This week, I’m speaking with Joan Denizot – the founder and president of Zize Bikes, which builds bicycles for heavier ladies and gents. Not only is Joan committed to providing the means for people of all sizes to rediscover movement and the joys of riding a bike, but she is also determined to create a sense of community amongst both men and women who feel isolated because of their body size.
Having done a lot of work on herself and as a proponent of body positivity, Joan gives us some insight into what has helped boost her confidence. It’s easy to forget that everyone has an inner mean girl, and she shares her struggles with thoughts that crop up every so often – I’m sure you’ll all be able to relate.
Tune in to catch my seriously fun conversation with Joan! We covered everything from her company to self-love and community. She’s such an inspiration to so many and I know you’re going to love her vibe!
It's so much more fun to just enjoy life and say, 'If you have a problem with me, I don't care, it's none of my business. I couldn't care less.' - Joan Denizot Share on XWhat You’ll Learn From this Episode:
- How Joan came up with the idea for Zize Bikes and its mission.
- Joan’s journey with weight loss and body image.
- What has helped Joan feel more self-love and self-confidence.
- Why it’s okay for self-love to be a long process.
- Joan’s biggest challenge and greatest joy in getting to where she is today.
- How Joan’s new program helps men and women live well as they are.
- Why a sense of community is so important.
- Joan’s mission with As You Are.
Listen to the Full Episode:
Featured on the Show:
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- Joan Denizot: Instagram | Facebook
- Zize Bikes
- Bikes with Friends group
- As You Are: Website | Instagram
- Healthy Living Challenge
- Self-love quiz
Full Episode Transcript:
Welcome to The Not Your Average Runner Podcast. If you’re a woman who is midlife and plus sized and you want to start running but don’t know how, or if it’s even possible, you’re in the right place. Using proven strategies and real-life experience, certified running and life coach Jill Angie shares how you can learn to run in the body you have right now.
Hey rebels, you are listening to episode number 45 of The Not Your Average Runner Podcast. I’m your host, Jill Angie, and today I am speaking with Joan Denizot. Joan is the founder and president of Zize Bikes, which is a company that builds bicycles to hold riders up to 550 pounds with the mission to provide the means and inspiration for people of all sizes to rediscover the joys and freedom of bike riding.
Now, Zize Bikes are the first and only manufacturer of bicycles designed specifically for people who are bigger, and this is a big deal, no pun intended. Now, Joan is also the creator of the As You Are inclusive support community which provides guidance and tips and community to help its members live a more fulfilling and enriching life. This is actually a very body positive community for both men and women.
And today, Joan and I are going to be discussing how she came to start this company, how she created the As You Are community, what her own journey to self-love and acceptance looked like, and how you can get started yourself. And I promise all the links for all of this stuff are going to be in the show notes so for now, just sit back and enjoy this interview.
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Jill: Hey rebels, so I am here today with a very special guest, Joan Denizot, who is the owner and creator of Zize Bikes and body love, body image expert, and we are going to talk about some really fun stuff today. So first of all, hey Joan, and welcome.
Joan: Hi, it’s great to be here, Jill. Thanks.
Jill: Thank you so much for joining me. The reason I wanted to talk to you today about what you do is first of all because you’re a body image expert. You’ve done a lot of work on yourself, but also because cycling is an awesome cross-training exercise for runners and you have this like, amazing company that you started that is literally the only one of its kind in the world, it’s called Zize Bikes, so what I’d like to do is start to have you tell us about Zize Bikes a little bit and its mission.
Joan: Sure. So Zize Bikes is a company I started like, 13 years ago because I’m a large woman and I wanted to ride a bike, and I discovered that bikes were not built strong enough for me, and I thought that was the stupidest thing I ever heard. So I just said, well that’s stupid and that’s great reason for starting a business, but really, I was just annoyed that they didn’t make bikes because it’s such a good exercise for large people because there’s no stress on your joints. So the mission of the company is to provide the means and tools and inspiration for people of all sizes to live their life to their fullest. Because what I find is that it’s so discouraging that so many people can’t do a lot of sports they’d like to because there are not tools available.
