You often hear that every girl dreams of a slim figure. But what if we say that there are those people who love their big body and chubby cheeks? Meet the charming, sweet, funny and attention-grabbing Whitney, who weighs 180 kg, but people like her. If you don’t know her yet, then you should fix it, as this person will teach you to love life and yourself. In addition, there are rumors that the host of the My Full Life program, hosted by Whitney Thor, is pregnant.

Whitney Thor became famous for her weight. Once she was slim, but when she gained weight, her life changed. But the girl has a natural charm and a huge positive charge, which attracts people to her. “Dancing Fatty,” as Whitney is called, is a real inspiration for those who cannot love their appearance and motivation for those who are afraid to start living life to the fullest.

Life before and after

Whitney is an ordinary American girl - "cheerful and plump". Let's be honest, this is how many people imagine American residents. And if you do not know Whitney Thor, and therefore thought that there is nothing surprising in its fullness, then you are mistaken.

She did not always weigh more than 100 kg, but was a rather slender girl. In her interviews, Whitney Thor said that at the age of 18, when she entered college, her weight began to increase dramatically from 58 kg. The pointer on the scale has moved 120 kg.

The girl was not ready for such changes, and therefore she began to feel out of place, stopped taking care of herself and went into depression. She was later diagnosed with polycystic ovary syndrome. It was this disease that caused such a large weight gain. By this time, the number of kilograms has only increased.

"Full Life" Whitney Thor

"Dancing fat woman" is now known to many. The popularity came to her due to the fact that she made a video with dance lessons that she posted on YouTube, and she was noticed here. The video titled "A Fat Girl Dancing" went viral, gaining 8 million views. This video is still on the Whitney channel.

Along the way, the girl kept a blog in which she wrote that overweight people should not be afraid of their weight and live on.

Later, Whitney Thor became the star of the TLC channel and the main face of the show My Big Fat Fabulous Life. The program tells about the simple life of Thor, about her problems, trying to lose weight, dancing and personal life.

The reality show is quite popular, because 4 seasons have already been released. Here the girl tried to reveal herself from the other side, because many knew her as a fat woman who loves to dance. She also has her own Instagram page, where Thor shares her photos from life. Now everyone knows the dancing plump Whitney Thor.

The reaction of family and friends

Whitney is often asked how she was treated by people who knew her before she gained weight. Parents, according to Thor, often told their daughter to lose weight. They thought that thin Whitney would immediately become happy, and she would not have problems. But in this way, Thor admits, mom and dad only put pressure on her. After all, she herself tried to lose weight, went on diets, but due to illness, weight loss is very slow.

Whitney often faced the fact that people are not accustomed to seeing a happy full person and this makes them negative. People around perceive fat people as lazy and neglected people. The TLC star faced this too. But she dances and goes in for sports!

But she was supported by her parents, who believed in their daughter and said that she really could influence society and change their idea of ​​fat people.

Therefore, Whitney, realizing that she would not change her weight, learned to love her body. She returned to her dance classes and began to go to the beach, ignoring the sidelong glances.

Another achievement was the founding of the campaign "Don't be ashamed of your body" (No Body Shame). This movement helps overweight people fight the shyness and shame that prevent them from living a normal life.

Personal life

Another problem that obese people face is the lack of a personal life. After all, many often say that due to excess weight, such a person will not find a soul mate. Whitney has a boyfriend. In addition, in one of the programs there was news that the TV presenter might be expecting a baby.

However, it soon became clear that the rumor was false. Whitney's illness affected the test, which was positive, but after visiting the doctor, she was convinced that she was not expecting a child. So Thor has not given birth and does not plan to in the near future. She believes that at 33 she is not yet ready to become a mother.

The girl says that many men love full ones. She says that she is attracted to the male half, but there are those who cannot admit how much they really like chubby women. Therefore, Whitney will never pay attention to a person who will be embarrassed to introduce her to his family and friends.

