Tag: MoveWith

All the feels {why i fight}

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I am still feeling all the feels after the event/class I lead at the New Balance Global Flagship store in Brighton through my connection with MoveWith. If you remember, I wrote all about my first MoveWith experience here. Since then, I’ve taught two more, including the one last week.

Going into this event, I knew I wanted it to be just that: an event. Not just a workout, but rather an event where I could offer more than just a sweaty 45 minute session. When I spoke with the manager at the beautiful new New Balance Global Flagship store in Brighton, I knew that I would be able to achieve my “event” idea if I hosted the class there. It’s a big store so there would plenty of room for a big crowd, a DJ and product samples. I was hoping for 25-30 people, so I was totally blown away with the fact that 39 (!!!) signed up.

As the day got closer, I had a mix of of nerves and excitement because everything was really coming together. But, as soon as people started showing up, my nerves went away and all I felt was excitement. The fact that so many people showed up was so amazing. Some people I knew, but many I didn’t. Some people were friends from college, friends of friends, friends from the gym, friends from my office and friends/contacts I’ve made through blogging, and many from New Balance. But, what was so amazing was that everyone showed up smiling and ready to work.  I couldn’t help but smile because of this- heck, even as we were halfway through the kickboxing aspect, people were STILL smiling!

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again- the fitness community in and around Boston is really wonderful. So many people make fitness a priority in their day to day and this shows by how many people an event like what I did last week can bring to it. These people- ranging in age, fitness levels, gender, likes and dislikes- all came together for a 45 minute fitness class, many of them likely not really knowing what to expect besides my short write-up in the event page on MoveWith.

And, while this can be a bit intimidating for instructors because we, also, have no idea what to expect in terms of what levels people will be at, it’s also something that gives me so much drive, energy and passion. It puts my teaching abilities to the test, gets me out of my comfort zone and really reminds me why I love to teach. As for many of us fitness instructors, we teach the same classes week to week and similarly, the same base group of members come to our classes week after week, so it gets to be familiar. It gets to be comfortable. Which is great, but it also doesn’t challenge us the way new classes and new groups of class participants do. I always feel like I leave these types of classes with a new perspective on teaching, and a new pep in my step.

So, I thank MoveWith, New Balance and everyone who came out last week for giving me so much happiness from the 45 minutes we were sweating together. Also, a huge thank you to DJ Sprino, who is THE BEST DJ in Boston, especially for fitness events, Purity Organics, DRINKmaple and Larabar. I’m already working on my next event there, and rumor has it, we’ll take Burpees to Bubbly quite literally 😉 Save the date for May 10th- more information, including a signup page, will be blasted soon!

 

Friday Things

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Hey there! Happy Friday! This week has flown by- can you believe it’s already mid-March? And St. Patrick’s Day, at that! Is anyone doing anything to celebrate? I don’t think I am, but I’m OK with that- I’ve had plenty of years where I’ve had St. Patty’s day celebrations so a quiet one this year doesn’t bother me.

It’s been a hot minute since I’ve popped in with a Friday post! And, to be honest, I’m not sure if I’ll continue with my “Five on Friday” series. It’s been fun, but these days I feel as though I’m struggling to find 5 share-worthy things with you, so what’s the point in that? Instead, I’d rather just share things of interest and relevance when they occur- sound good?

  • As Close to Us As Breathing- This was another book club book for one of my book clubs and I really enjoyed it! It was about a Jewish family in the mid 1900’s and it was interesting to see just how different things where back then and how badly different ethnic groups did not get along. It’s also interesting to see the family dynamic of the main character’s family.

  • Share your stuff!- After class last Saturday, two people tagged me in their after-class meal pictures and it was so fun to see how they refuel. I always re-post in my Instagram stories, so if you want to be included, be sure to tag me!

  • Snow Day Baking- While we were home together on Tuesday, RM and I both felt like cookies. We didn’t have the traditional cookie ingredients in the house so I googled “Paleo Chocolate Chip Cookies” and this recipe popped up first. Luckily I had all of the ingredients so I whipped them up and we were both so happy with how they came out! They’re definitely “healthy” cookies, but they satisfied our cookie craving, too!

  • Sweat, Shop, Snack at New Balance– Don’t forget, in 2 weeks I’m hosting a fitness event at the New Balance flagship store in Brighton. At 6:30 we will start a cardio kickboxing class and then after that you’ll have a chance to shop around (with a 20% discount) and snack on Larabars, sip on Purity Organics and more. Grab a girlfriend (or boyfriend!) and get your spot now– you don’t want to miss this!

