Sweat, Flies, Cat Food and Math

Since the bar exam is a week away, I thought it only appropriate to talk about some other gross things. If all goes well, my next post will be about something a little sweeter!

Sweat: Since graduation and studying for the bar exam began, my life has consisted of three activities: 1) study 2) cook and 3) exercise. ClassPass has been the number one contributor to variety in my life and since moving to New York, the catalyst for getting out and seeing my neighborhood. Now, ClassPass in NYC is a bit overwhelming as compared to ClassPass in Orlando - you can do any workout at any time anywhere you want. I've mostly been limiting myself to the Upper East Side to make it more manageable.  There are still many new ones coming up on my schedule, but I've checked out enough to feel justified in giving you a list of my current favorites. Shockingly, these all happen to be within a 5 minute walk of my apartment.

• Strength/HIIT: Exceed Physical Culture
• A great circuit training/cross-fit/interval training class combining strength and cardio that is really challenging but in a very welcoming environment (not giant buff dudes lifting huge dingy tires). The gym is SO nice and big, water refills, towels, nice locker rooms, foam rollers available, etc. If ClassPass didn't exist, I would go to Exceed full-time. 
• Yoga: New York Yoga
• Vinyasa flow (hot studio) - smaller studio, but great instructors and a great class that gives you the more intense core and strength work of Vinyasa with the heat of Bikram (actually hotter).
• Bonus, I have not seen any naked people at New York Yoga, I wish I could say the same for other places.
• Cardio: AKT InMotion
• "Happy Hour" class - this combines the best of cardio dance, "hot" yoga, isometric strength training and fun. 

The good news is that sweating gives me a reason to shower and put on new clothes. The bad news is I've been using living in New York with millions of weirdos as an excuse to refuse to put my sopping wet clothes on after hot yoga to walk home. After a Bikram class on Saturday (90 minutes in 105 degree room = the most sweat), I really wanted to stop by the farmer's market to get eggs from the Amish girl on the way from home, rather than showering first. As I got closer, I started to feel really guilty about showing up in front of the bonnetted, fully-clothed Amish girl in my drenched spandex. Normal people maybe would have gone home for a quick shower; I unpeeled my shirt from itself and put it back on. It was definitely the grossest thing I have ever done in the name of efficiency. Lesson learned - I will now take dry clothes with me to throw on. 

Flywheel- As much as I have loved ClassPass, let me tell you about a class I hated - Flywheel. Now, to get into Flywheel you have to reserve the class at the moment it opens because it is so freaking popular and loved. Well, my reservation is always open because I hated every second of it. Sure, according to the stats I burned 650 calories. NOT WORTH IT if you are even a tiny bit claustrophobic. It is so dark, you are "locked in" to the bike, your butt hurts, you slide all around, you have no sense of time and yes, its really hard. I enjoy a good workout and a good sweat (see above), but I don't care for torture by spin class. I took two bananas AND an apple on my way out to make up for it.

Flies- Generally, I enjoy being in nature until nature starts enjoying me - I really hate bugs. The downside to my glorious garden patio and adorable pre-war studio is fighting all the little cracks where stupid freaking flies can get through. If you are faced with this dilemma DON'T use fly spray if you live in a studio apartment without ventilation you and your loved ones and pets will get sick. DO (according to my exterminator) use regular packing tape and tape all potential air-spaces in the windows; hang flypaper in the middle of the windows and keep your home clean. Thankfully, my house-guests have greatly decreased in number and provide some entertainment for my cat Milo in chasing them. 

Cat Food - I swear I have the only cat in the world that gets mad if you give him fresh or wet food. Seriously, whether I give him salmon or some chicken and giblets can, he has like two bites before he starts harassing me to fill his bowl with his dry cat food. Well, I showed him because this week I ate something that looked a lot like cat food - Chicken Liver Pâté. 

Now, my pâté may have looked a lot like cat food, it may have even tasted like cat food, but if it tastes like cat food, then move over Milo. I LOVED my chicken liver pâté. I used the fresh pastured chicken livers from the Amish girl at the farmer's market and this recipe that includes, bacon, onions, garlic and mushrooms. I had never had livers of any kind and was really skeptical that I would be able to get it down. Instead, I ended up having to stop myself from eating too much of it. I enjoyed it both as a dip that I spread on cucumber, carrot, sopressata and pear slices AND as a filling in an omelet for breakfast. Not only do I now know that I like this nutrient dense food, but I can also find a job at a Jewish deli if I fail the bar exam next week. 

Save old jars & fill them up!

Math: I've been asked before about whether and by how much, making your own nut butters and milks saves you, but I honestly have always just given a vague "a lot" answer without doing the math to back it up. Yesterday I made some coconut butter to refill my empty jar of Nutiva Coconut Manna and actually thought to do some calculations. 2 cups of shredded coconut filled up about half of my jar and there are just over 8 cups of shredded coconut in a 24 oz bag of Bob's Red Mill shredded coconut, so you can get about 2 15oz jars of coconut butter from one 24 oz bag. On Amazon, you can get a 4-pack of 24 oz bags of Bob's Red Mill Shredded coconut for $24. So not counting taxes and electricity costs and time and such, you are looking at $3/jar of coconut butter versus a $12 for a pre-made jar. What does that give us? Savings of around $9 per jar, for $9 I can get soup, salad and an entree for lunch at the Thai place around the corner (Bangkok Cuisine at 2nd and 82nd - really its SUPER good). So is it worth it? Yes. How to do it? 1. Put coconut in food processor 2. Turn food processor on 3. Wait 15-20 minutes 4. Put in jar 5. enjoy. 

Say your prayers for me that I pass the bar exam and don't have to actually update this blog more regularly to earn my livelihood!