Kelly Roberts and her family were absolutely shocked when her 16-year-old brother suddenly passed away.
While grieving, Kelly gained 75 pounds in a short amount of time. She quickly realized she needed to get healthy and get her life back on track.
Three months later, Kelly started running. When she started running races, she shared photos on her Instagram account. It kept her accountable to herself and to her fans, and it inspired others to push themselves. Now, Kelly is a marathon runner.
Eventually, Kelly launched the #SportsBraSquad and started running without a shirt on. She felt more exposed, but she was proud of how strong she felt when she portrayed confidence in her body.
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While most people find Kelly's story motivational, there are (of course) haters who feel like they need to drag her down.
Afterwards, the marathon runner shared one of the most horrendous emails she's gotten from a stranger. Then, she responded in the best possible way.
[H/T: PopSugar]
Kelly works hard to empower women everywhere to feel more confident in their appearance and to realize how strong their bodies are.
With each of her Instagram posts, she opens up about the struggles and challenges she faces — and how she manages to push through.
Kelly, who also has a podcast and posts vlogs, inspires people all over the world.
One woman wrote, "I'm a new runner, and I've been listening to your podcasts on my runs and they keep me motivated to keep going. You keep it real and don't sugar coat it, so I know what I'm going through is normal and I'm not crazy!!"
Unfortunately, Kelly also receives bullying messages from strangers about her weight.
In June, she decided to share one of these horrible messages to point out just how unreasonable they are.
The man emailed Kelly and wrote:
I’m curious why you don’t simply have the discipline to go on a diet and lose the excess fat you have?
You could look great in weeks with a proper ketogenic diet.
Instead, you rather literally run away from your problems and act like losing a family member is the harshest thing on earth and thereby grants you the right to pontificate to the rest of us about strength?
Help me out here, what am I missing about all this? Fatness is (when not genetic) a symptom of the excesses of modernized, industrialized society and not something to flaunt.
After sharing this email on Instagram, Kelly wrote:
Dear man who found it appropriate to send me this email,
Once upon a time, your words would have cut me like valyrian steel. Today? They remind me how important it is to change the way we see strength.
Because what you call fat, I know can run a marathon in 3 hours and 41 minutes.
I hope one day you can obtain the strength I've worked tirelessly for. Until then, know that I will spend the rest of my life empowering the women you hope to shame.
You will lose. You already are.
The #SportsBraSquad is strong as hell. See you at the finish line. I'll be the one giving you a high five when you get there.
Kelly's fans responded the way we all wish we could, by calling this man a "trash can," a "loser," and a "troll."
One woman wrote, "As a bereaved sibling myself, I am utterly appalled at this man's message… That man is a bully, plain & simple. You are so inspiring!"
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