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Eating Good in the Neighborhood (pool.)

/ foodsweatandbeers / 7 Comments

Good evening all you morning glories!!

I’ll admit, last night I was running on empty for a few hours before I got home. Two and a half hours volunteering in the blazing heat, a long day at the pool, emotional episode of Extreme Home Makeover (I have more feelings than I should), so when I got back to the apartment, I could barely keep my eyes open let alone my hands typing.  My sincerest apologies to anyone who was chomping at the bit to hear about the life and times of Jordan.

The following post is for my sake as much as advice for others in a similar situation.  In this summer season, it’s extremely tempting to lay out by the pool, eat a mountain full of burgers/hot dogs/grilled delicacies and throw back dozens of Bud Light Limes (the beer snob inside of me cringes, but luckily my inner Jersey girl enjoys it too much to be judgey.)  However, with two days in every weekend, this can really add up.  I’ll admit, my Memorial Day weekend was a bingefest full of the following:

Each of these was filled with at leat 12 Bud Light Limes

Don't worry, I only ate 2/4 bags of chips

I decided to up my game and come up with some ways to keep your body from ballooning into a lobster shaded blimp over the course of those summer days and nights by the pool.

  • Rolls are for suckers and saps. Seriously, if there’s one thing I’ve realized, it is that cheap hot dog buns and burger rolls can actually make the delicious grilled meat significantly less delicious. Lettuce = your friend.  And I promise you, I’m not saying this as part of any ulterior Atkins motives, I love bread and think you should enjoy it… when it’s good. But why waste carbs and calories on cheapy rolls that have all the nutrients bleached outta them?! If you’ve got quality bread, go for it. but if not… don’t even bother.
  • Fruit, fruit, the magical fruit. Summertime is that beautiful season where you can get delicious fruits on the cheap. And it’s always a welcome addition to any BBQ or grill out experience.  You’d be amazed at how surprised people are when you show up with cut fruit, like you’ve given them a new opportunity to live their wildest dreams.  But really, you sliced some watermelon, threw in a pint of washed blueberries, and pulled some grapes off the vine like any quality future soccer mom or dad would. The best part about this? You’re guaranteed that something at the BBQ will be delicious and healthy.  And you seem like a MasterChef.

    this is a game changer

  • Healthy dips are your friend. That being said, while I could (and would love to) bathe in a vat of guacamole, moderation is important in every way/shape/form. Use some crispy veggies as your dipping tools or, if you must, baked chips. Hummus, guacamole, they give you the same feeling as dunking baguette slices into pizza dip, without the same level of bloating poolside.
  • If you must drink beers, go for light. I know, I know, normally I would never advise this. But truly, the sun and dehydration and lack of eating normal foods can make those heavy beers go straight to your head. No one wants to have to call the lifeguard on you for being a wastey face at your neighborhood watering hole.  It’s not classy, and it’s just the worst hangover you’ll ever have in your life.

    Thank goodness for the Miller Lite-guards to save the day. But seriously. This is someone's job.

  • Speaking of which, get in that pool! It sounds like a given, right? Getting in the pool at a poolside event?! why the heck not? However, let me share a fun little pearl of wisdom. “Be like the duck.”  Doesn’t make sense? Roll with me…  Ducks look like tiny cute calm critters on the surface but, under water, they are a flurry of activity.  Yesterday was the first time I did a few of these exercises from the Fitness Magazine Pool Workout, and it was great because no one realized that I was working it or they were too embarrassed to mention it in front of me. Either way, I feel like I squeezed in some fun little exercises without cutting out any fun times with my friends. Even just treading water is more than standing there, right?
  • Sweet Sangria. I have to admit, I’ve never made my own Sangria. But I’ve drank other people’s, and it’s. just. the best.  Plus, it’s jam packed with healthy stuff like fruit and wine and… wine.  Here’s a recipe I found which is next on my “list of things I want to make that give me a sense of healthiness and also make me feel like I’m chilling on a spanish coast”: Healthy Sangria.  More often than not, it’s tastier and more refreshing than those BLLs, and much much prettier.

    Did you know Tori Amos has a song called Sweet Sangria? Now you do!

