For the past month I have been focused on my new responsibility as Co-Chair of the Black Organization for Leadership Development in EMEA at my firm. Creating and executing a strategy to lead a 1000+ member organization across 5 sites in the region. This is of course is in addition to my full-time work responsibilities as a Vice-President so naturally something had to take a back seat and that has been my fitness. I’ve said numerous times that I believe that you can have it all, just not at the same time so my extra time during the day and after work has been filled with meetings and strategy sessions with my Co-Chair to plan and execute on an agenda to improve Black recruitment, retention and development at the firm.

Spending so much time at my desk meant that I was moving less and I also started to make less healthy food choices out of convenience. Add to that a few celebrations for several friends visiting London, another friend moving back to NY from London, my husband’s birthday and a few other occasions and it began to add up. As a result, I gained a couple of pounds, ok 7.8 to be exact, nothing drastic but I noticed a change in how my body not only looked but more importantly how I felt so I challenged myself to turn it around while it would still be relatively easy.

Coincidently my beloved spin studio Psycle started a promotional challenge to take 12 classes within a month (between April 3rd and May 3rd) for £200 and receive 5 free classes to take in May. I knew that this timetable was aggressive but I decided that I needed to be aggressive if I wanted to get back on the path to maintaining my fitness goals and usher in my thirty-fine year next month in my best body possible. £200 for 12 classes is a better value than the usual rate of £20 per class but £200 for 17 was great value for money at £11.76 per class. If there are two things I love it’s a challenge and a good deal for my money so I decided to go for it. The timing coincides with me finishing and hopefully seeing some benefits by my birthday on May 11th.

I took the first of the 12 sessions this past Tuesday (exactly 1 month before my birthday), the 2nd yesterday, the 3rd today and I’m booked in everyday of my Easter holiday except Sunday so I will have taken 6 of the 12 classes by the half way point of the promotion.

Exercise is key but it’s only half the battle, eating right is where the real work begins. Since I’m doing something that I rarely do on a holiday break and that is staying home, it should be a lot easier to reset my diet since I’m not eating on the go. There will be no fasting, juice cleanses or other extreme dietary adjustments, just mindful eating. That means healthy, sensibly portioned home prepared meals and healthier choices when I do eat out. While I am realistic about the fact that keeping up this exercise pace when I go back to work next week will be nearly impossible, I do plan to continue with better eating habits which is what has always helped me to maintain my weight goals.

Follow my Instagram stories to see how I do and feel free to leave suggestions or words of encouragement as I continue on the road to thirty-fine in the comments.

xoxo,

Ahtis