Embarrassed to exercise at home.

Sauleeh

Heya guys! First time poster. I am 18 years old, and I find it awkward to exercise at home. I almost finished the 30 day squat challenge and did some other leg and arm exercises. Those are fine for me. But I managed to get my hands on the insanity DVD which seems amazing, and the before and after pictures seem so inspiring. The problem is, I live with my sister who is overweight, her husband, and her two children. My bedroom happens to be on the second floor, and each time I jump, or even walk heavier, the whole house shakes and everybody can hear everything. The day before yesterday my sister was in work, so her husband was at home downstairs in the living room. I knew that he might hear but I did the Insanity fit test. i was starting it and doing the jumps or whatever. Later my nephew comes up and asks 'Umm... My dad was wondering..what are you doing?' and I felt awkward and told him I'm exercising. And he asked me if he can do it with me. So I said sure, but I just felt so shy that his dad is downstairs listening to me doing something. My sister also has a treadmill, I'd like to use it, but again I'm too shy. It is in the living room so everybody is always there. I am too shy to do it there. I take my walks which are around 2 miles each day. It takes me around 40minutes walking. But I want to do the insanity so bad, but that stupid floor is so thin you hear everything. I couldn't do much when they aren't home. Sisters husband is home a lot during the day as he works at night at the end of the week. I have no idea what to do. Running outside is out of the question as I'm too shy, and gyms here are too expensive and you have to already buy 6 month memberships which I can't afford.

Help!

HollisGrant

A few ideas:

Does your house have a basement, where if you jump around it won't pound the floor?

Do you have a friend who might be an exercise buddy and you could watch the DVD at her/his house?

Do you go to church? Most churches will let you use their building for an activity if you're a member.

NicoleMGetsFit

Perhaps you could try and change your long walks to running? Maybe start a c25k program to get you started. That way you're outside not disturbing anyone and it is free.

Factory_Reset

Just get over it.

Put music in and go

Ain't nobody payin attention

FarAway02

At the risk of sounding blunt as hell the simple fact is that if you want to do this you need to get over your issues with it and decide to do it.

Nobody here will be able to magic you a thicker floor or a soundproof bedroom.... you just have to decide if being fit and healthy is worth a bit of mental discomfort.

Personally I have an anxiety disorder which means that any situation I'm not too keen on makes me more nervous than your average person. The idea of running outside was positively panic attack inducing. I now run out on trails 3/4 times a week. I decided what I wanted and I worked towards that.

Initially I would run at ridiculous times in the middle of no where in order for people not to see me...I now run whenever I fancy, wherever I fancy.

If you want to achieve your goals you need to be prepared to push past your anxieties. In order to get anywhere you need to be determined to make the journey.

LeeDahlen38

This is going to "write" a bit harsh, but understand it's NOT meant that way... I see a whole list of excuses in this... You have justified yourself out of doing this......Almost.... Now to turn it around, my question is... How bad do you want this?? Get back to me, and see how shy you really are?? I am extremely self conscious about my workouts which is why I do most at home, ( With the blinds closed) I Believe in You!! #NoExcuses Let's go! (and friend me if you like) Lee

thatch1234

I used to be really shy when running outside etc. But the strange thing is our heads tell us people are watching but in fact they are probably just admiring the fact that you are trying! I think pushing yourself to run outside or just do insanity will do wonders for your confidence. After you have done It 2-3 times you will be feeling so much better already and its just keeps getting better. Gl

pattypittman

wake up earlier than the family and workout? could you workout in the basement? I am not shy but i feel weird when my kids are eating breakfast watching me workout. Used to be okay when they were little, but they are teens now and yeah, it is weird.

Don't be shy about running or anything outside. Start by walking, do a couch to 5k program, i like the zombies run app. try some exercise classes. Join karate by the month, usually the first classes are free. at least go for a walk

be_patient

bump, because im in the same situation.

i just do it when everyone is out of the house, which is about 2-3 times a week.

aquarabbit

That's a tough mental block to come to. I could say don't be embarrassed, no one cares, let them hear you as long as you aren't disrupting them, etc. But it's not that easy, I know. And I grew up in a older home where if I so much as turned around in bed, you could hear it downstairs, so I get that. If they had a garage, that would be awesome! But if you only have a few places to work, finding a way around the shyness is key. Try having little motivational quotes that remind yourself not to be embarrassed. Then say them to yourself when you're not feeling 100% confident. Also remind yourself that if they see you working out, they might want to do the same. So you're the example. It's all about how you look at it. Don't look at it as "I don't want them to see me". Think of it as "I hope they get inspired by me". Don't think of it as "the treadmill is in front of everyone". Think of it as "I'm so glad I get to watch tv while this is getting used". And as with everything, it'll take time. With repetition, you'll get over this hurdle. I would just suggest pushing through as much as you can. If the problems come up, let them come up. But don't let your fear of the potential problems (which may not even happen) stop you from bettering yourself. You should be proud you're doing something good for yourself!

