Category: Boston

#BosFIT Review/Recap & Other Weekending Things

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As I mentioned yesterday, the #BosFIT event I attended over the weekend was amazing!!! I kind of knew it would be, because anytime you combine fitness, friends and free stuff, I’m a pretty happy girl, but I have to say that it exceeded my expectations.

Since I knew I had to be up and out relatively early for a Saturday, my Friday night was spent much like this:

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Saturday morning, my sister and I headed to The Club by George Foreman III for the #BosFIT event.

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My gym friend (and most loyal class-goer everrr) Dana won my tickets since Julie ended up buying her own. Another BSC member, Caroline, also bought tickets, so it was fun to workout WITH some members rather than teaching them. My YMCA gym-friend, Steph, was also at the event, so it was a blast!

The event offered 4 classes to everyone and you could pick from Bags and Beats, Boxing Bootcamp, BollyX, Suspension Training, Core Fusion Barre, Barry’s Bootcamp, and Turnstyle Cycle. I think the hardest part of the day was deciding what class to take at what point in the day… ok, that’s a lie. Barry’s for the last session was the hardest part of my day!

My first class was Bags and Beats. George introduced himself and gave us a high level overview of the punches. What I liked about this class was that you were punching to the beat of the music, very similar to how I teach, except it wasn’t cardio like I do. Anyway- we had our hands wrapped and wore boxing gloves and got to it for a bunch of songs. The combos were easy to pick up and I liked that we altered our tempo and added in squats, lunges, push-ups and planks throughout.

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Steph and I tried to do Barry’s next, but it was already full. From there, we tried to do a suspension class, but that was also full (I think if they do it again they should have people sign up for classes before the event rather than on a “first come first serve” basis). We ended up taking a BollyX class, which is similar to Zumba in that it’s a dancing workout, but different in that you’re supposed to “strike a pose” at the end of each song. It was a little weird, but my heart rate was up the whole time and it was fun to dance.

There was a break after this where you could “ask the experts” questions on nutrition and training and things like that. Caroline did a fantastic job moderating the panel- proud of you, girl!

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My sister and I headed to a Turnstyle Cycle class after the speaking session and it.was.awesome!! We were both drenched by the time we left. I really need to get there for a class.

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Steph signed us up for Barry’s as our last workout of the day. Holy moly. I don’t know how I survived! Running at a 12% incline and running backwards and sprinting after 3 other classes was rough, BUT we did it and felt amazing after!!

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Check out this calorie burn for the day- solid start to my Saturday 😉

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All in all, it was such a fantastic event! I loved working out with so many friends and getting to see Caroline in her element.

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Thanks to some pretty sweet swag bags, I get to go BACK to many of the studios who participated in the event.

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Post #BosFIT, I headed to Charlestown to have a late lunch and drinks with Jessi and Amy at Pier 6. Man, it was HOT, but the view was worth it!

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Jessi and I continued to drink throughout the afternoon and evening (her place, Tia’s and then dinner and a glass of wine at Sterling’s) and between that, the sun and being dehydrated from the morning’s workout, I woke up with a wee bit of a headache on Sunday. Whoops! Such a fun night, though.

Sunday was spent cleaning, running errands, grabbing a quick lunch with my sister and then heading to Jessi’s for our first book club meeting.

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Check out that spread! I made 2 Stromboli’s and they came out SO GOOD! Seriously, look at these beauties:

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Anything with ooey, gooey, cheesy goodness cannot be bad in my book! The next book we are reading is Sharp Objects, by Gillian Flynn- anyone want to participate? If you do, leave a note in the comments. We are meeting on November 2nd and after that date I can put together the questions and discussion topics we went over if you’re interested? Let me know 🙂

I hope you all had a great weekend, too! I hope this one goes by slower than last weekend- I feel like I blinked and it was over.

Questions for you: For those of you who went to #BosFIT, what did you think?? What was your favorite part? Has anyone else been to The Club for a boxing class? What was the best part of your weekend? Did you do fall or summer things? Have you been in a book club before?

 

 

This Week: Workouts, toning it down & things I’m looking forward to

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Good morning and happy Monday! I think I’m still recovering from the weekend… Saturday and night ended up being a little too fun 😉 Before I get into the workouts, I wanted to say THANK YOU for all your kind words after my post last week where I talked about my workout addiction. It’s never easy being honest about that kind of stuff, but I really feel like I’m on a better track now. I noticed last week that I didn’t have the feeling like I normally do about working out as much and as hard as I can. It was a weird feeling to be more relaxed about my workouts and to understand that taking it down a notch won’t make me lose all of the hard work I’ve done, but in fact, it will likely aid in making those gains better. Giving my body rest will allow me to feel rested and energized during my workouts on non-rest days. I know it will take some time to get used to it, but my goal is to give myself TWO rest days a week. Sure, I can go for a walk or do some light yoga, but I want to be able to let my body relax and rest and hopefully have fewer injuries.

