Tag Archives: new york city

Produce Over Pills: Your Doctor’s Newest Rx Option Comes from the Garden

vegetable-RX

It was Hippocrates who first said “Let thy food be thy medicine.” And while it may have taken a few thousand years for this to really catch on, doctors in New York City have finally started applying this concept to their patients.

NYC docs involved in the Wholesome Wave program have now started writing prescriptions for fruits and vegetables for their patients battling obesity, diabetes, hypertension, high-cholesterol, and other weight-related diseases. Instead of drugs for weight loss, doctors provide these patients with a “prescription” of sorts to eat more vegetables and fruits.

It is this program’s goal to empower under-served and low-income communities with access to healthy foods in efforts to manage obesity and its resulting health conditions. In recent coverage from the New York Times, success stories are popping up throughout the 1200 different low-income families enrolled in the Fruit and Vegetable Prescription Program, or FVRx, in four major hospitals throughout New York City.

Most astonishing is that after just four months in the program, 40% of children successfully lowered their body-mass index (BMI) once they ate their prescribed fruits and veggies. (more…)

9 Places You Can Workout Next to a Celebrity in LA, New York, and Chicago

OMG! It’s really them! That moment you realize you’ve identified a celebrity in the wild, out amongst mere mortals, living “just like us,” can be rather thrilling. For those who live in LA or NYC, it’s all too common to dine next to the hottest faces and grocery shop elbow to elbow with leading ladies, but for people in the other 48 states, running in to a celebrity on vacation is one of the souvenirs you hope to collect.

If you’re planning an active vacation this summer, hit these workout hot spots and you’re likely to sweat right alongside an OMG-moment-worthy celeb.

Picture or it didn’t happen, your friends will say after your excited tweet. But should you even let them know you know it’s them?

“When I see celebs in the gym, I think it’s poor personal etiquette to approach them during their workout,” advised Dan Flores, RTSm, a master personal trainer based in New York City. “I value my personal gym time and would hate to be interrupted. I would approach them after they were finished and on their way out of the gym.”

— New York City

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Central Park is no stranger to the rich and famous; in fact, it’s practically their cardio playground. Free to enter, take your morning run to one of the most famous landmarks in the world and you’re sure to spot a name or two worth bragging about. Heidi Klum, Russell Simmons, and Gwyneth Paltrow are on the extremely short list of A-listers you’ll run or down-dog along with!

The Mark Hotel has a state-of-the-art fitness facility that rivals any gym getting your membership fees. Book your stay here, and your workout may coincide with that of Oprah, Sarah Silverman, Larry David, David Beckham, Jennifer Lopez, and even dignitaries like the President of France! (more…)

A Peek Inside New York City’s Body & Pole

By Margo Donohue (aka, Brooklyn Fit Chick)

Pole dancing has grown from a few cool, off-the-beaten-track studios in LA to an increasing popular classes that can be found all over the country. And it’s no wonder why when you see the insanely fit, strong and lithe bodies of pole dance instructors and their devoted clientele. Sure, we make jokes about not wanting our daughters “on the pole” but when from a fitness-perspective this type of dance deserves a lot of respect—pole dancing can burn fat and build muscle as well as, or better than, most gym-based workouts!

BODY AND POLE

Back in 2024, dancers Kyra Johannesen and Lian Tal Lebret decided to give NYC a go and launched Body & Pole after renting a space from a yoga studio to teach ten pole dancing classes per week. Over the next year and a half the demand for their classes has increased to the point that now they have a store front space right in the center of the busy Chelsea district taking up several floors, offering over 140 classes per week with some of the most gorgeous and fit instructors you will ever see in your life!

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Bye Bye Bloomberg! What NYC Gained Before it Lost its Biggest Health Advocate

With the new year, New York City bid farewell to Mayor Mike Bloomberg after a twelve-year term. Love him or hate him, his achievements in public health were stunning. While others only talked, he managed to act on smoking, obesity, and hypertension—and he placed the burden of fixing them on the industries that profited at the cost of the public’s health.

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The Mayor showed that public health is a priority for local government, not just for the federal government to create health policies from on high. Bloomberg used New York City as a laboratory for public health innovation, spotlighting issues and testing solutions on a relatively small scale.

