Looking for fitness inspo to get you going this Spring? WDW Magazine contributor and TikToker Nate Weir is here to talk fitness, Disney style!
Disney has always been a place where all people are welcome and loved. The movies and characters are inspirations to us all; each story carries a message of hope, and the parks are a place of respite from the troubles of life.
Ultimately, Disney inspires us all to be the best versions of ourselves.
One such person that exemplifies this Disney ideal is that of Nate Weir. I have never actually met Nate, but have interacted with him a number of times through his @nate.k.weir Instagram account, and his positivity and encouragement through this platform is indeed genuine.
He must be doing something right to have amassed a Herculean number of social media followers, including having 58K followers on Instagram and 9.1M likes from 630K fans on TikTok and counting.
To really get to know Nate, then you also have to know what started his journey.
Catalyst For Change
Courtesy of Nate Weir
“Fitness is a relatively new thing for me,” Nathan confessed. While active in elementary school, “complacency with relationships, school,” and other factors caused him to fall out of shape going into his young adult life.
A sudden break up after a 10-year relationship caused Nathan to reassess his life situation. Nate “was branching out and starting a new chapter in my life… I was a little out of shape so I just wanted to work on myself and love myself”.
When asked if the motivation was to improve his overall health, Nate was direct in saying that “It wasn’t a spark to get fit but more of a spark to feel better about myself.”
Fitness Focused
Courtesy of Nate Weir
With no past experiences in training, Nate decided that he had to start somewhere. The initial goal was to do something physical for 15 minutes a day.
“What can I do to go to bed every night and think that I have done something that makes me feel good?” he asked. “Fitness was the easy way to do this every day.”
The build of each day and the full body exertion made him motivated to keep going and doing more, whether it was doing HIIT (high intensity interval training), Tabata, or going for a jog.
runDisney
During runDisney events, you get to run through the parks! Photo Courtesy of Disney
Soon into the lifestyle change, he set a new lofty goal: to participate in runDisney’s Disney Princess Half Marathon. Besides the workout itself, he was excited to be around people who had similar passions.
With runDisney events, “Everyone’s dressed up and rooting each other on. There’s not a single negative person in that crowd of 20,000 people.” Nate added. “This is the first time that I really felt like I belong here.”
Disney and Fitness are Key Elements
Courtesy of Nate Weir
Nate is grateful for both his fitness and Disney families because they allowed him to “to be [him] self.” Being a Disney adult is about “accepting being a child at heart and enjoying what you enjoy”.
Disney fans around the globe are a welcoming group who get to be who they are. “When I wear a Disney shirt in public…it doesn’t matter what anyone says because I have gotten over trying to be someone else. It’s not worth it.”
Hercules and Spiderman
Courtesy of Nate Weir
Zeus’s decree that “a true hero isn’t measured by the size of his strength, but by the strength of his heart,” holds true for Nate. So does the Spider-man proverb “With great power comes great responsibility”.
Why?
“I grew up with these characters,” he said. “These are the characters that were my mentors… who inspired me to be who I am.”
Nate’s Message To His Followers
Courtesy of Nate Weir
“Everyone is on their own journey,” Nate reminded me. “Everyone has their own body and enjoys different things, but you really need to know how to love yourself to figure out what that means.”
For that reason, “Building this [fitness] community was a priority before anything else.”
Head over to Nate Weir’s website to start your life-changing journey.
To learn more about Nate, including his favorite type of workouts and his body confidence, check out the full video on YouTube, and tell us about YOUR fitness goals over on our Facebook page!
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