So, with that said, let’s talk about the workouts I did do!

Last Week’s Workouts

  • Monday- My knee was feeling better, but I still wanted to take it easy. I went to the gym and did 40 minutes of cardio followed by some upper body and core work. I also did push-ups and stability ball crunches throughout the day.

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  • Tuesday- Tuesday was the first intense workout I did in almost a week! I taught my bootcamp and holy moly I was sore for 3 days. To say we did a lot of lunges is an understatement 😉
  • Wednesday- I did 15 minutes on the elliptical before teaching UXF Burn. I didn’t do much of the workout because I was so sore from Tuesday.
  • Thursday- I decided to give running a try. I ended up doing 4 miles at a moderate pace. I went out with the mentality that I would just see how it felt and only go as far as I could while still feeling ok. The 4 miles flew by and I felt great. No pain during or after! And, look at these little 5 week old snuggle bugs that I met… I died a little.

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  • Friday- Rest, besides a 30 minute walk during lunch
  • Saturday- I had a pretty intense day of workouts thanks to the #BosFIT event. I’ll share more on that later, but I did 30 minutes of “Bags and Beats”, 30 minutes of BollyX, 30 minutes of spinning and 30 minutes of Barry’s Bootcamp. Yikes! It was awesome!

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  • Sunday- Another rest day! I wasn’t sore from Saturday, which was kind of surprising, but I knew I had worked my body pretty hard so I gave myself rest.

This Week’s Workouts

  • Monday- I taught my 6am Muscle Work class and did some light cardio after.
  • Tuesday- Teaching my bootcamp
  • Wednesday- Maybe a run or some other cardio before teaching UXF Burn
  • Thursday- Not sure. I’d like to get to a class maybe?
  • Friday- I would love to get in a workout during lunch. RM and I are getting massages after work so I feel like working out before that is a good idea because they can massage my tight muscles.
  • Saturday & Sunday- These may be my rest days this week. RM and I are celebrating our 1 year first date anniversary (can’t believe it’s been that long!) and are supposed to go to the Cape early on Saturday so I think I’ll rest.

Things I’m Looking Forward To

I’m SO looking forward to spending the weekend with RM. Because of our schedules, we haven’t spent a weekend together since my dad’s birthday in mid-August. I miss our weekends together and this one is even more special since we are celebrating our anniversary.

Questions for you: How many rest days do you take a week? What was the best workout you had last week? What are you looking forward to this week?

Introducing #BosFIT: Workouts, advice and swag bags (and a chance for you to go for FREE)

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Good morning! I don’t have a workout for you today, but I DO have a chance for you to attend an awesome workout event this weekend, so I think that counts for something, right?! I feel so fortunate to have been contacted by an event coordinator at Bostinno to introduce me to an AWESOME event they are hosting this weekend. #BosFIT is being held this Saturday from 9-12:30 at The Club- by George Foreman III.

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#BosFIT is THE event to attend if you’re a fitness addict like myself. They’ve got a bunch of 30 minute workouts to try from some of the leading “boutique” studios in the city, including Barry’s Bootcamp, BollyX, The Club by George Foreman III and even more that they haven’t announced yet. On top of that, they are holding panel sessions with some top nutritionists and trainers in the Boston area AND everyone will go home with a pretty sweet swag bag which includes 2 free weeks of classes at Health Yoga Life, a free class at Pursuit Boston and Burn Fitness Studios, a 3 pack of classes at The Club and so much more.

Oh, and did I mention it’s only $27?! That’s the price of going to ONE class at some of Boston’s leading studios.

If you’re like me, you’re probably wondering where the heck you can buy a ticket because the event sounds THAT awesome, right? I’ll help ya out 😉 Head on over to the Eventbrite page to get additional details and to purchase your ticket.

