Why I Quit My Fitness Blog
For those who knew me from my blogging days a few years ago, I liked to do and talk about a lot of things. The main theme that run through everything I did was being a ‘non-conformist’ especially to frivolities that immensely affected lives, daring to be different, daring to own your voice when the whole world is forcing you to be an echo.
My decision to quit my fitness blog may seem like a defeat to what I have preached all these years but it is not so. Sometimes, it is important to choose your battles, to shed off unnecessary weight to have enough strength to fight dire battles.
My fitness blog was a way of motivating others to join the fitness journey as I documented how fun it could be even without a proper gym, protein supplements and with a body type such as mine; ectomorphic which is the most difficult body type to build.
People were inspired by my growth considering these limitations. Apart from the constant struggle to stick to my workout routine, I also had to deal with stereotypical and disrespectful individuals.
Before I went deep into my fitness blog which grew up to over 20k followers on instagram (still dwindling to about 16k when I stopped), I had friends and even family talk about what people thought about fitness people. I thought it was just ridiculous. It made no sense to me at all at first till I lived it.
It’s absolutely ridiculous that it was an open secret that most fitness people are sex workers, ‘sex positive’, are not ‘relationship’ or family oriented, non-religious. Am I the only one or you see how ridiculous this sounds too? As if people are born with dumbells in their hands…as if it’s genetic. The generalization is just disgusting and shallow.
Of course I have nothing against individuals who choose their own path whatever it may be but to stereo typically put all fitness persons under one umbrella is quite daft. Every individual is different; fitness people marry, faithful to their partners, muslim, virgin, chaste, career persons, corporate individuals, fathers, name it! Didn’t think I needed to say this but we live in a world where there are more narrow minded individuals than open minded ones. More people who judge others even before knowing them and even worse if they know them; choosing to believe the superficial than what they actually know.
I didn’t understand some disrespectful comments and messages I received in the beginning till I begun to engage other fitness persons who shared similar experiences which we discussed on the VOIICE Talk Show episode below.
We are in a world where all it takes to identify a thief is dreadlocks( a hairstyle that is originally associated to our history, our people, the very fiber of our existence as Africans. We are in a society where we hate ourselves so much that anybody or anything that does not conform to our personal beliefs or CHRISTIAN beliefs even our own culture is demonized.
Whenever I encounter a person whom I disappoint their ridiculous ideas of who I am, I only say, ” Your expectations of me CANNOT be my responsibility”
Share this if you agree or disagree with my stance🤷🏽♂️
You can check out the state of my former fitness blog here on IG: @VOIICE_RICHARD