Motivation from BBW Whitney

The girl struggled with herself for 10 years and learned to love her body. In her life there are numerous diets and dance classes. She is very slowly and gradually reducing her weight.

Thor says that extra pounds make it difficult to live a normal life. Ordinary things become more difficult to do. It is harder to travel, dance, communicate with people and look in the mirror.

Whitney was able to talk about being overweight on her blog and on the radio where she worked. Now she serves as an inspiration for those who are shy about their body. The Internet star uploads her photos even in a bathing suit, because she considers herself attractive.

Finding strength in herself, Whitney admits that she has never loved herself the way she does now. Just look at her: cheerful and energetic. Is it possible to turn the tongue to call her ugly? Of course not. And this is the result of the great work of Whitney Thor.

Someone says that the girl promotes overweight. This is not true at all. Whitney tries to support people and help them cope with this problem, which many are afraid to talk about.

Whitney Thor is a real example of how to treat yourself and your body. Each time she proves that you need to love yourself and not pay attention to other people's negative opinions. Start working on yourself and don't spend your life sitting on the couch, live your full, in every sense, life.

For five days, we talk about people who feel deprived of their rights, and about ways to deal with this feeling. For this material, we recorded a monologue of a thirty-year-old American woman who is struggling with discrimination based on excess weight.

Whitney Way Thor was an ordinary girl, a high school student and a professional dancer. But at some point, Whitney was diagnosed with polycystic ovary syndrome, one of the possible manifestations of which is severe obesity. She began to weigh more than a hundred kilograms. Dancing had to be abandoned, and the scene changed to a fitness club. For several years, Whitney tried to return to her original weight, but the body did not give in - she dropped twenty-five kilograms and gained back forty. At some point, the girl decided to forget about stereotypes and remember her love for dancing. Whitney has recorded several Fat Girl Dancing videos and started the No Body Shame Campaign blog. With his videos, Whitney makes us rethink the stereotype that being fat means leading an unhealthy lifestyle.

About discrimination

In America, we love to talk about how tolerant we are of all genders, races, and sizes. But this is not true. Here, fat people live under constant pressure from society. This has always amazed me, because the Americans are one of the fattest nations in the world. But in fact, everyone here is obsessed with appearance, with the desire to lose weight, and the fat people are negatively treated, despite the fact that everyone in the family has at least one fat relative. When I began to gain weight dramatically, the whole situation was comparable to some kind of social experiment. You know, one of those when the hero is dressed as a fat man and offered to walk around the city and see how others will react. The guys who asked me out on dates just a couple of months ago walked by, did not look at me and generally pretended that I did not exist. It was crazy, because just recently we met.

In general, people became less friendly, often very rude. I remember the first time I thought that this is how minorities feel. In the clubs, all the guys began to behave disgusting: they came up and called me fat. Relations with girls have also changed. They immediately began to demonstrate that I was not one of them. I immediately became different - a fat girl. Some new acquaintance always assumed that she knew everything about me in advance: “Oh, did you ever have a boyfriend?” They decided that since I was fat, it meant I was insecure and I had never had a relationship. This annoyed me a lot. And yes, despite the fact that deep down I was not confident in myself, I always had the pride not to show it. One girl once asked me about my young man at that time, with whom we were engaged: “I understand that you met when you were still thin?” - "Not". To be honest, the young man was not handsome, but still it never occurred to anyone that a man would want to marry a fat woman.

I have traveled extensively in Asia and Europe. I lived in Korea for a while. There I encountered a completely different kind of discrimination. If in America all discrimination is hidden, sometimes you can’t even prove it, then in Korea everything was on the surface. I lived in Daegu for four years. And every day for all four years, passers-by on the street pointed their fingers at me and laughed. When I got into a taxi, the driver usually asked me either about my weight, or about my favorite food, or simply grunted as a sign of greeting. I sometimes felt like I was in a zoo: wherever I went, people stopped, stared, pushed their buddies - hey, look quickly. It felt like they had never seen a fatter person than me in their lives. But I got used to it pretty quickly and sometimes I didn’t even notice.

