April Fun

It’s April 2nd, I know I am a day late with my monthly resolution review. There seemed to be something wrong about an April Fools’ post and my day was a little busy for reflection. I am reading a great book called The Happiness Project and loved learning that the author, Gretchen Rubin, also suggests a monthly personal progress report. I am really enjoying these monthly check-ups, even last month when I had to fess up to a lackluster February . As I had hoped, March was a motivated month.

I don’t know if it was the end of a long ski season or the change in weather or the fact that I had a bunch of fun events on the calendar but I felt a noticeable change in myself. The funny thing is that I hadn't realized how much I was going through the eating and exercise motions until I switched gears. In terms of my resolutions there was progress. In addition to the Chicago marathon in October, I have a May half marathon scheduled. I've started to run every other day and made the leap from my 30 minute “better than nothing” treadmill runs to 1 hour runs in Central or Riverside Park. Yesterday I purchased a Garmin running watch with GPS built in and new sneakers further cementing my running commitment. What’s really nice is that I am enjoying the challenge rather than feeling burdened.

I actually had another fitness breakthrough of sorts. Last month I told you that I was trapped in my yoga membership and was attending a class but not fully convinced I had yogi potential. Shortly after, I was put on the spot by the yoga teacher in class. He asked “how often do you practice?” I answered truthfully and asked “how often should I practice?” He said it depends, “3 times a week is a good start or you can be like Tatiana and attend 13 classes a week.” Let’s be clear, I will never be like Tatiana (human pretzel in front row of class) but 3 times sounded like a possibility. I got over thinking “what am I doing here, this is soooo not for me” and started trying a little harder. I am a little less worried about being inept. I am looking forward to class; I even did my first bind.

There’s something about my reading resolution I’d also like to share. I had included “read more for pleasure” on my January list. I have joined a book club and loved our first book. The second book wasn’t really up my alley. We have a meeting in 2 weeks to discuss this book. I was dreading finishing the book and decided to read The Happiness Project instead. Funny enough, in the Happiness Project Gretchen Robin discusses reading. She suggested not forcing yourself to finish a book you aren’t enjoying. I am tempted to take this advice but still feel like a bit of a quitter. I like the concept of conscious quitting though. After all, it takes a lot to decide something is not for you….but if I had done this with yoga I would never have started to enjoy it. This will provide food for thought in April for sure.
Was March a motivated month for you? Do you remember and review your resolution(s)? Do you finish books you don’t love? Do you condone conscious quitting?

Travel Treat

We were in Toronto this past weekend. It was a trip planned around hockey (hockey game, hockey hall of fame, purchasing hockey schwag) for my son Myles’ birthday. Even though I was the sole woman on essentially a boys’ trip and the Ontario Science Center isn’t on my bucket list, it’s always nice to be away. I realized one of my favorite things about being away and my young boys realized it too. One of my treasured travel treats is room service. It isn’t so much that the food delivered is outrageously delicious, though I did have an amazing tandoori chicken salad the first night when we arrived late, after all we have some of the most amazing restaurants here in NYC. No, there’s something else that makes room service special.


I snapped the photo above while my family was still sleeping. I wasn’t sleeping because I knew at 8am the doorbell would ring. Sure enough it did ring at 8:01! and in rolled the little room service table/tray. This one had a heat drawer underneath keeping Myles’ French toast…well toasty. My room service breakfast wasn’t necessarily anything I wouldn’t have at home. I had 2 hardboiled eggs (omega 3 eggs no less), mixed berries and coffee. What I don’t have at home is my coffee in a shiny stainless steel carafe with accompanying adorable milk (well cream) pitcher, my eggs in ceramic egg cups and my berries in a little ramekin with a mint sprig. I don’t serve French toast with sprinkled confectioners’ sugar; I don’t make rainbow yogurt parfaits or use my pretty china. I don’t but I could and you could too, right?

Chefs know the importance of presentation and plating when it comes to the overall dining experience. Thanks to the Food Network even home cooks can present a dinner plate with verticality and garnish. For some reason though, we do not tend to pay attention to presentation for breakfast or snacks or when we were whipping something together for ourselves and nobody else. Interested in this room service effect, I have been experimenting. I brought lemon and lime slices to the office and a glass instead of my reusable water bottle. I used my silver and white wedding china for my green tea and sliced my apple, fanned it out, sprinkled it with cinnamon and added a dollop of almond butter for my afternoon snack. None of this was time consuming and yet it felt different. It felt special and I found myself eating in a more relaxed manner. Having taken the time to prepare my food, I was taking more time to enjoy my food. I am enjoying room service right here at home.

