Feel good, French style

Last week, we talked about finding your fitness fixette – activities which maximize your enjoyment and integrate into your daily routine.  My own fixette is two-fold. On the one hand, walking. My feet take me almost everywhere, and I practice focusing my mind, a never-ending challenge.

Lately, I’m also hooked on my Latin dance class. It’s the perfect combination of music, movement, and an addictive instructor, Michael. His Brazilian bumbum is perfection (more on Brazilian bumbums below).

Photo by AleRoda

If you haven’t yet sprung into action, here are some more practical ideas to get energized from office to home to hotel room.

1. Office revivers:

- Release some endorphins. Instead of reaching for coffee or snacks, get up, stretch your legs and hit the stairs or a mini-trampoline (order on amazon.com). What better way to feel like a kid again in between your million dollar deals?

- Drink in energy. Make a plan with a colleague or two to replace Starbuck runs with a walk around the block and a green juice. Fresh air and live nutrients will rejuvenate you instead of depleting you.

- Adjust your posture. Good ergonomics at the office keep your neck and shoulders relaxed. Check-in regularly to see that your spine is straight, your feet on the floor, your wrists flat, and your monitor at eye-level.

2. Business trip solutions:

- Give yourself permission to do less. When you’re travelling and over-scheduled, fitness can fall by the wayside. Instead of dropping it entirely, take the pressure off. Jog 15 minutes on the treadmill instead of your usual 30 minute run, for example. Zap business dinner calories by doing this first thing on an empty stomach.

- Play the Pick-up Game. Annemarie Colbin, the founder of the Natural Gourmet Institute (foodandhealing.com), suggests spending a few minutes in your hotel room picking up things and putting them down (i.e. chairs, bags, lamps). A quirky way to get your heart moving and practice lifting from your core.

- Pack your favorite DVD. From yoga to Core Fusion to groovy dance, most of your activities back home come in to-go versions. Gaiam.com offers a complete selection. If you don’t have time for a full class, feel like you’ve done something nice for yourself by doing a portion.

3. “I’m too busy” solutions:

- Hit the Wall. To tone your thighs, try the Invisible Chair. With your back against the wall and your legs as wide as your shoulders, pretend to sit in a chair and hold 30 seconds. Repeat 3 times during the day.

The Lazy Push-Up means you don’t have to even touch the floor. Put your hands flat against the wall and do 20 push-ups, paying attention to your breathing.

- Move your bumbum with a trainer. Getting a professional’s support with your fitness endeavors often makes the difference between aspiration and reality. Recently, I was introduced to a holistic fitness coach, Brenda Vongova, who takes a joyful and intelligent approach to movement.

The Harvard-educated Brenda works with a small number of clients because she saves the world by day at the United Nations. She specializes in slimming and redesigning the body holistically. Her Body Lift program takes only 20 minutes a day and can be done anywhere, without equipment. You can also add on the Vongova Tummy Tuck routine, or her Brazil-inspired Bumbum Lift (vongova.com; tel. 917 561 0451).

Who’s joining me in Ipanema?

Live épanoui*!

Elisa

* in full bloom

Photo by Stella Brazil

Swimsuit season is almost upon us, which means wriggling your toes in the sand, feeling the sun on your back and taking deep breaths of salty sea air as coconut sunscreen tickles your nose. It also means your winter body might need a boost before you emerge from your pareo.

With warmer weather beckoning us out of doors, there’s no better time to get ready to hit the beach. But more than just vanity, getting swimsuit ready is about feeling good in your body. That starts with thinking about how you’re moving in the day-to-day.

Here’s my advice for finding your fitness fixette. Unlike other addictions though, this one is good for you.

1. Integrate movement into your daily life.

Whether you’re an avid runner or have fallen off the wagon, there’s a case to be made for integrating more movement into your routine. To paraphrase Oprah, one thing I know for sure is that your body wasn’t created to sit in front of a computer. Observe any animal or child, and you’ll see that living things move. A recent study showed that the traditional recommendation of moving 30 minutes a day probably isn’t enough. Double that is better.

