Why are overweight / obese people reluctant to exercise?

There comes a point in time when people need to get over feeling sorry for themselve/being self concious.

Ummm, easier said than done.


Anyway, if someone is overweight and worried about being made fun of, they should invest in a treadmill, or home work outs on youtube.

It's rough but if you hide "they" win.

If I do it in a way that makes me happy and comfortable and encouraged to keep doing it, I win. If I keep doing it enough to go from morbidly obese to normal sized, I win. I don't have to put up with a holes on the way. And since I crossed into the territory of just plain obese and below, the only comments I get are about my boobs. But regardless, I win because I got here-whether I did it in my basement or as fodder for the local d-bags.

The reason many overweight and obese people are reluctant to exercise is because they lack the energy with the excess weight they are carrying, it is one hell of an effort to "get going" than it is for an average sized person or slim person.

It is not always to do with how they look, but how much energy they have.

Wow...this is one of my reasons/excuses FOR SURE! Thanks for posting this!!! :flowerforyou:

Well, the incredibly rude behavior is a demotivator. Sites like this help folks do it in large part because of the support and affirmation you can get. So when you go out to do your thing and you get mean comments, it's bound to play a part in day to day motivation.

I do agree that you should strive to overcome it. But I had a lady at the gym come up to me and ask if I was gaining weight (and I was), and I have to say that I started to want to avoid her, which meant avoiding the gym. I didn't know it would wreck my head at all, but it really was hard to go in and know that folks might come up and talk about my weight going up. I'm not one who got comments by strangers about my weight usually, and it's a bit of a mindf**k for sure.

I think it was because I had no good excuse, not that I owe anyone an excuse. I already felt somewhat guilty about slacking off too much, so it's hard to face rude criticism when your answer is that you just did it 'wrong', yeah. I usually have better excuses, lol.

I don't think it's stigma as much as it is an aversion to pain.

Honestly - pain levels. It STILL HURTS me enough that I cry. When people tell me "losing weight should make you feel better" I want to freaking knock them upside their skulls.

It doesn't... it hasn't and in fact has caused MORE pain.

Yes, I have medical conditions that perhaps add to it, but I don't enjoy pain. I live in it 24/7 and have so for the last 2 decades.

So when I hurt BEFORE I think of going to the gym (f - times even walking hurts) I have to try to plan around my constant pain and hope I don't make it worse.

Well, this was the case for me. I was too embarrassed to go to the gym. I wanted a buddy to go walking with me, but since all of my neighbors were too lazy to do it with me, I called my long-distance friend and talked on the phone with him, while walking a mile by myself around my apartment complex. I watched my diet to a tee and just went walking by myself and sometimes I would put my son in the stroller and walk. Once I had got about 10 pounds off my frame, with my starting weight being 238 pounds, I felt comfortable enough to go to the gym. Walking was very uncomfortable as I would get an "itching sensation" in my knees. I do not know if this was due to not having walked in a long time for such a long distance or what, but it made me want to quit walking. After a while, the "itching sensation" went away in my knees, but once I got to the gym, I felt it when I would get on the treadmill and I use to hate it when my knees would rub together, that was very uncomfortable. Overall, exercising was not fun or comfortable until after I had did it for 2 months consistently. I don't know if there is a scientific term for the "itching sensation" that I felt in my knees, maybe it was due to a lack of circulation? Furthermore, I do not know if this is common among obese people when they haven't walked in years for such a long distance.

Just found the below link, I guess this is common when you haven't worked out in a while or at all. It is what made me reluctant to exercise.

https://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/902711-itching-feeling-while-jogging

As a morbidly obese person, I exercise occasionally. Here are the things that go through my head when I think about running (keep in mind I have a 5k coming up Nov 2 where I plan to walk fast)

* I am always exhausted, and dieting isn't helping with that. That being said, I can see how incrementally as I lose weight I am getting a smidge more stamina. But yeah, I look forward to the day I don't have to haul an extra 100 pounds around just to exercise. Oh, I cannot wait for this!!
* I have had some other very obese friends take up running while really heavy, and they ruined their knees and hips. I do not want to get into shape just to fall apart at the end!
*While bicycling, I have gotten the MOST heckling ever! I don't know if it is because we don't have sidewalks, or if the honks and screams are supposed to be encouragement. I always follow the rules of the road for bicyclists, and it doesn't matter - people really seem to have strong opinions about bikes around here. Which is odd, because we have a huge MS 150 that starts right down the road from our neighborhood.
* Also, my hubby bought me those silly looking toe shoes that I wore at my last 5k (which I walked at a leisurely pace). They really worked! My feet adapted so much easier to those, no heel problems! I did have some really tired pinky toes at the end. I laughed at that, I guess they never had to keep the weight up on their end before! Get to work pinkies, you are part of my solid ground! I was not prepared for the uber chub rub. I hope *crosses fingers* that the new compression pants will work. I always wear a skirt over any kind of yoga or compression pants as well. No one wants to see this, practically nude.
*Also, after walking a few miles I noticed that I was getting shin splints AGAIN. So I got some special shin sleeves that work great.

That being said, how many obese people think about their special needs while they exercise? And then buy those things? Plus, buying exercise clothes in my size is practically IMPOSSIBLE. That alone is discouraging. It is as if even the seller of athletic clothes think fat people don't need them. I will try not to dwell on this, because it happened this weekend and I got really angry about it. Thanks for the support fabric industry!!

