lifestyle – Page 2 – GRIT By Brit

Healthy Habits for Sustained Success

August 1, 2013 14 Comments

I made up this healthy habits list about 2 years ago when I got really serious about taking control of my health, my weight and my life. While these habits may seem a little extreme, they are doable and beneficial! Personally, I have not mastered the list, but each day I try to do a little better. It takes a lot of GRIT to develop healthy habits. But healthy habits are the only way to a sustain a healthy lifestyle. While these habits can take a lifetime to develop, we should strive to perfect them EVERY DAY. Doing so helps us be our BEST SELVES! If we focus on 1 healthy habit at a time, soon enough we’ll be living by the full formula. GOOD LUCK! Luv, Brit 😉

BRIT’S LIST OF HEALTHY HABITS – MY FIERCE FORMULA…

0 – Hours of television

1 – Hour of exercise

2 – Liters of water

3 – Cups of hot green tea

4 – Short mental breaks

5 – Small meals

6 – AM wake up time

7 – Minutes of laughter

8 – Hours of sleep (at least)

9 – PM end of the day and off to bed

10 – Prayers of gratitude (list 10 things you’re thankful for)

Inspiration & Motivation, Lifestyle

Fitness for the SOUL: My fun-filled weekend in NYC

March 19, 2013 6 Comments

Last weekend, my lil bro Austin (@Austin_Rettig) came to visit me in NYC. He’s a Freshman Men’s Basketball Player at the University of Tampa. Because I’m SO VERY PROUD of him, I decided to treat him to a weekend in the city for his Spring Break. We kicked off the weekend with a stroll through Central Park…

Then hit up the Big East Final Four at Madison Square Garden…

We started Saturday with some vintage shopping in the East Village…

and ended it with a hearty meal in Little Italy. We were really missin’ our sister Kortani (@toots_boots) because nobody loves pasta as much as she does.

I taught a KILLER Turbo Kick class on Sunday morning at Turbo NYC (if you haven’t been to my class, I hate that for you). Austin, helped me with the audio and cut some new tracks to “Harlem Shake” and “Snapbacks and Tattoos.” After class we shot a new YouTube workout video that I’ll post tomorrow – be on the look out 😉

After gettin’ our praise on at HillsongNYC, we took the Q train to Brooklyn where we supported our home town hero, Derron Williams – DALLAS stand up!

Finally, we topped off the weekend by stuntin’ real hard b/c Derron’s mom gave us a serious VIP hook up – thank you Miss Denise!

Yeah…what you know about that family pass with the courtside action? hehe – I was pumped!

So grateful for my family. My soul sings with gratitude #BLESSED

Lifestyle

Gritty and Nautical

September 3, 2012 3 Comments

Happy Labor Day everyone! I hope your weekend was joyous and well. Mine certainly was. I went to Boston to celebrate the wedding of one my dearest b-school classmates. Despite living in Boston for 2 years, I experienced a completely new side of Bean town = Southie. Usually, I try to stay away from Southie at all costs (read: Gone Baby Gone & The Town), but I was pleasantly surprised by history, “grittiness” and authenticity of the neighborhood. I enjoyed a nice 5 mile run around the South Harbor and had a killer vegetarian sausage breakfast burrito at Sophia’s.

After the wedding, I hopped a ferry to Martha’s Vineyard for a night. The island exhibited a wealth of racial and cultural diversity (I was expecting to only see Sperry’s and blondes). My friends and I kept up the physical activity with paddle boarding at the beach. SO FUN! Took me a while to get my groove. I definitely bit it like 3 times, but it was totally worth it. If you’ve never tried paddle boarding, you must. My core and booty are super sore today 😉

While the food was great and the scenery was unreal, the best part was the company. As I reflect on the weekend, I’m so grateful for my positive and loving friendships – something I TOO OFTEN taken for granted. Thank God for good friends.

So, here’s to Bean Town, Martha’s Vineyard, and all things Gritty and Nautical.

photo(17) — Me and Dave soaking it all in before heading home

Inspiration & Motivation

So, you mean praying can help me lose weight?

April 25, 2012 6 Comments

Last weekend I went to a fitness instructor workshop and one part of the training was on the “Iceberg” model of health. As you can see Spirituality/Meaning are at the base of the iceberg. This helped me understand that the lasting way to maintain good health is to have a strong spiritual foundation and life meaning/purpose. It goes a little something like this: Knowing our life’s purpose drives our motivations > our motivations drive our lifestyle/behaviors > our lifestyle determines our state of health. You’re probably thinking, “WHOA, Brit just got real deep on us!” Well no worries, I’m not trying to be your guru – I just don’t want all of my leg and ab workouts going to waste if you haven’t first laid the foundation 🙂

I’ve held tight to some valuable advice from my parents and mentors which can guide us as we evaluate the “base of our health icebergs.” Hopefully this advice helps you as much as it’s helped me – enjoy!

Brit’s 5 Step Guide for a Strong Spiritual Foundation:

Believe in God and that He put you here for a reason. YOU ARE NOT A MISTAKE – your life has meaning and a specific purpose. Life is about understanding our individual and collective human purposes and striving each day to live those out. If you choose not to believe in God or a higher power, it’s virtually impossible to have HOPE for a greater good, divine order or individual life purpose. And if your life is hopeless, why even live?
Understand your strengths and where you put your effort. By knowing what you’re good at and when you’re most willing to work hard, you can gain a good sense of your natural gifts and ultimately your purpose in life.
Understand and/or define your values. What do you stand for? Think about it and write it down. Also, choose friends that understand your values, support them and keep you accountable for living by them – yes, tough love! After all, “if you don’t stand for anything you’ll fall for everything.” – Peter Marshall, 1947
Surround yourself with positive people. Positive people are the ultimate sources of optimism and energy, find ‘em and keep ‘em. On the other hand, negative people are like viruses, they will literally suck the life out of you – GET AWAY FROM THEM ASAP. This doesn’t make you heartless or a bad friend. Instead, it makes YOUR OWN well-being your first priority. The fact of the matter is that if we don’t take care of ourselves, we are incapable of adequately loving and supporting others.
Pray Regularly. Now, I have a hard time with this one because I find it very challenging to quiet my mind and really acknowledge my deepest fears, issues, questions, etc. However, a daily devotion to prayer and/or meditation gives us an opportunity to express gratitude, explore our deepest spiritual questions, relax and continue progressing on our spiritual journeys.