Two free classes

I just saw this deal in Time Out and I had to take advantage.

Two free classes at MonQi Fitness. MonQi is supposed to be a really great studio, and I am 90% sure it was mentioned in Self as a celeb favorite this month.

The classes look pretty intense, and you have to take both back to back in order for them to be free.

Sign up soon the offer ends 3/23!

I signed up for ZHcycle and Awesome Abs and Butt! The cycle class is through their partner Zonehampton.

Also, if you didn't see the SNL spoof of Christian from Project Runway, check it out on my friend's fabulous blog. Fierce!

All right, see Sunday with the review!

Rock Your Body Challenge: Increase Your Speed!

This week's challenge comes to you straight from my hard core running friend! The following plan will help you increase your speed and reach your 5K goal time.

The best part is that you only have to do it once a week.

This plan will get your 5K (3.1 mile) time under 30 minutes. Basically you are just adding an extra interval for the weeks 2, 3, 4 and then practicing sustaining a high speed.

So if your goal is faster, substitute 6.9 for a faster pace. My goal is 25 minutes, so I am going to try to do 7.4 mph--roughly an 8 minute mile pace.

Week one

Warm up 10 minutes
Run 8.49 pace (6.9) for 3 minutes

Recover for 5 minutes

Run 6.9 for another 4 minutes

Recover for 5

Run 6.9 for 3

Cool down.

Week Two

Same as above but add another Run 6.9 for 4 minutes recover for 5

Week Three

-add to week 2 another 5 minute run at 6.9, recover for 5

Week Four

Add to week 3 another 3 minute run at 6.9, recover for 5

Week Five

Warm up for 10 Stretch

Run 6.9 for 1 mile

Recover

Run 6.9 for however long you can hold it

Cool down

Week 6

run 6.9 continuous for 2 miles straight

Cool down

Week 7 - Race. 5k

What was your result?

I won't be posting again until Sunday, but I'll try to come up with something good!

Have a fabulously fit weekend!

A few things even a "no frills" gym should have

I feel as though all of my friends belong to these swank gyms. I hear how about the amazing personal trainers at Equinox, how they enjoy nice salmon lunches at the cafes, how they saw Jerry Seinfeld on his way to the platinum class locker rooms at Reebox Sports Club.
Meanwhile, I just canceled my membership at the dowdy NYSC. I belonged to NYSC for three years, I actually liked it for it's Starbucks ability to be found every three blocks--and it's 24 hour locations. Many NYSC's are pretty grubby, but the Astoria location is quite nice, with a gorgeous pilates reformer room.

However, being a student gives me access to two gyms, so I figured I could save the extra money even if it meant not have a gym in my neighborhood, unlimited free classes or a huge variety of interesting looking takes on the traditional treadmills and ellipticals.
I have to say one of the school gyms is from the middle ages, dungeon-like and humid. The other is much more state of the art. Plasma screen tvs, good ventilation, one of the best pools in the city, and my favorite good lighting. Why some gyms are so dark is beyond me.

It has some things even NYSC didn't have--and it is missing a few things I think are minimums for any workout facility:
1.) Free locks. You hand in your card, you use the lock to secure your stuff, you return the lock, you get the card. Why some gyms make it more complicated than this I do not know. I am not a fan of carrying around heavy locks.

2.) Hair elastics on sale in the lobby. How many times have you forgot an elastic?

3.) Pre-moistened cleaning cloths to wipe off machines--love these.

4.) Tv and radio plug ins for when your ipod runs out of gas before you

do.

5.) Towel service

6.) Lots of toys to play with: foam rollers, exercise and medicine balls, dyna bands, stability boards, etc.

Other essentials not currently offered by my facility but I generally feel to be necessary

6.) Decent quality and pleasant smelling shampoo, conditioner and soap. If you are going to offer these things, get things that are pleasing to the majority. I am not a fan of gym showers, and the stuff at NYSC and Crunch is not fit for my dog.

7.) Fans on treadmills-best invention ever!

8.) Free classes--I don't have the flexibility in my schedule to stick to a rigid schedule!

And a few things I hope to have in my next gym:

9.) Steam rooms, sauna and roof deck

10.) Chilled mint- and eucalyptus-soaked towels :)

Salad Shopping Primer

Today I I was planning a big salad post. Since I really needed to stock up on produce, I thought I would show you some of my salad essentials.

A lot of the time I get a box of organic produce delivered through urbanorganic.com But sometimes I like to pick out my own things. I love that urban organic is local and organic, but it does take lots of washing and salad spinning because it is straight from the ground!

