I am going to the….

CARNIVALLL!

  It was Quadmania this weekend at UMBC!

I am NOT a roller coaster or any kind of a ride person. Prior to last years event the only ride I had ever been on was the merry-go-around…..

With the convincing powers of a certain friend that is a boy I managed to ride the Ferris wheel and the Zipper. I am pretty sure I lost two years of my life.

I also rode something else for the very first time!

Another thing that I am also not is an animal person. Not sure why, but I am pretty terrified of them.

Sooooo I decided to ride one!

Note the VERY terrified face!

Many shenanigans later it was time to make Banana Bread!

Jpizzle and his epic bread pan making skills!

I was seriously impressed, I even managed to break his master piece. I decided I was better off with just standing around and looking pretty.

I however did get to enjoy some super yummie whole grain banana bread!

We rounded off our weekend with a walk to the campus tennis courts

And a mile run around campus with some butt kicking stairs!

Meet Baby G! My 21st b-day gift to myself. Now I know I am not a long distance runner but this baby may be the COOLEST thing ever! I have no concept of how far or fast I am going outdoors, so I use it to steadily increase my time and mileage! 

Question: Do you ever buy birthday presents for yourself? If so, what are they?

Fitbloggin’10 Bloggers take Baltimore!

I have been having an AMAZING spring break, but all good things must come to an end 😦

Lets recap!

Beginning of spring break!

What other way to start off break with a Fro-yo baby from Tutti Frutti.  Don’t worry I split this with my sister!

To kick start my career ( read: attempt) as a runner I strolled over to Road Runner conveniently located next to Trader Joe’s. Totally breaking the bank.

Road Runner was having a free shoe dogging event and I gladly took off my rain boots for some custom made insoles. $62 dollars later, I walked out with “bumps” under my feet that I had never felt before.

Shoe Dogging

HIGH aches!

I decided to take these bad boys out to test I headed over to Great Falls, VA

Potomac River Great Falls, VA

Great Falls, VA

MASSIVE Rocks. I was not badass 😦

I will be going back to Great Falls many many times! It was an AMAZING trail!

Working out has become a GREAT addiction my life. I am so happy and positive after every work out- being able to push myself to run a mile in 9:40 is something that I could never do before.

This leads me to Fitbloggin’10 , a special thanks goes out to Roni and her staff! This was my first blogger’s conference and I was so amazed and inspired by everyone that I was able to meet!

Friday afternoon started off with the POM Wonderful Cocktail party!

On my way to the POM Wonderful Cocktail Party!

Fitbloggin' nametag!

POMtini

I got to meet-up with some sweet bloggers!

Ashley, Cara, Me, and Stacey

Ashley,  Cara, Me, and Stacey

Dinner that night was a Veggie Fiesta bowl!

I can safely say that the star of the show would have to be all the SWAG!

Major thanks to: New Balance , Thrive , POM Wonderful ,Gruve for some AWESOME products!

I was able to attend some great session!

Eat some great food!

Enjoy the Inner Harbor!

Inner Harbor, Baltimore MD

Downtown Baltimore, MD

Inner Harbor sunset!

What I am most excited about?

Spring!!!!!!

I plan on spending everyday with some sunshine 🙂 Have a great one!

A week of tears

In my sophomore year of high school I took  American Government and Politics AP. As a total science person this class was something I just took to learn. I actually enjoy the class- it was with a small group of my friends and whenever we finished our classwork early we watched The O.C. Even the guys in my class watched! I enjoyed this class until after we took our midterm. The exam was 70 multiple choice questions and after I finished I joined the rest of my classmates who were setting up a card game.

Two days later in the middle of my English class my American Gov teacher pulled me out of class and told me that he knew that I had cheated on the midterm.

His reasons:

1) He hands out the answer keys every year- and because I had older friends I clearly had gotten my hands on them

2) I was HAPPY when I finished the exam.

3) I got questions right that he had not covered in class.

4) My grade on the exam was a C

This was 5 years ago and can still feel the tears as I type this out.

I had to go to a meeting with my guidance counselor who told me that there was nothing I could do to prove that I was innocent. The teacher had been working here for years and no one would believe me.

This was the first time something like this had happened to me. There was no way I had cheated on the exam and I could not even even prove it. It was his word against mine.

I even had my parents come in for a meeting- they were told the same thing. I should not make a big deal about this, otherwise my teacher would write a letter to my future college telling them about my academic mis conduct.

