Blog Elevated 2016

and another one!  this is my 3rd year attending the Blog Elevated conference.friday afternoon i cooked up and prepped a whole bunch of food & snacks for my boys to get them through the weekend.  Sonny has been on a mission since july this year to lose 30 lbs or so before baby #3 arrives. because of meal prep and 6 Pack USA, he made eeeeeeet!  achilles tendon issues and all.  so proud of him.

my girl Ogechi & i usually attend the conference and enjoy a relaxing weekend together but she was unable to attend this year *insert gigantic sad face*.  however, my prenatal fitness client, friend, belly buddy, and fellow mommy blogger, Marissa, was available and made the drive!  i enjoyed hanging out and learning alongside her all weekend; check out her adorable, family, blog and try out her delish recipes while you're there! day 1! the conference was held in the newly remodeled South Shore Harbour Resort & Conference Center in League City, Texas.  

i was crazy excited and honored to be a fitness ambassador for BE this year! i brought some fresh fruit to snack on throughout the day but y'all know i ate that soon as i got there, lol. lunch time finally rolled around though and roast beef sammiches were on the menu. unfortunately, brie is not a pregnancy friendly food, but i was so hungry i dismantled that bad boy and ate the protein and that pickle.Marissa headed out to find other options and did just that; isn't it pretty!?  i told her i'd take an order of whatever she got; this grilled chicken cobb salad hit THE spot.  right back to it after lunch.in between sessions there was "study hall".' it was a chance for us to go over the info we just learned and to take advantage of speaking with some of the BE mentors (other bloggers skilled in a particular area like Twitter or YouTube, etc.).  i have been trying to remain consistent and spice up my YouTube vids for forever!! so, i hunted down Roccibel Volpicella to get some tips.  her primary language is Spanish, so there was a translator present to help us communicate. she doesn't have a blog but has become insanely popular just from her YouTube makeup tutorials!                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 since IG is my jam, i definitely wanted to attend the, "Perfecting Instagram Panel" session.  each of these ladies (l to r: Meg Owens, Elly Brown, Brittany Ashmore, Jaclyn Kent) gave their own unique tips and pointers for growing their Insta audiences.  they mentioned using some of the photo apps i am already use and love like Snapped, A Color Story, and VSCO. day 2! it's time to move! Kroger sponsored a 7am Zumba class and the turnout was friggin' awesome!  look at all these girls (and 3 guys including our instructor) gettin' their early morning cardio ON!my fave way to start the day.i even won a raffle prize, wuuuut!? yeah, those chocolate almonds came in handy later in the day during sessions. 

some of the breakout sessions were held at the same time, so Marissa and i split up and swapped notes afterwards #teamwork.

we learned about getting the most out of our email lists, tracking our blog analytics, and i especially enjoyed the photography session by Rachel Matthews!  she provided plenty of tips for sprucing up our camera taking skills. 

lunch tiiiime! we dined on grilled chicken topped with pears, wild rice, and veggies while a News Republic rep spoke to us about using multiple revenue sources effectively.couldn't agree more.

 thanks for another fun, info-packed weekend, Lisa and Bobbie!

i tweeted a couple of my takeaways:

i hope they resonate with you too. thanks for reading!

K E E P   U P   W I T H   U S !

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Blog Elevated '14 - Galveston Island

has it really been a year!? catch up on my BE '13 experience there.

Galveston, we have arrived!

my girl Ogechi and i road tripped (if you can even call it that) from Houston to G-town this past weekend for the 2nd annual Blog Elevated Conference held at Moody Gardens. i live less than an hour from Galveston, i'm 32 years old, and this was my very first time at MG.

Ogechi went first and checked in right away.  i walked up to the registration table and the volunteers could not find my name. 'fitfoodiele?  hmmmm...' who forgot to register for the conference online before attending?? *raises hand* WHO does that?! i registered right there on the spot on my phone and was able to confirm i was supposed to be there.  one day i will get my life together.

i would just like to sincerely thank the founder of the BE, Lisa Stauber, for being so generous to Ogechi and i.

i was not leaving the conference without hugging and thanking her a billion times.  i had no trouble finding her though because she was extremely involved in the conference happenings, workshops, etc., and always easily accessible and approachable.  the number one thing that stands out about her to me is that she is REAL. a real life, hard-working mother of 10. TEN. no twins, triplets, multiples... all singles. her youngest is like 10 months old! hello? and she is running around handling business and operating her own conference?! she takes that 'no excuse' motto to a whole nother level.  she is MY motivation to be the business woman and mother i desire to be.  Lisa, you are one incredibly inspirational mama and i highly respect and appreciate you.

we got our swag bags and headed to mix and mingle with the other bloggers.

