.  I don’t know why but that is when my alarm was set from school and I just kept it that way coming home.  I like that time and it works for me and I wake up that early every morning of my break.

At home I tend to eat waffles because we don’t have a griddle.  Well we did and I brought it to school and I don’t enjoy making stovetop pancakes.  Pancake snob maybe.

Waffle of the day goes to Chocolate Peanut Flour.  For your enjoyment this meal is about 500 calories.

Chocolate peanut flour waffle with peanut butter (and syrup but you can't tell)

I normally eat and then read blogs and pux around the internet until 9:30, Wednesday was no different.   It gives my food about an hour and a half to digest before my run.  That is plenty of time for me and besides I’m not going hard so if anything if cockblocks speed even more.  8 miles untimed was my morning jive.  Easy.  Nothing too exciting and that’s all I have to say about that. I would love to be more informational about my running but most of my runs are easy and quite boring.  I didn’’t go to track but 2 times in 2011.  Yep I said it. 

I will talk more about my training when I go into phase 2 in a couple weeks.  To simplify, 85% of my runs are easy and untimed.  My goal is just easy milage for 85%.  I have already become so strong.  I can feel it.

Moving on to lunch.  I time my run so I can eat lunch right when I get home (as in within 2 seconds of walking in the door).

Egg bagel with guacamole and cheddar cheese

Then I did absolutely nothing for my life for another 3 hours.  Isn’t break lovely that way?  Actually-I went to the mall and got some new makeup from MAC but I didn’t do much else besides that.

But I did get some coffee.  I get gas station coffee everyday.   Everyday I put at least 150 calories of grimey cream and whatever else is body.  I don’t care.

This is a summertime shot but I still go to the same place. Oh and this is the Beamer that dude texting and driving totaled but still accurate that I got this 24 ounces of grime.

I got home around three and went for my tempo run (that day happened to be part of that 15% timed fast runs I do).  It was good.  I felt so good.  I cannot even explain to you how good that run went.  In fact, I will tell you.  I ran 5.5 miles in 38:08 which equates to a 6:34 overall pace.  I didn’t feel like I was dying or going to have a heart attack or go into cardiac arrest.  Thus it was overall perfect.

After getting home, I had one of these lovely creations.  In order to become more tan I will eat more pumpkin (and turn orange from beta-carotene).  Just kidding but add some pumpkin to yours oats and it’s so good.  (This was around 4:30-5).

With sprinkles. duh. 15 extra calories of worth. Well probably like 45 because I just kinda dump a bunch in.

For dinner we had chili, broccoli and left over turkey.  That is parmasean cheese on top because it makes everything better. 

Later that night I wanted ice-cream.  So I went and got some cake batter ice cream because it’s my favorite.  It is way to cold in Northern New York to be thinking of ice cream but down here 50 degrees is optimal ice cream weather.

with cherries.

And that was my day of joyous eats.  It came out to be roughly 2500 calories incase you were wondering.   So please call your great aunt twice removed expert in dietetics to get at me. As 99.9% of the time-I do answer your formspring questions via blog or there so ask away.  :)

Question for you: What have you been eating lately? 

Changes of 2011.

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So it’s nearly that time of the year where you do a whole yearly recap of life.  I tell you about all the fantastic times I had this year, possibly throw in a few photos to demonstrate the fun and then we move on to 2012.   

For me, 2011 was the biggest years of change in my entire.  One of-no it was the biggest year of change.  I went from having a very serious long term boyfriend to being single.  (which I really haven’t been since sophomore year of high school.  Can you say chronic serial dater?).  I changed majors from math and education to community health and no they don’t share similaries. (Technically I just switched my minor and major I guess).  I stopped doing something I had been doing the last 15 years of my life (ie swimming).   I guess the only thing that stayed the same was I continuously blogged and invaded your email.  

So yes.  A year of change it was.  Let’s break you down 2011.

I celebrated New Years in Puerto Rico on my swim training trip.

New Years with my (now) housemate!

My assistant coach and I in Puerto Rico. I really did do some swimming I swear. ;)

Finished my last full swim season with college seasonal PW (ie personal worsts.)  (But I had a great time at the meet and with my family!).

During warmups.

Got injured in February due to bootleg treadmills at our college.  Then ran my first run on St. Patricks Day in race form.  And in a running skirt!  (And no I did not go “hard”.  I just ran)

This picture is also plastered on a big bulletin board in our gym. So famous.

Ran my first half marathon in April with Sara.  Did it as a long run and had the greatest 1:41 on my whole life.

Ran two more in May (one with Katelyn), switched my major and officially ended a nearly 3 year relationship.  Woah May what were you doing.

