Moved in and ready for a healthy, new semester at collegio!

I am all moved in to my new apartment and it is beautiful! I am so excited and love my roommates (who happen to be my best friends)- plus I am excited to start my classes on Tuesday! In preparation for the start of classes, I have been buying books and stocking up on my delicious (but also nutritious) groceries. In fact, a lot of things that I eat on a regular basis are featured on Pooja's online store, under the tab 'Dorm Room Essentials'.

I am particularly obsessed with Bob's Red Mill as a brand (in general), but I am REALLY obsessed with their muesli (a special mix of whole grains that can be eaten hot or cold, and have delicious doo-dads added like nuts, fruit, juice, milk, or yogurt). For breakfast this morning, I made and ate a parfait that consisted on organic nonfat plain yogurt, frozen berries (rasp, black, straw, and blue), and of course Bob's Red Mill muesli. Most people like to eat low-fat or flavored yogurt, but I like to avoid eating unnecessary sugars that tend to be added to these products- or they add sugar/ honey instead. I don't like the taste of things to be sweet from added sugars (because I am weird), so I don't really add honey or anything like that to my foods- though I am a huge fan of adding 100% honey or maple syrup to sweeten foods instead of sugar/ sugar substitutes. After my 6 week sugar cleanse over the summer, I don't plan on doing it any time soon full-out, but I definitely want to moderate my sugar intake because I am more chipper and lively when I am not OD-ed  on the stuff.

POACHED SOCKEYE SALMON W/CHILI COCONUT SAUCE

I am also super excited to cook for my lovely roomies and am looking forward to maybe cooking up the above delicioso piece of salmon. It takes 15 minutes or less to make and I know that all of my roomies will love it! For my roomie Sophie who is a vegetarian (but hates veggies, so is really a default vegetarian), I will probably try to make these vegan pecan jam cookies (if I am being really nice and am in a cooking/ baking mood): 

PECAN JAM COOKIES

Back from Vacation and Running a 5k!?!

I recently returned from my vacation in Bermuda and would first like to extend my condolences to anyone affected by the hurricane. Irene made my vacation one day longer and shut off power in my suburban home, but I am currently safe and sound in NYC. As for my eating habits on the cruise, I definitely did not eat as well as I should have. It was really hard to turn down desserts when I not only didn't have to pay for them, but friends and family were eating them right in front of me every day, and I could theoretically have as much as I want. On the other hand, I tried to stick to three meals a day with snacks (because buffet food was available everywhere 24/7), avoid midnight snacks, drink lots of water, indulge my love for tea, skip dessert (some nights) and the homemade ice cream, and go to the gym fairly regularly (which means that I went every other day). My cruise workouts consisted of running/ jogging 2 miles, stretching, minor plyometrics, and ab exercises/ crunches. I would have done the elliptical (which I am unhealthily obsessed with), but the machines on the boat weren't so great. Also, trying to run on the track and the treadmill were slightly difficult considering the waves made the boat shift quite often, so I was not always running on a flat, stationary surface. I really had to ignite my kinesthetic awareness!

Running on a treadmill is hard. Running on a treadmill  on a boat on the Atlantic is really hard. 

Now you ask, how come you are doing a 5K? I have never run a 5K before, but my friend Wei sparked my interest in doing the Susan G. Komen run, which is a crazy good/ charitable run. Wei also runs marathons, so the 5K is no big deal for her, but it kinda is for me because it is my first run.

Photo courtesy of  http://www.komennyc.org/site/TR?fr_id=1230&pg=entry

Wei says the way she likes to train is to straight run, which we did together on the boat! She is such a nice, supportive running buddy, so I feel lucky that I have such a good friend to do the 5K with. Now, I am trying to run 2+ miles every other day to train for the run. I also am back to eating healthily (now that I don't have unlimited, all-ready-paid-for food in front of me all the time) and exercising more regularly. In fact, I did a ballet class and a pilates class yesterday. I have never done pilates before (and I think I am really bad), but I absolutely loved it!  

True Life: I am on a boat and trying to still be healthy!

I am super excited to go on vacation, starting Sunday. I am going on a cruise to Bermuda, but have promised myself that I will eat in moderation. I know there is going to be buffet food 24/7, which sounds nice until I think of how I will want to eat everything!

My mom reminded me that anyone could easily gain 10 pounds in one week on such an excursion, but if I took it slow and eat healthy goodies (along with the occasional sweet) in moderation (and not overeat, as tempting as the buffets may be), all will be good! Pooja's rule of thumb is to eat until you are full and then STOP. It is a lot harder than it sounds, but I work on it every day. I love eating, but I know eating to eat is unhealthy. I strive to eat only when I am hungry- not when I am upset, bored, or lonely. Food is supposed to give us energy and that is it. Food should taste good and be nutritious. An easy rule of thumb to choose healthier foods is to choose whole foods and not ones with tons of chemical preservatives. Pooja's Way actually recently posted an interview with Kaia Foods CEO and Founder, Nick Kelley, who spoke about the company's motto "Keep it Simple". For whole food recipe ideas, visit http://poojasway.com/cooking/

Pooja's Basil and Jicama salad is delicious AND nutritious!

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