In case your Instagram feed wasn't blown up by @lizwilsonyoga and @FitApproach, I was at BlogFest last week! BlogFest is a part of the larger IDEAWorld fitness convention that's specific to bloggers. We had our own sessions on Thursday and Friday, our own networking events and meals, our own keynote speaker, but still got to attend the urban party, opening ceremony, IDEAWorld sessions, and expo hall booths of the larger convention. IDEAWorld is the world's largest fitness convention, with over 230 presenters (including Beto Perez, Jillian Michaels, and Jenna Wolfe), 300 exhibitors, and over 12,000 attendees from the international fitness community.
It was everything I could have asked for, and so much more. I had only a tiny idea of what to expect, and the reality totally blew that out of the water! Returning home exhausted and sore pales in comparison to what an amazing experience it was!
Here are some highlights!
1. Gabby Reece
Gabby was the keynote speaker for BlogFest this year! I'd always known who Gabby Reece was, but had no idea how amazing she is! She started her "speech" with a solo talk and then sat down for a Q&A session lead by Jill Brown of the Huffington Post. Hearing her story (hitting 6' tall as a pre-teen can't be easy! And how does she balance her career, her husband's career, an active lifestyle, AND three daughters?!) was truly inspirational. But most importantly, it was REAL! She was a real person; she made you want to sit out on the beach with a beer and girl talk the night away. Or, in +Jamie King's case, SUP off into the sunset with her. Luckily I did get to chat with her a bit. After her HIGHX workout session, there was a long line of girls waiting to take selfies with her. So I ducked out to clean up and get ready to work the next session and later returned to the expo hall to her booth. She was just hanging out, so I got to sit and chat with her for like 5 full minutes! Such a sweet, badass, and balanced lady!
Two of my favorite tidbits during her talk… 1. When teaching your kids about nutrition, teach them the difference between the food that serves you and the fun food. Rather than a soda, which would equate to like 7 cookies, have a cookie and a glass of water (rather than drinking your calories). Teach them how to make smart choices. 2. When a fellow Sweat Pink Ambassador asked Gabby how to deal with pressure from other moms to enroll her 4-year-old in a ton of activities, Gabby responded that you know what's best for your kids, and to not let helicopter parents dictate what's right for your family. Then she commented that Katie, the SPA asking the question, looked strong. So when in doubt, put the bitchy judgy mom in a headlock. !!!!! Love it!
2. The workouts
On Friday, we had three, yes three, workouts. Gabby's HIGHX Training workout definitely kicked my butt! Like, couldn't walk normally for the next two days. How do I know it was her workout? Well, we had about 3 minutes of circuits at 15 different stations. There were kettle bells, ab rollers, resistance bands, and ladders. And the lunges, oh the lunges. That's why.
We also had a private session with Beto Perez, the creator of Zumba. Such a fun class! I LOVE dancing, but struggle with the late nights going to the club means. This was a great way to get a little booty shaking in at a decent hour! Plus, it was awesome hearing Beto's story!
The morning actually started with a 7am workout with Kaia FIT, including a dance-esque warm-up to Uptown Funk. Such a fun, upbeat way to start the day!
3. Beto's photobomb
I normally hate photo bombs. This one, I'll allow.
4. Twitter hashtagging 101
I LOVE hashtagging, most of you know this. But it was definitely something new to learn that the really vague and popular hashtags may not be the best fit for your post. If you hashtag #fitness, or even #yoga for that matter, it dumps your post into a huge well of content. It may get lost. So have a hashtag strategy! Research what you're hashtagging; check out the number of posts and types of followers to see if it's the right fit for your content.
5. Hula hooping!
Our booth was adjacent to a hula hooping fitness booth. So on Saturday, we started off a full day of booth-babing with some hula hoop fun!
Melissa Burton, a dietitian and SPA, busted an important myth: that all sugar is bad for you. Sugar is key, but to try to consume natural sugars because they are necessary for the body to function! Two other important takeaways from her talk (other than the many many many ways to say "sugar"), that we are an overfed but undernourished nation and that our bodies detox for us (focus on a healthy lifestyle instead). Powerful.
Chris Mohr also dropped a truth bomb or two on us during a General Mills-hosted tweet break: we're not intaking protein at the right time during the day. We're eating too much protein too late in the evening. Oh, and healthy grains can help digestion. Yes!
7. Urban party
After a BlogFest dinner (which felt so VIP behind a red velvet rope divider), we convened with the larger IDEAWorld convention for a chance to get down! So fun to dance with all these wonderful people, and document some photo booth silliness!
8. Opening ceremony speakers
Jenna Wolfe, an anchor on the Today show, was an awesome speaker at the IDEAWorld opening ceremony! She was clear, concise, and funny, admitting as a busy working mom of two that she wasn't entirely sure she was wearing a bra at that moment and that she wasn't sure if she wanted to be or date Gabby Reece back in the day!
Anthony Robles, an award winner at the ceremony, has to be one of the most inspiring people I've heard of. He was born with one leg. After overcoming countless amounts of disbelief and negativity, (at first people didn't think he could do it with only one leg, then went on to say he had an unfair advantage because of his superior upper body strength…wtf) went on to win the NCAA championship in individual wrestling in the 2010-2011 season. He also won that same year the Jimmy V ESPY Award for Perseverance. Side note: the ESPY's were happening in the same complex where our conference and hotel were! I got to see Jenny Finch!
9. Sweat Pink team, ambassadors, gear and booth
This last one is key! It was so amazing to work with the entire Sweat Pink team (together, in-person for the first time!), to be decked out in head to toe Sweat Pink gear, to share the Sweat Pink message, and help coordinate BlogFest with the amazing people at IDEAFit. It was also so incredible to meet even more of our Sweat Pink ambassadors, and to reunite with the ones I met at FitBloggin' last month.
It was absolutely such an amazing experience this week! I can't wait to do it all again next year. But even better, to interact with all of my amazing new friends regularly online! Love!
