Fit and Fat. Fact or Fiction?

Fit and slim go hand in hand, fit and lean too but fit and fat have never quite fit together. In 2021 the world is awash with words of body positivity. Every single day organisations launch mass marketing campaigns with real women who have rolls, stretchmarks and spots. Kendrick Lamar says he's so sick of the photoshop, Drake says he likes his girls BBW and on the front covers of Cosmopolitan, Glamour and even Vogue plus sized models, influencers and celebrities stand proudly.

Once upon a time it was size zero or no thank you but now our outlook has evolved to encompass all body types as marketable. While the media has branched out to include the plus size community and sports brands like Nike and Adidas plus high street shops have made their sizes more accessible to everyone there remains a stigma around being fat and being fit. Historically, and even now the two seem mutually exclusive. How can someone who is fat also be fit? How can someone who is fat even be healthy?

I am not claiming this post to have scientific value but what I am telling is my own experience of both being fat and reasonably fit. I am by no means a triathlete and I am by no means a candidate for Britain's Biggest Shut-In but I am fat. I am the fashion industry's definition of plus size meaning I wear above a size 16 in clothing and clinically my doctor would type me as class I obese. While I am fat, I am also fit. I workout 5 times a week, every week. This is not seated exercises or a leisurely walk. I do online intermediate HIIT classes, strength training and I can run a treadmill 5K in 40 minutes. You may now be asking the question, 'well why are you still fat?'. There are layers to my answer to this.

I enjoy food and diet is 80% of your health. For the most part I eat well sticking to porridge for breakfast everyday with fruits, salads for lunch and fish or chicken for dinner but I do enjoy chocolate and biscuits, life is all about balance isn't it?

I have Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome or PCOS which means you can struggle to lose weight as well as experience a host of other symptoms.

I have always been big. Always, ever since a kid. Even when I did dance three times a week and survived on petit filous I was big. I've never known life as being thin so maybe I will never be thin.

For me, being fit and fat are not mutually exclusive. I am both fit and fat. I have friends who are considerably smaller who struggle to keep with what are my standard HIIT sessions. My sister, two dress sizes smaller than me, has never exercised and has no interest in it. One of my closest friends eats a cheese rich diet all of the time and remains a demi-goddess. These are three real life examples of why thin or thinner does not always mean fitter or healthier.

I have experienced a lot of fatphobic behaviour. A lot of fat people are reluctant to call people being nasty or degrading about their size fatphobic but when someone in a club calls you a whale or pushes their friend into you to see if they'd bounce off that is fatphobic behaviour. Fatphobia is rife within the fitness community. While there is a lot of fitfluencers like Joe Wickes, Courtney Black and Grace Beverly who promote being healthy rather than being slim there is a huge number of people who find fat people who are also fit extremely uncomfortable. It's almost like their brain can't compute that someone who wobbles when they run could run, or lift weights or tackle resistance bands. When I tell people about my work outs and fitness levels their first question is 'Have you lost much weight?' like I couldn't be possibly exercising for any other reason. I recently trained with a new personal trainer. He took my measurements, my weight and then asked my goals. I said to have a great bum, and his exact words were 'Let's lose weight and then we can focus on toning up'. We then did an almost exclusively cardio workout and spoke about my food accountability. Like many, the personal trainer did not understand how I could possibly be happy being fat.

Neon leggings is essentially what all plus gymwear is

I am happy being fat because I am healthy. I have no health issues and have always been in great health. I eat five portions of fruits and veggies a day almost every day. I drink litres of water, I am never without my HIP bottle. I exercise, more than the recommended amount. I'm flexible and often do yoga with Sarah Beth (look her up on YouTube she's actually very down to earth). Most importantly, I don't mind the way I look. Of course there are things I would change - my FUPA (shout out Beyoncé), my inner thighs and my tummy but on the whole I'm happy. I take care of my body while enjoying chocolate digestives and that works for me.

You may follow plus size models or influencers like Tess Holliday, Ashley Graham or Felicity Hayward and you may notice under their photos on Instagram a barrage of comments on their health, people pretending to be concerned for their health as if that can make up for them in the same sentence calling them a pig. Furthermore, heaven forbid a member of the plus size community exercise and post a story or live stream about it then they're because they're now promoting obesity as healthy, or being dragged because as if they know how to use a leg press or plie. This kind of abuse is because a lot of people cannot fathom the idea of being fit and fat despite fat people consistently proving otherwise.

There may be some who read this an endorsement of obesity. This is not an endorsement of obesity but an endorsement of being your best self. An endorsement of smashing a 30 minute HIIT session no matter your size. This is a shout out to all of the people who enjoy working out but also can't shop at GymShark. This is a message to brands like Bo+Tee who's XL is a UK size 14 or TALA (a body positivity brand) which runs to a UK

size 18. I am testament to being fat and fit and I am not the only one. There are millions of plus sized people out there who run, swim, cycle, train, lift, stretch and dance who are discounted by the fit community because of their appearance. While the industry is moving in the right direction to be more inclusive the attitudes of the market leaders within the sector and a lot of its members are still regressive. In a world where we are told you can be whomever you want to be we are also told you cannot be fit and fat and to me that doesn't stack up.

I am going to continue exercising, and my fitness journey is something I'll talk about more. The word journey actually makes me cringe and isn't right as I have no destination except hopefully a Kim K bum, but I will discuss my relationship with fitness more. Fat and fit is a controversial topic for many but for me it's my life and as far as I'm aware my lifestyle shouldn't be controversial.

Until next time

Hels xoxo