Using Food as Fuel

I am very excited to have Julie from Julie GoLean here to discuss using food as fuel.  As you know, I have never been a serious athlete, so it is great hearing from a fellow blogger that has PLENTY of experience in the competitive athletics arena.  Thanks so much to Julie for discussing how to feed your body for demanding workouts and training! Oh, and for the divine recipes!

Hi everyone   My name is Julie and I’m an avid food and fitness freak! You can check out my blog Julie GoLean where I blab on and on about what I do for eating and exercising on a daily basis. thrilling, right? While Melissa is having a booty-kicking time in South Africa I volunteered to drop by with a little guest post action!
(Julie fun fact: I’m part African! My grandmother (dad’s mom) is actually Tunisian which makes this little Long Islander part African! too bad I got the Irish skin color..) anyways I figured this would be a good time to drop by and talk a little bit about using food as fuel. As a former college athlete and current coach maintaining a well balanced diet was and is extremely important to me. From preseason two-a-days in a sweaty hot gym with no air conditioning to ALL DAY tournaments averaging 3-5 entire matches, it became a serious realization to me that skipping breakfast, having a yogurt for lunch and fast food for dinner on the bus ride home was NOT going to provide the best form of gasoline for my body, an athlete’s body or just simply anybody! It was during my Sophmore year of college that I decided to make learning the right nutrition for an active young woman a hobby of mine.

It is first important to understand that food is fuel. It is not your enemy but simply a delicious form of gasoline to give your body the rev it needs to get through the day. Whether you’re a couch potato, training for a marathon, a teacher on their feet all day, a yoga nut, an athlete, or just an active person, it’s important to find the right balance of nutrients for your day. Your daily food intake  should consist of a balanced portion of carbs, protein, veggies, fruits, & milk fats. please do not fear food! When making the right decision on what to eat if your sticking to lean meats, whole grain carbs and low fat milk fats with an extra emphasis on fruits and veggies you’re definitely on the right track! The fact of the matter is that you need these foods whether you’re trying to lose weight or simply striving for a balanced diet!

After mucho experimentation during my collegiate athletic experience it was such a great feeling to finally find what worked for me and gave me the right kind of fuel to power me through tournaments and help me crush the ball down the other teams throat…I mean have a successful match..

I’ve found that the most important meal of the day for me has been breakfast. Whether I had a 6AM morning practice, a 5PM match, an all day tournament, or just simply an off day. Breakfast has been the go-to meal that gave me the right start to my day.

now I know you want some ideas…

there’s always the infamous green monster (or if you’ve been a reader of mine he’s what I like to call my boyfriend..)

1 cup Unsweetened Vanilla Almond Milk (milk fat)
1 scoop Vanilla (or chocolate) Protein Powder (protein should be atleast 100 cal with 15-16g of protein)
1 banana (fruit)
spinach (surprise veggies at breakfast)
ICE & blend baby blend

I usually have some toast on the side also as my carbs for the morning.

Another great breakfast is also the standard go-to oatmeal. Oatmeal is great because it’s EVERYTHING you need in one bowl. And you can make it as yummy as your little heart desires.

Here’s what mine usually looks like..

1/2c oats
1/4c canned pumpkin
TONS of cinnamon & a little pumpkin pie spice
1/2c unsweetened vanilla almond milk

nuke it baby
on top I’ll chop up a banana, and smother it around with 2tbsp of Better N’Peanut Butter or Naturally More
and for kicks I’ll top it off with some Peanut Butter Puffins.
heaven in a bowl.
The best part about oatmeal is that you can add EVERYTHING and ANYTHING to it. doesn’t get much better then that!

these are 2 GREAT breakfasts that with fuel you through any workout, practice, class, hectic morning work schedule, crazy kids..you get the picture.

I hope you found this post helpful & if you liked what you read stop on by and hang out with me

Working out…in stripper heels

Working out can be sexy – when you do it in stripper heels…

Hey everyone, I know you will be excited to welcome back my roommate Liz!  While her amazing post will definitely speak for itself, I would like to confirm a few facts about Liz and her workout of choice—who I am sure I am missing terribly right now .

1.) I have taken this class once, and it was a GREAT workout.  Far harder than I expected from someone who almost never ever works out….Liz.  The fact that she does it in the heels seen above makes her some kind of heroine. I think her review does the class more justice than mine because she has taken it for years. 

