My Top 10 Favorite Fat Coaches, Trainers, etc in the Fitness Space!
Talking about Fat Representation, Fat expertise, and Working on our Movement goals!
Hey Y’ALL!
Ya girl is back with a new article. Sorry for the long wait for the latest article but I’ve been a busy bee over with therapy clients. As a Fat Black person just existing in my fat body means that I don’t just experience racism/misogynoir but also Antifatness and ableism(because I also suffer with chronic illnesses). So when we talk about movement and looking for trainers, coaches, etc it can be difficult to find someone who not only meets your needs but understand what it means to live in a fat body and all that it entails.
This is why it is so important for us to see diverse bodies as trainers, coaches, and movement specialists. What do I mean by diverse bodies? Bodies in fitness that do not subscribe to Eurocentric body standards/ Thin/YT/CisHet/Able bodied. Why is this so important? Because representation matters but not only that but different bodies move differently. And sometimes when fitness professionals are so stuck in diet culture/anti-fatness they do not see that and they try and “force things” on fat people or act as if that fat person’s body is “wrong”. Let me say this loud and strong: YOUR BODY IS NOT WRONG!
That is why me writing this newsletter and article is so important. It allows me to put a spotlight on my Fat Faves and Fat Movement Specialists(trainers, coaches, etc). When I say different bodies move differently I mean that. I have helped many people in the gym who were struggling doing certain movements but bc they existed in fat bodies they didn’t know how it looked in a body similar to them. This is also why I post my movement practices of the moment online. So people can see what it looks like in a super fat body. So enough of my gabbing and her are top 10 fat favs. I’m only doing 10 because otherwise I’d be here all day yall. But what I want to encourage yall to do is DIVERSIFY(I hate this word) your feed. What do do I mean? Put more fat people in your feed! I’ll include names & links & where you can find my favs but don’t stop looking for more fat folks moving & finding FAT JOY! As always I don’t went to do all the work for you because I want to EMPOWER you to do it yourself!
My Top 10 Fat Favorite Movement Specialists(aka Coaches, Trainers, etc)(in no special order)
Tasheon Chillous(she/her)- Head Coach at Ascent Fitness and Athlete (located in Washington state) Tasheon or @chilltash on Instagram is a Certifed Personal Trainer and is “Fat and Outdoorsy”. What does that mean? When you go to her page you see her going on hikes and in the outdoors in ways that we as fat people never get to see ourselves represented. You see her moving in the gym and coaching clients too. In the body she has now. It’s pretty awesome. I got lucky enough to meet her in 2019 at a Women’s Strength Summit and can’t wait to see her again. Check her out at the link!
Wendy Welsher(she/her)- Competitive Masters Olympic Weightlifter & Founder of MY JAMM & JIM(Joyful Inclusive Movement)/Movement Coach (located in California)
Wendy can be found on Instagram as @jimjamm_wendy . She is a Competitive Masters Olympic Weightlifter and a Movement Coach and is “helping folks heal body trust through trauma informed weight lifting” per her instagram page. Joyful Inclusive Movement or Jim is an online community she has created that offers classes through a membership. The idea per her website is to “reclaim the gym from diet-culture and make a space that is truly inclusive, body-neutral, and focused on the joy of movement”. Check her out at this link!
Leslie Jordan(she/her), MPH/MBA- Body Liberation Coach at Leslie Jordan Wellness (located in Texas).
Leslie can be found on instagram as @liberatiwellness and she has been a social justice oriented wellness pro for 15+ years. She provides personal training services and services on ED(eating disorder) recovery from an intersectional lens. In Texas she teaches in person fitness classes but also has online services such as virtual support groups, membership based non diet decolonized well being programs, and different types of online courses. Check her out at this link and her website !
Christina Malone(she/her)- Competitive Powerlifter and Body Acceptance Coach and Co-Owner of All Bodies Strong (Located in Oregon)
Christina can be found on instagram @c.sharpe85 and she “helps folks find their body love path”. She is a Competitive national level powerlifter and co-owner of a gym All Bodies Strong in Oregon. All Bodies Strong is Fat Owned and Operated and they are a fitness space for strength training, powerlifting and boxing. They are a size inclusive, fat forward, and diet free space. Check her out here & check out her gym at the link to their website!
