PMM Inspiration: Plus Size Runner Proves That Being Fit Is Not Limited To Size
This week, the world got introduced to plus size runner Julie Creffield, a 36-year-old entrepreneur and mother from the UK, setting out on a quest to prove that being overweight doesn’t always equate being unhealthy. And her proof is already evident. She runs four times a week and has run in marathons including the 2012 London Marathon. Doctors told her she was too fat to run. Yet Julie decided she was not going to accept that and instead proved those doctors wrong.
She didn’t just stop there. She has now launched a website to inspire other women, no matter what their size, to start running. Julie’s mission is to promote a healthy lifestyle at any size. To her, it’s all about eating healthy and being active. Losing weight is not a goal for her. Being healthy is.
Julie told DailyMail UK:
“Obesity is a huge concern around the world, but inactivity is the big killer of our time. Many people simply think that running is something that fat women can’t or shouldn’t do at all, including some medical professionals – I am on a mission to prove otherwise.”
Her website, The Fat Girls’ Guide to Running, advocates the Health at Every Size approach (HAES) and Julie hopes to change the perception of how people of size are viewed:
“Being overweight in this modern world is not an easy thing what with the media’s obsession with an unachievable idea of “The Perfect Body”, the pressure to be a certain size and to live a healthy lifestyle has never been stronger. But we all know that slim does not equal fit, and fat does not always equate to being unhealthy, or inactive, or lazy, or… all of those other negative connotations that it has acquired over the years. HAES isn’t suggesting that everyone of every size is always healthy – a popular misconception. Instead, it focuses on helping anyone interested in being as healthy as they can be in the body they have right now. Hand in hand with this, it challenges size stigma to advance equality.”
Julie hopes to get 1 million plus size women running and be proud of what their bodies can accomplish with their new active lifestyle. Julie’s website is a great resource that even includes downloadable tools to help women on their active journey.
To check out The Fat Girls’ Guide to Running, click here.
To learn more about Health at Every Size (HAES), click here.