(Looking back I can see that they just told me this to make me go away)

I had the option of dropping the class- with a grade of an F or staying in the class and get a final grade of a C no matter how well I did on any other assignment.

I stayed in the class. My teacher did not even look at me. I would raise my hand to go to the bathroom and I was ignored. I left the class in tears everyday.

This was a big deal to me- I was well liked by everyone and to have someone especially a teacher treat me this way was awful.

I no longer wanted to go to school and my parents understood and let me stay home until I felt better about going.

The only person who I could talk to was my English teacher and she believed me- even after I graduated high school I would still e-mail her for advice. Sadly she lost her battle with Colon cancer last spring- I sometimes wish I could e-mail her for advice. I really do miss her.

5 years later: I wish I could have said something. Even now I still find it difficult to stand up for myself when I am in a situation where I am not treated the way I want to be.

I need to remid myself that I do have a voice and that I can use it!

I need to end this post this is a major tear subject for me.

I hope everyone is having a lovely Valentine’s day!

Thanks to everyone for their lovely comments on my last post ❤

152- Me, Myself and I

156.5– Dec 31st

This is not a diet post.

January has been a lovely month so far. I am on break till the 27th and other than going to the gym and spending time with my family I have not been doing much. With that said I have spent a lot of time thinking about my life and where I am going for my future.

I have not started 2010 with many of the friendships that I had in 2009. For reasons unclear to me, I can’t seem to maintain friendships. I asked a casual friend of mine who I know would be honest with me what he thought of me. Without much hesitation he responded, ” you are a very nice person.”

I am a nice person, I care a lot about the people in my life and try to show them that. Apparently, I am still not getting it done. Truthfully, friendships stress me out.  There is a lot of expectation when it comes to being a friend. I fear I may never be able to have a lasting friendship. There is a art to having a healthy friendship, one that I have not yet mastered.

With that being said, there is one friendship that I have been working hard on and that is the one with myself.

I want to have a strong relationship with myself that lets me get through the good and bad times.

I want to be able to feel good about myself even when I don’t have a good friend around me. It may not be something that I had control over. People come and go.

I want to be able to maintain healthy eating habits that last a lifetime. I feel like this month I have been able to come up with something that works for me. I don’t want to feel like I can’t enjoy the foods I love because I am not at my “healthy weight”. I trust that my body will tell me when I have eaten enough or not enough.

Thanks for reading my injury posts I and II I have come along way from being in pain and it was truly a testing journey. I am so blessed at the ability to be healthy.

I have been hitting the gym everyday. Non impact exercise is something that I have never done in the past. But cranking out on the elliptical and stationary bike is rewarding when I can see results in my weight.

I don’t count calories– because I want to be able to use my judgment when it comes to eating. I have never counted calories and I don’t plan on it. Food gives me the energy to carry on my daily activities. As a biochemistry major I know it is a very vital part of my bodily function. I can’t put a number on that.

What I can put a number on is my weight. Because that is what I am. When I get to a “healthy weight” I won’t have to keep track and know that I am just that. Healthy.

Being at the age of 20- I feel like I have my entire life in front of me. The choices that I make in the next few years will shape my future. I don’t want to look back and have any regret.

___________________________________________________________

Food bloggers have some staple food items we all know what they are OIAJ?

I have some of my own.

#1 Fennel Seeds

[Source]

– I mainly use this as a digestive aid, it is known to reduce bloating and cramps. I for some reason an obsessed with them, whenever I have a stomach ache I always have a small handful. I also eat them after most of my meals. There are other benefits to these seeds, however this is the only reason I eat them. They taste like faintly like licorice. You can find these seeds in most grocery store.

#2 Cranberry Juice

[Source]

– 100% Cranberry Juice is useful in preventing urinary tract, bladder and kidney infections. It can have a tart taste so some you may want to mix it with something else. I have always loved cranberry juice and I prefer it over soda or anything else.

I hope everyone is enjoying their Monday off! I am off to the gym !

Follow me on twitter @simplysana- I love tweeting with my readers.

____________________________________________________________________

“An individual has not started living until he can rise above the narrow confines of his individualistic concerns to the broader concerns of all humanity.” ~ MLK

The injury

Life before December 2008:

12+ years of:

5x a week of:

Teaching cardio box+ 5 am bootcamp= Spondylolysis (Pars Fracture of the Spine)

[Source]

I did not come to this diagnosis until 10 months later.

Let’s start from the beginning.

