So as some of you may have noticed, I've gotten pretty into (read:obsessed with) fitness, which has put me into a bit of an awkward position. You see, I am for body acceptance of all sizes (no one should be actively shamed and hated just for their body), yet I now exist in this community that is ALL ABOUT changing your body.
On my personal FaceBook and Instagram accounts, I follow a LOT of fitness, health, clean eating, and transformation pages. As such, my news feeds are constantly full of slim, toned, and attractive (scantily clad) people. It’s called “fitspo,” or fitness inspiration. I have seen phrases such as "a moment on the lips is forever on the hips" and the like with these pictures, which makes it seem like it's all about losing weight and being thin.
On one hand, I love seeing people on the transformation pages that have gone from morbidly obese to fit because I know how much work it takes to commit to a new lifestyle and how painful it can be and those people are my freaking heroes. Anyone who decides to do something hard to better themselves (I’m talking about bettering their HEALTH, not LOOKS) is a champ in my world. It is incredibly hard to go from an unhealthy lifestyle to a healthy one. I’ve seen/heard of people that couldn’t even walk anymore being able to run again. I’ve seen/heard of people working through disabilities and diseases and those people just astound me because I don’t know that I could ever do that if I were in their shoes. That right there fills me with such fierce joy, pride for the person, and determination that I can barely contain it. It is truly inspirational.
On the other hand, even though they aren’t yelling “FAT PEOPLE SUCK,” the pictures can start to wear on me sometimes. I won’t complain about it since they’re just posting pictures, but I will state that seeing all these “perfect people” with encouraging words can kind of grate on my self esteem sometimes (which is on me, not them). They post about how great it is to be so attractive and fit (I can’t think of specifics) and as a fat chick, it kind of kills me. I find myself judging larger people (I immediately admonish myself and make myself stop) and myself because of what I see online. This is entirely on me. They are just posting pictures and it is ME who is interpreting them this way, for the most part. They talk so much about losing weight, that it can sometimes creep into my head that I need to lose more, too.
So yeah. That's my rambling about being a fat chick in the fitness community (I suck at conclusions). It is the most rewarding thing that I have EVER done in my entire life, so long as I make sure to keep it real and positive. You choose how you view your world, so try to choose to be positive as much as possi