Tag Archives: chicago

Healthy Initiative

Posted on by
10

Did you know that over 1 in 3 American adults is overweight? Or that 17% of children aged 2-19 are obese?

(source)

Did you also know that obesity related conditions (heart disease, stroke, some cancers) are some of the most preventable leading causes of death? Or that in 2008, medical costs for people with obesity were $1,429 higher than normal weight individuals?*

While the media has done a great job publicizing the obesity epidemic; unfortunately the number of Americans with obesity continues to climb upward and more and more children and adults are becoming overweight. The question becomes, what can we do about it?

(source)

One program that is currently underway is the Healthy Initiative, a project geared to fight against the obesity epidemic currently underway in our country. The program is starting in Chicago and is partnering with local organizations, city government, doctors, and other wellness providers to raise awareness about childhood and adult obesity. They are also implementing local programs to change the current trend.

So why am I telling you about the Healthy Initiative? If you’ve read my About Me page, you know that I was a a little overweight as a teenager. Too many snacks when I wasn’t hungry, not enough exercise (although I was active), and the SAD really put some pounds on my 5’3 frame. I did lose the weight before college but it wasn’t easy. After months of feeling down and trying numerous “fad diets” I asked my mom for help. She suggested joining Medical Weight Loss.

While I don’t know that I now agree with 100% of what I was taught at the Medical Weight Loss clinic (emphasis on losing weight, no thought of future implications), the program worked for me because I was held accountable and felt like I was part of a team. Every week when I’d go in for my weigh-in, I’d see the same smiling faces that I saw the week before. They seemed vested in my weight-loss and encouraged me throughout the entire process. I don’t know that I could have lost the weight without them.

(source)

The Healthy Initiative is kicking off their program with a new, improved, and dare I say, better version of Medical Weight Loss. The program seeks to transform the lives of a group of participants through the SheaNetics inspired 90-Day Breakthrough, a mind-body wellness and exercise lifestyle program. The Healthy Initiative is currently looking for about 40 Chicagoans who are dedicated not only to losing weight but also to embracing a healthy lifestyle (obviously the most important!!). The participants will be screened and will need to have a doctor’s okay to partake in the program.

So now you’re all probably wondering what the heck SheaNetics is right? Well, first and foremost I’m going to tell you that SheaNetics was founded by Shea Vaughn (read: Vince Vaughn’s mom) but more importantly, SheaNetics is a doctor endorsed lifestyle practice that blends Eastern and Western beliefs into a total mind-body experience. The heart of SheaNetics is The 5 Living Principles of Well-Being – Commitment, Perseverance, Self-Control, Integrity and Love and the philosophy extends to include exercise in the form of yoga, pilates, tai chi, martial arts, and ballet. How cool!

The 40 participants will work out in Chicago gyms with qualified trainers, wellness specialists, and medical personnel and at the end of the program, their will be a Red Carpet Celebration for everyone involved. The event will include celebrity appearances and the participants will get to wear clothes designed by noted fashion designers. Activities will include dinner, dancing, a silent auction, and entertainment. Best of all, all proceeds and donations from the event go to the Give A Little Does A Lot foundation that funds education, fitness, and nutrition programs in schools in Chicago.

(source)

I usually don’t support diets but the Healthy Initiative is so much more than a weight loss program. It’s a program that emphasizes lifestyle change, self-love, and giving back to the community in the form of charitable donations. Losing weight isn’t just about looking good, it’s about being healthy and happy and I strongly believe the Healthy Initiative understands that. They are also not focusing solely on individuals losing weight but also on the “big picture”, the nation’s obesity epidemic. I really like that.

So how can you help the Healthy Initiative? Well, currently they’re still looking for participants to join the 90-day Challenge so if you know of anyone who might be interested, please share this opportunity with them. You can also look into becoming a sponsor by filling out the contact information on the Healthy Initiative website. Feel free to e-mail me with any questions as well!!

*This is all from the CDC but if you want more information on childhood obesity/the obesity epidemic, I have a lot of articles that I can send you (left over from my MPH). Just let me know!!

**Note I am not participating in this but just wanted to share the opportunity :)

Girl & the Goat

Posted on by
16

Ian and I have been wanting to try Girl & the Goat for a long time. I’ve always been interested because I’m a huge Top Chef fan and Stephanie Izard is an amazing chef. Ian has always been drawn to the creative menu and interesting brews. Let’s just say we were pretty excited when his sister started working for the restaurant a few months ago ;) .

