Showing posts with label Clif Bar. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Clif Bar. Show all posts

Saturday, July 18, 2015

The Feed

Instagram
 
 There is an awesome website that I occasionally use to order foods that I can't find in stores around here because I just love trying new things!  It's called The Feed, based out of Boulder, Colorado.  They specialize in foods and products for athletes, selling top-quality stuff!  Here's a sampling of what I've tried so far.
They also send stickers and info booklets in the boxes!  Their website and blog also gives tons of training and living information and advice, along with the help of some of the world's top athletes in various sports.
Have you ever heard of muesli?  Yeah, neither had I.  It's basically oatmeal, but not oatmeal.  This was an awesome lunch for those tough/long training and running days!  This bircher flavor has dates, pumpkin seeds, coconut, apples, raisins, flaxseeds, spices, almonds, and sunflower seeds in with it.
All these bars are really good, but the Chia Bars were different from any other kind I have tried!  They have a very different texture and are very chewy from the chia seeds, but they were great!  The Nude Food Coconut Mocha was very dense and rich, the Maple Almond Breeze Bar cruchy, the earnest eats double choco espresso made for a great pre-workout, and the Clif Kid Iced Oatmeal Cookie just like a dessert cookie, but in my opinion, better.  I found them at the new Walmart and bought a whole box.
These are the bomb.  They may seem weird, but they are so tasty and convienient.  Oatmeal-on-the-go is way better than it sounds.  These pouches don't make a mess, don't have to be refridgerated, and beat any oatmeal you would make.  It's creamy and fruity, with various grains to give it any extra boost.  The package is also really cute, and the Munk Pack logo is a squirrel.  That has nothing to do with its nutritional value, but I always consider looks.
This was my most recent order that came just a couple weeks ago!  Since the tour de France is going on, they did a special promotion that included a free Skratch Labs and Camelbak hydration kit with any order, no minimum purchase!  Hurry before it ends, and you can get one, too.  I bought the smooth caffenatior Picky Bar, which features real-world people on the wrappers, chosen by creators Lauren Fleshman and a couple other pros.  The sunberry butter is really different, but that's why I wanted to try it!  It is the same idea as peanut butter or almond butter, just not nuts.  Instead it contains sunflower seeds and various dried fruits to make it a bit salty yet sweet.  It pairs great with apples, bananas, and/or oatmeal.
 
You can do like me and buy what you want when you want or personalize a box that is mailed to you monthly.  They can help you customize nutrition especially for your wants and needs.  There is even an option to make boxes for your whole office or workplace or team!  You can also make your search easier by narrowing down categories such as time of day, meal, snack, supplement, protein, bars, drinks, mixes, sport, brand, and diet.
 Even if you don't buy anything online, this site can give you great ideas for things you can do on your own to make yourself a better and healthier athlete!

Thursday, May 14, 2015

Nike Southeast

This just so happens to be a Thursday, so I'll transform this post to a Throwback Thursday!  It's also my friend Megan's birthday, so happy sweet 16 to that peppy girl!

The varsity cross country team and I made the journey to Cary, NC the day after Thanksgiving (also a Thursday) to get ready for the Nike Cross Nationals Southeast Regional race that Saturday.  I had done post-season races the past two high school years, but I had gone to Footlocker, never Nike.  This year was the strongest girls team West has had, so our coach wanted to take the opportunity to take us to compete post-season together.  Footlocker doesn't have team competitions, so that meant that we had to go to Nike.




It was an early morning leaving home, so I took breakfast to go.  I was getting in the Christmas spirit now that Thanksgiving was behind with a Gingerbread Clif Bar and my Charlie Brown Christmas Tervis.  When we stopped at a gas station, they had the Dunkin Express, and they had these new protein bars that I had never seen before!  I picked up a couple to save for later.
Take a look at that gingerbready goodness...
Somehow it always seems to happen that we get more snow at Thanksgiving than Christmas...I've never had a white Christmas, but I've had multiple white Thanksgivings.



Meet Trot!  Like a turkey trot!  Ya know, those races people run on Thanksgiving, although they never run any other time, but think doing a little trot makes up for all the extra they will eat?  Well, I got this at Build-a-Bear, and decided to name him Trot because I would still be trotting in my training/racing through the Thanksgiving season.  This race would be my "Turkey Trot."

