BONUS: The Three Mistakes Most Fat Runners Make

Welcome to The Not Your Average Runner Podcast. If you’ve never felt athletic but you still dream about becoming a runner, you are in the right place. I’m Jill Angie, your fat running coach. I help fat women over 40 to start running, feel confident, and change their lives. I have worked with thousands of women to help them achieve their running goals and now I want to help you.

Hey, runners. I am here today with a juicy bonus episode for this week. I taught a class a couple weeks back about the three mistakes most fat runners make and how to fix them. And it was really good. Like life-changingly good. And it’s something I think everyone should listen to. So I’m just going to make it super easy for you. I am putting the audio right here in the podcast so that you can check it out without having to sit down and watch the video.

Now, if you want to watch the video, we will have the link in the show notes. But if you would rather just put your headphones on and listen while you go about your business, this is the episode for you. And without further ado, here you go.

All right. Hi, you guys. How is everyone doing today? We are going to have some fun. All right. Oh my gosh, I love this. I love that we have people from literally around the world. This is amazing. Y’all over in the chat are giving me life right now, giving me life.

Okay, so here is what we’re going to do. My name is Jill Angie, and this webinar that you are in is called The Three Mistakes Most Fat Runners Make and How To Fix Them. We’re going to dive in and we’re going to fix all your problems today. We’re just going to make your life perfect, all right? Does that sound good?

So I do want to say thank you so much for joining me today. And we’re going to spend the next hour or two kind of getting to the bottom of what’s getting in your way so that you can become the runner that you want to be. So if you are excited for this, if you’re excited for this please let me know in the comments because I need to know if you’re excited.

And I also want to know where everyone is from. And y’all – I’m not from the south but my husband is from Texas and so I feel like it’s okay for me to say y’all. Y’all are already showing me some amazing things. We’ve got northeast of US. We’ve got the Mid Atlantic. We’ve got the UK. We’ve got southern Cali. We’ve got New Jersey, Woo! All right, I am in Philadelphia. I just moved here from New Jersey last year, I’ve been here about a year. So there’s a special place in my heart for New Jersey for sure.

We’ve got Denmark in the house. We’ve got Nebraska. This is amazing. This is amazing. New Orleans, Seattle, Wilmington, Colorado, Sweet Home Alabama, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Israel, love it. I love that we have far flung folks. I always think of Philadelphia as the center of the world and everybody else is like – Yeah, I know, it’s a very egocentric way to look at things. But to me it really excites me when people from all over the world show up and are excited about becoming a fat runner.

We got a few of you from New Orleans today. I love it. Oh, and to those of you who are saying you love my workspace, thank you very much. I love it too, although we are moving in a month. We bought a house and this is no longer going to be my workspace. So I’m enjoying it while I can because I do love my little reading nook back there.

Let’s see, we’ve got Nova Scotia. We’ve got a lot of Canada in the house, I’m loving it. Western Massachusetts, Wyoming, Minnesota. And everyone is excited. I think we might have almost every of the 50 states here. I have not seen Alaska or Hawaii. So if you’re from Alaska or Hawaii, out yourself. Let’s see it. Dutch country in Pennsylvania. I lived in Lancaster for 10 years. I love it there, so fun.

Austin, that’s where my husband is from. Got a lot more Canada. Look at this. You guys, this is so fun. Oh my gosh. All right, see, I’m getting totally distracted by finding where everybody’s from. I’m going to have to go through that later and take a look.

But before we dive in today, here’s what I want you to know. First of all, for the next couple of minutes, if it looks like I’m reading, I do have notes on the screen in front of me. So I want you to know that I don’t have the crazy eyes. I’m literally just reading my notes to make sure that I go through everything.

And in a moment we’re going to be diving into the full presentation. But I want you to know, first of all, we’re actually not going to be doing any physical movement today. So I know this is a running webinar and we’re going to be talking about running mistakes.

But if you are in your jammies right now, I spend a lot of my life in my pajamas. If you’re in your jammies right now with a glass of wine, or a mimosa, right, or you just poured yourself a cup of coffee, keep kicking it just like you are. But if you came in workout gear, good news, you are all set to try out what I teach you today as soon as we’re done, okay? So it’s win/win either way.

I want you to make sure you’re in a quiet spot. If you’re not, grab some headphones to block kind of the outside noise. I want to make sure that you’re able to be fully present, okay? Because you’ve invested your time into this class, I want to make sure you get the most out of it. And we do have a short workbook for the class. And do not panic if you haven’t printed it out.

This is what the workbook looks like, okay? Super simple. There’s no colors because I know printer ink is expensive. And so I tried to make it just easy to print out. And I wanted to make it super simple for you. If you have already printed it out, this is amazing. If you have not printed it out, do not panic, because all of the questions in the workbook are going to be on my slides too. So all you really need is paper and pen so that you can just kind of like write down, do the exercises, okay? I’m trying to make it easy peasy.

Now, I also want you to do all of the written exercises during this workshop, okay? Don’t leave them for later. This is the time you’ve designated for this work. It may be a little uncomfortable to dig into some of this stuff. That’s okay, right? You’re a runner, you can do hard things. And then after I’m done teaching, I’m going to share a special offer that’s going to help you implement what you have learned today to ensure that you’re successful long term.

And then after that, we’re going to do all the questions. All the Q&A. And our class is supposed to end around 1:30 or so Eastern time. I’m going to stay on as long as we have questions. So don’t worry, you’re going to get a chance to ask whatever you want, I promise. Okay?

And then the last favor I have to ask of you is that you share any aha moments that you have over in the chat. So be chatty. I love the chat. So if you’ve got things to say, that’s the place to say it. Okay? All right, let us go.

Here we are, my friends. Three mistakes most fat runners make and, of course, how to fix them because I’m not going to leave you hanging. So the first thing I want you to know is if you’re feeling any of the things on this screen right now, you’re in the right place.

If you’re feeling frustrated because you have seen fat people running. You’ve seen them on Instagram, maybe you’ve seen them out in the wild in your community, in which case, yay. You’ve seen them but you’re like every training plan you’ve tried is way above your ability and you can’t seem to make it work, right? And so you might be feeling frustrated if that’s you.

You might be on the struggle bus. I don’t know, you’ve tried it, you’ve tried running over and over. It doesn’t ever seem to get easier. You might be thinking, “Oh, if I could only drop 20 pounds, then running would be easier. It would feel better.” So again, if that’s you, totally fine and you’re in the right place. And let me know if you’re relating to any of these over in the comments.

You might also be feeling, I don’t know, a little embarrassed, right? Because all of the other runners that you see are just impossibly tiny. They make it look so fucking easy, right? And when you do it, everything jiggles and everything shakes. And you’re like, “I just want to hide.” Okay, so again, if that’s you, you’re in the right place.

And then, finally, if you’re feeling annoyed, right? Because you’re like, listen, I go to the gym. I’ve hired trainers. And the first question they always ask is, how much weight do you want to lose? This literally just happened to me three weeks ago.

I joined a new gym. Of course they were like, meet with our trainer. And I’m like, fine, whatever. And she’s like, so what are your weight loss goals? I’m like, I have none. I have no weight loss goals. We’re not going to talk about that. But it’s so annoying, right? So again, if that’s you, if you’re anywhere on this spectrum, you are in the right place, okay? Some of you are like I am hitting all four. Love it. All right my friends. Let’s go. Let’s fucking go, okay?

So most of you probably know who I am. Maybe you’ve seen me on Instagram or Facebook. Maybe you listen to the podcast. But if you don’t, my name is Jill Angie and I help fat women start running. This is what I do. This is my life’s work.

I’m 55 years old and I’ve been coaching women just like you for 10 years. I’ve been doing this work for 10 years. As you can see from this photo, I myself am a fat runner. I spent a good portion of my life hating my body, feeling like a failure because I didn’t look like everyone told me I should look.

And then in my early 40s I started working with this yoga teacher. And she kind of taught me that it was okay to just do things fat. And now she didn’t use those exact words, right? This was way back in, I don’t know, 2008, 2009. But she taught me that it was okay to do things in the body I have right now.

And I realized that I was putting my whole life on hold until I “lost the weight.” And I decided, okay, I’m just going to start doing things fat. I was already doing them fat, and I just decided to get my permission to do it fat and not be mad about it.

So I owe so much of a debt of gratitude to this particular teacher, because she was really unique and she helped me see that my body wasn’t the problem, right? And once I recognized that, I started to find out what I was really capable of.

So in 2010 I did a triathlon, fat. You can see in this picture, I was 43 years old. I was the only fat person in the race. I did not care. I was literally, I mean, several hundred people there, only fat person. Didn’t care. I cried so hard after I crossed the finish line because I knew my entire world had just changed.

I knew that nothing was ever going to be the same because I had just proved to myself that I could be a fat athlete, and that I belonged in the running world. That I belonged in the athletic world.

So, that’s a little bit about my story. And I’m hoping that it resonates with you, because I know that you can have the same experience, right? I was not born feeling confident about being a fat runner. People are just like, “Where do you get your confidence from?” I’m like, oh, it is a hard one, my friends. Because just like most of you, I’ve had a lot of thoughts and feelings about my body over the years. Many of them were painful.

Sometimes I still have painful thoughts about my body, right? I’m human and I live in a very fat phobic society, okay? But I’ve taught myself to think differently and it’s given me some really amazing results because once I realized that it was okay to just do things fat, I began to explore what my body could do in its current state, instead of waiting until I had some imaginary future body where everything in my life would be perfect.

