-17C never felt so good. 
I arrived back in frigid Canada last night after an amazing week spent exploring NYC with my daughter. It was the kind of mother daughter trip I only dreamed of having. Mom’s in the crowd would understand.
But it’s good to be home.
Hannah is 20 in two months and more of a friend than a kid. Gawd we laughed our faces off as we held hands and navigated the busy streets. We even mastered the subway (I say that because we went several places without getting lost and even transferred trains).
I have opportunity to travel a lot with my business so it was such a treat for me to take Hannah to places I’ve been and to make new discoveries together.
We made a list of all the things we wanted to see and we knocked everything off of it. We even got to see some things you could never plan on, like a transvestite dancing in a tutu in the subway, a magician on the train, Tigger in Times Square biting Hannah’s head, the filming of a movie, a couple having a fist fight on the street….all things special to New York.
Both Hannah and I like to explore and look around, We like to do things that locals would so we got a taste of what their life would be like.
No trip to NYC trip would be complete without meeting with good friend and local, Kate Vidulich (Fat Loss Accelerator author). We had a fabulous Greek dinner and filmed a few videos.
Hannah commented at lunch yesterday: Mom, how do you manage to stay lean with eating out and all the traveling you do?
First of all, it was fantastic that she noticed this and secondly that she asked.
She saw that every day I managed a workout, (she joined in a few times too). She also noticed some healthy habits that are part of every day life for me whether I’m traveling or at home. Subtle and small things that add up over time.
Things like:
A MORNING workout – 20 min bodyweight hotel workout is fine in a pinch.
It takes NO time at all and keeps the metabolism revved up. Getting a workout done in the morning is best so that the day doesn’t get away and excuses don’t pop up.
Water – Water, water, water, oh, and more water. The cure for headaches and dehydration. No liquid calories pretty much EVER (except the odd glass of Malbec).
No bread – Hard to do at some places especially, but passing on bread saves massive amounts of calories.
No evening starchy carbs – It’s protein and veggies at dinner 99% of the time. The ONE time break in this rule was a treat of NYC cheesecake after the Lion King performance on Thursday. This leads to the next big idea…
Planned cheat meals – Here’s how I planned my NYC cheat: we didn’t have dessert all week, we had sushi with no rice and sashimi for dinner (low carb) and I did a metabolic workout with Kate Vidulich mid afternoon (filming for videos). Simple things to set up the perfect storm for a big treat. Oh, and I fasted until after my workout the next morning.
Regular sleep – We pretty much stayed on schedule with our own time zone (not always possible I know). We went went to bed and rose at a similar time daily.
Step out of the comfort zone – Every day was an adventure. Did we know where we were going and what to expect? Not always. We didn’t risk life and limb, but we were definitely out of our element in the big city. Doing something scary makes you feel alive.
Do a good deed – I found a wallet and could only imagine the panic I’d feel had it been me that lost mine. I turned it into the doorman and was thrilled that I made some strangers day who came back for it 5 minutes later. I never found out who it was but, man, it felt good to know some one had a good day because of that small gesture.
These are only a few things off the top of my head. Small things that over time add up to better health.
My friend Tyler, has some thoughts on how to turn around your habits to change your life. In fact, he addresses 27 critical habits and how to change them here.