Welcome back to Rebuilding Trust With Your Body. It’s Katy here and as you can tell from the title, we’re talking about letting go of diet and fitness culture expectations and writing your own rules when it comes to your relationship with exercise with my guest, Courtney McCarthy. She is an ACE certified fitness instructor and confidence coach. Courtney’s mission as the CEO and founder of Lo Yo Bo, which stands for love your body, is to show women how to write your own rules when it comes to fitness and health.

She will be your biggest hype girl along the way. With over 10 years of fitness and coaching experience, she has worked with hundreds of women to heal their relationship with both their body and with exercise. Women who are sick of trying to make themselves smaller, who are looking to feel more confident in their skin. Courtney is always down for a dance party, and when she’s not working, she loves going for long walks with her puppy, Archie, and cuddling her cat, Munchkin.

The Lo Yo Bo virtual platform and community includes live fitness classes, on-demand videos, group coaching, cooking calls, mindful eating support, and more. You’re going to hear Courtney and I talk about why she became a non-diet fitness instructor and what it’s like to be a fat fitness instructor online. Because we all know that social media isn’t always the most kind space in the comments section.

I also asked her how she feels about the word fat itself, and her answer is really cool and it’s going to make you think. Courtney is also going to share what she tells her clients to do on those days where they don’t feel like working out or moving their bodies and how to know when to push yourself to do the workout versus when to take the day off and just rest.

The other thing she drops some serious wisdom on is overcoming any blocks that you have against doing movement. Whether it’s because you just don’t like it, or you’ve never found anything you enjoy, or you’re too tired and exhausted, or your joints hurt, or you’re too busy, she has a great perspective on this. Let’s just get into it.

Katy:
Courtney, thank you so much for being here. I absolutely cannot wait to dig in. I have so many questions for you today. To start, tell us a little about your story. What led you to become a non-diet fitness instructor and do the work that you do?

Courtney:
Fitness wasn’t my original plan. I wasn’t one of those trainers who was great at sports and then went into kinesiology. My journey came from my own relationship with my body, my weight, and fitness.

Back in 2013, I had an experience with a Zumba instructor that changed everything. Her class was the first time I felt that movement could be joyful and free of competition or body judgment. It was about connection and fun. I’d never experienced that before. Up to that point, fitness had always been about changing my body. That class made me want to help other women feel that same freedom, so I became certified to teach.

The anti-diet part came later. I was teaching at big-box gyms where so many women had the same goals: to lose weight, tone up, be smaller. I realized I was in the same place. Even when I was in the smallest body I’d ever had, I still wasn’t happy. I was obsessed with my body, still chasing confidence through weight loss. It hit me that the formula didn’t work, not for me and not for the women in my classes. We were all chasing the same thing: to feel good, confident, strong, and capable.

Then a woman in one of my bootcamp classes gave me tough feedback. I had said something about “tank top arms,” and she told me how hurtful that was for her in a larger body, as if she wasn’t allowed to wear tank tops. That was a huge moment of reflection. I realized my own language and biases could cause harm, even with good intentions. That feedback and my own experience pushed me to learn about body positivity, anti-diet culture, and joyful movement. It transformed how I teach and how I relate to my own body.

Katy:
That’s incredible. And it really speaks volumes that she felt safe enough to share that feedback. Even those of us deep into this work are always learning, and it’s a gift when people help us grow.

Courtney:
Exactly. It’s uncomfortable, but that’s how we learn and unpack the harm that still lingers in our language and mindset.

Katy:
What messages did you grow up with about bodies?

Courtney:
I was taught to fear weight gain. I grew up in a small body and watched my mom constantly struggle with hers—dieting, feeling ashamed, always wanting to be smaller. That left a deep impression. When my body naturally changed as I got older, I felt confused and ashamed, like I’d done something wrong. I spent decades chasing smallness through diets and workouts, trying to feel “good enough.”

Katy:
How do you feel about the word “fat” now?

Courtney:
I use “fat” intentionally as a self-descriptor. It’s about taking back power from a word that used to carry shame. I want to neutralize it. It’s no different than saying I’m short or have brown hair. I don’t use “overweight,” because that implies there’s a weight I’m “supposed” to be. And “obese” is tied to the BMI, which is outdated and biased. For me, “fat” is accurate, empowering, and a way to start conversations, especially in the fitness world where people often can’t reconcile that you can be fat, fit, and healthy all at once.