Sauleeh

I don't think I'm making excuses as such, as when they went on a week long holiday to England, I was on the treadmill almost every day! )

NicoleMGetsFit

I have no space in my house and the only place I can do Insanity is either my living room or my dining room (if I move the table and chairs!).
-My family are always in and get up very early, I have two young sisters who get up early (naturally, and for school).
Because of this I have been waking up at 5.30am to fit my workout in before people get up and before work... if I don't do that I have to wait until gone 10pm to do it if I want to do it in private.
If not I do it in the dining room, which has no door and is open to the center of the house. -It took me a while to get over doing it in front of everyone, but I do now and I get on with it.
Like they said, you just have to get on with it if you really want it.

Also, the rooms in my house are pretty small.
I'm just going to leave this picture here to hopefully give you an idea of what I'm on about... some moves are embarrassing, sometimes people are in the way, but you just have to make the most of what you have.

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kindasortachewy

I understan anxiety issues, I have suffered with them my whole life. But the only thing that can make it change is YOU. I would talk to the family about it and work up a plan of sorts, maybe everyone could take shifts 'in' the living room and you can have you 1 hour shift do to you video. 1 hour is not a long time to ask people to do something in their own rooms or outside

Reevsie123

They are family, why not have a chat and ask them, If they are "normal" I am sure they will be pleased to help you, it might even encourage them to join in.
My family are the opposite all come round here use my gym, have a shower drink my Powerade and go home (kids :grumble: )

Good luck be brave and go for it

Madame_Goldbricker

Agree with all the great suggestions. I'd also add if your nephew is interested then get the kids involved too. I bet they'd consider it fun/dance time, & I'm sure dad would jump at the chance to clear out of the way for an hour or so if it means he'll get some free time.

LorinaLynn

One way to not feel foolish is to do it with someone. Ask your sister if she wants to do it with you. You said she's overweight... maybe she feels the same way. That she wants to get in better shape, but is embarrassed.

I used to feel really self-conscious about running outside, mostly because I didn't want anyone to see me "fail" (ie, stop running). Then when I started Couch to 5K, and realized that many people do interval training... how would anyone know the difference between me failing to run, and stopping on purpose? No one knows what my training plan is. They don't know if I just ran for 30 seconds or 30 minutes. Moreover... they don't care. They're not paying attention to me. I'm no more interesting to them than a dead woodchuck on the side of the road. :laugh:

I realized I completely lost those inhibitions when I was doing the Zombies Run 5K app, and one of the exercises included 15 seconds of skipping. Yeah, like "tra la la la la" skipping like a little girl. And when the narrator told me to skip, I skipped. In front of a construction site. I had my earbuds in, my sunglasses on, and I didn't pay any attention to whether or not they were paying any attention to me. And skipping is fun!

I also wanted to add that when I started exercising, I didn't have much weight to lose, just about 25 lbs. A lot of my friends and family had a lot more to lose, and some of them said things like, "Why are YOU trying to lose weight?" But once I started getting fitter, a good percentage of them followed my lead and jumped on the bandwagon. You might be the pied piper for your family!

chani8

I'm a mother of a large family and I was the first one in my family to start exercising and I had to do it in the living room as there was no other place. I was also embarrassed at first. Then I started to get in shape and stopped being so embarrassed. Better yet, it was contagious. It took about a month before anyone joined me, but eventually they all joined me a bit. And now we're like a fitness-freak family now. Or is that, a freakin fit family?! Anyway, my point is, you might change lives, teaching by example.

jo_marnes

Toughen up and get over it. There is no reason to be embarrassed. But even so, I'd much rather be embarrassed for exercising than because I was fat and unfit

c2111

I'm afraid you just have to go ahead and do it, I exercise in front of everyone here they soon get used to it and switch off, sometimes they join in,

when I first did shred the neighbours complained about the grunting lol (had to explain it was exercise :blushing: )

the more you do it the better your confidence will be and then youll c25k ing it around town, ) Go Girl !

auroranflash

Doing things that scare you just because they scare you and completing it gives you a huge rush of confidence. Go get it.

yellowmirror

well I just wanted to say a few things.. First, I have anxiety disorder and I totally get this. I prefer exercising at home when no one is here. That's great during the school year but when the kids are out for the summer.. (and by kids I mean teenagers), they tend to bring their friends in and out at various times of the day/night and the only room I have enough room is the living room, which everyone has to go through! This is a real challenge. I also have a younger son who asked me to bike ride with him, so I began.. all 218 lbs of me (at the time), and I felt REALLY self-conscious. I ended up telling myself who cares if people stare this is fun! Until a week ago my son and I were out and a young man (teenager) drove by in a car laughing LOUDLY saying "look at the fat lady on the bike".. ugh, I was mortified like you wouldn't believe.. I am still humiliated over this.. I told myself at least I'm doing something and not sitting around.. but yeah, he was long gone.. my younger son didn't say anything but I'm just so embarrassed by this and haven't been on the bike since, it's a big fear of mine. But I lived through it.. so just do what you have to do, tell the family you are exercising .. and just do it. Good luck