  • Water, water, everywhere and not a drop to drink?! No way, ladies and gents. Even though you may feel like you do not have to drink water because you are in the water and at the pool, you are not a creature who can be hydrated through osmosis (seriously. didn’t you go to 7th grade science?!) You are a person, and people are happiest and healthiest when they are hydrated to the brim. For every poolside adult beverage you have, why don’t you enjoy a cool water bottle as well? It will slow you down so you don’t get too buzzed, and it will keep you from passing out from dehydration. Once, when I was a little kid, I missed a chance to swim with sharks because I got dehydration and semi-fainted. You don’t wanna miss out on shark swimming, right?! (Feel free to insert any other cool experience if shark swimming scares you.  When you faint from dehydration, you can’t have any fun.)

    I'm fun and friendly!!

I think those are all the little bits and pieces I can think of right now that will keep you (and me!) healthy and happy, without having to roll us outta the pool like Violet Beauregard post blueberry transformation.

Do you have any tips and tricks for staying healthy at poolside BBQs and events?

Did you realize that’s the second time I’ve mentioned Violet Beauregard in this blog which isn’t even a week old?

Stay happy, slather on that SPF (skin cancer is no joke), and enjoy your Sunday!

 

Blog Roll Explained: Why I read who I read.

/ foodsweatandbeers / 14 Comments

Let’s be honest: I just started this blog, inspired by the folks that I read regularly, in hopes to become a more legitimate writer. But also, because my not so secret goal is to be HALF as cool as these women who seem to do it all. They’re beautiful, they prepare and eat foods regularly that I could maybe manage to make once a week (max), they have precious pups, and they’re leading lives that I admire.

That being said, I know it’s important not to fall into the Comparison Trap with other bloggers, and know that I’m doing my own thing, loving life, and kicking ass. HOWEVER, I thought it might be nice for others looking for some inspiration or fun reading to know WHY I read the blogs I read, and maybe a little bit more about them than just their name/a link!  Here goes nothing:

  • Peanut Butter Fingers – Julie at PBFingers was the first blogger I started to follow regularly. I like that her husband’s name is Ryan (my beau’s name is as well!) but I also like how she manages to balance her life, her exercise, and (one of my very favorite aspects of her blogs) her FAMILY! Unfortunately, I live 300+ miles from most of my family, so I don’t get to see them, but I love to read posts about her family gatherings, and it’s clear that family is MEGA important to her. She’s a lovely woman with a very upbeat tone to her blog, and her dog is pretty much the cutest thing around.  Also, she preps meals not just for herself but for her husband, so I love the guy-friendly recipes.
  • Running Off the Reese’s – Cely is the funniest blogger I read. Hands down. The way she writes about exercise is so similar to the way I think about exercise, and I feel like, even though I know her, sometimes I hear an exasperated voice  when she writes about things that frustrate her. Her dogs… also a key part of continued reading.
  • Sweet Tooth, Sweet Life – Courtney just seems like the kind of girl everyone would be lucky to have as a friend. The only “cat person” I read (well… unless I’m forgetting someone), she likes Body Pump as much as I do, plays sports in adult rec leagues, and gets overjoyed when she gets an extra donut hole at Dunkin Donuts, proving that we can, in fact, all get along (we being cat and dog people). She can absolutely laugh at herself, which I love to read about, and her salads always look bomb.com.
  • girl meets life – Gracie is like what I imagine Gossip Girl would be like if they weren’t all evil backstabbers who sleep with each others boyfriends and plot nefariously. She is so down to earth, yet throws down with the best of them. I also admire her spiritual side that she brings into her posts now and then, and she has these great tasty recipes that she throws on her blog now and then that I just hope I have time to make back when I’m living on my own again.
  • Daily Garnish – Recently moved to Seattle, Emily is also totally pregnant! Even though  I don’t plan to be a baby mama any time soon, whenever I am, I hope to be pregnant like Emily’s doing it. Her recipes are always delicious looking, and her photography is breathtaking.
  • Carrots n’ Cake – Tina is the blogger that, despite I feel my life is a polar opposite of hers, I instantly feel connected to anything she writes. She’s so talented, and her write-up of the Pug 5k from the perspective of her pup, Murphy, actually had me laugh out loud and share with my beau.
  • Bess Be Fit – Bess lives near me! I’ll admit, that was the first draw to her blog. After reading a little more, though, she always posts food that looks real/doable, her fashion sense will NOT QUIT, and her appreciation of pop culture gives me my fix without letting me spend more time on PerezHilton than is wise.
  • Food, Fitness, Fashion – Ali is a rockstar. And my favorite thing about her: She’s honest with herself and her readers. When she had a problem not too long ago with her running and finding the joy in it, she told us about it. Another Boston girl, I love her accent, I love that she does crossfit, and I loveeeeeee that she likes beer!  Another woman with great fashion sense, her voice in her writing always makes me smile.
  • fANNEtastic food – Anne is a local writer, getting a higher education at my alma-mater. Though I’ve only just recently started reading her blog, she continues to impress me with fantastic and healthy recipes. I’m sure that she’s going to rock at finishing the rest of her program and becoming a Registered Dietician!
  • The Fitnessista – Gina is another woman who I recently started reading, she’s a fitness instructor in Vegas! She seems to live all over the place, and she’s also recently pregnant, but has great recipes especially for people who need to cook for veggie eaters and carnivores alike.
  • Skinny Runner – Also great to get my occasional dose of pop culture updates, she writes about her life with a sense of humor that I think others take as serious (which can lead to some silly comments after her posts). I like how she doesn’t take HERSELF too seriously, and I like her style.
  • Julie goLean – I just started reading Julie’s blog, so I’m still getting the hang of Salad Beasts and drive by shakes, but I’m liking what I read so far.
  • Meals and Miles – Meghann is another writer who is super honest with her readers. She straddles the line between writing about her daily life and tackling some hard hitting issues, which makes for very good reading without every feeling like you’re getting too much of either.  She just moved in with her significant other, and I’ve been enjoying all that she writes about that and watching someone else go through the same experience I did last year!  It doesn’t hurt that her pup, Maddie, is easy on the eyes.
  • The Sunday Flog – The one blogger I actually know IRL!! Ali writes about her Sunday meals with her family, which always make me a) hungry and b) sad that I don’t live anywhere close to mine. Beautiful pictures, a great baker, and definitely a family girl.

