🏁NKO Club | HOUSTON, We have LIFTOFF! 🚀

Hey it’s Kendall and welcome to the inaugural NKO CLUB Newsletter!!

I wanted to begin to build the foundations to a more intimate and direct community by connecting weekly, straight to your inbox. While it’s been an incredible journey building a relationship with you all through my former role at Peloton and through social media, it always pained me I could not truly connect with you all on a deeper level! Consider this the FIRST of many steps to level things up from the digital world, towards the tangible and more intimate so we can continue to empower our lives and stay in the fight together.

Each week I’ll be sharing some form of the following: Mental Heath tips, recipes, workout splits, wellness perspectives, shoppable favorites, features from the community and more!

Thank you for joining along on this chapter and remember:

“They can knock you down, but they can NEVER knock you out!”

01 Wellness Spotlight

SOBER CURIOSITY: Redefining Your Relationship To Alcohol

“I’ll just have a glass of wine to take the edge off.” Words I personally have muttered far too many times especially as the compounding stress of life continues to stack up with no end in sight. For my own journey, I found my enjoyment and appreciation of wine became a placeholder for managing my stress and emotions. Particularly after moving to New York City just 5 months before the COVID-19 pandemic and living through lockdown in a new city, with a new job, no access to immediate family in 500 sq ft of a wonderful (but cozy) Chelsea studio apartment. Drinking was and still is at the epicenter of the nyc social scene. “Let’s catch up over a drink!” or “We can chat business over Happy Hour” is standard in a city packed with people and some of the best restaurants in the world where access to alternatives like outdoor activities and hiking are limited.

For me, cutting out alcohol completely for almost 8 months and then reintroducing it in limited amounts has been absolutely awakening. My sleep is deeper (thank you to my Whoop for data tracking those recovery scores), my anxiety the following day is significantly lessened and even my tummy (yes I believe most neuro-spicy people like myself can relate) was far “happier” and more settled.

The challenge: reframing my social life and my stress responses to NOT immediately revolve around recreational drinking. Ironically, something that proved very challenging for an NYC-based fitness instructor trying to build a new chapter in her twenties.

Sober curiosity is becoming not only more acceptable socially but endorsed with the incarnation of zero proof cocktail menus and incredible alternatives like Athletic Brewing (non-alcoholic beer) and other beverages booming in sales. Personally, I think there is an awakening that empowering CHOICE in how and when we consume alcohol is not only good for our health but an act of rebellion against what is so pressured in society. I chatted briefly with GMA on this growing movement and frankly I am excited to see how this “trend” becomes are more significant lifestyle choice for many.

If you are considering cutting back, cutting it off or just wanting to experiment with alternatives, I highly suggest following creators like @mocktailgirlie , @themindfulmocktail or retailers like @thezeroproof or @boisson.sips to spark some inspiration. Consider enlisting the support of some friends to share the experience with (shoutout to my girls @calliegullickson and @ashpryor who always are a great time and also keep it mostly alcohol-free) and who support this journey without pressuring you to consume.

No matter what works for you, remember exploring what can make you better is always a worthy journey. Also, Shirley Temples, yes the one’s we drank as children, STILL SLAP —maybe even moreso in adulthood! Cheers to exploring new habits and staying curious.

If you’ve ever taken one of my Peloton classes (as I assume many of you have) I made a point to open class with a 4-7-8 breath. By repeating that pattern 3 times, you not only decrease your heart rate but you also allow your body to tap back into your parasympathetic nervous system aka the “rest & digest” or “calm” setting many of us struggle with when anxiety and stress are high. Go ahead and give this a try and add to your toolkit when life gets wild…aka every day! haha

4-7-8 RESET BREATH:

1) Relax your jaw and exhale any air you are holding in

2) INHALE deeply for 1…2…3…4…

3) HOLD your breath for a slow 7 seconds, connect to the beat of your heart

4) EXHALE by slowly blowing out your mouth (imagine there is a birthday candle in front of you) for 1…2…3…4…5…6…7…8.

5) REPEAT the pattern 3x

03 Nutrition

Crispy Chicken Cutlets + Power Caesar

Crispy Chicken Cutlets + Power Caesar

41g+ protein per serving and the BEST healthier Caesar Dressing alternative you’ll find! Tag @nkoclub in your creations!