Are you a room service fan? Any tricks you have to make food more special? Do you think presentation of food influences your eating speed or enjoyment?

In Session: Tradition

I have to admit, I am not a very religious person. My dad grew up Jewish in Italy and we somehow celebrate Christmas Eve. My mother is the most secular Jew around. I married someone even less religious and he brought a Swedish mother in law and a Jewish father to the diluted religious mix. When we met with a rabbi before our wedding, Marc said and I quote “if religion is like hot sauce with variations of spiciness, I am very, very mild.” Regardless of our lack of temple or church going we still have traditions, food associations with holidays and our grandmother’s recipes. I think most people do.

Last week, I was in a session with a client discussing Passover. For most holidays, I work with clients on creating a game plan for their holiday meals. Passover is especially tricky as matzoh and potatoes are not exactly superfoods. This particular client has older children so their Seder will be small. He and his wife were hosting and therefore in control of the menu. My client, we’ll call him T*, mentioned that in addition to brisket he was considering serving fish as an entrée. T rattled off the other menu items: matzoh ball soup, kugel and matzoh stuffing. I made some suggestions, first I offered up the idea that some sort of a salad or vegetable should possibly be added and second I said “since you have matzoh and matzoh balls, maybe the matzoh stuffing isn’t necessary.” T replied “the matzoh stuffing is my mother’s recipe, it’s a tradition.”

Many of our traditional foods have a great deal to do with what our grandparents and their grandparents had to work with. If you have Eastern European lineage many recipes are high in fat, calories, carbs and cholesterol. Part of this has to do with what was available and part of this has to do with not knowing better. I think there are two schools of thought regarding holidays and nutrition. Some people fall into the “I eat well most days of the year; on holidays I throw caution to the wind.” Others embrace the symbolism of the holiday but try to adapt their holiday meals to their eating habits. I fall somewhere in between. I think traditions and food traditions are very important particularly for children. I like regular, simple stuffing on Thanksgiving and Papa’s Christmas cookies on Christmas Eve (I’m actually not such a cookie person but like the ritual of making and having these cookies around). I don’t however think my grandmother would object to skimming the fat off of the soup or adding a green to her kugel. If Passover celebrates emancipation, can we not emancipate ourselves from egg, potato and matzoh rule and let some other ingredients in? After all, we no longer need extra fat to survive.

I think another issue with traditional recipes is “I'm afraid to change the recipe; it may not come out right!" I completely understand this one. If the whole family likes dense, doughy matzoh balls how will a light and fluffy recipe work? And to this I say, make small changes as these are often undetectable. And you may not want to make an altered version of a recipe the day of the Seder. Another client was working with a healthier macaroon recipe and planned a dry run a few days prior. Or keep one dish, such as the matzoh stuffing in T’s meal, and add in some healthier options around it.

If you think about it, Passover has the potential to be a diet-friendly holiday. For the carb-phobic or gluten intolerant it is a time to abstain from bread (leavened wheat) and also barley, spelt, rye, and oats. In addition, Ashkenazic Jews do not eat rice, millet, corn, or legumes, and there is a concern about eating any type of food that swells when cooked. The more religious turn their houses over keeping only kosher for Passover food. I had to look this up but this symbolizes removing the “chametz.” On one hand chametz refers to non-kosher for Passover foods. On the other hand it refers to removing wrong actions or unhealthy thoughts in order to begin spring with a clean slate. Hmn, now we’re talking.

On Passover part of the Seder is asking of The Four Questions, I have my own 4 questions:
1. Where do you fall on the tradition spectrum, do you feel family recipes should be adapted or adhered to?
2. What are your favorite traditional or family recipes?
3. Do you feel it’s sacrilegious to tweak a recipe?
4. And finally, why are there so many spellings for matzoh (matza, matza)?
Please comment, or I’ll have to ask Elijah.

*Although I use examples from client sessions, client’s privacy protected.

