Spanish Adventure part 1

Hey everyone! I'm so glad to be back home for the holidays and back to writing! Unfortunately I didn't write as often as I planned while away but surprisingly the internet was hard to come by on the road. So I would love to fill you all in what happened. As mentioned I traveled to Spain to qualify for the Ladies European Tour. To qualify, there were two stages to complete before you earned your card for 2011. The weather was insane to say the least during the first stage which is 4 days on 2 different courses. To make it to the final stage you were to finish in the top 35 at your site (there were two sections split between the two different courses). I was in the top 10-20th all throughout the tournament. The weather was just perfect on the last day and the course was set up really easy in fact....but unfortunately for me I didn't get the job done. Scores were really low that day and I shot a couple over par which would have been fantastic for the other rounds but on the last day I fell back and missed the cut by a single stroke! It was actually pretty devastating to not have accomplished what I came to do. So missing the cut definitely changed my plans...just a little bit.

From here my father and I decided to turn into tourists and travel around Spain to see what it had to offer.  We were in the city Cartagena which is in the southern part of Spain just off the Mediterranean Sea. So before we left on our road trip my newly adopted host family wanted to show us the Fort of Mazzarron, which is a army fort built in the early 1900s during the civil war. The drive there was incredible. We drove in and around mountains with the constant view of the Mediterranean. The initial drive to the fort was actually pretty scary. The road was only big enough for one European car to drive on this incredibly curvy road where you couldn't see at all the cars coming around the bends! To say the least I was the silent back seat passenger gripping the car door as if my life depended on it! The fort was really cool and rock solid I imagine it will stand for hundreds of years. This great day trip ended with a great meal as well. I had the best French onion soup followed by amazing homemade tiramisu. That following monday we left for Granada a city founded by the Muslims in the southwest portion of Spain.... Ok this is where I'm leaving you all...in suspense! To be continued.....

stay with me!

Hey every one! Spain is interesting so far...unfortunately connecting to the internet has been an obstacle. Hopefully, I can stick to writing as much as possible. Im in the south coast of Spain where the weather is like the desert in where its cold and dry but when the sun comes out it can be warm. I've been practicing a lot every day since there's really not much other to do here. :) Monday my tournament starts for the q-school for the European Ladies Tour. Another obstacle that I've had to deal with is having my American food. The grocery stores here are not like home I can tell you that. The first time my father and I went I walked out of the store with a massive headache! My two years of high school Spanish really had to come out to try to figure out what I was looking at but then trying to figure what the ingredients were was another challenge in itself. So my peanut butter and protein powder I packed with me is like gold to me! I've decided to stick to what items I do know and unfortunately the meals have been pretty plain... so not too many new recipes to post at the moment. Tomorrow I'm really excited in trying the one dish I wanted to try in Spain...paella! Supposedly its like the Spanish version of Cajun dirty rice but they use all types of meat or seafood. So really the anticipation for paella is the most exciting thing happening at the moment! Friday my past teammate from Spain is coming down to play in the tournament on Monday. I'm really happy to see her its been a few years since she graduated from college. Ok readers I will do my best to stay posted and to take some interesting photos of my trip!

So what would be a good Spanish dish to try while I'm here? Would love to hear what you think!

Til next time!
Candace

Prepping for Spain

This week has been crazy!!!!! This coming Monday, my father and I are flying out to Spain to play in a couple tournaments in order to qualify for the European Tour. We'll be out of the states for a little over a month. Its my first time out of North America so I'm a little anxious and nervous, but mainly excited to experience a new country. So this week began with a new workout regimen, Insanity! Believe me the name describes the workouts perfectly but thats what i wanted. So my Insanity challenge began one early morning in July watching the informicial. After watching it over and over, I was pumped. I usually don't buy into programs or informicals but the more i saw the informicial i just had to do get it just to see if i complete the two month challenge. So hopefully in 2 months you guys will hear (or maybe see) about my "dramatic" results, who knows but I do know I'm having a fun time trying. Ok moving on.... in preparing for my trip this week my parents and i have had to handle last minute arrangements for booking a condo (on the beach!) and rental car, as well as figuring out means for communication (basically meaning we won't be using cell phones because its expensive!! I'm going to have to rely on internet and skype to stay connected with every one), hmmm what else? We tried to set up my tomtom that was a wasted 2 or 3 hours. Oh.... and Packing! Yeah I've been pretty much trying to pack everything I own and will need into 2 bags.....will need to downsize definately! I cooked a few amazing meals, so check out the new additions in my recipe tab.  The carrot zucchini muffins are pretty addicting (try not to be close minded to the name. They're like a healthy version of carrot cake). Tomorrow I'll be organizing all my food to take to Spain....not to sure if I'll be cooking or baking anything for the trip but if i do I'll post the recipes before I fly out! Well thats all I have for now! Stay posted for more news from Spain :)

Thanks always for reading and following!


