Influencer RV Mendoza's New Year's Resolution Is to "Just Do It Fat," a Reminder to Live Your Best Life Now

RV Mendoza

Each January, scores of people make New Year's resolutions that have something to do with weight loss. On social media, people make largely empty promises to start a new fad diet, start a consistent gym routine to drop 10 pounds, or to fit into those jeans that have been sitting in the back of their drawer for years. At best, this is just boring: it's the same story every year of people en masse promising to shrink their bodies, aiming toward mostly arbitrary weight loss goals for aesthetic purposes. At worst, it's a triggering reminder of our societal obsession with thinness, one that fuels eating disorders, crash diets, and other unhealthy behaviors.

That's why content creator RV Mendoza's resolution is both refreshing and welcome. This year, Mendoza will be achieving their dreams in their body no matter its size. Instead of waiting until you lose weight to take a trip or buy a swimsuit you love, Mendoza urges you to “Just Do It Fat.”

Mendoza posted a now-viral TikTok on New Year's day, encouraging viewers not to wait for a smaller body to achieve their dreams.

“GWORL, just do it fat! Don't wait until you've lost enough weight, you're worthy of taking up the space that you fill,” Mendoza says in their post. “Live your life now. Don't wait for some future version of yourself that you think will be more deserving. You have every right to pursue your passions and dreams just as you are today.”

Since posting on January 1, Mendoza's post has wracked up nearly 200,000 views and almost 1,000 comments, including a supportive one from Lizzo. Teen Vogue talked with Mendoza about their body-positive slogan, how they overcome self-doubt, and what they'll be doing fat in 2025.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

Teen Vogue: How did you come up with “Just Do It Fat,” and what inspired you to make this post?

RV Mendoza: As the new year comes up, people start asking, ‘what your New Year’s resolutions, what are you going to do this year?' I wanted to contribute a sense of gentleness and encouragement online. As I look back on New Year's day — I made this on New Year's day — I was reflecting and for me, confidence comes from being able to look back at my personal history of triumphs. Having those stories to look back at reminds me that I've done it before, I can do it again. I've always found a way to try. Look at all these beautiful memories I have of me swimming, climbing, lifting weights. I had to find the clarity to do it anyway, even if I felt like I didn't belong there, even if I was scared I wouldn't fit into the harness. The pleasure I got from doing those activities wasn't even close to the anxiousness I felt [about my body]. I wanted to give people an anchor to hold onto as the new year comes: just do it fat.

TV: Have you struggled personally with feeling like you needed to be thinner before doing something you wanted to? Or was this more a message for others?

RM: This is definitely something I struggle with, especially in my past, but it's a continual thing I have to deal with. I started a beginner dance class [recently]. Sometimes I have to ask myself, ‘do I belong in the room?’ I have to remind myself that I belong there just as much as anyone else. We’re all beginners. In my caption [on the Just Do It Fat post] I wrote that everything good that’s happened to me has happened in this body. Like it or not, this is the body I have and it has carried me through every good thing that’s happened so far. The feeling of, ‘I belong here, I get to be here, I paid for this class,’ helps me push through and do it anyway. A lot of people ask me where my confidence comes from. It comes from a personal history of triumphs.

And, it's ok to change your body if you want. As long as it's your heart's desire, something you consent to. Not an expectation built on insecurity or other people's opinions.

TV: Why do you think people needed to hear this message right now?

RM: We live in a time where everything is [like a] highlight reel [because of social media]. So we tend to wait to do something — it’s like, ‘I’ll start living my life when I finish high school,' ‘when I make enough money, I’ll do the thing,' ‘when I lose enough weight, I’ll do the thing.' The reason we do anything is because we feel like we’ll feel good in having it. [I want people to] realize you can have it now. You can feel good now. I've always been that person who overthinks, overanalyzes. Then I realized that you cant steer a parked car. You have to take some sort of action and trust that the path will reveal itself. I've been that person — once I lose the weight, or fit into this …it’s so tired! I was like, you know what? I'm going to do it fat. Im going to do it scared, I'm going to do it single. I'll start with what I have.

I think young people should definitely hear this, especially right now in this visual life when everything is very polished. People have things so together [online]. But I think no matter what age you are, all of the things you feel like you missed out on are stored in escrow for you and gaining interest. If you can find the courage to cash in now, you’ll get all those things you believe you missed. I'm doing it for that younger version of myself, I'm becoming that person I needed when I was younger.

TV: What will you just do fat in 2025?

RM: I'm starting a dance class for absolute beginners. I want to keep swimming — I swim about 1.5 miles a week. I want to keep climbing and take myself out on dates — do it single. In 2025, I want my desires to be prioritized more than where I think I am in life. I want what I want to matter more to me than what people think.

My whole thing is, pursue your nearest desire to the best of your ability. I wanted to learn surfing, but I live in Michigan. What am I going to do with that? My nearest desire was surfing, but my best ability was swimming. I found swimming as a treasure that allows me to care about my body, not just measured by aesthetics, but how I move in the water. Now I have something to look at and see: my body is helping me swim all these miles every week? That’s beautiful.

Originally Appeared on Teen Vogue