Jill: I love that so much because it aligns very much with my – which is my mission so I believe you can be a runner any size or shape, you just need the tools and the understanding of how to do that. So you created bikes that are specifically designed for people of like, what weight and above?
Joan: We can take riders up to 550 pounds.
Jill: Oh my gosh, that’s amazing.
Joan: Yeah, and you know, it’s funny how I came up with that because I just asked myself, this is when I was in the early stages of inventing this company, is how big could somebody be and still be able to ride a bike? That was how I came up with it. And then I later found out that that’s actually the standard for like, operating rooms and all this stuff is 550 pounds. So I went to some engineers, some local people that I lived at the time in near Burlington, Vermont and it’s a very big bike center, and I found some engineers who designed some bikes for me – they’re like, “Joan, these can hold 1000 pounds.” I don’t sell them for 1000 but they are strong ass bicycles.
Jill: So talk a little bit about what that means, like a strong ass bicycle. Because when I think of a bike, and I know like, every time I’ve done a triathlon or something it’s been on one of those bikes with those really skinny tires and the frame that looks like you could break it in half with your hands.
Joan: Yeah, it’s – our bikes are probably best described as like, cruisers. There’s a whole bunch of components to it, but the main thing, the frame is chrome-alloy steel, which is – we use the grated steel that’s actually used to build aircraft, so this is strong stuff. It cannot break, which is a huge thing because people break their frames. And then the tires are wider, the rims are wider, professional grade spokes, the tires themselves are like a really high thread count, the inner tube we put a slime protectant, which prevents flats. So everything we do is just done to the best of what we could possibly find or make to support a rider. And like, we also really paid attention not to like, invent all our own parts because if we do that, then if somebody has a bike and it breaks, then they’re kind of in trouble because they can’t just take it to a bike shop because they have to special order the real parts, they have to find us, they have to know where they got the bike. So we use parts that already exist, but they are like, they are almost always steel. They’re not aluminum. We put like, on the seat – your riders might identify with this because I certainly remember this clear as day before I started doing bikes. I’d get on a bicycle seat and the saddle would just kind of twist from side to side because you’re heavier then it’s supposed to be holding and it wouldn’t break or anything but it would just kind of twist. You’d turn and your saddle would turn with you. So one of the things – I mean, there’s a number of things we did about that, but we just put two bolts where the seat bar is – is that what it’s called? I’m having a – anyway, where the seat post goes, we bolt it in place twice so it never slides. I mean, just stuff that is – now that I’ve thought of it – I haven’t thought of it but I do it and I’m familiar with it, it’s like, oh duh, you know, of course, that’s such an easy solution.
Jill: But like, current bike manufacturers aren’t necessarily – because they’re expecting somebody who rides to be like, 120 to maybe 150, 160 pounds rather than 300 pounds.
Joan: When I was researching – when I was trying to get a bike for myself, I called manufacturers, I called bike stores, I called – primarily I just switched to manufacturers because bike stores don’t really – often don’t know all the details, and they’re like, “Oh, these bikes are for really heavy people, anybody can ride this,” I’m like, “Oh, so what’s the weight capacity?” They’re like, “200 pounds.” I’m like, “Wow. Awesome.”
Jill: It’s like the rest of the world doesn’t even know. So funny, the sports world anyway.
Joan: It’s like, a third to a half of the American population is overweight and obese, so how can people be so…
Jill: I don’t know. I don’t know, but it happens for sure. We encounter that in the running world all the time, and I think – I mean, the cycling world I think is even more elitist, I guess, than the running world because with running there’s much fewer barriers to entry. All you need to do is put on your shoes and go out the door. But with a bike, like, you actually have to go and buy a bike, you have to go to a bike store so I think there are more barriers to entry for somebody who’s heavier, 250, 300 pounds, 350 pounds, who wants to ride a bike because they can’t just order a pair of shoes from Road Runner Sports and just go out the door and run. They have to go to a bike store and like, buy a bike in person and meet the eyes of the person selling the bike and all of the BS that comes along with that. So I just think it’s amazing that you’re doing this and like, the where it came from because you were like, hey, I need this thing, nobody else is providing it. I just love the spirit of okay, well then I will figure out a way to provide it. So can you talk to us a little bit about your journey through life? Like, how – because we’re going to talk in a few minutes about your own body image, your own self-love journey, but like, how did you get to where you are today that you had the courage to say, fuck that, I’m not taking the status quo, I’m going to go and create this bike that I want and I’m going to sell it to other people?
