exercise

Quick Update: Confession Edition

/ foodsweatandbeers / 12 Comments

True story….  I just have a moment to write this before I head off, but I really needed to share this with everyone.

On my lunch break today, I rushed home for a quick workout.

This is what I look like when I am a sweaty moster:

Instagram did its best to make this picture cute. A for Effort.

Can I just say how difficult it is to workout listening to stand up comedians on Pandora?  Laughing builds abs, right?

Speedy Demon

377 calories in 28 minutes, Mama likey….

Second confession:

Whipped Cream. A dangerous canister.

My snack today was a Southwest Airlines bag of pretzels and whipped cream with sugar sprinkles on top. Much more whipped cream than this was consumed.  Having access to a full canister is dangerous business.

Life’s all about balance, right?

Bull City Burger and A Beer Blunder

/ foodsweatandbeers / 11 Comments

Good evening ladies and gentlemen, and a happy end of Monday to all!!  I must admit, today was certainly not the best day I’ve had in a while.  An early morning meeting, a dash of stress when it came to work -related stuff, a rogue pebble chipped my car window, and my fitness class of choice was (groannnnnnnnnnnn) BodyCombat. You may be asking yourself, “If you hate the class so much, why do you do it?”  Well, I do it for this.

Sweaty Betty

I rocked out 777 calories during the workout, which is actually not as high as I was expecting but, at the end of the day, the class kept me sweating, and left me panting in only the sexiest possible way.

You know…. like an overheated puppy.

Speaking of sweating, I always find myself sweating in the weirdest possible ways at the gym.  Here was the real winner tonight:

Shin sweat... nectar of the gods.

Super cute.  However, I did get to kick it in my new Under Armour goodies I picked up at the Nordstrom Anniversary Sale, so I was a happy camper combater.

Afterwards, I figured it was as good a time as any to use my TryItLocal Voucher (it’s sort of like a new version of Groupon… or LivingSocial or ANYTHING like that.)  It was for Bull City Burger, and I figured I’d take the beau out for some  BEEF!

This quality Durham restaurant and brewery, brewing their own beers and focusing on a “farm-to-fork” process, working with North Carolina farm raised beef, hormone and antibiotic free. They also have all-beef hotdogs, and they work with local farmers for their produce such as tomatoes, cukes (for pickling!), and lettuce.  BCB makes their own condiments as well, though I didn’t try any (alas… next time.)

After putting in our order, I grabbed a soda, while Ryan waited for his Roger Lager (made by BCB!!).  I normally wouldn’t get soda out, but this was a special occasion… they had Boylan Soda… not in bottles… IN A FOUNTAIN!!  For $1.75, you get unlimited refills in a beautiful mason jar.  I went for the Black Cherry, and was NOT disappointed.

Black Cherry Cola, more delicious nectar of the gods.

Seriously, this started the meal off on the absolute right note.  Boylan bottled sodas normally go for something like $3 a bottle when my brother would get their birch beer, so I felt like I was committing highway robbery: soda style.

Shortly after our order, our meals came over to the table.

Burger Bliss

Since my burger over Independence Day weekend was a little burnt, I was elated to try a perfectly cooked patty.

Ryan ordered a Chili burger with cheddar cheese, and I ordered the Green Monster: A burger topped with Gruyere, raw onion, and roasted poblano peppers.  We also split an order of Dirty Fries: Russet potatoes, skin on, fried in peanut oil.  The fries were SPOT ON!  Very crispy, well salted, paired nicely with the ketchup (Heinz Simply Ketchup, gotta love it).  The bun was fantastic, crisp outside, soft and delicious inside.  Ry was initially worried about how small the patty was, but after realizing that the Chili packed a punch, he realized that it was definitely enough meal.  My burger was delightful. My only complaint was that the roasted poblano peppers were not warm, something that I expected.  They were still tasty, but I think they would’ve been more enjoyable with a little temperature increase.  They were probably roasted and cut, then just kept in a little container waiting for unsuspecting girls like myself to order them… HOODWINKERY!

Clearly, it didn't bother me too much. This was about 5 minutes into eating....

As always, I punched my Clean Plates Club card, and headed back over to the fountain.  I had to try a few more sips.

Boylan Paradise!

The birch beer was not my favorite, but the cream soda… oh heavenly angels!!  It was so creamy, and so so very great.

