# 300 lb. Woman Climbs Mt. Kilimanjaro.......TWICE



## wrestlingguy (Feb 16, 2016)

Here's the link to the original article. Stay away from the comment section though, if you get triggered by fat bias & body shaming.

http://www.usatoday.com/story/life/...300-pound-woman-climbs-kilimanjaro/80368310/#

Imagine walking a marathon after having just climbed the tallest mountain in Africa, carrying at least 120 extra pounds the entire way.
Its difficult to breathe. Your joints ache. Everything aches.
Thats what Kara Richardson Whitely felt as she descended her climb down Mount Kilimanjaro, twice, weighing more than 300 pounds.
Thats right. She has ascended the tallest freestanding mountain in the world, reaching the summit twice.
During her third climb Whitely made the decision to start working through her lifelong issues with food.
Kilimanjaro is a great place to cycle through something in your brain if youre going through change because there is so much time spent with yourself, she said.
She has struggled with her weight since age 9, around the time her parents divorced and her father all but disappeared.
Then on her 12th birthday, Whitely was sexually molested by a friend of her older brother. Food became an emotional crutch and in college, my weight pushed beyond the 300-pound mark.
Whitely continued to struggle with her weight throughout her 20s and 30s but dreamed of going on great adventures, hiking the worlds tallest mountains.
"There werent a lot of hikers who looked like me, she said. In 2007, after experiencing a dramatic 120-pound weight loss, Whitely, along with her husband, Chris, reached the summit of Mount Kilimanjaro.
Two years, one baby later and back up to about 300 pounds, Whitely made a second attempt to climb the mountain that ended in failure.
In 2011, Whitely trained for the climb but made her third ascent without attempting to lose any weight.
In April 2015, Whitely published, _Gorge: My Journey Up Kilimanjaro at 300 Pounds_. She completed the book while working with _Wild _author Cheryl Strayed in Butler Universitys Chamonix Summer Writing Program in the French Alps.
A blurb by Strayed appears on the cover of _Gorge_.
Since her first climb, Whitely has appeared on _Oprahs Lifeclass_, _Good Morning America_ and a Weight Watchers blog.
Now, 41 and a mother of three children, ages 8, 3, and 9 weeks old, she travels the country giving motivational speeches at universities and organizations like Google about adventure, moving past obstacles, fitness, eating disorders, body acceptance and more. Her next book, tentatively titled, _The Family Plot_ is scheduled for release in spring 2017.


*Question: *How did your dream of climbing Kilimanjaro begin?
*Answer:* When I was at my heaviest at 360 pounds, that was before my first weight loss, the highest thing I could hike was a staircase and even that had me winded.
I would get these adventure catalogs in the mail and even though I was incredibly sedentary at that time, I would just dream of going to those places  Machu Picchu or The Alps or Kilimanjaro  but Id be eating a king-size Kit Kat bar while doing it.
The first climb (on Kilimanjaro) was after a 120-pound weight loss, and I really did feel on top of the world. Then, as soon as I got down the mountain, I had another adventure and that was having a child.Like a lot of people who struggle with weight, I put on 70 pounds. I was really in a bad spot.
I tried to climb the mountain about two years later and, unfortunately, I didnt do the training and didnt devote the time to myself to get ready for the mountain, so that was an epic failure.


*Q. *What made you try a third time?
*A. *After that second attempt, I didnt feel like I could climb mountains or hike or do anything again.
Then I had some friends and a cousin who wanted to climb the mountain to raise money for the Global Alliance for Africa. So between us, there was all of this money on the line, about $25,000, for this charity that I loved.
Even though I was really struggling with my self-worth, I decided that I would try it one last time.
But this time was different. I wasnt looking at it as a weight-loss tool.
What I wanted to do was to love where I was, which was just about 300 pounds, and go from there. That was a very different take on my weight journey than ever before.


*Q. *How so?
*A.:* Because before, I would say, I hate the way I look, so Im going to go on a diet and do this detox because Im eating crap.
It was a much more loathsome conversation than deciding I was just going to do it as I was and not make it some miraculous weight-loss attempt. Because if I decided to do that, I knew I was going to fail.
So that meant finding a trainer who didnt see me as a before-and-after picture.
I trained really hard, but I didnt do it in a way that I was going to put down my body, so thats where the real healing happened. Of course, I did lose a few pounds here and there, but I went on the mountain as me, as only I could.


