Exhale Core Fusion

I have a new fitness obsession. For the past year or so it really has just been yoga as my strength and flexibility training paired with various cardio activities like running and the elliptical. While yoga will always be my desert island exercise, in the interest of mixing it up, I have found a new way to improve strength and flexibility at Exhale Spa in Boston. Their proprietary CoreFusion classes utilize your own body weight, a ballet bar, and light dumbbells paired with very high repetitions to systematically strengthen your arms, legs, butt ,and core. The high repetitions increase muscle stamina and endurance which in turn increase your standing metabolic rate i.e. how many calories you burn while not working out. Another genius aspect of this workout is that directly after exhausting a certain muscle group, they immediately stretch it so that your muscles become both long and strong. There is a cardio element as well as you  are moving quickly from one exercise to the next. I defiantly break a sweat and am more often than not sore the next day. The backdrop is bumpin’ tunes and the instructors are amazing. Classes fly by. Highly recommend. Check it out here. No wonder it was recently voted Best of Boston. XO

Thrive: Juice

For many a year I have shied away from caloric beverages preferring to save my drinkable calories for wine. I drink a ton of water as  believe that is one of the top 4 things we can do for our health (sleep, drink water, eat whole foods mostly veggies, and exercise). Other than that it was green tea, occasional coffee, and the aforementioned wine. That is until my fancy new Breville juicer arrived in the mail 2 weeks ago. A bit of background: last fall I did a blueprint juice cleanse and really enjoyed it. Only problem was it set me back a few hundred dollars and I couldn’t eat for 3 days. I loved the juices themselves but my personal experience did not yield results worthy of the cost and deprivation. This spring in Boston another great juice delivery service has popped up on the scene. So I ordered single bottles from them a few times and quickly started to crave the stuff in a major way. This led to a bit of research. The benefits of juice include: detoxification, stabilized blood sugar, increased energy, stronger hair and nails, reduce bad breath and BO, weight-loss and alkalization of the body (it is very difficult for disease to flourish in an alkaline system). It is important to note that these benefits are mainly for vegetable juices . While fruits juices are packed with vitamins, minerals and antioxidants, they are also loaded with sugar. Without the fiber in a whole fruit to slow the digestion of the sugar, fruit juices lead to weight gain quickly. After a few weeks with my juicer at home I am totally hooked. My current favorite combo is beet, kale, lemon, celery, cucumber, carrots and ginger. If you want to give it a try, here are a few options:

1. Blue Print Cleanse– Expensive but delicious, delivers to your home

2. Joos – Same as above, Boston area only

3. Colombia Gorge Juice – Great discovery I made at whole foods this morning. Very reasonably priced, all organic. The greens only type has 100 calories, 2 grams of sugar, 10 grams of fiber and 6 grams of protein per bottle. SUPER Juice.