And that is why we are here today, my friends. I can see in the chat, y’all relate to this. Putting the life on hold, right? Putting the life on hold until you suddenly have the body you want. Honestly, most people will never ever have the body that they want because the bodies that we are taught to want are very, very unrealistic for like all but .001% of the population, right? So it’s a losing battle.

So if we just decide I’m just going to show up, I’m going to do it fat. And I’m going to make the most of the body that I have right now, that’s the place you want to be.

So, here’s the thing we need to talk about before we talk about fat runner mistakes. We need to talk about the elephant in the room, and that is the other F word. The word fat, right? So you came to a workshop about the mistakes that most fat runners make. So I know you’re not totally offended by the word fat. But I want to know in the comments, or maybe just take a moment and think about it yourself.

When you hear the word fat in any context, what comes up for you? What do you think? What do you feel? What reaction do you have in your body when you hear the word fat? And while you’re typing, I’m going to look through some of the comments here. I love this. Yeah, so the word fat brings up thoughts like less than, shame, failure, shame, failure, failure, unhealthy, ugly, not worthy, embarrassed, self-hatred, insecure, lazy, unhealthy, right? It’s a lot, isn’t it?

And I think if you are a fat person and you’re trying to reclaim the word fat for yourself, you’re fighting against all of this programming that you’ve had your whole life that fat is wrong, that fat is terrible. You’re fighting against the rest of the world that believes that fat is a negative thing, okay? So I appreciate that you guys are being so honest in the comments. And somebody said, “No lie, I do still feel tension and shame. But I push back.”

Somebody says grief, right? Disappointment, lazy, criticized. Nichole is in recovery from anorexia and I’m still not completely comfortable with using the word fat, but I am getting there. And then we’ve got some folks who are like, shame comes up, but I’m learning to reclaim it.

And I’ll be honest with you, right? I was not always comfortable using the word fat. And there are still times where I feel that little sting of shame or that little sting of embarrassment when I hear the word. But I force myself to kind of let myself feel shame and be also like, but I’m doing the right thing.

But I wasn’t always comfortable with it. I don’t know if you guys remember back in the late 90s, maybe early 2000s, when online dating was just starting to become a thing. And AOL, does anybody remember AOL? AOL had this online dating thing. And so I was single and I was like, sign me up. Sign me up for this way of dating.

And so they would ask you to describe your body. They would give you three checkboxes, slim, athletic, and a few extra pounds. Those were the three choices. And I mean, obviously, it’s all very subjective, especially the few extra pounds, right? There was no, I’m fat, or overweight, whatever. It was all just slim, athletic, or a few extra pounds, those were the choices.

So I would always choose a few extra pounds, right? Because that was the closest one. And then I made sure that I put full body pictures of myself on my profile so any dudes would know exactly what I looked like. And then there were always those inevitable dates where they would show up and they would be clearly confused that I was not thin.

And instead of being annoyed at the dudes for not looking at my pictures closely enough, or having magical thinking that like, oh, maybe it’s just a bad angle, right? Or being annoyed with AOL for not giving enough choices to describe bodies, right? Slim, slender, or a few extra pounds is a pretty narrow slice of the human body experience.

Instead of being annoyed with that, I just thought it was my fault, right? I just was like, well, if you could lose 100 pounds your life would be so much easier. But here’s the thing, even though I knew that I was bigger than a few extra pounds, I would never call myself fat. I completely avoided describing my body at all.

And I know that there are some of you out there that can relate. I didn’t call myself – I was in my 30s. 20s and 30s. I did not call myself plus size or chunky or anything, right? I just didn’t describe my body. I would divert and avoid those conversations. And if pressed maybe I would have said, oh, I’m a bigger girl. But basically, I just didn’t go there.

I was so uncomfortable about not being smaller, I couldn’t even talk about my own body. I couldn’t even put words to describe it because I was taught that fat was gross, terrible, embarrassing, that I was lazy because I was fat. That fat is basically the worst possible thing you could be.

So even though I was obviously fat, I pretended like I didn’t know and like nobody else knew. It was weird, right? When I think back on it I’m like, “Jeez, Jill, this is kind of strange.” But I know you guys can relate, right? Yes, yeah. Okay. Everybody’s like, that’s me. I just don’t describe myself. I just don’t describe myself. Okay.

So it wasn’t until I started really getting into running and fitness and started connecting with my body and becoming comfortable in my body and realizing I could do things even though I’m not thin, that I became willing to find the words to describe it. Because once I started recognizing that my body was actually strong and powerful, I was less ashamed of it.

And then I was able to start finding words. And first I would just say I’m overweight, right? Or I might have used words like voluptuous and curvy and plus-sized, right? So those are all nicey-nice ways of saying fat. But I wasn’t ready to go all the way to fat. But I was ready to differentiate my body size and sort of admit to myself and the world, who already fucking knew, that I was not thin. It’s crazy the mental gymnastics that we go through.

I would never, however, use the words obese or fat to describe myself because it seemed like that would be going too far, right? That was insulting. And I’m sure a lot of you feel the same way right? So you’re on this sort of journey of, okay, I recognize that I am bigger than other people. And I’m not that upset about it. I’m okay with it. But there’s still that invisible wall that’s like, but I can’t call myself fat. I can’t call myself obese because those are insulting words.

I don’t like the word obese for many, many other reasons. And we won’t get into that today. But listen to some of my podcasts, I’ll tell you why I don’t like that word. But I want you to know that it’s very normal to be okay and feel like, okay, I’m okay with my body. I don’t feel like I’m a terrible person for being fat. But I don’t want to use that word. It’s normal, right?

You’ve been taught to think and feel that fat is bad. So, of course, your brain is having a conniption thinking like, well don’t call me that word. Don’t call me that word. That’s a bad word. Even though you know it’s not, right? So if that’s you, totally normal.

As I did become more confident in my body more and more, I started testing the waters a little bit with the word fat. And it became more and more comfortable to use it. Now, I can’t really imagine using any other word, partly because it’s efficient. It’s so much easier to say the word fat than it is to say the word plus size. But also because it feels a little bit rebellious.

Actually, it feels a bit rebellious, right? When I meet new people, this just happened recently when we met with a realtor over the house that we’re about to buy. And he’s like, oh, you know, it’s nice to meet you. What do you do for a living? And I’m like, oh, I help fat women start running. And you could just see all of the thoughts and expressions going across his face. He’s just like, okay, wait, are we allowed to say fat? Is that a thing that we’re saying? Can I say it’s cool that you help fat women? Or am I allowed to say the word? Or are you the only one who’s allowed to?

Their brains just break because they’re like, oh my God, she just said the F word out loud. And they know I’m fat. And they’re like, she just called herself fat. You’re not supposed to do that, right? People’s brains break, and I think it’s fun to watch because we’re taught that fat is terrible. And when you just own that word, it is confusing to people. And it’s confusing to yourself, okay?

So, honestly, that is how we take away the negative stigma. We just use the word in normal conversation like any other word. And I know that a lot of you are uncomfortable with that word, I get it. It has a lot of negative associations. If you’ve ever been bullied or harassed for your body size, you might cringe at speaking a word that has been used against you.

So I want you to know it is totally okay to describe your body however you want, however you feel comfortable. You do not have to call yourself fat. I would love to have you play around with it, maybe just with yourself, right? Or just, I don’t know, with somebody you feel comfortable with.

But you are the authority in your life. You know what’s best for you. I am going to keep using it. I will be using it for the rest of this workshop, okay? And I want you to notice if it actually becomes a little bit less uncomfortable for you to hear it over time, okay? Over the next hour or two.

Okay, so you are either here because you are fat and you want to become a runner, or you are already a fat runner and you’re struggling with something and you want to find a solution. You’re either number one or number two. And if you’re not, maybe you’re just here for entertainment. Maybe you just like hearing F bombs. But I want to know, are you number one or are you number two?

Are you a fat woman who wants to start running safely and confidently? Or are you a fat woman who is already running and needs help with some issues? So I want to see what the distribution is like. Kate says I am at 1.5. I love that. I love that, so fun. But we have a pretty even distribution. Lots of twos, lots of ones. We got another 1.5, another 1.5, I love it. So good.

Let’s see, Kate says, “I was a runner. And then I got fat and I am restarting.” So yeah, so you’re kind of a 1.5 as well. I love that. Okay, all right. So we’re going to dip into the workbook. And, again, if you did not print out the workbook, that is okay. You can just write it. I’m going to put the questions up here on the screen and you can just write to your heart’s content in your notebook.

But I want to talk about what is getting in your way right now. Okay, so what are some physical or mental challenges that you have when it comes to running? Of these, which ones are related to your body size? So what are some physical or mental challenges that you have when it comes to running? And of these challenges, which ones are related to your body size?

And I’m going to actually put a couple minutes on the clock and let you do a little bit of writing and then we’re going to chat about it. All right, so we have a lot of arthritis in the hips and the knees or knee pain. And then folks feel I’m too slow. Can’t seem to get anywhere. Physical pain, knee pain. Stamina, defeating self-talk, boobs. Oh, Alicia, I got you on the boobs. I got the big boobs too.

My issues are due to body size, lack of activity and my age and length of time not being active. My knees and my brain. What will other people think of me? Fear of failing, sad, embarrassed, shame because I can’t do what I used to be able to do. I hear you. Bad for my knees, thinking I can’t do it, calf injury. Somebody’s like, “I’m like Eeyore, I’m always down on myself.”