Dec. 2008– I was sick for a week with “mono” ( quotes because I had the symptoms but the test was negative)

– I felt some pain in my lower back, but I was laying down for a week I figured it was nothing.

-I was busy with finals week oh did I mention I also had bronchitis?

We were good friends with the Dr. at this point and we realized that we did not like her. Due to insurance conditions we could not switch doctors if we had seen them within a month. Because I kept getting sick I had to stay with her.

Finally when it hurt to bend down and brush my teeth I went to my doctor- after pounding my lower back she sent me home with a prescription for 800mg of Ibuprofen 3X a day. And muscle relaxants….

– I don’t like taking drugs for anything but cramps- I had a bad reaction to a cough medicine and I am now terrified of any sort of medication.

I decided to take one pill a day and I felt a bit better until the effects wore off.

At this time I was also seeing an infectious disease specialist and a surgeon. For my larger than life lymph nodes in my neck- They were literally sticking out and my classmates enjoyed touching my “lumps”. I promise it was not as weird as this sounds. ( No one knew what my lumps were- they kinda went away after 9 months- medical mystery?) I can still feel them, but they are much much smaller.

So for a few months my problem was put on the back burner (literally)- I had other medical problems to deal with, along with a full semester of classes I was pretty busy.

At this point, I had stopped doing my own workout- but I was still teaching cardio box…. ( Mistake)

I would feel my back in pain when I did jumping jacks- or anything that required impact. So I would demonstrate for one or two reps and then cue my classes to continue on. This worked out pretty well, I was able to keep teaching and not “hurt”

-Not sure if this was a good idea but, it worked.

I went back to the doctor and she sent me to a spine surgeon, after more poking and pounding my spine I was “diagnosed” with a bulging disc  and sent to physical therapy.

At this point I was having trouble lifting my legs to put pants on, sitting and using my laptop hurt. I would have nerve pain down my legs. It was not a burning or tingling- it was an uncomfortable sensation.

It honestly felt like I had broken my butt or something…

My general doctor also wanted me to have an MRI- but the insurance denied this because I was not in any sort of car accident or other trauma.

So enter Summer 2009 where I started physical therapy- biggest mistake of my life…..

I will finish up my story in the next post Injury Part II

Thanks for reading- writing this has brought back some not fun memories but I want people to learn from my story and not make the same mistakes.

* Feel free to share any injury stories you may have*

I have no shame…

I drove to Costco for the sole purpose of having free samples for lunch.

Ravioli ( drenched in olive oil) X2

Raspberry pastry

Veggie Chili

Almond Butter

Sun chips!

I also bought some Chobani 12 pack for 11.49!

I also bought some Tabouli which I had for lunch part 2 with some rice and roasted potatoes

I have a happy belly 🙂

Yesterday while I was sitting in the chair of boredom aka the Dentist

I was really craving a Panera sammie

Enter the love of my life.

All 610 delish calories.  They mainly come from the bread- which I will have switched the next time I get this

Have a look-see:

I really want to make my own healthy version but can anyone help me find zesty peppadew piquant peppers?

On to some school  stuff I am totally in a bummed out mood. I spend so much time and energy studying and I always end up with terrible grades. I try not to let my grades define me but it does make me sad. There are only 44 credits standing in the way of me and a B.S in Biochemistry.

I had a really hard semester- lots of tears. I dropped a classes.  But some good points I got a few really high grades-but in the end they did not help.

I know I can make it these next 3 semester- I will continue to work hard regardless of how crappy my grades are.

I do have some exciting things coming up:

• I am blogging for UMBCeats as a healthy living blogger.

• 
  

  I am in touch with the FDA with a possible job/ internship

• 
  

  I am going to continue to teach ab crunch at UMBC

• 
  

  I will continue my internship with the UMBC Shriver Center at a local homeless shelter.  We are planning to grow a garden- so that they can add FRESH veggies and herbs to their meals. We are going to use these seeds to keep up around biodiversity. I also plan on getting free composted soil from the county.

• 
  

  I am also talking to a few professors on campus to do some Public Health Research in the Spring.

• 
  

  Co-writing Public Health Roll we are planning on re-launching in Feb

I listed out all these things mainly for myself, even when things are looking bad. I do have a lot going for myself. I pride myself in taking the initiative in whatever project/ job I am doing. I hope this carries me through to my future.

Most importantly I will try my best to maintain a healthy lifestyle- with that I am going to head to the gym.

