Brunch Tips from Shira

Glamour Magazine got the skinny from Shira on what to eat during brunch. Check out her suggestions on how to keep healthy while dining with friends. x JH

1. Since there are so many delicious food options at brunch, I advise my clients to spend the calories there.  Having said that, the brunch cocktail can be done sensibly.  The key here is to avoid added sugar via juice and syrups.  Here are a few tips:

 Mimosas: Ditch the OJ, and just opt for a glass of champagne.  You’ll shave off around 40 calories and 8 grams of sugar from the juice.

Traditional Bellinis (prosecco + peach puree):  I am all about clean eating, and these are pretty clean in my book.  Just make sure there’s no added sugar or syrup lurking in the peach puree.

Bloody Mary’s: Between the tomato juice, the decorative celery stick, and the cayenne pepper (a natural appetite suppressant), Bloody Mary’s are certainly a healthier option than most.  But keep in mind that they are typically loaded with salt. 

My favorite option: a simple glass of bubbly!

2. My brunch go-to’s are: Whole grain bread, poached eggs, smoked salmon, tomatoes, avocado, Greek yogurt, and fresh fruit.

3. There’s a fairly widespread misconception that eating healthfully is a buzz kill.  But my clients strive to maintain a clean-eating lifestyle because it makes them feel good about themselves.  While a caloric free-for-all may seem fun in the moment, it’s rarely rewarding in the long run.  In fact, staying on track will likely help you feel more relaxed, so you can enjoy your food and your company to the fullest.

 

WORDZ with Byword

Hey Guys, let's talk about APPS! The app I am digging this week is Byword. It's a writers answer to efficiency. Through Byword you can create writing documents on your iPhone or iPad and save them directly to your dropbox or iCloud on your computer. I am constantly jotting down words on the subway, at a bar, or walking down the street. This carefully crafted app's text editing abilities keeps my imagination in check while allowing me to create ready to publish stories. You can publish your writing from Byword to WordPress, Tumblr, Blogger, Scriptogram blogs and Evernote. Happy writing friends :) x JH

FROYO With Caution by Shira

Lets face it, it’s hot out.  And when the weather heats up, we’re often left craving a cold dessert.  When done responsibly, froyo can be an amazing, refreshing, hot weather treat, that won’t derail your clean eating efforts.  But swirl with caution, folks: going wild with the portion, toppings, and flavors can land you in Dairy Queen territory.  Here are some of my go-to froyo tips:

Size: do yourself a favor, and opt for the smallest size cup.  And if you’re bringing more home for later, I recommend getting a brand new cup…it’s just too tempting otherwise.

Portion: when self-swirling, resist the urge to coil your yogurt too high (we’re talking 1.5 swirls).  In other words, stick to 4 to 5 ounces max.

Flavor: your best option is a frozen Greek yogurt.  I learned recently that Pinkberry unveiled a new, Greek yogurt, sans added sweeteners, thickeners, or preservatives. 

Toppings: limit yourself to two (not including cinnamon and nutmeg)

Yay: fresh fruit, salted nuts, dark chocolate chips, cinnamon, and nutmeg

Nay: crumbled cookie, brownie, sprinkles, granola, mochi, caramelized nuts, candy, caramel, chocolate sauce and honey

My other Fav: I’m a huge fan of Yasso Greek Yogurt Bars, which are completely delish, 80 calories each, and made without scary, artificial ingredients.  Plus, the individual packaging helps prevent portion double dipping.

X SL (twitter, Facebook, website)

Are We Catfishing Ourselves?

I recently read this essay titled, How Not To Be Alone, which discusses how society avoids human interaction with a click of a button. I'm the first to admit that it's much easier to hide in my iPhone, updating my status with a Harry Potter reference, or an "artsy" photo. I'm the first to admit how much I love technology and social media. But technology is a tricky lover, allowing us to feel isolated in public, and at the same time, making us feel like we are never alone. When you are sitting in bed after an earthquake, Twitter is holding your hand and letting you know that life still exists. Are we all just relying on false electronic comfort, and a constant need for "I Fives"?

After reading Jonathan Safran Foer's essay, I got to thinking about the person behind the "I Five." You know, the person behind our social media "avatar." Could it be our digital persona that is causing us to avoid real life emotions, or our actual real life personality that has become numb to other people's feelings? When creating our "avatars," we don't include the real life qualities that make us human. We include a visual idea of ourselves, an exaggerated description of our personality, and an idealized view of a life we aren't really living.

My name is Jilly Hendrix, and my right eye is smaller than my left. But my avatar is a picture where my eyes are of equal size, and of course I used a stylistic filter to make me look like a sexy piece of ass. The internet allows us to hide our insecurities through a filtered picture, a contrived notion, a carefully crafted view we've created, as to not admit who we really are. 

Some of us sit back and build a scandalous "it girl" version of ourselves.  Someone who has no sympathy for the world, but is a real straight talker. Like that girl who once commented under my instagram picture, "those eyebrows with that hair, no."  I would be shocked if Jennifer345 would come up to me at the Kings of Leon concert and express her opinions to me in person. For all I know, Jennifer345 is probably a nice girl, who is bored with her high school extracurriculars.  As a result, she’s forever sitting behind an android, acting like Regina George from Mean Girls. After all, Regina George is clearly the authority on appropriate eyebrow to hair color ratios. Behind the screen, is Jennifer345 an amazing, delicate human, with a high SAT score? Perhaps she has been using her mobile device to soothe her boredom for so long, she’s become this unrecognizable creature with no regard for other peoples feelings, too comfortable being an asshole? 

