It’s nothing new to our ears to hear that society’s perception and creation of ideal beauty is pretty messed up. As college women, we tend to feel the heat of this a little more and it’s easy to fall prey to the idea of not being “good enough” or “skinny enough” or “pretty enough”. But guess what, you are!
I fell prey to some of those same thoughts in high school and it only got worse in college. Things like the freshman 15, eating in the dining hall, or even the nights that I was eating easy mac sitting on the floor of my freshman year dorm made it difficult for me to feel good about my health and body.
Then I was introduced to CHAARG [Changing Health, Attitudes, + Actions to Recreate Girls]. A friend of mine told me what it was, and I jumped into it headfirst. CHAARG is something unlike any diet plan, or fad diet, or fitness Instagram account. It’s REAL college women being honest and open about their fitness journey. They challenge one another, encourage one another, and recognize that it’s not easy.
The goal of CHAARG is not to make you skinny, or to create a false impression of the perfect body and fitness journey. It’s about meeting you where you are, helping you set goals, and giving you a way to achieve them with a group of girls who only want to see you succeed! What could be more empowering?!
By signing up for CHAARG you get weekly emails filled with recipes and encouragement for the week, you get access to some awesome FitGear and FitPlans (6 week fitness plans that happen 4 times a year) and you get to be a part of an incredible community of girls.
When I first joined CHAARG, I was nervous. Working out and being fit had started to feel like a chore to me. Within the first week or so of my first Fitplan this past summer [called bootycamp], I was becoming excited to workout. It was something I wanted to do. Not for the world, not for the people around me, but for myself. The girls on Instagram kept me accountable, and I was able to set goals for myself (and achieve them!). I was seeing tangible results in my muscle tone, my eating habits, and most importantly my confidence. I was (and still am) becoming a better version of myself.
Deciding to get #InCHAARG was the best decision I ever made! When you do, you discover that it’s possible to grow, have fun, love yourself, and find girls that are just like you and have the same sets of goals!
CHAARG has college chapters at 37 different universities and has a Virtual Chapter for those whose University does not have one yet—like Clemson! However, we are working on bringing one to Clemson for this Spring. If you have any questions or want to find out how you can get involved, contact Whitney Willms at wwillms@clemson.edu
OR for more information go to http://chaarg.com/about/ or follow them on Instagram @chaarg