I went to Trader Joe's right after the gym (it's next door) so I bought everything that looked good! I also bought a lot of things that are ready to go because time is not of the essence!

Here's what I got:

Colored lettuce--tons of diffent greens, chards, a rainbow of colors to make salads a feast for the eyes!

-broccoli slaw

-snow peas (great in salads as are sugar snap peas)

-cherry tomatoes

-broccoli and cauliflower florets

-steamed beets-ready to go--beets are one of my very favorites

-cucumber

-mango--one of my favorite salad toppings

-carrots

-apples

-bananas (not for salad)

-strawberries

-baby spinach

-I also got some yogurts, trying a macca green tea yogurt, a bit weird especially since I can't remember my last flavored yogurt. Maybe it's like Pinkberry!

On my way out I picked up an impulse, seedy currant cookies. They reminded me of these great seed honey cookies I bought in Switzerland this summer. Kind of granola -like.

Despite the fact that I was pretty hungry, I managed to devour Glamour on the subway home rather than the food. Somehow I even unpacked, made my salad and took some photos for the blog rather than gobbling up the food at the counter as quick as I could chop it! Haha

The Art of Salad Making

Several readers have asked me about salads, and I have to say salad making is an art. The proper combinations of creamy, crunchy, sweet, bitter, acidic, and rich paired with a stunning dressing can make each salad a sumptuous meal. Conversely, over doing it with way too many ingredients or under doing by limiting the beautiful potential of vegetables can turn one off to salads rather quickly.

I could probably post pages upon pages about salads, but I will do my best to be as succinct as possible!

I have pretty much always loved salads, but two women in particular taught me the art of salad making, and I would love to share the lessons I have learned, and where you can get more detail too.

Reading Raw Food Real World by Sarma Melngalis taught me how to balance flavors and textures, after a few weeks of using her techniques all I ever wanted to eat was salad--at least one massive one a day. Obviously I can't copy the amazing passage on salad making directly, but I will leave you with a few great quotes and a summary of the advice. Read the book for more info and recipes.

"We think salads are a great opportunity for creativity because you can easily combine many ingredients, and because you can unite so many varying textures and flavors and get them all in one bite...Constructing salads is easy but keep in mind that some factors do apply to making a great salad. Think of them as vegetable sundaes..." Raw Food Real World page 99.

The most important rules are to make sure you balance your flavors and textures. Contrast acidic ingredients like balsamic and citrus fruits with rich, creamy ingredients like avocados or goat cheese. You might use a soft mild lettuce like butter lettuce with a crunchy sharp vegetables and nuts.

Aim to have a delicate balance of:

- acid/citrus

-creamy/rich

-tart/bitter with sweet

-chewy/crunchy with smooth

-salty/watery or juicy ingredients--celtic sea salt tends to balance and intensify flavors in recipes.

You don't need every single one of these elements in each, but having some contrasts in texture and depths of flavor makes salad more interesting.

Sundried tomatoes, heirloom Tomatoes, goat cheese (raw of regular), with fresh basil and oregano, red and green peppers, cucumber and jicama tossed with balsamic and some sea salt, is a delicious example. You might not need to include all of those ingredients, but I wanted to give options. There are so many textures: crunchy, creamy, crisp, and chewy, and flavors rich, salty, spicy, acidic.

Here's one last classic example: Pecan crusted goat/gorgonzola cheese with pears and dried cherries and balasamic. So you have got a rich creamy cheese contrasting a sweet juicy fruit, crunchy nutty pecans, and tart/sweet/chewy dried cherries, balanced with acid from the dressing.

Remember that your choose of base greens in limitless, you can find soft lettuces like mesclun, peppery greens like arugula, watery ones like romaine, bold flavors like spinach, bitter ones such as chard or kale, and sweet, substantial bases like shredded cabbages. Research and explore your options they all offer different benefits. Personally I love baby spinach and purple cabbage.

For one of my favorite salads look here, for one of Sarma's favorites look here. (I was really into raw a while back, but I found that I needed more balance in my life although clearly I enjoy raw food.)

Rule number two, you are creating a salad not a chopped meal. This is from Natalia Rose. Her books are worth buying for the salad recipes alone, totally amazing!

While many restaurants chop up a meal throw it on lettuce and call it a salad. A really salad consists of mainly vegetables with one or two other elements like a protein or nuts. If you are eating a salad with lettuce, chicken, cheese, beans and croutons, you are not going to feel light energized and radiant afterwards.