Joan: That’s a great question. So how did I get there? You know, I’ve always been kind of bossy.
Jill: It’s my favorite. I’m bossy.
Joan: Yeah, kindred spirits, right? So it’s true though, I’ve always thought, well why would I do it that way? And I’ve kind of been an independent thinker and so when I realized that I couldn’t have what I needed, well, that’s ridiculous. I mean, I already told you that. So it’s partly that I’ve always been kind of bossy. I also was at a point in my life where I had undergone bariatric surgery and what they were telling me is you have to exercise, you have to exercise, and I’m like, I hate to exercise. I mean, I hated to exercise. It’s like, what am I going to do? And the only exercise I could remember that I loved to do was biking. So that’s when I started looking for a bike because I’m like, I have to keep moving. And that started the whole journey. Since then, I will tell you, I lost some weight. I didn’t lose as much as I wanted. I gained a bunch of weight back. I mean, it’s still a seesaw. It’s not – for me, it certainly wasn’t the answer but what it did give me is it gave me at that point, enough self-confidence to say, “Okay, I’m fat, so what? And it’s not a four-letter word, and I need a bike, and I am not the only fat person that wants to ride a bike.” And it gave me kind of the nerve to just label myself fat and not make it a bad thing. You know, people still have a problem with that because if I’ll tell people, “Well, you know, I’m fat,” and they’re like, “Oh, well, you’re not fat.” Like, oh really?
Jill: Have you ever seen that meme where it’s this cute chubby little baby wearing sunglasses and it says, I’m fat, and people say you’re not fat, you’re beautiful, and underneath it says did I say I was ugly?
Joan: It’s perfect. Yeah, that is not a four-letter word.
Jill: I know. Like, if – I’m willing to call myself fat, so that’s like, it’s other people’s problems if they’re uncomfortable with it. It’s so fascinating. People are like, no, no, no. I’m like, I’m cool with it. It’s fine.
Joan: Look, right here on my belly, that’s fat.
Jill: It’s not a secret. Like, let’s just move on. Okay, so I love that. I love that. So it’s so interesting that the surgery gave you the confidence to just be okay with being fat.
Joan: Yeah, isn’t that interesting? Especially since I gained, you know, like most of – well, not most of it, but a good half – like, I lost 100 pounds and I gained like 60 of it back. And over the course of being in business. But when I started, even though I was still by anybody’s standards a very large woman, a fat woman, I was much thinner and I felt better with myself. And then it’s walking the talk because as I was getting out there talking about bikes for heavy people and figuring it out and marketing it and connecting with heavy people, I started getting that confidence that I needed and each of us deserves. And it’s like, since then I managed to gain a whole bunch of weight and it’s like, okay. I still say the same thing. You know, I learned, and unfortunately you know, I learned kind of by fire, but it’s okay, it’s how I had to learn. I’m also – not only am I bossy, I’m stubborn.
Jill: Love that. So let’s talk about when you were creating this bike and you’re talking to engineers and you’re telling people like, hey, I’m going to do this thing, did you encounter any resistance or did people look at you and go like, “What the fuck is wrong with you? This is a terrible idea?”
