What is Shame-Free Fitness?
A collaborative education community of fitness professionals
If you are a: group exercise instructor, personal trainer, gym manager, or other fit pro who values serving your clients in a way that's free of guilt, shame, manipulation, and weight-loss centered messaging, you've found the right place!
Shame-Free Fitness is for folks who strive to be the change within an industry that is centered around diet culture.
The fitness industry feels kinda skeezy.
Does all of the "no-pain-no-gain-no-excuses" fitness bro marketing cause you to question your role in this industry? It sure does for me.
In a sector that is built upon profiting off of peoples' insecurities about their bodies, it can feel conflicting to be a personal trainer, group fitness instructor, or other exercise professional when your values system doesn't line up with the status quo of the industry.
When we've...
learned from celebrity fitness leaders that fitness is supposed to look one specific way: thin & "toned"...but not TOO muscular...
been told in our certification courses and continuing education classes that we should "look the part" and "be the example"...and this advice comes right along with developing disordered eating and obsessive exercise behaviors...
bought in to the narrative that personal choice dictates health outcomes, but we're now learning this doesn't paint the full picture...and are beginning to recognize that SO many other factors such as: lived experience, privilege, access, and social determinants have a much larger impact...
it can be confusing, weird, and just plain hard to feel good about working in the fitness industry.
In Shame-Free Fitness, you'll...
- Learn about what diet culture is and will be able to identify how it (sneakily and blatantly) shows up in fitness programming and marketing
- Critically examine the common shame-based cues we often hear and use in fitness, and begin to incorporate a new vocabulary that will allow you to create a consent-based space for all folks, especially those who experience things like: body dysmorphia, disordered eating/exercise behaviors, weight stigma, and more.
- Get real-life practice on navigating tricky conversations with your classes/clients around exercise, eating, and bodies in a professional way that doesn't perpetuate shame
- Gain a better understanding of how diet culture has impacted your own life, both personally and professionally (...which is kinda uncomfortable yet very important work to do if it's something you're seeking to change within your fitness communities!)
Hi! I'm Sadie Simpson
I'm an anti-diet group fitness instructor and Certified Intuitive Eating Counselor.
With over 14 years of experience in the wellness industry, I’ve seen how disordered behaviors from gym members, group fitness instructors, and personal trainers can be all-consuming:
- over-exercising
- yo-yo dieting
- weight cycling
- body dysmorphia
- disordered eating
- and the high prevalence of weight stigma and anti-fat bias within the fitness industry
Most fit pros I know got into this business because they genuinely want to help people.
That’s awesome! But it’s time we begin to question what being helpful, motivating, and healthy actually even mean.
Is it helpful to deliver weight loss programs when, statistically speaking, most people who lose 5-10% of their bodyweight through intentional efforts (changing their diets + exercising differently) will regain that weight within one year?
No, it’s not.
Is it motivating to be shamed into exercise by hearing words like “let’s burn off those weekend cheat meals” from group fitness instructors?
Oh no.
Is it healthy to spend so much time, effort, energy and money in the pursuit of a specific number on the scale (for ourselves and our clients).
Nah.
Do we genuinely want to “help people get healthier” if we’re encouraging individual behavior change without also taking lived experience, privilege, personal trauma, and social determinants into account?
Nope.
Is it possible to feel good about being a part of the fitness industry? Can we actually improve our gym membership numbers, increase class attendance, enroll new clients, and grow a thriving fitness business without promoting weight loss and resorting to manipulative and shame-based tactics?
Hell yes it is!
and I'm here to help you do that.
That's why I created Shame-Free Fitness
a continuing education community for fitness pros who are tired of all the b.s.
Shame-Free Fitness is divided into 6 lessons:
What is diet culture?
What is diet culture?
What is diet culture?
- Defining what diet culture is and discuss how it shows up in the fitness industry
- Discussing other related topics such as: weight stigma, fatphobia, anti-fat bias, Health at Every Size, and thin privilege.
- Recognizing how all of these components can contribute diet culture and other systems of oppression, disordered eating and exercise behaviors and why it's important that we are aware of these things as fitness professionals
Re-Defining "Health"
What is diet culture?
