Barre Battles

So I have this obsession with buying Groupon/Living Social/whatever deals or intro specials for all these different boutique gym studios.... I just love trying and comparing them all! And... I mean.... how can you resist a deal on a great workout? :P

When I first started trying out different barre classes, I tried looking up reviews for different studios and all of them say the same thing... "It's a great workout... blah blah blah..." But it was a little hard to specifics on what made that particular barre workout different than all the other ones. In my experience, all the different companies have a different emphasis and a different style. Even though they are all based on similar techniques, they can be very different workouts!

So here we are with the Barre Battles - my reviews on different barre workouts.

I'll break down each review in to different categories and then rate each category.

Categories to review will be: strength (10 points), cardio (10 points), instruction (10 points), facility amenities (5 points), facility cleanliness (5 points), value (5 points), and other extra notes (5 points).

A few of the studios I have tried and plan on reviewing are:

I will give myself a refresher of all of these over the next few months by taking a few more classes (if I don't currently go to them regularly), so I can write a more thorough review.

In the end, I'll let you know my favs! :)

Hi! I'm Margo

Hi everyone!! Before I get started on this blog again, I feel like I need a give a little intro to myself... My food, fitness journey, and a few other little random things about myself.

Cheers! Beer tasters at Deschutes Brewery in Portland, OR

My name is Margo and to sum it up, I'm a food-loving, super short, proud San Diegan in my 20s.

I've grown up in coastal San Diego pretty much my entire life and I absolutely love it here.

I'm half-Filipino and half-white and I think my love and complete obsession with food comes from my Filipino side... If you are Filipino or have close Filipino friends, you know what I mean - food is a HUGE part of the culture. Also, my grandma was a cook, so that probably has a pretty big influence on me too - I got to grow up eating extra delicious Filipino food :P

I went to school at UC Irvine and picked up my B.S. in Public Health Sciences with a minor in education.

After college, I moved back to San Diego, sat around at a desk all day in my office, and enjoyed a LOT of going out, drinking way too much, then eating badly - typical for someone just out of college, right? Anyways, this resulted in a lot of weight gain. I was at 125 lbs at my worst. I know some people probably want to shoot me right now... Only 125 pounds and I'm complaining?? But I'm 4 FOOT 10 INCHES. 125 pounds put me in the overweight category on the BMI scale. This was a huge slap in the face for me to get in shape.

Yuck!

Like anyone wanting to lose weight, I started eating healthy and exercising a lot. This was two years ago. But over time, my weight loss journey, my obsession with food, and my education in Public Health kind of blended together and sparked this whole new interest in.... drum roll.... Nutrition!

Nutrition. I love it. I love learning about it. I love testing things out. I love reading about it. I love talking about it. I'm strongly considering going back to school to get my Masters in Public Health with an emphasis in Nutrition. It's awesome.

I also absolutely LOOOVE cooking.

And that was the start of this blog. Cooking healthy foods :)

To give this blog a little more personality and make it a little more "me," I will be also posting about different types of workouts and events/restaurants/bars/fun things in San Diego. Or you know... Just random things I feel like blogging about ;)

Other randoms:

Hiking Rincon de la Vieja in Costa Rica (2103)

My boyfriend, Rommel: This guy is hilarious, super caring, and super patient with me on days I turn in to a huge bitch :P He also got really in to food and cooking because of me, and we love cooking together, exercising together, and discovering new restaurants/bars together.

At Del Mar Dog Beach

My dog, Zoey: LOVE THIS GIRL SOOOO MUCH!! We picked her up from a shelter when she was just a few months old - she was found as a stray. We are pretty sure she is either full Australian Cattle Dog or maybe an Australian Cattle Dog mix. She is RIDICULOUSLY smart (which can be both annoying and funny at the same time) and she is the most caring dog I've ever met.

JJ's HSU graduation 2013

My family: My brother, JJ, is a linebacker for the Humboldt State Jacks and has recently picked up an interest in home-brewing, my dad shares my obsession with fitness and food, and my mom shares my love for cooking.