WHAT I’M LOVING THIS WEEK
BOXING
Who would have thunk it? Lucy and I decided to mix up our exercise regime, so we signed up for a boxing class at Gotham which is a boxing gym with outposts in the city and one pop up in Long Island. I was excited and dubious. Lucy was just excited as she heard that all this is what the models are doing for their workouts these days.
Which I totally believe as Gotham has three rates, “Regular, Student and Model.”
It was a killer workout. I felt it for days after. When we signed up I told Lucy I may not make it through, but amazingly I did. You don’t’ stop for an hour. The punching part is awesome, a great way to work out aggression and build muscles at the same time. And all the turning is excellent for waist conditioning It’s a combo of cross training and boxing. But when you walk out of there, there is no question you worked out.
Photo from Gotham website
I had to go back and do my normal core stretching routine for several days after to calm my muscles down. But I am definitely going to add this to my workout routine at least once a week. It’s a knock out. Sorry I couldn’t’ resist. If you are in NYC there are several boxing gyms that do not have that Rocky Balboa works out here vibe.
There is Gotham where we went. Lucy says Rumble is hot. I can’t recommend it, as I have not been. But will let you know once I’ve tried it. I’ve heard good things about PUNCH. But I think it’s a little more staid and uptown; less JayZ blasting in the background and no sweaty models in sports bras battling it out.
Everyone I’ve told seems to be kind of turned on by the models in the sports bras aspect of it all.
While we are on the topic of sports bras Margi Gad has developed a terrific new line of sports wear that goes from workout to lunch for those of us who like to wear our workout clothes all day. And I don’t know many women who are not happiest in a pair of yoga pants. But Margi has taken it up a notch with FierceandRegal. I confess when I was on my totally non shopping diet( more about my progress next blog) Margi generously gave me a pair of pants and a sports bra. And they are great. You leave the gym and go to lunch and you look chic and ready for the day. According to Margi ~
” I created this line of elevated performance wear out of a need and void in the marketplace for workout wear that would seamlessly transition to ready-to-wear. Everyone including myself runs around all day in their workout clothes and I wanted to give women the option of wearing their workout clothes but not looking like they just left the gym. We optimize all of the qualities of performance wear, we are pill free and moisture wicking (our fabric dries in minutes) while maintaining an elevated aesthetic.”
So this means, you can go box and sweat, and aside from your makeup being a mess and your hair soaking wet, your clothes will be dry enough to hang out in all day!
Not everyone is regimented in their workout regimes, no matter how fun the class or how cool the gear. How many of you have just said to yourselves – I need to get my morning act together and get to the gym?
OK, I have the thing for you.
I keep all sorts of journals. Personal, work related, goal related. HabitNest has recently release something called the Morning SideKick Journal. It’s main purpose to kick you into high gear and up your morning productivity and thus your daily productivity by setting morning goals, starting with wakeup goals to get you going and taking it from there . Amir, Mikey and Ariel who created the Sidekick Journal say “Conquer your Mornings, Conquer Your Life. ”
For those of you who think journaling is lame – it’s proven that some of the world’s most successful people set their goals , track their success and articulate their dreams in journals. I am using my Sidekick to get me up earlier to meditate. Mediation is the place I continuously drop the ball. I get up, I go to the gym but I still have a hard time meditating. So, I’m using the Sidekick Journal and hoping between that and staying off Instagram I will carve out the time I need.
FYI I’m not feeling at all compelled to go on Instagram. I have been using that time to read books and I am LOVING
I spoke about this book a few weeks ago. Jeremiah Moss graciously had Harper Collins send me a copy. I have not been able to put it down. Moss’ meticulously researched, sociological study, anthropological study, urban plan study, but most importantly love letter to the city of New York, is a must read for anyone interested in the New York we all loved and the one most of us now walk around bitterly missing. It’s actually a must read for anyone interested in how the skyscraper and oligarchs and super rich have destroyed many of the world’s great cities.
Moss, like many of us came to New York because New York was a forgiving, embracing multi-racial, mutual-sexual, deeply artistic, wonderfully crazy, always surprising swimming pool where anyone was free to jump in and paddle around.
If you couldn’t find yourself or anyone like you where you came from they were sure to be in New York.
And since the first immigrants came pouring through Ellis Island, people from everywhere, most of them with nothing, were able to build lives, neighborhoods, communities and eventually histories and strong ties in the various parts of the city.
Moss travels neighborhood by neighborhood and tracks each spot from its birth, to its pinnacle to its ultimate demise. You will learn things about this city you never knew and you will relive many things you might have forgotten.
Sure he’s cranky, but he’s also in love. He’s in love with the magical city all of us who came here in our youth fell in love with. And he’s heartbroken to see the characters and character that made it so magical become buried and demolished by the hyper-gentrification of the big buildings, big money and big players that have turned what was perhaps the world’s greatest city into a mass of giant buildings, Starbucks, Sephora’s, and forty million dollar condos.
He misses every diner and every dive bar with equal passion.
I would say it takes an outsider to appreciate and observe certain things. But most New Yorkers came from somewhere else; most arrived with dreams of fame, success, artistic expression and achievement, or just wanted to wake up in the city that always kept you on your toes.
Most New Yorkers feel just like Jeremiah Moss only he’s the only one who has the guts to really dig beneath the concrete high rise rubble and unearth what made it what it was and what has robbed it of its soul.
Vanishing New York comes out today! Buy it. Read it. It’s not just about New York it’s kind of about everywhere.