While the burger prices were fairly steep ($6 plain, up to $10 specialty, or more if you add your own toppings), the soda and fries were definitely at the right price point, and everything was made locally and made well.  A great date night spot…

We had pipe dreams of heading to Fullsteam for a little dessert (namely, their Cherry Imperial Stout commissioned by Northwest Cherries).  Alas, our late arrival resulted in the bitter disappointment of learning the keg had been KICKED (not tapped, like I originally said… that was at 4 pm).   DEPRESSION FACE!

Ry saw the sadness in my eyes, and brought me somewhere to cheer me up: Total Wine.

Foothills Hoppyum.... served in a Foothills glass!

Foothills Hoppyum, a hop-head’s dream come true, served in the brewery glass courtesy of another awesome evening at Rockfish…  I guess I’ll just have to head there tomorrow before dinner.

I’d say darn…. if I was even the least bit disappointed!

Time for another glass before bed, and another episode of 24… we’re addicted to all the Jack Bauer drama we can get!!

What would be your perfect burger?  And what would be on top of it?

BodyJam: Booty Blast Edition

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Good morning lovely ladies and gentlemen!

It’s a GORGEOUS Sunday morning and, after looking at a forecast for nasty weather all weekend, I’m happy to say that was the opposite of what really happened.  It has only deepened my belief that I can trust the weather man/woman as far as I can throw them (which, despite how jacked I am, is not very far).

Maybe the weather person weighs 10 lbs? If so, I'm set.

After a quick breakfast of cinnamon cranberry pancakes (using the complicated recipe of Hungry Jack Pancake and Waffle Complete Wheat Blends + cinnamon + Ocean Spray Craisins) and some sugar free syrup, I was fueled enough to hit the gym, and hit it hard.  Despite having just spent my rent’s worth of money on workout clothes at the Nordstrom Anniversary Sale (which starts July 15, GET YOUR SHOPPING SHOES READY, FOLKS!), I donned my normal workout attire, not really expecting too much from this workout.  You know how sometimes you go into the gym and it feels almost like your duty?  This was one of those days.

Well, a few minutes into the BodyJam class, that opinion quickly changed. The class was with Alison C., my favorite instructor at O2 Fitness in Chapel Hill because she makes everyone so comfortable in getting down and dirty with their dance moves.  We were popping, we were locking, dropping, dripping, snapping, spinning, I think maybe someone taught us how to dougie (if you don’t know how to dougie, use this instructional video.everyone will think you’re cooler than you already are, especially if they watch you practicing.)

Those peaks? Probably dougie-ing.

We finished the class with a house/tribal set that DESTROYED my booty.  There were a lot of kicks, jumps, and a weird scoop leg move that blasted my booty.  The whole rest of the day, every time I sat down/stood back up, I got that sore reminder of how smooth my moves were.  Fantastic booty burn.  I complimented that blast with 30 minutes on the reclined bicycle, reading my book du jour, The Justice Game by Randy Singer. It was great because I didn’t even realize how long I was riding, and VOILA it was pool time!

Before the pool, we stopped by Quiznos where I picked up a small toasted Veggie Caprese and some baked Lay’s.

Poolside Gourmet

More pooltime, more sunshine, more reading, and it was time for dinner! (I know, my life revolves around food.)  Having burned over a thousand calories at my workout earlier, I felt as though I had some room to indulge.

99 cent margaritas? Don't mind if I do.

Which, of course, was followed by an UNBELIEVABLY GOOD meal.

Chicken Quesadilla, Chile Relleno, and beans (the magical fruit.)

This has inspired me to make a chile relleno of my own ASAP! I don’t know what I’ve been doing avoiding these my whole life but peppers + mexican fillings = dream come true.

We migrated to Roth Brewing Company (which will be a separate post entirely), had a blast, and finished the night off with some serious dance battles on XBox Kinect.  Never in my life have I enjoyed playing a “video game” before!!  I whipped out a few of those BodyJam moves, and (of course) went undefeated.

That's me cutting a rug at my best friend, Cait's, bachelorette party.

Best night I’ve had in the Triangle in some time, and was filled with friends, food, and (luckily for my waistline) fitness!

Do you like to dance?  If so, where? The club? The Discotheque? Group fitness classes? Dance studios?

Have any good recipes for stuffed peppers?

Enjoy this stunning day, and the tail end of your weekend!

