Doggy-Style

All work and no play, make Casey a dull girl. So what did I do Wednesday? I worked reeeeaaalllyyy hard so I could play hard later. Early morning I munched about half of my overnight oats to give me some energy to hit the gym.

Then hit the gym for a solid 6.5 miles followed by a few weight machines. Then headed over to a local regional park to run with TR and this monster…

Don’t let that doggy-smile fool you, she’s a demon I tell ya.

Together we covered about 3 more miles to bring that day’s total to 9, leaving me tired and ready to finish off breakfast.

Recently I got my hair cut and colored after not having anything done to it, for a LONG time. I asked for bangs, which look super cute…except after taking off a running hat. Came home for some coffee and then off to the driving range! I haven’t been to the driving range in at least 10 years, so it was exciting to try something new.

After a round of 100 or so balls we paroozed the local mall to fuel inspiration for our Vegas trip attire. After killing some time we made our way to the destination I have been waiting to go to for months- Doggy Style. A somewhat local hotdog shop with a twist. They have about 7 or so different types of dogs with interesting toppings and meats, not to mention a clever name.

He ordered a doggyzilla. It literally tasted like a sushi roll, but hotdog if that made sense. I only tasted the toppings because the meat was beef, but from what I got, it was delicious.

Toppings included asian slaw, seaweed, wasabi mayo and teriyaki sauce atop a bratwurst.

I ordered the Kimchi Pyro which I got with a chicken apple sausage ( only non-beef option). Since it was our first time, they let me substitute the meat option free of charge since it usually costs a dollar! I have been craving kimchi SO HARD that I had to have it. It came with cucumbers, kimchi and a spicy sauce on top. The spice brought some heat, but nothing the average bear couldn’t handle with some sips of H20.  The bun was large and wheaty, and had  just the right amount of toasted crunch.

Both dogs we had were scrumptious and immediately devoured. Only downfall = no leftovers!

There are a few more style of hotdogs that I really want to try and can’t wait to go back. More Hotdogs!!!!

 

 

Tags: doggy style, golf, hotdogs, oatmeal, running

Balls 2 the Walls

Woke up yesterday morning bright eyed and bushy tailed, but still not at the time I wanted to. Sore from the day before I ate about half my yogurt mess breakfast and headed to the gym. Did an easy 4 miles on the dreadmill followed by a mini crossfit workout from Runners World magazine with TRT.

After that came home and finished my breakfast!

5oz. Trader Joes honey greek yogurt+ cinnamon+12 blackberries+ 1/4 cup Kashi Heart to Heart Cinnamon

with a tall glass of H2O

And of course had 2 cups of coffee!

Did a few things around the house and had some low fat blue corn chips and homemade hummus before taking off to hot yoga. It was a great class!

Stopped at the grocery store on the way home to pick up ingredients to make some cake pops for my mom to take to my brothers boyscout meeting tomorrow and made my way home to have a few generous bites of this delicious pizza! Manfriends, who I will just call BC,  brother works at a new pizzaria nearby that makes great deep dish pizza so I got a sample!

It was a deep dish gluten free pizza with spinach, onions and mushrooms. I despise mushrooms, but if you can sneak ‘em in and I can’t tell, I’m not gunna complain. Beggars can’t be choosers! Although, it looks like a had more bites than just a few…

So I made a side salad to accompany it and ate that with some water and tea while watching jeopardy with my family.

 

romaine lettue, 1 cherry tomato, basalmic vinagarette, red pep & green onion.

Before the evening ended I met up with TR for some froyo and to chat. No pictures because I forgot my camera but I had about 3/4 cup mix of cappucino and tart froyo with blackberries on top and peanuts&almonds. I haven’t had froyo in months so stopping by my favorite place was nice. Then I went to the supermarket to pick up some chocolate to melt for my cakeballs which I almost finished last night.

