So, what’s the Big Fit Deal?
First, let me tell you where the idea for this site came from. I’m recovering from an injury to my leg. It was misdiagnosed as a stress fracture in August 2011, when I was in the end stages of training for my ninth half marathon. I missed my usual fall race. And then I missed my spring race. When my orthopedist had exhausted all his resources to explain why I was still feeling pain when I walked, I saw a physical therapist. She has me on the right track, and I’m healing.
I recently joined a gym, because my typical at-home workouts weren’t viable for me as I recover. My three-month gym membership included two free sessions with a personal trainer. Great, I thought. I can get a professional’s advice on how I can safely recover from my injury.
But the personal trainer only cared about my weight. She insisted she record my weight and my BMI. I said I wasn’t interested in that. She explained that the numbers were necessary for a baseline, so we would know when I reached my goal. I said, “My goal is to stand on the start line of the half marathon in September.” She reiterated her desire to weigh me. We have since parted ways.
In short, I was embarrassed, frustrated, and finally angered by this experience. This fitness professional judged me solely on my physical appearance, even after I explained that I’ve been a half marathon trainer for five years, and have been working out 5-6 days a week for years. She didn’t hear a word that I was saying. She was too busy judging the size of my hips and my belly and my arms.
I decided to take this negative experience and turn it into something positive. And Big Fit Deal was born.
Big Fit Deal is a website dedicated to making fitness a way of life for everyone of all shapes and sizes. It’s a place for me to share my inspirations and my frustrations. It’s the story of my journey from a morbidly obese 26 year old to a still fat—but now fit—38 year old working to gain my certification as a personal trainer. It’s a place to share my thoughts on fitness, fatness, fashion, food, and everything that goes along with being a fit-but-fat woman in today’s world.
The ultimate goal of Big Fit Deal is to help people who feel unwelcome at a gym. Who are intimidated by the beginning of their personal journey to health. Who are ashamed and embarrassed by their bodies. It’s time to end that. It’s time to lace up our trainers and work toward fitness. Big Fit Deal isn’t about thinness. It isn’t about how skinny you can get, or how quickly you can fit into a bikini. It’s not about numbers on the scale or on the tag in your pants. It’s about embracing a healthy lifestyle that fits you, that you can sustain, and that makes you happy. It’s about being the best you that you can be.
I’m going to spend time talking about things that bother me, things that inspire me, and things I think you should know about. I’m going to review workout DVDs and diet plans. I’m going to read blogs and websites and books so you don’t have to. I’m going to bring together the best (and, yes, the worst) in today’s fitness, and talk to you about how you can make positive changes in your life (and me in mine!), both physically and mentally. Thanks for joining me on this journey.
