Learning to Balance

Hi friends.

Back at it with the blog posts, and I mean I am really going to try harder this semester to get on here more often and throw some cool recipes and meaningful moments your way! I appreciate all of you who follow me, and for those who have just discovered my blog, welcome!

I’ve been a busy little bee over here once the semester started, and while it can be slightly (HA! slightly…) stressful, I’m learning to love being busy and eating up the empty time I have in-between my classes to study and be a part of more things here on my campus. I’m also starting my training for a half marathon this spring with my run club and I am OVERLY EXCITED FOR THAT (!!!!!!!!!!).

While all seems peachy, I’ve had some struggles this semester once again, and instead of hiding them I’d like to share what I’m experiencing and potentially help others who may be in the same boat as I am.

I touched on this last semester, but I am still struggling to find a happy medium here with food intake and how I respect my body. Unfortunately, I’ve reached some spells of negativity and found myself having a very hard time being in touch with my inner self. Not something I thought I’d be experiencing, as I was so excited to leave for college; but none the less, it is not something you can ignore or hide. It is what it is and this made me decide that my new year’s resolution was to move away from the eating habits I’ve developed and live more fully without dwelling on the past. It’s been a journey so far, and no, it is not easy to break habits I’ve built up…. but I guess I’m working on it.

Why do I bring this up?

I need to learn to balance things in my life better than I have, and I think that is something a lot of people can relate to. We (as in most of us) are constantly stuck in a fixed mindset that tells us right from wrong. In some cases, that’s great! You can’t go stealing things from Whole Foods! But in other cases, it may be apart of our demise. For myself, I know that is completely true, and it was very hard to come to terms with that.

I believe that my fixed mindset is a HUGE factor in why sometimes when the pizza comes out, I eat a lot more than feels okay in my body. I am constantly living in this world where I feel I need to be healthy ALL. THE. TIME. And then when I break that “rule”? Shit. Let’s get all the food down in one bite and go for more!

Let me tell you, that is NOT fun, and is NOT the way I have ever approached food. I love food, and I want to have a healthy relationship with it.

I guess here’s my point for this post: learn to love yourself and learn that every once in awhile it is okay to let go. A lot of times I feel like we get wrapped up in different things that surround us. The media, people who live near us, goals… and it’s hard when we feel like we aren’t perfect… But…. News Flash: we are not perfect. It is time to accept that. It is time we find a good balance. It is time that we love ourselves for even those small things we hate and it is time that we embrace body and mindful peace.

A challenge: break that “fixed mindset” once a day. See how good it feels, and try to incorporate it more. My goal? Leave it in the past for good. But for now, once a day seems reasonable.

Oh, and remember, balance your life, but also your relationship with food. Healthy, and not so healthy.

‘Cause pizza is reallllll good.

 

Chocolate Chickpea Bites

Hey all you people, hey all you people, hey all you people won’t you listen to meeeeeee????

GUYS, HI! It’s been a hot minute since I’ve written a post, created a funky recipe or even scrolled through the wonderful feed of WordPress… But here I am! I’m so excited to be back and I’m hoping to be a little more present this semester.

I just returned back to school from a LOVELY weekend break at home with my family. I hung out with my grandparents, was tackling by my adorable dogs and took some serious time to recollect and breathe before a month long stretch of school. Definitely needed!

Anyways, as I was home, my family and I decided to throw a small Super Bowl party consisting of… us! Yep, just us four and honestly, it was wonderful. My dad was screaming a lot (which is hilarious because he does NOT watch football unless he’s with my mom) and my dog Walter was mesmerized by the commercials and practically pressed his nose against the screen. ((ps- the Justin Timberlake commercial for Bai…. SWOON VILLE!)) We ordered pizzas, I made a veggie tray and homemade guac and we hung out together as one big Q fam…

I realized early on that we definitely needed a sweet after pizza ((I mean, come on, no dessert?!)) SO i decided to whip up a cute and easy little recipe for some tiny chocolate chip cookie bites using chickpeas and my favorite Enjoylife dairy-free chippies! SO simple, SO delicious, and SO healthy. BAM BABY.

They aren’t super sweet, but they give a good bite and satisfy your need for a little chocolate for sure.