Also if anyone has any advice for traveling, eating, exercising internationally I would love to hear what you have to say!

Top Tips for staying clean and fit on the road

 Here are some of my survival tips for traveling, eating out, and staying in shape.

Drink your WATER! I constantly have a water bottle in hand. Staying hydrated is so important. Even when you don't think you are you may be thristy or dehydrated (especially while flying I'm not sure about the facts behind it but simply flying dehydrates you I guess from altitude changes.....drink up) Also pass on alcohol and sodas which only bloat you and dehydrate more. If you need more of a lift that just plain water drop in some lemon or orange and maybe some stevia sweetener. I love hot tea with lemon!


Get a hotel with a gym. If yours doesn't have one thats ok there's so much you can still do. Using your own body weight is amazing; lunges, squats, push ups. I always pack along resistance bands and even a jump rope. Running around the city or town is a great way to explore your surroundings as well.

Get your sleep! My body is very sensitive to the time changes so I always try to catch up with my sleep get back into a rhythm.

Be strict at restaurants. This I've had to learn from the hard way. You really don't know how the food is prepared from the menus. So nicely ask that your food is prepared dry (without butter or much oil) and lightly seasoned to reduce all the salt. Stick with the basics lean meat (like chicken, sea food) and go for veggies steamed. Eating out is the hardest thing about being on the road but if you are nice to your waiters you can have more control over your food

Think ahead where you are going. If i'm flying i pack a lunch and whatever snacks I will need for that time.  Plan where you may eat as well. I have a great app on my phone where i can look up good restaurants around me. Try looking for vegetarian options I find these restaurants that offer good veg. options offer the best vegetable and clean options.

Be prepared by packing easy take along items like oatmeal, protein powders, nuts, dried and whole fruits, home made nutrition bars (or clean ones like luna, soyjoy, kashi etc)


What are some of the ways you stay healthy and fit while traveling? Email or write a comment would love to hear what you think!

15 Shocking Food Industry Secrets

15 Shocking Food Industry Secrets

People read this! Its so true!

Be proud about your accomplishments

If you've ever tried a new diet or workout regimen and have ever felt embarrassed or discouraged because of other people's remarks....well this is to you. I recently had a conversation with my sister, who is in the process of losing some weight (she's lost 45 pounds so far so proud!), and we talked about her work atmosphere. She's currently working at an office job where she enjoys the financial benefits right now but she doesn't see herself working there in the future. She's been losing weight via a low-carb diet which has helped her lose the starting weight but now she's in the process of changing her mindset (hopefully with my help) into more of an every day lifestyle. Ok, back to the point. Well, my sister has begun to eat more regularly as she is hypoglycemic and needs meals to stabilize her blood sugar and so she will take a 10 min break at work to grab a quick clean meal. Her taking a break to grab a snack has prompted some of her co-workers to make remarks that seriously were just uncalled for. Have you ever been through this? I certainly have. I feel like people who aren't doing something positive in their life love to just talk and bring others who are down. The point when this happens you need to remember why you are doing your new change. When I get comments about the "weird" foods I eat or how crazy I am to do my spin classes etc I think that I'm not doing this for them. I eat, workout, and practice golf every day for me. So I think you should be proud of the little everyday accomplishments you do to better yourself every day.

What are the little things you do for yourself? How do you bounce of the negative remarks from others? I'd love to hear what you think!

