Back at the Crunch

Yes, that was really lame attempt a fitness pun since this will be a fitness and health related post. Forgive me.

So! Tomorrow is October first and I've decided to get back to my fitness and health basics by committing the month of October to "clean" eating, being alcohol-free and really bringing it with my workouts.

(Side note: yes, I know, the picture on the left falls under the category of the ever-problematic fitspo, however I really enjoy the quote. Just take images like that with a grain of salt.)

Getting back into the swing of university life has taken more adjustment than I thought, and maybe that's because it's my second year but I've been wanting to get back to putting self-care first and part of that lies in taking care of me physically. Some would argue HIIT workouts and weight training aren't really 'self-care' but for me they are. When I focus on good nutrition, getting enough sleep and solid workouts my body responds well so I want (and need, to a less extent) to get back to that.

Conveniently enough one of my favorite health/fitness
oriented tumblr's

(imgonnamakeachange.tumblr.com) run by the amazing Natasha has started a little challenge amonst her followers under the hashtag #teamnocheats; No Cheats October. So, just like I described above, the month of October is committed to making healthy habits and then on Halloween you can treat yourself to whatever the feck' you like. I should mention that she endorses that if you start feeling restrictive or like you are developing disordered habits, you should stop and notes that it's perfectly fine to slip up, as it were. Just in case any of you were interested but were kind of deterred by the general idea of a challenge. It's all in good fun.

So without further ado let's get to my #teamnocheats goals. I made a little halloween-themed graphic just because I wanted an excuse not to study.  

• 2l of water every day - truthfully this isn't a lot in the grand scheme of things and I always feel better when I'm hydrated. On top of this I'll add my daily green tea/herbal tea intake and unsweetened almond milk. 

• Be consistent - gym 5 days a week - my rule is that I can put those 5 days where I want in the scheme of my school week/weekend, whatever fits my schedule and workload best on a week by week bases. But the goal is here is to get to the gym and do weight training and HIIT cardio. 

•  Cut back on sugar - I never thought of myself to be one for a sweet tooth but that doesn't seem to be the case. Having moved into my new place, one of my roommates grandmother's is always keeping the house in supply of cookies and and cakes and I find my self indulging after supper more than what is good for me. But also watch for sugar content in my meals, it does seem to be a breakout trigger for me after all. 

• Meal prep - I pretty much only have 45 minutes to do my thing in the mornings so getting my lunches done and dusted the night before or even on Sunday evenings needs to be something I implement so I'm not rushing and/or reaching for something that's not all that good for me. 

•  No boredom eating - this is something I unfortunately find I do a lot. In the middle of school work or when I get home, and I'm not even hungry just passing time. It throws off my natural hunger cues and isn't good for me in general if I want to break any weight loss goals.
• Yoga/Long stretching session everyday  - I miss having my muscles not feel tight and tense and making progress with my poses. I haven't been consistently at it since this summer and I know I feel better and sleep more soundly when I'm consistent about it.

So, any of you interested in boarding the #teamnocheats train? Any other particular goals you have set for October?

r.
image credits to: tumblr and picmonkey 

dull roots and summer rain

Hello meine lieben! First of all let me preface this by saying I took forever trying to format this pictures and then said "fuck it" and made them into collages. And also the delay between my last post and this one has been absolutely terrible and I have no excuses except that I've been hard on the studying grindstone. It's insane that the work is already piling up this quickly. I am more than happy to be back at it, despite how stressful it can be. So in honor of the fact that's an overcast day here I wanted to share these photos from another overcast day I had the summer exploring with J.

This is little spot happens to be his hometown, and I use the term 'town' lightly. It's closer to what I would call a neighboring community. Anyhow, it's right on the ocean, as are most smaller out-port communities in Newfoundland. However I had never explored it much so he decided to show me around. Despite what most people close to me may think, I actually adore being outside. I love running and hiking and camping and just taking in what the beautiful landscape of Newfoundland has to offer.
 The day went between being bright yet overcast and stormy and grey. Which, if anyone knows me, is my absolute favorite weather. So I guess it's good fortune I live in Newfoundland where the weather is like this a good chunk of the time.
Going over these photographs again makes me realize I really need to make more/better use out of my camera. Even beyond my want to document my life more I think I could get pretty good at it with practice and I especially liked taking these picture to share with you all because I don't find people (ok, tourists) really focus on photographing Newfoundland beyond it's main attractions and really appreciate how rugged and beautiful and wild it still is here. I think even if and when I do move from this province part of me is still always going to belong to ocean and cliffs.

Surprised that the macro function on my camera works fairly well!

cliffs, J taking a panorma + mushroom

    

 Anyone out of my readership ever been to Newfoundland? Interested in going at all?

Make any recent outings yourself?

r.

