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 “healthy lifestyle”? 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.
What’s the most interesting/unique fitness class you’ve 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?
It’s in Texas – After living elsewhere, and traveling far and wide, I feel strongly that there is no other state that has so much to offer.
The People are great – I went to TCU for undergrad, so lots of my close friends landed in Dallas after graduating. Besides the people who I already knew when I moved here, people are just nice here.
The Community – Between the cost of living and the job opportunities, I think that Dallas is one of the best places to be from a job perspective, which draws a lot of really great people into our city. As a result of the awesome people here, there are so many organizations doing really cool things to better North Texas, and the greater community. I’m proud to be in a place with so many good apples.
What does “grit” 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.
Kate Putney, Founder of D Town Sweat
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
Hey guys! I hope you’re staying warm and dry! It seems like 80% of the US is covered in ice and snow – even us Texans! However, we are still bringing the heat at GRIT Fitness! Yesterday, we kicked off the week on a positive note by NOT canceling our scheduled classes despite the rain/ice storm. That turned out to be a great decision because several of our clients popped in the studio ready to sweat. We had an awesome time and definitely brought some heat to the his cold weather!
Our member, Kelli, showed her GRIT by rolling to Turbo Kick class during yesterday’s ice storm in her hubby’s big body truck!
It’s been a while since I’ve posted, so here’s a quick run down of what happened over the weekend…
On Friday, I taught my usual noon Turbo Kick class. Shout out to my friend from the Junior League of Dallas, Emily, who’s also a fierce member of our fit family at GRIT fitness (in the middle of the photo below). She took her first Turbo Kick class last Friday and loved it. In her own words, “This is what is must feel like at a rave…with music blasting and lights flashing”…she also suggested we start using glow sticks during Turbo Kick classes and turn the lights off. haha. I like it!
My Turbo Kick rock stars! From left to right: Lew, Jenny, Emily, Me, Kelli
On Friday night I enjoyed a fun yet healthy dinner with my girlfriends at Dodie’s Cajun restaurant in Dallas. I had a decision blacked salmon salad and several glasses of Pinot Grigio. Perfect way to wind down after a long week!
My yummy blackened salmon salad from Dodie’s on lower Greenville, Dallas, TX
On Saturday I taught my usual spin class at BEYOND Pedaling and PiYO (now “Flexin’Flow”) class at GRIT Fitness. My friend Jackie, fellow instructor from my days at 24 Hour Fitness, did the honors of guest teaching our Dance Cardio class – it was a hit! Here’s a link to a little video clip of the fun: Post by GRIT Fitness.
Midday I did a little dance of excitement because the new business cards I ordered finally arrived – yay! What do you think?
My new biz cards with my fitness photo on them! Not sure if photos on biz cards are tacky, but whatever, I like it!
Later I stopped by Dallas North Park Mall because THE Lorna Jane, founder of Lorna Jane Active, made a pit stop in Texas. It was great to chat with her and get a little photo op. I loving meeting fellow girl BO$$’s – very inspiring!
Me and THE Lorna Jane posing with my LJ Diary at Dallas North Park mall
I wrapped up my Saturday by doing absolutely nothing. Sometimes going on chill mode is a great thing, right? On Sunday I slept in, went to brunch with some friends and then get back to work making playlist, writing our weekly newsletter and preparing for the awesome week that I’m now enjoying.
Before I go, I want to share this new Tabata workout I created! At Fossil corporate HQ, I recently started teaching a Tabata bootcamp and I LOVE IT! Tabata is a form of High Intensity Internal Training (HIIT) created by Japanese scientist Dr. Izumi Tabata. You can CLICK HERE to read more about the history of Tabata. 1 Tabata circuit lasts 4 minutes, but it’s super intense. The structure of the 4 minutes is as follows:
Workout hard for 20 seconds
Rest for 10 seconds
Complete eight rounds
Brit’s Total Body Tabata Workout
I highly encourage you to give my Total Body Tabata workout a whirl. It consists of 5 Tabata rounds and can be completed in 30 minutes. Expect to burn up to 500 calories – woo hoo! Enjoy! xoxo, Brit
Hey gang! Happy Wednesday. I hope your week is off to a great start! Things are good on my end. We are cracking away at GRIT Fitness leading classes and having a blast! I’m especially looking forward to this weekend because, THE Lorna Jane, founder and creator director of Lorna Jane Active is visiting Dallas! She is definitely a GIRLBO$$ I look up to. I got to connect with her last Summer at IDEA World Blogfest and she was SUPER nice and SO inspiring! So that’s one event I’m looking forward to. Additionally, I received the honor of leading a 2 group fitness classes in the Active Living Room of Lorna Jane West Village, Dallas – yay! I’ll be teaching PiYo next Tuesday, Feb. 24 at 7pm and 7:30pm at Lorna Jane West Village 3700 McKinney Ave, Dallas, TX 75204. Come out and “move, nourish, believe” with me!
