“Every morning in Africa, a gazelle wakes up. It knows that it must run faster than the fastest lion or it will be killed. Every morning, a lion wakes up. It knows that it must outrun the slowest gazelle or it will starve to death. It doesn’t matter whether you are a lion or a gazelle…when the sun comes up, you’d better be running.”

(Source)

This morning, I was up with the sun rediscovering my love for running. You see, when I first began running, I didn’t pay much attention at all to my pace or my mileage. I simply focused on how amazing running made me feel. It made me feel strong and independent. It gave me alone time just to think and breathe and pray.

When I became more interested in competitive running and starting training for races, I began running with more of a purpose. Runs were rarely just for enjoyment; there was always an agenda – farther distance, quicker pace, etc.

When I got injured, I truly missed running so much. I felt a bit depressed and struggled with realizing that my self-worth is not determined by running.

Now that I am finally able to run without pain (!!), I find myself having to really focus on rediscovering what it is about running that I loved in the first place. When I first started back into running, I felt upset with myself that I couldn’t go as far or as fast as I used to. I can still only run about a max of 4.5 to 5 miles and am only allowed to increase my mileage .5 miles every week or so. Initially, I felt frustrated by these restrictions and by the fact that running 5 miles actually feels challenging after taking the whole summer off. That used to be a short run for me!

Then I realized something…it doesn’t matter how much I’m running or how fast or how far.

I’m running!!!

I am finally healthy enough to enjoy this hobby that I motivates me to spring up out of bed before the sun comes up to put on my tennis shoes.

So this morning, I put on my shoes and my favorite running tights…

and I ran. I didn’t think about how far I was going or how fast. I just thought about how much I love to run and how great it makes me feel.

The only other thoughts that I allowed to wander into my mind a time or two involved breakfast.

1 fried egg + egg white, whole wheat english muffin w/ jam, raspberries

 :)

In other news…

 2 years ago today, me and this one guy I know officially became a couple.

Have a wonderful Wednesday, my friends!!

Yes. We need to talk about this.

There are few words…

…that could appropriately describe how phenomenal this breakfast actually was.

Lengendary. Sensational. Stupendous. Astonishing.

Epicurean, perhaps?

It all started with a recipe that I read in Women’s Health for baked oatmeal.

Until this morning, I had never attempted to bake my beloved oats. I think it’s because the required 5 minutes for stovetop oats take up all of the patience I can muster when my belly is growling in the early morning.

This morning, however, I was feeling surprisingly patient and creative. After replenishing my stock of pumpkin at Whole Foods yesterday, I couldn’t get the thought of pumpkin baked oatmeal out of my head.

I used the recipe in Women’s Health as a bit of a guide, but really ended up just winging it.

All I can say to you, my friends, is that my life will never be the same.

(It’s possible that I’m being the slightest bit dramatic.)

“Pumpkin Pie for Breakfast” Oatmeal

• 1/3 cup Old Fashioned oats
• 1/3 cup original almond milk
• 1 egg white
• ~1/3 cup canned pumpkin
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice
• 1/2 banana

 I didn’t really do anything special to these ingredients…I just let them work their extraordinary magic. I mixed them all up and, since I couldn’t find my glass ramekin, plopped them into this adorable mini pie dish. I sliced half of a very ripe banana on top of the mixture and baked it for about 25 minutes at 350 degrees. (Checking it impatiently every 5 second, because it literally smelled like a pumpkin pie was baking in our oven.)

The only thing I would change about this recipe is that next time I would probably just mash the banana up and mix it into the oatmeal. Although the slices definitely make it more aesthetically pleasing

Thanks for all of your awesome comments regarding how I plan to train differently for my next half-marathon! I loved reading about your guys’ current and favorite training tips and techniques.

Speaking of which, I am required to create a “how to” manual for one of my classes on a topic of my choice and am planning on writing it on  “how to train for your first half-marathon.” I want to gear it specifically towards women and focus on safe and enjoyable training techniques.

My project will cover everything from race selection, nutrition, clothing, shoes, safety and training plan selection. I would absolutely love input or advice that any of you have, based on things that you have read or personally experienced from training for half or full marathons!

I can use any resources I want, including personal interviews, and I know that there are tons of amazing runners out there that could teach me all about safe training tips! So please share!!!

I hope you had a wonderful week and that it continues on into a blessed weekend! Love you all!!

Best breakfast this week? Best recipe/food discovery this week?

Please don’t forget to share your safe training tips with me!!

OH MY GOSSHHHHHH!!!

I am a terrible blogger.

I am so sorry that I have been absent for nearly a week now! The last week has been absolutely CRAZY. I was swamped with tests and homework assignments all week. To add to the stress, it’s recruiting time for all of the major accounting firms, so I’ve been attending TONS of networking events.

