What's in my gym bag

I think we can all agree that 2020 has been a little crazy to say the least. We have all shifted life to accommodate our individual circumstances which means everyones day to day looks a little different. Welcome to my new normal! I went from teaching spin and having an unlimited yoga membership to being at home with my dogs where my fitness routine looks a lot different.

Thank you so much to shortyLOVE for sponsoring this post! These bags were created by the boss babe who was previously the design director for Marc Jacobs and she named her brand after her dog (a woman who speaks my language!).

In the spirit of normalcy let’s talk about what’s in my gym bag! First off, my gorgeous gym bag is from shortyLOVE and it’s the Boxer in black. It holds ALL of my gym essentials and I store all of my go-to’s in it even while at home. The bag converts from a backpack to a shoulder bag (see below) so you can wear it how you want! I’m going to walk you through how I use it when life is a little more normal so you know how I use it to it’s maximum awesome capacity.

Use code MAE10 to receive $10 off your first order.

Let’s start at the bottom where you’ll find a large zipper compartment for my shoes. This compartment is spacious and depending on how big your shoes are, you could probably fit more than just shoes - I recommend throwing your dirty clothes in here as well (once we are back to the gym of course)!

The side zipper holds my laptop, the two side pockets hold water bottles, and the middle front zipper is perfect for easy access to my phone. Moving on to the spacious interior! The main compartment is massive and holds my clean clothes, hairbrush, shower spray, and whatever else I’m carrying with me. The inside is also complete with an interior zipper pocket, interior red pockets (another place for phone/wallet), and a GREAT pop out bag where I keep things like headphones, deodorant, gum, extra mic covers, snacks, headache medicine, and iPhone dongle. I love this because in other bags, my essential smaller bag always gets buried in the bottom so I LOVE that this pops in the top.

If you’re into this shortyLOVE Boxer, I also recommend checking out the other bags they make:

The Wonder comes in camo (pictured), black and navy. For me, this bag is perfect for yoga when I don’t have extra shoes, but I still need enough space to carry my towel, waterbottle, and essentials.

The Amuse is a crossbody or top handle bag and also comes in camo, black, and navy. This is the perfect purse size which means it gets used for EVERYTHING.

Lastly is the Shorthand which is my choice for walking the dogs. It’s perfect when I want to be handsfree when all I need is my phone and some treats!

What are your must have gym essentials? Let me know below! 

Check out the full shortyLOVE collection here! Use code MAE10 to receive $10 off your first order.

My Top 5 Winter Amazon Finds Under $60

Hey guys! I did a little shopping on Amazon for the winter season and came across some really great pieces (and some not so great pieces, but those got sent back- hah!) perfect for your upcoming events. These are all items that I liked enough to keep and have already worn.

Everything I’ve listed is $60 or less and is eligible for Prime which means free shipping and free returns if you decide the items don’t suit you or you need another size!

1. Epic Fluffy Coat

This coat is my favorite find. It’s pink, fluffy, super cozy, and actually thick. Tip: Use the sizing chart. *I ordered an “XXL/12” for a slightly looser fit.

2. Leopard Cardigan

This sweater comes in 16 different prints (I have the one pictured). I love the long length and casual vibe. *I ordered a size small.

3. Fitted Sweater Dress

This dress is an unexpected find and comes in camel and grey. I love it way more in person than I did online. The length is nice, the sleeves are long enough for my monkey arms, and it looks amazing with thigh high boots! *I ordered a 4/6.

4. Oversized Sweater Dress

This is the dress I’m wearing in the first photo. It’s not my top pick, but I do like it so I felt it was worth mentioning. I love the huge turtle neck, pockets, and the length, but I ordered the white version (it comes in 8 colors) and you definitely need to wear a slip with it. I almost didn’t keep it because of this reason, but it’s just an easy piece to wear so I decided to hang on to it. *I ordered size large for an oversized fit.

5. Lightweight Sweater

This is that perfect lightweight sweater that looks great french tucked into a pair of jeans. It has the chunky look without all of the excess material. I ordered a size small in this yellow color, but it comes in 5 colors.

