Sweetened with Monk Fruit

 

 

Move over stevia… there’s a new all-natural, calorie-free sweetener in town! Monk fruit, or lo han guo, is a small gourd-like melon native to parts of China and Thailand, named after the monks who first cultivated it centuries ago. The health benefits of the fruit have been well-known in Traditional Chinese Medicine for decades, but its sweet little secret is finally making it into the wellness mainstream.

Monk fruit sweetener is derived from the extract of the dried fruit, and processed into crystal form. It is 150-250 times sweeter than table sugar, due primarily to naturally occurring antioxidants known as mogrosides, which give it a cleaner and more intense sweetness, with no bitter aftertaste. Monk fruit has zero calories and carbs, and does not raise blood glucose levels — making it a good choice for diabetics and popular with the Keto community.

Sweeten your coffee, sprinkle on oatmeal, or mix into cocktails (Swoon simple syrup), monk fruit is stable at cold or hot temperatures, and can be used in baked goods too. Just be sure the monk fruit sweetener you buy has no other sugar additives, as some do.

With no known side effects, and generally recognized as safe (GRAS) by the Food and Drug Administration, Monk Fruit is the new sweetener of choice for the weight-watching, health-conscious, and wellness set.

 

What a Homebody

 

Image Map

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Working at home… working out at home… just because we’ve become

homebodies trying to prevent the spread of the Coronavirus doesn’t mean we have to dress like homebodies too. These easy pieces layer up and down for chic and sporty stay-at-home style!

 
LEFT COLUMN: JACQUEMUS LE CARDIGAN TORDU $410. Throw on with joggers to posh up after your workout. This two-tone pink rib-knit cardigan features an extra stylish asymmetric construction and semi-sheer panel at shoulders.

WE OVER ME BALANCE SPORTBRA $68. An optimal choice for low impact workouts like yoga or barre, the We Over Me Balance sportbra features the brand’s ultra-soft “mossed” stretch-jersey, thin V-strap construction, and cut-out back for added ventilation with style.

ALEX MILL JESSIE SWEATSHIRT $78. The classic gray sweatshirt gets a few style tweeks with raglan sleeves, a wide banded hem, and slightly longer back than front for the perfect drapey fit.

MANDUKA PRO YOGA MAT $120. Instructor’s favorite, the Manduka Pro yoga mat is lightweight, with unmatched comfort and cushioning, and comes a lifetime guarantee never to wear out! If you’re looking for a yoga mat that’s less pricey, the Gaiam Premium 2-Color Mat is the best budget mat at $29.98, according to Women’sHealth magazine. Read More

 

Staying Fit When Gyms Are Closed

 

 

CLOCKWISE TOP LEFT: PELOTON, ALOMOVES, NIKE TRAINING CLUB, INSANITY, MODELFIT, CLASSPASS LIVE, OBE, PHYSIQUE 57

 
Digital fitness has exploded in the last few years with streaming workouts, fitness apps, and interactive home gym equipment. With gyms now closed in the wake of the Coronavirus pandemic, these at-home workouts are more popular than ever. Maintaining our health and fitness regimens is still of the utmost priority for many of us — and these digital workouts offer a multitude of options to stay in shape.

So if you can’t go to the gym, let the gym come to you. HIIT, cycling, yoga, dance, cardio, Pilates and more – take your favorite classes online in the germ-free environment of your own home. Whether it’s your regular workout or something new you’ve wanted to try, here are some of the most popular digital options.

MULTI-CLASS PLATFORMS

Fitness platforms like ClassPass, Jetsweat, and Peloton Digital offer a full range of cardio, yoga, dance, sculpt, boxing, barre classes, and more — available live or on-demand to stream on your phone, computer, or TV. With so many options for one monthly price – generally less than the cost of one boutique fitness class – these are the best bang for your buck. Just filter by workout, duration, difficulty – and press play! Read More

 

Eating Right, Right Now…

 

 
As we hunker down at home in these unprecedented times of the Coronavirus pandemic, maintaining our health and fitness regimens is still of the utmost priority for many of us — perhaps even more than ever. With gyms and boutique fitness studios closed, digital and streaming workouts are replacing our regular bootcamp, yoga, cycling, barre, and Pilates classes. More on that to come in follow-up post tomorrow, but in the meantime check out 31 Days of Digital Fitness!

Healthy eating in these days has new challenges as well. While some store shelves are cleared of dry goods and non-perishables — for those of us who regularly choose fresh foods, keeping things like meat, fish, fruits and vegetables in our diet now requires a bit more planning.

I asked our friend Erin Parekh, Holistic Health Coach and Culinary Nutrition Expert, for some easy-to-make dishes to prepare now and freeze for later. If you’re craving some comfort food in these stressful days that’s healthy too, here are six recipes for both meat and plant-based eaters (marked PB), Erin shared with me that I’m passing on to you!  Read More

 

No live sports? Watch these movies instead!

 

 

CLICK PIX FOR PREVIEWS!

In the wake of the Coronavirus pandemic, many major sporting events and entire seasons have been cancelled or suspended: March Madness (NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball tournament); the NHL, NBA, MLB and NASCAR seasons; Indian Wells (BNP Paribas Open tennis tournament); and the Players Championship and Masters Tournament. For fans who weren’t planning on attending these events, this means no televised sports either.

So while you’re hunkered down at home with nothing to watch this weekend, we thought we’d offer some alternatives. Many of the greatest movies of all time have been sport themed, and we’ve got 12 of the all-time favorite baseball, hockey, basketball, tennis, golf, and race car movies to keep you entertained! Read More

 

Mountain Lines, Everest

 

MOUNTAIN LINES, EVEREST, 2019

 

Now on view at the Michael Hoppen Gallery in London is Sohei Nishino|New Works featuring a monumental new work by the artist, Mountain Lines, Everest. Drawing inspiration from 18th century Japanese mapmaking, Nishino combines photography, collage, and psychogeography to create large scale experiential prints of urban and natural landscapes. Fascinated by the geographical and historical magnitude of Everest, Nishino took on one of the world’s most challenging environments to create his latest piece.

Nishino uses photographs as geographical representation, but it is with a subjective point of view. His signature photo-collage technique pieces together thousands of images taken over the course of his travels, to construct dioramas of complex geographies which integrate human and physical landscapes. From a distance, Nishino’s maps are almost abstract. It is not until we examine them in detail that the full experience unfolds.  Read More

 

Pret-A-Sporter: Fall 2020

 

 

THE SPORTING LIFE

PRADA ~ LACOSTE ~ BURBERRY ~ EMILIO PUCCI

 

The Fall 2020 Ready-To-Wear Collections are officially a wrap and once

again it’s time for “PRET-A-SPORTER” — our semi-annual review of the sportiest looks

from the runways of New York, London, Milan, and Paris.

Read More

 
 

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