Foodtrainers' Find

Yesterday was a great day. I finished in the office a little early because I had 2 fun activities planned. At 4:00, I picked my boys up and went to my friend Micheline’s apartment. Four moms gathered, each with our 2 children for an Easter Egg Hunt which was to be outside if not for the rain. The moms munched on crudite and sushi and drank white wine with peach slices (yum) and the kids did arts and crafts and searched for Easter eggs. These are not friends I see every day but we’re all good planners and get together every couple of months at a museum or one of our apartments, with the kids, to catch up. And we catch up and laugh and tell stories; I always look forward to these “play dates”.


I had to leave a little early to get to the second activity. My friend Aidan  was hosting something she called Happier Hour. Happier Hour was aptly named as the guest of honor was Gretchen Rubin the author of the Happiness Project. Gretchen spoke a bit about the book and her blog and made me think about happiness and of course it’s intersection with food and fitness (all of which I will discuss in a later post). I mingled a little and then left with my friend Wendy. I arrived home feeling good and inspired and hungry!

I have an assortment of Food Should Taste Good Chips in my pantry. I have written about these chips before in both Ski Lessons and A Day in the Life of Lauren. I have sampled many of their great flavors and love both the jalapeno and the chocolate (sounds strange but very good). I had never had the Lime. I opened the bag not really expecting anything vastly different than the other varieties. I was so wrong. However elusive and hard to define happiness is, I swear I found it in these chips. There was something about this flavor (and I’m sure the 2+ glasses of wine didn’t hurt) that was interesting and refreshing and so incredibly delicious. I counted out 12 (one serving) and sat down to enjoy them.

In case you’re not familiar with these chips. They are gluten free, lactose free, Kosher and have a good amount of fiber. A serving is 140 calories and was the perfect ending to my day.

Any foods or snacks that make you happy? Do you think food can make you happy? Is this a good thing?

Dude Food

My boys’ birthday party was winding down this past Friday when my friend’s husband pulled me aside. “You have to talk to S*” he said. “Is everything OK” I asked. “Not really, you need to talk to her about  all this healthy cooking I just need some dude food.” I promised friend’s husband that his wife and I would brainstorm some ideas. Bear in mind my friend S will not even consider moving to the UWS, despite her children attending school here, because her beloved yoga studio is on the East side. She is definitely nutrition-obsessed, which I mean only in the best way, and I’m sure she loves the meals she’s cooking and thinks they’re good for her husband.

Then yesterday, as I was going to bed, I noticed a collection of sorts near my husbands’ night stand. In this collection was his foam roller, those perfect push-up thingamajigs, a pair of dumbbells and an exercise band. I mentioned to husband that these things didn’t belong in our Zen-like bedroom (and also added that they were smelly and ugly and that the housekeeper had just come) to which, as he always does, he said “is it really such a big deal?” Though in retrospect it is not a big deal, the fact that he is regularly using those things as I frantically race to get the kids out of the house or try to sleep is cause for a little tension.

On one hand, eating well and exercising are things we all want our spouses to do. After all, if you love someone, don't you want them to be healthy? Few would argue with that and yet most couples have issues over each others’ pursuit of fitness. I hear it from clients all the time. “I would lose more weight if only my wife would cook a little.” Or, “my husband gives me a hard time if I don’t share a bottle of wine with him.” There are a few different variables at work here. One theme I see is that both men and women resent a sudden change. If your wife was always willing to share dessert and suddenly stops this can be cause for conflict. Problems can also arise when one person’s healthy habits result in increased responsibility for the other. If, for example, your husband is the one to get the kids up in the morning and then starts going to the gym at 7am- find me a wife that’s going to be totally ok with this. I think we want our partners to feel good as long as their regime or routine doesn’t affect us!
Have you ever argued with your significant other over eating or exercise? Do they have healthy habits that irritate you or vice versa?

*Not 100% sure my friend wants to be outed even though we’re only outing her as a healthy cook and yogi.
And for S’s husband, Rocco Dispririto has a great cookbook out called Now Eat This! where he tweaks comfort food favorites from jalapeno poppers to sloppy joes giving them a healthy twist.

