Dede Barbanti is a former performer and competitor, Dede worked successfully for over 15 years as a professional choreographer and dance director, whose work has been featured on stage, film and television. She also trained in various forms of competitive martial arts. As a fitness & nutrition expert, life coach and single mother of 3; Once weighing over 200 lbs. She spent months doing extensive research in the fitness and nutrition field. Her goal was to understand what worked and what was lacking in other diet plans and fitness programs.

Throughout her years of training and experience, she developed scientifically proven methods that are literally changing the face of fitness! Through the creation of her first format Boogie Box (BBX) and the “Un-Diet” nutrition and weight-loss program; she lost just under 70 pounds in less than 6 months! Since then she has helped and inspired thousands of people throughout the world through her “straight shooting” coaching style. Her genuine love for helping people has led her to develop BBX, Inc. an innovator in the health and fitness industry offering several products and services to help people achieve their fullest potential in life.

We asked Dede a number of questions to expand upon her background and what keeps her empowered…

Tell us about yourself, your background?

As a former professional dancer, competitor and choreographer and student of martial arts; I got married hoping for the American dream of being soccer mom. However, that wasn’t in the plans for me. I eventually found myself as a single mother of 3 that fell into an unhappy situation and 70 lbs. overweight. I took control of my life and ended up creating my own program that not only changed my life; but the lives of several others.

You have a lot of interests. What was your first passion?

My first passion was Dance. I knew at 5 years old that dance was my destiny and what I was meant to do. My mother enrolled me in ballet…that lasted a
whole day! I knew as a child what I liked and what I was supposed to do and ended up in jazz and hip hop!

You have also studied and trained others in martial arts? What system did you study? Did you ever compete?

As an adult I have admired MMA especially geared toward athletes proficient in Muay Thai and Jiu jitsu. After having my first child I began taking competitive martial arts seriously since I knew I could no longer travel as a choreographer and competitor. My intention and dream was to fight so I personally trained to compete in tournaments and then I got pregnant again with my daughter. I then realized that I had to put my goals on the side and begin to raise my family.

How did your past interests lead up to the invention of your current fitness program?

After my 3rd child and in a bad marriage I found myself 70 pounds overweight and it was then I had “my defining moment”. I knew I had to change my life for
myself and my children and began my quest to make my body better and I knew that I had to make a change through my fitness and nutritional lifestyle.
However, after many months of 2 hours a day workouts and changing my eating habits based on what I thought was right: I was still 60 pounds overweight. I then decided to take matters into my own hands and started researching all of the workouts and popular group fitness programs on the market. I identified what worked and didn’t work for me and others. I then decided to take matters into my own hands and went into the dance studio where I began to create my own format, “Boogie Box Fitness.”

What have been some of your toughest challenges and how did you overcome them?

Having 3 kids as a single mother with absolutely no support from their father in all aspects of their life; I live every day to make sure I have a roof over their heads and that they have a healthy mother to take care of them. To be honest with you, I have not overcome these challenges; I am just surviving, like any other mother who would want to take care of their family. Does anybody really every overcome their challenges? All they can do is keep fighting. I am human just like everybody else; I am just determined and focused.

What do you do to stay in a positive mindset?

I cannot think about the mountain I have to climb every single day, so I just don’t. I am just always moving forward and I am never looking back. I can’t let the stress and pressures of life consume me and I just have to keep going. I have to make sure that I never fall or my family will fall, so therefore, I just don’t think about it. I am always in solution mode and if I don’t know how, I ask for help and seek out the answers. I never let myself fall into negative thought patterns.

What does empowerment mean to you?

Empowerment is a very powerful word. It means to me that you are pushing beyond what you believe in what your limits are, whether it is physically, mentally or emotionally. Striving, struggling, fighting and achieving what you didn’t think you could do will create a power within yourself that you didn’t even know it existed.

What plans do you have for your professional career?

To change the world… 🙂

Special Offer for My Empowered World Readers – A 30% discount to Dede’s TRANSFORM seminar being held on Saturday, September 7th in Mission Viejo, California. Email pr@bbxinc.com and let them know you discovered them on My Empowered World

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