Lighten Up (Your Teeth)

A few days ago, I received an email with some information on teeth stains from a PR firm, T.J. Sacks & Associates, on behalf of Manhattan Dental Arts. As someone who drinks too much tea and coffee, it was something I was actually excited to learn about! 

I figured I'd share the information since it's good to know which foods can stain your teeth (the "dirty dozen"). And, besides the obvious tooth brushing and flossing, there are foods that can actually help lighten your teeth!

Obviously, several of the staining foods are healthy foods that are great to include in your diet. But knowing their staining potential is still important. For example, maybe you try to rinse your mouth out or brush your teeth after eating berries or beets.

So, here are some of the best and worst foods for teeth stains!

1. Black Coffee and Black Tea - The darker the beverage, the more staining that can occur. Try adding a little extra milk to lighten the color and reduce the staining effect.
2. Wine - Both red and white wines, if drunk in excess, will stain your teeth. Although red stains, white wine’s acidic composition actually etches tiny grooves in your teeth making them more porous and more easily stained.
3. Colas and Sports Drinks - Because they are so highly acidic, they help promote staining by other foods.
4. Berries - Blueberries, raspberries, cranberries, cherries and other berries, although excellent for your overall health, can stain your teeth. So, if you’re crazy for berries, be sure to rinse out your mouth thoroughly with water after eating.
5. Beets - Now here’s a vegetable that could put a powerful stain in your t-shirt, so, like all foods that stain, moderation is called for with this one.
6. Sauces - Soy sauce and tomato sauce, as well as other deeply colored sauces, are believed to have significant staining potential. 
7. Juice - Grape, pomegranate and cranberry are highly pigmented and can cause staining.  So, if you must imbibe, try rinsing your mouth out with water or drinking juices through a straw, thereby bypassing the fronts of your teeth
8. Pickles and ketchup - These acidic foods are good at opening up the pores of your tooth enamel, allowing for easy staining.
9. Balsamic Vinegar - While great on a salad, balsamic vinegar causes havoc to your teeth.  If you must, try it on lettuce, which has a natural ability to provide a protective film over your teeth.
10. Candy - Sweets contain teeth-staining coloring agents. If your tongue turns a funny color, there’s a good chance that your teeth will too.
11. Curry - Although great in Indian food, this yellow-staining spice mix can be harsh on teeth. So make sure to rinse thoroughly after eating.
12. Popsicles - Did you ever look at your tongue after you’ve finished your fruity, sugary pop? Not only does it color your tongue, but also your teeth.  Plus, it has added double whammy negative effect produced by all of that sugar. So, limit your intake and rinse with water after finishing.

1. Apples and Pears - Increase salivary production, which flushes away stains over time.
2. Pineapple - Acts as a natural stain remover.
3. Carrots - Contain vitamin A which is needed for healthy tooth enamel.
4. Cauliflower and cucumbers - Also help to increase salivary production the natural way to flush away stains.
5. Green vegetables - Things like broccoli, lettuce and spinach contain iron, which helps form an acid-resistant film or barrier that can protect the enamel on your teeth.
6. Shiitake Mushrooms - Help inhibit bacteria from growing in your mouth.
7. Onions - Help reduce bacteria that cause tooth decay.
8. Cheese - Rich in protein, calcium and phosphorus, all of which can help safeguard the acids in your mouth.
9. Salmon - Provides calcium and vitamin D, nutrients needed for healthy bones and teeth.
10. Poppy and Sesame Seeds - Help scrub away plaque.
11. Ginger - Acts as an anti-inflammatory to support healthy mouth tissue.
12. Basil - A natural antibiotic that reduces bacteria in the mouth.

Do you eat many of the staining foods? I eat most of them, besides sodas, candy, and popsicles, so I guess I need to be more vigilant with my post-meal tooth brushing (instead of just morning and night) and eat more of the foods that will help lighten my teeth.


P.S. I should have some exciting news tomorrow on the blog!!

Recipe: Brussels Sprouts & Quinoa Hash

I got home tonight and was so happy that I'd planned on making this recipe earlier in the day. I trained with Amanda this morning, ran errands in the afternoon, and then took an Uplifting class at Uplift Studios at 7:00 PM with Liz and Nicole. By the time I got home at 8:45 PM, I was just not up for making anything that demanded real work. This recipe is delicious, nutritious, and takes 15 minutes tops, so it was perfect.

