Product Review: MyFitnessPal (app and website)

I've been super busy these last few weeks as work came to end along with my Rose Bowl water polo career.  We won bronze medals at the Junior Olympics which was exciting, and before I went there I dip dyed my hair bright pink! (Pictures of both of these events can be found on my instagram (and twitter): @hannahgrotz).

So now that water polo is over (and swimming doesn't start until November 1 for Midd), I have to seriously watch my health and fitness.  This means planning daily aerobic workouts for at lead 30 minutes and strength workouts at least three times a week.  Stretching is also very important for being a healthy athlete.  So is nutrition...

During water polo it could be really hard at times to watch what I was eating because we ate out as a team a lot and trust me, water polo players certainly work up an appetite! So while I struggled to find healthy items that would conquer my hunger without busting my diet, I also consumed more than I should now that the season is over.  This means I have to cut down on the amount I'm used to eating because now my workouts are less intense.

I recently discovered this free app, MyFitnessPal, for all Apple products, Android phones, Blackberry phones, and Windows phones that is basically a calorie counter.  I'm used to writing down what I've eaten in my journal, but it's so much easier (and accurate!!) to use this app.  It has a ton of different foods from different brands and restaurants, therefore I'm very happy with it so far.  You can also track how much water you're drinking and how much aerobic exercise and strength training you do daily, and subtracts calories burned from your total intake.

One of the features I really like is a chart that shows how much fat, carbs, protein, sodium, and various vitamins you have consumed and compares it to how much you should be consuming.

Over all, I'm very satisfied with the product!



Here's one of my favorite songs at the moment:

Want: Denim Vest

Before I go to work today, I wanted to write a quick post about denim vests.  During the past year I bought a denim jacket from American Eagle:

and it was one of my favorite purchases - ever!  I get so much use out of it.  I love wearing it with white shorts or with a dress because I'm not into sweaters too much, especially in the summer.  

While I'm currently thinking of getting a white denim jacket, I've also been seeing a lot of denim vests that are attractive too.  The vest adds an extra layer that, while not necessarily keeping you warm, and overall steps up the cool factor on your outfit.

What do you think?  Where is the best place to buy a denim jacket that doesn't look tacky??

Summer Rain

Today's weather was so New England! Cloudy but humid and 86 degrees outside with the demeanor of a thunderstorm.  Which actually seems to be brewing fairly near my house.  Unless I'm actually listening to an airplane....either way I'm so excited for practice tonight! Playing water polo in the rain is sooo much fun!!

I wore my hair down for work today (which is a first...I usually wear it up to keep it out of the bunsen burner....haha....) but to avoid constantly tucking it behind my ears I did a little side braid and clipped my hair to the side of head.  It was pretty cute if I do say so myself.

I absolutely love braids! I'm constantly looking to add new braiding techniques to my repertoire, but so far I know how to do a normal braid (duh), fishtail, side braids, and a twirl braid (I forget what it's actually called).  I keep meaning to try a french braid on someone but I keep forgetting to try it out.

I had a delicious lunch today, still following the guidelines given by The Program.  I had some plain (boring) cereal for breakfast today, so I brought a decent sized lunch.

PB&Banana sandwich, pita chips, strawberries, and mache salad with ranch dressing

This little ziploc tupperware containers are super helpful! For lunches and for the environment...

I chose leftover salad from dinner last night instead of my usual carrots I pack in my lunch.

Trader Joe's always has the best snack foods everything.

To keep track of what I'm eating, count calories, and see how many servings I've eaten of a food group daily, I keep my special journal thing with me wherever I go.  I also use it for random doodling, lists of various things, and whatever comes to my mind.  It's actually a lab notebook, but it was a pretty color and I liked how the pages were numbered so I bought it for my own personal non-lab use.

In other news, I'm so excited for the weekend!  One of my teammates has a beach house (it is California) so the whole 18U team is going there for the whole weekend! We'll leave Friday after practice and get back Sunday afternoon.  I'm so ready to get rid of my horrible swim suit tan, but mostly my cap tan which has progressively been getting worse.

