Last week, I had the most amazing time spending time with like minded fitness bloggers at Fitness Magazine’s Blogger Meet & Tweet event at the Metropolitan Suite in New York City.
After a sweaty Soul Cycle session with Julie and Kristine, I walked the mile West over to the event space, unsure what to expect from the day.
Over 100 fitness bloggers and professional were in attendance which overwhelmed me at first. But, within minutes, I joined the rest of the crowd for the brand interaction portion where we had the chance to network and mingle with brands such V8, Pure Protein, Kiwi Sweat, Birkenstock, and Oakley.
I had a great time getting to know each of the brands better and even went home with some amazing swag from the sponsor brands. During this portion of the event, bloggers were given a passport, featuring each of the brands logo, which needed to be stamped in order to receive the large swag bag at the end of the day. While each booth was great, I especially loved learning more about Kiwi Sweat since they are a local NYC pop-up fitness company! Just last week they hosted an outdoor spin class on the East River promenade!
From 10:30-12:30 I spent the next 2 hours in the third row of the speaking area listening to amazing fitness professionals share their wisdom with us. Luckily, I wasn’t alone, and instead was joined by my fellow blogging buddies as we recorded, took notes, and asked questions of the speakers. Looking back, I wish I had spent more time networking and catching up with some of the out of town bloggers who were present for the event. But, as someone who has put together events such as this, I know how important it is to have an audience. Therefore, we focused and took notes as we laughed along with each entertaining speaker.
AJ Jacobs
Talk about hilarious; this self proclaimed nerd left us laughing as he shared his memories from his year of living healthy. The author of two other New York Times best sellers, his book, Drop Dead Healthy just hit the bookstores and chronicles his year of living healthy. Below are a few nuggets I captured from his presentation:
- Healthy isn’t all about diet and exercise. Noise can also be detrimental to your health.
- Respect your older self. The more you think of your future the healthier you’ll act.
- Harness peer pressure and use social media to motivate you towards a healthier life.
The Real Deal on Carbs, Cleanses and Caffeine with Keri Gan and Tanya Zuckerbot
These two classy ladies shared their thoughts on some of the most frequently asked question in health and dietetics- to cleanse or not? Both agree that over the past 10 years carbohydrates have gotten an unfair bad wrap in the United States. Years ago Americans indulged with one Oreo but during the past 10 years they have replaced that one Oreo with a sleeve of Low Fat Snackwells. Here are a few of the key nuggets I took away:
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It’s all about portion control.
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Carbs don’t make you fat. Carbs in excess of what your body needs, make you fat.
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Your workout without the carbs and energy won’t be as successful.
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Cleanses can lead to lost muscles because they decrease metabolism so you gain weight faster after the cleanse.
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You have a kidney and liver to cleanse your body naturally.
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There are lots of health benefits of coffee, especially if you have 3 cups per day!
The other discussion that I really enjoyed was Laura Gellar’s beauty tip session during which she amused the crowd with her amazing personality and taught us industry tips and tricks. I am going to include these tips in a later post as I’ve already started putting some of them into action.
Overall, I feel like Fitness Magazine did a wonderful job putting on this event, especially considering it was their first one. I wish I’d spent more time connecting with amazing bloggers but really appreciate the speakers I was able to hear as well. This definitely excites me for the upcoming events this summer such as BlogHer, Healthy Living Summit, and Fit Bloggin! I always learn so much from these events and love the chance to spend time with other bloggers; especially those within the Fitfluential family!
sexy pedi, Ash!!
Love your pink tank! WHat brand is it?
im so jealous of everyone who went to that event, looks like a fun time! and i LOVED birkenstocks when i was a kid.