This time of year is considered the season of giving and it got me thinking about how I can give gifts to my loved ones, and ALSO give back to businesses doing good.

After doing a little research, I thought that my findings might be useful for my Smart Life community, so decided to compile a list of gift ideas for this holiday season. The gifts themselves, are truly beautiful items, but the added bonus is that the proceeds from that gift go back to a charitable organization. I love this idea of double gifting – I hope you do too.

‘Give the Smart Life for 2023’ Gift Card $50-$250

The new Give the Smart Life for 2023 Gift Card can be used towards Private Cooking Classes, Food Shopping Tours and Private Coaching. Why not give the gift of Smart Life? We will donate 10% of all holiday purchases to Books for Kids. One thing I’ve loved doing more of in my business these past few years is giving back. Proceeds from many of my sales already go to Books for Kids, of whom I am a huge supporter and ambassador. Books for Kids is a library and literacy nonprofit organization that works to ensure that every child, from birth to kindergarten, is surrounded by books, has adults who read with them every day, and has access to high-quality early education.

Hand in Hand Assorted Bar Soap Set $19 

Made with rapeseed oil to soothe and moisturize skin, these organic soaps come in scents like cactus blossom and island mimosa. For every bar sold, Hand in Hand donates one bar of soap and clean water to a child in need.

Material The ReBoard $35

This cutting board is BPA-free, dishwasher safe, and made of excess plastic discarded by the kitchenware production kitchenware production process. The best part?  50% of the proceeds from the To Po-Po with Love colorway goes to Heart of Dinner.

West Elm Personal Best Ceramics Spoon Rest $32

This beautiful spoon rest ceramic will look good in any kitchen, supports a small local business and No Kid Hungry.

Parks Project National Parks Woodcuts 2023 Calendar $20

Even if your friends or family are not hikers or campers, they can still appreciate the bright, graphic wall calendar that supports the National Parks Conservation Association and its mission to preserve public lands for generations to come.

Parks Project Cropped Tank $46 & Parks Project Hiker Short $56

Parks Project’s goal is to protect and preserve parklands for generations to come by educating, advocating, volunteering, and activating park supporters to get involved in conservation. To date, Parks Project has contributed over $2,500,000 to help fund vital projects in national parks around the US and proceeds from sales go into these projects.

Lula’s Garden Jewel Garden $44

3 adorable succulents are planted in a box and ready to display. Each purchase provides 6 months of safe water for one person in the developing world through water.org.

Oleamea Organic Olive Oil Gift Pack $21

The perfect gift box for any foodie in your life, containing their Premium Everyday and Private Select olive oils. A percentage of all sales goes directly to The Conscious Kid, an organization dedicated to promoting positive racial identity development in youth.

Conscious Step Socks that Plant Trees $15

Certified Organic Cotton, Fairtrade and vegan socks, plus they donate a percentage of all sales to environmental solutions for a healthy planet.

Other great gift ideas we recommend include Blissy products and cookbooks! Think of these are ‘gifts of health’ for your friends and family – giving them a better nights sleep and better nutrition inspiration!

Blissy Silk Pillowcases, Sleep Masks and Hair Accessories

Go-To Dinners by Ina Garten

Vegan at Times by Jessica Seinfeld

I Heart Kosher by Kim Kushner

My friend and yoga teacher, Heidi Kristoffer, has just released her very own yoga app. I have been training with Heidi for the past few months and I feel she helped me so much regain flexibility, elongate my muscles, and feel energized. Heidi and I met at a professional  health meeting and as soon as she started her yoga class, I felt I want to spend more time training with her. Many of you are not aware, but I have been dealing with a spinal injury for the past two years. My road to recovery included a surgery that did not end up successful, but I have been trying many other therapies since then. One of the things I let go after my spine surgery is yoga because my back and hips were so tight that anytime I tried yoga poses, I was in pain.

When I met Heidi, I immediately felt her amazing positive and gentle energy and her skill and knowledge about using yoga for healing impressed me. For the past few months, working one-on-one with Heidi, I made tremendous progress in my practice, my flexibility and my strength. I am now feeling much more confident to flow, and luckily I can now get even more mat-time with Heidi by using her Cross Flow app. If you are new to yoga or experienced, Heidi’s flows are perfect for everyone. Give it try. The first 2 weeks of using her app are free.

The CrossFlow app has Yoga-based routines for every mood, energy level, and need. There are routines suitable for every level of fitness, all time constraints, and every stage of life.