Joan: Actually, I didn’t really talk about it people until I did it. Actually, the very first bike I did, I found a frame builder, I was stalking a frame builder’s website and I was stalking it until I found this guy that I really though sounded great and compassionate and understanding and I contacted him and he built my first bikes. And he ended up ripping me off and keeping the money I spent for bikes, but that’s another whole story. It started out – it was a good relationship for a good year. So I didn’t tell anybody about it. I mean, obviously I told my family and they’re like, “Whatever, mom.” I’ve always got something going. But what I found almost universally is when I tell people what I do, they’re like, “That is so brilliant. That is such a good idea.” It is almost universal, but interestingly enough, I’m not asking here although if anybody’s interested I’m certainly available, it’s like I was looking for a partner. I was looking for somebody to go into business with me and to support this, and I tried so many ways to get financial backing as well as marketing and skills I just felt like I didn’t have, and everybody, universally, that’s the most brilliant idea I’ve ever heard, not a person wanted to put forth a dime. So it was very interesting. But the fact is, is people love the idea because it’s brilliant. It is brilliant. We all need to ride a bike. It’s such a simple thing, right?
Jill: Feel like we need to get you on Shark Tank or something.
Joan: I know. The thing is I’m not patented and half the people I’ve talked to said, “You won’t get a patent, it’s a bicycle,” and the other half of the people said, “Well, you might get a patent.” So I may or I may not – I’m telling you, I’ve been in business for 13 years and nobody else is doing it yet.
Jill: Right, it sounds to me like it’s not a market that people are like, scrambling over each other to get into.
Joan: It’s not sexy apparently.
Jill: Yeah, well hey, so what? But I love that you tried to get backers, you tried to get financial support, you didn’t get it, and you said, okay, well I’m still going to make the bikes. That’s such a passion for what you do, I love that so much.
Joan: It is, it is my passion. It is something I really believe in, and what I love most about it is I love helping people. I mean, it sounds dorky but I love it. I love – people call me like, and they’re so grateful. Even people that say I can’t afford a bike now but thank you so much for doing this. I mean, they can’t find it anywhere. Just yesterday somebody called me and she’s like, you know, what’s the highest weight? And I said 550 and she said, my husband’s bigger. And I said well how much does he weigh, and she said 600. And I said well, we’ve sold bikes to people that weigh more than 550 but we just tell them a few techniques that they need to be careful of, so at 600 I would feel comfortable with him on one of our bikes. And she was just like, practically in tears. She goes, “Thank you so much, I have been looking for two years trying to find a bike that he – because that’s what he wants to do and I can’t find anything.” And that’s not uncommon. So that’s why I do it.
Jill: Right, because there are people out there that are – they need this, right? I just love this. So I’ve known you for several months now and I’ve never asked you this question. What does the name mean? Zize Bikes?
Joan: When I started the company, it was called Supersized Cycles and I figured a good descriptive name, right? And a lot of customers would say, “Well, is it going to say Supersized Cycles on it?” They didn’t want the label, the visual label, and so I was brainstorming with a friend of mine, like, I have to think of a totally different word and the problem is there is no socially acceptable word for fat. There really isn’t. We talked about this before just trying to find the right vocabulary and it’s hard. I mean, the closest I could come to was zaftig, but that’s really feminine, and I sell my bikes – they’re about half to women and half to men. It’s a pretty even split. So I didn’t want to make it zaftig. So anyway, so my friend and I just came up with this name and so my definition is Zize means size with attitude.
Jill: I love that. I love that. It’s perfect. It’s perfect. Okay, so like, what has your journey – we’ve touched on this a little bit but maybe you can expand a little more. Like, what is your overall journey to self-love and acceptance then like? Like, aside from just the bikes that you’re creating, I know that you’ve done a lot of really hard work on yourself from that perspective.