2.) She has a bangin’ body—and stripper strength just adds a little finely piped icing to the delicious cake.  Soley to validate that statement—and not to embarass her—after our recent trip to the beaches of MV, one of my friends said to me, “for someone who says she doesn’t workout, Liz has an amazing body.”

So.  I think we can safely say that there are approximately 2 things we have learned about “Melissa’s roommate Liz” from this blog.  1: I hate working out.  2: I think feeling good about yourself and being in touch with your inner (and outer) sexy are at the top of the list of important things to do. 

In theory, I love working out.  I love the adrenaline, the endorphins, and most importantly, how good it makes people feel.  My main problem is that I just think it’s boring.  I don’t care if I can watch TV while I climb stairs and never get anywhere; I only watch a few shows, and I really don’t want to admit my secret love of VH1 reality shows to everyone in the gym (especially since in my building the gym has been known to be hot guy central).  So, I’ve found a way to combine something I hate with something I love to make it something I actually like quite a bit – a strip workout class, specifically, Strip Xpertease. 

Taught by Kim Smith, a former dancer, this class isn’t for the faint of heart (it’s a no-nudity, women-only class, but has a fair amount of ass slapping, chest grabbing, and general self-groping – all in good fun, of course).  Instead of a cardio strip class like some offered by gyms, this class uses actual dance moves, and through repetition coupled with core strengthening, gives you a ridiculous workout.  Also, Kim teaches a bit of a routine at the end of the workout, so you get some bona-fide sexy from the class to take back to your lova. 

The class focuses on some core and leg strengthening moves (and puts a twist on well-known moves like squats and lunges), stretching (which of course has its own twist), and often includes the use of a chair (for moves like the “sexy bicycle” – a version of the more boring pilates move).  The class is taught twice a week, and after 2 months, gave me some rock-hard abs (and another healthy dose of self confidence).  It’s an hour and 10 minutes, and hosts a variety of women of all shapes and sizes, ages, and flexibility.  All of the rates and dates are available on the website. 

Now the inevitable question: what do I wear to such a class?  Well, wear whatever makes you comfortable.  Because of the moves, I recommend yoga pants or spandex, and whatever top makes you comfortable.  Some women wear sports bras out of work-out habit, and some wear push-up bras for that little extra dose of sexy.  In terms of footwear: heels!  I’d suggest starting in whatever height of heels you would wear on a Friday night (but make sure they have rubber soles) – it’ll help you with balance.  As you get comfortable, upgrade your game to 6-inchers.  I have to admit, there’s just something really satisfying about wearing stripper heels while toning up!

So, if you’re looking for a little change-up to your workout routine, I highly recommend giving this a try.  It helps bring out the inner (and outer) sexy, and really, who doesn’t want that? 

P.S.
In addition to workout classes (known on the website as “Stripper Strength”), Strip Xpertease teaches a variety of non-sweaty classes – ie, Basic Moves (basic dance moves), Lap Dance Intensive (speaks for itself), Down ‘N Dirty (a floor routine), and the Desire Series (a little bit of everything).  You can do it in a class or private lessons (yay birthday/bachelorette parties!).

Summer Reading

Since I always love when you bloggers share what you are reading off-line, I thought I would do my own booklist. 

My bookshelf in the city is far less extensive than my bookshelf at my parents house, so I probably missed a few books that really deserve to be on the list, but here we go, divided by category, enjoy!

All Time Favs

Their Eyes Were Watching God

Rebecca

Eat, Pray, Love

The Awakening

The Giver

The Bell Jar

A Separate Piece

Anything Austen

Anything John Irving

Anything Ayn Rand

 

Chick Lit Favs

Everyone Worth Knowing

Bergdorf Blondes

Jemina J

A Model Summer

Highly recommended

The Beautiful and the Damned

Summer Crossing (I actually like pretty much all Capote)

The Sun Also Rises

Kaffir Boy-if you liked the Kite Runner, you will love this.

