http://www.sodahead.com/fun/what-is-your-favorite-poptart-flavor/question-2272403/

What's your favorite poptart flavor? Mine is any berry flavor or fudge sundae. Voters on sodahead.com agree with me. What if I told you that you could use these sugary, flaky pastries to help you gain muscle and burn fat? You'd tell me I was crazy and to go eat a banana. However, before you start heckling me, let me tell you this is an actual phenomenon in the exercise nutrition field. I'm here to give you the low-down on this sweet myth.

BMH Fitness used one of my favorite food philosophies as a health nut/food lover when they stated, "Foods all contain calories and of those calories are macros: Proteins, Fats, and Carbs," in their article about this topic. Basically, don't freak out about eating one poptart, freak out about eating five poptarts. "The body cannot distinguish what it’s digesting, whether it is a chicken sandwich from a fast food joint, or baked chicken, spinach, and a handful of almonds – both meals can render the same amount of macros if measure appropriately."

I'm not saying you should go make poptarts your new go-to snack. Poptarts can be instrumental for recovering from an intense workout. After an 8-mile run, or an intense Zumba class, your body has probably used up a lot of glycogen (carbohydrate) stores in your body, and may have even used fat or protein as a fuel source. After exercise, your body spikes insulin and starts the protein synthesis cycle. Anything that can help your body build and recover that protein post-workout can ensure that when you work out next, you'll have as much or more energy to use when you worked out last. Poptarts, due to their amount of simple sugars, can help with insulin production and therefore can boost the rate of recovery.

I don't advise eating a poptarts after every workout, however if a workout really kills you, you may want to try one in order to feel less sore tomorrow. People always confuse "muscle building" and recovering. Protein help synthesize tissue (muscle), so that post-workout protein shake helps your body recover those amino acids, the true way you build muscle is by increasing your amount of resistance.

I have been eating poptarts here and there - this blog post isn't all just secondary research. I used poptarts to recover from hard cross country workouts on 4 occasions - 9/5, 9/11, 9/28, and today. Those dates in September I didn't feel sore all the next day, and I was ready for my workout the next day. Today, I really hope my poptarts helps me after a hard hill repeat workout at race pace, with a long warm up and cool down. Cross country probs, right? 


TELL ME -  what's your "super secret" gym/gain food?


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The button on the slide-up screen buttons look different now!

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Fall means different things for different regions. Here in New England, it's usually a mix of balmy, freezing, and crisp temperatures with shortening days, pumpkins, apples, and the most breathtaking foliage in the US.

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It's time for the second of three installments of the #MacrobreakdownMania, where I, the nerdy Nikki tell you the bitty gritty of exactly how much of the three macronutrients (carbs, lipids, and protein) that we really need to survive. However, carbohydrates (CHO) seem to have the worst rep. Little do most people know, they're actually the most vital macronutrient out there. Where would we be without carbs? We'd be energy-less, tissue-less, and motion-less.

Carbohydrates consists of CHO (carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen). It's functions are to make energy to preserve tissue, and to fuel your central nervous system. So, next time you're feeling sad about eating that last bread stick, think of it this way: would you feel sad for not fueling your metabolism or your central nervous system?

Carbs give us energy during workouts/activity by producing ATP (adenosine triphosphate), which kickstarts your metabolism to give off energy essentially. Not only do we need carbohydrates to fuel our workouts, but to replace the tissue lost in our workout if our workout was high duration or intensity.


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Part of the reason that carbs get a bad rep is because the composition does break down into sugars. Simple carbohydrates inclue monosaccarides and disaccarides (single and two sugars). These easily break down, so if you don't use them ASAP they will store as glycogen in either muscle or tissue. These are found in processed foods, table sugars, fruits, and milk products
However, polysaccarides are complex carbs, which don't break down as easily. They include starch and fiber. They're found in vegetables, potatoes, rice, and whole wheat pasta and bread.

I can't tell each and every one of my readers exactly how much carbs you need (unless you e-mail me), however I can say that the recommended daily value for carbs is 45-65% of your calories. That's a big percent, more than the other two macronutrients combined. So, long story short, don't sweat it! Unless we're talking about exercise, then in that case, yes, sweat it. Happy carbo-loading, lovelies!

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Lights, camera, runway! With this Friday and Saturday came the long-awaited (since August) HerCampus blogger network College Fashion Week. The event for us models was two days: rehearsal and a Bare Minerals pre-party at the South Shore Plaza in Braintree, MA, and the actual event on Saturday night on October 4th at The Estate in Boston. 

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September Goals

October Goals

• Be more thorough with things - homework, chores, blog posts
• Lift/ do abs twice a week
• Keep 8 hours of work up a week
• Schedule Hautemess and blog posts for November
• Figure out Christmas gifts for me and others
• Go to bed earlier
• Study for at least an hour for every exam

These are things that I definitely want to accomplish this month, but now I have a way to track them! Check out the original post here.