We sat down with Group Fitness Instructor TJ to talk about his phenomenal weight loss journey during the quarantine.
You were already pretty healthy to begin with, what sparked your desire to get in even better shape during the quarantine?
For me, it was just knowing that I could treat my mind and body with more respect that I currently was giving it and deciding to hold myself accountable for my actions regardless of my busy lifestyle.
Did you find it challenging to do so in the middle of a quarantine?
During the quarantine it was really easy to make excuses to not work out, but I had to push myself to just start and once I started it became easy.
As a dance instructor, is it safe to assume that dancing was the focal point of the activity you did to lose your weight?
I started with making sure I made the time to dance outside of the classes I was already teaching and once I built the habit of consistent personal exercise I added strength training and endurance workouts to create a more holistic approach.
Considering you teach three to five classes a day, that’s a lot of activity throughout the week when you include your personal time to train! Did you encounter any challenges along your journey?
Haha, yes it’s a lot of activity, but you have to keep in mind that my body was accustomed to the amount of dancing I was doing each day so in order to hit my goal I had to increase the output a little while focusing on maintaining a healthy meal plan. But to answer your question, I faced the normal everyday challenges such as, “I’m tired, it’s too cold outside, etc.” but I made sure that my feelings never took charge of my discipline to achieve my goal.
You mentioned maintaining a healthy meal plan, how important was eating healthy in order to achieve your goal for you?
Nutrition was absolutely key for me. Nutrition and fitness go hand and hand so you have to be mindful of what you consume, you can’t eat anything and everything you want and expect to get your results. It’s also important to create a meal plan that’s sustainable for you.
Agreed! What advice would you give to our members who are just now starting their own fitness journeys?
You know you, just be you and don’t compare yourself to anyone else because it’s YOUR journey!
