Keynote Speaker | Founder of GRIT Fitness
Good morning friends! I’m loving this quote that I stumbled upon this morning via Instagram browsing. It’s a great reminder of why I love mornings and why I love Mondays. I encourage you to take this new week as a fresh opportunity to make your dreams come true and to be happy! Remember, YOU hold the power đ
Photo by Hello Beautiful & Sharea Antoinette Photography
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Happy hump day my friends! Â This week is a bit of a bear – lots going at the studio and in my life! Â On the bright side, Hello Beautiful, a leading pop culture site for today’s Black Women recently named me as one of their “25 Women to Know” – yay! Â CLICK HERE to read the full article and my interview.
On an unrelated topic, I’m really proud of the playlist I put together yesterday for my BODY SCULPT⢠class, so I want to share it! Here’s a link to it on Spotify. Who would have known that Bills, Bills, Bills by Destiny’s Child is the perfect song to power through continuous bicep curls? đ
Also, I created a home-version of my signature BODY SCULPT⢠workout that you can do on your own. This class is designed to fatigue each major muscle group and keep your heart rate elevated with a couple of cardio intervals. Here’s the full class description. BODY SCULPT⢠is a very popular class format at my studio! Give this home workout a whirl and let me know what you think. You will need two 5-8 pound dumbbells to complete the workout.
Have a wonderful rest of your day! Remember, you hold the power the make it great! xoxo, Brit
Hello friends – happy Spring! I’m so excited to share that my studio, GRIT Fitness, has been chosen as lucy’s studio of the month in Dallas! For the entire month of April, lucy will show lots of GRIT Fitness love at their store – yay for more marketing of our new business. Last week I got to decorate their bulletin board in the store window with GRIT Fitness stuff…what do you think (see below)?
They also let me put flyers and business cards at their front desk for customers to pick up during check out. The BEST part is that all of my clients get to join me for a discounted shopping day on April 18th! We’ll stock up on cute workout clothes at 20% mark down from the full-price. This should be a fun opportunity for us to hang out outside of the gym.
After placing our GRIT swag at the lucy Dallas store, Maria and I enjoyed a yummy lunch next door at True Food Kitchen. Maria teaches Flexin’ Flow and GRIT HIIT at our studio. We enjoyed the food so much I wanted to share some pics…
I always feel good about myself when I find real, natural food that’s tastes great. If there’s a True Food Kitchen near you, I highly suggest you give it a try! After our shopping day next Saturday, we plan to have brunch at True Food.
Well gang, that’s my good news for the day. I’m off to make my playlists for my classes this week – I’m teaching 10! Eeeeek. Wish me luck and have a Marvelous Monday. xoxo, Brit
Happy Easter, Passover and Sunday my friends! I hope you enjoyed a nice day with your family or friends.
Last night I enjoyed a lovely Passover Seder hosted by my friend Amanda (author of Glitter & Spice blog). It was my first time to partake in this Jewish tradition and I really enjoyed it. We started off the dinner with a toast of red wine and then listened to Amanda recite traditional readings that recounted the events of the Exodus. The food was delicious – Matzah ball soup, brisket, potatoes and a yummy blueberry dessert – we enjoyed it all! (We also drank plenty of red wine).
Early this morning I made myself a delicious breakfast and did a bit of work before heading to church with my parents. Yesterday, I kicked off training for our 2nd round of GRIT Fitness instructors – yay! We have 8 in our training class. While I try to keep Sunday’s “work-free” I ended up sending some follow-up emails to the group this morning. On the bright side, I’m pretty proud of the whole wheat french toast I whipped up – looks pretty good huh?
Here’s a pic of the 8 lovely ladies who started instructor training yesterday! So excited to work with them over the next 6 weeks and coach them to teach their first class!
After church today, my parents and I went out to lunch. Here’s a pic of me and my dad. He’s not great a looking at the camera but he’s a really great dad and friend. There’s no way I would have been able to start my business without his guidance, coaching and day-to-day support. My mom’s pretty awesome too. She’s probably the most positive and encouraging person in the whole world – 4 realz (she also took this pic).
