Meeting & Tweeting at FitBlogNYC

A little over a year ago, I traveled to The Big Apple for a BIG time blogging event. I was filled with so many emotions I didn’t sleep a wink the night before and to top it off missed my two busses for the commute in. (so you can imagine that I was basically dying a slow death through constantly checking my phone in hopes that time would miraculously rewind and I’d be early)

Proper credentials!

Being an introvert, any kind of meeting will automatically send my brain into fight or flight mode. I immediately rush to all the what ifs and wrongdoings that would occur if I was put in the situation. I also envision myself only ever discussing those moments in an anonymous “most embarrassing moments” magazine section.

Isn’t it funny how our brain is capable of such ridiculousness? We often imagine situations which have not happened in a dimmer light than they actually turn out to be.

Such was the case with FitBlogNYC last year and this year as well!

I met so many amazing people within the fitness and health realm last year at the event, that I knew I just had to attend this year’s again!

This year FitBlog took place in the posh locale of The Mercedes Club. It’s a bit of an oddity in the middle of an area where a bunch of archaic and forlorn looking buildings stand together screaming “Renovate me. Live in me please!”, but nonetheless it’s exquisite grandeur allows you to overlook these mishaps.

Karina of Cestlaviekarina.com

I happened to be about a half an hour early (good traffic day, I know) so I met up with my dearest soulmate, Karina! A little backstory: Karina & I met at last year’s Fitblog event and haven’t left each other’s twitter handles, comment sections, or sides since! We are one soul in two bodies, as they say. 😉

Upon arriving, we were told to make our way upstairs for the festivities.

For 9AM, the peppy music was just what I needed to replace my need for caffeine. (caffeine in the form of kombucha of course)

We were greeted by staff who showed us where breakfast was…which consisted of organic hard boiled eggs w/avocado sauce, green and orange fresh pressed juices, coconut parfaits, or a cranberry muffin. (seriously, are they stalking my every day meals or what?) 😉

We then proceeded outdoors to a gorgeous sitting area with a nice view and listened to a bunch of different panels for a few hours!

Fitness bloggers meeting and tweeting!

I have to say the ones my ears perked up most for were Dr. Jennifer Ashton and Rocco DiSpirito!

Dr. Jennifer Ashton

Dr. Ashton spoke of Angelina Jolie’s pre-emptive mastectomy and women’s empowerment through knowing your body and finding the right doctor who will listen to you. This completely resonated with me because as a health coach, we are one of the only professionals who do such a thing in this plundering healthcare system.

It’s so so so important to have a comfortable, trustworthy relationship with your doctors, I cannot stress it enough! If you aren’t able to establish transparency and trust with your current physician then you should re-evaluate! Doctors are not just supposed to prescribe, they are supposed to have compassion, empathy, and most importantly, listening skills!

Rocco DiSpirito

As for Rocco’s talk, he discussed his travels to Italy where he spent time cooking with 26 italian mamas and received much scrutiny during his trip. You never tell a mom how to cook, especially if she’s italian! 😉

He also gave us several simple tips (sorry my phone deleted quite a bit of them) for spicing up a meal that would normally seem boring/unappetizing. The one which I related to was adding balsamic and mustard together to create a zesty dressing for salads!

Blogging panel

Oh and one last panel that I LOVED: Treating your blog as a business! It featured several successful bloggers: Jill Hanner, Deb Perelman of Smitten Kitchen, Erin Whitehead of Fit Bottomed Mamas & Dana Weiss of Possesionista. Takeaway: (Don’t do it for the money, do it from your heart!)

Then, onto the sponsors and workout of the day!

Leave it to me to not include a fitness mantra, what a dummy I am!

My all time favorite sponsors were tied: Smart Balance & Reebok! (I like interaction if you couldn’t tell!)

I am a balanced blogger! Smart Balance station

Our workout was called Mad Cool Cardio and our instructor (Jennifer Turner) was the bee’s knees! I absolutely loved the music selection (hip hop, reggaeton, reggae, r&b) and the moves were easy on my knees which have been aching lately.

Jennifer Turner

Post workout glam!

Special shoutouts to new bloggers I met: Katie of Hungry Runner, Erin of Fit Bottomed Mamas (Jersey represent!), Gabriel of Marathons & Macarons

Amber of Exsoycise

Fitfluential sandwich! Hi Robin!

…and some oldies: Amber of Exsoycise, Carlyn of Just Keep Sweating

…pretty sure I’m abusing the use of the ellipsis (forgive me grammar gods!) but here, I saved the best for last…

THE SWAGGGGGGGG 😀

Yep, there are TWO new pairs of sneaks in there! Yes, TWO!

Giant, giant, giant thank you’s go out to all of the sponsors of this awesome event, Fitness magazine for hosting, and my fabulous fitness friends!