Hello friends!  How are you?  How was your weekend?  Hope it was fabulous!  I can’t get on board with the weather here in NYC.  One day it is hot and humid in the 70s and the next it is cool and breezy in the 50s.  What is going on?

I’m so incredibly excited to tell you all about this majorly awesome blogger event I attended hosted by Fitness Magazine!  It was a Fitness Magazine Meet & Tweet Event called FitBlogNYC.  Waaaaaay back when I first started my blog I saw some photos in fitness magazine of this event.  At the time I had been blogging for about 1 or 2 months and I saw these photos and decided that I too wanted to be invited to this event some day.  Well, that day is here my friends!  I was so stoked to receive an invitation in my inbox.

First of all, I love Fitness Magazine because they keep it real.  It’s all about the fitness!  I’ve noticed some of the health and fitness magazines trying to become a little more Vogue recently and quite frankly, I’m just not digging it.  I like to see real people, real workouts and just real fitness!  Plus, the Editor-in-Chief, Betty Wong, was there and she was the most unassuming, unintimidating, nicest person.  Hello, she is Editor-in-Chief of a nationwide magazine headed in NYC and she was totally normal.  Love that.

 The day started off with some breakfast: fresh fruit (and not just melon!), gluten-free baked goods and some juices.  We then headed in for our first session. 

The Sessions

The New Formula for Fitness Success

 Here are a few points I took from Holly Rilinger, a popular trainer and instructor at Flywheel:

• There are so many ways to workout, there is no reason to dread what you do.  Find your passion and stick with it!
• Diet is huge and we like to ourselves a lot.
• Sleep is extremely important because during our sleep our bodies produce a growth hormone that only happens during REM sleep.  Sleeping is just as important as working out.
• Create a dream board of the things you want.  It’s so much easier to visualize your goals. 

CrossFit, Mud Runs and Marathons!: How to Stay Healthy in a Hardcore World

Dr. Marci A. Goolsby of the Hospital for Special Surgery went over with us how to avoid injuries and what to be aware of with all of the hardcore workouts out there today:

• Hardcore workouts are not inherently dangerous but it depends on whether its a good fit for you.
• Two huge mistakes people make are not strength training to counteract hardcore training like marathon running and not adjusting nutrition.
• Exercising during pregnancy is great for you and your baby.  If you were exercising before pregnancy, maintaining is a great goal.
• Disordered eating can be common among health enthusiasts who don’t eat enough and overtrain.

Eat Healthier, Live Happier: Game Changing Cooking Secrets

Carla Hall, of Top Chef fame, was hilarious and a total start of the day.  She had some great stories about how she got to where she is, including some great tips. 

• Use spices!  This is the easiest and healthiest way to flavor a dish.
• Experiment with foods by using certain flavors but mixing up the technique.  For example, use Asian flavors but a French technique.
• Don’t take all the fat out of a dish.  Leave a little in for flavor and taste.

My Digital Brand is My Business

This panel of successful digital entrepreneurs shared some secrets on how to make your digital brand successful.

• Take pieces of what other successful people are doing and put your own twist on it.
• Be authentic and be passionate about what you are doing.
• Always give back.  Give something to your readers and help others.

The Sponsors

 Of course the day couldn’t have happened without the amazing sponsors like:

• Balance Bar
• Dermalogica (LOVE!)
• Eddie Bauer
• Hoka One One
• Luna
• Oster Versa
• Pure Protein
• Tonalin
• Tria

In between sessions, Fitness treated us to this amazing lunch!  I need someone to make lunch for me like this every single day.  It was so healthy and so delicious! 

The Best Part of the Day

Ok so the food was fantastic, the speakers were phenomenal, the brands were cool and the swag was ahhhhmazing.  But the best part of the day was really the most authentic part as well and that was seeing all my bloggy friends in person.  I see their lovely faces almost daily on the screen but catching up with these ladies in real life just makes my heart feel warm.  I honestly can’t say enough good things about these people!

(Nellie, Carly, Kimberly, Cassandre, Patty and Allie)

Plus, I learned that pretty much everyone I follow on Instagram was in attendance.  Hi people I don’t know but stalk your life!  

Danielle from cheerFIT

I always hated networking when I had to go for law events.  People in suits looking uncomfortable and no one talking to anyone they don’t know.  This event was the complete opposite.  I saw tons of people I know plus met so many more cool people and everyone was so friendly.  I think that was a function of everyone being in yoga pants.  Yoga pants=kindred spirits. 

Oh and I totally entered every single contest there ever was to try and win stuff to giveaway to you guys, but no dice.  But I do have two discounts for you!  The first is this beautiful Erica Sara jewelry.  You can totally personalize it and I’ve got a 15% off code for you!  Just use the code FIT15!

 The second is for Fatty Sundays, these amazing chocolate covered pretzels.  So yum!  Use the code: BKEATS14 for 15% off!

Readers, how are you at networking?  Do you think yoga pants should be appropriate work attire?  When’s the last time your internet world and the real world collided?