Friday afternoon, I literally came home, dropped onto the couch, and didn’t move (except to visit the pantry/refrigerator several times) until 9:00PM to go to sleep.

Needless to say, I am feeling much more rested and ready to tackle the week ahead!

Thanks for all of your awesome comments about my afternoon with my grandpa. I was so glad that I could put my healthy eating “rules” to the side and just enjoy a day with my wonderful family. So glad you all approved!

One exciting piece of news that I have to share with you all is that last night, I registered for the Sarasota Half Marathon in Sarasota, FL in March! It’s the same half-marathon that I ran last year with my mom; both of our first!

The best part is that this year my beautiful sister is going to join in on the fun!

Watch out, world! We’re gonna rock this race!

I so badly wanted to run another half-marathon on September 11th, and had hoped to be training for a marathon by this point, but all of my injuries have prevented that.

For new readers (hi! ), I tore a muscle in my calf last March and then have had some knee issues this summer.

The first thing I thought about when we registered for the Sarasota half again was all of the things that I am going to do differently this time around.

1. Actually follow my training schedule!

Imagine that! I followed Hal Higdon’s Novice Training Plan and felt that it prepared me very well for the race. However, I honestly didn’t follow it as closely as I feel that I should have.

For one thing, I didn’t take a rest day every week. I would run a long run on Saturday and instead of resting the next day, I’d cross train. My poor body was so exhausted! I’ve talked before about being bad about resting, but it’s just so important. I think one of the many reasons I got injured was because I was overdoing it.

2. Only run 3-4 times per week maximum!

This year while I was training, even on days that the plan specifically said cross train, I decided to run instead. I absolutely love to run; I enjoy it more than any other form of exercise. But once again…I completely wore myself out. Taking days to do the elliptical, yoga or swim are going to be regular occurrences in my new training schedule!

3. Shave some time off

This March, I finished in about 1 hour and 51 mins. Next year, I want to shave off at least ten minutes. Hopefully more, but I don’t wanna be too optimistic! Haha, we’ll see!

4. Refuel properly.

I feel like I was really good about fueling for my runs. My favorite pre-run breakfast is a sandwich or bagel thin with a hefty helping of PB and a banana.

However, I really don’t think I understood the importance of refueling quickly after my runs. I’d burn anywhere 500-1000 calories on my longer runs, but I didn’t increase my calories quite enough to replace all that I had lost. I think that was another mistake that contributed to my injuries.

Well, thanks to the awesome guys over at EAS, I should have NO problem refueling from workouts! Jon from EAS contacted me a few weeks ago to see if I’d be interested in trying out any products.  I was thrilled to find two huge boxes of loot on my porch this morning!

They sent me several boxes of Myoplex Lite protein bars (not all of it is pictured above) and a BILLION packets of post-workout protein powder!

The nutritional stats of the protein bar are good (pictured above), but the taste is seriously the BEST part. I haven’t had a protein bar that I have liked this much in a long time! Chocolate on top of chocolate. It honestly tastes like a chocolate milkshake in protein bar form haha.

The post-training recovery shake is also delicious! Jon sent me strawberry, so I used a packet this morning in my protein shake. 35 grams of protein?! So legit! I wasn’t sure how I’d feel about the strawberry flavor, but it was really good and definitely not chalky.

I won’t need to start actually training for the half-marathon until November or so, but it’s always good to be well prepared! Thanks, Jon!

Meanwhile, I am going to stick to a lot of cross training (elliptical and bike) and weight training. I don’t want to hit the ground running (literally) too soon, because I want to be healthy and pain-free when training time does start! So exciting!

I hope you had a great Monday, friends! Can’t wait to catch up on your blogs

Are you training for any races right now?

Have you changed anything about your training plans after running a race and preparing for your second?

Favorite food for training/recovery?!

Yesterday afternoon, my Grandpa Bill came into town.

All summer long, he had been talking about his desire to come up to our house so we could go get a burger and fries from a great local place called Dairy Delite.

Well, when my mom told me that he was coming up for lunch and that we were going to Dairy Delite, the first thing I felt was frustration.

You see, it seems like the past few weeks have been full of reasons for me to eat too much non-nutritious food. We’ve had company in town a few times which always calls for fun treats, and I’ve been crazy busy with school which has also messed up my eating habits. Several nights, I have found myself getting home at 7-8PM absolutely famished and eating anything and everything in sight.

Needless to say, a burger and fries was really the last thing I felt I should be eating.

But wait a minute…who determines what I should be eating, anyways? I realized I was in need of a serious attitude adjustment.

If eating healthy is going to get in the way of me  spending time with the ones I love and including myself in what they want to do, then it doesn’t seem like all that healthy of a choice.

Sooo what did I do?

I went to Dairy Delite with my parents and adorable grandpa.

