DanceFIT Spokeswoman Kelly!

My name is Kelly, and I am honored to be the virtual DanceFIT spokesperson. Even though I only live about 15 minutes north of Boston, getting to the Natick studio is a pain when dealing with the evening commuter traffic, so I take the majority classes virtually. I do try to get in to the studio occasionally. For those of you who don’t know me, I actually write a blog called Cupcake Kelly’s, which is how I first heard about DanceFIT. In April of 2014 Gina was hosting a blogger event to introduce people to her HOT Barre class, since I couldn’t make the original event, I ended up attending a class at a later date. In short, I fell in love with the class and the studio. DanceFIT has always been more than a fitness studio to me, and it starts at the top. Gina was amazing that first day I took her class and she has been a great teacher and friend ever since.

My fitness has always been inconsistent. I played soccer in middle school and high school, but once I went to college, most of my exercise was walking. I didn’t have a car until my junior year, so I walked everywhere! It helped keep the “party weight” at bay. Right before my senior year, one of my best friends tragically passed away, and I spent a large chunk of my senior year comfort eating and not working out. I gained a lot of weight, and was pretty unhappy. I started working out at a gym, and seeing a personal trainer, and racing. I was in a pretty comfortable routine when I found out I was pregnant with my son. It took me about a year to get back to a place where I was comfortable, and I owe that to running and strength training. It was easy to take my son to the track or lift weights.  I suffered a miscarriage in 2013, and I coped with comfort eating and gained too much weight, it was pretty cyclical, since I struggled with not getting pregnant for a year.  I am very lucky that I was able to get pregnant with my daughter, and now she is almost one! With two kids who are in two very different stages of life, finding a regular routine outside of the house was extremely difficult.  

 Since 2014, I had been taking classes here and there, but I have been pretty consistent with my classes for the past year. I have an almost 5-year-old son and almost 1-year-old daughter, so the convenience of the virtual classes has been necessary for me! My son loves them too because he loves working out beside me.

My eating habits have taken a turn for the better over the past 10 years. I grew up on a lot of freezer meals, leftovers from work, and soda. Not the healthiest by any stretch. College was obviously a lot of food that I couldn’t even look at nowadays. The past 10 years has been a learning experience for me. Reading labels, figuring out the best way to cook with vegetables and proteins. My mother-in-law and husband have been very helpful. Once I learned more about real food, I started experimenting with meal planning and prepping. I’ve finally taken the plunge to try a Whole 30. I have about a week left and I definitely have felt a huge difference.

This will be my first 6FIT and I am super excited! I am doing 6FIT because to me summer is the hardest time of year for me to keep my eating and working out in check. With lots of travelling and summer parties and BBQ’s, there are always so many treats around, and I have a huge sweet tooth.  I do much better when other people are relying on me to be at my best. Plus, who doesn’t love a good, healthy, competition. I am also excited to try new DanceFIT classes and learn some great food tips from all the other wonderful participants!