---

servings: 28 cookies 

prep time: 20 minutes 

cook time: 15 minutes

---

Ingredients:

• 1 Cup raw oats
• 1 can chickpeas (15 oz)
• 1/3 Cup raw cashews
• 1 very ripe banana
• 1/3 Cup pure maple syrup
• 1 pasteurized egg
• 1 Teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1 Teaspoon baking powder
• 2 Tablespoons nut milk
• 1/2 Cup Enjoylife chocolate chips

---

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees
2. Blend together the raw cashews and chickpeas in a blender or food processor until the mixture becomes somewhat smooth.
3. Add in the oats, banana, extract, maple syrup, baking powder and egg as the processor is going. The mixture will become very thick (which is where the nut milk comes in!) and you may have to take some out and work in shifts.
4. Move the mixture once blended from the processor to a medium mixing bowl and add in the chocolate chips. Mix those babies in! You can also add some cacao powder to make chocolate bites, too!
5. Drop a tablespoon and a half of dough onto cookie sheets. You can press them down slightly for a cookie shape or leave them round for little bites.
6. Place cookie sheet in the oven for fifteen minutes; take them out and let them cool for two minutes.
7. DEVOUR!

 

Surviving Semester One

The end of the semester is coming around the corner *cheers dramatically*.

College, unfortunately, is not some walk in the park and I think we’ve all come to figure that out as we began our journey almost three months ago. The stress levels are killer, you have to unlock the bathroom door every time, and your favorite shower is almost always taken.

Don’t get me wrong, though, although it’s stressful, it’s a blast all in one. The people you meet and the experiences you have are incredible; and I can finally say that I feel like I’m really getting into the swing of things. With studying and buddying, college is a whole whirl wind of things going on. For someone like me who prides as a creature of habit most days, this can be freakin’ overwhelming.

The first month and a half, I struggled hard here at Iowa State. My eating was off, I could barely sleep, and the thing I thought about most was when my family was coming to visit me. I often sat there, eating junk food thinking “I wish I had my kitchen and my two dogs”. My running was depleted and I felt like the joy I had coming to college was smothered by this sadness.

I woke up, then, and realized; I am in the time of my life. Sure, residence halls blow, and hair balls in the bathroom are killer, but I am on my way to becoming what I want to be when I grow up. I am surrounded by people struggling JUST LIKE ME. So why the pity party? At this moment, I felt like I grew up and now I’ve put together an awesome lists of ways YOU can survive your first or second semester too. Because no one deserves to be unhappy; you gotta live and you gotta live NOW!

1. Find your hobby

Whether it be running, drawing, biking, reading, laying in a field; find something you love to do that can distract you when times are getting tough. A major component of overcoming stress and even sadness sometimes, is to spark a little joy by doing a favorite thing.

2. Use that hobby, and find others that do the same

I cannot stress this enough; finding people who are involved in your similar interests can rock your world more than you think. In high school maybe you had clubs or sports you participated in daily and now you feel detached because college is so big and what if I don’t have those great things? Good news, bud. There’s tons of people interested in the same things you are. Get out there, join that club or sport and hang out with cool people that you can connect with on a level other friends may not be able to. For me, I found run club and culinary club. Obsessed with both, and the people bring me MAJOR joy.

3. Make friends with people on your floor or in your building

It is so scary coming into a place you don’t know anyone, and sometimes, you feel alone. The thing is, there are tons of people “feeling alone”- therefore, YOU ARE NOT ALONE. I remember my first night here I went to bed and was like “oh my god I am friendless and no one is here for me help me, MOM COME BACK!”. Then, the next day I went to dinner with my floor and I met some of my greatest friends here on campus. It involved capture the flag and an accidental butt grab; but hey, I have friends now!

All I can say is having people close to you that can share a friendship is something you will need, especially when a homesickness feel hits and you can’t survive without an immediate hug.

4. Hit up Group fitness classes

Every person and their mother is going to tell you to “WORKOUT” because freshman 15 and all that jazz. Sure, weight gain is NOT fun (lol, me! it’s okay- you will probably experience it; it’s a part of life!), but it’s not irreversible and it isn’t some initiation into college. Something to utilize, especially if you aren’t into working out alone, is group fitness. There are SO many classes you can take, ranging from cardio cycling to yoga to belly dance.  I utilize the yoga classes at least twice a week, and it’s great to feel motivated by others to get in some good exercise. Even if you like to work out on your own, like me, these classes are just fun!