I don't know where these curls came from, but we thought it was funny.
The hotel we stayed at had a popcorn machine in the lobby!  (Super buttery and salty-->I'm thinking it was really to make guests thirsty so they would buy some of the drinks at the front desk right next to it)
Tony Mitchell, everyone!
He is such a great guy.  The whole Mitchell family is sweet and a great example of a family with hearts for the Lord.  They just make me happy!  Tony is really a kid at heart, always ready to help others and provide laughs!  He was there because his daughter Abby was racing this weekend, too.  I was not planning to take a picture of him, but while I was photographing other things around the course, he started jumping around, waving his arms, and yelling, "Makenzie!  Over here!  Over here!  Take a picture of me!"  So I did and kept it for giggles.

Dream dog!  (Other than pugs)
Those crystal-like eyes are beautiful, too.
When there is an animal I like, I don't mind to approach strangers to ask if I can pet it.  Luckily, they usually don't mind either!

The WakeMed Soccer Park is the location of this race, but the location has about as much or more emphasis on running as soccer.  The teeny-gravel path is a great running surface, and runners even have their own sign.
Here we are in front of the tent where they were selling shirts, bags, hats, etc

I think you can tell what this is a picture of.
**Symmetry**
Going on fun trips with your teammates calls for LOTS of pictures!  This one courtesy of Elizabeth Liposky, front and center there.  We are all very appreciative of the toboggans every runner received in our packs!
Dinner for my family was at Noodles & Co.  If you know my food preferences, you will totally understand why I took a picture of that sign.  I eat original.  Made-to-order meals are my favorite.  "King Burger" from BonQuiQui "Where We Can Do it Your Way--But Don't Get Crazy" couldn't handle me.
I love hot food.  Hot as in heat and spicy.  I also love Colorado, and Boulder is in Colorado.  Therefore, I love Smolder from Boulder seasoning.  (Putting my inductive reasoning skills to use)
Exclusively @ Noodles!

Mom and I hit up Target every chance we get, and race trips are no exception.  I don't even have to buy anything to have a good shopping trip.  Browsing satisfies me just fine, especially at Christmas time!  Target is probably my favorite place to shop, and where I buy most of my Christmas presents.  I actually ended up getting the Dunkin Donuts Maple coffee from Mom at Christmas!  The So Delicious Pumpkin Spice Coconut Milk is still on my "wish list" to try.

If only I were a guy, I could have Snoopy Christmas boxers...they even came with a little gift bag!  I was going to buy the pajamas even though they were mens, but the smallest size they had was large, which, obviously, would not work.

Have you ever slept on Hampton pillows?
"It's so fluffy I'm gonna die!"
(Catch the allusion?)

I was so excited to get to talk to one of my friends I met at Furman cross country camp last summer!  We even have the same name!  She is from Florida, so even though I thought it was cold, she was an ice cube.

I was so excited for two of my running friends that qualified for nationals that day.  Logan was at Footlocker, and Adam won Nike!  He later went on to place 2nd at the National race, and I must say, I watched the entire thing live streaming and it was so intense.  Thanks for the excitement, Adam.

It was a fun new experience to end my cross country season, but I can't wait to get back at it this summer and fall.  It'll be here before we know it!
Dad is the cookie monster.  Shame on him for eating and driving.
Almost that time again!  Furman, the Kenzies will be back!

Monday, March 24, 2014

The Pile-Up Since Snow Days

School is insanely busy, so I haven't posted anything since our last bunch of snow days.  However, when there was something that I wanted to share, I saved a picture; Now I have to add captions to them all!
I thought this was just too funny!  Sophie did not enjoy having to go back outside on those below freezing days.

My new favorite drink:  Lipton Tea & Honey, Green Tea, Mango Pineapple.  The only place I have found it so far is at Target, so I need to keep looking!

This is the college leader in my Sunday School class, Jenna, and my friend Bella brought homemade by her mother red velvet and cream cheese cupcakes for her birthday back on February 16th.  She is such an inspiration, and it's been a blessing having her in our class to teach us so much.