Preparation is key

To quote my father/coach/etc, "Preparation, preparation, preparation." This one little word is the key to me maintaining my sanity as I run around from place to place. I have to stay organized because my biggest pitfall is procrastination... (haha college helped a lot with that). This means for the last two weeks at home in Birmingham I've been doing just that. This means daily planning out my days with practice plans and goals to accomplish, planning out my workouts, and planning and preparing ahead of time what I'm going to eat. Tomorrow I'm traveling to Arizona for the Arizona Open. To be ready for tomorrow I've obviously packed and double/ triple checked my golf equipment, but I've also packed snacks I'll need for the trip and my handy/ dandy fitness bands and workout dvds so there's no excuse not to exercise. You see when I'm organized and I know I've done everything I can to take care of myself my golf game shines! So to quote my college coach Kim Evans its all about taking care of each piece of the pie.  Now then, I'm fit and ready physically, mentally, emotionally to play my best golf so I can put myself in the winner's circle at the end of the tourney :)

Til next time, Hit em straight!
Candace

Here's the recipe for this week: PowerProtein Balls

Easy to make and perfect to take along.
1 3/4 c oatmeal , 1/2 muesli (or granola, or more oatmeal), 1 scoop protein powder, 4 tbsp peanut butter, 4 tbsp flax seed.

Now: Mix all ingredients together add water as needed to get a thick consistency and then either make balls or spread into a pan then freeze!

This recipe made 27 balls for me.
Each has 48 calories, 2 g fat, 5 g carb, 1.5 g fiber, and 3 g protein

work with me

Hi all, yeah so i intially planned on writing a lot sooner than a month from my first post! well lets see if i can fill you in on whats been going on. I've been traveling from New York for a futures tour event to California for the first stage of q-school (qualifying school for the LPGA) and I just came back from Florida from the 2nd attempt to qualify for q-school. Unfortunately I did not accomplish what i needed to....which freakin sucks! I'm not going to lie its been a major blow to not qualify for final stage of tour school so that my plan of playing on the LPGA tour next year would be taken care of.  The scores just haven't been showing up even though i've been playing great enough golf. Thats what i'm learning.... i expect a long career and some times there are set backs but the goal is to have shorter and shorter set backs. So I have two options: 1) to be upset and depressed because my plan isn't exactly unfolding as planned or 2) go qualify for the Furtures tour and the European Tour and go kick ass at the tournaments i play in. So I pick option 2 to keep playing the game I love with my head held high full of optimism for a great year. So currently I am home in Birmingham, Al. For the next two weeks, in preparation for my next tournament in Phoneix, I am fully committing to working on my game and getting it ready to go out and contend in Phoneix because that is why I practice, work out, and eat well for. You guys will hear over and over about my following of the Clean Eat Diet (www.cleaneatdiet.com). It is simply eating clean foods such as lean meats, veggies, fruits, and complete whole grains throughout the day and avoiding processed foods. So for the next two weeks I following the strictest version of the diet called cooler 1 so i can undo some of the travel and unclean eating i have consumed from simply traveling the last few months. Ok so thats it for now! Since i have the perfect time now....this week I will be working on my blog and hopefully i will be rewarded with readers!!!

with love
Candace

first post!

So this is my first post and first time ever to blog! As exciting as this is for me, I have to warn my readers (ha that sounds funny to me) that I'm so mentally and physically troubled with anything that deals with computers....so please be patient with me. Slowly and surely I'm sure I will get the hang of this eventually and hopefully when that momentous occasion occurs I will having a following who actually enjoys what I have to say and enjoy learning about my life. While setting up this blog site there is a section that says description about me....Well I thought I would just post about myself rather than having a point by point description. Hmmmm well I just finished up my four years of eligibility of playing golf for Auburn University. WAR EAGLE!!! College was an amazing experience for me to grow up in the person I am today as well as to meet some amazing people. School-wise I'm a little challenged : ) not seriously... majoring in Business I really had to work hard for my so so grades. So now I still have 3 more classes to complete to earn my degree. I will be completing 2 of those classes this fall. This summer has been crazy. I spent it traveling all over America and even Canada to play in amateur and professional golf tournaments. I officially turned professional in August. Surprisingly the progression from amateur/college golf to professional has been pretty easy in the sense of that its still golf only now I get paid to do it! Another big thing about me is that I'm really a health nut (as described by my dear friends from Auburn).  I'm really passionate about eating healthy and fitness and so a lot of this blog will be devoted to my every day experience (or struggle) with staying fit and clean while on tour and traveling from city to city at weeks or months at a time. Alright well i think this is enough for now.

Adios :)
Candace