Because some low lifes shout from cars, "You're still fat!"?

I've been yelled this as well as "fat a**" through a car window on multiple occasions, and I weighed 135 pounds at 5'7" at the time. You're really going to let the "low life" people who yell at you from your car STOP you from achomplishing your goals? Not me.

Good for you...?

You are at that point where you are able to push through that wall. Many still aren't.

I use to make myself physically ill at the thought of going to the gym and I absolutely hate exercising out in public (walking down the road, on trails, whatever) after years of being picked on and such. I've been on both ends of the scale....only 10 lbs to lose and picked on and now morbidly obese. I love myself now and do this for me so I'm able to overcome most of the obstacles of rudeness when they arise but I understand the stiffening fear that happens to others that have not come to that point yet.

Also, you take in the other considerations...the fact it hurts to move when you are so obese among others. People have to get use to the pain and the soreness, their mentality has to learn that the pain equals results. For many it's reversing years of very bad habits and they didn't get where they are overnight so changing won't happen overnight either. It took me a few years to get my head on straight and realize this.

I can only speak for myself, but before I became active, I was eating mostly crap (I still do on occasion). I would stuff my face with anything that "tasted good" and that resulted in me feeling sluggish.

And when I finally decided to try and work out (in the privacy of my own home) I literally sobbed because of the feeling of embarrassment. It's hard when you have to admit to yourself that you have failed and let yourself get to a point of obesity. So no matter what other people have said ( I still get people yelling at me when I jog), most of the hard part was my own self talk.

I'm right on the borderline between obese and overweight. I always go out for my runs when it gets dark because I am so self conscious about the way my body jiggles when I run! I'm always uncomfortable/embarrassed when someone stares at me or honks at me, which happens a lot maybe because this is a college town? I usually feel like any attention I get is condescending, as if they want to say "RUN FAT GIRL RUN!". Sometimes I think people yell something at me, but I always wear my headphones, so I can't hear. When I run after dark, these incidents happen a lot less often. Anyway, I can say that I agree with those who say "just get over it" or "just do it", you can't let fear of judgement keep you on the couch. I jiggle all down the street three or four times a week these days, with a hope of becoming less jiggly in the future.

Personally its the comments in general. I started on a treadmill but noticed that once I hit 1 mile I struggled for 1.5 miles. My goal was always 2 miles no matter how long it took me. But I was quiting before my goal. So I decided to go outside.

Going outside to run was hard for me to get motivated because people are not always rude, they just want to comment. Be it good or bad. When all honesty, I just want to be left alone. I'm minding my business, mind yours. I've been running 2 miles for about 6 weeks. The reason I've stuck to it is because I go at 330 in the morning! LOL Its dark, and less people out. The people who are out at the time of morning are, for the most part, regulars going to work. The comments I recieve:

"Run girl run!"
"Hey, is everything okay?"
"Keep it up."
"You run every morning?"

There was even a guy with his 2 friends who started clapping as I ran by. So far, its been only this handful and every time, I just ignore them and keep going.

I can't imagine if it was later in the morning, more people walking around waiting at bus stops, more people honking at you scaring the bejesus out of you, more people wanting to put in their two cents. Its constantly a fight to ignore them and remind yourself WHY you're doing what you're doing. Sometimes it feels like a fat person exercising is a unicorn farting glitter. You can't help but notice and comment. And we're intensly aware of that.

WOW could you generalize anymore? I know plenty of skinny people that are too lazy to go jogging what's their reason?. Perhaps, just perhaps, people could just worry about their own body and exercise plan and not about what the next person is or isn't doing.

for me it was the pain and shortness of breath that made me think exercise was out out of reach for me. when you struggle to get out of the chair or off the couch, walk (limp) to the bathroom and back and feel out of breath by the time you get back to the couch, even the thought of "exercise" seems impossible.

i weighed 398 lbs in january and i hated myself. for me it was the self-defeating inner talk that stopped me. i knew i would fail at it because i failed at everything else. if i couldn't stand up long enough to do the dishes, how could i go do zumba? if i couldn't walk to the mailbox, how could i go walk on a treadmill at a gym?

for me, it took therapy to overcome this self-defeatist attitude. i learned to believe in myself, believe that i was worth taking care of, worth being healthy. once i overcame that obstacle, i haven't had a problem with exercising. i go the gym 3-4 times a week. i'm still fat, but dammit, i'm a lot less fat than i was 9 months ago. and i'll be even less fat in another 9 months.

"believe in yourself and you can do anything"

The reason many overweight and obese people are reluctant to exercise is because they lack the energy with the excess weight they are carrying, it is one hell of an effort to "get going" than it is for an average sized person or slim person.

It is not always to do with how they look, but how much energy they have.

^^this!

My bf has a much, much easier time than I do. I almost never feel like I have the energy to get going. Why? Because he is slim and I am obese. Feeling the weight "bounce" on my body as I'm running makes me feel like I'm pulling a car behind me. But you know what, I still go out most nights and run around my neighborhood (and he usually goes with me). Do I worry about what people will think/say to someone my size that is running? Yes, I do. Do I let that stop me? No, I don't. The only thing that matters is that I did it and my friends and family encourage me and are encouraged by me.