Every time December rolls around, I start to cringe at the thought of all the candy, cocktails, cookies and carbs I am about to devour. Holiday parties, stress eating and tasty gift baskets delivered to your door can do a number on your body and by January, feelings of guilt, lethargy and sluggishness start to set in….as it does every year.
Like most of us, I set my fitness and wellness goals as I welcome in the new year. I feel refreshed with that “new year, new me” attitude and devise a plan that will slim me down in no time. Usually, this involves committing to exercise classes, intense dieting (sometimes juicing) and getting hardcore at the gym. And again, like most of us, this drops off by mid February and I end up feeling like a failure more than ever.
What have we been doing wrong? Why can’t we stick to our goals… Shouldn’t getting fit be easy, fun and enjoyable?
In my opinion, the problem lies with forcing yourself to take classes and stick to routines that aren’t manageable and aren’t exactly for YOU. Plus, in a millennial world, you get bored easily.
Time to switch it up and try something new for your fitness. Something FUN that you can enjoy with the girls!
Plus – start NOW before the gyms get ultra crowded and burn away those Christmas
cookies before you even eat them!
OUR TOP 2018 FITNESS RECCO: add a little SASS and a whole lot of FIERCE to your sweat sesh
The other day, we signed up for a beginner dance class at The Underground Dance Centre in Toronto (voted #1 Best Dance Classes in Toronto by Blog TO). But this wasn’t your average ballet, jazz or tap class. We attended a Beyoncé class. Girrrrllll, we had a blast!
We got nostalgic learning an attitude-packed routine to Independent Women by Destiny’s Child (YASSSSS). Our fabulous teacher Kaleela Dominic instantly made us feel comfortable in our own skin and excited to channel Queen Bey vibes. We started out with a great warm up that included cardio and even a lengthy set of crunches. We were sweating before we started learning choreography.
We also learned how to do a fierce walk across the room. TIPS below:
- Smize at yourself in the mirror
- Get loose and push your hips out from side to side
- Walk like you’re 9 ft tall with a major purpose
For the rest of the class, we learned our Beyoncé routine and how to master a ton of feminine and flirty moves.
The bonus we got out of our sweat sesh was that we worked on our CONFIDENCE. We talked about facial expressions we could use to enhance and really nail our performance:
- The Eye Roll aka “Come on boy, you know you’re SO not at my level”
- The Doe Eyed Girl aka “I’m innocent and sexy. Wanna dance with me?”
- The Lip Pout aka “Who run the world? ME!”
By the end, we were feeling like QUEENS…. and a bit slimmer after all that moving and shaking 😉
Conclusion: Working on your fitness and self-confidence should be practiced at the same time. After all, you’re going to need a new attitude to go along with that new bod! Sticking to your goals and enjoying the work along the way can be done by exploring new avenues and we definitely realized this at The Underground Dance Centre. What we loved most about our time there is how we didn’t feel like we had to have a ton of experience to get through the class and have fun. These guys are truly redefining the dance experience so that everyone can get a piece of that dance life!
Check out their website for a breakdown of their drop-in classes (they have a ton of different styles). They’re also super social media savvy so head to their Instagram to get a peek of what each class is like.
Bye Bye Boring Treadmill!
