With two steady years as both a gym regular and an avid trekker behind me, along with a lifestyle many would comfortably label as health-conscious, I’ve come to an unshakable realisation: I often see myself as a walking contradiction.

I am a plus-sized woman who eats freely, without guilt or apology, and who embraces her body fully. At the same time, I genuinely love my structured gym routine – four days a week without fail – and maintain a level of physical activity that surprises most people who view fitness through a narrowly defined lens. This realisation doesn’t emerge in a vacuum. It surfaces, predictably, each time I encounter unsolicited comments, often shaped by thinly veiled disdain; a reminder that my body doesn’t quite “match” the lifestyle I’ve chosen.

More accurately, the contradiction they see is not in my habits, but in their own limited expectations. These comments reflect the deeper, normalised hostility faced by women who dare to engage with wellness and fitness on their own terms; women who don’t perform health the way the current trend demands it be performed.