Going home (sugar-free)

I spend most of my time preparing my whole food meals (especially my breakfasts) in my NYC apartment. All of the ingredients and appliances I need are in one place. However, when I travel, my food game changes up a little bit.

This moment, I am actually headed on a bus home for 4th of July weekend! I finished all of my NYC-location-based work and only have virtual work left to do, so I packed up my bathing suit and Amazing Meal cacao protein mix in lieu of a long and festive weekend filled with fireworks, family, and friends. The only catch is I can't eat sugar...but I have something up my sleeve!....Actually, in my bag!

 
I know, Sarah is crazy for packing protein mix along with clothes and stuff, but I just am worried that  my family may not use it at home. I am going to buy groceries tomorrow morning (because I will get back too late tonight and stores aren't open 24/7 like they are in the City) like bananas and flax seeds for my Banana, Flax Seed, and Raw Cacao smoothie!

Pooja's Banana, Flax, and Raw Cacao Smoothie = YUM!

You can always add this stuff to smoothies if you are extra hungry and it is super good for your body!

In fact, cacao is my unhealthy healthy obsession. It is legit just cacao plant in powder form and is what chocolate is made of (without all of the fat). Did you know white chocolate is just milk fat and no cacao, which is why there is no brown color in the treat and why it your worst chocolate option (slim-wise)?

Chocolate grows on trees!

I always opt for 80%ish or more dark chocolate because Pooja taught me that the higher percentage in the chocolate means that the less fat is in the bar. However, now that she has introduced me to raw cacao powder, I think I have betrayed chocolate. Oh, yes! It is true. It tastes awesome with unsweetened almond milk, which is secretly cheap and easy hot chocolate. Did I mention it is low calorie, chemical free, and probably the best hot chocolate I have ever tasted!?!

Sarah's (best ever) hot chocolate  recipe= pure cacao powder + maple syrup+ unsweetened almond milk+ *simmer*

No lie! I think this is a great example of how natural ingredients taste way better in your favorite foods than the 'faster' (aka "to-go"), more processed options. In fact, all of those fancy restaurants charge so much more for food because it has actual food ingredients in the (ahem...whole foods....yeah) product, so they also taste better.

For other all-natural recipes du chef Pooja, visit http://poojasway.com/cook/

A normal breakfast...for me!

For four weeks, I am eating healthier breakfasts that Pooja has specially designed for me. I have five breakfasts that I can eat in the mornings.

To start my day, I always drink lemon water to balance the pH in my body.

To save time, I try to cook the night before so I am not rushing to get ready in the morning.

I have a tiny kitchen, but I  work it out!

Pooja's 10 Grain Cereal is a-bubbling on my stove!

One of my favorite breakfast is a cold 10 grain cereal, made from Bob Red Mill 10 Grain Cereal, unsweetened soy/ almond milk, maple syrup, and pumpkin seeds. Sometimes, I even add fruit like peaches!

This can be prepared hot or cold, but it grosses me out when hot. Maybe I'm weird...

100% Pure Maple Syrup and Organic Unsweetened Soy Milk are now my food staples! Plus, these totally make the cereal. I can't stand it without them!

Om-nom-om! Pumpkin seeds. Yeah.

Also, one of the things that I try to consume every day (not endorsed by Pooja, me only) are probiotics because they help my digestion and stuff. Probiotics are in yogurt and fro-yo, too, but my doctor actually told me about these. They are magical!

Probiotics are magical.

Speaking of magical, I like to think of Pooja as my fairy health godmother, who grants me with magical health knowlegde. For example, I add maple syrup to my cereal and not sugar because it is much less refined. In fact, I am also not eating real or fake sugar for 5 weeks total.

I know, girlfriend is crazy. No sugar? You think you would die. Not really. I just eat foods with maple syrup and honey, trying my best to avoid sugary messes. I have noticed that a lot of foods have hidden sugars like yogurt and tomatoe sauce, so I have to read lots of labels and always ask what is in the food I am eating. Sounds like a lot of work, but I think it is important to know what is really going into my body!

Sugar, sugar is everywhere!

 Entonces, if you are up for the challenge of decreasing your refined sugar intake, Pooja has a list of better sugar alternatives that you can try: http://www.getbacktoscratch.com/scratch-knowledge/articles/?id=17

Change the way you think about Exercise!

I am one of those weird people who loves to exercise :)

I prefer to start my day by ice skating or hitting the gym in the morning before I go to work or class or doing whatever I have planned for the day because I feel like it helps me prepare for the rest of my day. In fact, when I don't get enough exercise, I get in really bad moods and my muscles tense up. Therefore, I try to get my endorphins and blood pumping so I feel mentally and physically my best!

I love ice skating! It is such a fun way to cool down during the summer.

Even though I (almost) always stretch both before and after I work out my muscles, I did learn something else super important about fitness from Pooja: anyone can exercise anywhere.

Pooja and I doing hops at the park!

Today, I decided to walk from the Upper East side to my downtown apartment as part of my 'Museum Mile marathon'. My goal in this 5+ mile walk was to visit as many museums as possible while walking down 5th Avenue. Instead of hitting the gym or even going for a run, I made exercise a super fun adventure. Granted, running would have been faster and I probably wouldn't have blisters on my feet, but my whole experience would not have been nearly as fun :) Plus, on such a gorgeous day, I loved being outside and even spent a little time enjoying the foliage in Central Park.

I visited the Guggenheim, the Jewish Museum, the Frick Collection, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Ukranian Institute of Art, the New York Public Library gallery (Bryant Park-42nd St), and even peeked into a Salvatore Feraggamo fashion show at the NYU Institute of Fine Art by accident! I also witnessed a worker's protest and a woman getting body painted- on the street. Oh, the things you see on the streets of NYC! I also stopped into a few stores like Juicy Coture (they are having a summer sale!) and stopped into a grocery store to pick up frozen veggies (that I added to quinoa) and unsweetened soy milk.

   

If you are interested in seeing some of the exercises that I do on a regular basis with Pooja, visit http://poojasway.com/move/.