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my blue print juice cleanse: the highs and lows

blueprintjuice
By On December 10, 2011 In food, friends With 4 Comments Permanent Link to my blue print juice cleanse: the highs and lowsPermalink
Blueprintjuice

This weekend I'm finishing up a three day juice cleanse from Blue Print Cleanse.  I did my first one back in March, so this is the second time I've committed to three days of liquid nutrition.  I wanted to do the cleanse because I just wasn't feeling my best lately.  With two children and a full-time work schedule, my eating habits can take a turn for the worst if I don’t make meal-planning a priority.  Failing to plan healthy meals has thrown my Starbucks-to-salad ratio completely out of whack.  When I stepped on the scale and noticed an extra few pounds, I was ready to get back on track and I thought Blue Print would be a great way to get a kick-start.

 

The Highs:

·       Convenience.  The bottled juices, numbered 1-6 for each day, couldn’t be easier.

·       No coffee cravings!  Instead of my usual morning coffee, I had black tea with agave each morning.  I normally crave coffee even after drinking tea, but I haven’t been missing it at all and no headaches either!

·       Weight loss. I said goodbye to about 4 pounds of water weight this time, last time, when I followed the plan more strictly I lost about 7 pounds.  (Some of this comes back within about a week after resuming regular eating, depending on diet and water consumption post-cleanse.)

·       Feeling cleaner and lighter.  No congestion, easier breathing, and no sugar or caffeine crashes, are just a few of the ways I feel better.

·       Nutrition.  BPC is a nutrient-rich product with a fairly reasonable number of calories per day.  

·       Taste.  The cashew milk is my favorite.

 

The Lows:

·       Hunger.  Throughout the day, I felt surprisingly satisfied, but towards the end of each day, I did get hungry.  I did the BPC Renovation Cleanse, which offers 1,070 calories daily.  This is a lot better than some other popular cleanses, but I still found that was not quite enough for me, and I supplemented with a little more food.

·       Socializing?  It is nearly impossible to socialize without eating and drinking.  Food is one of the most fundamental ways people connect and celebrate with each other, which is one of the first things you notice when you stop eating normally!

·       Taste. I'm not a big fan of ginger, or beets, so the beet juice was a little tough for me to take, and although the green juice has grown on me, I struggled with it during my first cleanse.

 

To deal with these issues, I didn’t freak out about sticking to the system perfectly.  I wanted to feel better, not more stressed!  I allowed myself a glass of champagne at a holiday party, a salad with hummus and avocado, or even a few marshmallows that were calling to me at one point.  I’m glad I did the cleanse, and I’m reminded of a few important things that make me feel great, which I plan to start doing again right away, like:

 

·       Drinking lots of water

·       Eating a big salad every day

·       Indulging in delicious sweets and fancy coffees occasionally, not daily

 

Blue Print Cleanse is available online, and at select pickup locations, including exhale Battery Wharf and exhale Back Bay, where you can buy single juices and see how you like them before committing to a full cleanse.

 

 

this weekend: take the stress out of holiday shopping

By On November 18, 2011 In friends, happy living With No Comments Permanent Link to this weekend: take the stress out of holiday shoppingPermalink

 


A few ideas to take the stress out of your holiday shopping this year:

  • Start early!  By starting before Thanksgiving, you can beat the crowds and begin to put a dent in your list, so that you can spend more of your holidays enjoying the festivities, family, and friends that go along with the season. 

 

  • Haven’t made your list yet?  This weekend could be a great time to get this done.  While you’re at it, decide how much you can afford to spend, and make a commitment to stick within your budget.  

 

  • Shop online.  A crowded and unproductive trip to the mall last weekend sealed the deal for me.  I’ll be doing most of my shopping from the convenience of home this year!  I’ll return to my favorite stores some time after the holidays, but in the meantime, sites like etsy.com make it possible to use the web even for unique and handmade gifts.

 

  • **Shameless Plug Alert** Check out exhale’s Holiday Retail Therapy event next Friday 11/25 to enjoy a festive atmosphere with special boutique discounts and giveaways, snacks, and mini spa therapies.  Bring the kids along for complimentary yoga classes while you shop!  Exhale Battery Wharf will offer kids yoga from 9:30-10:15am and 11-11:45am. 

Also this weekend: 

  • Don’t forget to sweat!   When you’re done shopping, maybe take advantage of some new weekend Core Fusion classes being offered at exhale Battery Wharf starting this week?  Saturday 4:45 Core Fusion Open with Chrissy Snyder, and Sunday 4:45 Core Fusion Cardio with Meg Scannell.  Or for the best de-stress, try Exhale Yin yoga with Martica Wakeman Sunday at 4:30 for some deep stretching and relaxation!

