Yogini Kitchen- Dinning Out

While cooking and creating yummy, healthy food is fun and economical, sometimes it is fun to eat out. Many people realize that eating out can mean bigger portions with unhealthy options. While that is true SOMETIMES, there are also regular healthy portions with healthy menu options eateries out there in NYC. Here are a few vegetarian/vegan option restaurants that I went to recently that get A's for options, taste, friendly staff and price. These all vary, some are more of a fancy sit down, take a date/group of pals kinda place, and others are a little cafe like (depending on where you like to go on a date, either would work). I venture solo to a few of these places too, since the food is soooo good! If you are thinking of eating healthier, and want taste too, venture to one of these places!

• Bonobos (near Madison Sq Park) Yummy Vegan Options, great Salads, Cafe Style
• Atlas Cafe (East Village) Yummy options, cool desserts, cafe style
• Liftyme (Grocery, take out style) Yummy Yummy Yummy desserts, great food options
• Caravan of Dreams (East Village) charming restaurant, great for date/group, everything is yummy and they serve Vegan Spelt Pancakes till 5!!!!
• Blossom (Upper West Side, Chelsea) lovely restaurant (date/group), great vegan menu!!!
• Terri (Downtown on 23rd) Cafe style, yummy vegan options and juices
• Gobo (Upper East Side, West Village) Charming restaurant, wide yummy vegetarian variety, fancier menu/prices

Yogi Eating

Recently after a sweaty class of Yoga-laties, one of the participants asked me "how many calories do we burn?". I would guess around 400 calories, maybe more. It is usually different for each individual because you take into consideration the weight of the individual and duration/type of exercise. A nice site I found for calorie counting is on health status. com. While many body builders count calories for meals (increasing calories to make sure they get enough for mass building), and dieters do the same (decreasing calories) for losing weight, I am not a fan of calorie counting. If your goal is to lose weight and you are an avid yoga lover, embrace the yogi diet, cutting out the meats and following ahimsa. The truth of the matter is, Yoga is from India and it is ancient 8 limb process, one of which is AHIMSA (non-violence to all living creatures) and the reason why many yogis embrace a vegetarian diet. A second truth is that the meats we eat are literally tortured and toxic to eat, we are better off taking it out of our diet. Then the question of protein comes into play. I am a yoga practitioner for a long time, along with my personal practice I teach up to five classes in one day, eating no meat, I have energy, and then some. There are many sources of protein for the veggie lovers (moon beans, chick peas, kale, quinoa, black beans, lentils etc). The only thing that challenges my energy is the current heat and humidity.

If it is hard to make the transition even after knowing how tortured our animals are in factory farms.....then at least....Cut out the sugar, processed foods (anything in a package), decrease your salt intake, replace your breads with better whole grain sources (sprouted bread, millet, spelt, rice, quinoa) and any veggie or fruit is a good addition to the diet. I know that it is a challenge especially since the fast food way is a quick fix for food on the go, but sacrificing your health is not good long term. High sugar/carb diets spike our insulin and affect our energy. The high sugar diet of many North Americans is giving rise to diabetes. Once you start eating the right foods you will have more energy, better hair and skin, youthful appearance, and better internal health. Remember your food is fuel for your body, if it has no nutritional value, your body will not perform at its best. Eat Healthy, Live Healthy, Love your Body, and your Body will LOVE you.