Hey, guys!  Karlye here! I hope everyone had a great weekend.  It’s officially summer!! Woohoo 🙂
The official change in season had me thinking about things I like to call “fat fears.”  To me, a fat fear is something that you fear because of your weight. I think we all have fat fears.  You definitely do not have to be significantly overweight like me to have a fat fear.  My first two fat fears are perfect examples of fears pretty much all of us ladies have had or will have at one time in our lives.

Bikinis.

Seriously, what woman doesn’t fear bikinis at one time or another?  Even bikini models fear bikinis!  A lot of women fear them just as much as they adore them.  Bikinis are often chosen as “goal” clothing when someone decides to lose weight or just get fit.  Some people hang them up or tack them to a motivational board as a visual reminder of what they are working towards.  Some people even paste a picture of their face onto a bikini model’s body to help picture how they will look when they reach their goal.  Until we achieve that “perfect” body, we usually fear the bikini.  I’ve always been someone who thought you couldn’t wear a bikini unless your body was absolute perfection. Lately, I’ve been seeing a lot of posts on Instagram that say the easiest way to get a bikini body is to put a bikini on your body!

I follow women who are at different stages of their weight loss journey, and many of them have posted pictures of themselves in bikinis.  Let me tell you, they look great!  They will be the first ones to say that they are not where they want to be, but they are incredibly confident and fearless in their bikinis.  I really admire their attitudes.  I’m definitely not going to be rocking a bikini this summer, but for the first time in my life, I don’t feel like my body needs to look like a Victoria’s Secret model’s body before I can be seen in public wearing a bikini.

Being a Bride.

This is another fat fear a lot of us have.  No matter what shape you’re body is in when you get engaged, you most likely want to get in better shape before you’re wedding day.  I totally get it!  We pay tons of money for amazing photographers to capture that special day, and we know we’ll be showing those pictures to our kids and our grand kids for years to come.  Of course we want to look our best.  There’s definitely nothing wrong with that. I mean, hello! This blog is called Fit for a Bride.

I was engaged for almost 2 years and actually gained weight during that time.  Leading up to my wedding day, I was super self conscious about how I looked.  I was really disappointed that I wasn’t the size I wanted to be and I just kept feeling like my photos would all look terrible because of it.  But then the day came and I honestly don’t think I spent one second thinking about my weight.  I realized that day was about so much more than my dress size.  I was on cloud 9, I felt beautiful, and marrying the love of my life was the only thing on my mind.  So ladies, do what you feel you need to do in the days leading up to your wedding, but don’t forget to love yourself no matter what you look like.  The person waiting at the end of the aisle already loves you for you. 😉

Wearing Shorts.

Ok, so this might just be MY fat fear. Lol.  I think I was in middle school the last time I wore shorts in public.  I HATE my legs and have a serious fear of shorts.  Not only do I hate my cellulite, but I hate the friction of my big thighs rubbing together all day.  It seriously hurts!  I mean, it can be 100 degrees outside and I will still be wearing jeans.  I wouldn’t even wear shorts in the privacy of my own home. Up until about a week ago, I didn’t even own a pair of shorts.  I purchased a pair of cotton shorts to lounge around in at home… and I LOVE them.  OMG, they are so comfy.  I really just needed to learn to accept that part of my body while I work to shape it with clean eating and exercise.  I’m still not ready to be seen in public wearing shorts (mainly because of chaffing), but I feel like I’m making some baby steps in that direction.

Body Weight Exercises.

When it comes to workouts, I’m not sure if there is anything I hate more than body weight exercises.  When you’re overweight, doing something like a push-up or pull-up is so.much.harder!  I swear when I’m doing something as simple as leg lifts, my legs feel like they are 100lbs each.  I am terrible at push-ups because of all the weight I have to try to slowly lower to the ground and then push up, but I’ll do them as best as I can.  Let me tell you, though, my fear of pull-ups is REAL!  Luckily, there is a secret.  The more you practice these types of exercises and the more weight you lose, the easier they become.  I’ve been trying to keep that in mind so that I don’t get too discouraged.  If you struggle with body weight exercises, just keep pushing.  We got this!

CrossFit.

I am so fascinated by CrossFit.  I have wanted to join a CrossFit box for well over a year, but I have always felt like I need to lose a lot of weight before I could join.  I’ve seen a lot of the WODs and thought “there’s no way I could get through that.”  I have a fear of failing. I have a fear of being laughed at. But, most importantly, I have a fear of pull-ups! Hahahahaha. Seriously though, I know that there are a lot of typical crossfit exercises that I’m terrible at or just can’t do either because I’m big, out of shape, or uncoordinated:  running, jumping rope, hand stands, push-ups, pull-ups, etc.  Sara has always told me I didn’t need to lose weight to start CrossFit, and I have always thought she was crazy. Lol. But recently, I decided that I need to get over my fear of starting CrossFit as a bigger girl because I honestly think it will be something that helps me improve physically and mentally.

Right before I started writing this post, I came across a quote that said “everything you want is on the other side of fear.”  I couldn’t have said it better myself.  Fear prevents us from reaching our potential.  Whether you have “fat fears” or any other fears in your life, work on overcoming them.  You can take baby steps like me wearing shorts around the house, or you can take a huge leap of faith.  What’s important is that you don’t let fear hold you back from greatness!

Do you have any fat fears?  What are they? 

Have you overcome any major fears in your life?  If so, how has your life improved?