{"id":1537,"date":"2016-07-20T20:43:06","date_gmt":"2016-07-20T20:43:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/flexiseq.com\/?p=1537"},"modified":"2024-10-26T16:19:26","modified_gmt":"2024-10-26T16:19:26","slug":"julie-creffield-inspiring-the-unexpected-athlete","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/flexiseq.com\/blogs\/user-stories\/julie-creffield-inspiring-the-unexpected-athlete\/","title":{"rendered":"Julie Creffield – Inspiring The Unexpected Athlete"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
In her twenties Julie Creffield was working as a project manager for the 2012 London Olympics. Inspired to get active, Julie signed up for a fun run. But things didn’t quite go to plan: coming last and finding the finish line long since cleared away. Far from putting her off, Julie was spurred on to set up Too Fat To Run<\/a>, an online resource and support network for ladies of all shapes and sizes to get active.<\/p>\n Inspiration for Too Fat To Run came about because\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n the media kept going on about how unhealthy we are as a nation but the offers and opportunities for overweight women were so limited. I was training for the Brighton Marathon and I pulled a muscle in my back. It was unrelated to running – I picked up my daughter at an awkward angle and it just went. I went to my doctors with a bad back and he told me that I was too fat to run so that\u2019s where the name came from. But I knew my own body and I knew if it was happening to me it was probably happening to other women.<\/p>\n At first running was really\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n difficult, but that\u2019s what I loved about it. There\u2019s this perception of what a runner looks like and I love challenging that. I like telling people that I\u2019m an athlete and I run marathons. It\u2019s fun playing with people\u2019s preconceptions. Running is more about your mind and less about your body. When I come up against an obstacle in my life I apply my running mentality to it. <\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n I look at running\u2026<\/strong> <\/p>\n very broadly. I think walking can be done in a running style. If you plan your walk then you can apply the principles of running to it. If you are severely overweight you can still schedule your walks, buy good kit, still be part of the community. It\u2019s about challenging what you can do. Of course, people have limits but if you want to run there are ways of doing it. Some people aren\u2019t that interested in achieving a specific distance, they say I just want to get active so I set them the goal of getting out of the house three days a week and going for a run.<\/p>\n Running is one of\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n the few forms of exercise which is affordable and flexible. When you look at people\u2019s lifestyles these days not everyone can commit to evenings. Especially if you have a family. For some, weekends can be difficult. So it\u2019s about finding something that fits into your lifestyle. Running is so flexible.Sport had a very\u2026strange image. It was all about the end goal. We talk about elite athletes and people who have lost weight and now look great. That\u2019s how gyms lure you in. We\u2019re so focused on that transformation that you lose sight of the more important things. It\u2019s about how people feel about themselves. I think Too Fat To Run challenges that in a visual way.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n We never do\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n \u2018before\u2019 and \u2018afters\u2019 because you never see a year down the line in those images where someone has put all the weight back on. We focus on general health and wellbeing, feeling great about yourself. People stumble upon my stuff online and think \u2018oh, that woman looks like me\u2019. The majority of women don\u2019t look like women in health magazines. That\u2019s why I\u2019m so passionate about growing Too Fat To Run, to show people what normal is.<\/p>\n There\u2019s a misconception that unless\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n you look like a model you\u2019re not healthy and that\u2019s not true. Especially in women over a certain age. Most people who follow my blog are 35 plus. There\u2019s a lot of women who have had kids and they know they\u2019re never going back to their 20 year old self, even with the best intentions of healthy eating and exercising. It\u2019s about setting achievable goals not ones that you\u2019ll never get to. I want people to feel better. It sounds clich\u00e9d but a healthy mind leads to a healthy body. When you don\u2019t exercise after getting into a good routine, you really feel it. So many women suffer from depression and anxiety about how they look. Running is something where you set your own goals and no one else can impact them.<\/p>\n Our default setting is\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n sitting on the sofa. We always want to take the easiest option and there are so many more desirable options than going for a run. Whether it\u2019s going to the cinema or meeting your friends we live in a world where everyone else is doing something fabulous. What I try and do is combine those things. For example, there\u2019s a great social life to be had at the end of a race. When I started I didn\u2019t know any other runners and now I\u2019d say 50% of my friends are involved in running. That\u2019s the best way to integrate it into your life, not by thinking \u2018oh, I haven\u2019t been to the gym this week\u2019 but making it about how I want my life to be lived.<\/p>\n We\u2019re obsessed with\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n metrics. Most women get on the scales at least once a week, some once a day. They assess their sense of worth by what those numbers say on the scales, or by what size jeans they\u2019re wearing. I\u2019d much prefer to be happy in my own skin than be a size 10 and unhappy. But it\u2019s something you have to do personally.After having my daughter I realised\u2026I wanted to appreciate what I\u2019d got. After you complete a long run you find a sense of self respect. Okay, you might have a soft belly or this bit of extra weight but I\u2019ve just run 26 miles you\u2019re suddenly aware of what you\u2019re body is capable of. Your body is not there to make you look good, your body is there to house you for your entire life. When you make that switch you begin to love your body more. Not in how you feel about it but how you treat it. So now I fuel my body much better than I did in my 20s.<\/p>\n For me there\u2019s a sense of\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n responsibility because people have set out on this adventure due to what I do and I want to stick with them. To help them find the level of happiness I have. If you think about it in a social context there are poorer communities who aspire to be these Instagram stars and it\u2019s depressing. For the majority of women they don\u2019t want to look like that, they just want to feel a little bit better about themselves. If I can help that it\u2019s worth it.<\/p>\n One of the biggest things to overcome when getting active is\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n confidence. That\u2019s easily overcome especially in a group. Then there are practical ones. When you go out and run for the first time it\u2019s hard. It\u2019s hard on your breathing, it\u2019s hard on your muscles and your joints. For an inactive person, overweight or not, it\u2019s going to hurt. You\u2019ll go out and you might feel really chuffed that you\u2019ve done it but the next day you hurt so much that the fear of going out again can be crippling. There\u2019s a lack of information around for when you\u2019re in pain. What is the difference between joint and muscle pain. If you wake up with joint pain you need to take it easy. When women come to me and say they want to start running I give them a plan. I\u2019ll tell them to get a good pair of trainers, not a cheap pair from a cheap shop. Warm-up properly, look at the way you\u2019re running. There are so many adjustments you can make to help these things. As people our problem is we expect something to be easy and pain free. I don\u2019t want to run a six week programme and then see you later. I want to work with women for a whole year or more to build confidence. They know they can have a break and come back without any judgement for taking some time out. Our lives change all the time, you have to be willing to roll with that. It\u2019s about taking the practical side of exercise and combining it with the mindset and goal setting side of it.<\/p>\n You can find out more on Too Fat To Run<\/a> on Facebook<\/a>, Twitter<\/a>, Google+<\/a>, Pinterest<\/a> and LinkedIn<\/a>. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n<\/div>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" In her twenties Julie Creffield was working as a project manager for the 2012 London Olympics. 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