I call this a hash because it's several different ingredients mixed together in a pan to create delicious goodness that isn't very attractive. It's a highly technical definition.

ingredient snapshot

Here's how to make this the easiest recipe ever -- get packaged shaved Brussels sprouts from Trader Joe's and frozen pre-cooked quinoa from TJ's or Whole Foods. Buy sliced almonds in bulk. If you do that, then literally all you are doing here is microwaving quinoa and cooking the Brussels sprouts and almonds. You only need to have prep work if you don't have shredded Brussels sprouts (I didn't and chopped them up, but that only took me an extra 3 minutes).

healthy hash! not the best picture ever, but this stuff is TASTY I promise 

Brussels Sprouts & Quinoa Hash
Serves 1

Ingredients
2 cups shredded Brussels sprouts
1 cup cooked quinoa
1/4 cup sliced almonds
1 1/2 tbs olive oil
1 tbs apple cider vinegar (optional)
1/4 cup goji berries, dried cranberries (optional)
salt and pepper to taste

1. Cook your quinoa in the microwave according to the package's directions (or boil it on the stove according to directions if you don't have pre-cooked quinoa).


2. Heat the olive oil in a pan.

3. Pour in your shredded Brussels sprouts and sliced almonds. Stir periodically (I like to let some of them get brown for extra taste) for 5-8 minutes until sprouts are cooked through (taste to check).

4. Add cooked quinoa and berries, if using, to pan.

5. Add apple cider vinegar and season with salt and pepper. 

6. Put on plate and enjoy!

Do you have a healthy and quick recipe that's a go-to on late nights?

My Favorite Things: Starbucks edition

Quick Weekend Update
I had a nice weekend of exercise and catching up with friends from out of town. I also got a glorious 11 hours of sleep Saturday when someone super sweet suggested that he sleep on the couch with the pets so that nothing could disturb me for an entire night (I'm a light sleeper, so our pets tend to wake me up fairly frequently, and it's been rough lately).

there was still snow on the ground on Friday!

After a gorgeous 5 mile run on Friday, I got myself gussied up and we headed down to meet friends from undergrad at a new restaurant on the Lower East Side, Cata. I was really surprised by how much is already up and running, since I know how many areas of Staten Island and most of the Rockaways are basically still a disaster zone. However, the Lower East Side appears to be mostly recovered, and restaurants there could very much use your support! Subways aren't 100% but it wasn't much of a hassle to get down there after we checked service alerts to know what subways weren't running normally.

(source)

If you like tapas, you'll love Cata, which has really great Spanish small plates. Also a huge range of gin and tonics (not my drink of choice so I stuck to a glass of cava). After a delicious dinner, we saw a stand-up show at the Upright Citizens Brigade, dropped by a bar to watch the last quarter of the Knicks win against the Mavericks (4-0 to start the season! Go Knicks!), then caught a late showing of the new James Bond movie, Skyfall. It's a fun action movie, and really beautifully filmed, but guys, the plot... I'll just point you to Vulture's attempt to break down the evil genius's plan. Obviously that's part of the whole Bond franchise -- ridiculously convoluted evil plots -- but this one especially was ridiculous.

dark restaurant = ghostly me

After too few hours of sleep, I met up with my friend Hana who was visiting for the weekend. Our plans were unfortunately changed because we couldn't get to the early class we planned on due to subways not running as we'd expected. Still, it ended up nicely since we got to have a long lunch at Le Pain Quotidien. We were seated across from some ladies talking about how lucky their friend was for marrying the man she did, because if she'd married some other guy she'd be pregnant with the baby of someone unimportant, and how terrible would that be? I just have to preserve that conversation for posterity, because... really? Really?

the interior of the Barry's Bootcamp Tribeca location
(source)

Anyway, after lunch we tried Barry's Bootcamp. My feelings basically mirror Hana's, which is why I'm just going to link to her review. I think I'd go back occasionally but don't see it being a major part of my fitness routine. I didn't have an "instantly in love" feeling like I did with Uplift Studios, Strala Yoga, or Physique 57.

My Favorite Things: Starbucks!
I love Starbucks. I know, a white blonde girl who likes Starbucks? How original! But I do, I love Starbucks. They have a magnetic pull on me. Whenever I'm out walking Mason with Sourabh and I see one, it's like a force field pulling me in to spend $5 on a cup of soy milk in a cute cup...

