“fat person trying to catch their breath after physical activity” is not a funny joke. Its not a joke at all in fact. Its just something that happens. Laughing at that is really awful. You make us ashamed of things we cant control. I shouldnt have to sit there slowly suffocating myself trying to hold in heavy breathing after running or something just because of the stigma society places on me for it. Its already an uncomfortable feeling to be panting for breath and guess what fat people have to deal with that more often than skinny people do. Dont fucking make it worse by making us have to try and hide it. Stop the fucking stigma surrounding fat people panting.
A lot of fat people would love to have better cardiovascular fitness and would totally be physically able to attain it, except that gyms, parks and even the sidewalk are hostile environments for fat people. When I was training hard I could run up a flight of stairs and catch my breath in a few seconds, but I was still fat as fuck.
But this didn’t happen until I was 23 because NO ONE EVER TOLD ME IT’S POSSIBLE TO BE FAT AND FIT. I had no idea I could do all this fun stuff like bicycling and hiking and running without first losing weight so I put it off until that magical day when I would be thin (spoiler: didn’t happen). I bet this is a major barrier for a lot of fat people.
Another barrier was that I had a hell of a time getting medical care for injuries and joint problems that were NOT weight related because everywhere I turned I got ‘lose weight’ instead of actual treatment, so that made it hard to keep up my fitness pursuits safely.
Here’s a disclaimer though: you don’t have to be cardio-fit (or even want to be fit) to be worthy of respect, dignity and admiration as a fat person. I am not trying to uphold the ‘good fatty’ myth. BUT cardio fitness is a useful and enjoyable thing that a lot of us fat people lose access to SOLELY because of fatphobia.
I also want to give a shoutout to people for whom high cardio fitness is not possible due to disability, chronic illness or poverty. It is a privelige to be able to pursue cardio fitness and I’m really glad I can.
I never really lost weight as a runner, I just got to the point where I could run a half marathon without dying. I could catch my breath easier and run ten minute miles. It was awesome and I miss it (I’m pregnant rn), so as soon as I can I’ll get back to it. But it means running less than a minute at a time and doing 16 minute miles and whittling it back down over time. It’s not easy but running is something you can definitely see consistent improvement in. So do your best to ignore the douchebags that pick on you for trying. You can do it, and so can I, and I’ll go do my third half marathon next year.
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