Hump Day!

Happy humpday!  I can never decide if it's terrifying or fantastic that the weeks seem to go by SO quickly.  I think with Christmas break approaching, I'll say fantastic.  But I guess that also means finals are approaching... so terrifying in that sense. 

After a quick gym trip, breakfast was a whole wheat bagel, peanut butter, and banana slices.  

P.S. It's also National Pastry Day... in case you feel like celebrating something else.  Or need an excuse to eat a pastry.  

Adios amigos!

La cena del dia

The weather is horrrrible tonight!  It's that weather where it's JUST warm enough to rain but not cold enough to snow.  It was a cold, rainy walk home from night class tonight!

I take a nutrition night class.  A lot of people hate night classes, but I actually prefer them.  It's much easier to get into the topic when you're there for 2.5 hours.  In my 50 minute classes, I find myself staring at the clock the whole time.  Night class is especially easy when it's nutrition, a topic that I love!  Tonight we talked all about nutrition through the life cycle.  Seeing the recommended intakes for children was eye-opening.  It's sad how few children are actually getting the nutrients they need.  It's an area that definitely needs work.

On a lighter note, dinner tonight was a veggie/chicken stir fry with an unpictured apple (and some coffee to get me through class!)

I'm predicting there will be more gingerbread house roof eating later on... just sayin'

Night!

Free Time!

I lucked out this afternoon and my 1 o'clock class was cancelled! This gave me time to do some laundry and have a more relaxed lunch.  I value knowledge, but sometimes I value free time more :)

After my 8 am class, I hit the gym.  I grabbed an apple and hummus for a snack after the gym.

Lunch was 6-bean soup and some veggies, pita, and hummus on the side.  I ended up saving the fruit salad for later. 

Dessert was the 8th (!! DECEMBER 8th?!?) advent chocolate and some gingerbread house roof :) Very festive!

Buenos manana!

My alarm went off this morning and I swore I must have accidentally set it for 4 am judging by how dark it was.  Then I realized, nope, it was really that dark outside.  I would have loved to have rolled over and woken up with the sun, but unfortunately, I have an 8 am class.  So I pulled myself out of bed, got ready, and made some breakfast. 

Breakfast was Kashi cereal, vanilla yogurt, and a banana. (notice my desk is as cluttered as my mind right now!)

So,  I was reading in my psychology book (2010 Goldstein) last night about the physiology of taste perception.  It talked about an experiment where experimenters gave monkeys an ample supply of dairy cream.  At first, the monkey enthusiastically drinks the cream, but after a minute or so, rejects the cream.  As the monkey's hunger for the cream decreased, so did the firing of the specific neuron reacting the the odor of cream.  Cessation of the neuron's firing signaled the monkey to stop drinking the cream.  So basically, our body has mechanisms for controlling food intake.  Interesting, right? 

It got me thinking, how often do we actually take a minute to listen to our body's control mechanisms?  Not just with hunger, but with all things.  It seems to me that we often get so busy and stressed that we completely ignore these subtle cues.  

Goal of the day: listen to your body.

Class dismissed! Have a good day!

dinna dinna...

Ok super short dinner post here.  Finals week is approaching and study crunch time needs to begin.

So, I had a small bowl of greek yogurt and Kashi cereal today before my psychology review session.

Dinner was a grilled chicken sandwich, a cup of soup, and an apple from Market.  And an unpictured handful of cocoa puffs for dessert :)

I also had a granola bar sometime today between classes.  I've lost track of the hours...  Ok, off to study! Night everyone!

Oh and on a last side note, I was pelted by icy rain on the walk home (3 miles uphill both ways...) from my study session... thank you winter... you lure us in with promises of hot chocolate and snowmen and then pelt us with icy rain. I'm done with you already.

Gray vs. Grey

Today has been quite a gray day in Pittsburgh.  Does anyone know the difference between "gray" and "grey"?  It's always boggled my mind...  I should probably figure it out since I live in one of the gray/grey-est cities in the U.S.

Lunch was a salad (grilled chicken and portobello mushroom) from a salad bar on campus and a yogurt.  I know some people have shifted away from these yogurts, because they contain high fructose corn syrup.  I'm all for organic/all-natural eating.  However, being a college-student, it isn't always easy to eat perfectly.  So, I figure, as long as I'm trying to eat as healthy as I can, a little high fructose corn syrup won't kill me.  Everything in moderation. 

And the 6th advent calender chocolate for dessert (I'm a bit behind...)

P.S. happy National Cotton Candy Day!  

22 degrees?!

Ladies and gentlemen, it is officially winter.  Well, not officially.  But it's collllllldddd! Snow+cold=my declaration of winter.

There's kind of an unspoken rule in Pittsburgh; you don't check the temperature.  Knowing how low that number is makes the cold feel much worse.  Well, I broke that rule this morning and was shocked to see 22 degrees.  Goodbye Fall, hello winter.  It's time to pull out the parkas and gloves. Unfortunately, I have a formal to go to on Friday and will be scantily clad in a dress with bare legs...the things we do for beauty...

My original breakfast plan had been yogurt and cereal, but the brisk 15 minute walk to the gym and back promptly changed my mind to warm, toasty, oatmeal (again...)

Same mixture as before: 1/2 c. oats, vanilla, 1/4 c. egg whites added at end. Toppings: banana and greek yogurt.  Con agua y cafe!

That's it for this morning.  Have a good Monday!