fall – GRIT By Brit

Image: Wishing you a happy September – HELLO FALL!

Happy September to you! First and foremost, I want to announce the winner of my Lucy Activewear Giveaway. I asked you guys to share your favorite leg workout, and boy, did you! My legs were on fire just reading all of your leg exercise ideas and personal favorites. It was tough to pick to a winner, but after giving it much thought, I’m happy to announce that Mari is our winner! Here’s her favorite leg workout: My fave leg exercises are jump squats, box jumps and split squats because you feel them right away and they are super effective. With the right amount of reps and sets, I am definitely feeling them the day after Congrats Mari. Your Lucy Activewear is on its way to you!

I hope you guys had a wonderful Labor Day weekend – I did! I kicked things off by teaching my beloved PiYo class at the W Dallas Hotel on Saturday Morning. I’ve been so humbled and amazed by the huge turn out we have week after week. For those of you who live in Dallas, I highly encourage to come check out a class. I’ll be teaching FREE PiYo classes every Saturday morning through September 27th.

Teaching my PiYo class on Saturday morning (that’s me on the left, facing the class)

I actually got a double dose of sweat on Saturday. After my PiYo class I scurried over to 24 Hour Fitness for Turbo Kick class with my Dallas gym buddies. I’ve been working out with this crew for 3 years now. Rain or shine, we meet at the gym for Turbo Kick every single Saturday morning at 10am. Working out together pushes us to go extra hard and have fun! It’s so great to have “fit friends.” Do you have gym buddies who you regularly workout with?

Me and my Saturday morning workout crew! Post-workout sweaty smiles 🙂

I also enjoyed lots of non-working out activities. On Saturday afternoon my neighbor/buddy, Emilio, and I got some rest and relaxation by our pool. We shared a bottle of white wine and read the September issues SELF, O, and Fitness magazines. Yesterday, I went to a yummy Tex-Mex brunch with two of best friends in Dallas, Crystal and Neka (pictured below). After enjoying my spinach enchiladas, chips and guacamole and girl talk, I went on a shopping spree at the new Lorna Jane that opened in Dallas North Park Mall. (Remember I won a $500 Lorna Jane gift card at the Idea Blogfest – yeah buddy!) I got a ton of bright, fresh new workout clothes – eek! I’ll be posting lots of Lorna Jane photos and product reviews in the next few weeks.

Me, Crystal and Neka at Mi Cocina in West Village, Uptown Dallas for Labor Day Lunch

Today I’m back to work in full on “grind-mode.” Fortunately it’s yoga week in Dallas so I’ll be teaching some extra PiYo classes which I’m really excited about. In addition to working out and working at my corporate job, I’m also planning some special Fall workouts and recipes so be on the lookout! Lots of luv, Brit

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-kpxvRHar4c&w=560&h=315]

Hey GRIT Gang! I hope that all is amazing in your world. Very sorry for my sporadic blog posting – I’ve been doing lots of traveling the past 2 weeks. On a positive note, last weekend I went to the Bryson City, North Carolina to a enjoy a weekend “ruffing” it with some of my best friends from business school.

In the midst of hiking the Great Smoky Mountains, cooking homemade meals, sitting by the camp fire and reminiscing on the good old days, I designed this “buddy bootcamp” workout. During our vacation, my friends and I did this super efficient HIIT (High Intensity Interval Training) circuit to ensure we got some strength and anaerobic training in . Not only is the workout effective, it’s also very fun! So next time you are looking for some fierce, fun exercises to do with your fit friends, keep these 5 exercises in mind…

5 Super Effective Partner Exercises

Before I leave you, I encourage you to not only enjoy the workout itself, but to more importantly enjoy and love the friend that you do the workout with. And on that note, I leave you with this quote that one of my dearest friends, Lakshmi (staring in the front row of the instructional video above) shared with me:

“A friend is one to whom one may pour out the contents of one’s heart, chaff and grain together, knowing that gentle hands will take and sift it, keep what is worth keeping, and with a breath of kindness, blow the rest away.” – George Eliott

ENJOY! Lots of luv, Brit

Enjoing a nice hike in Great Smoky Mountains - Nothing says true friendship like matching beanies — Enjoying a nice hike in Great Smoky Mountains – Nothing says true friendship like matching beanies

Takin' it all in - life is good! — Takin’ it all in – life is good!

A picture is worth a 1000 words #breathtaking

Grateful for good times and great friends! #blessed

I love you and hope you have a great week! -Brit :) — I love you and hope you have a great week! -Brit 🙂

Happy September & Lucy Activewear Giveaway Winner Announcement

Buddy Boot Camp! 5 Super Effective Partner Exercises to do with your Fit Friends