I think that does it for me! I’ll be at the Y tomorrow morning for kickboxing if anyone wants to join in on the fun 🙂 10am!

Questions for you: Have you read any good books lately? Have you done any good baking lately? What are your plans for this weekend? 

Five on Friday {1.27.16- LOTS of fitness-related events!}

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Good morning and Happy Friday- After a bit of a rough week, I am very happy to finally say TGIF! I have lots of fitness events to share with you today, so I hope you enjoy them!

  • Resolution by PMC– Tonight, I am heading over to Everybody Fights to participate in this year’s Resolution by PMC fundraising event. If you are interested in donating to this amazing cause (100% of the proceeds go to the Dana-Farber cancer research institute), please head on over to my page.

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  • MoveWith Class at Janji– On Wednesday, February 8th I will be hosting another class at Janji’s popup store on Newbury Street. Similar to last time, it will be a 45 minute kickboxing bootcamp. You can sign up here. Hope to see some of you there!

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  • Save the Date!- On Wednesday, March 29th I’m going to be hosting another MoveWith event… this time it’ll be a (hopefully!) much bigger event with a live DJ and free food and drink samples with companies I work with. I am SO excited about this, but you’ll have to wait a bit for more details 😉
  • Cycle for Survival– Next weekend, I will be participating in the Cycle for Survival fundraising event at Equinox. This event is really amazing because 100% of the funds raised go to cancer research for rare forms of cancer, which receives far less funding than the more well-known cancers. If you’re able and interested, you can donate here and if you want to ride you can register here. I’ll be riding as part of the New Balance team and am so honored to be a part of this!
  • Winter fitness series event- This Sunday, I will be teaching an hour long cardio kickboxing class at Legacy Place. The class is FREE and registration is not required, but it is recommended. You can sign up here.

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This weekend should be more lowkey than last weekend, which I am greatly welcoming! We are going skiing tomorrow and then Sunday I’m teaching and then it’s time to buckle down and focus on finishing up my re-certification for my AFAA cert. I hope all of you have a great weekend!

Questions for you: Do you ski? Where do you ski around here? Do you have any fitness events coming up? What’s on the agenda for the weekend?

 

Still on cloud 9

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Trying something new is always a little scary, right? Fear of the unknown, fear of potential “failure”, fear of doing something incorrectly, etc. And because of this, because of these fears, we often are held back from trying something new. It’s so much easier and more comfortable sticking with something we know, right? I get it. But the thing is- and I’ve talked about this a lot on B2B- always sticking to what we know and are comfortable with leaves little room for change or growth. These things happen when we get a little bit outside of our comfort zone and see all that we are able to do if we just try.

A perfect example of this for me is teaching fitness classes. Over the years I have grown so much as an instructor- whether it’s my cues, my interaction with the participants, the formatting techniques or even my own form, I sometimes feel like a totally different instructor when I first started… which certainly isn’t a bad thing, lol. However, this growth didn’t come from keeping and teaching the same class or classes week after week. In fact, sometimes I think those hold me back from becoming a better and stronger instructor because they allow me to get too comfortable. The classes tend to be mostly regulars so I know exactly what they can and cannot do and often find myself skipping through some of the different cues and introductions that I normally do because these members have been with me for many years and “know the drill” as I like to joke with them.

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And this is exactly why I signed up to teach a class at Janji through MoveWith. While I knew there would be some familiar faces in the crowd, I had a feeling there would be people who were brand new or just newer to my classes, which changes things up drastically with regards to the way I teach/approach the class. I’m brought back to the basics- introducing myself, the class format, explaining some of the exercises in advance, giving more cues, etc. I want to make sure that I am addressing everyone’s potential needs/wants, and because I don’t know specifically what those things are, I need to give lots of variations, options, cues, etc., all with the hope that everyone gets what they want out of the class.

Out of the 14 participants in class last week, only FOUR had taken my classes before, meaning I was essentially teaching to an entirely new group of fighters. I LOVED THIS!!! It challenged me to be the best instructor I could be and I thrived off of their energy as we got to know each other a little better. During the warm up, I worked us through all of the punches, kicks, bodyweight exercises and general lingo I’d be using. I also had them set intentions so that they could have something to work for. Whether it’s to do the burpees, punch stronger or to just finish class, I feel very strongly about setting that intention so you can be fighting for something.

The class went better than I could’ve expected. Everyone was on fire and it absolutely fired me up as well. They were also such good sports when it came to navigating a very crowded room and even worked out down the hallway to get more space- serious dedication if you ask me!

