Too Fat to Be Fit: (And Other Stupid Things I've Been Told)

By Amy Moreland

Believe in yourself—even when no one else does.

It's hard. We are told so many things throughout our lives. People form opinions that make us think we are a certain way, and when we are told these things over and over, we start to believe them. But we need to remember that when we hear that voice, it isn't our own. It is the voice of others projecting their impressions—accurate or not—upon us. It does not define who we are.

We define who we are, and we can be so many things: silly, smart, kind, and so much more.

Too Fat to Be Fit shares my journey of overcoming the onslaught of negative opinions that chased me from childhood to adulthood and from my family life to my fitness career. This book explores my struggles, my feelings, my acknowledgment, and my breakthrough—and it wasn't a straight line to get there. Like everyone else, my path has had many twists and turns, but I have discovered my true value along the way. Join me on my journey to recognize your own self-worth and potential for success!

• Language: English
• Publisher: BookBaby
• Release date: Sep 5, 2023
• ISBN: 9781955026758

Book preview

Introduction

The body positivity and self-acceptance movement over the last ten years has made great strides in encouraging people to love themselves and be happy with who they are. But this movement, especially the body positivity side of it, has not made much of an impact in the fitness world.

In that arena, people whose bodies don’t fit exactly in line with what you see on muscle magazine covers don’t get to have influence. Fitness models are still the skinniest people with perfectly toned muscles and six-pack abs. The most popular fitness accounts on Instagram or Facebook feature young, beautiful people doling out fitness advice to their millions of followers despite not having any kind of fitness certifications or education.

All in all, there’s little room for someone who looks like me. In the fitness world, I’ve always been considered too fat to be fit. Since the beginning of my fitness career, I’ve been ridiculed and looked down upon because of my appearance, despite the fact that I am fit and strong and in shape by every measure except the ridiculous standards of the fitness industry. No one who considered me too fat ever doubted that I’ve spoken at conventions like Fibo, IDEA World, CanFitPro Global Convention, and Fitness + Wellness Australia all over the world or that I’m certified in numerous group fitness, personal training, and specialty fitness programs.

And all this despite the fact that I have a thriving fitness brand, AMPD Strong, which is a fitness program taught by certified AMPD trainers all over the world. AMPD has several different programs, from the original Kettlebell AMPD to our yoga-inspired AMPD Power Flow. Unfortunately, none of that mattered to many people in the fitness world. Instead, they just looked at me and discounted all of that experience and knowledge. This, of course, is a major problem for so many reasons. Not the least of which is because I am exactly what most normal people look like!

I’ve experienced some unspeakably difficult moments throughout my journey in the fitness world and in my personal life. These moments have made me stronger, they’ve made my mission clearer, and they’ve inspired me to help others. Ultimately, after all I’ve faced, I’ve learned to take my worst moments and turn them into the biggest wins.

That is why I’ve written this book: to inspire others to take the tough moments in their lives and turn them into triumphs. I want people to be driven to stick to their principles, no matter what the world tells them to do or who to be. And, most importantly, I deeply desire for people to love their bodies and feel proud of who they are, no matter what.

I want you to know that you are strong, you are beautiful, and you can do anything you put your mind to.

Fitness isn’t about losing a bunch of weight or making yourself look good for a social media post. And loving yourself isn’t just taking a bath or eating some dark chocolate (although I love dark chocolate!) It’s about helping you become the best version of yourself mentally, physically, emotionally, and even spiritually. It’s about pushing yourself to achieve something you never thought possible. And it’s about the community of people around you who help you achieve those goals. That’s what fitness did for me and what it’s done for the thousands of people who have taken my AMPD Strong classes.

My life has been far from easy, as you’ll see in this book. I have experienced plenty of hardships along my journey. I don’t tell you about the difficult circumstances I faced for pity but rather because I know how important it is to be raw and vulnerable and real. I hope, in reading this book, that you find insights you can relate to and that you feel seen, heard, and understood. But more than anything, I hope you feel inspired to accomplish your goals and to help others do the same.

—Amy Moreland

CHAPTER 1

The Moment that Changed Everything

The first fitness convention I ever participated in was hosted in Chicago in 2012. Two years earlier, I had opened up a fitness studio in my hometown of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, in order to teach Zumba. A year later, I was developing my own kettlebell-based workout program called Kettlebell AMPD. That program was extremely popular at my own studio and was even gaining interest from other trainers and studios. This felt like the perfect time to try to take AMPD nationwide, and this convention in Chicago was a big step toward doing that.

But I wasn’t a big-shot fitness guru like Shaun T or Jillian Michaels. I was a no-name in the industry, and as such, they put my booth out in the hallway instead of inside the main room. As a newbie, I was just thrilled that I had been accepted to participate in the convention, so I gladly took whatever spot they gave me. I was told I had to pay my dues and earn my position. I get it—we all have to do that. So, I was eager to get started on that journey.

