Day 6 Whole 30 - Bareburger

Tonight my parents and I ate at Bareburger  on 73rd and 1st. I had read that Bareburger's meat was grass-fed and that you could get your burger wrapped in a lettuce lead instead of a bun. I convinced the parents to support my paleo diet and go here over the standard pizza. (My parents love pizza. I do not. Who is the child here?)

I ordered two beef patties, medium rare, wrapped in lettuce. Iceberg is the only choice, although I think Boston or Bibb would've held up better. I got fried onions and mushrooms on one and raw red onions and country bacon on the other. They were pretty damn good. I was pretty pleased until one of my many pseudo-ex-boyfriends told me that Bareburger uses frozen meat. Meh.

I didn't have any cheese, sauces, or French fries. I did eat a few cornmeal crusted spicy pickle spears because they looked interesting and sounded tasty. So cornmeal is not paleo - I'll live.

This morning I went to Inside/Out with Jonathan followed by spinning with Carolyn. Good workouts but I felt a little lightheaded. If I'm not in perpetual carbo-loading mode, do I now need to eat breakfast before morning workouts?

A Lot of Pictures of My Feet

After spending all of Saturday in my pajamas inhaling pasta salad and deli meats, I prayed for divine intervention to fit into my spandex and went to the Woodbury Equinox. I loved the opportunity to go to Jonathan Carroll's Inside/Out class again. Those 3 lbs weights have my arms shaking and the glider makes my legs quiver. Speaking of quivering, I've been reading Fifty Shades of Grey for the third time and I'm back on the third book. I know I have a problem. Back to Jonathan's class - it's the micromovements that really make the difference. We did this thing where we laid on our sides, kept the lower leg bent and lifted the upper leg. The movements were so small but so killer. I could barely cross my legs after to stretch.

I conveniently sneaked out of Jonathan's class at 9:45 AM for a bathroom break and signed up for Carolyn Mellace's 10:15 AM spin class. The class was full for online sign up and I really wanted to go. After finishing Jonathan's class, I grabbed my spin shoes and headed upstairs.

Equinox redid the Woodbury location a few years ago and my only complaint is the studio cycling room is where the bathroom used to be. I chug water and I think my Ritalin makes me always have to pee and it's super annoying not to be able to quickly run out of class. I was thinking about this during class, which is the reason I share this here. I don't think anyone actually reads this blog, but if you do and you go to the Woodbury location, do you want to start a petition to get that Pilates room turned into a bathroom?

Carolyn's classes are awesome. Eclectic array of music. Great energy. She powers right on through the workout with you. We did A LOT of hills and my legs can definitely feel it. I also like that Carolyn motivates everyone to work hard and really sweat. I don't look pretty when I work out and I don't think others should either.

It's awesome when your face matches your shirt after spin class.

I prefer to shower at Equinox than my own home because the towels are warm and fluffy, the shower pressure is awesome, and each shower is stocked with Kiehl's. This is why I can never quit for another gym. Flywheel's showers were gross the other day even if they had Bliss Lemon Sage products in them. Oh, and there were only two showers! I don't even want to imagine what showers look like at Crossfits. No matter where I shower, I prefer to air dry. I spend a lot of time chilling in my towel. Sometimes I wonder if this bothers my colleagues when we room together for conferences.

Just sitting in a towel on Facebook in the locker room.

After the gym I went to get a manicure and pedicure.

Does this gold polish make it look like I have a toe fungus?
Be honest.

After Angel Tips, I fought for a parking spot at the Americana and went to lululemon to buy my sister a present. Mission successful. I also saw Tripp Doherty's lululemon ambassador poster on the wall, which is neat.

Tripp Doherty

This is a picture of me after the Christmas party I went to last weekend. Yes, I am wearing cowboy boots. Yes, I am wearing sunglasses. Yes, it's 2 AM.

Inside/Out

I made it to a workout class Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. I am on a roll (and trying to get rid of the one around my midsection)!

On Saturday I went to Tina Conway's Yoga Flow class. I finally was able to get my feet flat on the floor for downward dog. I was giddy with excitement, no joke.

I noticed that Raj Shtrom had a sub for her classes on Sunday and that Jonathan Carroll was teaching something called Inside/Out. Jonathan teaches the only Pilates classes I've ever taken that haven't made me want to go to the bathroom and never come back. I was really happy to have the chance to take a class with him and even more so when he remembered me after 2 years of being a no show!

Inside/Out was like a better Barre Burn, which, for those not in the know, is like a knock off (but superior?) version of Barre Method. We did so many leg lifts and demi plies I'm lucky my legs even move. There were so many women in the class that there was no chance to use the barres even if Jonathan had wanted us to, so instead we used flexi-bars. Flexi-bars are much difficult to use to keep steady than weighted body bars because the bend. I liked that it felt like I was paying special attention to the smaller muscles in my legs, back, and arms that I might ignore when doing other exercises.

We used very light weights for bicep, triceps, and shoulder work. After the lifting I did yesterday, I could really feel the 3 lbs weights. It sounds so incredibly light, but the small, slow movements add up.

I'm not the biggest fan of abdominal work but Jonathan made it almost painless. I think the best sign of a good workout class is when you find that an hour has flown by and you haven't looked at the clock. If Jonathan can get me to work my obliques without staring as the seconds count down, you know he's doing something right.

Inside/Out is offered at many Equinoxes but to have Jonathan, you'll need to visit the Long Island locations.

Here are some lululemon pieces that are good for classes like Barre Burn and Inside/Out. All of the women at Equinox seem to be in lululemon. I calculated that one lady's outfit, plus her lululemon bag was almost as much as my rent (okay more than half my rent but not as high as three-quarters.)

Back Burner Tank

Barre Pulse Pant

 I love these socks because they are so true. That being said, I go barefoot. If I were going to wear anything, I'd break out my old ballet slippers.

The Method Sock