Why this time of year?
These next few months can be some of the hardest, most triggering and lonely times for a lot of folks who are facing intersections of marginalization. We are going to be confronted left and right with "family" telling us their opinions on our bodies and our choices. This seems like the perfect time of year to build Fat Community and have resources available to combat these times.
Christine Walker-Mcspadden (They/Them)
NASM CPT, NASM MMACS, NASM WFS, MCC Certified Health and Wellness Coach, MS Health and Fitness Leadership Candidate
Hi! I am Christine (they/them). I am the creator of this course and 1/2 of Positive Force Movement LLC and All of Fat Folks Can (our glitter fun division) I am Fat Justice Activist and Empowerment Coach. What all that really means is that I have deep dived into the toxic world of "health and fitness" in order to grab the nuggets of information we as fat folks are not "allowed" to have until we "prove" we are willing to change our bodies to get it. I am here to hold space for you in this journey together and give you access to all that information and care without having to prove anything.
Sunshine Orta (He/Him)
PA-C
Sunshine will be leading a session in November that will be a facilitated discussion on fatphobia in medicine and what it’s like to access medical care as a fat person. Sunshine is a small fat primary care provider at Trillium Health who practices from a health at every size standpoint.
Jane Calvert (They/Them)
RDN
Jane Calvert is a Registered Dietitian Nutritionist leveraging the power of food and cooking to build a well-nourished community. As a visible transgender and non-binary business owner, Jane is committed to protecting safe spaces for all gender expressions, ability levels, and family styles.
Jane will be leading a Faciliated discussion on 12/9/21 at 6:30pm to talk about accessing key nutrition information in a storm of fatphobic rhetoric!
Ilya Parker (He/They)
DecolonizingFitness.com
The amazing Ilya Parker from Decolonizing Fitness is joining us for a Facilitated discussion on 11/20/21 at 1pm EST!!!
From Decolonizing Fitness:
My name is Ilya and I am the owner of Decolonizing Fitness, LLC. I am a Black non binary trans masculine person who uses the pronouns: (he/they). I am a Physical Therapist Assistant and ACE Certified Medical Exercise Specialist with over 13 years of rehabilitative and functional training experience. I am an educator whose work centers racial, gender and healing justice. I am also a freelance writer and have contributed to Every Day Feminism, Self Magazine , Mashable and AthleteAlly. I love hiking, reading, listening to jazz and discovering lots of amazing food!
How Decolonizing Fitness Came to Be
Quite simply I grew fed up of entering movement spaces and seeking the services of fitness coaches who were unable and/or unwilling to provide me with the affirming support I needed as a trans person in a larger body;who also carries chronic injuries and medical conditions. So I decided to merge my love for restorative based movement practices and community advocacy to create Decolonizing Fitness, LLC which is currently owned and operated solely by me. I do the best I can with the limited resources I have living in the Southeast U.S.
Decolonizing Fitness is a social justice platform that provides affirming fitness services, community education and apparel in support of body diversity.
Decolonizing Fitness as a collective was birthed from the need for folks (i.e. fat, trans, queer, people with disabilities, people over 65) who have historically not felt welcomed in fitness spaces to have better access to inclusive services.
Jesse Amesmith (They/She)
Power Scorpio, Yogi, Musician, Artist, Good Witch
Jesse will be joining us for a discussion on 10/21/21 6:30pm EST
Movement and Magic
Jesse is a collage artist, tarot reader, musician & Yogi living in Rochester, NY. She has taught trauma informed Yoga & intuitive tarot since 2014, and has practiced both much longer than that.
“I’m more interested in process than product.” Jesse says. “Exploring the middle is much more exciting to me than any end result.” Making art & music are integral parts of how she processes life, and explores the major themes of what it means to be an evolving person. Regardless of medium, Jesse aims to have her work help people connect to their own intuition, personal practices & bodies with movement, magic & awareness.
In her free time Jesse is usually roller skating, hanging with her pets, and laughing with her partner, or playing guitar and singing in the bands Green Dreams & CD-ROM with their husband Trevor & friends.
SJ Thompson (They/Them)
ReslilentFatGoddex.com
SJ will be joining us for a discussion in January!
From their website ResilientFatGoddex.com
Hi, y'all! I'm SJ.
I'm A Coach, Consultant, And Writer Focused On Fat Liberation Based In Anti-Racism And Anti-Colonialism.
My writing is informed by a wide range of philosophies - Body Trust®, Health at Every Size®, Intuitive Eating, Fat Liberation, eating disorder recovery, harm reduction, and more! My goal is share what I have learned from own journey with queer, trans, fat liberation. I definitely don't have all the answers, but I'm super excited to share what I have learned so far.
While I am super fat, trans non-binary, poor, neurodivergent and queer, I recognize that being white has afforded me many unearned privileges. I strive to listen and learn from experiences that differ from mine. I continually work to educate myself on white privilege and racial equity.
Being committed to helping others finding more freedom and compassion in their lives and bodies is what led me to become a Certified Body Trust Provider.
Here are some words that my friends and colleagues use to describe me: passionate truth-teller, compassionate, fearless, hilarious, tenacious, intuitive, curious, leader, tireless advocate, sharer of knowledge, shame eraser, kind, accepting, honest, direct, real, down to earth, friendly, exudes deep, soulful joy, fierce, encouraging, silly, intentional, and visionary. Obviously, I had a really hard time narrowing down to just a few.
I'm constantly wondering how I can contribute to healing, justice, and liberation in our world where there is constant suffering. I love working with people who are asking these same questions! These questions have been on my mind since I was a kid when I started volunteering at Hattie Larlham Foundation in Northeast Ohio with children who had severe physical and intellectual disabilities. The questions only became stronger as I recognized as a teenager that my sexuality was not seen as the norm. Then, I discovered feminism. During 2014 when Eric Garner, Michael Brown, and Tamir Rice were killed, my awareness of police brutality led to even more questions. In 2016, I learned about the danger of weight and health being conflated. And began to better understand the anti-fat bias and discrimination that I had experienced from a young age. I continue asking really fucking important questions about healing, justice, and liberation, because I don't think I'll ever be done learning.