Bonus Item

This pack of basic cropped camis is a bonus item. They are definitely not winter specific, but I do find myself wearing them under these items instead of wearing a bra. They are super lightweight, comfortable, and wash/dry without shrinking. I have the 3-pack in a size small.

That’s it for me! If you have any other Amazon winter items that you recommend, please link them in the comments below!

The boots pictured in the photos of me are sold out from Nasty Gal, but here are a few that are similar: these, these, these and these.

Photos by Jason Holland

Women inspiring women

A huge thanks to Athleta for sponsoring this post!

In a world that is rapidly changing - where we have so much at our fingertips - it’s still incredibly easy to stay in our own lane and never venture beyond what we currently know and do. The world is ours to explore yet sometimes some of us stay in our bubble. I 1000% can be that person, but just because I can be that person doesn’t mean I want to let it define me or become who I am all of the time. The first step is realizing it, right? Look, for whatever reason I can get on a podium in front of 60+ people to teach and motivate a class, but somewhere along the way in the last two years I’ve found hesitation in doing something outside of spin and yoga. I decided it was time to shake things up a bit so I asked my friend Jen for a little help. Look, if I was going to leave my cozy bubble, I needed a little hand holding, OK?

Before I explain what I did, let me paint you a little photo here. Jen is a BADASS. Like, four-stripe blue belt in Brazilian Jujitsu, vegan, incredibleeee cook, super positive, calming energy, shows up when you need her, most organized person I know, and an amazing friend to everyone - like, when I think about the kind of person I want to be I’m just naming qualities of Jen. We have talked about her coming to one of my classes and me coming to a class with her for months, but it just never happened. Finally, I just sent her a text and we set it all up. At this point I know NOTHING about MMA, the gym she goes to, where to start, what to bring, etc. In fact I only know two people who even practice Jujitsu - Jen and my friend Anna. I’ve always thought how cool it was, but from a distance, like a farrrr distance on Instagram, and here I was about to put myself out there and try it.

Thursday rolls around and I’ve now committed to taking an intro Jujitsu class at Creighton MMA & Fitness Academy. Was I excited? Yes. Was I nervous? ABSOLUTELY. I made such a big deal out of it in my head it was all I could think about the entire day. To some people trying a new workout class is totally normal! Why was I so freaked out? I don’t know, maybe because I was about to wrestle on the floor with someone else! Literally, I got so nervous on my way there that I knew if Jen wasn’t waiting on me I would totally bail. Once I got there the guys at the front walked me through everything and were SO nice. The gym is broken up into three sections - the lobby, an area for group fitness classes, and a huge mat area. I put my bag in the girls locker room, took off my shoes and walked out to the mat area where class would be. Although everyone else in class were beginners (except Jen because she asked to stay with me - thank God lol), I believe I was the only brand new person. We started off with a few warm ups going up and down the mat and moved straight into learning three moves. This class was LEGIT you guys. I literally learned how to flip someone off of me and a rear choke hold!!! We did more than that, but those were the two that really BLEW MY MIND. I was so excited and proud of myself after class, plus I learned something completely new to me! A few of us jumped into the Total Body Fitness class afterwards and then I hung out and watched Jen in her advanced class for a little bit. Right as I was about to leave, a girl that was in my intro class came up and introduced herself to me. I asked her how she found out about Creighton (thinking she also came with a friend) and she said, “Google.” Come to find out she comes by herself and has for a few classes now - so brave!

I literally came inspired by someone and I left inspired by someone. Never under estimated the impact you have on people! You never know how much you’re helping them by just being YOU!

Again, a huge thanks to Jen for just being herself! Her badassery on Instagram led me to want to try Jujitsu, her encouragement made me actually pick a time/day, her kindness in taking class with me made me less anxious, and her patience in helping me take all of these photos allowed me to share my story with others!

*Also, thank you for only accidentally hitting me in the face once. 🤣

P.S. here is an outtake when we couldn’t stop laughing (who knows why) when we were trying to re-create our sweet jujitsu moves, hehe.