 

Tags: crossfit, hummus, running, salad, yogurt

Can’t stop Movin’

I really need to stop staying up so late! I went to sleep at 3am, which is somewhat typical now. And really not good for me. I know what I need to do, but its just hard to get there sometimes. I stay up binge eating all night on cookies and leftovers, which I really need to stop doing. I’ve gained 5lbs in 4 months and had developed what looks like a mini beer gut, but I barely drink beer! But I digress, with the new year starting, a new haircut, and possibly new manfriend(?); I’m ready to take on the challenge of myself, and stop putting up a front of who I am to the world. I’m tired of being a fraud and not being an actual representation of myself. These habits do not bind me and they do not make, therefore they can be broken and a balanced lifestyle CAN and WILL be achieved.

Enough of that for now, today was a really nice Sunday! Woke up at a somewhat respectable hour (8am) and hit a hot yoga class at 9am. It was packed! The teacher is new to me, but I thoroughly enjoyed her class and especially her musical choices.

Then I headed immediately home while sippin’ some H2O to devour my overnight oats.

1/4 C oats, NF Vanilla Yogurt & Almond Milk. Drop of Vanilla extract and splash of H2O. Added 12 Blackberries, 2tsp raspberry jam & crunchy barney butter.

Pared it with a cup and a half of my favorite coffee while reading some online news and picking up my room before my big run at 1. I met with my ex-manfriend, whom we remain friends as he is very important with my life and do not feel the need to divulge details of the matter- just know things are ok and good, and we took off along the bay for about a 6 or some mile run. A run with some serious hills! It was nice to catch up, the view was incredible and we had a good time chatting, he might even become a fitness model!

After our run we visited and he took of to do his model thing and I took off home for lunch. I was starving. I had some leftover scrambled eggs with spinach and green onion, a cutie, and 4 marys crackers with whatever I could scrape out of the hummus jar.

I bought this tub this week, I think I’m going to turn into a garbanzo bean.

Then I met one of my closest friends for a walk around 4. We usually do a 3 mile loop but the sun was out and it was a gorgeous day so she suggested we keep going. So we did… 6.6 miles later we finally make it back! We were starving. So I rushed home got a shower and made a sandwich thin pizza.

sandwich thin with prego sauce spinach and probably too much shredded cheese.

Also I had a cup of tea and some more water. And when I arrived back home was ravenous so I had 2 pieces of naan with some of the moms homemade hummus to survive til dinner. Never being one to pass up booze or sweets I am having a little bit of red wine and some chocolate morsals with 2 cinnamon M&Ms, yes, I said CINNAMON M&Ms! (fucking incredible).

Not sure what the rest of the night has in store, but all I know is I’m TIRED and can’t wait til tomorrow! I’m sure some more chocolate chips will make its way into this mouth before the night ends.

Tags: fruit, oatmeal, pizza, running

Yes Indeed I’m Walkin’

After my walkin’ and spinnin’ this morning I headed to class where we went over some more cardiovascular things. Super cool! And the other week in our lab we got to give ourselves EKGs! Anyway, after class I swooped up a magazine and headed to a local reserve to take a walk before the rain was supposed to hit this afternoon. Unfortunately it came a little sooner than expected!

 

But I got a good mile and a half or so walk in then headed back to the gym to walk for another half hour. Back at the car I had some Joe’s O’s as a snack while rockin’ my new running shoes I got for my birthday last week.

Then since I felt restless I headed back to the gym to walk for 30 more minutes followed by a yoga session in the gyms cardio room. I recently had to cut my membership to my yoga studio due to fund-age,  so I am trying a whole yoga challenge of practicing on my own. Thanks to Peanut Butter Runner for the inspiration to do a 62 day yoga challenge. I’m up for it! I got a good 50 minute session in myself, even if towards the end a guy came in and started doing stair jumps, but I held my zen.

By the time I was done it was WAY passed lunch time so I rushed home and had a few low fat blue corn tortialla chips while polishing off the rest of my hummus. (Notice the awesome yoga sling my mom made for my birthday!)

