Self-Conscious About Sweating...

UpEarly

I'm a girl... shouldn't I 'glisten' or glow prettily when I workout? Instead I sweat like some crazy beast of burden, toiling somewhere close to the equator. I look like I've been dunked in a tub or caught in a downpour. Sweat literally pours off of my head and face (oddly, I don't sweat as much from other places on my body.) I don't think it's something that going to get better as my fitness level improves. I sweated as heavily when I was a competitive long-distance runner and I sweat just as much now, in my current chubby 39-year old form.

I always figured people noticed and thought "ewwww", but yesterday it was confirmed. I was finishing up the three steepest hills on my 5 mile route when I stopped to say 'hello' to a girl and her adorable 10-week old border collie puppy. She looked me up and down and said "WOW - you really sweat A LOT! Why?"

Ugh Ugh Ugh

I know there's nothing I can do to change the sweat, but it's so embarrassing and I'm so self conscious about it! There should be some kind of support group for profuse sweaters.

Jenscan

I'll join the support group! OMG, I'm like a hippo on the freaking Equator. And it didn't get better when I was in super-good shape many years ago, either. I honestly think it's genetic; my dad does the same thing. It was SO EMBARRASSING in yoga class when all those cute little yoga girls were blotting little sweat beads off their foreheads and I looked like I'd just come out of a pool.

So, I feel you, sistah. The sweat comes from these same places on me. :flowerforyou:

UpEarly

I'm glad it's not just me! SWEATERS UNITE!

rybo

Embrace your ultra sweatyness!

Maybe it's different cause I'm a guy, but don't let the sweat bother you.

zeeeb

my personal trainer said to me that it's good to sweat, it means your body is working effectively at cooling you down.

i sweat a bucketload, and more now than I used to. it was like a tap, as soon as I started working harder (i reckon I never used to get past the point of working at about 75%, but once I reached the next level, the tap turned on, and now, as soon as my heart rate gets up, the sweat starts).

And, yep, in the yoga classes i am the one towelling down numerous times, while everyone else doesn't even break a sweat. but I always do cardio before my yoga class, so my body is warm and working, and I find that if you do the poses properly, holding the correct internal muscles, you heat up, as opposed to many people who don't use the internal muscles at all.

I don't feel bad about it. i don't exercise to look good, i don't exercise to show off my fashionable workout wear, i don't wear make up while i work out, i work out to work out, and if i don't sweat profusely, i know i just haven't worked hard enough.

like they say in spin / cycle classes, if you aren't sweating on the floor, you really aren't working hard enough.

UpEarly

Maybe it's different cause I'm a guy, but don't let the sweat bother you.

I think it's definitely easier for a guy to be a heavy sweater! :-) Guys are supposed to be sweaty!

breezymom81

Hell no, the more I sweat the better I feel! I feel like it gives me power, I can do the hard work outs! And think of all the crap you are sweating out all that sodium and other crap I don't need!!!!

breezymom81

Embrace your ultra sweatyness!

Maybe it's different cause I'm a guy, but don't let the sweat bother you.

I embrace it and my husband tells me it sexy! Something about a good clean sweat, maybe it's because I am so energized after and feel good about my self when I 'm done!

jemmur

i've given up trying to look respectable while i'm running - i get really sweaty, i go a (not very) fetching shade of pink, my hair gets rebellious and i'm pretty sure my facial expressions and smudged makeup don't help the cause either!

i don't really care if people recoil in horror though - if i'm working hard, why should i expect to look like i'm not?! and if anyone's daft enough to make fun of me, i just beam and think smug thoughts about them obviously not being very well acquainted with physically demanding work themselves :laugh:

beccarockslife

LOL! I'm a face sweater to, I always wear a vest and shorts no matter what the weather and I'm always bright pink by the end of a workout.

Embrace it. Think of all the people not sweating as they sit on the couch! You are doing something positive and your sweat is a badge of honour.

That and I find sweat bands (yes like from the 80s) on my wrists help keep my face pink but not fountain like.

heathersmilez

I'm not a crazy sweater but I'm a pink/red-face exerciser. Always have been b/c of my fair/pink completion, I've never been overweight and have worked out regularly for 7+ years so it’s not a matter of being out of shape. It happens and it's just something you deal with.

In high-school after gym class tossing back on a uniform kind-of sucked but as an adult it doesn't stop me from heading to the mall after the gym. I toss on a hat and off I go, power walking through the mall… often unconsciously lol!

FullOfSpice

I'm disgusting when I work out. I run about 4 miles a day and after each run I am drenched, which is a good feeling, but at the same time I am embarrased. The worst part is I get sweaty in my crotch, it looks like I pee'd myself. I just hope no one sees me as I'm going back to my apt looking like that...

Qarol

Oh, I know how embarrassing that is. It makes me not want to work out in a gym. I just pour buckets of sweat from everywhere. My face gets red as a tomato. It's mortifying b/c people are cruel and just don't understand that everyone's sweat glands work differently. I can't help but think it's better to sweat more b/c that means your body is doing its job of cooling off. It's the people that hardly sweat at all that need to be careful about overheating. But sweat has such a stigma.

jpooley1988

I'm the same, I always have been even when I wasn't so overweight...

It used to really make me embarrassed and self concious, but now I just feel who care what other people think! I'm doing this for myself and the more I sweat, the more weight I am losing, and more 'crap' is coming out of my body to detox it

Who care what strangers think!!!!

dmoses

yea, being at goal weight doesn't have any influence on my sweat! i sweat profusely!!! even my eyebrows sweat... but i'm proud of it! i feel awesome when i'm sweating like that!!

Shizzman

View it as a sign of your working hard! Plus as you get into better shape you'll realize it makes you look extra kickass working out! At least thats what I think as I get sweating in the gym during lifting...I think after running the sweat makes me feel like I did a good job on the run and that it should help cool me down (especially with a nice breeze)

UpEarly

even my eyebrows sweat.

OMG - thank you for mentioning EYEBROW SWEAT! I totally have that, too! LOL

fteale

Everyone sweats! It's natural.

Loubell83

Honestly, I sweat so much at the gym, and the worst of it is that it is only really on my face. Everywhere else sweats a normal amount.

And to top it all off, I go the colour of a tomato. all heat in my body just rushes to my face.

However, at least I know I have worked hard! And that the pounds are falling off because I am getting a good cardio workout.

fitnessjch

I am proud of my sweat coz it means I have worked my *kitten* off!

Dont be self conscious, just go have a shower once completed, and you'll be back to your gorgeous self again!

Tic_Tac_Toe

I have been doing a spin class and I can feel the sweat pouring off my face & down my hair. It is gross! Especially when you can't towel off fast enough and it's getting in your mouth, lol. I feel like I look **** afterwards but I don't care. I'm not there to impress and I sweat a lot anyway.

RuthRW

I've always looked like a potential heart attack victim while exercising!
My head sweats more than any other part of my body, add that to a bright red face and it isn't surprising someone once stopped me years ago at a gym and said I needed to take a break. It was embarrassing.
After over 10yrs of doing nothing now I exercise at home with the kids and after I am done with a workout my oldest says "Mommy, you are all wet - you must have worked hard".
She's right and it feels great.

12by311

When I was younger I was more self-conscious about it. It became a big joke with me and my friends (still is) that I "sweat like a man". Now, I *LOVE* it. I've always been this way. I can literally walk onto the basketball court and start pouring the sweat.

I'm with the other poster - embrace it!