“Oh I’ll start exercising when I’ve lost weight”, “well you don’t see anyone my size in the gym”, “lycra is only for the skinny girls”… and so many other thoughts can help to keep larger ladies away from moving more. I understand – I have been the fat lass at the back on bike rides enough times to know it can feel pretty alienating.

However, what if these thoughts are just the demon voice telling you what you want to hear? What if you could start moving more TODAY whatever size you are?

At the weekend I went to watch a good friend play rugby. The girls on both teams were a range of shapes and sizes, from the tall skinny ones who charge forward when they get the ball to the shorter stockier ones who are there to prevent the tall skinny ones from scoring. Everyone has their place. Everyone is as necessary to the team as everyone else. BECAUSE of their size, not despite it.

Then on Monday I was chatting to my PT about power lifting – she is getting me lifting crazy heavy weights that I would never have dreamt possible – and she told me about a competition she was in where she couldn’t lift as heavy as she used to because she had lost weight. She needed those extra few pounds to be at her strongest.

Granted there are many sports where having very low body fat is the key to being at the top of your game, and granted the pros will generally be slim, but in amateur sport? No such bias is necessary. Find the activity that suits you, work out if you’d like to try a team sport or if you’d rather go solo and head out for a walk or dance around your kitchen to your favourite songs, and go for it. Go for it today. No more internal excuses relating to your size.

Remember: yes, your size can be your strength. No, you don’t need to lose weight to be able to move more. Yes, there is always something that is right for you. No, you don’t need to hang out in a gym and be intimidated by the “beautiful people” (many of whom, incidentally are just as self conscious as everyone else – the ones who don’t look beautiful when they’re exercising are the ones who are doing it right!).

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