Now I’m cleaning up my place and getting ready for the week ahead. Stay tuned, I have lots of new workouts and playlists to share with you this week. I promise you will like. Talk to you tomorrow. xoxo, Brit
Hello friends!  Spring has officially sprung here in Dallas, TX.  We enjoyed a gorgeous weekend of sunshine and 75 degree weather.  Some of my friends even enjoyed time by the pool.  I’m so glad that Winter is over and cannot wait to spend more time outside, especially partaking in outdoor workouts.  This week I plan to hit up the Katy Trail and knock out this running and strength training circuit.  I made the perfect 40 minute playlist to energize my sweat session – you should too!
In addition, my friends from Studio Hop and Lorna Jane NorthPark and I just finished planning the premier fitness event of the season!  We are hosting a free outdoor workout at NorthPark center on Saturday, April 11th at 10:30am.  If you live in Dallas, you should DEFINITELY join the party!  There will be a lot of sweat, a lot of shopping and a lot of smiles!  What’s not to like?  So grab your yoga mat and a friend and join the party.  CLICK HERE to RSVP at the Facebook event page.
Image: Me and my Dream Team at the grand opening of Dallas GRIT Fitness – so blessed to have the most energetic, talented and dedicated team of instructors and friends! View More: http://fagin007photography.pass.us/grit
Hello hello my dearest blog community! I hope this post finds you joyous and well. Wow – what a week. My new venture, GRIT Fitness, is growing like crazy. We’ve had record attendance over the past 2 weeks and I couldn’t be more grateful for the early success. In the midst of writing newsletters, planning special events, networking with brand partners, creating playlists, cleaning and developing instructors, I’m trying to take a few moments each day to sit still and savor the moment. Of course I want to grow GRIT Fitness to be the world’s leading fitness/wellness brand BUT sometimes I get so focused on “what’s next” that I forget that I’m actually living my dream TODAY! This time last year, I hoped and prayed for an opportunity to quit my consulting career and wear workout clothes every day. A chance to wake up each morning with a direct opportunity help people reach their fitness goals and simply be a source a positive energy to everyone I encounter. Now I get to do just that. So amazing. For me, learning to savor the moment is easier said than done, but little by little I’m getting better at it and I can see an improvement in overall wellbeing, mood and happiness.
For instance, this morning as I sit at my kitchen table writing this blog post and checking things off of my “to do” list, I try to be really mindful of how yummy my greek yogurt parfait tastes. Usually I just scarf it down while typing an email, but today I paused after I took a bite and thought to myself, “damn, this is pretty tasty.” Sounds so simple, but it really put a smile on my face.
Yesterday, I enjoyed tea time at Sip Stir Cafe with my good friend Megan, founder of the The Lyon’s Share Wellness. We try to get together once a month to share stories and encourage each other. Like me, Megan also quit her consulting career to start her own business. She’s a certified nutrition and running coach whom I very much admire. After our chat, I hung around the cafe and caught up on work and during that time I took a moment simply express gratitude for positive, healthy friendships. I often take those for granted, but boy does being around positive people nourish my soul! So good đ
I’m going to continue to mindfully pause throughout my day and savor the good that’s in the present moment. Hopefully it will become a healthy habit!