I have two really unpleasant stories. Once I was going to work, and a young man of about thirty in a suit drove by. It would seem that we consider these decently dressed people to be well-mannered and educated people. So, a man in a suit, driving by, called me dirty and spat on me. Usually I hold back. But that day, something broke in me, and like a madman I ran after him, showering him with all the curses I knew. The second story happened in a bar. Some guy at the next table got into a verbal altercation with my Korean friends. As a result, the owner of the bar approached and asked him to leave the establishment. And I was so angry at this man that I gave him a furious look. He responded by calling me names in Korean. I knew that the reason for this was that I was a woman, a foreigner, and even fat. It doesn't give me any right to look him in the eyes. Then I began to go down the stairs, he flew up from behind and began to beat me on the head. It’s good that my friends were nearby, who immediately tied him up and took him to the police.

When I got into the taxi, the driver usually asked me either about my weight, or about my favorite food, or just grunted in greeting

But what has always been really painful for me to endure is the reaction of the children. Sometimes, walking past children playing on the street, I could wave my hand and say hello, and in response, screaming, they ran in different directions. Am I so disgusting that children are afraid of me like a monster? As for my students, there were no such problems with them. They quickly got used to me, and, it seems to me, I managed to change their consciousness a little. They came up and said, “Master, you are fat but so beautiful. I know why boys like you because you are smart and funny.”

Then I lived in Ireland for several years and traveled around Europe. To be honest, I was very worried at first. I thought that Europeans in general are much thinner, and Americans are standard fat. And it was very disappointing to be this stereotype - a fat American. But in fact, the attitude towards me was very relaxed. No one has ever told me anything about my weight. People told me that I was beautiful, strong, but not fat at all. It seems to me that in Ireland I felt most in harmony with my body.

About the No Body Shame campaign
Campaign

It all started when I was a radio producer. We started our YouTube page and wanted to get more subscribers. At that time I had a lot of dance videos and I decided to post one of them. I titled the video Fat Girl Dancing simply because such a title would likely get more attention. We posted my videos for a year. They were popular, but not that much. And then in January 2014 my friend Tod and I recorded another video and it bombed. I don't know how or why it happened, but in a couple of days Facebook alone had over a million views and over 500,000 people shared the video. Then they wrote to me from The Huffington Post, called from Good Morning America and Today Show. I suddenly became the center of everyone's attention. All this time, apart from the video, I kept a blog about my life called No Body Shame Campaign. I thought that with examples from my life I could help other people to be confident in themselves and love their bodies.

about fat women

I am an avid feminist. This word scares a lot of people, but I think feminism is important. Not only in the US, but especially in other countries where the attitude towards women is much less progressive. First of all, I never let anyone say bad things to me. And if this happens, then I immediately fight back. If I do not stand up for myself, then this person will never understand that this is not necessary. In general, I understand that people, perhaps, cannot be changed. On the other hand, it seems to me that men behave badly towards women because we rarely point out their mistakes to them. You should not be shy and be able to stand up for yourself if a man called you fat or grabbed your ass in a public place.

Sometimes, passing on the street past children playing, I could wave to them and say hello, and they answer ran away screaming in different directions

Now there are many campaigns in support of fat women. Their main idea is that large women can be beautiful and sexy. This includes fashion shoots, modeling business and so on. But this is not about me at all, this is not my niche. It seems to me that if you focus on how beautiful you are, even if you are fat, it still suggests that you are sitting in some kind of box of stereotypes. For me, something else is important - not that we can be as beautiful as thin women, but that I can live a full life without any limiting stereotypes around. All these girls want to say - maybe you are glad that you are fat and sexy at the same time, but you still continue to evaluate yourself solely by external signs. And this is not for me. Everything I do in life has nothing to do with my appearance. That is why I dance. I am not afraid of people who will say that I am not worthy to dance, simply because I do not look good.

