healthy and beautiful

Last night, on Instagram, I read a blogger’s caption for her photo. It read “New year, same food.   My eating doesn't change just because it's January first.” I say, good for her. She’s probably one of those people who says “I’m thankful every day” on Thanksgiving. Call me a cliché’ (I’ve been called worse) but I love a clean slate; I'm not shy about my glee when goal setting.   I’m not suggesting “whole new you” type aspirations.   I like the majority of myself; however, I am perpetually tweaking. If you’re feeling resolutiony, here’s how I’d channel your newfound motivation. Be a creature of freshness I can’t find the right, uplifting word that’s the opposite of habit. Habits and routines are great but monotony is not. Especially in the wellness realm, mixing it up is vital. Kale all day and night would make me find a new profession. What do you want to try in 2017? You can experiment anywhere. Maybe it’s a new form of self-care. I believe I’ve written about my adoratio...

Dallas…I can still hum the theme song to my first, lowbrow TV obsession. More recently, this season’s Bachelorette Jojo (finale tonight) hails from Dallas. There’s the Dallas Cowboys oh and some videotape I recall floating around our house (ahem) when I was growing up. Most places live as stereotypes in your head until you actually visit. Let’s be clear, we didn’t have plans to visit Dallas. I have good friends from college in Dallas and    my favorite Joanna Czech opened her skincare mecca there but we were supposed to be just passing through the Dallas Fort Worth airport en route to Cabo. As the “friendly skies” would have it our first American Airlines flight left late due to a mechanical issue. And after a 5K, barefoot sprint through the humungous Dallas airport, our second/connecting flight left EARLY. Wait, it gets better. There were no other flights out that day, it was hours before our bags were located oh and did I mention if was Marc’s birthday? All I can say is it’...

Since I’ve been up since 4:30, (I kind of like Euro jetlag) and it’s fresh in my mind, I thought I’d offer up my two cents on airplane travel with examples from my most recent trip to Amsterdam. Outbound 8pm flight I’ll admit, I felt virtuous as I prepped for this trip. With no kids to pack for, it was an opportunity for selfish self-care.   I planned to take Le Pain Quotidien’s frittatas (they boxed them up with sliced avocado) and cut veggies to consume pre flight.   Best-laid plans…while sitting in traffic on the way to JFK, I realized my Eat Play Rose’ bag with frittatas and crudité had stayed home. I called my (yes my babysitter, kids are away) babysitter and she popped it all in the freezer. I still bitched and moaned for the remaining hour to the airport. Marc finally snapped at me, “you’ll live” I wasn’t so sure. At the airport, I had to forage. Not only was I meal-less but the long-weekend traffic had delayed us. I ended up with a very red onion heavy tuna with capers...

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...

So sad this is among best photos with both of us from the trip I’m sitting on the plane. My magazine binge is complete (Food & Wine’s “The New Healthy” issue good but Bon Appetit’s Culture even better), inbox has been cleaned out, the book I’m reading at a lull and it’s not yet time for a snack…so I thought I’d tell you a little about Expo West. Expo West is this massive Natural Foods Show; all the big players have booths and events and rookie players or new food companies come to get a jump-start. People spend days at this show. Carolyn and I were determined to see it all in one day and 23, 000+ steps later we did. If I were to pick out a few trends or things we saw a lot of I’d say jerky is a big deal. These new offerings are a world away from Slim Jim. If you don’t think you’re the jerky type I’d do some taste testing. Carolyn said she felt many more products geared toward men and I’d agree. “Mancakes” is an example of this   (get it man + pancakes?). We saw some tea but cof...

There are foods and food products I like and then those I love. When I love something there is no limit. Wakaya’s ginger and turmericteas and more recently their coarse sea salt (avocados love this) and dilo cream (natural sunscreen in it) are on my love list.   So I’m honored that Wakaya interviewed Carolyn and I and posted our new Double Golden Milk recipe. Check it out for our 5 favorite food trends and more. And here's the recipe Wakaya Double Golden Milk What you need (and if you don’t have all of these, it’ll be ok) 1/2 tsp. Wakaya turmeric 1/2 tsp. Wakaya ginger 1 cup water Pinch Wakaya sea salt  Pinch black pepper (pepper increases the effectiveness of turmeric) 1 cup almond milk ( homemade or brand with no carrageenan ) 1 tbs coconut oil (traditional recipes call for almond oil which I didn’t have) Few drops almond extract  Few drops Nu Stevia (optional) or Manuka honey *Add more sea salt or stevia as needed  What to do 1.      Put turme...

Monday we sent out our Spring break newsletter . If you placed an order, be patient. Many people did (thank you) and my partner in food crime, Carolyn, is conveniently Spring Breaking in Cartagena. I’m going away late next week (thank fucking god). This week I’ve been readying clients for their trips (I love hearing where people are going).  So what do I bring? Green juice/airplane meal - I am obsessive about both starting a trip on track healthfully and avoiding plane food. Chugging a green juice while I wait on the security line and bringing a kale salad or and avocado sandwich on Paleo or gluten free bakery bread are my staples. Who knows what lies ahead, control what you can. In flight - I’m very ritualistic which is the best euphemism for compulsive. I bring my Wakaya for when the drink cart comes around. Generally I’ll get hot water. If it’s an overnight flight this may be Wakaya/vodka (feel free to judge).  Vitamins - many people leave these at home and I feel they’re...