We finally made it over to Girl & the Goat last night and all I can say is wow, why did it take us so long?

I decided to wear my new BCBG dress that I bought at Nordstrom Rack for $175 less than its original price. Love it.

We arrived at the restaurant a few minutes before our reservation slot of 7:30 and were asked to step aside and wait. The restaurant was incredibly busy, they were even telling people with reservations that they would have to wait another 45 minutes to an hour. We ended up skipping the wait because we were “friends of the goat” but I can’t imagine coming to a restaurant with a reservation and then waiting a long time. Lesson learned, plan ahead!

I had requested a vegan menu to avoid any problems with dairy or egg and was given one upon seating. I had decided before dinner that I would do my best to avoid corn and soy but I wasn’t going to worry about cross contamination or demand they skip the oil on a dish. How often do you get to eat in a Top Chef’s restaurant? Instead, I focused on avoiding my main allergens.

P.S. I loved how they had compiled a vegan menu. They had vegetarian and gluten free menus as well.

The Girl & the Goat is small plates style and they suggest about 2-3 plates per person. As this was our first trip to the restaurant, we decided to try a lot of different things.

We started with one of the oysters of the day. I forget exactly what it was called, but the oysters were marinated in a vinegar sauce and topped with chopped herbs. They were really really tasty!

We also split the warm marinated olives. They were good as well (the bright green ones were my favorites) but the serving was big for two people. We still managed to eat the majority of the portion though ;) .

Next, I had the kohlrabi salad with the dressing on the side. The salad was good but could have used a few more blueberries. It was another large portion and I was thankful that Ian helped me out!

Ian also ordered a broccoli dish that came with a blue cheese sauce (not pictured). He loved it and even brought some of the leftovers home!

For my “main”, I ordered the eggplant caponata. It was a mix of eggplant, onion, and other veggies, fried masa, and a green chimichurri sauce that was to die for. I seriously wanted to lick the bowl.

I did try to avoid the fried masa but failed on a few occasions. Oh well, I wasn’t too upset about it :P

Ian ordered the grilled pork ribs and they came with a tomatillo-mushroom slaw. He raved about how good they were. The meat was literally falling off the bone.

The food was good but not incredibly heavy (maybe because we didn’t order a bread or anything fried?) so we decided to indulge in dessert. Ian ordered the quatro leches and I had the blackberry sorbet (vegan).

The sorbet is from Black Dog Gelato and seriously changed my life. I have been to Black Dog before but the sorbet has always been overshadowed by the gelato. Not anymore. I want to eat their sorbet for breakfast, lunch, and dinner… it was that good!

I really liked our experience at Girl & the Goat. The food was excellent, the wait staff was friendly, and our meal was perfectly paced. I hate feeling rushed! It’s a must-try in the Chicago area, particularly if you’re a Top Chef fan!

This morning I woke up at 5:00 and saw this:

I immediately nixed the idea of running outside. I debated running on the treadmill but I wasn’t feeling it. I’m not training for anything long distance right now so I didn’t want to force myself to run on the dreadmill and decided to go for a longer swim instead

I hopped in the pool with the intention of doing an interval workout but I fell into a rhythm during my warm-up and decided to swim for distance. I completed 2,400 meters which a a new PDR for me, yay!

All I wanted for breakfast was big bowl of cereal so that is exactly what I had!

1/2 cup brown rice cereal, 1/2 cup puffed millet, few sprinkles of walnuts & pepita, blueberries, strawberries, banana, dollop of almond butter in the middle, and a drizzle of honey. Delicious!

I love it when cereal looks fancy ;)

This week has me all confused but I believe it’s time for work. Have a great day!

A Beachy Fourth

Posted on by
13

Yesterday after blogging, I relaxed in the apartment. I watched some tv, took a nap, and did a little organizing. Before I knew it, it was time to pack up for the beach. I grabbed towels and my book and Ian peeled/ cut up a ton of fruit. We put it in the freezer for about 45 minutes before we left and then kept it in the cooler all afternoon (we also did this with water). Freezing the fruit definitely helped keep it cold!

Strawberries, cherries, and lychees.

We also ran down to the convenience store in our building to purchase some adult beverages. Ian grabbed beer and I bought an individually packaged glass of pinot grigio, the only white wine they had in a smaller serving. It was way too hot for red.

