Perfec-Tea!

Ever since I have met Pooja, I have tried to drink lemon water every day and tea every night. It has become my ritual!  I like my tea plain, without sugar or milk or anything, but I really love licorice and spicy flavored teas best. Tea is great because it is naturally calorie-free and many and caffeine-free, so drinking tea always makes me feel great and satisfied. Plus, it is a good way to drink more water when it starts to taste...watery.

Pooja recommends this organic jasmine green tea, which you can buy right from her online shop (so easy!):

If you want to try this yummy tea or other hot health items, visit http://astore.amazon.com/poojasway-20

DIY Almond Milk (+Flour), Scallops (laaaaaaaa) & Fun Fitness

I admit that I am quite cooking challenged, but that is why I love Pooja. She makes cooking accessible and healthy for the busy average person. I was super excited when Pooja told me I could make almond milk myself (which I buy unsweetened all of the time) and save some major $$$ by doing so. In fact, making almond milk is super easy and also yields almond flour (score for the lazy food prep-arista!) :) Actually, these instructions are provided by the blogger of the week on Pooja's Way, Balancing Val.

Photo courtesy of balancingval.com

For the cooking challenged who are obsessed with seafood (like me!), Pooja explains how to prep scallops in 5 minutes flat. Besides being delicious, scallops are an easy way to wow guests (who would otherwise assume I could make diddly or poison) and get lots of protein naturally.

laaaaaaaaaaaaa = Homer Simpson drool of admiration (these are so gosh-darn pretty!)

Also, in case you missed it, I have been doing a nine minute workout consisting of shuffles, shuttle runs, step ups, squats, and two foot hops (in addition to arm exercises that will be explained very soon- that is when I post pics of how jacked my arms are now from being muscle-less). Pooja conveniently has how-to videos of all of these exercises and more on HuffingtonPost that I wanted to share because they are super fun and easy to do:

http://video.aol.com/aolvideo/aol-video/beginners-guide-to-a-beach-body-part-4-agility/1099526083001

Here is Pooja doing some steps up  (but box jumps are the same thing jumping on and off the  riser)

Publish Post

Healthful Gastronmic Adventures!!!

I love eating and the city is perfect for food adventures, so I thought I would share some of my latest healthy gastronomic adventures:

1) I am obsessed with the Union Square Greenmarket and I have recently become addicted to these bread- cheese-bean-sunflower leaf things (I don;t remember the name of these, but they are AMAZING!)

[A close-up of deliciousness!]

2) My friend Michelle and I went to Alice's Tea Cup (this famous NYC tea place Uptown that is themed 'Alice in Wonderland') and got this delicioso tea with whole grain bread and cucumber-y-goodness:

None of the tea items matched, just like they shouldn't at the  Mad Tea Party :)

Tea is a zero calorie drink when you skip additives and sugar. I like my tea warm and without sugar, and I tend to have at least one cup per day, so I am officially in love with Alice's Tea Cup (plus the theme was so fun!). 

3. I decided to walk like a mad person again for no reason, but this time I went to MoMa and wanted to share this gorgeous pic overlooking their garden through one of their sculptures:

I <3 NATURE :)

I love just sitting in parks and enjoying the gorgeous weather! I actually sat in the Washington Square Park fountain the other day after a quick workout. I also have been keeping up with going to yoga and dance with friends. I am going to be trying ballroom dance on Thursday with a friend, so we will see how that goes! Speaking of workouts, I also wanted to share more exercises from Pooja:

Happy Monday :)

Fav Fitness Toys!

I love working out and I love my fitness toys/ gadgets. Don't get me wrong, the body is its own gym, but sometimes we need to switch it up a little.

Here is the fitness ball (great for working out AND bouncing on) and my weights (note all of the purple- loves it!):

Also, I am obsessed with doing squats on bosu balls!

Pooja actually just added some and some other fitness toy finds to her online store! Check them out here: http://astore.amazon.com/poojasway-20

Eating great, Exercising lots, Feeling amazing!

