Recent obsessions - Healthy food edition

Trader Joe's Cilantro and Jalapeno Hummus: I didn't know if I would be a big fan of hummus or not but this stuff is SO SO SO good! I love that it's super spicy and there's a little circle of cilantro and extra jalapeno in the middle for even more spice. While I would love to eat it with pita chips, I've been cutting up small cucumbers from the farmers market for dipping.

There are 80 calories per 2 tablespoons. Which sounds like a lot but a little goes along way because it's so flavorful.

Grilled beets: There's a weekly farmers market at my office during the summers so I've been picking up bundles of beets to grill. I peel and slice them then put them in foil with a little bit of olive oil and kosher salt. Grill for about 20 minutes and move them around a bit while cooking so the ones on the bottom don't get stuck to the foil. I could eat them plain but I've also been putting them on a bed of arugula (or any salad mix) with a bit of goat cheese or Gorgonzola crumbles -- both from Trader Joe's. Here's a picture of our dinner last night -- this is Brad's plate, not mine! He had 2 pork chops and a bake potato with his. Mom stuck with just one small pork chop, beet salad, grilled zucchini and corn off the cob.

Laughing cow cheese + Frank's wing sauce: I've always been a fan of laughing cow cheese but lately I've been mixing 2-3 wedges of the blue cheese variety with some Frank's wing sauce. I microwave it for maybe 20 seconds and then mix in shredded chicken and/or chopped celery. You can eat it like that or I also like to use celery or carrots for dipping. Sometimes I top it with crumbled blue cheese and microwave to melt it in a little bit. It is heavenly! And for only 35 calories per wedge, a damn good snack!

T'was a crime scene

I started a new job a few months ago and I always love figuring out the real meaning of random corporate jargon. I've learned that if a meeting doesn't go very well it is referred to as a "crime scene."

Also, if you want someone to stop by your office/desk/cube/place of business, you ask them to "drive by." I'm beginning to wonder if I work with former gang members with all the crime scenes and drive bys.

Anyways! I started working out with a trainer 4 weeks ago. No, not anything fancy. I found her on that website where you knowingly and willingly meet up with strangers and they murder you. She's a high school track coach who is looking to build up her own personal training business. Which equates to some dirt-cheap private personal training for mommy!

She is awesome! We do one-hour workouts 2x a week - one time we do sprints on the track mixed in with other workouts and one time a week is straight up boot camp. I brought Brad with me to a boot camp session and he almost tossed his bacon double cheeseburger and tuscan fries cookies. (That's literally what he ate before the workout. Genius!)

She also sends me my own daily workouts and stalks my My Fitness Pal food diary and makes recommendations. I haven't lost any real weight yet (I carry around about 3 lbs. of water weight) but I feel great and know that I'm putting on muscle right now.

It's been 90+ degrees out for the past week so my last few sessions have been... CRIME SCENES for sheesy.

Motivation... Gotta get me some!

What no swimsuits?

Seriously, how can any woman on this planet google image "victoria's secret models" and end up feeling motivated? Sobbing into my glass of wine is more accurate.

For as long as I can remember I've looked at pictures of supermodels and celebrities and tried to use them as inspiration and motivation for eating right and working out. Now I realize, if it hasn't worked for me before, why will this year be any different? I need to find my motivation from within this year. And that's what I intend to do.

We recently signed up for a new gym after moving. I am happy to report that I chose going to the gym on a Friday night over booze and buffalo wings. Let this be the beginning of kissing this fat goodbye!

Mwah!