*Q. *It sounds like the mental challenges were just as great as the physical.
*A. *When you go on a journey as epic as Kilimanjaro and you do that much walking, you run out of things to say to your fellow climbers. So you spend a lot of time in your mind.
In life there are so many distractions. Im always looking at my phone or a TV a computer screen or something.
But on a mountain, its just you vs. the mountain. All you can do is put one foot in front of the other.
I decided when I did this climb, that not only was I going to love myself and go from there but also to figure out the root and reason why used food as crutch for so many years, not just the narrative of my father left and I loved him dearly and really missed him through my life and also I was sexually assaulted on my 12th birthday but really how that translates into everyday life when Im feeling lonely because my husband is out doing something and I go into abandonment mode.
Thats when I start using food  in those moments where Im suddenly left alone and the only thing I can do to calm that racing heartbeat or whatever is going through my mind is with food.


*Q.* When did you decide your experiences with the third climb could be the basis of a book?
*A. *I was already a writer and had self-published a book called _Fat Woman on the Mountain_ about my first climb. But with the third climb, I felt like I needed to write about not only about my journey of Kilimanjaro, but my issues with food with honesty and bravery because I knew that so many other people go through the same thing.
The more that I speak about it, now that Ive written about my food issues and put it all out on the table, so to speak, food doesnt have the same power over me because the challenge with my eating in the past was that I did so much of it in secret.
Of course, nothing was secret. You could see that I had gained weight.
But Id eat a half gallon of ice cream and then replace it. That's when I know Im really in trouble.
The more I talk about it and share my story, the healthier that I am.


*Q. *As a mother of three young children, how will you talk to them about weight and body acceptance?
*A. *Thats a big part of what Im writing about in my next book  the working title is _The Family Plot_  which is mostly about my community garden in our town. But it goes much deeper than that.
Theres a lot about this constant balance of your personal issues with weight and how you dont want to pass them on to your kids. But kids are kids, too, so they want to eat sweets and stuff.
Its an ever-changing and flowing issue: How do you live a healthy life for yourself and then for your family?
I think that journey started with what I wrote about in _Gorge _and continues every day of my life. Sometimes I get it right, and a lot of times I get it wrong.
But I strive to keep working to be a positive role model for my kids.


*Q. *You used the words fat and plus size interchangeably. Did you make a conscious decision on what words to use in your writing?
*A.* There is a saying that fat is something you have, not something you are.
Its true that I am fat. Even now my daughters friends will say, Your mom is really fat, or Your mom has a really big butt, and thats true.
I try not to use fat as a label. Its a description.
I am a larger hiker, but the most important thing is Im a hiker. Im an American Hiking Society ambassador because there a lot of people who are larger like me who want to hit the trails.


*Q. *Comments about your appearance from children are one thing, but how do you deal with them from adults?
*A.* I dont always deal with it well. Im human, and I still have that terror about bullies.
Ive certainly had my share.
The most important experience, which I wrote about in _Gorge, _was on the mountain when the porters were betting against me.
Theres a scene about how I discovered this. When the night before the climb, I could hear all of them laughing and using my name  they called me _mama kubwa_ which is Swahili for big woman and they kept saying it over and over again.
I confronted the guide and found out that they were betting against me on the mountain.
I asked the head guide, Did you make a money bet? and then, You should. You should bet on me. Thats one of the few times Ive had a good comeback.


*Q.* Whats the message you want people to take away from your experience?
*A.* The most important thing about my journey is how I learned to love where I am and go from there. Thats key in my life, to keep moving forward.
Thats what _Gorge _is really about. Love yourself and go from there.


*Q.* Do you have any upcoming adventures planned?
*A. *Id like to hike in Adirondacks in New York.
Id really like to go hiking in Hawaii sometime soon. And of course, Machu Picchu is still on my bucket list.


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## supersizebbw (Feb 16, 2016)

Thanks so much for the amazing post wrestlingguy! I live in East Africa and have always wanted to climb Mt. Kilimanjaro but always knew that it would be an impossibility due to my weight.

This woman's phenomenal story has rekindled that fire in me. I'm pledging to myself that I will climb that mountain, life is too damn short to worry about what society will think of a "fatty" climbing a mountain. If I want to do it I damn well should, no excuses. 

Would rep but it won't let me!


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## Green Eyed Fairy (Feb 16, 2016)

Love her picture


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## Yakatori (Feb 16, 2016)

Despite smattering of _sizeist_ (sp?) crap here or there. Video link case some of you just wanted to cut to that in a wider screen:

[ame]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mfdiJNFtyE8[/ame]


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## fuelingfire (Feb 17, 2016)

Sadly, I suspect the title "Gorge" was intended to be a pun...


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## Marlayna (Feb 17, 2016)

Kudos to her! Her legs muscles must be really strong. She's amazing.:bow:


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## a4c4 (Feb 18, 2016)

....Kilimanjaro, not Everest. 

It's a bit of a difference there. Kilimanjaro is not steep, you can walk all the way up.

You can't get to top of Everest unless you're a rock climber. And while I can imagine a 300 lb woman being a rock-climber, the biomechanics there (being able to pull your bodyweight up against the force of gravity) would imply a woman who's huge, but not fat. 

