Tag Archives: fitness

Weekend With My BB – Part One

Thanks to all who entered my giveaway for two Anchor Bay fitness DVDs – I received 193 entries! The two winners are…

Laurel and Angela!

Congrats, ladies! I will be contacting you for your shipping information. Can’t wait to hear what you think of the DVDs! And now, onto today’s weekend recap (part one!)…

During Friday’s drive from work to the gym, I was itching with excitement. Yes, I felt pumped to get to the gym after taking a semi-active rest day the day before. But I felt MORE pumped for what would be arriving in Glastonbury after my gym trip – Heather, my best blend!

Cheers!

My BB drove from MA to CT to stay for the weekend. We both absolutely craved the same things Friday night – wine, salad, and pajamas. Consider it done!

My mom captured the bloggers at work!

I purchased a bottle of Pinot Grigio for the perfect price of $7! I’d sampled this Pinot, from Lulu B Wines, at the Yelp Helps! event in Hartford recently. It was definitely Instagram-worthy, as you can see above, and also tastebud worthy! I find that white wines are way easier to “do cheap” than reds!

Using glasses from Chamard Vineyards!

Heather and I like to buy each other little gifts when we see things that remind us of each other (you can vomit now), and we weren’t even surprised when we pulled out bags from the same store (our little piece of heaven, Urban Outfitters) when it came time to exchange presents.

Who’da thunk it?!

I love giving people presents. I’ve been known to find someone the PERFECT birthday gift, and buy it, regardless of whether the birthday is a week or almost a year away! Hanging onto the gift becomes difficult. I only got Heather’s gift last weekend, but have been so anxious to give it to her since!

And for good reason! I knew this would be Heather’s face when she opened her present – a large photo book containing a history of the Beatles through FASHION! I don’t know much about the Beatles (don’t judge me) but I do know she loves them, and loves the fashion of the 60s (and beyond). Also, the book was $2 .Yup. Purchasing it for her was kinda a no-brainer.

Wet hair, don’t care.

The notebook on the right literally lists the benefits of drinking coffee – as if I needed any convincing to consume it daily – and is so perfect for grad school. Especially since I just started back this past Thursday! I love the contrasting stripe and polka dot patterns of the notebook on the left. They’re sure to get my creative juices flowing, which is appropriate since Heather purchased the notebook for the specific purpose of my continued journey with #AmazingMe. Um, #AmazingHeather! I’m so touched by her constant support.

The pan in the center has curried sweet potatoes from Whole Foods (plus ketchup) that we made extra crispy in the oven. Le duh.

We’d planned to add re-runs of “The Hills” to our salad-and-wine soiree, but they were not available on MTV.com. Never fear! We were better off moving ourselves and all our “gear” down to my basement to use Netflix. Five or six episodes later, we were in major #jadorelavie mode.

I also need to give Lauren Conrad props for having the BEST bitch faces ever.

I awoke with an annoying stab-my-eyes out headache, but I wasn’t too concerned. Heather and I had plans to visit the local Bikram Yoga studio. I had 9 classes from a Groupon to use and she’s a big fan, so we thought it was an appropriate Saturday morning BB workout. And a workout it was! Not only did I feel physically challenged, but also mentally. I noticed that whenever my mind started to wander, my balance did too! My desire to hold poses longer and more correctly drove me to bring my mind back to the present. The practice felt hardest to me during all the transitions to and from savasana, as strange as that sounds. The switching between lying on my back and whatever mat pose was next really got the blood flowing to and from my head, which made me feel light-headed and set my heart to a racing pace at times. That might sound scary, but I still felt in control of my body – just challenged as well. I felt like my heart and lungs were fighting to get stronger! I always discover something physically and mentally new about myself when I practice yoga, particularly a style as extreme as Bikram.

The post-Bikram glow – and HLS headband!

After showering and packing a snack bag (priorities, people), we went to our special Glastonbury spot – Daybreak Coffee Roasters. Every time Heather visits Glastonbury, our time together is not complete without a blogging session at Daybreak, just as my visits to her are not complete without a Wildflour trip (which must include a scone).

Of course my standard cottage cheese and fruit snack was on stand-by!

We ordered Pumpkin Spice (Heather) and Southern Pecan (me) French press coffees. In mugs, for ultimate coziness.

All set up with her protein oats!

We both were super productive thanks to our fresh fuel and cups of joe! And super zen thanks to the morning’s yoga and the peaceful atmosphere of Daybreak.

Thanks for the labels, Daybreak!

Afterwards, we went to Sonoma Wines & Spirits, my favorite package store ever, to help my mom pick out some craft beers. Sonoma has a great selection of singles of unique beers from smaller brands, and customers can build their own six pack AND get 10% off! Later in the day, I joined my mom in sampling some of the Dogfish Head Burton Baton and Sierra Nevada Hoptimum. We both agreed the Hoptimum was the winner!

Beer in a Coca-Cola glass, classic.

Perfect for Tennessee football viewing!

We obviously had to do a photoshoot outside of Sonoma. Because that’s what bloggers do.

Sonoma – and Heather’s fishtail braid skills – rock!

We had another Whole Foods experience for our late lunch, but managed to spend a bit less money this time.

Heather’s awe of how “cute” my town is totally made me realize that I sometimes take it for granted. I DEFINITELY used to in high school. I’m glad that since moving back home, I’ve learned about the treasures my town has to offer. One of the cute gift shops we visited, Emmy Lou’s, also happened to be home to Heather’s favorite type of dog, a corgi.

Awkward…

This particular corgi was named Tasha, and she was literally camera shy – as in, afraid of cameras! Opposite of a blogger. A hilarious attempt to get a photo of Heather and Tasha together ensued.

Corgi fail!

Corgi isn’t having this shit.

Seeing Heather laugh that hard was pretty awesome.

Tasha is over it.

Thanks to the shop/corgi owner, we got a good photo!

After our Glastonbury adventures were done, we went back to my house and I watched the football game with my mom (and my beer) while Heather read her book. Seeing my friends read makes me so happy, since I’m such a bookworm! We took some time to read each other favorite passages, both of her book and my latest (which I plan to do a post on soon). After more episodes of “The Hills” (can’t stop, won’t stop), we set off for dinner. To be continued…

You can read Heather’s take on our first adventures here 🙂 and more to come from me!

Cheap wines, red and/or white…do you buy/drink them?

Which old show could you watch endless re-runs of?

Have you ever tried Bikram yoga?

Element Yoga DVDs: Review and Giveaway!

Thank you for your kind, supportive words about my honesty at the end of yesterday’s post. Each time I open up on this blog about the “other side” of my feelings about food and drinks, I am rewarded by your comments and tweets…and just any form of encouragement I receive. It helps more than anyone knows!

After receiving an Anchor Bay Fitness AM & PM Yoga DVD by Element in my Fitness Magazine Meet & Tweet swag bag (you can read a great review of that DVD on Meredith’s blog, Dare You To…, here!), I contacted one of their reps to find out if they had any power yoga DVDs for me to check out. If you’ve been reading my blog for awhile then you already know this, but on days I have class or an event after work, I like to do a yoga DVD or online video in the morning since I can’t make it to the gym. Well…I suppose I could. But doing a gym workout just isn’t what I want to be doing at 6:15am – so I do yoga instead 🙂

My at-home yoga “studio” – complete with TJ Maxx mat!

It turns out Element has many yoga DVDs to choose from! I was sent the Yoga for Weight Loss and Power Yoga DVDs to review. I want to note that though I am reviewing the Yoga for Weight Loss DVD, I am NOT reviewing it from the perspective of someone trying to lose weight. If anything, I am working on being OK with gaining back some healthy weight, and I look at yoga as an aid in that journey because it helps me find peace in doing a less-intense form of workout.

