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Bikini Rebellion Recap

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I can’t believe it’s been over a month since the Bikini Rebellion challenge has completed. Going into the challenge, I had no idea I would learn so much about myself and that I would make such meaningful connections with other challengers through our daily social media tasks. This challenge was unlike any other challenge I’ve done because we were not required to “do” anything. Sure, we were asked to dig pretty deep and really think about some very important topics, but we weren’t required to do any workouts or make any meals or do any random acts of kindness. Rather, we were just encouraged to look at ourselves and our relationship with ourselves, which ended up being a really eye-opening, emotional two weeks.

I think one of the things I loved most about the challenge was the thoughtful daily conversation topics. These ranged from getting rid of the “bikini ready” (and for the record, all you need to do to get “bikini ready” is put on a bikini, as Neghar says.) mindset so engrained in us from all the various magazine covers showing us how we can do it in “these 5 exercises!” to learning to love yourself to seeing the difference between acceptance and wanting to make positive changes. Some days hit home a little harder for me than others, but even on the days where I didn’t feel like I could totally relate, I still learned valuable lessons.

I haven’t gotten much into my past with regards to eating and weight issues and working out to excess, but I have mentioned a number of times how proud I am with how far I’ve come with regards to all of these topics. Back in college, I went through a time where I was a counting calorie and workout junkie. I would be happy on the days where I didn’t eat a lot and had a good workout. I was happy on days where the scale showed a lower weight. I was secretly happy when people would comment about my weight. Now that I’ve found a happy balance in my life between working out, eating healthy and guilt free indulging, I can’t believe I ever let myself get so far in the negative.In fact, when I look back on pictures, I actually cringe because of how small I looked (I was a good 10-15lbs lighter than I am now… and I have more muscle now!)

more than a number on a scale

(Image from Neghar’s email)

Day 5 of the #bikinirebellion really hit home with me because it specifically talked about scales and how we are more than the number on the scale. I shared on Instagram  a little about how the scale ran my life for a while. I’m so happy that I can now say I’ve moved past that. IF I happen to weigh myself (either at the doctors or out of curiosity), I can look at the number {most of the time} without feelings (we all have those bad days and feelings that creep back up on us!) of happiness or disgust, but rather, realizing it’s just a number. It fluctuates daily based on water intake and retaining water and, well, just life!

Rather than a number on a scale or a reflection of myself in a bathing suit or how many push-ups I can do or how many miles I can run, I think of myself as…

  • a 30 year old trying to figure sh*t out
  • a fitness instructor (and a good one, too!)
  • a strong female, both in the gym and out of the gym
  • a hard worker
  • a girlfriend/friend/daughter/sister
  • a blogger
  • a lover of vino
  • a curly haired, glasses wearing girl
  • etc., etc.

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Aren’t those better things to associate yourself with? Positive thoughts really do bring about positive changes; negative thoughts just bring you down even further.

I know I only touched upon one small piece of the Bikini Rebellion challenge, but for me, it was the most important piece and area of growth in my life. I now workout and stay active because I LOVE my body, not because I hate it or because I’m trying to be super skinny. I eat healthy because I like the way it makes me feel, not because I’m afraid of calories. I look at myself in the mirror and admire my muscles and all the hard work and hours I log in at the gym, not with disgust and pointing out “bad” areas… I’m so much happier because of it!

The Bikini Rebellion challenge was the best challenge I have ever done and I’m so thankful for all the lessons I learned because of it. Change isn’t easy- and it certainly doesn’t happen over night- but if you put in the effort and have patience, you will get to where you want to be. Just remember- coming from a place of love- for yourself, the way you look, the goals you want to accomplish, etc.- will always be a better and happier journey along the way.

This summer I urge you to put on that bikini (or whatever bathing suit you own) and OWN IT! You really are your harshest critic, so get rid of those nasty thoughts about how you look and focus more on what you’re doing: going to the beach with friends, playing with your kids in the sand, going for a walk on the beach with your significant other or yourself, maybe even working out in the damn thing- THOSE are memories you want to keep and focus on and the negative thoughts you may be harboring are just taking up unnecessary room. Once those are gone, you can fill up all that space with happy thoughts and memories and lots of love.

