30 Day Fitness Challenge

 30 Day Fitness Challenge: Find Your Fierce

Happy 2018! It’s a new year and the perfect time to implement healthy lifestyle upgrades to your life! That’s why I’m dedicating January a 30-day fitness challenge month as a way to find your fierce and lose weight.

Love it or hate it, exercise is necessary for a healthy lifestyle. However, exercise doesn’t have to be a painful experience. You just have to find the exercises that work for you, fit your budget, and align with your schedule. The best way to find your perfect workout is to take classes or hire a personal trainer. Several studios and gyms around town offer CrossFit, Pilates, yoga, indoor cycling, water aerobics, kickboxing, and Zumba. Also, you can join running groups, tennis leagues, and swimming clubs. If time is an issue, search Pinterest and YouTube for exercise routines you can do at home.  The possibilities are endless!

Tips to Start a Workout Program

1. Start slow. When you join a group class, keep in mind that everyone is at different fitness levels. Ask the instructor for modifications if you are unable to execute a particular skill. Go at your own pace. You will eventually grow stronger and increase your endurance.
2. Know your body. Tell your instructor if you have any injuries or if you are recovering from surgery. Your instructor will coach you through the exercises for your range of motion and ability. If you are transitioning from physical therapy, you might want to take private sessions to work on specific muscle groups.
3. Mix it up. Whether you are a fitness newbie or fitness junkie, you can always find ways to challenge yourself with new workout routines and forms of exercise. The key is to mix up your fitness schedule for variety and level of intensity to avoid boredom or burnout.
4. Hydrate, hydrate, hydrate! As you workout more, you will require more water to flush out toxins and replenish lost fluids.
5. Allow time for recovery. Enjoy a therapeutic massage, soak sore muscles in an Epsom salt bath, and stretch your muscles with bands or a foam roller.
6. Follow a healthy eating plan. Try to incorporate food swaps into your favorite dishes to lower calories and fat and reduce the portion size of your meals. If cooking is not your thing, hire a personal chef or subscribe to a healthy meal delivery service.
7. Workout with a friend. Find a kindred spirit who will encourage you and stay strong through the 30-day fitness challenge.

Find Your Tribe

Houston has wonderful fitness centers to fit your budget, location, and schedule. A few of my favorite Houston fitness studios and gyms include:

• Soul Cycle– A national indoor cycling studio with two locations in Houston (River Oaks & Memorial) offers themed rides that fuse cardio and weights for a power hour of calorie burning fun.
• Revolution Studio– A local indoor cycling and yoga studio with three locations in Houston (River Oaks, Memorial, and Sugarland) offers the perfect mix of heart-pounding cardio and strength plus stress-relieving yoga. This perfect fitness combo sheds pounds in no time!
• Yoga One– A branch of the YogaWorks franchise with seven locations in Houston! Yoga One offers a variety of yoga and meditation classes to suit your fitness level. For my 30-day fitness challenge, I’m joining Yoga One’s 30 days for $30 for new members.
• Lifetime Fitness– A national fitness center with ten locations in the Houston area. Lifetime Fitness amenities vary from location but all offer state-of-the-art fitness equipment, group classes, indoor cycling, yoga, pilates, and more. Personal trainers are available along with children’s programs. The Galleria Tennis Diamond Club recently opened in 2017 and a Greenway Diamond Club is opening early 2019 with world-class amenities and an impressive pool deck!
• Class Pass – If you wish you try a few studios without becoming a member, the Class Pass is your solution to find your tribe. You can take classes in studio or online. Class Pass locations are US wide and in a few select international locations like London, Sydney, Vancouver and more.

Taste and See for Yourself

Taste and See Life friends, let’s do this 30-day fitness challenge together and start the year off right! It’s okay to start where you are. You don’t have to wait for the perfect time. Just show up and take one workout at a time.

Believe me, I get it. My body has a slower recovery time now that I’m over forty. However, I still workout almost every day. What works for me is to alternate exercise routines to adjust to my body. For instance, Mondays I do indoor cycling, Tuesdays vinyasa yoga, Wednesdays high-intensity interval training, Thursdays indoor cycling or yoga, Fridays off, Saturdays workout with friends, Sundays walk outside. Another way to squeeze in fitness into your schedule is to track your steps. Walking 10,000 steps per day is almost 5 mile! Wherever you’re at, you can do this.

Take this time during the 30-day fitness challenge to find your fierce and discover your inner warrior!

What are your favorite workouts? What are ways to sneak in workouts during the week?

Photo credit: Hero (Pixabay), Bottom (Revolution Studio)