Impressive feat still. Hope she achieves her goals..


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## daddyoh70 (Feb 26, 2016)

Great post Wrestlingguy! Very inspirational and amazing woman. My wife and I travel to West Virginia now about 4 times a year to hike, I find it very relaxing and there's no judgement. I felt bad for Kara when she got upset while talking about going to the gym. I stopped going to gyms because I got tired of arguing with knuckleheads making fun of overweight people, who of all things, were going to the fucking gym.


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## wrestlingguy (Feb 27, 2016)

a4c4 said:


> ....Kilimanjaro, not Everest.
> 
> It's a bit of a difference there. Kilimanjaro is not steep, you can walk all the way up.
> 
> ...



Thanks, I guess I was overachieving a little there. Consider it changed.


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## wrestlingguy (Feb 27, 2016)

daddyoh70 said:


> Great post Wrestlingguy! Very inspirational and amazing woman. My wife and I travel to West Virginia now about 4 times a year to hike, I find it very relaxing and there's no judgement. I felt bad for Kara when she got upset while talking about going to the gym. I stopped going to gyms because I got tired of arguing with knuckleheads making fun of overweight people, who of all things, were going to the fucking gym.



I worked in the independent pro wrestling business for quite some time. I found that there was far less body judgment among the pro wrestlers, even though they also spent a lot of time at the gym. I think part of the reason was that there were a lot of fat wrestlers that could work as well, and as long as the guys and girls who spent more time working out.

I wish the knuckleheads could take lessons from them. 

View attachment knuckleheads.jpg


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## landshark (Feb 27, 2016)

daddyoh70 said:


> Great post Wrestlingguy! Very inspirational and amazing woman. My wife and I travel to West Virginia now about 4 times a year to hike, I find it very relaxing and there's no judgement. I felt bad for Kara when she got upset while talking about going to the gym. *I stopped going to gyms because I got tired of arguing with knuckleheads making fun of overweight people, who of all things, were going to the fucking gym.*



So true. I have a gym at work and a membership near my home. The one near my home is a large facility and pretty nice. It's a good environment and even though it's a traditional gym with all the free weights and machines, it is not full of "bros" and meatheads. People are genuinely polite there, have good gym etiquette, etc. But the truth is insufferable fools are everywhere, even at my otherwise fantastic gym. 

I commented to a few guys a couple times, but honestly it's a waste of time to try to convince people who are bent on making fun of others. It especially makes no sense in the gym because in theory the person they are making fun of is there to change what he/she is doing. But try reasoning with an idiot. It cannot be done!


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## daddyoh70 (Feb 27, 2016)

wrestlingguy said:


> I worked in the independent pro wrestling business for quite some time. I found that there was far less body judgment among the pro wrestlers, even though they also spent a lot of time at the gym. I think part of the reason was that there were a lot of fat wrestlers that could work as well, and as long as the guys and girls who spent more time working out.
> 
> *I wish the knuckleheads could take lessons from them*.



Exactly, this brings back memories of Haystack Calhoun, Abdullah the Butcher and King Kong Bundy just to name a few! Great wrestlers and well respected.



happily_married said:


> So true. I have a gym at work and a membership near my home. The one near my home is a large facility and pretty nice. It's a good environment and even though it's a traditional gym with all the free weights and machines, it is not full of "bros" and meatheads. People are genuinely polite there, have good gym etiquette, etc. But the truth is insufferable fools are everywhere, even at my otherwise fantastic gym.
> 
> I commented to a few guys a couple times, but honestly it's a waste of time to try to convince people who are bent on making fun of others. It especially makes no sense in the gym because in theory the person they are making fun of is there to change what he/she is doing. * But try reasoning with an idiot. It cannot be done!*



This! Sometime during the course of the conversation, I'd ask them if that was the only thing they could do to make them feel better about themselves, but it usually went right over their heads.


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## landshark (Feb 27, 2016)

daddyoh70 said:


> This! Sometime during the course of the conversation, I'd ask them if that was the only thing they could do to make them feel better about themselves, but it usually went right over their heads.



I usually keep to myself and am not confrontational at all in public. I even drew a lot of fire for this approach here on Dims for not speaking up when someone said something nasty about my wife:

http://www.dimensionsmagazine.com/forums/showthread.php?t=114738

But as I stated in that thread, it's a case by case situation for me. And last fall a situation I reacted to a group of teens at my local gym. It was an almost involuntary and spontaneous reaction; not my usual M.O. It happened when a group of boys, likely HS seniors or juniors were making fun of a bigger girl who was working up a sweat on a nearby elliptical. This group of 4 were in the dumbbell section and the one time I actually saw them pick up some weights to do anything they used the 15 pounders to do curls. They were not discreet at all as they made fun of her, even pointing, arms fully extended and laughing. She was facing our direction and saw them, though she obviously couldn't hear them (earbuds in). She made eye contact with me and just shook her head. 