But seriously, I love Starbucks for more than their fancy drinks and holiday cups. In fact, I don't even like the fancy drinks all that much (but I DO love those holiday cups). My favorite part of Starbucks is actually the fact that I can reliably get something healthy there when I'm rushing around or traveling. Running errands and need a snack? Pick up a KIND bar and banana. Starbucks has really stepped up their healthy food options in the past year, and these are some of my favorite picks.

Starbucks Perfect Oatmeal

"hearty, 100% whole-grain oatmeal"
(source)

I love oatmeal. Starbucks has oatmeal. Enough said? Ok, well not quite... it's important to note that if you add all the toppings, the 140 calories quickly climbs up a lot higher. However, this is a great breakfast option because who doesn't have a Starbucks close by? Perfect if you're leaving for an early flight or slept past your alarm (because you totally budget in time to make yourself breakfast every morning, right??).

Protein Bistro Box

"cage-free egg, white Cheddar cheese, honey peanut butter, multigrain muesli bread, apples and grapes."
(source)

I always like putting together a plate of different items when I make lunch for myself, so this basically does the job for me. Lots of protein, healthy fats, whole grains, and some fruit make this a nice lunch option. And at 380 calories, it can definitely serve as a small lunch.

Goat Cheese and Garden Veggies Bistro Box

"vegetable medley served with goat cheese, tzatziki dip and cranberry almond crackers"
(source)

This one is better as a snack than the protein box, given that it's 220 calories and wouldn't be super filling. I generally don't eat much dairy, but I make an exception for goat cheese because, well.... if you like goat cheese, that's self-explanatory, right? (And if you don't, who are you??)

Spinach & Feta Breakfast Wrap

"a wheat wrap filled with cage-free egg white, spinach, feta cheese and tomatoes."
(source)

I got roughly four hours of sleep last night because I was up reading Gone Girl. Crazy addicting (also, crazy people). Good vacation read for sure. Anyway, I just wasn't up for making myself lunch, so I grabbed one of these on the way home from my morning class. I love these as a warm, filling small meal. At 290 calories, it's perfect paired with a piece of fruit.

Roasted Vegetable Panini

"roasted zucchini, eggplant, and red peppers with baby spinach and provolone cheese on focaccia bread"
(source)

This is probably my least favorite of the things on this list, just because it's white bread and the cheese can feel a tad bit gummy. However, it's still tasty and is filled with veggies, so it's a good option for when you're craving a sandwich for lunch. And at under 350 calories with 13 grams of protein, it should keep you pretty full!

REMEMBER TO ENTER MY GIVEAWAY FOR SANDY RELIEF!!

What's your favorite Starbucks food or drink item? 
Have you tried Barry's Bootcamp? What'd you think?

My Favorite Things: Skin Care Products

Inspired by Oprah, I've decided to do a list of my favorite things. I know y'all hang on my every word just like you would Oprah's, so I expect sales of these products to skyrocket.

First up: skin care. I care a lot about taking care of my skin. It's your largest organ! My mom has terrific skin, which makes her look a lot younger than her 62 years. I've been taking care of my skin since I was about 13, but it's even more important now that I live on the East Coast given how cold and blistery New York winters can be (and New Hampshire winters, where I went to undergrad, were even worse).

see? great skin! 

I tend to buy clothes from a combination of Joe Fresh, H&M, J.Crew Factory, Banana Republic sales, and Ann Taylor Loft. Nothing too expensive (I covet the full price J.Crew sweater I bought a year ago). But when it comes to my skin, I try to invest in good skincare products, even if they cost a bit more. So here's what I use on a daily basis, with the caveat that for the best skin, perhaps the most important thing you can do is eat a healthy diet!

from left: Philosophy's Purity face wash and Hope in a Jar for Dry Skin moisturizer, Dermalogica's Skin Prep Scrub exfoliator, Clinique's All About Eyes Rich eye cream, Neutrogena's Ultra Sheer Dry-Touch Sunblock (SPF 55) and Naturals Multi-Vitamin Nourishing Moisturizer, and Almay's Oil-Free Eye Makeup Remover pads

I've used all these products long enough that I feel 100% confident in recommending them, although obviously different products are best for different skin types. With my dryish skin, living in Northeast weather, these are the products I like to use.