 

we participated in the Imperial Sugar sweet scrub booths right away and made some all natural body and lip scrubs! they were super simple to create and made with all natural ingredients you can pick up at your grocery store. try it at home yourself:

then try not to eat it all off.  impossible.

we made two others; orange dreamsicle body scrub, and i did a lavender, rosemary, lemon combo scrub as well.

here ya go:

ready to give my elbows and knees some love :D

fooooood! so lately i can't go to Sprouts without getting a handful of plantain chips #slightlyobessed so when i saw that basket full of them fireworks went off in my head.  we snacked on the chips with mango salsa, fresh fruit with yogurt dip, pineapple and chicken skewers, mini quiches, prosciutto wrapped melon, and...

smores for dessert!  we roasted our own marshmallows in that fire pit behind us first. such a fun idea!

after meeting, snapping pics, and hanging out with more blogger friends for a bit (hey @superradchristianwriterchick and @mysocalledglamorouslife!) we hit the road home since we had to be back early again the next day.

what's up day 2!? we checked into MG and dropped off our stuff in our room.  nursing babies were welcome so i brought one with me. Dego had plenty of company; there were a good handful of babies present this year.

my badge was waiting for me after last night's registration snafu so i excitedly threw it on!

 anxious and ready to learn but had to get a pic in front of the BE backdrop first.

another great turn out this year!  i was up and walking around with Dego for a bit while listening to the Brands and Bloggers PR panel answer our questions.

Dego had his own agenda, and it was definitely lunch time.

soon as the ballroom was open for lunch we went right on in and got a great spot in front of the big screen.  this is one place i didn't feel like i was being watched while taking pics of my food- everybody else was aiming and snapping away too. lol.

i was looking at last years BE post and noticed that nothing has changed as far as me and Ogechi's eating habits cause we are all about that fit life!  small, balanced meals every 3 hours or so works best for our energy levels and attitudes. lol.  when i'm working towards a specific goal with my body like our 6 Pack USA clients, i stick to my meal plan and do not budge no matter what.  yes, even while traveling. especially while traveling!! that's when i and most people stall the progress and fall off track..  however you can always stick to your guns though.  preparation goes a long way, especially with your nutrition.  however, i didn't bring any food food again this year,  just snacks like nectarines, quest bars, Ogechi's almonds, and water.  i'm pretty good at eyeballing my portion sizes for each meal according to my macros, so i did just that and did not stress.

back to it! after a hilarious yet informative lesson on creating charming & cheeky social media content from Marie Bonaccorse from Charmin, we took down several pages of notes from Matt Cherry's 30 Easy Changes to Make for Giant Growth seminar.

 after getting home so late thursday night, i skipped my early friday gym date (more like missed purposely) and planned on working out later that day sometime.  i attempted to take advantage of the 3 hour break we were given while Ogechi napped, but nope, Dego needed me more. after, oh idk, 10 min or so on the elliptical, Ogechi called me back to the room to tend to Dego's cries screams! so, no workout that day.

we attended the Beauty, Bubbles, and Bites Cocktail party that evening hosted by Kroger and did the mingle thang!

 and snacking thang. lol. if there's a chocolate fondu fountain in our vicinity, we'll find it.

 we were on our own for dinner, so we stayed on location and ate at the MG restaurant, Cafe in the Park.  i had a turkey-veggie burger with fries, plenty of water, and two dinner salads.

it was off to bed after i researched and connected via social media with some of the bloggers i had met earlier that day.  Dego was patiently waiting on his nightcap, haha.

early the next morning, this definitely happened! i couldn't wait to hit it hard.  i see you, Cintia! she was up early too and getting her run on, love it.  O took the first shift around 4-5am, and i went second while Dego snoozed.  the hotel didn't have a stair master, but i found the real thing and got in some lower body work outside.  it totally pumped me up to attack BE day 3! after breakfast of course.

