Road to Fitness Gaby Lieu (Sand and Stilettos)

Road to Fitness: Gaby Lieuw

I joined a carnival group here on the Island for the first time.

I had no idea what to expect - I listened diligently to all the useful tips my “karnaval-whisperer” a.k.a. my friend Priscilla, a well-seasoned karnavalista had to share on topics ranging from choice of shoe to what to carry with you during the parade (safety pins and eyelash glue made the list in case you were wondering).

After the parades (and seeing myself on a million pictures later) I told myself: next year, I want to get more lean and fit to feel more confident in my costume. 

Hashtag: getHOTDforkarnaval

Our group’s name is Hats Off To Dreams or HOTD for short. In October I initiated my very own #getHOTDforkarnaval challenge at the Avila Fitness Center: 3 spinning classes and 1 personal training session per week until the end of February. 

My personal trainer, Melvin de Meza (@mdmlifestyle) sat down with me before we started to talk about my eating habits - I generally didn’t eat too much junk, I just didn’t give enough priority to when it came to having my meals. I would often blame work as to why I’d skip meals or eat very little throughout the day, then come dinner time I would be s-t-a-r-v-i-n-g. Melvin made it clear that having a big meal and then sitting back down to work or lying on the couch should be a thing of the past, and so my eating habits also had to change if I wanted to see a difference by karnaval.

Instagram Worthy

Chronicling this journey to #getHOTDforkarnaval on my Instagram posts and Stories was my own way of putting my money where my mouth is :) Luckily, the recently renovated Avila Fitness Center not only had brand spanking new machines to work out on and a sparkly new interior to match, but also came with a picturesque backdrop of the charming Avila Beach Hotel property lined up against shores of the Caribbean Sea. If that does not lend itself perfectly to those Insta moments, I don’t know what does!  

Small Lifestyle Changes

I started switched to eating my warm meal of the day at lunchtime and doing by best to eat more regularly throughout the day. Even though it initially felt like I was eating more, my appetite was much more balanced and I felt like I had it under control again surprisingly quickly. If only I could say the same for the speed at which I felt like I could finally keep up without feeling like I was going to pass out during my personal training sessions (which I dubbed 'Torture Tuesdays' for obvious reasons). It did happen though (just took some time)! 

Thank you Avila Fitness Center and Melvin “Torturer” de Meza for joining me on my fitness adventure! 

Written by: Gaby Lieuw 
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