👋 Hi! Tell us about yourself and your training
Hi! I’m Andi Bañez and I’m 30 years old. I’m from Manila, Philippines and I’ve just recently moved back to the city after living in different islands over the last four years.
I’m a yoga teacher and writer. I started teaching yoga seven years ago after about a year of practicing yoga. I started doing yoga right after graduating from university.
I was a dancer since I was a kid and started with ballet, jazz, then eventually hiphop and did some cheerleading as well.
Nowadays, I mostly do yoga, simple at home work outs, and interval training when I can. I also enjoy doing F45 and Physique57 with friends.
⏱ Describe a typical day of training
I believe that developing healthy habits is essential rather than just setting a goal and stopping once you’ve achieved it. I try to workout everyday but given the current landscape of the world I have to adjust and do what I can.
A typical ideal day would be to have about an hour or two at the gym where I can do 45 minutes of cardio (treadmill: Alternating intervals of running and walking) and then about 1 hour and 15 minutes of different exercises with lifting weights or workouts with resistance bands. I love doing glute work and enjoy doing some of @dannibelle’s workouts on Instagram.
For workout clothes, I personally like using Fabletics and for a local brand I like @andiactivewear on Instagram.
👊 How do you keep going and push harder?
Just put on your workout clothes and get to the gym.
I think the biggest challenge for most people is if it’s not starting, it’s how to keep going. I had this thought that once I fell off the wagon then I had to start from 0 again. But the thing is it doesn’t necessarily have to be that way. You are not starting from scratch.
We all have bad days and the trick is to seriously NOT THINK TOO MUCH. Just put on your workout clothes and get to the gym. The toughest thing sometimes is just doing the first 2 minutes of the workout and then after that you’ll just keep going.
🏆 How are you doing today and what does the future look like?
As of the moment, it’s a bit tricky given the current situation of the world. We’re all staying at home and workouts not only have to be done, they end up being a bit creative too.
I’ve been working on a routine where every morning after my morning meditation I do a workout and stick to it. I like doing short form workouts more now rather than long ones.
I just want to create sustainable habits that are easier to maintain when things change. I think that’s a better way to live life because we won’t always have an hour or two to spare in a day.
I’d rather be able to consistently do 10-30 minute workouts everyday for the rest of my life than two-hour workouts once a week.
I would like to develop more online yoga classes this year actually. Hopefully, get the ball rolling on that little project.
I would have wanted to start earlier and maybe gotten hold of better habits. But to be honest, I’m pretty lucky that I can adjust rather quickly.
🤕 How do you recover, rest and handle injuries?
Thankfully, I have managed to avoid any major injuries so far. It is important for me to stay informed about the different aspects and limitations of the body, my body, in order for me to train and work safely and efficiently.
Check out @moveu on Instagram for great ideas and techniques on how to do this. I also do some release work with a ball to help relieve my neck and back of unnecessary tension.
I also try to get as much sleep as I can from at least six to eight hours every day.
As for traveling, yes, I do what I can. I like taking yoga classes wherever I go so I can see also how other teachers teach and maybe learn a thing or two. I also tend to stay long in places so I definitely need to do at least a short workout.
🍎 How is your diet and what supplements do you use?
It’s more of a conscious choice everyday of what I take in.
I don’t do any super strict diet but avoid eating meat as much as possible. There are months that I go vegetarian but not to the point that I am incredibly strict although I stick to it 95% of the time.
I eat a lot of fruits and vegetables. And although I snack I prefer snacking on fruits and maybe a spoon of peanut butter from time to time.
It’s more of a conscious choice everyday of what I take in. I read a book once by Geneen Roth called Women, Food, and God and provides such good insight on food and our relationship with it.
During daily meals I also consider only eating until I’m almost but not full and only eat when I feel my body requires it. This also means my eating patterns aren’t super consistent with what is deemed regular eating hours but I think it’s important to stay connected to our bodies so we can provide it with what it needs when it needs it and not go to autopilot.
I drink a whole lot of water too. I start the day with a full glass of water and try to go through a gallon a day.
As for social events, I try not to make such a big deal out of it. I just make do with what is there and I also don’t go around feeling sorry for myself for not having options or else the party gets ruined for me if I start feeling bad. So, I eat but I probably won’t eat as much or just make up for it the next day. Life shouldn’t be too hard.
As for junk food, I have it as rarely as I can. I don’t have cheat days but I just limit them as much as I can. If I had them I might end up over eating also.
I drink coffee almost everyday but I take it black. Tea also just the tea, no sugar or milk. Alcohol too. But I drink a LOT of water to make up for all of them.
👍 What has inspired and motivated you?
For books, I usually go to philosophical books like Women, Food, and God (Geneen Roth), which I’ve mentioned in the previous question. Most of the struggles I’ve had were mental and that was something I needed to get over.
I didn’t start with a good relationship with food and my body, which I have had to address. I like listening to podcasts like YogaLand and Goop for some inspiration on optimizing myself in a different ways.
I created a playlist on Spotify for working out, which helps me get going.
In terms of advice, one of the best things I heard lately was from a YouTube video from Liezl Jayne Strydom.
She learned something from Ed Mylett that said that the reason we can’t accomplish our goals is that “we don’t trust our self” or “we have self-doubt.” It is when you won’t achieve a goal if you don’t genuinely believe that you can. It is learning to trust that we can keep the promises we’ve made to ourselves that we can achieve whatever we want to because if we don’t then we won’t be able to accomplish anything, even the smallest goals.
I started making small promises to myself (drink more water, meditate, etc) so that accomplishing these things helped me feel more confident in making and committing to the bigger promises.
✏️ Advice for other people who want to improve themselves?
Never ever compare yourself to other people especially if these just bring about negative emotions.
We all have to start. And we are all starting from somewhere. Whether it’s coming from a purely physical or a mental approach… approach it from somewhere.
Never ever compare yourself to other people especially if these just bring about negative emotions. Focus on yourself and don’t be afraid to start small or slow. Remember that consistency is more important when it comes to wellness. Healthy habits are key.
🤝 Are you taking on clients right now?
Yes, I am. I like to be very attentive and focused not just on the physical aspects of wellness but a person’s overall wellbeing. I want it to be a conversation between me and my client where they give me feedback as well as to how they are so we can make the necessary adjustments to their program/work.
I usually take more one-on-one private clients but slowly opening myself up to online clients as the platform for fitness is beginning to evolve.
People always warn me before we start that they’re not good at yoga or they’re not flexible… well guess what? You actually go to yoga to become more flexible… and strong too. And no one is really “good” at yoga anyway. We’re all just learning. Might as well learn together and share what we already know.
📝 Where can we learn more about you?
People can contact me or see me on my Instagram @andibanez. I also have a blog .
