Quitting dieting for good, body positivity vs. fat liberation, and real talk about big time societal change with Alex Lannon

Welcome to Flex Your Heart Radio! This podcast is about body, fat and gender positivity, fitness, feminism, recovery, risk, and crushing it at life. 

On this episode, we talk to Alex Lannon of Fat Chance Coaching! 

Let me tell you about Alex:

Alex wants to live in a world where moving and nourishing your body has nothing to do with morality. As a Health at Every Size Personal Trainer and Health Coach, she focuses on dynamic movement and functional fitness. She is buff, she is stoked, she is a leader in thought around fat liberation. 

When Alex is not powerlifting, you can find her performing with her queer electro pop band GAYmous or cooking delicious vegan meals. As a long time activist and counselor, Alex is especially excited to work with lgbtqia+ clients, fat folks, vegans, punks, survivors, those in eating disorder recovery and anyone who feels alienated by the mainstream health and fitness movements. Find out how to get pumped and feel pumped at [email protected] and follow her Instagram.

In this podcast we discuss:   - body positivity and how the movement has changed and been co-opted. - why we stopped dieting for good. - what body positive means to US vs. what it actually means in larger circles. - how "healthy" can be a damaging barometer of worth   and so much more!   ----   A statement on our name change:  

I made a mistake when I decided to called my podcast Femmes to the Front.

Although I still think it is a super catchy name, a version of it (Femme to the Front- so basically the same thing) is already in use. Activist Sofia Feroz coined the term and hashtag for a project that centers the stories of Fat Femmes, Disabled Femmes and Femmes of Color and I believe it is super important to keep that intention clear (and credit clearly traceable to the phrase's originator).

So often Fat Femmes, Femmes of Color, and Disabled Femmes are left out of the dominant femme narrative. Femme(s) to the Front, as a hashtag and as a movement, needs to kept as an exclusive platform for these brilliant femmes that are so often ignored. This is not to say that Sofia claims "ownership" of the words (she doesn't!). It is to say that she has used these words to organize spaces and events with the focus on fat femmes, femmes of colors, disabled femmes (etc.) and while she doesn't own it, she does appreciate the credit and the opportunity to continue the focus on marginalized femmes.

The name change is also not to say that my podcast (now titled Flex Your Heart Radio) will not also look to highlight Fat Femmes, Disabled Femmes and Femmes of Color. Of course I am here to offer a platform to those femmes! But let’s be honest- it is inappropriate for a white, thin, able bodied person (me) to produce work with a strong following, thus inadvertently taking credit for the phrase.

Y’all I should have googled more, researched harder. If a cool hashtag is floating around, chances are it DOES have a source. I learned a lesson, and now I’m telling y’all so you don’t make the same mistake. Taking a moment of deeper excavation could have made it so this snafu didn’t happen.

Thank you for reading and understanding, and a deep bow of respect to those who gave me a heads up about the name and to Sofia for her work.

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A very special thank you to our newest 10$ and 25$ level Patreon Patrons, Bianca Phillips, Sky Chari and Kelly Knight! I love you all.

If you like the podcast:

Support our Patreon! Leave us an iTunes review! Join our facebook group! Email us at [email protected]!    ----   And now for me!

You can follow me on Instagram

You can visit my blog

You can check out my amazing body, fat, and gender positive gym, soon to be open in Portland, Oregon 

You can email me with podcast questions or inquiries about coaching (olympic lifting, power lifting, interval training, etc.) at [email protected]. I currently have space for private, semi-private and group class clients.     ----   Intro/outro song: outta me by Bikini Kill    Keywords! body positivity, fat liberation, health, wellness, body trust, fitness, feminism, eating disorder recovery, intuition, risk, self-care