Happy shopping and Namaste!

lululemon ambassador summit summer 2011 part 5 of 5: have fun!

By On November 16, 2011 In featured, friends, travels and adventures With No Comments Permanent Link to lululemon ambassador summit summer 2011 part 5 of 5: have fun!Permalink

Vancouver was a blast!  Here are a few of my favorite fun times…

Shopping at the lululemon lab 

The lululemon lab is a magical place where designers like the lovely ladies above cook up new and interesting ideas, stitch them together on site, and sell them in limited quantities to test them out before deciding what goes into future lululemon collections.  The items in the lab are so fresh the tags are handwritten!  Baggy crotch pants were all the rage here, and I grabbed a pair of Unisex Yogi Tights (a.k.a. my man pants) that have definitely become a quirky favorite of mine.  The only way to experience the lab is to visit Vanouver!

Stand up paddle surfing (and yoga) at Kits Beach…

When it was time to choose an “adventure activity,” it was really tough to turn down hiking the famous Grouse Grind, but having come all the way to the west coast, I just HAD to get into the water!  I know SUP surfing is really popular,  and I am told you can have a lot of fun when there are real waves but I have to admit, on flat water, I get antsy after a while.  This prompted me to ditch the paddle and climb aboard for some SUP yoga.  Now THAT was fun, and very challenging!

 Last but certainly not least: the BEST karaoke session EVER!

I realize I don’t get out all that much, but DANG people, I had NO IDEA that there were places where you could get your own private room to do karaoke!  Mind-blowing.  Once again I have to give credit to Sue Jones for rounding up the amazing crew and making sure this epic event happened, and I could not have asked for a more fun, fabulous bunch of people to share the good times with.  

THANK YOU to everyone at lululemon, and to my fellow ambassadors for this incredible experience!  And most importantly, thank you for putting up with my singing!!

xoxo Andrea a.k.a…

lululemon ambassador summit summer 2011 part 4 of 5: get inspired

By On November 9, 2011 In featured, friends, happy living, travels and adventures With 1 Comment Permanent Link to lululemon ambassador summit summer 2011 part 4 of 5: get inspiredPermalink

If Ihad a ‘mission’ when I embarked on my ambassador summit experience it was this:

  • Get inspired – set more audacious goals and decide what my next big project will be.

I knew that the ambassador summit would include discussions around goal-setting, and given the emphasis on goals in lululemon culture, I believed that I might be in for some of the biggest ideas and inspirations of my life.  After all, this is the community that came up with the concept of the BHAG – Big Hairy Audacious Goal.  Before leaving for Vancouver, I tried to prepare myself.  I revisited my existing set of goals.  I asked myself whether I might be holding back anywhere, could I be more daring, should I think bigger?  I also trimmed away anything that didn’t seem exciting anymore.  I arrived at the summit with a shiny four page spreadsheet of goals in hand.  (Seriously, four pages.)

The next morning I awoke, and proceeded to a community yoga session.  As 100+ people sat in meditation breathing in the rubbery smell of their new lululemon yoga mats in the hotel ballroom, our teacher asked us to set an intention for the day.  One word came to mind.  “Possibility.”  I chose to focus on being open to new possibilities as my intention for the rest of what was to come.  Sure enough, the presenters in the goal workshop later that morning spoke of possibility almost immediately.  They spoke about how beliefs and experiences from the past can prevent us from thinking as big as we might about the future.  They encouraged us to clear away the past and “stand in nothing” when setting goals so that we would not allow the outdated beliefs to limit us in any way.

When we were invited to take a fresh look at our goals, I thought this new insight might help me take mine to the next level.  And then, when I put pen to paper…. nothing happened.  In fact, I got stuck.  I even began to second-guess my existing set of goals.  Were they coming from “above the line” – positivity, passion, inspiration, joy?  Or were they coming from somewhere “below the line?”  I walked out of the session feeling a little dazed and disappointed in myself for not having the breakthrough I had imagined.

It turns out that in this department, I came home from the summit with the opposite of what I thought I’d get.  I didn’t get any new big ideas.  I found out I didn’t need to outsmart myself in this area – my goals were already big and audacious!  Instead, I focused on another point that was touched on in the goal session, which was the concept of having too many goals.  I realized that yep, I had too many!  Spreading myself too thin in this way was not only diluting my efforts, but taking some of the joy out of the goals as well.  Since returning from the summit, I have been working on revising my goals so that I can fit them onto one page, instead of four!  It’s a work in progress, but it’s going well.  Getting clear on your intentions for your life is a good idea for many reasons: it allows you to steer your course in the direction you really want to go instead of drifting.  It reminds you to focus your energy on things that are truly meaningful to you.  It helps you uncover your greatness.  But most importantly, and this is what I had to remind myself, setting goals is about creating a life you LOVE.