Happy summer, friends!

Questions for you: Tell me something you love about yourself- can be physical or mental or anything! What’s something you’re proud of yourself for?

 

Why You Shouldn’t Avoid Exercises/Workouts Because They’re “Hard”

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Good morning and happy Monday! I did not want the weekend to end, but alas it did and we are back at it. I’ll be back tomorrow with a recap of my weekend, but until then let’s talk about exercises we hate!

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The other morning during my run when I was home in Maine, I thought of all sorts of blog post topics. Thankfully I was smart enough to add them to my on-going “blog topic” note in my phone otherwise I most definitely would not have remembered a single one of them. Sometimes I have a crazy good memory and sometimes it completely escapes me; it’s the strangest thing!

Anyway… one of the topics I thought about during my run was how people- myself most certainly included- tend to avoid exercises because they are hard, not because they/we have a physical limitation that inhibits us from correctly and safely executing a move. I mentioned in this post how I tend to avoid running hills because they are hard. Will they make me a better, stronger and faster runner? Sure! But since I’m not an avid runner or racer and do it more for the physical benefits of cardio work and to clear my head, I don’t care that much about getting faster and only run hills when they are unavoidable- which is actually every single route around my apartment, haha (just keeping it real with you!).

Ashley also talked about how you should actually do MORE of the exercises that are hard and that you hate in this post (btw if you haven’t read that post yet, please do. It’s so worth it!), which I totally agree with. How are you ever going to get better at something if you don’t practice it (Clearly I don’t care about getting faster at running since I avoid sprints and hills like it’s my job!)?

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I bring this up because I also see it in my classes all the time when I announce we are doing burpees, which I think is one of the exercises people love to hate the most. I wonder if I called them something different if people wouldn’t hate them so much? But, regardless, like with every exercise I introduce and teach in my classes, I always offer modifications:

  • Triceps dips hurt your wrists? Do kickbacks or OH extensions
  • Jump squats hurt your knees? Just squat and reach
  • OH presses hurt your shoulder? Do upright rows
  • Jumping back into the plank for a burpee not where you’re at today? Fine- walk it back!
  • etc., etc.

There are always modifications and variations for what we do in classes, but what I hate to see is when I offer a variation on a burpee or push-ups or mountain climbers or something else that might be “hard”, and people choose the alternative exercise because they like it better or because it’s easier. I get it. Burpees aren’t always fun. Mountain climbers are definitely not always fun (I actually hate them!) and as Ashley said, “We all instinctively want to do what we’re already good at, but the real gains in strength come from working at what is difficult for us.” Amen, friend! The thing with these exercises, even though they are hard and even though we might hate them, ultimately they make you stronger and they are incredible full body exercises that should be done if you’re physically capable of doing them.
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Practice Makes You Better… Not Perfect

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During my kickboxing class a few weekends ago, I caught myself saying “practice makes perfect!”, as I was guiding members through a new combo. Immediately after it came out of my mouth, I realized that’s not true. Practice doesn’t make perfect because no one and nothing is perfect. Practice makes you better, not perfect. It helps you get stronger, it makes things easier, but if you strive for perfection, you’ll be striving for something unattainable.

It’s funny because literally as I was starting to draft this post (yes, I realize I started this weeks ago and am just getting it up for you today), I checked my email to find the last Bikini Rebellion email from Neghar. If you follow me on Instagram, you’ve probably seen some deeper than normal posts, right? If you’re not an Instagram-er- here are some examples: Self Radical Love, being more than a number on a scale, only your opinion of yourself matters, etc. Day 14 of the challenge was all about perfectionism, and how we are not and will never be perfect. We are enough- right this instant you are enough.

perfection

It’s so easy to get caught up in the notion of perfection. If we can just run faster, do better push-ups, make healthier meals, be the best spouse/parent/child/friend/etc., be more positive, things will be perfect, right? Wrong. All my life I’ve strived for perfection and only am I recently recognizing that there is no such thing.