But… it gets even better! I was lucky enough to be given TWO tickets for the event, which means I get to give away one of those tickets to one of you. Cool, right? There are 4 ways to enter:

1. Leave a comment telling me what excites you the most about the event.

2. “Like” Burpees to Bubbly on Facebook

3. Follow Burpees to Bubbly on Twitter

4. Tweet or share details about the even on Twitter or Facebook. Make sure to use the hashtag #BosFIT and also tag @BostInno

Leave a comment for each thing you do- I will pick a winner on Friday morning. I can’t wait to workout with one of you 🙂

I cannot tell you how excited I am for the event this weekend. I love getting a chance to try out a bunch of different classes at different studios in Boston because it gives you a chance to see what you like and don’t like and what ones you’d want to visit for the “real deal”. I can’t wait to see what professionals they are going to have on the various panels AND since we all know I’m a sucker for free swag, that swag bag with all those free class offers is pretty much like Christmas for this girl. I hope to see some of you there- it’s a great way to start your Saturday and #earnyourweekend, like I always like to say.

This Week: Workouts, Moving is Hard Work & Things I’m Looking Forward To

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Phew. Is it really Monday already? I certainly wasn’t ready to get out of bed to go teach a 6am Muscle Class this morning after all of the moving/heavy lifting/etc. that I did for the past 4 days, but- it’s done, which means I have tonight to do whatever I want 🙂

For those of you who are also moving (or have moved), I’m sure you can relate to how hard it is. Thankfully I’m only on the second floor, but still- that’s a LOT of trips up and down the stairs, often times with a lot of weight in your arms. I wore my heart rate monitor on Thursday night (which is when we did most of the heavy lifting and moving) and I burned 676 calories in 2 hours. Not too bad!

Non-moving workouts were also good this week, and between my workouts on Monday and Tuesday, I was SORE. RM and I also went to the driving range on Tuesday night, so that definitely contributed to some of it.

BSC’s 40th Anniversary- This Wednesday!

I got an email last week that I thought I should share with you! The BSC is celebrating their 40th anniversary and are offering free workouts on THIS WEDNESDAY. You know what that means, right?? You can come to my class on Wednesday at 6:30pm at the Central Square location. Let me know if you’re interested 🙂

Boston Sports Clubs is proving that “good things last,” especially when you’re fit! On September 17th, Boston Sports Clubs is celebrating 40 years strong as a fitness industry leader and opening their doors and offering free workouts to all Bostonians. Already a member? Bring a friend to join you in this special birthday sweat-sesh. During this open house celebration, BSC will be offering members and nonmembers alike free fitness classes and demos, meet & greet with top fitness instructors, giveaways, prizes, and fresh post-workout snacks.

Last Week’s Workouts

  • Monday- I did 15 minutes on the elliptical before doing some random exercises in the UXF Zone. I did 3 sets of 1 pull-ups AND chin-ups. Someday I’ll be able to add on haha I also subbed Cardio Kickboxing at the Watertown BSC. Great crowd!
  • Tuesday- I taught my bootcamp at the Wakefield lake and boy did we work hard! The girls were all feeling like they were so out of shape so I had to remind them that I was huffing and puffing and dripping sweat, too. I’ll post the workout hopefully this week as it was good and didn’t require anything but yourself!
  • Wednesday- I tweaked my knee when I was at the driving range and although it was feeling mostly better by the end of the day, I took it easy at the gym. I just did 22 minutes on the Arc Trainer and a pull up and chin up (they felt easier!) before teaching UXF Burn. I did the low-impact modifications and skipped out on the lunges and squats. Luckily my glutes were already sore so it was nice to have a break. It’s funny because whenever I tone it down or do the low-impact version, there are so many other people who join me… some of which I know are doing it only because I am!
  • Thursday- Rest day from the gym, but walked 20 minutes at lunch (rain set in at that point) and moved all of the big stuff into my new apartment. In 2 hours, I burned almost 700 calories… I had no idea moving was such a good workout!!

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  • Friday- I ran 3.5 miles during lunch- it was a gorgeous- almost cool- day and the miles were easy… can’t beat that! After work, I made another thousand trips up and down the stairs to continue moving stuff.
  • Saturday- I couldn’t sleep on Friday night so I was up before 7 on Saturday, again making multiple trips up and down the stairs. I thought moving in the same building would be easier, but it’s really not because you don’t end up packing things up… you think of something you need and run down to get it. That happened all morning! I also taught kickboxing at the Y- the fall crowds are back! We had a blast.
  • Sunday- A much needed rest day. I did some final trips up and down between the apartments and did a preliminary clean of my old place, but my body was SO TIRED.