Then I spent the rest of the night cleaning up my room and rearranging things. None of which were on my to-do list today, but it feels nice to have things somewhat clean. Then it was time for dinner. Moms picked up our favorite super burritos that are about as long as BIG as my hand! So I had a bit of that with a side salad dressed in garlic gold oil and balsamic vinegar.

Now just finished a quick 10 minute yoga stretch sesh and having some chocolate bits.

Off to finish Whitney and hit the sack with some SleepyTime Honey Vanilla tea!

Tags: burrito, salad, walking, yoga

A New Leaf

Well well well, look who we have here crawling back to the blog-o-sphere. I have been wanting to re-start this thing for quite some time now, but have been seriously lacking motivation in all aspects of my life lately. Be lucky I got out of bed this morning. Things have changed over the year, including me picking up some not so great eating habits. A whole bag of chocolate chips and a whole breast of fried chicken is not what I used to deem healthy.

So I am back. To get on track. To make a change. To drop those pesky few pounds I put on and gain my confidence and love of life back. I never stopped reading all my favorite blogs, but have been more or a less a creeper reader on my google reader.

Here’s to starting the day off right!

Some coffee(not pictured) H2O in my favorite jar and some overnight oats.

-1/4 C- TJs gluten free oats & NF Vanilla yogurt + some water.

-1tsp raspberry jam and melted barney butter

-11 blackberries

Workout this morning was an hour walk on the treadmill because it was so cold this morning. Alternating incline while reading the rest of my Fitness magazine followed by 10 minutes on the spin bike. I gained inspiration from a friend of mine who did a spin class and have since been on the bike the past two days. They did a whole class and I did ten minutes and was exhausted!

Gotta jet to school!

Let the documentation and commenting commence!

Tags: coffee, oatmeal, spinning, walking

Allow Me to Reintroduce Myself

My name is Casey.

Sorry for the long and drawn out absence. I just was not in the right mental state to be “out-there”.  But over the weeks I’ve been gone from the blogosphere I’ve realized how much I’ve missed it. I’ve missed reading everyone’s entries, writing, and taking pictures of my food and life. Even my boyfriend has been asked “don’t you want a picture of this?”. When I initially went no hiatus I just shrugged, but when we were out for pizza the other night I brought out my camera for the first time in weeks.

Honestly, not taking photos of what I ate or did felt good; liberating in a sense. The idea and feeling that I was living my life without the feeling of responsibility to document or report my daily eats and life was great. But in turn, when I read my favorite bloggers I’m reminded and inspired why I started this in the first place. To find that balance in my life. In no way am I perfect or claim to be a saint when it comes to eating, habits, or eating habits. I struggle like the everyday woman. And yeah, to be honest I don’t like my body that much; just like the majority of women. But there ARE days when I love myself and have never felt more alive or proud to be who I am. I’ve always reminded myself that happiness and contentment are fleeting, if they weren’t, life would be pretty boring anyway!

So now that the ball is rolling, there will be a few changed you might see over time. Nothing to be alarmed about; hopefully they are for the better of everyone including myself. Also, another note… in regards to that Marie Claire Article; my heat goes out to us all. Those of us who look to these women for inspiration, ideas, recipes. These women aren’t deranged or eating disordered, but rather documenting their lives to maybe inspire or helping someone else. I know my discovery of Kath’s Blog changed my life. I’ve discovered new foods, ways of cooking, and have realized that it’s the balance that makes one happy. In most part it is the responsibility of the reader to do what they will with the information presented to them. None of the so called “Big Six” (which is a ridiculous name given by the author) claim to give advice or push readers to do anything. They offer suggestions and what works for them. The discovery of this community has changed my life; FOR THE BETTER. So take that Katie Drummond.

Well, now that that’s out of the way a lot of stuff has happened since my disappearance…

• I quit my job
• Now working part-time as an assistant
• Couple concerts
• Was in a wedding
• And ran a few races including my FIRST HALF MARATHON (post to follow!)

