'AITA for agreeing that my sister being fat makes her seem less desirable as a personal trainer?'

"AITA for agreeing that my sister being fat makes her seem less desirable as a personal trainer?"

My (24f) sister (30f) is obese and works as a personal trainer. She has a degree in something to do with sports and nutrition, and she likes her job. She works at the same gym that I go to. She’s obese because she doesn’t work out much, and she eats a ton.

Every family gathering we have she stuffs her face, and she likes to bake and is always posting about something she made and how great it was. I never really comment on her weight because I don’t like to give my opinion when it’s not asked for. I work out regularly. I go to the gym almost daily.

The way my gym does it, is if you are interested in personal training you can pick between one of their three personal trainers. New gym members get one free session. The trainers do not get paid for the one free consultation session that they do, but they do get paid for each visit they do after. They’re basically like independent contractors.

How much you make depends on how many clients you have, how many sessions you do, etc. One of the trainers is a former bodybuilder. He’s popular for people getting into weightlifting. It helps that he’s really nice and easygoing, and also good looking. The other personal trainer is a really nice and fit girl in her early 20s.

She does a lot of circuit training, and I see her doing workouts with her clients a lot. And lastly is my sister. She struggles to get any clients. People are put off by her because of how heavy she is, regardless of what she knows. She’s really passionate about her job, but yeah. She gets little to no clients, and isn’t making enough to pay her bills.

At a family dinner at our parents house she was complaining about how she’s going to have to move back into a cheaper place with roommates, and how she’s so frustrated because the other two personal trainers make good money and get lots of clients. Our uncle, who describes himself as ‘blunt’, told my sister that it makes sense that they wouldn’t want a big girl telling them how to workout.

She got upset, and asked me to be honest with her and tell her if I think that’s the main reason why she’s struggling to get clients. I agreed with my uncle and said yeah, an in shape personal trainer basically demonstrates that they know what they’re doing, and they practice what they preach.

Her being fat makes her look unqualified to most people. She got upset and left, and hasn’t been answering anyone’s calls and texts for the last few days, and I haven’t seen her at the gym. AITA? I would’ve never said the truth if she didn’t directly ask me for it.

The internet did not hold back one bit.

Knight_Shade360 wrote:

NTA. It’s a bitter pill to swallow. If you’re telling people how to get into shape, it helps if you’re an example as well. It’s like taking marriage advice from someone who’s single or parenting advice from someone with no children. They may be correct from an academic standpoint (read and studied a lot) but not from a practical one. People like advice from those with experience, not just knowledge.

verca wrote:

NTA, I have changed my endocrinologist (I have hypothyroidism) for this very same reason. She was always scolding me for not losing the weight and suggesting various diets for me, meanwhile she was obese as well.

OP responded:

That’s…something. Should’ve asked her who her endocrinologist is so you can make sure you don’t go to them lol.

Handbag_Lady wrote:

You know what? I am a large girl and I LOATHE the gym and if I had the opportunity, I would pick your sister as my trainer. She needs to market to the larger women directly. I feel she would understand me so much more than a thin person.

Dreamergal9 wrote:

This account appears to have been made to make this post, it was literally made today. That’s very suspicious. Also, the way you talk about your sister at the beginning is very weird. Do you not know what actual degree your own sister has? Very strange.

And the way you describe her does not sound like someone who has a good relationship with their sister, describing her as “stuffing her face” at gatherings. I do think real people may choose to make a burner if they’re concerned about potential personal info being attached to their regular account, but this seems like rage bait to me.

Happyclam94 wrote:

NTA at all. That being said, there are a lot of fat women out there who probably would feel more comfortable if their trainer were also fat. There's a fat trainer at my gym, and I see her train a lot of fat and old people.

It's a larger gym, and there are a lot of old people in my neighborhood. So, if your sister wants to remain fat, she should probably try a larger gym that has a population of fat and/or old people. Or she could get in shape and try to compete for a larger audience of potential clients.

Witty_rich wrote:

I actually think she would be a great trainer to people of a larger size starting out. Most personal trainers have been fit or athletic their whole lives and don't really understand a lot of the upcoming struggles for someone who is considered obese. She needs to play her angle up a little more. She should absolutely be working out to get used to the movements but I think she's ignoring an untapped market.

Radicalsnowdude wrote:

Just because someone is an obese person doesn’t mean that they cannot be excellent fitness experts. A fitness expert could be obese because of health reasons or simply because they just don’t want to do the whole fitness aesthetic thing for whatever personal reason they have.

But anyone who is looking for a fitness expert will be looking at the fitness expert’s own body as a portfolio. That’s just unavoidable.

NTA.