Stop rolling your eyes at fat people in the gym!

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Replies

  • lizlovestrees
    lizlovestrees Posts: 47 Member
    The gym at my university is awful. Every time I went, someone commented on how I shouldn't be there. Every time I was in the locker room, someone said something. The most common was how the gym is only for healthy people, and I shouldn't come back.

    I had a free membership there, and it is a very nice facility, but I paid for a membership at a gym I felt comfortable at. For me, the extra money was worth a gym where people didn't insult me.


    Headphones, people. Use them. Haters gon hate.
  • ggxx100
    ggxx100 Posts: 520 Member
    Never see that.


    Then again, we do have two very overweight trainers. No one has ever blinked an eye either.
  • ggxx100
    ggxx100 Posts: 520 Member
    When I go to the gym I'm there for me...not to make anyone else feel welcome, not to say hi to anyone & sure as not there to help anyone else (I'm not trained in anything so helping them can be a big NO).... I'm there for MY workout.

    I'm one of those skinny *****es that WILL roll my eyes at you if you are running so hard on the treadmill when your feet land that I can hear it OVER my music. I'm one of those skinny *****es that will roll my eyes at you when you walk past ME and give me a dirty look for sweating my *kitten* off. I'm one of those skinny *****es that will roll my eyes at you when I then see you outside walking towards the supermarket with a *kitten* in your hand & drinking that coke after I've just seen YOU give ME a dirty look in the gym.

    Someone needs a mani pedi combo and a cupcake
  • xynyth
    xynyth Posts: 89 Member
    I don't usually go to the gym on Saturday, but this particular week I had missed one of my weekday 5am workouts and wanted to make it up. As I got up on to my treadmill these two very large guys started barking and laughing at me! I was more confused than anything, I mean who barks at another person?? Anyway, I don't have image issues or anything and am a pretty confident person so it didn't bother me, and I just went and did my thing. I found out later they were asked to leave after that. Made me feel good that someone noticed them being jerks and asked them to go. To me it speaks more of their insecurities than mine.
  • quirkytizzy
    quirkytizzy Posts: 4,052 Member
    When I go to the gym I'm there for me...not to make anyone else feel welcome, not to say hi to anyone & sure as not there to help anyone else (I'm not trained in anything so helping them can be a big NO).... I'm there for MY workout.

    I'm one of those skinny *****es that WILL roll my eyes at you if you are running so hard on the treadmill when your feet land that I can hear it OVER my music. I'm one of those skinny *****es that will roll my eyes at you when you walk past ME and give me a dirty look for sweating my *kitten* off. I'm one of those skinny *****es that will roll my eyes at you when I then see you outside walking towards the supermarket with a *kitten* in your hand & drinking that coke after I've just seen YOU give ME a dirty look in the gym.

    That reminds me, I have to go run to the truck and grab my cigarettes. Left them in there last time I went to the gym.

    And clear out the coke can. Damn that was tasty. Well, that and the candy bar I had afterwards.

    Very tasty. Puts you in quite the perky mood. Perhaps you should try it?
  • BeachGingerOnTheRocks
    BeachGingerOnTheRocks Posts: 3,927 Member
    I roll my eyes at the gym. It's usually into the mirror when I haven't completed as many reps as I expected or am otherwise disappointed with my performance.

    We are our own worst critics. The things we imagine to be happening around us probably aren't. We're projecting our emotions about ourselves onto people who probably don't even know we exist. Seriously, the world doesn't revolve around any of us, and nobody cares about us beyond a small group of friends and family, if we're lucky.

    When I was 60 pounds heavier, I was afraid of going to the gym because I was convinced everyone was going to stare and disapprove. But the truth is, nobody would have paid me much mind. Reality and perception are two very different things. We as self-conscious human beings are most often wrong about what everyone around us is thinking. We're all convinced the world is out to get us when it isn't.
  • 1223345
    1223345 Posts: 1,386 Member

    Did they actually say anything to you? Were they really staring at you or did you just catch a glance? If they didn't say anything, can you really read their minds?

