10 Takeaways from Blogfest + IDEA World 2018

One of my favorite parts of working in the health & wellness world is getting to to connect and learn at industry events. Being in a building full of people who are passionate about the same things that I’m passionate about can be such a powerful thing!

Last week I attended the IDEA World Convention in downtown San Diego – a gathering of 14,000 fitness pros and enthusiasts that features seminars, workouts, and an expo hall full of cutting edge brands. Within IDEA is Blogfest, the Fit Approach-run event that focuses on sessions for influencers in the wellness world. I’ve gone to both events a couple of times, and every time I attend it leaves me feeling inspired and invigorated – and this year was no different.

IDEA + Blogfest is about so much more than just fitness. Fitness transcends into every other part of our lives, and the sessions I attended also focused on mindset; nutrition and how it affects your entire body, mind, and being; fighting for what you want in life; and living our best lives – things that resonate with every one of us. So today, I thought it’d be fun to share some of my favorite takeaways from the conferences. Let’s get to it!

The very first session of Blogfest was titled The Perfection Detox: Tame Your Inner Critic, Live Bravely, and Unleash Your Joy. I immediately was a fan of the presenter, Petra Kolber, who was relatable and funny. She’s releasing a book of the same title this summer, and here were a few of my favorite thoughts that she shared during the session:

1.) “Perfectionism is the voice of the oppressor, the enemy of the people. It will keep you cramped and insane your whole life.” – Anne Lamott

2.) Be a “passionist” not a perfectionist. The more time we spend dwelling on perfectionism, the less we’re delivering our message and enabling people to relate to our story. People connect more to our true stories, not to some fake perfect persona that could never be attainable in real life.

3.) FEAR = Face Everything And Rise. Fear is only a problem when it oversteps its boundaries. In other words, we all experience fear in our lives. But, once we let that fear drive what we do and don’t do and hinder our ability to move forward and thrive, we are living a fear-driven life as opposed to a passion-driven one.

4.) “Build your own empire, and don’t worry about what other people are doing.” – Sadie Nardini

I’ve been familiar with Sadie for years, when I started doing her fun yoga videos on YouTube. I got to meet her last year (pictured above) and have seen her speak a few times about the booming online yoga course business that she’s created. When someone asked Sadie how she responds to haters/critics/copycats during her Blogfest session, the above quote was part of her response. I like Sadie’s mentality to just focus on what you’re doing and not to worry so much about what others say and do. No matter what you do for a living, I think that’s a useful nugget of wisdom to keep in mind.

Heidi and Chris Powell are the stars of the ABC docs-series TV Show Extreme Weight Loss, and they were given the honor of the IDEA Jack LaLanne Award at the conference this year (which is presented by his adorable, spunky wife Elaine LaLanne every year, and I always look forward to hearing her speak!). Heidi was also the keynote speaker at Blogfest, and while I knew little about her before her speech, I had become a fan of hers by the time it was over.

I got to meet Heidi afterwards, and she was so likable and down to earth. Here are my favorite takeaways from her keynote:

5.) “Because I work and am able to share my passion through my work, I feel like I’m a better mom.” (Heidi is mother of 4!)

6.) “Zig when others zag.” 

7.) Embrace failure. Failure means you’re taking risks. Comfort is the thief of progress.

8.) Hustle and grind – but not into the ground! I love this nugget of wisdom because work/life balance is so important. Heidi talked about the “full plate syndrome” that people face when they’re afraid to say no to things. The irony is that some wellness professionals are working so hard to build their careers and change lives, sometimes they forget about their own mental wellness. I always aim to balance working hard with relaxing and having fun. You cannot pour from an empty cup!

9.) Be a lifelong learner. Stay open and flexible, and appreciate different perspectives. Heidi talked about how she tries to respond to critics with heart and compassion (which is certainly tough sometimes!) and tries to see their perspective as a way to open her eyes about things she may have never even considered before.

10.) “All you have to do in honor the clock with your lifestyle choices.” – Dr. Pam Peeke

I attended a few IDEA sessions that were part of their nutrition summit, and one speaker that I always enjoy seeing is Dr. Pam Peeke (<— check her out, she’s awesome!), who presented a session on the emerging science with how our hunger matches with our bodies’ circadian rhythms. Through recent research, what’s been found is that 12-16 hours a day of non-feeding (read: no meals, no snacks, no energy drinks, no wine, etc.) is ideal to optimize our body’s processes of detoxifying and getting rid of what she called “cellular trash”.

I really enjoyed this session because I do 13-15 hour intermittent fasting the vast majority of days, and it was neat to hear about the research that is now supporting this way of eating as being optimal.

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Check out my past IDEA World & Blogfest recaps: 

• Blogfest 2017 in Vegas Recap: Trying STRONG by Zumba 
• Epigenetics: How Your Diet Can Change Your Genetics (IDEA World 2017) 
• The Practice I’m Adding to My Pre-Workout Routing (IDEA World 2017)
• IDEA World 2016: Working Out with Jillian Michaels + Trying Pop Pilates  
• The Highlight of 2014 Blogfest: Jillian Michaels Keynote

*Thank you to all of the Blogfest sponsors and to Fit Approach for putting on another great event this year!* 

Tell me…When was the last time you felt truly inspired? What’s your favorite quote lately?