The Element Yoga for Weight Loss DVD with Ashley Turner actually turned out to be extremely fitting to that purpose because it really was a nice balance of power yoga and the more relaxed, stretch-focused types of yoga. According to Ashley herself, the practice is meant to combine vinsaya yoga with poses that can foster “self-acceptance, focus, forgiveness, and gratitude – reducing stress and creating happiness from the inside out…so you will want to treat [your body] respectfully and maintain a lifestyle that is good for your health”. I appreciate the recognition that weight loss is a journey consisting of so much more than simply burning calories.

Source

I definitely felt accomplished and at peace after completing this DVD. The low music, serene Pacific-Ocean-view setting, and calm manner with which Ashley delivered her instructions effectively combined to create what I felt was a judgment-free zone that a beginning yogi would find helpful while attempting new poses. I don’t think someone completely new to yoga would have an easy time understanding the poses (so they can be attempted) during an initial viewing, but after a couple of runs through the DVD, the routine wouldn’t be to hard to get a grasp on.

I always have my mason jar of water handy while I’m practicing!

The Element Power Yoga DVD certainly focused much more on the physical challenge – a true lower body, and at times cardio, workout! Ashley Turner once again teaches in the same serene setting, with the same low music and patient-sounding voice. However, the instructions she delivered were for more challenging poses with quick flows and longer isometric holds! At one point during this DVD, when my left leg had been in a right angle for what seemed like years, I literally yelled, “SHIT!” as I fought through the burn. Yes my friends, this Power Yoga DVD enduces cursing, so if you have little ones you better make sure they’re out of earshot before beginning. 😛

Don’t worry, she doesn’t ask you to do this! Source

I don’t want to scare anyone though! I clearly felt challenged, but also accomplished and strong after the DVD’s conclusion. I enjoyed the pattern of poses – those emphasizing the core were scattered throughout, and a nice backbend sequence wound down the practice. It’s usually very difficult for me to fight the urge to just shut my yoga videos off as they enter the savasana portion, but in this case I felt pretty pooped and the rest period was most welcome! I wanted to just chill out in corpse pose before I had to get ready for work.

Source

Anchor Bay Fitness has two new Element DVDs coming out 9/25: Yoga for Energy & Relaxation and Accelerated Pilates with Resistance Band. The former features yoga expert Tamal Dodge and consists of a 30-minute energizing practice and 40-minute relaxation practice. I love that the DVD “categorizes” both series of poses so that if one does not have time to do both, or is just looking for an energy boost or a relaxing stretch, the viewer can easily choose which portion of the workout to complete.

I hope to get the chance to try out the latter DVD, Accelerated Pilates with Resistance Band, for endless reasons! Firstly it’s just a 30-minute total body workout and 10-minute ab routine, which fit perfectly with my yoga/pilates attention span. 😀 Ssecondly, I was a HUGE fan of the resistance band’s uses in Physique 57 and would love to see how trainer Lisa Hubbard incorporates the (PINK!) band into this practice. The fact that the DVD calls this pilates “accelerated” also jumps out at me because though I don’t do pilates often now, I did it a few times a week during my senior year of college after I had just entered recovery and was in great need of a form of workout far less intense than what I’d been doing. For that reason, I have always felt a special bond with pilates because of the way it kept me “sane” when I was forbidden from higher-intensity workouts. Any chance to try out a new routine is welcome to me because every instructor does pilates so differently!

You can purchase all Anchor Bay Fitness DVDs in stores or on Amazon.com!

I’m partnering with Anchor Bay Fitness to give TWO lucky Cait Plus Ate readers the chance to try BOTH of these DVDs! Two readers will each win a copy of both new Element DVDs, Accelerated Pilates with Resistance Band and Yoga for Energy & Relaxation! The giveaway is open to US readers only. Entries will close Saturday 9/8 at 11:59PM EST!

To enter, you can do the following – and leave a separate comment for each:

  1. Comment on this post (mandatory) and tell me which of the four DVDs mentioned in this post you’d most want to try!
  2. Follow @CaitPlusAte on Twitter, and comment with your Twitter handle saying you did.
  3. Follow @AnchorBayEntFit on Twitter, and comment with your Twitter handle saying you did.
  4. Tweet “I’m entered to win two @AnchorBayEntFit #yoga #pilates DVDs from @CaitPlusAte! #fitfluential http://wp.me/p1SfTW-1rd” and comment here with the link to the tweet.
  5. Repin something from Element on Pinterest and comment with the link to the repin.
  6. Follow CaitPlusAte on Pinterest and comment with your Pinterest name saying you did.

Though it’s not an option for giveaway entry, you can also like Anchor Bay Entertainment’s Fitness page on Facebook! Good luck to all who enter!

I received free copies of the Element Power Yoga and Yoga for Weight Loss DVDs to review. All opinions are my own. I was not compensated for this review/giveaway.

Healthy Living Summit 2012 – Part Two

A quick FYI for my CT readers – one of my favorite spots for unique cocktails and tasty small plates in the Hartford area, Cuvee, is holding a special third-anniversary party at 7PM on Thursday 8/30 at their location in West Hartford’s Blueback Square. But there is ALSO a special VIP event with complimentary drinks, champagne tastings, apps, and more from 5-7PM. If you want to win a chance to attend, text BUBBLY to 37798! Maybe I’ll see you there!

I’m so glad you guys have been enjoying my HLS ’12 stories so far! When we last left off, I’d had a great Friday evening at the Cocktail Party, but was ready to hit the hay at my usual earlier hour.

Saturday:

I woke up after a bad night’s sleep (I never sleep well in hotels) and was STARVED! Heather and I headed down to breakfast and quickly encountered a problem…nothing vegan, except fruit. Fruit does not a fine breakfast make, so Heather had to spend money at the hotel’s overpriced little shop to buy a KIND bar to add some staying power to her fruit. I felt so badly that she wasn’t able to enjoy a yummy breakfast, and disappointed that HLS hadn’t considered that they may have some vegan attendees. In fact, I’d consider it to be MOST likely at this kind of conference! Heather did a good job of holding her head up high though and we made plans with a bunch of girls to go to Whole Foods for lunch later…something to most definitely look forward to.

Flash fruit photography.

I felt almost guilty that there were in turn so many options for an everythingarian like myself. Wild Harvest did indeed provide a delicious spread incorporating the five finalist recipes from their Breakfast Showdown. The winning recipe was announced as well, and I literally yelped in delight (and got some confused looks) when I saw that my roomie, blend, and fellow sometimes-CT resident Kelly had won!

I’m totally not surprised – after all, her recipe was Greek-inspired (she sends me Greek treats…love her), and Greek is always a WIN to me.

Umm, SOO freaking good, OMG! Definitely my favorite recipe too – Wild Harvest made a good choice!

I sampled all but one of the other recipes – a yogurt parfait, a potato/veggie hash, and maple turkey sausage. Black coffee on the side, le duh. My hunger monster was raging this entire weekend. It was hard to honor it – I am used to a much smaller breakfast. However I ate slowly, tried to enjoy and tune into my body, and gobbled every last bite of my meal below.

And cheered for my friend’s win!

Giant plastic gift card WHAAAT!

In the morning I attended a session on Hosting a Virtual Challenge with Amanda. I didn’t intend on holding any challenges on my blog, but thought I would get good info about “spreading the word” about my blog, what I write about, and me in general. That was certainly true, but I also got inspiration to perhaps do a challenge someday – maybe a more official take on #AmazingMe! Is that something you guys would be interested in?

