ashleyd /

Going to the Big D Dallas

By the time most of you guys are reading this post, I’ll be safe and sound in Dallas, Texas.
 
I have an insanely early flight out of Newark tomorrow morning and still have to finish packing. My trip to Dallas is 100% work related but there are a few highlights:
-80 degree weather and a hotel with a pool means that I’ll hopefully be conducting conference calls poolside at least a few hours
-shopping at Nordstrom 
-getting to work with a few co-workers who I rarely see but speak to via email or phone daily
-my own delightful queen size Heavenly bed at the Westin
 
As some of you know, my job is in the fragrance industry and therefore a portion of this trip will be spent conducting store walks with my team to see what retailers and our competition is doing in store. This means that i’ll be on my feet for at least 8 hours each day. How I wish i’d already purchased these gems to wear all day!
 
I absolutely love Cole Haan’s Nike line and unfortunately ruined my only pair on NYE during my epic walk home in the snow. Oh well!
My packed bag does include a few great items perfect for a week long business trip:
–Yoga Tune Up balls for some in room muscle therapy 
-iPod filled with a new playlist and some workout podcasts I downloaded today including 2 Physique 57 podcasts
-workout clothes Per Meghann’s suggestion, i’m going to use the hotel gym to focus on speed and strength this week versus endurance. My goal is 2 days of speed workouts and one day of hills on the treadmill and then arm/abs each day. Luckily Westin Hotels are known for their Reebok gyms!
-Crest White Strips All the questions regarding tooth whitening has made me realize that it has been a while since I focused on my own pearly whites. With Meg’s wedding coming up it seems like the perfect time to start a whitening routine again especially since I know i’ll have some down time in the late evening
-Kindle: Bo and I are both obsessed with our Kindles and use them each day on the subway commute to catch up on news and books. I just finished my last book and would love recommendations. What is your favorite running book and what is your favorite fiction book that you’ve read lately?
 
Congratulations to Ashley for winning my Pearly Whites giveaway. Please email me your mailing address and i’ll mail the loot when I return from Dallas.
 
 
 


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Physique 57 for the non-New Yorker

Good afternoon!

I’m so glad to be back in Manhattan! Last night, the fiance and I got met each other at Physique 57 after my class and walked home together. It was great just catching up, chatting, and holding hands like teenagers as we walked through the streets of Soho and Tribecca. It’s amazing how quickly i’m becoming acquainted with the area since i’ve started walking more. A few weeks ago I made a pact that as long as it was safe, i’d walk everywhere whenever possible instead of hopping in a cab or even the subway. I’ve fallen in love with Google Maps walking option and will frequently map my walks before I leave. This week i’ve walked to Physique 57 two times (1.5 miles each way), Tribeca Whole Foods 2x (.5 mile each way), and tonight i’ll walk up to Columbus Circle for a book signing with Kate Jacobs who wrote Friday Night Knitting Club, Comfort Food, and Knit 2. I highly recommend her books if you haven’t read them yet. Her character development is wonderful and the first book takes place in NYC! I’m actually going to another book event next week at the same Borders. Missy and I are going to catch the famous Lisa of Hungry Girl next Tuesday night. I’d LOOVVEE some samples and i’m excited about the new book. While I don’t agree with everything they recommend some of their substitutions are great like Shirataki noodles, Fiber One, etc.

But, back to last night, we came home and cooked dinner together (salmon, roasted veggies, and huge salads) and relaxed. But, then the night turned for the worse as I had to stay up an extra hour doing last minute preparation work for my customer call today in Harrisburg. Needless to say it’s already been a long day as I was in my car by 5:30am and just got back to NYC. For the first time in ages I packed all my food with me today and it worked perfectly! I microwaved the oatmeal ahead of time and put the bananas on it before sealing it for the ride. In addition I packed an apple and celery sticks w/almond butter for snacks. Prepping all my food at the beginning of the week made packing lunch a sinch: open Rubbermaid, insert chicken breast, top with 1/2 c rice, top with veggies and some seasonings. I ate all of this during the drive to and from Harrisburg! It’s amazing how much shorter the ride seems when you don’t have to stop for coffee, breakfast, lunch, snacks, etc. I spent time during the drive thinking of ideas for the blog and quickly realized that if I want to attract new readers beyond the few awesome NYC gals I need to give everyone something they can use. So, today I present to you…(in collaboration with YouTube)

Part 1: The PHYSIQUE 57 WORKOUT for the NON-NEW YORKER

For today’s first installment you will need nothing other than your body and a yoga mat or carpeted area. This segment focuses on your abs and legs. I highly recommend watching the segment once through before you attempt it. Also, during last night’s class I was given some great critiques that i’ll pass on to you, my readers.
1)Whenever doing ab exercises you MUST continue to breathe. If you are holding your breath you are pushing your abs out which will result in firm abs that protrude versus flatter abs. The instructor said that breathing during ab exercises insures that you are using the abs evenly.
2) During any exercise that engages your core focus on bringing your belly button in to your backbone versus “sucking it in”. This will work more muscles.