And just for some added Lorna Jane fun, here’s a flashback to some of my all-time favorite LJ outfits…
Hey hey! Who’s excited for Valentine’s Day? I am! We are throwing a HUGE V-Day party at GRIT Fitness. It’s our official, “Sweat with your Sweetie” bash and I’m really excited. Also some girlfriends and I have planned an outing to drink wine and see 50 Shades of Grey! What do you have planned?
In honor of the upcoming day of love, I wanted to publish a post to help us get extra sexy for the weekend. My friends at SELF Magazine are hosting a special “50 Shades of Glutes” campaign. How cute is that? They have some awesome medicine ball sculpting moves that you can throw into your workout routine this week. CLICK HERE to check them out! Also, here’s my Booty Builder workout from the GRIT by Brit archives that you may enjoy. Now you have plenty of tools to get that A$$ in gear for Valentine’s Day. ENJOY! xoxo, Brit
Donkey Kicks – an oldie but a goodie that will always get your booty right (wink wink)
Hello Friends! Happy Friday! This is a been a WONDERFUL week for me – I couldn’t have started the month on February on a happier note. That said, I want to share a few highlights that have kept me smiling and that I hope make you smile too 🙂
Me and my main b*tches – LOVE THEM!
I started the week by enjoying a yummy Sunday brunch with my girlfriends. Not only are each of these ladies super smart and fun, but they’ve each supported my new business tremendously by taking classes or teaching classes at GRIT Fitness. Having supportive (and fun) friends is such a blessing.
yes…I’ll have a another 😉
This week I did a better job of staying true to my “No work on Sundays” rule, which means I could enjoy and extra glass (or 2) of champagne at brunch. Later that day I got great news that my long-time client and friend, Nena, won our “Commit to 30” challenge at BEYOND Pedaling, the cycling studio I teach at. Nena completed 33 cycling classes in 31 days and celebrated her 31st birthday last Sunday. How cool is that?! I always love to see my clients set a goal and crush it! Nena showed some serious GRIT so her commitment was rewarded with a free year of spin classes at BEYOND – yay!
Me and Nena smiling for the camera after she completed my 8am class last Saturday – her 31st ride!
On Monday it was time to RISE and GRIND! For me this means getting to the studio at 5am to dust mop the floors and get ready for our 6am classes. Honestly, nobody tells you about the “real work” of owning your own business. Let’s just say my cleaning and building maintenance skills have increased substantially. I have never worked so hard in my entire life, but the cool thing is is that I LOVE going work every day. I’ve also never been happier in my entire life, so the trade off is worth it.
This week 14 new members joined our studio – yay! I wanna give a special shout out to the these 3 girl BO$$’s from Baylor hospital (across the street) who are the newest members of our fit family. They WERK IT OUT in our hip hop class after working long days as nurses and OBGYN physicians. Smart, fit and fabulous – what more can we ask for? We also discovered that we’re all members of the Junior League of Dallas, so we are planning some “no shower happy hours” to mix and mingle after our workouts. I love creating a strong fitness community, it makes working out so fun…like “adult recess”
Latoya, Tiffany & Lauren – our baddies from Baylor Hospital
So with the transition to February, I started a new “Love Your Body” challenge for the GRIT Fitness members. Whoever completes 16 workouts by the end of the month, receives a very special gift from me!
So far, over 20 of members have signed up for the challenge and they are NOT messin’ around about getting those workouts in. Check out our leader board…some folks have already completed 7 workouts in only 5 days! #FIERCE
Clients are SO excited about the February challenge – who doesn’t love a gold star?
As you can imagine, our classes have been super packed and energetic. Our awesome instructors do an amazing job of leading the crew. Here’s a quick pic from Kemi‘s Body Sculpt class last night…
And a post-workout pic of me, Jenny and Annabel after Annabel‘s SUPER FUN Turbo Kick class…
Next weekend were are hosting a special Valentine’s Day workout! All members can invite their special someone to workout with them for free. We already have lots of dudes registered for Dance Dardio – should be entertaining! Maybe I’ll make all the guys freestyle dance in-between burpees 🙂
The lobby at GRIT Fitness – excited for Valentine’s Day!
