fithiphealthy

CARA CARA!

I'm totally obsessed with Cara Cara oranges! Cara Cara means "beloved" in Italian. Sometimes referred to as red or pink navel oranges, Cara Cara Oranges have a vivid orange peel and reddish-pink flesh. The fruit and juice of the Cara Cara has an intense orange flavor with sweet cherry undertones.

The history of the Cara Cara Orange is short and sweet. A recent addition to the citrus family, it was discovered in 1976 at the Hacienda Cara Cara in Venezuela – hence the name. From there, it was brought to Florida and then was introduced to California, where it adapted very well.

Key Attributes of Cara Cara Oranges: 

* Sweet, juicy, and low in acid 

* Deep pink flesh 

* Few to no seeds 

* Available from December through March 

* Select a Cara Cara that is firm, shiny and heavy in your hand for its size.

* Make sure that the orange doesn’t have soft spots or wrinkled skin. 

* Check its scent – it should smell good, not rotten or fermented. 

* While it is important that the navel is heavy and shiny, other elements of its visual appearance are not. Scarring and an imperfect orange color are not indicative of the flavor of the orange. 

Images via goggle.com & paramountcitrus.com

DOUBLING YOUR PLEASURE?

Most of you know how we instructors feel about taking back-to-back classes.  I created Lithe so that you get a total body, time-efficient workout in 1 hour. Doubling up is not only bad for the body, it negates the effects of your first hour, as you are running on adrenaline during that second hour and maybe giving us 40-50%.

We don't even see most of you nosh on a banana or an apple in-between classes when you double. When you don't eat  something, your body works on depleted glycogen stores (it's called glycogen debt) and ends up eating away at the muscle that you just spent the previous hour developing because it has nothing left for fuel. Then, your body starts to save fat.  It's not a good cycle.  You can feel yourself "hitting a wall." We instructors don't even do two classes in a row, as we know that we're overworking our muscles and therefore can injure our joints, tendons and ligaments. 

Anywho, we are running into a little bit of an issue again as we noticed that a lot of unlimited monthly lithers are signed up for both the High Mini class at 9:45am and the Armistice class at 11:00am on Saturdays in center city. 

While we are thrilled that you want to take both (even though we cringe a bit when people double with no recovery time), we have to limit the signing up for those doubles for the time being.  Both classes have huge wait lists at the moment, and we need to make sure that all clients have an equal opportunity to get into our classes and use their class cards. 

You are more than welcome to take two classes,  but we have to ask that you only sign up for one right now. You can wait around for no shows/cancellations in the 9:45 and the 11am and then jump into the class.

When you get a chance, please go ahead and remove yourself from one of the classes.  If you're still in both by Thursday afternoon, we will have to pick one for you :(  Thanks for understanding. 

Image of Lauren Boggi via Dom.

LIQUID LITHE!

We're all big juice fans over here at Lithe and I love that Wendy blogged about the topic.  A few months back, I mentioned that our Liquid Lithe program would be available soon (very similar to our cleanse that we offer on our Lithe Escape).  You'll be hearing much more about it soon...We're getting close! 

Illustration via Miss Capricho.

FRUITY BEAUTY.

It's Wendy on Wednesday! 

We all know beauty is more than skin-deep, but there's no harm in giving your skin a little boost every now and then!  I know that not everyone is ready and willing to jump on the juicing bandwagon, but here's some really simple, super palatable juice combos that do wonders for your skin.  Plus, drinking one of these juices in the morning helps me to justify the pint of ice cream I know I'm going to devour during American Idol later that night (I know you've all been there).  So enjoy!

-2 oranges, four carrots (my favorite)

-3 apples, 2 slices of watermelon, one lime

-1 cucumber, five celery stalks, 1 apple, 3 kale leaves, 1 Meyer lemon, 4 dandelion leaves, 4 sprigs of parsley.

(and if you don't have a juicer, use a blender!)

- 3 peaches or nectarines, 1 mango, 1 orange, 8 tbs orange juice.

-3 handfuls blackberries or blueberries, 1 banana, 5 tbs yogurt, 6 tbs apple juice. 

Recipes and images courtesy of  garance dore, The Big Book of Juices by Natalie Savona and Super Cleanse by Adina Niemerow.

TWIGGY.

Tuck that tummy, wrangle the rear, buff those biceps and get real leggy.  One hour of Lithe Method's head-to-toe, proprietary cheer-dance-cardio-sculpting using our Thinny® bands to burn calories, blast fat and reduce accumulation of stagnant fluids that contribute to lumps and bumps! 