Gone With the Wind

The Audacity of Hope

Anne of Green Gables

And Then There Were None

Tender is the Night

The Bluest Eye

Into the Wild

The God of Small Things

Garlic and Sapphires

Wasted

Of Human Bondage

Crime and Punishment

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime

Angela’s Ashes

A Prayer for Owen Meany

Practical

Ultramarathon Man

Marathon Woman

Swimming to Antartica

What I Talk About Running

Runner’s World Complete Book of Women’s Running

Simple Abundance

City Chic

Smart Women Finish Rich

Diet for a New America

7 Habits of Highly Effective People

Raw Food Detox Diet

Audrey Style

Making Faces

Bobbi Brown Beauty

Eats, Shoots and Leaves

The Green Book

Books in my library I hope to start/finish while I still have my vision

Anna Karinina

Moby Dick

Lolita

Peoples History of the United States

1776

Don Quixote-in spanish

100 Years of Solitude-in spanish

Made it!

I just wanted to say I made it!

The course is way more academic heavy than I imagined, based on previous study abroad experiences.  So I won’t have nearly as much time to travel around as I had imagined, and I truly regret not learning early to go to Cape Town. But I am learning so much it is incredible.  The history you learn in school is such a small, skewed sliver of the actual experience of a people.  I grew up thinking apartheid was a very extreme form of segregation, when in actuality it was a genocide with unbelievable violence and oppression.  It is truly amazing how far South Africa has come in 15 years to have a unified democracy reaching toward equity, acceptance and forgiveness. 

True to from, I got up and went running with a group the morning after I arrived.  So far two runs down and a trip to the Virgin Active gym.   Fortunately, there is a good group of worker-outers that are every bit as enthusiastic as I am.  Actually, I couldn’t have asked for a better group to be abroad with everyone is so chill, love them already! 

Hope everyone is enjoying their summer,  get in a little extra sunshine for me.  Winter in Africa certainly isn’t winter in New York,  but I am not rocking shorts and a tank top by any means.

Just a teaser of some of the upcoming posts:

-my favorite reads

-workout and non-workouts for every occasion

-Liz brings sexy to your workout

-and much more

xoxo darlings

Chandra on Strength Training!

Oh my gosh, my first guest poster is one of my favorite bloggers of all time!  She is hilarious, a great dancer, shares my love of Brit Brit, and is a health and fitness inspiration to us all!  I am so excited to introduce Chandra!  Not only that, she is sharing an amazing post on a very important topic for us ladies, strength training!  When I do strength training, I love how I feel and that you see changes right away, but sometimes I get into a cardio-centric rut and that’s no good.  So here’s Chandra!

 

Hello readers!  I am Chandra, writer of the blog Chandra’s Shenanigans.  I’ve been reading Melissa’s blog for as long as I can remember and I am so thrilled to do a guest post for her!  She has been a major running inspiration to me and is always so helpful when I need advice.  As much as I love running, I decided to make my guest post about another love of mine – strength training!!

 
So many women are afraid to do strength training for fear of “bulking up”, but trust me ladies – you can’t unless you try REALLY hard to get bulky.  We women just don’t have what it takes to build big bulky muscles (thank goodness!).  But strength training does have many benefits, so read on to find out why everyone should include strength training in their workouts!

 
Strength Training: Why you should do it and do it regularly
Strength training will increase your metabolism and reduce your body fat. We all know cardio is the fastest way to burn calories during exercise. Many of us are cardio queens. But what about burning calories when you aren’t exercising? How can you increase your “at rest” calorie burn? Build muscle. Muscle is metabolically active, meaning it burns calories. The more muscle we have the more calories we burn while we are sleeping, doing daily activities and through exercise.
Strength training will increase muscle mass (without bulking!) and prevent muscle loss. Cardio exercises may improve our cardiovascular fitness, but it does not prevent muscle loss. Even people who exercise but neglect weight training can lose an average of 1/2 a pound of muscle a year. Plus, as we age we lose muscle and our metabolisms decrease. Building muscle through strength training can help counteract this and keep your metabolism roaring.
Strength training will improve your bone mineral density. – As someone who is accident prone and has broken both her arms twice, this is important to me! :) Like muscle mass, we slowly lose bone mineral density as we age, which leaves us at risk for easier fractures and osteoporosis. The stress placed on bones during strength training stimulates the bones to lay down more minerals. This can help protect against fractures, “shrinking”, and osteoporosis.
Strength training will improve your glucose metabolism and help prevent diabetes. Poor glucose metabolism is associated with adult onset diabetes. Muscle built through strength training improves the use of blood sugars into the muscles, helping reduce the chance of developing diabetes.
Strength training can decrease your blood pressure. Combining strength training and cardio exercises is a very effective means of improving your blood pressure which means there’s less of a chance of developing heart disease. If our muscles are stronger, this places less stress on our cardiovascular system while performing day to day activities.
Strength training can make day to day activities easier. As you get stronger, day to day activities such as carrying laundry/shopping bags/children, going up the stairs, etc… will get easier. You will be less dependent on someone else for assistance. You should see me open pickle jars now. ;) Ha ha
Strength training can improve your attitude and help fight depression. I am walking proof of this. Besides building muscle and toning up to get that hot new body, as you get stronger you become more confident in yourself and your abilities. Plus there’s that hot new bod thing too, right? 
Strength training is extremely versatile. You don’t need a gym or fancy equipment to do strength exercises. There are many exercises you can do basically anywhere with dumbbells, resistance tubing, or even your own body weight! Exercises can also be adapted to make them easier or harder depending on a person’s ability. There are numerous exercises to work different muscle groups, so you can keep your routine fresh and creative so you don’t get bored!
There are many, many more benefits of strength training, these are just a few I picked out. I can honestly say I would not be where I am today without strength training. I am stronger, leaner, toned, and have gained a lot more confidence. Cardio alone cannot do that for anyone. Yes, cardio burns a lot of calories up front as you’re doing it, but building and keeping muscle is what keeps those calories burning and keeps you strong. Don’t get me wrong, we all know I love my running, but I will never again shove off my strength training exercise. 

