Too Fat to go to the gym??? WHAT!?!?

From what I've seen, the gym is the one place where everyone is mainly seen as equal (well except for those with poor gym etiquette--but we won't go into that). Regardless of what level of fitness you're currently at, everyone acknowledges that everyone there is trying to improve themselves and is putting forth a serious effort to do it. And in that regard they respect each other and welcome each other with open arms. Or as close as they will realistically get to that in a gym setting, which usually means refuse to acknowledge anyone else's presence while getting their work-out on.

I'm 401 pounds and I go to the gym.. sure I get some looks but I just ignore them.

/thread

Example that you are not to skinny or too fat to involve yourself in strength activities. Like your determination brother! Gyms are full of egotistical people and if you have to tell them to *kitten* off then do it. Otherwise most dedicated people go there and don't bother about how others look and just work hard and leave. The gym is not some place where perfect people are there to look perfect and therefore you need to mirror their image. Just a place to work out thats all.

that is sad about getting bad advice from a person at the work gym. There are medications that people have to take for high blood pressure that never allows their heart rate to increase. So if your friend is diabetic, and has health issues then their heart rate may have a medical and medication reason for not increasing. Does not mean they are not losing weight.

Weight is as individual as a person.

When I was overweight and started going to the gym, I hated people looking at me. Many of them smiled. I hated that. I thought they were being condescending and rude. I thought they were snickering at me. It was disheartening.

I went to the gym a few weeks ago and a heavy person came in and my first thought was "look at her! She's in here working hard, doing the same thing I did! What a great accomplishment". So I smiled and nodded.

And I realized, at that moment, that most of the people who were smiling at me when I was heavy were probably thinking the same thing I do now.

Plus, of course, I kept going to the gym despite what I thought people thought - because if I didn't, it would never change. I didn't lose weight to impress anyone, I lost weight so I could live longer.

on this note, I find overweight people exercising very motivating for me. Why? Because I am lazy as hell and really never had to go to the gym/run/whatever. I always played team sports and stayed in great shape. Now I am older, I find myself having to go to the gym or start running.

That being said, I want SO BAD to just hug the overweight person for getting out there and being a much more disciplined person than I am!

Would they be offended?

Years ago I worked for 24 Hour, just as a desk person, and I was very large. I remember my first week of work, a friend and I started working out, and when we walked into the locker room a skinny little thing in a (no joke) pink velvet outfit with loads of makeup said to her friend: "We need to start going to a different gym. There's too many ugly people coming here." Stupidest comment I've ever heard anyone make. Imagine her surprise to see me working the next time she came in, lol. Ahh, made me happy

We don't have 24hr anymore, but we got anytime, and I love it. I do prefer to go late at night, but I workout hard, and even though I am still really big, the guys that come in at the same time are always very nice and friendly. I agree with a lot of people so far- that's what the gym is for! Why judge people who want to be healthy?

Some people are just horrible human beings thats all.

That being said, I want SO BAD to just hug the overweight person for getting out there and being a much more disciplined person than I am!

Would they be offended?

Depends on the person. I would (in all honesty) probably have been offended, because I was in a bad place emotionally at the time. Anything you said to me would have been misinterpreted in the worst possible light for sure. I've been obese pretty much from the time I was 12 years old until pretty recently, and I'm well north of 40 now. I've been in an emotional bad place about my weight for most of my life, and the bullying I received in grade and high school as a result of my weight made sure that I was set up to assume that everyone was against me, a misconception that lasted well into adulthood.

But I can only speak for myself, there are probably people who (if you explained how inspirational you found them to be) might offer YOU a heartfelt hug as thanks.

That's why I look back at a lot of my interpretation of looks and smiles from others with some level of regret. I now understand that many of those people were silently cheering me on. I didn't back then because my own self-imposed sense of lack of self worth assumed that pretty much everyone saw me as I saw myself, which was not a nice self-image.

But I never went to the gym to impress anyone. I went to the gym because I was sick and tired of not being able to do all the things I wanted to do because of my own laziness and poor emotional state and the poor physical condition it left me in. I went to the gym because I had already wasted what were supposed to be the most exciting years of my life being fat, and I needed to make the most of what I've got left.

I've seen it and overheard it.. mainly from people who have too much time on their hands and arent working out like they should. it's usually in passing (like you overhear some conversation about "did you see what that one girl was wearing in class?") so i've never stopped and told them to shut up. if it were something that i had to listen to for an extended time then i'd definitely speak up.

i wouldnt let that stop me though. i pay my gym dues just like they do and if i ever heard anyone making fun of me (i dont care what they say as long as i dont hear it) then i'd quickly tell them to kiss my fat *kitten*.. besides that i've always been good at snaps and insults so if someone were to make fun of me for 1 thing, it's almost guaranteed i can quickly come back with 5 for them

very true!

the thing is - if you are pretty large, or obese, or morbidly obese - people will stare at you, judge you, whatever, no matter where you are. The grocery store, the mall, post office, gas station.

Thats just a part of the package. Not nice, but reality, people should not use it as an excuse for not trying to do what they can do, to better themselves, improve their fitness etc.

Heck if you are to thin, to blond, to buff, to short, to tall, people stare also, and judge.....

We all started somewhere, and really non of us have arrived to our goal - we should all still strive to improve everyday, in many ways, not just the physical.

'

I agree with this 100%. I really don't think it matters where you're at.... people judge others ALL the time.. it's just life. People can be cruel, but ignoring it is the best way to go! You're doing the right thing in the right place!

Here's my tuppence worth from the UK:

1. I am six foot tall and big with it (of course, when I was younger, either I had 'big bones' or could 'carry the weight'. No folks, I just got fat. Why should I be concerned about what people think now that I am seeking to lose weight and shape up? I never gave those same people a thought when I scarfing a king-size pizza somewhere .... double standards folks.

2. Hurrah to the girl who mentioned about gym clothes. Nike only do in this country up to a size 18. Susan Powter was an advocate of big girls stripping down in gyms because then a) you can really SEE your body and b) you can see it change shape as you move and lose ... yes, not to everyone's taste, but you can't argue with the theory. Although I love my big old baggy grey t-shirt, i know that when I start to feel fitter, I want to SEE the results - not hide it under a XXL T.

3. Finally - and this is the rant over and on behalf of all the non-skinny, gym bunnies of either gender ... NO MATTER HOW SLOW WE ARE MOVING IN THE GYM, WE ARE STILL LAPPING THE GUY STILL ON THE SOFA. Kudos to us - and I think that's what most gym goers actually think.

Rant over folks but keep the controversial threads going!!!!

Enjoy your weekend!
x

Huzzah!

Glad you enjoyed it ... I had an experience at the Y (YMCA) recently where there was a significantly larger male working out in the corner ... I kept trying to catch his eye to give him a smile or a nod ... but he never looked up ... in either case, he is awesome to me. But yes, I loved the blog too ... it was powerful, and true.

This is how I feel. I came across this blog and thought I'd share ...

http://flintland.blogspot.com/2012/05/hey-fat-girl.html

This brought a tear to my eye. Thank you for bringing this up. I really appreciate it. :flowerforyou: