Why body shame women who jog to lose weight?

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Fri 10 Jun, 2022

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Bits of ME

It’s been 10 years since jogging joined the list of my lifecycle. It was a progression from my old hobby adventure-walking.

Then, as a young girl in rugged clothing and at times barefoot, walking was a way to meditate and release things life could not solve for me. It was ‘me time’

At school, the closet to the running tarmac was to cheer those ‘sweating plasma’. Attached to Nile House at Bat Valley Primary School, I would scream my lungs out for our celebrity runner, ‘Pajerooooooo’ who we had nick named after that Mitsubishi car for his running exploits. On my part, the sport took more from me than I from it so I never dared the running list.

As I recollect, jogging has always been a life itself, and not a way to life (desire for weight loss, fitness watch, diet etc.)

That briefly changed upon the birth of my first child.

55KGs before the baby and a whooping 82KGs after the baby, Ulala even I couldn’t recognize myself.

“How do I deal with this weight?” Gym and I couldn’t see eye to eye! “What do I do?” I wondered.

If I could do it for fun, why couldn’t I go the distance routinely to chop off the unwanted kilos?

The discomfort in clothes for the road switching from a former petite body-sized chic, I finally found appropriate sportswear for this new weight as I slowly advanced from walking to jogging.

Unfortunately, I hadn’t braced myself for the jabs by idle onlookers. The first slap at my weight burden was the unwelcome tag of ‘big momma' from a guy I passed while on the road.

I am not one who falls down by the swing of words, I fought for my corner; to many of these invective comments I ignored, to some I parried, counter jabbed and at times felt demeaned. I had to grow a thick layer to keep jogging. Yet, inside I would boil with rage!

A number of women have withdrawn to escape insult, few able ones outspend in GYM, others pin rough copies of diet programs on kitchen walls, or displace carpets and beds to create space for pranks or push -ups in their rooms!

But why should they go through that? Can’t roadside bullies just ‘give them a break?’

Bits of YOU

At my village home, we formed a running club. Few weeks back, as the cohort snaked through running zones, the member at the tail end had her share of vile, "ofaki mukazi gwe? Wenna oyiika yiika tewesobola, li lengere lyonna bwelitobye" (why strain yourself woman? You’re wobbling, can’t carry your chubby weight and you’re raining in sweat)

Embarrassed and energy sucked out, she paused and walked. We didn’t realize she had dropped off until we had made a turn some good metres ahead.

Many like her have been slapped down by the unpleasant paste of roadside bullies.

“Rarely do I get abused or insulted when I run with my husband but on my own, the body shaming insults put me down. I feel like some of these men leave their homes with an intention to abuse”, says Stella Nakabugo 41, a mother of four.

She says one time a man dared to insult her in presence of her husband saying "Musajja e'kazzi eddenne eryo olisitula otya?" (Man, how are you able to carry that amorphous woman). Her husband nearly got into a brawl with the abuser.

A friend of mine pulled out after a racket of insults when she was out on a jog with her son. She couldn’t bear watching the son wanting to square up with her tormentors.

Is it a culture of poisonous idleness or the stench of a society that derives good in stealing other people’s pleasure?

Choose to cheer or encourage if you have no mouth restraint or even better find your own preoccupation.

If you want to bottle bullies, Andrew Kyagulanyi, the main fitness instructor Cheza Fitness UG in Bugolobi you just have to focus on the cause and ignore the noise makers since it is their life and health they are putting right.

"I think someone puts on something that doesn’t pull everyone’s attention such as proper fitting sportswear and trainers," he says.

For the dear ones who have cancelled the roads, these tips can keep your momentum

Guide to a supportive outdoor workout