My current state as I type this.... waiting so patiently for Brittany to post the winners of the #BDawnFitambassador and #more than a number contest! Coconut Protein Pancake Puffs, Oreos, computer and food network hahahah :)
Anyway...here was my submission to the 2 questions Brittany asked: Why would you be a good ambassador for Brittany Dawn Fitness and What does #morethananumber mean to you?
Brittany and Brittany Dawn Fitness Staff:
I am so excited for this opportunity to share with you my fitness journey and my life becoming #morethananumber and a #bdawnfitambassador for Brittany Dawn Fitness!
I believe that I would make a great #bdawfitambassador for a couple reasons. The great thing about social media is that it has the power to connect people with similar stories, beliefs or likes. We can lift each other up when someone is struggling. We can share ideas, recipes, information, photos, and more to make the world more knowledgeable about certain ideas. Being a #bdawnfitnessambassador would mean spreading the idea of flexible dieting, feeling good about who you are and feeling comfortable in your skin, and how exercise and eating can help lead to a balanced lifestyle that allows one to reach all the goals they desire, fitness or other. An important piece to being a #bdawnfitambassador is representing the bdawnfit brand through social media. I am very active on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, and my own personal blog—each about my experiences with friends, family, trials and tribulations of a college sophomore, and most importantly my fitness and health journey. I always make sure that what I post reflects my positive attitude towards fitness, but also shows the real life feelings around recovering from my Eating Disorder and trying to find the balance between food, exercise, and being #morethananumber.
I also believe that I am a great team member. I have been involved in team sports since before I could walk and that has taught me the importance of seeing everybody’s potential and ideas. I love working with others and learning what they have to offer, and being able to work with not only Brittany and the BDawn Fitness staff, but also the other ambassadors would truly put me in a place to best represent the Brittany Dawn Fitness brand and the core values shared by Brittany. I am always open to learn and expand my own knowledge. I want to be an ambassador because I want to spread the bdawnfit brand to as many people as I can reach. I have been positively influenced by the information and ideas shared by Brittany, and I would love to get that out to others so they too can see what potential they have if they believe in themselves, feel good about their body image, and understand that balance with food and exercise can change how you live FOR THE BETTER! You don’t have to be a cardio bunny, a couch potato, or a 3 times a day lifter to be healthy. There is a balance and thanks to Brittany I have found this information and taken it to change my life to help recover from my ED. I want to spread the word that each and every person is worth it… worth living, worth fueling their body, worth not destroying their bodies with food or exercise habits! I struggled with this concept, but overtime with the right mindset and people around you, you can see how worthy you really are. Health and fitness is such a powerful way to show others what they are truly capable of! If I were chosen I would go above and beyond the expectations of the position. I am passionate, dedicated, committed, and will put whole heart into it the job. I believe in Brittany’s message so much, and sharing how it has influenced me to the world and how they too can live a healthy, happy life would be an extraordinary opportunity.
2. #MORETHANANUMBER means… well honestly it is my mantra right now and ultimately saved my life. It means that the number on the scale does not define me. Like Brittany, I too suffer/suffered from an Eating Disorder. This past school year (freshman year of college in NYC), I suffered from Anorexia Athletica and Orthorexia. I would only eat clean foods and I had to lift weights every single day, until I burned a certain number of calories or I wouldn’t leave/I wouldn’t eat. When I stepped on that dreaded scale everyday and saw the number drop, I got excited and pissed because I was supposed to be “gaining muscle” because I was lifting right? Unfortunately, my eating habits of clean eating or not eating at all were not sufficient enough to fuel my body and I spiraled out of control between the scale, the mirror, my want to gain muscle, and stress in my life from friends, school, and my family. I thought that if I controlled how my body looked and how “strong” I felt, I could do anything…but I was wrong. Within a few months, I weighed 81 pounds (I am 5’3”). In my treatment of my eating disorder I came across Brittany and the IIFYM concept. I loved the idea of bringing balance between the foods you want, lifting weights, and feeling confident in your own skin. That controlling the number on the scale or how your body looks doesn’t solve anything, it only brings trouble and misery. I see now that I am defined on my own terms, not some piece of glass on the floor that shows me what I weigh. I will not deny that I do struggle to remember that I am #morethananumber on occasions (eating disorder mess with your head all the time!), but I snap out of it and know that the balance I have found will lead me to real strength. I have grown threw IIFYM and seeing that food can fuel my body and truly make me stronger by fueling my life, workouts, and body. I now lift weight 5 times a week with two rest day, make PRs *hello 135 in the pic!*, and eat to fuel my body! Every time I see one of your posts Brittany, it reminds me that everyday, every moment… is a victory. I believe that everyone needs to see that they are #morethananumber and their potential…limitless. We all have worth and more than what society, media, and the scale label us to be. #morethananumber means that I have control over who I am, body, my successes, and how I choose to live. #Morethananumber isn’t a saying, it is a lifestyle that everybody should be able to live by and a mantra that saved my life in order to live the life I deserve. I live by two things now: #morethananumber and this quote:
“Twenty years from now, you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn’t do than by the things you did do. Sail away from a safe harbor; catch the trade winds in your sails…. Explore, Dream, Discover “~Mark Twain
I realize that you have to be willing to change and try new things if you want to move forward. The first step to getting anywhere is knowing you cannot stay on the same course. Thank you so much Brittany for everything you have taught me. That one click on your page saved my life and has allowed me to grow and see what life can bring outside of worrying about a number. Being a #bdawnfitambassador would mean letting others experience that same, the same joy over finally being free to live!
Love always, fight on, enjoy Oreos.
