Mind Your Own Treadmill

 You may have seen this picture floating around recently. Maria Kang , a fitness enthusiast, posted this picture on her Facebook and got a lot of flak from women for apparently "fat shaming" them. For those of you who don't know this phrase "fat shaming" - it just pretty much means people were accusing her of being insensitive to women's weight issues.

She wasn't trying to shame anybody or be rude. She did something awesome. She did a lot of hard work, and she's proud of her accomplishment. Wouldn't you be?

Don't lie. you would be SO proud of yourself if you looked like that after one baby, let alone THREE!


Women are a little bit crazy when it comes to getting healthy. I can say that because I'm a woman, and I'm a little bit crazy. Sure it's kind of annoying to have this lady's accomplishment in my face reminding of all the crunches I did not do today, but I can't let it stop me from doing my own thing.

If this image gets your sports bra in a wad, if you're looking to be fat shamed....

....there's plenty of other ways to get your fix.

First, get a gym membership. Between the musclemen in the back, and the barbie dolls with their color coordinated shoestrings and headbands on the treadmills, you're sure to feel at least a little bit humbled.

Then, accidentally sign up for an advanced Zumba class. Not a beginner's class...ADVANCED. Try to just join in.  If you are a white girl whose hips have the club dancing experience of a catholic nun, what your abs look like will be the least of your worries.

When you're at the gym, visit the women's only room. The one where a wall is plastered with some kind of motivational statement about everyone deserving to feel good and get healthy, not having to worry about being flirted with, judged or bothered. Assume that here you will have the most privacy to be your out of shape self.

Then, accidentally steal Barbie's spot on the ab mat. When she and her friend with the matching headband  roll their eyes at each other and pretend to be generous by offering to do their stretches someplace else, pretend that they are not discussing how inconvenient your presence is.

If that doesn't make you keenly aware of your own need to workout, run on the treadmill next to the obviously pregnant girl. Try to not to choke when she tells her neighbor about the 5k she's training for. (Yes. This really happened and I turned a little green.)

The point is, if you're sensitive to it, you're gonna be "fat-shamed" pretty easy. There are a lot of easier, and  funnier ways for it to happen than getting fussy about some stranger's "look-I-birthed-3-kids-and-I-look-like-a-model" picture. I'll admit, I'm pretty good at letting other people's success intimidate me, but I've also learned that it really doesn't matter how far the pregnant girl can run or how many crunches barbie and her friend can do. What matters is what I can do. You can't wear your feelings on your sleeves where they're
gonna get hurt. You gotta do your thing and not worry about anybody else. You gotta mind your own treadmill.