    Actually, they did say something. They said something along the lines of, "What's she doing in here?" and "Why is he with her?" (Referring of course, to my husband.)

    Edited to add: One of the guys in there who sees me in there daily was nice enough to stick up for me and tell them that I was there working hard, and they should try it sometime. So I know it's not just me who's noticed it.

    You ran into something I've never witnessed or encountered. At least not since high school. There are of course jerks in this world, but it's best to ignore them. Kudos for the guy that stood up for you, though I seriously think it's better to ignore people like that. They either grow up eventually or people shun them.

    Sounds like something else was going on here, not an eyeroll at someone who is overweight.
  • whitebalance
    whitebalance Posts: 1,654 Member
    Someone needs a mani pedi combo and a cupcake

    Oo! Oo! Me me me! :bigsmile:
    Yeah, I've been guilty of rolling my eyes at the *many* students who sit down at a machine and spend five minutes choosing *the* perfect song from their iPod to play soundtrack to their set... or set the lat pull way down to *there* and literally jump on the bar to get it down... or claim the very last machine I need to finish up, just as I'm wrapping my last set on the second to last (really, who *starts* a workout with triceps anyway?). But I've forced myself to chill out. I don't own the gym, I don't get to decide who uses it when and how.

    But overweight, out-of-shape people? Good on 'em for working it. I've been in their shoes. Even if I hadn't... I don't own the bodies, I don't get to decide who uses 'em when and how.

    OP, if I were in your position, I'd try a different time or even look for a new gym. Or, and I know this may be a radical thought and not something you're inclined to do, reach out to make friends with the snickery chickyboos by asking sweetly what workout routine keeps them in such lovely shape. :flowerforyou: If they have any shred of decency, they'll knock it off and respond in kind. If they don't... wish them luck in their efforts to make time with all the guys who just saw what total b!tches they can be. :noway:
  • I've never understood why this happens, why people feel the need to embarrass others. This happened a lot at the athletic centre at my University... It's sad because the gym should be a place for people to feel comfortable and where they are working to be healthier. The worst is when they feel that even the gym isn't a safe place to go.

    I admit I'm like that as well, it probably stems from my shyness and lack of self-confidence, but I actually prefer to workout at home.


    People that feel the need to make fun of others are actually revealing their own insecurities and in an attempt to cover that up, they lash out at others. Sad really.
  • longtimeterp
    longtimeterp Posts: 614 Member
    At my gym its quite the opposite. If there are people lifting and grunting loudly, deliberately showing off or dropping weights an alarm goes off and they are asked to leave lol.

    Yeah cause at planet fitness they don't approve of weight lifting, biggest load of BS in the world i would never go to a gym like that. SERIOUSLY alarms when you grunt? sorry i grunt sometimes when im trying to do heavy weights, does that make me a "meathead" as the pfers call em? I'm rolling my eyes at the pf policy makers as i grunt away at my gym

    edit: sorry to rant i HATE that gym!
  • ninerbuff
    ninerbuff Posts: 49,023 Member
    They're exactly where they should be! And they have just as much right to be there as anyone else.

    Instead of being a twunt, be nice. Smile. Say hello. Make them feel welcome, so they'll keep coming back.

    (Added bonus: You'll feel better too.)
    You're in the wrong gym then. People who become obnoxious about people trying to get into shape forgot where they started.
    Happy to say that in my Wellness Center, it's very supportive because we know a lot of people there are dealing with health problems.

    A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
    IDEA Fitness member
    Kickboxing Certified Instructor
    Been in fitness for 28+ years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition
  • zoukeira
    zoukeira Posts: 313 Member
    Can't say I've seen people rolling their eyes at fat people in the gym - but I definitely have seen them (and been guilty of) rolling their eyes at fat people in fast food restaurants who order enough food to feed an entire family.
  • AlongCame_Molly
    AlongCame_Molly Posts: 2,835 Member
    I have literally never seen or even heard of anyone rolling their eyes at ANYONE in my gym.

