It’s Over Already?

I can’t believe the Dole Healthy Lifestyle Blogger Summit is over already! I feel like I was just checking into my hotel room at the Four Seasons. Time sure does fly by when you’re having fun!

The final day of the Summit started with a 60-minute yoga class at the art gallery in California Health & Longevity Institute.

It was a really beautiful space to practice.

This morning’s class was actually more of a Yogalates class since it included a number of Pilates moves in addition to yoga poses. My core is pathetically weak, so I’m glad it got a little bit of action today.

Breakfast

After yoga, we enjoyed a continental breakfast of fresh fruit, yogurt, pastries, juice, and coffee.

My breakfast: fruit, bran muffin, berry-pineapple juice, and coffee.

I later went back for a second bran muffin. Carb me!

The final session of the Summit was an informal healthy weight loss discussion/brainstorm on a number of topics, ranging from weight loss tricks and healthy snacks to the latest diet gadgets and stress management. I enjoyed our conversation, but what I found most interesting was the various research studies that the Dole folks incorporated into it. Here are a few that I thought were particularly noteworthy:

• Surprising Vinegar Benefits: New research lends credence to the old-fashioned vinegar weight-loss trick practiced by many seasoned dieters. One Japanese study found that mice gained 10% less body weight if their high-fat diet included a strong dose of vinegar.
• Fat Reducing Banana? Eating bananas can aid weight loss in more ways than one. While their prebiotic fiber helps curb appetite, bananas also have another weight-loss component, called “resistant starch.”
• Bigger Forks = Eat Less: New research suggests the size of your fork may influence how much you eat– and strangely enough, it’s bigger forks which might limit calories consumed!
• Apples & Endurance: A University of South Carolina study published earlier this year found that when 12 college-age volunteers increased quercetin intake over the course of a week while being tested for exercise endurance on stationary bikes, they not only improved their oxygen uptake by 4%, they were able to ride 13% longer before becoming fatigued.

Snack

After the Summit officially concluded, Monica wanted to see the fancy gym at the Four Seasons, so she bribed me to come with her by offering me a huge piece of chocolate-covered toffee. Naturally, I took it, and then ate it on the treadmill.

A little while later, I said goodbye to Monica and headed to the airport. When I got there, I wasn’t all that hungry for lunch, so I grabbed a quick snack before my flight: carbs with a side of sugar.

I also grabbed some reading material for the plane:

After the marathon, I want to get tight and tone once again, so I figured reading Oxygen would help me kick my butt into gear. (It did!) Maybe it’s just me, but marathon training makes my body a lot more ‘squishy’ since I don’t do as much strength training and end up consuming a lot more carbs, which, of course, includes plenty of beer.

Dinner

On my second flight home, I purchased dinner: Turkey Peppercorn Ranch Ciabatta sandwich. Inside was cracked pepper turkey, turkey bacon, smoked Gouda cheese, and Parmesan pepper ranch dressing on a multi-grain ciabatta roll. For a plane sandwich, it was actually pretty delicious.

I arrive in Boston at midnight tonight, so I plan to sleep until 8:00 or 9:00 tomorrow morning and then hit the road to NYC. Mal and I are driving, so, hopefully, we won’t hit traffic and make it to the expo before it ends! GAH! Marathon!

BTC: I’m thankful for bananas. Best fruit ever.

Tagged as: California Health & Longevity Institute, Dole Health Summit, yoga

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