Wake-Up Call

/ foodsweatandbeers / 24 Comments

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Wow.  So once, going through pictures and trying to find the one of me doing yoga at all, I found this one.  Taken in Las Vegas, right as I was coming off of a summer of sloth following a wicked lame pre-summer foot break that incapacitated me, right outta college graduation, the caption on facebook of this was “My dream wedding.”

I think, in my mind, the joke was not only “wow, she just got married in the middle of the day, in vegas, in a full wedding gown, and is playing penny slots” but “and also, she is fat.”

However, reflecting on this picture (this was probably the heaviest I’ve ever been in my life) I am blown away by my own appearance.  Because, after losing almost 50 lbs, I look at this and think “there are two people in this picture that are overweight, not just one.”

Talk about your belated wake up call…

I have to say, this isn’t a post to call anyone fat (even though I did just say that I considered both people in this image overweight), more to evaluate the change in my thought process.  Because honestly, while I was happy as a clam that weekend, I can’t help but think I’d have had such a better time if I were my current weight.  And while I didn’t THINK I was overweight at all at this time in my life, it’s like…. wow.  Now that I see it having lost the weight, I can’t believe I just allowed myself to have all those extra pounds on my body.  I remember once, at a UNC football game, I was loudly cheering for my team, waving my pom poms around like a locopop (GO HEELS!!! TAR HEEL BORN AND TAR HEEL BRED!!) when a random viewer at the game mentioned, off hand to her friend, that I should “calm my fat ass down because it was jiggling in [her] face”.  That hurt.  That hurt, so friggin’ much (I’d say another f word, but I’m unsure if wordpress monitors these supah hard.)  I think that was the first time I thought to myself, “Wow.  This whole ‘being overweight’ thing is miserable, horrible, and people mock you for it.”  At the time, I was a happy, fun-loving UNC student, who got hit on a lot (just saying, for a while, that’s how I measured my self-worth) and looked sexy in clothes (in my opinion at the time.)  How the HELL could some girl call me a fat ass?  Well, now, looking back, I see it, and I believe I might think the same thing about old me now a-days.  That’s harsh, right?  Jeez.  But I’m… just being honest. (Andre 3000, 2003).

The change is monumental. And my life has just changed so much.

I think about my health, my weight, my diet, my fitness…. so much. Like, constantly.  Everything I put in my mouth, everything that comes out of me (TMI? whatevz), everything I do with my body, every activity I plan…

I was talking with my beau about how, despite the fact that we’ve both lost over 25 lbs since we initially decided to get healthified, we think about our weight/fitness more than we ever did when we had those extra lbs on our body.  I guess it’s just part of adapting your awareness regarding your body.

Tomorrow, I’ll be heading to Ocean City, New Jersey.  It’s my home away from home, and my favorite place on the face of this planet.  And once, 2 years ago, my grandma mentioned to my mother how terrible I looked on the beach.  It’s stuff like that which make me so so happy to have decided to make the change, not because of her, not because of what anyone has ever said, but because I knew that if I wanted to live a long/healthy life, I couldn’t continue living the way that I was. And because of the changes I’ve made, I’ll be able to spend time indulging in my favorite treats, while enjoying my mornings being more active than I used to be.  It’s all about balance and, as evident by that earlier picture, I’m all about balance (except for the fact that my balance is HORRIBLE due to breaking both my feet at different points in my life.  I’m basically on a constant teeter totter.)

To sum it up: I’m so excited for this weekend.  And I won’t feel guilty about anything I do.  I will go to the gym tomorrow, I will enjoy strolling/powerwalking on the boards the rest of the days, and I know that I won’t look back on pictures from this weekend and think negative thoughts about myself.

It’s all because of a little wake-up call.

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Have you ever had a wake-up call to health?  Regardless of your answer, what boosted you into a healthy lifestyle?

Do you wish that you could snuggle with me?  (duh.)

The Death Deck

/ foodsweatandbeers / 10 Comments

Love decks of cards, but Egyptian Rat Screw not quite intense enough lately?  Have I got a workout for you!!

