Gym Fear

krissy_krossy

I go to a military gym and I was so scared to be the chubby girl around a bunch of "tough military guys." Then I realized a couple things.

1. I'm not the only chubster.
2. The other overweight people probably feel the same as I do and the real athletic, "work out lots" people are way more focused on their own workout.
3. If anyone sees me, at least they see me making an effort to get healthy. How can you judge someone for that?
4. If someone were to judge me, why should I care? It's not like I would want to get to know them.
5. Being shy about going to the gym is a ridiculous reason to not exercise. Besides, I'm way more self-conscious about my weight around people that matter to me.
6. I'd rather deal with judging if it comes for a while until I get more fit than deal with health problems and being uncomfortable with my weight for years.

RobynMWilson

You don't necessarily have to join a gym and use the machines to get gym results at home. I thought I had to, as well, but the gym is very inconvenient for me with my schedule right now and I'm a workout video junkie. I discovered ChaLEAN Extreme and other videos that have given me gym results at home. check out my pics!!

laserturkey

Prairie Life Fitness was always good for us. We live in KC but have visited some of the Omaha locations when traveling. My brother-in-law (who lives in Omaha) goes to something called 24 Hr. Fitness, I think. He hasn't complained about any problems there.

krissy_krossy

I did it!:bigsmile: I had decided that i wanted a gym that was staffed at all times. I don't want to hurt myself at the gym and lay there for hours waiting for someone to show up. :laugh:
Finding a staffed gym severely limited my options but I located two relatively close to my house. The first one mainly just had a walking track and free weights. I wasn't a big fan so I went to the other one.

I loved it and everyone was so nice! I wasn't the only big person there which was great. It took me a couple minutes inside the car to give myself a pep talk to go in though. I went on a tour and ended up joining the gym! I set up an appointment with a personal trainer and nutritionist for Tuesday. She is going to go over all of my goals with me and give me a guide to follow to help reach them!

I did my first workout today while I was there. I just did the treadmill but it was great. The personal trainer is going to show me how to use all of the machines that I have never seen before. I can't tell you thank you enough for all of the encouragement. I'm not sure I would have done it today if I hadn't first received so many words of encouragement.

This is the gym I joined. There are three in town so I can go to any one of them too.
www.athleticaspen.com/

Yay! :happy: I've only been going to a gym for a week or two and it's already been great. The hardest part is getting out the door! :laugh:

wendybird5

Does anyone else have a fear of joining a gym? I don't want to be mocked because of my size and lack of coordination. I have been doing exercise videos at home but would love to add strength training and machines. Does anyone know out of all the big name gyms if one is better than the other? I live in the Omaha area and there is an array of gyms to choose from, I just don't know how to pick one and how to get past this fear that everyone will be making fun of the "fat girl" at the gym.

Thanks for any advice.

I went through this, too. When I first started going to the gym, I was so certain that people were judging me for being fat and it freaked me out so much that I ended up dropping a weight on my foot one day. Here I was chasing this rolling plate and feeling stupid and the worst part was the pain in my foot, but because I was so embarrassed, I pretended like I hadn't hurt myself and kept on working out. Later in the locker room my foot was a mess and then these women came in, all slim and pretty, and I was waiting for them to laugh. Instead they immediately went into action. One of them went and got ice and a band aid for me, one got a wet towel to help me clean off the blood. They had all seen what had happened and told me they had worried I'd gotten hurt and they each shared stories of gym accidents they had. No one made fun of me or laughed. After that I didn't worry so much about it.

Besides, most people at the gym are too busy worrying about themselves (I need to lose five more pounds by the end of this month, why aren't I losing weight?, do I look fat in these yoga pants, I wish I could lift as much weight as he is, should I switch trainers, why is my boyfriend being a jerk, I hate my job, I hope my kids are behaving in the daycare while I'm working out), to even think about you.

meshashesha2012

i've been a fat girl for about 10 years and i've always belonged to gyms during that time and gone to weight room.

no one has ever mocked me and i've belonged to a few muscle head style gyms.

glad to see you got over your fear :happy:

sigsby

A lot of gyms offer a free trial period. Call around and try different gyms. A day here a week there and eventually you will find one you like.