Joan: I have, and it’s been – I mean, in my mind, I have been fat since I was born. And certainly, my childhood, I look at pictures now and I really wasn’t fat but I wasn’t bone sticky thin like many little girls and boys. And so I always thought I was fat, so I grew up with this whole image and at some point, I realized, that’s not who I am. I mean, even if it is, I mean, fat is not – again, it’s my catchphrase, it’s not a four-letter word. It’s not a bad thing. It’s just a description. So I just started working on loving myself. I actually started in therapy when my first daughter was born and she’s now 34. And so I started looking at myself really more closely. Now, over the years, I’ve done a number of different things. One of the things that’s helped me the most I think, and it’s – I kind of don’t like this, but it’s true, is 20 years ago I met the person who was to become my second husband, and he just loves me. He thinks I am the sexiest thing, and he’s not what they call a fat chaser or whatever, he just thinks large women are sexier. And he thinks I am just as hot as can be, and for 20 years we’ve been together and he continues to tell me that and I continue to look at him like, really? But I’m starting to say, well, thank you, and starting to get it and feel it on an internal level like, okay, I am beautiful. It’s not just that my husband particularly likes me. It’s like, I can feel really good about myself no matter how I am or who I’m with or what I’m doing, and it’s – what I don’t like about that is I feel like he instigated it. But I’m not sure that’s what he did. I think he almost just reaffirmed what I was teaching myself, which is I’m beautiful and I’m worthy and…
Jill: And even if he’s the first one to tell you that, that you started to believe it, like, it has to start somewhere, and I think sometimes it doesn’t – sometimes we can’t believe it for ourselves yet and we need external validation.
Joan: Right.
Jill: And what better place for it to come from than like, this amazing human who you’ve decided to share your lives together. So I love that. But don’t you think it’s a journey that like – I talked about this a few episodes on – can’t remember which podcast it was, it was a few episodes ago, that basically we think that we should just be able to flip a switch and start loving ourselves because when you see it on Instagram it’s like, learn to love yourself. And it’s never that easy and then what happens is we try to do it and we’re like, okay, I’m going to say these nice things to myself, and then the old bullshit story pops back up and then we’re like, oh great, one more thing I’m not good at. So…
Joan: Absolutely.
Jill: Like it takes years. For some people – I mean, for me, it took years to really be able to say – and I had to get like, old enough to just really stop giving a fuck. And then like, then I was like, oh, it’s way more fun.
Joan: It’s so much more fun to just enjoy life and say, “If you have a problem with me, I don’t care, it’s none of my business. I couldn’t care less.”
Jill: Yes exactly.
Joan: And it’s true.
Jill: And don’t you think like, when we stop looking for other people to have problems with us, they stop having problems with us.
Joan: Absolutely. Absolutely. You could not be more right. I mean, I remember when I was younger and I just felt like everybody was like, looking at me with the evil eye and criticizing me and all that. I don’t even see it now. I mean, and maybe they’re doing it, but honest to god, I don’t see it. I’m just like, I’m me, I’m happy, I’m doing my thing, and…
Jill: We see what we look for. And so when you’re looking for that kind of stuff, it’s very easy to find it whether it’s there or not. I think that’s the thing, right? Everybody’s looking at me, everybody’s criticizing me, it’s like, really? Really?
Joan: Nobody cares that much.
Jill: Maybe she just has something in her eye. Right?
Joan: Yeah.
Jill: Yeah, I know, but I think that’s a hard lesson to learn and I think a lot of people need to learn it on their own.
Joan: I do think age has a lot to do with it. I think there’s a certain level of living through all that hard stuff that kind of, I don’t know if it makes us immune, but it just makes us realize that we’re better than that, right? So you can just let it go and there’s a certain wisdom that comes with – like, I’m grateful I’m not 20 and worried about all that stuff now because who needs it?
Jill: It does not make life easier, for sure. Well so, like, just talking about your journey a little bit, what can you say – what has been your biggest challenge and what has been your biggest joy along the way to getting you where you are now?
