Tag: New Balance

Happy, Healthy, Fit: 2 week check-in & prize announcements

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Good morning! I wanted to pop in quickly to see how the Happy, Healthy, Fit Challenge was going for those of you who are participating. I know I tend to lose some steam after the initial “newness” of a challenge wears off, so in case anyone else is like me, hopefully we’ll all get amped up again to finish off the challenge with a bang! The biggest motivation thus far has been seeing YOUR check-ins, posts, pictures, emails, etc. The fact that I’ve got so many of you participating along with me is sometimes just what I need to check off a challenge for the day. Let’s recap!

Week 1

  • Push-up challenge– You guys. No matter how many push-ups I do, they never seem to get easier! With that said, this was tough!

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  • Take the stairs– I may only be on the second floor, but I made a lot of trips up and down as I forced myself to use the bathroom on the first floor.

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  • No Equipment Workout- I did this body weight workout and loved it!! Looks simple enough, but it kicked my butt!

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  • Give a compliment- I complimented one of my associates on her sweater and complimented my downstairs neighbor for her involvement with charities and a Christmas toy drive.
  • Pay it forward- Ha! I was so nervous for this challenge. I’ve always thought it was cool to buy someone a coffee or a drink or pay their toll, but I had never done it… at least for a stranger! My first experience was a little rocky, as there were misunderstandings, but I was able to pay for the person behind me so it all worked out.

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  • Full body workout- I went to the baby gym at the Exeter Inn and completed some running, walking and weight lifting.
  • Go through your clothes & donate- Well, the clothes may still be sitting in the back of my car, but I did go through my draws and closet on the day of the challenge! It always feels good to weed through some clothes and remove what I don’t wear anymore.

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Week 2

  • Burpee challenge- Love this one, of course 😉 Rocked them out in the 6am hour after a run
  • Lower Body Workout– I did this booty burner workout. Gets me every time!
  • Bring your lunch to work- I packed it, although I ended up finishing at my client site early so I ate it at home. That counts, right?

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  • Morning yoga/stretching/foam rolling– This was such a nice way to start the day! I really should try to do it more often because not only is it great for my body, but my mind, too!

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  • Donate– I kept thinking I would see a Salvation Army stand or get asked at a store, but sadly, it never happened. We did, though, donate from the back of a ketchup bottle, which was to support Veterans.
  • Try a new recipe– I didn’t get a chance to try a new recipe from a book, but I DID make these beauties- interested in me putting together a recipe?

Ok, SO! Now that we’ve gotten that out of the way, who wants to know what the prizes are for the top 2 participants?? Here’s what goes into picking those people:

  • Active engagement on Social Media! It’s easiest for me to see you participating when you do this and it also creates a group atmosphere. You can do this by posting on Instagram, Facebook or Twitter. Remember to tag me (@Burpeestobubbly) and use the hashtag #happyhealthyfit !
  • If social media isn’t your thing, feel free to email me or comment on any post letting me know you’ve participated.
  • How many challenges you’ve completed- I have a tracking sheet that I’m updating based on check-ins, so, again, if I don’t know you’re participating, you won’t get proper recognition and credit 😦

And for the prizes….
New Balance has been gracious enough to donate 2 awesome gym bags! I don’t know about you, but I can NEVER have too many gym bags. This one looks like a great size, too!

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**DRINKmaple has also agreed to provide each winner with a 2 pack of their Pure Maple Water drink. I was luck enough to get a chance to try a sample and I have to say I really enjoyed it! I’m not a big coconut water fan, so this was a great substitute.

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**A caddy of 16 mixed larabar bars. Larabars have been a longtime favorite bar of mine- have you tried them? Most of the flavors are made up of only a few ingredients, which is key for me. When I look at ingredient labels of other bars, I’m always astounded at how many ingredients there are! A 16 pack should keep you happy for a while 😉

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**Lastly- a customized workout and/or workout video from me! The workouts I post on my blog normally may not be what you’re looking for, so with this, you can tell me exactly what you like/don’t like/want to work on and I can go from there! I can even do a real time workout video for you to have and use.

