healthy and beautiful

Last night Carolyn and I had a talk to give. If you’re in NYC,   you know that it was an insanely rainy night. So, like the true professionals we are, we emailed our host 10 times saying “are you sure we’re on, it’s so bad out maybe people would like to do another night?” We were on and, as is often the case when you least expect it, it was great. We had a smart/fun group in a small, swanky 51 st floor room. There was booze we didn’t drink and chandeliers we did NOT swing from (we didn’t know these people yet). The topic was top 10 foods you should eat to undo holiday damage. Issue: Hangovers Shockingly over 20% of people do not experience hangovers. Most of us do. Try our 1 for 1 rule and have 1 water for every drink you have or just stick to 1 drink (some people can do this). If you overdo it, think ginger. Most hangover issues stem from inflammation. We like Wakaya ginger  Mix it with water after you drink or next morning or be like us and plop some in your clear spirit of ...

  Oh structure we missed you so. We are midway though our Foodtrainers’ September Squeeze fall reset weeks.   Week 1, led by lauren, concluded Sunday and week 2, my week, is off and running (shout out to our Squeeze achievers doing both weeks). We design a new program, with new recipes each time (why do less work when you can do more?) but we never really know how it will go until we have a group of all ages, living in all different places, going through it. Many of lauren’s week 1 squeezers told us it was our best squeeze yet…nice!   We asked our week 1 Squeeze grads to tell us how they felt: I feel back on track/more confident/able to say no/in control/clear-headed, rested and resolved to continue. This Squeeze is NO booze, grains, sugar, cheese or scale (yup a full week no weigh ins).   While it sounds like a lot of no’s we have a lot of yes’s too. We select special ingredients and what we call “secret weapons” to spice things up. My favorite this go around is ash...

Stress is bad; it’s bad for our health, for our weight and certainly our mood. But telling a stressed out person to decrease their stress is like telling an overweight person to lose weight…#nothelpful. In our Foodstalking program , we ask participants "how do you feel?" each day. One of my clients today said "homicidal" she was joking (promise) but I totally get it. If you want to decrease your stress but don’t have the time to sort out how, here are some ideas that work for me. Relaxation Rituals When I get to the office, I light our official office candle and put on Pandora. I may only have five minutes before a client but a little Ray LaMontagne radio injects a little relaxation into my morning. Perhaps a podcast? I am somewhat new to the podcast world. I find podcasts help me zone out when I’m commuting or just walking down the street. Sure, there are meditation and relaxation podcasts but many podcasts work. Hey, last night I went to sleep listening to Not Her...

I am not a fan of stress and how it can make me feel.  Unfortunately, stress is part of the life package deal with no opting out button.  Stress can become a chronic ugly thing with negative physical and emotional side effects.  Studies are also linking stress to hypertension, heart disease, and weight gain.  Who the heck wants a whole bunch of extra fat with the heart attack waiting to happen sign sitting on our stressed out shoulders? So many of us are living in a constant state of stress whether from family problems, illness, financial strain, or unhappy marriages and are accepting it as our normal way of life.  Stress places wear and tear on our body as cortisol is leaking out of the adrenal glands in abundance and causing increased blood pressure and waistlines. Stress, straight up is a fitness killer.  I for one refuse to live in a constant state of stress and do implement healthy strategies to eliminate it from my life. The way stress is handled...

As I was scrolling through Instagram (far less annoying to me than Facebook lately) last night, Tracy Anderson referenced Lena Dunham. I went to look and found this: Promised myself I would not let exercise be the first thing to go by the wayside when I got busy with Girls Season 5 and here is why: it has helped with my anxiety in ways I never dreamed possible. To those struggling with anxiety, OCD, depression: I know it's mad annoying when people tell you to exercise, and it took me about 16 medicated years to listen. I'm glad I did. It ain't about the ass; it's about the brain. Thank you @tracyandersonmethod for showing me the light (and @bandierfit is where I bought my Florida mom inspired workout look.) #notsponsored   #stillmedicated      Exercise has been a regular part of my life since I was a teenager. I would be lying if I said it has always been a stress release. It was probably much more “about the ass” (not really ass for me as I come fro...