Month: June 2018

The best way to reboot your eating habits: Order this one-week program, called Euphebe, and “Cut the Crap” as the creator likes to say.  Did I mention I love it?

During my first visit to a new doctor, I told him that I wanted to lose weight, get heart healthier and put an end to my bad eating habits — which I fall back into when I’m traveling and running from meeting to meeting. Dr. Hooman Yaghoobzadeh (who is an excellent doctor and who I call Dr. Y for short) suggested I follow a plant-based diet, high in fiber and low in saturated fat, and I nodded, this was the advice I gave out daily, hourly, and monthly as the Editor-in-Chief of SELF for 13 years, it’s just the busier I am the harder it is to do. Enter Euphebe, a program that delivers delicious plant-based meals and a healthy eating coach. Dr. Y is Euphebe’s medical advisor.

Dr. Y introduced me to Nadja Pinnavaia, Ph.D., Euphebe’s founder and the brains behind the operation. I immediately liked her. She was a scientist who worked in finance, and in a strict British accent she basically laid it out: “We don’t need all the animal products in our food, and we certainly don’t need sugar, added preservatives and all the other junk that ends up in our bodies when we aren’t paying attention. Her motto: “Cut the Crap” sung to me. I wanted to cut the crap, in terms of food, in terms of excuses and in terms of pushing off the start date to getting healthy.

I decided Nadja and the Hinted team should work together on a fun, healthy Hinted list to unfurl a 21-day plan to help our users eat healthier, lose weight and feel better —  just in time for summer. We talked about how a list for Hinted could be a summer healthy eating version of an “advent calendar” for rebooting your habits for summer and she agreed. The result is a list that includes Euphebe’s food plus healthy habits and exercise to match.

I ordered my Mini-Boot week of healthy plant-based meals (lunch and dinner for six days with delicious sounding foods). I was nervous but also excited to try it.

After my first meal, I felt satiated but not full and heavy. Each meal was delicious, and I started to feel better almost immediately. Less bloat, lighter, less puffy in my face, and certainly like this was a do-able, easy, fun project. I committed. No more cheese, meat, dairy and instead I sought plant-based protein and meals at every turn. Cut the crap became my mantra. I was a plant-seeking machine. Bring on the beans.

Nadja made her list and added lifestyle choices to help you get it together, including great ideas for easy ways to add in exercise. I knew I would love this list when she added the Tone it Up workouts that I know and love from my days as Editor-in-Chief of SELF, where the TIU founders Karena and Katrina rocked the community of healthy women and helped them tone up for spring and summer).

Euphebe’s resident RD Abby K. Cannon crafted the list to help you reboot your summer eating plan just in time for the season ahead, and if you follow this plan, you’ll feel better, be leaner and fitter, and lose weight in time for the Fourth of July weekend. In fact just four days into the plan I felt less bloated and my clothes fit better. I was feeling more energetic and like, for the first time in as long as I could remember, I was back on track.

My suggestion: Start with the mini boot and don’t overcommit to the full month until you know you are ready to eat this way. Get coached. The supportive emails are chock full of helpful information and tips. I know it can help though I didn’t explicitly sign up for the Mini Boot for the coaching. I continue to enjoy (and learn from) the content and knowing I had support helped me stay on track. And do choose plant-based eating whenever you can. That means cutting out my favorite sweet of choice: Ice cream. And enjoying almond milk in my coffee, and turning down cheese — though I am a cheese-a-holic. I can do this for a week, a month, or longer, as long as I have access to the delicious Euphebe foods like Thai Green coconut curry with lemongrass rice, red lentil Pasta with eggplant sugo and Spring Veggie Faux Sotto. I am off to a healthy lunch now. Get started on your reboot today. You will thank me, Nadja, Dr. Y, Abby and the entire Euphebe team later!

 

 

 

We talked to NYC stylist and Hinted user, Savannah Louise, about her aesthetic, her fashion and makeup must-haves, and what she’s looking forward to this season.

H: How do you see yourself using Hinted?

SL: As a stylist, I use Hinted to make lists of items I want to easily come back to. It’s an easy way to save links for later purchases and also create fashion stories for shoots.

H: What are some fun trends/pieces you’re looking forward to Spring?

SL: I’m loving transparent layering, denim everything, and utilitarian cuts.

H: Who are your favorite designers/stores right now?

SL: I am drawn towards designers that are inspired by rebellion and youth culture. Virgil Abloh of Off White, Demna Gvasalia, and Raf Simons come to mind. I also love early Vivienne Westwood.

H: What is your ideal Spring day in NYC?

SL: I like the few weeks of jacket weather before it gets too hot.

H: What beauty products can you not live without?

SL: Brow products! I use mostly Anastasia. Also, Fenty highlighters.

H: Are there any beauty trends you’re looking forward to?

SL: More color! Also less makeup in general, more skincare.

Photos: @savannahlands