Bess Carter - Guest Blog of the Month

"Empowered women empower women." YAS queen. Alright let's hop right into it shall we? This month we have the one and only Bess Carter. I started following Bess quite a while ago and have always been attracted to her realness and pure authenticity and desire to just help women in areas she's good at (workouts and the cutest workout outfits ever). I'm sure you're going to love her just as much as me! Here we go!

+ If you could have lunch with anybody, who would it be and why?!

Hmmm, just for fun....Kate Middleton. I've always had a little bit of a girl crush on her!!

Ugh yes, can I join you on this lunch?

+ Tell us a little bit about yourself! Where are you from, what is your favorite thing to do in your free time, and one random fact about you?!

I am a North Carolina native, grew up in Durham, went to Wake Forest, and now live in Charlotte. My favorite thing to do in my free time would be to go on a hike with my husband (or just do something active) and then go to a brewery afterwards! But preferably a brewery that also has wine or rose...I want to like beer but I just prefer wine :) If it's a nice day I love to be outside and if it's not, I'm really good at being lazy on the couch!

Girl, we'd be besties if we lived in the same town for sure.

+ What got you into the health and wellness industry? I know you've gone through quite the journey yourself and so many women can relate. Could you tell us a little bit about that?

I've played sports my entire life but soccer was my true love. I played on a club team in high school that traveled the country and then I played Division I at Wake Forest University. So physical fitness and taking care of my body inside & out has always been a big part of my life. Once college was over, I replaced the soccer void with running and trying new workouts. I got my personal training certification that year and began training clients at the gym I grew up going to part time while I worked a full time job at Duke. I started a healthy living blog in 2010 that documented all of that. It was called "Bess Be Fit" and it morphed over the years into what it is today, more of a lifestyle blog but still with a healthy living influence. Since then I've always enjoyed sharing workouts with my readers and now on Instagram as well.

+ What was the key component that helped you find your healthy lifestyle and a loving relationship with food and your body?

Being an athlete was the biggest influence on my life from a young age, and really my relationship with food is that I just always tried to feed myself what would best serve my body from a performance standpoint but I've also never deprived myself of things I enjoy. And I've kept that mentality to this day. When I start overthinking what I'm eating is when it gets tricky for me. I just try to listen to my body, give it what it needs, and to never stress out about something I've eaten.

Amen sister, goodbye stress over food!

+ If you could share one thing to help other women looking to not only improve their health and fitness, but their self-love too, what would it be?

To keep it simple. Move everyday in a way you enjoy, drink lots of water, make healthy eating choices more often than not, but don't deprive yourself of life's moments that may revolve around food or drinks that may traditionally be considered "unhealthy". Food is food. Understand that you can have anything you want at any time you want it, and it takes away the power behind it.

Ohhh yes girl. Preach.

+ What is your favorite type of workout?

I love to run and do circuit based strength training. I work out 6 days a week and alternate between those two types of workouts. I share my weekly workout schedule on my blog every Sunday and free printable workouts every Wednesday.

+ If you could eat only one thing for the rest of your life, what would it be?

I don't know if I could choose just one thing, I would definitely get sick of whatever I picked. But my favorites are oatmeal for breakfast, a huge spinach salad with grilled chicken for lunch, and pizza for dinner 🙂plus dessert of some sort also...I have dark chocolate every night.

+ What is the most unique workout you've ever done?!

I did aerial yoga once...it was fun and pretty challenging but once was enough for me. I am a creature of habit and really like my running/circuit training schedule right now!!

Haha yes, I did this once too. It was super fun but also reassured me that me and yoga are not the best of friends.

+ What is your favorite quote to live by?

"If outside validation is your only source of nourishment, you will hunger for the rest of your life"...I love that quote. Self love has to be first otherwise we will never truly be happy or feel validated. We have to give it to ourselves first.

Mic drop.