Oh my goodness. Side effects from beta blockers, low energy from everything, worried about new injuries. It takes so long to finish and I get discouraged. Oh my gosh. Yep, these are pretty common.

Okay, so one thing I want you to notice right now is that a lot of people have the same challenges and struggles as you, okay? Are you noticing it? Like look through the chat and realize that you are not alone. And there are a lot of you on this webinar right now. And one of the things that we do as fat runners, is we blame a lot on our weight, okay?

So are you seeing, this is just a sampling, but it’s like, well, my weight is slowing me down or my knees. We have a lot of people with orthopedic issues, tendinitis issues, right? And how many of you, this is a common thing that I hear from people, so be honest with me in the chat. Have you ever said to yourself, if I could only lose 20 pounds or 50 pounds or 100 pounds, all of my running problems would go away, right? Or like, if only I could lose weight, then everything would be easier.

I used to think that way too, for sure. I believed that my weight was literally the only thing getting in my way. And, of course, every coach and trainer I’ve ever worked with has been like, “Well, if you dropped 20 pounds, you’d probably get faster,” right? And that might actually be true, okay? I mean, it’s physics. So all else being equal, if you have less mass to move, you can move it faster and with less effort.

But there is so much more to running than just how much you weigh, all right? And so much more to running that is unrelated to how much you weigh, right? There’s your strength. There’s your form, your flexibility, your pacing, your cardiovascular fitness, right? Cardiovascular fitness is not a function of body weight, okay?

There’s also you’re thinking. You’re thinking, the stories that you tell yourself in your head, the beliefs that you have, is like 80% of running. It’s a huge, huge part of running. So I have a question for you. I love this too, thank you, Holly. She says, “I’ve already lost weight. I’m not fat anymore. But I’m still slow.” Losing weight, becoming not fat is not a magic bullet, okay? Not at all. It is not going to solve many of the problems that we have as runners.

So real quick, how many of you thought that today’s workshop about the mistakes that fat runners make was going to be things like not doing intervals, or not using Body Glide, or going out too fast in a race or whatever? How many of you thought that it was going to be different actions that fat runners don’t do or they do wrong? Let me know.

Yes, Shannon says yes. Kate says I thought it might be. Yep, so a lot of you thought that we were going to talk about using Body Glide and doing run/walk intervals and all of that stuff.

Here’s the thing, fat runners make most of those mistakes, okay? All the time. But so do smaller bodied runners, all right? Because those are literally just universal things that all runners struggle with. Every body, every size body gets chafing in one place or another. And if you’re a dude, your nipples chafe, right? The one great thing about being a woman and wearing a sports bra is at least we don’t have to worry about nipple chafing, most of the time anyway.

Everyone chafes, everyone is tempted to go out too fast in a race and regrets it later. So those things, and run/walk intervals, I recommend them for every runner, right? Not just my fat runners. Those things are universal challenges. And we’re here to talk about mistakes that are specific to fat runners.

And the thing is, the biggest mistakes that most fat runners make have nothing to do with your running and everything to do with your mind, okay? So I want you to tell me in the comments, what do you think about that? Do you believe that you could get better at running if you were able to think differently about it?

Yvette says 100%. Brenda, yes, yes, right. If we could just think differently about running, and about being a fat runner, it would change everything. But instead of doing that, we’re like, yes, if I could think differently, for sure, my running would improve. But instead, we’re like, yeah, but what’s the best shoe to wear? Because really we just want the easy thing.

We want to know the best running shoe for fat runners. We want to know the best Body Glide. We want to know the best running tights. Because we’re like, I’m just going to go by those things or I’m going to find the perfect run/walk interval ratio, and then it’s all going to be easy.

Nobody wants to do the hard work of figuring out what shitty stories your brain is telling you and how to get past that. Because the right running shoes are going to give you, I don’t know, maybe 5% improvement, right? It’s not going to change the game for you.

Your brain, changing your brain, changing how you think is what is going to change the game. And that’s what we’re going to do today, all right? So, if you’re new to my classes or you’re new to my podcast, you might be like, “Seriously, Jill, just tell me what shoes I need. I’m not here for this mindset bullshit.”

If that is you, if you came here because you wanted to know the magic secret shoe or what have you, I’m just going to ask you to suspend that way of thinking for the rest of this class. Okay? And then if you still want to know what shoes to wear, I’ll totally hook you up, all right?

I might not change your mind completely today, but I want to make some inroads. I want to help you see the way your brain is getting in the way of your running. So just trust me for a moment and we will see what happens. Kat says, “A decent fitting running bra that didn’t chafe might be game changing.” I can give you that also.

The other thing I want to make super clear to you is that the mistakes you are making as a fat runner are not your fault. They’re not your fault. Not at all. Yes, you’re having the thoughts. But the reason you’re having those thoughts is you’ve been taught for decades by the fitness industry that your body is a problem to be fixed, okay?

This way of thinking is insidious. It is coded into all of the marketing that we see. Scrolling through Instagram, most accounts have some sort of like weight loss or get your beach body, your bikini body, like all that bullshit, right? It’s insidious. And we literally need to be deprogrammed from thinking that way.

So the first mistake, okay, and again, not your fault. You’ve been taught to think this way. The first mistake is believing that you’re not a real runner because you are fat. Who has this belief right now? Who believes I’m not a real runner because I’m fat? Oh, a lot of you. Me, me, me, me, me. I love it.

Okay, how does this impact your running? What does this do to your running practice when your brain is thinking, I’m fat so I’m not a real runner, right? How are you showing up for yourself? Yvette says, “I always feel like I don’t belong.” M says, “I just don’t do it,” right? Jamie says, “It makes me want to give up.” Because when you believe you’re not a real runner, you don’t show up for yourself. You don’t make yourself a priority because you’re like, well, I’m just messing around. I’m not a real runner. It doesn’t matter if I skip this run.

And this way of thinking is so painful, isn’t it? Because you love running, but at the same time you’re thinking I’m not a real runner. It messes with your head. It keeps you stuck. It might even keep you from starting to run if you think that fat people can’t be runners, okay?

And even if you know intellectually, because I know you’re smart women. You’re here, you’re thinking, well, it’s possible that you could be fat and be a real runner. But if you’ve got even part of your brain believing that you can’t be a real runner before because you’re fat, it just messes with your head. You’ve got these conflicting thoughts and it’s going to interfere with your progress, okay?

And another version of this is like, well, other fat women can be real runners, but I’m not a real runner because I’m slow, because I do run/walk, because I only do 5K’s or whatever story you’re telling yourself, right? So you may have a blanket belief that all fat runners can’t be real runners. Or you might have a smaller belief that like, okay, other fat women can be runners, but not me.

Kat says, “You’re just jogging,” right? She says, “Getting past worrying about whether what I’m doing counts as running.” Yeah, that’s a big one, right? We’re thinking, well, I do run/walk. Does that even count as running? Of course it counts. But you might have been taught that it doesn’t. I’m here to tell you that it does, okay?

So this mistake, this is a big one. This is a foundational thought error, thought mistake, right? This belief, because if you have this belief you will never become a successful runner. It will block you from that, okay?

And I wrote page four of your workbook, if you look at page four of your workbook, there’s just a spot for you to write the individual mistakes and write how they impact your running. You can also do this exercise in your notebook, okay? You don’t need the workbook.

So let’s talk about how to get past it, right? Because we need to define for ourselves what it means to be a real runner. And I call this reprogramming because it’s really what it is. You have been programmed to think that fat is bad. You’ve been programmed to think that fat is not equal, you can’t be athletic and be fat. So we have to reprogram that, okay?

So I want to know in the comments, tell me what does it mean to you to be a real runner? If you were to describe somebody who was a real runner, I want to know what your thoughts are.

Okay, feeling of belonging and inclusivity, okay. Dedicated to it. So a real runner is dedicated. A real runner is running regularly. A real runner is fierce. A real runner trains with consistency and makes progress over time. Looks at ease and natural. Persistent, right? So none of those have anything to do with body size or pace or anything.

Now, some of you are like, okay, well, a real runner has a certain finish time, or doesn’t take walk breaks. And so if you’re currently taking walk breaks and you believe that real runners don’t take walk breaks, that’s setting up some cognitive dissonance for you where your brain is like, well, I want to be this thing, but I can’t be this thing because of a thing that I made up, right?

We’re literally making up rules. And then we’re telling ourselves, we don’t comply with those rules. So notice that. Notice where you’re setting yourself up to not be able to think you’re a real runner because you are saying it has to look a certain way.

So how do we reprogram ourselves? Well, this is my definition of a real runner. A real runner is somebody who runs, right? You’ve heard me say a different version of this. If you run, you are a runner. But a real runner is simply somebody who runs and that means you qualify, okay? Bart Yasso once said there’s no such thing as a fake runner.

A fake runner is somebody who never runs and then tells people they run. That is not you. You are a real runner because you run, okay? There’s no pace requirement. There’s no distance requirement. Real runners walk too. Ask me sometime on another webinar about people who do ultras. And I’m not talking just new ultra runners or just fat ultra runners. All ultra runners. They walk sometimes, right? Almost all of them do intervals, okay?