 
Also, as with any new exercise regimen, it is important to learn how to perform strength training exercises with proper form, take rest days, and don’t over do it. If you would like a few tips/suggestions on how to start a new strength training routine, I found this article which has some helpful tips and links: Exercise for Beginners – Strength Training. And as always, if you have questions/opinions/comments, feel free to leave them below or send me an email!!
Happy fat loss and muscle building!

Thanks again Chandra!  I use your strength moves for inspiration all the time!  Hope we actually get to meet at some point!

My Study Abroad Health and Fitness Plan

Yesterday I shared a round up of healthy travel tips.  So today I thought I would go into my specific strategy for this three week trip.  My attitude is always go with the flow and as much natural exercise as possible.  This is a busy study trip and I won’t be back in Africa anytime soon, so I don’t plan to spend all my free time in the gym, but as I do have a marathon to run in November, I hope for a little more than that if possible!

Fitness

(Fitness, Fitness is my Favorite! Insert Will Ferrell SMILE!)

So when I arrived at orientation for the program, the first question I heard someone ask (I was a little late since I had to come from work), was “is there a gym?”  God bless that guy’s heart!  I never would have asked but I almost cried when he did!  JK.  So I knew I was in good company, I hadn’t thought I would join a gym, but since our classes start at 10, there is not a whole lot to do between wake up and class, and the gym seems like a productive use of time for early birds like me.  Actually, almost half the students wanted to join the gym, which is only $35 for 3 weeks!  The cost of 1 Physique 57 class!  So even if I only go a few times a week, it seems worth it!  I am not sure what gym it is, but I am praying it happens to be the Virgin Active that is in the city!  The gym looks awesome and has lots of early morning spinning class-woo-hoo!

I will also be there with one of my biggest sources of gym-spiration, my friend Nico.  He works out twice everyday!  I hope we will run together fairly often, and he will push me outside my comfort zone to improve my speed and endurance.  I do plan to run 3 times a week with at least one long run. And hopefully, when we aren’t traveling, to take advantage of whatever is popular at the gym.

I ordered the Garmin FR60 in early May.  It was supposed to be available for shipment by June 2nd, but unfortunately, it still hasn’t arrived.  I give Garmin credit for being quick to respond; I have exchanged over 15 emails with 4 different people, but even though my watch was supposed to  definitely have shipped by June 24th, it never arrived.  I am a little bummed since it was a $175 investment that I will not be able to utilize while I am away, but I pray that when I arrive home it will be waiting for me—preferably with a huge bow!

Nutrition!

In South Africa you don’t have to worry about eating things cooked or even drinking the water, so I am not too worried about adjusting my diet.  For the record, the second question asked at orientation was, “will there be vegan options?”, so I figure I am pretty safe.   The only supplement I am bringing is probiotics.

For the 17+ hour flight, I am bringing the extra veggies in my fridge: baby carrots, celery, cucumber slices and sugar snap peas, plus a couple energy bars and buying huge bottle of Evian at the airport.  I also requested the vegetarian meal, so hopefully that will be honored.

