Body Acceptance, Powerlifting & Living Your Fullest Life w/ Christina Malone

Christina Malone has been an athlete in a larger body for her whole life. When she found the sport of powerlifting, she used what she had been told would hold her back for her entire life as a positive attribute. Christina is dedicated to helping others who are hurting, stuck in the cycle of diet culture and body negativity by learning to love themselves and fight for body diversity and acceptance in the fitness industry. Key Takeaways If You Want To Live Your Fullest Life You Should: Accept that your value has nothing to do with what you see in the mirror  Stop feeling responsible for other people's reactions to you and your body Find a fitness routine that focuses on what your body feels good doing Advocate for your health and your options at every size Fitness as a Big-Bodied Person Christina is a state-record holder and national-level athlete in the sport of powerlifting, a body inclusivity coach and speaker, and happens to be in a larger body. Her passion is finding ways to help other people find peace with their bodies, learning to appreciate everything they are, and how to be in fitness as a big-bodied person. She is powerful and raw and here today to share how picking up a barbell has helped her feel more at home in the gym and her body. The Power of Powerlifting At one point in her life, Christina was using exercise to punish her body for being the size that it was. That was before she fell in love with the technique of powerlifting and how it made her body feel. Powerlifting allowed her internal perspective about her body size to shift, which was a life-changing experience for an athlete in a bigger body. Instead of being told that her weight was going to hold her back, powerlifting allowed Christina to harness her energy on learning to come home to her body's purpose. Other People's Comfort Is Not Your Responsibility While the conversations and attitudes towards body diversity and body acceptance in the fitness industry are changing, we still have a long way to go. Just as we have accepted height differences and race differences in the fitness industry, Christina believes that we also have to accept body size differences. What you look like in the mirror has nothing to do with your value, worth, or ability.  It is not your responsibility to make others feel comfortable around your body. Everyone's body is different, and when we are able to accept others regardless of what diet culture and body negativity tell us, we can break down the barriers of the fitness industry and explore fitness with freedom. Are you ready to start living your fullest life? Share what part of Christina's story resonated with you most with me in the comments on the episode page. In This Episode The lifts that are involved in powerlifting and how it is specifically unique (8:50) Which practices can help you get into the right mental space to perform (13:42) Why body diversity awareness in fitness and sports is important, especially now (21:51) How the industry is changing in relation to conversations around body acceptance and bigger bodies (29:47) What it is like navigating the medical system as a plus-size athlete and woman (34:20) Quotes "[Powerlifting] is really the only sport I have ever done that I am not sitting there saying 'hey I am big, but…', it's 'hey, I am big, and…'."  (8:25) "When I weight lift and when I am powerlifting, it's me, it's the bar, and it's the plates on the bar. And nothing else exists for me outside of that platform, the judge in front of me, and what I need to execute on the platform." (14:12) "You could take 100 or 200 people and give them the exact same diet and the exact same exercise routine, and they could have a similar background, and they would still come out of it looking different. And that is just inherent, that everyone's body is going to be different."  (23:47) "We are at that point, where how do we go from accepting and valuing bigger bodies that are athletic to accepting bigger bodies without needing that modifier. And how do we become compassionate to all persons, because you exist in the world and you deserve to be treated with a certain amount of humanity, and I think that is a bit lost unfortunately with a lot of bigger-bodied people." (31:25) "For me, living my fullest life means living up every single part of my life and reaching out to the very edges of everything that I could be, and not saying no to opportunities or to things because I doubt myself or it's something that you 'shouldn't do'." (40:53) Featured on the Show Join the Group Strength Nutrition Program Waitlist Here Christina Malone Website Follow Christina on Instagram | Twitter Steph Gaudreau Website Check out the full show notes here! Follow Steph on Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | YouTube | Pinterest I'd really love it if you would take 1 min and leave us a rating and review on iTunes! Related Episodes LTYB 335: Breaking the Body Stereotype with Amanda LaCount LTYB 331: Strength Training & Your Relationship to Exercise LTYB 302: Finding Joy & Acceptance in Fitness for Every Body with Kanoa Greene