A few great resources for goal setting from the lululemon blog:

http://www.lululemon.com/community/blog/create-a-vision-and-set-your-goals/

http://www.lululemon.com/community/blog/our-favourite-digital-goal-setting-tools/

Enjoy, and remember to HAVE FUN!  :) 

xoxo Andrea

mindbodyblissful.com

lululemon ambassador summit summer 2011 part 3 of 5: lululemon culture

By On November 2, 2011 In featured, friends, travels and adventures With No Comments Permanent Link to lululemon ambassador summit summer 2011 part 3 of 5: lululemon culturePermalink
closing remarks from lululemon founder chip wilson at the final dinner, brock house, vancouver

My second objective on the summit was to learn more about lululemon’s amazing corporate culture, and how I could apply it to my own life and work.   This was an area where I was left hungry for more.  There is so much to learn from this innovative, highly successful company, and I’m pretty sure it would take more than a couple of days to get through everything I wanted to know about how they do business, and most importantly, how they interact with each other.  On their website, the “culture” page simply brings you to an image of the lululemon manifesto:

This kind of parallels my inquiry into lululemon culture at the ambassador summit.  For the most part, what I got was an immersion in the community and the values of that community, not a how-to manual.  The folks at lululemon talk often about “elevating the world from mediocrity to greatness,” which is admirable, and I think one way they could do that is to share more info on how to apply some of their business practices, which are interesting enough to have spurred Harvard Business School to conduct an in-depth study (filmed in part at exhale Back Bay in Boston with ambassador Amy Leydon!) a couple years back.  This recent article does a good job of breaking down several of the key components of lululemon culture such as:

  • Goal setting and accountability
  • Immediate feedback/being real
  • Personal connections/community
  • Developing people to be leaders in the world

We spent a lot of time at the summit going over the goal setting piece: clearing away any limitations from past, standing in possibility, and daring to aim for greatness.  I’m really grateful for that, and will discuss in greater depth in my next post.  Outside of goal setting, there’s so much more I still want to learn!  Especially around the area of developing others.  As I continue to learn, I’ll definitely write more on this topic.

For now, I want to shine the spotlight on the lulu that had the biggest impact on me at the ambassador summit.  That person was Allessia, lululemon’s digital storyteller, and keeper of the lulu blog.  Sometimes a brief discussion can be just the inspiration that we need. I was sharing with Allessia how writing is so important to me that I sometimes get paralyzed by my desire to do it perfectly.  Since I don’t feel I have time to make it perfect, I end up writing nothing at all…  Her simple reply was a philosophy she had picked up at a training with some peeps from Facebook:

DONE IS BETTER THAN PERFECT.

This is my new mantra!  And I am getting so much more DONE.  Thanks Allessia, and thanks lululemon for the wisdom and insights, and please, keep it coming!  :)

Part 4 of this 5 part ambassador summit series will be posted next Wednesday.

P.S. If you haven’t checked it out yet, please stop by the lululemon blog and read my post on the benefits of barre!

new mind body blissful barre article on the lululemon athletica blog!

By On October 29, 2011 In featured, friends, mind body fitness With No Comments Permanent Link to new mind body blissful barre article on the lululemon athletica blog!Permalink

It is such an honor to contribute to the lululemon athletica blog!!  Check it out:

After discovering one of my old dance recital VHS a few years back, I did two things. I wondered why my parents kept me enrolled in a dance program for so long and I vowed to stay clear of a dance floor for the rest of my life. That was until I discovered a fitness class where I found myself plié-ing and elevé-ing at the barre once more and, surprisingly, quite liking it. Our Boston-based Core Fusion Ambassador, Andrea Isabelle Lucas, takes us back to first position with the benefits of barre.

barre background

For decades, devotees have transformed their health through this practice, which provides the perfect balance of safe and challenging work through a blend of yoga, Pilates and ballet. Lotte Berk (a professional Ballerina) created this practice when she blended orthopedic exercises with her dance training while rehabbing an injury. These days we are seeing an explosion of Lotte Berk-inspired barre programs under a variety of names (Core Fusion, Nalini Method, Bar Method, Barre Fitness, Physique 57, Dailey Method, Rasamaya Barre).

benefits of barre

Regular practice (three to five times a week) can increase muscle density, decrease body fat, improve flexibility and posture and rev up your metabolism. The hour-long class is a blend of strength training with our own body weight or light hand weights, interval cardio and lots of stretching.  The ballet-inspired workout focuses on incredibly efficient, tiny movements. Take our average sit-­up. There is about a one-inch range of motion that makes up the most challenging and beneficial part of that exercise – we’ll call it the sweet spot.  In a barre class, we’ll spend several minutes holding and working with tiny pulses in that sweet spot until our muscles not only burn but also shake with fatigue. Each muscle group is stretched immediately after it’s worked which promotes longer, leaner muscles and better recovery so we’re less sore the next day.