That's what I did. When I was looking for a place to work out I had very specific things I was looking for.

1. It has to be clean
2. They have to have enough machines for everyone
3. They have trainers to help set up a plan
4. Friendly staff

Tkae some classes. Have some fun with it. What you are looking for might be different than what you think it is.

madelonism

ive never been afraid of the gym, why the hell should anyone make fun of you if your fat and working out? most peoples faces light up and smile when im running on the ladder climber and all that jazz. I feel like if somebody was going to judge me for my weight, it would be at mcdonalds lol

sgtrowley

Not sure what gyms you have in your area... I been a fan of Urban Active though...

No need for "Gym fear" Ive got crazy respect for anyone who goes, despite size.

myogibbs

First of all...YAY for you for taking the first steps towards a more healthy lifestyle. I agree with everyone else that most of the real gym rats are too into themselves to be worried about what you are doing. When I see someone that is heavy at the gym I am really inspired, so know that there may be people looking at you...but NOT for the reason you think! You don't know who you may inspire by just walking in there & taking the first step. I think that most gyms employ knowledgable and supportive people who want you to succeed. I used to belong to Gold's gym & I really liked it. They had a women's workout area, so women wouldn't be intimidated by weight training. I definitely think weight training is essential in any fitness regimen. We don't have a Gold's here where I live now, but they have an AWESOME gym. I was nervous at first, but I just took a deep breath & did it anyway. Now, I have so many friends at the gym...it is my refuge & I LOVE working out. Visit a few gyms, ask a lot of questions, trust your gut and be honest with yourself...it won't help if you don't use it!!! My gym had a program where you took nutrition classes & personal training sessions & that was so helpful...maybe a gym in your area has something like that. Now is a really good time to do it too...there are probably a lot of specials in January and there is always a surge of new people in January that have New Year's resolutions, so you won't be the only one that feels awkward. I love taking classes too. I LOVE Zumba...there are several larger women in there & let me tell ya...THEY CAN BOOGIE Kudos to you...YOU CAN DO THIS...now go kick some booty at the gym

Otterluv

Don't overthink this. Pick the closest one to your house that you can afford. And then go. No one is going to mock you for your weight. Just go work out.

this ^^^^ Don't worry about it, everyone is doing their own thing there. It'll be easier after the first few minutes of your first workout, then you'll wonder why you were ever nervous.

jmariscal3

I had a gym phobia, too, in the past. I was intimidated to go and see a bunch of gorgeous, fit people who culd lap me on the treadmill and who would look at me like I didn't belong there. I mustered up the courage to go, I was in law enforcement so, hell, courage was there but not apparent. I got a 7 day free trial to see if I could do it and to see if I was comfortable. 6 months later I am still there, five times a week. I noticed that there are all ages, all sizes, all fitness levels. No one cares if I am there. No one looks at me very often. We are all there to put in work. Those who aren't there to put in work leave quickly anyway. I am now more fit than I ever was prior to this, and even mustered up the courage to start lifting weights with all the big boys in the weight room. I am doing a weight-lifting program now and it is going so well. The hardest part was forcing myself to go that first day.

Now when I go in, I see people on the treadmills running who are overweight, and in my head I think "Get it girl". I am proud that they are on their way and starting their journey. We all have to start somewhere. We even have a trainer in our gym who is not skinny and gorgeous, she is chubbier than the others, but she has her journey posted in her window. She is inspirational and real and gets a lot of clients because she is still in her journey and helping others now. I love it!

Don't be afraid to go for it. You have to start somewhere. We all did it. Everyone has insecurities- learning to get past them is key. No matter if you DO hear some crappy comments or get some lame looks, this is YOUR journey- do not let anyone take that away from you!

jmariscal3

*could