Body goals for who?

Latoya Shauntay Snell is not your average professional runner. At 5 foot 3 inches tall and 110 kilos, she has long struggled to love herself and her body.

“The last thing I ever thought I would have been was a runner says, 34-year-old Shauntay. In 2013, she was diagnosed with disc degeneration and sciatica. She was depressed, overweight, in chronic pain and desperate for a change.

She started her weight loss journey and lost 50kgs in one year. A friend inspired her to sign up for a half marathon so she did. However, she was underrating, over training, drinking too much alcohol and not sleeping enough. In 2015, she ended up in hospital.

That marked the beginning of a new relationship with food and her body. She started a blog called The Running Fat Chef and went viral after posting about being heckled for her weight while running the New York marathon. She is now a body positive advocate and a professional runner, chef and writer. Since starting, she has completed over 100 races, including 15 marathons, five ultra-marathons and countless half-marathons. “It is about embracing yourself at any state, loving yourself.’