Criticism

My personal social media messages are 99% positive. People write to me from all over the world and thank me for my blog and my videos. “I just watched your video, it changed my life.” I never thought that someone would say this to me, especially every day, a thousand times a day. But if you read the comments on YouTube or Facebook, you can find a lot of things. Someone writes nasty things - she's fat, she's disgusting, she should kill herself. And someone decides to be a little more smart and says - oh, well, at least she is happy, despite the fact that she is unwell. Many write that I am promoting the idea of ​​obesity. I think that's the funniest thing you can say to me. 'Cause I'm a fat girl dancing and exercising in all my videos. I primarily promote a healthy lifestyle, but not obesity.

Somehow I first came to Los Angeles, went to a local popular fast food restaurant and took a picture with a burger. The reaction was mixed: “Are you kidding? How can you eat it? Look at you!" In America, fast food advertising is very popular, where models sexually devour rolls. I downloaded three of these photos, and put mine next to them. What is the difference? Why do I look disgusting with a burger and promote obesity, but burger-eating models are sexy? It says this: people believe that you can judge the health of a person simply by his appearance. I know for sure that "fat" does not equate to "unhealthy", just as "thin" does not equate to "healthy". I have a lot of thin friends with different problems - high blood pressure, high cholesterol, inability to walk more than three kilometers on foot. I now weigh fifty kilograms more than they do, and do not experience the same problems. Of course, health care is quite understandable. But here the thing is different: people look at me and immediately decide that I have health problems, that I am on some kind of pills that are paid from their tax collections. If you get so mad when you see me at McDonald's, why don't you get mad when you see skinny people there? Why do you consider it your right to comment on this? All visitors to McDonald's lead an unhealthy lifestyle, but you are only angry with me. And why not go to a thin person and ask: “Do you smoke? Are you protected? How often do you play sports?

Confidence

I often get asked this question: how did you become so self-confident? I hate this question because there is no definite answer to it. All my thirty years of my life, I faced various problems: I gained weight up to one hundred kilograms, then dropped to seventy-five, gained back to one hundred. I've been through a lot and I would love to have a simple answer. The only thing I can say is that you need to work on yourself.

We are taught that in order to achieve anything, you need self-confidence. Now, I don't believe it. If this were the case, few people would eventually dare to get up from the couch and do something. After I dropped twenty pounds and then gained back thirty-five, I said to myself: "Calm down, life does not end there." So I gradually realized that I absolutely do not care about my weight. And despite the fact that you have to deal with a huge amount of criticism, there is still more positive. The main thing is to force yourself to get out of your usual comfort zone and do something. And confidence will follow. After all, confidence is the product of your action.

Success and recognition came to Whitney when ... she gained excess weight. Now the 170 kg dancer and TV presenter is successfully losing weight and successfully teaches others about it. What is Whitney's secret?

Reasons for rapid weight gain

Once upon a time, Whitney Thor was a thin and petite girl. But one day she began to rapidly gain weight, and after the examination, the doctors diagnosed her with a hormonal failure. Since then, Whitney has tried hundreds of diets, been in therapy for 10 years and exercised intensively, but the arrows of the scales inexorably showed “plus”. The constant sidelong glances of passers-by and the heavy sighs of loved ones became simply unbearable, so Whitney worked abroad for a long time.
But one day Whitney told herself “stop”, why torture yourself, because life is so good. Since then, the girl has not ceased to enjoy life and, contrary to the forecasts of doctors, is gradually losing weight.

Rejoice in spite of everything

This is the motto that Whitney promotes among her fans. Loving yourself, enjoying every moment of life and doing everything with pleasure - these are the main postulates of Thor.

Somehow, the girl published a video of her dance on the network, and the next morning she woke up famous. Soon, one of the US TV channels became interested in the incendiary girl and in 2016 signed a contract with her to create the reality show “My Full Life”. In it, Whitney will struggle with his problem, and teach this to the same desperate "dumplings".