I also got to spend a lot of time hanging out with REEBOK! It was great to see Kathryn and Johnice again and show them that I was rocking the gear I’d received at the Reebok event I attended in May at their HQ!

Lisa, me, and Heather showing the world that the sport of fitness has arrived!

Kathryn was doing a great job manning the booth and as usual was a multiple-camera-using maestro. She’s clearly used to being around bloggers!

I received Reebok Crossfit socks and have been wearing them for my workouts the last couple of days (not the same pair – ew). They’re so soft and stretchy!

They pair perfectly with my RealFlex Transitions!

Of course socks are small potatoes compared to the other gift every HLS attendee received – a pair of Reebok RealFlex Fusions!

Me (left) and Heather (right) reppin’ the neutral shoe colors with the bright accents!

I can’t believe how generous Reebok has been to me since I received my first pair of sneakers from them (the black ones pictured above) in May. THANK YOU REEBOK!

My collection 😀

I can also thank them for another chance to try Crossfit! We received black Crossfit headbands, lined up, and listened to the Crossfit coaches explain to us what Crossfit is, why it works, and some of its basic moves.

Me with the lovely Katie – I’m rocking my headband!

We did a 5-minute WOD (Workout of the Day) complete with 7 air squats and 15 jumps AMRAP (as many reps as possible). I didn’t count my reps because it was interfering with counting each squat/jump, but during the WOD my row’s coach came around and showed me how I could get lower if I just pushed my knees out a bit more. REVELATION! I seriously am excited to do squats in my group fitness classes now (I know, did I just say that?).

Photo courtesy of Meg – look at me air squat!

After the WOD I couldn’t help myself – had to personally thank the coaches for their services 😉 and get a private air-squat lesson from AJ!

Prom pic?

AJ helping me learn how to do wall squats. Sneaky blend photography!

After Crossfit I hung out with its champion, Rich Froning. He was way shorter than I’d pictured.

The other morning session, Blogging with Brands, was especially fun because it was another chance for me to see Fitfluential CEO Kelly Olexa serve on a panel! And hang with her after 😀

Aunt Kelly, you rock!

Skipping out on conference lunch to visit Whole Foods was so worth it, especially to see how happy it made my love Meg, who doesn’t have Whole Foods back home in Canada.

As usual I filled a big container to the brim with millions of ingredients, including falafel, curry potatoes, sesame tofu, PICKLES, mounds of grilled veg, and way more than I could ever remember.

Good lunch, great friends. Photo from Heather.

After lunch we attended a couple of other sessions, including I Am the Blogger in Your Neighborhood (with Meghann, Clare, and Holly), which reassured me that I am definitely on a good path with my local CT involvement and that it will continue to bring me many opportunities (in fact, I have a special announcement for you all tomorrow that falls along those very lines, dun dun dun…). We also caught the tail end of The Fuzzy Grey Areas of Blogging (which had a great hashtag, #HLS50Shades).

In between those two sessions, Heather and I hit the hotel gym for a 20-minute workout. I’d be lying if I told you I didn’t experience anxiety at HLS from being away from my normal workout routine. The Crossfit WOD was way less intense (due to the short length) than I’d pictured, and I just felt like I needed to sweat and get moving. Sometimes it’s hard for me to differentiate between whether or not I get these feelings because I WANT to work out or because I feel like I HAVE to. I completed 20 minutes of varied inclined treadmill running (a little over 2 miles) while watching some kind of SportsCenter-style show (the machine had five channels…) and called it a day. I did feel quite amazing afterward and woke up with sore quads the next day!

Coupon Caitlin

After the Chobani dinner that night, I came back rocking a lovely wine buzz. The photo above is courtesy of wine and Coupon Cabin‘s BlogHer sponsor booth.

Sunday:

I woke up after a better night’s sleep feeling completely indecisive over whether or not I should go to the hotel gym for a workout before Heather and I hit the road. I felt as if I should work out and that if I didn’t do it RIGHT THEN, I wouldn’t later when I got home. I got up to get ready, and was dragging ass the whole time. Let’s pack this bag, let’s gather these toiletries. Finally I realized that I didn’t want to go to the hotel gym. I wanted to wait until I got to my home gym later that afternoon and do my beloved sweaty StepMill routine and have an arm day. So I listened to my wants, not my shoulds. And later that day when I had a kickass workout at my home gym, it felt great!

Lovies!!!

Heather and I had the unfortunate task ahead of us of saying goodbye to all of our friends 🙁 our time together was so short! Meg has promised to come visit CT. She has always wanted to come here apparently! And CT has always wanted to see her visit!

Lisa, Chelsea, Heather, Meg, me, Linz

Heather and I visited a Boston cafe, thinking cup, that had been recommended to me on Twitter. We took our heavenly pour-over coffees into a park to enjoy and spotted two bloggers we hadn’t said goodbye to (or really met well) yet – Teri and Holly!

Teri is sooo J. Crew.

Heather and Holly made connections over journalism, and Teri and I bonded over our love for the South (she lives in NC just 20 minutes away from my relatives!) I only wish the four of us could have spent more time together during HLS! After the fortuitous meeting, we departed for a heavenly vegan brunch (but that’s a story for another post) and bid goodbye to Boston…that is, until I go back this Sunday 😛

Have you ever tried Crossfit and/or any Reebok products?

Have you ever been stuck in a situation in which your dietary restrictions were not accommodated?

Are you Whole Foods-deprived?

BlogHer ’12 Sponsor Silliness and Swag

Here goes my third recap post of my BlogHer ’12 NYC weekend…the sponsors at the conference itself, which took place Thursday, Friday, and Saturday. If you missed my last two recaps of my Physique 57, YogaWorks, and Chobani SoHo experiences, you can still go back and read them!

If I could sum up the BlogHer conference in a few nouns they’d be…information, inspiration, and sponsors. I know that a conference is meant to be a teaching tool, and BlogHer certainly served as that. However, you really can’t go to a blogging conference without expecting (and hoping for!) some fun sponsor action. After all, who doesn’t like swag?

Laid out the haul on Sunday night when I got home.

Yeek, I need to settle down and stop going out-of-chronological-order in my recaps 😛 when I left my house on Thursday, I thought I had a lot of baggage.

Completely posed self-timer pic…

That is, until I ended up hauling these babies from taxi to train, and then from train to car. My shoulders fell off.

Damn you, swag. Yet I love you.

Room Awesome

I arrived and check-in at the New York Hilton was seamless, though elevator travel throughout the conference (it should not take 15 minutes to find an open elevator!) was not. My room was OK…the bathroom was a bit dingy, the humidity was kinda out of control, but what are you gonna do? I got an amazing deal and didn’t have to do anything to organize it all. I’m eternally grateful to “Room Awesome”‘s planner, Stephanie of The Froggy and the Mouse. What a sweetheart…all of my roomies were actually (Melissa of Growing Up Geeky and Linette of The Kid’s Fun Review).

Stephanie, a fellow planner/organizer!

Expo Hall Experience

I unfortunately arrived too late to see Obama give the opening address to BlogHer participants, but badge pickup went super quickly (thanks to BlogHer for offering an affordable student rate!) and after a much needed post-travel shower, I made my way to the first conference party (apparently these are a BIG part of BlogHer, but I had no idea until a month beforehand and never ended up attending any others), Evening at the Expo. Essentially just the same Expo Hall that was open the entire conference…WITH WINE!

You mean these tickets I got with my badge buy WINE?!

I visited eons of sponsor booths throughout the conference’s three days, though Friday and Saturday had no wine (le bummer). My favorite sponsor experiences were those with people in silly costumes and/or the opportunity to dress up in silly costumes myself.