5. Journal

Every single day, I start my morning with writing 25 daily gratitudes. I cannot tell you the difference this has made in my life here. In the beginning, I was struggling with binge eating to comfort me (not a good thing to do!), and then I felt sad and terrible more than I would like to. Then, one morning, I decided that this was not something I wanted, and I forced myself to write 25 things I was happy about that day. From that day, I had continued this and I have been BINGE FREE! I’m not some miracle cure, but just someone who needed to remember that there is good in my life, and I shouldn’t throw away the progress I made from my previous eating disorder.

 

Get cute pencils from eathealthydesigns.com !!!

Journaling is the key to opening up when you just can’t speak. I’m almost on journal number two! Another great thing to do is to write down all your fun adventures. You can look back and smile when you think of all the crazy things you’ve done!

6. Seek help

Whether it be from a tutor or a therapist, if you are struggling, do not fear to reach out to someone. As I stated above, I struggled with my eating and I have now found myself with a therapy appointment on Thursday mornings. It was scary at first, but I realized that to better myself, I needed the extra help. This goes for classes, too. If chemistry doesn’t click with you, don’t ride the semester out feeling down and unworthy of a good grade; ask for help! There are so many tutors available, as well as review sessions for tests!

7. Be you

This is cheesy, but just be yourself. No one can be cool as the real you, and the great thing about college is that there are so many people just like you that have the same interests and even the same humor. Don’t change who you are.

 

Processed with VSCO with f2 preset

Processed with VSCO with f2 preset

 

I hope this post on semester one survival tips was helpful because these were some things that really helped me ride out this semester. I still have a few weeks to go, but I’m ending this semester feeling like Emily again, and I only wish to bring that to other people that may be roughing it their first months of this newness. Let me know if you ever need anything, or have more tips on how to survive!

STUDY FOR YOUR FINALS!

What I’m Lovin’ Lately

I realized that I haven’t done one of these posts recently, yet I’m constantly finding things that I’m falling in love with so why not share out to the word?

Lately, life has been really crazy busy. It’s hard to find a moment for yourself when the whole world is spinning and going around. Time is flying, it’s already spring and high school is graduation is coming too quickly for me to process!

But that doesn’t mean I don’t have time to fall in love with a few things with a busy schedule.

1. Kevita Kombucha Brews– I am a for sure kombucha girl and these just seal the deal because of the rocking flavors they come in. Lavendar Melon (<3) is my forever and they give me the little bubble I look for, as I don’t drink pop! Probiotics and a killer taste? Sign me up!

2.  Hummusapien Lemon Coconut No Bake Bites

These have become my favorite snack bites EVER. Super easy to nosh on whenever I’m on the go, and the flavor combo definitely resonates with my taste buds. I love how easy they are to make, with such minimal ingredients. I’ve been throwing them on my yogurt, smoothie bowls, and even a few times with oatmeal. Ah, I am just in love.

3. 6oo Booty Rep from RRayymee- I am seriously working to get a booty. Yes, that sounds creepy but as a runner and as a regular human being, I want to definitely gain muscle in my glutes (LOLL). I love her blog, but this workout is one of the highlights I grasped from it while skimming. Easy to understand, yet it burns in that weirdly awesome kick-ass workout way!

4. My Saucony Ride 8 running shoes-

  So I ran in the Ride 7s for a lonnnnnnnng time (way too long) and they honestly were my favorite things. I mean, they were my first real pair of running shoes, but that doesn’t mean that’s the only reason I loved them so! When I got fitted for new shoes, I felt almost lost without trying on the new Sauconys. Finally at the end, I did and they ended up being perfect once again! The comfort and cushion of the shoe is just what my foot needs. Happy runner over here!

5. Alabama Shakes- If you are totally into a different feel of music, I highly reccommend this band. They just won most up and coming artists and they TOTALLY DESERVED IT! I cannot say enough about them.

6. Perfect Bars–

I just did a review and giveaway on these bars, but I’ll say it again: LOVE them. The ingredients are all organic, totally pronounceable, and the flavors are outrageously good. The thing I love most about them is that they keep you full on such awesome nutrients that you can snack on one and not be starving after twenty minutes. Now that’s a good snack option!

7. The change in season- I am not a winter person by any means (unless it’s Christmas… then snow is okay for about 3.5 days) and with spring rolling around, the fashion is back, the sun is out and I am a happy camper. I’m an outdoors type person, but I can’t take cold so I have to hide away under three sweaters. It’s so nice to walk out of my house in a light coat and rolled up jeans instead of my winter jacket! THANK YOU CHICAGO.

 

That’s just a brief summary of what I’ve been diggin’ lately- so let me know, what things are YOU lovin’ lately? Until next time!