Every morning the place  where we are staying will provide a “health and english breakfast.” I am not sure what a health breakfast is, but it sounds good to me!

In general, I tend to eat richer food in smaller amounts while I am traveling. I am usually too busy for lots of snacks and grazing, and obviously I don’t have to worry about boredom eating, plus that tends to be the general lifestyle in Europe.  The three meals plus afternoon gelato tends to work out well for me.  In addition to less grazing, I truly believe the limited consumption of processed and packaged foods makes a huge difference. Even though I find I am served food prepared with much more oils, fats and white flour than I am use to, the overall quality and minimal processing of the foods seems to make them more acceptable to the body–in my experience anyways.

I know that we have access to the kitchen and there are regular grocery stores nearby.  Even though it is winter in South Africa, I hear the produce is amazing! Tshwane is pretty cosmopolitan, so there is a huge variety of restaurants of all ethnicities. I plan to prepare most of my own lunches, and save eating out for dinner when possible.  I want to try the regional flavors, but I would rather spend my money on elephant rides than food.

I am bringing some snacks and supplies with me!

I almost never eat bars at home, but they are great for on the go.  I also decided to bring some of Newman’s Own Organics Dried Apricots and Prunes to help bulk up my salads and for my sweet tooth.  And some oatmeal–because why the heck not?

Round Up of Healthy Traveling Tips!

Traveling is one of the greatest pleasures in life!  You get adventure, new perspectives, great memories, new friends, relaxation, an escape from your daily routine and environment, heck, if you are lucky, you even get your bed made for you!  However, most of us do a lot of traveling—business, social, leisure, academic–not just a once a year vacay, so it never hurts to do a little planning and preparation to keep your health and fitness routine on track, so you feel your best during and upon returning from your totally awesome adventure!

I put together a round up of great posts and articles and tips for having a healthfully indulgent and fitness friendly sojourn from around the blog world, I am sure you have seen them before, but they are worth another glance!

Kath-Snack Packing for International Travel—covers that often forgotten vacation period the transit time to and from your destination!

Meghann-Healthy Snacks and Running Gear!

Tina-Easily Transportable Fitness Gear!  I love this post.  And also be sure to check out Tina’s great  travel articles for Health!

•  
  • 3 Tips for Staying Slim on Vacation
  • Vacation Dieting Part 2

Gena—Travel Wrap Up-Be Prepared

Me!  I did a LONG post on Staying Fit While Traveling a while back covering everything from weekend trips to study abroad, my attitude is much the same, as when I wrote this post.  However, tomorrow I will share my specific fitness plan for this trip.

Checklist for travel friendly fitness:

-take advantage of all the time you have to be away from a desk and on your feet—walk, walk, walk

-sightsee rigorously—blasting hundreds of calories per hour at the same time—doing it on foot rather than on tour bus will help you in this effort

-plan fun natural exercise activities including, but not limited to: hiking, golf, mini golf, sailing, water skiing, surfing, rock climbing, basketball, tennis, swimming, scuba diving, volley ball, beach walks and runs, skiing, snowboarding, snow shoeing, etc.

Easily packable items:

-Ipod

-Ipod charger for wall outlet (I have a Griffin-best purchase ever)

-sneakers

-weather appropriate workout clothes

-bathing suit

-Dyna band

-workouts torn out of magazines

-workout dvds

-deck of workout cards

-misc. books such as the NYC Ballet Workout

 

Other things to look out for:

-FitTV

-one day gym passes, guest or daily fee

-friends that want to get in their workout and will take you along for a run or exercise class

-hotel stairwells or football field stairs

-Wi Fit and an energetic nephew

-opportunities for power shopping

-turkey trots/local races or even City Running Tours

-youtube workouts

-downloadable ipod workouts such as my beloved Serena Williams’ Workouts and numerous coached runs

Happy Trails!

Where I am going and why!

I leave on July 5th to spend three weeks studying Social and Educational Reform in Tshwane, South Africa.  Last month I officially switched from a part-time MA program in International Education to a part time MA program in Higher Education Administration with a strong international focus.  While the coursework will be very similar the higher ed degree gives me a bit more flexibility career wise, is more recognizable and the program at NYU is stellar.

What do I want to do?  My dream job is to be a site and student life director on an international campus of an American university or at any program involving international exchange.  I am also very interested in working on global university development projects, such as NYU’s in Abu Dhabi.  I wish to inspire students to study abroad and engage in international exchanges to grow academically, but also socially and personally through the experience of studying in a cross-cultural and global environment.    I will stop there, but feel free to email me if you have any questions (or a job ) for me.