Don’t be fooled by its ballet roots, even though it looks graceful, it’s anything but effortless. Are you ready to return to the barre – even if your childhood experience was as embarrassing and uncoordinated as mine?

View the original article at http://www.lululemon.com/community/blog/barre-fitness/

lululemon ambassador summit summer 2011 part 2 of 5: meet amazing people!

By On October 26, 2011 In featured, friends, travels and adventures With 1 Comment Permanent Link to lululemon ambassador summit summer 2011 part 2 of 5: meet amazing people!Permalink

Representin' Boston: Sue Jones, Jenny Anania, Sarah Gardner, and moi

One of the biggest things I hoped to get out of my time at the lululemon ambassador summit was to  meet amazing and inspiring people.  Check!  This part was a slam dunk.  There is just no way I can do justice to all the incredible ambassadors and lululemon associates that I met on this trip, so I will focus on just a small handful of ambassadors who made a big impression on me, and why I find them so inspiring:

Sue Jones:

Sue is a Boston area yoga teacher and founder of a non-profit organization called yogaHOPE (Healing Ourselves through Personal Empowerment.)  YogaHOPE’s site explains that:

YogaHOPE was created to facilitate access to yoga and meditation education specifically for women experiencing debilitating life transitions – those establishing independence from domestic violence, self-sufficiency from homelessness, recovery from drug addiction, or rehabilitation after mental illness.

 I really admire yogaHOPE’s mission and hope to get involved myself.  Sue has a natural gift for empowering others to tap into their authentic selves.  She is a proud, playful mom of two boys, has a surprisingly deep appreciation for Justin Bieber, and is SO good at karaoke.  Her rendition of Queen’s “Somebody to Love” might have changed my life.  :)

Sarah Gardner:

Another Boston local and mom of two working to elevate the world is Sarah Gardner, the founder of Yoga Reaches Out, a non-profit whose mission is  “to bring the yoga community together to create seva (selfless service). Through the gift of yoga, Yoga Reaches Out focuses on raising funds for organizations that impact the health, education, and well-being of children.”   Next year - May 6 2012, YRO will take over Gillette Stadium for a Yogathon led by Baron Baptiste to benefit Children’s Hospital Boston and Africa Yoga Project.  I’ll be there!  Sarah inspires others to be grateful for their good fortune and to give back to those in need. 

Jenny Anania:

Jenny was my roommate on the summit, and we have a lot in common!  She is a fellow barre teacher, and owner of Secret Physique studios in Pembroke and Quincy Massachusetts.  She named her studios after one of my favorite books, The Secret by Rhonda Byrne.  Jenny is a strong believer in the law of attraction, and is passionate about positive thinking and positive energy.  She goes out of her way to keep her vibration up, by consuming movies and books that lift her up instead of bringing her down, avoiding tabloid news, spending lots of time with family, and exercising often.  She’d like to see a major shift in mainstream media where good news is the regular order of business.  I’m with you girlfriend!

Relaxing with Rupa Mehta at Kitts Beach after some SUP surfing
 Rupa Mehta:
Rupa is another barre teacher and studio owner.  She got her start at the Lotte Berk Method with my mentors Elisabeth Halfpapp and Fred DeVito, and is now the creator and owner of the Nalini Method (named after Rupa’s mom), with a studio on NYC’s Upper West Side.  Rupa inspires me as a writer.  She wrote  Connect to Your One both to empower others, and as a sort of thank you letter to her parents for the lessons she has learned from them throughout her life.  It is a quick read – I read it on the flight to Vancouver, and yet it left a positive impression on me and I often think back to some of the concepts in her book.  I appreciated the encouragement she gave me that my goal of publishing a book is totally doable.  Thank you Rupa!
Shakthi Paramasivam and Sarah Gardner – good times at karaoke

Shakthi Paramasivam:

Where to begin?  Shakthi is a yoga teacher and owner of Studio Kashi in Twinsburg, Ohio.  He has more energy than any human being I have ever seen, crazy dance skills, and he simply radiates joie de vivre and love for everyone around him.  The thing I find most amazing about Shakthi is that he is a certified firewalking instructor!  Crazy right?  I was fascinated as he described the workshops he leads where people face their fears, not only walking on fire, but by performing other crazy feats like bending construction rebar with their throats.  What?!  As Shakthi explained, this type of activity goes deeper than reading a book, listening to a speech, or having an inspiring conversation because it is a physical experience that changes you and leaves a lasting impression on your whole being.  Amazing.  I’m in, come to Boston Shakthi and lead a workshop!

