Type ‘fit women’ into Google and what do you see?
Overwhelmingly, it’s images of thin young white women with the ‘right’ amount of toned muscle.
As a Body Positive Fitness Professional (and a human) I feel strongly that this needs to change. Here’s why …
1. Fitness is not a size
Women are capable of being fit, regardless of their weight or size.
If you find this hard to believe, that’s probably because the type of women you see on TV, in magazines and on social media are lean, young, white and able bodied.
This becomes even more predominant when you look into fitness marketing on social media. When was the last time you saw an image of a larger bodied woman weightlifting? Doing yoga? Hiking? Do you think women in bigger bodies don’t do any of these things? Do you think women in bigger bodies can’t do any of these things?
Check your assumptions, and check out these images below:
Image Credits: Images of Katherine Kozioziemski www.koziyoga.com;
photos by Anna Vickroy https://www.ultra-spective.com
2. It’s damaging
Imagine for a moment you’re a 13-year-old girl who loves dancing. All the other girls are slim and have the typical ‘dancer’s body’.
Your body looks different. Your belly sticks out. Your thighs are bigger. You desperately crave belonging and search for others who look like you using the platform you know the best – Instagram. You’re hit with a thousand images of thin, slightly toned women dancing. You don’t see anyone who looks like you. You begin to question your body. You begin to hate your body. You begin a life of dieting and exercising to punish your body into thinness.
Is this the cycle you want for your daughter? For your friend? For yourself?
Image Credits: www.gingersnapsburlesque.com
3. It’s just not real life
Where in life do you only see toned young white women with flat stomachs? At Coles? In the doctor’s office? At the fuel station?
Nowhere! Everywhere you go, you see diversity. You see short women, fuller busted women, women with wrinkles and scars, women with disabilities, women who looked tired and stressed, and women who live in larger bodies. This is what we need to see in the fitness space. This is real life.
I’ve been in the fitness industry for 15 years, here’s what I’ve seen women in larger bodies do:
- The splits
- Lift 120kg from the floor (this is called a deadlift)
- Be the last one standing in a boxing challenge
- 47 push ups. On her toes. Without stopping.
Image Credits: Becky Scott of missfitsworkout.co.uk
If I, the fitness professional, see women in diverse bodies do all these fit things – why can’t I see that online? By publishing these images in this blog, I hope to create that spark of change.
So what does it take to look lit a fit woman? It’s not the hardcore workouts, detox diets and matching activewear Instagram would have you believe.
If you have a body – you can look like a fit woman!
Connect with me – sally@fitwithsally.com
Sally McWilliam
Body Positive Fitness Professional and Self-Care coach!
Your local Personal Trainer if you live in Brisbane bayside or Redlands
