It's Sunday. I'm still hungry...

So it would be wrong for me to say anything bad about the food at BYU because honestly I love it! But I have to ask, what's the deal with Sunday's?? I don't have church until noon, and call me crazy, but I tend to get kind of hungry between the time I wake up and go to church. The first couple of weeks I was here every Sunday was "fast" Sunday because I didn't know what to do for breakfast-the Cannon is closed and the vending machines are quite temperamental! Half the time I go there it says it doesn't except cards. What!?? At first I figured it was because we weren't supposed to spend money on Sundays. Understandable. Then while I was pondering I realized that we're only asked to fast one Sunday per month and I didn't think the students at BYU would be held to that much higher of a standard than the rest of the church and have to fast every Sunday.

Luckily things have gotten better since those first couple of weeks. The vending machines are being a little less temperamental and I hit jackpot with the Creamery. Thanks to Dining Meal Plus, with all the extra money I have I am well stocked with all the best breakfast foods-quick and easy, tasteful and filling. I no longer look at Sunday morning with despair and I really do love fast Sunday! Once a month. :)

p.s. if you're ever hungry, you know who to call!

Health and What I Eat

What people eat obviously has a HUGE affect on their health; we all have heard the speeches and read the articles, but more than that I think we've all felt the effects in our own bodies.

So "an apple a day" may not "keep the doctor away" , but i tend to feel better when I eat one :) and okay, honestly part of that comes from a total mental state, but my body feels better too!

For track season ever year I pretty much swear off sweets, I might have a little snack once a week, but I'm pretty strict with my diet. I wouldn't eat fast food, chips, cookies, ice cream, candy, soda (well I don't drink it anyway, but still) or really any processed foods. I ate healthy cereal (like Special K!) or oatmeal for breakfast, a turkey sandwich for lunch and various healthy dinners. If I was hungry I snacked on fruits and vegetables or possibly a granola bar to boost my energy before practice. I was constantly hydrating with water and the only other drink I might have was a propel for the electrolytes or possibly a glass of milk at dinner.

While in the beginning this was tough to sustain from my favorite foods (chocolate chip cookies and ice cream are my WEAKNESS), after awhile my body stopped craving the junk. I had a ton of energy and my athletic performance increased substantially. I felt good about myself for having the discipline to eat healthy and could literally feel the difference in my body! I definitely need to get back on that schedule! (but gahh those Cannon Center Cookies! :)

The Cannon Center

First of all I have to admit I LOVE the Cannon Center! There's no denying it. It has an AMMMMMMMAZING fruit and salad bar, 3 main courses at all times and of course the dessert mall! I have a "love-hate" relationship with this section, especially the chocolate chip cookies. Now I consider myself a pretty strong willed person, but when it comes to those cookies, mmmmmm "so moist!" (A Cinderella Story, anyone??) Anyway, I wake up in the morning and decided to eat healthy today, "no sweets". It's easy enough to avoid the cannon center for breakfast (well I guess the truth is that I don't wake up early enough to go lol), but when lunch or dinner hits I usually make my 3 minute trek to the good ol' cannon center. I fill up on the yummy food and am completely satisfied. As I go to exit, I inevitably pass my loved, and dreaded, dessert bar. Even if I close my eyes, I swear I can smell those delicious morsels of soft cookie and gooey chocolate! There's no saving me now, I grab one, no two (one time I ate four!) and walk out with my hand slyly by my side, holding the cookies, so the workers don't get mad at me for taking food out of the Cannon Center. Once out of the wokers sight I down those Heavenly treats; I try to savor the flavor, but it always goes too soon. I go to my room with a new plan to eat healthy tomorrow, I wake up and think to myself, "no sweets" haha "good luck with that girl."

Conference!!

Before I proceed, I have to confess I wasn’t able to watch all of Conference this year L But I did have the opportunity to hear some pretty great things in the parts I did catch! I really enjoyed the talk about finding joy in the moment, everyone gets so caught up in reaching their goals (which is a wonderful thing!) that they forget the live in the moment. We need to appreciate the things, and especially the people, in our lives today because you can never know if they’ll be waiting for you tomorrow. I have many friends that were so ready to get to college that they missed out on some great experiences in high school; we should take this lesson and apply it to college! It may always seem like the next step in life will be the key to our happiness, but I think the true key is learning how to find happiness in each step we take.
The other part of conference that I really enjoyed was hearing where the new temples will be built. One word-ROME!! Now I have a phenomenal excuse to travel there! lol But on a more serious note, it is both amazing and powerful to see the Gospel spread throughout the world. Today Rome, tomorrow Afghanistan?? Yay for missionary work! (FYI: my brother’s serving in Chile!)