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!)

(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.

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?