FitBlogNYC 2014

Two weeks ago I had the privilege of attending my second Fitness Magazine Meet & Tweet, which is also known as FitBlogNYC. As soon as I left the event last year, I hoped that I would be selected to attend again, and thankfully I was.

This year was very different to me. I wasn’t nervous going into it because I met some amazing, like minded bloggers at last years event and I was excited to spend time with them again. Mother Nature was not very nice to us during the event, which was held at The Mercedes Club again, so they had to move the event from roof top to indoors.

The day kicked off with a welcome from Fitness Magazine‘s Editor-in-Chief, Betty Wong (@FITNESSBetty) who gave us an overview of the day’s events. She then introduced the first topic of the day The New Formula for Fitness Success, which was presented by fitness trainer, Holly Rilinger. (If you are not familiar with who Holly is, please check out her site, she is truly inspirational.) Holly gave some amazing tips on how to get yourself motivated:

• Working out is the new going out – we now workout as ways of being social with our friends.
• Find new ways to maximize 20-30 minutes of exercise.  
  

  “You need to workout smarter, not longer.” 

• Sleep is an overlooked and important part of our fitness routines.
• No matter where you are in your fitness journey, you are always learning something new.
• Embrace fear because it will drive you forward and it is never going to be as bad as you think it will be.

Holly also shared with us that she uses a dream board to align herself with her goals. I personally think dream boards are an amazing tool, so I was excited to hear her speak about hers and how Nike was on her board long before she actually had the opportunity to work with them.

 The next topic was Crossfit, Mud Runs, Marathons! How to Stay Healthy in a Hardcore World, and was presented by Dr. Marci A. Goolsby, from the Hospital for Special Surgery. This session covered how we can stay healthy in a very active world and some of the most common injuries that are seen. We learned that the most common injuries are from running, Crossfit and Insanity style workouts, because people try to do too much, too fast. With running, the three common mistakes most beginners make are:

1. Increasing mileage too soon
2. Not strength training
3. Not adjusting nutrition intake. 

Another important topic that was covered for woman, was a lack of menstrual cycle. If your period stops, you may need to be less restrictive with your nutrition!

 The last topic before we broke for lunch and networking was Eat Healthier, Live Happier: Game Changing Cooking Secrets, which was presented by chef Carla Hall who is also a co-host on ABC’s The Chew. Carla was hands down my favorite presenter of the day, and it wasn’t just because she was talking about healthy eating. She just has a beautiful, positive energy which radiates from her. You  can feel her passion for food and her profession, plus she had a great sense of humor!

Carla shared with us the non-traditional way in which she discovered her love of cooking and told us that

“Your heart will always tell you where to go.”

Another powerful quote from her was

“If you want to do something, you’ll do it good. If not, something will always go wrong.”

Carla also gave some simple advice about cooking. She suggested taking about five go-to recipes and then simply change the spices or use flavored oils to change the dish! How simple is that?! Carla also warned not to change everything when cooking, especially when it comes to holiday traditions!

“Don’t remove all of the fat from your recipes. It won’t satisfy you and you’ll end up eating more.”

Overall, her advice was to have fun in the kitchen! Don’t be afraid to experiment…it’s only food…play with it! I could go on for days about this particular segment but I’ll end with two more fabulous points:

• Moderation not deprivation is key. Treat yourself to a small amount of you’re craving.
• When it comes to cooking…
  

  “If you’re in a bad mood, the only thing you should be making is a reservation!”

At this point we broke for an amazing lunch, as well as time to network with fellow bloggers, and the fabulous brands who were sponsoring this amazing event:

• Balance Bar
• Dermalogica
• Eddie Bauer
• Hoka One One
• Luna
• Oster Versa
• Pure Protein
• Tonalin
• Tria

Lunch was a beautiful buffet with lots of healthy items. I chose to have the Lemon Chicken, Roasted Veggies and Quinoa Salad. I also had a Baked Apple Parfait which was super yummy!

After lunch and networking was the final topic for the day, My Digital Brand is My Business. The presenters for this segment were  Bianca Jade (@Mizzfit_Bianca), Anne Mauney, RD(@fANNEtasticfood) and Laura Sykora (@laurasykora on instagram). All three of these ladies are creators of their own brand and businesses and they gave amazing advice to all of us fellow bloggers. What I loved the most is that they encouraged us to blog because we love it and only connect with brands that fit your brand and personality. Being authentic as the best way to connect to your audience and build your brand. Which if you’ve been reading my blog, you know is something that I touched upon recently.  A few important points from this panel were:

•  Remember you cannot please everyone with your blog or social media. It’s inevitable some people will agree with you and others won’t. It’s okay.
• Be passionate and have fun while writing. Readers can tell when you don’t have passion.
• Use what you don’t know to become an expert at it. Don’t be scared to teach yourself things.

My favorite quote from the session was

“Your blog is your house…don’t let people poop on it!”

and I could kick myself because I forgot to write down which panelist said it. Doh!

As you can see, it was an amazing day and Fitness Magazine spoiled us as always! I feel so blessed to have been given the opportunity to attend this event, meet new people and learn so many valuable lessons.