Which brings me to my third tip. Limit your salads to one or two fatty items, such as avocado (which I encourage you to try until you love. It took me a long time, but they are amazing for you! To start, make sure they are the perfect ripeness (too hard and they taste like soap) and spread them on whole grain toast--then tell me you don't love them!) cheese, nuts, or dressing. Although when you are starting don't worry too much about the dressing, if it makes you love salad and it is made of high quality ingredients, you should digest it seamlessly. That being said you need at least one fat to keep you full and to digest the fat soluble vitamins in vegetables. Fat is really essential to feel all the amazing effects of the nutrients you are consuming.

Keep ingredients to around 5. Too many more than that and you start to lose the individual tastes. I count cucumber, jicama and diakon radish as freebies.

Tip four, add sweet, juicy and chewy and you will be diving in for more. When I started adding mango to my salad, I couldn't get enough. Juicy fruits like mango, kiwi and grapefruit makes salads refreshing, hydrating and uber delicious.

Apples and pears make them crunchy and hearty.

The vast array of dried fruits like golden raisins, dried cherries, etc. add a great sweet flavor and chewy texture that is just divine. Corn is also a great sweet, chewy addition, fresh not canned!

If you are confused on salty-sea vegetables, dulse, many seeds, corn, tomatoes, cheeses are just a few examples of salty.

Now that you now how to make salads sinfully delicious through flavor combinations, here are some tips to keep you full and lean:

Start with your leafy base
-add 3+ fresh vegetables, with no more than one starchy-like corn or peas
-add protein of choice
-add fat
-add an optional fun ingredient, such as nuts, fresh/dried fruit, or other item you love-1-2 TBSP.
-somethings, like laughing cow cheese fall into many categories (protein, fat, creamy) so you can get some bang for your buck and a nice dressing as well.
-Nuts and dried fruits go very well together with an all vegetable salad, so think of nuts as your fat/protein and dried fruit as your fun item. Top with balsamic, agave, or a fruity dressing like the All Natural Maple Grove Farms ones.


If that's not enough to get you started, I went through the menus of some NYC restaurants that make great salads (Chopt, tossed, FreeFoods NYC, benvenuto, Angelica Kitchen, Candle 79, Caravan of Dreams--look them up on menupages or google them for full menus, I was too lazy to include all the links!)and listed them as ideas for you to make your own! Some may not follow all the rules, but I tried to pick ones that came close.


Summer Salad with Strawberry Balsamic Vinaigrette baby field greens, roasted corn, grape tomatoes, cucumber, golden raisins, strawberries, homemade plantain chips.


Chopped Greek with Two Virgins baby field greens, grape tomatoes, cucumber, kalamata olives, feta, fresh peppers, red onion.


Garden Salad baby field greens, grape tomatoes, cucumber, shredded carrots, golden raisins, sunflower seeds.

Spinach Salad With Balsamic Vinaigrette baby spinach, shiitake mushrooms, roasted portobello, roasted sweet onions, toasted hazelnuts, homemade croutons.


Chop't Ten Vegetable iceberg lettuce, grilled asparagus, green peas, hearts of palm, carrots, broccoli, beets, white mushrooms, cucumbers, tomatoes and corn we recommend chop't secret house blend


Teriaki Shrimp a blend of spinach and romaine lettuces, carrots, slivered almonds, real oranges, snow peas.


Sea Caesar crisp romaine lettuce tossed with creamy garlic dressing. Topped with seasoned sourdough croutons, a sprinkle of smoked dulse & nori strips

Orchard mesclun lettuces, apple, toasted pecans, dried bing cherries & sourdough croutons; tossed in a rosemary vinaigrette

Mixed Sprout a refreshing toss of snow pea shoots, sunflower sprouts & seeds, & mint; mixed with cabbage, daikon & carrots in a cool mint vinaigrette. Adorned with toasted peanuts, onion sprouts & watercress


Balsamic roasted cherry tomatoes & basil marinated chickpeas, over local greens tossed with extra virgin olive oil, fresh squeezed lemon juice, & coarse sea salt.


Baby Greens Salad baby greens, cranberry beans, roasted butternut squash, quinoa, avocado, toasted sunflower seeds, poblano dressing

Roasted Beet Salad mache, arugula, beets, baby carrots, haricots verts, ginger gold apples, fennel, toasted pecans, vanilla-fig dressing


Formaggio Di Capra E Noci pistachio encrusted goal cheese, beets and seasoned pecans, on a bed of arugula, endive and radicchio

Final notes: The salad above is a mix of all kinds of romaines and rainbow chards, carrots, snow peas, kiwi, a sprinkle of pure food and wine cheesy raw crackers (to make it more fun for you guys), cucumber, and cherry tomatoes. After I dressed it lightly with Newman's Light Honey Dijon. I served it fage mixed with cinnamon and strawberries.