Me and the Dole banana!

One row back…another banana, this one from Jamba Juice!

Wendy of CT Bloggers would only be in photos in which she was “disguised”! So she was kind enough to pose with me at the Wholly Guacamole booth 🙂

If you like it then you shoulda #PutAWheelOnIt at the Gorton’s Seafood booth! Bummed I never made it back to try some samples.

The folks at TMobile must’ve thought taking the above photo would be a pain for me because they gave me a massage afterward to say thank you. I mean, that’s awesome, but I would’ve done it for “free” 😛

Oh yes, I’ve got milk. Wait, not really! But I do have these milkmen.

This guy was supposed to be a Smith Brother. I called him Abe Lincoln. Promoting the upcoming Spielberg biopic?! No? Oh.

I find it hilarious that Danny DeVito voiced the Lorax and literally has the same exact build as him/it.

Plenty of Perks

Fun photos were not the only activities available to bloggers at sponsor booths and suites. Since I listened to some T-Mobile reps’ shpeals on the latest apps (and put on a feather boa), I received the treat of one of my first massages…and I went to a very special place, I have to say. It was just pure heaven. Too bad I’m too cheap to ever purchase another massage, ha!

Starbucks gave private demos of their new home espresso beverage machine, Verismo, to small groups of bloggers. My demo guy was fabulous! I wasn’t a fan of the drinks produced by the Verismo machine, because I drink my coffee black. Just way too much milk (and 2%, which has a rich taste I’m not used to) and not enough espresso. Still, the machine did create some incredibly frothy, aromatic milk out of a powdered K-cup style insert. I think these machines will be really popular among those who prefer espresso beverages to coffee…think of it as the Keurig for the espresso drinker.

The Verismo brewed this beverage for us!

The perk of the Starbucks suite was the $5 gift card I received on my way out. I don’t go to Starbucks a lot anymore but when I have no local cafe options, they are definitely my go-to over Dunkin Donuts, so I know I will use this. They also have more convenient hours than many local cafes.

Me and my sample, my new friend, and the Verismo.

Bailey’s Creamers reps were passing out mini cupcakes…I selected red velvet, Ginawent with s’mores.

Love the tower 🙂

Didn’t sample any of their products since I don’t like sweet drinks OR creamers, but I did sample some coffee-colored OPI nail polishes in the form of a complimentary manicure– already much needed!

My manicurist was so sweet and we chatted the whole time!

She was a bit baffled by my request for a “disco nail” but did a wonderful job! I’m now a disco nail addict.

I have no clue why Bankrupting America (a non-profit with a mission to distribute easy to understand, creative educational materials about our nation’s economy, something we definitely need more of) was serving Skinnygirl‘s original and peach margarita flavors.I think they wanted to attract people to their booth. Shameless free-drink-if-you-talk-to-us, but I’ll take it. As in, I’ll take a peach on the rocks, please.

I made friends (aka was a Chatty Kathy with) the Bankrupting America rep and asked her to pose with the drink server (he was in a James Bond costume, I’m pretty sure).

And CouponCabin.com clearly knew who they were dealing with when they gave me this shirt…

Coupon Caitlin FTW!

T-Mobile also gave me cake pops and Terra chips. They really spoiled me! I spent about 5 minutes searching through the cake pops trying to decipher which was a red velvet, then gave up. I have yet to eat the one I selected but when I do I’ll update you all as to what flavor I got (because you’re riveted).

These were later devoured during a session. Shared with Theodora and Ashley, who immediately asked where they could get some too.

Plethora of Products

Meg, are you liking the alliteration this post is pumping out?! I talked to a boatload of brands, and a few of them stood out to me.

Monthly subscription services for food samples are usually above my budget, though they do offer tasty and high-quality products. From what I saw, Love with Food offers the same quality for an excellent price point – $10 a month! I hope to do a full review on the blog soon! Even better…for each box bought, they donate a meal to a hungry child. The website’s product page features beautiful photographs and SO many treats I want to try.

I already know I’d like to try the dried sweet corn and the cute whale tail shaped chips!

Dannon had the sweetest rep, Janelle, working at their booth. Maybe I just thought that because she recognized me instantly and said she loves my blog?! 😛 They also put up with me when I frantically ran to them before my writing clinic session, sputtering that I was staaaaarving, and could they spare a snack? Why yes they could!

Light ‘n Fit Vanilla used to be a daily snack for me in college. Now the line is too sweet for my tastebuds and also tastes less real than I’m used to…but in this situation, the Light ‘n Fit Greek variety held me over til lunch and did its job. I also sampled the Oikos Blueberry – yummy, but again too sweet for me. I picked up a coupon so I can get one of the plain tubs though!

Imagining I’m eating the yogurt with its rep John Stamos…

The Michael Angelo’s reps let me try some of their prepared meals and I really enjoyed talking with them (and eating their Italian food with red wine, duh).

Their products are made with natural ingredients, many of them are very light (unlike most pre-prepared foods), and were created with the influence of Michael’s mother, Sara’s, recipes.

The eggplant parm (left) and lasagna (right) were amazing and tasted homemade.

I got a coupon for a free item and asked my mom to add it to her grocery list asap!

Of course I needed a photo of me eating.

Someone left a giant box of Popchips outside her hotel room and declared that they were first-come, first-serve. I got served…with a snack for the train ride home on Sunday (and brain fuel for my paper).

They were SO GOOD. I try not to count calories but I have to admit the fact that the whole bag was only 100 immediately caught my attention.

The Dole booth was super elaborate, complete with a tiki hut and fruit carvers. And that banana you saw earlier.

I felt smug that my shoe choice at the Expo Hall party on Thursday night was a perfect match for their booth.

That is a bowl of banana USB drive keychains.

I obviously took one home. I doubt I’ll ever use it as anything other than a keychain but come on, it’s a banana, and now my keys are #Fitfluential with one keychain each for #EAT, #MOVE, and #ENJOY. I just need a #SLEEP keychain!

Reebok sneaker, Dole banana, and a Life is Good keychain (hiding).

Wait, Dole makes food?! Just kidding. I pounded these Pineapple Real Fruit Bites before Saturday morning’s Physique 57 class. They made for good fuel and I had a great workout, and again the calorie-noticer (not counter…trying not to!) in me liked the 90 calorie serving size. However, these still have more artificial ingredients than I am used to (though there is some real pineapple in there) and I’ve seen recipes for similar products on sites like Lean Green Bean. If anything, enjoying the Real Fruit Bites has inspired me to make my own, more natural version at home.

Finally, I got to test out the Bowflex CoreBody Reformer, which looked pretty silly to me until I stepped up onto it and felt my core engage as I struggled to balance. And to think the Olympic gymnasts do flips on beams a million times higher and a zillion times thinner?! The helpful rep also showed me the book of exercises it comes with – soooo many, and much of them I never would have thought of on my own!

Not exactly workout attire!

It’s really portable too and can be packed up and carried on one’s back with a strap. CoreBody workout DVDs are also available to pair with your reformer. An ideal piece of home workout equipment for someone living in a small apartment or working with a tiny workout space!

Best For Last

I met a very special someone at the Coupon Cabin booth…as Fitfluential’s Community Manager Robin Elton put it, inception happened at BlogHer 2012.

Kate Plus 8, meet Cait Plus Ate! Kate Gosselin officially knows of this blog’s existence, loves the name, and is actually really cool and chill to talk to. WOO HOO!

I didn’t even find out Kate Gosselin would be appearing at BlogHer on Friday until the night before while waiting to get into the Evening at the Expo Hall. Another brush with fate! I never imagined that when Rachel gave me the idea for my blog’s name, one day I’d actually be TELLING Kate Plus 8 about it!