He had brought some pictures of my dad from when he was a kid…

He was so cute!

I don’t know what happened…

I ordered a big old hamburger and french fries.

Dug right in…

(Looking super attractive while doing so)

And finished the whole dang thing.

Because who knows how many more times I will be able to eat a burger with this awesome 82 year old man who I am so blessed to have in my life?

Sometimes, my ambitions to be a healthycollegegirl have to take backseat to my ambitions to be a good daughter and grandaughter. It’s all about moderation and perspective, because I am so much more than just a healthy living blogger.

And hey! Today’s a new day.

I think I’ll have a salad

Have you ever had a hard time shutting off your “health cues” so that you could just have fun with family or friends?

Hi there!

Have you had a good week?

I’m so glad to know that I’m not the only one who over-indulged over Labor Day weekend…sounds like a lot of us needed a detox week

This week, I’ve welcomed an old friend back into my life with open arms.

It’s official…fall is here and pumpkin is back with a bang!

Pumpkin is definitely my favorite seasonal flavor. I don’t know why I don’t use it more year round, but there is something about the leaves changing color and the air getting chillier that makes me crave it!

It’s made an appearance in several meals and snacks this week, including:

Pumpkin oats!!

Best breakfast of the week.

Pumpkin pie yogurt….yes please! Vanilla yogurt with 1/2 c pumpkin and lots of cinnamon.

Definitely the best snack of the week.

I also made sure to pick up some of this at the store last night…

And I finally got my first Pumpkin Spice latte of the season this morning.

After a sweaty, early morning workout that included 30 minutes on the elliptical and 45 minutes of weight training, my mom and I agreed that this Friday morning was deserving of a treat.

Grande, nonfat, 2 pump pumpkin spice latte.

I was a little concerned that it’d be too sweet for me since I’ve been going with no sweetner in the lattes for the past year or so…but it was oh sooo good.

A week full of pumpkin got me ready for all of the other amazing flavors that fall and winter bring. I hope your Friday includes one of your seasonal favorites!

What “seasonal” flavor do you look forward to most?

Any fun plans for the weekend?

Well hello there!

How was everyone’s Labor Day weekend?

Mine was absolutely lovely. Filled with lots of family and good food.

Take a look at everything we munched on over break!

Chili relleno breakfast casserole + fresh fruit

Irish Cream coffee!

More peaches! 

LOTS of awesome munchies

Ryan’s mom’s bean salsa recipe (sooo good)

veggies + multi-grain scoops

AMAZING lunch: chicken with terriyaki, swiss cheese, grilled pineapple, onions, jalepeno with fresh fruit and veggie straws

the most insanely moist lemon cake I’ve ever had…not sure I wanna know what they have to put in this to make it so good

sweet potato chocolate chip muffins courtesy of my adorable aunt Jeanne

Chicken Salad Northwoods: wild rice, chicken, sugar snap peas, peppers, pecans avocado

Okay, these were the STAR of the weekend. Cheesecake stuffed peaches.

I am on a mission to healthify this recipe, so stay tuned for an update later on this week!

This is my cute family who came to visit for the weekend! My cousin Justin (far left) had to bring his adorable girlfriend Jenny so we could all approve. We absolutely loved her.

Well, if you know me at all, you know that I ate way too much this weekend and woke up feeling the consequences on Tuesday morning.

This seems to be a common theme with me…

So as always, a big old smoothie came to my rescue to help me detox from a long weekend of over-indulging!

I’ve also made sure to get in a couple of great workouts in the past two days, which has also helped with the detox process

My mom and I were joking about how we both felt not so great after this weekend of overeating, and it reminded me about the line from Never Been Kissed with Drew Barrymore, where one of the girls says,

“Alright that’s it…just water and ex-lax till prom.”

Haha!

Anyone know what I’m talking about?

Well anyways, I’m not gonna go to those extremes…I think I’ll stick to smoothies and yoga

Please tell me I’m not the only one who overindulged this weekend!

What was the best thing you ate over Labor Day?!

Who else is absolutely THRILLED that Pumpkin Spice is back!?!?!

Happy Hump Day, all!!

Prepare yourself for the most random post in healthycollegegirl history.

I feel kind of all over the place today…I have so much I want to share with you!

I think the reason I am feeling so jittery is due to the fact that I made a 5 cup pot of coffee this morning…and demolished it all by myself.

It’s gonna be an interesting day!

Random thought #1:

I got my hair cut this weekend!

My awesome friend Kendra recently got a job in a salon, so I made an appointment with her Friday afternoon. I decided I wanted a change, so she chopped of 4 inches.

And I love it!

occasionally you gotta take the cheesy mirror pic with your phone

 Look at my cute lil ponytail!

It’s so short and fun! Excuse how disgustingly sweaty I am in that picture…I had just completed an elliptical interval workout that looked kinda like this one, and it kicked my butt!

