•Roz the Diva: @rozthediva
•Leah Gilbert: @leebee2321
•Jill Angie: @notyouraveragerunner
•Jessamyn Stanley: @mynameisjessamyn
•Athena Multi Sport Magazine: @athenamultisportmag
•Fat Girls’ Guide to Running: @thefatgirlsguidetorunning
•Dana Falsetti: @nolatrees
•Mirna Valerio: @themirnavator
•Glitter and Lazers: @glitterandlazers
•Valerie Sagun: @biggalyoga
•Fat Girls Hiking: @fatgirlshiking
•Louise Green (me!): @Louisegreen_bigfitgirl
FOR MANY YEARS, I saw no athletes who looked like me and did not have the confidence to pursue my dreams but I finally took the leap and realized that in doing so, I could be an example myself.
Whitney Way Thore, star of TLC’s My Big Fat Fabulous Life:
“Remember that confidence is a product of action. I rarely have the innate confidence to do something challenging; it is through my commitment to do uncomfortable things that I realize no obstacle is insurmountable, and then confidence is gained as a result. No one is born with a finite amount of confidence—it must be worked for, and it must be earned, and therefore it is an unexpected joy every time it arrives (and it will arrive over and over again, each time you force yourself outside of your comfort zone).”
On my journey, I discovered that I needed to replace my negative thoughts with positive ones; my “can’t”s needed to turn into “can”s. This meant first acknowledging the negative thoughts and fears that were holding me back. I always thought that athletes were somehow different from me, that they had special powers that I didn’t possess. I would always compare my life to theirs and focus on ways they had an advantage over me. I would make excuses, cancel my commitments to physical activity, and come up with elaborate lists of reasons why it wasn’t possible for me to exercise. I now know that my fear was fueling self-sabotage.
Think about any fears you might have. Remember, fear can often show up in the form of making excuses, blaming others, being angry, and sabotaging yourself.
When I really think about what my fear was, it was ultimately fear of failure. I didn’t want to put myself out there in case people found out I was a fraud and I couldn’t do it. I think many of us have a fear of failure, but unless we try, we will never get to experience the victory of reaching our fitness goals. Is fear stopping you? The truth is, there will be failures along the way. Not every workout is fantastic or every run completed with ease, but many successful people will say that it’s their failures that reap the biggest lessons and give them the strength to carry on.
Think about what obstacles lie in the way of you unleashing your inner athlete. What are you afraid of? What do you see as your barriers or excuses? I’ve been running my business for ten years and I think I’ve pretty much heard every excuse. There was traffic, I was working late, I’m sick, I’ve got kids, my husband needs me—it’s easy to come up with reasons not to exercise. But the people I work with who really want to create change in their lives don’t allow fear to smash their athletic dreams, and they create strong boundaries around their workouts to ensure their success.
Think about the barriers that hold you back and brainstorm solutions that move you closer to setting your inner athlete free. One of my barriers is that I often think I am too busy to accomplish what I set out to do. I combat this with a system I call “time management and process of elimination.”
For example, one summer I had committed to four triathlons and had completed the first two, but I could feel my enthusiasm waning when it came to finishing the final two. I wanted to focus on other things, and the training was getting tiresome. As I became less committed to my goal, I found myself saying, “I am too busy,” and I had to have a talk with myself. It was time for time management. I wasn’t too busy. If I planned things properly and managed my time better my goals were possible. So, process of elimination: I reviewed a list of things that I did throughout my day and eliminated anything that wasn’t getting me closer to my goal but that gave me the illusion of being “too busy.” These things included watching Netflix, scrolling through social media with no real purpose, and attending certain social events. I cut them all from my agenda and then created a new training schedule, filling in the resulting holes in my day with the workouts that needed to be done. Sometimes my swims had to be done after I taught my classes in the evenings or in the early mornings before I got my son ready for school. But that’s what had to happen to overcome my “busy” barrier.
My process of elimination gave me clarity and a new realization that my goals were achievable. One of my favorite tools for helping me achieve my goals is visualization, which sports psychologists now call “imaging.” Our brains don’t necessarily know the difference between mental visualization and actually performing the specific exercise, race, or event. Visualization or imaging helps athletes prepare for major events by tricking their brains into thinking they’ve already performed them.
In an article published online, the Australian Sports Commission further explains imaging:
Mental rehearsal activates a network of neural coded programs that activate physiological responses. Therefore, imagining something means you are actually strengthening the neural pathways required for that skill and the more likely you are to reproduce it again in the future. Also by mentally practicing, you become more familiar with the actions required to perform a skill. These rehearsals make the actions more familiar or automatic.1
In a 2014 article titled “Olympians Use Imagery as Mental Training,” the New York Times reported that “the practice of mentally simulating competition has become increasingly sophisticated, essential and elaborate, spilling over into realms like imagining the content of news conferences or the view from the bus window on the way to the downhill . . . This is, more than ever, a multisensory endeavor, which is why the term ‘imaging’ is now often preferred to ‘visualization.’”
Whenever I prepare for a race, I imagine a successful finish. I see myself running toward the finish line. I can feel the heat coming from my face. I hear the crowds cheering louder as I approach. I can smell sweat and taste the salt on my upper lip. Once I cross the finish line I feel relief and victory. I use imaging in other areas of my life too. Mentally rehearsing makes any event feel more familiar and lessens your fear, because you’ve done this before and you are ready!
To be an athlete you need to start thinking like one. What will your life look like when you have unleashed your inner athlete? What does it feel like to be an athlete? Imagine the sounds, smells, and feelings associated with this vision. Try to be as specific as possible—it will make the process more effective. Perhaps you want to participate in a cycling event. Describe, to yourself, what it feels like to mount on your bike, to feel the wind on your face, and to smell the flowers in the fields as you ride past. What does it feel like to experience this freedom, and then the victory as you cross the finish line?
To seal the deal with your inner athlete, you will also need to set concrete goals. Consider everything you have ever wanted to achieve in fitness. Don’t be afraid that your dream is too big; if you break that dream down into small steps, it becomes possible.
Many of us have a bucket list, and most or all of the items on it may be things we have only dreamed of doing. But that’s okay. Dreaming of your bucket list is the first step to checking those items off. At first my list included running a 5K race. Later I expanded my list to