Having a gym in my apartment building is great. I don’t have to get bundled up to go outside, theres not an extra bill to pay, and I can’t make excuses for myself. But the one thing that I miss about the gym experience are group classes. I was a regular at spin classes and Saturday morning pilates when I lived in Philly. I loved that there was someone else to motivate me, that I would push myself harder than when I work out alone. I loved walking out of spin classes dripping wet.

When a boutique spin studio opened up in my neighborhood earlier this year, I was thrilled. I immediately started following Revolve on Twitter and Facebook, and was determined to get back into spinning. Fast forward five months later to when I finally got myself to a class.

I decided to try the Barre Ride, which is 30 minutes of spinning combined with 30 minutes of barre series using the handle bars and set of the bike. The barre portion was so much more challenging than I had expected but I loved it.

Revolve is a great space that allows customers to sign up for rides a up to a week before, so there is no waiting for bikes or fighting for a space. The staff was so helpful and welcoming to new clients. The instructor, Christinanne was incredible. She made sure everyone was comfortable on their bikes, had a great playlist, and kept the class motivated. I loved the spinning portion of the class. There was a good mix of climbs and intervals to keep things challenging. My only major complaint is that there really isn’t much space between bikes for the barre portion of the class. Being tall made it hard to find enough space for my legs. The class wasn’t full when I was there, but I can’t imagine how it works during a packed class.

Thank you to Elizabeth who was my foodie pen pal for April! She sent me a great box filled with treats all from North Carolina. We all know that my locavore heart fluttered just a bit. I dove into the box before I remember to take a picture because a strawberry cake pop was just calling my name. Thanks Elizabeth!

Before I really knew what a food deserts was, I was living in the second most food insecure areas of the country. “Food insecurity” is a term defined by the United States Department of Agriculture that indicates that the availability of nutritionally adequate and safe food, or the ability to acquire such food, is limited or uncertain for a household. Imagine waking up one morning and not knowing how you would eat that day, and that’s what food insecurity is.

I couldn’t see food insecurity around me. I live two blocks away from Whole Foods and a Fresh supermarket. Sure, food was expensive but what isn’t in a major city? And if I could survive on my $16/hour paycheck, certainly most people could too. But goodness was I wrong. After my first day volunteering with Philabundance and handing out fresh fruits and vegetables, I knew there was something serious going on.

I wrote my admissions essay to GW on food insecurity and how my time volunteering with a food bank changed my perspective on so many aspects of life and health. I talked about Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, and that as the wealthiest nation in the world, shouldn’t we ensure that our population has the basic necessities for life?

I always imagined I’d go back to Philly and fight for food justice. That I would be the one to advocate for a healthy and safe food system, that some day there would be a 23 year old girl who admired me just as I admire my public health hero.

When I first heard buzz about a New York Times article that poor neighborhoods and those that are typically considered more food insecure have more fast food chains, convenience stores, and full service grocery stores than affluent neighborhoods, I thought someone was lying to me.

The article presents new research about availability in low-income neighborhoods across the US, which indicates that not only do these neighborhoods have more sources of food but that there is no relationship between the type of food being sold in a neighborhood and obesity among children and adolescents.

This is kind of a big deal in the public health community.

Experts are now questioning the effectiveness of efforts to combat the obesity epidemic by improving access to healthy foods. Kelly Brownell said: “It is always easy to advocate for more grocery stores… But if you are looking for what you hope will change obesity, healthy food access is probably just wishful thinking.” The new data indicates that there is no consistent relationship between what children eat and the type of food nearby. Living close to supermarkets or grocers did not make students thin and living close to fast food outlets did not make them fat.

So now what do we do?

Last Friday, the Senate Agriculture Committee released it’s first draft of the 2012 Farm Bill. This bill includes funding for several new nutrition programs, most of which are targeted at low-income individuals. Such programs include funds for starting food hubs and expansion of the farmers market promotion program, incentives to purchase fruits and vegetables with SNAP benefits, and increased funding for including more whole grains into school lunches. All really great and important things.

But knowing what we know now, will any of this really make a difference in the diets of Americans?

The one thing I can confidently conclude is that nutrition education works. There is plenty of data on the effectiveness of EFNEP and SNAP education. We know that both kids and adults benefit from these programs. I  see it in the pre-schoolers I work with, who now know that carrots are good for their eyes and to make their plates more colorful. I see it when one of them tells me about trying kale for the first time, or when they know that purple thing is an eggplant. I see it in the seniors who told me that cooking is fun for them again and they have included new foods into their diets.

I know that education works. It’s not enough to change the behavior of every resident in my neighborhood, but it will change a few. But I also know how hard it is to fight for funding, to try to protect these programs. I know that so many people don’t understand the correlation between obesity and income. I cringe every time I hear someone talk about seeing someone overweight use food stamps, and that they obviously aren’t poor if they can afford to eat so much food.