Apparently the other thing I did was wear that Nike Jacket like it's my job.

Watched Matt Graduate in June.

Ran my only 5k road race of the Summer on July 4th.  (Great Dismal Swamp Fires kind of cockblocked any sort of speed associated with that and the ability to breath).

Somehow placed in my age group lolz. I don't know why I'm creepily chuckling to myself.

Celebrated my 21st birthday on July 12. 

light or dark? So many choices.

Got a lovely stress fracture.

I was clinging to Theresa for dear life to stand up.

Celebrated aDuB’s 21st birthday in August and got more intoxicated than mine.  Went back up to school in August as well.

Bests friends fo lifee.

Visited Matt and watched him be inducted into the Reserves for school in September.

Ran my first race in October post stress fracture. 

I literally did not take off my calf sleeves because I was too lazy.

Nothing too thrilling in November-I just quit swim.

and finished cross country season. On a good note because I am still uninjured.

December is now.  I’m home and living the dream.

This is the only somewhat festive photo I could find.

Question for you: Talk to me about 2011. 

Lunchtime Leftovers

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Tis the season to still be jolly (one would hope!).  Or use all your left overs and no, I’m not making turkey and stuffing pancakes, can you say ew? Mom and I (mostly mom) did come up with a great way to use leftovers and all this Chobani that I’m loving.

I hate to call anything I help to make a recipe considering it’s easy (and I’m clearly no Betty Crocker) but you know we all start at different points in our cooking skills.  Mine just happens to start at that easy bake oven level.

————–

Turkey Salad

 

All your delicious leftover turkey (or roughly 2 cups shredded).

¼ cup almonds

½ cup apple slices

½ cup Greek Yogurt

Add everything and mix. 

I’m thinking you could make different specializations with this.  For me personally, I might integrate vanilla yogurt and cranberries because I like the sweeter things in life.  Dad doesn’t have a sweet tooth (at all), so this was perfect for him.  He is a mayo addict and even agreed it was perfect for a sandwich and was okay that it didn’t have mayo.

Mom with the final product :)

So there you have it.  Leftover week here and more recipes to come!

Question for you: How do you use leftovers?  

Blogging About Blogging

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I wouldn’t say my blog is the epiphany of great (by any standards).  I also wouldn’t say my sources are always accurate or that I was number one proofreader across the world.   I’m not an English major (and didn’t inherit my moms newspaper editor skills), my brain thinks faster than I type or talk and I don’t spent countless hours on the Microsoft word perfecting my blog.  I am a sarcastic spitfire though so I hope that keeps you around. 

I would say that I do enjoy blogging and it’s an outlet for my dumb witted remarks that I don’t always make in real life because I don’t want to get beat up.

I have gotten several questions lately about how to make your blog grow and how to find new readers….ect.  I’ve compiled a somewhat short and sweet list of easy to do (and most are obvious) things.  (Who has real life friends anyways these days?)

1. Read and Comment on Many Blogs

BUT don’t add meaningless bullshit when it’s clear you didn’t read the post.   

I’m not saying that you must read word for word every post every single person in the blogesphere because that would burn you out in five minutes.  All I’m saying is reading and commenting on posts is a great way to get your name out there.  Reading and then commenting, “oh that is great” or neato won’t exactly add much to the conversation though .  Finally commenting when you have only read the title is probably not the best idea either (and 99.9% of the time) obvious that you didn’t read anything other than the title.

2.  Write for you.

We are all guilty of this.  Asking what our readers want.  I mean I love reading all the blogs I do, but I do no wake up in the morning thinking “OH my god, if so and so doesn’t write and this today…I’m clicking unsubscribe”.  Write what comes natural and in your natural style.  If you aren’t serious…don’t try to be.  If being funny is not for you…write about informational topics.  If you are super awkward, embrace it!  Don’t cry if you can’t post on the regular.  Your readers are subscribed and it is 100% understandable if you need breaks.  (it would be weird if you didn’t).

3.       Photos. You need to find that golden line of interest that works for you.

Don’t post 1000 photos in myspace style form photography.  I don’t care if you turned your face 1 degree, it’s the still the same damn picture.

Zero photos makes me feel like I’m reading a book for class and therefore won’t. This goes along with 10000 word posts.  No.

4. 500 Posts daily on the regular. 

Most of us are not able to keep up with the daily 500 posts you do.  Unnecessary and how the hell do you have that much to say?

5. You are boring. 

If you never post pictures of you and your real life friends or you outside of your computer webcam, I can guarantee you will not keep my interest.

Question for you: Biggest advice for bloggers?