Shop our Athleta looks here:

https://cur.lt/2LDHo6m

The Power of Limitless Potential

Huge thanks to Athleta for working with me again, sponsoring this post, and empowering me to share my #PowerOfShe story. 

As a child I never considered myself to be much of an athlete. I played organized sports from a young age because my friends did, but it was a social hour more than anything else. I always liked soccer, cheer, and basketball but I didn't really care if I was the best. I thought getting winded meant that it was time to be benched and for someone else to go in. No one ever taught me the concept of pushing through in order to get stronger, or at least it never clicked for me. 

Then came freshman year in high school. We had a week of soccer try-outs to make either the Freshman, JV, or Varsity team. I showed up every day and at least tried my best. At times it sucked, I wanted to skip practice, I hated running for long periods of time, and how I managed multiple "heading drills" still baffles me. My near breaking point was when we had to run with the Varsity girls. The fact that those girls can sprint from the back of the line all the way to the front while singing a song literally almost killed me. But, I stuck it out, and because I showed up and tried, I made the JV team. Man, was I OVER THE MOON that I made JV! That meant I was good enough to skip the Freshman team.. as a Freshman AND I was part of the starting line up! All because I tried rather than shoving myself into the "not good enough" box. I felt SO cool in my warmups on game day and I still have my sweatshirt to this day!

I know that this experience is why I'm so empathetic to new riders at Flywheel and it's why I was all about sharing my journey when I used to race bikes. All I want to do is show people that they CAN. You don't belong in the "not good enough" box. You are capable of the things you want to try, you can achieve more than you give yourself credit for, and you deserve to give yourself the chance. 

If you're interested in any of the incredible soft items that I'm wearing, I have linked them below in order of appearance:
Trophy Seamless Bralette
Stash Pocket Salutation Tight
Exhale Capri
Shala Dress

Eating in Palm Springs

This isn't going to be the most elaborate of blog posts, but I wanted my list of places I ate while in Palm Springs to live somewhere I could easily access or point people to it. So, TA-DA, I give you the places I ate while in Palm Springs (with my vegan friend):

Wang's in the Desert
Evzin
Palm Greens Cafe
Chef Tanya's Kitchen
Jus Chillen (for froyo)
Natural Sister's Cafe
El Jefe at The Saguaro Hotel
FARM
Kings Highway at The Ace
Blaze Pizza
Native Foods

The location of this shoot was in Joshua Tree at the Barker Dam
I'm wearing the Blue Life Enchanted one piece from Largo Drive

2017 IN REVIEW

I must admit two things. First, this post is admittedly more for me to have on record, and secondly it's very late seeing how we are already 18 days in to 2018. To be fair, I started off the year with a stomach bug, got better-ish for a few days and then instantly hit with the flu that took me out for almost a week. If you ask me, 2018 doesn't start until February because that was one rough start. However, I did a survey on IG stories and had an overwhelming response that my audience loves athleisure posts so if reading my recap for 2017 doesn't do it for you, just enjoy this outfit that I got online at Largo Drive from the brand Splits 59. 

I'm wearing this top and these bottoms. 

Here is a list I made on the plane one day. In the future I'd like to keep up with what I do as it happens so I don't have to recall it from memory. I also linked a lot, but not everything.

What I’ve accomplished or moments I want to remember:
Flywheel Social Media Award
Signed with Redbull
Specialized Ambassador
My "standing theme" at Flywheel kicked off as one of the top themes in the nation
Became an aunt!!
Epic Dual ride with Carlee

Where I’ve traveled
NYC in January with Exploring Paths
NYC in the Summer with Exploring Paths
NYC with Flywheel
LA with Redbull for the Fitness Summit
Bonnaroo with Redbull to participate in the Big Freedia "Twerk-Out Workout"
Texas with Redbull for Last Stand
San Jose, California for the Specialized Women's Summit
Pensacola, Florida to see family
Sunset, Florida to run Wings for Life
Snowshoe Mountain to learn how to downhill mountain bike
Stay in ATL with Redbull for Culture Clash

