A leading health and fitness influencer is in the UAE to give her backing to the Dubai Fitness Challenge.

Australian Emily Skye is well known for her no nonsense approach to dieting, training, and living a healthy life and is backing the second installment of the Dubai Fitness Challenge as the initiative looks to get the city moving for 30 minutes every day, for 30 days.

The Challenge kicks off on Friday October 26 with a two-day carnival at Festival City – including workouts run by DFC ambassador Emily.

Having amassed more than 2.4m followers on Instagram, Emily is only of the world’s most popular fitness gurus and is keen to pass on her knowledge to the people of the UAE.

“I’m really excited to be here,” she said. “It’s good to get people moving more, not only for their physical health but also their mental health as well.”

One of the goals of the Fitness Challenge is to encourage people to think about having a sustainable healthy lifestyle, not simply something that lasts for 30 days. Emily says the key to this is finding what works for you.

“Don’t over-complicate it,” she said. “It can be pretty intimidating, there’s a lot of ways to get fit out there, there’s a lot of ways of eating that can get results, you just have to find out what works for you.

“Find the meals you enjoy eating, and not just short term – this is a lifestyle change. Find the exercises you like doing, and also find a good support network. You have to set yourself up for success, not failure.

“People get a little bit intimidated because they think it is going to be really full-on stuff, but it doesn’t have to be. It can be as simple as just going for a walk.”

It has been well-documented the struggles Emily had in earlier life with mental illness. She credits exercise as one of the things that helped her through those difficult times, and now uses her social media platforms to help others who may be experiencing similar circumstances.

She says that training still now lightens her mood: “I always feel that if I have missed a few days of training you do notice. I feel different, I’m not as happy as I usually am. I struggled with a lot of mental health problems when I was younger, I had depression and anxiety, and training was my go-to to help me get through it.”

When it comes to living a healthy, balanced life, Emily has a clear message – just be yourself. Despite being a social media star, she is encouraging people to not aspire to the latest pictures they see on Instagram and simply maximise their own potential.

“The message is; don’t compare yourself to other people, it’s not about that, it’s your own journey,” she said. “That’s hard to do, but we don’t benefit from comparing ourselves to the person next to us or the person online who has filtered their photos. Be the best you can.”

Emily Skye will be appearing at the Dubai Fitness Challenge opening day carnival at Festival City. You can take part in her workout at 10.30pm, which will then be followed by a spectacular fireworks display.

For more information on the Dubai Fitness Challenge visit: https://dubaifitnesschallenge.com