As many of our followers know, last summer Smart Fit Chicks did a crowdfunding project to raise money for the design and implementation of our after-school program for adolescent girls, called Smart Fit Girls. We are happy to announce that we’ve launched the pilot program and it’s off to a GREAT start!

Before I get into the details, I have to tell you all how much hard work Kellie has put into getting this program started! She has been INCREDIBLE! From digging into the literature on self-esteem, self-efficacy and body image, to researching other programs, to setting up contact with the schools, to recruiting all the girls… I can’t even describe how much hard work she has done. This program would be NOTHING without her!

So, last month I had the opportunity to go to South Carolina to help kickoff the pilot program. We shopped for all kinds of equipment, including fitballs, medicine balls, balance boards, benches, mats, as well as art supplies, journals (more on this later:), and anything else we could think of that we needed. We had a BLAST together… (Gosh I miss that girl!).

Then, Monday afternoon was the kickoff, and let me tell you, those 8 girls are amazing. We got to know each other in fun and interactive ways, introduced them to their journals, and did an AWESOME body image activity. The purpose of the activity is to get us to think about the physical features we DO like about ourselves. So, each girl draws a picture of herself, and writes at LEAST five things she loves about her physical self, as well as up to one thing she does not love.

What becomes immediately apparent is that the girls are VERY uncomfortable talking about the things they like about their physical selves. Why is that? Why is it SO MUCH harder to come up with things we love than things we don’t love. And why is this activity important? It’s an incredible way to bring awareness and acceptability of being openly proud of our bodies. It’s so much more socially acceptable to sit around and bash our bodies than it is to appreciate them. How often do we sit around with girlfriends and say negative things, “oh gosh I am so fat,”  or “look how chubby my legs look,” or “gross… I can’t even look at myself today.” It’s so destructive, and girls learn to do this as early as middle school.

Now that you’ve got the idea, I want to share my drawing. 🙂  I know I’m good at a lot of things (like setting power lifting records) but art is NOT one of them. But, I love myself anyway:)

Stay tuned…we’ll continue to post updates about Smart Fit Girls!