We are excited to bring you a new monthly series from Kelly Kunst, faculty member and director of Jazz Factor, our 6th-9th Grade youth jazz company. Check back on the first of each month to follow Kelly’s fitness journey.
Happy November! Also known as the time of year when it becomes easy to lay our fitness goals aside. It can start small, you’re just a little busy the weeks leading up to Thanksgiving. Then, it gets colder, you’re attending holiday parties (with those little bite sized cheesecakes) and you might as well just let it all go through the winter. You’ll just pick back up again January first with the rest of the country, right? How about not doing that this year? Let’s stay on track together. If you’re like me, I never regret taking a class or getting a workout in. I sometimes want to sit at home, bake cookies, and watch a movie, but I can safely say I’ve never finished a workout and thought, ‘Man, I wish I had just sat at home and baked cookies.’ Let’s figure out how to follow through on your goals for this month. (We’ll worry about next month, next month.) I’ll share some of my methods and hopefully some of them will work for you.
Decide ahead of time when you are going to fit in your workouts. Jazz on Tuesday? Zumba on Thursday? Put it on your calendar as an event. Don’t treat it as an ‘if I can fit it in, I’ll do it’. It’s your health and well-being; that deserves priority status. Even better, find a friend and plan it together. If you are accountable to each other, it is even more likely you will follow through with the workout. It’s fun to try new things, but find a class that you can be a regular at. Every class has it’s own little community and after a few weeks, you will probably find that you miss it if you don’t go. Having people ask where you were is incentive as well!
Think about why you are doing this. Are you trying to lose weight? Do you want more energy? Do you want to be stronger and have more stamina to play with your kids? Trying to create a strong body for injury prevention? Just love dance? Being clear in your own mind about why this is important for you will help you stay motivated.
Be creative. Life happens, sometimes despite our best intentions we miss that class. What else can you do to keep it going? How about climbing the stairs from the metro? Start an impromptu dance party in your living room? Challenging the family to a friendly plank hold competition? I like to do abs while I watch the news at night and I have a pull-up bar so I can get a few in each time I walk under. I also do calf raises while I wash dishes. There’s always a way to get a little something in.
The other thing we should all remember is that Thanksgiving is one day. Yes there are other holidays to celebrate and the kids get a break from school. Let’s not make it an excuse to have a five week vacation from our health. Take each day as it comes. Of course we may indulge on Thanksgiving or another day that has special food or treats, but think about how much better you will feel if you keep it to those days. I eat clean except for two meals a week. I eat what I want with no guilt for those two meals. I love following this plan because I’ve found that I enjoy the treats so much more. I know that there will always be another chance to have a gooey dessert so I don’t need to eat the whole bag of cookies right now.
I hope these tips work for you. Let me know in the comments how your routine is going. What regular class will you start attending and please ask me fitness questions. When we chat again in December we will all be on track with our goals and feel strong and healthy!