What is diet culture?
- Examining how and why you got into fitness on both a personal and professional level and how that has impacted your experience as a fit pro
- Understanding healthism and associating morality and elitism with a "healthy lifestyle"
- Learning about the 4 eating personas and how your eating style can affect your fitness instructing and coaching style
Cues to Cancel
What is diet culture?
Navigating Tricky Convos
- Cues to eliminate from your teaching vocabulary that perpetuate shame
- Best practices on how to conduct a class or session that prioritizes consent reduces harm
- Ideas of cues, words, and phases you can use instead
Navigating Tricky Convos
Marketing w/o Manipulation
Navigating Tricky Convos
- How to respond if a client or member brings up topics such as: dieting, weight loss, burning calories, disordered eating, body image concerns, and more without contributing to diet culture
- Setting boundaries to uphold your values system and to protect other program participants from damaging diet talk
Marketing w/o Manipulation
Marketing w/o Manipulation
Marketing w/o Manipulation
- How to market your health and fitness programs in a way that doesn't feel gross or manipulative
- Self-promotion of your programs and services without the sleaze-factor
- Can you sell fitness without fat loss? Can you promote wellness without weight loss? Sure you can! We'll discuss how.
Q&A
Marketing w/o Manipulation
Marketing w/o Manipulation
- Your questions answered live, chatting about all that we've learned together + tying up any loose ends from the 6-week session
What's Included:
- The 6 lessons outlined above will delivered LIVE via 45-60 minute Zoom calls so that you can have the chance to interact with the community and ask questions in real time
- The calls will take place once a week for 6 weeks on Wednesdays at 10am eastern time, beginning 11/3/21
- Call replays will be emailed to you within 24 hours so you can keep them forever or review them if you missed the live call.
- Accompanying PDF guides for each weekly call (WORKSHEETS!)
- Lifetime access to our Facebook community to ask questions, get feedback, and to connect with other Shame-Free Fitness pros who, like you, are ready to do things differently
- My Uncover Your Eating Style Guide to get a better understanding of how your eating tendencies manifest in your fitness instruction
- A Shame-Free Fitness Certificate of Participation for display and to use for CEC petitioning
- The Shame-Free Fitness Professional logo to display on your website or other promotional materials
- FALL 2021 COHORT: LIFETIME ACCESS TO SHAME-FREE FITNESS! This course and community will evolve over the duration of its lifetime and I want you, an inaugural member, to be a part of this evolution.
- BONUS: Register by Wednesday 10/27 and get a FREE 1-1 Intuitive Eating Coaching or Fitness Business Consulting call with Sadie!
COST: $297 (payment plan available)
Frequently Asked Questions
Contact me at sadie@sadiesimpson.com if you cannot find an answer to your question.
1-hour calls for the inaugural cohort (fall 2021) will be on Wednesdays at 10am, eastern:
11/3: What is diet culture?
11/10: Re-defining "health"
11/17: Cues to cancel
11/24: 1/2 way point break + Thanksgiving week!
12/1: Navigating tricky conversations
12/8: Marketing without manipulation
12/15: Live Q&A
Nope! While I'd love for everyone to be on the calls live so we can chat together in real time, I know that isn't always realistic. You'll be sent the call replays via email within 24 hours. Additionally, on Tuesdays, I'll email you the PDF guides for the Wednesday calls with an opportunity for you to pre-submit any questions you'd like for me to answer.
Yes! You'll be invited to join our Shame-Free Fitness Facebook group where you can check in and ask questions. You're also welcome to hang around in the SFF FB group after our 6-week session to continue building relationships with the fall 2021 cohort peeps and for meeting future participants as well.
It is my goal to eventually be a continuing education provider for some of the more popular fitness certifying bodies in the U.S. such as ACE, AFAA, & YMCA, but that takes a little bit of time! Unfortunately, I'm not there yet, however, you will receive a certificate of completion at the end of our 6-weeks and I am happy to help you work through petitioning your certification company for CECs/CEUs from this course (not guaranteed to be accepted, but we sure will try!). Additionally, as a founding member of Shame-Free Fitness, you'll be able to participate in future cohorts, which will *fingers crossed* will include CECs/CEUs.