This Week’s Workouts

  • Monday- I will have taught my 6am Muscle Work class and probably have done some cardio by the time this post goes up.
  • Tuesday- Teaching my bootcamp! If you’re in the Wakefield/Saugus area and want to join for the next session (starting on 9/23 at 5:30pm and runs for 4 weeks), let me know!
  • Wednesday- Probably some cardio before teaching my 6:30pm UXF Burn class at the Central Square BSC
  • Thursday- I’m on the waitlist for a free yoga class at Exhale Spa, so hopefully I can get in. If not, I’ll figure something else out 🙂
  • Friday- Not sure. I’m heading to Maine after work so I’d like to get something done during the day. Maybe a run or maybe go to the gym.
  • Saturday- I’ll probably go the YMCA near my parents house in the morning… and hopefully do a lot of dancing at the wedding!
  • Sunday- Not sure- it may be a rest day depending on how the rest of the week turned out.

Things I’m Looking Forward To

I’m excited to have the majority of the move behind me! It will be nice to finish unpacking, organizing and generally just getting more settled in. The nice part about moving in the same building is the address change is easy and I don’t have to get used to a new area or a new commute! Hopefully RM and I will have another mid-week date night since we don’t get to spend this weekend together… again… 😦 Lastly, I’m excited to go home for my cousin’s wedding! My sister can’t go, so it will just be my mom and dad and me, but that’s ok- we’ll have a blast I’m sure!

Questions for you: Did you move this year? What’s your least favorite part about moving? What’s your favorite part? What was your best workout last week? What are you looking forward to this week?

Weekending: Cocktail Hour, A Weekend in Maine & Lots of Family Time

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Good morning! After I looked back on this past weekend, I realized how blessed I am to have such a wonderful family and place to escape to during the hot, crazy days of the summer. Since I had to teach on Saturday morning, I hadn’t planned on going to Maine until late Saturday afternoon to wait for the traffic to die down. My office closed at 11:30 on Friday, so it was nice to have some time around my apartment to relax, get caught up on stuff and even meet my sister at the beach (love having a BLL at the beach!).

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That evening, my sister and I went up to Lisa’s deck for cocktail hour. Lisa lives on the 3rd floor in my apartment building and it’s so fun that we’ve become friends throughout the year. Our 1st floor neighbor, Lauren, couldn’t join us, but it’s so awesome to have 2 other girls in the building that are not only neighbors, but friends!

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How about that view?! I love it! I also made my first real sangria and can’t wait to share the recipe with you- I think it came out pretty darn tasty!

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We decided to head down to Kelly’s Pub for some pizza (I hadn’t had REAL, non gluten free pizza in ages!). It was such a fun night!
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After teaching on Saturday, I treated myself to a pedicure. With all the working out I do, my poor feet need that kind of TLC every few weeks at this point!
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Danielle and I headed north around 3pm to wait out the weekend traffic- it was a perfect idea! We didn’t hit a stitch of traffic. We even had time to grab an ice cream- yum!

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Saturday night was SO MUCH FUN!!! We ate, we drank, we laughed, we danced. I just love when the 4 of us get to be together!

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The pizza came out AMAZING!!! And it was so nice out so we decided to dine al fresco on the back patio. Dad had gotten the bonfire going so it was a perfect place to eat!

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We definitely had a dance party post dinner as well- so so fun!

Sunday morning wasn’t as sunny as we wanted, but it was still a good day! I filmed some videos for the blog and then we headed to the Mahoney’s for their annual Labor Day BBQ. It was a small crowd, but we still had a blast! Emma is at the age where she’s super active and so funny with the things she says and what she does!

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Waking up on Monday morning, I was so happy to see that the rain had stopped, the skies had cleared and the sun was shining! We packed up and headed to the beach before bringing Danielle to the train. Going to the beach with my mom is the best- she is always stocked with drinks, treats and magazines. Anything you might need or want, she has- it’s awesome! Nothing like some sun and bubbly!

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After dropping Danielle off, we headed to the hotel where my aunt and uncle are staying for the next 10 days or so. Since I won’t be able to go home this weekend because I’ll be on the cape, it was good that I was able to visit with them for a bit on Monday while I was around!

Monday night was quiet and relaxing- the most perfect way to end the day and weekend home. I decided to get up on Tuesday morning and drive right to work, which was so much better than stressing about the traffic on Labor Day. Such a fun, fun weekend- I’m so lucky to have such wonderful people in my life and such a great place to call “home”.

Questions for you: What was the best part about your weekend? Did you go away for Labor Day? Do you bring drinks to the beach?