After welcoming me to their kickoff event back in early December, local exercise gurus Kiera Smalls and Takia McClendon, co-founders of the Philly-based group City Fit Girls, sent me a sneak preview of their latest venture: the City Fit Kit.
Described by Smalls as a “personal trainer in a box,” the January kit arrived on my doorstep just in time to help launch my New Year’s resolution to get fit and healthy in 2014.
The adorable kit contained a plethora of health and fitness essentials, including a 30-day exercise calendar, a delicious smelling bar of soap from Center City-staple Duross & Langel, a Kind granola bar and a bag of herbal tea.
The January kit also contained unique recipes for smoothies and salads, including directions on how to make a cranberry-apple smoothie with light coconut milk and a recipe for coconut-braised kale with navy beans, sweet potatoes and lemon over brown rice. In addition, some of the essential ingredients needed to make these recipes, including shredded coconut and chia seeds, were included along with photos of the final product.
A special “Rocky” workout, cleverly based on the Philly-centric movie, encouraged subscribers to get their fitness on at one of the city’s most-beloved landmarks: the Philadelphia Art Museum. While this routine wasn’t quite as difficult as the 30.6-mile “Rocky Marathon” recently detailed on PhillyMag.com, it definitely got the blood pumping and was really fun.
But most importantly, the kit provided me with daily inspiration to get up and go to the gym. In addition to plotting out a daily workout routine, the City Fit Girls included motivational quotes to help encourage subscribers, something that I really found useful on a day-to-day basis. If I ever felt like skipping out on my 30 lunges, I had to look no further than the kit’s calendar to grab a bit of wisdom, including this gem from Philly native Bill Cosby: “In order to succeed your desire for success should be greater than your fear of failure.”
Follow the City Fit Girls on Twitter and Instagram and click here now to enroll for March’s City Fit Kit.
Disclaimer: The writer received a complimentary City Fit Kit as part of this review.
- Photography: Laura Hibbs McKenzie
