Thailand / Spring Cleaning Detox

Three words: food, beer and food. Or maybe that’s two. Anyway, after a vacation in Thailand with two of my favorite people (Jodi and Mike), I decided that my body needed a rest.

I have done cleanses in the past, but this time I actually really enjoyed it. And Jodi joined me, so we cooked the meals together and shared the joys and pain of it all. It’s always nice to have a partner, whether it’s someone to work out with, go on a run with, or, to eat with. ☺ Having her on my side made it much easier to reach my goal: finishing the cleanse.

Why, you may ask, do I do these silly cleanses? The simple answer is: to give my body a rest from all the toxins (caffeine, alcohol, processed foods and hard to digest foods). Your digestive system, especially your liver (the body’s main detoxifier), works hard to rid your body of toxins, so every once in a while, it needs a little vacation, too! In preparation for your cleanse, try to eat fresh fruits and veggies, lean meats/cold water fish, grains, and fiber to prepare your body.

Some people experience headaches, nausea and fatigue with a detox-type diet, but I felt so energized this time…and I still feel good! My goal was accomplished!! I usually end my cleanse with somewhat unhealthy options, but after the three days, I continued eating detox-friendly foods (see after cleanse meal below)! Also, remember to give your body some exercise, but not TOO much - keep it simple with some yoga or low impact cardio just to get the body moving.

The last cleanse I did was a juice cleanse, but I wanted to eat some food so I went to back to my favorite, which was shown to me by my acupuncturist in NYC, Laura Kauffmann. If you go to her website, click on newsletter and then inner body cleanse – this will show you how to structure your cleanse, but I added and changed a couple things. She also has some great products (She Beauty) to use while cleansing; my favorite is the She Washing Grains - try them out!

During the cleanse, remember to: Eat plenty of veggies Drink lots of filtered water and herbal tea Steer clear of caffeine, alcohol, soda, red meat, sugar, flour, processed and refined foods, and anything artificial Move your body! Exfoliate daily Sweat it out in a sauna or steam room

Some people take part in the Master Cleanse, but drinking just lemon water, cayenne pepper and maple syrup doesn’t seem healthy to me, so I will probably never take part in that one. Because people swear by this cleanse, I decided to incorporate it into mine: for a pre-breakfast drink to wake up my system. You know what, that drink is really good, but after 10 (or even one day) days of just that? No, thank you.

Day 1 Pre-breakfast: Master Cleanse drink: 10oz of water with 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice, pinch of cayenne and 2 tablespoons of maple syrup (grade B) Breakfast: steel cut oats with soy milk, cinnamon and agave Snack: strawberries and pineapple chucks Lunch: rice with zucchini and broccoli, topped with soy sauce, garlic and fresh scallions and tofu Snack: herbal tea and more strawberries and pineapple Dinner: rice with zucchini and broccoli, topped with soy sauce, garlic and fresh scallions and tofu

Day 2 Pre-breakfast: Master Cleanse drink Breakfast: steel cut oats with soy milk, cinnamon and agave Snack: one orange Lunch: brown rice with asparagus, garlic and onion, topped with fresh scallions Snack: strawberries and pineapple chunks Dinner: quinoa with kale and onion and steamed turnip with garlic

Day 3 Pre-breakfast: Master Cleanse drink with psyllium husk (natural fiber powder) Breakfast: quinoa with soy milk, cinnamon and agave Snack: strawberries and pineapple chunks Lunch: brown rice with zucchini, garlic and onion with a small piece of salmon Snack: apple Dinner: quinoa with kale and onion and steamed turnip with garlic with a 3oz piece of salmon

Day 4 (no longer on the cleanse!) Breakfast: regular oatmeal with soy milk, cinnamon and agave and a cup of green tea Snack: green juice from Trader Joes (celery, spinach, parsley, cucumber, kale, and romaine) Lunch: brown rice with soy, salmon and avocado, with a fresh carrot juice Snack: prunes and pear sauce (like apple sauce) Dinner: sashimi, edamame and vegetable roll

The 20-Minute, Glute-Sculpting Treadmill Routine

I found this fantastic, butt-burner on fitnessmagazine.com and have since shared with two friends, who agree it's a calorie-burning success. In just 20 minutes, you can burn 150 calories while WALKING (crazy, right?). I usually don't opt for workouts that have walking, but for someone who isn't a runner, I thought I would try it out...and I like it! For the first 5 minutes you start out at a speed of 4 at a 3-3.5 incline; follow the chart below and adjust the incline to best fit your level. Beginners should start with a speed of 3 or 3.5 mph; advanced treadmill users can go up to 5.

