Fitbloggin 2012: Friday

Hello, again! It took me a few days, since I'm getting back to a normal routine, but here is Friday's FitBloggin recap (well, part of it anyway)!

Despite not going to bed until late on Thursday, Friday started bright and early at 7:00 a.m.! My roommates were going to the Workout of the Day (WOD), which was CrossFit. However, I couldn't do it, since I was still in the recovery phase of my injury. So I had breakfast at the time they were in the workout. I tried quinoa for the first time, and surprisingly, I liked it! There were also turkey sausage meatballs, which weren't bad, probably would have been better if I had them first thing in the morning.

After I ate, I went up to the hotel gym to get my WOD in. I was still recovering, but this was a fitness convention, and I had to do something physical! So I hopped on a treadmill and walked for a half hour. The treadmills, along with all the cardio machines there, are beautiful! Touch screens and iPod chargers! I wish they had these babies at my gym here!

Despite my known hatred of treadmills, the half hour went fast. I wasn't exactly a speed demon, but for my first post-injury workout, I'll take it:

After the workout, I went back to the room, changed, and got coffee from the Starbucks across the street before the day's presentations started.

Before the first presentation, I checked out the expo and got even MORE swag! This time, I got a cookbook, a Pilates DVD, measuring spoons, and quite a bit of chocolate milk. It was at the expo where I ran into Margo (@BrooklynFitChik) 

and she talked me into trying the trampolines, since I was still a little hesitant to doing them. After a few minutes, I realized I would be okay for the  Saturday BounceCamp, as long as I didn't attempt anything too crazy.

The first presentation I went to was the self-acceptance discussion with Karen, Mara, and Shauna. This was one I really wanted to go to and it hit home for me big time. Even though I lost so much weight, I was still struggling with loving myself. I hit a big turn around recently, but since I got hurt, I was struggling a little bit, but not enough to give up. I walked away from the discussion realizing that if I didn't love myself, then I would have let my injury get the best of me, and start spiraling downward again.

Between sessions was lunch. I just had chicken and salad, with a piece of bread from a sandwich. Simple and healthy, but delicious!

After lunch was more presentations. The second of the day for me was a driving blog traffic one with the awesome Emmie (of Skinny Emmie)! The room was packed, and the presentation was awesome! I got a lot out of it, especially how to share. I try to share other people's content as much as possible, and have "share buttons" on my blog (which I apparently had the whole time and had no idea--Good thing I went to Emmie's presentation!).

Right after Emmie's presentation ended, Carla (@MizFitOnline) had one on attracting media and freelance writing. In a nutshell, her presentation had the message of being yourself and be prepared for a whole lot of no's before a yes. She was great too!

After a short break, I went to Amy's (@FatGirlsCanRun) presentation on building your brand. One of the key points of her presentation was figuring out your target audience. Honestly, I'm still working on this one. I'm not exactly targeting a specific demographic, just want to get my story out there. Another good point was "personifying" your brand. My "brand" apparently is "cutesy healthy living lover" (what I came up with based on the presentation). Amy also pointed out that you are not your brand. For example, I am a crazy fangirl who makes fan art and videos based on some of my fandoms. By the end of the presentation, I realized that "One Step at a Time" will be my brand forever, since my healthy living journey will continue for the rest of my life, and that I live one step at a time.

The last presentation of the day (before the keynote) was Kara (@fatwmnonthemtn), who spoke about reaching out and connecting. Part of Kara's own journey (120 pounds lost!) was working for a cause bigger than herself. Back in 2009, she did one charity event a month, ranging from 5K's to a dunk in a freezing lake. She also said that sharing your story was important, because it can inspire others to make a change as well as it just making a difference, no matter what you take on. This was a presentation that I wasn't originally planning on going to, but I was glad I did!

Whew! There was A LOT going on Friday! And I'm not even up to the keynote yet! That will be in my next post! =)