So when articles like this come out, it scares me. I worry that the general public will loose the value of education programs. That they wont really understand how serious food insecurity is.

So my challenge to you is to look for information in your neighborhood. What’s the obesity rate? How many people can afford a healthy diet?

To my friends in Charlottesville, would you have guessed that 26% of adults living in Charlottesville are obese and only 67% report having access to healthy foods? Or that the overall food insecurity rate for Charlottesville is 17.0%, higher than the state rate of 11.8%? Food insecurity could be in your neighborhood too, you just have to open your eyes to it.

(Photo credit: Sarah)

This little blog is officially two. Time is seriously flying.

As an unofficial blog day celebration, I packed up and drove to Swoope, VA last Friday with two fellow VA bloggers for a little farm fun. If you’ve followed me for a while you know my feelings about Food, Inc and Polyface (Cville friends, read this post and laugh at the irony). Well, I finally crossed an item off of my bucket list and went on a lunatic tour of Polyface. I want to sit here and type all of the things I learned. The cycles of moving animals for space to space, how to select genes of chickens, the fermentation of cow poop. I ate that shit up. But few of you would actually care about that kind of stuff.

What I can say is that Joel Salatin is even more inspiring, kind, and hilarious that you can imagine. I wish I could visit him every week just for a pick me up. I left the farm feeling so inspired about the work I feel so passionately about. I walked away with two key points:

“If something is worth doing, it’s worth doing wrong. We learn from our failures and rarely do things right the first time.” 

“Biology can heal itself.”

I’m still in awe of the experience I had. I’m frustrated that there is no simple job path for the issues I believe in. But I am thankful for renegade farmers like Joel and Elaine who produce food the way it should be.

When I was in high school I believed that life would be easy and fall into a perfectly organized plan. I’d go to college, get the perfect job, buy a house, and get married all before 25. Maybe it was too many Disney princess movies or Barbie dolls that led me to believe such a plan was the “right” path. Now, 26 is a few months away and the only thing crossed off on that list is college. While I might not believe the lies about how life is supposed to turn out, I’ll happily tell myself lies about eating desert for dinner.

I was completely convinced that the only acceptable thing for dinner was carrot cake. Naturally, there was nothing close to carrot cake in my fridge but pancakes are a form of cake, right?

Disguising vegetables as desert is a lie I’ll likely tell my children. With pancakes this good, they wont catch on.

In a few short days this blog will turn two years old.

I never really celebrated my first blog birthday. I was going through an emotionally tumultuous time and just needed to step back to find myself. And once again, this spring will bring more, even bigger, life changes. My thesis is due in two weeks, in four weeks I’ll sit for my certification exam, and in less than 50 days I’ll have the letters MPH, CHES behind my name. I’m exhausted, and excited, and terrified.

I started this blog as I was completing applications for grad school, and now that chapter is coming to a close.  School has been a safety net for me. It was a step to developing the career I wanted, but didn’t mean I had to jump into the real world quite yet. Through the past two years I learned so much about myself, the person I want to be, the life I want to live. I’ve done things I never imagined being passionate about, things that have shaped me. As tired as a I am and as much as I just want this all to be over, there is no doubt in my mind that I am absolutely in the right place, that this degree was the right choice.

It’s a bittersweet end to this journey. Moving to DC was not any easy choice, and moving to start a new job will be even more difficult. Leaving a group of incredible women who understand why I think the way I do, who share so many of my interests, who have laughed and cried with me, is incomprehensible. But there is a whole big world out there. For so long I was afraid of change because it brought the possibility of failure. But now I’m ready to spread my wings and take a few chances along the way. I know a lot of my decisions might be questioned by my family, might even disappoint them. For the first time in a long time I know that this is my life, that I deserve to be happy.

There are a lot of big changes coming my way. I’m trying my hardest to get to the place I want to live, to start the career I hope will make my eyes sparkle every day. I have big dreams about what the next year of this blog will look like. Until then, bare with me through this crazy end to a chapter. I want to spend the last days of this journey relishing in every moment.

I go through really random food phases. Right now, all I want is Tex-Mex and sweet potato tacos are my new obsession. Actually, the guacamole dressing is pretty much the sole reason for making the tacos. You could just make the dressing and eat it on eggs, raw veggies, or dip chips in it and be completely satisfied. I’ve been making one batch a week and it never seems to last as long as I think it will.

I served the tacos on corn tortillas with pepper jack cheese and extra cilantro, with plenty of guacamole. It’s so easy to prepare and makes great leftovers for lunch salads. I pack the same toppings on a base of spinach with a scoop of sweet potatoes and black beans with plenty of “dressing.” Really, the vegetables are just a vehicle for lots of guacamole.