Well gang that’s all for now. I hope your February is off to a LOVELY start! Any fun plans for the weekend? Post a comment and let me know. I’ll back on Monday with a new workout, breakfast ideas and fitness fashion favorites. Lots of luv to you! xoxo, Brit
Hola friends – Happy February! I can’t believe how fast time flies – OMG. We just started a new February “Love Your Body” challenge at GRIT Fitness studio. Every member who takes 16 classes within the month earns a very special surprise gift. The challenge started yesterday and we already have 15 members signed up, 3 of whom have already completed 3 classes! Do you think you can completed 16, one-hour fitness classes before the end of the month? I challenge you to give it a go. Not only is it a great personal challenge but it’s an effective way to quickly shape up for Spring Break – March will be here before you know it!
So this may be the most random blog post I’ve ever written BUT I thought it’d be appropriate to dedicate a post to my love for headbands. Nothing motivates me to move more than a jammin’ playlist and a killer headband! The difficult part about headband selection is that I sweat A LOT so I need headbands that a) adequately absorb moisture b) look super cute c) stay in place. After years of being a fitness junkie and a headband addict, I’ve finally nailed down the top 4 headbands that are best for sweaty workouts. Here’s my list…
Brit’s Favorite BANDZ
Living One Love (Living One Love) – These are the BEST for funky prints! They also come in solids. The band is made of dri-fit fabric and fits wide across your forehead to absorb sweat immediately. The solid hot pink headband in the top center photo is from Living One Love.
Sweaty Bands (Sweaty Bands) – I love these because you can customize the design – how fun! They have a velvet lining that keeps the band from slipping. Also, they come in either narrow or thick widths so you can pick whatever you prefer. (I have some of each). The blue diamond shape headband above is a Sweaty Band.
Lululemon Bang Buster Mesh (Lululemon) – I like these because of the thickness. They are great for hot yoga. The patterns are more chill/classic but they fit really well and don’t move at all during your workout. The wide yellow headband I’m wearing in the bottom center photo above is a Lulu Bang Buster.
Under Armour Thick Braided Headband (not pictured) (Under Armour) – These are really unique-looking because of the braided pattern and bright colors. The woven fabric keeps the band from slipping and they have a bit of an 80’s aerobics look which I like 🙂
Hey gang! I hope your week is going well. This is week has been MUCH more mellow than last, as my new studio is up and running without the craziness of grand opening week. My team and I are having a blast getting to know our clients and teaching classes. The energy at GRIT Fitness is through the roof! After this week, we’ll operate in a more “business as usual” mode with less on-the-fly to changes to our schedule, policies, memberships, etc. For instance, today marks the end of our grand opening membership offer to enjoy a year of unlimited classes for only $75 per month! If you live in Dallas, you’d best get up on this (wink wink) – CLICK HERE to purchase!
There are SO many moving parts to manage when running your own business. Everyday I wake up with a long “to do” list and every night it’s never finished…sigh. I thought I’d be able to manage everything on my own, but I’ve quickly learned that I need help! In order to grow and execute things with the highest level of quality I HAVE to depend on others. This has been really tough for me because I pride myself in “doing it all.” Fortunately, I have some amazing friends who’ve volunteered to work the front desk and help with social media marketing barter for classes. Not bad huh? I’m a lucky girl.
Right now I’m focusing on outlining the marketing strategy that we’ll execute over the next few months. I’m also prioritizing my team’s development, so I spend lots of time in one-on-one practice sessions to grow the skills of my instructors. I have NOT figured out how to keep my car clean, plan my meals or how to effectively structure my days, so if any fellow entrepreneurs have advice, PLEASE SHARE!
Alright, that’s enough about my life. Now moving on to some valuable info for you! In honor of Throwback Thursday, here’s one of my all time favorite, Sexy Arms Workout from the GRIT by Brit archives. Give this bad boy a whirl this weekend and let me know how it goes! You can CLICK HERE for details and to watch an instructional video. ENJOY! xoxo, Brit
Hello friends! Happy Monday! I’m intrigued by SELF Magazine’s 21 Day Time Makeover Program, so I jumped on the bandwagon and I want to share my experience with you guys. The program requires you to take a short quiz to the find the right time makeover program for your personality type. As expected, one of the recommendations for my Type A personality is to “chill the eff out.” As a result, I decided to get more serious about my personal goal to allocate one day per week to just “chill.” Yep, that’s right, I’m making time to do absolutely nothing.