Joan: My biggest challenge is that inner voice, you know the one. We all have it. I assume we all have it. Mine is loud. And it still crops up regularly. Actually, right now I have a bunch of work I need to be doing and I am resisting it and resisting it and I don’t know why, and like, I force myself – I swim every morning now, that’s what I do. I love to swim. Right up there with bike riding, and there’s no bike paths where I live and so I don’t ride my bike from my house, so I swim every morning. And oh my god, like, yesterday I allowed myself to just sleep right through my whole swim. This morning I literally had to force myself to put my bathing suit on. Literally. And once I got there I was fine. Actually, once I was out the door it was fine. It’s just that, oh, it’s not worth it, blah, blah, blah. I’m like, Joan, your body needs the exercise, it’s good for you. It’s fun, you like it. You know, what’s the problem? But it’s that voice that’s very prevalent and shows up in all sorts of different ways. And so that has been and continues to be my biggest struggle, I would say. In terms of my biggest joy, I would say it’s the bikes. I love helping people do this and I’m actually really excited because I’m starting this new program, AsYouAre.live and it’s not necessarily correlated with buying a bike. It’s just helping people who are ready to move beyond their physical outsideness that infects their life into just helping them learn to love themselves. So I’m really excited about that and I really love that piece where I help people get beyond the disenchantment with their own selves.
Jill: I love that. Getting beyond the disenchantment with their own selves. So this is actually a great time to talk about that because I know you work – do you work with just women or do you work with women and men?
Joan: The program is open to women and men, and I considered doing just women but so many people that I know work only with women and I think that men can bring an interesting perspective. And again, my clientele is about half and half, and so it’s been interesting because I’m really just developing it but I still get a lot of interesting emails. Like the other day I sent an email to my client list and just asked them a question just like, what they needed most to help them live comfortably in their bodies. I have like, an email list of, I don’t know, 4000 people. I got four responses and they were all from men, which is interesting because it seems to me like that’s the kind of thing women would respond to. And so to me that’s good information and it’s also good – I think it underlines that they need something too because maybe these men that do want some support in getting comfortable in their bodies and learning how to live well as they are, they don’t have a lot of options. That’s also possible.
Jill: I think it’s very possible.
Joan: Yeah, there may be just for women.
Jill: Yeah, because I think we’ve worked so hard on like, women’s body image and so forth because I think traditionally women had been the ones that had been expected to live up to a certain body image, and so now I think the guys are out there saying, “Hey, I struggle with stuff too,” right? And so it’s interesting because – so Andy’s lost a fair amount of weight recently and he didn’t struggle so much with his body image when he was 100 pounds heavier. He was kind of like, hey, this is who I am, I love myself, I believe I’m an amazing human, I think I’m very attractive, but as his body has changed, his whole – like, he’s having to relearn to identify as a different person, a different sized person and so forth, and I’ve realized like, there really is nothing out there. So I love that you’re offering this to men and women so that – and here’s the thing: if more men like, learn to love their bodies and stop feeling inadequate because of what they look like, that’s only going to be good for the world, right?
Joan: For everybody.
Jill: Exactly.
Joan: You know, I think what you said about women is totally on target, and I also think that women, people expect more of women and we are definitely not – we have a higher standard we have to meet to be accepted in society in many ways. So – and the men aren’t getting anything. There’s an awakening of need for the men like, oh yeah, but there’s nothing offered. I told you this email that I said what do you need to live comfortably in a big body, two of the four men said, “I’ve lost some weight so it’s an interesting question,” or something like that, and I wrote back saying exactly what you just said is doesn’t it change things? And doesn’t everything stay the same too? Because you have all these different questions and how do you live in this new body and how do you – can you ride a regular bike? Can you – where do you shop? I mean, there are so many things that people aren’t familiar with because they’ve lived their life closeted in an obese body. Anyway, I think – you know, I’m hopeful that more men will find use for it.
Jill: Yeah, I think they will too, and so I’m glad that you’re offering that to both halves because – and what’s so interesting is if you’ve got men and women – so are you working with them in a group setting?
Joan: Yes, and…
Jill: Oh, fun. So they’ll get to learn from each other.
Joan: Absolutely. And also, I mean, part of the thing that I’ve discovered when I talk – because I talk to a lot of people, and almost everyone I talk to is usually obese because if you’re 300 pounds, you can probably find a bicycle if you really search for it, but if you get much over that you really can’t, and so you come to me. And what the biggest point that I’ve heard from people is they’re lonely, that they don’t have a sense of community, and I think because they’re so big they feel isolated and then they self-isolate, and it can be a very vicious circle. And I think that’s why like, your program and my program, it’s getting people out and creating community and I think that’s so important. And I think it’s also part of that community to have men and women is – I mean, it’s more life-like and it’s also more fun, and you never know, I mean, I just think it’s a good thing.