Are the "social media" personas we've created just a dream of what we want to become? We use Pinterest to create the life we've always wanted. We use instagram to act like a famous photographer. We use twitter to be a journalist. We use our social media outlets to be something bigger than ourselves. Are we as a society constructing unrealistic dreams for ourselves? Creating a person we aren't, or can never be? A person who has fewer physical and mental flaws? Or are these fabrications just the hope we need to keep us moving forward? The hope that one day we will own that vintage wooden table we pinned, or get that perfect skin tone we flitered, or become that funny, chill girl who quoted those Drake lyrics. You know, the kind of stuff we think about before bed. 

You can either believe we are avoiding real life and our real emotions in creating a fake online persona, or we are using our online life as a dream of everything we hope to accomplish. I mean, no one has ever said that dreaming is negative. No one has ever said stop hoping to become the best version of you. The only problem is, if we as a society have lost touch with human emotion, who will be there to comfort us when we realize it may not be You've Got Mail, but just turn out Catfish?

x JH

Dear GMOs- Let's Finally Call it Quits

The other day I was walking through the grocery store, wondering what GMOs really are. Because what else would I be thinking about at 3pm on Sunday? I've heard GMOs are like an ex boyfriend you wish would stop calling you. You have to avoid them at all costs or else they will come back in your life and cause long term damage. I thought I would ask Shira to give me all the details about why this ever persistent process needs a shelf life. X JH

What are GMOs?: GMOs, or “genetically modified organisms,” can be the product of any kind of bio-engineering where genes of an organism are modified via deletion, mutation, or insertion. If you’re thinking this sounds creepy and Sci-Fi Channel worthy, I’m totally with you.  This process can result in new plant and animal genes (as well as new bacterial and viral genes), that don’t occur naturally.  Farmers like GM crops, because they can be altered to do things like, delay ripening, and resist damage by critters.

Pro GMO peeps say: GM foods are safe for human consumption.

GMO naysayers say: Some studies have revealed that genetic modification can actually produce unwanted mutations in the biological structure of foods, producing allergens, toxins, and decreased nutritional value.  Scientists wonder if GM induced allergens could lead to new food allergies...oy.

My advice: Just, no. Here are some ways to avoid them:

  • Buy food labeled 100% organic
  • Avoid produce with 5-digit PLU numbers (on sticker), beginning with an 8 (these are GM!)
  • Shopping locally may allow you to     speak directly to the farmer about their practices
  • Purchase beef that is 100% grass-fed

xSL (twitter, facebook, website)

 

The National

The National put on an intimate show at Barclays Center last night. It was as if you were watching them perform in a small club. They made you feel like you were the only one in the room that really mattered, even though you were surrounded by thousands of people. "This Is The Last Time" is my current addiction from their new album, Trouble Will Find Me. x JH

 

Getting Physical

We spend most of our days recording our lives through pictures. Why not record our lives through fitness? I recently downloaded the app MOVES, which tracks your daily activity, like your walk to work, run in the park, or bike ride with friends. The app is always working, as long as you have your phone in your purse, pocket, or hand (aka, there is no on or off button). You can see how far you move each day, allowing you to challenge your every step and get closer to leading that healthy lifestyle we all crave. Move it or lose it, folks ;) x JH

 

This One Time I Thought About Comfort

I used to imagine what it would be like to be without him. I remember this one time we were driving in the car. I looked to my right at the passengers seat which was filled with a man I once knew. I closed my eyes and when I opened them he was gone. I wondered if I would be okay with him being gone.

And I was.

I closed my eyes again and he was there. I think that's what they call comfort. Comfort in knowing the passenger seat will always be filled. But comfort isn't necessarily a positive thing. Comfort can make you complacent. I had become complacent. I had chose complacency for fear of being alone. Sometimes we hold onto something for as long as we can take it, even if it sucks, because we aren't ready to feel what's next. We are used to being numb in the presence of someone else. But being numb when you are alone is a creature of a different species.

I guess what I'm really wondering is, at what point are we ready to let go of the comfort?

Summer Sounds - Caveman

The summer heat has arrived and sitting on rooftops drinking rosé or PBR or whatever bevarage you feel fits your vibe is the perfect way to watch the sun go down. All you need is a mystical album for that moment of clarity. Enter Caveman. Their self titled album  is filled with endless melodies for those days you want to last forever. Below is my go to track. x JH

This One Time I Tried to Not Over Think

It was as if the wind had been replaced by a breeze of adventure and the night had forgotten that morning was approaching. His hand grazed my thigh making his presence and plan known. His touch was delicate, yet I still felt his dominance. I sat there in compliance. I wondered if I had crossed the thin line between filling the gap and creating a hole. I couldn't tell if I wanted to hug him. There is nothing worse than someone presenting you with false comfort. Or was it just fear? Avoiding my own fear was something I never understood. The thoughts became me and I couldn't tell where they ended. I tried to break them into words like scattered puzzle pieces that when left on their own, meant nothing. But before I knew it, morning had arrived and I was as vacant as the undone puzzle whose pieces I longed to ignore.