I promise, I didn’t write this post as a brown-nosing tactic! merely a way to get my blog roll across as well as the cliff-notes summary of some of the favorite bloggers I read!

Ok, ok. Lunchtime’s over, back to work, and counting down the minutes until a Wine Tasting tonight at A Southern Season!

EDIT: If I didn’t include you here, it’s not because I’m not reading what you’re writing! These are just the most frequent blogs I read, and the one’s I’ve been reading for the longest! I’m picking up new ones every day!

Really, Fiber One?

/ foodsweatandbeers / 1 Comment

As I poured some almond milk into my cereal today, I had a moment to look at the back of the box. Here’s a question.

Far out, man...

Has your breakfast experience EVER at ANY POINT IN YOUR LIFE resembled the back of this Fiber One Honey Clusters box?

If not, we’re in the same boat. If so, did that breakfast contain a few blueberries, some fresh strawberries, and a hit of acid or two?

If the answer to the SECOND question is no….

What are you eating?

seriously. I feel like they should hand these boxes out at Bonnaroo.

Are your breakfasts a hazy wavy daze?

Workin’ It

/ foodsweatandbeers / 4 Comments

 

Hello out there fellow worker bees!!

If you’re like me at all, you MAY BE a 20-something YoPro (Young Professional, NOT yogurt professional, though that’d be glorious too…) And a common challenge in the world of my fellow YoPros (other than sitting on your booty for most of your entire day) is what to do for lunch.  I’ll admit, when I first entered the working world, I had recently broken my foot.  So my day to day thought process when it came to lunch was something sort of like this:

“Yeah… I could crutch over to the fridge, get some ingredients, put together an amazing dinner the night before work, put it in an adorable and eco-friendly lunch tote, and crutch to and from the fridge at work to retrieve it and eat with my homemade chopsticks… OR!! I could drive to Taco Bell for an easy to eat cheesy double beefy burrito with a side of 5 layer nachos and a soda!”

In my crippled state, my lazy bones aching with lazy, guess which one I chose?

First, you go in my mouth. Then, my hips. Sound like a plan?

