Hi, I’m Ragen Chastain.

I’m a Speaker, Writer, Dancer, Marathoner, ACE Certified Health Coach and Functional Fitness Specialist, in Training to be an Iron-Distance Triathlete, Activist, and Real Live Fat Person!

Welcome to my little corner of the web.

October Workshop

Dealing with Fatphobia at the Holidays

From Halloween Costumes to New Years Resolutions Live, Recording, and a Pay-What-You-Can Option

Click Here for Details and Registration Subscribe to my blog (up there on the right-hand corner) Why “danceswithfat?” I started this blog when I was competing in partner dancing. I keep blogging because there are people who hate themselves and their bodies because they don’t think they have another choice, and because there are people who diet only because they think it’s the only way to pursue health or happiness. I’m not trying to tell anybody what personal choices they have to make. My goal is and has always been to let as many people as possible know about the options of Size Acceptance and Health at Every Size. I believe that basic human respect is for people of all sizes. I believe in the concept of Intersectional social justice and I wear the label of Social Justice Warrior like a badge of honor. I know that ally is a verb, and I know that understanding my own privilege and using it to help dismantle the systems of oppression from which I directly benefit (including, in my case, racism, ableism, healthism, transphobia, and the good fatty/bad fatty dichotomy) is crucial and my basic responsibility in order to be a decent human being. My pronouns are she/her/hers.

Want to see some of that dancing? This is my coach and I doing a West Coast Swing showcase to Bette Midler’s I’m Beautiful. Enjoy!