Would you have been as down as I was to take silly photos at the sponsor booths?

Do any of the products I tried or perks I received strike your fancy? I had to find a creative way to ask that question!

Have you ever gotten the chance to do something you truly NEVER thought you’d get to do?

YogaWorks and Chobani SoHo

In case you missed it, check out my first recap of my BlogHer 2012 weekend in NYC, published yesterday – Physique 57 and girl time with some Fitfluential Ambassadors at Agave NYC!

Another workout-and-food pairing to share with you all today from this past weekend’s trip to NYC for the BlogHer conference! And really, what two things go together better than moving and eating? NYC resident and fellow Fitfluential Ambassador Meredith of Dare You To… (her blog has a great concept, check it out) tweeted me about meeting up while I was in town at literally the EXACT same moment I was going to tweet her about the same. Talk about being on the same blend wavelength! We made plans to spend Sunday morning together before I headed back home to CT.

Photo courtesy of Meredith, because I looked beyond awkward in my pic of us.

I proposed using the free class cards to YogaWorks that we’d received at #fitblognyc. They were recently expired, but the manager of the YogaWorks Westside studio, Laura Henry, was kind enough to let Meredith and I come in to use anyway! I selected Pilates Fusion 1 with instructor Lindsay Ashmun, partially because I enjoy pilates and partially because it was the earliest class offered on a Sunday morning (9am start time) and I am a grandma who likes being up early.

Of course Meredith and I showed up (I was late…I apparently think that 65th Street reads 56th Street) in the same Sweaty Bands headband from our Fitness Magazine Meet & Tweet swag. I wore my Reebok crops for the second day in a row #sorrynotsorry and was totally envious of Meredith’s ADORABLE Zella workout top. After seeing hers and the top Heather got at the Zella Day of Movement at Nordstrom, I think I need to head to my local Nordstrom Rack ASAP so I can get in on the Zella action.

It’s probably just me being a tourist, but I was super in-awe of the digital lockers in the locker room! I just set up a code, put my belongings inside, and used it again to get them out after our class. I felt like I was in some sort of Charlie’s Angels movie, entering a secret passcode to access whatever top-level secure item I might have been in search of. Yes I am a nerd.

I’ve never taken a pilates class that utilized equipment other than a mat, and was intrigued when we used the same blue bands we used in Physique 57, the above pictured foam rollers, a contraption I’m going to call a thigh ring, and a couple of yoga blocks.

Showing off the band and thigh ring…did I mention I’m a nerd?

The class itself was a bit disappointing. I felt bored during some of it because though I have not done a lot of pilates recently, I did do a great deal of it during my senior year at Uconn and I think my accumulated experience kept me from feeling challenged. That being said, there were a couple points during the class that definitely felt like tests of strength (especially the back work on the floor – swimmers NEVER get easier for me). The class may have been a bit too easy for me, but everyone is different. Lindsay’s class was a level one and I definitely think that she kept it there – an instructor who teaches a beginner’s class at a level above beginner is not thinking of her clients, who likely are showing up expecting a basic level workout. YogaWorks offered a level one Pilates Fusion class, and they delivered! Next time, I will make sure to select a class more fitting to my level.

I adore the company’s green and purple color scheme (the Barney lover in me?) and the lamps in this waiting area felt so calming and zen.

I did enjoy using the blue band – such a great way to switch up resistance training, and so easy to modify to fit each class participant’s level. I was not a fan of the foam roller at all though. I felt like it hindered my movements when we were using it during the ab and back work on the floor. Maybe I wasn’t using it correctly?! Since I am not a runner and do not have any injuries that tend to flare up on me (knock on wood), I’ve never found a need for the foam roller and am not experienced with it. I know that many bloggers out there are in love with them and would probably have appreciated using it in the class more than I did!

Despite the fact that I selected the wrong class to try, I have to say that the YogaWorks studio was gorgeous and the instructor, Lindsay, was incredibly skilled and taught an appropriate level of class to her clients. Thank you Laura and YogaWorks for hosting Meredith and I!

I made it! MECCA!!! 😛

Once I heard Chobani was opening a store in SoHo, I vowed to make a stop there while I was in town for BlogHer. Goal accomplished! Meredith and I took the subway downtown and decided to turn our visit into a sampling lunch of four Chobani signature creations. You guys know I’m all about sampler platters and trying as many different varieties of food/drink as possible at all times, so this was the perfect plan for our visit! And you know what made it even more perfect? Coupon Caitlin got to use coupons for both Meredith and I to get two free signature creations – thanks Chobani for handing them out at the Physique 57 event! I have more to use for next time I’m in town too!

Bloggers love Chobani!

I loved the Dark Chocolate + Pistachio creation I’d tried Friday at the WellAndGoodNYC Physique 57 event so much that I opted to get it again. Yup, that’s how you KNOW I love something – if I pass up something new to have it again! It’s pictured at top in the photo below, and the other three creations we tried, in a clockwise direction, are:

  • Fig + Walnut: dried Turkish figs, clover honey, walnuts
  • Plain + Cucumber: cucumber, sea salt, mint, EVOO, served with pita chips
  • Toasted Coconut + Pineapple: pineapple, toasted coconut, Turkish hazelnuts, light agave nectar

HOLY CRAP. They were all SO GOOD. This was an amazing lunch and the best part is that all of these combos can be re-created at home! The Fig + Walnut was just too fabulous, I loooove figs and Meredith has been “obsessed” with them (her words not mine) lately too. I informed her she needs to find a restaurant that serves figs on a pizza ASAP…preferably with gorgonzola cheese involved. My favorite by far was the Plain + Cucumber, not a surprise since I’m such a savory/salty food addict. I’m pretty sure I ate all the pita chips, oops! The mixture reminded me of my beloved Greek specialty, tzatziki sauce. The EVOO really added an extra special richness to the mixture. Finally, the Toasted Coconut + Pineapple was enjoyed by Meredith and I more than we both had anticipated. She and I agreed that the coconut being toasted (and not just shaved in its “snowy” form) enhanced the creation and gave that satisfying crunch that makes any yogurt mess better.

Photo courtesy of Meredith. Each signature creation looks like this when it’s served, and the little glass bowls are either re-used by Chobani in the store or are yours to take home!

Lucky Meredith even got to go to an event the very next day (AKA last night) at Chobani SoHo to sample any of the creations she hadn’t tried yet. Definitely jealous of her status as a New Yorker and her access to a never-ending list of restaurants! I had such a wonderful time hanging out with her – of course we never ran out of topics to chat about. I even found myself having to reel myself in off of tangents (that I’d wandered to 10-15 minutes before) to get back to original points I was (trying) to make. It’s OK, we covered a lot more that way 😉

My workout and lunch with Meredith on Sunday were the perfect way to end my trip to NYC. After I got back to my hotel and grabbed my bags ($14 to hold them downstairs for me, seriously Hilton?), I hightailed it to the train station, where I arrived at the perfect moment to catch the train to New Haven.

But I’m going out of order here. My next post will recap ALL conference-related activities from the entire weekend (Thursday-Saturday). Get ready!!!

Have you ever taken a fitness class that ended up being at a level that was too low for you? How did it turn out? 

Are there any restaurants on your must-visit list that are at a place you’d need to travel far to get to? Have you ever gotten to visit one of those? Another for me was Pure Food & Wine!

Tell me YOUR own Chobani signature creation that you make at home…or any yogurt mess!