Goals I've completed:
- Participated in my first Warrior Dash
- Longest run to date at Wings For Life
- Only traveling with a carry on - yes, I made a goal to only travel with a carry-on and did it! The only time I had to check a bag was when I brought the kids at Exploring Paths goodies!
- Got my very first mountain bike
- First downhill mtb experience
- December ab challenge - not the biggest success of my life, but it was a decent attempt (lolz)
- In 2016 I found a dog and decided to keep in. He ended up having heartworms so he was crated during recovery. In 2017 when he got better I spent 6 months in training with him. Something I highly recommend doing!

Brands I’ve worked with or who have supported me:
I’m very proud and selective of who I collaborate with. I always want my audience to only be exposed to products that I actually use and brands that I love.

Redbull
Specialized
Flywheel
Michelob ultra x Flywheel
Tarte (technically this was the very end of 2016) but how cool?!
Largo drive
Levi’s
Oakley
Freshly
Cryology
Headspace
Exploring Paths
BoltHouse Farms
Terez and Terez x Star Wars
GoldSheep
HaerFest
Playology
Athleta
Road Runner Sports
Chuice
Arctic Zone
Saris

Published work:
Headspace the dot
Active.com
Redbull.com for Last Stand
Star Wars Life account posted my photo
Popsugar Fitness posted my photo
Athleta posted my photo
Experience Avalon

What I would like to do in 2018:
- Take more photos
- Get my personal trainer certification
- Create more video content
- More audio booksI (I've already started this.) Currently I'm listening to Relentless by Tim Grover

3 REASONS WHY I'M NOT YOUR AVERAGE FITNESS FANATIC

“I DON’T USE FITNESS TRACKERS”

Back when I was training to race outside, my Garmin was LIFE and if I didn't cross post my workout to Strava than I felt like it didn't even happen. I was obsessed with how far I had ridden, how many feet of elevation I had climbed and how many hours I had been in the saddle that week. One day I received a pretty nasty message from someone who had gone through and stalked out my race results, my workouts, etc. They used it as a personal attack to make me feel like I was undeserving of any sponsor I had earned and any recognition I had received. Clearly this person didn't follow my blogs on the Specialized website or actually take the time to read my Instagram posts because my entire journey was about starting from nothing, never claiming to be the best, but rather sharing the ups and downs with other people in hopes that they would get out there and try riding, too! Not too far after that incident I pretty much stopped posting my workouts. I went back and forth deciding if I stopped because I wanted to or if I stopped because someone made me feel bad about it. I didn't want to admit that someone actually got to me. Hate happens allllll of the time and most times you can let it go - sometimes you don't. Regardless of whether or not I stopped because of this person, I will say the silver lining is that when I did stop, I finally found balance in my life. The pressure was gone and I was finally working out for myself, not for the likes on Strava or to appease what I thought I "should" be doing. It's now been around a year and a half and I haven't looked back since. 

“I DON’T COUNT CALORIES OR MACROS”

Listen, I am a definite rare bird in this scenario. Most people will not relate to this, but if you do, know that you aren't alone. I fully appreciate that tracking food intake helps A LOT of people and to be totally honest, I WISH it had that effect on me. Unfortunately, every single time I've ever tried using an app to track my food it has the reverse outcome. Instead of eating better I end up only thinking about food, absolutely obsessing over it, and after awhile I lose my mind and binge eat...bad. By the end of it, I will have eaten WAY worse than if I had just went about my day eating what I wanted. After several tries of monitoring my food I had to accept that it just didn't work for me. I would rather be aware of what I'm putting in my body and try and make good choices rather than flipping a switch and completely losing control of myself. Again, most people I tell this to think I'm nuts, but if you're anything like me - I FEEL YOU. I will say, even though I don't use things like MyFitnessPal anymore, I did learn a lot about what I was eating when I was using it. I still think it's a great tool for a lot of people, just not me. 