I am very excited about the trip for many reasons, first I have always had the travel bug!  While I am certainly not the most well-traveled person, I do put travel at the top of my list whenever I can find the opportunity or the resources. I saved every baby-sitting penny for almost a year to take a two week art-study abroad trip to Italy (Pompeii, Rome, Venice, Vucenza and  Florence) in 9th grade.  In college, I studied in Madrid, and traveled throughout Spain and to Lisbon, Paris, Rome, Florence, Milan and London while I was there.  I returned to Europe two years ago and visited the Lake Constance region of Germany, Switzerland and Austria, and also went to Naples, Capri, Venice, and Positano.  Most recently, I revisited London.  Each of these trips was amazing in its own right.  You learn so much about yourself and the world when you travel and you gain a confidence, independence and expanded perception of the world and your values when you are challenged to reach outside your comfort zone.

One day we received an email from the building saying that there had been a packaged delivered, my roommates and I were not expecting anything.  When I got home, the box was for me, inside was nothing but a costume safari hat from my parents. I thought it was hilarious.  The book I received at an event I worked.

While I could happily live my life in Western Europe,  I am excited about South Africa because it challenges me—I am a little nervous.  Granted I am studying in a very industrialized part of Africa, so I will not be getting the more authentic rural experience I one day hope to, I have no doubt I will expand my views and learn a lot in the coming three weeks. Even though we are living in a city, we are visiting many rural schools, doing a village homestay and camping. My professor is quite amazing, and it is a privilege to study with her.  My personal focus will be on access and opportunities in a country with an educational system in transition.

My program is  very organized, and one of  the other students is a very good friend, so there is not too much to worry about in terms of safety and organization, although sometimes that is part of the fun of traveling.  Believe it or not, as long as I stay in SA, I don’t even need any shots that aren’t suggested for living in NYC.  Of course, the moment I step outside the country, they suggest many shots and malaria pills.  I am excited for the safaris that are planned, and the visit to Kruger National Park I hope to take!

While South Africa is not the safest country in the world; unfortunately in a way, most of the crime and violence is internal.  I also remind myself that things happen everywhere and to everyone.  I have actually lost two close childhood friends in separate accidents that were unbelievably tragic, but could not have been predicted or expected in anyway. I am excited to embrace a new culture and have no doubt I will be as endeared to South Africa as I am to the other places I have visited.   And while I am sad to leave NYC in the summer, and will miss Liz (roomstar and sexy bitch!), Gena (blogger, dear friend and confidante),  and Derek (B.U.H. #2 xoxo) almost unbearably, the three weeks will fly by and I will be back blogging before you know it.

Just as a note it is currently winter in South Africa, so I had to pack coats and blankets and heavy clothes…boo!

Speaking of which,  I made the decision not to bring my computer.  It is not required as the papers from the course will be submitted after we return and most of our onsite work will be interviews and a paper journal.   I do have posts scheduled every other day including many amazing guest posts you won’t want to miss, so don’t totally forget about me! My good friend Nico will be bringing his, and he said I can borrow it, so I may be posting once a week if I have time.   However, I am actually looking forward to the computer/phone detox.  I will have my blackberry, so I will probably be able to receive emails, but I am not going to have it glued to side.

Speaking of paper journal, I just bought one for the trip after quite a while trying to select the perfect one from the many choices in Barnes, I went with a classic and light black journal.  I almost picked up for use as a diary, but I couldn’t find one I felt appropriate for my life right now!  I love quotable cards products, but none of the journal quotes really spoke to me.  I wish they had “Go Confidently in the Direction of Your Dreams, Live the Life You imagined.”  As I said, I hope for the trip to be both invigorating and reflective.  I am bringing some of the yoga cards I received at Laughing Lotus New Year’s Midnight Yoga this year, which I think I could have utilized more fully over the last six months, but no time like the present.

The back of the third one says,

“If you have the ability to imagine it, or even to think about it, this Universe has the ability and the resources to deliver it fully unto you, for it is like a well-stocked kitchen with every ingredient imaginable at your disposal!”

Stay Tuned for my Health and Fitness Plan!

Saying Goodbye!

I have had a fabulous bon voyage weekend–running, friends and great food!

