Fitness trainer responds to fat-shaming after USA Today segment
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On Oct. 7, Boston-based fitness instructor and Fit University founder Sarah Gaines was thrilled to lead an at-home body weight workout on Facebook LIVE for USA Today’s 8.5 million fans.
Stretching and jumping around to get warmed up for the 20-minute routine, it wasn’t long before negative comments about her frame started pouring in – in real time.
“But the instructor is thick,” one user wrote.
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“OMG! She needs to lose a lot of weight,” another detractor chimed in.
“She needs to be doing it with them lol,” added another.
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While the criticisms were certainly distracting, Gaines wasn’t going to let it shake her, and kept leading the workout with her signature cheery can-do attitude. The video eventually racked up more than 59,000 views and 17,000 comments over the next three days. And while not all the comments were mean-spirited, the fitness pro was quick to defend herself from the ones that were.
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“I’m a bit thick, for sure. But fat? Really guys?” she wrote in a blog post.
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“The majority of mainstream media, with a few recent exceptions, has made us believe that to be fit means to be thin and ‘toned,’” Gaines told The Daily Meal. “While we're starting to see a shift in that mindset, the comments made during the workout were a reminder that we have a ways to go.”
She’s not wrong. Medical experts have long noted that a thin frame doesn’t necessarily indicate good health, nor does a thicker frame indicate poor wellness habits.
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“It’s up to us as fitness and health professionals to make an active effort to remind ourselves and others of that,” Gaines added.