A shock to no one, it turns out that fat shaming potential clients is no way to become their personal trainer. But this seemingly obvious statement outlines exactly what happened to one bride-to-be.
Cassie Young, a radio host in Atlanta, announced to social media followers that she got engaged to her long-time boyfriend on August 12. Soon after, a trainer reached out to her on Twitter to offer his services “to get you in shape for your wedding,” he pitched.
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Young politely declined, telling him that she’s already “in shape,” but, unfortunately, he didn’t take the rejection as a sign to end the conversation.
“I know you want to look your best on your wedding day,” the man responded. “If you don’t hire me, hire someone. Those pictures [last] centuries.”
Young defended herself by trying to explain her journey—both her own road to health and her path to self-acceptance. “I’ve worked really hard at accepting my self-worth and disassociating the idea that my weight is a direct correlation to my value as a person or how much people will like me,” she wrote. “And I found someone who loves me with no holds barred — just the way I am, thus proving that true.”
Still, the trainer refused to concede. He continued with a slew of messages that included “you can’t lie to yourself” and he notes that he was once a bigger person, writing, “that’s why I can comment so openly about it.”
As the bride-to-be continued to slam every one of this comments, the trainer replied, “When it comes to ‘fat shaming’ you can only be shamed if there is something to be ashamed of.”
“I’m telling you I see someone I like [in myself] but you’re not listening,” Young insisted. “Why aren’t you listening? Because you are trying to tell me I look bad because I’m fat.” After running through the trainer’s list of ‘claims’, shutting them down one-by-one, Young ended the conversation with three perfect words: “Get some morals.”
The bride-to-be posted screenshots of the conversation on her social media accounts, sharing in the caption that she’s “posting this because I want every woman and man to know that it does not MATTER what you look like.”
With thousands of likes and words of encouragement on her original post and another body-confident Instagram post that followed, Young hopes to spread the message that your body size means nothing in relation to who you are.
“If you are happy and healthy, that’s ALL that matters… Don’t let people like this try to convince you otherwise, because they’ll try — but it’s because they don’t understand yet. They’re caught up in the game and can’t see it for what it is. You can,” she wrote. “Life is waiting for you. It’s too short to be spent worrying about a belly roll. Go be happy and live it to your fullest.”
