Struggle #10: School Mode

So I officially started my last semester in classes this past Tuesday! Wow! Scary, but exciting all the same. I am ready to be done with school but definitely not ready to start the real world yet. Thankfully, I will have next summer to study for boards so I can delay the growing up just a little bit longer! But anyways getting myself back into "school mode" has been tough. It is so hard going from being in the clinic everyday and interacting with patients to sitting in a classroom all day. And this week has been especially hard because it has really only been going over syllabuses and not learning anything new.

We have been told that this year is a lot of group projects which has its ups and its downs. First off that means that we do not have a lot of tests which is wonderful! But it also means you better hope you have a good group so that you don't end up doing all the projects on your own. Hopefully this will work out in my favor! This semester will also be wrapping up a lot of things we have learned previously and tying them all together. I am praying that I didn't brain dump everything and that I can dust off some of the cobwebs hanging out in my brain!

But besides school this week has been good! I have a relatively light schedule this semester with classes so I am challenging myself to get my cooking on. Someone gave me the idea to make Lara bars on my own instead of buying them at the store. When I went "googling" for recipes online I found a ton of them and they were all pretty easy! Thanks to my roommate having a food processor, all I needed were the ingredients.

The delicious bars I made.
I found putting them in bags and then
letting them set up in the freezer works
the best to keep them stuck together

Although originally purchasing the ingredients was relatively expensive, they will last me for awhile so I looked at it as an investment... I made 4 different kinds of bars, and 3/4 were delicious and better than Lara bars in my opinion. The one I didn't like I put oatmeal in and it just didn't tickle my fancy but the other ones were great.

The recipies for the bars I made:

Almond Butter Cookie
1/4 cup cashews
2 tbsp Almond butter
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/2 dates

Almond Cookie
1/3 cup dates
1/2 cup almonds
1/4 tsp vanilla

Walnut Almond Cookie
2 tbsp Almond butter
1/4 cup raisins
1/4 cup walnuts
1/4 tsp vanilla

Honestly you can just throw any ingredients you want in there and mix them in the food processor. I would suggest using almond butter in them because it helps them stick together. And I am not kidding you they are better than Lara bars in my opinion! I'm definitely going to have fun experimenting with all the different things I can throw into them!

I was also very proud of myself this week because I hit a 25# PR on my Snatch Balance and a 10# PR on my squat clean! Instead of my usual celebration meal of ice cream, I stuck to my plan and ate healthy meals afterwards! I feel so much better because I am not undoing every good thing I do in the gym by eating unhealthily. Although I know I got stronger while I was in Cincinnati, I also cant deny that this diet is helping me out! I also semi-conquered the Mexican restaurant earlier this week! I got fish tacos without the shells haha (look to the left for the deliciousness on a plate) but I still had one of those darn margaritas... Both items were absolutely delicious!

As I continue to eat healthy, I have found that it is becoming easier and easier to stick to the plan. Six weeks in and I feel healthier, stronger, and more confident in myself. The "sweet tooth" detoxing continues but now that I am in St. Louis it is easier for me to only get Ted Drewes once a week. I am on a schedule and I can stick to it. I have many great people here in St. Louis that give me great ideas for food and help keep me on track, which is wonderful. It had been an interesting process but I look forward to the challenges that lay ahead of me and that will keep my working toward my goals.