    What kind of gym do you go to?
  • mightyfine3
    mightyfine3 Posts: 65
    I love it when I see overweight people in the gym. I want them to be there everyday. I wanna actually see them lose weight. Totally route for them!
  • kluedesigns
    kluedesigns Posts: 72 Member
    i've never seen anyone be nasty or give over weight people an eye roll.

    i've only known and seen welcoming and friendly people at the gym.

    what kind of gym are you going to and who is giving you the eye???? you might want to tell the owner.

    i owned a gym and if this ever happened i would want to know and put a stop to it - no gym owner wants to be known for this and allow their customers to feel uncomfortable.
  • lilbearzmom
    lilbearzmom Posts: 600 Member
    I don't notice this phenomenon of eye rolling where I go, either. Then again, I go to a YMCA where there is a nice cross-section of people there at any given time. Most appear to be in good shape, there are a few overweight people there (including me). There are a lot of senior citizens, probably more of those than anything. There are also young guys and girls, middle aged, etc. I like it there...

    -Kendra
  • auroranflash
    auroranflash Posts: 3,569 Member
    OP is not fat. I don't get it.
  • christina0089
    christina0089 Posts: 709 Member
    My gym has some amazingly supportive people! There is only one person that I ever had a issue with.. She is an older lady who thins she is far superior than my fatness in the gym arena... She takes a class that I decided to add for a little variation. (Before I was just working with my trainer a few times a week and doing weight clinics along with Zumba.) On my first day in this class we are setting up and getting everything ready and she starts telling me that my weights are wrong and that I am probably not used to lifting weights and this kind of class.. :huh: umm excuse me?! I looked at her and said actually the person teaching the class is my trainer and I have been working with him for weeks. I lift more than this regularly. But thanks for your help.. all she could do was say. oh, ok.. and walk away. For a long time she would look at me funny when I came to class, Like oh you are still here? Now she smiles atleast.. a little stiffly but she smiles.. Assumptions.. *sigh* :grumble:
  • watchhillgirl
    watchhillgirl Posts: 597 Member
    The only problem I have ever had at the gym are some women in the Zumba class telling others that they were standing in "their" spot! I felt like I was going to get jumped in the class, so I just decided I would do something else. There is always something going on at the Y so no need to get into a fight over a class!!! Other than that I have never seen weird looks at anyone.....except the one instructor that decided to do a pole dance on a bike :-(
  • Contrarian
    Contrarian Posts: 8,138 Member
    I'm sorry I just have to add after reading everyones comments... Why are you all arguing, calling names and having judgmental opinions? That's not the point of this site, this forum, or what ANY one of us is trying to do. There is no way in HELL you will ever be like 'that' person etc. You can only be the best YOU so why doesn't everyone stop arguing and let's all go workout and encourage each other! EVERYONE needs improvement, to be active, to eat healthy. This ranting at each other is ridiculous. Pretty sure everyone on here is an adult and came here for encouragement right? You're all the problem, being mean to each other. :/ ugh.

    Are you referring to THIS thread? I'm confused, because I think it is quite civil.
  • MercenaryNoetic26
    MercenaryNoetic26 Posts: 2,747 Member
    LOL, I'd only roll my eyes at *kitten* I would catch looking at my *kitten* or at me in general (staring problem type). (I now happily work out at home)

    I'm never rude to overweight people. I'm all for supporting the lifestyle change. Now if an overweight person looks at my *kitten*, I'm rolling my eyes at them!
  • PetulantOne
    PetulantOne Posts: 2,131 Member
    Is it a high school gym?

    Also, WTH is going on in here?
  • quirkytizzy
    quirkytizzy Posts: 4,052 Member
    When I go to the gym I'm there for me...not to make anyone else feel welcome, not to say hi to anyone & sure as not there to help anyone else (I'm not trained in anything so helping them can be a big NO).... I'm there for MY workout.

