By Vanessa Castro, Stronger Austin Program manager | vanessa@itstimetexas.org

What’s the best part about Stronger Austin? Our amazing instructors who dedicate their time to our cause! Getting active is so much easier when you have others to encourage you, and we wanted to highlight one of the people who make Stronger Austin better every day. Readers, meet Sekoya Waddy, one of our MixxedFit instructors!

What is your favorite part about being an instructor for Mixxedfit in Austin?
Hands down it's the PEOPLE! MixxedFit prides itself on being a people-inspired fitness program, and the students I engage with every class make my job as the instructor easier and enjoyable. I look forward to seeing their faces and hearing their stories about how they've met a goal, or feel themselves improving in their fitness journey every week. When someone says their doctor took them off medication just warms my heart! They say they love me, but I think I love them more.

How long have you been an instructor for MixxedFit?
I became a licensed instructor in 2015. Fun fact, I was the first instructor for MixxedFit in Austin.

How do you motivate yourself to workout and stay healthy on a daily basis?When I really had in my mind that I wanted to get serious with my health post annual wellness assessment at work (Yes, I do have a full-time job that is in no way related to health & fitness lol), I was thinking of things I liked to do. How I could incorporate more of that into my workouts? I LOVE to dance and I was doing a lot of choreography for different events with my sorority or my volunteer work at a local high school. That's where MixxedFit came in to play.

The hard part was changing my nutrition, which I think is the most important. I LOVE to eat... And although I really didn't eat a lot of "bad" things, I still didn't make the best choices with the things I did eat. I was a fried food, no veggie eating queen. I’m competitive, so I like challenges and joined a 6-week challenge hosted by NOD24. Once I worked on the nutrition, and started seeing results I was hooked! Teaching classes help me get some cardio in and I go to gym for strength training. I also teach a HIIT/CORE class at Fitness Connection. Being an instructor motivates me to keep working on myself so I can be a great example for my students & be proof that the hard work does pay off!

What would be some advice you would give to others to do the same?Evaluate what your lifestyle is like now, where you would like to be, and then plan your attack! It only takes 21 days to make something a habit. Start with nutrition, have a friend do it with you for accountability, and attend classes that Stronger Austin offers for FREE! But in all seriousness, I tell my students and friends all the time who look up to me as an example. When you want something bad enough, you'll do it. You just have to take that first step and get "can't" out of your vocabulary (using that word has a punishment of 25 pushups when working out with me in class or the gym). If you need a push or partner, contact me and I'll help you do the work. We can work on US together.

What is your go-to pre or post-workout snack or meal?Pre-workout, I love apples or rice cakes with almond butter. I sometimes grab a banana. Post-workout, if I'm coming from morning workouts, I tend to gravitate to oatmeal with fruit and nuts or egg white and spinach omelets. For evening workouts, I go with protein shakes or meals with protein, green veggies, and a complex carb of my choosing. I'm known to grab a protein bar every now and then too when on the go. One Bars are my fave!

How have your class participants influenced you throughout your time instructing?

My participants are what keep me going! Knowing that I want to give them a fun, yet effective, workout each class pushes me to keep my endurance up because I have to be able to motivate them. They also motivate me to keep my playlist updated. I don't like doing the same thing over and over every day, so I have to really utilize my memory bank, learning or coming up with new routines to introduce to the class. Thank goodness for my youthful good memory... For now!

If you’re interested in working out with Sekoya or trying MixxedFit in Austin join her for a free class at Dobie Middle School, Mondays and Wednesdays at 6pm. Or find one of our many other free group exercise classes here!