First Day of Fall and the Never-ending Day

Wednesday

I have a procedure in a week and, in preparation for it, I’m not allowed to take my multivitamin or iron supplements. This has me very worried considering the fact that I have a race this Sunday. If it takes a multivitamin and high-potency iron supplement in addition to my relatively healthy diet just for me to get my blood iron to a normal level, I’m worried that, come Sunday, my blood iron will be very low and impede my running and how well I’ll be able to oxygenate my blood. Sort of important when you’re running, right?

I actually got up when my alarm went off this morning and was determined to do an outdoors run as my workout this morning due to the race on Sunday and that fact that it was actually warm enough to warrant bypassing the gym and doing it au natural. I did not want my body to be in complete shock when all of a sudden it had to deal with pavement rather than a conveyor belt. I put in 2.64 miles in 22:30 (8:30 pace!). Breakfast was the usual: old-fashioned oats made in Vanilla Caramel tea, mixed with cinnamon, chia seeds, and flaxseed meal, and topped with Grape Nuts, PB&Co. Dark Chocolate Dreams, cherry preserves, and almonds.



Lunch with Lyle was a spinach salad with soy cheddar cheese and artichoke hommus mixed with Italian dressing, strawberry Stonyfield Probiotic yogurt, and a banana. This was quickly followed by a short lecture on Shigella, which is mostly in ready-to-eat salads and sandwiches. Basically: wash your hands and wash your produce. Such a great note to start off the first official day of fall on, don’t you think?

Once I got home, I hit up Hulu to watch The Biggest Loser, which I missed watching last night. I also applied for a job (which I probably won’t even get an interview for, but you have no chance of being accepted if you don’t apply) and worked on finishing reading about bacteria and archaea for Biology. In honor of Indian Food Wednesday, I made up some brown rice and topped it off with TastyBite Bombay Potatoes and asparagus. Spicy!




Now it’s time for lots of Cuddling and Friends-watching!

Thursday

This was a pilates morning. Boy has my upper-body strength disappeared. After that body-busting workout and a shower it was time for oatmeal; OIAPJ (Oats In A Preserves Jar)! Old-fashioned oats made in Vanilla Caramel tea, mixed with chia seeds, flaxseed meal, and cinnamon, and topped with Grape Nuts, PB&Co. DCD, and almonds in a cherry preserves jar. There was not much preserves left in the jar, so I added on some strawberry preserves as well.



Very long day again. Nutrition, Honors Biology lecture, Honors Biology lab, and then extra lab time for Honors Biology. This was one of those “away from home from 9am-7pm” kind of days. Lunch was a spinach salad, with soy cheddar cheese and artichoke hommus/Italian dressing on top, strawberry Stonyfield Probiotic yogurt, and an applesauce cup. Due to the long, long, longness of my day, I also brought along a Carrot Cake Clif bar to munch on between labs as well as a mixture of almonds and Cascadian Farm Honey Nut O’s with cinnamon. This Clif bar flavor was a-mah-zing. Seriously, I loved it. And it was a little warm too, from being in my backpack and sitting in the sun, which just added to its awesomeness and great flavorosity. If these are still on sale when I go grocery shopping after my race Sunday I am for sure stocking up!



I will probably eat something else some time before bed, but for now I’m just trying to collect myself and calm down after this very hectic day. I actually nearly passed out in the middle of a bog (either from dehydration or lack of calories). But I am now devoted to studying for my Human Nutrition midterm, with breaks only for workouts, showers, class, watching football (somewhat), and my BIG RACE ON SUNDAY. Stay tuned!


Can anyone tell me what 5 days of no supplements will do to my level of health? I know that there are natural sources of iron (like spinach), but I feel like that won’t be enough to counteract this vitamin overhaul.