A Day in the Life of Lauren

I am not very good at receiving compliments. Without fail, if somebody says “I like your shirt” I say “oh this? It’s old.” I once had a friend who gave me a good lesson, she said “how about just saying thank you?” Of course she was right and for about a week I implemented her suggestion. The truth is that I love compliments, when they are genuine, don’t we all? Last week I received this at the end of an email complimenting my blog (which for me trumps any physical compliment):

Anyway, I have a suggestion (because I don't think you have done it already). I have ALWAYS thought that you look great, have a great figure and flawless skin. Is there a reason why you don't get specific about what you eat?
What's a day in the life of Lauren? I could really use a jump start this March!

My reply to this was, true to form “does anyone really want to hear what I eat?” However, because this email was so sweet, I pledged to write about my food. Here it goes.

The alarm goes off at 5:45am. I love the hour I usually have before anyone else gets up. I don’t eat or drink anything until 7ish, well actually 7 on the dot. I’ll make a pot of coffee with either Caffe Mocias  (#1 coffee in NYC in my book) or Le Pain Quotidien beans. This coffee gets a splash of Horizon half and half and a squirt of agave. I don’t eat a lot of dairy after taking it and wheat out of my diet last year. I had been waking up with my eyelids puffy and scaly (so much for the “flawless skin” mentioned above) and after lots of experimentation found that wheat and dairy were the 2 probable culprits. Argh, this is why I didn’t want to write about me. I am not anti wheat or dairy but don’t eat a lot of it.

Most days I take breakfast to the office. It tends to be liquid a lot of days. I love my Breville juicer and will make a green juice (kale, cucumber, celery, lemon, ginger, and apple) or a smoothie. My smoothies tend to be a little weird. On some days I use hemp protein as a base, other days avocado and I may add acai or frozen berries, I love basil or mint and lemon zest for flavor, it’s really a matter of what’s on hand. Hard boiled eggs are another breakfast favorite of mine and 1-2 days a week I’ll have 2 Country Hen hard boiled eggs. Calorie for calorie nothing keeps you more satisfied than eggs. In the wintertime I’ll eat brown rice or quinoa as a warm breakfast option.

My day can easily get away from me when I see morning clients until 1pm. I have learned the hard way that I need to stop and eat a real lunch. I have no issue whatsoever with leftovers. Today I had leftover tilapia and veggies. Another day this week it was leftover scallops and asparagus. Spring vegetables have me so pumped that I’ve cooked a lot this week. Otherwise I always have prewashed greens, avocados, Zoe tuna, Eden canned beans (the only BPA free canned goods) to throw together a quick salad.

From here I’ll do one of two things. My favorite days, for multiple reasons, are the days I am home when the boys have dinner at 530 or 6pm. When I an “early bird” dinner, I feel the best. A few days a week I see clients until after 7 so this plan doesn’t work. On those days I’ll have walnuts or pumpkin seeds around 3:30. We have a ton of delicious snacks for our clients so I also may grab a small bag of Food Should Taste Good chips, a Zing Bar or a Kookie Karma.

I try to cook as many days as I can. We eat a lot of fish, generally with a seasonal veggie. We also love soba noodles, sweet potatoes and squashes and can make a “one pot” meal with some combination of these. One night during the week we’ll order sushi, Thai or Indian and Saturday nights we are generally out to eat. After dinner I may have a couple squares of dark chocolate or medjool dates.

OK, I told you now tell me (briefly) what your day is like.

Green with Eating

See that beautiful drink posted above? It's called a Shamrock Shake and I deserve zero credit for it. I read about this shake in a fantastic blog post on affairsofliving.com. The shake has two of my favorite things in it avocado and mint, it's dairy free and delicious. Instead of posting the recipe I encourage you to read the post and enjoy the back story. Since I  am 0% Irish (though many other things)  and already shared one brilliant green recipe that wasn't mine, here are a few more:

These are kale chips. This recipe calls for Tuscan kale a variety that works well raw or cooked. These chips are a home run, a way to get non kale eaters to change their ways.

I love all Spring vegetables but artichokes and asparagus top my list. Artichokes are one of those foods I think some people are scared to cook. This baked artichoke recipe is incredibly easy.

And finally, because it is St Patricks day after all,  a green cocktail

You can replace vermouth with creme de menth in a martini or combine good tequila with melon liquer and lime juice. Avoid any drinks with sodas or juices but experiment and have fun.

What are your favorite green foods? Green Recipes?