XOXO
Erin Hodges
(PS.. I couldnt fit the word ambassador on the sign... :(((( but its there in spirit haha!!! I tried but they didn't have any bigger poster board arggghhh!! sorry!)
Brittany and Brittany Dawn Fitness Staff:
I am so excited for this opportunity to share with you my fitness journey and my life becoming #morethananumber and a #bdawnfitambassador for Brittany Dawn Fitness!
I believe that I would make a great #bdawfitambassador for a couple reasons. The great thing about social media is that it has the power to connect people with similar stories, beliefs or likes. We can lift each other up when someone is struggling. We can share ideas, recipes, information, photos, and more to make the world more knowledgeable about certain ideas. Being a #bdawnfitnessambassador would mean spreading the idea of flexible dieting, feeling good about who you are and feeling comfortable in your skin, and how exercise and eating can help lead to a balanced lifestyle that allows one to reach all the goals they desire, fitness or other. An important piece to being a #bdawnfitambassador is representing the bdawnfit brand through social media. I am very active on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, and my own personal blog—each about my experiences with friends, family, trials and tribulations of a college sophomore, and most importantly my fitness and health journey. I always make sure that what I post reflects my positive attitude towards fitness, but also shows the real life feelings around recovering from my Eating Disorder and trying to find the balance between food, exercise, and being #morethananumber.
I also believe that I am a great team member. I have been involved in team sports since before I could walk and that has taught me the importance of seeing everybody’s potential and ideas. I love working with others and learning what they have to offer, and being able to work with not only Brittany and the BDawn Fitness staff, but also the other ambassadors would truly put me in a place to best represent the Brittany Dawn Fitness brand and the core values shared by Brittany. I am always open to learn and expand my own knowledge. I want to be an ambassador because I want to spread the bdawnfit brand to as many people as I can reach. I have been positively influenced by the information and ideas shared by Brittany, and I would love to get that out to others so they too can see what potential they have if they believe in themselves, feel good about their body image, and understand that balance with food and exercise can change how you live FOR THE BETTER! You don’t have to be a cardio bunny, a couch potato, or a 3 times a day lifter to be healthy. There is a balance and thanks to Brittany I have found this information and taken it to change my life to help recover from my ED. I want to spread the word that each and every person is worth it… worth living, worth fueling their body, worth not destroying their bodies with food or exercise habits! I struggled with this concept, but overtime with the right mindset and people around you, you can see how worthy you really are. Health and fitness is such a powerful way to show others what they are truly capable of! If I were chosen I would go above and beyond the expectations of the position. I am passionate, dedicated, committed, and will put whole heart into it the job. I believe in Brittany’s message so much, and sharing how it has influenced me to the world and how they too can live a healthy, happy life would be an extraordinary opportunity.
2. #MORETHANANUMBER means… well honestly it is my mantra right now and ultimately saved my life. It means that the number on the scale does not define me. Like Brittany, I too suffer/suffered from an Eating Disorder. This past school year (freshman year of college in NYC), I suffered from Anorexia Athletica and Orthorexia. I would only eat clean foods and I had to lift weights every single day, until I burned a certain number of calories or I wouldn’t leave/I wouldn’t eat. When I stepped on that dreaded scale everyday and saw the number drop, I got excited and pissed because I was supposed to be “gaining muscle” because I was lifting right? Unfortunately, my eating habits of clean eating or not eating at all were not sufficient enough to fuel my body and I spiraled out of control between the scale, the mirror, my want to gain muscle, and stress in my life from friends, school, and my family. I thought that if I controlled how my body looked and how “strong” I felt, I could do anything…but I was wrong. Within a few months, I weighed 81 pounds (I am 5’3”). In my treatment of my eating disorder I came across Brittany and the IIFYM concept. I loved the idea of bringing balance between the foods you want, lifting weights, and feeling confident in your own skin. That controlling the number on the scale or how your body looks doesn’t solve anything, it only brings trouble and misery. I see now that I am defined on my own terms, not some piece of glass on the floor that shows me what I weigh. I will not deny that I do struggle to remember that I am #morethananumber on occasions (eating disorder mess with your head all the time!), but I snap out of it and know that the balance I have found will lead me to real strength. I have grown threw IIFYM and seeing that food can fuel my body and truly make me stronger by fueling my life, workouts, and body. I now lift weight 5 times a week with two rest day, make PRs *hello 135 in the pic!*, and eat to fuel my body! Every time I see one of your posts Brittany, it reminds me that everyday, every moment… is a victory. I believe that everyone needs to see that they are #morethananumber and their potential…limitless. We all have worth and more than what society, media, and the scale label us to be. #morethananumber means that I have control over who I am, body, my successes, and how I choose to live. #Morethananumber isn’t a saying, it is a lifestyle that everybody should be able to live by and a mantra that saved my life in order to live the life I deserve. I live by two things now: #morethananumber and this quote:
“Twenty years from now, you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn’t do than by the things you did do. Sail away from a safe harbor; catch the trade winds in your sails…. Explore, Dream, Discover “~Mark Twain
I realize that you have to be willing to change and try new things if you want to move forward. The first step to getting anywhere is knowing you cannot stay on the same course. Thank you so much Brittany for everything you have taught me. That one click on your page saved my life and has allowed me to grow and see what life can bring outside of worrying about a number. Being a #bdawnfitambassador would mean letting others experience that same, the same joy over finally being free to live!
Love always, fight on, enjoy Oreos.
XOXO
Erin Hodges
(PS.. I couldnt fit the word ambassador on the sign... :(((( but its there in spirit haha!!! I tried but they didn't have any bigger poster board arggghhh!! sorry!)