Total Body

Bandz Make Me Dance: Total Body Resistance Band Workout

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resistance band workoutI recently started working with a client in Buffalo, NY, which means I’m back on the road and back to my trusty hotel gym workouts.  Along with the usual cardio equipment, this hotel gym has some fun “fitness toys” like medicine balls, kettle bells and resistance bands.  In the spirit of keeping things interesting, I decided to make up some new workouts that don’t use standard dumbbells.

First up is a resistance band workout that I did this morning.  (Below, are some action shots of me – please don’t be cruel as I’m sans make-up and #nofilter.) The circuit needs to be completed 3 times for adequate resistance training.  Keep in mind, that 2 resistance/weight training workouts per week are recommended to develop and maintain an adequate fitness level.  Try it out and let me know how it goes – enjoy!  Luv, Brit 😉

Total Body Resistance Band Workout

resistance band workout demos

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Inspiration & Motivation

Happy Blog Birthday…1 year and counting!

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It’s insane how fast a year flies by.  In light of celebrating our 1-year GRIT by Brit blog anniversary, let me go on a typical “Brit preacher/motivational speaker rant” for a second…..

I truly, in my heart of hearts, feel that we all should blog. It’s such an amazing way to explore yourself, find your passions and share your testimony. I’m not a natural writer and never thought I would ever start a blog.  But an intense desire and feeling of duty to share my love for fitness and wellness is what made me a “blogger.”

No matter what you have to say, as long as you are authentic and transparent, you have the ability to transform lives and encourage people who may be going through the exact same life experience that you are facing. No project, work effort, or activity has inspired me as much as blogging. If you’ve been thinking about starting a blog, JUST DO IT …and think about it later 😉

Share your story, because the world needs to hear your voice!

As I look back on my first year of blogging, I’ve picked out my top 10 favorite posts. Now these aren’t the most popular in terms of hits, but they each have very sentimental value to me (*tear).

So my friends, here is to 1 year down and several even bigger, better more beautiful blogging years to come! All the best to you, be BLESSED exceedingly and abundantly.

Lots of luv,

Brit

Brit’s Top  10 Fav Blog Posts 

  1. There’s No Such Thing as Impossible – Cried the whole time I wrote it
  2. 2-week Plan to Nix 10 Pounds – Pretty much my weight management Bible.   
  3. Tummy Booty & Thighs –  I can ALWAYS count on this workout and Jessica Beil will always and forever be my bikini body motivation
  4. Top 10 Tips for a Happier & Healthier 2013 – My outlook on life in 10 bullet points
  5. Drinks Weighing You Down? – Why I believe soda is the devil
  6. Movin’ and Shakin’ Monte Carlo – My most FABULOUS blog post
  7. 4-week Tone Up Challenge: Complete – My bestie, Jan, had the idea to start doing 4-week fitness challenges for all of my friends…she became the first of 5 😉
  8. Ultimate Body Burn DVD Launch – huge personal accomplishment for me and my friends…will remember this day forever
  9. Six Pack by Summer – my ultimate abs routine, love this workout very much
  10. Drink Coffee to Control Weight & Make Better Love – so grateful that my  old college b-ball teammate and now registered dietitian writes such awesome and informative guests posts for me…and I LOVE coffee 😉

GRIT by Brit 1 year anniversary

ABOVE – me hanging in Chicago this weekend and flashing a HUGE grin for the GRIT by Brit 1 year anniversary

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Inspiration & Motivation

Super Simple 4 week Slim Down

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Meet my lovely cousin Chasity, our newest 4-week challenge chick on GRITbyBrit!  We are just coming off of a very successful 4-week challenge story with Alex who lost 7 pounds and rocked a sexy new dress for her 29th b-day. Now Chasity is taking the challenge up a notch and striving to lose 12 pounds! I tried to make her plan very SIMPLE because it can be really challenging to be disciplined on SO MANY areas. Hopefully, many of you can try the plan for yourself and share your success stories with me.

Be sure to check back for Chasity’s progress report. Let’s go Chasity – wish her luck!