And I dare you to come up and tell me that somebody who does a 100 mile race is not a real runner. And there’s no weight requirement. There’s no body type, right? If you look up in the dictionary, under the definition of runner it’s not like weighs 150 pounds or less, has 20% body fat, and can do an eight minute mile, right? No, it’s like a runner is somebody who runs. That’s what the dictionary says, okay? I love this.

Rebecca just made the most beautiful point. Why are there so many assumptions about running? If someone says they are a skier, we all know there are many different types and levels of skier. If we are swimmers or cyclists, there still seems to be less judgment or stereotypes about other activities than if we are running.

So let’s redefine what a real runner is. Okay? All right. Let’s flip to the next page in my notes here. So how does it feel to you to think this way? How does it feel to have these thoughts in your head? Does it feel awkward and weird to think that maybe, literally right now, in this moment, you could be considered a real runner?

Kate says it feels kind of rebellious. I love that. I love that. And Renee says, “What is jogging versus running?” You know what? That’s a great question. I don’t know if there’s any official definition, but I think, to me, running is the category of the way you move your body. Running can include sprinting, it can include jogging, it can include trotting, it can include lots of different paces.

People use the word jogging sometimes to describe a more casual, easy pace versus sprinting, which is like an all out pace. But sometimes I use the word jogging, most of the time I use the word running because again, it’s easier to say. Jogging is harder to say than running for me. But yeah, the definition is pretty much personal, right? You get to decide for yourself.

Kat says, “If running includes jogging, I know I belong.” It does. Running, to me, is the overarching thing and then there are all different kinds of running, all different paces, all different gait patterns. They all fall into the category of running.

The difference between running and walking, right, this is why I say this. So when you’re walking, the way your body moves is there’s always one foot touching the ground, okay? So that’s what walking is, one foot is always in contact with the ground. When you are running, depending on your pace and your gait, there’s at least a microsecond where both feet are off the ground at the same time.

That is the difference between walking and running, okay? Within running, any gait, any way of moving your body where in the stride cycle there is a microsecond where both feet are in the air at the same time, that is running. Now sometimes you can call it jogging, sometimes you can call it sprinting. You can call it whatever you want, but really the difference is there’s walking and there’s running.

And there’s a whole bunch of different types of walking, too, right? There’s speed walking, there’s strolling, there’s sauntering, right? Running and walking, there’s all kinds of different ways to describe them, but basically, there’s just two different ways of moving on your feet, okay? All right.

Jackie says, “I’m flying.” Okay. So, Shauna says, “I run slower than many people walk. So I have a hard time calling myself a runner.” So what if you run slower than many people walk, right? I run slower than many people walk, too. There have been times that I have been in races and somebody has been speed walking their ass right by me. Because speed walkers, they can do 10 minute miles with a walking pace. I am much slower than that.

It still doesn’t change that I’m a runner. Walkers walk at all different paces. Runners run at all different paces. Okay, so this is another thought error. Another fat runner mistake is comparing yourself to somebody else and finding yourself lacking because that person is doing more than you, or better than you, or whatever you decide, right? Stay in your own lane, run your own race. If you’re running, you’re a runner.

Okay. Let’s see, Brenda says, “I logically agree with what you’re saying. I still feel like until I can keep pace with other runners and get my pace to a 12 minute mile, my weight is holding me back.” So, when you think that thought, my weight is holding me back. How does that feel? Does that feel good? Or does that feel very, very discouraging?

Thinking that your weight is holding you back, instead of my weight is just a circumstance, right? Here’s my body and my body is this way. That’s the data, those are the neutral facts. You get to decide whatever you want about it. You can choose to think it’s holding you back. You can feel defeated, and then you can struggle to stay consistent with your running.

Or you can choose to be like, this is my body weight and I’m going to see how amazing I can be at this body weight, right? And then we kind of get curious. Maybe we get a little excited. Maybe we feel empowered. And then we’re more consistent with running.

All right, I need to move on. But this is a really, really great discussion. Erin says, “Everyone is always waiting for me. I hate being the slowest person on the team. Everyone is always waiting for me.” Let’s flip it around. You never have to wait for anybody else. How awesome is that, right? You never have to wait for anybody else.

But seriously, I’ve been in plenty of races where I’ve come in last. I’ve been in plenty of running groups where I’ve come in last. Nobody has ever been mad because I got there last or whatever. They can leave early if they want to. It’s not a big deal.

Stay out of other people’s heads, right? This is another mistake. All humans make them this mistake, not just fat runners. Stay out of other people’s heads. They get to think what they want to think. It’s not your problem. It’s not your business. Somebody has to be last. Exactly, Trish.

All right, my friends, we’re going to move on to mistake number two because I want to make sure I respect everyone’s time. Mistake number two, and I promise every single one of you has done this. Every single one of you, and that is downplaying your achievements. Like when someone asks you if you run and you’re like, well, actually, I’m just a jogger, right? Or I only do run/walk. Or I’m not very fast. Or, I’ve literally heard people say this, well, yeah, I’m a runner, but I look like a penguin while I’m doing it. I’m really more of a waddler.

Who has done this? I used to do it all the time. You’re not alone. But how do you think that impacts your running when that is how you present, right? That’s like, well, I did this thing. I’m fat, I did a 5k. It was hard as fucking hell. But don’t praise me because I don’t deserve praise, right? You’re going to compliment me, I’m going to tell you all the reasons you’re wrong.

How does that impact your running? I get why we do it, right. We do it because we don’t want to pretend that we are something we’re not, right? You’re like, well, I don’t want people thinking I’m some kind of great athlete. Fuck that. Let them think you’re a great athlete. Why wouldn’t you want people to think you’re amazing?

Why wouldn’t you want people to look at you and say, “Damn, she is a badass.” Right? It goes back to not believing you’re a real runner. That is the foundational thought error, the thought mistake that everything else comes from, okay?

So when you believe you’re not a real runner, that informs all of your other beliefs. But there’s also something else. So when you are a woman, right, when you’ve been socialized as a woman, you’re taught not to brag. You’re taught not to boast. You’re taught to just be humble, right? We do it everywhere.

Somebody says, oh, your hair looks really pretty. And you’re like, oh, thank you. But my roots are growing in. I need to get my roots touched up. Or, oh, I like your skirt. Thanks, it’s too tight, though. I need to lose five pounds. We never just say thank you.

So I want you to stop with the “thanks, but.” The “thanks, but,” okay? Thanks, but blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. I had to teach myself how to accept compliments. I was not taught how to accept compliments.

So here’s what I practice doing. This is another thing that blows people’s minds. When somebody compliments me, I say, “I know, right? Thank you for noticing. I’m really awesome. Thank you for noticing that.” It felt very uncomfortable at first. And it surprises people because the social contract is that I give you a compliment, and you tell me all the ways I’m wrong.

That’s the social contract. I give you a compliment, and you argue and you tell me that I’m wrong. But when you do that with running, especially if you’re a fat runner, you’re doing yourself and others a huge disservice. Because first, you’re reinforcing the message to yourself and to everybody else that you’re not a real runner. That you don’t deserve to be celebrated. And then you’re also modeling that behavior.

You’re perpetuating the social contract of it’s not okay to accept a compliment and to agree with somebody, right? Normally, when somebody compliments us, we disagree with them. I say agree with them. Go all in. Agree hard.

Lindsey says, “I feel like compliments are a slap to the face. Like, wow, you’re so amazing. I can’t believe you did that being so fat?” Okay, so this is a great example, Lindsey, of when people compliment me they must be insulting me. First of all, that’s a thought error.

And that’s another one, stay out of other people’s brains, right? Even if that’s what they meant, which most people are not like that. Most people will just keep their mouths shut. If they’re going to come at you with the snark and be like, “Wow, I can’t believe you finished that race,” you will know. It will be in the tone of voice. Otherwise, let’s just assume that everybody is actually impressed with us.

I would much rather walk through my life thinking like, wow, somebody really thought that that was awesome that I did that. I’d much rather walk through my life thinking that, than everybody’s making fun of me behind my back. Okay? So stay out of other people’s thoughts. It’s none of your business.

Here’s what we’re going to do, here’s how we’re going to get past this silliness, right? The way we reprogram the mistake is similar to number one, we practice, practice, practice. So when you talk to somebody about your running, you’re not going to qualify it. You’re just going to own it.

Somebody is going to say, “Oh, are you a runner?” Yep. Yes, I am. I just did a 5k this weekend. I’m training for a half marathon, whatever it is. You can just own it. You can just say it, all right? Be your own hype squad. Because if you are not excited about your achievements, nobody else is going to be excited either.

So the reason that you assume other people are dissing you with their compliments, is because you’re already doing it to yourself. If you think you suck, you’re going to assume everybody else thinks you suck. And then when they say nice things to you, you’re going to be like, well, they’re just being rude. They’re just trying to insult me.

You’ve got to be your own hype squad, okay? If somebody says, “That’s so awesome that you did that half marathon,” I want you to say, “I know, right? Thank you for noticing. I really am pretty awesome. I appreciate it.”

I want you to practice, actually we’re going to practice it right now, okay? Let’s go. I’m going to compliment you, I’m going to tell you something that’s a compliment. And I know I can’t hear you, but I want everyone to repeat after me and say, “I know, right? Thank you for noticing.” Okay? So are you ready? Let’s go.

Oh my God. I saw that you finished that 5k last weekend. I saw your pictures on Facebook. Amazing. You inspire me. All right, now I want everybody to respond. We’re going to say it together. I know, right? Thank you for noticing.