    I'm one of those skinny *****es that WILL roll my eyes at you if you are running so hard on the treadmill when your feet land that I can hear it OVER my music. I'm one of those skinny *****es that will roll my eyes at you when you walk past ME and give me a dirty look for sweating my *kitten* off. I'm one of those skinny *****es that will roll my eyes at you when I then see you outside walking towards the supermarket with a *kitten* in your hand & drinking that coke after I've just seen YOU give ME a dirty look in the gym.

    I hear you sister! I roll my eyes at women who get real big when they're pregnant, too!

    I'm one of those *****es that will ignore you as well & report you for trolling.

    We're not trolling. Women get big when they get pregnant.

    I'm sure you are aware of this phenomena? As odd as it may sound, women do tend to gain weight while they're pregnant. Strange, I know, but they really do. You can google it if you'd like. Web MD it, even.
  • longtimeterp
    longtimeterp Posts: 614 Member
    When I go to the gym I'm there for me...not to make anyone else feel welcome, not to say hi to anyone & sure as not there to help anyone else (I'm not trained in anything so helping them can be a big NO).... I'm there for MY workout.

    I'm one of those skinny *****es that WILL roll my eyes at you if you are running so hard on the treadmill when your feet land that I can hear it OVER my music. I'm one of those skinny *****es that will roll my eyes at you when you walk past ME and give me a dirty look for sweating my *kitten* off. I'm one of those skinny *****es that will roll my eyes at you when I then see you outside walking towards the supermarket with a *kitten* in your hand & drinking that coke after I've just seen YOU give ME a dirty look in the gym.

    I hear you sister! I roll my eyes at women who get real big when they're pregnant, too!

    I'm one of those *****es that will ignore you as well & report you for trolling.

    We're not trolling. Women get big when they get pregnant.

    I'm sure you are aware of this phenomena? As odd as it may sound, women do tend to gain weight while they're pregnant. Strange, I know, but they really do. You can google it if you'd like. Web MD it, even.

    big yes, REAL BIG as was in the post, i disagree...a friend of mine's wife put on over 100lbs when pregnant, the kid is three and obese, and she has never lost the weight... that isn't safe or healthy and i dont think it is fair to the child to burden them with obesity for life... and lets see if this gets removed too?

    edit: done with hijack, back to op
  • Belinda658
    Belinda658 Posts: 181 Member
    I think it's judgmental to roll your eyes at anyone for any reason. Maybe someone needs to use machines, or needs to walk slowly etc
  • ggxx100
    ggxx100 Posts: 520 Member
    Is it a high school gym?

    Also, WTH is going on in here?

    Hungry+angry= hangry
  • Casey45
    Casey45 Posts: 160 Member


    Honestly, the grunting doesnt' bother me. Means they are lifting something heavy and really focusing on that and making sure they get that work out in. I even grunt sometimes on heavy sets, why? Because I am pushing and working with all my might to make sure I am getting stronger.

    Grunting helps with that last push..... quite involuntary at times.... but I don't grunt at top volume.

    Come to think of it, I did a lot more grunting when I was in childbirth! :)
  • Lulzaroonie
    Lulzaroonie Posts: 222 Member
    I have never seen this happen. I would be that larger person, and I don't even look at others when I work out, I just keep my own business and do my stuff. So even if I did get looks, I don't see them.
    I'm not there to socialise or hang out, I'm there to work, and if someone has a problem with my form, or whatever, they're more than welcome to come and speak to me and show me how to do it properly.
  • IAMANAN
    IAMANAN Posts: 7
    there are many types of criticism out there....
    this is so sad that it happens but people will always be human.
    Some have no sense of decency when it comes to other people
  • IAMANAN
    IAMANAN Posts: 7

    There are few people I roll my eyes at in the gym, and most of the time it's due to technique/form or lifting so much you can see a hernia waiting to happen.
    I´m new to lifting. If you go to my gym (wich I would be pretty surprised if you did.Lol) I would love it if people corrected me instead of rolling their eyes.

    We were all starters at one time and with bad or not the best techniques.
    It would be better if someone helped that new person with their technique.
    A bonus of helping someone else accomplish something in life and possibly the making of a new friend.