Minutes	Speed (mph)	Incline (%)
0:00-5:00	4	3-3.5
5:00-7:00	4	8-10
7:00-8:00	4	4-6
8:00-10:00	4	10
10:00-11:00	4	5-7
11:00-13:00	4	12
13:00-14:00	4	10
14:00-15:00	4	12
15:00-20:00	4	2-4

Warm Chicken Salad with Dijon Dressing

If you don't have a go-to dinner salad, I highly suggest you bring this one into your rotation. My friend introduced me to this about three months ago, and it's just so dang delish! If you are cooking dinner for your significant other or friends, this salad is quick, easy and satisfying and always a hit. As per the name, the main ingredient here is chicken, but if you don't eat meat you can always substitute another protein, e.g., tofu, salmon or beans. Whichever protein you use or other ingredients you add, I promise, you will love it and really, the it's all about the dressing! Yummy.

Ingredients (4 servings) 1 1/2 pounds chicken breast tenders (make sure to purchase free range!) 2 T balsamic vinegar, enough to just coat the breast slices 3 T extra-virgin olive oil, or just eyeball it Sea salt and cracked black pepper, to taste 2 T 4 stems fresh rosemary, leaves stripped and finely chopped

Salad 2 bags fresh spinach or arugula leaves 8 white mushrooms, sliced to your liking 8 cherry tomatoes 4 scallions, thinly sliced on an angle 1 small avocado, sliced thinly 2 T goat cheese or other type of light cheese

Dressing 2/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil, eyeball the amount, plus 1 tablespoon 1 large shallot, minced 3 rounded spoonfuls Dijon mustard 3 T balsamic vinegar

Coat chicken with balsamic, oil, seasoning and rosemary and set aside.

Put greens in a large salad bowl. Top with mushrooms, tomatoes, and scallions. Season the salad with salt and pepper. Then lightly coat saucepan with one tablespoon olive oil and sauté your minced shallots on medium low for three minutes. Remove oil and shallots from heat.

In a small bowl, combine mustard and balsamic vinegar. Stream in 2/3 cup oil slowly while whisking the dressing to emulsify it. Add warm shallots to the dressing and mix together.

Go to your salad bowl and add avocado and goat cheese. Toss together with the dressing to coat the ingredients evenly.

Preheat a nonstick skillet over medium high heat. Cook chicken, four minutes on each side, in a single layer. Once cooked, slice breasts at an angle on your cutting board. Pile salad on to dinner plates. Top each salad with two sliced chicken tender pieces.

Bosu Squats

Bosu. What the heck is that? It’s that blue half-ball thingy that you see at the gym and don’t really know what its purpose is. Guess what? It’s got a lot going on! Today I’m going to discuss all the fun you can have using it to do squats. Bosu means Both Sides Up or Both Sides Utilized. Today, we’re talking about the round, bubble side, not the black, flat side with the handles (if you remember a while back, I talked about how to do a push-up on this side: click to see). Fun stuff!

For beginners, first try doing regular squats on the Bosu. Stand in front of a mirror so that you can get the positioning down, and if you’re up to it, grab yourself some light weights (5-10 for beginners). Squats by themselves are a great workout, so don’t be discouraged if you start out weightless or with 3-pounders – your legs will be sore either way. ☺

I was working out with my friend Jodi and was forced to use 17.5-pound weights, but if you’re balance-challenged or just starting out with the Bosu, go weightless and move up as you begin to feel more comfortable. (I would have been happy with some 10-pound weights, and my legs not shaking like an earthquake the whole time, but anyway.)