When I started Weight Watchers, though, I realized that planning for your meals can actually SAVE you time, energy, and (hooray!) calories!  I don’t normally prepare anything too extravagant, but here are some of my usual go to guys for lunch treats:

  • Grilled, seasoned chicken breast – George Foreman = my secret lover. I grilled many en masse, and keep them safe and sound in my tupperware. You can add them to sammies, you can toss them in quesadillas, or just eat them plain!
  • Solid white albacore – A can of this, plus Hellman’s Low Fat Mayo (15 calories per serving), is a perfect sandwich filler for me!
  • Bird’s Eye Steam Fresh Vegetables – These are a total staple in my lunches.  One bag = 2 lunch sides for me, toss them in the microwave, and go to town. Some of them are pre-seasoned, which is nice, but all of them are delicious, seasonings be damned.
  • Arnold’s Sandwich Thins – I feel like, if there was some sort of unofficial sponsor of the healthy living blogosphere, these would be it. Totally versatile, totally delicious, a mix of textures and flavas, all great!
  • Laughing Cow Wedges – Again, a no-brainer. They are a dream to replace butter, cream cheese, mayo, etc. I use the queso fresco flavor on sandwiches with some lettuce and tomato for a spicy pick-me-up, and the blue cheese on sammies or wraps with some Frank’s Red Hot (Literally, I DO put that $*** on EVERYTHING!).
  • Jell-o Mousse Temptations – Best dessert that is portable that I know, to date. My favorite part? To quote Stifler: “I can taste the bubbles!” There are delicious little air bubbles that make it taste sorta like if pudding and tonic water had a love-child, and dipped that baby in caramel. (well that’s just the caramel flavor, but that’s my favorite).
  • Zatarain’s Red Beans and Rice – I know, you can’t prepare these at work a la minute, but prepare them the night before and you’ve got at LEAST two meals waiting for you in tupperware! Add some lean protein like shrimp or chicken breast, and you could definitely stretch it to three (I say two, and some people are probably like WHOAH THERE, Godzilla, that’s a heaping big serving… Yes. I like big meals. And I don’t think I’m the only one…)
  • Extra Dessert Delights (ESPECIALLY key lime pie flavor) – I had a 40 day span of time (some call it Lent) where I gave up sweets/desserts/the whole nine yards. These became my desserts.  I picked up a small carton at Sam’s Club once I realized how tasty they are, and never looked back. They maintain their flavor for a LONG time, and they rock for taking care of that sweet tooth.

While that’s not a comprehensive list by ANY means, those are some of my most frequent players in the game of lunch.  Curious about what I ate today? Well, after a breakfast of Chobani Champions Honey-Nana (love that name) with some Kashi Berry Blossoms and Tupelo Honey thrown in for texture, my lunch actually featured a fair amount of what I’ve listed.

Note the ADORABLE tote I brought it all in?

Toasted Flax Seed Sandwich thin, tuna sammy with that low fat mayo, some lettuce (thanks, Durham Farmers’ Market) and tomato, and a side of roasted veggies (also thanks to the DFM!!).  As for dessert, I’m still chewing it! (Yeah, it’s the Key Lime gum. Violet Beauregarde, eat your heart out!

If you’re a YoPro, what are your lunch staples? Or, if you stay/work at home, how does that change what you eat?

Do you think Violet Beauregarde is the most detestable character from the classic story of Willy Wonka’s baller factory?

Discuss.

 

Savoring Every Bite

/ foodsweatandbeers / 4 Comments

So, the focus of this post will be on the first two aspects of my name: Food, and sweat. I think it would only be reasonable to keep the beers as their own post, for organization and also for the sake of bloggers/blogettes who hate beers (though I think, if you give them a chance, they could grow on you…)

Today, in each of my meals, it became abundantly clear.  I am, and will ALWAYS BE, a member of the clean plates club.

We went to Bandido’s Cafe in Durham, the one true love of my Mexican craving belly. I had pipe dreams of taking a picture of my meal before I consumed it.  Unfortunately for all you lovers of food pictures, our waitress decided that after we got chips and salsa, we were probably no longer hungry, so by the time our meals came to the table, my mind was on one thing, and one thing only.

The bottom of this plate.