It started out with an amazing dinner with Gena at Quintessence.  This is a great raw restaurant; the food was uber-yum last night!  I started with an a la carte taco and had the new sprout, goji berries, cherry tomatoes, candied walnuts and the most amazing fig balsamic dressing.

The best part of the night (not counting the lovely company and conversation)was definitely getting TWO cds hand mixed by Gena.  One is a travel mix and the other is a NYC mix, I can’t wait to listen to them on the plane!

After saying good-bye, I headed to 71 to say hi to a friend in town just for the weekend.  I thought I was full after dinner, but when I passed One Lucky duck, I couldn’t help from getting a pint of the Almond Butter Cup—recently featured on Veggie Girl’s blog.

I hit the subway perfectly and made it home in two stops with minimal meltage.  A couple of bites before bed was the a very sweet ending to the night.  At $18 a pint, it is a good thing a little goes a long way.

This glorious and sunny NYC morning I got up early to do some final loads of laundry and then head of to help the organization I used to intern for with a quick program.  After I walked from Port Authority to my friend Derek’s apartment.  We debated a run in the park versus working out at the Reebok Sports Club, but it was way too nice a day (the nicest we have had since last summer) to spend inside—even though I really want to check out his gym .  So we did the same 4 mile loop I did with Katherine yesterday.  It definitely felt significantly harder than yesterday, I think I was going faster since I didn’t want to bore Derek out of his mind.  In any case, I remembered over the last two days,  just how much more awesome running with company is!  I plan to email everyone I know that is even remotely interested in running as soon as I come back and set up plenty of running dates.

I was pretty famished during and after our run, so after a quick shower, we had a nice brunch at Arte Cafe.  A glorious day full of sunshine and my favorite nyc ritual (brunch), what a great way to spend my last full day.  Although this suddenly amazing weather is making it so hard to leave! Not to mention that the new park that I have been looking at from my window for ages finally opened this weekend!  It looks amazing. 

I have always loved the look out piers at The Gantry

but now there is a big park with hammocks!

and many more lookouts and benches

and you can get up close and personal with the pepsi cola sign

All right, I must be off to finish last minute packing, cleaning and organizing and to say goodbye to a few more people, and if I am ambitious head to a friends roof to watch the fireworks.

Happy Independence Day Folks!

PS Just as a reminder, I have posts scheduled throughout the next three weeks!

My First Interview!

I am so honored that Gena asked me to do an interview on health and fitness for her blog, Choosing Raw.  She asked me a lot of great questions, which go deeper into why my blog is about what it is about and my fitness philosophy!   You can check out MY FIRST INTERVIEW and a great running book giveaway here!

I started my day with a great 4 mile run around Central Park with Katherine of Runner Wife’s Life followed by a yummy green juice (celery, cucumber, spinach and ginger!) and her local juice bar.  It was awesome getting to know Katherine better and the miles flew by since I had someone to chat with! Now I am off to meet Gena for dinner, even with a whole lot of packing in the middle, it’s been a great day!

*Edited to add:

Thank you so much for the beautiful comments you have been leaving in response to the interview on Gena’s blog and mine.  I am so touched!  I just want to take this time to do something I have been meaning to do for a while.  That is to thank all of your for your support, inspiration and encouragement on your blogs and in your comments.

Blogging has definitely made fitness and exercise more fun for me.Since the NYC Blogger Meet Ups (1 and 2) I have gotten to know so many wonderful health and fitness enthusiasts, and have “met” countless more through email!  Before blogging I didn’t know too many people really excited about working out and trying new classes, aside from my awesome running friends from Team in Training.  Now I look forward to finding out where people are taking yoga, how much their legs are burning from last night’s Physique class and how their first 10K went.   Everyday I look forward to enthusiastic email exchanges with Dori about new Lotte Burke-style studios to try and the best free classes around town.

While I said that I found the social aspects of raw the most challenging, I think blogging and bloggers may allow me to expand and renew my raw experience.  When I learned about raw, I didn’t know anyone my age into it, save a few people who had been hardcore about it for years.  Now I am so excited to see so many “raw enthusiasts” learning about the benefits, and starting from roughly the same place as I am.  Plus, since I have already met and adore so many of you, I am excited to know that I have plenty of down to earth, non-dreadlocked, chic ladies who share my interest and curiousity.

I’ll back with a longer post anoche o por la manana!