We also ate lunch in the apartment right before we left. We knew we’d be eating out for dinner and wanted to save some money/have a healthy option. I whipped up a blueberry peach smoothie for Ian and then I had lentil sloppy snobby joes on a piece of brown rice bread with snap peas. Yum!

And then finally, coolers and towels in hand, we were off to the beach!

By the time we arrived at Jane Addams Memorial Park it was 100 degrees. Yikes! Even the sand was hot. We found our friends, spread out our towels and ran into the water. The water was warm but felt really nice and we paddled around for a while before venturing back up to the beach.

I tried to read but I would start sweating 10 minutes after getting out of the water and it was too uncomfortable to hold a book. Instead, I spent the afternoon running between the towel and the water, cooling off and then warming back up.

Fortunately, the beach wasn’t too crowded and we were actually able to swim around in the lake. I would have hated standing in a crowd in the water.

After about 4 hours of beach time we called it quits. We were getting sick of the heat and I was desperately in need of some water- even though I drank two bottles at the beach! We walked into the city in search of finding somewhere quick and easy for dinner and ended up at Fox & Obel, a market and cafe in the Streeterville area.

Despite having a fairly bread heavy menu, I was able to find something to eat.

I had their salmon entrée that was served on top of bok choy, napa cabbage, and mushrooms. It was supposed to come with a special broth but I found out that it was made with butter and just asked for the dish without it (honestly, it didn’t need it).

I devoured my entire meal. In the heat I hadn’t felt hungry but after being in the AC and sitting down to eat, I was ravished.

Our friends left after dinner to go home and get ready for the fireworks at Navy Pier but we stayed and walked around the market. Of course I ended up picking up a few things including a new vegan chocolate made with chipotle chile, PB & Co’s spicy peanut butter, and these Enjoy Your Life cookies that I bought at a different store because I wanted a water and had to meet the credit card minimum.

I can’t wait to try the chocolate. I’ve been craving it lately!

Ian and I ended up watching the fireworks through our apartment windows while watching Madmen. It may not have been super traditional but we were both beat after being outside all afternoon. We were also able to calm down Sonic who gets a little freaked out by the booming fireworks.

All in all I had a great Fourth. It was so nice to meet up with friends and hang out on the beach!

This morning I woke up early (like always) to run five miles outside. It was of course super hot but I figured I’d give it a shot. It felt much warmer today than it has the last few days so I took it really easy. Even still, running was tough. I was sweating more than usual and my legs did not want to move. The air was also really thick and by mile 4 it was difficult to breathe. I ended up completing my run but I’m seriously wondering if I should take tomorrow’s run inside. Today was no joke.

Let’s also just say cold showers have been my best friend this past week.

Breakfast was another cold oatmeal parfait but instead of layering the oatmeal with avocado, this time I used pumpkin puree mixed with maple syrup.

I topped it with pumpkin seeds, walnuts, and another drizzle of maple syrup.

It was good but I have to say that I liked the avocado version better ;)

Back to work today, at least I have fun dinner plans to look forward to!

How did you spend yesterday?

Date Night {Belly Shack}

Posted on by
21

I wanted to give you guys a more content-heavy post this morning but an impromptu date night last night & a Mad Men marathon was not conducive to me writing a post. The post will come tomorrow and until then I’ll recap date night.

If you’ve been reading this blog for a while you know that Ian and I love ethnic food. We eat Indian, Thai, Korean, Mexican, etc so when we found out about Belly Shack, a Latin American, Korean, Asian Fusion spot we knew we had to check it out.

Belly Shack is not a fast food restaurant but it’s also not a formal place. They specialize in street food and while there is waitstaff, you order at a counter and they bring the food to you. It is also BYOB but last night we didn’t partake.

We decided to split an order of Togarashi Spiced Fries. They came with a curry mayo that was really amazing.

 Ian ordered the Korean BBQ Beef (unpictured) and I had the Boricua with marinated tofu.

The sandwich was stuffed between two tostones and was filled wth marinated tofu, mushrooms, bok choy, and brown rice. There was a Hoisin BBQ sauce on the side. Yum!

Not wanting the night to end, we indulged in two of their highly recommended soft serve dishes.

I had the Vietnamese Cinnamon Caramel which despite not being a huge caramel fan, I loved!

And Ian ordered the Bacon Chocolate Chip. He was a big fan.