Jill: Yeah, I completely agree. I love that. Okay, so that program is called AsYouAre.live, that’s the website.
Joan: Yes.
Jill: And so folks can check that out. You’re also doing some kind of a challenge coming up?
Joan: Yes, we’re starting a healthy living challenge, and we’re pretty excited about it. It’s something totally new but the idea and it goes with what I was talking about with body image and body positivity is helping people feel great about themselves. So it’s a three-month challenge and we’re going to be doing all sorts of things that people are going to have the option to connect on and to demonstrate. So we’re going to talk about things like – people are going to be logging their movement, basically, and we’re going to have people hook up to our Facebook group and the idea is to get everybody connecting with each other and to really – we want people to show like, the growth they’ve made. Some of the people – like I was talking about this woman who called with her 600-pound husband. I mean, he could do it and he obviously can’t easily get out and run, for example, but he could start by walking, and he just starts keeping track of his steps and maybe he starts and he can walk 100 feet, and by the end of three months, he can walk a mile. I mean, that’s a huge improvement. So we’re looking at improvement, contribution, sense of community, motivating, connecting with other people. The whole idea is just to really create a community of people that are working to improve their overall health and wellbeing, basically.
Jill: So it’s not just physical health, it’s also like, the mental health of learning how to shift your perspective on yourself and…
Joan: Absolutely. On a body mind spirit, I call it. Not a very unique term, but that’s what I was trying to describe it to somebody. It’s like, that’s really what it is, it’s all pieces of the puzzle, right?
Jill: And so what is the challenge component? Is there going to be – there’s going to be like…
Joan: There’s going to be a prize, there’s going to be prizes.
Jill: Yes, that’s what I was looking for.
Joan: That P word. Yeah, we have the grand prize, which means somebody has to show progress in all of the different components, it’s like a list of eight or 10 things. Show progress in basically – the most progress in all the components, and that grand prize is either $1000 or a Zize Bike. So it’s a substantial prize. Our bikes retail for $2500. So it’s a nice prize. And then what we’re going to do is have prizes for probably each different component. So if you’ve got somebody who maybe hasn’t gotten very far but they have been there every day taking pictures or cheering on other people and – to me, that’s a win. That’s a huge win because they’ve built friendships and they’ve built support for themselves and for others. So that person would definitely get a prize and we’re still deciding what those prizes are going to be but I certainly – it’s important to be recognized for the work that you’re putting in and so that is part of why I’m making sure that there’s plenty of prizes.
Jill: So the work is going to be not just work on yourself but like, helping other people do the work on themselves and showing up and connecting, encouraging other people at the same time that you’re working on your own self-image and body image and health and fitness and all that.
Joan: Exactly. It’s the whole idea – you know, when people talk about exercise, I still like, get chills when I hear the word exercise, but when people talk about movement, or play, those words are very positive for me. And so the whole idea is that it’s about teaching people to move and supporting each other because basically those are the two things that certainly the bikes are about, and AsYouAre.live, it’s about that. It digs a lot deeper so that we can kind of shut that voice up that’s saying, “I don’t want to do that,” but it’s getting us moving, getting us re-loving life. And because everybody is clear that they are lonely, they want people, they want connection, that’s how this developed.
Jill: I love this. I feel like there’s going to be love connections in that group too.
Joan: Wouldn’t that be great?
Jill: I know. I know. Most dates with other people in the group. I love that. Prize for that.
Joan: If anyone gets married, they each get a Zize Bike, okay?
Jill: I love this. Alright, let’s just decide that right now. So good. So good. Okay. So I just think this is such important work that you’re doing and people don’t talk a lot about – when you don’t love yourself, that’s a very isolating and lonely feeling and so I’m so glad that you’re helping people with this and helping them do that in a community so that they can see that they’re not alone, so they can see other people doing the same work. Because so often we think, “Oh gosh, my inner mean girl has so many mean things to say,” and we look at other people and we’re like, it must be so easy to be them, they just look so confident and really they’ve got the same shit going on in their head. So bringing people together so that they can see we all struggle with the same stuff. So good.