Hopefully I will feel better about myself. If not, there is always tomorrow.

156.5

* Don’t forget to enter my Chobani Giveaway*

I have had an AMAZING 2009. But I am ready for 2010!

Let’s talk numbers.

Arms: 12.5 inches

Bust ( w/ double bra): 37 inches

Abs ( around belly button): 37 inches

Butt: 40.5 inches

Biggest part of Thigh: 23 inches

Height: 5 feet 2 3/4 inches

Weight as of Dec 31st 2009: 156.5

BMI: 27.2 ( I put myself in as 5′ 3”)

Overweight = 25-29.9

140.5 puts me at a normal weight. Which is a loss of 16 lbs.

I know BMI is not the most accurate thing in the world- but it is a pretty decent indicator of where things need to be.

The facts.

• I have not worked out for 10 months due to a lower spine fracture.
• I have not been on an diet- I basically eat whatever I am in the mood for. Indian, American, junk. All.

The results.

Yes, I made these pictures as tiny as possible. Because who really wants to post unflattering pictures of themselves on the internet? But I don’t think my pictures are that bad.

I love the way I look!

( Sorry Mom& Dad! I don’t dress like this in public)

-This is necessary if you come from a conservative Muslim family 🙂

So what now?

• I would like to be at a normal weight range for my body that I can maintain ( 140.5).
• I don’t want to feel like I need to unbutton my pants at the end of each meal.
• I want to remind myself that I don’t need to eat a lot to be full.
• I don’t need to eat candy/ m&m’s when I am upset or stressed out with school.
• I want to exercise for at least 60 mins a day at minimum.
• I don’t want to feel like an unfit group fitness instructor.
• I want to keep track of all my meals and workouts daily on my blog to make sure I am keeping up with my plan.
• I want to feel and be fit and toned.
• I want to stay injury free and healthy!

Lastly- I want to be a runner!

Oct 16th 2010 here I come!

I don’t have a particular goal I would be happy doing the 5k or 1/2 marathon but 9 months is a long time from now so I have no idea where I will be at that point.

I don’t even know if I will be able to run post-injury. They did mention something about walkers. I will do that.

I have joined Elliptical Challenge 2010 on the lovely Kelly’s blog!

I am off to get ready for a lovely New Year’s eve with the family.

Lots of love and happiness to everyone in 2010!

Where have I been?

I will let the pictures speak for themselves:

Yeah, that is what I would like to call finals week.

And then along came snOMG 2009

We got a total of 20 inches- this is the most snow many of us have ever seen. You should have heard all of my friends yapping away that this blizzard did not compare to the one in 1996.

Sigh I suddenly feel old.

Finals week is not a week of model eating.  There may have been take out orders for pizza, wings, subs and yeah…….

Thankfully my mom packed a delish and veggie filled lunch

Otherwise my mouth may not have seen some for a while.

I am officially done for the semester as of the 22nd and I don’t start up again till the 27th of January.

1 WHOLE month of freedom!

What will I ever do with all this time?

In exactly 1 year I will be applying to graduate school for a masters in Public Health- so I am going to start studying for the GRE which I will most likely take in the summer

I am not amazing at standardized testing so the more studying I get in the better!

I will still be teaching ab crunch at the UMBC gym twice a week- I still need to order new music. Any fitness instructors out there with good music sites? I use John Sines – they are great except I like to custom make my CD’s with the songs I like. But I am not too sure where I would get that done.

Help?!

So in good news I feel 89% better from my lower spine injury. I can defiantly feel my injury spot- I don’t think it will ever be 100% better but this is sooo much better.

So what is my game plan?

Well this is what Mr. Elliptical Machine had to say:

And so I did!

I stuck with the Gluteal Program:

Minutes 1-7 I was at crossramp 4 and resistance 1

7-12 I moved the resistance to level 2

12-15 I cranked it up to level 3

I stopped to stretch out my hamstrings and quads.

I hopped back on for another 15 minutes repeating the format.

I also wanted to work on some abs and I grabbed my favorite buddy and crunched away for a set of 10!

I wrapped up my light workout with a 30 sec plank and some weights (5lbs) I really did not want to over do it after being out of the gym for so long.

So far everything feels good I am going to pretty much add gradually as I go along.

It sounds like a great plan to me.

I am just happy to be out sweating.  Speaking of which I am taking my first Bikram yoga class on the 7th I plan on hydrating well and figuring out what to wear in the time being. The studio near my house has a 10 consecutive day trial pass for $25 I plan on trying it out with some of my friends.