Overall, I really enjoyed Belly Shack and I appreciated that they had a couple vegan and gluten-free options. I know we’ll be returning soon :)

After dessert, on our trek back to the ‘l’, we stumbled across a Family Dollar. Being city dwellers, we rarely see dollar stores or anything similar, so we decided to check it out. Ian also needed to break a $20 for trainfare and as we were out of paper towels, we figured we’d pick up a roll or two and kill two birds with one stone.

Well about a half an hour later we emerged from the Family Dollar with a huge bag full of necessary items. I mean, everything was cheaper than the Target near our apartment, we couldn’t help ourselves!

It is obviously unsafe to send Chicagoans into suburban stores unattended.

So excited about our purchases!

When we got home, we started watching Mad Men. I think we might be on episode 6 now, I’m not sure. While I’m loving it, Ian can’t seem to stay awake for more than an episode and a half and Sonic… well he has no interest at all.

It’s a tough life.

This morning I woke up and knocked out 6 miles. They weren’t super fast but they weren’t slow either. I got a cramp in the ball of my foot and had to stop and stretch it out but besides that I have no complaints. I plan on biking to and from work today also (total of about 5 miles).

Breakfast was something special.

Oatmeal minus the oats in a jar. I followed the recipe almost exactly, the only change being that I used 1/2 a banana instead of a whole one. I topped the oatless oats with blackberries and strawberries.

It was really good and protein packed, hopefully it keeps me full for awhile. I’ve really missed having breakfast at home since I’ve started going straight to work after the gym a few mornings a week.

Time to head to work, have a great Thursday!

Where do you eat breakfast? At home, at your desk, or in transit?

First Day in Boston

Posted on by
11

Ian and I left our apartment around 6:15 to catch the ‘l’ to the airport. As I had a cup of coffee at the apartment and don’t do well drinking coffee on an empty stomach, I packed breakfast to eat on the train ride.

I had a thawed cream cheese muffin from our freezer and a bag of grapes, dried figs, and kumquats.

Once we arrived at the airport, we thankfully managed to move through security fairly fast. We even had time to stop at Starbucks for another boost of caffeine. I ordered a skinny caramel macchiato and Ian had a green tea latte and a bagel.

Can I tell you how much I loved flying JetBlue? About 10 minutes after boarding  the gate was closed and we were departing. It all happened so fast! I loved not having to sit in the plane forever!

I also love that JetBlue has great snacks and free t.v. channels. My goal of doing homework on the plane drifted away as I watched Dogs 101 and listened to 80′s and 90′s pop music. What can I say, I was waay too excited to do homework!

It took awhile to find my mom at the airport and to get to the hotel and it was waay past our lunchtimes by the time we finally stopped to grab a bite to eat. We opted for something fast and easy and went to the Chipotle across the street from our hotel.

I ordered a brown rice burrito bowl with fajita veggies, black beans, corn, medium, & mild salsa, and guacamole. It definitely hit the spot ;)

After lunch, we made a quick run through Whole Foods and a sports store (I picked up compression shorts to wear during the race) and then recharged at the hotel for an hour or so.

We decided to head to North End for dinner so after taking a shower (felt amazing after travelling), we headed back downtown and over to Hanover Street.

We ran into this awesome open-air fresh market and took a detour to walk around and look at all of the produce.

Pretty cool right?

We also walked past Paul Revere’s house and stopped for a cappucino/iced americano (for me) before grabbing dinner at Ristorante Saracino.

We all shared a bottle of chardonnay and split some olives, peppercinis and mussels to start.

And for my main, I ordered a seafood risotto that was really really good. I loved the calamari!

We figured that while we were in North End we HAD to check out Mike’s Pastry so after dinner we braved the crowds and picked up some canoli’s (thanks for the recommendation tam!). My mom ordered a plain, Ian tried a pistachio, and I had the peanut butter. I mean how could I say no to a peanut butter cannoli?

Oh my gosh was this thing so tasty (and so huge). Even though I’m pretty sure I went into sugar overload after eating this baby, it was so worth it. But I will say that I am glad there isn’t a Mike’s Pastry in Chicago, that would be dangerous ;)

Our eyes were definitely bigger than our stomachs and we picked up three more to take back to the hotel room. Whoops. Cannoli-overload.

We walked around a bit after dinner and then headed back to the hotel and even though its only 10:30 Chicago-time I am about to face plant into bed.

Another busy day tomorrow… how are you spending your weekend?