All I need you to do now, is comment below or in some other form (twitter, instagram, facebook, email), telling me how many challenges you’ve completed up to this point- I’ll check back in at the end 🙂 Stay strong for the remainder of the challenge- we’ve only got a handful of days left!!

Wednesday Workout: NBGNO Event- How to Stay Fit While on the Road

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Good morning! If you’ve been following B2B for a while, you know that I am a BIG fan of staying active while on the road. I don’t think I’ve ever gone away without my sneakers and workout clothes packed because it’s really important for me to find time to get in at least a little movement in while I’m away. I love the way it energizes me and helps me “earn my treats”, as I like to say. I’ve given tips to on how to stay healthy while on the road before and I’ve shared multiple hotel room workouts as a way to show you that working out and eating healthy/making healthy choices while traveling CAN happen.

So, why am I talking about this topic again? Well, the New Balance Girls Night Out (“NBGNO”) event I went to last week was all about staying healthy while on the road and how Westin Hotels make that so easy. A few years ago, New Balance and Westin teamed up to make workout while on the road very doable. I experienced this while staying at a Westin in Atlanta. I took advantage of their running map/route, as well as the gym.

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Not only does the Westin provide you with a running route, but they also have their “pack light, stay fit” program, which allows you to borrow workout clothes, socks and sneakers when you travel. They wash the clothes and shoe inserts between uses and they let you keep the socks.

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And, don’t worry- you won’t be wearing crappy old gear- look at this stuff! They always have the newest sneaker styles and current clothes.

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Pretty awesome looking stuff if you ask me!

Anyway… back to the event! Caroline and Sherri did a FANTASTIC job hosting the latest- and final- 2014 NBGNO.

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After their introduced themselves and kicked off the event, we had the choice to join the Westin Run Concierge and Caroline for a run around the city or stay with Sherri and Chris, a Westin trainer, for a bootcamp. Since I fell and scraped up my knee pretty badly during the last dark Boston run, I opted for the boot camp.

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I liked how Chris explained what we were doing, why we were doing it, how it was beneficial and right/wrong ways to do it. He was super knowledgeable and I’ve changed my form on some exercises because of his tips. We worked in a 40/20 format where we did an exercise for 40 seconds and rested for 20 seconds. We did 4 different exercises, mostly focusing on core and glutes and holy moly my glutes were sore for 3 days!

After we finished our workouts, we were able to have food, drinks (have I mentioned how much I love events that offer free wine?!) and mingle with other attendees. Shortly thereafter, Caroline and Sherri shared more about Westin’s “pack light, stay fit” program, as well as tips they follow for staying healthy while on the road. I love that they asked the audience what are some tricks we do to make sure we get a workout in. Here are some that were shared:

  • Put your workout clothes, shoes, iPod, headphones, asprin (in case you’ve been out late the night before…), etc. next to your bed so that when you get up, you see it and can get dressed and to the gym before you realize you’re even awake!
  • Workout in the morning so that the day doesn’t get away from you before you realize you haven’t worked out.
  • Bribe yourself- say if you get to the gym for 10 minutes, you can have a glass of wine. Bets are that you’ll stay for 10  minutes once you’re there!
  • Workout in your room if you don’t want to pack your sneakers. On top of offering workout gear, Westin also has a partnership with Holly Perkins and you can do one of her workouts on the TV. This way you can workout without even leaving your room.
  • Print out workouts from your favorite fitness blog or write down a workout the night before. If I have a workout planned, I’m more motivated to do it
  • Take advantage of where you are. New city? take your workout outside and go for a run or walk. This serves as not only a workout, but a tour, too!
  • Make it fun by asking friends/coworkers to join you. I’ve even lead a bootcamp on a bachelorette weekend! I threw it out there assuming everyone would laugh at me, but you know what? Everyone participated. I think part of the reason why people don’t workout while on vacation or a work trip is because they think there isn’t time or that there isn’t a gym. Once you show them that there IS time and that you don’t need a gym, they’re always really happy to join you and so happy afterwards!

What do you think? Do you guys follow any of these tips? Do you have any that you can share with us?

