It should fit my body…

The purpose of clothes is to fit our bodies, it’s not up to my body to change to fit the clothes!

This is true for everything we buy to wear, including kit and is at the root of my frustration about the lack of size inclusivity in Watersports. It reflects the society that we live in where diet culture rules, after all, imagine how many people would lose money if we all woke up one day and realised our bodies were perfectly fine how they are, thank you very much.

Accepting your body is something that is an act of rebellion in the society we live in.

The thing is, I’ve spent a lot of time working to accept myself before I even discovered SUP but paddling is what cemented it for me. My body is strong and healthy – I’m so grateful for that. Caring for myself became more important than ever, staying injury free so I could get on the water at every opportunity that I had.

I deserve to get the kit I need in this body, so do you!

And so #PaddleKitHerWay was born because we should not have to change to access a sport we love. We need kit to be safe on the water and everyone, every body deserves to buy kit that fits their body exactly how it is. Kit issues effect so many women and it’s time to change but that is worth a whole post of it’s own.

But what about being healthy, I hear some cry…
There is a growing body of evidence, showing diets don’t work, that BMI is a poor indicator of health status. Giving up on diets does not mean giving up on health. This is another subject which requires a post all to itself, where I can include the references and I promise that will come but for now maybe explore that thought. If you weren’t trying to shrink, what would you do – I remember a day when this thought was too much for me.

Now I have a so much more headspace, I can contemplate it and know I will work hard to campaign for change, more inclusive kit options and encouraging others to embrace themselves exactly how they are.

If you take anything from today’s ramble, please take this…
You are perfectly imperfect just the way you are – you don’t need to change anything!