back to Cafe in the Park we went.  i ordered some coffee, and an egg white veggie omelette with a little cheese. if that's a little cheese...... :/ but i was too hungry to wait for another (and we needed to get going)!  so i peeled it off myself and made it work.

we attended more workshops and seminars all afternoon until lunch time. the Representing Brands with Style workshop by Frederick Goodall was actually after lunch, but i didn't get any pics in them! nevertheless, @MochaDad did an amazing job.

lunch time again.

boxed lunches were provided by BE, so we took ours to the room so we could also get our stuff together to check out of the hotel.

after listening to Kristen Welch discuss how her non-profit org Mercy House was birthed, she wrapped up the conference, we said our goodbyes, and headed home to our hubbies.

but not before giving this guy a fresh diaper!

a few fitfoodiele takeaways:

•  trial and error. every speaker covered different topics and what worked for them of course, but they all had one common piece of advice-- get out there and try it and if it doesn't work, take note and try something else!  you'll never, ever know if you don't TRY.

•  i WILL conquer YouTube after Audra Kurtz' workshop! she inspired me so dang much. currently at #lostpuppystatus but i'm excited to use a different media other than photos.  maybe it will work out; maybe it won't. but i'm no longer afraid to try.

• focus on what you are good at. your niche. we ALL have one, but YOURS should be your focus. doesn't matter if there are multiple people doing what you're doing... you can't do it like THEM and they can't do it like YOU.

• STOP COMPARING. everything.

•  it will take hard work, blood, sweat, tears, late nights, and possibly YEARS for your blog to reach its potential.  accept that and continue to be consistent, be yourself, and post quality content about what you are most passionate about.

until next year, BE!

le

small group host + BE conference time again

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 bwhahahahahaha!  i cracked UP at that meme and immediately sent it to my brother. he understands my humor like nobody else.  get it?? happy first day of FALL, yall!

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in the studio extra early waiting for my coffee to kick in and ready to teach some HIIT.  i usually wear my Lifetime jacket to feel cool but i needed it this morning. the weather was fantastic at the crack of dawn; the exact opposite of humid and stuffy.

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afterwards i did about 10 min of steady state cardio on the arc trainer (cause i got cold again after class) before hitting the weights for some upper body work.  bring on the leggings, yoga pants, and all things pumpkin!  i was sipping on the last of my coffee spiked with International Delight's fat-free Pumpkin Pie Spice creamer on my way home.

later that evening, i had the pleasure of hosting my very first small group.  yep, comfort zone aborted.  joining one, sure, ok. hosting one? me? no way.  i remember signing up for it several weeks back, but only up until a few days ago did i realize the magnitude of what i had done. people really were signing up to come, and they were actually coming.  whoa.  the food responsibilities fall on the host, and well, i was SUPER excited about that part, you already know. i had to sincerely pray about keeping the whole point of the small group and our curriculum as the main focus though, not the food!  don't get me wrong, the food needed to be on point, but ensuring our meeting was well facilitated from beginning to end was just as important.

thank God, it went WELL!  excited to meet again next week.

so, here's what we munched on:

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fresh fruit salad with blackberries, strawberries, and nectarines,

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i got all the ingredients needed to make my kopy kate Central Market Cranberry Pepita Kale Salad and did just that.

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yummers.

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next, Zucchini Pizza Cruise Ships made with 93% lean ground turkey, smoky chipotle cheese, and turkey pepperoni.

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voila.

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homemade guac and butternut squash tortilla chips,

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and finally, i cut up and toasted some naan bread to be dipped into the hummus or the guac.

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here's my plate! got a little bit of everything like always.

remember last year's BE conference!? well it's that time AGAIN! the opening ceremony kicks off tomorrow and Ogechi and i are IN THAT THANG!  be sure to keep up with me during BE weekend on Twitter and IG.

peace!

le

TJ's visit + my 1st SETX Cluster Conference

Happy Veterans' Day to you all! today we honor all  US veterans and victims of all wars.

i couldn't help but to stop by TJ's this past friday, you know, since i was in the area and all.

i was greeted with all things FALL! the smell of Fall, the look of Fall, the taste of Fall.  the warm apple cider and pumpkin pie samples were the icing on the cake. there was no cake though; i looked.

i came out with a handful of specialty items:

• TJ's reduced guilt popcorn
• Envirokids Peanut Butter Panda Puffs
• bananas
• Fig Spread
• TJ's 0% greek yogurt

and THIS.

ok this is what i really stopped by TJ's for, i'll be honest. it had been taunting me on IG for way too long. in short, all you need is a spoon. i have yet to spread it on a thing.

saturday, my sorority sisters and i attended our very first South Eastern Regional Conference for Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Incorporated!

i even got a chance to meet and take a pic with our gorgeous South Central Regional Director, Chelle Luper Wilson.  She is a very busy mother of four, wow.

attendance was outstanding - we were everywhere!  successful event indeed.

we are on a budget (especially with the holidays coming up) so my debit card was restricted from buying any paraphernalia this time.

and the food was great :lol:.  of course it was great- the conference was held on my alma mater's campus.  GO COOGS! we had lightly breaded & butterflied chicken breast with a lemon caper sauce, yellow rice, carrots, green beans, and a wheat roll.  a spinach salad preceded our meal, but i couldn't wait yall.  

on sunday we hit up early service at church as usual.  man daylight savings time has been my saving grace this past week!  i've gotten more rest than i have all year.  i've been popping up an hour earlier than usual so i've been able to get more stuff done. i didn't want to exercise at ALL yesterday but since i skipped saturday (i crashed when i got home after the conference) i had to get on out there.

so i did.  1 hour of walking/jogging/running in my neighborhood, 3 sets of walking forward & back lunges down the side-walk and i called it quits.  something IS better than nothing!  thank you to my Instagram #fitfam for the motivation. never fails.

are you off today!? and are you staying in town for Thanksgiving or going to visit family this year?

le

BE countdown

and we're back!  Sonny and i celebrated wedding anni #6 in South Beach this past weekend.  you know i'll be making a nice little blog post about it when i get my life together but check out my Instagram feed for a few highlights in the meantime.

we got in late monday night after picking up Chiso from his grandparents house and i went to bed feeling like i shoulda got a sub for my 5:30am class the next morning.  after not picking up any dumbbells in 5 days straight and eating everything under the blazing Miami sun, um i needed to be there :shock: . i felt crappy on the way and not even my cup of coffee did much to help but i left the gym feeling the exact opposite.  it always happens that way!  then i crashed when i got home. really hard.

one great thought or action breeds another, so start your day with POSITIVITY!  an uplifting song, a scripture, prayer, or a motivational quote or all three.  they have an incredible, noticeable impact on the rest of your day. then pair it with something healthy and nutritious to go in your body and you are well on your way!

******

AAAAAAAGGGHH!!!!! the Blog Elevated Conference (BE) starts TOMORROW!!!!!! super-duper stoked is an understatement.  i'm shy, i'm reserved, yeah, yeah, yeah, but i am gonna try my absolute best to JUMP outta my comfort zone this weekend and be the social butterfly i know i can be.  i'm anxious just thinking about it but enough is enough.

got it? good. now apply it.

i owe you like three recipes!!! let's talk about these apple pie pancakes real quick though.  not to be confused with the apple pie oatmeal in my ebook (shameful plug).

hot apple-cinnamon pie  oat bran pancakes

the stuff:

• 1/2 cup raw oat bran
• 1 tsp almond extract
• 3 - 4 tbsp unsweetened vanilla almond milk
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 2 heaping tbsp unsweetened apple sauce
• 2 egg whites
• 1/2 cup chopped red delicious apple
• 1 tbsp coconut crystals
• 1 tbsp lemon juice
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon

do this:

mix everything in your blender EXCEPT the apples, coconut crystals, and lemon juice.  add as much almond milk as you'd like; i dont like super thick batter so i add about 4-5 tbsp myself to stretch it and make as many cakes as possible.  cook up the batter in your medium heated, no-stick cooking spray coated pan for 3-4 minutes each side.  heat a small saucepan over a medium flame and add your apples, lemon juice, and coconut crystals all at once.  stir until crystals have melted a bit but make sure it doesn't burn! it cooks fast.  top your cakes with the hot apple mixture.  drizzle them with some zero calorie Walden Farms pancake syrup.  ready, set,

go.

stats are for the entire thang.

happy pancaking.

Q: what's one thing in your morning routine that you must do every single day?

le