In my years as a Zumba instructor, studio owner, and fitness program creator, my husband, Tadd, and I had seen so many amazing results from our participants—or, as we called them, our fitness family. Our programs were designed so everyone from a first-timer to someone recovering from an injury to a hardcore fitness obsessive like myself could get a great workout in and feel better and healthier.

I was initially drawn to fitness as an escape from the challenges and stresses of life. It was an hour during the day when I could get out of my own head and enjoy myself. Plus, I was improving my mental health as much as my physical health. God knows I needed it!

That’s what we were providing for our participants at the studio. I don’t mean to be hyperbolic, but we were truly changing people’s lives in Pittsburgh, and I wanted to share our AMPD program with as many people around the world as I could to make an even larger positive impact. So, instead of dwelling on the fact that I was stuck out in the hallway, I rejoiced in the knowledge that I was going to get to tell more people about Kettlebell AMPD.

Wearing my black workout tank top adorned with a glittery gold kettlebell and a pair of tights, I looked almost exactly how I looked every day teaching our classes. At first, I was brimming with hopeful energy. I was so excited because, in preparation for this convention, my studio had come together for me and really helped me. They were my models, my testimonials, and my biggest cheerleaders. Of course, I loved being able to show them off as well. They were a huge part of why I was doing what I was doing.

Unfortunately, that enthusiastic buzz started to dwindle as I noticed there wasn’t much foot traffic by my booth. Well, actually, there was. It’s just that everyone who walked by me was on their way out of the convention. I was one of the last things they were going to see, and almost no one stopped to learn about AMPD. Even though I was grateful to have been chosen, I was getting really discouraged about making any progress in my mission to spread the word about AMPD. In my mind, the program we’d developed could rival Zumba one day. I just needed people to get on board.

As I watched person after person walk by the booth without stopping, I began to wonder if I’d made a mistake in coming to Chicago. Maybe we weren’t ready for this kind of thing. Maybe I needed to go back to Pittsburgh and work on spreading the word more locally before coming to a convention this size again. The negative voices in my head started swirling. I’m not good enough. I don’t know enough about fitness. I’m not fit enough.

Just as I was starting to get really down on myself, it happened. Finally, someone came over to the booth. And not only was he interested—he was excited. He loved what he was reading about AMPD. I told him about our programs and how we’d gotten started.

As he leafed through our pamphlets, I could barely contain my own excitement. I had made the pamphlets myself at home. They weren’t sleek and professional, but I was extremely proud of them. They featured photos of our daughters’ babysitter, Kelly, front and center on our poster and on the billboard. She was in her early twenties and was more than willing to be featured working out in her sports bra despite not having the typical fitness model body. She was getting in shape and feeling healthier each time she came to our classes.

Also in the brochure was Michelle, one of our best and most enthusiastic Zumba instructors. She had reluctantly converted to being an AMPD trainer and quickly learned how beneficial adding strength training through kettlebells could be for herself and her classes.

Plus, I would be remiss if I didn’t mention Cristen, another member of our fitness family. She was a hard-working business owner and mom who wanted to feel and look healthier. We were happy to help her with that goal! Our sessions were about more than just the workout. Ultimately, we became great friends and worked through a lot of issues outside of the gym. She was a wonderful influence within our community, and we were proud to feature her in our brochure.

Then, there were photos of Heather, a nurse in her twenties who had been enjoying her single life, going to happy hours and not having a care in the world, when her weight began to really add up. She’d come to our studio with a friend and immediately loved the format. In fact, she would eventually be so dedicated that she’d become an instructor. She was so beloved by our studio that, years later, when she got married and became pregnant, we threw her a baby shower in the studio. Oh, and she also lost a bunch of weight through our workouts. I add that detail at the end of her story because there were so many other amazing benefits besides shedding weight that she got from setting foot in our studio that first day.

It wasn’t all women in the brochure either. The interested man saw my husband, Tadd, formerly a nerdy, desk-bound engineer with no fitness background, working out with Jerry. In fact, Jerry and his wife, Debbie, were both represented elsewhere in this brochure as well.

Debbie had come to me a few years before with a request. She wanted to get into shape, but she was nervous about the group setting and wanted personal training. She also planned to bring her husband, Jerry, along with her. Jerry was a twin, and his brother had just suffered a heart attack at a young age. This was a wake-up call for both of them, and they knew they needed to do something. But if Debbie was nervous about the group setting, imagine how uncomfortable Jerry would have been walking into a studio that was mostly made up of women!

So, I began training Debbie, and Tadd trained Jerry. As we discovered, it wasn’t just a lack of physical activity that contributed to Jerry’s challenges; it was his whole lifestyle. He