After a long day at work, the gums weren’t feeling 100% but definitely a little better than earlier, so I popped a few Advil (that claimed to be expired…  I like to live dangerously), threw back many glasses of water, and knew I was ready to hit the gym, and hit it hard.  Luckily, today I had a friend! Melissa, a new employee at my office, came off as a fit gal from first meeting, and when I mentioned how much I love my gym, O2 Fitness, and how there was a contest going on if you brought a friend in to win a year of free gas, she was totally down to come with today. We got changed at work and hit the gym hard.  After giving her a little tour of the facilities:

Here's where I spend like... 5 days of my week. It's getting pretty serious.

we steered clear of the group fitness room and went our separate ways for the first 20 minutes. I got my race on with the strangers next to me on the elliptical (and kicked everyone’s asses, duh) for 2 miles, and then hopped off to join her in something she called “The Wreck Deck.” I didn’t hear her fully when she first told me the name, so I thought it was called “The Death Deck”. Little did I know how right I was…

Death Deck Setup: Prepare for your doom...

Here’s the way it works:

  • Take a deck of cards, any deck will do. 52 and 2 jokers is all that’s required.
  • Each suit is a different exercise
  1. Clubs are legs. Squats or lunges is the exercise she had listed, with weights or not, whatever makes you comfortable.
  2. Diamonds are pushups. Chest, tricep, diamond, cat (for numbers 6 or less). On your toes, on your knees, or if you are as EXTREME as Melissa, put your toes on one medicine/bosu ball and each hand on another. Then you will impress everyone around you.
  3. Spades are abs. We did these things she modified from V-crunches where you sort of balance on one butt check (easy enough if your butt cheek is a cushiony pillow of joy like my own), then in the middle, then the other butt cheek. That’s one. (Here’s a video of a V-crunch, even though that’s not exactly what we did: V-Crunch!)
  4. Hearts, ironically enough, are Burpees. Or mountain climbers, when you are less extreme or feeling extremely tired. For every one burpee that I didn’t do, I tried to do 2 mountain climber sets. Hopefully it evened out.
  • For the numbered cards, do one rep for each number (aka a 8 of hearts means 8 burpees!)
  • For the Face cards, a jack = 11, a queen = 12, a king = 13, an ace = 15 though!
  • For the jokers, do five reps of each exercise
  • DO THE WHOLE DECK!!

Here’s Melissa drawing the last card (we were both super elated at this, and I’d only down half the deck!)

ONE.... MORE.... CARD!!

Of course, it was 5 burpees. we pushed it out, gave each other copious amounts of high fives, and felt more boss than ever!!

Death Deck: You and I will meet again.

I was proud as a peacock and, to end the day at the gym, Melissa did me a solid and signed up for a membership (translation: new workout buddy andddddd a free month!)

To sum it up, this was basically the coolest day at the gym that I’ve had since I discovered My So-Called Life streaming on Netflix. Admittedly, that wasn’t at the gym, but it felt equally as cool.

Have you tried any new workouts lately?

How do you choose to get swoll?

Six Pack Sunday: First Edition

/ foodsweatandbeers / 4 Comments

Over the past week, there have been a few little snippets of my life where I’ve thought to myself “man, that was funny/silly/weird/awesome.  I’d like to blog about that, but I doubt I could write a whole entry regarding it.”  Then it hit me like a brick over the head (which is an extremely effective way to hit someone): I’ll merge them all into one silly wonderful post!

Once a week, on Sunday (barring any natural disasters that discourage me from writing it on Sunday) I will write a post titled Six Pack Sunday which will contain SIX things that I’ve been thinking about or excited about or disappointed in or anything like that.  Sort of my way of tying up loose ends from the rest of the week, so I can start fresh and new on Monday.  Ladies and Gentlemen, I present to you

The Inaugural Six Pack Sunday

  1. There’s nothing worse than finishing a pack of Arnold’s Sandwich Thins. It’s like saying good bye to a delicious friend that has been there for you through thick and thin(s). Breakfast to dinner. Sometimes snacktime. However, I have found a way to cope with this grief, this sense of loss.  And it involves tuna fish sandwiches. If you are not a fan of tuna sammies, feel free to look away, skip to #2, or substitute your favorite tuna sandwich-esque salad like chicken or egg. Make the tuna as you normally would (I like mine with a can of Bumble Bee Solid White Albacore and about two spoonfuls of Hellman’s Low Fat Mayo). Add whatever seasonings you normally do. Now, here’s the sad part: Remove your final Sandwich Thin from the bag (this works best with 7 grain or, in my case, the Naturals Whole Wheat Flax and Fiber.) Placing that aside, here’s where it gets glorious. Dump all the seeds, the bits and pieces of flax and goodness that have fallen off your sandwich thins in days of old, into your prepared tuna.

    It should look like this.