Mornings
After consulting with the wonderful Front Street Spa back home in Lynden, WA, several years ago, I was told to wash my face less. I have dry skin, so washing it too frequently causes too much oil production and clogs pores that are tighter because my skin is dry. So, I wash my face at night and just rinse it with cold water in the morning.

Once I've rinsed in the morning, I use Neutrogena's Multi-Vitamin Nourishing Moisturizer for my face and neck (the neck shows your age typically because we forget to take care of it). I then dab on the Clinique All About Eyes Rich eye cream. I love how creamy it feels, and I credit it with my lack of dark circles under my eyes despite my pale skin. Once my moisturizers are on, I apply the sunscreen. I am extremely vigilant about wearing sunscreen and try to remember to apply it to my decollete as well since that's another area that can easily burn, leading to sunspots later on in life (or worse, cancer).

Evenings
At night, I take off my eye makeup using Almay's makeup remover pads, which I love. They're a recent discovery, but they do a great job of taking off eye shadow, eyeliner, and mascara. I then wash my face with Philosophy's Purity.

I'm currently using a Clarisonic Mia brush to wash my face with the face wash at night, which I bought using credit card reward points to Sephora. However, I've only been using it for three weeks or so and I'm not 100% sold on it yet, so I can't recommend it fully. I like the way it feels, but I've also broken out a bit. I've heard that this can happen in the first few weeks, and it's also changing seasons in New York, going from humid to dry, which can cause breakouts. Since I'm not sure what exactly is up with my skin, I'm going to reserve judgment for now and report back later.

Twice a week I exfoliate after washing my face, using Dermalogica's Skin Prep exfoliator. Exfoliating is very important for dry skin since it gets rid of dead skin cells (gross, I know) and prevents breakouts while keeping your skin looking glowy and fresh.

Finally, I spread on my Philosophy Hope in a Jar Dry Skin moisturizer as my night cream and then dab on eye cream again for the evening. I much prefer the smell of the dry skin moisturizer; both the boy and I dislike the smell of Philosophy's regular Hope in a Jar moisturizer (to paraphrase him after kissing my cheek once: "ew.")

What skin products do you use and love? Are you a skin care fanatic, too? 

Chia Seed Pudding Recipe

Last night I finally got around to trying a chia seed pudding recipe that I could make overnight. I wish I'd done it sooner! The delicious, chilled chia seed pudding is a perfect summer breakfast. It's sort of like tapioca pudding, but much healthier.

Chia seeds have a ton of health benefits. They're full of omega-3 healthy fats, they pack quite the protein and fiber punch for their calories (roughly 65 calories for 2 tablespoons), and many other wonderful health benefits.

Recipe
1/4 cup chia seeds
1 1/4 cup almond milk (vanilla unsweetened)
1/4 cup fruit of your choice (I used blueberries)
1 tbsp agave syrup
1 medium Mason jar
Nutrition estimate -- 250-275 calories, 9 g protein, 18 g fiber, 15 g fat, 30 g carbohydrates

1. Put all your ingredients into the Mason jar and stir it up.

pre-shaking and stirring

2. Put the cap on the Mason jar, tightly, and shake it vigorously for 30 seconds or so.

3. Put the jar in the refrigerator for at least 4 hours, preferably overnight.
4. Open and enjoy!

it doesn't look that good, but it tastes delicious!

Delicious Destinations: Chobani SoHo Yogurt Bar

After an awesome STRONG class with Mike Taylor at Strala Yoga (review to come soon!), I dropped by Chobani's new SoHo yogurt bar. I had met up with an old friend at Strala so it was the perfect place to grab a post-workout snack and chat.

The boutique is quite small, but it's very pretty. The wood detailing is nice and the all-glass storefront makes the store stand out on its corner location.

Oh, all you care about is the food? Cool, me too. So I love Greek yogurt, but I don't always like Chobani (especially their fat-free) because it lacks that creamy factor. The in-store yogurt was perfect -- creamy and smooth, tangy and rich, without that cloying cream after-taste that I personally can't stand.

Blueberry + Power

I got the blueberry, chia seeds, hemp seeds, walnuts, and agave blend. It was SO good. I love blueberries, and thought they mixed well with the chia and hemp seeds and the walnuts. And of course I love agave (who doesn't??). All the sweet combinations looked great, and at $3.75 each (and you get to keep the glass jars!), they're pretty cheap, too.

Yum! So good!!