Physique 57 and Agave in NYC

I’M BACK from an amazing, fun, informative, delicious, burning, sweaty, faaaabulous weekend in New York City for BlogHer 2012! I took the train from New Haven on Thursday afternoon and spent my first nice, long weekend in NYC (and am now convinced there’s no other way to do it…see ya, stressful day or one-night trips). I got home last night with so many memories, informative tidbits, freebies, and photos that I felt like both my mind and bags were going to explode – in a positive way. I’m so excited to recap and share everything with you guys, but as I learned Saturday in an intimate small-group writing session called Tightening Your Prose, most blog posts are too long. SO I am going to be using about four posts to recap my BlogHer 2012 NYC weekend. I wanted to start with my favorite part of it all, because that makes sense, oui?

Rocking my #RBKFITBLOG Reebok top and #fitblognyc Sophia Kashuk bag + Sweaty Bands headband!

I was invited by Physique 57 and Well and Good NYC (a cool site that delivers the latest in NYC health and wellness) to join other healthy living bloggers, including Fitfluential Ambassadors, for a Physique 57 class with the workout’s co-founder, Tanya Becker! I’ve heard nothing but love for Physique 57 from some of my favorite celebrities (KELLY RIPA) as well as friends, and was so pumped to get the chance to not only try the workout, but learn from Tanya herself.

Gina and I

I took the subway over to the SoHo studio location with Gina of Running to the Kitchen, who was also staying at the Hilton New York (where BlogHer was held). She is a fellow FitFluential Ambassador and though we had not met before that day, we had plenty to chat about and I enjoyed hanging out with her! Her food photos and recipes are TO DIE FOR. Go check them out!

Wanna look at the camera, Caitlin?

Upon arrival, I received a complimentary bottle of Chobani water (I adore the packaging and 10% of proceeds from this water’s sales benefit the Shepherd’s Gift Foundation) and a pair of the signature Physique 57 black socks. All the classes take place in blue carpeted rooms like the one pictured below, so these particular socks are essential to a successful workout because they have special padding on the bottom to keep your feet from sliding about.

Left to right – Well and Good NYC co-founder Melisse Gelula, Tanya Becker, Natasha (Social Media for Physique 57), and Tanya’s amazing assistant and instructor-in-training.

Each student’s “set-up” includes a set of weights for upper body, a thick square mat, a band, a ball, and a longer/thinner mat (which comes out later).

Ready to go! Smiling because I’m not yet BURNING.

The class went in the following order: quick cardio warm-up, series of upper-body weights (lighter weights, MANY reps), lower body barre and floor work intervals, abs, stretching. But it’s really SO much more than that! I couldn’t get over what an effective workout this was. I love variety and I love unique. Physique 57 is both of those! The movements we did on the barre and floor were some that I recognized and had experienced with from pilates, but some were exercises I’d never seen or done– but will CERTAINLY be doing again, given what a burn they ignited in my quads, calves, abs, and glutes.

Gina, Melisse, Ashley, Theodora, me, and Meghann showing off our Physique 57 socks!

Tanya was such an amazing instructor. It’s hard to believe she recently had TWINS! I feel so lucky to have been able to learn from her, especially since I hear her classes at the NYC studios are impossible to get into. I also adored the Lululemon top she and Theodora were both rockin’.

Me and Tanya!

Also jealous of Theodora’s sparkly headband!

My fave photo – group shot of the class attendees and Tanya! I WOULD wear my Fossil watch during a workout.

We were also treated to samples of two signature creations from the first and only Chobani cafe,located in NYC’s SoHo neighborhood, as well as coupons for free full-size creations if we visited the store (which I promptly did yesterday…but that’s another post).

Bloggers gathering to give Chobani its photoshoot moment.

The two creations I tried were Pistachio + Chocolate (dark chocolate, clover honey, Turkish pistachios, orange, fresh mint) and Blueberry + Power (blueberries, walnuts, chia and hemp seeds, light agave nectar).

Blueberry + Power on top, Pistachio + Chocolate on bottom.

I really liked both of them, but the Pistachio + Chocolate stood out to me because of its unique flavor combos! The pistachios gave a satisfying crunch and I’m already a big fan of dark chocolate in plain Chobani. And can you believe this was my first time having chia seeds?!I know, I’m an unconventional blogger 😛 the truth is I wasn’t a huge fan, they just seemed kind of there (except when they got in my teeth, which made them kind of an inconvenience). I do know they have a lot of nutritional benefits though! I think the Blueberry + Power didn’t stick in my mind as much because I often do similar Greek yogurt combos at home, so it wasn’t different.

Selfie with the chia.

Gaga for Greek 😉

THANK YOU to Physique 57 and Well and Good NYC for having us bloggers to the event! I’m so glad I got the chance to come while I was in town for BlogHer ’12. In fact, I loved Physique 57 so much that I went back the very next morning to use one of the two free classes I received at the Fitness Magazine Meet & Tweet!

I was lucky to have another fantastic instructor, Lindi, for my second class. Her energy was incredible and I enjoyed the fact that a Mixed class was available because I had Intermediate modifications shown to me to use, but I couldn’t do them in every case, so I reverted back to the Beginner modifications when needed.

Another Reebok outfit from #RBKFITBLOG, of course! Had to get the Physique 57 socks in the photo too!

I will so miss doing Physique 57 at the studios, but I did receive copies of The Physique 57 Solution Book and the Classic 57 Full-Body Workout DVD at the Well and Good NYC event. I plan to do the DVD and review it with a comparison of it and the studio experience. I already flipped through the book and am really interested in the exercises explained inside – in fact, my dad (who just did his first yoga DVD a few weeks ago, YAY Dad!) is excited to use the book and give them a shot too! It’s like having a Physique 57 encyclopedia in my home! Best part of all? My second free class doesn’t expire until the end of January – oh yup, I’ll be back.

I got my silly on with the Physique 57 mural. She adorns each studio’s wall and is called Gorgeous. Well, I was feeling pretty Gorgeous myself after my second Physique 57 class in 24 hours – or at least my butt certainly was – so I strutted my stuff with her before I departed the 57th Street studio. Who rocks the pose best?

Back to Friday’s class with Tanya…afterward, I was psyched to not be the one picking the restaurant for once, and joined the Fitfluential ladies at a Southwestern spot Ashley chose called Agave.

We were seated outdoors (FAVORITE) at a brown paper covered table in a quaint, serene corner. Patterned pillows lined its benches and I had to snap a Instagram photo of the beautiful scene.

The company I dined with and the conversations held were even more beautiful. I felt at home and at peace the entire time as I chatted with and learned from this group of inspiring women.

One of the funniest and most real bloggers I know, Cat. I feel so lucky to have been able to see her while in town! She has the most interesting life ever. And is a genius in the kitchen.

Where bloggers are around, cameras and phones are found 😉 Cat doesn’t look impressed.

Spending time with a bunch of girls who are interested in the exact same things as me is my ideal way to spend a Friday night! There is never enough time to say what I want to say!

Rockin’ a second round of margs with Theodora.

Loved meeting and sitting next to Erika of A Black Girl’s Guide to Weight Loss. Her transformation is inspiring and she has an amazing energy! She also let me try a sip of her spicy margarita – a friend indeed 😛

It blows my mind how much we bloggers can learn from each other! I can’t wait until all of us can meet again. Thank you for a fabulous  night out, ladies!

Gina, Meghann, Sabrina, Ashley, Theodora, me, Erika, and Cat!

Want to see more pics from the event? Check out the photo gallery posted on Well And Good NYC!

Have you ever heard of or tried Physique 57, either at a studio or with a DVD?

Do you have any Chobani signature creations that you like to make at home?

Have you ever gotten to hang out with “blends”, and if so, did you have a thousand things to talk about? I’m gonna guess yes.