My recent transition from corporate America to opening my own fitness studio had been SO exciting a but a bit exhausting. Now I teach up to 13 classes per week and when I’m not teaching I’m doing marketing, training instructors, selling memberships, installing water fountains, cleaning toilets…the list goes on and on. Here’s a few pics from the studio that we took over the past few days…
Thursday night’s hip hop class was a huge hit! My little sister, Kortani AKA Tootie, is a fierce dance instructor!
Here’s a little video clip of the choreography our clients learned in their first hip hop class. Not bad huh?
I as so excited that my friend Anna recently moved to Dallas from Boston. We met while she was in high school in Ithaca, NY. I volunteered as a youth leader at Bethel Grove Bible Church while I was in college at Cornell and she was in our youth group. Now she’s all grown up, living in Dallas and engaged! Small world 🙂
My amazing friends have continued to send me pretty flowers and gifts – so blessed to have a strong support network!
While I had a crazy busy grand opening week at the studio, I did however, devote my entire Sunday to just chill (we don’t have Sunday classes at GRIT Fitness yet). Contrary to popular belief, it was actually a lot harder than I thought…
I started the day by making my coffee and watching a church service online. It took so much power to not turn on my laptop, but I succeeded. I then sat on my couch for a bit and folded some clothes until lunch time. My friend Dan and I enjoyed a fun Sunday brunch at Henderson Tap House and caught up over several mimosas – that was a great decision 🙂
When evening rolled around, I couldn’t help myself so I started analyzing the customer feedback surveys from our first week of classes and outlined enhancements we are going to make at GRIT Fitness this week. I only spent a couple of hours on this, so I’m still proud of myself as I spent the rest of the day just chillin’ (wink wink). I hope to do better next Sunday – will keep you posted! xoxo, Brit
Couldn’t help myself, finished the day doing just a little bit of work…I’ll do better next Sunday
If you had a Time Makeover, what would you make time for?
Image: My new biz headshot for GRIT Fitness Studio
OMG what a week. I hope you’re doing well. So I’m officially 2 days away from grand opening my own fitness studio, GRIT Fitness, in Dallas, TX – yay! If you happen to live in the area or travel here, I really hope you swing by, take a class and give me a hug! We are having FREE CLASSES all of next week to celebrate our grand opening. You can CLICK HERE to reserve your spot in Body Sculpt, Turbo Kick, Piyo, Hip Hop, Dance Cardio or Power Flow.
Our launch party is this Saturday (see flyer above) and I’m excited/nervous! This week has been a bit of an emotional roller coaster ranging from extreme excitement to massive panic attacks. And on top of that, I’m so behind on blog posts – PLEASE FORGIVE ME!
I figured I’d give you a compete personal update via photos and captions (more workouts to come next week – I PROMISE!) Here it goes…
I spend most evenings at my studio in one-on-one sessions with my instructors practicing their class formats – it’s so fun and they are so fierce! Here’s me and Kayah after dance cardio
And here’s me and Melissa after practicing Power Flow
The instructors on my team have been kicking’ booty and I’m 100% confident that we’ll have a successful grand opening next week – spots in our free classes are filling up so quickly!
Meanwhile, I fed my entrepreneurial soul by attending a Harvard Business Women’s event during which the founder and CEO of Poo-Pouri shared the story of how she started her business. She now brings in over $30 million in revenue a year and started with only $25K investment – I was inspired..sigh
You should watch this YouTube commercial for Poo-Pouri #hysterical
During the day I spend most of my time preparing for the grand opening. This week I ordered these cute water bottles for our launch party on Saturday 😉
And got a banner to hang on our building…
I’ve continued to teach 5:45AM & 6:45AM spin classes everything Thursday, and today was no different. While getting up early can be a drag, it sets a positive tone for my day
I played “No Flex Zone” on my playlist today, so me and some of the fellow instructors HAD to take a flexin’ pic after my classes 🙂
Now I’m headed back to the studio (as usual) to stuff swag bags, help my dad set up tables and finishing the final touches in preparation for Saturday. Say a prayer for me and wish me luck. I’ll send positive vibes your way as well.
Have a wonderful rest of the week and weekend! xoxo, Brit
