March 2014 - Page 5 of 7 - My Healthy, Happier Life

ashleyd / March 11, 2014

Jumping for Joy

Man has today been incredible!

How can you not jump for joy when the weather is this beautiful? I can’t appreciate today’s weather nearly as much as my NYC friends who have dealt with the freezing weather but it’s still amazing! I also think it’s impossible for me to do anything fun like jumping without opening my mouth! #akwardforthewin

I woke up this morning for a Soul Cycle date with my sister in law Meg and running buddy Meghan. Did you know that there are two Soul Cycle locations within two blocks of each other? Yup! I showed up at the 19th street Soul Cycle big as life this morning thinking that it was just a renovated Union Square studio. Or maybe it was just early and I hadn’t had any coffee. 006 A few minutes later I found myself on bike 39 jamming out to an awesome playlist and Isabel’s inspirational and very arm heavy class. It was my first time spinning with Isabel but I really liked her format. The class was a sweat fest and filled with lots of pushups and touchbacks but her music took our mind off everything. The class flew by and before I knew it we were stretching. I appreciate the fact that Soul Cycle is such a full service studio offering you everything from shoes, towels, shower toiletries, and even hair ties. It’s so nice to know I can spin in New York and not have to pack spin shoes and not lug all my beauty products to the studio and then to work. We followed our spin class with a trip to Liquiteria Union Square which just opened at 13th and 4th Avenue. The All Greens with lemon, ginger and apple was perfect to sip on all day as the ginger kick kept me mindful of how much I enjoyed. I loved their assortment and the fact that they also make smoothies and other fun treats like acai bowls. The past few days have inspired me with so many fun new ingredient combinations for my Geneva juicer beginning next week! After a long day of meetings there was no where I wanted to be other than Central Park. Our work run club hit the streets for a fun, relaxed run through Central Park Zoo, over the small bridges, up the hills and through the tree lined row of statues enjoying the almost 60 degree weather! The park was filled with runners all enjoying the weather and fresh air!

I’m so thankful to enjoy business trips to New York City which allow me to have great face to face meetings with my co-workers and business partners during the day and then enjoy quality time with friends during workouts and dinners.

Your turn: What about Spring has you jumping for joy?

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ashleyd / March 10, 2014

Welcome to the Time Warp

Hello, hello from New York City!

I’m in a weird time warp right now as jet lag hasn’t really hit me but I feel as if I’m repeating days since my Sunday was SUPER long due to the time change.

I left Verbier at 5am Sunday on the AlpyBus back to the Geneva Airport in order to catch a 9:15am flight to Amsterdam. The wakeup time was not easy as I didn’t sleep well Saturday night. Even though I was in bed by 11:30 and exhausted after a long day of skiing, sledging, wine, and fondue I woke up almost every hour fearful that I’d overslept. I slept the entire shuttle ride to the airport and had just enough time to check my baggage and grab some breakfast before boarding the flight.

I enjoyed a three hour layover in Amsterdam in the best way possible – soaking up the sun from their rooftop lounge area while reading a book and sipping a green juice. I’ve fallen in love with kale, lemon, ginger, cucumber, mint and pineapple flavors lately and order this any chance I have at a juice bar! It is great to have a few favorite standby juice combinations which I know are reliable especially when traveling. There is nothing worse than paying an exorbitant amount for a juice and spit out the first sip after a flavor experiment.

The flight from Amsterdam to New York was another smooth, uneventful one as I spent half the time on my iPad either catching up on tv shows or reading and the rest of the time sleeping. Before I knew it we were landing at JFK! Upon landing and fighting through the cab line I spent the evening laughing and catching up with some of my good friends over a healthy and delicious dinner. Liz and Mike hosted four of us ladies in their home for a Sunday night dinner including lemon chicken, sauteed kale, quinoa, and plenty of wine.

By the time I left I felt like their dog Reemus – ready to sleep anywhere, even on the floor. I was completely exhausted by 10pm when I reached my hotel room as I’d been up for 22 hours!

This morning I cancelled my Barry’s Bootcamp workout in order to make sure that my body got the rest it needed before a busy week. It’s so easy to push myself, especially when I’m traveling. The last thing I want to do is get sick or make stupid decisions especially while trying to improve my health and iron levels. Instead I enjoyed a leisurely commute to the office with my co-worker, Ema. It’s been so fun to share with her some of my favorite New York City spots such as the small juice bar near our office or the salad bar at Toasties. While I love our salad bar in Geneva I miss the made to order chopped salads sometimes! Today I made a great combination including kale, walnuts, egg whites, green apples, mushrooms, chicken, celery, lemon, olive oil and balsamic!

Tonight I am going to catch up with another friend before crashing in bed. The time change is definitely starting to catch up with me and I want to be rested for a fun Soul+Cycle date tomorrow morning before a long day of meetings.