    Seriously. It’s like a farewell kiss from your sandwich thins to you, a way of giving you one final benefit to the countless they’ve bestowed upon you already. It adds flavor, texture, and general good vibes. Do this, and be happy.

  2. If you’re a fan of Family Guy, you might be familiar with this skit:

    And that’s great.  But what’s even better is when you pass one, IRL, and can recite the entire thing by heart.

    Yes. Getting up close/personal with a real Wacky Waving Inflatable Arm Flailing Tube Man

  3. My feet are size 13 in most every style/designer of women’s shoes. Being that I’m 6’1″, this isn’t all that hard to believe. That being said, I went to Nordstrom Rack today with high hopes of finding a classy sandal.  The selection (of approximately 30 shoes in my size) all looked basically like this:

    Your pick: White lace doilies, bright red suede booties, or cow spotted heels?

    No wonder I spend most of my time in Men’s sandals/Sperry’s/sneakers…  It is my gift, and my burden.

  4. It’s almost Fourth of July. Which means that I could not resist running over to Old Navy (inspired by Courtney at Sweet Tooth, Sweet Life) and picking up my new favorite bathing suit.

    So much patriotism, so little fabric!

    I am sure to be the bell of the ball (and the beach.) All this (both pieces of the bikini and a pair of shorts) ran me a cool $3 (I had a groupon that I purchased for 10, entitling me to 20 dollars worth of goodies. Even still… I felt like a recessionista. (Please, don’t hate me for using that word, it’s the only one that seemed to fit here.)

    Look! Even bottles of wine in the shape of cats are getting into the American Spirit!!

    CAT WINE IS MY FAVORITE WINE!!

    (Side note: on my beau’s 21st birthday, one of the first things he legally bought me was a bottle of this Black Cat Riesling. Few things taste sweeter than wine out of a [glass] cat’s head.)

  5. A little while back, I signed up to receive a free sample of one of Power Bar’s newest products: Protein Plus Bites.

    Yay, protein! Cakey, gross, dry protein.

    These were definitely not a win in my book, and I would never buy these (at least not these exact ones…) There are about 8 in a pack I think, and offer 20 g of protein and 300 calories. I thought I’d have two after my workout today on the elliptical. About 33 minutes racing myself and the 6 other people in the entire gym, and some lower ab exercises at my favorite workout spot (O2 Fitness-Falconbridge Club) I thought these would be a great way to get some protein easily. Unfortunately, all I could stomach was one.  Dry, with a very chemical tasting chocolate taste, and a gritty texture, I almost threw away the pack. I just can’t waste stuff, so I left the rest in there…. maybe my beau will want to try someday. I doubt these things even could expire, though, so they’ll probably outlive me.

  6. After my disappointing protein snack, I opted for a much tastier lunch. Frozen Yogurt!

    They had patriotic sprinkles!!

    The beau and I swung by Tutti Frutti, which is officially our new spot for frozen treats this summer. It was SO affordable (6.25 for two of us, and we did not skimp on the toppings). I went for a combination of cheesecake, birthday cake, orange, papaya, and blueberry yogurt with toppings like sprinkles (red, white, and blue of course), mochi, gummy bears, pineapple, strawberry, and a few sunflower seeds covered in chocolate. For a full review, feel free to check out my Yelp post, but to sum it up: AH-MAZING! got the taste of those yucky protein balls right outta my mouth.

Now, I’m off to watch the end of Resident Evil: Afterlife and have a date night courtesy, of course, of LivingSocial (feel free to click to sign up, if you’ve been living under a rock for the past year+).  Until then, I’ll be making sweet cinematic love to the finest men and women fighting the umbrella corporation. Namely, the badassery that is: Milla Jovovich.

You keep eating that Froyo, I got this.

Enjoy what’s left of your Sunday, y’all! I hope it’s full of tasty foods and maybe your own personal six-pack!

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!

 

I’ll take my wine German and my cheese French…

/ foodsweatandbeers / 6 Comments

TGIF, bloggers and bloggettes! Hope everyone’s weekend started off with a BANG. Mine is currently starting off with more of a low rumbling as the thunder is finally catching up to the lightning that I’ve been seeing all night.

Even though I’m a MUCH bigger fan of beer than I am of wine, when opportunity rears its grape-squeezing head for a wine tasting of German wines with two German girls, who am I to not heed the call?  Knowing that I had to meet my resident fraulein friend at 5:45 and I got off work at 4:45, I decided that was plenty of time to squeeze in the second level of Jillian Michael’s 30 Day Shred. I haven’t completed the program, as I won the DVD in a giveaway long ago, but it’s always there for me if I need an intense workout in 20 minutes.  Considering I hadn’t done the Level 2 circuit before, and I hadn’t done heavy working out recently, it only made sense to dive right into it. The result?

