Update: Being a Dare to Bare Ambassador

In May, I wrote about becoming a Dare to Bare Ambassador and what that meant to me. It’s a movement founded by Jenny Gaither to help combat self-esteem and body issues. I think right off the bat, some people may roll their eyes and say “Oh…body image issues. Good luck getting rid of that.” Even my own cynicism leaked in at first before I heard about her mission and became inspired to join her. It’s not about eradicating body image issues, holding hands and singing kumbaya. It’s about taking baby steps to get out of your own way and rediscover yourself. At least to me.

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As an ambassador, I was asked to host one challenge a month in hopes to inspire and push people to get out of their comforts zones and just see what might come of that effort.

Here’s a recap of the last three challenges:

My May Challenge was to take a class that terrifies you. For me that meant stepping foot in a hip hop class. Oh hell no. dare-to-bare-may-challenge

But I did it. I went to Burn Cardio Studio for a hip hop cardio class and tried to make light of it and just embrace it. I had to be ok with not being able to do it correctly. Be ok with not being great at it and feeling like people were watching me mess up. The ironic thing is, I love to dance! You can catch me at a dance club shaking booty all night long, but it’s something about choreography and going left, and then right, and left and left, and spin, and then I have to coordinate my hands??! Just stop.

Not only did I make it through the class, I recorded myself. I promise you all, I had anxiety when I posted a snippet of myself on Instagram. Instagram is all about perfectly captured and curated moments. This definitely wasn’t one of those moments, but somehow it was liberating to show that. I dared to bare more about myself than I’d normally like and that was a win itself. Oh yea and I checked off hip hop dance cardio off my list. Whew!

My June Challenge was to encourage as many of my friends to try something new and/or out of their comfort zone. This was a very fun challenge.

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So right after I posted about my hip hop challenge, my good friend Jess (who is fab dancer btw), reached out to me to give me kudos for trying. It sparked a conversation about what she considers out of her comfort zone. When it came to fitness, she had the same hindrances I hear from most people. Fear of looking out of place, fear of other people watching you and not being able to keep up. Leading up to this point, I had begun to have 6am spinning dates with another girlfriend of mine and we just loved it. I invited her to try it out for herself because the spin class solved all those issues. Dark room, your speed/resistance doesn’t matter as long as you’re on beat, AND it was hip hop rhythm-based. BIG win for my dancer friend.

We took a spin class at The Ride House and she came back for more! I mean, who can say no to a Rihanna vs Drake vs Chris Brown theme ride?! Being able to introduce classes, and in a sense match them with people I think would enjoy it, brings me so much joy. It reminded me why I began blogging in the first place.

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In the same month, I hosted my first large fitness event. My comfort zone went out the door when I realized there were over 80 RSVPs and I wasn’t sure I could pull it off. I hosted an event at PerformanceGX and invited all of Dallas to try one of my favorite HIIT classes. It was amazing to meet so many people and hear that most of them came alone or had never tried a group fitness class before. The high I had from that event lasted days.

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For my July challenge, I challenged everyone to take on any challenge out there and stick with it. It could be a three-day juice cleanse, a 30 ab/plank/squat challenge, etc. Or they could make up their own. There are tons of them out there. For me, I had just gotten back from a week long vacation in Guatemala and after all of the indulging, I was prepared to go on some sort of clean eating diet or cleanse. So I decided to try the Advocare 24 day challenge. It involved sticking to a strict meal plan and supplement regimen.

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Just Day 1-10 of the 24 Day Challenge

Now let me know tell you, when I did my juice cleanse, I thought I was in over my head committing to 24 days. It turned out to be a great reset for my body and I made it!

Now that it’s August, that means a new challenge. Digging deep, I want to challenge my mind and body. So perhaps August is more of a two-fer challenge:

  • Physically, I intend to find other creative ways to get out of my fitness comfort zones with different workouts. Perhaps in my own home, outside on a trail, at my desk at work, and so on.
  • For my mind, my goal is to completely disconnect from my devices for short periods in my day and try and meditate.

I added the mind one last, because I am typically an intense person when it comes to my work. I’m constantly thinking about the next 10 steps and my task lists; it’s like my mind never turns off. It can be so overwhelming some days that I feel paralyzed with how much I have on my plate. To keep it from affecting my health and my happiness, I want to create a new habit that allows me to decompress, “woosah”, and keep on steppin’. The beauty of these challenges is that it helps me reflect on myself, consider things I want to work on and make it happen.

Make sure to follow my journey here and on my instagram!

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  1. Pingback: Dare to Bare August Challenge Recap | Deep Fried Fit

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