A Day in the Life

A loyal reader asked me to break down a day in the life of a personal trainer – when I wake up, what I do all day, and how I stay fit.

Those of you who are also independent consultants like me know this: there is no typical day.  Each one is different, and plan as we may, days tend to take very different courses depending on cancellations, traffic, and a host of other “unpredictables” as the hours roll by.

That said, because my days are so varied and (perhaps) somewhat interesting, I figured I’d combine that reader request with today’s Blogging 201 assignment, which is thus:

B201 – Day 6 – Make the Most of Events

Create a recurring blogging event on your site, and/or make plans to attend a blogging conference.

Besides looking up blogging conferences in my area (not too difficult seeing as I’m in Los Angeles), I am hoping to draw some inspiration from my daily life to create a recurring but meaningful blog event (think World Fitness Day, or American Clean Eating Month [don’t take my idea – this may happen!], or something we can all participate in for the greater food).

Until I figure that all out, here’s a breakdown of what my #dayinthelife looks like this lovely Tuesday:

5:00am– alarm goes off; I groggily walk to the coffee pot and brew up some DD

5:15am – take my temperature (for fertility tracking), take my Biotin (for hair growth), and get ready (using my fave sweatproof products by it Cosmetics)

5:30am – coffee in hand, drive out to my first (outdoor) client while listening to Kevin & Bean, my absolute favorite morning radio show

7:00am – first client done, drive back to Fox Studios to teach CycleSculpt class

8:30am – class over, client at Fox

9:30-11:00am – bathe and prep for wellness presentation; breakfast of two hard boiled eggs, leftover arugula salad, and 1/2 whole wheat pita

11:30-2:00pm – give back-to-back wellness presentations at Fox (title: Exercise Intensity – The What, The Why, and the How-To)

2:30-4:00pm – work with online clients (all 89 of them!) over on FitOrbit.com; nosh on leftover Winter Day chili and pumpkin cornbread from last night

4:00-8:00pm – train more clients (both at Fox and outdoors)

8:30pm – receive Amazon Fresh and Blue Apron deliveries, prepare delicious meal (tonight: caramelized pork and congee); watch Anthony Bourdain Parts Unknown, Tosh.0, and/or House Hunters International with the fiance

10:30pm – after a couple chapters of Lena Dunham’s new book, hit the sack

What does your #dayinthelife look like?  If you blog, what’s your favorite blogging event and/or conference?

Blogging 201: Day 2

In the world of blogging, I am a newbie – I admit that, I own that.  Which is why I feel no shame in the fact that, on the day I started TFB, I chose the first WordPress “auto-theme” that had the color pink in it and went with that.

Badda bing.

Now that I’m a more “seasoned” blogger (cough), I realize that there are lots and lots of themes out there – and it just takes a bit of time to wade through them all.  Hence today’s assignment:

B201 – Day 2 – Get Responsive

Make sure your site is mobile-friendly, and familiarize yourself with the features of responsive design.  So in order to fulfill this assignment, I did the following:

• tested about ten different responsive themes on my laptop and phone (my apologies to any readers to came by during my “experiments” – I promise I’ll leave it alone for a while!)
• selected and customized my *new* chosen theme
• asked my readers to let me know how they read my blog and how the page looks on their devices

Oh, as for that third point?  Help a sister out.  My blogging education and personal satisfaction depend on it…

How do you read ThisFitBlonde?  Does TFB look great on your tablet, computer, or phone – or not so much?

Blogging 201: Day 1

Typically, I try to bring you guys the latest in health, wellness, and “miscellaneous” fun – but this week I am also participating in a project called Blogging 201.  B201 is an online course in blog productivity – helping bloggers focus, improve, and maximize their blog efforts through a series of lessons and exercises – so of course, I wanted in!

Each day, I’ll be posting a B201 “activity” in addition to my regular posts – so if you’re a blogger yourself, or if you simply want to know more about where ThisFitBlonde is heading, read on!

B201 – Day 1 – Set Three Goals

Consider what you want to accomplish with your blog. Write down three concrete goals you want to achieve.

1. Publish FIVE times per week consistently through the end of 2014
2. Spend ONE full hour each week reading followers’ blogs, commenting, and building blog community with my peers
3. Invite THREE guest bloggers to add posts before the end of 2014 – one in October, November, and December

As you guys can probably gather, I’m a relatively new blogger – I recently hit the “50 Post” level, which makes me feel more established, but I am a newbie when it comes to the fitness blog community.  I want to be “known” among peers and used as a source of professional advice as well as a sounding board for concerns from my readers and peers – a support group of sorts.

Here’s to a much more productive final three months of 2014 – I’m ready for the challenge!

What are some of your favorite blogs to read?  What types of posts make you stop, click and actually read your feed?

Love Your Body – For Real

I am conflicted about the whole “love your body” movement.  I mean, the basic message is airtight – be proud of what you have – but I feel like it too often goes one of two ways: either a) “love” your body but secretly still desire to be a size 0, or b) actually love your body, but prepare to be judged if that body is anything outside the accepted feminine norms of size, shape, muscularity, etc.

Rock and a hard place, as always.

That’s why I love events like the upcoming Annual Love Your Body Fashion Show, where women from all different backgrounds, shapes, sizes, and gender presentations are invited to come together and enjoy the things that make every body feel good – yoga, massages, manicures, tasty food, amazing clothing, and a community that accepts and welcomes the diversity of women.

My favorite part?  The event is open to girls age 8 and older, which means you can bring your daughters, nieces, and other important young ladies in your life to the event and show them what acceptance, beauty, difference, and self-love look like.  There’s not a woman on the planet who couldn’t use a dose of that every now and then – especially here in image-obsessed Los Angeles.

For more info, check out the event’s Facebook page and follow them for more info.  The event is Sunday, November 2nd from 10:30am-3:00pm and is completely free with pre-registration.  I’ll be there with my girl Jenny from Pugs & Pearls, and we’d love to meet up with fellow love-your-body bloggers, too!