Oh, hey sweaty crazy face. missed you!

I also decided that I could wear the workout clothes that got me through my 16 minutes of exercise on Monday because “they couldn’t have gotten that sweaty/smelly in 16 minutes, right?” Wrong. I was very happy that there was no one else in my “gym” aka “the space in between my tv and my couch in my one bedroom apartment” to enjoy the refreshing beads of sweat I flung left and right.

After a speed shower and a drive-by makeup application, I deemed myself ready to face the world.  Veronika and her pal from Germany, Jessica, were off to A Southern Season (my second time in less than a week: a new record!) in Chapel Hill for their fridays uncorked, special wine tastings on Friday nights always based around a theme (a country of origin, a type of wine, etc). Tonight’s featured wine style was “Rieslings from the Mosel River area in Germany.”  Translation: Riesling, and five pours of it.  Riesling would have to be my favorite type of wine, courtesy of an all-too-long fall break 2008 during which we drank only Riesling all the time. Since then, I’ve been hooked.  For $12 a person, this night seemed like a perfect deal.

Bottoms up, ladies! (Veronika, Jessica, Me!)

We grabbed our classes at the front and were ready to go.

#1 Peter Lauer Ayler Kupp "Senior" 2009

Our first and second wines were the dry type of Riesling.  #1 was a nice way to start the night, with a bit of a bite to the wine. We were supposed to be aware of the aromas of apricot and honey with a taste of pear and peach. While I definitely got the pear, the peach eluded me. I’m definitely not a sommelier by any means.

 

#2 Spaeter-Veit Piersporter Domherr Kabinett Trocken 2009

#2 , another dry Riesling, was a little smoother than the first, though we were all aware of a sort of acidic hint in there. Again, apricot was supposed to be in there, but I’m just not familiar enough with apricot to even know what that tastes like. The one cool part about this wine was that it came from the Veits, one of the Mosel’s oldest wine growing families. Even though it was a 2009, I felt like a very legit wine drinker sipping on it.

Prefere de Nos Motagnes - HELLA GOOD CHEESE!

With these wines, we were also supposed to pair them with the softer, spreadable cheese. It didn’t have a strong taste, but it was smooth and delicious.  We may or may not have taken enough of these little cheese samples to harvest the napkins and start our own cocktail bar.  (I’m going with we may’ve…)

 

 

Next on the agenda were the sweet wines.

 

 

#5 St. Urbans-Hof Piesporter Goldtropfchen Auslese 2007

 

#3 Prum Wehlener Sonnenuhr Kabinett 2009

Numbers 3 and 5 were both definitely sweet, with 3 smelling a lot like apple and tasting sort of peachy. It was delicious, and I’d love to have a bottle with me right now.  5 I’ll admit was a little… gosh, I want to say salty because the pourer mentioned salt, but salty’s not the word.

Allow me to show my classlessness for a moment by saying what I really mean.  You know that feeling you get when you get a REALLY cheap box of wine. I’m talking Fran-zia, a juice box of wine, something like that. And even if it’s not touching the cardboard, you think to yourself “maybe this wine tastes a little like there’s some cardboard in it.” THAT is the feeling I got with number 5 (which, ironically enough, was the most expensive wine of the night, normally sold for nearly $50 a bottle.)

And then we have the crown jewel of the party.

#4 Meulenhof Erdener Treppchen Spatlese 2009

This wine was everything I could ask for in a Riesling. It was sweet, but not like… pouring honey down your throat. It totally had the taste of a baked apple in there, and was smooth and paired perfectly with the harsher cheese of the night, a Sharfe Maxx. If this bottle of wine was not 25 dollars but, instead, 3 for 25 dollars… I would’ve bought one (ok, yeah. I’m cheap. Such is life.)

It was glorious to live like a rich gal for a little evening, and I even picked up a tasty 4 pack of beers for future reviews.

BEER HEAVEN!!

We finished the night off at City Beverage with some tasty foods and beers and friends.  And now I’m in my cozy bed, getting ready to nuzzle off for the night.

Do you ever like to do anything that makes you feel wealthier than you are?  If so, what is it?!

 

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?