Sunday Health Nut Extreme

Today I present to you, "health nut extreme." The reason I label it this way is that I had about 5 new experiences in 1-day, and it's a perfect launch to my new fitness/health segment the "Fit Review Squad." The goal here is to post about positive experiences at various venues, with various health trends (or maybe just traditional health ideas!), and to share what we loved about events and classes held around the area.

For today's post, I start with Saturday afternoon where I went to lunch with four amazing women at Seasons 52 in Rockville. Then I move to Sunday, where I went a little health nut crazy. In a four hour window, I did the following:

1. Checked out Equinox in Bethesda and took my first Barre class
2. Did a beet shot and a wheatgrass shot at Puree in Bethesda
3. Toured the Bethesda farmer's market and bought several unusual pieces of produce, like a Japanese sweet potato (purple outside, white inside), a watermelon radish, tri-colored carrots and celery root.
4. Got my car washed and semi-detailed
5. Took a culinary knife skills class

Now don't be overwhelmed, I was amazed that all this could happen in just 4 hours...

Here's the breakdown:

My good friend, Stefanie, got me a pass to check out the newest globo-gym in Bethesda, Equinox. When it opened I remember all the gossip about it at the gym I was at, mostly the uproar was about the cost, which I believe is around $120/month (although, don't quote this!). Yes, it's more than the average gym, but the amenities are way above average. Ff you LOVE classes and extras, this is totally the place for you.  The winter schedule posted a gnarly 87 classes per week, each unique, so you can definitely find one or four or five that work for you! There were small details like, bigger towels, a changing area between the shower and the locker room floor, random toiletries like mouth wash, hair gel, lotion, cotton swabs...you name it! I was impressed by the luxury/at-home feel that this gym had. I also liked that the gym provided a separate yoga studio in a quiet area, and that the group ex had a ton of equipment, including a full rack of kettlebells. If class/classes are your thing, go to Equinox and you'll be happy!

After Barre, I checked out Puree, the new juice bar in Bethesda, right next to Equinox.  I ordered a beet shot (love beets!) and a wheatgrass shot (never tried!). The wheatgrass shot by itself tasted pretty nasty to me (both my parents responded with a similar comment like "do you miss Kansas?") . Each sip got worse, but I drank it anyway after reading about all it's benefits. The beet shot was sweet and delicious, would definitely order that anytime. The wheatgrass would have mixed great in any smoothie or gazpacho, but alone, it was not for me! Puree smelled amazing and fresh, I knew that whatever I ordered would be beneficial. Also find Puree on Facebook!

After this, I went over to the Bethesda Farmer's Market and was totally impressed by all of the offerings. A guy had about 8 different varieties of pickles, including half sour to sour. Another station carried soup mixes for 6, that you could take home, follow the recipe and use her fresh, organic ingredients for the soup--easy and super healthy. For me, I particularly loved the produce stands, where I picked up a golden rush apple (tart & tangy), and others listed above. Can't wait to create and blog about my creations.

I had about an hour to kill between my Bethesda excursions and the knife skills demo at Williams Sonoma White Flint. About a month ago, my dad and I took my Jeep to my grandparents house in down-holmes Virginia and lugged wood, particle board, and cinderblocks. My car was a dirt mess and I had not yet taken it to be vacuumed and cleaned. I took it to Flagship in Rockville, and let me tell you, I watched it run through the wash with the indoor windows, and I had an out of body experience. If cars could talk, my beautiful, tough, black, V8 Jeep was saying "thank you thank you, I've been waiting for this." For real, it was weird! The reason I point this out is that because sometimes health has to do with cleaning up our messes, more that portraying a perfect image...

Lastly, I attended a Knife Skills class, offered for free by Williams Sonoma at White Flint. I was so impressed by the knowledge of the instructor, in fact, I posted seperately on what I learned, because it really was that good! Check it out at Monica's Kitchen. Check in at a local store for class details!

Today, I fit in a lot and really it was just timing (it all happened to happen on the same day). What I encourage you to do, is check out local classes and offerings and take advantage of them. It's so great to gain perspective from others who are teaching something that maybe you have never paid a mind to in the past! In my opinion, different activity/a break in routine yields great results!