Many of the people who had an impact on me during my experience at the summit were the lululemon associates themselves.  More on them, and other aspects of lululemon culture in my next post.  Please check back next Wednesday!  Thanks!

mindbodyblissful.com

this weekend: pranavayu yoga teacher training

By On October 21, 2011 In friends, mind body fitness With No Comments Permanent Link to this weekend: pranavayu yoga teacher trainingPermalink
ommm… the tranquil yoga studio at exhale battery wharf, photo by kristin teig

This weekend I’ll be spending three days inside the yoga studio at exhale Battery Wharf.  Why would I spend my entire weekend at my place of work?  For some good company, good yoga, and the exciting journey to becoming a yoga teacher with PranaVayu yoga creator David Magone.   It’s been an exciting morning already.  I’ve tried some new poses — with some degree of success – based on the personalized practice that David created for each of us.  More on that soon!  What I love about the PranaVayu style is the perfect blend of feeling challenged, yet successful during class, feeling engaged (not bored!), yet relaxed – I leave every class feeling refreshed, calm, and strong.

Lucky for us, there are lots of opportunities to take a PranaVayu class in Boston, with David Magone, or with other certified PranaVayu instructors.  I can’t wait to be on that list as well!

Happy weekend, namaste!

lululemon ambassador summit summer 2011 part 1 of 5

By On October 19, 2011 In featured, friends, travels and adventures With No Comments Permanent Link to lululemon ambassador summit summer 2011 part 1 of 5Permalink
Artist’s note: Wonder Woman is not drowning. She is my reflection. Obviously. ;)

Have you ever gone on a retreat or conference, and afterward felt like you needed another retreat just to sort out all the new concepts you’ve taken in?  That’s pretty much how I felt the entire month of September!
 
This summer, I was extremely fortunate to have been able to attend the summer 2011 lululemon ambassador summit in Vancouver, BC, where lululemon is headquartered.  Since becoming an ambassador last December, I’ve been very eager to attend a summit, and I am deeply grateful to my lovely family at the lululemon athletica Prudential Center store for choosing to send me on this journey!

Before leaving for the summit, I thought about what I hoped to get from the experience. I came up with:

  • Meet amazing people
  • Learn about lululemon culture and how to bring it to my own work and life
  • Get inspired – set more audacious goals and decide what my next big project will be, and
  • Have fun!
     

While some of these were a slam-dunk, others proved more elusive and required more time to process.  I’ll be discussing my experience around each of the areas mentioned above, sharing photos and exploring what I learned.  Please read part 2 of my summit story next Wednesday!

 

mindbodyblissful.com

core fusion named boston’s best by improper bostonian!

By On July 9, 2011 In friends, mind body fitness With 1 Comment Permanent Link to core fusion named boston’s best by improper bostonian!Permalink

Once again, the Improper Bostonian has recognized Core Fusion with a Boston’s Best award for Best Exercise Class, Mind and Body!  Visit exhalespa.com to find our class schedule and try it for yourself!

A die-hard Core Fusion following exists for one simple reason: The class works. Students build better butts, stronger abs and leaner thighs through a combination of core conditioning, Pilates, the Lotte Berk Method, interval cardio training and yoga. “Within a month you are going to feel a difference in how your clothes fit,” says instructor Denise Crowe. With roughly 70 Core Fusion classes offered each week, plus a new Core Fusion boot camp, the workout is as flexible as your body soon will be.

AND lululemon was also honored for having Boston’s Best Workout Clothing!  Yeah!!

Whether you’re hoofing down the Esplanade, stretching on a yoga mat or pumping iron, these athletic clothes perform as beautifully as they look. Fitness fashionistas know the yoga pants (available in several lengths) are guaranteed to make their bottom half look like their better half. The go-to label for cute wraparounds, chic hoodies, high-performance tanks and bras that don’t quit, Lululemon’s togs transition from yoga studio chic to streetwear in a snap. While the stores provide fantastic service, it’s no stretch to say their free shipping is a strong perk.

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