But just because no one is perfect and perfection is an unattainable goal doesn’t mean we should throw in the towel and say “eff it!”… it just means we should accept where we are right now, how far we’ve come and what we do on a daily basis that makes us who we are. We may not always get things right, we may say the wrong things, we may not have motivation to clean the house/grocery shop/workout, we may not always be working to our very best potential… but that’s totally OK. We are living, we are learning and we are experiencing new things that help us build character, develop new relationships and new passions. And some days might be easier than others, but that’s just the way life works. It ebbs and flows and if we expect things to always be perfect we are just setting ourselves up for disappointment- where’s the fun in that?!
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Mizuno Wave Enigma 5 {review}

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Disclaimer: This post is sponsored by Mizuno because of my relationship with Fitfluential. All thoughts and opinions, as always, are my own.

I wouldn’t say I’m a “runner”, but I will say that I do enjoy running and like to incorporate it into my weekly workouts. It gives me time to think and it challenges me because running isn’t an “easy” workout for me. I’m not one who can just lace up and head out for a 6-10 mile run; 3-5 miles is generally my “happy” number of miles to cover in any particular workout.

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I have probably 10+ pairs of cross-training sneakers, but when it comes to running sneakers, I had seriously been neglecting my poor feet! I was running in old Nike sneakers that looked great, but probably were not the most supportive sneakers for me to run in, so I have to say I was pretty stoked to get to try out the new Mizuno Wave Enigma 5 sneakers! I had never owned or run in a pair of Mizuno’s before, but had always assumed they were good because it seems like all “runners” are wearing them!

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Guest Post: Tips & Tricks to Run Faster

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Good morning, B2B readers! I have an awesome guest post for you today which has some tips & tricks to help you run faster. What I love about this post is that my friend, Meaghan, is super real about the fact she hasn’t always been a runner and that it didn’t always come easy to her. I really believe that some people are just better at running than others, so when I hear tips from people who are just natural runners, my first thought it “yeah, easy for you to say! Running isn’t hard for you!”. However, when Meaghan started telling me about her recent running updates, I actually listened and thought “wow, she’s probably right- that’s a good idea”.

I remember getting texts from her a few years ago when she got back into running/working out more consistently, but it seems like over the past 6 months- a year she has really exploded with her running. Her mile times are much faster than they used to be and she’s running races all over the country- literally. I love that she has made running her ‘thing’ and when we were catching up the other day and she was telling me about all her races and times and improvements, I knew I had to have her share those same tips with all of you. If you’re looking to get better and faster at running, I hope you enjoy these tips and are able to take away some of them to try on your own. Take it away, Meaghan!

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I haven’t always been a runner. In fact, I was the kid in school that dreaded running the mile in gym class or running 2 miles for high school soccer try outs. After allowing myself to really get out of shape freshman year of college I decided to try running. At first it was mostly walking with some running thrown in, then I gradually increased the running and decreased the amount I needed to walk, until eventually I was able to run 3-5 miles without stopping. I wasn’t interested in speed for a long time, just getting out there and finishing the run that I set out to do. Then I signed up for my first road race a few years ago and that all changed. It was a 5 mile race and again, all I was interested in doing was finishing without stopping. I achieved that goal and got “the bug.”

Meaghan-Finishing the half_Medium

I’d heard friends talk about the race bug, but did not think I’d ever be one of those people. Suddenly I found myself signing up for packages of races with goals to beat my last time. I even started planning trips for big races! I finished my first half marathon in Las Vegas last year and just got back from Lake Tahoe where I ran a 12.3 mile leg of a 72.2 mile relay race around the whole lake!

Meaghan- Tahoe Collage

Meaghan= water stop

It took me years to get to this fitness level , but in the past year I’ve changed some of what I’ve been doing and seen huge results! I’m by no means an expert, but here are some of the things I’ve learned along the way:

  1. Spice it up: Try a different route, new scenery and landmarks can really break up the monotony

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