Active Rest Day: How I Did

Amanda of  Run Principessa took my #AmazingMe list one step further and did a VLOG of hers! Check it out and make your own list if you haven’t already – I want to eventually do a post that links up all of them! Make sure to email or tweet me with the link!

Drawing on the chalk tables at ION with Heather. Thanks for the pic, Jenny!

You may remember on Friday that I asked for your support and thoughts as I headed into a weekend of personal challenges. I’m not going to lie and say everything went swimmingly. On Friday night I met up with Jenny and Heather at It’s Only Natural (ION) in Middletown for what should have been an absolute blast of a vegan meal, but I just wasn’t all there. I felt stressed and dragged down by my negative thoughts. I’d had a longer day at work than I’d expected when I woke up that morning and was running late to meet the girls at the restaurant – a ton of little things just combined to create a perfect storm and I had a hard time being present. The food was AMAZING as per usual. The sweet potato fries made my heart sing. My friends were being wonderful and understanding, but I felt guilty as I drove him for not being able to sit back and enjoy. Guilt guilt guilt!

My meal – the blackened tempeh special with the sweet potato fries and a small side of their cold mashed potatoes. I also had a beet salad to start.

The next morning brought part of the challenges I’d discussed on Friday – Om Street Yoga from West Hartford Yoga. Jenny, Heather, and I met in West Hartford center and took ourselves and our mats over to LaSalle Ave, which had been closed down for the second year of this free outdoor 75 minute yoga class.

Call me stereotypical, but yes I wore my Birkenstocks from the Fitness Meet & Tweet to a yoga event.

There was a great turnout! Mic problems only came up a couple of times during the practice, and a live percussion group was present playing relaxing music, complete with a gong.

The class actually ended up being more intense than I’d expected, which I enjoyed! My heart rate got up there during a ridiculously fast dancing warrior series, and my legs were on fire from all the chair poses we did. As I sunk into the last one, I literally whispered to Jenny, “Are you serious?!” I’d thought they were over!

Texting and folding 😉 it’s safe!

Child’s pose may or may not be one of my favorites #sorrynotsorry

My favorite moment came as the entire class was in a goddess pose, doing a series of powerful arm movements. We pushed our arms up to the sky, to the side, in front of us, and downward, each time shouting out “HUH!” Sounds cheesy but it felt great, like a release, and right as we completed the series the sun broke through the clouds. Our instructor declared we’d “brought out the sun” and the crowd broke into applause. In that moment, I felt united with every single person on LaSalle Ave!

During the class I was continuously impressed with Jenny’s yoga skills. She is actually a yoga teacher and considers the practice to have saved her life. Her movements were so very fluid and I am envious of her flexibility! I’d love to get my om on with her again soon 🙂

Jenny’s yoga pants are amazing.

A part of my personal journey over the last couple of years has been working on being more mindful. Each time I do yoga, I have to admit that I am not living in the present. In fact, I rarely find that I am being present in any aspect of my life. This is something I’m trying to change and I was making an effort to be hyper-aware of mindfulness during the final portion of Om Street Yoga, savasana. My mind continued to wander forward to my plans with Heather and Jenny following yoga, forward to my tasting event later that evening, even back to the chair poses during the class and whether or not they were enough of a leg workout. I’d like to say that it was a zen, peaceful savasana, but instead I felt a bit panicked that it was SO damn hard for me to live in the moment. Why couldn’t I just enjoy?! Still, I followed the teacher’s instructions at the end to wish myself happiness, healthiness, and ease; it gave me some peace.

I suggested Hartford Baking Company nearby for our post-yoga coffee fix. I’d had their food before but had never had the chance to sample their pour-over coffee. My friend Matt was working and he recommended an Ethiopian blend from Stumptown Coffee Roasters in Brooklyn; it tasted excellent, possibly also because he did a good job making it! I liked the glass pitcher it was served in – my kind of pitcher!

Heather and I sipped our pour-over coffee black, while Jenny went with a large regular coffee with her beloved soy creamer!

I had a great time chatting with these ladies, and our sunny cozy table made this coffee trip extra special. But I still know I wasn’t 100% there. Negative thoughts associated with stressing over situations to come, an active rest day, whether or not I was disappointing my friends, and more crowded my mind. When I dropped my friends off at Jenny’s and headed out, I was feeling really upset and frustrated with myself.

I was cheered up relatively soon, however, when I ran into my best friend Lidia at Daybreak Coffee Roasters (I stopped by to get iced coffee – decaf, because I’d had enough caff for one day). I felt like it was fate because it also happened to be her birthday! I sat outside with her, her mom, and a family friend of theirs. We just caught up and I was having such a good time that I really did lose myself in our conversation and not think about the fact that I wouldn’t be putting in a gym trip that day.

Losing yourself over coffee is easier when you love it so much 🙂

It got more challenging though when I got home and finished doing my “blog errands” (photo editing and uploading). I had a couple of hours of free time before my next activity, and didn’t know what to do with myself. Free time?! I felt like a slacker for not taking advantage of it and hitting the gym. I almost felt angry with myself for publicly declaring an active rest day to all of you guys. I thought to myself, well I could save this rest day for a day I’m literally too busy to work out. Why should I waste today, a day I have so much time for the gym?! A lot of the reason I didn’t go was because I didn’t want to disappoint those who had left me such supportive comments on my post, Facebook, Twitter, and more.

I consciously attempted to pull my mind to the positives of the situation, and also to the fact that I needed to do this challenge for ME. I had time to put away my laundry while listening to NPR, something I really enjoy doing. I finally got a chance to get iTunes set up on my laptop and attempted to load all my music onto my iPhone (something I gave up on halfway through, but oh well). I got to zen out on the back porch while doing my blog errands and eat baby carrots with Yummy Hummy curry and lemon cilantro hummuses (humm-i?)

In the end, I know that I did a workout on Saturday. I took a 75-minute yoga class that worked my body, stretched my tired muscles, and quieted my mind (even if only a bit). I had a chance to unwind in the middle of the afternoon before headed to my CT Bloggers event that evening, which probably ended up helping me handle that event well in the end (more on that later). And the next morning when I went to the gym for 45 minutes of spinning and an arm workout, I had a ton of energy and kicked some ass. So I did it. I took an active rest day and challenged myself. I’m not extremely happy with how I handled the entire situation, but I handled it and am a work in progress. I’ll get there. I know it!

How do you handle taking rest days?

Have you ever done outdoor yoga?

How do you keep yourself in the moment and present?

Color Me Rad on the Fitfluential Blog!

“Real life” job is SUPER busy today. So I’m copping out and linking you to another place where you can read a post from yours truly: the Fitfluential blog! And if you weren’t already reading it, well…that’s a problem 😉

Check out my recap of the Color Me Rad 5K in Braintree, MA, held this past Sunday! Team Fitfluential represented and rocked it!

My colorful #PROOF.

Don’t forget to comment over on that post! I’ll be checking them!

Blogger Recipe Pairing

Tina of Carrots N Cake (a healthy living blog I’ve been reading for several years, since I first discovered them) posted a recipe at the end of last month in a post titled The Best Thing I Ever Ate. Obviously I was immediately intrigued. You would be too, right? Well, I’m pleased to report that Tina is a truthful blogger.

The recipe was for sweet potato quesadillas. YUP. If the post’s title had grabbed me before, I had now been…snatched?…by the recipe’s title. Tina’s version used black beans, sweet potato, and a whole wheat tortilla – all of which my mom used when she made these for her and I two Sundays ago. But Tina also used Babybel cheese and chopped kale, which my mom and I replaced with goat cheese and edamame for extra protein! Mashing the sweet potato was easy thanks to Ore Ida’s frozen sweet potato steak fries. The edamame was also a frozen variety that we simply heated up in the microwave. For the tortilla, we used Flat Out Healthy Grain Harvest Wheat wraps.