I’m ready to get this going!

From the light in me, to the light in you.

Namaste

Tags: updates

Back in the Saddle.

I’m baaaaaaccckkkkk

Hiatus

I’m going on hiatus from blogging.

I love this thing, but it needs to happen.

I’m sorry.

I will still read and comment on others, but for myself, I can’t right now.

Eat Real

Yesterday was fantastic!

I woke up around 6:30 and went for a 45 minute walk with Kodi, then had some delicious oatmeal for breakfast.

1/4 c gluten free oats

1/4 c water, almond milk

strawbs and blackberries,

barney butter

crofters spread

pinch of salt.

Now that I’ve quit my job, it’s so odd to have a HOT breakfast.

Then I biked to the gym for yoga and 20 minutes of TKB (turbo kickboxing). I left early because my feet have been seriously sore from lack of cushion in my running shoes and van sneakers. So I took off on my bike all the way across to another town to drop off my car insurance check and then made my way home. It was a rough ride because the wind was so strong and cold! Seriously, where has summer been in California?

Then later in the afternoon after going to a friends BBQ, boyfriend made it over this way and we took off to oakland for Eat Real Festival. The whole goal is to make healthy real food fast and accessible at a low price. I think they succeeded. There were so many good REAL food trucks out there and every plate was 5 dollars or under. Needless to say, boyfriend and I did some SERIOUS DAMAGE.

I felt like a kid in a candy store and a gnat at the same time. There were so many places I wanted to go, so many tastes I wanted to taste. I was immediately overwhelmed and couldn’t choose what I wanted first. I have a problem with making decisions, and this was definitely one of those times. Thankfully the boyf. assisted me in route and food planning. As we wandered in deeper amongst the almost 100 vendors we started off with Curry Up Now . They sell Indian masala burritos and tikka masala plus samosas. So we decided to split one samosa. By the way, everything we got yesterday we got just one and split

The samosa wasn’t up to our standards. I like to think we’re pretty experienced or at least somewhat knowledgeable of Indian food and spices and this was missing something. Even the boyfriend who doesn’t care much for spicy food said it was missing that kick of a spice.

Then we saw that Organic Valley was giving out free samples! You know I’m all about free, and I love cheese, so we both got a square of the organic sharp cheddar. It was really tasty, boyfriend even liked it plain and he really doesn’t like cheese on it’s own.

Love the message of this loaf of bread we passed!

Then there was another truck called Liba that I wanted to try. My first time trying Falafel, it was ok. I’m sure they’re better homemade or from somewhere else. But the yogurt and cilantro sauce was delicious! I had a list of the places I wanted to go and the foods I wanted to try (hey, I did some research) and this place serves sweet potato fries. I wanted to get some for the man, but they didn’t have them.

I didn’t care much for the differentiation between the outside and the inside. I wish it was all insides.

Then we split a tiny goats milk ice cream sammich from LaLoos. I’ve always wanted to try goats milk, so why not start with ice cream. I liked it. Boyf. thought the chocolate sammie part overpowered the ice cream.

Not full, YET.

More sammich!

Then we went to a place that I TOTALLY wanted to go. Homeroom. They do MAC N CHEESE. Seriously this stuff was good. It was so cheesy , creamy and even spicy! Plus I topped it with some crushed potato chips.

It was their Smoky Spicy Mac with Spring Hill spicy jack and marash pepper.

Thanks Homeroom! Totally satisfied my craving of something comforting, cheesy, warm, and amazing.

Next up, my first time having papusa! Bean and cheese of course with fermented cabbage and onion (so good, reminded my of kimchee) and salsa. Boyfriend loves these. So much so that we bought another bean and cheese and plain queso on our way out for another day.

Then I saw this on my way in, and there was a big line. I was like we have to come back!

Chicken and Seafood Paella or Vegan Paella. We opted for the vegan (thanks boyfriend!)

