The Out-of-Towners

It's always fun being a host, as long as your house guest is welcomed obviously.  I always love hosting friends when it's their first time in Atlanta because deciding on where to take them is super easy.  Deciding on where to eat can be a little difficult.  One of my oldest (not in years but in the amount of time we have known each other) friends is visiting Atlanta for the first time and I want to make sure she has a blast.  Luckily, she is a health conscious eater and likes to stay active.  However, with places like Fat Matts, Gladys Knights Chicken and Waffles and Mary Macs as southern dining staples, it's hard to find a place that has that Atlanta charm and won't make you feel guilty after.

p.s. great movie if you haven't seen it.

So, in efforts to satisfy the local cuisine fix and not finish the weekend being 5 lbs heavier, I've created a flavors and fun itinerary for a healthy and active Atlanta weekend. Enjoy!

Friday:
- Dinner at R. Thomas.  Most likely your guest will get in later and you don't want a fancy meal. You just wanna enjoy dinner and catch up for hours.  Luckily, they are open 24 hours so chat away!

Saturday:
- Pick up and easy, health breakfast and coffee at Highland Bakery. After breakfast drive out to Stone Mountain for a nice short hike with a pretty cool view (if you want a longer workout run the outer loop) or drive back to Midtown and go on a great walk or rent bikes and take a ride through Piedmont Park.  If you're biking and feelin' super active, take your bikes to the Virginia Highlands and back.  After you're done with the morning activity grab some water and relax in the park.  It's one of my favorite places to sit and reflect.

- Next up, World of Coke, the Georgia Aquarium or the High Museum.  It's kinda a disservice if you don't take someone to one of these places during their first visit to Atlanta. And when you're ready for lunch, grab a quick bite at Souper Jenny or MetroFresh depending on what part of town you're staying in.

- After all this activity you are either ready to do some shopping or ready to sit on the couch for a little.  If you're ready to do some shopping and want to be outside (and love vintage stores) check out Little 5. If you're more of a Saks shopper, head on over to Phipps.

- Finally...dinner.  If you want to show your guest true southern cooking and don't care about the calories (because you ran the entire Stone Mountain loop) you should definitely take them to South City Kitchen. If you want to stay a little more healthy you may have to kiss the southern fried cookin' goodbye and try the culinary delights of Cafe 640 (formerly Cafe di Sol, the Grapefruit Rosewater Martini is my fav) or Top Flr.

Sunday:
- Brunch. Ria's Bluebird.  Nuff said.  This place is legit and vegetarian friendly. Southwest tofu scramble =  yum!

Have fun!

xo,
zo
 

Post-Workout Blues

I finished 13.1. I'm not gonna lie, I'm in pain.  And by pain I mean, couldn't sleep, can't walk, knees feel like they are going to pop off my legs pain.  It ain't pretty.  So unlike me, who immediately went home and soaked in a hot epsom salt bath (bad idea), I'm going to help you with tips on how to recover from a half marathon, really long run or even just a really hard workout...the right way.

1. Eat & Hydrate! Carbs and lean protein within an hour. Example: cereal and milk, eggs and a whole wheat bagel. You need the protein to rebuild muscle tissue damage from whatever you were doing let it be running or just a really tough workout. If you postpone this it can even add time to your recovery process.  To re-hydrate I like to mix water and Powerade Zero.
2. DO NOT sit in a hot bath when you get home.  I learned that the hard way, doh! Fill your tub up with kinda warm water and then add a ton of ice. Sit for 20 minutes.
3. Take 2 Aleve. 
4. Sleep. Your body does most of it's healing during this time.
5. The next day, schedule a massage.  No need for deep tissue, that may actual hurt the healing process.  Go to a massage therapist that knows how to help athletes recover.  I went to Anne at The Art of Touch and she was amazing.  She did a great job stretching my legs (they were unbearably tight) and loosening up the muscles that were sore.  I HIGHLY recommend this place and I feel better already.
6. Congratulate yourself.  I figure I burned about 1,500 calories during my race and deserved a little treat for my accomplishment.  Thank you Grindhouse Burgers for your amazing turkey burger, fries and boozey milkshake.  This burger joint was 1/2 the cost of 5 Napkin and 1000x better (can you tell I'm still bitter about going there).

YUM!

xo, zo

Healthiest New Year

No, it's not December 31st, but if you're Jewish you're about to celebrate the New Year (unless you want to feel the guilt for the rest of the year for not celebrating, oy vey). If you're not going to services (or even if you're not Jewish) it's still good to have a resolution at any point in the year to live a healthier lifestyle. You only live once right?

That doesn't mean to binge on everything that's put in front of you.  My biggest challenge when it comes to eating is self control.  I can sit at work all day and munch on raw carrots and hummus, grilled chicken salad, veggie wraps, etc. But the minute there are cupcakes in the room I cave. I will wait 5 minutes, have an internal argument with myself as to why I shouldn't eat the cupcake and then I just can't control it and instead of having a small bite I down the entire thing in a minute. So, if you have this amazing skill they call self control, 1. I'm very jealous and 2. make sure you use this during big holiday dinners.

