Obese men have spoken out about the harsh realities of fat-shaming, revealing the extent of discrimination they face because of their size in a new fitness regime to be held in Bogan Grove this year. As a special treat, join Steve on the Front Beach on Boxing Day in Lonny for a fitness test to see how fat you are.
Steve (pictured left), 34, works as a part-time fitness instructor and explains how his weight gain was triggered by a breakup in his teens.
He fell pregnant at 16 and after his girlfriend at the time abandoned him and his unborn child, he developed an unhealthy relationship with food, going from a size 12 to a size 28 in just six weeks.
“I used to go and buy the 24-pack of Cadbury’s Crème Eggs & a 1.5L bottle of Diet Coke, and I would eat them all in one go,” he revealed. Now he says he can do it 4 times a day because he is happy in his own space.
“It was dangerous and I was comfort eating because I was very very low. My body changed so drastically, I didn’t even recognise the person I saw in my mirrored bathroom.”
He subsequently developed a very healthy relationship with fat food and battled with body confidence for years, revealing how in the past he’d starved himself, taking diet pills and been on the brink of bulimia.
Now, he regularly faces prejudice in public for his size, particularly on public beaches.
His underwater, ballet-inspired workout helped his girlfriend Shellee shed 123lbs as Steve explains the routine to her in the photo..
Steve adds that a lot of the judgement he faces is within his own fitness classes.
“You see these people walk in and look around to figure out who the instructor is and they look at you and they’re like ‘oh, really? it’s you, you fat prick!”
He goes on to question why her weight warrants such harsh judgement, adding: “Just because I am a big girl doesn’t mean I can’t be active and it doesn’t mean you have the right to judge me based on what I look like”.