Crispy Chicken Cutlets:

• 4-6 thin chicken cutlets or 3 boneless skinless chicken breasts (about 12 ounces)

• 1/2 cup all purpose flour

• 2 large eggs

• 2 cups breadcrumbs (Italian or Panko)

• 2 tbs italian seasoning

• 1 tbs garlic powder

• 1/2 tbs black pepper

• Red pepper flakes (optional)
  Kosher salt or Maldon Flaky Salt to serve (optional)
  extra virgin olive oil and/or avocado oil

In one bowl add 1/2 cup of all purpose flour. In the next bowl crack and whip two eggs. In a rimmed plate add your breadcrumbs, Italian seasoning, garlic powder, black pepper and optional red pepper flakes, combine. Taking store bought thinly sliced chicken breasts (you can always carefully pound thicker breasts out on a washable cutting board with a piece of Saran Wrap on top to the desired 1/4 in thickness), follow your readings process: first in the flour, next in the egg wash, finally finish coating the chicken in the bread crumbs. Set aside all breasts on a plate.

Once all the chicken breasts are breaded, bring a rimmed pan up to medium heat on the stovetop. Carefully add enough extra virgin olive oil or avocado oil to make a thin layer in the pan. Allow oil to heat. CAREFULLY add 1-2 of the breaded chicken cutlets to the pan…if oil is spitting out bring down the heat slightly. Let cook until golden brown (4-5 minutes)on one side then flip and repeat (cook time is dependent on thickness of the chicken breasts). Once cooked on both sides, place between paper towels to blot off excess oil, salt immediately and set aside. Repeat this process for all chicken cutlets. If keeping warm, place cooked cutlets on a cookie sheet in the oven at 250 degrees F until ready to serve.

Super Caesar Salad:

• 1 cup greek low-fat yogurt

• 1/2 fresh lemon

• 2 tbsp. anchovy paste

• 2 tbsp. dijon mustard

• 1/4 cup parmesan, grated

• 3/4 tbsp. garlic powder or fresh minced garlic

• 1/4 tbsp. oregano

• cracked black pepper (to taste)

• worcestershire sauce (to taste)

• 2 heads of Romaine Lettuce washed and chopped

Add the yogurt, fresh lemon, dijon mustard, anchovy paste, parmesan, garlic powder, and oregano to a blender and blend on a low speed until all of the ingredients are evenly distributed and the consistency is thick and creamy. Throughly wash and chop your romaine lettuce. Toss the dressing with the lettuce and set aside in the fridge.

Assembly:

Take 1-2 chicken cutlets and place in the center of the plate. Squeeze a hint of lemon on top. Add 1/2 the Super Salad Mixture on top of the chicken cutlets. Serve with extra fresh parmesan and even bacon bits if that’s to your liking! ENJOY!!!

04 Shopping

Sharing some asked for staples from the best kitchen goods (some are lifetime investment pieces), everyday makeup for sensitive skin, the STUNNING new Lululemon colorways, and some recent fits that received lots of questions on Instagram. Be sure to follow my LTK page for more! (link below images)

Shop my LTK site for more.

05 Music

06 Slightly-Solicited Opinion

THERE ARE STILL KIND PEOPLE IN AMERICA

Air travel traditionally doesn’t bring out the best in humans. I mean who can blame them— it’s expensive with all the extra costs, you’re always feeling like herded cattle. Special shout out to the families with seemingly 10 kids trying to manage the suitcases, the snacks and the emotions of a day spent waiting to be glued to a tiny seat for hours. Pressurized cabins are a pressure cooker on our psyches. So when you see people exceptionally kind in such an environment, it’s those moments that can inspire a little sparkly warmth. On an American Airlines flight from Dallas to Charlotte for a Keynote I was giving last month, I was dealing with the dreaded phone on 10%, laptop on 5% and not a ONE of my adapters was working. As I was frantically trying every combination of adapter, cord, outlet in a symphony of growing desperation, it became a collective effort for my seat mate, the flight attendant, the off duty flight attendant behind me, the super kind woman across the aisle ALL to find a solution. Without even asking and within 2 min we had a volunteer navy seal team operation set to find the right combination of cords, angle, outlet and adapter just so I didn’t land with a dead phone and laptop.

Look, by no means was this a true crisis of any sort (to those who know me well I often “forget’ to charge my devices to which I blame my favorite scapegoat: my ADHD), but it made me reflect on how intrinsically, human beings are at our best when we are in support of the highest goal: helping others. We CAN connect through conflict when we have a common goal and with added empathy for each other’s experience. In a world where the media and news feel like a constant slew of angst and division, remember, most human beings in real life would be willing to help you— keep eyes and train your brain to acknowledge the good deeds and acts of service when you see them, and even more so, be apart of that service yourself.