Random thought #2:

After seeing these pancakes over on Brittany’s blog (isn’t she the cutest lil pregnant lady ever?!), I couldn’t stop thinking about them. After I finished up my elliptical workout, I had to recreat them.

Unfortunately, I discovered that we were out of bananas, so I had to modify them a bit. They still turned out amazing!

I halved Brittany’s recipe, which ended up making about 8 pancakes. Mine looked like this:

• 3/4 c raw oats (blended in food processor)
• 1 1/8 c whole wheat flour
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1 c milk (I used 1/2 c skim and 1/2 c almond)
• a little less than 1/4 c unsweetened applesauce
• 2 egg whites
• about 1/4 c honey

Holy amazing pancakes, Batman.

They were thick and dense and so filling!

I topped them with a little bit of peanut butter, some frozen blueberries and a drizzle of maple syrup.

Breakfast success!

Random thought #3:

As I was flipping through the pictures on my older camera the other day, I found some photos from a fun event that I failed to share with you guys!

When the reality of Ry and I’s long distance relationship started to sink in, I realized I would love to have something around to remind me of him while he’s away. I have lots of his sweatshirts and stuff, but I kind of wanted something that we could share and switch off having.

So we decided to make a blanket!

We each picked out our favorite fleece fabric – Little Mermaid for me, Batman for him. We clearly are still children in a lot of ways.

We had a blast making it, and I have loved having it since he’s been gone.

I’m going to Chicago to visit him in October, so I’m going to take it with me then so we can switch off and he could have it.

He let me have it first since I am literally always cold. And he’s just sweet

Cute idea, right?!

Well I think that’s all of the randomness I have for today. I hope you’re enjoying your Labor Day weekend!

Any fun plans? Great workouts? Good food? Tell meeee!

When the weather is as hot as it has been lately, (high of 96 today!), I pretty much always wake up craving a cold breakfast of some sort.

This morning, however, I woke up with one thing on my mind.

OATS!

Underneath that pile of Jif, frozen blueberries and banana is a bowl of glorious, hot oatmeal. I haven’t had it in ages! Alongside a mug of hot coffee, it definitely hit the spot.

I think the fact that this breakfast sounded so good to me was partially due that today was my off day. My brain woke me up at 6:00AM, but my body just did not want to get up and get moving. I felt fatigued and sore…so I decided to forgo my plans to work out this morning.

I’ve talked before about my slight struggles with exercise guilt, and I must admit that I did have to talk myself out of squeezing in a elliptical session tonight. But I honestly am not sure of when my last real rest day was, and I know that in order to avoid another injury…I must give my body a break!

So rest day? Check!

After a leisurely morning of reading some awesome blogs (yes, that’s you that I’m talking about) I got ready and packed myself a day full of food! I had along day of school and classes and knew that meals and snacks would be essential.

I threw together a turkey sandwich, an apple, some pretzels with almonds, one of the last Palisade peaches (!!), a Kashi TLC bar, a Carbmaster yogurt and a tupperware with leftover chicken sausage and awesome roasted veggie salad.

Oddly enough, it all fit into my cool kid lunchbox.

Don’t ask how I did it. I’m a magician. (I ate the yogurt as a mid-morning snack on my way to school )

As I was packing my day of food and uploading these pictures, I realized that one of the main reasons I love healthy eating is that it allows you to eat in such large quantities!

As I passed the student center and noticed the tempting odors of bagels and pizza, I realized that I could probably have just a single serving of one of those items for the same amount of calories as all of the food I packed myself for the entire day.

Seriously! I was thinking the same thing about my breakfasts. Consider this:

Let’s say I decided to cave and get a pumpkin muffin from Panera.

looks pretty good, right?

(source)

Well unfortunately, this one muffin ends up racking up around 580 calories, 22 grams of fat, and only 7 grams of protein!

Generally, I don’t count my calories.  I try to estimate to make sure that I’m getting enough, especially when I’m training, but I am not militant about limiting my calorie intake. However, most of my breakfasts probably end up being anywhere from 350-400 calories and I try to aim for about 15 grams of protein in them.

And although 350 calories is significantly less than 580, I think that my breakfasts tend to be not only just as delicious, but often times much bigger and much more sustainable!

Okay I got a little carried away with breakfast pictures and now I am so excited for breakfast tomorrow I can hardly stand it.

But for real, how awesome is it to be able to eat two or three times the quantity of healthy and nutritious food for way better benefits than smaller servings of junk food?

Don’t get me wrong, I am a huge fan of junk food on certain occasions!

But eating healthy makes me feel better, it makes me look better, it gives me more energy, and it definitely boosts my mood and attitude.

Anyone agree with me here?!

What’s your favorite part of healthy eating?