Moments later, as the rest of the table oogled our coworkers new baby (who is adorable) and pushed beans and enchilada bits around their plates, I was completely finished. My plate resembled almost to a T the one pictured above (only with less food on it). I got the Racy Rodriguez, my go-to lunch combo, with a blackbean enchilada, soft chicken taco (of which I tossed the tortilla after two bites) and a side of blackbeans. Oh, and my arm’s weight in chips salsa. I savored every bite, taking little ones, in order to enjoy it all.

It was no surprise, then, when I was at the gym and had finished a rocking Ab Sculpt and Body Pump class, that my WIW (weigh-in Wednesday) was no different than last week (174). That being said, it was a great workout, and I felt killer afterwards.

The Ab Sculpt class at O2 Fitness features a different set of workouts every week that just focus on your core (abs, lower back, obliques, etc). I have to admit, I just started going to this class whenever I can, and I LOVE getting that little jolt in before Body Pump, and my abs always feel rocked.  Body Pump, once a foreign term to me, seems to be ALL OVER the health/fitness blog world, so some of you may not be familiar with it.  However, for all you newbies (especially y’all who are interested in trying it) let me say, it’s the one class that has changed the shape of my body more than any other.  Today’s class was a mix up of different releases, and went in a pretty standard order (warmup, squats, chest, back, triceps, biceps, lunges, and abs). We nixed the shoulder track because the other class had to come in, but I felt like rocked nonetheless.

I came home to roast a few veggies that I’d picked up at the Farmer’s Market (zucch, red onions, some squash I never got the name of, and eggplant).

Pre-roasting!

And added them to three skewers of shrimp from Tar-jay (aka Super Target), to make this GLORIOUS concoction:

Hiding under the shrimp, you can spot MANY veggies... right?

DeLISH! I pulled the shrimp off the skewers to eat them, mixed it all up with veggies, and ate it all, one or two pieces at a time. I’m big on cutting my pieces into little bites to prolong the pleasure of the eating experience (that almost sounded sexual… I’m not mad.) The beau had a pepperoni Freschetta, which tasted looked bomb.com. (I may have snuck a few nibbles of pepperoni,  shhh…) Let’s just say that, other than the tails of the shrimp (you can’t eat them, right?) there is NOTHING leftover. No matter what it is, bowl or plate, I will leave it clean as a whistle.

Tomorrow is Thursday (Rebecca Black, 2011) and my VERY favorite weekday.  Early morning Body Attack express class, work post-shower, maybe a little trip to the mall, and GLASS NIGHT! (basically a happy hour that I host where we consume craft beer and appetizers and talk beer with friends and strangers.)  I bet I’ll clean my glass, too.

PERSONALLY if I don’t set aside leftovers even BEFORE I eat a meal, I will eat every last bite on the plate. It’s just in my nature… as the eldest of 5 kids in a family of 7 (and 2 dogs… and a REALLY hungry turtle) I always felt like eating meals was a sort of… competition or race. and by GOD, I was going to win.

How about you? Do you clean your plates? Or are you a big fan of leftovers?

Woooo Wednesday!

/ foodsweatandbeers / 8 Comments

True Life: I’m a Woo Girl.

For further explanation of this kinda lady, go no further than How I Met Your Mother’s definition:

A Woo girl is a type of young woman, who like the cuckoo bird or the Whip-Poor-Will, gets get name from the signature sound she makes.

“Wooooo!”

So yes, I’ll woo at anything many things.  However, one thing that I look forward to woo-ing at every week is Wednesday, mostly because it is the day featuring:

THE CHANGING OF THE SALES!

Much like the changing of the guards at Buckingham palace, this is the time honored tradition wherein Harris Teeter and Food Lion change up what’s on sale at their fine establishments.  Just one look at this site:

That's what I like to see, gimme those sales baby....

updated every Wednesday gets me all WOOOOoooo!! excited.

It’s not something I’m proud of, this grocery store discount rapture, but it is a part of me and I encourage others to embrace it, and celebrate each Wednesday morning with a reverent observation of the Changing of the Sales.  And give yourself a try at the ol’ Wooooo!!  I firmly believe there’s a woo girl (or boy) living inside of each of us, you just have to figure out the minor events in life that will bring her (or him) out.

What little thing has made you Wooooo!!!! lately?

How is it not Hump Day?

/ foodsweatandbeers / Leave a comment

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.