I have never done any sort of yoga before and I plan on letting the instructor know about my injury- so I won’t do anything to hurt it.

I am also working on applying to several internships and on that I am really excited for takes place in Switzerland!

[Source]

The application along with a 500 word essay about why I plan on having a future in the health and aging field is due on the 15th. I am super nervous about applying but it will be an exciting opportunity. Even if I don’t get in I am still happy to apply- I am not the type of person that does new things like traveling ect. I am happy staying at home. But I don’t want to miss out on an amazing opportunity.
*WHEW* Stay tuned for part 2 of what I have been up too!

I hope everyone had a lovely holiday 🙂

Check out my guest post !!

Fear of Rejection?

I have never been rejected.

True statement. Never been rejected from/by a college, job, boy, internship or  scholarship. Why?

Because I don’t go for do things  unless I am 100% sure I will get them.

As I am getting older my perfect record is soon coming to an end. It’s not rejection that I fear- its more why should I bother doing something that may not get?

I don’t take chances in life.

I don’t set goals that I won’t reach like- lose ten pounds in X amount of months.

I set goals that I DO– last summer when I set out to lose 19 pounds I made sure I met that goal.

I am sure my steadfastness will come in handy in the future. But I want to take risks NOW, I want to take the chance that I might not get in. Otherwise I fear that I may never try anything.

But who knows I may never lose my perfect record! ( Wishful thinking. I know.)

Anyways, more on my risk-taking life later.

This weekend was a two-for-one-deal with my family- Thanksgiving and       Eid (Muslim holiday)

It was so much fun to spend time with family and friends 🙂

For Thanksgiving Eve I had two of my friends over and my mom made an Indian and American inspired feast :)!

• Stuffing
• Greek pasta salad with feta
• Turkeyyy
• Rice with Chickpeas
• Cranberry Sauce
• Mashed potatoes

 

Then it was on to Eid

Sibling ❤

Myspace pic?

With all that was going on I forgot that I was still and school and I have to gear up for finals week. Which is why I am currently at Borders getting working done with their new free Wi-Fi!

I am so blessed and thankful to be living a fabulous and healthy life.

I hope everyone had a lovely weekend with their family and loved ones 🙂

Good Mood!!!

The main factor that determines what I eat is the mood that I am in.

Lately with the pressures of school and my lack of control over my injury I have been all over the place on the mood scale. Somedays the sun shines a bit brighter as I walk by

Other days it’s a cloud of gloom-doom. Not fun.

I honestly feel better if I have something delish in my belly. I spoil myself rotten! If I am feeling crappy and I want a candy bar or something salty and spicy I go for it.

Honestly, when you are down in the dumps are you really going to think if something is healthy?  Did not think so.

Recently I have started to dread getting dressed in the morning. I am worried that my clothes won’t fit. Thankfully it’s getting chilly and I can wear a sweatshirt and I can feel more comfortable. There is nothing worse than feeling trapped in too tight clothes.

To combat those negative feelings I do my best to stay in the best possible mood all day.

I naturally enjoying helping people- my best parts of this semester have been working at a homeless shelter not far from campus. It is a humbling experience talking to the local men of my community about their lives. Many of them were unable to finish highschool due to financial reasons or getting arrested for various crimes.

I often worry that I won’t have a future if I don’t get into grad school. But I am so lucky to have the chance to be in school and no matter what I end up doing it will be something that I love.

Many times I remind myself that life is too short to stay bummed about the way I look and feel and focus that energy into something positive.

I want to be able to inspire other people around me as well as myself  to always focus on the good and not the bad. Especially in college where grades consume who we are as individuals.

Top 10 ways to keep a positive/happy mood- Sana style 🙂

1. Have a tickle fight 🙂 There is nothing like a good belly hurt’in laugh!
2. Smile at a stranger- don’t worry this is NOT creepy!
3. Have a dance party-  location, location, location ( library, rooftops,sidewalks, anywhere)
4. Run through a sprinkler.
5. Play a prank on someone that won’t hate you forever ( Woopie cushion, fake spiders, snake in a can?)
6. Ask for free samples- how can this not make you happy?
7. Dressing room photo shoot.
8. Moonbounce/trampoline/ ballpit.
9. Have a cuddle party (Me, myself and I do this all the time)
10. Youtube ( hahah, we have all done this)

What should #11 be?