I think it was one of our favorite dishes of the day. It tasted like it had meat in it, but it was garbanzo beans. Plus all the other yummy stuff that goes in the other Paella.

We ate the WHOLE thing.

Boyfriend and I want chickens SO BAD!

We really wanted to get a spinach kanish, but we decided against it. Probably good in the long run, but they looked and smelled so good.

Then the last bit of food we got was an empanda at a place I wanted to try. We decided to try chicken despite all my efforts in not eating meat, sometimes it’s nice to have a treat. The taste was so interesting, I couldn’t put my finger on it. There were olives in it too and I hate olives! But I didn’t even notice or taste them. We each had a bite or two and saved the rest to take home. Mom tasted when we got home too

Then it was off to where we started. Gelataria Naia. I taste tested this place in my last post in Walnut Creek and they were here! We saw them on our way in and I vowed we had to go back because they had Blue Bottle Coffee flavored ice cream. Blue Bottle is apparently the best coffee around, but I have yet to try it so I had to have some form of it when I saw it. We got that and then the other half whiskey flavored.

We agreed this was the best thing we ate yesterday. The coffee ice cream was made with real coffee not that coffee flavor crap. Which makes me want to get a cup of Blue Bottle Coffee even more now!

Nomz.

Then we came home stuffed and lazy.

And this morning I went on a 7 mile run and am still not hungry! Gah!

Tags: cheese, empanada, falafel, ice cream, indian, mac n cheese, paella, papusa, samosa

Updates

A lot has been happening as of late in my life. But first, I must thank the boyfriend for writing a great post about his adventures in baking. Well thought out, executed, great pictures, and man oh man was it tasty. It was just like a blackberry cheesecake!

The main change that has been going on is the wedding I was in (which took a lot of time away from this blog), work (again taking time away from the blog) and now, not having a job. Yup, that’s right, even in today’s tough economy I’m crazy enough to quit my steady job in hopes of finding something else. Call me crazy, but I’ve never been happier or more motivated in my life.

But what’s been happening otherwise you ask?

A few weeks ago I traveled a great distance to go to the Crystal Fair! The woman who made my mermaid ring the boyfriend got me was going to be there and I thought I would go and support her. There was so much neat stuff to gawk and oooo and awwww at.

I came away with this raw sapphire and quartz pendant that I absolutely love. I also got a fire agate for the boyfriend to help with tummy issues.

The fair was really small but I was in the downtown area and had the afternoon to myself so I paroozed for hours and hours. While doing said paroozing I came across this awesomely flavored gelato shop! It had my favorite tea as a flavor! Score! Needless to say I sweet talked the guy working there to pretty much let me sample everything.

Tried on clothes at H&M. I liked this dress a lot but it didn’t quite look right. There was some puckering.

Then meandered over to a cooking store where I scored a free cappuchino and saw the most awesome oven mit!

Followed by a Pike roast with cinnamon and some sug.

So boyfriend and I have a SSP (super secret plan) to open a sweet/snack shop someday (hey we can dream!) ANd this woman totally took our idea with bite size cupcakes!

Saw this and it made me think of Kira

Ate a Godiva chocolate sample I got the day before and spent a mass amount of time in Borders picking up a few books

• veganomics
• clean food

And checking out Caitlins new book!

Then I shopped at Whole Foods ( aka Mecca) and look what I found on the shelf! Totally bought some!

Grabbed dinner while I was there too because I was completely starving and had plans later with Kira to hit up the wine bar.

I pretty much put the whole salad bar in my little box because I wanted to try everything. First time trying Wheatberries! Don’t worry, there’s spinach and lettuce at the bottom.

I totally loaded up on Larabars and the new flavors!!!

I can’t wait to eat them all.

Now I have to run. I’m at Starbucks and walked here, so I want to make it home before it gets dark! I’ve been sending out resumes all evening! Time for a break

Tags: chocolate, coffee, fair, salad, whole foods