I recently had the pleasure of speaking with Julia Parzyck, who goes by FitFatAndAllThat on Instagram. Her personality and inspiration shine through on social media and makes you want to be friends with her. She is instantly relatable when she speaks about feeling comfortable in your own skin and appreciating your natural beauty inside and out.
Julia’s past struggles with an eating disorder inspired her to educate women on loving themselves and finding their healthy self voice. When you speak with her you don’t feel like a client, but a friend needing advice. She has truly created a community of self-love and confidence.
The topic of the media on body image was one of the first subjects that came to mind. There are always headlines that say the top 10 ways to lose weight or what foods to cut out of your diet. It shouldn’t be about losing weight or depriving yourself of that cookie. It is about eating whatever the hell you want and feeling comfortable with how you look now. Julia mentioned how the media still needs to be transparent and not just show the highlights. “Curvy women are still perfectly proportioned and they need to show the cellulite, stretch marks, and that a body jiggles when you move around.” Women are fed up and want to be heard and seen. Being seen in the media is what helps with body image. So what has society turned to? Social Media. A community has been formed on the internet where women can create their own positivity. Julia tells her clients to form a body positive bubble on their social accounts. “Unfollow the people who are not making you feel good. Follow the accounts that make you feel positive and good about yourself.” It is about girls knowing their value and worth.
Working out can also be a positive or negative action. It is important to find fitness that makes you feel empowered and strong. Exercise shouldn’t be about looking a certain way, but to remind you how strong your body is. “The idea that we should look a certain way is bullshit,” says Julia. Your body is not always going to be the same. We transform throughout our lifetime and that is okay. If we only love our body a certain way, it will be really hard to love your body for the rest of your life. The constant should be loving your body no matter what. We are always growing and changing. Julia reminds us to focus on what your body can do. Don’t be a bully to yourself.
We all have our own body struggles, and it is important to support one another. Remember your body shape does not matter because we are all beautiful. Do not place value on clothing size. Embrace your own style despite your size and find clothes you feel good in. In the words of the body positive queen Lizzo, “Baby how you feelin? Feelin good as hell!”
If you were to look at Julia’s Instagram stories you will see her dancing in her underwear to her favorite songs, lifting weights in CrossFit, and just laughing with her friends and family. What will you do today to feel body positive? Dance in your underwear to your favorite song, show off your curves in your new bathing suit, treat yourself to a pedicure, eat a cookie because you want to, surround yourself with positive people, and exercise to feel better, not look better.
Julia was able to make a career out of self-love and confidence and wants to pass that on to other strong women. She teaches women to find their healthy self voice and figure out why their eating disorder began. “Your eating disorder was there for a reason. It is there to help us cope with something and we are going to say goodbye to it,” says Julia. It is about women finding a better relationship with food and their bodies.
FitFatandAllThat is there to help with an eating disorder but to also be a support system and remind you of the badass that you are. “No amount of self-hatred is going to lead to self-love. Work from the inside out and where the insecurities come from. Clear that space and open up for the important things,” says Julia.
Follow Julia Parzyck (fitfatandallthat) on Instagram.
For the Love of Change 