4 Ways to Jump Start 2016 - Kayla in the City

Hi all! Hope you had a lovely holiday weekend, whether or not you were celebrating. Even though I don’t celebrate Christmas being Jewish and all, it was still nice to have the extra days off from work to sleep in and I got to hang out with my parents a lot since they were here in the city. It’s a somewhat Christmas tradition for us to see a Broadway show and eat Chinese food or sushi– this year we saw Spring Awakening and I’m absolutely obsessed with the current Deaf West productions. Highly recommend seeing it before it closes in January!

I don’t know about you, but it’s been real quiet since the holidays– both in my neighborhood (bye bye, NYU students) and at work. I’m loving it and it’s perfect timing to reorganize and recuperate before the new year.

Looking for ways to start 2016 off right, even before the ball drops in Time Square? Here are some cool happenings, challenges and things you should know about..

jump start

1. CYC Fitness: Calories For a Cure

I’m a huge fan of CYC’s unique, strength training focused, cycling classes. If you purchase a Calories for a Cure 20 or 10 pack ($360 and $190 respectively) $1 will be donated to the Challenged Athletes Foundation every time you ride. One, that’s a really amazing discount on CYC Rides. Two, you’re also donating to a great cause.

I was invited to participate in the challenge and am super excited to start 2016 off with a ton of cycling classes.

2. the barre3 4-week challenge

I’ve never taken a barre3 class online, but if it’s anything like their in person class (I like the Greenwich Village studio in NYC) it’s bound to be good. Starting January 4th Barre3 has a 4 week challenge where every week you will take four 60-minute classes, do one 10-minute workout and try a new recipe plus get access to additional resources to help you jump start 2016. I like that it’s accessible to everyone, whether or not there is a barre3 studio in your area and costs $10 per month for a subscription to barre3’s online workouts.

3. Create a Vision Board

I think most people know about Vision Boards by now. I’ve never made one before, but I suddenly feel really compelled to this year. I’ve always loved creating collages (yup, my friends all got a birthday collage at some point in high school) so think it would be fun to make a “grown-up” collage while also taking the time out to think about some goals for 2016.

Articles to help get you started:

4. Uplift’s New Year, New You Panel

In case you don’t already know, I’m totally in love with Uplift. Their strength class is hands down one of my favorite classes, period, the instructors are all the kindest most compassionate fitness peeps I’ve ever met, and they hold awesome, non-fitness events, with a focus on creating a better you.

While the New Year, New You schtick makes me cringe a little (more on that later this week..), Uplift is hosting a panel with the same title on January 13th to help you create habits– not resolutions with expert advice from a fitness instructor, meditation expert, nutritionist and psychologist.

I’ve attended a few of Uplift’s panels before and they are always super inspiring and well worth it. I’m sure this one will be the same.

Any other challenges / events I should know about?