How amazing does that look? I have to tell you that it tasted even better. My mom and I did a lot of moaning and groaning – foodgasm-ing, if you will. We paired our quesadillas with Columbia Crest Two Vines Merlot-Cabernet blend. I really loved it – and it’s such a cheap wine! Definitely recommended if you’re on a wine budget.

The beginnings of a great side.

Because that one quesadilla each is NOT enough food for us, my mom also whipped up a second blog-based recipe: Jenny’s refried black beans from Tofu Swag. My mom was doubtful that she’d pull this one off, but it came out AMAZING. The only change my madre made was adding the onions in the beginning (see photo above).

Fabulous AND healthy. This entire meal was protein-packed AND vegetarian! I may eat meat but there’s no denying that it’s totally possible to get enough protein from plants. The refried beans were drool-worthy and we can’t wait to whip them up again.

Thanks for sharing the recipes, Tina and Jenny! Thanks to you two, my mom and I dined like queens on a Sunday evening.

I also just have to say that I had the most kickass workout yesterday. I went to my favorite class at my gym, a Step class with awesome choreography broken up by HIIT drills. The combos were filled with kicks, knees, and “basketball shooters” (for da glutes). I worked most of the moves to perfection and even had the energy after class to rock a 4 minute #plankaday!

#PROOF

Also, check out what I hung up in my work cubicle today…a recap of my Color Me Rad experience is coming to the Fitfluential blog soon! I’ll let you all know when it’s up!

Have you ever tried making your own refried beans?

What’s the best recipe you’ve ever gotten off of a blog?

What’s the most innovative way you’ve ever used sweet potato?

Shake Your Soul Dance Yoga

Hey guys! How was your weekend? I spent mine continuing to smile thanks to your support. It really helped me to have all those new mantras and the abundance of encouragement as I went into the weekend! I’m also pleased to announce that I had the last day of my double-weekend summer class yesterday, and have banged out three credits! Just three more to go this summer!

I’m trying to be optimistic because this morning, I have a REALLY bad case of the Mondays. At first the fact that my alarm was accompanied by a clap of thunder made me happy – I love thunderstorms, especially morning ones, because they are always a surprise. But once the rain came down during my commute, I realized it wasn’t an ideal time to have a thunderstorm. Hello, traffic! I also had to pull over to refill my tank at a Shell station, and as I got to work putting my credit card in the pump, the clouds decided to dump a Six Flags water park-sized bucket of rain from the skies. Then the pump decided to decline my card twice (there was no reason for it to do so).

Not as psyched as these fine folks. Source.

I dashed back into my car now soaked to the bone, and ready to burst into tears. Instead I took a deep breath, pulled out my umbrella, and pumped my gas using a different credit card. And it worked. And now I’m drinking black Mudslide coffee from Peaberry’s and trying to keep calm and carry on, as they say. At least I have this blog as an outlet.

But I want to share my thoughts on the new fitness class I mentioned that I was trying on Friday, Shake Your Soul dance yoga! The class was held at Granby Yoga in Granby, CT (I highly recommend this studio for any local readers, the Wednesday power class with Laura is amazing) and was full before the day of the event even arrived. It was only $22, which I felt was totally worth it to try such a unique class that combined two of the things I love, dancing and yoga. The instructor, Jayne Dean, is a Certified Expressive Movement Therapist and certified by the creators of Shake Your Soul, the Levin Institute.

Source

Some examples of benefits of Shake Your Soul include:

  • release of body tensions and movement of body fluids
  • learning to trust the body’s “intrinsic ability to dance” (I love that!) and feeling more comfortable in your ski
  • cardio workout and strengthening of core and lower body

I definitely have to say that I felt all those benefits during the class. Usually on Fridays I go to Group Step and sweat my face off, but I still got a bit sweaty during dance yoga. More importantly, I also had FUN. I’m a huge fan of dancing (anyone who saw me doing Ilyse Baker‘s cardio dance at Reebok knows this) and my favorite songs were the hip hop ones (I recognized Black Eyed Peas and Talib Kweli), especially since Jayne gave us the chance during that part of the class to just freestyle and dance as we wished. We also did group and partner dances, line dancing, and African dance!

Our teacher, Jayne, in action. Source

I have to admit that I felt a bit guilty about doing a workout that was “less intense” than my typical Friday fitness class, but I did something new and something that I love, so I was trying to and still am trying to reflect on that fact and feel proud of myself for going outside my box and breaking routine. It’s not easy for me to do that! I danced my hardest and tried to make each “move” as intense as my body felt comfortable with. My quads were DEFINITELY burning during the plie squats and lunges we did. Many of the moves also combined cardio and strength because not only were they quick with lots of arm movements (cardio), but they required us to stay low in our legs (strength). And if you think about it, that makes perfect sense since dance is one of my favorite ways to get cardio in and yoga is a great way to strengthen the body.

Jayne does other classes around CT, and Granby Yoga wants to have the class again, so I hope I get to do Shake Your Soul again soon. You can look for a teacher in your area here! And I’ll be sure to mention when I’m going again, in case any local readers want to join 🙂

Source

If you want to see examples of Shake Your Soul dancing and student perspectives, check out this cool video from Kripalu! I wish I had videos or photos from my event…maybe next time I can ask Jayne to snap some shots for me!

After the class, I went to a friend‘s birthday dinner at my favorite restaurant, J. Gilbert’s, and got a dish there that I’d never tried, the Lobster Cobb Salad! I also enjoyed a couple glasses of red wine. Again, I felt a bit guilty getting the wine after doing a less intense cardio workout for the day (and I’d taken a rest day the day before), but once I was with my friends I relaxed a bit. I also talked to my mom before dinner, and as usual she had plenty of encouragement for me. She also told me she was proud of me for skipping Step in favor of something new and unique. Hearing that really perked me up and helped wipe my mind of annoying guilty thoughts so that I could enjoy dinner!

Greens, balsamic vinaigrette, lobster, sweet potato straws, avocado, hard-boiled egg, corn nuts, black beans, corn, tomatoes, and mango salsa. Boo flash.

Started with a glass of Syrah! Like my post-yoga-dance look?

Had to embarrass Jeff with this photographic evidence of his death grip on my shoulder.

Is it hard for you to try a new fitness class (and break your normal routine)?

Have you ever done some kind of dance yoga workout?

What was the best dinner you had this past weekend?

Who are your sources for support if you are struggling with food and/or exercise-related guilt?

What’s the worst case of the Mondays you’ve ever had? How’d the Monday turn out?

Meet Caitlin

I’m a 28 year old full-time working girl living in Boston (previously lived in Connecticut). I’m passionate about food/drink, restaurants, self-love, fitness, and the ever-present search for balance. I write about that journey on this blog – I hope you enjoy!

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Design Credit

My header was originally designed by Mai Le and later tweaked by Chris Roggi to match this theme, which he helped me customize. He also moved me over to self-hosting! Both can be contacted through their sites for design & development work!

Disclaimer

I am not an RD and do not have any official training, certifications, or degrees in nutrition or fitness. This blog is a way to write about my life. Any views I express are mine alone, based on what works for me, and should never be taken as medical advice. Always talk to your doctor or a trained professional before starting a new diet or fitness plan. In addition, this blog and its content are in no way affiliated with Kate Gosselin, “Kate Plus 8”, TLC, or any related affiliates.

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