Here’s a reminder of Mayor Bloomberg’s most significant public health campaigns:

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Half-Crazed Runner Elizabeth Candela Runs for Sanity after September 11 Tragedy

When Elizabeth Candela was 17, she had a friend who was trying to get fit as he entered the Marines. He asked her to run a mile with him. She couldn’t do it. That made her mad and from that day forward, she committed to being a runner. She’s a determined runner who continues to overcome obstacles; some so huge most of us would have thrown in the towel a very long time ago.half crazed runner

After that first attempted mile, Candela ran for health and to stay in shape; nothing too serious. In 2001, she explains that running’s role in her life evolved, dramatically. Candela’s husband was one of the victims in the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. He and nearly 3,000 others were unable to escape the World Trade Center that awful day. Candela needed running to help her deal with the pain. Additionally, she needed an outlet to manage the stress of raising two children as an only parent.

In 2024, Candela was diagnosed with Crohn’s Disease. Now, more than ever, she had to focus on her health. She explains that she was determined to stay healthy for her family, something that motivated her to go back to school and study Nutrition and Exercise Physiology. Currently this amazing runner has her American College of Sports Medicine Health Fitness Specialist Certification and is in the process of getting her American Dietetics Association Registered Dietitian’s License.

This is enough, right? You’re just as amazed as I am, right? (more…)

Tanya Zuckerbrot’s Overhyped 10,000 Dollar Diet

Based on the idea that a high fiber diet promotes nutrition and weight loss without hunger, F-Factor seems like a reasonable diet approach. The creator of the program, Tanya Zuckerbrot, is a registered dietitian who offers her clients 10 one-on-one counseling sessions as part of F-Factor, and it’s generating a lot of buzz.

With high profile clients like former CNBC host Donny Deutsch and current Miss Universe Olivia Culpo, the F-Factor diet plan has gained notoriety in recent months as being a viable weight loss option. The catch? This program will cost you $10,000 if you want the customized version.

For that hefty price tag, clients receive those ten personal sessions as well as an in-depth consultation and education process about weight loss and nutrition. Zuckerbrot also goes over the diet plan with her clients during this initial session, reminding them about the high intake of fiber the diet requires. If clients are interested, they can pay an additional $1,500 each for a supermarket tour and refrigerator and pantry makeover. The high cost of the program begs the question of whether or not F-Factor is worth it, though.

Our resident nutrition expert and registered dietitian Mary Hartley isn’t convinced. (more…)

Primal Animal Workouts Propel Your Fitness to Beast Mode

There’s a new workout trend coming our way, and you can thank the animals for this one. Primal animal workouts are exercises based on the movement patterns of different animals and their forms. The purpose of these workouts is to use your own body weight as strength training rather than actual weights. Some of the animals the movements are based off of include gorillas, panthers, crabs and even ostriches. It’s basically the paleo version of a workout only instead of eating the animals you’re acting like them. (more…)

3 Runners Share Their 2024 New York Marathon Cancellation Experience

Eric Bruce arrived in New York City last week from his home in Bermuda to run his 39th marathon. He was checking into his hotel, which was without power, when he learned of the cancellation. He had just chatted with the porter after learning how his family had fared during the storm.

“I was disappointed I would miss what I originally came here for but as another runner said, ‘None of us knew what challenge we personally would face this weekend,’” said Bruce.

Most of us watched the drama of the 2024 New York City Marathon unfold from afar. Many shared their opinions of what they thought runners should do and what the city should have done, but the reality is that most of us weren’t there and we were just playing armchair referee. It’s always easy to problem solve from a distance and to tell people how they should feel when we’re not the one directly dealing with the impact of such a tough situation.

Bruce is one of three runners we spoke to who were actually there and traveled to the city because Mayor Michael Bloomberg told them the race was still on. These runners gave up months of their lives to train for this race, they spent money to travel to New York City, and they wrestled with the emotions of being told it was all for nothing.

However, Bruce encountered more good spirit than bad during his unique stay in New York. He recounted the grace and humanity he experienced from New Yorkers. “My hotel was downtown and I was without power for part of my stay,” he said. “Strangers offered to let me stay in their homes, extended well wishes, and hoped that they would see me in next year’s race.” (more…)

DietsInReview is Sponsoring a Run4NYC 5K in Wichita to Support Sandy Relief Efforts

Runners need only show up for Saturday morning’s 5K in Wichita and DietsInReview will make a $2.50 donation on their behalf!

