seven things sunday – fhbc edition

it’s been a while since i’ve done a seven things sunday post, and i think it’s time to bring them back! this is excellent timing because i have about a million things to share with you from yesterday (day 2 of the fitness & health bloggers conference and my 3rd day in denver), so at least i’ll get 7 of them in this post!

p.s. how it it already sunday?!? this weekend flew by!

1.  yesterday morning, i started my day with some sunrise yoga on the green roof of the health & wellness center.

it was absolutely amazing.

our instructor shared a wonderful and inspiring quote with us several times through the practice.

we show up, burn brightly, live passionately, hold nothing back, and when the moment is over, when our work is done, we step back and let go.

-meditations from the mat (rolf gates)

isn’t that beautiful?

i think that needs to be put onto a print and hung in our house somewhere. i love it.

2. continuing with the fitness theme – i did zumba for the first time yesterday evening!

there were a bunch of options for fitness classes, but as soon as i saw zumba on the list, i knew i was going to do it. i’ve been wanting to try zumba for a long long long time, so i just went with it and tried it out.

it was so much fun and such a great workout! i was sweating like crazy by the end of it.

i’m so glad i got over my nerves and fear of the unknown and just went for it. stepping out of my comfort zone was so worth it! you can bet you’ll see more zumba from me in the future!

3. i’ve been eating very well this weekend and yesterday might have been the best day (so far) for food.

breakfast got it all off to a good start thanks to choose cherries!

they had a great spread of oats, so many toppings, and cherry smoothies for us!

i loaded up the fruit on my oats – berries, bananas, dried cherries, and apples.

i also enjoyed a nice red recharger smoothie.

i felt so spoiled after this meal. thanks again to choose cherries – it was great!

4. one of the sessions for today was a cooking demo by the head chef at the bistro in the health and wellness center.

it was definitely one of my favorites from the day. the chef was very real and didn’t sugarcoat things. he has to make really healthy dishes for the bistro and he was very honest while discussing some of the challenges he faces as well as giving use some great tips!

some of my favorite tips:

• don’t use extra virgin olive oil for cooking. heating it up removes the flavor that makes it special and pretty much makes it just like regular olive oil. save your money and use regular olive oil for cooking. extra virgin olive oil is great for salads.
• don’t marinate chicken, etc. in a marinade with fresh lemon juice for any longer than an hour (much less will do the trick!). otherwise the acid in the lemon juice will start to cook the chicken.
• never put dried herbs straight into a liquid. toast them slightly in a saute pan first! it brings out the flavors way more

another reason i really enjoyed this session?

we got to try some pretty great food! i’ll be able to provide recipes for the herbed chicken, watermelon and fennel salad, peach smoothie, and herbed red lentils soon!

(see what i mean about eating really well this weekend? yeah.)

5. have you ever tried acupuncture? we had a speaker yesterday who is a licensed acupuncturist and she shared a lot of great information about the practice.

in case you’re not very familiar with the theory behind acupuncture, the overall goal is to restore balance to your body. they believe that any illness or disease occurs because of imbalances or blockages in your body’s energies. acupuncture helps to unblock the energies and restore balance to your body.

i fully intend to try acupuncture soon, so hopefully i’ll be able to provide more information about it once i experience it!

6. i got to chat a bit more with the ladies who were here from refuel with chocolate milk.

i had to give them some love for providing me a scholarship for this weekend!

oh, and because chocolate milk is delicious*!

*yes, even though i recently started to try to avoid dairy, i still love chocolate milk, cheese, etc. i don’t think there is anything inherently wrong with eating dairy. i’m just experimenting right now to try to help my skin and stomach troubles.

7. i feel so lucky to be here in denver for the fitness and health bloggers conference this weekend. i have been wanted to go to a blogging conference for a long time, but things never seemed to work out. this weekend has been more than i ever thought it would be. i’ve met so many great people, learned so much, tried new things, and, most importantly, feel empowered and inspired to continue improving my blog and my life!!

…………

i’m heading out to one last conference breakfast and some final sessions before the conference wraps up around noon. then i’m hurrying to the airport to catch my 3pm flight.

i’m sad that the conference is over today (the weekend seriously flew by), but i can’t wait to squeeze my 3 boys tonight!

…………

 full disclosure: i received a scholarship to attend the conference from refuel with chocolate milk. i paid for my own airfare and hotel. as always, all opinions expressed on the blog are 100% my own.

Tagged as: conference, Fitness and Health Bloggers Conference