Brianna Davis
Kayla’s Army
Brianna Davis
Spring 2016
The Washington, DC Internship Program is an intensive and exciting experience. Having a hectic schedule while also balancing a budget makes it difficult to maintain a workout regimen, but students at the Deb have come together to stay fit! Each week a bunch of us get together after classes, roll out our mats, put on some music and workout.
For the past three weeks we have gotten together for 28 minutes every Monday, Wednesday and Friday to and follow Kayla Itsines famous Bikini Body Workout. This particular regimen is perfect for our schedules and our budgets. We all chipped in to purchase the plan which came out to $15 per person. Instead of each of us purchasing gym memberships and paying upwards of $40 on a monthly basis we set out for an at-home workout plan that requires limited gym equipment. Of course certain objects are needed buy we improvise. We figured we would be more likely to workout if we could do it at the Deb instead of trekking to a gym. By doing this we save time and money.
Bikini Body by Kayla
(source:http://www.jessiewong.ca/sites/default/files/Kayla%20Itsines%20Bikini%20Body%20Guide%20Workout%20Plan_0.png)
The mood before our workouts are low-spirited. Without fail each night as we set everything up we question our decision to be there and ask ourselves if skipping one night would be all that bad. Some nights I am the one who needs convincing to stay and workout instead of going straight to bed and sometimes it is Catie or Molly. Whoever it is that needs the extra push, they get it. None of us have yet to skip a workout and we attribute it to the fact that our post-workout mood is starkly different from how we felt a half hour before. We’re panting but feel accomplished. Five of us have promised each other that we will follow this plan religiously. We have all agreed that making this commitment to each other is more effective than making it to ourselves because now we’re all accountable to one another. Plus, we live within feet of each other so there really is no way of backing out.
Kayla’s Army on a Monday night (Photo by Molly McGlynn)
Exercising as a group has made all of us mindful of each other’s desire to maintain a healthy lifestyle and this has translated into a collective effort to eat nutritiously. We have all begun making big enough portions of the healthy food and snacks we make so we can share them with each other, which totally works to our advantage.
Coconut almond granola (Photo by Joy Wang)
No meal has yet outdone the acai bowl with granola that Joy recently shared with us. One morning we woke up to the smell of toasted coconut and almond butter. Joy was preparing a huge batch of protein packed granola. She found the recipe on Pinterest and decided to make a Jamba Juice style breakfast bowl out of it. We all agree it was the tastiest and most filling breakfast we have eaten here at the Deb. She outdid herself and we each reciprocated in our own ways. One morning I whipped up a batch of smoothies for all of us and another night Catie made enough balsamic vinaigrette chicken so we all had a piece to try. All in all, we have helped each other maintain our goals and stay motivated while managing our busy lives as BU students in DC.
Brianna is a senior studying Political Science and currently interning in the congressional office of Representative Norcross.