Since this course will take place over 6 weeks via six 1-hour calls, I anticipate this would give you 6 continuing education credits for a primary Group Exercise or Personal Training certification should you choose to petition this course.
Honestly: I have no idea! I expect the first cohort to be a very small - but awesome - group. This is great news for you! By joining Shame-Free Fitness in the fall of 2021, you'll be the first to participate in this new course; in other words, you're a freakin' pioneer in changing the fitness industry! Because of the expected small group size, you'll have more opportunities to get your questions answered, connect with the other members on a more intimate level, and receive direct support from me in the Facebook group and on our calls. Plus, you'll get to join at the introductory price which I plan on increasing after this initial enrollment.
And, as a reminder: by participating in this inaugural Shame-Free Fitness group, you'll have lifetime access to participate in future groups (which will include new material as this course inevitably evolves!)
To sign up for Shame-Free Fitness, click the register button at the bottom of this page. You'll be re-directed to a secure PayPal site. Upon registration, you'll get an email from me (within 10-15 minutes) outlining the next steps!
Yes! You can pay in full by clicking the link below or if a payment plan is needed, you can split it up into 3 separate monthly payments. To sign up for a payment plan, email me at sadie@sadiesimpson.com and I'll get you all squared away!
Registration for the inaugural cohort of Shame-Free Fitness closes at the end of the day on Friday 10/29/21. To get a free 1-1 bonus call with Sadie, be sure to register by Wednesday 10/27!
Nope! Although the focus of this course is geared towards group fitness instructors, personal trainers, and gym managers as this is my professional background, others such as: exercise enthusiasts, physical therapists, health coaches, occupational therapists, health educators, and more would find value here. If you have any questions whether or not this is the right place for you, feel free to email me and we can chat: sadie@sadiesimpson.com
This photo came from Body Liberation Stock Photos by Lindley Ashline. Lindley's service offers a variety of amazing photos that reflect diverse bodies participating in life (including exercise!). To see more of Lindley's work and to purchase photos, click here.
Drawing from over a decade in the fitness industry, I’m dedicated to helping other fit pros serve their clients, participants, and members in a genuine, values-driven way.
I have a Master's Degree in Health Education & Promotion from East Carolina University and my past experiences include:
- instructing a variety of group exercise and aquatic fitness classes since 2007 (I still teach weekly at my local Y and love it!)
- recruiting, training, supervising, mentoring, and leading a team of group fitness instructors and personal trainers for 10 years
- supporting wellness and membership efforts for the YMCA of Western North Carolina from 2011-2018 by serving in many leadership roles (Group Exercise Coordinator, Healthy Living Director, Senior Membership and Healthy Living Director) where I had the opportunity facilitate national YMCA of the USA health and fitness certifications for local and regional staff, be involved in local health equity collaboration efforts, and co-develop multiple association-wide member engagement initiatives.
In addition to that, I’m a Certified Intuitive Eating Counselor. Intuitive Eating is an anti-diet, self-care wellness framework that integrates instinct, emotion, and rational thought. Intuitive Eating is a weight-inclusive, evidence-based model that is aligned with Health at Every Size. The goal of Intuitive Eating is not weight loss, but is, instead, doing the inner work to shift your beliefs & behaviors to cultivate a more satisfying relationship with food and your body.
I’m excited to bring my experiences from the fitness industry and as an Intuitive Eating Counselor together and create opportunities for other health and fitness professionals to disengage from diet culture.
It's important for me to be transparent about my personal and business values so that we can both feel great about making this investment with our time, money, and energy. I believe that a person's size or weight does not determine their value and that all people deserve fair and nondiscriminatory access to services and healthcare. Black Lives Matter, LGBTQIA+ rights are human rights as are disability rights, and no human is illegal. We will address how these areas intersect with disengaging from diet culture within this course.
I am not an expert nor do I have lived experience in many of these areas and am always learning and unlearning, just like you. Shame-Free Fitness isn't a place to expect perfection and knowing all the answers; instead it's an opportunity for all of us to share a brave space and to change the fitness industry together.
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