Repost: 5 Things I Learned at The Fit Atlanta Fest

Last weekend, B and I had the opportunity to attend the first annual The Fit Atlanta Fest. Hosted by The Fit Atlanta, the festival was jam-packed with workshops, awesome panel discussions, cool vendors and workouts. A day of health, wellness and endless motivation. I could go on and on about how much fun we had being healthy (who woulda thought?!) but instead, I wanted to share some of the biggest things we took away from the festival. We learned a ton and left feeling super motivated to continue our wellness journey – it felt wrong to not share!

FIVE TAKEAWAYS FROM THE FIT ATLANTA FEST

1. Drinking alcohol isn’t bad. You can still enjoy an adult beverage and lose weight or stay on track of your health goals. This is a common myth and I’m so happy they addressed it – and it’s one of the questions people ask me a lot of IG. Can I still drink? Did you give up liquor to lose weight? Answer: no I did NOT. The key is to avoid sugary cocktails + mixers, beer and wine (unless you’re in Spain bc they ain’t got toxins like in the U.S.). Try drinking the alcohol straight mixed with Club soda, water or fresh lime/lemon juice or have a glass of wine every now and then (or three). At the end of the day, as cliche as it is, it’s all about balance so enjoy your night out!
2. More movement, more life. This was Brandon’s favorite takeaway. One of the panelists Jordan stressed the importance of stretching and just MOVING in general. He compared our bodies to a factory and how if you stop using a department, after time it will shut down. Remember when you could do the splits in 2nd grade but then you stopped doing splits and now you can no longer do a split? Yeah, that factory shut down. So keep moving and stretching so those departments stay running!
3. Trend to stop: counting calories and macros. I am so guilty of being an avid calorie counter in my younger years. I logged every single piece of food I ate into MyFitness pass and it drove me crazy. I became obsessed with tracking and counting and restricting and comparing and it wasn’t healthy. Unless you’re training for something specific, there is no need to count out your macros and calories on a daily basis. Your focus should be to fuel your body! If you’re hungry, eat. If you want a cookie, eat a cookie. You know when you’re hungry and you know the foods that are good for you and you know the foods that are bad for you. Balance is key and you can still meet your goals without counting and tracking!
4. There’s much more to wellness that workouts and a good diet. In the self-care Sunday workshop, we learned a lot about cortisol and hormones and tips for having an overall better day. For example, right when you wake up, take 4 deep breaths and drink water. I already knew this but it was a great reminder that health isn’t just about the cardio or the salads. Your mental and internal health is crucial to being healthy and fit. Taking care of yourself and getting rid of stress is important and you are in control of that!
5. Wellness is something Brandon and I want to start doing more of together. We’ve enjoyed working out together the past few months but spending an entire day with other folks in the same headspace made us realize we want even more of that. Cooking together, shopping for good foods together, learning more about health together. It’s a new hobby we can do that will not only bring us together but it will keep both of us on track of our goals – and having a committed accountability partner is KEY!

This post was originally created by and posted on LaurenElyce.com | Photos by Urban Pines