Will Lay(he/him)- Fat Bodied Powerlifting Coach, ISSA CPT Strength Coach, USAW Level 1, Barbell Rehab certified, and Sebastian Oreb, L3 certified coach and Co Owner of All Bodies Strong(Located in Oregon)
Will can be found on instagram @coachbearstrong and he is the Head Powerlifting Coach at the gym he co-owns with Christina, All Bodies Strong. Their gym is the first fat owned gym in the Pacific Northwest and is size inclusive and for all bodies. He offers personal training and small group powerlifting. They also offer small group boxing at their gym. Check Will out here and check out his gym at the website!
Lauren Leavell(she/her)- NASM Certified Personal Trainer and Group Fitness baddie and owner of Lauren Leavell Fitness(located in PA)
Lauren can be found on instagram @laurenleavellfitness. Lauren provides inclusive fitness through her membership program, where she offers group fitness such as Barre, HIIT, Strength, & Mobility all virtually LIVE and On-Demand Workouts. She also provides personal training too. I have done her barre online and let me tell you whew chile hahaha but it is so fun. Check her out on her website and here.
Roz Mays(she/her)- Fitness Trainer, Educator and Speaker (located in New York)
Roz or @rozthediva is a pole dancing queen and also offers both group and personal training. She is NASM Certified as a personal trainer. According to her website: “She specializes in helping nontraditional athletes overcome gym-timiation through pole dancing, TRX, strength training and mobility work”. Check her out on her website and here
Kanoa Greene(she/her)- Body inclusive fitness professional & Founder of Nakoa Adventures(located in Florida)
Kanoa can be found on instagram @kanoagreene and she is a body inclusive fitness baddie who you can find working out in the gym, hiking, surfing, rock climbing, aeriel yoga or wherever your mind can imagine to find someone Kanoa has probably tried it ;-). She founded Nakoa Adventures, where according to her website “we are creating brave spaces that support, empower and celebrate plus-size bodies doing ALL the things! With limited resources available for individuals size US 14 and up in the outdoors, NAKOA Adventure builds bridges for the plus-size community to explore and discover the great outdoors without limit!
You don’t know what your body can do until you do it.” Check her out here or here website.
Ilya Parker (he/they) - licensed Physical Therapist Assistant, ACE certified Medical Exercise Specialist, and Trainer and founder of Decolonizing Fitness (located in North Carolina)
Ilya @decolonizing_fitness is a writer and educator and Founder of Decolonizing Fitness. According to his website he wanted to: , “help dismantle toxic fitness culture. DF began as a mobile personal training service intended to help reshape the world of fitness for trans masculine and gender expansive people – particularly Black folks in larger bodies. I focused my work on highlighting the complexities and barriers that we face in mainstream fitness culture, while also building new, more supportive systems to replace them.” “Decolonizing Fitness has since expanded to an online resource hub for coaches, gym owners, personal trainers and anyone who is invested in cultivating movement spaces that are more affirming and supportive to diverse bodies.” Ilya used experiences as a Black trans masculine person in a small fat body with 2 chronic illnesses and mobility issues to help them better be able to show up for their clients and their community. Check them out here and here.
Mandy Smith(she/her)- USPA Certified Coach in Powerlifting, Competitive Powerlifting athlete, Fat Activist, and Owner of The Resistance Gym (Located in California)
Mandy can be found @itsbossladymandy and is a body positive/neutral strength coach. She grew up in the gym and has extensive knowledge and experience with intuitive movement and eating. She is an Powerlifting athlete that holds 7 California state records in Powerlifting. She is Owner of The Resistance Gym which according to their website is , “An inclusive, accessible space to lift heavy weight”. Check her out here and here!
So that’s it HAHAHA! My favs but I could’ve kept listing because there is a wealth of knowledge and coaches out there existing in fat bodies waiting for someone to work with. One thing I want you to understand how much weight stigma and antifatness plays into the fitness industry and keeps these coaches from being able to work with people. People hold certain beliefs because of antifatness and so they use those beliefs or biases to keep fat people out of fitness. They use it to keep us out of gyms and out of positions as coaches and trainers because of power dynamics, white supremacy, antifatness, racism, and capitalism. I want you to work on your biases and broaden your mind and heart. A good coach or trainer isn’t great just because they are thin/white/cishet/muscular or they meet Eurocentric beauty standards. A good coach listens, has empathy, is trauma informed and understands and knows that YOU ARE THE EXPERT OF YOUR OWN BODY! Even as a social worker and therapist I know this. My clients are the expert not me. MMkay…. I hope this helps. Follow and support all these people I’ve listed and share them with others.
In Love and Liberation,
Kanoelani