07/03/2026
One for all my athletic women.
(Keep reading even if you donāt think thatās you)
This is one of my favourite photos of me ever taken. That smile is 100% legit joy.
At this time in my life I wasnāt training for anything. It wasnāt my fastest era, my strongest self, or a time of honing my skills. It was a time in life where I had a good relationship with food and my lifestyle was filled with varied movement.
This photo was taken in Spain after a retreat having stayed back for a few extra days to chill, hike and swim in the Andalusian mountains. It was filled with sunshine, exploring trails, wild swims in rivers, amazing food, cold cervezas and life affirming chats.
I remember being sat at breakfast one morning and somebody describing my body as athletic in build, like this was rare, special and a gift. Everyone agreed
at the time, myself included.
If I was sat in my swimwear today I donāt think people would use this word to describe me purely down to the fact that I am not as āleanā. Right now I have a higher body fat percentage and that is the only real difference. I am still (if not more) muscular. I am equally, if not more, active. Most importantly, my body can still run pretty fu***ng far, lift really heavy things and bend in some pretty spectacular ways. I am still a āhealthy weightā for my 5ft 9ā stature, yet the words used to describe me now would be very different. Today I am more likely to be labeled as big, tall, sturdy, curvy, mid sized, etc.
The actual definition of athletic is someone who is physically strong, fit, active and skilled. Me in my current form is all of these things.
So how about we stop describing our bodies purely on how they appear and start describing our bodies as what they actually do and the roles they fulfil.
So, I am reclaiming my body as athletic, because that is exactly what I am.
I would strongly encourage any other woman reading this who is strong, fit and active to do the same regardless of what you look like.
This is why I refer to every person I work with who is actively showing up and doing these things as an athlete. š„