How cute of a daily Peanuts this was:  Love is patient, love is kind.  1 Corinthians 13:4

This was from my last night skiing at Cataloochee for the year.  This time last year (today is March 14th), Dad and I were having a blast at heaven on earth, Colorado!
Although Dad nor I would ever drink, we do tend to hang out by the bar.  We always make jokes with the line from Dumb & Dumber, "Sitting by the bar, putting out the vibe."  There's usually sports on TV, and small groups can almost always be seated immediately.  People are also always watching, so we could also be an influence on the people who are going crazy.
Plain 'ol popcorn can hit the spot sometimes, too.
("having a blast at heaven on earth" is linked to the pictures I posted on Facebook from our trip.)

I got creative with my cooking once again, and made my own healthy version of Chick-fil-a's cinnamon clusters. 
I took slices of whole wheat bread, sliced them each into 3 strips, and coved/flattened them with "icing."  My icing was a mixture of:  honey, vanilla, protein powder, cool whip, almond milk, cinnamon and other spices, cream cheese, pumpkin, pumpkin butter, and I believe that is all.  Then I rolled them up and stuffed them into muffin cups.  I topped them with a bit more honey and cinnamon sugar before sticking them in the oven to bake until the tops were barely crispy.  Yum Yum!

Another great snack I found!  From the Emerald Almond makers, they have a line of Breakfast-to-Go packs.  This one is Caramel Macchiato, which has sea salt caramel almonds, mocha roast almonds, dark chocolate espresso beans, and granola in it, all giving you a great boost of healthy fat and protein to get you going for the day.  I think it goes great with yogurt and froyo as dessert, too!

There for a while, I was on a Reese's Puffs kick, and put them in almost all my desserts.  TCBY also has a new partnership with Mrs. Fields, and one of the new flavors is Peanut Butter Dream Bar, and it really is like a dream!

I actually won a contest.  Never in my life have I won a contest, but I enter them all the time!  YouthRunner magazine does a weekly contest on Instagram, where they choose a winner from photos that people tag with #YRContest.  A team prayer picture from this cross country season won a few weeks ago, and I got these two magazines and Roger Bannister movie in the mail!

Here is another simple, sweet, and encouraging Peanuts picure.

I went all appled-out one day at lunch.  I love to coordinate things.

This is my buddy Michael!  He was one of my first best friends in kindergarten.  Everyone calls him their favorite Asian.  This was the Sunday of Motown Madness, and I did my weekend run after I got home from church.  I just-so-happened to be finishing my run at the same time Michael, his dad, and friend were finishing their 40 mile bike ride.  They're into triathlons, which I think is awesome!

A new month means a new "Love Is" calendar picture!
"Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love."  Ephesians 4:2

I took this picture from a Twitter post by Life is Good.  I love it because it is so true.  We are in charge of how we react to situations.  If we choose joy, there is no downside.  God provides joy; we just have to choose to accept it and live every moment with it.

This was my first big frozen yogurt in a long time!  It makes it more enjoyable to have it every once in a while.  (More cost-efficient, too; this stuff is pricey.)  This came from one of my favorites:

This amazing runner, Chanelle Price, won the 800 meter World Championships a couple weeks ago.  I don't know how I had never heard of her; she went to UT and lives in Knoxville, which is less than an hour down the road!  I hope I can meet her someday.  She has such a heart for and trust in the Lord, and gets to use her running as a platform to share Him with the world.  That's how I hope people see me, too.

We had a huge group at Bible Study last Wednesday morning!  It made me so happy to be able to fellowship and share little pieces of the Lord's work in our lives, so I had to get my dad to take a picture!
Alright, we're almost up to date.  This was the Peanuts picture from yesterday.  Joy is my favorite word, because it is a feeling that you can't really describe because it is far beyond happiness.  I believe the only true joy comes from delighting in the Lord.
I saw a commercial for this on tv a couple nights ago and decided to try it.  What an easy way to help people who don't have something so essential to life that we take for granted every day?  I went to the UNICEF Tap Project site on my phone and started it out, but I had some trouble.  I got it to work for 20 minutes one night, and last night it took no time, although I left it running, counting time, for over 9 hours while I slept.  Hopefully it is working better for others!
 
There is also a hilarious video on YouTube called "We Are Hungry" that makes fun of the school lunch program.  You should check it out.