Alright gang, I’m off to teach my noon spin class for the awesome employees at Fossil corporate HQ. I’ll savor that sweaty ride and endorphin pumpin’ playlist đ
Hello friends! I hope your week is off to an amazing start! I just finished teaching my 6am Flexin’ Flow⢠class and I feel very accomplished! Flexin’ Flow⢠is a new total body strength, stretching and intensity interval class that I designed and launched last month. If you like the idea of Vinyasa Power Yoga, but have a really short attention span and a deep love for hip hop music, this is the class for you! Here’s the official class description:
If yoga, pilates and boot camp had a baby, it would be Flexinâ Flowâ˘! Our signature, total body workout is designed to build strength, flexibility and cardiovascular endurance. Enjoy the unique combination of vinyasa power yoga sequences, core stability exercises, leg toning circuits and intensity intervals all while jammin’ to upbeat music! Prepare to tone your entire body and leave class super sweaty. Bring your yoga mat! Bare feet; 55 minutes
So here’s a quick overview of how the 55 minute class is structured…
We start off by connecting to our breath and generating heat in the body with a series of arm circles, squats, lunges and chair twists. Keep in mind that the beats are bumpin’ right from the start so we move at a fast pace and stay on beat with the music.
After warming up, we complete a series of Sun A salutations and plank variations to begin generating heat in the core. The goal of this section is to ensure everybody has worked up a sweat – wink wink!
Then we REALLY get the party started with an intense, energetic set of leg toning sequences. Think pile’ squats, heel raises and every kind of lunge you can possible imagine. YEAH – sexy legs please!
The leg series is following by an active recovery of vinyasa flows to stretch and tone the body. I like to include lots of Warrior 1, 2 and 3 variations, push ups, side angles, Goddess poses and more.
After we’ve caught our breath and stretched our bodies, it’s time to increase the intensity again with our calorie blasting “power series.” This is when we knock out some old school burpees, mountain climbers, plyo lunges and other “boot camp style” drills.
We wrap up the workout with hardcore glute exercises, core stability sequences and lower back strengthening moves.
Once we’ve reached our max, we enjoy a nice cool down with deep stretches and then take it home. WARNING: If you’re looking for an amazing shavasana, you’ve come to the WRONG place. There’s no time to chill in Flexin Flow – just keepin’ it real. After class expect to feel energized, sweaty and accomplished!
If you live in Dallas, come take a Flexin’ Flow⢠class at my studio, GRIT Fitness – CLICK HERE to view our schedule and register! In only one month, Flexin’ Flow received several raving reviews including this awesome write-up from D Town Sweat, check it out! AND starting May 2, my team an I will teach FREE weekly Flexin’ Flow classes on the W Dallas Hotel Wetdeck – SO FUN! Mark your calendars because it’s GDFR (goin’ down for real) đ
Hello friends!  Well it’s true, time does indeed fly when you’re having fun.  3 years wow!  Today I went back and read my very first blog post.  It was hotel gym workout that I made up while working in NYC.  I made the graphic in PowerPoint (Canva and Pic Monkey didn’t exist then – haha).  Today I’m taking some to time to reflect on how far I’m come as a blogger and a person in the past three years.  So in addition to sharing my fav blog post I also want to share the biggest life lesson I’ve learned from my blogging experience which is to Be Unapologetically Yourself.  As many young women, I often apologized from my preferences, quirks, body “flaws” etc.  But the only thing worth apologizing for is failing to be true to yourself.  Blogging has taught me the value of being vulnerable and given me the confidence to speak my mind.  If you’re on the fence about starting a blog, I highly encourage you to go for it!  Nobody can be YOU like YOU can be you.  So whatever you have to share is a unique gift to the world, as long as it’s a true reflection of you.
That said, as promised, here are my fav blog post from year three. I hope you enjoyed these posts as much I did. Also for your reading pleasure, CLICK HERE to read my 2 year Blogiversary post and my fav posts from my second year of blogging!
Image: Me in 2009 at 178 pounds vs. in 2014 at 155 pounds #progress #actionplan
Happy Transformation Tuesday! I’m keeping today’s post short and sweet…
3 years and minus ~25 pounds…the only thing consistent is my dress (thanks to my tailor). Once I got serious about taking control of my weight, and my life, I wrote down an exercise action plan and stuck to it for 8 weeks. I worked out with a personal trainer every Friday morning, did 30 minutes on the elliptical every Monday and Wednesday and lifted weights every Tuesday. Over time, I increased the intensity of my workouts and started eating less simple sugar. The key to my weight loss success was writing down a weekly action plan that consisted of small tangible, realistic goals. My success is NOT due to following a hardcore diet plan, starving myself or sticking to an insane workout routine. Little by little my weekly actions became habits which lead to a healthier lifestyle. If you’re just getting started on your fitness or weight loss journey, I highly encourage you to write down your action plan! How will you achieve your goals?
