April 2013 - My Healthy, Happier Life

Greetings from Cincinnati!

In case you missed it, we spent the weekend with our friends exploring Cincinnati! It was such a fun weekend that we didn’t want it to end! Monday mornings are especially tough after long, fun filled weekends!

Bo flew back to New York City last night while Amy, Ryan and I relaxed in their basement watching The Impossible and chilling. We kept things simple last night by enjoying some healthy snacks during the movie and then making easy taco salads for dinner!

This morning, before heading to the office together, Amy and I went out for a quick, easy 3 mile jog around her neighborhood. It’s amazing what a few hills can do for a 3 mile run! Holy heck this run wasn’t easy but it sure felt great when we were done just a short while later. There were two monster hills that we ran and each time I just kept telling myself to push through to the top. While getting up at 4:45 wasn’t fun and neither of us were that talkative during the run due to the hills and exhaustion, it still felt great to know we finished our workout bright and early.

I’m traveling for work this entire week and will spend the next four nights in a hotel room and each day in meetings. It’s easy to get off track and use the different environment as an excuse to take a few days off from healthy eating and workouts. But, as I’ve mentioned before, I believe that I feel even better if I can keep up with my normal routine as much as possible. Here are a few things that I try to do while traveling to stay energized.

Go to bed as early as possible. Sleep is always such an important part of how you feel but we rarely get enough. Take advantage of the time away from children and loved ones to focus on getting a few extra minutes of sleep! I do my best to avoid watching tv while traveling as I know I’ll stay up far too late!
Bring your own water bottle! Between air travel and the dry hotel and meeting rooms I tend to get very parched during business trips. I start each day by drinking a bottle of water and then ensure that I drink one before bed too! During the day I carry this bottle with me to each meeting and refill it during breaks. A water refill is a great excuse to stand up and walk around but can also save money since I get to refill it versus buying a fresh bottle each time!
Move as much as possible! Maybe the gym isn’t for you. Regardless of your fitness level, always pack your workout shoes and at least lace them up for a short walk around town or the office park. Need to call your loved one to catch up after a long day? Try walking up and down the hotel hallway if you don’t feel safe outside alone. You’ll be surprised just how far you can walk during a 30 minute phone call! If you normally work out at home, use this travel time to try something new using Pintrest as a great source for travel workouts! My 35 minute full body workout and 45 minute full body workouts don’t require any machines and will leave you out of breath!

Hopefully this week I’ll create another workout for you guys as I know I’ll grow bored quickly. Unfortunately my hotel isn’t located near a park so I’m limited to running around a corporate business park or on the old treadmill.

How about you? How do you stay healthy during travel?

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Good morning! How are you guys feeling this morning? Did you race? It seems like lots of people are celebrating PRs this morning which is so fun! I can’t wait to read lots of race recaps from Euguene, Big Sur, Nike Women’s Half, and more!

Things around here have been a little slower than normal this morning since we were out quite late last night! Our evening started with a dance party and didn’t end until 3am!

Yesterday kicked off with the Active Water 5k in Fern Bank Park. Amy and I were hoping to secure a new PR but unfortunately, this 5k was definitely not official. There were less than 30 runners and it not only started 15 minutes late but we also realized that the course was not mapped well nor was there a time clock. We almost left after showing up but decided instead we’d support the local high school group’s fundraising efforts and push ourselves to run the fastest 5k we could.

The course ended up only being 2.95 miles long but we enjoyed running along the river and taking in the scenery while pushing our legs! We were both sad that this wasn’t officially timed and therefore won’t go down in the record books for our 5k PR but I’m definitely on the search for a 5k in NYC this month! Anyone want to join in the fun?

We spent the rest of the day eating, drinking, shopping, and exploring Cincinnati’s different neighborhoods.

Teller’s of Hyde Park: A delicious brunch spot in an old bank complete with a dining room in the old vault! Each of us loved our meals which included the warm hazelnut encrusted goat cheese salad, grilled chicken sandwich on pretzel bun, and the lobster po boy!

Cock & Bull English Pub in Hyde Park: Great outdoor seating right in the middle of Hyde Park! Their food is supposedly delicious and they have more than 60 beers on tap! We loved taking advantage of their make your own beer flight! Kaze in Over the Rhine: Miraculously we were able to score a table for 4 at this Japanese gastropub and sushi bar! Most other restaurants had a long wait but we hit this restaurant at the perfect time and were able to enjoy some delicious cocktails, their special sushi rolls, a few appetizers, and their halibut special that melted in our mouths! Amy Ashley at Kaze

Senate Restaurant & Bar in Over the Rhine: While we couldn’t make it in for dinner due to a two hour wait, their cocktails and desserts were amazing! We enjoyed an order of beignets with our cocktails and were floored by how delicious they were! I think the secret is the pretzel sugar dusting!Needless to say we had an amazing time in Cincinnati yesterday and are enjoying a morning mimosa with our homemade blueberry pancakes! Have a great Sunday!

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What a fun night we had in Cincinnati!

A little beer, some shuffle board laughs, good food, and lots of celebrating made for a perfect first night of our mini vacation!

After a smooth flight from JFK we were in Ryan and Amy’s new home getting a full tour by 8pm! They have only been in the house for a month but have already made such headway in the short time. Their hours is 7 TIMES the size of our little New York apartment! It’s incredible to see friends that are at the same stage as us buying homes. We loved hearing about all the renovations and projects they have in mind along with seeing the awesome before and after pictures from the projects they’ve already completed.

Amy and Ryan’s realtor was kind enough to gift them a delicious bottle of champagne which was the perfect thing to kick off the evening! Between the four of us we have so much to celebrate: new homes and new jobs!

For dinner we headed to 50 West Brewing Company, a new brewhouse/gastropub in the Mariemont area of Cincinnati!

One of the great things about 50 West is that they have plenty of waiting areas other than the bar. They have an outdoor area with picnic tables with fire pits and heat lamps along with a game area. While we waited for a table we had a game of girls vs boys shuffleboard. Needless to say, us girls are no experts as you can tell from the score board. But, it was so much fun!

Once we were seated our priority was definitely on more beer and food! Since it was already 9pm we were all starving! 50 West’s menu features small plates which are intended to be shared with others and paired with their beers. Amy and I ended up drinking the Speedbump Kolsch all night, a light ale with sweet malt flavor!

Overall the food was better than expected though definitely spicy. Seriously though, out of the 8 small plates we ordered 6 of them were very spicy. This works out perfectly for 50 West because you end up drinking more beer!