Feature Friday: Ragen Chastain of Dances With Fat
Happy Friday from the team at BALANCE! For today’s Feature Friday, join us in celebrating the brilliant work of Ragen Chastain who you may know of from her popular blog Dances With Fat or as the keynote speaker at the recent MEDA conference!
She is a health coach, speaker, writer, activist, dancer, marathoner, triathlete and Guinness World Record Holder (yes, you read that right!)
Ragen has been blogging publicly since 2005 and has become an inspiring reminder to her loyal readers everywhere that as she so wonderfully puts it: ‘life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness are not size dependent’. Her blog was inspired by her own journey of being a fat dancer, and coming to find she had to become an advocate for that to happen. She is making moves on and off the dance floor both as an advocate and athlete. After competing in two marathons, she now holds the Guinness World Record for Heaviest Person to Complete a Marathon! You can read her inspiring piece on ESPN.com about that experience here.
What is even more impressive than a World Record is that she accomplished her goal of pushing the boundaries and reminding everyone that those of any size can be an athlete. But as she awesomely says in a People.com article it’s important to keep in mind that, ‘nobody of any size is obligated to participate in fitness, but I think that we should all be welcomed.’
Thank you, Ragen for being such an outspoken advocate against fatphobia, and passionately spreading the power of Health at Every Size & size acceptance!
Want to connect with Ragen or keep up with her amazing work?
Check out her blog here & subscribe to her Newsletter here.
Follow her on Instagram, Facebook & Twitter
Or buy her book Fat: The Owners Manual – Navigating a Thin-Obsessed World with Your Health, Happiness and Sense of Humor Intact or dance classes here!–
Get some inspiration from Ragen today with her interview on BodyPositiveYoga.com, the Christy Harrison Food Psych podcast & on Summer Innanen’s podcast!