A couple of weeks ago I attend the Fitness Magazine FitBlogNYC event. It’s an event for health/fitness bloggers and included delicious meals, interesting speakers and the most amazing swag bag you can imagine. All the talks were great, basically all of the speakers talked about following your passion and if you hate your job, get out of it, take chances and work towards your goals. A great message but makes it tempting if you hate your job to instantly quit! Luckily I don’t hate my job so no need for the dramatics.
Here are a few highlights of things I learned:
Holly Rilinger of Flywheel and Nike Training Club (and more, too many to list!) spoke about taking your fitness to the next level and seeing results. She said that if you (or your clients) are working hard at the gym and still aren’t seeing results, it’s commonly due to 2 things: nutrition and sleep. With nutrition we can talk ourselves into thinking we eat healthy but stop the lying, if you really want results, stay honest with your nutrition. As for sleep, Holly said that getting less than 7 hours a night is basically erasing whatever work you put in at your workout. WHAT? This is (terrible) news to me as I often get 6 hours of sleep a night. This one hit home and I’m working on getting more hours of deep sleep each night to allow my body to repair.
For those like me who have big dreams of making my mark on the fitness world, Holly told everyone to visualize your dreams, wake up with that passion and remind yourself what you’re working towards. Eventually you might just have to make a big move and follow your dreams, work hard and things will happen. Holly was great, we spoke a bit after the event and she gave me some tips on making my fitness dreams a reality.
Marci A Goolsby, MD spoke about keeping your body safe and how to avoid injury. If you have pain while working out, Goolsby advises you take note of if the pain lingers into the next day, changes the way you run or move or is compounding, getting worse as you continue to work out. If any of those things are happening it might be time to see a professional or switch up your workout. She said you can typically continue to workout through an injury, it just requires modification or trying a new way to work out (swimming, cycling, etc).
If you just finished an intense workout or perhaps a marathon, staying mobile is key. This will help with delayed onset muscle soreness. For those who just ran the marathon, don’t sit for long periods of time, consistently get up and walk around to keep the blood flowing.
If you’re looking to start a new workout program, ease yourself in. Don’t go crazy on day 1, start small and work your way up.
Carla Hall of Top Chef Fame also focused on following your dreams. Hall was originally into theater, then became an accountant and eventually took a trip to Paris where she fell in love with food. To reach her culinary dreams, Hall worked hard, didn’t think about money and followed her heart. Even though she spent time crying over bills and basically being poor, she kept working hard and was able to turn her passion into a career. Do this by working with people who are already doing it, see if it’s right for you and learn from those around you. Hall says “It’s your job to be happy, not to be rich.”
Hall has an amazing personality and is born to be a public speaker. Her cooking tips were that you can eat indulgent things but of course in moderation. You can eat fried chicken but pair it with healthy veggie sides. Don’t over-think your cooking, stick to the techniques you know but change things up with spices to keep things interesting and satisfying. A favorite quote from Hall, “If you’re in a bad mood, the only thing you should make is a reservation.”
Other event highlights:
The event included time to network with other bloggers and a group run at the end. Unfortunately I missed the networking and running as I was going back and forth during the event to my office but I’m so glad I got to hear all the speakers. Would love to connect with some of the bloggers who attended (if you’re in NYC, hit me up!).
The gift bag was just out of this world. SO. MUCH. STUFF. Some favorites are the Hoka One running shoes that I’m eager to try out, beauty products, workout clothes and healthy snacks.
[this is probably ¼ of the swag, couldn’t fit it in one photo!)
A huge thank you to Fitness Magazine for putting on this great event and to all the sponsors for the ridiculously amazing swag!
