Fitfluencers: Ikaya gets back on the fitness wagon

December 07, 2018
Ikaya works her core with the medicine ball.
Ikaya 'steps it up' during her workout.
Ikaya works out under the close attention of dad Hugh 'Bingi' Blair.
Ikaya burns some calories on the treadmill.
Ikaya chronicles her fitness journey.
Omar Davis stretches Ikaya after her workout session.
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With football coach and former player Hugh 'Bingi' Blair for a father, fitness has always played a huge role in the life of recording artiste Ikaya.

The singer recalls days of having to get up early to accompany her father to the football field as he got into his routine of jogging and exercising. Very soon, her father's routine became hers, and she began adopting many of his ways as it relates to keeping fit.

"Him used to come wake me up all 5 a.m. to come go on the stands and stuff like that, so I've always been doing fitness," she told Fitfluencers. "I stopped for a while because I had a knee injury, and I had gained a whole lot of weight, like about 60 pounds, and I decided that I had to do something about that."

The Hard Way singer explained that not only was she displeased with how much the weight gain was affecting her physical appearance, but she was also concerned about how the extra pounds would affect her health.

"I didn't just decide to do something about it image-wise, but also health-wise. As a musician, you know that being on the stage, you will all work for an hour, and yuh have to have good breath control. Me hate when me deh pan stage and me a hear dis 'ah ah' inna di mic. That's not my thing, so that's why I'm all into this fitness thing," she said.

The singer she made the decision to get her fitness journey back on track, said that she has lost a significant amount of the weight.

"The results have been great so far. I lost like 40 pounds with proper dieting and working out," she said, pointing out that she has eliminated sugary drinks and fatty foods from her diet. "I eat more vegetables, more fruits, and I drink a lot of water."

She also pointed out that she has had to learn to eat on time and in correct portions as her body would tend to hold on to fat the less she ate.

Encouraging persons, including her fellow entertainers, to embark on their own fitness journey, Ikaya explained that working out does not always have to take place in a gym.

She expressed that if the gym is too intimidating, one can find other ways to keep active.

"I try to change up my thing a little bit. I will not only be in the gym, but I'll be on the stands sometimes with my dad or over by the field in Waterhouse training with the ballers because sometimes you will get bored of certain workouts. So to make it fun and everything, I kinda change things up a likkle bit sometimes," she said. "It's about loving yourself and knowing what's best for you. When you start, you will feel the difference. All yuh skin a go start glow and all these things. And when unu start, don't stop because when unu fi start back, it's very hard, so unu affi be disciplined."

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