I was mildly annoyed already so when one of them said, "Look at that fat pig sweat." I'd heard enough. I politely said, "Yeah, look at her sweat from all the effort she's putting in. It would be awesome if everyone here tried that hard instead of standing around joking with their buddies and using weights lighter than what my wife uses for the same exercises." I got a snicker and a "fuck off" out of one of them and dumbfounded looks of stupidity out of a couple others. They nonchalantly moved down a few feet and unsuccessfully attempted to curl the 25s. 

It gets better.

A couple very fit/attractive early 20-somethings arrived and the boys turned their attention to scoping them out in between their pathetic attempts to curl the 25s. I wasn't done with them, so I rather loudly said, "Form is more important than weight, so if the 25s are too heavy you should go back to the 15s." Both of the girls heard and laughed. The group left shortly thereafter. 

I'm no crusader, but I had just reached a breaking point and wasn't going to let some snot-nosed peach fuzz get away with acting the way they were. It was just too obnoxious to ignore.


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## supersizebbw (Feb 27, 2016)

I go to the gym and the one thing I made sure to do from day 1 was have my ipod playing music on high volume to drown out all the "noise" and the stares and the ignorance. That helped alot, together with just looking at my machine in the mirror and not looking at anyone else as I could always feel "stares". Especially when I was new there every now and again there'd be comments.

Sometimes women really are our own worst enemies, I remember when I was new I went to the lighter weights rack (that mostly women use) and I was on one side and a slender woman was working out next to me, the trainer passed by (i had my earphones on but music was off that time), she told the trainer that she wanted to put on abit of weight on in "all the right places", then she added but she doesn't want to look fat as a pig and both she and the trainer burst out laughing.

I was so humiliated I wanted to run out of there crying. But I continued working out pretending I hadn't heard anything. I went home feeling defeated wondering what the point of it was but decided I won't let others win, what matters is my health, so I went back the next day and continued ever since. I honestly don't know what's wrong with people sometimes.

Another time i went to do some weights in the heavier weights section (mostly men's area), and i quickly left to refill my water bottle but left my stuff on my space to show it's "booked", I came back within seconds to find some guy had taken over my space doing his workout. I felt defeated and wanted to pick my stuff and leave. Then decided instead to wait till he was done with that set, as he walked away afew steps to take a break I moved back to the spot and continued with my workout. He started giving me really horrible looks and I heard him mutter something under his breath like "fat b!tch". Once again I wanted to burst into tears but did not give him the satisfaction, I took my time to finish my sets. He always gave me dirty looks after that but luckily it's like he doesn't come to the gym anymore.

I honestly don't know what the hell is wrong with people sometimes, just because I'm a fatty doesn't mean that I don't belong in a gym. Truth be told, if I could afford it I'd just get my own gym setup at home...but for now I've just got to brave it up and keep going to the gym, ignorant douchebags and all sigh.


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## landshark (Feb 27, 2016)

^ And from our discussions on the daily exercise page, you kick some serious ass in the gym, do you not?


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## supersizebbw (Feb 27, 2016)

happily_married said:


> ^ And from our discussions on the daily exercise page, you kick some serious ass in the gym, do you not?


^^ Haha Guilty as charged  

The older I get the more i'm learning to let the hateration be my motivation.


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## Yakatori (Feb 28, 2016)

If you mostly want to avoid the worst people at the gym, go when they're least likely to be there, before about 11:00 AM.

Not to stereotype, but the morning gym-goer overwhelmingly tends to be older, more mature, and more directly focused on just their own work-out. So, even as much as sizeist attitudes persist, these people don't really have any time for any of that.

Especially as you become '_a-regular_', a fixture of their own routine. They will tend to warm-up to you.

Contrast this with a mid-day or afternooon crowd, and it's just a lot more crowded, a lot more competition for space, machines _ect_....A lot of younger, poorly-socialized people, people not really used to either dealing with each other or being around such mix of ages and interests. So, fairly or not, I think at some level the fat people make for a natural scape-goat against which some are acting out their own frustrations. With their bodies, of course, progress they aren't making there or from a work-day they've come from or are otherwise not looking forward to. Or just having to be around other people.

However, if you want to confront them, but don't really feel like interacting too much further about it than just that; take a picture and email the director about it, explaining what happened. Not saying this will produce instant results, but you'll soon know the real value of what you're paying for in that membership.


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## Ilegalpat (Mar 3, 2016)

She must be in good shape.


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## Sculptor (Oct 10, 2016)

What a legend!


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## Iannathedriveress (Oct 10, 2016)

This is inspirational


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## socrates74 (Nov 22, 2016)

I am all for it. The next logical evolutionary step: What North American location offers a similar* challenge?

* or slightly harder.


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