Yoga Morning

Good Morning! I set my alarm for 6:30 and 6:35 and eventually my eyes opened at 6:46 but I was just draggin my wagon. It took a lot of self convincing to actually get out of bed. By the time I was dressed in my workout clothes it was already 6 minutes to the start of my cycling class. I haven't been on time once so far and I felt like stressing out about it so early in the morning is not the way to go. Instead, I decided to do better next week and be perfectly on time and do something that I've been wanting to do for a while. iTunes Yoga Podcasts! Is it amazing to anyone else that there are zillions of freeeeee workout podcasts just waiting to be conquered? I chose a podcast called YOGAmazing by Chaz Rough titled "Yoga for College Students". I thought that was appropriate. It was pretty good, nice and light, and definitely relaxing. The only problem I was having is that I'm having some kind of allergies this morning. When I was in child's pose with my forehead on the ground it felt like little weights that had been floating around in my head were coming to settle behind my face.

I even busted out my snazzy yoga mat! Purple is my favorite color :D

Finally it was time to fill my grumbling stomach. In the mix:

• 1/2 cup soy milk
• 1/2 cup water
• 1/2 Large Fuji Apple
• 1/4 tsp. cinnamon
• 1/2 cup old fashioned rolled oats
• 1 tsp. light agave
• 1 Tbsp. milled flax seed
• 1/4 cup raisins
• scoop of peanut butter

And a mug o' green tea with a little soy milk. I'm beginning to learn that a little soy milk goes a long way. I'm pretty impressed with the Costco brand Kirkland. They seems to have quite a few quality products!

Ahh, apartment decor. I love it when you can see the steam coming off the food.

Well today is another looooong day:

1. Music 160B- 20th Century Analysis
2. Anthro 131- Native American Indians
3. Work at the Music Library (best job ever!)- 3 hr. shift
4. Meet with Greg about Music History Paper
5. Chamber Choir- 2 hr. rehearsal (which is better than 3. trust me!)

I won't be home again until after 7 so I'm going to try to plan a little better than yesterday and get a tasty lunch plus snacks packed up. But right now it's shower time! Gotta have my head on straight today, it's gunna be a busy one!

College Lifestyle and Fitness, a Gray Morning

Good Morning Blog World! ...Whoever's out there. I've been thinking a lot about my new blog and I'm really proud of myself for finally just doing it. It's something I've been thinking about and wanting for a while now. But I was only coming up with reasons why I wouldn't be able to keep up with a blog until now: I intend to prove myself wrong! But... I've also been thinking "what makes my blog unique?" "why would anyone want to read my blog?"

Well one pretty good reason is that I am a college student with a college student schedule, budget, lifestyle, and I'm college student age. The things I am interested in and have questions or struggles with could very well be the interests, questions, and struggles of a lot of other people! I don't intend to limit my audience (if I ever get one...) to only college students because I won't be one forever, but it makes sense that one of the biggest impacts on my everyday life should be a prominent topic here.

So my question today is, how do college students make health and fitness a part of their lives? We're all under a lot of pressure to achieve well in classes, (to go to class in the first place for that matter), to make our own money or live by a budget, to take care of ourselves, and in large, to be successful human beings. How do you or did you make fitness fit in with your college lifestyle?

I set my alarm for 7 this morning but I woke up at 6:30 thinking I had for sure slept through my alarm. I think it's a good thing my internal alarm clock is getting earlier. I like being up early in the morning. Does that make me an old woman??? Breakfast this morning was another bowl of cinnamon apple oats except this time I did 1/2 cup soy milk and 1/2 cup water instead of a full cup of milk, and I added a Tbsp of milled flax seed. Plus a piping hot mug of green tea.

I'm pretty darn excited today because after my music history class my friend Amanda and I are going to hit the gym together! I never get to work out with anyone any more so this little gym date is getting me pretty excited. I have class again at 2 so I packed this little veggie-less snack. It's very cherrilicious but there are no veggies in sight! A big lunch salad is in my future. By the way for any fellow vegans out there, I think WholeSoy & Co. is great! Of all the soy yogurts I've tried I just like this one the best. It doesn't taste planty like soy sometimes can. A report to come soon on the Peanut Butter Pretzel Mojo Clif bar.