Image via garancedore.fr

CUP-O-LOVE.

Here are a few recent love notes:   

Hey Lauren,

So scratch my previous message about my skiing accident “knee sprain”.  I tore my ACL, my MCL and have a tibial plateau fracture.  I need surgery, but they are going to wait 6 weeks to let the bone and the MCL heal first.  UGH.  It honestly brings tears to my eyes when I think I won’t be at Lithe for 4 months. 

I will say that the surgeon I saw at Penn (who treats many top athletes, esp. the US woman’s soccer team) and Jefferson (who treats the Phillies) have been very impressed with my leg strength and muscles…they are also very impressed with the fact that I didn’t swell too much, and I know it is b/c of lithe.  I am not sure how to explain the lack of swelling, but I believe that is b/c of the strength lithe has provided me! 

Thanks again- Annemarie Leone MSN,
CRNP Division of Vascular Surgery 

Hi Lauren!

I hope you are surviving this yet again crummy, winter weather.  So, I have to give a little shout out.  Yesterday I had such a bad day! Nothing major happened for me to be in such a blah mood but I think it was the combination of the weather, stress and not going to Lithe (big mistake ;). 

In an effort to get rid of my blahs, I signed up for Sculpt this morning.  A 7am class on mornings like today can be tough but not when you wake-up and tell yourself that Krista is teaching and is commuting from Chestnut Hill. There are no excuses when you think of it that way. 

So, I get to class and am still sleepy and blah with no coffee in my system already beating myself up and then class starts and 10 minutes in….. My cup runneth over!  Thank you to Krista and to you!  Lauren, Thank you for creating Lithe.  Thank you for your creativity and dedication in transforming so many lives, mine included!  Also thank you for picking such incredible instructors, like Krista! ( I know you know how awesome your Lithe staff is). 

Krista is not only sweet and talented she is also passionate about Lithe, dedicated and inspiring!  She is truly a great instructor and her colors shine through even at 7am.  I just wanted to give you gals a little shout out ;) 

Sincerely,
Tricia

Lauren,

I really “HEART” Lithe. With Valentine’s Day being right around the corner I just wanted to take a moment to share the love and tell you and the Lithe Team that well your simply AMAZING! I have been doing Lithe for about 8 months now and there isn’t one day that I am bored or uninspired both mentally and physically. 

The motivation, creativity and inspiration that Lithe and the instructors provide is so wonderful. Lithe has changed my life in so many ways. So thank you for offering something so new and fresh to so many woman on a daily basis. 

Gratefully, TB

Lauren,

So I'm officially back up in NYC now, and I wanted to make sure I sent you a note to thank you.  I was in Philly for 1 yr on a work assignment, and Lithe was absolutely one of my favorite things about Philly (along with BYOBs:)). 

You and your team of instructors are so talented and so kind - doing Lithe quickly made me feel like I was part of a community, which is especially great when you're new to a city.  I am also in the best shape I've ever been in - I have muscle definition that I just assumed I would never get because of my body type. 

I had a great time getting to this point, and I am hoping, hoping, hoping that you expand to NYC soon.  If I can help you with any NYC research, please let me know.  I'll be back in Philly periodically, and you will definitely see me in class on those weekends! 

All the best,
Rebecca 

PS - I've tried Physique 57 and Exhale and they're okay, but nothing compared to Lithe!! 

Image via the anthropologist

BABY, COME BACK...

It's that time of year again!  Our ever-popular Hotstepper and Short Shorts are back on the schedule! 

Lithe Method Short Shorts and Hotstepper images of Lithe Instructors, Tiffany Young & Elizabeth Sturgis via Dom.

3:15!

Whoo-hoo!  Starting on Monday, March 15th,  we'll be holding 3:15 pm classes in center city for all of you students, nurses, teachers, newbies-Anyone who wants to Lithe early or beat the evening rush. 

Join Lauren, Carrie & Carla on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays!  Look out for 2:00pm classes on Tuesdays & Thursdays this spring!

Image of Lithe Instructor, Carrie Gero in Lithe's Squat sequence via Dominic Episcopo.

MARCH SCHEDULES!

Download Rittenhouse March

Download Liberties Walk March

Download Ardmore March

Images via Rik Lee, Anna Wolf via Oh Joy & Jeffrey Campbell Shoes.