Pooja's Way is more than just about eating whole foods, exercising regularly and creatively, and changing the way we think about our health. It is also about changing the way we see ourselves and building confidence through making better choices for our bodies.

I have been feeling great lately overall and proud of myself for all of the small achievements I have been making every day as part of Pooja's Way- becoming more responsible for myself and cooking my own meals (not doing the store bought thing), pumping up my exercise routine and hopping off my former plateau of doing the same exercise every day, cutting off from sugar (and I still haven;t cheated!), and focusing on eating whole foods. My friends constantly remark to me that they could never do what I am doing, but I always tell them that they can, too. They just have to try, and they would only realize that it is super easy and so worthwhile because you feel so good!

 BASIL & JICAMA SALAD

Check in with no sugar!

The breakfasts Pooja gave me and not eating sugar are going great. I think I ate the oatmeal for too many days in a row, so I am currently sick of it and obsessing over the banana flax smoothie (http://poojasway.com/article-cook/june-23-2011-functional-fitness-drinks-banana-flax-raw-cacao-smoothie/), so likely, the same will happen. But I am really enjoying them! 

Here is the recipe for my peach-egg breakfast salad (http://poojasway.com/article-cook/july-18-2011-meatless-monday-recipe-chickpea-peach-salad/) that I totally love!

 The fitness is going fine as well. I actually was coaching off-ice yesterday and made my students do a few of your exercises because they said they wanted to make their hearts race and they really liked it, but it made them tired (which was a good thing!). As of yesterday, I am catching a cold, which is not fun. Before yesterday, I have been feeling good. I actually have started going to two dance classes with my friend Teresa who is a professional dancer/ teaches hip hop (here is a video of her dancing: http://www.youtube.com/teresainaction) and yoga, too! I decided I really wanted to step up my game :) 

Follow my dancing friend her @Tereeses

As for the no sugar, I haven't really had any cravings since the first week. I know that I like ice cream, cupcakes, etc., but I don't think "OMG. I want that". Instead, I think "That looks pretty/cute/ good, but I don't really care/ have an interest in eating it" or "That looks good, but I don't need it." I actually have gone into several bakeries with friends who wanted stuff (but felt guilty because they know I am not eating sugar) and I totally didn't want anything. I was like "Meh. Looks good. Won't eat it." I definitely think I lost some weight, but it is hard for me to tell...I need to weigh myself sometime this next week. One thousand thanks to Pooja for getting me into better shape! make sure to check out her latest exercise post , her mini video series, and her hosting Today's Tweet on Huffington Post! You can also follow her @poojamottl or visit poojasway.com to see the website which officially relaunched today!

Chelsea Market, Highline, and homemade Almond Butter

As for my most current adventures, I spent more time with my friend Cassidy at yoga, which was so awesome. I am really trying to step up my fitness game and doing any exercise is more fun with a friend! After yoga, we walked to and from East Village/Chelsea/ Hell's Kitchen/ Union Square area (about 50 blocks total of roaming around) because we got dinner at Chelsea Market and walked the Highline (an outdoor park that used to be a railway and that is super sustainable). We ate soup, fruit, and salad, but we really just in awe of the whole inner marketplace. I had never been before and it was so fun, I am going to make it a ritual for myself to go to Chelsea market and the Highline once a week! Here are some pics:

 

 

 

I also have been keeping up with my breakfasts that Pooja has given me recipes for, but I am still loving the banana flax cacao smoothie the best :)

   

I also ventured to make my own (pure) almond butter because I was running low on my stash (which is kinda sad because it is Costco-sized, but I can't get enough of the stuff!). It took more time that I anticipated, but it was really exciting to make a 'slow food' I had never made before, but it was super easy! All I did was blend the nuts until they became buttery. Clean up was surprisingly easy as well because all of the almond butter stuck to itself and not the blender! 

 

 

Stay tuned for tomorrow's post about my workouts! (hint: here is a preview http://poojasway.com/article-move/july-18th-2011-vibrant-life-anywhere-series-3-exercises-to-get-lean/)