Last night my roomie told me that it was going to rain tomorrow and I was in denial until this morning. It hasn't started raining yet and the sun is trying it's best to come out...

But it's mostly just a gray day :(

Well, time to get ready for work and my workout date! I would love to hear your answers about college lifestyle and fitness but it's cool... I know I am mostly writing to the ether lol.

First post EVER!

My mom always said that if I were an Indian my name would be: Girl who plays with food. Please excuse the political incorrectness of that, just know that that statement says a lot about me. I admit, I do play with my food on occasion but truthfully I think food should be fun! Though I’ve graduated from my days of hiding the gravy inside the potatoes and calling it "Mashed Potato Suprise", my attitude towards food is basically the same. Keep it fun, enjoy every bite, and repeat. Since coming to college I began to explore my freedom in more ways than one. Luckily, this journey has lead me to the realization that I am the boss of what goes into my mouth and my body is a beautiful machine that knows exactly what it's doing. It's my job therefore to do the best I can to allow for optimum system function. I began exercising and basically became obsessed with nutrition and fitness. Since my junior year of high school I had stopped eating red meat and in my sophomore year of college I went vegan...dun dun dun! A lot of people think vegan is extreme and well, it is! But it's not hard if it's something you want and you choose to make it convenient for yourself. I like to think of myself like a scientist. I believe what I know until better, more accurate facts come along and when that happens, I need to be prepared to shift my thinking. Going vegan just seemed right to me and I haven't looked back since. Lucky for me, there has yet to be a vegetable I won't eat, I didn't eat much meat to begin with, and I love to cook!

I am currently a third year Bachelor of Music in Voice at the University of California Santa Barbara. I am twenty years old and am a California native. Obviously, music is a big passion of mine ( I sing opera for my major!). I also speak German and love almost all things German. I am Jewish and have recently begun to discover more about this part of myself I've never met before. I am a recovering cheese addict, I am still addicted to TV shows that have to do with crime (my top two are Dexter and Criminal Minds), and my guilty pleasure band is Say Anything.

My goal with this blog is to keep myself on track with staying healthy and motivated. I owe my inspiration to Tina Haupert and her blog Carrots 'N' Cake. Her optimistic, fun-loving attitude about having a healthy, balanced lifestyle is a priceless lesson that I hope to cherish for my entire life. Thank you Tina! Also, I've decided to join Tina in her "Lose The Dough for the Big 3-0" challenge. It started on the 19th so that makes today one week exactly. I've been doing alright so far. I scheduled in workout times and am making an effort to watch what I eat (hence the new bloggizzle).

Breakfast this morning after my 7am cycling class was a tasty bowl of cinnamon apple oats and green tea.

My cinnamon apple oats were:

• 1 cup vanilla almond milk
• 3/4 one large Fuji apple
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 cup old fashioned rolled oats (Quaker)
• 1/4 cup raisins
• 1 tsp light agave
• and of course a heaping scoop of peanut butter!

Normally I'm an almond butter type of girl but I went to Costco yesterday... I couldn't help myself. I've decided to switch to peanut butter and I have to say, the salty contrast was quite nice.

There was an extra slice that I just had to eat obviously!

After rushing home from class I whipped out the left overs from dinner last night as quickly as I could! Vegan creamed spinach, roasted brussel sprouts, roasted butternut squash, Hummus (my sustinance) 8 sundried tomato basil Wheat Thins, and some beautiful mango slices.

For a little afternoon dessert, the last piece of the lemon cake with lemon sauce. It needed to go, it was not going to last much longer.

And now I am feeling fuller than I want to...maybe a glass of green tea to calm the bubble belly and I guess now I don't have any more good excuses to avoid my reading :(

Be back at dinner time!!