Episode 8: Meet My Girlfriend Crystal

Decolonizing Fitness Podcast

Trigger Warning: Discussion of Weight LossIn this episode I share the mic with my romantic partner Crystal Richardson, Esq. Crystal is an attorney, community advocate and my personal fitness coach. Right now she is currently working to get the CROWN Act passed in North Carolina, which is a bill that would ban discrimination based on hair textures and styles. The CROWN Act names styles commonly associated with black people, is of particular concern to black women, whose hair is more likely than white women’s hair to be perceived as “unprofessional,” according to a 2019 study of 2,000 black and white women. In this episode Crystal and I talk about how we met and some ways we support each other through movement. Crystal also shares about the beginnings of her fitness journey as a BeachBody coach and some of the diet culture and toxic fitness practices she participated in early on. She discusses her process of unlearning and growing through her mistakes. We unpack the constant work needed in divesting from diet culture, and how we aren’t morally obligated to engage in fitness. I share a bit about how my chronic pain has been an embedded part of relationship with weightlifting and how it keeps my gender dysphoria at bay (complicated relationship to say the least.)Lastly, we finish up by answering some listener questions. I think you are going to really enjoy this episode!