  • Chasity’s Goals:photo-8
  1. Lose 12 pounds
  2. Healthier eating habits
  3. Tone upper body/ thighs
  4. Increase Stamina
  5. Tone lower abs/ muffin top
  • Workout Schedule: 1 hour M/Tu/Th/Sat/Sun
  • Workout Likes: Yoga, Pilates, Cardio/Dance style workouts
  • Workout Dislikes: RUNNING
  • Eating Habits: “I eat breakfast daily usually oatmeal during the week and a “country breakfast” on Saturdays 🙂 Frozen dinners for lunch during the week or sometimes I will eat fast food-raising canes is my often my choice. Dinner is just whatever I can get fast because I’m usually starving by the time I get home (meaning I tend to go for unhealthy food). I do snack a lot on like chips, pickles, cheese its, gummy bears, Oreos, cheese. I have Starbucks very berry coffee cake – my weekly treat. I don’t drink soda or coffee. During the week I don’t eat after 7 except on weds (eat after I get out of church around 9ish)” – Chasity
  • CHASITY’S 4-WEEK PLAN:
Super Simple 4-week Slim Down
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Home Workouts, Total Body

Kill your workout RUT

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Despite the sincere joy and stress relief I receive from my exercise regimen, there are times that simply get sick of working out. It’s usually because I’ve been doing the same routine for a long time and need a change up…or I’m just being lazy, in which case I’m often guilty putting off workouts until “tomorrow.”

That said, my “Kill your RUT workout” consists of exercises that I NEVER do (except the push ups). I’m going to do it before work tomorrow morning  along with some moderate cardio. Hopefully it’s enjoyable and gets my fitness juices flowing!

Try it for yourself and let me know what you think.  Also, here’s an honest and practical article on “5 Ways to Beat Exercise Boredom.”

Lots of love and CHOOSE to have a great day! – Brit

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Inspiration & Motivation

4-week challenge: Sasha O or Prego?

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Lakshmi’s Week 2 Update

Sasha Obama wore this adorable dress to her father’s speech at the DNC. I promptly purchased and wore it Wednesday for a work event. Not going to lie, I felt good in it. It accentuated my waist and was flattering (so I thought). I went to the work event, where the first person I spoke with had met with me a year ago. She said to me, “It’s great to see you again. And I see you have a baby bump.” Pow. All my confidence (I had even posted on Facebook about how great I felt in the dress) just disappeared like that. Unfortunately, there’s something about my body type that causes me to get mistaken for being pregnant all too often (I know, weird). I played the bigger person and instead of socking her in the face I said, “You’d be surprised how often I am mistaken for being pregnant. I must have a pregnant glow. When it does actually happen to me, I’ll be radioactive!” But I can joke all I want. It still really hurts. And when it hurts, I need some carbs. So Brit, I did eat carbs after 4 pm on Wednesday. But can you blame me? I was eating for two (PLEASE NOTE: THAT STATEMENT IS A JOKE).

Really tough to get the workouts in this week. I was in Boston Wed – Thursday AM. And am in Richmond Thursday AM to Friday night. Working a ton – so my options to workout were between the hours of midnight and 4 am. Sooo…I didn’t workout Thursday and Friday. I’ll get back into the groove on Saturday, I promise!

Here’s the dress I wore Wednesday. Isn’t it adorable? (the black and white one). No one mistook Sasha Obama for being prego.

Brit’s Advice for Lakshmi

  • Accentuate the positive – when you reflect on your week, ALWAYS think about everything you did WELL first.  If you start with your “slip ups,” it’s too easy to get discouraged and eventually quit your shape up efforts.
  • Don’t think in absolutes – you will never have a perfect day, so don’t beat yourself up if you sneak a cookie or miss a workout.  Just think about living a “balanced” life and schedule some extra workout time or a super lean meal to compensate for your “slip up”
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Cardio, Home Workouts, Legs

Grind It Out Workout

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Happy Monday

Work hard, be blessed and be a blessing to others!

Here’s the workout I made for myself to do this evening. Try it out and let me know what you think. I’ll do it as soon as I get off work today .

  • Workout Name: Brit’s Grind It Out Workout
  • Duration: 45 minutes
  • Calories Burned: 400 – 500
  • Focus: Lower body toning and overall calorie burn
  • Equipment needed: Treadmill or outdoor hill, hand weights (optional)

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Lifestyle

Gritty and Nautical

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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.

Me and Dave soaking it all in before heading home

 

 

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Cardio, Home Workouts, Total Body

Where Da Ballers At?

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  • Workout Name: Basketball Court Workout  by Brit
  • Duration: 45 min – 1 hour
  • Calories burned: 400 – 700
  • Commentary: The fact of the matter is pro basketball players have HOT bodies.  Whether you’re a “pro hooper”, “ex-hooper” or “wanna be hooper,” the basketball court is ALWAYS a great place to get a super effective workout.  The workout I’ve put together incorporates many of the drills I did back in my day plus some basics to burn calories and build endurance.  No matter your skill level, you should be able to get through this workout and increase your fitness level in the process.  Change up your routine and try it out.  Let me know how it goes!

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