Month: June 2011

Summer Lovin’: Had me a blast!

/ foodsweatandbeers / 4 Comments

Victory Summer Love Ale

My deepest apologies, as all future images of beers I drink will be of the actual beer that I drank (unless I get buzzed and forget to do that…) Honestly, when I purchased/drank this beer last night, I hadn’t even considered making this blog so woops, my bad.

ANYWHO, as a former Philly-area kid, I am more than familiar with the “With Love, Philadelphia XOXO” campaign, and it’s one of my favorite things about returning to the city of brotherly love. I love to see what they do with it every time.  For example, one classic:

Dear Jersey Shore: Ben Franklin was the original “Situation”. PS Come see him. With Love, Philadelphia XOXO

"Say WHAT?! Franklin had NONE of this..."

So when I spotted this beer, a collaboration with the campaign and one of my favorites, Victory Brewing Company, at the Southern Season sale, I jumped at the chance to try it all the way down here in NC.

I’ll admit, I’m normally a big fan of summer ales (and most seasonal beers in general, with winter being the exception) so I knew I was setting myself up for a winner. When I cracked that bottle open and took a whiff, though, I couldn’t resist grinning that doofy grin I get when I know I’m going to like it just from the scent. The smell reminded me of citrus and (shock shock) summer, like a refreshing lemonade, fresh squeezed. It was reasonably hoppy, which is right up my alley, with a nice amount of carbonation that reminded me a little bit of lemon seltzer, and as far as drinkability goes, I could DEFINITELY see this one by my side at the pool this summer.

We had red beans and rice with this, but I wish I’d had made a blackened mahi mahi or some other light fish dish to pair with this beer.

How is it not Hump Day?

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Howdy blogosphere!

My heart actually broke a teensy bit when I looked at my calendar today and realized, to my chagrin, it was Tuesday, not Wednesday. Having just spent the past 8 weeks without doing an actual full workweek (vacations, sick time, trips, coming in late, etc) this week already feels painfully long.  Unfortunately, within the first 6 minutes of my Body Combat class yesterday, I twisted my right ankle, slipping on sweat, and fell on my fanny in front of the jampacked class full of my fitness peers.  After joining Shia in a hole of shame for a while:

Holes, anyone?

I climbed out, gingerly, and made it back home to ice my ankle with a bag of fro-peas (true story).  Today, I decided to take the day off from getting swoll. I’m not going to mess around with my ankle after the great foot breaks of 2k10 (lefty) and 2k4 (righty). Lunch was pretty standard, your basic “taco salad” a la Jordan:

Muy delicioso!!

  • Romaine lettuce (courtesy of the Durham Farmer’s market)
  • 1/2 tomato
  • 1/2 green pepper
  • reduced fat mexican cheese blend
  • Salsa
  • Black beans and chicken seasoned with about 1/16 a packet of taco seasonin

I also enjoyed some tasty slices of watermelon for a snack.  Dinner was more like brinner, with an old standard:

  • Arnold Multi-grain Sandwich thin
  • Turkey bacon
  • 1 egg, 1 egg white
  • Sargento reduced fat Colby cheese slice
  • Reduced fat Wheat Thins
  • half a small avocado (heavenly)

Now that I’m stuffed, it’s time for a little downtime with the beau and Jack Bauer (Yeah, we’re pretty late on the 24 train…  Luckily we could watch every season in like, a bit over a week if we really stuck to it.)

This is mostly how I feel after eating that avocado...

Welcome to the Jungle

/ foodsweatandbeers / 5 Comments

Every day is the first day of the rest of your life, right?

Well today’s the first day of this, my newest internet endeavor.  After reading hours upon hours of the words of my peers, women and men who I admire immensely, that helped inspire my own journey into a healthier lifestyle, I felt moved to start a more official blog of my own.  In March 2010, I began tumbling, which has also been a key to tracking my food intake, exercise, and Weight Watching. Almost a year and a half later, I’ve lost 40 lbs, changed my entire outlook on day to day life, and added a hearty dose of health/fitness bloggers to my day-to-day readathon in the early hours of my morning. It’s my hope to add something to this blogging community, something I can be proud of come August 19th when I hit the streets of Philthy-delphia (aka my old stomping grounds) for the 3rd Annual Healthy Living Summit, an event I used to be satisfied with reading about.

That being said, I’m not a runner. I’m not a health nut, nor am I a nutritionist, and I’m not quite a foodie (though I think I’m getting there…) I’m a hungry young professional living in the Research Triangle of North Carolina with a general enthusiasm for fitness, adventure, and (the newest addition to my list of hobbies) craft beer.

I’d love to use this blog as an outlet to pick up my writing, a passion I used to have as a young’n, and track my health, fitness, food, and beers that have piqued my interest.

Feel free to give me a read, follow along, and maybe (if I’m lucky) I’ll help someone else find the chutzpah to change their lives for the MUCH better.