Blogfest Day 1

Hello everyone!

Now that we’ve gotten past the bad part of the California trip, here comes all the good!

I woke up on Thursday feeling down, but I checked my phone and TA-DA back to normal 😀 I really think it’s the moisture in the gym that does it. Because I was feeling so down, Sarah brought me back a present from Downtown Disney. Isn’t she the best? We barely had been together and she got me something to cheer me up! Score on the roommate situation.

Anyway, Sarah and I got up early to hit the first workout of the day.

We did some great Yoga. I’m not a yoga person per say, but I appreciate a good stretch on these sore muscles. This yoga was actually REALLY good. You were constantly moving and it wasn’t super slow paced. I appreciate and respect those that practice yoga this way but my mind pretty much works like a squirrel seeing food for the first time. I’m all over the place. Getting me to relax is hard to do.

I had fun with some poses and felt super strong after the workout.

Then came something amazing. Lorna Jane herself came to talk to us about her story of building a fitness apparel empire. In case you don’t know, Lorna Jane is the BIGGEST DEAL in Australia. I compare it to the US Lululemon. Her clothes are gorgeous, feel like buttah’, and last forever. She was gracious enough to give us an inspirational tank.

Had to choose the “prep” tank. 

Then came a challenge. They asked who was up for it and I shot my hand RIGHT UP! The challenge went with Lorna Jane’s motto “move, nourish, believe”. So it was a silly little game where we mashed an avocado, mixed it with honey, and smeared vegemite on toast. Then we were supposed to wipe it on our face or hands as a mask (I did my hands), and finish it with 10 squats. It was pretty funny. I was just excited to be standing next to her!

I had to finish the game TASTING the vegemite because I was super curious. They love it in Australia, but Americans have said it’s pretty terrible. I tried it and well…. I am an American 😉 It was super salty, thick, and not my thing; but to each their own!

Next up was a few blog learning classes; just things on building your “business” and how to grow. I actually skipped out on the  “how to blog about meal prepping” because, well, you guys know. I consider myself a pro meal prepper. In fact, I would have LOVED to give that talk. In case you missed it… my most popular post is my “How to Meal Prep” page.

So what did I do to fill the time? Well I went over to the FANCY hotel and used their gym for a lift. It was incredibly easy to get in there because thousands of people were at this event.

Blogfest was made up of about 150 bloggers so we had a different conference the first two days, but the other thousand people were there to continue education on personal training, teaching classes, and learning about fitness. It was pretty cool! So since there was a ton of fitness people there, the gym doors were easy to get into. I just followed someone in with a key card (sneaky sneaky). Actually, the last day I gave the door a pull and to my surprise it was open, no key needed. Score.

I hit back, and made a friend in the gym to take a few pics of me doing lower back extensions.

Here’s a tip for travel when you have limited equipment. Work with what you have! I obviously didn’t have a stand to do low back extensions on, so I used a bench two ways. Then I grabbed a ball, placed my feet against the wall and moved up and down, really working the low back!

I completed this little session with 15 minutes of cardio on the elliptical and it was really starting to feel like vacation with the palm trees next to me.

The middle of the day was filled with the opening ceremonies of the main conference “IDEA FIT”. The largest fitness conference of the year, also called “The Super Bowl of Fitness”. Just check out this room!

All filled with trainers, instructors, business people of fitness. Very motivational.

The expo doors opened at 12 and it was just a huge center of STUFF! Hundreds of vendors, things to try, things to taste, clothes to buy, mini workouts. You name it, it was there.

My first stop was way in the back, BLOGILATES! Cassey Ho is one of my idols, she’s built a huge business from her YouTube videos and blog and I aspire to be like her one day. I bought the top she has on too! And of course the top I have on in the picture is one of my favorites from her line.

We talked bikini competitions. Did you guys know she once competed? She wished me good luck and told me to let her know how I did. She was so amazing and down to earth. It’s so nice when you meet someone in person that you look up to and they are just the coolest person you can imagine.

Of course next I darted right to Lorna Jane. They finally brought stores to the US in the LA area recently, but of course nothing where I am from, so I started to pile up the clothes. I snapped a picture with her too!

Back at the conference, we experienced an earthquake. YEP! It was small but the room was a-shakin’

After the shakes, I ran back to the hotel for a quick change (I changed a lot this trip because I was constantly working out), and then we headed to PiYo with the one and only CHALENE JOHNSON. The queen of fitness DVDs and PiYo.

Now if you all remember, my first PiYo experience was not good. This class? AMAZING! I sweat, got a great cardio workout in, and an amazing stretch. Chalene even had two teeth pulled 2 hours before teaching us, yet she still came! What an awesome lady. Her PR people were all over her, but when Minnie wants something, Minnie gets it. So I pretty much grabbed her during the group shot and got an epic selfie. I made everyone a little more than jealous, but hey you gotta go for things!

After PiYo Sarah and I cleaned up and went to the first Blogfest party.

Love these Target sandals!

Jared the subway guy was there! He kept off all the weight for 16 years! Good for him 🙂

We also played around with the Propel photo booth 🙂

Since food options were limited, Sarah and I ended our night by going to dinner in the Hilton. We shared a shrimp cocktail with avocado, and I got a veggie chicken wrap with a salad.

The chicken wrap was grilled and had hummus. I kept the salad without dressing. So good! Normally I wouldn’t eat the tortilla but my carbs were about 50 grams that day (literally nothing to eat around there), so I needed the fuel from all the workouts. I also ate the pickle… whoops!

We headed back to the hotel and passed out. A great first day at blogfest! More to come tomorrow!

XOXO With a Cherry On Top,

-Minnie