• CrossFlowV: “V” is for Vinyasa! In CrossFlowV routines, you can expect to FLOW, breathe, create space, and feel amazing! There are yoga flows for every level of practice, time of day, and energy level.
• CrossFlowX™:  a fast-paced blending of strength, core, inversion and arm-balance-focused flows, high-intensity cardio intervals, traditional yoga kriyas, and a little bit Xtra. These routines are designed to maximize your time while you laugh and sweat!
• CrossFlowZ: “Z” is for gentle flows that help your RELAX and get your Zzzs!
• CrossFlowP: for all of the mamas!  “P” for prenatal and postnatal flows.
• CrossFlowRx: your yoga prescription for all that ails you!  These therapeutic flows are doctor and physical therapist approved for each condition addressed.
• Tutorials / workshops
• Breathing exercises
• Guided meditations
• A minimum of two new videos uploaded every week.

Heidi is offering it with a FREE two weeks trial by clicking HERE! 

One place where it is easy to shop for
healthy and inexpensive foods is Trader Joe’s. I love going there and get some
staples for my Smart Life kitchen. I always find new products that I can share
with my clients. Here is my top 15 from Trader Joe’s:

• Green Goddess Salad Dressing:  Delicious and flavorful low calorie, low fat, low carb dressing.  When you don’t have time to make your own, this is a good choice for a ready-made dressing.  It is also nice for dipping your crudité veggies for afternoon snack.

• Seasonings: The Chile-Lime Seasoning Blend adds flavor and a nice kick to any raw veggie. Also great to sprinkle on chicken or shrimp. Great seasoning for taco ground meat. I also like the Everything But the Bagel seasoning blend to sprinkle on raw veggies, eggs, salads, and just about EVERYTHING I eat. I add the Mushroom Umami Seasoning blend to cooked or roasted veggies including mushrooms.

• Jicama Sticks: Ready to eat crudité veggie that is packed with fiber and is delicious with a sprinkle of the chile-lime seasoning blend or the green goddess salad dressing.

• Organic Spicy Avocado Hummus:  This is a delicious organic hummus that is low in fat compared to traditional brands.  Serving size is 2 Tablespoons but it goes a long way when you eat with your salad or crudité veggies. I also like it as a spread over GG crackers.

• Organic Cucumbers: Enjoy these with the skin for more nutrients and fiber. These are my favorite veggie and they add hydration to your day. I enjoy them for snack and in my salads.

• Toasted Sesame Oil a tiny drop adds flavor and umami to any marinate/dressing. It makes everything taste like a warm and delicious Asian food.
• Coconut Aminos Skip the soy sauce and reach for coconut aminos. Most soy sauces are filled with highly processed ingredients many of them have been genetically modified. It’s also loaded with sodium. Coconut aminos is an excellent organic alternative that is both gluten and soy free.

• Dijon Mustard always stock on great tasting Dijon mustard to mix into home made salad dressings. I use it to brush over fish fillets and add some herbs and bake.

• Traditional Tunisian Harrisa Paste you can use this paste to add to cooked tomatoes and greens as a base for Shakshuka (Mediterranean Egg dish, see the recipe on my website). This is also great to any tomato based cooking dish that goes well with some Mediterranean flavors and spices.

• Frozen Organic Green Vegetable Foursome excellent combination of green veggies to steam for a fiber rich side dish.

• Frozen Organic Rainbow Cauliflower for cauliflower lovers this mix is heavenly for a steamed healthy side dish. It can also be used for cauliflower soup.

• Fresh Organic Berries are my favorite fruit and the best choice for fiber rich plus tons of antioxidants. Berries are also on the top of the list of the “Dirty Dozen” so the organic choice at Trader Joe’s is the smart choice.

• Chosen Foods Organic Avocado Oil is a healthy cooking oil with a very high smoke point that is good for high-temperature cooking. It can be used for stir-frying, sautéing, or searing. Avocado oil is high in monounsaturated fatty acids and good levels of antioxidants and many other nutritional compounds.
• Organic Olive Oil Spray this is best for those who need better control for how much oil they use. Great choice for making eggs.

• Steamed Ready to Eat Lentils are the best for those with busy schedules and little time to cook. Lentils can be enjoyed many ways — on a salad, in soup, or even just on their own. These legumes clock in at 18 grams of protein per cup. Plus, they also contain a good amount of fiber and minerals, including iron and magnesium, as well as antioxidants and B vitamins.

