Do It Fat

The world is beautiful. Nature is astounding. Mountains are awe-inspiring. Views are invigorating. Sun on skin is life-giving. Cool spring water is renewing. Eating sour gummy candy on a rocky incline while sweating your butt off is joyous. WHY would I wait for that? Why would I sit it out? Why would I fixate on my body, my size, my weight. I have one thing to say: Do it fat.

I saw this video of a woman climbing mountains, summiting peaks, and exploring nature with this mantra-like backtrack about a year ago and it runs through my brain like the catchiest song. Do it fat. Do it fat. Do it fat.

If there is one thing I’ve learned in my 26 years it’s this: it is way too easy to plan your life around lessening the size of your body. Way too easy to make shrinkage part of the Terms & Agreements for adventure and excitement and living. Way too easy to wait on good things until you look the part, fit into the clothes, pair with some image of “what you should look like when…”. It is way too easy to let outside interests conflate with our own wants – to let it all mix together and become a self-held barrier to experience.

The size of my body is constantly under attack. Most of my medical providers have had the *ingenuity* to attribute pretty much any ailment to my being fat. “losing weight” is some miraculous (let alone apparently easily achievable) cure all. If I broke a finger, I can say with certainty that I’d be told losing weight would fix it. And I’m not alone. Fat or not, our bodies are a battle ground – in medical settings, online, in stores, in nature. There is always something wrong, always something we could change “to be better.” So why not do life now, as you are. Do it fat, or rather, do it as you are.

I’m not going to preach that a pledge to do it fat will end the stigma, will heal your mind, will give you complete and unshakable confidence. But I will say that I am working on putting an end to waiting on a smaller me to be a happier me, a more adventurous me, a more experienced me.

As it turns out, I’ve been doing it fat for a darn long time. I’ve been climbing mountains and traveling the world, having joyous moments and eating great food, discovering myself and connecting with others… all while fat! Imagine that!

When I graduated high school, my mom proposed a backpacking trip in the White Mountains of NH. We recently were chatting about how glad we both were that I said yes before digging into what that entailed. If I’d waited to answer, I would have put the experience off. I know that. I would have undercut my own ability and dismissed a strength I didn’t even know I had. And so I said yes and we did it. It was one of the most impactful adventures of my life.

Last week, nearly 10 years later, I agreed to drive up to NH and hike a 4000 footer with mom, my OG backpacking buddy. I know my body and I knew I could do it. It was challenging and beautiful and deeply meaningful. Gosh, I’m SO STRONG. And I’m fat. I can’t imagine having waited to change that before accomplishing something so wonderful.