While my friend and I chatted, we were given another dish! Apparently they made extra and didn't want it to go to waste. Thanks, Chobani!! We both were given a savory dish, the Plain Chobani + Cucumber, which comes with fresh cucumber, sea salt, and sprinkled fresh mint. It was really delicious, and if paired with some couscous or something, would have made a terrific lunch. I love that Chobani is offering savory yogurt options in addition to the sweet ones.

Plain Chobani + Cucumber

All the dishes come with plain Chobani yogurt in a cute little glass jar. You can keep the jar or return it and get a $0.25 off coupon.

The Details:
Address -- 150 Prince Street (at W Broadway)
Hours -- 9am to 8pm daily

Why I love my trainer

I love my trainer. Amanda has been an inspiration to me since I first started training with her. She is a  wonderful personal trainer, a dynamite yoga teacher, a former boxing champion, and an awesome person.

The best part about a good trainer is that they don't force you to do things, they empower you! That's how I feel after every session with Amanda: empowered. I feel empowered to make good food choices, to get into the gym with a plan, and to achieve what I've been convinced I'm capable of achieving. Also, working out while chatting with her is always the best part of the week!

see? boxing champ!

Here are some of the things that she has helped me to achieve:

• I can run! Before I started training with Amanda, the idea of running a single mile (yup, 1 mile) seemed impossible. Now, I can run 6 miles in less than an hour, and I've started running races... she's helping me train for a big one in October!!
• I lost 10 pounds (and gained some back in muscle) and learned to love exercise for exercise, rather than only as a necessary evil required to get/stay thin.
• I'm strong! Getting strong makes me love and appreciate my body so much more.
• I eat so much healthier both because of Amanda's encouragement and check-ins, and also because of the fact that exercising more made me more aware of how much better I felt when I ate well.
• I have someone who I feel accountable to about making healthy choices, besides myself
• I've gained a friend :)

I found Amanda by seeing her training someone in my old building's gym. She seemed like exactly what I wanted in a trainer -- someone who wouldn't let you slack but would push you with positivity, not negativity. She will kick your ass, but she'll do it with a gigantic smile that's contagious.

and a terrific yoga instructor!

Working with a trainer has been an investment in my health, and I honestly think it's paid off ten times over. I would absolutely urge anyone to try to fit working with a trainer into their budget, especially if they're new to working out. Training with Amanda is one of the best investments and decisions I've made!

Kick the (soda) can to the curb!

Soda is everywhere. It's at every work meeting, in every cafeteria, in the vending machine before class, it's the most bang-for-your-buck option at the movie theater (where the buck doesn't go very far to begin with). And when you need caffeine, I feel like diet coke is the most frequently turned-to option.

I think most people know that regular soda is a diet-killer. I'm not on a "diet" so much as I just try to eat healthy as a general rule, but that means that regular soda has no place in my day. But diet soda has 0 calories so it has to be fine, right?

Actually, no. Diet soda is absolutely terrible for you. Here are some reasons why...

Diet soda confuses your body, which can lead to more weight gain.
It doesn't make much sense at first, so you have to understand what happens when your body gets fake sugar like aspartame. It thinks it's received the molecular parts of sugar, but it hasn't -- this leads your body to crave that sugar and feel hungrier. By drinking soda, you make yourself more likely to crave food, and especially the sugary things that you probably don't want to be craving if you're drinking diet soda!

Bloat, anyone?
Not everyone is affected by fake sugar in the same way, but the combination of fake sugar and carbonation in sugar can wreak havoc on your formerly svelte waistline. Fake sugar--the kind that's in sugar-free gum and soda--can have very negative effects on your digestion and can lead to major bloating. That combined with the carbonation (the bubbles) in soda can cause major bloating. What's the point of not eating the sugar if you can't show off the waistline?


Aspartame might not even be safe for human consumption.
Sure, this one is a bit alarmist, but plenty of studies have found problems with aspartame that suggest it's not something people should be consuming on a regular basis. For example, "of the 166 studies felt to have relevance for questions of human safety, 74 had Nutrasweet industry (those who make aspartame) related funding and 92 were independently funded. One hundred percent of the research performed by the company who makes aspartame confirmed aspartame's safety, whereas 92% of the independently funded research found problems with consuming aspartame" (source).


