Tag Archives: review

Lunch with a Vipr

This has felt like an incredibly long week, so I’ve been doing little things to make myself feel better all week.

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A spinach feta wrap this morning.

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Buying this gym bag that I’ve had my eye on for awhile (and then getting Equinox to do a price adjustment when I saw that Lululemon themselves sell it for $30 less.)

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A slice of whole-wheat toast with sunflower butter and chocolate chips as a snack last night.

And then, after hearing some not-so-awesome news at work today, I decided to have lunch with a vipr.

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Not a cobra.

I tried the Vipr class at Equinox at lunch today. I’m trying to remember to do more strength training, and this looked like an awesome challenge. When I walked into the class, I thought the Vipr stick, a nine-pound hollow tube, was really just like a thicker weight bar.

The instructor said that it was more difficult than regular weights because the weight was spread across the tube, rather than concentrated in one area. We did a lot of “functional” movements, like hoisting the tube over your shoulder, “shoveling snow,” and “raking leaves.” There were also close to a million lunges and squats, and we did not stop moving for even one second. It was so difficult that everyone was a sweaty mess, and the instructor slipped in a pool of sweat and wiped out towards the end of class. (She was okay.) I really enjoyed this class, and would definitely do it again.

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For lunch, I got some relatively healthy comfort food at the Equinox cafe: meatballs, wild rice and Brussels sprouts.

And now I’m craving something sweet…

New Amsterdam Market

I had planned on today being a lazy Sunday (since I never have lazy days any more!), and I woke up and brought Bailey to the dog park. I was chatting with a fellow dog owner and she told me about the farmer’s market she was going to hit up — right around the corner by South Street Seaport. I brought Bailey home, grabbed a whole-wheat everything bagel and headed down there — I knew I couldn’t go hungry.

The market is called the New Amsterdam Market, and everything is sourced from relatively local (no further than Maine) and sustainable farmers. From their website:

Reinvented for our present time and needs, New Amsterdam Market will incubate a new and growing business sector: purveyors who source food directly from farmers and producers whom they trust to be good stewards of our land and waters

It’s located in the shadow of the Brooklyn Bridge on South Street, near the old Fulton Fish Market.

I grabbed some veggies:

Some organic, grass-fed duck (MMMMMM) and chicken (not pictured), and I meandered around to all of the different stalls, with the smile of a delighted yuppie foodie on my face. I talked to an incredibly energetic guy at the Kombucha Brooklyn stall and tried a cup of the kombucha. I can’t say I now have as much energy as he did, but it was good – far less bitter than the ones I’ve tried from Whole Foods. The very last stand as you’re walking out is Luke’s Lobster. I got a small lobster roll, and it was AMAZING.

This beats regular grocery shopping! The market is once a month through the end of the summer and then will be every Sunday. I can’t wait until it’s every Sunday!