My Open Letter To The Girl In The Peloton Commercial

I need to get something off my chest. The latest social media storm of disapproval has me upset. It’s not political, and it’s not really even personal. It’s a commercial that has a fictitious character in the hot seat of commentary, and I’m not happy about it.

Yesterday I stood in my kitchen with my mouth gaping open. My favorite morning news program was on as I buzzed about and they were talking about the latest public “outrage”. The recipient du jour? A Peloton commercial. Twitter apparently “exploded”. A thin woman is portrayed to receive the Christmas present of said exercise bike, and then take videos to track her journey for a year. People took offense to that fact that she was rail thin to begin with, that she seemingly took herself and her journey seriously enough to vlog about it, and they were even outraged that a husband that would gift such a thing.

I see so many things wrong with these reactions. I’m not even quite sure where to start. So let me start with the most important person here. Not with the haters. Let me just talk to the Peloton lady here for a minute. (We’ll call her Sarah.) Because there are probably a lot of people like Sarah out there, and even thousands more that don’t look like her, but might have some things in common. They too might stand on the edge of such a journey. That’s who I’m writing to today. To that Sarah and to Sarahs everywhere, whatever they may look like.

And because, as I look at it, I guess I am that girl.

Or at least, I was.

Dear Commercial Sarah,

Let me start by saying it’s so nice to meet you. See, we have quite a bit in common. Although I’ve never ridden a Peloton (how are they, by the way? I hear they’re amazing), I too have taken a fitness journey that started with one brave step.

I was that “rail thin 115 pound woman” who started a fitness journey. Who started out healthy enough, but not overly active. Who decided to do more with the body that she had. Who, one gym membership, one brave step on the treadmill, one mile at a time, changed her life. I didn’t start because I wanted to loose weight. I started because I wanted to be strong, to be healthier, to boost my immune systems that was struggling as I caught sickness after sickness from a kindergartener I was caring for at the time.

Now I don’t know if you asked for the peloton bike or if maybe your husband surprised you with it. Now, if it was the latter, I don’t know what his motives were. But you know what. IT DOESNT MATTER. However it arrived at your place, YOU chose to get on that bike. (I asked for a treadmill at seven months pregnant with my second child. It’s one of my favorite gifts ever because it’s a gift to myself and my family every time I get on it, enabling physical and mental health.) Then the next time you chose to do it again. Brick by brick, one decision at a time, you decided to do something with the opportunity that was before you. That is what makes you better this year than last year. Your efforts and your decisions. Your commitment to something worthwhile.

I wanted to say good job. Good for starting, for changing your habits. For carving time out of your busy schedule. For making time for the important thing that can seem selfish but really isn’t. You and I know, especially after your year long journey, that moving your body is incredibly important, and that your health is the ultimate gift that you ever can give to your family as well as yourself.

We’ve have risen early and stayed up late, riding a bike or running on a treadmill, for hours on end, often in the quiet of the house, by ourselves, without going anywhere. Without going anywhere on the road, that is. But it has taken us so, so far. You know what I mean.

But not everyone does, I guess. They could, but for now, they don’t. I guess that’s what bothers me so much about all of this. People seem to (still!) have in their head an idea about being healthy and what it might look like from the outside. Fitness isn’t about your weight or your pants size. Fitness is about being strong and healthy from the inside out. It’s about showing up for your life with energy and enthusiasm. Whether you’re heavy or thin, every success story has to start somewhere. Only you are the one that gets to decide how to start.

Also, I’m so sorry. I’ve heard what “they” have said. I’ve seen the hateful and biting comments. Rolling their eyes at your seemingly healthy body, just because it’s thin. As if thin was the only measurement that mattered, anyway. But they don’t know what it felt like to be you. They don’t know if you feel strong or completely zapped, if you have anxiety because of unmet needs or hectic achedules. They don’t know, and they judge only because you “look” healthy. It makes me terribly sad to see. I question aloud, “are we really are still having these conversations?”

I gradually became a marathoner, then a triathlete, then I became an Ironman, two times over. And it all started with small, brave, important steps, just like you.

I know that thin, or fat, doesn’t mean too much. (Lord knows “they” would have had things to say if you were overweight too. Insert my eye roll here, for the haters.) What matters is your why. Why do you want to do it. Then what matters is that you start. And you did. BRAVO. And bravo for every other day during the year that you chose to start, again. Because every choice builds upon the other, and brick by brick, you built yourself something amazing. And it wasn’t just fitness.

You know what I think is the worst part about it? The doubt from the sidelines. It’s the real life Charlies on their couches and the Bettys in the boardroom of public opinion. That’s what makes me sad. They doubt your journey. The doubt its importance or possibility. They doubt because they don’t yet have the belief of just how important it is. They definitely don’t have the belief yet that they could do it. So they pick up stones to toss in judgment instead of either taking up arms themselves, or putting together two hands to clap. Because hate comes from disbelief. You don’t love what you don’t trust. I just wish they could trust someone’s healthy lifestyle for the valuable thing that it is.

Not about jean size.

It’s about belief in yourself.

That’s the biggest thing I got out of my fitness journey. I did things I never thought would be possible. I swam 2.4 miles in the open water surrounded by other thrashing arms, after not even knowing how to breathe under water at the start. I trained for things I never thought would be in my reach. I was transformed from the girl who quit ice skating when I was 11 because I wanted Saturday morning off again, and violin because I was scared to preform. I never knew I had it in me to push past my doubts and my discomfort so much that I could tow the line at 7am on a hot Sunday in July and not stop until I crossed the finish line 15 hours and 12 minutes later And then again the next year, almost two hours faster. I never knew what I was capable of until I started trying. Until I began making one step forward, one run, one ride at a time. That belief in what’s possible for me has trickled into every. Other. Area. Of my life.

I bet the same is true for you.

It’s not just about body transformation. It’s about heart transformation, mind transformation. It’s life transformation.

So no matter where anyone is on this journey, you and I will be the ones to clap, to cheer. Because we get it. And because we love to see others do it, no matter how massive the steps or how small. Every step forward should be celebrated.

We’re here for it, aren’t we Sarah.

Signed,

The girl who started somewhere (and couldn’t belief how far she got.)

*So, also, dear stranger on the internet. I don’t know if you’re like Sarah, or Charlie or Betty, or someone else. But I’d just like to kindly say, no ones reason has to make sense to anyone else. That goes for all of us. Even you. Should you ever decide to try something brave and new, whatever it is, exercise or relationship or business. Just know your own why and be brave enough to begin. When your toes are on the starting line, about to take a Big leap or a small step, I’ll be here cheering for YOU.