Sweet Potato Central

Ok. So, a recent new find for something that I really enjoy -- sweet potatoes. WHO WOULD HAVE THOUGHT? Certainly not me. I always shuddered at the thought of replacing my crispy perfect potato french fries with those weird looking orange imposters. The other night I went to the dining hall, and let me tell you -- it certainly did not live up to my standards. I had very slim pickings for food that would give me some kind of nutritional value (side note: they served some kind of cheesy chicken, and I just so happened to look at the nutritional information for it, and almost died when I saw that 6 oz. was 517 calories). I loaded up my plate with some broccoli, and my only other option besides bland and mushy steamed green beans was some sweet potatoes with a light cinnamon glaze. I was very skeptical, but convinced myself to just do it.

I'm glad to say that I was pleasantly surprised. I've always heard that your taste buds and preferences change as you get older, and I'm really starting to believe that. I've tried them before and been completely uninterested. I actually really enjoyed them. I'm pretty psyched about it because I've found so many recipes for sweet potatoes as a side that I have just been letting fall through the cracks because I couldn't care less about them. Adding it to the list!

The other thing I just discovered I like, which is kind of ironic because they look the same when mashed, is butternut squash. My mom is a huge butternut squash fan, and makes it a decent amount, but I never even bothered to scoop myself any because I didn't like it. Another trip to the dining hall with a dismal amount of choices forced me to put some on my plate and I really enjoyed that as well. I'm moving on up in the world!

As another side note, since I've been back at school things have gotten a little crazy. Because planning to eat this way takes so long, I've found myself stressing out about how I am going to get everything done and still "eat clean" instead of just throwing some pasta in a pot really quick. I've been doing okay so far, but it's tough. This weekend I will have a bit of down time to re-stock my fridge with some good food, and I have a whole list of recipes waiting for me to put together. I took dealing with the stresses of my super busy, always-in-a-rush, no-time-to-breathe schedule into my own hands. I called my mom the other night frazzled over how I would get everything done that I needed to in a day, and told her how I WOULD NOT let the things I love get sacrificed from my busy schedule. By that, I meant my workouts/runs. I genuinely love a good run, and at this point I've learned that in order to maintain sanity in this crazy life, it's a must. I refuse to let my schedule eliminate my workout. So here's the new motto I live by: In a rush? Run faster. Several days this week, I had the tightest schedule (down to seconds) and had only about 40 minutes to get a workout in. I didn't want to have to cut down on miles, so what was my solution? I just ran faster. I set a new personal record for myself and ran 3 miles in 23 minutes. Tuesday I had a few extra minutes, so I did five miles and felt amazing. I've noticed my energy has been up since I've been eating better. I encourage everyone to try and see if you notice a difference as well.

Lastly, I cannot WAIT for the weather to perk up. The bitter weather we've been having for the past 3 weeks, with wind chills in the negative single to double digits, and highs of 8 degrees, I haven't been able to get outside. I would give my left arm for it to be between 75 and 80 degrees right now so I could just RUN. I'm going stir crazy on the treadmill. The next few days look like they're going to get above freezing (YAY, SUMMER), so you can bet your life savings I'll be outside.

Cheers, followers!