The Squat Step on the bubble side of the Bosu with feet shoulder width apart, toes slightly pointed outward. You can use wall/mirror to stable yourself or if you’re with a friend grab onto their arm. Contract your core to stabilize the body. While keeping your body weight centered on the Bosu, slowly lower your bottom to the Bosu by bending the knees just like a regular squat. Don’t let your knees go beyond your toes while squatting and push through your heels to isolate the glute. Without pausing, slowly exhale as you raise your body by straightening the legs – don’t spend more than 2 seconds at the top or bottom of your squat. Do this exercise with a fluid movement and try to keep the top of the Bosu stable, which will also work your core. Do three sets of 10-20 reps and move the weight and reps up as you master this move.

Muscles Worked

I usually do this routine with some lunges or step-ups (just step up and down on a bench, switching legs) and you’ve got yourself a nice little leg workout! Don’t mind the creepy photos below – I needed to find two that matched and this was the best Google could do for me. ☺

Healthy Chocolate Pudding

Not only is this pudding healthy and delicious, it takes less than 10 minutes to make! I know the main ingredient sounds a bit odd, but after reading reviews on different blogs of children who love this recipe, I knew I had to give it a go.

Ingredients 1 medium-sized, ripe avocado (pitted and peeled) 3 heaping T of raw cocoa powder (use normal cocoa powder if can't find raw) 1/3 cup agave nectar 1/2 t sea salt 2 t alcohol-free vanilla extract (I found this at Trader Joe's) 1/2 t cinnamon 1/2 cup water (I probably used about a cup, but blend it first before adding more) Berries (blueberries and strawberries are my favorites!)

Put all of the ingredients into a blender until the pudding is really creamy. Use a spatula to get the little avocado pieces mixed in and add water as needed. Once the pudding has reached the desired creaminess, put some berries on top, and it's ready to eat! I put my pudding in four serving dishes and froze it (about 4 hours) for a gelato-like consistency. Then I added blueberries, cocoa powder and coconut! It was a huge hit!

Travel Fitness: Hong Kong & Malaysia

The two most difficult times to stay in shape (for me) are traveling and holidays. Do you agree? I just got back from a two-week trip to Hong Kong and Malaysia and man, it’s really hard to maintain a routine while exploring new horizons!

Many hotels have an in-house gym, but when you’re in another country, do you really want to spend an hour indoors, confined to a treadmill? Usually the answer is no. Now, for me, I was lucky enough to stay with my friend’s family, which meant early mornings of eating, followed by long days of sightseeing and more EATING (and no gym included). I couldn’t turn down the delicious food and I also couldn’t skip off to the gym.

Lucky for me, Asia is filled with a lot of stairs and hills, which make for a nice fitness playground. Have you ever seen an amusement park in America with huge hills, escalators and stairs…on top of mountain? Well, Hong Kong is filled with settings of this nature, so I couldn’t get away from a little bit of exercise each day (translation: eat more wonderful food!). I've found that the easiest and most effective travel exercises are lunges, walking and push-ups. Also, abs, but with hardwood floors, this wasn’t attainable for me on this trip.

Stair Lunges For a great workout to strengthen your quads, glutes and hamstrings, try using stairs outdoors (or indoors, if your hotel has more than four floors)! I found a great hill near the apartment complex I stayed at and started with three stairs at a time for around 75 stairs. Remember, walking lunges, in addition to the incline, are more difficult and require more stability than a typical lunge. Perfect!

Execution Start at the bottom. Take a step up with your right foot to your destination stair (start with two stairs). Then complete the lunge. While keeping your balance (tighten your core!), take your left foot and go up another two stairs to complete the left side. Keep switching off until you reach the top! You can do this on the subway stairs, hotel stairs, bleachers, or really anywhere that has a long flight of stairs. And always remember to refuel with water, especially in hot and humid climates. Once you master two stairs, try for three (three is the max for me, given my height!) Remember! Maintain good posture throughout movement Contract back glute during stretch Do not let front knee slide past foot Do not let back foot touch the ground as you step into next lunge Keep chest up as you step

When you incorporate a quick and effective workout into your sightseeing, you can be unexpectedly sore. Even though I was walking around 3-7 miles per day,  I was definitely sore from my lunges - I consulted my fellow traveler and her buns weren’t sore, so yay for stair lunges!  I also did around 20 push-ups every two or three days and upon my return to the States, I didn’t feel as though I skimped out on my workouts! Try incorporating a workout into your next travels and let me know your stories!