Again, big thank you to New Balance for giving me the chance to participate in such a fun event. And thanks for another awesome swag bag!

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Questions for you: Have you heard of Westin’s “Pack light, stay fit” program? How do you stay fit/active/healthy while on the road?

My first New Balance Girls Night Out event

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Hi! A few weeks ago, I was finally able to attend a New Balance Girls Night Out (NBGNO, for short) event. They always fall on Wednesdays, which doesn’t work for my schedule because I already teach on Wednesdays, but after reading recaps on various blogs (Athena’s, to mention one), I made the decision to get a sub for my class so I could finally attend one of the events. Boy, am I happy I did that- the event was such a wonderful experience, especially this heartfelt one that was centered around Breast Cancer Awareness.

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I was so happy I had my bright pink Lulu pants because they were perfect for a pink-themed event! IMG_9033

Sherri, from fun fit flavor opened the event with some words about what this event meant to her and the story behind New Balance’s #LaceUp365 slogan. Sherri’s sister was recently diagnosed with breast cancer, so it was an emotional start to the night listening to her speak.

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If you’re not familiar with #LaceUp365, it’s a program that was created last year to mark New Balance and Susan G. Komen’s 25 year partnership anniversary. The idea behind it, is that breast cancer awareness shouldn’t just be during the month of October- it should be a yearlong thing. With #LaceUp365, you are able to dedicate your workouts all year long to a breast cancer survivor or someone who has been diagnosed. During Sherri’s intro, she asked us to all think of someone we know who has been affected by breast cancer and dedicate our run to them. What a powerful way to go into a run.

With that said, we laced up and headed out.

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Sherri’s photo

I went with Sarah, from Blonde Bostonian, as she was leading the 4.5 mile group. My sister joined Caroline for the 2.2 mile run.

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Our run was so fun! I was able to meet and chat with new people, as well as finally meet Sarah in real life. We ran through the city and Cambridge and it was perfect weather to do that.

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Every bit of the run was great… that is, until I totally wiped out at the end! The worst part is that I was at the front, so a few others tripped over me, haha I’d like to say I was super embarrassed, but I actually wasn’t. My phone was fine, my pants were fine and I knew my knee injuries were merely external (unlike last time I fell while running and broke my elbow!). My knee was pretty painful, but after a glass of wine and some snacks, the pain subsided a bit.

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Once we were all back at the store, Sherri spoke again and we also heard from Dr. Priscilla Brastianos, who is a woman on the mission to find a cure for breast cancer. I wish I could put into words how amazing her speech was- it had everyone’s attention.

The rest of the event was spent mingling, eating and drinking. I was so happy to have my sister there, as well as blogger friends!

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As if the run, inspirational speeches and food and drinks wasn’t enough, we walked away with some pretty sweet swag boxes, including a sports bra, coupons, #LaceUp365 laces and a workout log. Seriously, they spoiled us!

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I’ve worn the sports bra a few times now and LOVE it. While I wasn’t sure about the padding at first, I realized it’s super supportive and I like that it’s all built in so you don’t have to deal with stupid bra pads in the washer, which happens to me with all my lulu tops!

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All in all, the event was so awesome. Not only were we working out for a good cause and to raise breast cancer awareness all year long (with the ultimate goal to cure it), we were able to learn more about the program and meet so many amazing women. I challenge each of you to dedicate your workouts this week… and the year… for someone you know who has been diagnosed with breast cancer.

And, the best part?? They are hosting another one on Tuesday, November 4th at the Westin Copley. The theme this time is “staying fit on the go”, which is something I’m very passionate about (I’ve shared my Tips to Stay Healthy While on the Road, as well as many on the road workouts with you before) so I’m super excited for this event. Not only that, but my friend Caroline is hosting with Sherri again. This time, they’re offering a bootcamp AND a run, so you can choose what you’re more interested in. Are you hooked yet? You can sign up here if you are. I’ll warn you, though- these events fill up fast!

Thanks again, New Balance!

Questions for you: Have you ever been to a New Balance Girls Night Out event? Have you heard about the #LaceUp365 program? Have you ever fallen while running?