Saddlebags Workout

Famous Thigh Dancing

The Rockette

Get your hand weights ready because tomorrow’s post will focus on the arms! 🙂

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ashleyd /

Physique 57 Review

 

What a great afternoon! I left the apartment at 5pm shortly after having my afternoon snack of celery and almond butter. I decided to walk the 1.5 miles to Physique 57 (Spring Street- view from outside the studio is the picture at left) since the rain had finally stopped and i’d been sitting all day at my desk. I love that i’ve become familiar enough with the Financial/Tribeca/Soho areas that I can weave in between the different streets, take favorite streets, and avoid the trashy areas! I arrived at Physique with a few minutes to spare and took this time to speak with the receptionist about the best packages available. I signed up for the Newcomer’s Month Unlimited package today which will allow me to take as many classes as i’d like between April 6th and May 6th. My goal is to average 3 classes per week during this time period. Then, come May 6th, if i’m still enjoying the classes, have seen results, etc I’ll sign up for another package. The best thing about having a package is being able to use their website for booking classes. It is so much easier than having to call each time. Therefore, I easily booked 9 classes including Wed, Friday, and Sunday this week. Dori (http://dori.jemts.com/) and I are catching the afternoon beginner class at the 57th Street studio Sunday if anyone is interested!
Okay, so back to the review, tonight’s class was a bit different than my last experience which was a Friday 5-6pm class. Tonight’s class was filled with a mix of people from women my mother’s age to girls who looked like they had just finished watching High School Musical 2! The Lululemon was still worn by almost everyone but everyone was very friendly. I wore my Nike capri pants, nike running long sports bra/tank, and aasics socks tonight and felt very comfortable. Tonight’s instructor was Sherri and she was just as great as Kimberly was last week. Both of them are very attentive, correct positions during the entire class, and keep you focused on the prize. After tonight’s class i’m still in love- that is for sure. I quivered like i’ve never quivered but I made it through the whole class and once again loved that I truly felt different body parts being worked the ENTIRE 57 minutes of class and that you stretch after each muscle group so you are able to lengthen and tone! In addition, since this was my second class, I had a better idea of what move was coming next, etc. It was the first workout in ages (class wise) where I was using my muscles and feeling the burn the whole time but really, really enjoyed it as well! The music was amazing and we heard everything from Circus to Ludacris to John Mayer! Also, it is super importnant to do a beginner class for the first 5-10 visits and DO NOT DO an open class. I spoke with the instructor at length about this and she said the open and intermediate classes go A LOT faster and have fewer breaks. I will definitely be sticking to all beginner classes this month. I’d rather perfect my for
m before moving on to anything else.
After class, I walked a mile to the Tribeca Whole Foods to buy the fish for tonight’s dinner that the fiance forgot last night. By the time I got home it was 8pm and I was famished! But, dinner was amazing and once again satiated me wonderfully and left me wanting nothing else- other than bed! 🙂 Tonight’s dinner followed the plan and included 6 oz Tilapia, 1 c asparagus (how do you measure asparagus in cups??), zucchini, a salad, and some yummy berries.
Now i’m about to crawl in bed and hope that a good night’s rest has me prepared for my 10 miler tomorrow morning. I feel like it’s probably going to be on the dreadmill since this weather is not cooperating. Winter weather is definitely something I dislike about spring half marathons! Boo!!
Things i’m looking forward to this week:
-Saturday’s NYRR Scotland 10k to look forward to so I hope the weather behaves.
-Saturday night’s Tasting Menu specially created for us at Duane Park (ask and you shall receive is the lesson learned there)
-Physique Wed, Friday, and Sunday
-Easter service Sunday morning followed by Easter dinner cooked with the fiance that night
-A FAVORITE THINGS GIVEAWAY later this week 🙂
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