There is such a thing as too much caffeine...
I'm sure most of us have powered through days and weeks (and months and years...) where we weren't getting enough sleep using caffeine. But there is such a thing as too much caffeine, and you're way more likely to "overdose" on it when you're drinking it in a sweet diet soda can instead of in a coffee cup. Plus, caffeine is a diuretic, meaning it does not hydrate you like liquids such as water do, and instead dehydrates you. And guess what's terrible for your skin? Being dehydrated.


What to drink instead?
Once you kick the diet soda habit, you'll probably wonder why you were ever addicted in the first place because there are so many great alternatives. I'm a huge iced tea drinker now, especially in the summer!

• Sugar-free iced tea
• Flavored water (throw some lemons and chopped up strawberries into a pitcher of ice water)
• Green tea
• Seltzer water
• Vegetable juice (very low in calories if you aren't throwing in tons of fruit)

What's one of your favorite soda replacements? Have you kicked the habit or are you holding on to that soda bottle?

Morning Exercise

Morning work outs are always a bit rough for me. All I want to do when I wake up is eat breakfast, read my email and the news, and savor my extra large cup of black tea (with almond milk, my current milk-replacement-obsession).

But, since I'm working at a law firm this summer, mornings are the safest time to work out. If I don't go in the morning I'm roughly 87% less likely to work out. So I've had to work at stream lining both my breakfast and my getting ready for work process. Here are a few tips I've found to be super useful for getting myself going.

Although getting to run around the gorgeous Jackie O. Reservoir in Central Park should be motivation enough!

Before the Gym/Run:

• Get enough sleep. This one's obvious, right? I rarely miss a morning work out if I made sure to get more than 7 hours of sleep the night before, but I can't tell you how many missed work outs are the product of a late night.
• Make your breakfast beforehand. Having breakfast ready for you when you get back from the gym is always a nice treat, and there are lots of ways to make this happen. For example, if you're doing a smoothie for breakfast, whip it up quickly and drink 1/4 or 1/3 before heading to your work out, leaving the rest in the fridge. You have breakfast waiting for you when you get back! Yes, food keeps me motivated. Martha Stewart has a list of 40 healthy smoothies here. 
• Have your gym clothes ready to hop into. I leave what I'm going to wear hanging on my bedroom doorknob so I can throw it on quickly and don't waste time contemplating what to wear.
• Drink some water. I find that I wake up pretty parched, so I try to drink a small glass of water before heading out. It makes me feel better the entire time I'm exercising.

During:

• STRETCH. This one is so incredibly important. You really have to slowly ease your body into movement because it's been basically motionless through most of the night, which is why you feel so stiff when you wake up. You are way more likely to injure yourself if you don't properly stretch (trust me, I've learned that lesson the hard way... just ask my ankle!).
• WARM UP. Also, incredibly important in the morning. My trainer, Amanda, always makes me power walk then jog at least 1/2 a mile before starting a training session, and she recommends 1 mile for any workout involving sprinting. Greatist has a nice overview of how to warm up before working out here.
• Have a plan. I have a series of work outs in the "notes" section of my phone so that I don't have to think about what I'm doing or when to do it. Fuzzy morning brain can mean you waste time contemplating things at the gym. Having a plan helps avoid that. I'll post some of my work out plans in the future, but for now, there's a great sample of a work out plan at Fit Chick in the City.
• Have a good playlist. Obviously, this one is huge. Motivation through music is especially important when you're feeling sluggish in the morning! Shape has some awesome recommendations here. I'm loving Kanye and Jay-Z's "No Church in the Wild" as my getting-into-my-morning-groove song.

My current morning run playlist. Don't mock the Flo Rida and Pitbull... their beats keep my feet going!

After the Gym/Run:

• Take hair washing out of the equation. I am a HUGE fan of dry shampoo. I have long, thick hair, so washing it every day is both unhealthy for it and a major pain. Dry shampoo takes away the "but my hair will look dirty" excuse to avoid exercising. There are a bunch of tips on keeping your hair looking presentable post-work out here.
• Know what you're wearing to work. I wrote earlier about how I plan out my work outs at the beginning of the week. Yep, you guessed it, I try to plan out my work outfits for the week on Sunday evenings as well. It honestly takes about five minutes to put things together and it takes out the 20 minutes of debating what outfit to wear in the morning while I'm still blinking the sleep out of my eyes. Having Cher's kick-ass outfit selection computer program in Clueless would clearly be better, but until I get that, making an outfit plan at the beginning of the week will have to do.

Don't we all want one of these programs??

Any other tips for getting in a morning work out and getting out the door faster?