Work out to the rhythm
Unleash your inner dance diva while gaining confidence — and losing weight
ONE hundred and ninety-eight pounds.
Jenny Mayants remembers staring at that number on the scale and reaching her breaking point.
It was 2012, and the senior at Texas Tech was supposed to be on top of world, finishing her degree and preparing to start a fresh professional life.
But there it was in front her, a reminder of what had changed: 198.
“It really took a lot for me to come to the realization that this is not me,” she said.
Mayants had grown up dancing, learning every step from samba to rumba, jazz to hip-hop, even ballet. She didn’t have to worry about keeping in shape. Dance did that for her.
But she didn’t dance after enrolling at Texas Tech. Mayants threw herself into school, joining clubs and a sorority. After going through a devastating break-up during her junior year, she gained nearly 50 pounds in just a year-and-a-half.
“I will never be the thin, small girl, but I can be healthy, strong and curvy,” Mayants said.
That’s what she wanted to get back to.
Four years later, Mayants is standing in a dance studio near Minute Maid Park. The 198-pound senior at Texas Tech is gone.
Now 26 and 50 pounds lighter, Mayants is dancing again. Her tanned hips are shaking, her long and wavy black hair flips back and forth, and her smile is flashing at the dance students following her lead.
Mayants didn’t just start dancing to get back in shape, she started her own dance program to help other people exercise away a number that frightens them.
Her Dance House Fitness, which combines cardio and choreography to hip-hop music, started in April. It’s geared toward students who don’t have any dance experience, which Mayants says sets it apart from other dance programs in the area. The classes alternate every Sunday between a 90-minute choreography course and an intense, 60-minute dance cardio workout. “The atmosphere I’m trying to create is ‘come here and unleash it. Just let go and have fun.’ There’s no judgment,” she said. Mayants has seen a steady stream of clients since her first class in April. However, many of them already felt like they knew Mayants
Dance House Fitness owner and lead dance instructor Jenny Mayants, above center, leads a hip-hop dance class at Dance House Fitness, which combines cardio and choreography. At top, Emily Volke becomes one with the music during a hip-hop dance class. The classes are geared toward students without dance experience.
because of her Instagram account The Fitista, which she started in 2012.
When she began her weight-loss journey, she started documenting every episode on her personal social media accounts. There was just one problem — her friends grew tired of it.
“My friends were like ‘Jenny, nobody wants to see your hundreds of posts about what you’re eating every day,’ ” Mayants said while laughing.
So she created TheFitista account on Instagram. Then she shared one of her photos with a weight-loss transformation contest on Instagram. Soon, her picture was reposted everywhere, and she was gaining followers who were trying to lose weight.
“I’ve gotten emails from people all over the world. Those little successes mean so much,” said Mayants, who has 13,000 Instagram followers. “I know that I’m creating a sense of ‘I can do this too.’ ”
Many of Mayants’ posts focus on inspiring others, including uplifting messages like, “You can and you will.”
“When you see me on social media, whether it’s on Instagram or Facebook, the way I speak there is the way I speak in real life.”
She realized the power of social media and decided to market her dance class by creating Instagram and Facebook accounts for the class.
Casey Hughes, 27, found out about Mayants through her Fitista account. She has attended classes at Dance House Fitness ever since.
“I’ve been stalking her Fitista account for years,” Hughes said. “Her energy is contagious and I wanted to see it live.”
But while some people believe getting in shape will bring out that spirit and energy Mayants exudes, that isn’t always the case. Mayants said losing weight did not help her gain confidence.
“I’ve been like this always, even when I was overweight,” Mayants said. “I’ve embraced who I am. I really feel like you have to love who you are. You have to be inspired by yourself before anybody else can inspire you. That’s going to motivate you to strive for greatness.”
It took two years for Mayants to drop the 50 pounds she had gained during her college experience.
She lost the first 25 by cutting out processed foods and working out on her own. But she eventually hired a personal trainer and began working out three times a week to shed the next 25.
“My best recommendation for people on a weight-loss journey is to not compare themselves to anyone because that’s when it gets really challenging. Everybody’s body is different,” Mayants said. “Some people can lose weight so quickly.”
Mayants’ vibrant personality comes across in class, as she’s teaching students choreography to Drake’s hit single “One Dance” or Beyonce’s “Formation.” She often yells out to her students not to be shy.
Mayants, who works full time for an oil and gas company, said she’d like to one day open her own studio devoted to Dance House Fitness. But her ultimate goal is to instill confidence in her students.
“I love sharing that with others. It’s a gift for me for someone to tell me, ‘I feel so sexy and confident in your classes’ or ‘This is such an awesome space for me to find that inner diva.’ ”