How did it feel to say that? I could feel y’all saying it. I could feel y’all saying it. Oh my God, Stephanie is like, “I blushed.” Nicole says, “The tears are flowing, but in a good way.” Brenda says, “I know, right? Thank you for noticing.” Yes, it felt great.

Doesn’t it feel good to compliment yourself? Doesn’t it feel good to recognize your own bad-assery? You’ve got to be your own hype squad. And when you start realizing how awesome you are, first of all, other people’s opinions aren’t going to matter. But second of all, you’re going to believe people when they give you a compliment, okay?

Sherry is like, “It makes me smile to say that.” Tiffany says, “It felt unnatural.” All right. And we got somebody saying, weird. Somebody is crying, right? Practice this. I know it feels weird. I know it feels awkward. It’s okay. It’s okay. I want you to practice this.

And here’s the thing, when you start taking a compliment like a boss, other people are going to be like, hmm, maybe I’m allowed to do that. Maybe I’m allowed to say thank you for noticing, right? Pay it forward.

Okay. I love this. Jess says, “I’m about to run my first 5k and I’m going to brag the hell out of it.” Yes. Shannon says, “I feel lighter.” I love that. Okay, so Shauna says, “It feels embarrassing.” So that’s okay. That’s a very normal reaction. I want you to practice it. I just want you to practice it.

And maybe you just practice it in the mirror. Maybe you have a friend and you’re like, listen, we’re just going to practice taking compliments from each other. All right? And then maybe you try it with a stranger because it’s a stranger, you’ll never get to see them again. You’ll get there, I promise you. I promise.

Okay, number three. Mistake number three, this one breaks my heart every single time, okay? And that is believing you don’t belong in a running environment, whether it’s a running store, or a race, or a running group, or believing you don’t deserve a coach because you’re fat or because you’re slow.

I want to know how many of you are making mistake number three. How many of you think because I’m fat or because I’m slow, I don’t belong in the running world? Yvette says, “That’s my number one barrier.” Love it. Sherry says, “I’m afraid to go to a running store or get fitted for shoes.” Yep, got a lot of yeses.

Let’s see, Jamie stopped going to run group at her job because of this. Elise only orders her stuff online because she’s embarrassed to go to a running store. Yeah. Right? Okay.

How does it impact your running when you believe that you don’t belong in running environments? How does this impact your running? How does this impact how you show up for yourself when you believe you don’t belong in a running environment? Does it make you a better runner?

Yep, sure. Shauna says, “I avoid events.” Heather says, “I don’t even want to run outside because of this.” Leslie says, “I got fitted for shoes, but I wouldn’t run so they could measure my steps or whatever.” Right, so you’re like, well, you can measure my feet, but I’m not going to run in front of you, right?

Sherry says, “I run less, I won’t join groups.” Elise avoids other runners. Somebody says, like what am I really doing, right? One person is only on the treadmill, it prevents me from running with groups.

Yeah, so it’s holding you back. Holding you back. And can you see this is literally just a belief that you are telling yourself? These are not facts. These are not facts. They are beliefs that you’ve told yourself.

Here’s a great example, okay? Because when you believe you don’t belong, you don’t advocate for yourself, you miss out on things. And a lot of you have already used the example of going to a running store.

If you don’t go to a running store to get fitted because you think I’m too fat, I don’t belong there, right? A lot of my clients have this thought, they just get whatever old shoe that fits. And then they end up struggling because they’re in a neutral shoe when they should be in a stability shoe or something like that.

And that can all be avoided by going to get a shoe fitting. But if you think I’m too fat to go to the running store, you end up getting shoes that don’t work with you. And then that perpetuates the belief like, well, I’m not a real runner because I’m struggling and I’m doing it wrong and yada, yada.

And it’s like, no, if you just go to the running store and get the right shoes, everything would be fine, okay? So this belief really, really gets in everyone’s way.

The reason we do it is because we don’t want to be rejected, right? It’s human nature. It is literally hardwired into your brain. And sometimes it takes every ounce of courage inside you to show up in a space where you think you don’t belong, where you think you’re not welcome.

And I remember when I got my coach certification, I had to travel all the way to Virginia for the class, I was so scared to walk in that room. I was sure I would be the only fat person. I did not know how that would be received. I didn’t know if anybody would speak to me. I didn’t know if they’d be like, “You’re too fat to be a coach,” right?

I was like, these are things that could happen. Who knows? I’ve never been around a bunch of running coaches. And I was right, I was the only fat person there. But not one single person asked if I was in the wrong place. Not one single person questioned if I belonged there.

They were very welcoming. I made some new friends. And the thing is, I was the only person thinking I didn’t belong there. It was me, right? What’s that Taylor Swift song? It’s me. Hi, I’m the problem. It’s me. It was me. I was the one with the faulty thinking, okay? I was creating a whole bunch of drama in my head about it. It wasn’t even true. Everything was fine.

And so here’s how we reprogram this, new thoughts. The answer to everything is new thoughts, in case you hadn’t noticed. But I’m going to give you some new thoughts to think to tack on to what we did in number two and number one, where you’re building your runner identity.

And the first thought is runners go to running stores. So if you have worked on number one and you now believe, even though you’re fat, you are a real runner. If you just believe flat out, I run, therefore I’m a real runner, well runners go to running stores, okay? So this naturally follows. So when you do the work to create that runner identity, we are going to have to go to a running store because that’s what runners do. Okay?

Runners also sign up for races. Actually, not all of them. I do know some runners that are not interested in racing. And if you’re not, that’s fine. But if you’re not interested in racing because you think you’re too fat, I want you to sign up for a race because that’s what runners do.

Runners join running groups, okay? And now, yes, there might not be a group in your area that runs at a pace that works for you. You could start your own. You could join an online running group. There’s a lot of ways to do it. But runners join running groups. And runners work with coaches and trainers. Just because you are slow, just because you are fat does not mean you don’t deserve to work with a professional who can help you achieve the results that you want to achieve, right?

If you were going to learn how to drive, you wouldn’t be like, well, I’m too fat to drive. So I guess I’m just going to not hire a driving teacher. I’m just going to drive around in my backyard, right? You’d be like, no, I want to learn how to drive. I’m going to hire a driving teacher, right? So running is the same. Runners work with coaches and trainers. That is a thing that runners do.

What are some things that you think runners do that you are scared to do? Let me know in the comments. What are some things where you’re like, well, this is the thing that real runners do and I’m scared to do it. Cara Lee says, “run.” Let’s see, Heather says, “Join a group.” I got it. Trish says, “Run in my sports bra. Just run in a sports bra.”

I love that that’s coming up because that was a big thing for me, was learning to run in a sports bra on hot days. And once I did and I realized nobody is looking, nobody is staring, nobody gives a shit that I’m out running in my sports bra. Literally, nobody cares. And I’m talking about running in a big city with lots of other people around.

Nobody fucking cares. It’s all in our minds. We’re all like, “Oh my gosh, I can’t run a sports bra.” And basically, the difference between running a sports bra and running in a shirt is you are showing some of your belly. That’s literally the only difference. Because if you’re running in a tank top, the only thing that’s being shown is like a strip of your belly and your back. Isn’t that fascinating? We’re like, yeah, I can’t do that. I can’t possibly do that. But when you break it down, it’s actually not that big of a deal.

Okay, running in comfortable clothing. Running outside. Wearing shorts, right? We’re all like, oh my gosh, people might see my arms, people might see my legs. That is true. That is a fact. If you run in shorts, if you run in a tank top, people will see your arms and your legs. It is not the end of the world.

What do we think is going to happen if somebody sees the skin on our arms versus just seeing our arm inside fabric? It’s not like it looks bigger or smaller, unless you’re wearing compression gear on your arms and your legs, right? It’s going to be the same size. And it’s fascinating, it’s like the brain is like, it’s different if it’s covered. I promise you it’s not.

Wearing a long sleeve shirt because you’re afraid to show your arms because you’re thinking other people are going to be judging you is literally saying, well, I would rather be physically uncomfortable in the heat, than think about other people judging my arms. If they’re judging you, they’re going to judge you if you’re wearing a tank top or you’re wearing a long sleeve shirt or a short sleeve shirt.

If people are judging you, they’re going to judge you no matter what you wear. I promise 100%, okay? So just go do you, right? Stay out of other people’s brains.

I love this. Sherry says, “I’m concerned that ‘they’ will be disgusted or uncomfortable.” Yeah, they might be. Do it anyway, right? That’s the thing, all the people that you meet every single day, they’re all going to have opinions about you. It’s okay. They have those opinions now and you’re alive and you’re doing fine.

People have opinions about me, you should see some of the opinions that get shared on my Instagram. I am fascinated. And I’m like, okay, well, you get to have that opinion. I still get to do what I want to do, right? Most of the time they’re not going to share their opinions. Unless you’re like me and you’re posting signs on Instagram about how you can be fat and be a runner and people take offense with that.

But honestly, people are going to have opinions. It’s okay. They’re not going to share them with you. Just go on with your bad self. Okay? I love this. All right, Amanda says, “I don’t care if other people see my arm fat flapping in the wind, but I don’t want to see it. It’s not other people’s problems, it’s mine.” How can you see your arm fat flapping in the wind when you are running?

Tell me. I want to know if your head is on some kind of flexible pole that you can kind of look down. I’m trying to model it, you can’t see me. You can’t see your arm fat flapping in the wind when you’re running. You can’t see it. You should be looking ahead trying not to trip on the pavement. You cannot see your arm fat. Stop it, I’m taking that away from you.