Joan: Yeah, and you know, one of the things that like, I really – I’m actually going to partake in this challenge as is my VA. We both decided, we’re both going to jump in and do it too, but the thing is like, taking pictures of ourselves working out and being miserable – because so much of social media is prettied up and that’s not real exactly. Your mean girl can say, “Oh, well look at that person’s not even breaking a sweat, and you know, they’re clearly running or whatever,” and it’s like, that’s not what we’re going to be doing and encouraging other people to be doing. It’s like, this is real life, let’s connect on a real level.
Jill: I love that so much. So okay, so we’re almost out of time. How can people find you? First of all, how can they join this challenge? If they want to follow you, if they want to follow Zize Bikes, give us all the deets.
Joan: Okay, well first of all, if you want to – Jill mentioned earlier that – sorry, I’m talking to the audience, not to you. You mentioned earlier…
Jill: It’s okay, you can talk to them.
Joan: About the quiz that we have, and so if you want to kind of get a barometer of where you’re at in terms of your self-love, like how strong your mean girl or mean person voice is, we have a free quiz that you can take. It’s at AsYouAre.live/free. So if you want to go over there and take that, that’s a great way to kind of maybe take your temperature, see where you’re at and your results will kind of break it down for you. Like, hey, you know, you’re great, you could use some support, or you need a lot of support. And however it is, it’s – there are ways for us to help you. There are people that help you like Jill is helping you. What she does is amazing. There’s As You Are, there’s all sorts of different body positive movements out there and I think that it’s really important for us to remember that and not get discouraged by it. So anyway, so there’s AsYouAre.life/free for the quiz. The healthy living challenge, the page is going to be zizebikes.com/healthylivingchallenge. So that’s where you can find some information and if you want to find us on Facebook, we’re at facebook.com/zizebikes. And we have a group on Facebook, which is great. It’s where we’re really building some connections and that is called Bikes with Friends. So if you look up Bikes with Friends, even though it’s not just about biking, you can be a runner, it’s just about the friends piece. And we also have a Zize Bikes account on Instagram and also there’s an asyouare_live account on Instagram. So if you’re more interested in learning about the body positivity stuff, that’s a good one, asyouare_live. So those are kind of the places, and of course, go to zizebikes.com and take a look at our bikes. And there’s all sorts of ways to connect with us there so if you forget all these names I’m throwing out, you can find things on zizebikes.com. Or if you forget the name, just look up bikes for heavy people and we’re going to be at the top because we’re the only ones.
Jill: So amazing. And of course, I will have all of these links in the show notes so if you’re listening to this and you’re like, I want to come back to it later, you can just click over to the show notes, all links will be there. Thank you so much, Joan for joining me today and taking about your bikes and your own journey. I just think this has been really awesome and I am so glad that you are doing this work in the world.
Joan: Thank you, Jill. Likewise. I am wowed at what you are doing too, so between the two of us we’ll keep going – one step in front of the other.
Jill: We got to get a swim coach and then we’re going to have the first like, plus size triathlon.
Joan: I love it.
Jill: Alright, thanks so much, and thanks rebels, for listening.
Joan: Alright. Bye.
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Hey rebels, I hope you enjoyed my chat with Joan and if you want to find out more about what she does, about Zize Bikes, about the As You Are community or the healthy living challenge, all of that, all the links to connect with her are going to be in the show notes at notyouraveragerunner.com/45. You can get the link to take the self-love quiz, you can follow her on Instagram, it’s all going to be there. I hope you enjoyed our talk today and I’ll see you next week.
Thanks for listening to this episode of The Not Your Average Runner Podcast. If you liked what you heard and want more, head over to www.notyouraveragerunner.com to download your free one-week jumpstart plan and get started running today.
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