Jonathan Balan

Growing up, I was always viewed as the big kid in the neighborhood. Everyday I told myself that I would never fit into anything smaller than a XL, so I learned to just accept that so I wouldn’t feel offended anymore. I identified with this image of myself so much that I made my social media name bigboirun. The idea originated from being one of the bigger boys running on my high school basketball team.

That same mentality stayed with me through college and adulthood. I was constantly trying to protect myself from being made fun of or ridiculed for my weight and size. I became obsessed with trying different fad diets. Needless to say, I struggled through these diets without caring how I felt just so that I would see results. I wanted to hear validation from others on how much weight loss I achieved. Even though I shed some weight, I gained it all back by binge eating because I realized I wasn’t content with how I felt.

It wasn’t until I joined Kinda Fit Kinda Fat that I was able to learn to accept that the word “fat” isn’t something to necessarily fear. The message that the brand portrays is something that I support and stand by because it is about the journey and the progress rather than focusing on the number on the scale. It is important to break through the stereotype of what we should look like and support each other to continue with our goals.

My name is Jon. I enjoy basketball and cycling with my friends and celebrating with anything AYCE, and I am Kinda Fit Kinda Fat.

- Jon