Are you hardcore?

So I am officially back on track. I had am amazing workout last night. It just felt euphoric to be moving my body after days of sluggishness. I actually felt like crap all day, and it wasn’t until I was sprinting on the treadmill that I felt alive again.

During class I asked a co-worker I sometimes workout with if he wanted to go to the gym after class. (I find it incredibly hard to go straight from a full day at work to class and then the gym, so it’s good to have a buddy.)

He was like, “sure. I already went at lunch, but I want to go again.”

I was like, “whoa there! Look at you!”

He was like, “Melissa you are just not as hard core as us.” Not being sarcastic!

I was like, did he really just go there? Me not hard core, as if!

This conversation made me think about how many girls (myself included) think guys have it so easy; they don’t have to work to get those six-packs. But lots of guys work pretty damn hard for those abs and biceps, and sometimes we don’t give them enough credit!

On the other hand, I could do the exact same regimen as my (already pretty fit) co-worker who lost 15 pounds in like 3 weeks, and not drop more than a few pounds, eating less! Okay so maybe they deserve the crap we give them. But at least they have to put in some effort.

Back to me not being hard core. For a second, I was like damn I need to prove I am just as hard core. I can do doubles! But then I realized I am consistent and balanced. I don’t really need to be hard core about everything in my life: school, work, fitness, diet, social life, clean apartment--moderation is just fine with me.

Besides, even if I was as “hardcore” as my male co-workers. I still wouldn’t be as hardcore as my friend Rebecca. She ran her first marathon with me in October, and immediately signed up for the Paris Marathon and Gulf Coast half ironman. On Saturday night, she came out with us, and then work up to run a few miles, BEFORE her 15K race and then continued running after—a total of 24 miles!

So moral of the rambling story: decide how much fitness is important to have in your schedule, for your lifestyle and your body, and let that be enough! At some points you may enjoy more and some points less.

“Success isn't how far you got, but the distance you traveled from where you started.”

During my fabulous workout last night, I decided success for me will be the following to goals:
1.) to complete a strong ½ marathon in April
2.) to get my 5k time down to 25 minutes from just under 29 minutes by August—hopefully sooner.

Om Yoga

Om sweet om!

Entering Om is like entering a quiet beautiful yoga world. The studio winds and stretches on with ample closet space for coats and shoes, a cozy shop, a reading area with couches and yoga books, and that's before you even reach the studios. Most yoga studios are very small and pretty crowed, Om has an entire floor of lounges, changing rooms with showers for yogis and yoginis, nooks and crannies and of course several studios, everything is muted, peaceful and completely protected from the chaos that floods Broadway six floors below the center. You can take a virtual tour online.

My passbook only has one free class although I could have brought a friend (my yogi buddy was working). I was actually really craving yoga Sunday. I didn't feel very well and all I wanted was some inner peace and time with my thoughts. The staff was extremely friendly, and mat rentals were only $1!

I took a basics/intermediate class with Jeremy. It started out very different from any other yoga class I had ever taken. We rolled up our mats Buddha style and lay them along are vertebrae to feel the heart lifting and sides of the body falling down. It really helped me feel the proper alignment throughout the class. Then we did some strange shaking of the legs and arms above our heads while lying on our backs.

A lot of the poses we did were new to me, but Jeremy was by far the best instructor I have ever had. He explains everything perfectly! He corrected my position allowing me to feel perfect in every posture. The class was difficult in that it required significant strength and focus to hold the positions, but it was not a very fast class, so we didn't do any jumping from pose to pose.

Because I was feeling less than stellar it was great to go slow and learn exactly how to form each pose. Sometimes I want to take a really fast-paced class above my skill level to really work up a sweat, but it is probably better to be patient and learn how to do everything correctly in the beginning.

Halfway through the class I had a little moment of bliss. In a very Elizabeth Gilbert manner, I said to myself "is this me loving yoga?" And I think it was.

Not only was Jeremy very clear, but he was very complimentary. He kept us encouraged by telling us our poses were delicious. I guess I'm not yogini enough to forget about ego yet, I lapped up every sweet word!

By the end of the class I felt very restored.

Om also offers many interesting workshops like Thai Yoga Massage. They have a yoga workshop/cleanse combination in April that sounds really interesting. However, I am doing a half marathon the weekend after the last day of the cleanse, so I don't think it is ideal timing.

I will definitely be back to Om. They have several 1 hour express classes that cost only $12 each, a pretty great deal. Sweaty Express here I come!

If you are interested in learning more, you can buy the Om Dvds, books, box set, clothes and lots more in their online shop.