Kiana says, “What if it’s me? What if I’m judging myself?” That’s what this whole workshop is about today, is about learning to drop the judgment of yourself. It is not other people’s judgments that is the problem. I promise, it is never other people’s judgments. The only way you can feel emotional pain is when you are judging yourself, right? That is what we’re talking about today. I love this. Okay, Linda says, “It’s my health, my body, my brain and you can kiss my butt when I run by.” I love it.

So we’ve covered the most common thought mistakes that fat runners make, okay? And that is believing that you’re too fat to be a real runner. Believing that you don’t belong in running communities. And downplaying your achievements, right? Those are the biggest thought errors.

I know you guys have some other thought errors hiding in there. So I want you to share in the comments, what are some others that you might have? And I’m going to tell you what the other three, probably most common – I should do the statistics on this. But the most common things that I hear, not that I hear, but that are thought errors is believing that the whole point of running is to get faster and to go farther.

How many of you have that belief, that the whole point of running is to get faster and go farther? Yeah, the whole point of running, that’s not the point of running. For some people who are competitive runners, yes, their mission, when it comes to running, is to get faster so they can win races. We are not winning races, my friends. Most of us are not, okay?

Most people, fat or otherwise, there’s a lot of skinny people out there, a lot of thin people out there not coming in first place, right? So if your expectation of running is that the whole point is you have to either be getting faster or going farther to prove to yourself that you’re doing it right, that’s a thought error. That’s a huge thought error.

You get to run just because you fucking like running. You don’t have to be fast. You don’t have to constantly be trying to improve. You can, if that’s what you want. I’m not saying it’s wrong. But I want you to know that if that’s the requirement you’re putting on yourself, you’re going to fail, right? Because there’s going to come a point in every runner’s life where they have run the fastest they will ever run. And then it is all downhill from there, right?

And for most women it’s probably, I mean, if you’ve been running your whole life, if you’ve been a runner since you were in your 20s, you might hit your peak in your 40s. If you started running in your 40s, you might hit your peak in your 50s. But I promise you, there’s going to come some point where you have hit the limit of your pace and you’ve hit the limit of your distance.

And if your whole reason for running is so you can show yourself that you’re getting better by increasing those things, there’s going to come a point where you’re not going to be able to do it anymore and it’s going to feel awful. All right? So that is a thought error, that believing that the point of running is to get faster, believing that the point of running is to always be going farther. Eliminate those beliefs. I’m not saying don’t pursue them. But I want you to understand that that is not the point of running, okay?

Another thought error that we have is that everybody’s looking at me. And we’ve talked about that. Everybody’s looking at me when I’m running. No, they’re not. Yes, some people might notice you running, that’s okay. We stay out of other people’s brains, right? And we don’t let their opinions run our lives.

Another belief is that real runners don’t take walk breaks. Again, I know a lot of real runners, I know professional runners who take walk breaks. You can eliminate those thought errors from your brain. When you hear them pop up you’re like, oops, there it is, again, that thought error. I better scrub that out of my brain. All right?

I love this. Susan says, “Long with the walk break.” Leslie says, “I’m running for my mental health.” Betty says, “I am hung up on the childhood memories of being the slowest and made fun of for it. I beat myself up every time I run.” So notice that, right? You’ve got a thought in your brain, you’ve been taught, you’ve been conditioned to believe that being the slowest is a bad thing, all right?

So again, it’s like everything we’ve been talking about today is what do I want to think instead, right? I know that it’s not working for me to believe that being slow, being fat is a terrible thing. So what do I want to think instead?

So that’s what I want you to do next. Page five of your workbook, I want you to give me some new thoughts to think. Give me some new thoughts to think. And feel free to go ahead and put them in the chat.

Jan says, “I am the opposite. I was athlete of the year in high school, now I’m lucky if I can bend over.” So you’re one of those people that peaked early. That happens, right? You were athlete of the year, that’s awesome. So you’re comparing yourself now to yourself of 20, 30 years ago, whenever you were in high school, right? The body that you have right now is the body that you have. We are not able to recapture that high school body, okay?

We cannot go backwards in time. It’s not a thing. Maybe it will be a thing in the future, I don’t know. But right now it’s not a thing. What do you want to do with the body that you have right now? And this is for every single one of you who is thinking, I wish I just had that high school body. Or I wish I had my body from five years ago or my body from 10 years ago.

We all do this. I wish I could just have that body back. Well, you can’t. And spending your mental energy wishing you could have it back is keeping you stuck right now. It’s preventing you from living your best life in the body you have right now, okay? So what are we going to be thinking instead? I’m going to read some of these out. These are awesome.

I’m running now so I’ll be able to keep being active and do what I want in 25 years when I’m in my 80s. I love that, right? I’m running now so that in 25 years I’ll be able to do what I want. Okay. I want to live longer in great shape, instead of sadly aging and walking with a cane. So that has nothing to do with getting faster as a runner. That’s like, hey, I just want to feel good in my body now. I want to feel good in my body 20 years from now. I want to feel good in my body 30 years from now. So I’m going to run now. Love it.

I can make a running plan that works for me. There is no failure here. Yes, mama. Love, love, love it. So good. Elise says, “Every step forward is a win.” I love this. So good, you guys. Charlie says, “I’ve never gotten any negative comments when out running. But I have been complimented several times and it is awesome.” Bam, right?

Most humans are actually great. You may find humans that are not so great that have opinions that they want to share. But most of the time humans are great. I love that Charlie is amongst the awesome humans. Pamela says, “Prove them wrong. Mentally flip off the doctor who told me I needed to stop running.” I’ve had doctors who told me that too. I’m not going to stop.

Yes, Kat, another helpful thought when out running in public is most humans are actually great.” Yes ma’am. I want to be healthier so I can be around for my kids as long as possible. Progress is progress. Yes. I’m running now because being outside and moving supports my happiness and mental health.

When I own my fat, my slowness and my progress as a runner, I make space for the next woman. Running is medicine for my ADHD. Life is much smoother. I love these. So, so good.

Okay, Gina, this is so great. She said, “I did a hike with an 80 year old woman yesterday and I could barely keep up. I want to be able to keep moving as I age.” So that’s a great way, instead of looking backwards and saying I wish I could do what I used to be able to do, look forwards and say when I am 80 I want to be able to do that. What do I need to do now to set myself up for that? I love this. Alicia says, “Forward is a pace.” Yes, it is. Forward is a pace and showing up is progress.

Okay, so I got one more question for y’all. What are three actions that you can commit to that will help you support your new thoughts? Because all of your new thoughts are geared towards creating that runner identity for you. Creating that belief that you are a real runner so that you start owning your accomplishments, so that you start showing up in running spaces, so that you can make the progress you want to make. So what are three actions you can commit to?

And, for example, one of them might be going to a running store and getting fitted even though it feels awkward and weird and you’re like I don’t belong here. You’re going to take that action to create the evidence that maybe I do belong here. I love it.

Okay, Renee is like, “I’m going to a running store.” Joan is going to get out and run. Peggy said, “Put the running shoes by the door. Just get out there, do the thing. Actually try a training plan.” I love it. Just do it. Get help. Thank you, Jan, get help. Invite friends to run with me. I love this, Alicia coaches girls on the run so I can tell little ones that running is for every body.

Pamela says, “I’m going to run without technology.” Love it. Scrub those thoughts, accept compliments and just do it. Running at least three days. Have an accountability buddy. I want to join a slow running group, even if it means starting one. Yes ma’am. Stopping negative self-talk immediately, finding running shoes and scheduling non-negotiable time to run.

Get my running clothes organized and visible, be consistent. So good. Where a damn tank top. Yes, Trish. I love it. Sign up for the race I don’t think I can do. You guys, this is great, right? This is so fun.

Let’s see, Alicia says, “I have a subscription to Runner’s World so when I’m injured or can’t run, I still feel like I’m learning and it reminds me that even elite athletes have periods where they don’t run.” Re-watch Up and Running. Oh, good one. Love that.

Be okay with walk/runs. Sign up for a race once a month. So good. Purchasing close-fitting tops for running and exercise, I used to wear the big t-shirts. Yeah, I used to wear big t-shirts too. And I get so much less chafing when I wear close-fitting stuff. It’s just so much better.

Okay, so here’s the thing, right? We’ve talked about your brain. We’ve talked about shifting all the thinking, right? We talked about actions that you can take. Now we need to talk about how you’re going to make it happen, because good intentions are not always enough, right? If good intentions were enough to change ourselves and change the world, everything would be perfect. Good intentions are just more thoughts, right?

So at this point, you really have two different options, okay? The first option is to keep doing what you’re doing. Struggling, feeling frustrated and defeated, talking smack about yourself, feeling terrible, waiting for it to feel easier, not taking any real action to make it happen, right? We know what this feels like. We’re all doing this right now. Option one.

Option two is to head into the rest of the year feeling strong, getting the support and accountability that you need to make the changes. Start thinking like a runner, right? Start actually embracing that runner identity so you can get results and then watch that magic when you shift your thinking.

So option number one, keep doing what you’re doing. Maybe not getting what you want. Option number two is getting the support and accountability you need. Start thinking like a runner and watching the magic. Which one do you prefer? Which one would you rather do? Number one or number two? Let me know.

