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Veggie Sushi and Resolutions 2012

I wanted to pop in and share part of a delicious lunch I had on Saturday at Whole Foods. My husband is bored of eating at WF; we probably grab dinner there at least twice a week and sometimes visit on the weekends too. But I have yet to tire of their prepared foods bar. I am tired of it being $8.99/pound, but not of the scrumptious salads and innovative hearty dishes. I also discovered recently that they have rice-less sushi, which is what I’m about to show you.

There. That is seaweed swaddling shredded carrot, avocado, soft tofu, cucumber, and roasted red pepper*. Dip it in soy sauce and wasabi. Not enough for a meal on its own, but certainly a healthy and yummy component. The rest of my meal was a seaweed salad and chunky chicken salad (from the prepared foods bar). Filling, and a perfect reward after a Yin Yang yoga class taught by Tanya B herself. Wait, you’re not supposed to reward yourself with food? Oops.

*This sushi reminded me of my “fushi” – nearly raw, riceless sushi.

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Some words on new year’s resolutions.

One resolution that I think everyone should have, not just at the start of the year, but always, is to take care of yourself. This could mean going to the dentist even though you really hate it, or giving yourself that 15 minute break in the afternoon even if you’re busy at work.

I’ve been struggling with my resolution to quit diet soda – I did not realize what a hard habit it would be to break. I have been following through on reading more.

A new resolution for the rest of January and beyond – more flossing! (At least once a day.)

I have many questions for you today:

  1. Do you do crosswords?
  2. Do you like to read (and if so what are you reading)?
  3. When was the last time you went to the dentist?
  4. Do you drink diet soda?
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Hawaiian Whole Foods (Honeymoon)

I never did a honeymoon recap (and I don’t know if I will; it would be a long post) but I did want to share a few things. We left Philadelphia early early early 2 days after the wedding (wedding was a Saturday; this was a Monday).

We got off the plane exhausted at the airport in Maui, and the rental car attendant kindly informed us that there was a Whole Foods just a few miles away where we could grab lunch.

We got to see some overpriced carrots (Maui has to import just about everything, so things are expensive – this is an issue for another post though! Going local is so important).

Sampled ceviche and some berry drink.

And finally got food.

We ate outside under some nice umbrella’d picnic tables.

And then we were on our way! Great first honeymoon meal.

And I’m back to work… Don’t forget about the stevia giveaway! You have just over 2 days left to enter. (And there are only 2 days until my birthday!)

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Brunch at Sacred Chow (Again)

This morning I met up with 2 of my fellow New York bloggers – Marina and Missy. We get together for brunch every once in a while and we like to go to yummy vegetarian/vegan places. Today we headed down to Sacred Chow (I’ve been there with Bobby and my brother – sacred chow salad number 1, sacred chow salad number 2!).

Instead of salad I opted for a brunch special – I got the tofu scramble with fruit (instead of home fries) and salad with lemon-miso dressing (I think) ($13.75). Poor Marina ordered a glass of orange juice that came out to be $8 – ridiculous! The scramble was delicious though. I almost finished it (and of course finished the fruit and salad) and brought a few bites home for Bobby (he just ate it with toast). We actually all got the scramble. Last time we got together we all ordered the same thing too.

On my way home from brunch I picked up a decaf coffee at Whole Foods – no matter how much coffee I try, Whole Foods’ coffee is always my favorite. I like it with soy milk (just a splash) and Z-Sweet (a natural zero-calorie sweetener).

(Source.)

The coffee was hot, and it is *hot* again today (90s), so I poured it over ice when I got home and enjoyed a cooling fresh iced coffee.

Exercise of the day: the first part of Crunch: Burn & Firm Pilates (the cardio segment; ~35 minutes). The instructor is Ellen Barrett (again! yes she is my favorite!). This workout is a short warmup (<5 minutes), cardio (~30 minutes), and mat work (~10 minutes; I didn’t do this part). The cardio is with weights but I didn’t use weights (I don’t have them) and it was still a sweaty workout. This is yet another free Netflix exercise video. I also walked about 20 blocks or so (1 mile) to get to brunch from Union Square. Yesterday’s EotD was Ellen Barrett’s Self: Slim & Sleek, Fast! (again).

What do you do for exercise on the weekends? Do you stick to the same things you do during the week or do you play it by ear? I tend to do more walking on the weekends so I don’t always do a video/podcast.

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New Jersey: Trail Making & Wedding Planning

I mentioned on Sunday that we had adventures in New Jersey over the weekend. I happened to wake up around 7:45 on Saturday morning and I caught up with my dad before he left to go work on a nature trail by my parents’ house. He had to be there by 8:30 so I quickly convinced Bobby to get out of bed and come with us (this took a ton of some effort) and we arrived almost on time.

We worked on the Rockhopper Trail (so named because of the many rocks by and on the trail) all morning. Here are some pictures that the organizer, a very nice guy named Alan, took.

That last picture features Morel Mushrooms that one of the volunteers (Ben) found.

We split up into groups for the trail work. I worked on clearing out some invasive Multiflora Rose (an evil plant that scratched my legs), Bobby got to work on a drainage ditch, and my dad made some really impressive stone steps on a few parts of the trail. We even met another Cornellian – Bobby worked with him on the drainage project and they got to reminisce together.

After the trail work we went with my mom and sister to Whole Foods… for wedding planning. Yes, I think I am going to have Whole Foods cater my wedding. I want something seasonal, reasonable, and Maggie-approved – and Whole Foods fits the bill. I may keep some of my planning secret from now on though. I know that a lot of people that are coming read the blog and I don’t want to spoil the surprise of the big day.

I’m off to watch some Bones – my new Netflix streaming addiction. It’s yet another one of those formulaic crime dramas that I love so much.

What do you do after work during the week?

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Getting Fit with Tabata and Crossfit

On Tuesday night my new friend (Jill) and I went to Whole Foods for a free class – “Get Fit with Catra“. Catra is a rockstar ultramarathoner, so we were a little nervous. It ended up being really fun. Catra does this thing called Crossfit (Natalie is doing this now too) and it seems pretty intense, but fun. I had no idea that Whole Foods had such great free programs – we were sent home with a book and a bunch of free samples, including the new Amazing Grass Peanut Butter bar – yum.

Back to the class. Catra started out with a short intro, and then we jumped right in to the exercise. We stretched first, and then she had us do lunges using the Tabata method. The Tabata method is apparently one of the most effective way to improve your cardio endurance and burn fat (though… I actually want more fat. But it’s fun nonetheless, and I am never one to turn down the opportunity to try new exercise). The great thing about Tabata is that you can do it in short intervals (3-7 minutes) and it’s still really beneficial.

Tabata lunges: 20 seconds lunging as hard/fast as you can; 10 seconds resting. Repeat 8 times (4 minutes). I managed to do 11-12 lunges during each 20 second set.

Okay, my legs actually felt pretty fine after this. Were they fine the day after? Heck no. My legs were sore yesterday (Wednesday), but they didn’t reach maximum soreness until today (Thursday). Apparently my quads are not as strong as I thought. After the lunges we did…

Tabata pushups: 20 seconds pushups; 10 seconds resting. My arms are strong but since I’m trying not to gain muscle (long story), I took it easy for these. I did them on my knees and every time I started feeling it I pushed back into down dog.

Were my arms sore the next day? Not noticeably – probably because I didn’t push myself here.

Catra said this week was an easy week since we couldn’t go outside (it was raining) and it was the first week of the class (8 weeks total). The class will end with a 5K. I have never run a race before. The longest distance I ever ran was about 5 miles, I think.

Have you done the Tabata method or Crossfit? What did you think?