Hello friends! I hope you’re having a wonderful week. As a lover of all things fitness and all things Dallas, I was super excited to stumble upon a new Dallas blog providing objective, thorough reviews of the city’s hottest fitness studios and classes! D Town Sweat launched only a month ago and has generated a huge following due to its honest studio reviews and thorough class assessments. After a few hours of Instagram stalking, I found the voice behind the blog, Kate Putney. This TCU grad is a management consultant by day and fitness blogger by night (AKA Girl BO$$) I met Kate last Saturday when she came to my studio and knocked out back-to-back workouts. Check out her reviews of our Flexin’ Flow and Body Sculpt classes. Afterwards Kate and I had coffee and I got to learn a little more about her fitness and blogging journey. Here’s the scoop…
What motivated you to start D Town Sweat?
With shared studio memberships hitting the Dallas market, I’ve had a lot of friends recently incorporate a consistent fitness routine into their daily lives, and I’ve been so proud of them for making that commitment to better themselves. I’ve been a life-long runner, but I too started exploring Dallas studios, and often wondered what to expect when heading to a new class, or what else was out there in terms of yoga, cycling, strength etc. I tried to find a single location to read honest and thorough studio/class reviews, and while there are a few other bloggers that do an awesome job of blogging about fitness, I couldn’t find anything that was just Dallas fitness, and really honest and straight-forward. After a few weeks of searching around, I figured, why don’t I do it? I have always enjoyed reading fitness blogs like Wisdoms of Health so I knew what made a good one. I want to help connect people in Dallas to fitness that’s right for them, and I hope that D Town Sweat will be that resource.
Describe your fitness journey.
My fitness journey started with my mom. From the time I was a baby, I ran with my mom – first in a jogger, then next to her on a bike, and finally with her, starting in middle school. She always took time out of her day to focus on her health, and by prioritizing fitness, she engrained in me the importance of taking care of my body, no matter how busy life or work gets. I ran my first 1/2 marathon in high school, and my first full marathon at 24. I recently ran the Dallas Marathon, and soon after decided that it would be beneficial for my body to try to mix up my fitness routine, which is where D Town Sweat comes in.
How do you define a âhealthy lifestyleâ?
A healthy lifestyle to me is a balance, and not just a balance of fitness and food. I think in order to truly be healthy, you also need family and friends, a community, faith, a work-life balance, adventure, and stability. Fitness and eating well are part of the overall picture, but if you workout and eat well, and live in isolation, or work yourself into the ground, you’re not living a healthy life.
Whatâs the most interesting/unique fitness class youâve taken?
The fitness class that comes to mind as being one of the most unique is a Big Kahuna class I recently took at City Surf. A fitness class on a surfboard is most definitely unique, and surprisingly really hard! I would recommend it to anyone in Dallas who is looking to try something completely different! No prior-surfing skills required!
What do you love most about group fitness?
I love being able to turn my mind off completely, and let my body do all of the work. I spend lots of time in front of a computer, so letting my body have a chance to take over, and giving my brain a break is definitely one of my favorite things. The other thing that I love is that it’s an opportunity to spend time with friends. At least 50% of the classes that I attend are with friends, so it’s a fun way to spend time together and feel productive.
In your opinion, what 3 factors make the city of Dallas great?
What does âgritâ mean to you?
Grit means grinding through the tough stuff – working harder and smarter, even when it’s really rough, because you know the end result will be worth it.
I highly encourage you to add D Town Sweat to your RSS feed. With new posts almost everyday, you don’t want to miss the latest trends in Dallas fitness! You can follow D Town Seat on Instagram @dtownsweat or on Twitter @dtownsweat