Month: October 2009

My roommate suggested when I told her about my idea for this site that I should add posts about my favorite meals. Now, this didn’t really occur to me seeing as I had already thought up a ‘coming soon’ recipe section for healthy cooking and baking but now seems like an obvious suggestion. Now I’m not going to bore  you with mundaneness of me eating an apple, or some raisins, etc. However, from time to time I’ll let you in on some yummy meals I prepare that will hopefully give you some easy to whip up healthy ideas for your day to day!

Today’s yummy selections include:

Raspberry Vanilla Soy Oatmeal : simply heat up a cup of Light Vanilla Soy Milk, add 1/2 cup of Quick Oats and fresh Raspberries or I personally heat up some frozen raspberries and make a raspberry compote of sorts and mix it in. Either way, it’s the perfect comfort food any time of day! Sweet, satisfying and healthy with the added bonus of being completely Vegan!

Scrambled Eggs with Grilled Eggplant : this one was inspired by some left over grilled eggplant I had from a few nights ago but ended up being delicious! So first, if you don’t have left over grilled eggplant – you can substitute it for any other left over veggie – or just grill it yourself. Cut the eggplant as thin as your expertise will allow and lay it out on paper towels. Press another paper towel on top of the slices to get rid of some of the moisture and put them in a frying pan with some Extra Virgin Olive Oil drizzled on top. I’d keep them their till their sufficiently browned for sweetness’ sake. Now you can simply cut them up into smaller pieces  for your eggs. I use one yolk and 3 egg whites and added a little rice milk for fluffiness. Mix em all together and throw it in your frying pan that you’ve sprayed with some fat-free non-stick cooking spray. A yummy,low- fat, delicious, protein packed, Vegetarian breakfast (or anytime meal).

Located walking distance from Union Square on University Place, The Grey Dog has climbed my list of favorite NYC eats. They also have another location on Carmine Street in the West Village and one coming soon to Chelsea on 16th street. Set up like an old school London pub, you wait online to order and pay for your food and then are sat at one of their cozy tables. The menu is extensive and mouth watering even for a skinny chick. They have a large array of iced and hot beverages and gluten free/sugar free baked goods!

I ordered an iced Green Tea and a #7 Sandwich which is thinly sliced turkey with Brie, sliced green apples and a raspberry mustard and comes on your choice of freshly baked bread. I chose whole grain like a good little skinny chick. The sandwich was huge and definitely enough for two meals, it tasted AMAZING and will probably be the #1 thing I will miss if/when I go Vegan.

My roommate ordered an Arnold Palmer (lemonade & iced tea)and baked Oatmeal. She thought the baked oatmeal was fabulous. It’s made with brown sugar and raisins and served in a bowl of steamed milk. It looked absolutely amazing and I’m not sure if they use whole or skim but I’m pretty sure if you requested skim or soy it wouldn’t be a problem. A possible Vegan (with Soy) and skinny chick favorite as well.

Those were just the two dishes we sampled today. I’m sure we will return, seeing as it was such a positive experience and I promise to review more of the menu for you. ;) For now, check out their website http://thegreydog.com/ to see their whole menu and various locations. Feel free to comment with your favorite Grey Dog dishes as well!

It’s been a long, exhausting road for me when it comes to diets and exercise. I’ve tried everything, well almost everything, you could imagine. I’ve done Weight Watchers, Low-Carb, Low-Cal, Vegan, Juice fasts, etc. The thing is I’m not fat. In fact, some would even classify me on the thin side but what I haven’t found is something I can stick with. I’m on a constant search for a diet to end all diets or something to get me back on track. I’m also a gym rat. I love cardio and I adore yoga.  This has been my saving grace a lot of the time when I end another diet in disaster. However, this site is going to change all that. I’m going to stick it through, explore my options and help us both find the best lifestyle choices to stay skinny in the city.

However, I felt as a way to jump into this exploration, what better way to start than doing a cleanse! And what better cleanse than “The Master Cleanse”. I know some may feel skeptical or suspicious about the legitimacy of the Master Cleanse and I agree with your feelings completely and this is partly why I’m going to try it. I feel like the Master Cleanse is the urban legend of all detox diets. Everyone has heard about it, most people know someone who’s done it, and everyone wants to know if Beyonce really did lose 20lbs when she did it for a film. I’ve tried it before and was unsuccessful simply and most glaringly because I was able to talk myself out of doing it after a day or two. It’s so controversial, it’s easy to rationalize not doing it. To be completely honest, I’m flip-flopping between it or a juice fast to kick off this blog for numerous reasons. Either way, I think a cleanse/fast for a few days is a great way (for me personally) to get myself back in to a healthy mind set. After a few days (no need to torture yourself longer than a week and not wise to do for your metabolism anyway) of light/limited consumption you start to feel rejuvenated, refreshed and lighter. Once it’s over, decisions to make healthy choices become easier because you want to keep your body on the route to optimal health and feeling good.

Be warned, these are not for everyone! If you think at the end of your 5 -day cleanse or what not you are going to order a double-cheeseburger and fries from Mc Donalds..don’t even waste your time! Your metabolism does slow down, not dramatically, but enough to where you will put on weight if you go back to eat junk when your done. Why ruin all that hard work? Just don’t do it! Everyone is different, so if this is not for you just follow along my journey and begin your own. What’s your biggest vice? Do you eat a lot of fast food? Eat multiple servings at dinner? Load up on soda and sugary lattes? Whatever it is for you, take a baby steps, instead of fasting make the decision to only order take out one day this week or only have one can of soda a day. A little cut back can go a long way on the road to getting healthy and skinny!

Thanks for coming to check out ‘Skinny in the City’! I’m really excited to get started with this blog and help new yorkers (and anyone else interested) get skinny in the city. This site will be all about my journey to lose and keep off those last 5,10, 15lbs and will hopefully be full of useful information to anyone who wants to get healthy, stay in shape and get skinny! I will personally test drive some popular cleanses, detoxes, diets, fitness routines, etc so that you can get some first hand insight and feedback. I’ll also post recipes that are delicious AND low in fat and calories and keep you in the loop about some skinny spots around NYC for when you need to eat out.

To find out a little more about me and my personal reason for starting this site, check out the ‘About Me’ page. I’m also a huge fan of feedback and suggestions since this is supposed to be for YOU so feel free to email me at NYCSkinnyChick@gmail.com if you have any suggestions of cleanses, diets, detoxes, programs etc you would like to hear about on the site! And lastly follow me on twitter to get skinnystatus updates! :)