*This post is sponsored by Mizuno Running!
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| In the hotel lobby getting ready to hand out Mizuno swag to attendees! |
Fitness conferences are the best! Why? Because workouts are included in them and I love that. Whenever I’m traveling, I have the hardest time getting up early to fit in my workouts. I would have liked to have attended both of the Fitbloggin’ 6am classes on Friday and Saturday but neither day worked out.
Luckily, there were plenty of classes to choose from. On Friday morning, I attended Reebok Cardio Dance with Patricia Moreno — who put us through an inspiring workout that I hadn’t expected. Patricia taught her own exercise class, called IntenSanti — which is basically dance moves paired with inspirational, uplifting mantras.
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| Patricia Moreno, getting us pumped! |
At first I thought it was a little cheesy but after getting into it, I realized how positive it actually was for my brain. While I didn’t necessarily love uplifting myself as “powerful beyond measure” (because I think it’s God that does that!), I got the point of the class and saw how good it could be for one’s self-esteem — especially paired with such a sweat-tastic workout.
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| I’m actually IN this pic! About 3rd row back pink shirt, black skirt in the middle. |
After the first workout, I went to check out some of the sponsor tables in the lobby. It’s fun getting to know the folks from the sponsor tables — they obviously care about bloggers and value our work so you know they rock! One of my favorites was The Laughing Cow – because I love their mini-Babybel cheeses and they have some awesome new flavors out right now. I really appreciated when they hosted the snack break — plus their reps live in DC and were really awesome!
I also loved the ladies at the Refuel Chocolate Milk booth. They didn’t have to convince me to refuel with chocolate milk (one of my favorite post-run drinks!) but I was interested in their blogger outreach programs. They encouraged me to sign up for Team Refuel — and I might just give it a try!
After some sponsor love, it was time for another class! This time? Zumba! One of my all-time favorite classes for sure. It’s such a blast and every teacher is different so I was curious to see what this one would bring. Did NOT disappoint!
I was sweating my butt off and dancing like a fool. The thing with Zumba is you seriously have to just let go of your inhibitions and do it. Because no, I can’t shake my booty like Gina (who taught for one of the songs!) but I just shake my booty like I can shake and have a blast. It’s a really empowering class because of that. We have a few different teachers come up for different songs — each one with their own style and all completely awesome!
Also got a chance to send more Mizuno Love to the ladies during the break! Check it out:
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| Tina, Anne, Julie, Gina, Katie, Heather |
Then it was time for lunch, which was a nice selection of meats, hummus and the most delicious carrot-ginger soup ever! Someone told me it tastes exactly like the kind they sell at Trader Joes so I will be stopping by to get some soon.
A new addition to Fitbloggin this year was the fashion show. Very cool! Ladies of all shapes and sizes strutted down the “runway” in clothes donated by sponsors like Enell, Reebok, Taffy and more.
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| Go ladies! The two in front are Carla & Alicia! |
The fashion show was wonderful and one thing about Fitbloggin, lots of weight loss bloggers so we’ve got the thin people and the overweight people and we are all there together celebrating our bodies, our healthy decisions, our passions together. The ladies in the Enell bras all came out in t-shirts and whipped them off like a strip show — it was awesomely badass and confident. LOVED!
Here are a few pix from the show:
Oh yeah and I forgot, I never introduced to my roomie, Jillian! We met on Twitter as I desperately searched for someone to room with and it was a perfect match. You should check out her blog, Bites of Balance. Very inspirational since she lost 70 pounds! Here we are:
Also, meet my new friend, Bobbi and Kasey. They were a blast to hang out with and get to know. I’m so glad I was able to make some really good new connections this weekend and will definitely be adding these ladies to my daily reading list!
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| Kasey and I on left, Bobbi and I (and Laughing Cow) on right
The girls were raving about Kure Juice Bar since I arrived so I was excited to try it out. You know how I’m a juice freak so having someone else make my veggie juice for me was a treat!
Oh how I WISH Kure was by my house or even better — by work. I’d pop in for afternoon pep ups all the time. I ordered a Farmers Favorite juice, which included carrot, kale, beet, ginger and lemon. Apparently, ginger and lemon are really the way to make your veggie juice pop. Do it!
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Lest I overwhelm you with MORE — I’m going to save the rest for Part III of Fitbloggin. There are still a few more people, places and workouts to cover so please stay tuned for the next!