Weekly Musings #2: back to the grind and autumn

image credit: tumblr

Hello again lovelies! Though my first week back to classes was only a half week, it was still hectic as crap. So many forms to be hurriedly dropped off at a variety of buildings, wading through a sea of first years to get my bus pass, long days spent shopping restocking the pantry and picking up last minute school supplies.

back to the grind: like I said, it's only been a half week for me but it still felt pretty chaotic adjusting to university life back in the city again. Beyond that I'm a person who thrives with a routine, and I had missed the feeling of having academia related stuff n' things on my plate so all in all I'm ecstatic to be back. All my professors and courses this semester are great and I'm really looking forward to the study grind.

autumn: though the weather in NL has been moodily switching between summer and well, rain, I'm counting the days to cooler weather. I can wear all the layers, and plaid, break out my L.L. bean and chelsea boots, drink tea without feeling like I'm going to melt, wonder at the beautiful Newfoundland fall sunsets and the changing leaves ugh, fall is the best. And at the risk of sounding totally ~white girl~: hello pumpkin spice everything.

new reads: my lovely roommate who shares the lower portion of the house with my is an education major and took a bunch of english courses with some pretty rad novels. For some reason, it's one hundred times better to read somebody else's books instead of your own. So right now I'm chucking through Good Omens by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratcehtt and Marget Atwood's the Handmaiden's Tale and loving them both! My daily commute to and from campus on the bus finds me nose-deep in them. 

me and my feet on campus; my image

honorable mentions:
• keeping a tidy room •  planning my fall wardrobe •  pretty mornings waiting for the bus •  how beautiful my campus is this time of year •  night time showers and stretching • wearing my favorite cozy striped shirt (see right) to death •  travel mugs •  nude nail polish •  sitting down to supper every day with my roommates • again with the roommates related but laughing with them is the best • new pens •  organizing my calender • comfy mornings in my queen bed • chatting with strangers • rediscovering old music • wandering onto picturesque parts of the campus building that remind me of Dead Poets Society 

link love:
• This poem. 
• Does anyone want to be a doll and buy me these gorgeous page dividers for my filofax? 
• I've been looking at Kara O'Keefe's flickr stream (she's a local NL photographer) all day; her photography style is so dreamy.
•Revisiting this video again as a self reminder; Eartha Kitt speaks the truth.
• Finch & Fawn are my new favorite read! Kiana's style is everything I want. 
• I would like this to be my fall uniform. 

What's been keeping your week wonderful?

r.

my conflicted view on alcohol as a university student

image credit: blogger, "The Pantsuit Enthusiast"

        Or, in other words, how a ridiculous hangover made me question my currents views on why I even drink (excessively) at all.

         This all kind of began Saturday past. I had finished up my gig as an opening act for a show in my hometown's summer music series. And, well, they always have roaring after parties in the bar/lounge area that's attached to the theatre. Admittedly, one of the perks of being a performer is that people just lovee to buy you alcohol as a thank you. Several cocktails, cosmos, and glasses of wine later we were dancing and chanting along to the house band and then all swarmed across the the street to the local pub for more dancing and music. Me and my friends and boyfriend (who had just gotten home from a 4-month work stint that was largely alcohol free) were going hard at it.
Cut to the next morning. J (the boyfriend) and I flaked out, heads pounding, dehydrated and thoroughly tired and in need of a pick me up. Which is what got me questioning. Sure, alochol is a great social lubricant and does have it's moments where it's helped with a lot of bonding. However, I'm starting to notice it's got a flip side that I was all to happy to ignore.
            Now, I'm not a hard-core partier, despite the typical college girl stereotype. But I grew up in Newfoundland, so hellooo shed parties and the like, and, of course, high school graduation, back to school bashes for uni, house parties, and my enthusiastic consumption of wine with cooking and meal times, so no, I'm not exactly a stranger to alcohol. And perhaps, when I'm throwing back gin and tonics with gusto and I start not feeling my teeth (honest to god, that's my sign I'm in the tank), it seems like a good idea, my wallet and liver always regret it in the morning. Bar covers, over priced mixed drinks, cab rides, the inevitable splurge out on 3am pizza or poutine: it adds up. And thankfully my hangovers don't leave me draped over a toilet, rather exhausted and off for the rest of the day, but they still suck the life out of me.
        I know I'd never be able to quit cold turkey and leave alcohol alone forever. I love wine paired with a good meal too much, but do I really need to drink to the point of nausea? Really? It has made for some good stories but thinking about it I know I'd rather put that drinking money towards clothes, art supplies or books, or better yet, my herbal tea addiction. (David's Tea anyone?!) As well as save my liver and skin the chore of purging the stuff from my system. But on the flip side there is the unspoken pressure in university to use those as your party years & I kind of don't feel like bowing to that. The fact of the matter is I will probably meet good friends either way and the house parties I throw or attend with people I'm already close with won't be any less entertaining if I remain at least fairly close to sober.

          I have a lot of conflict towards this, if its not already apparent (hence the post title). To clarify I'm not the type of bird who is putting myself on a magical pedestal as 'better' than those who do chose to spend their time and money on parties and jaunts to downtown bars, not all. None of my business. I'm merely coming to this debate as an individual. I do feel I should point out that the university connection does tend to hinge on alcohol. At least in the case of my campus, to a certain degree. All those back to school bashes, faculty formals and parties, themed nights at the campus bars and such. I mean clearly no one is forcing me to go to these things and I don't have a problem with them but there is a certain hoo-rah emphasis on alcohol being the be all and end all for university students. Or at least a stereotype that drinking excessively on our free time something every one of us is super engaged in.

         Conflicted though I may be, and though this post did nothing to resolve that (typical Rachel) I think my general rule of thumb for this coming year will be to dial back my alcohol consumption. Keep it to wine with dinner and the occasional "wow-this-was-an-absolute-shit-day-I-need-a-G&T" drink. It'll totally happen.

Opinions on alcohol consumption in college/university, or just drinking at all?

xx.

r