Meet Radio DJ Sandy Stec

Get to know the voices from your favorite radio stations, including what’s at the top of their playlist.

You may be surprised where 24 Hour Fitness member and Star 101.3 DJ Sandy Stec, co-host of the Bay Area morning show Marcus and Sandy, finds inspiration when it comes to health and fitness. (Hint: You probably scroll through it daily.) We asked the stand-up comedian and self-described wienerdog lover to share her power food, her go-to workout and what’s at the top of her playlist.

Over the next few weeks, we’re introducing you to a few celebrity iHeart Radio DJs—who work out at 24 Hour Fitness—to ask about their relationship with fitness and living a healthy lifestyle.

Meet Sandy

24Life: What has been your relationship with fitness?

Sandy Stec (SS): My relationship with fitness has been a little bit in denial my whole life. You know how they say it’s a love-hate? I would say it was a just complete avoidance forever. And then I would sprinkle in some working out and think, “Once every three weeks, totally fine. I got on the stepper for 45 minutes. Unlimited pizza, totally fine.” I’m in a place now where I know that if I don’t work out, if I don’t go to the gym at least a couple times a week, I am a mess, and my energy’s off, and I’m tired and cranky. So now it’s more of a necessary evil. I don’t even like saying the word “evil” because I do enjoy it once I start. But yeah, now it’s kind of like a love-begrudgingly-knowing-I-need-it-hate.

24Life: What motivates you?

SS: I like looking at cute guys, that’s really fun. That actually keeps me at the gym. If a cute guy walks in, I will work out a little bit longer than normal. What also motivates me is knowing that I feel better after a workout. I feel like I’ve given myself a little gift. And I also really need to work out because I need to forget about my own life. It’s therapeutic for me; it’s fun to just get in a zone, a sweaty, sexy zone, that’s what I call it, because sweating is sexy. That’s what motivates me to go to the gym.

24Life: What’s your go-to workout or group exercise class?

SS: I love workout classes, believe it or not. I like to come to the gym and not think. So, sometimes people have a routine, my routine is I go on the [My 24] app and I find out when the U-Jam classes are and I dance for an hour. If it’s Zumba, if it’s U-JAM, if it’s anything where there’s music and I could feel like I’m Jennifer Lopez just for an hour, I will do it.

24Life: How has working out at a gym helped you in your fitness journey?

SS: The great thing about 24 Hour Fitness is the staff becomes your family. I have added the staff here on Instagram. We comment on each other’s things. It’s fun to make them part of your life. The trainers I have a personal relationship with, I text them. I text them meals. When I see they make meals on Instagram I will try to make the same meal. It’s never the same because I can’t cook. But I try. And that’s a little relationship we have.

24Life: How does being active change your life outside the gym?

SS: I think being active changes your life outside the gym because it is your sanity. Being active is your home. Being active is where I come to actually meditate. Now, a lot of people think meditation is sitting there on the ground with your eyes closed. For me, when I’m on the machine for 45 minutes, I clear my mind and that’s when the funny jokes come in. That’s when the thoughts come in. That’s when the planning comes in for the next day. So for me, it actually helps me clear my mind and I feel more energized because of that, and I really love that.

24Life: What stresses you out and how do you de-stress?

SS: When I have a day or days [where] I have multiple things to do during the day besides my job. Like you have your job, then you have an appointment, then you have to cook, then you have to clean, then you have to do errands. If I have two or three days like that in a row, I will have super anxiety. So, what I love to do is either get a massage, get out of life and go to my girly zone, or I will sweat it out. And sweating it out every time works for me. Every time.

24Life: What’s your power meal or power food?

SS: I love ground turkey. Ground turkey and then I will roast some sweet potatoes and then like sautéed kale. I know it sounds weird, but every time it fills me up. You’ve got your healthy starch and your protein and some greens. Perfect meal, and I learned that from one of my trainers at 24 Hour.

24Life: Any tips for a good night’s sleep?

SS: If you want to get a good night’s sleep, here’s what I’ve learned: Do not text—and do not text boys—late in the night. You’ve got to get off your phone. Don’t watch TV. Give yourself an hour—one hour before bed—to have TV-free, or screen-free, time where you’re not obsessed with anything electronic. That will calm you down. It will calm your mind down. Maybe close your eyes for 20 minutes. I did that just last night, and it really helped my sleep a lot.

24Life: Where do you find inspiration?

SS: Believe it or not, on Instagram. I follow a lot of people that … have lost weight. I love looking at their journey, and seeing what they’ve done, and seeing the kind of workouts they do, and just seeing how they love fitness now. And [knowing] you can come to a place of actually loving the body you’re in, loving being active, loving cooking healthy things. If you can just slowly but surely sprinkle it in. That’s my problem, is that I get too overwhelmed. So, if you just slowly but surely sprinkle some stuff in, it will change your life in the long run.

24Life: What’s at the top of your workout playlist?

SS: I love dubstep and EDM. Skrillex—crazy, angry electronic music gets me every time. I’m obsessed with it. Also, the new Bruno Mars song “24 Karat Magic,” love, love, love, love, love, that song. Beyoncé also. Female, empowering, and angry at the same time. That’s a good one for me too.

24Life: Besides your job, what are you passionate about?

SS: Besides radio, people may be surprised to know I’m also a stand-up comedian. I perform a lot in the Bay Area. I do love traveling. I do love slot machines, I’m a casino girl. Apparently, I am my mother’s daughter. And I also love learning language and learning new cultures. I’m very passionate about that.

Recently played on Star 101.3

“Mirrors” by Justin Timberlake

“Photograph” by Ed Sheeran

“Semi-Charmed Life” by Third Eye Blind

“Want to Want Me” by Jason Derulo

“Counting Stars” by OneRepublic

Photo credit (top to bottom): Davizro, Thinkstock; ICV Digital Media