While living, working, and working out in New York over the past two years, I’ve attended hundreds of different fitness studios, but nothing compares to The Class. Founded by Taryn Toomey, the spiritually-charged class comprises a mash-up of yoga, dance, and body-weight conditioning. The exercise style is simultaneously meditative and vigorous, and ultimately fairly hard to define – you just have to try it.
Fans include Naomi Watts and Kate Hudson, and Toomey herself is something of a name in the wellness industry, thanks to the success of her technique across New York and Hollywood. She’s a complete natural healthy junkie, and took some time out to share with us a page from her nutrient-packed food diary, plus some tips about the best alternative medicine experts in NYC. Keep reading!
For breakfast I have: My breakfast routine varies. I try to start every day with a morning tonic of warm water, lemon, turmeric, cayenne, ginger. Some days, I follow that with two hard boiled eggs or a smoothie. When I teach early, I typically don’t eat breakfast and just have L-Carnitine.
I have my coffee: With unsweetened almond milk after my morning meditation – around 6:30am. I drink it iced in the spring and summer, and have it hot in the fall and winter.
During the morning I snack on: Juice Press kale chips or Juice Press flax crackers at around 11 a.m.
For lunch I have: Today I had a homemade spinach salad with kombucha squash, beets, and hemp seeds. I am cooking more than usual this week because we are in the middle of The Fall Layer, our seasonal cleanse program. I usually buy lunch when out between classes, meetings and/or appointments – some sort of vegetable soup or salad with fish. My favorite Tribeca spots are Juice Press, Sun in Bloom, and Wicked.
During the afternoons I snack on: My afternoon snack today was rolled Seasnax seaweed with guacamole. My favorite on-the-go snacks are Lara Bars, apples, dry roasted unsalted almonds, or Juice Press kale chips.
For dinner I have: Dinner is usually some variation of lunch – a large, colorful salad or vegetables with fish. I try to eat on the early side, around 6 p.m. or 6:30 p.m. if possible.
On an average day I’ll drink: I did not have any [alcoholic] drinks today. On the weekends, I will often have mezcal or tequila with fresh lemon or lime, kombucha or green juice!
For dessert I have: I didn’t have any dessert today. When I do, it’s usually some sort of vegan, delicious, raw, dark chocolate situation. I don’t normally have dessert. How often I eat it honestly depends on when and if I am craving something sweet.
Today I worked out by: [Teaching] The Class at 9:30 a.m. this morning. I typically work out six days a week – mostly The Class with some running, yoga and SoulCycle mixed in.
I describe my diet as: Clean and seasonal.
My favorite healthy restaurants in New York are: My favorite Tribeca restaurant is Tiny’s. I usually order the kale salad and wild coho salmon.
My go-to smoothie ingredients are: Spinach, Vega Protein Powder, Moon Juice Spirit Dust, bee pollen, and chia seeds.
The supplement I swear by is: Magnesium – I take it at night to help me sleep.
My go-to natural health providers are: I have a few go-tos, including; Thomas Droge for acupuncture; Aleta St James for my heart and spirit; Dr. Keith Pyne for body work and adjustments, Dana James for advice when my diet feels unbalanced; and Alexandra Defacio for an occasional colonic.
