Size Cycle Coach Inspires with Positivity: ‘You Can’t Hate Yourself in the Life You Want’ (Exclusive)

Amanda Hinds still remembers her favorite childhood bike.

«I was a tomboy when I was little,» the Belleville, NJ resident tells PEOPLE of her teal metallic Mongoose, a trick bike. I always liked the coolest bike.

But it was in 2015 that he brought his love of cycling indoors, trying his hand at indoor cycling. He liked it so much, he decided to get certified and pursue becoming a teacher.

He says he «was very close to becoming a cycling instructor – and it fell apart.» That’s because Hinds, 31, got his degree before the COVID pandemic, which closed gyms and fitness centers.

He tells PEOPLE: «It really affected me. «It was hard.»

Hinds says she was working from home at her business, and her relationship at the time was difficult – so she «turned to food a lot.»

“My downfall was definitely snacks. So I ate a lot of junk food, and also, emotional eating played a big part in it because I was in a situation that was really controlling my mental health in a negative way.”

It wasn’t until he went to practice in June 2021 that his doctor woke him up.

«He told me I was 298 lbs.,» says Hinds, who stands at 5’2″.

«It all reaches my middle, my back, my arms. It doesn’t go to my thigh, it doesn’t go to my thighs, it doesn’t go to the sweet spots,» he joked.

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It was at that moment that he decided to get back on the bike.

“About 300 lbs., I think [is] which really made me love a lot of things,» he says, noting that he has a bicycle in the house that «collects dust.»

«I tried. I was like, ‘Oh, this is so hard. This is not like cycling classes at the gym.’ »

He continued: «After my body, I said, ‘Okay, let me stop being afraid of my bike.’ I just remember saying, ‘I’m tired of being afraid to ride my bike.’ ”

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She said she started slowly, and after a few months, “I felt myself getting better and stronger. So, it didn’t take too long and it was, it was really fun. So I started not to be afraid or discouraged.»

That’s when he began to pursue becoming a cycling instructor again, eventually landing at CycleBar in Jersey City and Montclair. And now, he’s not just doing it for himself – he’s there for his customers.

“She’s your hype girl. I urge you to raise. I am in their position because I am still a rider and not always an instructor. So I know when you feel tired, I know the thoughts in our mind that we can have like you want to stop. ”

«So you start having, you know, negative thoughts of self-harm. I know all of that because I’ve been there and I’m still there.»

But as he says, “You can’t hate yourself in the life you want and the body you want. It doesn’t really work that way – like if you don’t work, you beat yourself up. »

So, he says, “I tell them I’m struggling too. I feel this very well with you. I’m going with you.»

And through her popular series, Hinds is also helping to reduce misconceptions about body size and health.

«There’s a lot of stereotypes about that, about unhealthy big bodies,» she tells PEOPLE. «When I go to the doctor, they’re often surprised that I don’t have high blood pressure or high cholesterol. Like, I can see it on their face. I can feel it in their house,» he says, adding, «It doesn’t bother me.

«I think when I’m up there and I’m a woman of color and plus size, I think people think, ‘If she can do it, so can I.’ And I want them to think so.”

But, he adds, «However, I don’t want them to see someone who is like them to feel that way, because that might also be something that limits themselves. Because if I waited to see someone like me doing this, I probably wouldn’t be here.»

He continues, «100% representation is important. But if you have to be the first to do it, you have to be the first to do it.»