My Top Five Healthy Favorites for Spring

Well, here we are again. It’s spring and we basically skipped winter. Although I’m feeling a little jipped that we didn’t have a blowout, hunker-down snow storm this year and we only got a few days of skiing in, I’ve finally accepted that spring is here. 

The season is young and I’m feverishly trying to get in shape for an excellent mountain biking season. With all of this extra sunlight and warm weather, however, I’ve found some new springtime favorites.

1. Bon Appetit’s parsley, kale and berry smoothie

This is the perfect way to eat your greens without tasting them. Parsley is a natural anti-inflammatory and can help improve all sorts of ailments.

2. CXWORX core workout

This is a new 30-minute core training class from Les Mills. This class is super-intense and will have you ready for a bathing suit in no time. I’m loving the 30 minute format too. I catch my classes at Lynne Brick’s Belvedere.

3. Neti pot 

Hello, allergies. They’re here if you haven’t noticed. To prevent those pesky morning sinus headaches, I use my neti pot every night with 1/4 tsp salt and 1/4 tsp baking soda (this prevents the salt from burning). I know it’s gross, but it works.

4. Goldfish crouton salad

This one is really for the kids, but I like them too. I am one of those moms that doesn’t usually buy the “real” version of certain snack foods to avoid some of those pesky, unhealthy ingredients. After much negotiating from my kids I broke down and bought “real” goldfish, not the bunnies masquerading as goldfish, because I realized they weren’t that bad.

Put the goldfish on top of a salad with ranch dressing and you might be surprised how many salads your kids eat.

5. The perfect water bottle

I have found the Holy Grail of water bottles. This bottle is glass, which is the absolute safest material for preventing unnecessary leaching into your drink. You can use it for hot and cold beverages and it's dishwasher safe. Just don't break it; it's not cheap!

Happy spring.

Simple Inspirations

Finding and appreciating those moments in time that make you stop in your tracks are so rare these days. Sadly, those bits are all around us, but sometimes they have a hard time shining through all of the social noise and static in our daily routines. The realization that “the swing set is gone” has done that for me.

As I sit with a cup of coffee and a book while my daughters explore their new sense of freedom trolling around the mall, simple moments of joy surround me. Watching my two younger daughters walk off together hand-in-hand, giddy at the prospect of an hour together alone. The genuine smile of an old friend when she sees me for the first time in several months. A simple lol text from my husband. The draw of a book to make me sit down.

Of course, I’m tired and stressed. Aren’t we all? My newest rescue kitty (kitty no.5, which puts us on the edge of hoarders) is in heat. I think I know why she was in the middle of a busy road. When I reached into my nightstand drawer in the middle of the night to get an extra ear plug, my husband said, “are you getting the gun?” Wailing aside, I find pure joy from my cats. Animals have an astoundingly pure way of expressing true love that can’t be replicated.

Despite the stress of my looming list…

taxes, grow business, get hair colored, exercise more, fold laundry, eat better, smile more, stretch, ride my mountain bike, create some art, eat less Altoids (at least I have found some creative uses for the tins)…

people have been scratching through the noise and inspiring me lately.

My sister in law has a new appreciation for life after a visit to the nebulous cancer world. I enjoy getting her spontaneous phone calls saying she’s coming to visit and will be in Baltimore in 8 hours. She helps me look at life in a new way and doesn’t even know it.

Even though I don’t live in NYC, I’m fortunate enough to be connected with a friend from the past who lives and works there. Stephanie Culen is a yoga and mentoring guru who inspires me from afar. She bleeds positivity and living in the moment, which is not easy to do on a daily basis.

What simple ways are you inspired?