Eat, dance... lose weight

Losing extra pounds is easier when you love yourself and your full body, says Whitney. She travels with pleasure, hangs out with friends, likes to chat with her girlfriend over a slice of pizza and a cup of cappuccino, meets nice guys and dances incendiary dances for her own pleasure. Since the girl began to live with pleasure, the weight began to slowly melt.

Whitney does not deny herself her favorite food, she eats whatever she wants, but at the same time leads an active lifestyle, and burns those extra pounds in the dance hall. “Burn more calories than you consume,” Whitney advises. The girl herself adheres to her own principles of comfortable weight loss: she enjoys dancing, attending parties and walking for a long time. The girl advises her subscribers not to complex about her imperfect body, but to do whatever they want, then the extra weight will go away much faster.

Now Whitney dances a lot, shoots videos, creates her own mega-popular program, travels around the world, meets a new guy and provides support to overweight people. So why not take an example from her.

170-pound dancer Whitney Thor: "Men love fat women, but are afraid to say so"

170-pound dancer Whitney Thor became famous overnight, in 2014 by posting a series of dance videos on YouTube. Now the "dancing fat woman" not only leads the social movement No Body Shame, which opposes discrimination against obese people, but also for a season in a row is the main character of the reality show "My Big Fat Fabulous Life" on TLC. About how she manages to enjoy every day, despite the stereotypes, Whitney spoke in an exclusive interview with HELLO.RU.

Whitney, when did you start gaining weight?

When I was 18 years old and started college, I suddenly got really big and very fast. I didn’t know why it happened, I was very shy of myself and didn’t go to the doctor. My life has changed dramatically, and in one year I gained 100 pounds (about 45 kilograms - Ed.). When you're fat, you start to feel like an outcast, and that's when I stopped exercising and taking care of myself, I was very depressed. A few years later, in 2005, I was diagnosed with Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome (PCOS). I realized: this was the reason that I initially gained weight. By the time I realized this, I had already gained 200 pounds (about 90 kilograms - Ed.).

Whitney Thor - stages of growing up

In what way have you tried to lose weight?

I tried to lose weight all my life, even when I was thin. It just so happened that women are on a diet almost all the time, and, in my opinion, this is bad. But after I gained a lot of weight, I once managed to lose weight significantly. I lost 100 pounds in six months in 2011. And then I scored them, which is also common. Unfortunately, I thought too much about the number on the scale, and just tried to lose weight. So I took a not-so-healthy approach. I ate little, worked out 15 hours a week. This is not very good for health. Now I try to eat something rich in nutrients, mostly homemade. It's kind of a rule: don't eat too often at cafes and try to cook on your own. I'm not a very good cook, so cooking is always a challenge for me.

And the attitude of people to your new weight has become a test?

When I gained weight, many people began to treat me as if I had become a different person. Of course, I have always been a Whitney, I have always remained a person - with the same brains and the same heart, but when my body changed, people became very cruel to me. They thought that I was either very lazy, or very stupid, or a girl who had never had a boyfriend. And I myself began to believe their words, and believed for a long time. And how can you not believe it when at school I was the queen of the prom, and only a year later I became fat ... Summing up, I want to say: it took me years to become more confident in myself, to understand that I am me, whatever my body looks like. I am still smart, cheerful and happy, and the shape of my body does not affect these qualities in any way.

How did your loved ones react to the fact that you became a girl in the body?

My family and friends did not talk about it, but now it seems to me that this topic should have been discussed. It is a pity that no one encouraged me to go to the doctor and face this problem face to face. It took almost ten years before I was able to speak frankly about my weight. I definitely didn't lose my friends. All my friends loved me, whether I was fat or skinny. I am very lucky in this sense.

Do your non-standard forms prevent you from building relationships with men?