Katy:
So what’s it like being a fat fitness instructor, especially on the internet?

Courtney:
It’s definitely a mix. The best part is representation. Women tell me that seeing someone who looks like them in fitness gives them hope. It helps them break down the belief that bigger bodies can’t be strong or healthy.

But there’s also judgment, people questioning my credibility because of my body size. Fitness is so tied to thinness that some can’t grasp that both can coexist. I get comments like, “If you’re so fit, why don’t you fix your diet?” There’s confusion because people assume small automatically equals healthy. I’ve had to develop thick skin, but I also use humor and honesty to confront those biases directly.

Katy:
When you get rude comments, how do you handle them?

Courtney:
If it’s just trolling, I block or delete. But sometimes I use them as teaching moments. I’ll make a response video or reply with a bit of sass, like “Tell me what’s wrong with my diet,” and they usually disappear. It’s about keeping the conversation productive.

Katy:
One thing you said online really stuck with me: “You can love your body and not love how you look.” Can you unpack that?

Courtney:
Absolutely. Loving your body isn’t the same as loving how you look. My goal is to help people build an unshakable belief that their body is worthy of respect and kindness, no matter what it looks like.

Of course, it’s nice to have moments where you love how you look, but that’s not the goal. What’s more important is appreciating your body for what it can do and letting go of constant self-objectification. Women are taught from a young age to evaluate themselves through others’ eyes, how desirable or acceptable they are. Shifting away from that is radical and freeing.

I still have days where I don’t love how I look, but it doesn’t shake my self-worth. Respect and compassion have to come first. The rest follows.

Katy:
Yes! So how did you get there yourself?

Courtney:
For me, fitness was the gateway. When I started viewing movement as a way to connect with my body rather than punish it, everything shifted. I learned about how diet culture messes with our psychology and physiology, how restriction backfires, how shame doesn’t motivate change. Once I understood that, I could appreciate my body instead of fighting it. That’s what led me to “writing my own rules” around fitness and health.

Katy:
That’s powerful. A lot of people listening struggle to even want to move. What would you say to them?

Courtney:
First, give yourself grace. Our bodies are built to move, but many of us have been disconnected through negative experiences like gym class trauma, judgment, or exercise as punishment. It’s normal to have resistance.

Start by getting curious: what shaped your beliefs about movement? What rules do you have about what “counts”? For many, it’s things like “it has to be 60 minutes,” “I must sweat,” or “it doesn’t count if I enjoy it.” Those rules keep movement small and joyless.

Movement can be anything: vacuuming, dancing, walking the dog. Once you expand that definition, it becomes much more approachable and enjoyable.

Katy:
That’s why I love the word “movement” more than “exercise.” It opens up possibilities.

Courtney:
Exactly. I even tell clients to remove “exercise” and “fitness” from their vocabulary for a while. Just focus on how they like to move. Once they rediscover that joy, they can bring structure back later, but it starts with freedom.

Katy:
How do you help clients balance movement and rest?

Courtney:
It’s about learning the difference between active and passive rest. Passive rest is things like sleeping or watching TV, which are super important. But active rest is restorative too: stretching, yoga, walking, even hobbies like crafting.

When deciding whether to move or rest, I encourage clients to check in: “How will I feel afterward?” If movement will energize or lift your mood, do it. If it’ll drain you more, rest. It’s a skill that takes time, learning to interpret your body’s cues and make choices from a place of respect, not guilt.

Katy:
That’s exactly how I approach it too. So as we wrap up, what’s the main thing you want listeners to take away?

Courtney:
Challenge the idea that fitness has to look one certain way. You get to write your own rules. You can define fitness in a way that supports your body and your life, not what society tells you it should be. Give yourself permission to rest, to move in ways that feel good, and to throw out the rules that no longer serve you.

Katy:
I love that. So where can people find you online?

Courtney:
Instagram is the best place, @loyobofit. If you DM me the word APPLY, I offer free 30-minute confidence calls where we can talk about your goals and how to start feeling better now.

Katy:
Perfect. I’ll link to everything in the show notes. Courtney, thank you so much for being here. This was amazing.

Courtney:
Thank you! I loved it.

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