Heather says number two, two, two. Lots of exclamation points. Everybody’s like, yes, I would like the support and accountability. And I want to start thinking like a runner. I want to watch the magic. And it is magic, my friends.

All right, if you want option two, I want to talk to you about Run Your Best Life. So remember at the beginning I told you I was going to give you a quick offer to help you implement what you’ve learned today. Run Your Best Life is that solution, all right?

Run Your Best Life is a coaching program. It is the way I work with all my clients. And in this program you will go from frustrated to feeling proud, from being on the struggle bus to feeling determined, from being embarrassed to feeling confident, and from feeling annoyed, right? These are all the things that we talked about in the beginning of this workshop, right? Annoyed to feeling in control, to feeling on top of it.

You will start running, or restart running, or get better at running. But you will know that you’re doing it right. You’re going to feel excited, proud, motivated and confident, right? Who doesn’t want to feel that confidence?

I can see we’ve got a lot of Run Your Best Lifers on this call too. You guys, feel free if you’re currently in Run Your Best Life to share in the comments what your experience has been like. You’ll learn how to start training, maybe for a 5k, maybe for a half marathon, right? We have training plans at all levels.

You will belong to a dedicated, welcoming community of runners just like you. You will feel supported. You will feel understood. And you will get fitter, faster and stronger and feel better in your body all day long. Until you’re 80 or 90 or 100, right? This is what we do. We run and we run in a way that creates our best lives.

So Run Your Best Life is built on four pillars. Pillar number one is the running basics, okay. Running form, breathing, pacing, intervals, cadence. All the fundamental skills and running that set you up for success long term. And whether you are a brand new runner or an experienced runner, the running basics are going to help you. They are going to improve your running.

The second pillar is the runner’s mind. And this is where you become determined and resilient and confident and proud. And where you stay the fuck out of other people’s brains and stop negative thinking in its tracks.

Pillar number three is the runner’s body. Because if you run and you have a body, you have a runner’s body. And in this pillar we do strength training and stretching. And we have all kinds of video routines that you can do at home. They are runner specific and they will help you get stronger, get faster and go farther.

And then finally, we have motivation 101. This is where you learn how to stay motivated, stop quitting, stop half-assing, how to feel confident, how to exceed your own expectations.

So this is the basis for all of the coaching that we do in Run Your Best Life. And I want to talk a little bit about how it is structured and what you get. So,  first, you get expert coaching twice a week. We have live coaching calls from myself and I have two coaches on my team. And we are there to answer any questions you have about your running and your mindset.

We give you tools that work. They are tried and tested methods that have been used literally by not just hundreds, but thousands of clients that will help you implement what you’ve learned and make it a habit. You’ll have a private Facebook community that is full of women just like you who love to run and connect with other runners for support and accountability and inspiration. And then we also have a private member’s site.

And on this member site you will find a private podcast, training plans at all levels, training programs at all levels, a resource library, a community race calendar so you can see what other people are doing as far as races, monthly challenges, strength training and yoga classes. It is chock full of everything you need to become the runner that you want to be.

So when you log into the site, the first thing that will happen when you log into the member site is there will be a short video to watch and then you’re going to take like a little quiz that will help us – I call it colloquially call it the sorting sneaker. It’s kind of like the sorting hat from Harry Potter, where we find out what your current level is and we can give you the right program to start with within Run Your Best Life.

Once you’re done with that, you’ll be taken to the dashboard where you will see all of our resources. You’ll see our upcoming coaching calls and some of our more popular features right there in the middle.

This is an example of a month of coaching. So you can see, and if you’re on your phone it might be a little bit small, but you can see we have lots and lots of coaching calls every month to make sure that everybody gets their chance to talk to a coach. We also record every single coaching call. We put them in the private podcast so that you can listen to them when you’re out running or whenever you get a free moment.

In addition to the coaching calls, right, so you can hop on a live coaching call to get help from one of our coaches, you can also submit your questions on the member site and get a written answer. And you can search past questions. So this is actually a really awesome feature as well so that you can see if somebody else has already asked that question, search for it, get the response that you need.

And then finally, this is just a sampling of the training programs that we have. Up and Running is our beginner program, it’s for brand new beginners. 5K training, we have 10k, half marathon, marathon, triathlon and 50k training plans. So we’ve got you covered no matter what your goals are.

So here’s what I want to invite you to do, if you join during today’s webinar, actually, if you join by midnight tonight, you’re going to get three amazing bonuses. And the website is right there below. And I think my fabulous assistant, Jen, will be in the comments posting the link as well. But if you join during today’s webinar you’re going to get these three awesome bonuses. I’m going to tell you what they are.

The first one is the ultimate gear guide. This is a list of my favorite running gear shops, my thoughts, and all of them are online by the way. So it does not matter if you do not live near one of them, you can get it all online. And most of them go up to 3x, some of them even go up to 4x. My thoughts on where to get the best of everything without spending all your hard earned money.

And then links to my favorite gadgets and supporting gear. And most of them you can actually find on Amazon. So again, if you go to notyouraveragerunner.com/runyourbestlife to join today, that is just one of the bonuses that you’re going to get.

The next bonus is a video class that I taught a while ago called Loving The Body You Are In. And if you struggle with body image, if you struggle with looking yourself in the mirror and thinking terrible thoughts about yourself, this is where I want you to start, okay? And you’ll get instant access to it today.

This is where I want you to begin your body love journey because you will learn how to stop hating on your body. You will move towards acceptance and then into love. And this is powerful, powerful work. We talk a lot about body image in Run Your Best Life because when you believe that there’s something wrong with your body, that gets in the way of you being the best runner you can be.

It gets in the way of everything in your life, to be honest. So that’s one of my missions as a running coach, is to help every runner love and accept their body as is. And again, go to notyouraveragerunner.com/runyourbestlife, that is a bonus that will be waiting there for you.

And then our third bonus, and this is a wildly popular class that I’ve taught multiple times, is How To Become A Consistent Exerciser. And this is one of the biggest struggles that people have, right? I like running, I just can’t seem to make myself do it as much as I want to.

So in this class you’re going to find out what your excuse personality is, okay? And how to work with it instead of against it. So you’re going to learn exactly how to create that running routine that works with you instead of against you so you can become consistent and start seeing those results. So, again, this is another video class. It’s a two hour class and it is, again, your bonus if you go to notyouraveragerunner.com/runyourbestlife to sign up today.

So, I know you’re probably wondering, what is your investment? The cost to be a member is $49 a month. Now, what this gets you is, again, immediate access to all resources. And this program has been around for six years, so there’s a lot of good stuff in there. There is no joining fee. There are no contracts. If you join today, you are welcome to stay as long as you want.

If you’re like, “I don’t know, this isn’t for me,” we’re not going to hold you down and make you stay, right? This isn’t like the gym or any of those other things that you join that are just like, oh, there’s an initiation fee and then you have to sign up for a year contract. We don’t do that, okay? Join today for $49, stay as long as you want.

And if you join now you can start asking coach questions immediately. Literally, you’ll go through your watch the video, you’ll go through the sorting sneaker quiz, and then bam, you get access to everything right away, okay? So, again, notyouraveragerunner.com/runyourbestlife. And Jen is going to go ahead and put that link in the comments again.

And that is what I’ve got for you today. So, what questions do we have? Elise says, “Do we need a special code for joining?” Great question. No, you don’t. No special code. Join today and you’ll get all of those bonuses right away. I’m all about simplifying and I’m trying to make my life as simple as possible and I want to help you make your life as simple as possible. So no codes, no joining fee, none of it.

Yaya says, “How long is the program? How many months?” It is as long as you want to become a member. So, normally when you register, especially if you’re brand new, we’ll probably put you into the Up and Running program first. And that is a 30 day program. So you’ll spend your first month going through that.

And then after you graduate from that, you can talk to a coach, you can take the quiz again and get moved into a different program, as far as the specific runs that you should be doing. But really, what is so amazing about Run Your Best Life is the fact that you have access to live coaches all the time.

You can ask in the Facebook group. You can come to a live coaching call. You can post a question on the member’s website and get your questions answered. So there is no set time. Like when you join the gym you can be a member of the gym as long as you want. It is the same thing here.

And so we have a fabulous community that is part of Run Your Best Life. That is one of my favorite things about the program, is how many amazing people just like you will meet. And yeah, so I hope that answers your question, Yaya.

Nicole says, “With the membership, does it automatically pay monthly? Or do you have to input payment every month?” When you sign up we will charge whatever credit card you use, unless you cancel, we will charge that credit card the same day every month until such time as you decide you don’t want to be a member anymore. So you don’t need to go back and you don’t need to remember to pay every month. We will take care of that for you.

Diane says, “I have high blood pressure and doctors always recommend walking as a start out exercise. I’ve been walking for over a month now consistently. I want to start running, but I wasn’t sure if people with high blood pressure are relegated to just walking. I know you aren’t able to give medical advice, but I figured I’d ask.”

So here’s the thing, you could start out and just do like 10 or 15 second intervals of running. And then go back to, you know, like most of the time I’ll start out new folks with 15, 20 seconds of running and then a minute of walking and so forth. You could try that and see how it feels. You could even say like, I’m just going to run for 10 seconds and see how that feels.

And if you notice, and again, not a substitute for medical advice. I’m not a doctor, definitely have a conversation with your doctor about it. But if you notice that it feels okay, you can kind of continue. But try a few little stints of running. And maybe you want to qualify it as jogging, right? Like keep to that sort of more relaxed, easier pace for you and just try it for 10 seconds. Next time you go for a while, see how it feels. But have a conversation with your doctor. Talk to your doctor about using the run/walk approach and see if she or he is on board with that.