I have a boyfriend, his name is Lenny. Our relationship is the first time my weight doesn't matter. This is the first time I feel like I'm really loved for who I am, for my personality as a whole, not only for the body but also for the mind. In the third season of the show, you will see how my relationship with Lenny will develop, we will have to overcome some problems ... I think fat women do have special difficulties in relationships, but these are not at all the difficulties that everyone thinks about.

It seems to everyone that men are not attracted to full girls. But no matter what size I was, men were always interested in me. The biggest problem is that many men who like fat women are usually embarrassed about it because it's kind of taboo. I meet men who think I'm attractive, who really like me, but who probably won't date me because they're afraid of what other people think of them. And it is sometimes very annoying.

As for me personally, I would never date a man who is so weak in spirit that he is embarrassed to introduce me to his parents. But I want fat women to understand that there are many men who will love them and who will find them attractive. I know this because I myself encounter them every day.

Don't you think that many people find it difficult to believe that obese people can be absolutely happy in their weight?

I think it is - most people do not believe that it is possible to be fat and happy at the same time. After all, we are taught from childhood that thinness is equivalent to happiness. This is clearly the case in the United States. I happened to travel, and I think this is a very common point of view. But I categorically disagree with this point of view and am convinced that it is important to find happiness within yourself, without making it dependent on how you look.

Whitney Thor and her boyfriend Lenny

Have you ever been accused of promoting obesity?

This happens often and looks pretty stupid. I once spoke to an audience of 700 people and asked them, "How many of you watched the program?" Everyone raised their hands. "Which of you wanted to gain weight to be like or like me." And of course, not a single hand was raised. I don't think people look at me and think, "I want to be like her, I want to gain weight to be like her." And what I am absolutely sure of is that hating your body will never bring you more than loving it. There is nothing wrong with losing weight or living a healthy lifestyle. But my main idea, the main idea of ​​my No Body Shame campaign is to love yourself first and everything else will come. You know, when I wanted to lose weight, I hated myself. And it was for this reason that I did not like to dance and take care of myself. And now I appreciate myself, and everything else has become much easier.

How much time do you spend in dance class now? What are your hobbies besides dancing?

I teach dancing once a week - these are the Big Girl Dance Class that you can see in the program. In addition to dancing, I love to read, I love to write. I just wrote a book and it was a lot of work. I went back to the gym, started doing yoga - it's hard, but I love challenges. I still ride my bike and I still like to go out - to communicate with people, go to concerts. This inspires me.

Who are the people who inspire you?

In everyday life, my father and mother are my source of inspiration - they are my main characters, they are so sympathetic and absolutely amazing. In addition, I love the singer Adele very much. She is an important example for all overweight women. A great singer, so talented and so self-confident. She does not cheat on herself simply because she is famous, and does not "bought" all these star stereotypes. I really respect fat women who get famous and stay fat. I think it's cool.

It's a common thing even for world-famous stars, famous actors - they don't like to see themselves on the screen. Do you watch your reality shows?

I watch my own show so I know what other people see. But it's hard to watch... I normally perceive myself on the screen, but it's a bit strange to watch finished episodes after editing. For the third season, for example, we shot probably a thousand hours of material, and the show will only be nine hours. I would say that the third season was the hardest to watch, because I have a real life, and this TV show is just a small part of it. But of course I watch it and laugh.

What programs, besides your own, do you like to watch?

I'm pretty weird in that sense - I rarely watch TV. I like detective stories, so I watch Investigation Discovery. I also love Animal Planet because I love animals.

Whitney, you became famous thanks to YouTube. Are you familiar with the work of other people who became famous thanks to a random video on the Internet? For example, the "dancing millionaire" Gianluca Vacca is now especially popular.

I don't know Gianluca, but I will find him on the Internet when we finish our conversation. The cool thing about the internet is that every day there is someone new, something new. I really enjoy going to YouTube and looking at talented dancers and even more talented athletes. We control the Internet ourselves, so we can find amazing people all over the world. The only thing to do is to set the search. It is wonderful.

Watch the new season of My Full Life on Thursdays at 10:00 pm on TLC.