Stocking your kitchen with top-quality ingredients is a crucial step to becoming the healthiest you. Not only are they better for you, they also taste better and can make cooking at home easy and fun. Here are some of the ingredients that I always keep on hand in my own healthy kitchen.*

1. In my opinion, Shirley Bar Living Ethiopian Tahini is the best tahini out there. Their tahini made from 100% raw Ethiopian sesame seeds and contains no additives, preservatives, or added salt or oil (which can create a bitter aftertaste). This tahini is also very creamy, which makes it easy to to work with in the kitchen. It tastes heavenly over crudite veggies, Mary’s Gone Crackers or even straight from the jar for a quick healthy savory snack. I also use tahini in an amazing dressing that can be used on salads, over steamed green veggies, over cooked grains or roasted chicken, fish, or meat. Simply add lemon juice, water, parsley, salt, pepper and maybe a little garlic and mix by hand. If you’d prefer to make your own tahini, you can follow my easy Israeli Tahini recipe.

2. Anita’s Coconut Milk Yogurt is a phenomenal locally produced plant-based yogurt that contains no additives, added sugars or stabilizers. It contains solely nutrients that are naturally occurring in pure organic full-fat coconut milk. It is also high in probiotics. Because it is unsweetened, this coconut milk yogurt can be used for savory dishes – I use it to replace greek yogurt in salad dressings and also love to mix with some chopped cucumbers and drizzle a little olive oil, sea salt, and zaatar on top for a savory breakfast. For a sweeter snack, I will drizzle the yogurt with raw honey, flax seeds, and berries.

3. Green Raw Wraps are delicious and healthy wraps that can be enjoyed with hot or cold fillings. They only contain 70 calories and are made from organic, whole food ingredients. I love to wrap some veggies like cherry tomatoes, lettuce, cucumbers and avocado with ½ cup of cooked quinoa or brown rice or fill them with this easy recipe for Toona Salad adapted from the Ranch at Live Oak, Malibu

4. I love ordering produce from Our Harvest. They allow you to buy the best ingredients from local farms with ease and convenience. Our Harvest partner with local farmers, fishermen and food artisans, the elimination of un-necessary middlemen, saves money and also helps deliver the freshest food. They also gives back and are socially responsible. For every order of $25, OurHarvest donates a meal to a local food pantry to help fight hunger.

5. I buy most of my frozen fish (especially salmon burgers) from Vital Choice. They carry high-quality fish in just the right portion sizes. Their fish tastes just as good as fresh when it defrosts.

 

 

*this post includes affiliate links, I will make a small profit off of your purchase. I only promote products that I use myself and truly believe in.

 

Choosing the right foods isn’t the only choice that is important for health, it is also crucial to stay active and find fitness activities that you truly enjoy.  I’ve created a list of my favorite workouts and gear in New York City below. I encourage you to try these and also do some exploration to find classes and products that make you happy and inspire you to keep up with your health goals.

Favorite Workout: Tracy Anderson Method 

When I first came to work out at Tracy Anderson studio on Hubert street, I considered myself very fit, but I was bored with my spin, bar, and pilates routine and I was searching for a new fitness challenge. At Tracy I found that amazing challenge and I finally achieved the fitness results I was striving for. But more then simply a great workout routine, I discovered that I enjoy my workouts at Tracy because I joined a community of women who are striving everyday to be their best both inside and out. Three years later, I feel that even though I got older, my fitness is the better than it as ever been and my body changed in ways I never thought possible for me. Not only do I feel strong, I also have great cardio stamina and I maintained my flexibility. Most important is that I am NEVER bored and NEVER feel unchallenged by Tracy’s workouts. It is true that some days when my head is stuck backwards on the mat and my legs are in places I never realized legs can go, and the sweat is dripping off me like a faucet, and the music is blasting so loud… and I say to myself… Is this really what it takes to look good and feel good at my age? But after I shower and hydrate, I feel so alive and so inspired, and I know that the mind-body connection I experience during my Tracy workouts are irreplaceable. I am beyond grateful for my friend who introduced me to Tracy and my family who support my Tracy addiction and allow me the time and flexibility to do what I love.

Favorite equipment: the Biomat

I love meditating and relaxing on my biomat, it helps me feel grounded and re-energized. I use the mat for 20 minutes to warm up my body, to help me fall asleep when I am premenstrual or stressed. and to recover from challenging workouts.

Favorite gear – sports bras: the Sweaty Betty Stamina Sports Bra

These bras offer great support, are support comfortable and last forever.

Favorite gear – everything else: Bandier 

Bandier has one location in Flatiron and one on the Upper East Side and is my go-to for athletic gear in the city. They have an incredible selection of high-quality, stylish workout gear.