Pizza is probably my favorite food (it’s hard to choose only one). But this whole no gluten no dairy song and dance has significantly cut down on my pizza consumption. I personally don’t like many of the frozen gluten-free pizza crusts and I dont have the patience to wait for a yeast dough to rise. While a vegetable-based crust isn’t quite like the real thing, it’s a guilt free and speedy alternative to labor intensive pizza crusts.

This pizza is definitely more of a knife and fork variety. The crust doesn’t get super crispy because of the sauce and fresh cheese. It is delicious none the less.

Obviously I haven’t given up cheese completely. Some things just can’t be replaced.

My brain is fried from the past seven weeks of classes. Thankfully spring break starts on Monday, and while I will not be jet setting to some exotic island this year, but writing my thesis, the break is much needed. I’m not sure how the pieces of my life are staying together. Some how in the past week I went to a brunch at the right place on the wrong day, found myself the owner of a new laptop, and was at my job until 9pm on a Wednesday. And somehow amidst the chaos, there was laughter with new friends, wine tasting, and scones. I really cant complain.

If there is anything I know for certain it is that life never turns out the way we expect it to. Thankfully, there are always baked goods.

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Yesterday I started 21 days of reiki self-care. I’ve had an interest in integrative medicine for a while and was excited to have the opportunity to learn about a complementary practice I can do on my own. Over the next 21 days I hope to tune into my body and to find a method for stress reduction.

The word reiki can be translated from Japanese to mean “universal life energy.” The essence of this practice taps into an unseen energy flow, or source, with the potential of reducing stress by promoting relaxation, centering, and healing. Reiki teaches us how to draw from the universal life, how to open up to its harmony and peace, and then allow it to unfold in our body, our mind, and our spirit. Reiki is a simple, healing practice of soft, still touch that gently encourages one’s well- being by enhancing the body, the mind and the spirit.

During a Reiki treatment, the hand positions correspond to the seven major chakras and are applied to both the front, back, top and bottom aspects of each. The chakra system addresses the complexity of our lives in a simple and systemic way. Each chakra corresponds to a gland of the endocrine system and to various bodily organs and their processes, such as breathing, digesting and procreating. In addition, the treatment corresponds to the emotional, mental and spiritual aspects of our lives, each one embodying characteristics that are related to the development of our self, our identity, our will, our love, our relationships, our intuition, our thought processes, and our higher consciousness.

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We learned the basic twelve positions of reiki, four on the head, four on the front, and four on the back. Our practice is to being with some form of centering, which can include self-reflection through quiet breathing or “gassho” held in a position with the hands joined at heart (similar to namaste). From there we move into the 12 positions, holding each for as long as we feel appropriate. The reiki master explained that our hands will learn to move freely and might stay at one position longer than others.  At the end of our session I had a reiju, or attunement, which is the act of connection to the flow of reiki. The reiki master uses the reiki symbols to increase the flow of life energy through the body. They are introduced through the crown chakra, connect to the other six chakras, and then become sealed with the master’s hand positions. Reiki attunements are known to enhance the inherent functions of the chakras through its balancing and harmonizing actions. I was incredibly surprised by how connected I felt to the reiki masters movements across my body. It was strange how quickly I felt energy moving through my own body without being touched.

I’m excited to being this process and to see if I notice any changes in my ability to relax or have more peaceful sleep.

Thank you to the Luann Jacobs and the Center for Integrative Medicine for the training and information.

Happy end of National Pancake week! I couldn’t miss out celebrating of one of my favorite breakfast foods, even if I’m a little late.

Since eliminating gluten from my diet I’ve struggled to find similar replacements for some of my favorite grain-based foods. Usually the texture is off of there is a serious lack of flavor. Oat pancakes have become a staple but today I wanted to try something new. I still had some almond flour left over from the apple muffins I made last week and came up with a great grain-free alternative.

Almond Flour Blueberry Pancakes

• 3/4 cup almond flour
• 1/4 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1 egg
• 1/2 tbsp vegetable oil
• 3-4 tbsp almond milk
• 1/4 cup blueberries

Whisk together dry ingredients to combine. Add in egg, oil and almond milk and whisk together. Gently stir in blueberries and allow the mixture to sit for about 5 minutes. The batter will be very thick. Preheat a skillet over medium high heat. Scoop 1/4 cup of batter into the skillet at a time. Allow pancakes to cook for about 5 minutes or until the edges begin to set. Flip and cook for another 3-4 minutes. Top with fresh butter, blueberries, or maple syrup. Makes 4 small pancakes.

If you like a sweeter pancake batter try adding 1/2 tbsp of agave or honey to the batter.