My survival tips:
- Back off the honey.  I get it, honey represents a sweet and happy New Year.  Use it in moderation.
- Load up on the veggies and salad. Eat them first so you get full off of the good stuff.
- Remember portion control when it comes to proteins and starches.
- Indulge in something that's really worth it. If you're a Skinny Peach you deserve to cheat once in a while. My personal fav, Honey Cake with a little vanilla ice cream. 

Now go call your mother, she misses you.

xo,
zo

Workday Breakfast III

I've been starting to get up earlier so I can get to work a little earlier and get stuff done while it's still quiet and no one is bothering me.  With that, I need a quicker breakfast that's still nutritious. So, if you need a change from Workday Breakfast I and Workday Breakfast II, here's something new.
What you will need:
- 1/2 Cup Fat-Free Greek Yogurt
- Fruit. I used 1/2 cup of organic blueberries
- Chopped Nuts. I like using almonds or walnuts.
- A little squirt of organic honey (less than a teaspoon, don't get crazy)

You will feel full until your morning snack with this protein packed breakfast.  Yum! I'm hungry just writing about it.

xo,
zo

Ummm Umcka?

I am sick. I hate it. I'm pissed. Not only do I have to suspend myself from two of my favorite fall activities, running and day drinking, but I feel like poop.  Boo to sickness. 

I have tried everything, chugging water, juicing, dayquil/nyquil, vitamin c gummy bears, and nothing has worked...until I remembered a friend told me that he swore this stuff called Umcka will cut the time of a cold in half.  I usually don't buy that mess but I figured what the hell?

So what is Umcka? It comes from the root of the geranium plat that comes from South Africa. Although nothing is FDA proven it has been shown to have antiviral and antibiotic properties that may kill viruses and infections.  Drop 1ml in your mouth and wait.  What do you know...it worked! I'm not sure if it was placebo or it actually did but I don't really care. I feel better! Thank you Umcka! You can find it at Kroger or Whole Foods.

Yet another thing from South Africa, besides from Shepard's Pie, that I love.

xo,
zo

Pizza Party II

I have officially changed my mind, it's official. :)

I love all of the places where you can dine on deliciously healthy pizza that I listed in Pizza Party, however, nothing is as healthy and rewarding as making it (kind of) by yourself.  Take that Papa Johns! So, with a little help on the dough (thanks) a scrumptious pizza was made and I didn't feel embarrassed to ask the waitress for extra veggies and light sauce and cheese.   

You will need:
- Whole what pizza dough
- Pizza sauce
- Tons of veggies. For my side, I chose broccoli, green and red peppers, tomato, spinach and tofu. 
- Light mozzarella cheese
- Optional meat: Chicken Sausage
- Not so optional cocktail: Pinot Noir

One trip to Trader Joe's and you have everything you need!

Kneed the dough into a nice thin circle (or heart as seen below, so awesome but so not intentional), throw your toppings on. 

 Follow the dough directions to bake (I like a nice crunchy crust so I left it in for 5 minutes extra). 

Now THAT's amore!

xo,
zo

H.I.I.T. Me Baby One More Time

After a weekend of boozing and not eating like a Skinny Peach at all. I needed to do something that was going to burn some fat, fast.  I was talking to a friend who has seen great results with her personal trainer said that if you aren't going to give up alcohol or sweets (which I cannot even imagine doing) the only way to get rid of your gut is through sprint training. So I figured I'd give it a try.

HIIT (High Intensity Interval Training) is when you bust your butt for short bursts and then do something light during a "recovery" period.  An example would be, sprint for 30 seconds and then run lightly for a minute. Rinse and repeat. 

So does this really work?  I freakin' hope so.  Everyone I've talked to has said it's awesome (so I kinda wish I would have known about it pre-bikini season but whatever).  Basically, from what I understand, steady cardio uses a different set of muscle fibers then high intensity training does.  To use those different fibers your body needs extra energy. And your body gets the extra energy it takes to use these different fibers from stored fat (i.e. your gut). Genius that body of yours!

So, I'm going to try this out today and let you know how it goes.  Here's my plan:

20 minutes total - Treadmill
3 minutes: Warm up Jog 5.5mph

30 seconds: Sprint 8 mph (or faster, I just have short legs so 8mph is a sprint for me)
1 minute: Jog 5.5mph
(do this 8 times = 12 minutes)

5 minutes: Cool Down Jog 5mph

One thing to note.  I've been a runner for a while so I'm starting myself off at an intermediate level. If you aren't a runner or active start off with 6 minutes of interval training and the same warm up and cool down.  You don't wanna hurt yourself.

I found this youtube video from Fox Fitness in Knoxville (GoVols). She's not sprinting super fast but it's a good example of a beginners HIIT Treadmill workout.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lm0QRnznEr0


xo,
zo