I have been known to kvetch and whine about not wanting to go to the gym, being afraid of the social nature of sweating in front of strangers, and the idea of things jiggling and bouncing and (god forbid) slapping against each other as I go through my physical ministrations. We all have such a fear of of being thought of as different, that it often prevents us from doing some things that might be really really fun or fantastic or make our dreams come true.

Check out these nine inspirational people who refused to let their own image of their body's limitations stop them from achieving their dreams. No, not a single one of them has a weight issue, but man, it really puts my whining into perspective. I'm afraid that someone will think, "Look at that fat girl on the ellipticals" but here are people who should have decided that they were absolutely physically incapable of chasing their dreams and yet, they found a way to kick ass and take names anyway.

Yeah, my excuses? Totally put into perspective. I'll just be over here slapping away on the elliptical, 'k?