Getting past the embarrassment barrier of exercise?

scottkjar

Don't go to the places where you don't want to be. Skip the gym. Skip the pool.

Go for a walk around the block. Later, you can walk around it twice. You can walk around it faster. You can walk around 2 blocks. You can walk up and down some stairs. Walking is a wonderful way to get started. Walk in the park. Walk up and down a hill. Eventually, you can go for a hike if there are any steeper hills or mountains nearby.

marycmeadows

If anyone is taking time to judge you while you are working out they aren't working hard enough!! I was lucky enough to join an amazing gym that has a really positive supportive staff (in fact I become a personal trainer and have worked there for the past year)..... I don't judge anyone who's trying. Because too many people are too lazy/scared to even get started!

martinel2099

People at the gym are actually very supportive and from my experience not judgmental at all. I've heard rare stories of *kitten* hats at gyms, but the stories are rare.

Get in there and go YOU.

GardenGirlie

I started out walking very early in the morning. No one was out and about, a car going by was very rare and to this day no one bothers me. I actually walk at any time of day now and do about 90 minutes. When I first started it was 20 to 25 minutes which felt like a marathon and would only be done very early in the day before most of the world had woken up for the day.

Doing this for a little while helped me to feel more comfortable being out and about and visible. It is ok to start with baby steps. Not everyone can just talk themselves into jumping in and going for it from the get go. The important thing is to just do a little something and keep pushing yourself to progress to get to the eventual goal, which in this case is being comfortable enough in your own skin to be exercising whenever and wherever it works for you without fear of judgement or being too scared to do so.

Good luck...you can do it!!!

squeakybuttcheeks

I have a very thin and fit spouse. I was super embarrassed to do anything in front of him. I started out asking him to sit in the living room with me and watch TV while I did some circuit training. I wouldn't let him look at me and I stared at him the whole time so I knew he wasn't moving his eyes haha. Slowly but surely I could feel the progress in my strength and I wanted him to see too. Now I am to the point where I want him to watch and join in!

_Resolve_

You have to realize that no one cares what you are doing, they are all to busy worried about themselves. The ones that do care what you are doing aren't working hard enough or are there to support you.

ils_1231

ive started doing barre classes... every time i go the instructor asks me if im new.

ive gotten better though! at first i had a really hard time getting through the classes, and now i think im ready to graduate to the next level. my mentality is okay im not great, but ill get better -- and i have! just know that everyone has had to take their first steps.... unless you've been continuously athletic your whole life ( re: my roommate) it'll be hard at first.

17ChargerGirl17

Make sure to go check out a couple of gym's and see which one is more comfortable for you.
There are a couple of gym's in my town and I prefer the one I go too over the other two because when I first started going, I felt more comfortable.

We are all going there for the same reason and hopefully no one is judging. You have to get past that. Grab your head phones, plug them in and start your work out. Don't think about the other people there and to be prefectly honest, who cares what anyone thinks. You are there for a reason and if they don't like it, then they don't need to look at you.

seltzermint555

I still don't go to a gym so I'm not going to be the most helpful person around. It looks like you have been given some excellent advice and thoughts already. For me, it was a matter of outfitting myself with the right "gear", I don't mean anything expensive, but when I first started REALLY trying to get more exercise I was at my all-time heaviest (over 300 lb) and I went out and bought a couple athletic-type outfits, hoodies & pants to go with t-shirts I already had, and some New Balance sneakers. That made me feel more prepared. Then I started with nightly walks at dusk or dark in my quiet neighborhood wearing my iPod. After just a couple of weeks, I felt like I belonged out there and was far less concerned about people possibly seeing me and thinking "wow look at that fat lady trying to get her walking in"...I felt like I belonged. Within a couple years of that, although I didn't lose a ton of weight and had not found MFP yet, I made it to the point of walking many MILES all through my town including busy streets, and wearing t-shirt and shorts and feeling pretty good and confident about myself. I had friends who were smaller that couldn't keep up with me and admitted they felt embarrassed to walk in their own neighborhoods. It felt good to have that hurdle behind me. I wish you the best!!!

jofjltncb6

Other people think less about you than you think.

I say fake confidence until you feel it. Go there, act as if you belong and in no time, you will

This^

And even if they do notice (or even say something), who cares? You aren't doing it for them.

NancyN795

I deal with it by not exercising where other people can see me. The platitudes like: "just ignore that people are judging you" or "people aren't judging you" or "find a gym that isn't like that" or whatever never worked. I know other people get over it and can exercise in public. I'm not one of them. I am very introverted and was ridiculed mercilessly as a kid for being uncoordinated. At this point in my life, I see no need to "get over it". I'm lucky to be able to work out at home. Not everyone can.

What I did was I got a used Nintendo Wii and balance board. I started with the original Wii Fit game that I got with the balance board and when I found that I could stick to that, I got some tougher fitness games. I used Game Fly to have a chance to try out different titles. Now I do Zumba on the Wii every day and that gets me a good cardio workout in the privacy of my own home, using minimal space.

I still struggle to find a way to get myself to work on my flexibility and do strength training but for where I am right now (considering my age, health and weight), I think the most essential thing is the cardio workout.

(I do miss swimming, the one "public" exercise I would be willing to do, despite having to change in the locker room, but I just don't want to spend the time it would take.)

As an FYI, most runners were that kid in school too. Just saying.

There are some really good body weight training programs out there - I use Convict Conditioning.

Pilates might be a good fit for you as well.

No, I don't think most runners were "that kid" in school, if "that kid" was me. The way I ran was one of the things I was teased about. Basically, I learned that if I moved in the presence of other people, I would be ridiculed.

I replied to give the person who originally posted the question the perspective that it is perfectly okay to never feel comfortable exercising around other people and that there are ways to get fit anyway.

I know there are programs for weight training, and flexibility. I just haven't found anything that I can stick with and that I can actually do without a lot of pain and or injuries. At some point, I may try to find something again but I'm not really looking at the moment.