F
ull Figured
Fitness was born
out of my
personal
experience of
obesity. My weight peaked at
almost 28 stones. I had tried
various diets and did not lose
much nor sustain weight loss. I
struggled to keep up in exercise
classes, I was exhausted or
injured within minutes - and that
was just the warm up! I needed
walking sticks to be mobile, had
limited range of movement, I
struggl ed to sit down and stand
up and took painkillers regularly.
I knew my life had to change.
Today I am a plus-sized
personal trainer.
Full Figured Fitness went live
with an aerobics class inbuilt
with modifications for the
overweight. Days later I received
a call from a man who was blind
but wanted to join my aerobics
class; a woman who because of
her size could not stand for long
and wanted to exercise both
standing and seated; and an
overweight emotional eater who
had not left her house for four
years and wanted to bring her
friend with her for support. Every
BODY had a story. I welcomed
them all. It seemed people who
felt themselves excluded from
the exercise world somehow
resonated with Full Figured
Fitness.
‘
Obesity is
becoming
the new
normal.
Obesity is on the rise in the
UK with many people finding it
hard to lose body fat despite
trying many different diets and
exercise programmes. Currently,
36 per cent of adults are
overweight and 27 per cent are
obese. That means 63 per cent
of all over-16s in the UK are at
least overweight.
Obesity is associated with an
increased risk of developing type
2 diabetes, hypertension,
cardiovascular diseases and
certain cancers, and carries
serious implications for mental
and psychosocial health. The
World Health Organisation
maintains obesity is the fastest
growing health problem. Some
experts say obesity is also the
most curable disease.
We are bombarded with
attention-drawing headlines
stating obesity is going to
bankrupt the NHS. The media
characterises obesity as an
individual problem, not a societal
problem, portraying the
overweight as unintelligent, lazy
and lacking self-control. This
stigmatisation further
pathologises the overweight and
causes public resentment, moral
panic and waves of absurd
solutions to police the crisis.
Our lifestyles are making us
fat, inactivity is prevalent, people
@REPsUK
FM
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