Saturday, May 18, 2013

Fitness Magazine #FitBlogNYC Part 1; The Seminars

I don’t even know where to begin with this post…this was such an amazing event and my head is still in the clouds…

I guess we should start from the beginning…

I headed over to the city with my sister (she was heading to work) and met with other blogger at a Café before heading to Mercedes Club for Fitness Magazine #FitBlogNYC Meet and Tweet.

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We arrived at the event and the line was pretty long but we were all in pretty quick.IMG_7642IMG_7644

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Once we are in our seats, Betty Wong the editor-in-chief of Fitness magazine, started the event!

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The first speaker was Celebrity makeup artist Sarah Lucero (one of her clients is Victoria Beckham). She is also the executive director of Global Artistry, Stila Cosmetics and a breast cancer Survivor!

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Here are some of her beauty tips!

Her top three beauty secrets are sleep, tinted moisturizer such as bb cream to reduce redness, and wear the same color tone in your cheeks and lips. Three gym bag must haves are Mist, Mascara, and a kickass playlist on your iPod. Summer must haves are vibrant colors and a power pout. And ladies if you are over 30 start to brush in your eyebrows. So funny that she said this because I started to do this a couple of months ago!

The second speaker was Jennifer Ashton, M.D. who is ABC News Senior Medical Contributor, ob-gyn, triathlete, and author of the book “Your Body Beautiful: Clockstopping Secrets to Staying Healthy, Strong and Sexy in Your 30’s, 40’s and Beyond”.

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Dr. Ashton, discussed Angelina Jolie and her choice to have a double mastectomy; and also noted that every woman struggling with cancer and the chance of cancer is a hero! Some foods we should be avoiding to help reduce the chance of breast cancer; alcohol, bad carbs and add lots of fruits and veggies into your diet. Also, she suggested following a 5/2 diet plan; be strict during the week and allow yourself a treat during the weekends. After a while of doing this your body will no longer crave the “treats” as much. The number one health myth that drives her crazy is “birth control causes cancer” and it is actually the opposite, birth control is known to REDUCE the chance of ovarian cancer. The number one thing that that stuck with me was “Life is an Olympic event and we have to train for it'”.

Up next was “My Blog is My Business” with an amazing panel of ladies, Deb Perelman @SmittenKitchen, Dana Weiss @possessionista, Jill Hanner @JillHanner, and Erin Whitehead @FitBottomedGirl

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Here are some highlights and tips for bloggers

  • Don’t blog for money but instead make money blogging (AMEN!)
  • There is not only one way to blog; don’t try to be like anyone else…be yourself!
  • Don’t worry so much about the numbers
  • Don’t give value to the trolls and negative comments
  • Tools they love; Skim links, google, twitter, instagram
  • Don’t always say yes to everything; ask yourself these questions “Are you passionate about it? Will it help you get new readers? Will you make money from it?” if you can’t say yes to any of these…don’t do it
  • When making a youtube video, make sure you have good lighting and audio.

The next speaker was Brett Hoebel founder of Hoebel Fitness and a featured trainer in season 11 of The Biggest Loser.

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Brett spoke about the Extreme Fitness trend that is going on right now and how social media plays a huge part of this. The first thing that people do when they finish an event is post it on facebook, twitter, etc.; it is a badge of honor. People see their friends doing these events and think they can do it too. Brett’s Training Philosophy; short workouts with 3 movement patterns...if you want to see results you need to push pass that threshold!

The final speaker was Rocco DiSpirito! When I saw his name in the itinerary, I gasped so loud! I have been a HUGE fan of Rocco since his reality show and I was a bit star struck. Rocco is the Author of “Now Eat This! Italian” and star of Now Eat This! Web series on AOL ON.

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I was never so happy to be sitting in the front row!

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Rocco was so animated (true Queens guy!) and passionate when he spoke; every so often he would throw in some Italian words (((((swooooon))))))). He spoke about how we have a misconception that Italian food is bad for you but if you visit Italy a very small percent of the people are overweight as opposed to the USA. His new book recreates healthier versions of popular Italian dishes; he even went to Italy and cooked with over 20 different “mamas” to get it just right. Things that we should have in our fridge, Non fat Greek Yogurt, Parmesan Cheese (THE REAL STUFF), Dijon mustard, hot sauce. What inspires Rocco in the kitchen? people and ingredients!

I was nervous as all hell but I needed to take a photo with him…seriously when will I ever get this opportunity again!

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Thanks to all the all the wonderful moderators;  Christie Griffin; Digital Director, Lisa Haney; Senior Editor, Pam O’Brien; Executive Editor, Heather Muir; Beauty Director, and Mary Christ Anderson; Deputy Editor.

Stay tuned for Part 2 of this wonderful event!

Namaste…

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