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I left the class feeling so grateful. Grateful to have been able to meet so many people. Grateful for the amazing MoveWith community. Grateful that Janji let us sweat in their awesome space. But most of all, I was grateful for the fact that I stepped out of my comfort zone and tried something new, because without doing that, I would’ve have been able to have such an amazing experience.

I challenge you to think of something that maybe you’ve been avoiding because you’re scared of the unknown associated with that particular thing, and then I want you to think about what it would be like if you tried/did it. If you think there’s any inkling of a chance that it could be a really good thing, then I urge you to try/do it. It might turn out even better than you expect.

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Thank you to MoveWith for creating such a wonderful, strong fitness community- 2017 is off to a great start and I can’t wait to continue to meet more people through hosting more original classes. If you’re in the Boston area, I’m hosting another class on Wednesday, February 8th at 6:30pm at the Janji popup store on Newbury Street. You can sign up here. If you plan on attending, I’d sign up sooner rather than later because space is limited!

Also, I was featured on the MoveWith blog last week- check out this post to see what I had to say: How to put your fears behind you

Five on Friday {1.6.17}

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Good morning! Happy first week of 2017 🙂 Anyone else feel like it was a little tough getting back into the swing of things after the holidays? This week was one of those weeks where it made my brain hurt, lol. BUT, it’s Friday and my company party is tonight which I’m excited about! I also got us a room at the Boston Harbor Hotel (where the party is) as a way to celebrate 6 months of marriage. Can you believe it’s been that long?!

  • Planet Fitness January Deal- From January 1 through January 11, Planet Fitness is offering new memberships for a $1 enrollment fee and then $10 a month with no commitment, so if you’re looking for a new, but affordable gym option, you should check out Planet Fitness! Their new Watertown location is really awesome and I can’t believe you could go there for only $10 a month!
  • How to Stop Feeling Guilty– RM sent me this article which I found really interesting. I’m one who feels guilty about way too much. Catholic guilt, we joke. But, something I’m working on is letting go of some of that guilt (along with the need to strive for perfection) so this was a great read.
  • The Melting Broth- Dig Inn is introducing a new menu item this year called the  Melting Broth, which is similar in ingredient quality to the  market bowl, but with a homemade vegetarian broth made from no waste ingredients (those parts of the vegetables we tend to discard for no good reason – they’re full of vitamins). I absolutely love the sounds of this and can’t wait to go try one!

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  • New Spin Bike- As I’ve mentioned, over the holidays I bought a used Schwinn spin bike from The Handle-Bar spin studio and I have to say, we are both becoming pretty obsessed with it. For one, it’s SO EASY to get in a quick sweat sesh, and two, it doesn’t take up a lot of space and is so portable. We are looking to expand our at home gym options/equipment and this was the perfect way to start.

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While 2017 officially started yesterday, today was the real start for me. I worked out at home, which is even easier now that we have a spin bike (thanks @the_handle_bar !), picked up Francesca at boarding, food shopped at @wholefoodsnewton, returned some things at assembly row and cooked/meal prepped SO much: sweet potatoes, Brussels sprouts, green beans, broccoli, spicy cauliflower rice dish, salad and stuffed chicken breasts. # The weekend spent in Florida celebrating my best friend's wedding and NYE was amazing, but it feels good to get back to 'normal', and everything I did today helped with that. # I don't have any huge goals or resolutions this year, but rather I want to focus on doing things that make me feel my best- mind, body, health, etc. Feeling ready to take on 2017 🙌🏼 #NYE #newyear #lookingahead #2017kickoff #athomeworkout #productivity #backatit #selfcare #wellness #reflection

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  • Kickboxing Bootcamp– You guys! Next Wednesday (1/11) I am hosting my FIRST MoveWith event at Janji on Newbury Street. It’s a 45 minute kickboxing bootcamp that starts at 6:30pm and I would absolutely LOVE it if some of you would attend if you’re able 🙂 If you’ve been to my kickboxing classes or Seaport Sweat classes, then you’ll know exactly what to expect- cardio kickboxing to start and then finishing with some traditional bootcamp exercises/circuits. I think it’s going to be a blast! Feel free to share with friends and click here to sign up!

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And that does it for me. Besides my company holiday party our weekend looks to be fairly low key which I am REALLY excited about. I feel like we’ve been on the go & traveling so much lately! I hope all of you have a great weekend- I’ll be back next week 🙂

Questions for you: How was your first week back to work/regular life? Have you been to Dig Inn before? Have you ever taken any MoveWith classes at Janji?