February 2012 - My Healthy, Happier Life

There is nothing like opening a fun package, regardless the hour!

This morning before I headed over to Equinox for my personal training session, I opened my fun surprise from Amazon! After reading Tina’s post about her new Cross Fit shoes, I discussed a shoe change with Lauren, my trainer. She has been stressing to me that my Brooks running shoes are for running, not the gym. The running shoe’s cushion makes for an unstable base which is risky when I’m doing compound movements with heavy weights. She promised that my investment would be worth it. In fact, she suggested a few different styles and said that I shouldn’t need to spend more than $49-$79, if I watched Amazon and found a style on sale.

I didn’t care about color since these are just going to be gym kicks and therefore jumped on these beauties when I saw them on sale last week for $59!

They are the exact same style Tina has been sporting at Cross Fit, just in a different color. These New Balance WT20’s, part of New Balance’s Minimus collection, are actually a lightweight trail running shoe which features a Vibram minimus sole and tight fitting upper. This combination allows me to have better balance when doing jumping movements and a strong base when doing work with heavy weights, making me feel more stable and secure when I push myself.

While I haven’t actually run in them yet, and may never, I am in love with these after just one training session! Here’s some of the footage my trainer captured of me doing today’s last workout, a combination modified burpee with reverse pullup/hang.

Do you wear running shoes to the gym?

As a side note, I’m working on my one year reflection on personal training and would love to incorporate answers to any questions you all may have. Therefore, leave any questions in the comment section today!

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This evening Melissa and I had the chance to spend time with the folks of Safest Choice Eggs and the baker behind The Cake Bible, Rose Levy Beranbaum.

The event, held at The Culinary Loft, brought together fifteen local bloggers and editors for a back to basics baking class. Rose, who is an acclaimed baker, was kind enough to take us through her favorite cake recipe while also tag teaming the many benefits of Safest Choice Eggs with their marketing director.

If you look at any of my childhood pictures, you can guess that I grew up a “bowl licker.” My favorite part of the cooking process was licking the spatula at the end or enjoying raw cookie dough. I was one of the lucky ones to never suffer from a stomach ache. But, as Rose pointed out, many of the most delicious recipes, ranging from butter cream to custard, come with a risk due to undercooked or raw eggs. While I still rarely think twice about licking the raw batter, for some high risk people such as expectant mothers, young children, or people with weak immune systems, an indulgence like this is never possible.

However, Safest Choice Pasteurized Eggs eliminate this risk due to their pasteurization process.

They shared a lot of facts with us about the benefits of Safest Choice Eggs.

· Safest Choice Eggs are pasteurized using a patented technology that has a precise time and temperature water bath to remove the risk of Salmonella in shell eggs.

· Safest Choice Eggs are available in grade AA large, all-natural and cage free varieties.

· Safest Choice Eggs have double the shelf life of traditional eggs.

· All Safest Choice Eggs are sourced from USDA certified and inspected farms.

· The eggs are from vegetarian-fed hens, and are hormone and antibiotic free.

After learning about the eggs, it was back to Rose and her amazing baking skills. As she took us through her favorite cake and butter cream recipe, she provided some great tips and tricks that any baker can appreciate, regardless the level.

Rose’s Tips

Break or crack your eggs on the counter for a cleaner break
Rumford Baking Powder is her favorite brand due to the use of calcium instead of sodium
Cake flour exists for a reason. Be sure to use it in any cake recipe!
Her favorite new kitchen tool is the Beater blade.
She believes in using both grease and flour on the bottom of any vanilla cake pan.
Always weigh your ingredients to ensure exact measurements.

Overall the evening was a delicious and informative treat! I allowed myself to try some of her sweet creations, since they were homemade and not processed sweets, but I could only handle a few bites. Her cake was delicious and gorgeous but oh so rich!

She was sweet enough to share her recipes with us and our readers! Click here to view them!

Question: Were you a spoon or beater licker growing up?

Thank you Safest Choice Eggs for a wonderful evening of baking fun with Rose!

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After yesterday’s long run, I headed down to New Jersey for an afternoon lunch with my my lovely South Jersey family, including my cousin Meredith who is adorably pregnant.

I made it back to Penn Station by 6:45 to the sound of saxophonists and dancers, entertaining the tourists.

Instead of heading home, I hopped on the subway to Brooklyn, for this month’s dinner club. We’ve really enjoyed these monthly dinner dates with our friends. Each one is filled with lots of wine, delicious food, and laughter. Last night’s even included homemade yeast rolls which were amazing. I think, in fact, that I may have held it in my hand whispering sweet nothings to it.

Even though it was a wonderful evening, I think we were all happy to call it a night at midnight. ‘

Over the past few weeks I’ve started enjoying sleeping in until my body wakes up on Sunday mornings. This morning I left the comforts of my crisp sheets at 10:30. Bo and I spent the day doing some Spring cleaning around the house including gathering and dropping off donations, reorganizing, and finishing some of the changes my friend Alison, our interior designer recommending last week.

One room done, two more to go!

By 3pm, after a very productive morning, we were ready to enjoy the fresh air for a leisurely shakeout run. A shakeout run is a way to shorten the duration of muscle soreness and help heal muscles after a long run our tough workout. It’s normally less than four miles and done at warm-up pace the whole time. After yesterday’s double digit run, enjoying a relaxing run with Bo through the city allowed us to get our muscles moving, release some of the toxin build up, and enjoy the amazing weather. Talking the entire time also helped keep our speed in check. If you can’t tell from the pictures below, it was an absolutely great way to spend some time together.

Now we’re spending the rest of the evening watching Tower Heist and relaxing on the couch!