Hi there, I’m back!
The blog was unexpectedly quiet for a few days last week.
There’s a lot going on in my world right now but I’ll do my best not to go into shut down mode again.
So let me tell you about one of my latest adventures…
Last week I was invited to the 4th Annual Jamba Juice #JambaFit FiTrends Expo Event at the Annenberg Beach House in Santa Monica. It was a great day of nutrition, education and fitness with some bloggy friends and fitness legends.
For me, it’s always a joy to actually get a chance to meet other bloggers IRL. I was happy to get this photo with Katy@JoyLaughterSweat, Monica@RunEatRepeat, my #dirrtydozen Ragnar teammate, Gillian@That’sG, and a Friday’s Featured Female, Tiffany@RunningHutch before the busy day began.
The day began with a quick warm up with Venus Williams – who was tall, lithe and gorgeous.
Then we moved on to Pound! I’ve written about how much I loved the Pound class I took at #FitSocial in Colorado. This full body cardio workout is like a choreographed drumming session with 1/2 pound weighted drum sticks. It was a treat to take the class with the gorgeous founders of the workout, Kirsten and Cristina. I met these ladies at the FitExpo in January and it was lovely to see them again.
Next, we had a taste test of 4 of Jamba Juice’s newest Freshly Squeezed Juices – Citrus Kick (orange and spicy), Tropical Greens ( this was my favorite – I could taste the pineapple most), Veggie Harvest (I liked the beet taste) and Great Greens (to me this was the epitome of green tasting).
We followed up the taste test with some information from Carol Chen about what goes into Research & Development to meet the Jamba Juice mission “to inspire and simplify healthy living”.
Next, we had a workout session with Pop Physique. Pop Physique is a barre-type class that focuses on a lot of lower body tucking and ball squeezing with the legs. With my history of a weak lower back, this workout wasn’t my favorite – although I’ll admit that I laughed a lot during the workout.
My blogger buddy, Lindsay@FitandAwesome, was near me on the floor during the workout and I think we both found the class amusing.
After all of that working out, we got a chance to eat lunch and learn some fitness insights from Venus and Jake “Body By Jake” Steinfeld. It was comforting to hear a Brooklyn accent in the house (thank you Jake).
It was great to put a human face on healthy eating and exercise – Venus hates doing planks (and eating broccoli) and Jake gets up at 3:45 every morning to do his workout routine! Listening to these two well-known fitness personalities reminds you that sticking to a healthy eating and living routine is hard – no matter who you are!
The last two workouts of the day definitely continued the element of fun in cardio and strength training.
Whoever would have thought that hula hooping would be a workout? Not me, but Gabriella Redding developed Hoopnotica in 2006 and has used it to help her lose 60 lbs after the birth of her second child. Hoopnotica is about bringing the fun and play back into the fitness arena and Gabriella certainly made that apparent – she was not only hoopnotic, she was hypnotic.
Hoopnotica brings forth a fun spirit about that makes want to try to hula hoop and have fun no matter what. I smiled the entire time while I was attempting keep that weighted hula hoop around my waist. Hoopnotica has DVD’s available and classes in Venice and I’d dare say that Gabriella might be worth the battle against crosstown LA traffic!
We were at the beach so why wouldn’t you end a day with a surfing workout? I was super excited to try SURFSET Fitness – a mechanized surfboard with rubber pulleys to help utilize bodyweight to help mimic the side-to-side balance required for a real surfing experience. This workout was the shortest – only 10 minutes – and I wanted more! A complete SURFSET class is 45 minutes long and is aimed to provide some cardio while promoting the building of lean muscle, balance and core strength. My weak core could use all of the above.
The day ended with an opportunity to take photos with Venus, a generous gift bag and the opportunity to take as many fresh fruits and vegetables as we wanted from the gorgeous display (as seen in the pictures with Carol Chen and Venus and Jake). It was definitely a fun day of nutrition, fitness and fun. Thank you Jamba Juice for wonderful day!
For some of my other friends recaps on this great day, see Gillian@That’sG, Monica@RunEatRepeat or Katy@JoyLaughterSweat. If you have a recap, be sure to let me know and I’ll add it (many people took much better photos than I did).
Disclaimer: I was invited to this event and received juice samples, the 4 fitness classes mentioned and a gift bag from Jamba Juice. I was not monetarily compensated for this post nor was I under any obligation to write about this experience. All opinions are my own.
I’m a strong believer in eating your fruits and vegetables rather than drinking them but I’m human and do occasionally drink juices in moderation for pleasure (not for cleansing or detox purposes). Are you a juice drinker and if so, how often do you drink juice and what’s your favorite?
Always fun seeing you, Melissa! Thanks for the shout out!
I loved seeing all the pics on IG – what fun!!! I am not a juice drinker – I prefer to eat but yes, sometimes we just have to do what is available to us…
The event was super fun, and Venus was hysterically funny. I loved the whole event.
That sounds like such a fun day; personally, with all that exercise, I’m sure I would have faded about 1/2 way through everything. But that’s what the Jamba Juice is for, right? I used to live on that stuff!
I cannot wait for more of these get togethers!!!!! 🙂 We need to chat far more!
Looks like a fun time. Now I want to try the new Jamba Juice flavors.
My pleasure!
It’s true and sometimes juice helps get those vitamins in.
Oh my gosh! This event looks so fun!! I would love to do something like this. Pound, Pop Physique and Surfset?! I’m dying!!
I love juice personally. I drink it often in addition to eating fruit and veg simply because I don’t believe I’m always getting enough when I’m on the run. I try to get small sizes though to avoid tons of excess calories.
You and Kymberly make everything even more fun. Why didn’t I get a picture with you two?!? Grrr.
Ann: It was definitely a fun day and the yummy juice infusions did help.
I absolutely agree!
If you try the Jamba Juices, you’ll have to let me know which one you like best.
Thanks for the shout out, Melissa! I had so much fun spending the day with you and the other LA fitness ladies. We must do that more often!
One of the things I miss most about the west coast is Jamba Juice. I’m totally serious. Every time me or my dad see one, we reminisce! That event looked like so much fun and I already raised you to rock star status when I saw that pic of you with Venus – oh my Lord!!! Way too cool for me.
Can’t wait to meet YOU in just a week or two:-)
So fun! Wish I could have joined you ladies!! Next time 🙂
This looks like it was so much fun! Wish I had gone!
Awww, looks like y’all had a blast, I wish I could have joined you. Then again, I’m pretty sure I wouldn’t have been able to handle about 89% of what y’all did 😉
It was quite a day. I like your juice philosophy lady!
I agree. We definitely should do more activities together. Also, your photos were great!
You get good bagels and pizza, we get Jamba Juice. It was an exceptionally fun day. I’m looking forward to meeting you and doubly excited that we get to take a class of Christine’s together!
You were definitely missed but I see you’ve been busy too! Hoping all is going well in school and that we get the chance to see one another sometime soon.
It was a fun day! I do hope that I’ll see you at FitBloggin’ if not before!
Girl, you could have smoked us all, injured or not. You are a rockstar!
I am also a strong believer in EATING fruits and veggies. But I do find smoothies to be a great dessert treat and juicing to be a good way to use up some things that I didn’t get around to cooking that week. OR I’ll do a potent juice if I’m feeling sick.
I like your philosophy T.