And with that, I'll leave you with my favorite song from last summer which I heard on the radio today for the first time in a while:

Hannah Marie

Experiments with Water and Nails

Good evening!
I just got home from practice and finished watching Pretty Little Liars so I decided it's a good time to write my first actual blog post that's not an introduction.

After practice last night I went out with some teammates to this realllllllly delicious hot dog/burger joint that had all these old-fashioned bottled sodas and amazing sliders and fries.  Since I've started controlling my diet, I had eaten healthily all day but being in the water just makes you so frickin hungry so I ended up getting a slider and fries and this really cool boxed water.  I think I've seen it before on tumblr, so you might have also, but here are some pics.

It was nothing special, just normal tasting water, but it made me feel all special and happy inside.....

Today was fairly productive as I went to work for the full 5 hours that I am supposed to work for (with no breaks! weird I know) and then I came home, watched America's Got Talent while painting my nails and ate an apple and drank some more water.

The nail polish I used was this $1 bright neon green-yellow color I got at the clearance bin in the beauty department at Target.  I wish I could say it was a successful manicure, but actually it was a disaster.  It turned out to be a "Nail Art" bottle of nail polish so the brush was super thin for decorating nails, not doing full coats.  Therefore the coats I did turned out super streaky.  I attempted to make up for this by doing three coats, but that only resulted in a super thick goopy mess that did not fully fry before I went to practice and is now kind of dented and lumpy and weird and gross.  At least it will probably come off naturally in a few days; usually one of the downsides of playing a water sport.

The nail file I used is also from the clearance bin at Target.  I think I got it for $1 as well. 

eh

 Well now I'm getting pretty tired but I'll live ya'll with a blast from the past:

Hannah Marie

Welcome

Hello!
My name is Hannah and this is my life blog.  I love clothes, makeup, water sports, nature, exercising, and unfortunately food.  If didn't play water polo every day, I'd probably be seriously overweight but with the help of Kelly Traver's book The Healthiest You, I'm soon on my way to living a more health-conscious lifestyle.  Next year I start college at Middlebury College in Vermont and I hope to lose 10 pounds this summer and learn healthy lifestyle habits in order to avoid the dreaded Freshman 15.

I also love to have though, so I'm not only going to talk about my path to becoming healthy, but also other things I like, and my general lifestyle as I shall call it.

More about me:
I think one of the most special things about me is how open I am and how many different things I like that sometimes don't really make sense.  I'm also pretty open with talking about anything and I'll always give an honest answer (usually speaking from personal experience) so feel free to ask me anything.

I'll start with a few random facts.
I play water polo competitively for school and club.
I have a job working in a microbiology lab over the summer. (I'm kind of a science nerd at times)
I love berries! but my guilty pleasure food is mac and cheese.

Top three guy crushes:
Logan Lerman
Zac Efron
Adam Levine

Top three girl idols (or girl crushes, whatever you want to call them haha)
Jennifer Lawrence
Katy Perry
Ashley Greene

Favorite superhero:
Wolverine!!!

Health info:
I have had a handful different health problems and sports injuries throughout my life (haven't we all?) so I'll probably refer to these once in a while as well.  I can't remember all right now, but here's a starting list:
Current:
Tendonitis in my right shoulder (throwing arm)
Bursitis in both of my knees
Von Willebrand disease
OCD-washing/cleaning compulsions

Past:
Grade II Concussion

Music:
Currently I love hip-hop/rap and 90s rock (which are kind of random...) but I will listen to almost anything.  Except most country.  I went through the county phase before everyone else in my school did (so hipster, I know...) and now I can't stand it.

I live with both my parents and my little sister (who starts high school next year!) and my black labrador retriever, Buddy.

If you want to follow me on other websites and devices, here are some ways of reaching me:
Twitter: @hannahgrotz
Tumblr: all-that-glitterss
Instagram: hannahgrotz


Looking forward to posting more soon!

Hannah Marie