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The Good Thick: The new fitness group promoting healing for Black women

After a series of struggles and gaining weight during pregnancy in the pandemic, Sherrell Duncan decided to help other women while also helping herself.

PRINCE GEORGE'S COUNTY, Md. — A Prince George’s County woman chose to create something beautiful out of an ugly situation.

After a series of struggles and gaining weight during pregnancy in the pandemic, Sherrell Duncan decided to help other women while also helping herself.

“We push healing all the time it’s mainly healing from the inside out, from the rooty to the tooty – we are promoting healing all around,” Duncan said.

She started a fitness brand called, "The Good Thick" back in 2013 after overcoming some serious obstacles.

“It came from my depression. It came from me eating uncontrollably. It came from me drinking uncontrollably. So, from 2013, I’d say, until about to when my husband and I got married in 2016, I was going really hard with, The Good Thick,” Duncan explained.

Many people may remember Sherrell and her husband, Alfred, from a viral video of their wedding and the hashtag "Forever Duncan."

“My husband proposed to me and married me on the same day,” Duncan said.

The couple was on a high. Their viral moment opened doors for them to make multiple media appearances and host seminars and workshops while the Good Thick was left on the back burner.

However, in 2020, Duncan said her life hit another low point during the pandemic.

Her family was struggling financially, she was having a baby, feeling down on herself, and got up to around 300 pounds.

“I put up a video of me running up and down the stairs still at 300 pounds after I had the baby, and I said, 'Hey y’all. I’m back. What’s up? What we going to do?'” Duncan recalled.

Before she knew it, 100 people signed up to hold each other accountable in their weight loss and healing journeys.

RELATED: Prenatal & postpartum fitness tips

The group of Black women worked out online, walked the Woodrow Wilson Bridge, held fitness camps and supported each other along the way.

Many of the women have documented making powerful transformations on The Good Thick’s Instagram page.

The support and growing community showed Duncan how a vulnerable and courageous moment could lead to the relaunch of a business she thought she’d never start again and to inspiring other women who share similar stories.

“Their hardships may not be my hardships or my struggle or what my struggle was because I promise I asked God I don’t want to have no more struggle stories. No more struggle stories Jesus. No more,” Duncan laughed.

RELATED: DC data reveals fitness classes are not major source of COVID-19 outbreaks.

Duncan added The Good Thick has now become the official fitness sponsor for Tanger Outlets at the National Harbor and the trailhead to the Woodrow Wilson Bridge.

The fitness and wellness group is hosting a health expo on June 5 at Tanger. CLICK HERE for more information.

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