Workout NSV - gym goddess

checkmatekingtwo

I've been posting about starting out at the gym and how uncomfortable I felt. Thanks to inspiration and support from this group, I've kept at it. I'm getting rid of my paranoia that people are staring and laughing. I walk in with the attitutde, "I belong here. Look, I have a towel over my shoulder -- I'm one of you!"

I'm still pretty wimpy at the gym. I can't go longer than 20 minutes on the elliptical without my knee saying, "Enough. Stop." But I do the twenty and then go do ten to fifteen on the bicycle (no resistance, alas, but at least I'm moving.) And i'm working with a trainer on resistance exercises and some beginner lifting.

Yeah, I'm a wimp. But I also think I'm a baby gym-rat waiting to blossom.

I have gotten over the fear that people may be watching, or that somebody will come tap me on the shoulder during a workout and say, "Quit kidding yourself, you don't belong here."

While working out the other night, I was doing abdominal crunches working on the exercise ball, and I actually felt the tap-tap-tap on my shoulder. Wiping sweat from my eyes I look up and see a rather attractive gym-rat-type standing over me with a questioning look. Was this my fear coming true? Was someone going to tell the fat old broad to hit the road?

As I precariously got up off the ball, he introduced himself and asked what i was doing on the ball -- what kind of exercise it was and what it was supposed to do for you. He has a bad back and was wondering if that might help relieve the stress on it.

I told him what little I knew about the exercise and addressed his fears about how to get on the thing and not fall on your butt (the same fear I had when my trainer showed it to me).

I left the gym beaming that night. Here I am at 268 pounds and 55 years old, and I'm the person someone goes to for exercise advice. I'm not a gym rat. I am gym goddess!

sandkrain

Loved your post. You go, girl!!!

CBoogie84

This is fantastic! It only will get easier from here!! Keep it up!!

jen10st

That's fantastic, I used to feel exactly the same joining the gym but now I feel like superwoman after a good workout. Keep up the good work

bufger

I had exactly the same fears as you. I'm new to this and started at 270lbs and had a fear of the gym. There are loads of good looking trim people posing in my gym but as soon as i started going I can tell you that i feel like im working harder than any of them even if im not doing the same resistance levels or have the same endurance - i'm carrying an extra person with me thats why. As i slowly get rid of this extra person i'll be to their level but i'll give encouragement to anyone that enters the gym starting off like i did.

I actually had a negative experience last week I told my wife about. I was walking at 6kph (moderate pace) and managed 40 mins which was a great achievement for me but i heard this man talking to 2 trim girls and he actually said 'look at chunky, does he think he can do it without actually running?!'. He didnt mean me to hear but i looked over and said proudly 'im here for a reason and i'll worry about how i achieve my goal. How do you suppose you're going to solve your personality disorder in a gym?'

The women laughed at him. I lost 1070 calories that night because of my weight. I'm doing just fine and its idiots like him that make me want to tap him on the shoulder in a years time and ask for an endurance race

I'll add you as a friend if thats ok. We'll do it together

Neecie910

Love it!!!! :happy:

DeeDel32

Love this! Thanks for sharing!

WarriorReady

Love it! Great work you GYM GODDESS!! :flowerforyou: :drinker:

MB_Positif

That is awesome Keep up the great work!

sing4me4you

Love your story! By the way, when I started exercising 15 years ago, it took me 4 months to be able to do 20 minutes on the elliptical. Keep going - you're doing great!

big_drake

"I belong here. Look, I have a towel over my shoulder -- I'm one of you!"

I love this line.

Keep up the good work!

eileenchristine

You definitely belong! Yeah! Keep up the great work. Am 56 and just joined last week. I am so excited. My goal is 85 lbs. Weigh in is Thur am! From my food and exercise am looking good, but the scales will tell.

Thank you so much for the inspiration. Whenever I feel unmotivated or tempted to eat garbage, I log on here. Read some stories and it really helps me stay on track!

Christine

o2bADyer

Kudos to you! :bigsmile:

KH9107

Love it!!!!

RunMyOregonBunsOff

That's awesome!

amclaws25

Yah for Gym Goddess! You most definately belong there!!!

bayan2010

That is AWESOME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Soooo happy that you're feeling confidence after all the self doubt. We are our own worst enemies sometimes, and it's a shame that our internal voice supresses our potential. You're rockin' it, and others are noticing. Keep doing what you're doing.

SARgirl

LOVE IT!!!!

shara85

Amazing!! Love this!!

keenercam

That is awesome!! Kudos to you! You should be so proud of yourself. I hope the experience fuels you to keep going even on days when it might be difficult. I know I will be thinking of your experience the next time I am doing my crunches on my balance ball. You go girl!!

fit4lifeUcan2

I'm a lot like you. IT took me a long time to get over my fear of being in the gym. Even when I was so thin I always thought everyone was looking, watching, making remarks. I found out that just because my mother was telling me thats what was going on didn't mean it was true. I had my mothers voice stuck in my head all the time saying things to me like....don't go out without your makeup or your hair done because you never know who is looking....my big one is her voice repeating over and over in my head whenever she saw a large women she would say OMG would you look at that? How can anyone let themselves get that big? Why would you even want to leave the house looking like that? Well once I realized her words didn't mean anything and were not true to how most people think I quit listening to her voice/words and actually enjoyed being in the gym and working out. No one cares what I look like or if I have makeup on or not or how my hair is done. I go for myself and no one else. I'm not going for a fashion show or to meet that perfect guy or to impress anyone else. Once you get that out of your head you can enjoy your work out. Get those negative thoughts out of your head. GOOD For you getting over your fears and going to the gym. Your doing it for yourself and no one else. wooo hooo you go girl!!

urglewurgle

Excellent Hun! I'm very proud for you!

urglewurgle

I had exactly the same fears as you. I'm new to this and started at 270lbs and had a fear of the gym. There are loads of good looking trim people posing in my gym but as soon as i started going I can tell you that i feel like im working harder than any of them even if im not doing the same resistance levels or have the same endurance - i'm carrying an extra person with me thats why. As i slowly get rid of this extra person i'll be to their level but i'll give encouragement to anyone that enters the gym starting off like i did.

I actually had a negative experience last week I told my wife about. I was walking at 6kph (moderate pace) and managed 40 mins which was a great achievement for me but i heard this man talking to 2 trim girls and he actually said 'look at chunky, does he think he can do it without actually running?!'. He didnt mean me to hear but i looked over and said proudly 'im here for a reason and i'll worry about how i achieve my goal. How do you suppose you're going to solve your personality disorder in a gym?'

The women laughed at him. I lost 1070 calories that night because of my weight. I'm doing just fine and its idiots like him that make me want to tap him on the shoulder in a years time and ask for an endurance race

I'll add you as a friend if thats ok. We'll do it together

Ooooh! Good on you! I wish I had the confidence to make a come back like that!

mandorla

You made me cry ... good happy tears of course

srpthlgy

Love it! Keep it up!

annahuebscher

You're doing amazing!!!
Even when I was skinny I'd always feel incredibly awkward in the gym. I think more people feel awkward than comfortable honestly I'm still secretly terrified that I'm doing the weights wrong or I'm too red and sweaty and someone somewhere in the gym is judging my form and they're gonna know I have no clue what the hell I'm really doing.
We're all there to learn something, and I'm proud of you for being a good teacher for someone! That is really cool.

DMUND

BRAVO!!! You should be proud!

Ericaaa89

Love this post