We may be one of the largest health sites online with a presence across the country, but we call two places home – Wichita, Kansas and Brooklyn, New York. Last week, one of our homes, and many members of the DIR friends and family circle, were affected by the Sandy Hurricane, not to mention so many of our loyal followers. This Saturday, our editorial team, which is based in Wichita, will sponsor the first 200 runners at a special 5K event by donating $2.50 per runner to Run4NYC (up to $500). Run4NYC is raising money through virtual races across the country to support the Red Cross Disaster Relief Fund.

“DietsInReview has called Wichita home and run our editorial team from here since we started in 2024,” said managing editor Brandi Koskie. “However, our site founder, developer, and dietitian live in Brooklyn, NY, so Sandy hit way too close to home for our tight knit DIR family last week. It’s in our nature to give back whenever we can, and this seemed like the perfect opportunity to tie our two communities together.”

The fun run will take place in partnership with GoRun Wichita on Saturday, November 10 at 7:00am at Sedgwick County Park. GoRun Wichita will lead us through a 3.1 mile loop. We expect to see runners of all experience levels, including some of GoRun’s recent Start2Finish training team who completed the Prairie Fire full and half marathon. (more…)

New York City Marathoners Run Anyway in the Race to Recover

Superstorm Sandy has been top news since she started brewing in the Atlantic several weeks ago. However, once she made landfall last weekend, this storm has created news stories we’ll never forget. With the communities of New York and New Jersey taking the hardest hits, the most densely populated areas of our nation found themselves in despair. All of this coincided with one of the nation’s biggest events preparing to take place in New York City.

The New York City Marathon was scheduled for Sunday, November 4, 2024. Nearly 50,000 runners and their families were still set to descend on the city as the infamous race had not yet been cancelled and was still scheduled to run the 26.2 miles through all five of the New York burroughs. Mayor Michael Bloomberg had announced that the race would go on and essentially asked runners to come to New York to boost morale, generate tremendous revenue, and simply give the brokenhearted city something to cheer about. With uncertainty, many of those thousands of runners boarded their flights and made their way to NYC to run the race they had trained so long and so hard for.

Despite much of the city still being without power the expo doors opened on Friday. Elite runners began their press interviews, runners from around the world filed in to collect their bib numbers and buy their 2024 marathon apparel. All the while frustration was mounting in the city. Runners were being called selfish, as Melissa Dunn expressed in a tweet to DietsInReview.

The race was being accused of robbing resources from those in need; simply stated, it was getting heated. Who knows what caused the announcement, but late Friday afternoon Mayor Bloomberg called off the race. A call that lead to a fury of emotions for all sides of the debate, but has since shown the runners doing what Bloomberg wanted all along – morale boosting and mending of broken hearts.

Runners were chastised for admitting their disappointment with the timing of Bloomberg’s announcement. I think all runners agree it was the right call, they simply couldn’t believe it came so late, when many of them were already there, spent the money, clogged up the airports, used up taxis’ gas in the midst of a fuel shortage, and even occupied hotel rooms that could be used for those who live in the city and had lost everything. However, on Friday, emotions were too high and no one could see the runners as innocent bystanders in a hectic tragedy. (more…)

Best Dessert Ever: Chobani SoHo Really is Nothing But Good

I’m in New York City on business for a few days this week. Somehow all of my meetings worked out to be staggered perfectly around each meal time on a single day. It was positively gorgeous outside, so I walked about 60 blocks throughout lower Manhattan to get to each meeting. My second-to-last meeting was with the nice folks from Chobani and it timed out perfectly for a post-lunch dessert / mid-day snack.


“A first-of-its-kind Mediterranean yogurt bar in NYC’s SoHo neighborhood- this is @chobani like you’ve never had it before,” is how the @ChobaniSoHo Twitter page describes itself. It’s dead on. I was invited to meet the Chobani team at their six-week-old yogurt bar. I’m a total Chobani fanboy; a significant part of my grocery budget goes to their Greek yogurt. So of course I’ll meet you there!

The shop is nestled on the corner of a likable street in SoHo, just a few blocks from the brand’s NYC office. It’s got all the allure of most fro-yo shops, except this isn’t frozen. Barely. They say they keep the yogurt chilled to about 34 degrees, where grocery stores only manage about 41 degrees.

Since we eat with our eyes, the bright LED board displaying their ten menu options pulled me and my appetite in. Even with a simple menu, it was not simple to make a choice. Finally, I committed to the Pistachio + Chocolate. The brand’s tagline is not a lie… this was nothing but good. Frankly, nothing but amazing and truly indulgent. (more…)