“I EAT (admittedly) TOO MUCH JUNK FOOD BUT I’M NOT AFRAID TO TALK ABOUT IT”

Look, I grew up eating terribly. The only spinach I ever grew up eating came from a can and was cooked in a pot with loads of butter and salt. It's amazing I don't weigh at least 100 pounds more than I do and even more amazing I was able to get where I am now. However, sugar is still a massive addiction of mine. It's my HUGE personal battle, but rather than cutting it out 100% (probably not possible) or pretending that I eat salads on the daily, I use it as a means of balance. Now, do I eat 3-4 donuts for breakfast anymore? Absolutely not, but if I want one than I will have one. It took a lot of trial and error to find what works for me and a lot of feeling guilty that I wasn't the perfect health specimen. In the end I finally found that balance was king and my balance will not be the same as your balance. If you can cut sugar out than by all means you go Glen Coco, but for me, I'd rather have one donut than lose complete control of myself and end up eating that donut, plus a pie, plus fried food, plus literally whatever else I can find. IF the day comes where I decide I want to be shredded, I am fully aware that I will need to do some major adjustments, but until that day comes, I'll take my small daily food victories and accept that although I'm not perfect, I know that I've come a LONG way in my eating habits. 

I'd love to hear your journey with food. Did you grow up eating healthy? If not, how do you think that's influenced how you eat now?

Outfit by the amazing Largo Drive. Check out their blog post where I did an interview and talk about my journey in becoming a fitness instructor.
Interested in buying something from them? Use code MAE20 from now until November 11th to get 20% off all regularly priced items.

I'm wearing the Lanston Sport Slit Bra and the Lanston Sport Slit Leggings. 

Permission to Pause with Athleta

I am SO excited that this week I teamed up with Athleta and gave myself #PermissionToPause in their new Restore collection. I chose to go to the Atlanta Beltline as it's one of my favorite places to walk around and unwind. You get to see A TON of dogs (and if you know me you know how much that excites me), stop by for a popsicle, watch people go buy on skateboards and bikes; and admire the art that lines the entire pathway. Because I previously lived walking distance away, I find it both nostalgic and fresh as it's always changing and updating, but still so full of memories.

If you don't have a local place like this that brings you peace (and popsicles) consider these alternatives:

- Take time for gratitude and involve those around you. I use an app called "Gratitude Journal" if I'm in the mood to document my day with photos or even just to list off the things I'm thankful for. It keeps it sorted for you by date - almost like a bullet diary with only positive memories. If I'm around people when I'm entering my thoughts, I'll ask them to do the same!

- Reach out on social. Sometimes I take my mindfulness to Instagram stories. I'll list three things that I'm thankful for or proud of and encourage others to think of three things as well. Then I give everyone the option of sharing their thoughts with me if they want to. It creates a really amazing community!

- Guided meditation. My boyfriend and I use the Headspace app. If you haven't tried it, I recommend giving it a go. It has a free basics pack and gives really great tips (and animated videos) on how to use it. I even have it set up to send me little "Mindful Moments" which are push notifications on my phone that keep me grounded throughout the day. 

If you live near an Athleta, I encourage you to stop by their store and attend their "Permission to Pause" meditation class. Not sure where one is near you? Check out the list HERE.

Now, on to these ridiculously cozy and extremely soft clothes that I'm wearing! The white "With Ease" tank is tied up, but you can wear it like a normal shirt - but really, what's normal these days? The softest joggers I've ever worn are called the "Restore Joggers" and if you buy only one thing from this line it should be these. The roomy grey short sleeve is called the "Eco Wash Restore Sweatshirt" and it's a really nice structured shirt with an oversized cozy twist to it. Lastly is the super snuggly black sweater called the "Pranayama Wrap" and can we just take a moment for the amazing thumb holes? Yes, please! 

I'd love for you to share your ideas, mantras, and ways you stay mindful below. The more the merrier! Also, make sure to check out the Athleta Chi blog for more tips to unplug!

Lastly, a HUGE thanks to Athleta for collaborating with me and sponsoring this post. #PowerOfShe