Tracy says, “Will I lose weight if I follow the plan?” We do not have any kind of weight loss program within Run Your Best Life. Whether or not you lose weight depends a lot on what you are eating, what your hormones are like, your age, your genetics, your muscle mass. It depends on a million different factors, so I do not recommend joining Run Your Best Life as a weight loss plan.

Run Your Best Life is all about teaching you to become an amazing runner in the body that you have right now and giving you the mindset tools to help you just kind of live your best life. So we don’t really do the whole weight loss thing. Great question, though.

Amanda says, “I have two bad knees and I’ve heard in the past that running on pavement is hard on the knees, is that true?” I mean, it kind of depends what shoes you have. So you probably are going to be more likely to want a more cushioned shoe. I don’t necessarily think that running on pavement is any worse for your knees than anything else. But I would make sure you get fitted for a running shoe, tell them that you have some knee difficulty.

If you have a knee replacement, if that’s what you mean by bad knees, that’s different than I just have knee pain. So if you have knee pain, I would actually recommend going to a sports doctor, getting a diagnosis and going to physical therapy because I have arthritis in both knees. One of my meniscuses is raggedy. And in both of my knees I have parts where the bone is exposed, bone on bone. And I am able to run comfortably.

I run exclusively on pavement and sidewalks because I do a lot of strength training. And we talk about that a lot in Run Your Best Life, the strength training that helps you kind of bolster your joints. And so that’s where I would start. If you have knee pain, I would make sure that you go to a sports doctor and then start out, like we would start you out with the easiest plan possible within Run Your Best Life and you could start out on a treadmill if you want to, if that makes you feel more comfortable.

Let’s see, I paid for Up and Running but I never did it. Is there any discount for joining Run Your Best Life?” There is not a discount for joining Run Your Best Life if you have already been a member of Up and Running. But I promise if you join Run Your Best Life, you won’t regret it. You will be able to put into place a lot of the things that you learned during Up and Running. We have updated the course somewhat since you took it last. So just join Run Your Best Life. Just get in there, we’ll work together.

Jackie says, “Surprising how many calls are the same thoughts I have.” So that’s a great point. That happens a lot in Run Your Best Life, we will have folks that show up to a coaching call and ask a question and there will be like five other people on the call going, “Oh, I was thinking the same thing. I was struggling with the same thing.”

So that’s one of the beautiful things about the program is, first of all, we have these live coaching calls. People come to the call, they ask questions, they get coaching. But we record those calls and so if you couldn’t make it live, we put them all into a private podcast feed so that you can listen to them when you’re out running and get the benefit of all that coaching.

And we actually tell you what topics were discussed on each call as well, so that you can pick and choose appropriately. But yeah, you don’t necessarily even need to be on the live calls to get the benefit of the coaching because we make it all available to you at all times.

Tracy says, “If we join after midnight, how much is it monthly?” It’s still $49 a month. It’s just that the bonuses go away if you wait too long. Great question. I love it.

Yaya says, “Jill, you and these ladies are so awesome. You have reinvigorated me and I’m going to do it. Whoa!” Heather says, “Thank you for being an advocate for fat girls everywhere.” I love it. Love it.

Okay, Robin says, “The new mileage tracker is great.” Yeah, I don’t think I mentioned that. We added into the members website a mileage tracker so that you can actually keep track of all the miles that you run each year. And I call it a mileage tracker, it’s also a kilometer tracker. We don’t actually have units on it. So if you live in Europe and you are on the kilometer system, then it works for you as well.

Okay, Amanda says, “It’s arthritis.” So just going back to your question about running on pavement. Yeah, I think, Amanda, if you have arthritis, and you had a scope procedure in one of them. I would go see a sports doctor, a non-surgical sports doctor. Tell them what’s going on. Ask for physical therapy, right?

Because that is literally what changed my life, was the physical therapy and then the ongoing strength training. It has made it possible for me, and I weigh well over 200 pounds. I’m about 268, arthritis in both knees and I run without pain. And it is because I have done so much of the strength work.

And by the way, all of that strength work, it doesn’t just help me with running. It helps me with activities of daily living. I’m so much stronger. We live in a three story house, so like no problem. Running up and down the stairs all day, no knee pain, no problem. That is really what proper strength training will do for your life. Not just your running, it’ll change your life.

Let’s see, oh, Jackie says, “Listening and watching all the past coaching calls is another favorite part of the membership.” I love it.

Peggy says, “Do you have any members with knee replacements?” Yes, we do. And, again, if you have a knee replacement you’re going to do the interval method, it’s going to be fine. And, again, talk to your doctor. But I remember having a conversation with – This was years ago, before I realized my orthopedic surgeon was not my best friend. He said, if you keep running you’re going to need a knee replacement. And I said, listen, I’m doing the run/walk method. And he’s like, oh, okay, that’s a lot easier on the knees than straight up running straight through.

So, again, I’m not a doctor. If you have a knee replacement, I want you to talk to your own medical professional about it. But my experience has been that the run/walk method is a great way if you’ve had a knee replacement or if you have knee problems. It’s a great way to be a runner in the body you have right now and make it work for you.

Sarah says, “The support in the group is fabulous.” It sure is, my friend. It sure is. Love this. Yaya said, “I just turned 67. I’m right there with you. We are going to do this and we will still be doing this in our 80s”. Yes, ma’am. That’s the place. That’s it. That is it.

Janice, “63 and I’m going to be the woman people talk about on the news as still running at my age.” Yes, I love it. I love it, my friends.

All right. So it looks like we are done with questions. So I just want to say thank you to everybody for joining me here today. Oh, we’ve got one more.

Susan says, “I’m sorry if this question is too specific.” Nope, not at all. “How many running days are there per week in the half marathon and marathon plans?” So that is a great question. We actually have two half marathon plans. We have a beginner plan and a more advanced plan. And they each are, depending on where you are with your running, and I would also recommend with any of our plans that you have a conversation with the coaches to make sure that you can customize it for yourself.

But it’s three to four days a week. With the marathon plan, however, it is a four day a week plan. But I know I’ve trained for many half marathons on a three day a week schedule and I’ve been fine. And so my approach to training fat runners is often the less is more approach because sometimes people are like, “Well, I’ve got to run five times a week if I’m going to train for this half marathon. And I’ve got to try to be my fastest and I’ve got to da, da, da.

And I’m like, hey, how about we train to finish and we train to have a good time? We train to run this race in a way that allows us to still be able to walk the next day, right? To make it through our whole training program without getting injured.

So my approach to training is different than you might find with another running coach, because my goal is to have you finish the race, have fun doing it, feel good during your training, feel good on race day, and to be able to go and do it all over again in the future. And so that’s a slightly different approach than another coach who might be like, yeah, you just got to get faster. You’ve got to make that PR, right? That’s not how I roll. So I hope that answers your question, Susan.

Let’s see, Renee says, “How does this program fit in with me already doing strength training with my trainer two times per week?” Okay, first of all, if you’re already strength training twice a week with your trainer, you are ahead of the game. I love it. So we give you, in this program we give you plenty of strength training workouts. If you have your own trainer, because I do recommend twice a week, if you have your own trainer you’re good to go.

You can just take the running piece of it. And then we have all of the mindset work, right? So there’s a lot of running stuff because it is called Run Your Best Life. But we also do so much work on your mental game. And that is really, like anybody can hire a personal trainer. I recommend it. I have a personal trainer myself, I absolutely love it. That’s not where you’re going to get the most value from this program.

What you’re going to get from this program is being in that community of fat runners, working on your mindset and having a coach who understands what it’s like to run in a fat body. Great question, Renee.

Charlie, I am so happy that you found this program too. And I’m glad that you recommend it to everybody. It has been a pleasure, it has been a pleasure having you in Run Your Best Life. And I know you did the Up and Running program a bunch of times, too. So thank you for being one of our biggest advocates. We love it.

Renee is like, “You got me. I’m joining.” Yay! Let’s see, Robin says, “Oh my goodness. Yes, it’s a huge difference having a coach who works with you mentally and understands the challenges of running in a larger body.” Yeah, that’s exactly it, right? Christina said, “I’ve just signed up. I’m a strength coach, but I’m doing this for me.” Yay! Welcome, Christina. So fun. So fun.

All right. Well, thank you so much, everyone, for joining me today. It’s been my pleasure. Again, if you join by, I think it’s midnight tonight, we have several amazing bonuses for you. And, again, it’s $49 a month to join. You get everything that we talked about on our call today and there are no joining fees, there’s no contracts. I want to make it as simple as possible for everything.

Join today, you get instant access to everything. I think our next coaching call, I want to say we have one tomorrow. We do, our next coach call is tomorrow night at 8pm Eastern. And it actually is our runner’s mindset call. So hopefully, if you join today you can hop on our runner’s mindset call tomorrow and we can get to work on your brain, all right?

All right, my friends have an amazing, amazing evening. Stay out of other people’s brains. Get your ass out there and run and I will see you over in Run Your Best Life, bye.

Real quick before you go. If you enjoyed this episode, you have to check out Run Your Best Life. It’s my monthly coaching program where you will learn exactly how to start running, stick with it, and become the runner you have always wanted to be. Head on over to runyourbestlife.com to join. I would love to be a part of your journey.