Start stretching your legs. Discover the little joys you get from a few minutes of jumping, dancing, walking or carrying your own groceries. Make walking or biking a part of your commute or socializing. Use the stairs. Dance with your kids.

These little things help you start relating to your body in a different way – not as a slightly foreign object to be tamed on the treadmill, but as your bosom buddy, on the mat and off.

2. Maximize your enjoyment.

Forget the gym, unless you love it. Motivation will take you as far as buying your membership, but only inspiration will keep you coming back. Figure out what kinds of activities get your heart singing – dance, martial arts, yoga, tennis – and make this your focus.

With a few techniques to maximize your enjoyment, you can find your groove, or what Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi calls flow (see his classic Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience.) He recommends to:

• set goals and be able to measure your progress against those goals;
• bring awareness to what you are doing so that mind and body are integrated; and
• raise the stakes if you get bored.

In our society, we’re pretty good at setting goals to run faster, swim further or jump higher, but bringing awareness to what we’re doing requires practice.

You want to try and bring your mind’s attention away from the past or the future, and into the present. Focus on your breath and the sensations in your body.

3. Ease into your own shape.

There’s so much pressure in our milieus to look a certain way. These days, a “perfect” yoga body and tightly toned triceps go with a stellar career and a thriving family.

Some people enjoy molding and shaping their body to meet their aspirations.

For others, it’s important to take stock of your priorities and where you want to spend your time. Give yourself permission to settle into your own shape.

That shape shifts and changes with the seasons, and with the phases of your life. As Deepak Chopra explains, “Our body is a process, not a structure.” It’s influenced by all the activities we undertake daily – digestion, sleep, movement, thoughts.

Stay in your process by moving in ways you enjoy daily and bringing awareness to that movement. That’s how you feel at home in your body, and very much at home in your bikini.

Live épanoui*!

Elisa

* in full bloom

P.S. One reader shares, “ I love to walk fast and dance in silly ways to make my baby laugh.”

Have 5 minutes? Want to do something good for yourself? This week, here’s your first 5 Minutes to Feel Good plan, Take a Crunch Break.

No abdominal crunches involved here. Instead, make your mouth happy and relieve tension with crunchy foods. It’s common to crave crunchy foods if you tend to eat too fast and aren’t thoroughly chewing and enjoying your food. Your body misses the act of chewing. Think of it like your mouth asking for a work-out.

Here are some of my favorite ways to take a crunch break.

1. Suzie’s Thin Cakes

These take the rice cake to a whole new level. Suzie’s puffs grains such as rice, spelt and kamut and presses them into a thin, satisfying square. You can choose savory flavors or agave-sweetened. Find them at your local grocery or on organicdirect.com.

2. Designer crudités

The French often start their meal with delicious crudités (raw vegetables), including simple salads such as grated carrots, creamy celery root and vinegary cucumbers. Do you equate raw veggies with boring carrot and celery sticks made for rabbits and dieters? Make your munching designer.

Endives, fennel and radishes, for example, bring you bitter, sweet, and peppery flavors. I wash them at home and then stash them in my bag, dunking them in vinaigrette or olive oil if I’m in the mood. I also prefer whole carrots to baby peeled carrots. They’re heartier, not as sweet, and much cheaper.

3. Raw and Ready to Eat

You don’t have to eat raw all the time to benefit from raw foodmakers’ amazing snacks. Brands such as Raw Revolution (rawindulgence.com), Lydia’s Organics (lydiasorganics.com) and Two Moms in the Raw (twomomsintheraw.com) are changing how we munch. They offer foods with a life force, whose nutrients and body-catalyzing enzymes remain intact. Check out their sites or your local Whole Foods or health food store.

Natural foods eatery Pret a Manger (French for Ready to Eat, aka “Pret”) bags organic popcorn for your office snack attacks. Pret pioneered the high-quality “fast” food market when they set-up shop in London in 1986. Now they have over two dozen locations in Manhattan, plus D.C. and Chicago (pret.com).

Live épanoui*!

