staying fit, fancy, and healthy

Now that Thanksgiving, with all its good food, is behind us, it’s a long distance sprint until New Year’s Day. Parties, shopping, eating, drinking…. December is an endurance event (a super-fun one, but nonetheless, you’ve got to be on your game). How to make it through and enjoy the season while still feeling and looking good? We here at Pink Chicken are determined to fully enjoy the season and not come undone in the process. Here’s our plan to stay fancy, fit, and healthy in the month ahead.

Green Day: no, not the band though we love them. We're doing one day a week of nothing but green food. Besides keeping our weight on the straight and narrow, (or nearly) there’s the added plus of the added energy from a lighter diet. Add ginger and garlic for their immune boosting properties, and cut calories one day a week - and it’s a win/win situation. Set aside a Monday or Tuesday for a whole day of greens. Here are some ideas: this delicious broccoli and arugula soup that I first saw on Gwenyth Paltrow’s Goop newsletter, raw kale salad, green beans with pesto, arugula salad with sliced green apples, green tea, a shot of wheatgrass juice, limeade (no sugar), spinach and cucumber salad, oven roasted zucchini, snap peas sauteed in olive oil, and kiwi. (Sadly chocolate chip mint ice cream doesn’t make the cut.) Added benefit: Dr. Oz recently talked about decision fatigue. Now that I’ve mapped out a green day diet once a week, there’s a blueprint to follow, no food decisions to make – it’s mind clearing.

A Little Lipgloss. Brighten up and smile with these Sephora sheers - they're long wearing and just the right amount of bright.

Never underestimate the healing powers of a mani-pedi. They’re inexpensive and immediately make you feel more polished and pulled together. Add an in-chair massage and you feel like a new woman.

When you don't want to excercise - exercise a little more. Add another class or two to your weekly routine this month to guard against the January guilt for December’s good times. Add in a run, or an extra yoga class. I’ll make time for a few extra classes at Soul Cycle to cash in on the major calorie burn and the energizing endorphins.

Blow. Plan as I might, I somehow always find myself in the middle of the holiday season in need of a haircut with not one appointment to be had. A visit to Blow saves the day for hair that’s freshly styled and festive, (and a blow-out is a quick, cheap, and cheerful way to spruce up for a party).

And most importantly, stay healthy. This is no time to come down with a cold. Dr. Andrew Weil reminds that the best thing we can do to prevent colds and flu is to wash hands often and keep them away from your eyes and noses. While we constantly advise our kids of this, we parents sometimes forget it. A midmorning Emergen-C as a little extra insurance can’t hurt.