Foodtrainers Five Favorite Finds

This past Saturday I ran the Brooklyn Half Marathon. I could tell you that it was the first nice day we’ve had in NYC in what felt like weeks. I could tell you about spotting Marc a few times during the run and the fun finish on the Coney Island boardwalk near the beach. It was a memorable day but I’m not dwelling on the scenery or the soreness (now gone). Instead, I’ve been thinking more about the delicious breakfast I had a 5am Saturday morning and that’s what I want to tell you about. I’ll throw in 4 other “fantastic finds.”

The morning of the race, after pouring a cup of Le Pain Quotidien coffee, I prepared a bowl of fruit. I had blackberries, blueberries and strawberries and cut in some banana as well. I sprinkled granola over the fruit. This was not just any granola this was Purely Elizabeth’s “ancient grain” gluten free granola. This granola is outstanding. It’s made with gluten free oats, chia seeds, coconut oil and other carefully chosen ingredients. I had the original but there’s cranberry pecan and pumpkin fig.  My only concern is that this granola is too good, measure out the 1/3-cup serving and put it away. Purely Elizabeth will send one of our readers a 3-pack sampler of their 3 granola flavors. Be sure to comment to be in the running.

As we left the apartment Saturday, I filled a water bottle with my new favorite pre-race drink. It’s made by a company called Vega that was started by a vegan triathlete. These are not your run of the mill sports nutrition products.  I use the lemon-lime Sport Performance Optimizer. It comes in single serve envelopes if you want to try it out. It has ginger and turmeric, yerba mate and kombucha. It’s 70 calories per serving and I’ve never had a bad run after drinking it. One note, no dyes are used and it will appear you are drinking sludge. It’s good sludge I promise. 

Over the winter, I tweeted about not wanting to show my “post pregnancy abs” when I inverted in yoga. I received a number of responses. Some people commiserated with me. Others asked when I had my baby (7 years ago, not recently) and then there was one reply offering up a solution (a non-surgical solution ha). The owner of Nuttzo nut butters said, “you have to try Yummie Tummie it will change your life.”  Yummie Tummie was kind enough to send me their appropriately named Skinny Tank.  This tank did in fact make my tummy look yummy (or flat). The problem? My tummy was initially a little too “yummy” for the XS I received.  While temporarily scarred that I wasn’t skinny enough for my "Skinny Tank",  I sized up and it was great. Order a size larger and save a therapy session.

My next “find” is something I should have used more during ski season this year. I am not someone who weighs or measures every morsel of food I eat nor do suggest my clients do so.  We all need check-ups from time to time. When that handful of almonds becomes two or you’re bowl of cereal (or Purely Elizabeth granola) is growing- I found the perfect gadget. It’s the EatSmart Nutrition Pro Scale. It doesn’t do much for me to know I am eating 30 grams of nuts (servings in grams are a whole other topic/pet peeve). With this scale, you plug in the code for almonds and the calories (145 the first time I tried) are displayed. There are over 1,000 foods in their database. We had my brother in law and his girlfriend over, not for the purpose of testing the scale I promise, and had fun with this contraption. Small glass of wine? 62 calories. Apple from fruit bowl 75 calories.  This is an incredibly useful weight loss tool. I have it permanently on my counter and use it for cooking but much more often for fun.

EatSmart is offering a 20% discount to Foodtrainers’ blog readers who us the code FOODTR20 when ordering on their website.  You can also follow EatSmart on Twitter @Eatsmartscales,

For my fifth find, I have to tell you about my current favorite snack. They’re from a company called Kaia foods. Although I refer to myself as a nutritionist, I could be more aptly called a professional food tester. We try a lot of products or order to find some keepers. Kaia’s sweet curry sunflower seeds are a keeper. Kaia makes kale chips and sunflower seeds in a number of delicious flavors. You can purchase all their products on the kaia website and amazon. You can also find them at Whole Foods Markets. Kaia’s philosophy is also noteworthy “kaia foods was founded with the belief that our health is best supported by eating an abundance of minimally processed whole foods. We sprout, mix and dehydrate our organic foods at low temperatures so that they remain 'raw.' No baking, frying, bleaching, or weird processing steps!” I’m not religious but I’m feeling an “amen”.

Which of these “finds” would you want to try? What are your new favorite foods or gadgets? Isn’t it nice that some great companies avoid “weird processing steps”? 

No Issues Naked or Exposure-phobe?

You know those naked people in the locker room at the gym? I am not one of those. Nor am I the girl running down the beach totally at ease in her bikini. I may have the bikini on but I’ll have my cover-up du jour on for more of the time. When we were in France last summer I was amazed at the women young and my mother’s age, thin and no so thin totally at ease with their physiques and teeny swim suits. I tried to act like I was like that, while we were there, but who am I kidding?

I notice this modesty at yoga. I’ve now been doing yoga for a year and declared 2011 the year of the inversion. This year my body will do upside down. Truth be told, I can do a headstand and even a handstand (at home). What’s holding me back from unveiling my poses in class? It’s the fear of my shirt going upside down with me. I am a thin person, this I know. I wear a small size and work out a bunch. I also know that I don’t love the idea of my “I’ve had 2 kids” abs being on display for all of Pure Yoga to see, upside-down no less.

I tweeted about this to my favorite workout-clothing maker Lululemon. I asked, “is there a way of inverting without exposing?” Lululemon, always responsive, suggested their Power Y, Get Focused or Pure Focus tops. While I’m liking the band at the bottom of the Pure Focus, it’s a little too loose looking, even for an exposure-phobe like me. The owner of Nuttzo (amazingly addictive nut butters) suggested I try Yummie Tummie. Yummie Tummie chimed in and thought I’d like their Skinny Tank. Although the photo looks a little sexy for yoga, they promise it’ll do the drink.  I am not usually a fan of “shape wear”. I feel it sucks you in and I end up with a tummy ache from the sucking (not so yummy). We’ll see, I’m willing to test drive these and most likely will.

In yoga this week something happened that may do more for me than any new shirt. We were in class and the teacher led us though a sequence of poses where some people go into headstand and others hang out with their hands and feet on the ground. In this pose I don’t know the name of you are peering through your legs behind you. As the show-offs  people worked their way into headstand, something happened. I looked those in headstand. One of these head standers was a girl I’ve been in class with many times. She’s fit and friendly and can pretty much twist her body into any shape imaginable (hate her, sorry that’s not yogi).  Anyway, I looked over and her top (neither “yummie” nor “focused”) went over along with her. And you know what? Hanging over her yoga pants was a little extra. Love handles or “hatha” handles call them what you will. It somehow made me feel better like cellulite on supermodels. My reaction wasn’t critical but more of a feeling that we all have something.  You’ll never find me at a nudist colony or applying make-up sans clothes but before the end of the year I’ll be going upside down in yoga.

Are you the naked girl in the locker room or an exposure-phobe? Any inversion tips or clothing suggestions? Is there hope I can be a 65-year-old woman prancing down the beach? Do I have to wait that long?