Elisa

* in full bloom

Whether the sun is shining, or it’s pouring rain, swapping out Winter’s dark layers for the light, bright shades of Spring puts a smile on your face. A favorite sundress or a new lipstick lifts your mood as quickly as a good espresso enjoyed outside on a first sunny morning.

But more than a burst of color to brighten your day, finding your personal style, that look that translates your sensibilities to the outside world, is an integral part of your sense of épanoui. Little personal touches here and there can make you feel like a million bucks.

This season features tried and true trends – military, florals, little white dresses – along with simple, bold new shapes orchestrated by designers such as Phoebe Philo at Céline and Christophe Decarnin at Balmain. There’s a nice, neutral palette at work (white, beige, khaki, denim) offering the ideal backdrop for your favorite colors and personal accessories.

The couture-inspired collections at retailers such as Zara (zara.com) freshen up your closet without breaking the bank.

Here’s a grab bag of ideas to get your creative juices flowing.

Liberty of London for Target. Photo courtesy Trust Collective.

1. Play with prints.

My addiction to prints started the evening my mother slipped into her Yves Saint Laurent black crepe evening dress strewn with red half moons. Prints are so good at inviting you to take a second look, losing yourself in the swirls, the patterns and the colors.

Kate Sheldon Dubas, former Couture buyer for Neiman Marcus, and President and CEO of Fashioneering, LLC explains, “prints are personal.” Rely on them to convey a particular mood or sensibility and add interest to your look.

Kate and I loved the Liberty collection for Target recently (target.com). The patterns, design, quality and pricing add up to a noteworthy collection. It’s not too late to scoop up some clothes and homeware on line.

You can also get your dose of Liberty from M.A.C.’s new Spring make-up collection Give Me Liberty (maccosmetics.com). What a day-brightener to get out a peacock and flower-printed lipstick case instead of the usual black!

2. Imagine yourself on the beaches of Normandy.

Since it was sent down the runway with bold shoulders and sequined embroidery, the sailor stripe is having another moment. Whether you opt for the classic or the embellished, it’s a fool-proof Spring staple.

Coco Chanel was the first to turn a traditional fisherman’s jersey into a relaxed, seaside look appropriate for the ladies who lounged in Deauville, the still chic seaside resort in Normandy.

J. Crew has partnered with the Saint James knit company (based in Normandy since 1889) to offer their authentic, nautical tee this season, a unisex version in navy or white (jcrew.com).

3. Discover some mouth-watering finds.

The easiest way I’ve stumbled upon to brighten my day this season are Chanel’s new Rouge Coco lipsticks. It was hard not to be tempted by the gorgeous ad campaign featuring French actress and chanteuse Vanessa Paradis (also wife to Johnny Depp in one of the best French-American unions going).

After wearing lip gloss for so long, I’m rediscovering the pleasure of feeling like a femme fatale. Just be sure to pick a color which works with your skin’s undertones. The queen of wearable make-up Bobbi Brown advises choosing a color near to that of your own lips.

A shot of color on your lips, what about a bright bag on your hips? Designer Jérôme Dreyfuss opened his first stateside boutique in Soho a few weeks ago. He does color the way only the Europeans know how, offering eye-catching hues that are still chic (473 Broome St., New York, 212 334 6920, jerome-dreyfuss.com).

Bouquets aren’t meant for wearing, but it’s impossible to resist the temptation of dressing up the living room with a bright bunch of blooms. Caroline Bailly’s L’Atelier Rouge in Soho takes floral and event design to a new level (270 Lafayette St., New York, 212 226 4636, latelierrouge.com ).

If these Spring ideas have gotten your mouth watering, or you need a new lunch idea, pay a visit to mid-town East eatery Delectica. This neighborhood cafe features fresh, quality ingredients with a Mediterranean spin (564 Third Ave., New York, 212 986 1616, delectica.com).

Starting this Saturday, April 10, Delectica will be showing the food photographs Leslie Kobrin captured during her past year of travel in Paris, London and Seoul (thel-list.com). Her goal is to transport you out of your daily routine for a moment of visual enjoyment and maybe leave you a little hungry along the way…

Live épanoui*!

Elisa

* in full bloom